Chapter 555: Divulged
Editor: Atlas Studios
Fei Bai clutched his chest as he sat in front of Fourth Master’s bed, feeling extremely regretful. If he had been more careful, he would not have missed Fourth Madam and the others’ whereabouts.
Now, he only hoped that Zhan Yu could catch up to Mo Yong. Fei Bai’s face was pale. Who would have guessed that Eldest Master’s personal guard, a clan brother of the most trusted General Mo Xiong, was actually a traitor?
Fei Bai looked at Qi Haoran’s face in a daze. After a while, he suddenly came back to his senses. Ignoring his injuries, he crawled over and pulled out a piece of paper to write a secret letter to Bai Li. Only until he let the pigeon fly off did he heave a sigh of relief.
Bai Li and Zhan Yu only hoped that they could be faster. Not only were Fourth Madam and Third Young Master in that house, but there were also Eldest Madam and Second Young Master.
Fei Bai knew that he probably wouldn’t survive this time, but he would only be at ease if he could minimize his sins.
When Qi Haoran woke up, he realized that his hands and feet were tied. Fei Bai was kneeling in front of his bed. Seeing that he had woken up, his tears fell. “Master, you mustn’t struggle anymore. You’ve already been unconscious for a night. Zhan Yu is chasing after them, don’t worry…”
“Don’t worry?” Qi Haoran gritted his teeth and said, “You only realized after Mo Yong left for two days. How can I be at ease? Fei Bai, if anything happens to Ah Ling and Little Bear, I’ll crush you!”
Fei Bai could only kowtow.
Qi Haoran suppressed the warmth in his eyes. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to catch up even if he wanted to now. Enduring the grief in his heart, he said, “Where’s the messenger pigeon for Fourth Madam?”
“Don’t worry, Master. The messenger pigeon will reach Fourth Madam’s hands tonight. It might even get there faster than Mo Yong…”
Fei Bai sounded a little lacking in confidence. After all, they were only five days away from Mu Yangling’s place. However, Mo Yong and the others were riding alone and did not rest on the way. If they traveled day and night, they should be able to arrive in two and a half days. Even if they were a little delayed, they would be almost there now.
He could only blame himself for discovering it too late, causing a delay. Otherwise, they would have been able to avoid this calamity by informing Fourth Madam and the others with a messenger pigeon.
Qi Haoran obviously knew this too, so he just lay there quietly. After a while, he said in a hoarse voice, “Untie the rope.”
Fei Bai looked at Qi Haoran suspiciously. “Master, don’t tell me you still want to go…”
“Shut up. I told you to untie the rope. How dare those people have designs on my family. They must be tired of living!”
Fei Bai hurriedly pounced forward and untied Qi Haoran.
Qi Haoran sat up and raised his leg to aim at Fei Bai’s chest. But ultimately, he didn’t kick him. He only said hatefully, “You’d better pray that your Fourth Madam is fine.”
Qi Haoran got up and felt dizzy. Feeling his vision darken for a moment, he shook his head and pushed Fei Bai away before walking out.
Fei Bai clutched his chest and followed closely behind. Seeing that he had gone to the meeting tent, he heaved a sigh of relief. When Qi Haoran lifted the curtain, he turned around and glared at him angrily. “Get lost and treat your injuries. Don’t be an eyesore here.”
Fei Bai quickly turned around and went to look for the military doctor.
As the sky gradually darkened, Qi Haoran paced around the tent uneasily. In the end, unable to calm down his anxiety, he ran outside and looked up at the moon in the sky without saying a word.
At this moment, he only hoped that Mu Yangling’s defense would be effective and they could stall for time until Bai Li or Zhan Yu went to save her. Or perhaps, hopefully she had a backup plan.
However, at the same time, he was also terrified. He was a general to begin with and knew that no matter how good the defense was, it required manpower to implement it. Mu Yangling only had 23 guards, which was too few people!
At this moment, Mu Yangling, who Qi Haoran was worried sick about, had just come out of the bathroom. She patted her face and yawned. Then, she peeked at her son, who was sleeping on the side of the bed, before climbing onto the bed and pulling the blanket over to sleep.
However, she had just fallen asleep and closed her eyes for a while when Spring’s voice sounded from outside. “Fourth Madam, there’s movement outside.”
Mu Yangling quickly got up and asked as she put on her clothes, “What’s wrong?”
“The village chief just said that a villager found many hoof prints on the path five miles away.”
Mu Yangling quickly went out to see the village chief. This time, the person beside the village chief was Guard One and not Chen Ming.
“What’s going on?”
Guard One’s expression turned ugly as he said respectfully, “Fourth Madam, a villager discovered many hoof prints made by horses by the path five miles away. From the looks of it, they should be coming towards us.”
The small mountain village was very remote. They were the only village within a ten-mile radius, and behind them was a mountain. Beyond the mountain was another county. Only the villagers knew about those trails. Not to mention the hoofprints of a horse, they usually would not even see the hoofprints of an ox.
That was why the villagers who discovered it were surprised. When they returned, they bragged about it to everyone as if it was something new, and the village chief happened to hear it.
At that time, the village chief only felt that it was better to be careful in such chaotic times, so he came up to the Zhu family to discuss if he should organize the young men in the village to patrol in case bandits should come and rob them.
However, who knew that the Zhu family would keep him here as if they were facing a great enemy? A strange thought appeared in the village chief’s mind. Perhaps those hoof prints were targeting the Zhu family?
Mu Yangling’s expression also changed slightly. She asked, “Didn’t the guards guarding the mountaintop send any news back?”
Guard One shook his head.
The two of them looked at the dark sky outside and understood. The other party was probably waiting for the sky to turn dark, right?
Not daring to delay, Mu Yangling turned to the village chief and said, “Village Chief, don’t worry. These people are here for me. Go down the mountain now and quietly get the villagers to close their doors. Remember, don’t go out, let alone escape. As long as you stay at home, they definitely won’t make things difficult for you.”
The village chief was bewildered.
Mu Yangling said in a low voice, “If you go out or escape, they will definitely think that you have a deep relationship with us. Should they see that, they will capture you and threaten us. You know that I still have children with me. I won’t be threatened by their capture.”
The village chief understood immediately and immediately went home. He did not even have time to say goodbye.
At this moment, the village chief was glad that Mu Yangling had always treated them very indifferently. The two sides rarely interacted, and Chen Ming was the one who interacted with them on the rare occasions.
As soon as the village chief left, Mu Yangling immediately said to Guard One, “Tell everyone to be on guard and guard the courtyard. Don’t move the guards on the mountaintop for now. Tell them to observe carefully and report immediately if they find anything amiss.”
Only then did Mu Yangling turn around and return to the house. She stood in front of the bed and looked at the child for a while before carefully putting on his clothes. Then, she wrapped him in a small blanket and handed him to a maidservant. After kissing his forehead, she said to the maidservant, “Let’s go.”
Li Jinghua was already awake. When she saw Mu Yangling enter, she hurriedly stood up and asked, “What happened?”
“I’m afraid that someone has discovered we’re hiding here. I’ll have to trouble Sister-in-law to hide first.”
Li Jinghua was at a loss. “Hide where?”
Mu Yangling brought them to the backyard. This house was built halfway up the mountain, so there was no need to build a wall in the backyard because there was a tall mountain rock around them with only sporadic trees on it.
Mu Yangling brought them to a stop in front of a huge rock. Then, she took a deep breath, hugged the huge rock, and carefully moved to the side.
Other than the guards who escorted them over, everyone’s eyes widened.