Beauty, Power and Intrigue Chapter 74

Song Chuyi had a profound understanding of the current speed of information dissemination. Information spread through merchant routes was the fastest means aside from military orders relayed by galloping horses, and it also had broad coverage.

But even so, it would still take ten days to half a month to spread everywhere.

Guiling was not far from Daliang, the capital of Wei. Song Chuyi estimated the timing -she could only linger in the vicinity for at most three days; any longer and complications would likely arise.

The merchant caravan drove out of Gui Ling’s city gates and reached a deserted wilderness far from prying eyes. Ji Yu immediately urged his horse close to Song Chuyi’s carriage. “Master, why are we going to Daliang?”

“Who said anything about going to Daliang? Head in the direction of Daliang, but go slowly. Look for a youth around fifteen years old. After three days, turn onto the road and continue west,” Song Chuyi said.

Ji Yu was baffled. After a moment of silence, he still asked, “Why?”

“Did General Longgu never tell you? Qin is not the final destination of this journey. After Qin, we must go on to Zhao, Qi, Han, and Chu. We absolutely cannot let the King of Wei discover our true identities. There is naturally a reason for what I’m doing.” Song Chuyi paused, then continued, “Also, pass the word down: anyone with a Puyang accent is to keep silent for the next few days.”

“Yes!” Ji Yu acknowledged the order and had the command relayed to one another.

Song Chuyi knew that the likelihood of finding him was actually very slim. In these times, hiding was the easiest thing – one could simply burrow into any remote mountain or wilderness, and even mobilizing the full strength of the realm might not turn the person up.

Song Chuyi had also repeatedly considered that Zhao Yilou was unlikely to be in You Qiao’s hands. She had seemingly had important matters to attend to and had taken the handsome man with her to Chu. If Zhao Yilou were still there, she would not have appeared within Wei’s borders.

But to confirm her conjecture, Song Chuyi ordered the caravan to halt outside the city for half a day and had Ji Huan take a few men secretly return to verify whether there was a handsome man among Qiao’s retinue.

Ji Huan returned at noon with news: Qiao’s troupe of entertainers now had only one carriage left; the rest were horses and guards. He had staked out and watched for an entire morning and recounted all of Qiao’s movements. Song Chuyi finally confirmed that there was indeed not a single handsome man in her possession.

Based on her understanding of Zhao Yilou, Song Chuyi instructed that they focus on searching the remote wilderness over the next few days, but they could not go too deep. Although Song Chuyi had devised this plan to kill two birds with one stone, she had to distinguish what was more and less important.

In the freezing cold, disregarding Ji Yu’s objections, Song Chuyi insisted on riding a horse.

In her previous life, Song Chuyi had endured every kind of hardship. Having a horse to ride was already good enough – better than running on two legs. Her body in this life was far inferior to her previous one, and precisely because of that, she was all the more determined not to raise herself to be delicate and fragile.

The cold wind howled, cutting across the skin like a blade’s edge. Even men like Ji Yu and Ji Huan, who often marched with armies, could barely endure it, yet Song Chuyi had cast off her usual lazy ways – marked by countless bad habits – and stood in the wind like an unyielding pine. She truly seemed like a different person.

They searched for two days straight, and Song Chuyi rode the entire time.

Longgu Buwang found it strange. These past two days, Song Chuyi had not come to tease him, and he actually felt that something was missing, leaving him restless all over. He had also been secretly observing Song Chuyi, noticing that her brows were knitted tighter than on the first day. Her serious demeanor was a side of her he had never seen before, yet in the fierce wind, with her sleeves fluttering and her black hair in disarray, she unexpectedly carried a certain untamed air.

For a fleeting moment, Longgu Buwang felt that Song Chuyi – whether in her carefree manner or her present earnest seriousness – possessed an indescribable allure. But that feeling lasted only an instant.

By the third day, a faint trace of disappointment surfaced in Song Chuyi’s eyes, which habitually carried no particular emotion. Just before nightfall, unwilling to give up, she took several men riding into a valley to search once more, but still found no clues.

