However, identity is not the same as a pass.
The Lingguang Guard was directly under the Emperor's command; even princes were not allowed to enter without imperial permission, let alone a young lady from an unknown family. <strong>80</strong>
The two guards closest to Wu Hui exchanged glances and quickly moved closer to each other.
With a clang, Wu Hui, who was about to reach his destination, was blocked by a large sword with its handles crossed into a cross.
She had been pampered since birth, and even a mosquito bite on her body would be attended to by three to seven maids and servants. She had never seen a real battle before, so she was naturally terrified. She stopped in shock and took several steps back, almost tripping and falling to the ground.
"I..." Wu Hui had been running all the way, his face was red and he was out of breath. He could barely speak and said in a broken voice, "I came to... to find your commander, the Prince of Ying... His Highness the Prince of Ying."
"The master is not here, please return," said the guard on the left.
Wu Hui thought the other party was unwilling to announce her arrival, so she stepped forward and mustered her courage to say, "I am the fourth daughter of the Marquis of Runan. I have important business to discuss with His Highness Prince Ying. Please inform him."
"Even if you are the third daughter of the Jun family, it's no use. The master has a mission and has gone out of the camp with the emperor," another guard said, half-jokingly and half-seriously.
What should we do then?
Even the most reckless person knows that the emperor's whereabouts cannot be inquired about casually. With no other options, he was so anxious that he almost cried.
Through teary eyes, I saw a guard in armor emerge from a tent, and the face beneath the red-tasseled helmet looked somewhat familiar.
"Lu...Lu An!" Wu Hui shouted loudly.
Lu An turned around upon hearing the voice, and seeing that it was Wu Hui in the distance, he strode over.
Upon closer inspection, they noticed that Wu Hui's expression was unusual.
He was quick-witted and guessed the truth almost perfectly in a flash. He lowered his voice and asked, "Fourth Miss, is something wrong with Third Miss?"
Wu Hui nodded, sniffling, "Lu An, can you come out? I need your help."
Lu An came to the Jun family with his mother, Lu Zhenniang, when he was young. Lu Zhenniang taught the Jun family's daughters how to cook, and he studied and practiced martial arts with Wang Hongbo. Because he was a boy, he rarely went to the backyard to interact with the girls, but over the years, he had come to understand their personalities.
Wu Hui is the most ill-tempered and proud among the girls of the Jun family. Today, she actually used the word "beg" to him, which shows that the matter is very serious.
Lu An readily complied with her request and walked with her to a secluded place.
Wu Hui told He Yao about his plan, but omitted the fact that she had been blackmailed, and lied that He Yao was taking advantage of her discord with her sisters.
Such a statement is believable, especially to someone like Lu An who has some knowledge of the Jun family's internal affairs; it seems even more reasonable to him.
"Fourth Miss, don't worry, I have two plans for this." After a moment's thought, Lu An said, "Firstly, as you suggested, we can ask the Commander to rescue the Third Miss. However, for the sake of security, the Emperor's whereabouts cannot be easily revealed. Apart from a few people who are most trusted by His Majesty and who are indeed playing a commanding role during the journey, even the accompanying guards cannot know the specific route and destination for the day. Therefore, I cannot guarantee that the Commander will be able to return to the camp in time. If that's the case, we can only go with the second plan, and I will find a way to arrange for someone to help the Third Miss."
She came to help, but things didn't go smoothly. Naturally, Wu Hui was unhappy, but she was calmer than before and understood that Lu An was telling the truth.
“Alright then,” she agreed. “After all, you’re by the Prince’s side. If He Yao makes a scene, the Prince can stand up for you in front of His Majesty.”
It would be different if it were her own father or uncle. No matter how highly they were regarded, there is still a difference between a subject and his granddaughter. Chu Yao, however, was Emperor Deqing's own nephew, which is why Wu Hui came to find Chu Yao in the first place.
