The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 93 Escort
Xiao Yi walked out of the back door of the farmhouse and looked around. Most of the houses in the village had mud walls and thatched roofs.

Following the footprints to the main road in the village, the snow was trampled and disordered, making it difficult to discern the tracks.

But the tracks left by the deerskin boots were different from those of the villagers' hemp shoes. The soldiers carefully searched every alleyway and soon found a line of boot tracks. Following them, they found a tiled house that was more orderly than the mud house.

Song Yanwo made several hand gestures, signaling his soldiers to surround the area.

Once everything was in place, two soldiers stepped forward and kicked open the door.

"Oh!"

With the sound of the bolt snapping, the wooden door swung open.

To Xiao Yi's slight surprise, Liu Chengyou was sitting upright in the main hall, facing the main entrance.

He made no attempt to disguise himself, only removing his conspicuous bright yellow embroidered dragon robe and donning a light ochre undergarment made of fox fur. It was luxurious and warm, but it also made him appear thin and pale. In his eyes, a burning, resentful rage blazed.

Several armored soldiers and officials stood in front of Liu Chengyou. Xiao Yi recognized one of them as Yan Jinqing.

"Otto?"

Yan Jinqing also recognized Xiao Yi and exclaimed softly.

Xiao Yi nodded, sensing Liu Chengyou's gaze upon him.

"Were you sent by Guo Wei to assassinate the emperor?"

"No."

Xiao Yi's words were concise and to the point.

Liu Chengyou sneered, looked away, and said, "So, it's my brother-in-law who's going to do it?"

Song Yanwo hurriedly said, "Your Majesty has misunderstood. Lord Guo raised an army only to purge villains and eliminate treacherous officials. He had no intention of harming Your Majesty. Please come with me to clear up the misunderstanding."

Liu Chengyou scoffed, "Hypocrisy! Do you even believe these lies yourself?"

"Every word I spoke was true..."

"You might as well say that the victor is king and the loser is villain!" Liu Chengyou interrupted directly, gritting his teeth and saying, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. 'The emperor should be the one with the strongest army and the most powerful horses.' Now you are wholeheartedly supporting Guo Wei to become emperor and to preserve your glory and wealth, yet you still put on this hypocritical act? Disgusting."

"I had no such intention, but I could not bear to see Your Majesty suffer hardship and displacement."

"Ha, since I am going to die anyway, you can keep your obsequious face and go fawn over Guo Wei."

"Your Majesty, please return." Song Yanwo said no more, and shouted, "Take away all the traitors who have kidnapped Your Majesty!"

The soldiers of the Yicheng Army rushed forward and captured the armored men.

Liu Chengyou did not stop him, but sat still, while Yan Jinqing's face was full of helplessness and bitterness.

Finally, Song Yanwo turned to look at Xiao Yi, his eyes holding a slightly meaningful gaze.

Xiao Yi turned slightly to the side, indicating that he should do as he pleased.

Song Yanwo smiled wryly and personally went forward to help Liu Chengyou.

"Your Majesty, I am here to assist you."

"Good, it's better for him to fall into my brother-in-law's hands than for anyone else..."

Suddenly, Xiao Yi's gaze sharpened as he noticed a cruel smile playing on Liu Chengyou's lips, his crazed eyes blazing with murderous intent.

A cold glint flashed from his cuff.

"careful!"

Blood splattered.

A bloodstain appeared on the side of Song Yanwo's neck.

In a flash, Xiao Yi kicked out and struck Liu Chengyou's hand, sending the dagger flying.

"Your Majesty, this..."

Song Yanwo was stunned for a moment, then took two steps back, knelt down, and, ignoring his wound, said, "Your subject is guilty."

"Hahaha, if the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die! Die!"

Liu Chengyou grew increasingly frantic. Seeing that Song Yanwo did not answer, he spat out, "If you dare not die, then stop trying to disgust me... I was not defeated by Guo Wei, but by you cowards and traitors who betray your masters. You all deserve to die."

"I am terrified."

"Li Hongwei, Cao Wei, Hou Yi, Song Yanwo, I would rather raise more dogs than use you useless people."

Later, Liu Chengyou's anger erupted, and he lunged forward to kick Song Yanwo, but was held tightly by the soldiers and escorted away.

They finally captured the emperor alive.

