The garrison troops took the lead and brought up the rear, while the female escorts spread out on both sides of the carriages. The male escorts and the guards led by Qin Ming formed a protective ring around them.
More than a hundred villagers pushed flat carts mingled among the column.
Most of the labourers Ninth Princess had brought from the capital had perished when their boat sank. These men had been chosen by Liu Tie from the village to help transport supplies. They would not travel all the way to Tibet; they would turn back once the princess reached Xichuan.
“Move out!”
At Qin Ming’s command, the column slowly began to advance.
Several hundred people stretched nearly a hundred zhang along the mountain path.
Ninth Princess lifted the carriage curtain and looked outside, her eyes filled with reluctance.
She truly loved Xihe Bay.
Once she went to Tibet, she would never have the chance to return here again in her lifetime, nor even to Great Kang.
With a sigh, she let the curtain fall, feeling somewhat dejected.
At that moment, the urgent clatter of hooves rang out from the village entrance.
Ninth Princess lifted the curtain once more and saw Jin Feng galloping towards them on a white warhorse.
“Qiner, tell the column to halt for a moment and wait for Mr Jin!”
The corners of Ninth Princess’s mouth curved upwards, and the sadness in her eyes vanished instantly.
“Your Highness, forgive me, I am late!”
Jin Feng reined in beside the carriage and handed over a box. “This is the gift I prepared for Your Highness. I hope you will not find it too humble.”
“You are too kind, sir!”
Ninth Princess thanked him, then slowly opened the box.
Inside lay three mirrors the size of bowls. The top one perfectly reflected her face.
“Sir, are these mirrors?”
Ninth Princess picked one up, turned it over several times, and asked uncertainly.
Great Kang had no glass, and therefore no glass mirrors.
Wealthy families used bronze mirrors, while ordinary people made do with a bowl of water.
Although bronze mirrors could show a clear image, they were still far less sharp than glass ones.
“Yes, they are mirrors.”
Jin Feng said, “Your Highness travels alone to Tibet for the sake of the common people. I have little to offer, so please accept these mirrors. I hope they may be of use.”
In Tibet, the first people Ninth Princess would need to win over would be the women. Mirrors might prove more effective than gold or silver.
These three mirrors were the fruit of Jin Feng’s all-night labour.
“Thank you, sir!”
Ninth Princess bowed to him.
Jin Feng watched the column move gradually farther away and sighed inwardly.
Although he and Ninth Princess did not share deep feelings, they were both descendants of the Yan and Yellow Emperor. Seeing her go to a foreign tribe to seek peace through marriage still pained his heart.
After returning, Jin Feng plunged back into the laboratory.
In truth, the journey from Jinchuan to Chengdu was not far, less than five hundred li as the crow flies. Yet the mountain roads were difficult, and constant rain slowed them further. Half a month after leaving Xihe Bay, Ninth Princess’s party had not even covered a third of the distance.
On the sixteenth day, the weather finally cleared. Qin Ming ordered an early start. By noon they had emerged from the mountains.
“Sirs, once we cross this ridge, the road all the way to the prefectural city of Xichuan will be flat!”
The guide pointed to the hill ahead.
Sichuan was known as the Land of Abundance because of its vast, fertile basin, though Guangyuan lay outside that basin.
Crossing this hill would bring them into it.
Qin Ming rode to the crest and looked down. Just as the guide had said, an endless plain stretched below.
The official road was wide and straight, broad enough for five carriages to travel abreast.
“Everyone, one last push! It’s all flat once we’re down the hill!”
Qin Ming shouted back to the column.
The labourers and garrison troops cheered with joy.
Great Kang suffered a shortage of horses. In a column of several hundred, there were fewer than forty mounts in total, twenty of them ridden by the escorts.
Not only the garrison troops, but even the princess’s personal guards had horses only for Qin Ming and three others, and those four belonged to Jin Feng. They would be returned to Xihe Bay when the escorts came back.
Pushing carts along mountain paths for half a month had been agonising, especially on the climbs, which could exhaust a man to death.
At the foot of the hill, Ninth Princess ordered a one-hour rest.
The troops escorting her had been hand-picked by Commandant Xiao from several thousand, and the prefect had promised each man two taels of silver upon completion of the mission, so the soldiers had performed well along the way.
At the princess’s command, they sprang into action without waiting for Xiao’s orders.
Some pitched camp, some stood watch, and the cooks began preparing food. Everything proceeded in good order.
Ninth Princess sat in her carriage, gazing silently at the mountains behind her, lost in thought.
After the meal and rest, the column set off again.
They had assumed flat ground would be easy, but once on the official road they discovered that days of rain had turned it into a quagmire, worse than the mountain paths.
At least the mountain tracks were mostly stone; carts did not sink into mud there.
Seeing the labourers slow to a crawl, Commandant Xiao detailed some troops to help haul the carts with ropes.
Even so, progress remained painfully slow.
“Tie-zi, Old Xiao, this won’t do. It’s getting dark, and the post station is still more than twenty li away.”
Qin Ming called Liu Tie and Commandant Xiao together. “Tie-zi, how about Old Xiao and I escort Her Highness ahead to the station while you work a bit harder and bring the rest along through the night?”
According to plan, they were supposed to reach a post station that day, but it now looked impossible.
“I agree. We cannot let Her Highness sleep in the open. It would be uncomfortable and unsafe.”
Commandant Xiao added, “Don’t worry, Tie-zi. I’ll leave another fifty troops to help you.”
Liu Tie glanced around, frowning slightly.
They had now entered the Sichuan basin. The land was completely flat, with no defensible terrain anywhere. Leaving the princess in such a place really was unsafe.
Yet remembering Jin Feng’s instructions, Liu Tie hesitated.
Just as he wavered, a shrill whistle suddenly cut through the air from the distance.
“Bad news, signal arrow!”
Qin Ming, Liu Tie, and the others blanched and whipped round towards the south.
Several hundred metres to the south stood a dense wood.
One of Qin Ming’s scouts burst from the trees on horseback, fleeing for his life.
Behind him thundered a mounted band of several dozen, with hundreds more men on foot wielding long swords pouring from the forest!
The scout had escaped only a few dozen metres before arrows struck him and he tumbled from his horse.
“Enemy attack! Protect Her Highness!”
Qin Ming and Commandant Xiao wheeled their mounts and raced back, shouting orders to their men to form a defence.
Fortunately the scout had spotted them early, buying precious time.
Following the pre-arranged plan, Commandant Xiao led the garrison troops to the front, the male escorts formed the second line, and the female escorts together with Qin Ming’s guards surrounded the carriages.
Qiner, Zhuer, and Amei barred every door and window of the carriages, taking up positions to shield Ninth Princess and Qing Muluan inside!
Meanwhile Liu Tie directed the labourers to lift the carts to both sides of the road and aim the heavy crossbows mounted on them towards the oncoming horsemen!
