Chapter 39: Ambush in the Thick Forrest

“Dissect the corpse?!” Liu Pinrang could not remain calm any longer and raised his voice abruptly.

Just as Ran Yan thought that she would meet a forceful refusal, he actually briefly muttered to himself before saying slowly, “This matter, we’ll discuss it later.”

Ran Yan was faintly startled. Could Yang Panci’s cause of death be merely this important to him? On the surface it seemed like this Yang Panci had a sudden onset of a hidden illness, 5-6 coroners all had the same conclusion after examination, even if he really gave this judgement, there would not be anyone who would suspect anything? But he was already so anxious to the extent of inviting a Miss like her here. Ran Yan did not believe Liu Pinrang was an upright and straightforward official. In bureaucratic circles, truly upright, straightforward and honest people who yet did not possess any background, could not go far at all, not to mention becoming a fourth rank provincial governor!

After Ran Yan understood Liu Pinrang’s meaning, she tidied up the corpse’s clothing. After sorting it out appropriately, the whole group swiftly exited the mortuary.

To Liu Pinrang, being able to confirm that Yang Panci met with violence before he died, was already a very big breakthrough.

“Ai! Ever since Empress Zhangsun passed away, everything is different!” Liu Pinrang who had been silent throughout the journey suddenly sighed inexplicably, before giving Ran Yan a look that said “you know what I mean”.

The corners of Ran Yan’s lips twitched. She had to be honest, she did know what he meant the slightest bit. What did this “everything” include? And what was actually different? The original Ran Yan’s memories of current politics was almost zero, she only knew that this was the 11th year of Zhenguan, other than that she was completely unaware of any governmental affairs, luckily Ran Yan personally was not bad in studying history, and knew that Empress Zhangsun died from illness on the 6th month of the 10th year of Zhenguan.

Towards this Eternal Empress, Ran Yan had the uttermost admiration. Even though she did not feel like she would have had the fortune to meet the empress who resided in the palace[1], but hearing of the news of Empress Zhangsun’s death, her heart still inevitably had some regrets.

Liu Pinrang did not speak further. When the group took detours through alleyways and reached the west city gate, the moonlight was gradually covered by a shroud of black clouds, there were torches giving out weak rays of lights all around the city gate.

“My people will escort you both back to the estate, you can be reassured.” Liu Pinrang saw that the colour of the sky was not good, and thus spoke to comfort Ran Yan and Sang Chen.

After Liu Pinrang alighted the carriage and gave his instructions, he stood at the bottom of the carriage and drew open the curtains saying, “This old man has not assumed the position of Suzhou Provincial Governor for long, there are many people that I still am unable to place my full trust in, only the city’s west gate is guaranteed to be safe. Departing from here to the south of the city is a little further, the both of you have to endure a little trouble.”

He paused for a little, before saying to Ran Yan, “Your favour today, I will gave you your reward very quickly. I will take my leave here.”

“Many thanks, Provincial Governor Liu.” Ran Yan kowtowed[2] slightly.

The side door opened with a creak. Liu Pinrang let go of the curtains and the horse carriage slowly started moving.

Only Sang Chen and Ran Yan were left in the carriage. Sang Chen’s complexion was pale, still not recovered from his fright. Ran Yan was rather satisfied with Sang Chen’s performance today. Even though he was equally as terrified (as the last time), but at least he did not faint, this was already a good improvement, “You were not bad today.”

Ran Yan was not one to be miserly with words of praise.

Sang Chen’s eyes brightened, his heroic spirit momentarily doubled, his complexion also instantly recovered by a lot, “A scholar departs for three days, he is looked at with new eyes when he returns[3]! I am no longer the same person as that day!”

Ran Yan’s fingers trembled, she immediately turned her head away, no longer looking at him. This kind of thing, what was there to be proud of?

Under the weak and gentle yellow lights, Ran Yan’s fine and elegant side profile was cast with some warmth, unlike her usual aloofness. Her slender neck extended into her moon-white collar, her fine collarbones faintly discernible.

Sang Chen looked at this view, his heart suddenly started beating rapidly. He struggled internally for some time, before weakly saying, “Miss, I have some words that I do not know if I should say.”

“In that case think it through before speaking.” Ran Yan said without inflection[4].

Sang Chen choked a little, his mouth opening to speak before hesitating again. In a short while he made Ran Yan who was sitting beside him feel suffocated as well, she could not help being a little angry, “Speak!”

Sang Chen felt pleased in his heart, just as he was about to speak, the horse carriage came to an abrupt halt, the carriage’s curtains were suddenly lifted up, a black robe rushed in like a gust of wind carrying a puff of chilly breath. The person who arrived had a black cloth covering his face, his gaze swept over like electricity, within a single breath, before Ran Yan and Sang Chen had reacted in any way, a sword suffused with cold light was already pressed against her neck.

Sang Chen’s words were all stuck in his throat, he looked at the person with terror.

“Miss Ran!” The voices of the prefectural soldiers outside were agitated.

“If you don’t want her to die then continue going!” The voice was ice-cold and magnetic, saturated with a blood-thirsty air.

