Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 268 Chase

Night falls at the Lianzhou government office.

Only one government office was still lit by candlelight, where Pei Nian was still handling official business concerning the drought in the southwest of Yong Kingdom.

She's usually someone who puts others before her own needs and is always focused on her work, but today she couldn't help but drift off, her pen stopping mid-write and hovering in mid-air.

Ink dripped onto the official document with a "plop," which annoyed Pei Nian. He pushed the document aside and instead wrote a letter of resignation for Yin Jinggen.

During her trip to Yong, she greatly admired Yin Jingheng, and knew that Yin Jingheng admired her in return. In fact, Yin Jingheng might have even guessed she was a spy sent by Rui, yet he still entrusted her with important tasks. However, this admiration was between rivals, and it couldn't change Pei Nian's loyalty to Rui.

Gu Jingnian didn't understand; she wasn't loyal to Emperor Rui, but to the Rui Kingdom.

The letter of resignation contained nothing else but a description of Gu Jingnian's change of heart.

She abandoned her family and country to come to Yong for Gu Jingnian, and now that she has no reason to stay in Yong, she should leave.

At the end of the letter, Pei Nian wished Gu Jingnian and Feng Niang a long and happy marriage. Finally, he placed the official seal and token on the envelope, pushed open the door, and went to the stable.

After walking a few steps, she suddenly remembered something, changed direction, went back to pick up the official seal and token again, and went to the back hall of the yamen.

The guards still recognized her and called her "Commander Pei".

Pei Nian whispered, "The matter is urgent. His Highness has ordered me to bring the Princess to the capital. Go and prepare the horses."

"Yes, Commandant Pei, please."

A door opened, and Yin Shu, who was under house arrest, turned around. Seeing that it was Pei Nian, she sneered.

Looking back, Yin Shu realized that her tragedy began after she met Pei Nian, and she gritted her teeth in anger.

"What are you here for?"

Pei Nian sensed her tone and asked, "You hate me?"

"of course."

"Why do you hate me?" Pei Nian asked again.

Yin Shu opened her mouth to answer, but didn't know what to say.

She deeply hated Pei Nian, yet upon reflection, Pei Nian seemed to have never harmed her. Her father was deceived by Feng Niang, killed by Gu Jingnian, and it was Yin Jinggeng and his son who seized the throne from her grandfather. It was Gu Jingnian who orchestrated the massacre. From beginning to end, it was she who persecuted Pei Nian, trying to seize a heartless man.

Thinking about this, Yin Shu felt really stupid.

She may be naive, but she was stubborn and said, "I don't hate you, I look down on you. You abandoned your family and career for a man and ran away to a foreign country with him. And what happened? He eloped with my stepmother."

Faced with such sarcasm, Pei Nian remained unmoved and retorted, "So, we're in similar situations, so we can be considered kindred spirits?"

"Who considers you a confidant?"

Yin Shu agreed, but upon further reflection, she realized that she was actually not even as good as Pei Nian, and her heart grew even more desolate.

Pei Nian didn't waste words with her. He stepped forward and whispered in her ear, "I'll give you two choices. First, come with me to Rui Kingdom, and you will gain the status that Wei Li had in Yong Kingdom. Second, report me to the Yong court as a spy from Rui Kingdom, and I'll bet Yin Yu and his father will spare your life and imprison you for life."

"You!" Yin Shu was furious. "I knew it all along..."

"select."

Just a moment ago, Yin Shu looked disgusted, but now she had grabbed Pei Nian's arm and said, "Take me away."

She knew very well that sometimes family members could be more terrifying than enemies. Although she still had some use to Ruiguo, she was a thorn in the side of Yin Yu and his father.

While begging Pei Nian to take her away, she didn't forget to play a little trick, saying, "I'm also useful to you. Taking me back will be your achievement."

"is it?"

"You didn't know, did you?" Yin Shu said, "My imperial grandfather is still alive..."

"Let's go."

Pei Nian led Yin Shu out of the government office, mounted his horse, and headed straight for the east gate.

The city gates were already closed. She rushed to the gate, took out her token, and ordered the gates to be opened. Once outside the city, Yin Shu immediately raised the wind, and the horses galloped even faster.

Pei Nian dared not linger and ran wildly for a long time before finally resting in a grove of trees for more than an hour. As soon as it was light, he continued eastward.

After running all day, they finally found a dilapidated temple to rest in.

"I can't go on," Yin Shu cried out, "I've been using my powers for too long, I'm so tired... Will they catch up with us?"

Pei Nian said, "At our speed, not many people can catch up with us."

As she spoke, she quickly started a fire, caught a few birds to roast, and handed the water bag and dry rations to Yin Shu.

