#96: Falling Sick from Wine in Spring (Part 7)

The pleasure boat moved downstream, gradually leaving the noisy market behind. When Luo Wei came to her senses, all she could hear was the wind rustling through the reeds and the sound of flowing water.

Su Shiyu suddenly coughed heavily a few times. Luo Wei thought she had touched his wound, but he just shook his head. He laboriously raised his hand to cover his mouth. The bloody froth that came out with his cough stained his overly pale hands.

“Weiwei...”

Luo Wei quickly leaned in beside him. “Brother.”

Su Shiyu’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed. After finally swallowing his cough, he spoke with difficulty. “You shouldn’t have come... to save me... He won’t...”

Before Luo Wei could understand what he meant, she belatedly realized that too much blood was seeping from the corners of his lips.

“...He won’t let me go.”

Su Shiyu finally finished his sentence and showed a cheerful smile. “He told me, Suiyun...”

Luo Wei interrupted him, sobbing, “Brother, you should rest and not say any more.”

Su Shiyu shook his head. Tears mixed with blood fell from the corners of his eyes. “I’ve been mediocre since I was a child... I’ve messed up many things. I’m sorry for Father’s teachings... I’m sorry for Suiyun’s affection...”

Luo Wei frantically wiped the blood from the corners of his lips, but it was no use. The blood was seeping out more and more. She remembered the farewell wine that Chang Zhao had handed him and finally understood what Su Shiyu had meant just now. “Don’t say any more! Don’t say any more, Brother! You’re the only family I have left. Let’s leave the city and go to... go to Xuzhou, okay? Now is the spring planting season. The farmland in Xuzhou stretches for thousands of miles. There’s the towering Yanshan, where light clouds come out from the peaks, and the sky is high and clear. The scenery is even more beautiful than in paintings—”

“Is that so?” Su Shiyu asked distractedly, but then said, “After I die, throw me... into the Bian River... It’s just that when Suiyun killed herself... besides me, she was probably also thinking... that she couldn’t be a burden to you...”

Luo Wei felt his hand gradually lose its strength and finally slide weakly from her palm.

When Qiu Xueyu came in, she saw Luo Wei staring blankly at her palm.

After a long while, she heard her mutter, “I tried a hundred ways to keep you, but I couldn’t...”

“When you can’t keep a loved one, they must leave... The only bitterness in life is parting.”

________________________________________

The largest official ferry out of the capital was called Shapingjin, located on the east side of the Bian River. After passing Shapingjin and heading southeast, it wouldn’t take long to pass Yongqiu, Xiangyi, and Ningling and go straight to Jinling.

Ye Tingyan guessed that since Luo Wei had gone to save someone, she would probably take the waterway. He intentionally led Yan Ping to guard the city gate and went to Shapingjin himself. Unexpectedly, not long after they separated, Yan Ping ran into someone or heard something. After leaving a unit of soldiers to guard the city gate, he came to join him.

Yan Ping was a man of small intelligence and lacked a grand strategy. Ye Tingyan was not too panicked. After dismounting, he first had the river official on duty at Shapingjin come and report. Then, he scattered the soldiers he had brought to the various checkpoints and followed the river official to inspect the boats.

The Bian River’s shipping was prosperous, and the river was filled with boats. Half were merchant ships and half were pleasure boats. While Ye Tingyan was talking to Yan Ping, he was also looking at the inner city, hoping that Luo Wei and the others would be fast enough to pass through before Chang Zhao sent more people to the ferry.

He stood in front of the ferry and heard Yan Ping instructing his subordinates to carefully check for any scent of blood, which gave him a hint.

Yan Ping must have run into Chang Zhao on his way to the South Gate, and his actions now were based on Chang Zhao’s instructions.

But where had Chang Zhao gone? Why hadn’t he come with him?

It wasn’t long before Ye Tingyan saw a pleasure boat with the character “Luo” on its mast swaying past the ferry. “Luo” was the identity he had prepared for the people on the boat, borrowed from a noble family in Jiangnan.

He showed no emotion on his face as he watched the soldiers search the boat inside and out. They didn’t find any trace of blood and had to wave them on.

Although the boat was luxurious, it was indistinguishable from the others, and even the old boatmen were familiar faces who often sailed on the river.

Ye Tingyan watched as the boat left the ferry and his heart gradually calmed down.

The sun had already half-sunk into the water. He retracted his gaze and looked west along the afterglow on the water. Perhaps because they couldn’t find anything wrong, Yan Ping’s temper became more and more irritable, and he kicked a soldier.

The soldier had just fallen to the ground and hadn’t even had time to cry out in pain when someone on horseback suddenly galloped from the direction the boat had left and passed between the two of them.

“Order from above, lock down the ferry! Order from above, lock down the ferry!”

The soldiers rode along the river, shouting as they went. The officials along the bank received the order and blocked the merchant ships that were about to leave the ferry. Everyone on the boats heard the shouts and leaned out to watch. For a while, the ferry was congested, and the noise was deafening.

The pleasure boat had already passed the ferry. Why was the order to lock it down coming now?

Ye Tingyan was stunned for a moment. Without any hesitation, he immediately mounted the horse he had come on and galloped toward the east, where the boat had disappeared, without saying a word.

His movements were so swift that no one reacted at first. It was Yan Ping who reacted the fastest, quickly mounting his horse and chasing after him.

