68. In pursuit
The trees were flying past him while he urged his brother's fastest horse on. He was glad Ji had given him his horse to ride the first part of the way. This horse could carry him further and faster, but Yan needed all of his attention on riding, he understood now why this horse was his brother's favorite. As a master horseman this horse challenged him to use all his brother's – and his – skills. Having to keep his attention solely on the riding also meant he couldn't think of all the horror scenario's his mind could drum up on Su's and Mei Ling's situation. With this horse and the other horses positioned along the way he should be able to reach the border town in four days, but it required long and hard rides. "Wait for me." He whispered under his breath as he thundered out of the woods onto plains. Beyond the plains would be the first inn where he would change horses. He traveled from the dawn of the morning to the dusk of the evening, and reached the Marquis Manor in four days. Xie Beiming, who had traveled to the border town a few days earlier, came out to welcome Yan.
"How is it here?" Yan immediately asked when he saw his friend coming towards him.
"Everything is as you and Su thought it would be. Dong brought them to the cabin and will keep them there until we rescue them. We are ready for tomorrow. However I've received troubling news three days ago." Xie handed Yan a small scroll, clearly meant for delivery by pigeon. While Yan read Xie elaborated: "Xin and Xian have been taken from the capital. Pei Zhu, Fei Yuan and Luo Xin are searching for them. I hope my men can assist them, but I haven't heard anything else." Xie fell silent and let Yan read the letter, which Fei Yuan had written and sent. Yan could see that Fei Yuan had been in a hurry to write this letter, there were sloppy mistakes. As Yan folded the letter close Xie said: "Had you foreseen this?"
"Brother Ryu did everything he could to shield Xin, but we know he was shadowed and accompanied by others during his assignment to find the true identity of Pei Zhou. It was always a possibility that others saw her and reported the existence of a young maiden in Pei Mansion. That is why I asked you to leave some of your shadow guard behind when you left for the border."
Xie and Yan walked to the study of the marquis, where the maquette was laid out. "In two days Beirong's ultimatum runs out and they'll attack."
"You've been followed." The Feiyun warrior said as he stepped into the circle of light cast by the fire. Luo Xin, Fei Yuan and Pei Zhu immediately rose and drew their swords. The Feiyun warrior showed the blue medal of Feiyun. The men lowered their weapons. "Don't worry, I've put him to sleep with some of the sleeping powder of Mrs. Xie. We can talk."
"Have you seen a carriage with several men escorting it pass this way." Zhu aske anxious to get information after one and a half day of pursuit. The Feiyun warrior needed: "You are half a day behind. Me and my brothers-in-arms have been able to keep track, but there are too many soldiers to be able to free the young lady. She is well. They are following this road, two of my brothers-in-arms are posting at the next road split. For now they appear to be going to the border. If they reach the border we can free the young lady there. More or our warriors are there. We need to see two more crossings and a day extra to make sure of their direction and destination." Zhu nodded, indicating he had understood.
"Did they capture only one maiden?" Fei Yuan asked.
"They captured only one, but once while checking the carriage one of my brothers saw another hiding in the bench seat. She doesn't appear to be captured or bound like the maiden form Pei Mansion, we were ordered to keep watch over. The two maidens watched the military procession together that day."
"That must be Xian, Xian went with Xin that morning." Fei Yuan commented, finding the first ray of hope since the three men had left the capital late in the afternoon.
"What should we do?" he asked looking at the two older men.