Yin Shu drank a few sips of water and finally caught her breath. Looking at the birds roasting over the fire, she asked, "We have dry food, why are we going through all this trouble to catch birds?"

"These birds have been following us; they might be Feng Niang's spies."

“We should eat them,” Yin Shutong said, indignantly.

Pei Nian glanced at her but didn't say anything. Once the bird was cooked, she handed it over with a wooden fork.

"Eat and then take a nap. We'll continue our journey at dawn."

"Oh...it tastes so bland."

Pei Nian remained indifferent, took out a bottle of fine salt from her bundle, sprinkled it evenly on the meat, grilled it again, and handed it to Yin Shu.

"How come you can do everything?" Yin Shu asked.

"I learned it." "If you were a man, I should really like you." Yin Shu muttered, "I must have been blind to fall for Gu Jingnian. He's not nice to me at all."

Upon hearing this, Pei Nian realized that Gu Jingnian hadn't been very good to her either.

That person was withdrawn and had a strange temper. In fact, even though the two of them had been pretending to be a couple for so long, he had never been gentle or considerate. He was really not a good person.

But before falling asleep, Pei Nian thought again that Gu Jingnian had actually risked his life for her several times.

She opened her eyes again.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a shooting star streaking across the sky. Upon closer inspection, she quickly woke Yin Shu.

"Get up, the pursuers are here."

"What pursuers? They're here so fast!"

"Gu Jingnian has come in person."

Yin Shu's hatred rekindled, but after a moment's thought, she said, "Is he trying to kill you?"

Pei Nian didn't answer, but said, "Let's go."

They quickly left the dilapidated temple and ran north for a long time.

Suddenly, Yin Shu pointed and said, "Gu Jingnian is over there!"

"how come?"

Pei Nian had been keeping an eye on the sky and hadn't seen Gu Jingnian flying this way at all, so how could he suddenly appear in front of them?

"Could it be that he has already seen us?"

"Hide first."

--------

A breeze blew through the night sky, and Gu Jingnian's body, which was standing in mid-air, appeared and disappeared.

Five miles to the south, in a flying car in the mountains, Gu Jingnian opened his eyes.

Just now, he used the teleportation technique to travel to several directions, looking out from high places to search for Pei Nian.

However, he only possessed this special ability and was not proficient in it. In addition, this was not a boundary, so it was somewhat difficult for him to use. After continuously transmitting images for a day and a night, he was already quite tired.

"At their fastest speed, they can probably only run to a radius of about 100 miles."

As Gu Jingnian spoke, he took out a map and marked several locations, including villages, post stations, and temples.

“I just checked, and there are signs that people have stayed overnight in these places. Let’s split up and search. I’ll go to this dilapidated temple.”

“Fine.” Fengniang gritted her teeth and said, “Someone shot my bird in that dilapidated temple. It’s very likely Pei Nian. I’ll go with you.”

"No need, you can stay here and oversee things."

Gu Jingnian quickly spread his wings and flew towards the dilapidated temple.

Just now, his teleportation image landed in the dilapidated temple, where he saw the still warm embers of the campfire.

The people he could trust now, besides Feng Niang's, were the remnants of the Yue Kingdom. Pan Chengqiu and Luo Xia could both fly, while Qin'er could control a flying car. They quickly set off in different directions under Feng Niang's orders.

After a while, a bird landed on Fengniang's hand and chirped twice.

After hearing this, Fengniang thought for a moment, then summoned Qin'er, Luoxia, Miao Chunniang, Gao Changgan, and others, gave them a few instructions, and they headed north.

--------

"Huh, Gu Jingnian seems to be gone."

In the mountains and forests, Yin Shu looked up for a long time, and suddenly said something.

She immediately tugged at Pei Nian's sleeve and asked, "Should we continue running?"

“No,” Pei Nian said, “use stillness to control movement.”

"why?"

"No matter how high Gu Jingnian flies, he can't see us. He's deliberately trying to provoke us out."

Yin Shu asked, "It seems you know him very well..."

"Shhh."

Pei Nian didn't fall silent because she didn't want to talk about what she knew about Gu Jingnian, but because she saw a speeding car coming this way.

She immediately realized something was wrong, and looking around, she saw birds in the treetops.

"We've been spotted! We need to get out of here, and we have to hurry..."

As he spoke, Pei Nian turned around.

But under the moonlight, she suddenly met a pair of eyes—Miao Chunniang's eyes.

Before she knew it, Miao Chunniang was already standing in front of her.

With just one glance, she forgot that she wanted to escape.

The most recent memory in her mind was waiting for Gu Jingnian to return. This was indeed her true memory, and it was something she had once deeply longed for.

(End of this chapter)