52. First time separated
Two days later Yunchuan, Rushuang and Su were seated in a carriage that would take them to the magistrates office in the town where the county court was located. Captain Liu was riding in front, two Mingjing guards at the back and two more on the sides of the carriage. The ladies all remained silent, each thinking of the goodbye's that morning. First they had seen Xin, Zhu and Zihou take their leave, Xin had been disguised as a young country lad and after the horseback training she'd had from Zhu, seemed comfortably seated on the horse. "Ride swiftly, when you reach the capital take Xin directly to mansion Pei. I've send instructions ahead. Zhu, stay there two days and then head back to your own home. Don't worry, the household staff will take good care of Xin. Xin, please stay in the mansion, if you really need to leave, send a note to my brother, he'll send Zihou or Zizhou, to accompany you. Don't let anything distract you from your journey. I'll send word as soon as everything is settled here." Pei instructed them, before they set off Su had seen a last glance from Zihou to Yunchuan, and then they were off.
After that, as the others continued packing and getting everything in order for the departure of the ladies, Yan had excused himself and retreated to their room. Su followed him. She had seen captain Liu arrange Yan's battle gear earlier that morning, it had been placed as it was placed in the Qi mansion. When she opened the door she found her husband standing opposite the clothing rack upon which the garments were placed. She knew that contrary to the belief of many citizens, Prince QI didn't like to fight, but he understood it's necessity and he wouldn't step back from his responsibility. As she slowly and silently walked to her husband, realizing this would be the first time she would be separated from Yan and a return was unsure. It hadn't happened before that Yan had left for a fight. She hadn't said anything and even though Yan seemed deep in thought Su knew he knew she was there. "Let me dress you." Without turning around Yan nodded. He had stepped back and spread his arms. Su stripped him from the clothes of a noble man, letting her hands glide over the soft embellished cloth while she folded it over her arm and placed it on the bed. Then she dressed him in the garments of the general, it took Su a little bit of time to figure out the buckles on the leather strips he wore as protection. She was glad to see some more leather pieces had been added to protect the chest and upper back, because as she placed them on Yan it suddenly occurred to her that his battle gear offered only a very little protection. It worried her, but she didn't comment on it, knowing it wouldn't help in this moment. She closed the last buckle in his side and then while she slid her hand over the leather strap to his heart, she moved to his front and looked up into the face of Prince Qi, God of War from Liang. All this while they had remained silent, Yan and Su looked at each other, both calm, sure, both knew what had to be done and would do what was required. Then Yan placed his hand in Su's neck and pulled her into his kiss. When the kiss had ended Yan kept his hand on Sus cheek, softly caressing it, his other hand held hers. "Take care of yourself and our child. Wait for me. I'll join you soon." Calmly Su nodded.
"Let's go." Yan grabbed his sword and Su's weapon stick, her sword was still in the capital as it had become too heavy for Su to use it. Hand in hand, they walked to the entrance gate where the others waited. The goodbyes were quick and in a short amount of time the carriage was moving, taking the ladies, Fei Yuan and captain Liu to the larger court town.
It was already evening when the carriage rattled over the cobble stones in front of the magistrates office. The gates were swiftly opened and after a short moment of greeting the ladies retreated to their rooms to refresh. Fei Yuan took care of the luggage and then arranged dinner. Dinner was a subdued affair, the only reason there was a minimum of conversation, was because the magistrate and his wife dined with them, making polite conversation mandatory. The conversation was mostly carried out by the magistrates wife and Yunchuan. In order to keep them safe Pei, Shuomo and Xie had decided it would be best if Yunchuan traveled under the guise of a Beirongian friend of Su, concealing her status as Princess. Likewise Su would trave as the wife of Pei Zhou. Xie had ordered his best men to follow and protect, they would remain close by at all cost. Tired from the journey the three ladies quickly retired to their rooms, all were fast asleep shortly after they had pulled the covers over themselves. And so a period of waiting, uncertainty and worry started, especially for Su and Rushuang.
The following morning Yunchuan asked Rushuang what they could do in the town, but before Rushuang could tell her she had no idea Su interrupted: "Yan gave me a list of people whom are suspected of having connections to the Ghost Army. He gave the same list to your brother. A lot of the families mentioned are from this region, let's see what we can discover about them. Your brother told us briefly he had made some progress but not much. I had the feeling there might have been more then he told us at that time." Yunchuan confirmed Su's words: "I talked with him about this. He said that there were more pressing issues: dealing with Nuo Ho and the rebels. He would elaborate on his findings in Beirong after these two issues were settled. But we did continue our investigation. As suspected the maid s were all sent from the most trusted families, which makes it difficult to discover much more. Whoever is behind all this, is hiding their tracks very well. With little Yue's sister we have managed to find the maid who poisoned the minister, but she refused to tell us who ordered her. She insisted she hadn't seen the person, only a dark shadow who ordered her to put the poison in the Liang tea. The maid wouldn't say anything more. In the end she killed herself."
