Pillowed against the faintly swaying reflection of moonlight on the lake, Lizhu slept soundly through the night.

When she woke, the dawn light was faint and tender. She pushed open the window and looked out—mountains rose in graceful ranks, peaks contending for height, and the shoreline city was nowhere to be seen.

Upon inquiry, she learned that they had already followed the Luo River northward, leaving Mount Li behind.

Lizhu yawned and sat lazily before the dressing mirror, letting her maid attend to her washing.

Just as a few hairpins and rings had yet to be put in place, Xuan Ying entered. She dismissed the others, took a flowered hairpin from the table, and leaned close to Lizhu’s ear to whisper:

“Before dawn, taking advantage of the morning mist, Chang Jun sent a messenger pigeon with word. Everything the Princess ordered him to prepare has been disguised as ordinary goods and loaded onto the cargo ship. That ship follows right behind ours, so the Princess may rest assured.”

At that, Lizhu’s eyes curved with a smile.

“That’s good.”

There were many people aboard the imperial vessel, and all items brought on board were registered.

If they were dresses, ornaments, incense, or cosmetics, there would be nothing to mind. But some things were meant for Pei Yinzhi, bringing them on board would draw attention and be hard to explain.

Before departure, Lizhu had instructed her chief eunuch, Chang Jun, to go out of the palace in secret, posing as a medicine merchant, and take another ship to follow behind.

Indeed, most of the things she asked Chang Jun to buy were medicinal herbs.

She had once heard from an official of the same hometown that before entering official service, Pei Yinzhi had been known throughout Yiling Commandery as a sickly child—by his teens, he had scarcely stepped beyond the gates of the Pei family mansion.

Lizhu had been somewhat skeptical about that.

Because even in the coldest days of Luoyang, Pei Yinzhi’s body burned like glowing charcoal.

Moreover, in the three years of their marriage, whenever he was at home—whenever it was not the time of her monthly cycle—he would almost every night entwine with her…

In short, he looked to have nothing at all to do with the words “sickly child.”

Yet in the end, he had still died of grave illness and injuries.

Lizhu did not know whether this had anything to do with him once being “sickly.”

But it didn’t matter. Every pharmacy in Luoyang, even the palace’s rarest medicinal stores, had been carefully chosen by Chang Jun, and physicians were among her entourage as well.

No matter how frail and prone to illness he was, surely he could recover by a few degrees?

With that expectation filling her heart, several days of river travel and scenery passed swiftly.

Five days later, early in the morning.

As Lizhu was having her midday meal, someone suddenly came to report that their planned route had changed; they might need to take a detour, delaying two days.

Lizhu, who had already been on edge throughout the journey, immediately grew alert and scrutinized the messenger.

The man was named Fang Jian, sent by the Imperial Guard to oversee this inspection trip.

“After twenty more li ahead, we’ll merge into the Xun River and enter the territory of Wan Commandery. Why must we suddenly take the Yan River and detour through the direction of Yiling Commandery?”

Fang Jian lowered his head respectfully and explained:

“Reporting to the Princess, yesterday the Prefect of Wan Commandery sent word—west of the Xun River, at a place called Jiacao Canal, a band of water bandits was recently discovered hiding there, attacking passing ships. Thus, he sent men urgently to inform us.”

“Water bandits?” Lizhu pressed. “How many of them are there?”

Fang Jian replied, “Their number is not large. The Prefect has already dispatched forces to suppress them, but since they were found late, it will take time. He fears that scattered remnants, when pressed, might cause trouble, so he advised a detour.”

He presented the bamboo slip sent by the Prefect of Wan Commandery, and Lizhu read it over carefully several times.

The slip detailed the origins of the bandits, their past crimes, and the entire sequence of events, written with thorough clarity. At the end was the official seal of the prefect, not appearing to be forged in haste.

Lizhu pressed her lips tightly together and looked toward Lu Yu, who stood beside her with a sword at his side.

After a moment of thought, he said, “The imperial vessel must travel safely. Though these water bandits are not formidable, should they by chance collide with the Princess, it would be disastrous. Taking the detour is indeed more prudent.”

Since even Lu Yu had said so, Lizhu had no grounds to object.

“…Then take the Yan River route.”

Fang Jian withdrew with a faint smile.

Seeing her uneasy expression, Xuan Ying spoke gently in comfort: “The ship is heavily guarded now, and the bandits have likely avoided this way ahead of time. It’s only a delay of a day or two, may the Princess be at ease.”

