72. We need to break into the encampment of Beirong
That night, before the fourth day dawned Pei Zhu burst into the tent of Prince Qi, followed by Su. "Prince Qi, we need to break into the encampment of Beirong. They took Xin Tong, we need to save her before they realize she's the future empress of Liang." Prince Qi looked at his wife and she nodded corroborating Pei Zhu's story.
"Fei Yuan, find Brother Xie and Fu Zihou, quickly." He ordered, while pointing his distraught brother to an empty chair. As always Prince Qi didn't disappoint his brother and quickly drew up a plan to free Xin Tong from the Ghost Army.
A few hours later, still under cover of the night sky Prince Qi along with his most trusted friends, his brother and his wife rode out to the encampment. The group quickly and quietly made their way around the encampment to find the tents and temporary buildings in which not only supplies were stored, but also captives were kept. Yan had several soldiers who had scouted the encampment so they knew the lay-out of the encampment. It took only a few minutes to find the building, a makeshift shed, in which one prisoner was kept. Even though the head of the prisoner was covered Pei Zhu knew this was Xin Tong. Brother Xie began to raise his sword, but Yan stopped him and looked at Pei Zhu pointedly. To everyone's surprise he stepped forward and deftly picked the lock. But just as he swung the door open he felt the tip of a sword against his neck and a voice saying: "You didn't really think it would be this easy did you? Do you honestly believe I would let you take the future empress of Liang with you? And you Prince Qi, I never expected to win this battle so easily." Pei Zhu looked up into a familiar face, eyes shining with contempt. Then he looked over to where he knew his brother would be and saw in him a similar position: the tip of a sword perilously close to his neck. The same could be said about the rest of the party. Sighing to himself he held his hands up. They had been so close. But then just before someone else did or said something. Prince Shuomo stepped forward from the darkness: "Who disturbs the peace of this camp?" He took in the scene before him, the Liang party all dressed in dark blue and black each held at swords point by soldiers of the Luan army, Luan Chen held Prince Qi and Luan Yen held Pei Zhu, and next to the now unlocked door stood madam Luan. She answered Prince Shuomo: "Some of our men saw a group entering the camp, so they apprehended them. To our surprise it was a group under command of the prince Qi of Liang. They are more treacherous then we thought. And I believe this is the emperor of Liang himself." Pei Zhu felt someone shove him forward. Prince Shuomo looked at him, then he shifted his gaze to Prince Qi and the rest of the group. "Before I call upon my father I would like to know why you entered our camp at night, without authorization. Escort all to my tent. Madam Luan please follow us."
Several Beirong soldiers came and escorted everyone to the opulent tent of Prince Shuomo. Once inside Shuomo ordered the soldiers to stand down, leaving the Liang party to breath and move freely again. He could see from the corner of his eye that Madam Luan was angry at this move from him.
"I see that you've been able to save the ladies that have been captured. Have you captured those that were culpable to this abduction? Can you give us an explanation?" Shuomo asked sternly.
"An explanation? It would appear you need to give us an explanation. We found those culpable and they are Beirongian soldiers, claiming to be from the risen army of Empress Xuan." Yan countered, Shuomo feigned surprise: "How is that possible? We found the rebel group calling itself the risen army, but they are all in prison."
"Be that as it may, these men claim to be from the same group. Lead them here!" A group of soldiers were escorted into the tent, Liang guards surrounded them. Yan continued: "These men aren't from Liang, as you can see." Before he could continue madam Luan turned to Shuomo: "Don't believe them. It's easy to dress them as Beirong men. Those that captured me were from Liang. These are the same men, just dressed in different clothes. You can't trust anything they say. No one from Beirong would dare claim to be a follower of the treacherous Empress."
"Madam, who are you to interfere in the business between our empires?" Yan asked.
"I am a lady of the court and the closest confidant of our Empress. I have dealt with the business between our empires before. I was captured and mistreated by Liang soldiers not these men you claim to be the miscreants. I can know. I was their prisoner." She then turned back to Shuomo: "I can swear these weren't the ones who took me and the other ladies against our will. Who do your believe?"
"There are others wo can verify these men as the kidnappers." Yan claimed, then he turned to Princess Yunchuan, Su and Rushuang and then asked: "Were these the men who took you against your will and kept you imprisoned with them?"
"Yes, you captured them when you saved us." Princess Yunchuan declared and she continued: "We believe, although she appears to be abducted, madam Luan ordered our capture." At this statement madam Luan showed great shock: "Me?! I was take by the same men who took you. Why would I order them to capture me? You can't proof I did so."
Su seemed utterly unimpressed, she just continued to watch madam Luan, who silently challenged princess Yunchuan. Su then started to speak: "You are right, we can't proof you are behind this abduction and the Ghost Army. But I can proof you committed a crime over twenty years ago."
"What crime?"
"the abduction of my mother." Su could see this surprised madam Luan, who responded: "I don't know your mother."
"She was the wife-to-be of Bai Shen, my father." A calculating glint appeared in madam Luan's eyes, but only Shuomo could see it.
"You are Bai Shen's daughter? Prince Yun was incompetent indeed. How could he have allowed you to live?" Su didn't respond and so madam Luan continued: "Even if you're Bai Shen's daughter you still don't have proof I abducted your mother."
Su's accusation was news to Shuomo, but he remembered Yan's words: "Madam Luan made sure it won't be easy to directly connect her to the Ghost Army, but we have other ways to put pressure on her. Let us take the lead in her interrogation. We will give you enough to put her in prison at least." So now Shuomo sat back and watched Su and madam Luan, keeping half an eye on his other friends, trying to notice their reaction as well.