Lu An had been in the Lingguang Guard for less than a year, so his official rank was naturally not high. However, there's one thing in officialdom: regardless of whether they are civil or military officials, or even the emperor himself, anyone with power will cultivate their own confidants. Lu An's mother had saved Wushuang's life, and it was Chu Yao who advocated bringing the mother and son to the capital. With this connection, as long as his character and abilities didn't make any major mistakes, becoming Chu Yao's confidant after joining the Lingguang Guard was a natural outcome.
Lu An and Wu Hui were both fully aware of this.
Before leaving, Wu Hui turned back every few steps, repeatedly reminding, "No matter what news you receive, be sure to send someone to inform me immediately. If you really can't handle it, you can ask my father and uncle for help in secret. Anyway, the most important thing is that Wu Shuang is safe and sound."
After receiving Lu An's repeated assurances and promises, she finally left with peace of mind.
As the sun began to set, Wushuang and his companions returned home laden with their loot.
"Brother Bo, hurry up!" Wushuang galloped for a while, then suddenly pulled on the reins and turned around. The golden-red sunset filled the sky behind her, looking as beautiful as a Western oil painting. "Look, even Wanwan is so much faster than you."
With two young girls on the road, Wang Hongbo not only had to take care of all sorts of trivial matters and protect their safety, but his mount was also carrying all the prey that the three of them had hunted. How could they possibly be fast?
But in front of Wushuang, he always played the role of a gentle and considerate older brother. He never argued with his little sister, only smiled憨厚ly and didn't say much.
Instead, Chu Wan, who was walking in the middle, spoke up to defend him: "Brother Bo's horse is carrying heavy things. A horse carrying three people can't outrun a horse carrying one person."
"Shall we go to the woods to pick some fruit first?" Wushuang said. "Brother Bo, take your time. We'll come back to you when we're done picking. That way we can save a lot of time."
The prey could be grilled, but all meat would be too greasy, so the three of them had planned to pick some wild fruits to try on their way back to camp.
“Shuangshuang’s idea is great,” Chu Wan agreed. “Let’s go and come back quickly; it might still be daylight when we get back to the camp.”
The grasslands are sparsely populated, and it can be quite eerie after dark. Even with Wushuang and Wang Hongbo by her side, Chu Wan still felt scared whenever she thought about it.
"Then let's go." Without waiting for Wang Hongbo to say whether it was okay or not, Wushuang took Chu Wan and left.
Wang Hongbo called out helplessly, "Don't go too far. Just stay by the woods next to the main road, so you don't get lost."
They were not far from the camp at this point, and there were guards on the main roads, so nothing serious was likely to happen. However, if the two young girls were to wander into the woods without knowing the dangers, and get lost, and then encounter wild animals after dark, it would be no laughing matter.
"Okay!" Wushuang and Chuwan replied in unison, but their actions were not as obedient as their words. In the blink of an eye, the horse had disappeared without a trace.
It was too early in the season, and there weren't any decent fruits. The trees by the roadside only had green apricots. Wushuang and Chuwan used bamboo poles to poke some down, counted them, and found that there was enough for the two families to share, so they decided to head back.
As they dismounted to pick apricots, Fuya appeared out of nowhere and said, "Oh, you've come to pick fruit?"
Chu Wan still held a grudge about the day she snatched Chu Yao, and turned her face away, refusing to talk to anyone.
Wushuang simply hummed in response, unwilling to say anything more.
But Fuya seemed oblivious to their feelings and continued to follow behind them, saying, "There's no good fruit by the roadside. All sorts of people pass by, and the decent ones have long been picked clean. I know an orchard beyond this grove, full of peaches. Would you like me to take you there?"
Wushuang was somewhat tempted, but she wasn't stupid. She had no relationship with Fuya, and strictly speaking, they even had some past grievances. Why would Fuya be so kind as to help her?
"No, thank you," Wushuang declined. "We've been out all day and are very tired. We probably don't have the energy to travel that far. We need to go back now."