Chapter Fifty-Eight: Peril on All Sides
After another three or four days on the road, they passed through a stretch of bamboo forest. According to the Crown Prince, once they made it past this forest, they would be through the checkpoint.
Yet as soon as they entered the bamboo grove, the convoy’s pace slowed. The Crown Prince exchanged a glance with Lie Chang’an; both sensed the dangers lurking unseen among the bamboo stalks.
“There’s an ambush.”
Yu Yang felt it too.
“Yes,” the Crown Prince nodded. But with Li Huai County so near, he was unwilling to stir up further trouble, especially since he already suspected that these men had come for him and Gu Li. If it came to a head-on confrontation, he was not afraid of losing, but after their clashes with the mountain bandits, they had already lost some men. Another battle would only bring more casualties. They had not yet reached Li Huai County, and if most of his soldiers were dead or wounded before then, the return journey would be rife with unknown dangers. He had to conserve his strength for what might lie ahead.
With this in mind, the Crown Prince leaned sideways and whispered a few words into General Chang’an’s ear.
Soon, the convoy turned around and began to retrace its route.
The assassins concealed in the bamboo forest exchanged uneasy glances, but dared not act rashly. Their best chance of victory depended on the convoy entering the heart of the grove and being surrounded. Now that the convoy had turned back, they could only wait, lest they alert their prey too soon. All they needed were the heads of the Crown Prince and Princess to complete their mission and report back—there was no need to invite further trouble.
The convoy did not return, so the assassins waited. After all, this was the only route to Li Huai County; their targets would have to come through eventually.
Soon enough, the convoy did return. But when the assassins saw that only a man and a woman remained at the head, with no sign of the Crown Prince or the carriage, they realized they had been deceived.
They had been discovered all along! This place was indeed the only safe route for a large convoy, but for individuals, it was easy enough to take a smaller, hidden path. The Crown Prince must have left with the Princess by some less obvious way.
Once past the checkpoint, there would be few such good opportunities to strike. Foiled, the assassins could only withdraw, their mission unfulfilled. With their targets gone, there was no reason to court disaster.
Thus, a perilous assassination plot was quietly and skillfully defused.
Gu Li sat in the carriage, following the Crown Prince as he hurried past the checkpoint to rejoin the main convoy. Just moments before, her brother had spoken plainly: there were people in the palace who wanted both their lives.
The identity of the mastermind needed no explanation; Gu Li had already guessed. No doubt, the drugged incense and the fire at the inn that night had also been that person’s doing. How eager, how painstakingly calculated! Yet, once again, their enemy had missed the mark—surely gnashing their teeth in frustration.
Gu Li let out a cold laugh.
They made it past the checkpoint without further incident and, after reuniting with the convoy, pressed on to Li Huai County.
Though autumn had arrived, the moment they entered Li Huai’s borders, Gu Li was struck by the stifling heat—the oppressive, arid air brought on by a long drought.
Li Huai County was remote, yet its population numbered over a hundred thousand. In this disaster, many died of hunger every day; famine had left countless families destitute, homeless, and wandering.
Seated in her carriage, Gu Li saw the starving people, weak and emaciated, all kneeling by the roadside. They wailed and pleaded, kowtowing and crying out, “Long live the Crown Prince, may you live a thousand, ten thousand years!” They gave endless thanks for the Imperial favor, gazing with hope and tears at the grain being transported behind the convoy—a sight that filled them with gratitude and the faint glimmer of salvation.