Perfect Match – CH 014

Chapter 14

In Enhua County, at Prince Enhua’s mansion.

A person dressed in riding attire nocked an arrow from a chestnut horse and shot it straight at a man tied to a tree.

The man tried to scream in terror, but his mouth was tightly covered. Only his eyes, wide with terror, stared as the arrow flew towards him.

With a thud, the arrow deflected slightly, grazing his neck. The man in the tree was drenched in cold sweat but had escaped with his life.

The person on horseback, however, had a grim face and then suddenly laughed.

“Is my archery skill still lacking, or are you just too lucky?”

After speaking, she ordered her men to take the man from the tree.

“Come again tomorrow, and let’s see how many days he can survive under my arrows.”

The man in the tree, hearing this, was terrified and almost knelt down, but was pulled away from the horse stable.

The rider dismounted and walked a short distance across the stable towards a banquet hall.

Under the eaves were several small rosewood tables, each adorned with exquisitely crafted gold and mother-of-pearl cups. Graceful maids filed by, pouring wine and tea and setting out dishes. The nobles, dressed in fine clothes, sat at the tables, leisurely drinking and chatting.

Seeing the newcomer return from the stable, someone remarked. “He’s just a petty thief. Rongle, why not give him a beating and let him go? Why bother him?”

Princess Rongle, Zhu Yijiao, chuckled and sat down, raising her teacup and drinking it all in one gulp.

“I’m not some benevolent Bodhisattva who saves all beings. Whoever offends me must die; otherwise, would not everyone be able to bully me?”

Those who tried to persuade her were left disappointed. “Alright, alright, you’re the apple of your father’s eye, his darling, so you’re different from us.”

Zhu Yijiao did not refute this; instead, she raised her chin.

Her father, Prince Enhua, had seven sons, but she was his only daughter. She was indeed pampered and cherished by her father.

But this world was a man’s world. No matter how much her father loved her, he could not take her into battle or give her troops. Instead, his brothers all stayed close to him.

She also wanted to be a man, but she was born a woman. The more she wanted to share her father’s burdens, the less power she could muster.

A few months ago, she discovered that her father had taken a liking to Teng Yue, a general of the Ningxia Vanguard, and wanted to recruit him, but Teng Yue consistently ignored her father’s advances. Her father was at his wits’ end and deeply saddened. How could she let him be so troubled? She immediately proposed that Teng Yue become her ceremonial attendant.

Once he became her, the Princess of Rongle’s, ceremonial attendant, he would be a member of her Prince Enhua’s Mansion. Unexpectedly, after she made her offer, the Teng family arranged for Teng Yue to marry a woman within a month.

This was not a rejection; it was a blatant slap in the face to her father.

The Teng family was so ungrateful; she would not hold back.

Zhu Yijiao summoned her guard.

“So many days have passed; has that bandit gang finished yet? If it were not for my father forbidding me from acting recklessly, would I still need to use a band of bandits?”

The guard had not received any news from Baifeng Mountain.

Zhu Yijiao’s face darkened, and she glanced at the guard.

The guard trembled and quickly knelt down to beg for forgiveness.

Zhu Yijiao said, “You must go tonight. I do not have the patience to wait. Hurry up and kill that country bumpkin. Hang her body by the roadside so everyone can see!”

She finished speaking, slowly raising her gold-inlaid conch shell wine vessel, taking a sip of the wine, her eyes narrowing in a drunken stupor.

“A country girl, an ant on a blade of grass, not some noblewoman. What difference does it make if she’s killed? I want to see if Teng Yue will bow down to my Prince Enhua’s Mansion!”

*

In the Bai Feng Mountain Stronghold.

The bandits, seeing that Deng Ruyun dared to make demands, could not help but look at this general’s wife with newfound respect. A concubine and another bandit escorted Deng Ruyun and her niece out of the main hall and into the back courtyard.

The courtyard was swarming with bandits, all armed with knives and guns. Deng Ruyun only had time for a quick glance before the concubine led her into a room.

Deng Ruyun did not light any lamps; only the flickering light from the torches in the courtyard illuminated the scene.

Linglang, terrified, clung to her aunt’s arms, her little hands clutching her clothes tightly.

“Auntie, will Uncle come to save us?”

Uncle? Someone else’s uncle?

Deng Ruyun’s eyes drooped.

She did not think Teng Yue was entirely incapable of exchanging her for someone else, but these bandits were not pushovers. Who could tell if it was a real or fake exchange?

Rather than entrusting her life to others, she’d rather hold it firmly in her own hands.

She patted Linglang’s head, comforting her.

“It’s alright if no one comes to save us. Auntie is very strong. Auntie will protect Linglang.”

Linglang looked up at her with wide eyes, her little arms tightly wrapped around her.

“Aunt, Linglang knows!”

Deng Ruyun hugged her tightly.

The torchlight streaming in through the window seemed like a ghostly, menacing light.

Deng Ruyun smiled bitterly to herself, touching the bulging purse tied to her waist.

She was just a medicine-making and selling woman; how could she one day have to fight with bandits in a mountain stronghold?

*

South of Baifeng Mountain.

Soldiers lined up, torches lit up the sky, and someone rushed in carrying an arrow with a message attached.

The arrow was pierced with a message. Deputy General Tong immediately stepped forward to retrieve it for Teng Yue. Upon reading the message, his face turned pale.

“General, they really kidnapped the lady and child! They want us to release them!”

Upon hearing this, the second-in-command, bound hand and foot to his horse, laughed.