Su held out her hand, Fei Yuan stepped forward and handed her a book. "My father kept a diary and the Mingjing office wrote a report on the case. These are the diary and report. The ransom for the release of my mother was clearly stated in both: a wedding scarf with specific symbols woven in it. My father made a detailed description…it matches your Bai Liang scarf, the one you only started wearing after the annihilation of my clan."
"Nonsense, I got that scarf from my husband when we married. He knew I liked the Bai Liang brocade, so he ordered one for me. It's not the same."
"It's quite easy to see which of us is right." Su looked up at Shuomo who knew what she meant and ordered two soldiers to go with the Luan brothers and find the scarf. While they waited madam Luan again pleaded with prince Shuomo to trust her. A short while later the four men returned, one of the soldiers carried a red scarf, which Su immediately recognized as the one madam Luan had often worn in the Beirong palace, where they had met so many months ago in the Beirong court, when Su and Yan had been asked to solve the murder on the trade minister. The soldier handed the shawl to Prince Shuomo who laid it unto his desk with the design of Bai Sheng next to it. They matched, but the shawl missed a section.
"Prince Shuomo, this shawl proves madam Luan abducted my mother." Su stated. Prince Shuomo looked at madam Luan, still standing tall. There was no indication she was worried for any further action, which worried Prince Shuomo more than he cared to admit.
"I kindly request you arrest madam Luan and hand her to Liang, so we can try her for this crime against a Liang citizen." Yan Ji formally announced. But before Prince Shuomo could answer madam Luan interjected: "You should reconsider your request, your majesty. You would not want to risk the life of the future empress of Liang, would you? You know whom is in the cell and at my mercy. On e signal from me and she'll lose her life." The cold calculating smile sent shivers down everybody's spines, except apparently Ji's: "You have a future empress, but not the future empress of Liang." Su could see the slight hesitation and surprise on madam Luan's face. "In your cells you have the future empress of Beirong." Ji finished. Once again Su saw madam Luan's expression falter slightly. Prince Shuomo however didn't hesitate: "Find the one in madam Luan's cells, where we found the emperor of Liang and bring all prisoners here." Two Beirong guards sped away to carry out the order. Two others stepped closer to madam Luan. If she was worried Su wasn't able to discern it. This troubled her, other then exposing her crimes there was not much else Su could do. She knew vaguely what the Liang and Beirong armies could do, but this woman had a much larger following then they had known. And judging from the protective stance her sons had taken up, in response to the closer proximity of the princes guard, she still had many that would defend her. The unpredictability made this woman so dangerous. Su glanced at Yan, who gave her a reassuring nod. In his ability Su trusted her and her daughters life, so they would survive this. It took longer than Su expected for the guards to return, but when they did they stepped in with Xunan between them. The surprise and horror on Prince Shoumo's face was evident: "Cut her bonds immediately." He ordered the guards, who quickly complied. Then Shuomo turned to madam Luan, who almost seemed bored at this revelation. "How dare you imprison miss Xuan, a citizen of Beirong? And why did you think she was the future empress of Liang? Where is the future empress of Liang?"
"I dare, because your father requested her appearance at court to discuss the burning of the poison garden. I do not know who this empress of Liang is. It doesn't matter anyway. The army of empress Xuan will capture Liang for the glory of Beirong."
"Even if the emperor requested miss Xunan to come to court, it still doesn't give you any right to imprison her. Guards take her and shackle her." From behind a screen, which was screening the bed from view, the empress of Beirong stepped forward. "Arrest her for treason." She added to her previous statement. As Su observed the two ladies, she saw disbelief and broken trust in the empress and cold disregard and malice in madam Luan, who between her sons stepped to the entrance of the tent. Before she stepped out she said: "I'm a traitor? You and your family have been betraying Beirong ever since the death of Empress Xuan, today her army will rise again and punish you for your betrayal." Then she stepped out and called out: "Army of Xuan! Rise and punish those wo betrayed Beirong and all our enemies!" Prince Shuomo, Yan, Su and the others stepped out after madam Luan, everyone heard scuffling sounds from the surrounding tents. From some surprised shouts could be heard or the sharp clash of swords, but that which madam Luan clearly intended: the rushing of soldiers to come and fight the Beirong soldiers, did not happen. "Did you really think we hadn't anticipated this?" Prince Shuomo asked as hundreds of soldiers came to the large clearing, each holding another soldier. "We've known of your plan a long time." He turned to his soldiers: "Good work, take these traitors to the cells, if we are short shackle them in their tents. Tomorrow we'll march them to the capital. Guards take madam Luan and guard her in her tents."
"Sons protect your mother." Madam Luan called out as she stepped back behind Lun Chen's back. But he stepped aside and lowered his sword: "Protect you? We needed you to expose yourself. You ask us to protect our mother, but who protected our father when you killed him? This is the remainder of your shawl, torn from it by father in his death throws. I found it clasped in his cold hand." He held the piece of fabric in his hand and held it in front of madam Luan. She tried to grab it from her sons' hand. But Luan Yen stopped her with his sword. Both brothers looked up at their old friend and emperor-to-be. Shuomo simply nodded and two guards came, grabbed madam Luan and marched her towards the building where Xunan had been shortly ago. The group of friends silently watched as the guars disappeared from view. Shuomo stood beside his mother and softly took her arm to supper and guide her back to his tent. The others followed them.