Chapter 16: A Dream

"Grandmother has seen much of the world; perhaps she recognizes the Dongxun script. Let's take it back and let her have a look."

Cheng Qiuyun gathered up all the letters.

When the few of them came out of the Kufang, thick smoke was billowing above Jingsi Court. The Daoist and the Guards were busy putting out the fire, and the Daoist temple was still in chaos.

The few of them slipped away amid the confusion.

Back at Po Miao, the moment she saw their figures, Tian Qin rushed forward at a quick pace, threw her arms tightly around Yu'an, and wept silently in sobs.

Feeling droplets of tears falling on her neck, Yu'an squirmed her little body, stretched out her small hand to gently pat her mother's back, and comforted her in a soft, milky little voice.

"Don't be afraid, Mother. Yu'an is back."

Cheng Qiuruo, her eyes red, knelt before the mother and son to beg forgiveness.

"Eldest Sister-in-law, Yu'an, this time it was my carelessness. It was all my fault."

Yu'an was the Cheng Family's only hope; if anything had happened to him, she did not dare imagine the consequences.

"Aunt, please get up."

Yu'an hurried over to help her up.

Tian Qin let out a sigh.

"Sister Qiuruo, please rise quickly."

Saying so, she helped Cheng Qiuruo to her feet.

The moment she heard Yu'an was missing, she had indeed instinctively resented Qiuruo.

She took Cheng Qiuruo's hand.

"Fortunately, Yu'an was... blessed with protection and returned safely. I was too anxious before, and my attitude wasn't very good either. Sister Qiuruo, please don't take it to heart."

Cheng Qiuruo shook her head, her eyes swollen and red.

"How could I? It was my fault from the start. If anything had happened to Yu'an, ten thousand deaths could not have atoned for it..."

"What's past is past; let's not mention it again. From now on, our family will be well."

Tian Qin cut her off, patted her hand, and said gently.

Looking at Tian Qin, a trace of satisfaction flashed across Cheng Old Madam's eyes.

The Cheng Family of today truly could not afford any internal strife or estrangement.

She tapped her walking stick on the ground.

"Enough. Qiuruo did wrong; she must be punished!"

"But given the Cheng Family's special circumstances now, I'll punish you by washing clothes and cooking for everyone along the way. Do you have any objection?"

Cheng Qiuruo nodded heavily.

"I obey!"

In the Mountain after the rain, the night wind was very cold. Even with a fire burning, the chill wind kept drilling into their bodies without stopping.

The Cheng Family members pressed close together to keep warm. What was warmed was not only their bodies; their hearts drew closer too.

……

In the Daoist temple, Jingsi Court.

After more than a shichen, the great fire was finally put out.

"Quick, quick, go find the National Preceptor!"

"Where is the stretcher? Hasn't the stretcher been brought yet?"

Just as everyone was secretly searching for the National Preceptor's remains, a blackened, somewhat charred hand reached out from the ruins.

The crowd cried out in alarm, then hurried over.

"National Preceptor!"

"Quick, go find an Imperial Physician!"

……

On An Luo's side, after falling asleep, she had a dream.

The scene in the dream seemed to be on an ancient battlefield. Swords and blades clashed, and roars and the sound of hooves mingled together.

Severed limbs and broken arms; blood flowed like a river.

Lowering her head, what met her eyes was stretch upon stretch of ground stained blood-red...

Two groups of men in different attire fought each other to the death.

Suddenly, An Luo saw a banner embroidered with:

Cheng.

"Could it be the Cheng Family Army?"

At first, the Cheng Family Army's advance was unstoppable.

But then, for some unknown reason, it seemed as if every step of theirs had been predicted by the Enemy Army, and they gradually lost ground.

Only a small detachment broke through the Enemy Army's encirclement.

By this time the sky was growing dark. After shaking off the Enemy Army far enough, the small detachment stopped to rest briefly and recover their strength.

A young general clad in silver Armor frowned as he looked at the man before him.

"Father, there must be a traitor in the army! Nanlin not only knew every step of our plan, but set up an ambush against us in return!"

The middle-aged man was also knit-browed and gloomy.