“General Teng, your wife and child are in my elder brother’s hands. What do you say? Should we be sent back in exchange for your wife?”

He clicked his tongue twice. “General Teng, you will not refuse, will you?”

Teng Yue had no choice.

“Exchange.”

Upon hearing this, the bandits laughed.

But they were just a band of bandits. He had a hundred ways to wipe them out, but if he could not even protect his own wife, he might as well not serve in the army.

He immediately sent someone to negotiate with the leader of Baifeng Mountain. Soon, his personal guards returned.

“That bandit wants your wife and child in exchange for all the bandits in your hands, General. He also demands that the soldiers retreat three miles down the mountain, leaving only you outside the mountain stronghold to exchange them in person.”

Teng Yue was not surprised. The bandits had his weakness; he knew he would agree to anything.

But what could he do if he refused?

She was, after all, his wife; he could not just abandon her in the bandits’ den.

Teng Yue agreed, instructing Tong Meng to gather all the bandits and take them with him.

“I will go myself.”

The bandits were despicable, but his wife was also crucial. Tong Meng strung all the bandits together with a long rope, pulling them into a line like grasshoppers.

The bandits all looked smug, and the second-in-command even mocked, “So General Teng does care for his wife after all. Why did you chase her out of the city when you were unhappy?”

Seeing that this bandit had gotten away with it and dared to mock the general, Tong Meng immediately shut his mouth.

But Teng Yue had heard everything he said.

He had no way to defend himself, so he pursed his lips in silence and could only hurry towards the gate of the stronghold.

However, the bandits were very cunning.

When Teng Yue arrived, he only saw the bandit leader and his men standing on the earthen gate tower of the mountain stronghold, but his wife and the child were nowhere to be seen.

Teng Yue asked the leader, who replied, “General, rest assured, your wife and child are both safely enjoying tea in my stronghold. It’s just that my brothers were injured in your hands. If you sincerely wish to exchange them, why not send my younger brother here first? Once I see he is unharmed, I will naturally release your wife and child to meet you.”

Teng Yue narrowed his eyes at these words.

“But you must let me see them first, right?” he said, noticing the leader’s hesitation.

If the person were in his hands, why would he hesitate? Only if the person was missing, or if something had happened, would he show this attitude.

Teng Yue was secretly alarmed but showed no sign of it.

Then, seeing the leader consider it for a moment, he pretended to send a soldier back to search for them.

Teng Yue kept a close watch and noticed that the soldier was unsteady on his feet for some reason. It seemed he was not the only one; some of the knife-wielding bandits guarding the gate also appeared unsteady.

Teng Yue immediately took note and whispered a few words to Tong Meng.

The torchlight could not penetrate the pitch-black night.

A pebble suddenly shot out from the darkness, striking one of the gatekeeper bandits’ legs with a thud when no one was looking.

This man, already unsteady, staggered after being hit by the pebble and nearly fell to the ground.

Disarray immediately erupted at the gate; the bandits were all scrambling and fumbling. Deputy General Tong, puzzled, wondered, “Are these bandits putting on an act?”

But Teng Yue suddenly nocked an arrow and fired it directly at the bandits below the earthen building.

He fired three arrows in quick succession, the sharp arrows striking the bandits at the gate. The bandits, unable to resist, fell to the ground.

The bandit leader roared in fury upon seeing this.

“Teng Yue, have you abandoned your wife and child?!”

But an arrow from Teng Yue was already aimed at his face.

The bandit leader dodged in alarm, while Teng Yue spurred his horse straight towards the stronghold gate.

“The bandits are acting strangely! Charge the stronghold!”

As soon as the words were spoken, his personal guards followed closely behind. In an instant, flames erupted at the stronghold gate, and swords clashed.

The bandit leader initially shouted for resistance, but most of his bandits were utterly incapable of fighting, as if under a spell; some even collapsed without a fight.

Teng Yue led his men, charging into the stronghold almost without resistance.

The bandit leader, protected by his trusted followers, fought his way back, retreating to the mountainside. Seeing that the tide had turned, he no longer cared for his brother and, with his men, fought his way out to the other side, using the terrain to their advantage.

Teng Yue could not afford to worry about him right now. He could only send another team to pursue him, and he ordered Tong Meng to deal with the other bandits. He then spurred his horse and leaped towards the mountaintop stronghold.

But when he reached the top of the stronghold, he searched the entire place, yet he could not find his wife and the child.

Teng Yue was alarmed. Just then, his men found a person lying unconscious near the back gate.

He rushed over and saw that the person was unharmed, just unconscious, but there was a pool of blood beside him.

His men found the mark of the Prince Enhua’s Mansion on the person.

Teng Yue’s legs went weak.

The bandits wanted to capture her, and the people from Prince Enhua’s Mansion were right here.

The collusion between the two was obvious, but at this moment, he could only stare repeatedly at the pool of blood that did not belong to this person.

Whose blood could this be? It could only be her blood…

The bloodstains were glaring, stretching northward into the mountains. Teng Yue dared not linger, hastily following the trail.

The torches illuminated the blood, dripping onto the soil, grass, and branches. The path was strewn with broken branches, trampled mud, and even torn pieces of her skirt.

Teng Yue seemed to see her, just moments before, enduring her bleeding wounds, carrying a child, and rushing hurriedly into the northern forest.

But the bloodstains vanished by a pool.

No blood, no footprints, only the dark, continuous mountains, like the gaping maw of a beast silently devouring everything.

Teng Yue could find no trace of her.

She, carrying a child, washed the blood from her wounds by the pool and walked away from him into the dark mountains, gone.