Xiao Yi ignored Song Yanwo's embarrassed expression, stepped forward to pick up the dagger, and turned his head to see Yan Jinqing staring blankly at the dagger in his hand.

"What? You want to fight to the death?"

"No, no, no." Tears streamed down Yan Jinqing's face as he said sorrowfully, "I wanted to end my own life."

"Why rush to your death?" Xiao Yi said, "As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn."

Yan Jinqing was taken aback and said, "Yi Lang, you..."

Xiao Yi raised his hand to stop him, indicating that it was inconvenient for him to say more at this time, and ordered his men to take him away from the house.

A group of people returned along the same route.

Xiao Yi and Song Yanwo rode side by side.

"Xiao Lang saved me twice in one day."

“Brother Zhongjian, there’s no need to worry. I’m sure the Emperor was just agitated and didn’t really want to kill you.”

"Ugh."

Song Yanwo sighed, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.

Xiao Yi didn't speak first.

If today were a play, Wei Renpu's script was only four words long, which he didn't fully understand, making it difficult for him to get into character.

They turned back onto the main road and joined the main force.

When the officials guarding the golden carriage saw that the emperor was still alive, some of them wept with joy, followed by another round of crying.

After resting for a while, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from ahead.

Looking from afar, Xiao Yi saw Wei Renpu approaching at high speed with only two elite cavalrymen.

"Shut up!"

"Have you found the officials?"

"Yes," Song Yanwo said. "I have not failed in my mission."

Wei Renpu glanced in the direction of Jin Lu, looked deeply at Song Yanwo, then turned to Xiao Yi with a questioning look in his eyes.

Xiao Yi greeted him calmly.

"Come with me."

Xiao Yi and Song Yanwo dismounted and followed Wei Renpu into the nearby woods.

The forest was dark, and only Wei Renpu's eyes could be seen darting about.

"You two have captured the Emperor, an unparalleled achievement. But have you considered how Your Excellency will deal with him once he is brought back to Your Excellency's presence?"

Xiao Yi remained silent.

Song Yanwo's expression shifted, and he said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, please forgive me..."

"Is it feasible?!"

Wei Renpu interrupted, his voice even lower, yet each word was like a heavy hammer blow.

"Your Excellency is upright and righteous, unlike Dong Zhuo or Zhu Wen. Your purge of the court of corrupt officials was solely for the greater good, and you personally stated that 'only the ringleaders will be punished,' showing no intention of murdering the emperor. However, delegating power to the emperor will inevitably lead to future troubles and renewed chaos in the land. Holding him hostage will make it difficult to clear your name as a traitor to the Han dynasty, and it would also betray the original intention of the soldiers of Hebei who shed their blood for the cause. By sending the emperor back, you two are putting Your Excellency in a dilemma."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yi suddenly recalled another sentence that Wei Renpu had said back in Yedu.

"I have many 'secret matters' to attend to in Kaifeng, and I need someone's help." Wei Renpu intended for Liu Chengyou to finish filming now.

Xiao Yi thought that when he first came to Kaifeng, Wei Renpu probably planned to take advantage of the situation and let him kill the emperor. However, he did not expect that he would persuade Empress Dowager Li to submit, which caused Liu Chengyou to not return to Kaifeng and caused the situation to go wrong.

Looking at Song Yanwo again, his face was full of embarrassment.

The three remained silent for a long while.

Xiao Yi made up his mind not to speak first.

He was a stand-in, not a scapegoat, and he never cared about distributing the lunch boxes.

Finally, Song Yanwo asked, "According to Secretary Wei's opinion?"

"The emperor's son-in-law is a close relative of the emperor and is loyally protecting him today. However, the emperor is acting arbitrarily and there is no guarantee that something unexpected will happen. He may be killed by a villain."

"What does Xiao Lang think of Yan Jinqing?"

"Are there any other candidates?"

"Also."

Song Yanwo pointed to a prisoner outside the forest.

That was the last official to follow Liu Chengyou. He was not yet thirty years old, and he was very handsome with a fair complexion.

"Tea and wine envoy, Guo Yunming. This scoundrel is a close attendant of the emperor, a treacherous and sycophantic man who brings disaster to the country and its people. He is the one who must be killed to purge the emperor's inner circle."

"The candidate is good."

How do we get started?

Wei Renpu said, "Give them a chance to escape, let Xiao Lang catch up, and create the illusion that Guo Yunming murdered the emperor."