At that moment, a sudden shout rang out.

"Marquis, look out! It's an ambush!"

The next instant, countless arrows shot over from all directions.

The Pingnan Marquis let out a great shout.

"Stay calm! Keep your bodies hidden!"

But the enemy army was too numerous.

A local commander sat on horseback on a distant mountain slope, loudly taunting them without restraint.

"Hahaha, they all say the Cheng Family leads troops like gods, but now that I've seen it, the Cheng Family Army is nothing special!"

Cheng Sitao, clad in silver armor, forcefully snapped the arrow on his shoulder and glared at the man through gritted teeth.

"Despicable and shameless!"

The enemy commander shrugged.

"Open schemes or underhanded ones, on the battlefield they're all just means to win — you could use them too!"

Then his tone turned cold and sinister.

"But I'm afraid you won't get the chance!"

The vice-commander, with two arrows in his body, shouted toward the Pingnan Marquis.

"We will stay behind to cover the retreat — please, Marquis, take the General, the Heir, and the Young General and leave!"

The Pingnan Marquis pulled the sword from his arm, sliced down two arrows flying toward him, and glanced sideways at him.

"If we go, we go together!"

The vice-commander shouted once more.

"I beg the Marquis to avenge your subordinate in the days to come!"

After this cry, the remaining soldiers also shouted in unison with unwavering resolve.

"We beg the Marquis to avenge your subordinates!"

That cry made An Luo's eyes sting and her nose swell.

The Pingnan Marquis's voice was heavy with grief; he looked toward his son beside him, his lips trembling as he bit down and forced out a few words.

"We leave!"

And so, under the soldiers' death-defying counterattack, a gap was torn open, and the Cheng Family members, along with a dozen or so Personal Guards, broke through the enemy army's encirclement.

In the chaos, Cheng Song was struck in the leg by an arrow shot by the enemy commander.

"After them! They can't have gone far!"

The enemy commander dug his heels into his horse's flanks, raised his bow, and shouted.

"All soldiers, hear my command! Capture the Pingnan Marquis alive!"

"Capture the Pingnan Marquis alive!"

The enemy soldiers raised their weapons and howled.

To hold back the enemy army, the Personal Guards beside the Cheng Family members fell one after another, until only four remained.

An Luo had been chasing after them the whole way; by the time she arrived, she saw Cheng Sitao and a young commander in black armor, each carrying a person on their back, leap off Xuan Ya.

"No!"

An Luo jolted awake.

She opened her eyes and saw that it was already broad daylight.

She rubbed her sore, stiff neck.

"How could I have had a dream like that?"

An Luo tapped into Zaituan's profile again, stared at the streamer's bio above, and fell into thought.

"Neither the enemy army nor the Da Yin army found the Cheng Family's bodies…"

"So they probably didn't die?"

……

The Dayin Dynasty, a small grove.

A young man in a black robe was dozing lightly against a tree.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. His sharp gaze swept the surroundings first; finding nothing amiss, he lowered his head and rubbed his brow.

"Why do I keep dreaming about that day again?"

If An Luo saw him, she would surely recognize that this was the young commander in black armor from her dream.

Cheng Chengxuan was slightly lost in thought.

That day, with the soldiers' help, his uncle had led them out of the encirclement, but on the way his uncle's poison had flared and he collapsed, and he himself had been knocked unconscious by his cousin.

When he woke again, he found himself dressed in a guard's clothes, with only Cheng Xin, Cheng Sen, and Cheng Yao beside him.

They said Cheng Cheng had put on his armor, and together with his cousin, driven to desperation by the enemy army, had taken his uncle and father and jumped off the cliff right in front of the enemy.

He had later gone to look at the bottom of the cliff, but there was a deep river with a swift current below, and he had only found a corner of his father's armor.

Later, he received news that all the women of the Pingnan Marquis Residence had been exiled, and hurried all the way toward the Capital.

Passing through Hede County, he noticed something was wrong — the bandits who had raided the village that night were all Imperial Guards who had come from the Capital!

And who, besides the emperor, could have mobilized the Imperial Guard?