Chapter 100: Crossing the Pass, Encountering Fleeing Soldiers

The north grows bleak in autumn; beyond the frontier, the wild geese that once flew southward are long gone, leaving no lingering trace. All around, the sounds of the border rise with the mournful blare of horns. Amid a thousand layered peaks, long smoke drifts beneath the setting sun, and a lonely fortress shuts its gates.

It was already deep autumn, and the farther north they traveled, the more bitterly the cold bit. Seated in the carriage, Shen Qianmo could distinctly feel the chill seeping in, wave after wave.

As a little girl, she had longed for the feeling of galloping across vast skies and boundless lands. Later, after meeting Yuan Lie and learning that his family owned a huge horse ranch, she would visit from time to time. Under Yuan Lie’s guidance, her riding skills improved day by day. Though she could not compare with the Cloudriders, among women she considered herself by no means inferior.

“To ride a thousand miles for war, to cross passes and rivers as swiftly as a flying horse.” This time, coming to Jinyang Pass, she had truly wanted to taste the thrill of racing across the fields on horseback. Unfortunately, to accommodate Green Bamboo, who could not ride, she had had no choice but to take the carriage.

“Miss, would you like another layer?” Green Bamboo, sitting beside her, took from the bundle a thick brocade cloak lined with sable fur, intending to drape it over her.

Shen Qianmo waved it off. “No need. It’s not too late to put it on after we get out.”

Seeing faint fatigue on Green Bamboo’s delicate oval face, she asked, “You’ve been on the road for days. Are you tired?”

Green Bamboo shook her head quickly. “Not tired, not tired at all. This servant is sturdy as can be, not the least bit tired. It’s you, Miss—your health has always been delicate. This servant is truly worried you won’t be able to bear such hardship.” Her small face was full of concern.

Shen Qianmo smiled lightly. “Don’t worry. Your young lady is no longer the frail miss she used to be. I’m fine.”

“That’s true. You keep surprising this servant more and more, Miss. I feel there’s hardly anything now that can stump you.” Green Bamboo’s large black-and-white eyes blinked with admiration as she looked at her.

For convenience, Shen Qianmo and Green Bamboo were both dressed as men for this march. Shen Qianmo had tied up her long black hair with nothing but a ribbon, high and neat, much like the ponytail she often wore in her former life. She wore a simple pale-blue robe, unadorned from head to toe; though she wore no makeup, her skin was fair and luminous as jade. Composed in bearing and tranquil in expression, she possessed a beauty both gentle and refined.

Looking at the lady she had followed for more than ten years, Green Bamboo felt she ought to know her better than anyone, and yet there was an unfamiliarity to her now.

The old miss had once not even dared step beyond the gates of the Grand Duke’s estate. But the present one was bolder than any man: not only could she examine corpses and solve cases, she even dared to go to the battlefield.

Though she could not understand what had happened, and though the capital spread rumors that the miss had been possessed by some evil spirit, so what? Even if she had been possessed, she would always be her miss.

“You little thing, your tongue is getting sweeter by the day.” Seeing the look of adoration on Green Bamboo’s face, Shen Qianmo curved her lips in a smile. The girl was truly sincere with her.

Originally, she had not planned to bring Green Bamboo along. But the moment the girl heard that she was going to the battlefield, she clung to her no matter what, and before dawn had even broken she was waiting at her door with two bundles in hand. Shen Qianmo had not known whether to laugh or cry. Thinking that the military camp would be full of rough men, it might be good to have her along for company, so she agreed.

Over the past few months, after following her through so many things, this girl had indeed become steadier and bolder. This outing could also count as training for her.

The broad river caught the sun as it sank; dusk was falling. Eighty thousand troops advanced swiftly through the mountains in disciplined formation. Horses neighed all along the way, dust billowed into the sky, and countless birds were startled into flight.

“Green Bamboo, ask Xue Hao how long it will be until we reach Jinyang Pass,” Shen Qianmo said indifferently from within the carriage.

“Yes.” Green Bamboo responded, lifted the curtain, and called out, “Captain Xue, may I ask how much farther it is to Jinyang Pass?”

After failing to protect Shen Qianmo last time and being punished by Meng Yuanheng for negligence, Xue Hao had been driven out of the shadow guard ranks and sent back to train with the Cloudriders. After several months, the young man had worked diligently and performed well, and was now promoted to the rank of captain.