“I have a better idea.” Xiao Yi decisively refused, saying, “Persuade Guo Yunming to do it in public.”

How could he possibly agree to that?

"The condition is that he has thirty breaths to escape."

Song Yanwo said, "If he really escapes, then we're finished."

"Can't escape."

“Tell Guo Yunming,” Wei Renpu said, “that he is guilty of a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of his family. If he is willing to serve, spare his life.”

“Do it,” Song Yanwo said. “Make a vow that from now on, the three of us will be of one mind and never betray each other.”

"it is good."

The three then swore an oath to heaven in the forest.

Xiao Yi handed the dagger to Song Yanwo.

Song Yanwo took a deep breath and walked towards Liu Chengyou.

Xiao Yi then returned to his horse and checked his bowstring.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Song Yanwo earnestly urging Liu Chengyou to eat something, only to be spat on.

Song Yanwo felt embarrassed, turned to Guo Yunming, handed him the food, and ordered Guo Yunming to persuade him.

Not long after, Guo Yunming was slapped by Liu Chengyou. Song Yanwo went over to help him up and took Guo Yunming aside to talk.

The team continues to set off.

Suddenly, a warhorse was startled and kicked wildly, causing the horse pulling the golden carriage to bolt and crash into the woods beside the official road. The wheels of the golden carriage got stuck in a ditch in the woods.

At this moment, the cavalry in front widened the distance, and the officials and prisoners in the rear rushed forward, causing chaos in the ranks, with the surrounding soldiers only concerned with lifting the wheels.

Xiao Yi reined in his horse and watched coldly from afar.

Guo Yunming helped Liu Chengyou down from the imperial carriage and walked toward the woods beside the official road, gradually quickening his pace.

"His Majesty?"

"You must not go any further, Your Majesty, please come back."

"Your Majesty, let's go! Let's go!"

"Get them!"

The two of them suddenly took off running.

Unfortunately, after running for only a short while, Liu Chengyou fell to the ground, exhausted and collapsed.

Guo Yunming pulled twice but couldn't lift him up. He cried out in grief, pulled a dagger from his sleeve, and stabbed Liu Chengyou in the chest several times.

"puff."

"puff."

"Uh--"

With a short cry of pain, Liu Chengyou convulsed, and blood quickly stained his luxurious fox fur lining. He reached out and grabbed at the air, seemingly trying to grasp something.

Guo Yunming looked heartbroken and anxious, like a madman, crying and shouting as he rushed into the forest.

"Escort!"

"Escort!"

"Catch him..."

Xiao Yi, unhurriedly, took the bow from behind.

Regardless of what others were saying, he looked up at the sky and silently counted in his mind.

After counting to thirty breaths, he spurred his horse and chased after them into the woods.

The white horse was quite intelligent, dodging trees from time to time without slowing down.

Guo Yunming ran very fast, his figure appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Xiao Yi chased after him for about twenty paces, nocked an arrow, concentrated, and aimed.

"Whoosh."

The figure that flashed past the tree trunk crashed to the ground.

Song Yanwo had already led his men to surround the area, shouting angrily, "Kill the traitor who murdered the emperor!"

Soldiers stepped forward and dragged out Guo Yunming's body.

But then an arrow struck him squarely in the throat, and he was dead.

Xiao Yi put down the bow, turned around, and exchanged a glance with Wei Renpu and Song Yanwo almost imperceptibly.

This matter will remain a secret in their hearts forever.

After exchanging glances, Wei Renpu let out a long sigh of relief, smoothing his wind-blown beard as if he had just completed another trivial task.

"His Majesty!"

Song Yanwo cried out in grief and rushed to Liu Chengyou's body, sobbing uncontrollably.

The madness in Liu Chengyou's eyes gradually faded, and he slowly lost all his brilliance, only his face remained so young.

Just too young.

Feng Dao had enough experience, and the phrase "Emperor Xian's capital was permitted, and the Han sacrifices were still preserved" ultimately became a pipe dream.

A contemporary military man doesn't play the same tricks as Cao Cao.

"We failed in our duty to protect Your Majesty, and we beg for forgiveness."

"Take His Majesty back to the capital."

Snowflakes, swirled by the wind, landed on my face, cool and refreshing. The hoofprints left by the horses were quickly covered by fresh snow.

In this chaotic world, another emperor has fallen.

(End of this chapter)