It wasn't Jin qing or Yu qi's first time sneaking out, but having two children along... well, it didn't make the difficult situation any easier. Having a horse was good enough, though Jin qing had to continually make sure they weren't riding at a speed that would be too rough. 

Yu qi made traversing through the palace easy and took them on paths away from the main roads. It didn't save them any time, but it was worth being stealthier to avoid anyone seeing them.

Nian Zhen curled up in front of Jin qing, gripping onto the horse's mane for dear life, and struggled not to fall off. Xiao wen was having an even more difficult time, but Yu qi had wrapped a scarf around their waist to secure his small body to herself to stop him from slipping. 

Just as Qiang an had described, they found a tunnel just tall enough for them to pass through the palace walls and into the dark underground. The tunnel hadn't been used in ages and was musty from the water dripping down from the stone above them, filling the atmosphere with a foul, suffocating air that made it difficult to breathe. 

Jin qing didn't dare make an extra sound until they exited the city through the opening on the other side and breathed out a sigh of relief when she finally smelled the fresh air of the outside world. She can tell everyone else was relieved too from the deep breath they all took, and couldn't help but smile. 

"We're facing the Liang now," Yu qi said, her eyes flickering over to Jin qing.  She slowed their horses to a trot to give them a little rest before the charge toward the border. "we'll have to loop around if we wish to head into the Wei. It's been years, but I doubt whatever's left of the Liang will be happy to see us."

Jin qing nodded in response, still staring off into the distance in thought. "Ride out a little so we're not in range of the Song's search parties. They must have been informed of our disappearances by now..."
She was painfully aware of how intelligent Tian Xiang was and knew that Qiang An probably didn't even need to report to him about them for him to guess what was going on. 

It'll all depend on how much he values his palace. 
Which one does he want more-- his palace, or her?

The more he prioritizes his palace and the people inside, the better. If he doesn't and goes after her with a search party, his people will blame him for the loss of property and the loss of lives. If he does the opposite... well, she'll be able to get back, scot-free. 

"Of course. I know this terrain well."

An idea sparked in Jin qing's mind. "Actually, let's not ride out too far."

"Hm?"

Jin qing turned her head to face Yu qi. "Since we're leaving this wretched place, why don't we burn some more things on the way?" She asked with a sly smile. "that emperor had already ordered an early harvest- good on him- but under such short notice im sure he hasn't gotten much done. We can still deal a devastating blow onto the food-"

Yu qi cut her off. "I understand. doing that will cost us time, we'll need to hurry."

Nian Zhen looked back from the front with a frown. "So you are burning down the fields. It'll make everyone go hungry!"

"Nian Zhen, who am I?"

"The Xue Xian of the Wei..."

Jin qing nodded. "It'll cause a massive shortage of food in the Song and leave them without provisions for the upcoming winter-- and the war. They'll be forced to buy food, but I saw on some maps in Tian Xiang's room that the Wei had cut plenty of the supply lines off. He can't fight a war if the people aren't backing him up... or if the army isn't well-fed."

"But so many people will die!"

She gritted her teeth "All so that we can end this war quickly, Nian zhen. War isn't about strength-- it's about endurance. It's in everyone's favor to end this quickly." she spurred her horse "Time is running out. We need to get a move on before Tian Xiang recovered enough of his palace to come looking for us."

Nian Zhen grabbed onto her sleeve, pulling at it to get her attention, and brought the start to a sudden stop. "If you burn down the crops, it's not the rich who will be affected but the poor on the streets!" She argued back, raising her voice to an uncomfortably loud volume. "it's people like-- It's people like the auntie and the uncle we visited who is going to suffer for the sake of the soldiers."

Jin qing tugged at the reins but Nian zhen kept such a tight grip on her that she couldn't move her arm. "Nian Zhen, lower your voice-"

"You've said to me that a person didn't need a reason to help someone, but if you burn down the crops, so many people will die of starvation. If you can help them by not taking away their source of food, why won't you?"

There were so many truths to her words, but Jin qing didn't have the time to deal with it. 

"This is wartime, Nian Zhen." Jin qing answered sharply, yanking her arms away so it was free to control the horse. "It's the only way for this war not to drag out any longer-- see beyond tomorrow and into the years ahead."

"But--"

"There is no such thing as a war that doesn't end with casualties, Nian Zhen. The best we can do is reduce the number of lives taken. It's harsh, but in a way, we are helping them."

Nian zhen fell silent. 

"Good to see that you understand. We need to leave, now." Jin qing grabbed onto the reins again and urged her horse on without another word. "We're wasting time."

<><><>

It was harder to set fire to the fields when the country is more aware of such a tragedy, but Yu qi and Jin qing managed to deal quite the damage along the way. 

If they passed by a town with a half-harvested field or a partially filled storage, they'll stop for a few minutes and set fire to the dry goods with matches they stole or the fire and oil right from the lanterns in the street. 

