A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 211

Long nails were hammered into the coffin one by one, and everyone cried out in grief, creating a rather spectacular scene. Unfortunately, Mo Yan couldn't see or hear anything, because the ear-piercing sound of the nails being driven into the coffin terrified her, her heart pounding wildly. She had never imagined that listening to nails being driven into a coffin while lying inside would be so frightening.

Zhan Zhao had come to the camp today to coordinate matters for tomorrow's departure, and happened to witness the nailing of the coffin. Out of courtesy, he stood quietly to the side to observe the ceremony. But just standing there, thinking of the person lying in the coffin, the sound of each hammer blow seemed to pierce his heart.

If so, if so… He dared not think further. He took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping lightly over the guests before turning to the guards standing not far away. The group in the southeast corner was clearly the guards brought by Yelü Hongji. Tang Ling was not among them, which made sense. In this situation, if Yelü Hongji had a woman by his side, it would inevitably invite gossip.

Therefore, it seems unlikely that Yelü Hongji would take her with him when sending the coffin back to Song.

That's what Zhan Zhao was thinking.

The next day, he realized he was wrong.

Presumably planning to go hunting after returning from the border, Yelü Hongji was accompanied by a large group of people, including guards and maids. Among the maids, he saw Tang Ling.

For them, this meant that they had to be extremely cautious and careful along the way.

Yelü Zongzhen came to see them off in person. After several rounds of polite farewells, he gave Yelü Hongji some instructions before they set off.

The coffin was placed on a white camel cart. The two white camels were actually a favor from Yelü Chongguang. According to Liao custom, the white camels were to be killed along with the coffin at the time of burial.

Zhan Zhao led the way, with the coffin not far behind him, followed by Ning Jin's carriage, and finally Yelü Hongji and the others. The camel carts moved very slowly, so the whole procession moved at a snail's pace.

Zhao Yu was still disguised as Mo Yan, and was in the same car as Ning Jin. Although they were on their way home, neither of them was in a relaxed mood, and neither had any intention of chatting. Yelü Hongji bringing so many people had truly taken them by surprise. The more people there were, the more spies they would have, and the more difficult their mission would be.

Ning Jin was worried about Mo Yan inside the coffin.

Zhao Yu was not only worried about Mo Yan, but also about Su Zui, who had gone to Yanxie Town alone.

Aside from these two, Zhan Zhao had even more concerns than they did.

He wondered if Tang Ling, traveling with the group to the border, might meet up with Pang Long. If she did, she would undoubtedly be carrying Yelü Hongji's secret letter, which would be crucial evidence. He needed to find a way to obtain this letter.

Everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts, but Yelü Hongji was the most relaxed.

They traveled slowly during the day and set up camp at night, and after several days, nothing went wrong. The most pitiful one was Mo Yan. Although she still had a few flatbreads left, the water in her leather bag had long been drunk up. She was extremely thirsty while eating the flatbreads, but the water that was brought from the reeds was always too little, and she often couldn't drink a drop all day.

Fortunately, although it was a terrible time, at least they're alive.

Everyone else was aware of her predicament. However, the coffin was always kept alone, surrounded by Yelü Hongji's guards on patrol, making it difficult to find an opportunity to deliver water. Several times, Zhan Zhao would first use an excuse to distract the guards, and then Ning Jin would use the excuse of checking the coffin for any damage during its journey, thus finding a chance to deliver water to Mo Yan.

The night before they arrived at Yanxie Town, Tang Ling came out of Yelü Hongji's tent and happened to run into Ning Jin returning from beside the coffin. As a maid, she bowed to Ning Jin with her eyes lowered, but Ning Jin walked past her indifferently. Inadvertently, his sleeve brushed against her, and she felt a damp and cold sensation, which made her very uncomfortable.

It turned out that when Ning Jin was delivering water to Mo Yan, he accidentally spilled water on his sleeve. It was too dark to see, so he didn't care.

"Your Highness's clothes are wet?" Tang Ling asked with a smile. "Why don't you go into the tent quickly, take them off, and dry them?"

Ning Jin then realized what was happening, his expression changed slightly, he glanced at her but ignored her, and went into the tent by himself.