The prefectural soldiers outside were momentarily at a loss of what to do, the bottom of the duizheng[5]’s heart also turned cold. This person was able to rush into the carriage right in front of all the eyes of their whole group as if no one was there, choosing to attack definitely would not have a good outcome.

Ran Yan also thought so too. The Tang Dynasty implemented a structure of over 50 soldiers within a unit of prefectural soldiers. This person was able to enter effortlessly, then what kind of person was the person he was hiding from? These thoughts flashed through her mind, shortly after her voice said evenly, “Continue going.”

Although her voice was also cold, but it was different from the deathly frost from the man in black clothes. Contrarily, it had a kind of ability to calm and settle one’s heart.

The prefectural soldiers outside heard Ran Yan’s orders, hesitated slightly before moving forwards under the lead of the duizheng.

However, the person in black clothes did not relax the slightest, the long sword in his hand still remained precisely pressed against Ran Yan’s neck, the sword edge looked extremely sharp[6], but it did not break her skin, it could be seen that this person’s control of himself was to an abnormal degree.

“You are injured.” Ran Yan sensitive sense of smell detected the faint scent of blood, her gaze shifted slightly, falling onto a patch of damp area on his chest, “You have injured your heart meridian.”

“Quiet.” The voice of the person in black clothes seemed a little weak, his character could not be regarded as violent.

“Don’t you, you dare act recklessly!” Sang Chen gradually recovered, and advised in a trembling voice, “Confucius says…”

“Shut up!”

“Shut up!”

Ran Yan and the black clothed person reprimanded in unison with their voices lowered.

Ran Yan secretly rolled her eyes. The black clothed person had already asked for quiet, at this moment this fool actually ran towards the sword’s edge. If by any chance they angered him, it was one thing if he killed this damned rabbit, if he had killed her as well, wouldn’t it be incredibly unjust?

The black clothed person seemed to feel like Ran Yan could be regarded as tactful, or perhaps he was afraid she was trying to trick him, he leant close to her ear and said, “Do not try to play any tricks. Even if I am currently heavily injured, it is nothing difficult for me to slaughter merely a single troop of soldiers. If you cooperate a little, I will leave once we pass this forest, definitely not harming a single hair on your heads.”

Separated by a small distance, Ran Yan could feel the warmness of his breath, as well as slightly heavy breath sounds. For a brief moment, the situation became a little ambiguous.

Upon seeing this, Sang Chen saw red, “A gentleman must not take advantage of someone’s difficulties, you cannot dishonour Miss!”

Swish! A cold ray flashed, Ran Yan cried out involuntarily by reflex, but before her voice could leave her throat, the black clothed person covered her mouth.

Sang Chen was stunned, staring at the dagger piercing his shoulder, as well as the fresh blood gushing out onto the grey robes, rapidly staining a large area scarlet red, his complexion gradually turned pale, his body trembled even more violently, finally his eyes rolled backwards, and he fainted.

Ran Yan breathed a sigh of relief, the dagger did not injure any vital parts, he probably just fainted from the sight of blood.

Ran Yan’s breath fell on the palm of the black clothed person, it infiltrated his whole body like electricity, making him feel numb all over. At this moment only did he notice the tender feeling beneath his palm, shortly after the numb feeling directly struck the bottom of his heart.

The person in black rapidly withdrew his hand. Ran Yan also withdrew her gaze and looked towards him.

Two pairs of eyes met each other, Ran Yan suddenly noticed that those dark eyes was faintly suffused with a little dark blue, chilly and deep, resembling the underworld that will never see sunlight, his nose bridge high and straight, long eyebrows extending into his temples. In her memory, there was only one person that had this kind of brows and eyes.

Pharmacist Su, Su Fu. Ran Yan contemplated inwardly.

“Everyone! Have you seen a black clothed person pass by this place?” Someone asked suddenly outside the carriage.

Su Fu’s whole body suddenly stiffened, the long sword pressed against Ran Yan also tightened a little.

Ran Yan glanced at him, and called out, “Duizheng, what happened?”

The indistinct cold voice faintly drifted out from inside the carriage, blending into the warm and moist summer night wind, bringing one a refreshing feeling penetrating deeply into the heart. The brawny man that asked the question was faintly stunned, and could not help looking towards the carriage.

The duizheng knew that it was possible that Ran Yan was being threatened, thus only would she speak out as a reminder. He immediately cupped his hands together and said, “Night falls even deeper, we are rushing our journey and would not see anyone pass by.”

“I wonder who is sitting in the carriage?” The brawny man asked, unwilling to give up. He felt that that person was definitely nearby, he could not find him anywhere else, it was very possible he was in that carriage.

“Apologies, it’s official work of the prefecture office, I cannot reveal this to you[7].” The duizheng displayed his command plate.

“Baiyi. Retreat.” A man inside a gorgeous carriage stopping by the trees called out. That low husky voice was languid, bringing an omnipresent rush of the imposing manner of a person of high authority. It clearly was just a normal sentence, but spoken from this person’s mouth seemed incomparably… sensual.