One of them would stay with the kids and keep watch and the other would step down and do the deed, and it never took more than fifteen minutes.
Who knew the road to the Wei was so long and who knows how many storages they burned? Jin qing lost count after the fifth one focused on getting the job done. She can only hope that their efforts were enough, but there was nothing she can't do once she reaches the Wei.   

By the time the sun was rising, both of them were exhausted and ready to set up camp somewhere to sleep through the daylight and travel in the morning. They were quite a long way from the capital and has only seen one search party so they slowed down and let their equally as exhausted horses rest. 

"The Wei border is only a day's travel away." Yu qi said, patting the little boy on her horse's head. He was long asleep, and they all rode at a leisurely pace not to wake him up. "We should stop."

"Are we far enough?" Jin qing wondered. "That fire should have long died down by now, and they should be searching for us at full force. Is it safe to hide in enemy territory...?"

"Not if we don't stop now in the forest to look for someplace to settle."

Jin qing couldn't help but still feel uneasy. She felt like a hunted rabbit, running around the forest thinking she's getting away but in reality... she's racing right into a trap. If it were up to her, she would choose to head straight into the Wei without delay, but even she was starting to feel the fatigue. 

Quietly, she slipped off her horse, finally resting her feet on solid ground for more than a few seconds.  "Go and find somewhere to settle for the morning," she instructed Yu Qi. "I'll head back a little and make sure no one's following us. Take my horse-- It'll be easier for me." 

"Shouldn't I be the one to go?"

"I'll do it. I think I still have some value to the emperor-- he won't kill me on sight." Jin qing answered, using a belt to loop her horse with Yu qi. She was still wearing a guard's uniform, though she had long taken off the armor so she could travel light-- though, she did keep the dagger that came with the uniform... just in case. "come back and look for me once you've gotten settled. I'll be on the path we took."

Much to her surprise, it didn't take her very long to find signs of life. 
More specifically, life as in the search party Tian Xiang himself was leading. 

Jin qing cursed under her breath. How did they catch up so quickly? Did they make a mistake while they were fleeing? There are a million different paths they could have taken to get back to the Wei-- how did they know they were on this specific one? 

Torches lit up the forest with light with men looking through every crack and crevice for her. They sure were taking their sweet time looking at the area. With their speed, they couldn't have done that with everywhere they went. 

There were so many people... even Jin qing and Yu qi combines wouldn't be able to take them all-- especially not on top of their fatigue. 

She turned around slowly to greet her second surprise. 
Yu qi was already there, waiting to escort her back. 
Both of them had the same look of urgency and a bit of panic, knowing that the chances of getting out of there were slim... but it has to be done. 


By bad luck or by the karma from the gods, a gust of wind started to pick up, weaving through the trees and the bushes to make a rustling sound that sounded like something a human would make. 

Without hesitation, the nearest soldier fired their crossbow, landing a few inches from her foot. She had no time to react nor the time to run away and was caught like an animal who has fallen into a pit. 


"Put up your hands!"

Jin qing slowly turned around to face Tian Xiang, her arms raised high.

The emperor looked relatively unharmed from the fire. Hastily dressed and looking just as exhausted as Jin qing felt. "There's nowhere to run now. Surrender."

Jin qing flicked her wrist a little, signaling for YuQi to halt.

 Some of the soldiers slowly surrounded her as the others spread out to search if anyone was around. She hoped Yu Qi had enough sense to run or hide and not try and rescue her... but moving would be difficult with so many people watching. 

There had to be some sort of distraction. 

"No," she said nonchalantly "I don't think I will."

"Why not? You've seen it yourself how the Wei will soon collapse into itself from their incompetence and Sheng Feng's advance. Why return to a country that's inevitably going to lose?"

"Does it look like I care much?" Jin qing asked. "As long as that man and his mother is in your county, I have no place there either."
Besides, she knew Xi Jian will welcome her home after suffering so long without her. How long has she been gone? She've lost count of the days long ago, but it had to be close to a month. 

"My father promised them sanctuary long ago, who am I to break a promise? I promise no harm will--"

"Lies." Jin qing snapped. "You've told me so many lies already. You promised to let me out, Tian Xiang, what happened to that? You promised that they won't find me, What happened to that? I'm not stupid enough to trust your lies again."

Tian Xiang stepped forward. "Are you stupid enough to try and fight, then? We'll take you back no matter what. You're far too valuable to me alive for me to leave you out here as a threat." 

Too valuable alive, huh?

Jin qing now understood why the arrow was fired not higher where it had a better chance of hitting her body but downward at her feet. 
They wanted her alive. Not dead-- but alive. They couldn't risk accidentally hitting something vital, so they struck somewhere to immobilize her so she wouldn't escape. 

I wonder how much is my life worth?

"So you're going to take me back by force?"

"It looks like it's going to have to come to that."

 "You can try," she said defiantly, unsheathing the knife that remained in her uniform and held it up to her own throat. "You want me alive, right? I don't know why you'd want me alive-- perhaps to keep Gui Fei and Sheng Feng in line... But you can't do that if I take my own life first."