Song Chuyi slightly pressed her cracked lips together, feeling quite unwilling in her heart. She had clearly obtained a lead – perhaps Zhao Yilou was crouching in some cave nearby – yet now she could only choose to give up.

Ji Yu was moved by her persistence. Seeing her dismount in silence and prepare to get into the carriage, he could not help saying, “Master, shall we search for another day?”

Song Chuyi rubbed her fingers, frozen stiff as radishes, and opened her mouth to reply, but the movement pulled at the cracked cuts on her lips. She grimaced and shot Ji Yu a sidelong glance. Only after the burst of pain passed did she say, “If we can’t find him, then so be it. It’s not important.”

Every expression on Ji Yu’s face accused Song Chuyi of yet another bad habit – saying one thing and meaning another.

Song Chuyi climbed into the carriage, looked back at him, and hissed, “What kind of expression is that? Hurry up and get moving – are you waiting for the King of Wei to invite us to a grand banquet?”

Returning kindness with enmity – Ji Yu mentally added another bad habit to her tally, then decisively swung himself onto his horse.

After three days of lingering, the caravan finally set out westward once more.

Song Chuyi leaned against the edge of the couch, holding White Blade in her arms to warm her hands. In just a few days, White Blade had grown much heavier. She rested her hands in the soft fur for a while, and the swollen, frostbitten spots began to feel vaguely distended and itchy.

She had not spent much time with Zhao Yilou, but after she suffered the greatest blow of her life, Zhao Yilou had given her complete and utter trust. Perhaps that was why she kept wanting to find him.

The carriage paused. Song Chuyi gathered her thoughts and saw Longgu Buwang shake the snow off his clothes and climb into the carriage.

“Sir.” Longgu Buwang bowed and placed a fox-fur hand guard and a bottle of medicine on the small table.

Song Chuyi glanced at them, reached for the medicine bottle, and said, “I won’t take the hand guard – you keep it for yourself. I have Bai Ren. Is this frostbite medicine?”

“Yes, a secret formula of our Longgu clan,” Long Gu Buwang said proudly.

Without the slightest courtesy, Song Chuyi said, “Then I’ll gladly accept this.”

Longgu Buwang hesitated for a moment, but in the end could not restrain his curiosity. He asked, “Sir, are you looking for someone? What kind of person? Our family has quite a few connections in business – perhaps we could be of help.”

“Not bad – you’ve learned to use tactics.” Song Chuyi looked at his slightly surprised expression and chuckled. “Young man, don’t be discouraged. With a bit more effort, you might actually succeed next time.”

Longgu Buwang let out a frustrated sigh. “How did you see through me?”

He felt he had been quite sincere – seven parts truth, three parts falsehood. To be seen through even so was simply incredible.

Song Chuyi took the cloth soaked in hot water that Jian handed her and wiped her hands, saying carelessly, “I didn’t see through anything. Just now I was only bluffing you offhand. Young man, you’re far too impatient.”

Longgu Buwang felt a breath catch in his chest. Sure enough, he had lost, just as expected – but this loss was far too unfair.

After Song Chuyi finished applying the ointment, she had Jian spread out the map.

After a long while, Longgu Buwang said, “Sir, you haven’t given a lesson in three days.”

“Mm. If I gave lessons every day, are you sure you could keep up?” Song Chuyi’s gaze wandered across the map between Han and Wei as she said slowly, “I gave you three days to think it over. It seems there hasn’t been much progress.”

Longgu Buwang’s face darkened. Even if there hadn’t been much progress, couldn’t she have put it more tactfully?

“Yuanyong.” Song Chuyi settled on the location and called out, “Ji Yu.”

“Master,” Ji Yu responded.

“Head straight for Yuanyong. No stops along the way,” Song Chuyi said.

The state of Han lay right in the center of Wei, splitting Wei’s territory into two halves. Yuanyong was a city belonging to Han, situated precisely at the easternmost point of Han’s territorial extension. Going there without stopping would take only about five days.

Song Chuyi was wondering whether she should first pay a visit to the Marquis of Han.