“Oh right, where is the Crown Prince? His mother has gone missing. Is he still in the Eastern Palace?” The Emperor sent people to the Eastern Palace to check.
The internal attendant came back to report that the Crown Prince was extremely anxious upon hearing that his mother had gone missing. He was currently offering incense and praying for the Empress to return safely.
The Emperor was unhappy. As a man, he only knew how to pray when things happened. Couldn’t he be like Prince Zhou and gone out personally to help and put in effort for his Elders? He was only proactive when it came to hunting.
As Concubine Yan heard the Emperor complain, she served him some warm tea. “Your Majesty, you cannot blame the Crown Prince. The Empress is his biological mother. The Crown Prince must be very worried. His biological mother has gotten into an accident and the Crown Prince is extremely frantic. It is understandable that he may make some mistakes.”
The Emperor shook his head. “In the future, he will have to rule Great Tang. How can I rest assured if he makes mistakes easily?”
“Your Majesty is talking about the future ruler. I am timid and do not dare to say much. Please do not talk about this area of things with me in case other people were to misunderstand.”
There were rules in the internal palace. They were not allowed to interfere in government affairs.
“Concubine Yan, you are very good. You know how to avoid the topic. I should not bring it up.”
Without knowing how much control the Empress had, Concubine Yan and her son had to tread carefully. Concubine Yan was neither proud nor impatient. “Your Majesty, please have tea.”
Fu Rou fell onto the ground as the night pearl rolled away.
She could not go any further, she had no more strength. The cave looked like a mouth gushing with blood, ready to swallow her at any moment. She thought of her parents, elder sister, second brother and younger sister. Ever since they came to Chang’an, they spent very few days together, making her miss the days back in Guangzhou very often. In her memory, even Third Madam was cute and slightly petty. It was really happy to have the family so close and always interacting. She then thought of Chumu, who made her happy as well.
She closed her eyes and felt as if a soft breeze was blowing against her face. She smiled slightly, “Chumu ah, Chumu. Ever since meeting you, my entire life has changed. Because of you, I entered Han Mansion and then the Royal Palace. Now, I am the Empress’ Siyan. Although it has been difficult, the days have been exciting. Regardless of how this ends, I will always be thankful for you. You are like a warm breeze that blew into my life….breeze?”
Fu Rou’s eyes shot open. There’s wind! If there’s wind, there must be an exit!
Her desire to live suppressed everything else she was feeling as she straightened herself and picked up the night pearl. She started walking once again. Very soon, she saw light shining in. She excitedly pulled apart the vines that were blocking the light. The harsh sunlight shone into her face, making it hard for her to open her eyes.
When her eyes adjusted to the light, she calmed down. She assessed her surroundings and realised that this exit was different from the one they had entered.
However, before she could truly bask in happiness, a tiger walked out from amidst the grass. She felt as if her soul left her in fright. She did not even realise that she had dropped the map as she only thought of escaping from the tiger. Even her newfound energy depleted and she fell to the ground once more. No matter how she tried, she could not pull herself up. She heard the low growl of the tiger as it neared her. Her consciousness started to flicker.
In her heart, she was screaming for Sheng Chumu!
As if her cry has been heard, a pair of male boots appeared in the distance. The miserable growl of the tiger was heard next before silence fell over the area once again.
She faintly knew that the man had helped her get rid of the wild animal and wanted to take a look. However, she felt her whole body being lifted into the air when the man picked her up. Then, she lost consciousness.
Chapter 46.2: Exit
Sheng Chumu was extremely frustrated. They had scanned through the entire place and only managed to find the Grand Emperor’s broken carriage and Lu Qi who had busted his head on a stone. He could not find Fu Rou anywhere.
He knew that Fu Rou was smart and would not panic. However, as the sky darkened, he could not stop his imagination from running wild. What if Fu Rou had fainted from hunger or thirst or met with a wild animal or fell down a cliff…
“General, we found something!” A soldier started waving a piece of cloth in front of him.
Sheng Chumu’s heart was palpitating but his legs did not hesitate. He was the first to rush towards the soldier and found that the cloth was made of the material used in the Royal Palace. The black dots and lines drawn on it were very familiar.
Rou’er! He was confident that she was the one that drew this.
“This is a map. It records many paths but it does not look like a mountain pass…” Sheng Chumu spoke and suddenly exclaimed, “Could this be within the cave? Search this area immediately, take note of any cave openings!”
Very soon, someone found a cave opening. Sheng Chumu rushed in front of the cave. Wind was blowing into the cave and the flame that they were holding barely lit the place up. However, he walked in fearlessly. He was holding the map that Fu Rou had personally drawn and Fu Rou had never made a mistake before.
Sheng Chumu brought some men into the cave. They walked for a very long time and were amazed at Fu Rou’s brilliance. The map was detailed and accurate. If not for the map, they would have gotten lost a long time ago.
“This is the starting point of the map.” He hit the stonewall and shouted, “Rou...Grand Emperor! Your Majesty!”
Very soon, they received a reply.
Sheng Chumu looked at the small dot on the map, it was different from all the other symbols. Very soon, he found the mechanism to open the door to the stone rooms. He immediately saw Empress Zhangsun, Grand Emperor and Grand Prince Liang.
Empress Zhangsun was extremely weak. “You are finally here.”
Sheng Chumu greeted, “Sheng Chumu here. Greetings Grand Emperor, Your Majesty and Grand Prince Liang…”
Grand Prince Liang ignored him as he rushed to ask the soldiers for something to eat.
Empress Zhangsun spoke, “General Sheng, you saved our lives. When we return to Chang’an, I will definitely get His Majesty to reward you.”
Sheng Chumu scanned the surroundings and did not see Fu Rou. “I heard that Fu Siyan escaped along with Your Majesty, why...are there only three people?”
Empress Zhangsun froze. “Eh, Fu Siyan went to find the exit. I thought she brought you all in here. Why? Didn’t you see her outside?”
Sheng Chumu’s heart sank as he held up the map. “We found this outside the cave but did not see Fu Siyan.”
Empress Zhangsun looked at it. “That’s right. This is the cloth that I gave Fu Siyan, but why is she missing?”
Sheng Chumu grabbed his fist and bowed. “I am not capable enough, I will continue to look for Fu Siyan.”
Empress Zhangsun muttered, “Fu Siyan saved me, Grand Emperor and Grand Prince Liang. Now that she has gone missing, I cannot rest assured. General Sheng, I am counting on you. No matter how much you have to do, you must definitely bring her back safely. I will handle His Majesty. You will not be considered to have failed your duty.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will not let you down.” Sheng Chumu turned and left.
He was already planning to flip the entire Cangshan Mountain with or without the Empress’ permission. Failed to do his duty? He didn't care about any of them. There was nothing more important Fu Rou in this world.