“Go? Where to go!”
Before anyone could react, Hong Niangzi arrived with her people surrounding them.
Zhou Zhengxi was about to draw his sword when Song Qingchao pressed him back.
“Master.”
“Zhengxi, no.”
Bai Youan stepped in front of them. “Hong Niang, why are you here?”
Hong Niang bowed. “Young Master, your subordinate is here to apprehend the arsonist.”
She held her sword and pointed it directly at Song Qingchao.
Song Qingchao said nothing, only gave a dismissive smile.
Bai Youan frowned. “Hong Niang, you might be mistaken. Miss Song was with me all yesterday…”
Hong Niang glanced at Song Qingchao, then sternly said, “It is not that your subordinate suspects, but at this time, we must proceed to the main pavilion for discussion.”
Bai Youan looked back at Song Qingchao. “No, let them leave first.”
“Leave?” Hong Niang scoffed. “No, even if you are the Young Master, it is not permissible.”
Bai Youan was about to argue further, but Song Qingchao stopped him.
“The pure will remain pure. Let’s go.”
Bai Youan was still unwilling for Song Qingchao to go, but ultimately agreed.
As they exited the room, they discovered how numerous the people were.
Bai Youan had a vague sense of foreboding.
Song Qingchao held his hand. “It’s alright.”
The three followed Hong Niang.
However, the direction they were heading was not towards the main pavilion.
“Hong Niang, what is this?”
“The Young Master’s questions will be answered by Hong Niang later. For now, we hope the Young Master will cooperate.”
They hurried along with Hong Niang.
Song Qingchao turned her head to look at the escalating fire, a bad feeling growing in her heart.
It seemed Hong Niang might be protecting them.
After passing through narrow caves, the cacophony gradually subsided until it was no longer audible. Hong Niang then stopped.
They were now in a patch of bushes.
Song Qingchao guessed, based on her senses, that this was part of Ling Shi Valley.
Specifically, the part belonging to the Northern Barbarians.
Not the area where they were exiled.
“Young Master, Miss Song has been startled.”
Hong Niang knelt on one knee, offering an apology.
Bai Youan frowned, intending to help her up, but realizing Song Qingchao was present, he withdrew his outstretched hand.
Song Qingchao’s lips curved upwards. She then bent down and helped Hong Niang up.
“What are you doing?”
Hong Niang looked back at her brothers behind her, then solemnly handed a letter to Bai Youan.
“Young Master, Hong Niang and the lives of these brothers belong to you from now on.”
Bai Youan took the letter. “Don’t say such things, Hong Niang. Tell me what has happened. Where is the Old Village Chief?”
At the mention of the Old Village Chief, Hong Niang’s eyes welled up with tears.
“Everything that happened today was the Old Village Chief’s plan.”
She then recounted everything to Bai Youan.
They had received news from the moment Bai Youan set foot in Mobei.
Hong Niang’s initial purpose in the inn was to bring Bai Youan back to Shui Yun Jian, but she was unwilling to escalate the situation, opting for a more circuitous approach.
The current upheaval was because they were left with no other choice.
Three days ago, General Zuo Suiran had sent a letter.
People from Chang’an were coming into the mountains to suppress bandits.
However, only Zuo Suiran knew of their existence. Now that the matter had reached Chang’an, the mastermind behind it could no longer remain idle and wished to eliminate them.
Thus, the Old Village Chief ordered Hong Niang to bring Bai Youan back at all costs. If he proved to be a promising talent, she was to entrust Luo Yun Jian to him.
The large fire today was also to cooperate with Zuo Suiran.
“The circumstances surrounding the Bai family’s alleged treason were detailed in the letter by the Old Village Chief. I hope the Young Master can clear the Bai family’s name. The Bai family army were not rebels; they stationed themselves at the border for decades, solely to protect Mobei.”
Hong Niang knelt down again as she spoke.
“Hong Niang and these brothers bid farewell to the Young Master once more today. We hope you will remember, remember the Old Village Chief and us.”
Bai Youan did not help her up this time.
He understood that this was Hong Niang’s resolve.
Behind Hong Niang, a chorus of voices echoed, “We hope the Young Master is well.”
Bai Youan’s eyes also turned red, moved by them.
He knew what they intended to do.
“Hong Niang, you don’t have to go back. I have a way to ensure your safety.”
But Hong Niang refused.
“The Village Chief raised me, treating me like his own daughter. How could I abandon him alone?”
She wiped away her tears, smiling captivatingly.
“Besides, if I am not here, who else can convince them that the remnants of the Bai family are gone?”
Bai Youan’s pupils contracted. “You intend to die in my place? I disagree!”
“Whether the heir of the Bai family is male or female, no one knows. As long as I insist I am of the Bai family, what can they do?”
“Things are not as simple as you think.”
Bai Youan clenched the letter in his hand.
“Someone knows.”
He looked up at Hong Niang. “Do not make a futile sacrifice.”
“I cannot let the Village Chief go to his death alone!”
Hong Niang said with some agitation.
Song Qingchao had remained silent, standing by Bai Youan’s side.
But at this moment, she stepped forward.
“The Village Chief surely wished for you to live well.”
She released Bai Youan’s hand and went to take Hong Niang’s. “Hong Niangzi, I understand how you feel, but do you know why the Old Village Chief sent you to find us?”
She lowered her head, thinking of her mother’s resolute final moments.
“The Old Village Chief wanted you to live. He did not want you to jump into the fire pit. He sacrificed his life for yours. If you die, wouldn’t all that the Old Village Chief did for you be in vain?”
She patted Hong Niang’s hand. “I’m sure the Old Village Chief loved the wine you brewed very much. If you die, no one will be able to make the wine he loved anymore.”
Her words made Hong Niang cry.
Song Qingchao, without hesitation, knocked Hong Niang unconscious when she wasn’t paying attention.
“Zhengxi, I entrust her to you.”
After handing the unconscious woman to Zhengxi, she looked at the many burly men standing opposite them.
“You’an, you are the Young Master. I believe they will listen to you.”
Bai Youan smiled and shielded Song Qingchao in his arms.
Hong Niang was a woman, and he could not act against her.
But these rough men, he could handle.
He bowed first.
“I understand your determination to face death, but to die in such a manner is meaningless. The reason the Old Village Chief sent you all away was for your survival. If you now disregard the Old Village Chief’s orders, and my command as the Young Master, and wish to return to your deaths, then this Young Master will no longer acknowledge you as brothers.”
“Only by living is there hope.”
“My father, before facing death, left you, the most elite among them, in Mobei for a reason. I believe you all know, and I, a mere child, need not say more. Everyone present is a senior, and you understand the urgency of the current situation far better than I.”
They looked at each other.
They indeed wished to stay at Luo Yun Jian, just like the Old Village Chief.
But they had a greater responsibility.
The Old Village Chief’s responsibility was to protect them.
Therefore, their duty was to defend Mobei, to defend their homeland.
Although they had not returned to their homeland for a long time, they had all married and had children in Mobei.
Compared to their ancestral land, Mobei felt more like home.
They had guarded it for a lifetime.
How could they simply let go of their lives at the end?
A man stepped forward from the crowd.
“Your command, Young Master.”