“These bandits are truly hateful!”

Lizhu struck the table in anger.

“For every extra day we travel the long route, that’s another day we must live in fear. In the future… I will find a way to eradicate these lawless brigands!”

Xuan Ying smiled. “Why wait for the future? Once we reach Wan Commandery, Young Master Xun will come to receive us. When that time comes, if the Princess mentions it, Young Master Xun will surely urge the local officials to hasten the suppression.”

A maple leaf drifted down beside the ship’s railing; Lizhu caught the stem between her fingers and twirled it.

She lowered her gaze and said softly, “Forget him. Of all people, he’s the one I won’t depend on.”

•—–٠✤٠—–•·

By midday, the imperial ship changed course and entered the Yan River.

While Lizhu’s mind remained heavy with thoughts, the others aboard were already absorbed by the scenery along both banks.

It was now just after Frost’s Descent.

The mountains lay cold and still, forests ablaze with red leaves in every shade; the maples burned like clouds of scarlet, merging with the sky in a vast glow.

On both shores spread wide fields of reed flowers; when the river wind swept past, their feathery plumes danced like falling snow.

This—was Pei Yinzhi’s homeland.

But unfortunately, according to Lizhu’s plan, she must first go to Wan Commandery to meet Tan Xun.

After being escorted by Tan Xun to Qinghe Commandery, she would put up with him for a time, then find an excuse to slip away—only then could she set out for Yiling Commandery, where Pei Yinzhi was.

Otherwise, she would have no reason to linger in Yiling at the start.

Lizhu’s plan had been perfect.

Yet that very night, at the third watch of the Chou hour (1:00 a.m. – 3:00 a.m.), she was jolted awake by the sound of a door being broken open.

“Wake the Princess! Quickly! There are bandits aboard the ship, they’re searching everywhere! The Princess must take the small boat and leave, immediately!”

Lu Yu’s deep voice thundered like a sudden storm, startling all the women in the cabin from their sleep.

“What!?”

“Where did bandits come from? This is the imperial ship!”

The sword that had long hung over her head finally fell, Lizhu felt an icy chill spread through her heart.

As expected, something had gone wrong after all.

Xuan Ying reacted the quickest—grabbing a gown, she hastily dressed Lizhu while anxiously asking, “What about the guards on the ship?”

The torches flickered. Lu Yu stood guard by the door, one hand on his sword, his gaze wary as he scanned the surroundings.

“The kitchen gives the night watch their supper at the hour of Zi (11:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.) each night; who would have thought someone poisoned it tonight! Our people arranged to taste the food first and were not affected, but the patrolling guards were all drugged. Less than thirty percent of the garrison remain!”

“This band of thieves outnumbers us. Staying here is too dangerous. Before they surround us, I already ordered people to ready the small boat. The Princess must go first while we cover the rear, are you all packed?”

Under Xuan Ying’s command, the maidservants in the cabin had already packed swiftly.

Lu Yu immediately led men to escort them toward the stern.

Pressed and hurried, Lizhu surrounded by the others could not make sense of it.

How had these thieves managed this?

Patrols on the ship were so strict; no outsiders should have had the chance to poison the food. Could the thieves have been hiding on the ship all along?

No, that made no sense either!

Before she could think it through, as she stepped out the cabin door a sharp clash of blades suddenly rang out!

“Protect the Princess!”

“Seize the Princess!”

Two voices cried at once. Lu Yu met them with a crossward block, kicking two ambushers by the doorway aside. Five remaining guards shielded Lizhu and the others as they fought and retreated toward the stern.

The maidservants screamed. Xuan Ying, teeth chattering, half-encircled Lizhu in her arms.

Lizhu’s heart pounded like a drum. She glanced back toward the stern and the sight turned her world black.

—The three spare skiffs on the ship had all been smashed to pieces!

How could ordinary thieves plan so thoroughly?

The image of a phoenix gold hairpin flashed through Lizhu’s mind.

Her face went instantly pale.

“Princess—!!”

A clear voice called over the water urgently:

“Princess! Xuan Ying! Get on the boat! It’s me, Chang Jun!”

Chang Jun!

It was as if light broke through darkness. Lizhu rushed to the starboard stern and indeed spotted a small eunuch on the inky river, waving them over.

Everyone found themselves snatched from the brink of death and were overjoyed.

Though smaller than the imperial vessel, the grain-transport boat could still hold Lizhu and her retinue.