The voice was about a distance of about 22-26 metres[8] away, it still could be transmitted clearly to Ran Yan’s ears. It was like feathers lightly tickling the bottom of one’s heart, one cannot help wanting to look at his appearance.

That brawny man called Baiyi received the order, retreated near to that carriage with a face filled with reluctance, flipped over and mounted the horse.

Hearing the sound of the carriage rattling away further and futher, Su Fu coldly said in a low voice, “Go.”

Ran Yan passed on the message to the duizheng, however in her heart she secretly made preparations, thinking of how to restrict Su Fu.

Because he had previously lent an umbrella to her of his own initiative, Ran Yan originally bore no ill will towards him, but she could also sense that this person was as cold as ice, his methods decisive and ruthless, who could guarantee that he would not silence people by killing them?

“You are a doctor?” Su Fu kept his sword, leant his aching body on the wall of the carriage, he was wearing black clothes, the blood stains could not be seen clearly, but the areas that were wet stuck to his body, revealing well-proportioned and muscular body.

“Yes.” Ran Yan looked at the blood dripping onto the carriage’s floor from his body, and said, “You have injured a vital part, if you still do not receive treatment, I’m afraid you will die from blood loss.”

Su Fu somehow felt about and managed to pull out a tea-green little ceramic bottle, with effort he unfastened his own clothes, tugging his outer and under clothes half open, and pulled the bottle cork open, casually sprinkling the fine powder inside onto his wounds. Although the upper half of his body was only half-exposed, but a perfect figure could still be seen, furthermore the fair skin faintly glowed under the soft light, together with the cherry redness of his chest soaked by blood, was enchantingly beautiful.

“Do you need help?” Ran Yan asked indifferently.

Su Fu paused slightly, before continuing to pour out all the medicinal powder, directly and efficiently used his inner robe to bandage his wound. Afterwards, he re-wore his outer robe. From beginning to end he did not utter a single word.

Ran Yan saw that he closed his eyes to recuperate, thus subtly shifted towards Sang Chen, she just moved a little, immediately a chilly gaze glared at her. Ran Yan was frightened of his acuity.

Su Fu was also a little astonished, when normal Misses were glared at by him, they definitely would panic and tremble, but this Miss with beautiful features before him became even more bold and openly got up and moved towards her companion’s side instead, with agile skill/technique she pulled out the dagger in that person, before rapidly applying medicine and bandaging the wound.

The horse carriage gradually exited west of the city, and entered north of the city, the trees became gradually sparse, the field of view/horizon became open. Until within a range/radius of 5 li (2.5km) there were no obstructions/obstacles, Su Fu determined that there was not anyone lying in ambush or following behind, immediately held tightly to his long sword, his deep dark gaze swept over Ran Yan, his killing intent leaking faintly.

Ran Yan tensely clenched her hands, trembled slightly, and shook out a bottle of poison powder into the palm of her hand.

Su Fu seemed to have detected her actions. He shot her a glance, whirled around and leaped out of the carriage.

**

A/N: Thanks to carmel for the lollipop and little red packet, thanks to 朝云 for the little red packet and long comment, thanks to 一种架各种吵 for the little red packet. Giving everyone a pat, thank you to the friends who continuously voted for Xiuzi! The main point has finally appeared, everyone please pay attention! Requesting bookmarks, requesting nurturing!
(Red packets are envelopes containing money usually given out during chinese new year – in this case probably refering to donations given online) (Xiuzi is the author) (I think by nuturing she means donations/sponsorship)

T/N: Sorry for the long wait again T_T just had a test today, and another one coming up next month… thank you to everyone who comments, and I appreciate every single one <3

[1] 深宫: place where the emperor resides (literally deep palace)

[2] 顿首: I’ve checked my Chinese dictionary, google translate and baidu, they all translate it as kowtow (traditional greeting, esp. to a superior, involving kneeling and pressing one’s forehead to the ground). I thought it was a little excessive for RY to do this. But as people in ancient China usually sit kneeling on the ground anyway, they just touch their heads to the ground very briefly, and isn’t a major issue but just a type of courtesy used between the same generation as a way to apologise. (at least from what I can glean from baidu anyway)

[3]士别三日当刮目相待: to have a completely new appraisal of someone after not seeing them for 3 days

[4] 不咸不淡: literally not salty not tasteless.

[5] 队正 (duizheng): (army) commander-in-chief (archaic – used in the Sui and Tang Dynasties). One prefecture has 20 duizheng of the upper 7th rank, 20 assistant duizheng of the lower 7th rank. Each platoon consists of 50 soldiers, the duizheng and assistant duizheng forming the most basic layer of military officers within the prefectural army.

[6] 吹毫断发: from what I gather this means that the sword is sharp enough to slice a strand of hair being blown onto the blade’s edge.

[7] 壮士: the duizheng used the word 壮士(zhuangshi) to address the brawny man, which means warrior/hero/brave strong guy

[8] 七八丈: 7-8 zhang. One zhang is equal to 10 chi (Chinese feet). (1 zhang = 3.3m).