The whistling wind rushed past his ears. Ye Tingyan thought about it and became more and more certain.

The order to lock down the ferry was “from above.” If Song Lan were still in the palace, he probably wouldn’t have given such an order. After the ladder cart passed through the market, Chang Zhao must have gone to see Song Lan immediately.

The two of them had figured that Luo Wei would take the waterway. Instead of stopping them at the ferry, they had chosen to set up an ambush after the ferry. After the ambush, they would lock down the ferry and not allow any more boats to pass, in case they accidentally harmed someone.

As for why they didn’t come to the ferry...

—This was a test for him.

He was not at the South Gate now. Chang Zhao had gone to the palace to pledge his loyalty to Song Lan, but he had left one thing to chance. He had persuaded him to set up an ambush after the ferry. If Luo Wei’s boat passed the ferry successfully, it would be proof that he was colluding with her!

What a meticulous plan.

After Ye Tingyan figured it out, he pulled on the reins and let out a long breath, but he couldn’t help but laugh.

Without Yu Qiushi, Song Lan was all bark and no bite. This Minister Chang, whose background was still unknown, was the true opponent.

Yan Ping had left the soldiers behind. He finally caught up with Ye Tingyan and saw that he had stopped and was laughing while holding the reins. He couldn’t help but ask, “Minister Ye, where are you going?”

Ye Tingyan answered his question with a different one. He said to him gently, “My horse is just a little tired from galloping. I’m just stopping to rest.”

He slowly rode his horse closer. Yan Ping thought he was going to lean in to explain, but before he could react, Ye Tingyan flipped over on his horse and, with a shocking speed, used his stirrups to sit behind him.

“You—”

As soon as Yan Ping opened his mouth, a sleeve with the scent of sandalwood brushed past his cheek. With two fingers, Ye Tingyan held a sharp, hard-to-notice blade and cleanly slit his throat!

Yan Ping fell lightly from the saddle. He clutched his throat, and all that was left in his eyes was the sight of Ye Tingyan riding away on his horse.

Everything happened so fast that not a single drop of blood splattered on him.

Less than three li east of Shapingjin, there was a large bend. After this bend, the boat could go from the narrow river channel to the wide river.

Originally, this was the main ferry out of the Bian River, but because the terrain was narrow and dangerous, it was abandoned when the river channel was renovated in the previous dynasty, and the ferry was moved to Shapingjin.

Luo Wei stood on the deck, looking at the setting sun that was gradually moving away behind them. She suddenly felt the boat tilt, as it was making a turn.

She suddenly felt that something was wrong. When she looked back, she saw that the boatmen who were busy on the deck had suddenly put down their tools and taken out the bows and iron shields hidden under the grain storage.

A guard came over and said, “Mistress, there is danger ahead. I’m afraid it will alarm you. Please return to the cabin for now.”

Luo Wei stood on her tiptoes and looked. She happened to see the half-ruined stone bridge of the old ferry. The bridge had once spanned the waterway, but it had been washed away by floods many times. The court had intended to rebuild it, but fearing it would be washed away again, they had put it on hold.

She closed her eyes and listened intently. She suddenly asked, “Do you hear anything?”

The guard also closed his eyes, his ears twitching. “It seems like... the sound of a bowstring being pulled taut.”

The “sound of a bowstring being pulled taut” that the two of them were talking about was naturally not from their own boat. Luo Wei smiled and asked, “Did he have you prepare this?”

The guard replied, “Mistress, this boat was originally a warship that was converted. The Young Master is a cautious person and would never take such a risk.”

Just as he finished speaking, Luo Wei heard a series of shouts from ahead. “Young Master!”

Ye Tingyan came on horseback from the shore. Without a moment of hesitation, he rode his horse and jumped from the narrowest part of the river. The horse let out a long neigh and landed right on the deck.

Ye Tingyan jumped forward and fell heavily onto the deck. The moment he landed, many guards raised their shields and stood in front of him.

Through the iron shields, he heard the sound of iron arrowheads hitting them.

The pleasure boat slowed down after the bend. And because the boatmen were busy with their defenses, it stopped swaying and stayed in place for a moment. Ye Tingyan moved the shield away, got up, and indeed saw Song Lan and Chang Zhao standing on the broken bridge.

Seeing him look up so calmly, Song Lan was enraged. He slapped the railing with his palm and roared, “It really is you! You’re with her! How dare you betray me!”

Ye Tingyan took a bow from the person beside him without saying a word. Before he could finish speaking, he shot an arrow.

He shot the arrow against the sunset, and the hot sunlight made him squint slightly. So the arrow that was meant for Chang Zhao went a little off course and pierced Song Lan’s shoulder.

“Your Majesty!”

Song Lan clutched his shoulder. He was lucky that the people around him supported him and he didn’t fall down directly. “Archers—”

He grabbed the railing and stood up, enduring the pain. He finally saw Luo Wei at the end of the pleasure boat.

After three months, Luo Wei had lost some weight. She had also removed the gorgeous and heavy golden coronet and jewelry from her time in the palace. She looked delicate and was even more graceful and elegant than before.

Song Lan blurted out, “Imperial Sister!”

Luo Wei gripped the short sword at her waist tightly, but her face showed no emotion. She even looked up and gave him a faint smile. “Zilan, it’s been a long time.”