For this journey, Wenren Yuan had ordered him to protect Shen Qianmo along the way. Riding beside the carriage, he had been carefully watching the surroundings when he suddenly heard Green Bamboo’s question and instinctively turned his head. Seeing Green Bamboo’s pretty face and bright eyes, a faint flush rose on the handsome young man’s face.

After clearing his throat, he said with deliberate seriousness, “Miss Green Bamboo, we are already not far from Jinyang Pass. If nothing unexpected occurs, we should arrive before nightfall.”

“Oh, thank you.” Green Bamboo thanked him, then turned back to relay his answer to Shen Qianmo.

Seeing her cheeks pink and a trace of shyness that had not yet faded, Shen Qianmo’s heart moved.

Could this girl have feelings for Xue Hao?

Xue Hao was handsome, with clear brows and a fine appearance, and he had ambition as well. By all accounts he was a good man, and quite well matched with Green Bamboo. If the two could become husband and wife, it would indeed be a fine thing.

Just as she was turning the thought over and preparing to probe Green Bamboo, she suddenly heard a burst of warhorses’ cries from outside, and then the carriage jolted and came to a stop.

“What happened?” Shen Qianmo lifted the curtain and looked outside.

Xue Hao dismounted and reported from the side of the carriage, “Princess Consort, there are several of our deserters ahead. General Wenren has captured them and is questioning them now.”

Deserters? Shen Qianmo frowned slightly. Could the garrison at Jinyang Pass truly be so incapable, or was Helian Cheng indeed such a master of war that he was not to be dealt with lightly?

“Go ahead and take a look,” she instructed Xue Hao quietly.

“Yes.” Xue Hao took the order and had the coachman drive the carriage to the very front of the column.

From within the carriage, Shen Qianmo could hear Wenren Yuan’s stern and righteous rebuke. “You three, since you are guards of Jinyang Pass, you should have done everything in your power and sworn to defend the pass to the death. Yet now you flee before battle like cowards. Do you not fear military punishment?”

Seeing Shen Qianmo step down from the carriage, Wenren Yuan turned and bowed to her. “Greetings, Princess Consort.”

Shen Qianmo nodded at him. In front of him knelt three soldiers in armor, covered in grime and dust so that their true faces could not be seen. They had their heads lowered at the moment, apparently intimidated by Wenren Yuan’s imposing presence and too afraid to look up.

At the sound of Wenren Yuan’s greeting, the three instinctively raised their heads and gave Shen Qianmo a quick glance.

Their eyes were shifty and deceitful, their faces sly, with something hidden beneath the surface. They were by no means honest or benevolent men. Shen Qianmo cast a cool glance and had already reached her conclusion.

Her training in psychology and microexpressions had not been for nothing. The suspicious points about these three went beyond that.

If they were truly deserters from the battlefield, why was it only their faces that were filthy, while their armor remained intact? It was more like an intentional attempt to conceal their identities.

Besides, she did not believe the rations at Jinyang Pass were good enough to fatten a man like that. The soldier in the middle was obviously fleshy and swollen, nothing like a lowly footman who had spent years fighting on the battlefield.

“Who exactly are you three? Why do you impersonate frontier soldiers and flee from Jinyang Pass?” Having already reached her conclusion, Shen Qianmo sharply questioned them, striking at the point without giving them any room to wriggle free.

At her words, the three shrank back. Then, in unison, they cried out that they were innocent, insisting they were only border soldiers who, because the fighting had grown desperate and Jinyang Pass was in danger, and because the northern Di were fierce and savage, cutting down anyone they saw, had been gripped by terror. As each of them had parents, wives, and children to care for at home, they had acted on impulse and tried to flee for the sake of their lives.

Their tearful lamentations were so sincere they could move heaven and earth, so pitiful that anyone hearing them would weep. Shen Qianmo only gave a cold laugh and said to Wenren Yuan, “General Wenren, if a soldier flees before battle, how should military law punish him?”

“Execution,” Wenren Yuan said gravely.

Shen Qianmo nodded. “The three of you fled in the face of battle, shaking our army’s morale and causing us to lose the initiative before even fighting. Your crime is truly heinous. General Wenren, deal with them here according to military law.”

She refused to believe she could not force out their true identities.

“As ordered.” Wenren Yuan was just about to instruct his deputy to drag the three away and execute them on the spot when, from afar behind them, a sharp cry rang out: “Wait! I beg Princess Consort Xuan to show mercy!”