"So is the family whom she served behind all this?" Rushuang asked. Yunchuan shook her head: "We can't be sure, but it seems unlikely. It's the Luan family. Madam Luan is a widow, her husband worked hard as a trade convoy. Until he died. Madam Luan is my mother's closes friend. She came to my brothers mansion to help and make sure I was properly trained before I received guests. She is a very nice and good woman." Yunchuan smiled to herself, remembering those first months when she had just moved to her brothers mansion. She once saw me write a letter to Zihou, she told me not to give up on him if he continued to respond to my letters. I think she knows that I Like him, she never asked though. I never told her, but she always looked at me with a glint in her eye when my brother would mention husbands or Zihou. When we were younger she often came to the palace and spent time with us, while she visited my mother. Her two sons became my brother's close friends."
"Was she the one with the Bai Liang wrap?" Su asked, thinking back to the many social meetings she had when the visited the palace half a year ago.
"Yes, she is a great admirer of the Bai Liang brocade, when she was younger the Bail Liang brocade was very popular, many ladies of the court wore it. Now she is the only one who still wears it." As always when it concerned her tribe Su's attention was heightened and she was curious why the braced fell out of favor. "I don't know, but I have heard that suddenly the supply of the brocade had stopped. It was before I was born, when I return to Beirong I can ask mother, she'll know. Do you think that information could help us in finding those behind the Ghost Army?" Yunchuan asked, wondering how this could help them.
"No, but I'm from the Bai Liang tribe so I'm always curious when the conversation concerns the Bai Liang tribe."
"Oh, I'll ask my mother and write you the answer." Yunchuan seemed a bit deflated at this response of Su. "Let's see the list brother Yan gave you, maybe we can find something that can help us." Yunchuan stretched her hand to Su, who smiled at Yunchuan's eagerness to solve this mystery. Rushuang asked the servants to dear the table and then the three ladies read the list. The next days, with the help of the magistrate and the clerks working in the county court archives, they found a lot of families who lived in the surrounding villages, at first glance these families seemed normal families, working to provide for themselves not bothering others. But the magistrate, as time went on, managed to recall different strange mishaps from which some of these families had profited. These mishaps were left unexplained and were always attributed to spirits or ghosts. The clerks managed to find some of the reports and Su after reading them could make a rough guess at what had actually happened. All these things were in the past, so in the end there was nothing that could be done. But all this information corroborated the story Dong had told them: even in Liang there were people who sympathized with those behind the mark of Xuan.
While they had been working, Su and Rushuang looked up at every person who entered the mansion, in the hopes that those entering could carry a message from their husbands. Yunchuan noticed the nervousness of Su and Rushuang, but wisely decided not to comment on it. After five days they finally received a message. It told them that Prince Qi and his army had defeated the rebels near the border town. None had escaped. It also said that both Xie and Yan were unharmed. Su heaved a sigh of relieve when they read the message and only then acknowledged to herself that she had been much more worried then she had realized. The relieve was short lived as the message they received the following morning told them that the army of Prince Zi was marching on the rebels surrounding the army camp. Though not unexpected as this had always been the plan, seeing it in writing made this real as well as the danger they faced.
At the end of the second week of their sojourn to the magistrates office, Head Officer Luo Xin came to speak with Su. This was unexpected but not unwanted as it was a diversion from the now familiar faces and activities. Unfortunately Luo Xin had no pleasant news to report. Luo Xin told Su that even in the capital the mark of Xuan was seen more and more. Several small and larger crimes were related to the people who wore the sign. In addition to this the reports from the different county courts showed the same increase. "L This worries the emperor and he urges you to return to the capital and deal with these cases. Furthermore we will dispatch several detectives and guards to help other country courts to deal with their cases. The emperor gave me this message to give to you directly." Luo Xin handed the sealed envelope. Su broke the familiar seal and read the letter in which the emperor requests her return, even though this meant leaving the place where she is closest to Yan. Su folded the letter and ordered Fei Yuan and captain Liu to her room. With Luo Xin they discussed the matter of her return. "Rushuang and Yunchuan will need to come as well, we don't have enough men to split us and still guard everyone." Su decided.
"Then let's go to Pei Mansion and keep Xin company." Rushuang suggested. Yunchuan concurred with her, eager to see how her friend was doing in the city. In the background of her thoughts she could hear Fei Yuan say something, but Su couldn't really hear as she was lost in her thoughts. Thoughts that were trying to persuade her not to go, to stay here close to her dear husband, so she could go to him if he needed her. Close to the one person she could trust with her life and heart. But after these thoughts came the logical ones: there was nothing she could do for him here, she couldn't fight the rebels. She could try and solve those cases that had a connection to the Ghost Army and gather information from the people behind the Ghost Army. That could help them in the next steps to defeat the Ghost Army and prevent a was between Beirong and Liang. So she raised her head and heard the last few words of captain Liu: "We can't secure Pei Mansion or the Mansion of Qi on short notice."
"I'll ask the emperor if we can stay at the palace for as long as Prince Qi is fighting the reels. Please arrange everything so we can leave in the morning. I'll leave first and rest." Su rose with some difficulty and without waiting for a reply from anyone, left the room.