Tang Ling wasn't a meticulous person, so she just frowned, glanced at Ning Jin's back with a strange look, and then walked towards the place where the coffin was placed.

Before she could get close, Zhan Zhao and the two guards behind him stopped her.

"The princess's coffin must not be disturbed," Zhan Zhao said calmly.

Knowing that Yelü Pusa Nu was difficult to talk to, Tang Ling smiled awkwardly and had no choice but to turn around and leave.

Zhan Zhao frowned inwardly, puzzled, unable to understand what she wanted to do here.

Fortunately, nothing happened the following night, and they arrived at Yanxie Town the next afternoon, where they set up camp. Zhan Zhao then patrolled the town once more, and Su Zui was waiting at a corner of an alley. Upon seeing Zhan Zhao, she stepped forward and pretended to bump into him casually, slipping a letter into his hand. Zhan Zhao immediately hid it in his sleeve, only reading it carefully in his tent after returning to camp.

Since Ningjin was to escort the coffin to Song the next day, Yelü Hongji could only see him off here. Although it was inconvenient to hold a grand farewell banquet, according to the custom of the Liao people, wine was still to be drunk.

That night, Ning Jin and Zhan Zhao were invited to Yelü Hongji's tent for a farewell drink. There was no singing or dancing, but Yelü Hongji was in high spirits and repeatedly urged Ning Jin to drink. He himself also drank a lot.

It was clear that Yelü Hongji felt guilty towards Zhao Yu. When he was slightly tipsy, he spoke highly of Zhao Yu to Ning Jin, while shaking his head and sighing, drinking cup after cup.

Ning Jin had no choice but to agree. Although he had already drunk quite a bit, he still managed to control himself, even shedding tears along with Yelü Hongji when he got emotional. But after all, his alcohol tolerance was limited, and in the end, he couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed drunk by the table.

Yelü Hongji then turned to Zhan Zhao, who was not a good conversationalist, but was still passable to listen to. In addition, he had always intended to win Zhan Zhao over, so he drank with him cup after cup.

Outside, dark clouds pressed down, and snowflakes began to fall, stinging the face as they were whipped by the wind. Since they had reached Yanxie Town, many guards had gone to town to drink, leaving few men remaining in the camp.

The coffin was placed in a secluded spot on the other side of the camp. Mo Yan was drowsy in the coffin; Zhao Yu had risked his life to bring her some water, which had somewhat relieved her thirst. Zhao Yu told her that the group was now in Yanxie Town and would enter Song territory the next day. She was overjoyed to hear this; these frustrating days were finally coming to an end.

Just as she was about to fall asleep again, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching the coffin. The sound was very soft, and she was startled, thinking that Zhao Yu had returned.

The visitor gently knocked on the coffin twice.

Mo Yan pricked up her ears. These two taps were not a pre-arranged signal, and the location of the taps was also incorrect. If it were someone from her own side, they would have tapped on the side of the coffin near her head, but the newcomer just tapped twice on the coffin lid.

Who could this person be?

For no apparent reason, Mo Yan began to feel tense, a sense of foreboding washing over her.

Next came a whooshing sound, as if someone had lifted the cloth covering the coffin. Mo Yan could hear the sound of fingernails scraping against the coffin, a soft, rustling sound.

What are they trying to do? Where are the others? Where's the older brother?

In the darkness, Mo Yan's heart was in her throat.

The person outside the coffin was Tang Ling.

While Yelü Hongji and the others were drinking tonight, and most of the guards had slipped away, leaving most of the remaining people huddled in their tents to keep warm and avoid the snow, she sneaked here.

She came here not because Ning Jin and the others had revealed a flaw that aroused her suspicion, but because she had other plans. Zhan Zhao and the others were right; she was indeed sent here by Grand Tutor Pang. The reason she stayed by Yelü Hongji's side was not only to act as a liaison, but also to find an opportunity to sow discord between the Song and Liao dynasties.

Tang Ling came to the coffin, intending to do something—poison the corpse.

It sounds ridiculous; the person is already dead, so what's the point of poisoning them? It's just a pointless exercise. However, things are far from that simple, because the poison Tang Ling has is Bone-Corroding Powder.