One maid called back, “Lord Lu! Get on the boat quickly!”

Chang Jun stood on the deck and received the women as they jumped down one by one.

Lu Yu fell back to the gunwale. Seeing Lizhu safe aboard, he said decisively:

“The bandits have bows and arrows. If no one holds the rear, a storm of arrows will follow. Princess, rest assured—our swimming is good. After you leave we will dive into the water and scatter along the shore, then rejoin the Princess later!”

Lizhu knew this was no time for wavering; she agreed at once.

Lizhu turned back, gripping Chang Jun’s arm.

“These bandits are after us. If the boatmen grow tired, have others take their place immediately. We must sail at full speed tonight, no carelessness!”

Chang Jun clearly didn’t understand why the bandits would ignore treasure and target them instead, but he still answered at once: “Understood! This place is dangerous—please, Princess, go inside for safety!”

The water rippled, the wind filled the sails.

The firelight and sounds of shouting and killing grew more distant, and the tension in everyone’s hearts finally eased a little.

“Is the Princess hurt anywhere?” Xuan Ying brought a blanket and wrapped the thinly clad Lizhu tightly in it.

Lizhu shook her head, still dazed.

“I’m fine. What about the others?”

“Chang Jun is checking now. Thanks to Lord Lu and him, everyone should be safe—just frightened… Earlier I thought the Princess was too cautious, but I never imagined there really would be bandits so reckless…”

This was the imperial ship!

How could they dare!

“Ordinary bandits would never have such courage.”

Lizhu’s dark eyes were steady in the night, her voice clear and calm:

“Someone wants me to die here, but without showing their face. They planned to pin the blame on the local bandits, while they themselves hide behind the scenes, untouched.”

Xuan Ying’s face turned pale, but clarity dawned in her heart.

“You mean… She’s truly gone mad. How could she dare! If anything happens to the Princess, how could she possibly explain it away?”

In Luoyang, the local noble clans and the Tan family stood as equals in power.

The Emperor Mingzhao was still in good health; the Tan clan needed to rely on their status as imperial in-laws to gather allies just to maintain their footing in Luoyang, they were far from dominating the court.

How could she dare to break her alliance with Emperor Mingzhao, ignore all consequences, and strike such a fatal blow?

But the truth was right before them.

Lizhu closed her eyes. Resting her head on Xuan Ying’s shoulder, she spoke softly:

“The Empress and the Tan clan share glory and ruin. Even if the Tan family learns what happened tonight and grows furious, they won’t dare touch her. They’ll only do their utmost to clean up the mess for her.”

Lizhu felt herself a fool.

She had measured others by her own heart, believing everyone weighed gain and loss before acting.

She had been certain that no matter how much Empress Tan disliked her, she would never, at this stage, truly want her dead.

If only her own life were lost, it wouldn’t matter—but she had implicated others.

In her past life, before she died, she had at least managed to arrange safety for those on this ship. How could it be that, having lived again, she would instead bring them to an early grave?

Xuan Ying stood stunned for a long moment.

“…My Princess…”

She pulled Lizhu tightly into her arms, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“If Lady Mi Jiang were still alive, how could you—how could you have to suffer like this…”

Lizhu’s heart ached as well. She raised her hand to wipe away Xuan Ying’s tears.

“I’m not suffering, Xuan Ying. Don’t cry anymore. We’re not going anywhere else… We’ll go to Wan Commandery, meet Tan Xun, and I’ll marry him. Nothing will happen to us.”

When Xuan Ying finally drifted into a hazy sleep, Lizhu quietly opened the chest in the cargo hold.

Inside were all the things she had wanted to bring to Pei Yinzhi—but after what had happened, she could no longer meet him ahead of time. If she did, she would only bring him harm.

She hugged her knees and sat silently for a long while.

She would remember her helplessness from this day.

A few tears fell into the chest, unseen by anyone.

The grain boat drifted downstream along the Yan River.

No one knew how much time had passed. When the darkness began to fade and the sky turned deep blue, a loud bang suddenly came from beneath the hull. The entire boat jolted violently.

The maidservants screamed in fright.

Lizhu and Xuan Ying woke at once. Chang Jun, who had been keeping watch by the cabin door, snapped his eyes open and immediately leapt up with his sword.

Someone was boring holes into the ship!

Chang Jun said, “Princess, stay calm. I’ll go take a look!”

Lizhu at once leaned out the window to see.

