Chapter Fifty-One: Midnight Escape

  What's going on? All eyes are fixed on one person.

  Di Lie!

  Di Lie gently lifted a corner of the curtain and peeked outside - good fellow! What was originally a dark camp had been illuminated by nearly a hundred torches. Rows of golden armor stood solemnly, with two people standing in front. One appeared to be a Jin army general, probably the leader of this group of soldiers. The other was dressed as a Song person, slender and respectful, and must have been the one who spoke earlier.

  Di Lie's eyes cleared, and he slowly lowered the curtain, his eyebrows furrowed. If you didn't come early, and didn't come late, why did you have to sing this tune at this critical moment? This is not good now.

  At this time, a calm voice suddenly sounded: "The sisters don't have to worry, let the palace and other concubines go to deal with it, please ask Di Gongzi to take the sisters away quickly after the palace leaves."

  Zhu Empress! This woman who has already missed one chance to escape from the tiger's mouth actually gives up another opportunity for more sisters.

  "Your Majesty, the Empress..." All the ladies could not help but kneel down under Zhu's skirt and sob.

  Zhu Huanghou gently stroked the girls, her eyes slightly red. She turned to Di Lie and said solemnly: "This palace can only cope with the situation for a while, the enemy general will not let go of the sisters, after we leave, please ask Mr. Di to take the sisters out of the Golden Camp as quickly and safely as possible."

  Di Lie Zheng nodded solemnly and said, "Rest assured, I will do my best to send them out unharmed. Moreover, I guarantee that as long as you are still alive, I will definitely rescue you."

  The Empress Zhu smiled bleakly: "A queen of a fallen nation, though alive is already dead. This body is like a floating duckweed, going or staying depends on the will of heaven. My sisters, help me change my clothes for the last time."

  When Empress Zhu came out from behind the screen, she had changed into a phoenix coronet and a cloak with golden silk embroidery, flowing tassels and pearls. She knew in her heart that this was not going to be a good feast, those victors had been holding their breath for too long, and the starving wolf would eventually show its ferocity. Empress Zhu wore this ceremonial attire to attend the banquet, in order to preserve as much of the national dignity as possible, so as to avoid humiliation.

  When Empress Zhu slowly walked out of the tent, the ladies outside, including Wei Xianfei, Zhu Shenfei, Xing Wangfei and a group of palace maids, were already quietly waiting. Seeing that only Empress Zhu and two palace maids came out, the faces of the concubines all showed a hint of surprise, and Wei Xianfei's beautiful face flashed with a thoughtful expression.

  That Song Dynasty translator was even more astonished, stuttering: "Your Majesty the Empress, what...what does this mean?"

  Empress Zhu's eyelids didn't even flutter as she calmly said, "Unfortunately, Rong Fu, Yi Fu and Yu Qiang, among other sisters, coincidentally fell ill just as Tian Kui arrived. They are unwell and won't be able to attend the banquet. The rest of the sisters and palace maids also need to take care of them personally, so I'm afraid we'll have to disappoint Your Majesties' kind intentions."

  The "heavenly flower" referred to by ancient people is menstruation.

  The Song Dynasty translator was stunned for half a day and only reluctantly translated after being urged by the impatient Jin army captain.

  Jin Bing's head was also a bit dizzy, this kind of thing, with his identity, it was impossible to verify. But he was ordered to bring a group of beauties to the main tent of the central army to serve the various young masters (a respectful title for the royal relatives of the Jin state) and nobles, but in the end, not even half of them could be gathered, how could he explain?

  "It won't do!" the leader of the Golden Army said fiercely. "A few people who are not feeling well can stay behind, but there's no need for so many to accompany them either. The rest must all go." Song Ren translated with a worried expression.

  Empress Zhu said calmly: "It's fine if Yifeng and Yuqiang are like that, but what about Roufu? Don't you know her status? If there's no one to take care of her by her side, it would be a big mistake. Even if it were those few princes of yours, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to explain themselves."

  This Jin army leader was the personal bodyguard of Wan Yan Shou Bao (the second son of Wan Yan Zong Han, and younger brother of Shi Ye Ma), who happened to know the weight of Rou Fu Emperor's daughter. Upon hearing this, he hesitated for a moment.

  Empress Zhu added, "This palace will not make things too difficult for you either. The consorts and I will go to the main tent of the central army ahead of time to pay respects to all the princes, and report this matter to them. Everything will be decided by the three princes. If the princes insist that the girls serve as attendants, they can be summoned again without delay. It's just that it would be a bit more trouble for General to make another trip. In this way, neither side will be at fault, isn't that good?"

  Jin Bing's leader thought for a moment, feeling that this was indeed more stable, at most just another trip. It was better than taking the initiative himself, in case he displeased the king and ended up getting flogged again.

  The Empress Zhu let out a quiet sigh of relief, her cover-up task was finally completed, and now it's up to that person. She took one last glance at the bright yellow felt tent, took a deep breath, and resolutely turned around and left...

  When everything returned to silence, Di Lie's eyes flashed as she looked at the women in front of her who had all changed into their new clothes. Their figures were plump and they emitted a faint smell of sweat. Among them were imperial princesses, county ladies, consorts, and palace maids. Before this, they had never worn such coarse and smelly Han clothing, but now, driven by the strong desire to survive and avoid humiliation, they bravely put on these rough garments that reeked of body odor.

  Di Lie only said one sentence: "Each of you can only bring two personal items, limited to wash-and-wear clothes, everything else is not allowed to be carried. Now, let's set off!"

