Chapter 580: Chapter 580. Pursuit At Night
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The man in black wrote down the address of the Chamber of Commerce. Su Qing memorized it with a glance and asked Xiao Qi to check the data in the system to see how many days it would take to reach Jincheng.
“Master, from the capital to Jincheng, we must walk two hundred and twenty miles.”
Xiao Qi entered the address her master gave into the system and told Su Qing after finding the data.
The 220-mile distance was neither too far nor too close. The road was uneven, and it would take at least nine hours by carriage. It was noon, and they would reach Jincheng after midnight if they set off now.
Su Qing was worried they would take that person away from the Great Tang, so she couldn’t care less about ginseng, much less go back and inform Xiao Zeyu. She decided to go to Jincheng immediately.
Because she was not sure if what the man in black said was true, she was not in a hurry to kill him. Instead, she took him with her to Jincheng.
When the guards heard that the Empress was going to Jincheng, they were so frightened that they knelt on the ground.
“Empress, we dare not. Please return to the palace.”
How could they dare to take the Empress away without permission? If anything were to happen, the Emperor would execute their entire family.
”1 have to go. Return to the palace and report to the Emperor that I went to Jincheng.”
Su Qing looked at them with a cold face. No one could stop her from making a decision. In order not to let the guards delay her, she pressed their acupoints.
The guards looked at the Empress in a daze. The Empress’ martial arts were unfathomable. They were also considered experts, but they couldn’t escape the Empress’s plot.
“Master, I’ll go with you.”
Zhong Yong ran over with a big bag of herbs in his arms. He loved to go on missions with his master the most, and it was gratifying to fight.
“Alright.”
Su Qing nodded her head. Zhong Yong was powerful, and his martial arts were strong. He alone could fight ten people, and he was obedient.
Seeing that his master had agreed, Zhong Yongle’s mouth was wide open.
“Empress, please help us release our acupoints. We are willing to protect Empress to Jincheng.”
The guard, Little Ding, begged Su Qing. Su Qing pressed their immobilizing acupoints, not their mute acupoints, so that they could speak freely.
The other three guards also nodded vigorously.
If they accompanied the Empress to Jincheng, the Emperor might angrily punish them. Still, if they did not follow the Empress if something happened to the Empress, then the crime would be great, and the entire family would be implicated.
Compared to the two, it was better to accompany the Empress to Jincheng to protect her with all their might. There was still a chance of survival.
“No need. Go back and help me report to the Emperor. I’ll write a letter for you to take back.”
Su Qing didn’t want to bring so many people with her. They only had one carriage, and the more people there were, the slower they would be.
“Empress, please let me follow!”
The guard, Little Ding, begged Su Qing even if he had to drive the Empress’ carriage.
“Alright, you drive the carriage.”
Su Qing glanced at him. This Little Ding was wise and calm enough. She could take him along. She just happened to be lacking a driver.
The other three guards looked at Little Ding enviously. It was useless for them to beg. The Emperor could not change the Empress’s decision.
“Sister Su Qing, I’ll go with you.”
Jiang Yuyan was halfway through digging the ginseng when she heard that Su Qing was going to Jincheng. She ran over excitedly.
“Alright then!”
Su Qing remembered she also needed someone to care for her, so she agreed to go with Jiang Yuyan. The three guards looked at Jiang Yuyan enviously, wishing they could replace her.
“Let’s go!”
Su Qing opened the acupuncture points of Guard Ding and asked him to drive the carriage. Then, she took Zhong Yong and Jiang Yuyan down the mountain.
Before she left, she instructed,
“After you release your acupuncture points, dig out this ginseng.”
“Xiao Qi, you stay here and protect them. Wait for an hour after I leave to unseal their acupoints.”
Su Qing feared they would be in danger if she left the three guards, so she called Xiao Qi out to protect them.
The three guards were moved to tears. Their Empress looked cold, but she was warm. They were lucky to be able to follow such a good master in their lives.
After Su Qing went down the mountain, the guard Little Ding brought the carriage over. Zhong Yong carried the man in black and threw him onto the shaft of the carriage, tying him up with a rope.
Although Zhong Yong was a coa.r.s.e man, he was a meticulous young man. He was afraid that his master would be inconvenienced to get on the carriage due to her pregnancy, so he placed a small stool under the carriage and let Jiang Yuyan help Su Qing get on the carriage.
Su Qing didn’t use Jiang Yuyan’s support. She was only four months old, and it wasn’t time for her to be unable to move. However, she didn’t jump into the carriage. She couldn’t let down her disciple’s filial piety. She stepped on the small stool and got into the carriage.
While Su Qing was rushing to Jincheng, Xiao Zeyu returned to the inner palace to look for Su Qing. Ultimately, the eunuch trembled with fear and told him that the Empress had left the palace.
Xiao Zeyu was very worried, especially when he heard that Su Qing had gone up the mountain to pick herbs.
Why didn’t Qing’er wait for him to come back before going?
In the afternoon, the imperial kitchen sent the dishes over. Looking at the table full of delicacies, Xiao Zeyu had no appet.i.te.
Qing’er didn’t come back at noon. Was she hungry?
“Did the Empress say which mountain she went to?”
Lunchtime had pa.s.sed, and it was already late afternoon. Xiao Zeyu couldn’t wait any longer and asked the eunuch.
“The Empress did not say.”
The eunuch trembled in fear. The key was that they couldn’t stop him.
Xiao Zeyu saw that he didn’t know anything and angrily slammed the table,”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“The Empress said that she would be back very soon and did not let us go to the throne room to report. She said that your affairs of the country are flourishing and that we should not disturb you for small matters.”
The eunuch replied with a trembling voice. They didn’t dare to tell the Emperor, afraid that the Emperor would blame them. They believed the Empress’ words even more, and now their intestines were green with regret. “She didn’t want to tell me, so you didn’t say anything? If anything happens to the Empress, who will be responsible?”
Xiao Zeyu was furious. It seemed that he was too good to these eunuchs and serving girls. He was so good that they forgot their dignity and dared to hide it from him.
Just as Xiao Zeyu was about to order the eunuchs and serving girls to be dragged out and given fifty lashes, the eunuch guarding the door ran in to report.
“Reporting to the emperor, niangniang’s guards have returned.”
“Call them in.”
Hearing that the guards had returned, Xiao Zeyu’s brows furrowed even more tightly. Only the guards had returned, but what about Su Qing?
The three guards walked into the palace dejectedly and knelt on the ground together. Xiao Zeyu closed his eyes in anger when he saw this. When he opened his eyes, he gritted his teeth and ordered,
“Speak.”
“Reporting to the Emperor, the Empress has captured a group of a.s.sa.s.sins.
This is the letter she asked us to deliver to the Emperor.”
The guard took Su Qing’s letter and handed it to the eunuch beside him, hoping the Emperor would spare their lives after reading the Empress’ letter.
Xiao Zeyu calmed himself down and opened the letter.
Su Qing wrote very briefly,
“Shuisheng, time is of the essence, so I can’t come back and tell you the details. I’m going to Jincheng now. Lanting has an important task. Sea City Base has a ship to pick them up.”
After Xiao Zeyu finished reading the letter, he glared at the three guards with a dark expression. The three guards were so scared that they kept quiet out of fear.
“Take them away and give each of them fifty strokes.”
Xiao Zeyu took a deep breath. In the end, he still didn’t kill them.
Because he knew that no one could stop Qing’er from doing what she wanted to do!
Su Qing arrived at Jincheng in the middle of the night. The city gates were tightly shut, and the city guards patrolled the city walls.
“Go and call the gate..”