By the dim light of early dawn, she caught sight of four or five human heads faintly visible on the water’s surface.

And those were only the ones within view, who knew how many more lurked unseen in the surrounding darkness?

Cold sweat drenched Lizhu in an instant.

“Xuan Ying, prepare the boat!”

“…Princess! Where are you going, Princess!”

Leaving Xuan Ying’s cry behind her, Lizhu lifted her skirt and hurried to the lower deck, calling to the women rowing the boat.

“Xuan Ying is getting the small boat ready. Don’t be afraid, come with me!”

Once they left the cabin, everyone realized the men weren’t just drilling holes, the other side of the grain boat had already been caught with iron hooks.

The maidservants, raised in the deep palace, had never seen anything like this.

Terrified to the point their legs gave out, they could no longer think, forgetting all sense of rank or propriety. They clung to Lizhu, who instead grabbed each of them and helped them one by one into the small boat.

Chang Jun kicked down two men trying to climb aboard, flicked the blood from his sword, and looked back.

“Xuan Ying! Get the Princess on the boat!”

“I know! Princess, give me your hand!”

Xuan Ying, pushed onto the small boat by Lizhu, immediately reached back to grasp her hand—then her pupils suddenly shrank—

“Princess!!”

In the blink of an eye, Lizhu felt the entire vessel lurch backward; her outstretched hand was instantly pulled far from Xuan Ying’s grasp!

The iron hooks were bound by ropes, the other ends held by men on the shore—the grain boat was being dragged toward land with violent force.

“Heh, trying to run?”

The masked Fang Jian let out a low, cold shout:

“Kill the Princess of Qinghe and that little eunuch first, deal with the rest later! Keep pulling!”

The grain boat crashed hard against the shore. Lizhu, standing by the gunwale, lost her balance and fell straight into the water.

Fortunately, the water near the bank was shallow. After struggling for a few moments, she managed to steady herself, wading through the reeds as she shouted toward Chang Jun, who was still fighting amid the chaos:

“Chang Jun! Run toward the forest! They chose this place for an ambush, there must be major bandits nearby!”

Her words struck the heart of the matter. Fang Jian nearly ground his teeth to dust.

She was right.

This place was called Yushan, lying at the border between Yiling and Wan Commanderies. Several open and hidden channels ran through it, making the terrain exceedingly complex.

And it was precisely this tangled landscape that had given rise to the largest bandit stronghold in the Hezhou region.

According to secret reports from the Prefect of Yiling Commandery, the bandit fortress was concealed deep within the northern slopes of Yushan. Because the mountain was thick with yellowing sumac and crimson maples, the place was named Hongye Stronghold—Hongye Fort.

Though the fortress had not existed for long, it was already infamous throughout the greenwood.

Among travelers it was said, “Better to meet wolves than to meet the mountain demon,”—and the “mountain demon” was the stronghold’s chief.

No one knew his exact age, only that he was exceedingly young, with a broad back and narrow waist, fierce and valiant in bearing. Wherever he went, he carried himself with striking grandeur, trailed by countless followers, killing and looting with laughter still on his lips.

It was even rumored that many officials within Yiling Commandery secretly kept ties with him, exchanging favors and goods beyond counting.

The Prefect of Yiling had long wished to rid himself of this thorn, but twice he sent troops to suppress the stronghold—twice they failed.

Since Hongye Fort had not yet grown to the scale of open rebellion, the lower officials simply agreed to conceal the matter.

When the day came that the stronghold truly turned traitor, they would simply shift the blame upward to the provincial governor and wash their hands clean.

But before that could happen, the Prefect of Yiling made contact with someone close to the Empress.

It was said he intended to borrow a knife to kill.

As fate would have it, the Prefect shared that intent. The two sides struck an instant accord. Captain of the Guards, Yang Kun, instructed Fang Jian to make sure the imperial ship was diverted mid-journey—so that it would pass through the waters near Hongye Fort.

The plan was flawless in its design, with only one critical condition.

They must never actually encounter the bandits of Hongye Fort.

Otherwise, the borrowed knife might fail to kill its mark—and instead, their own heads would be the ones severed.

Fang Jian kicked the subordinate beside him hard.

“What are you standing around for! Can’t even handle a little eunuch? Useless trash! Move! If this mission fails, your whole families will lose their heads!”

“Yes, sir!”

Chasing after Lizhu and Chang Jun, the group plunged deeper into the crimson-leafed forest.