  Two fingers pinched together, extinguishing the last bit of candle flame.

  With Di Lie's current borrowed identity as a national fortune, he brought nearly twenty subordinates "bodyguards" and walked horizontally in the Jin army camp without any problem - if he wasn't afraid of running into acquaintances. But if he wanted to leave, it would be difficult.

  It was already the end of the tenth hour (around 10 pm), at which time, according to ancient custom, it was time to rest, especially in a military camp on an expedition.

  Di Lie rode silently in the front, opening the way, while the ladies behind him tightly grasped the reins, following quietly. None of these girls could ride horses, although these warhorses were fully saddled and had been tamed, but it was too much to expect these palace noblewomen to sit steadily on horseback.

  In fact, Di Lie had tied their bodies firmly to the saddle. Once they charged out of the Golden Camp, they would have to gallop with all their might. Even if they fell, they could only fall on the horse's back and were not allowed to drop out.

  As for how to get out, Di Lie had no plan. He was now following the route he came from, and when encountering patrols asking questions, he would show off the silver plate of Meng An Bu Ke. They could bluff as long as they could. If they were really exposed, then they would force their way through. However, it was clear that their luck was not bad for the time being, and they had broken through three gates in a row without being recognized.

  There are still two layers of gates ahead, if we can pass through smoothly, we can escape from this desperate situation.

  Di Lie's heart sank, the real test had arrived. Because of the previous three layers of gates, the controlled range was basically all within the inner camp, so the checks were not very strict. But the two layers of gates in front are different, once out, it is equivalent to leaving the Golden Camp. In the middle of the night, without any exit orders, nearly twenty riders wanted to rush out like this, even if he was Guo Lun, the son of Ma An Ba Jun, it wouldn't be allowed.

  Not to mention Di Lie, this fake, only understands a little bit of Jurchen language, and when speaking, the tone is stiff. It's okay to say a few words, but once being asked too many questions, it's easy to reveal one's true nature.

  As expected, Di Lie and the twenty riders had just arrived at the second gate when several heads popped out from the watchtowers on both sides. Several cold gazes swept across the escapees exposed by the blazing torches on either side of the road.

  "Who goes there? What business brings you out of camp at this late hour? Do you have a royal warrant?"

  "This will be the reward of the country of Manchu! General Feng set up the order of Ma Zhi, went out to execute important tasks, only with oral orders, and no written orders. Bastard! The military situation is urgent, can't wait for those staff officers who only know how to wield their brushes to slowly paint their symbols? Open the camp gate quickly!"

  Di Lie said all that in one breath, firstly hoping to rely on his "identity" to intimidate the guards into opening the gate; secondly, hoping that these Jin soldiers were illiterate and wouldn't need a written order; moreover, with the three great kings of the Jin army joining forces, orders were being issued from multiple sources. If luck was on their side, the Jin soldiers guarding the two camps might not be under the command of Wanyan Zonghan, also known as "Steamed Pork" General, and would therefore dare not go to verify the order.

  Di Lie's abacus skills were quite good, but he was completely overturned by a single sentence from the Golden Soldier: "Are you a noble person? I am Mu Kan, the former personal guard of the noble! How is your voice... Sir, please wait for a moment, I'll come down immediately."

  Di Lie was stunned, and after coming back to his senses, he couldn't help but laugh bitterly. This luck was really too bad, actually running into the muzzle of a gun. Although he had stuck on Guo Lun's genuine and valuable big beard, and done some disguises, such as applying black skin tone and thickening his eyebrows... it could still deceive those who were not familiar with him. But facing this guy Mu Kan, who claimed to be one of Guo Lun's former personal guards, even at night, he feared it would be hard to deceive him. Just look, even the sound of his voice had been detected as being off...

  As Mu Kang held the torch and emerged from the watchtower's corridor, he quickly approached. Di Lie's hand also pressed down on the hilt of his waist knife, a killing intent gradually forming...

  Just at this critical moment, far away, somewhere in the Jin army camp, a gate suddenly transmitted a burst of shouting and killing sounds. Although the voice was distant and faint, it was clearly audible in the quiet night wilderness.

  Mu Kang couldn't help but be taken aback, his footsteps paused for a moment.

  Opportunity is not to be lost. Di Lie immediately shouted loudly and recklessly: "The North Gate has been attacked! Lang Jun's guess was not wrong, there are bandits from the Southern Dynasty who took advantage of the night to launch a surprise attack on our army's camp. The general received intelligence that there is another group of bandits at the South Gate who will also coordinate and launch an attack. Quickly open the gate, let the general go first and defeat them. You must hold the gate, absolutely do not make any rash moves."

  Under the pressure of the sudden situation and the former master's prestige, Mukang unconsciously chose to obey and immediately ordered the opening of the gate.

  When twenty riders galloped past Mukun's side like the wind, Mukun fanned away the dust and smoke on one side, while being puzzled on the other. The level of horse riding of these knights was also too poor. Not only were some of them swaying back and forth on their horses, but a few almost collided with the gate pillars. Could they be new recruits from the Song army? How could the general use these rabbit soldiers who couldn't even ride horses to fight battles?

  Mù kǎn shook his head in confusion.

  Di Lie didn't know that the female knights behind him almost exposed their true intentions, he just took advantage of this sudden and advantageous situation to open the last gate once again.

  Under the gaze of Jin army guards, who held their knives like they were facing a great enemy, Di Lie and his twenty cavalrymen rushed out of the camp gate, galloping swiftly, appearing and disappearing in the flames, gradually disappearing into the endless night...