Since they were about to slip away, it was natural to dress simply.
Both of them changed into light, dark - colored clothes. Qin Lan got out of the carriage first, while Qin Huaiqiu waited quietly inside until he heard the sound of a nightingale.
This was the Qin family's means of communication. At night, to send a confirmation signal, one would imitate the call of a nightingale; during the day, it was the call of a cuckoo four times.
Qin Huaiqiu crouched low and slipped out of the carriage. Everyone around had gone to rest. By the moonlight, he saw Qin Lan's hazy figure not far away, waving at him. He tiptoed over quickly. Qin Lan grabbed him and pointed in a direction, making a gesture of "go that way".
Qin Huaiqiu understood. Under the cover of the night, the two of them crept to the edge and found a patch of weeds to hide in. Not far away, there were only two soldiers sitting there. As it was already very late at night, both of them were a bit drowsy.
Qin Lan picked up a small stone from the ground, pinched it hard between her index finger and thumb, and threw it in another direction.
The stone hit a tree trunk and made a "crack" sound.
The two soldiers were suddenly startled. They stood up, looked at each other, and went to check that direction.
Taking this opportunity, the two of them quickly ran through the grass and disappeared into the woods in a flash.
Both of them were trained in martial arts and were personally taught by Qin Feng, so their movement speed was much faster than ordinary people. They ran about a li before slowly stopping.
"Ah! Finally out!" Qin Huaiqiu sighed looking up at the sky. "It's okay in the palace, but this place can't hold me back!"
Qin Lan drew out a short knife from her waist and made a mark on a nearby tree trunk. "This is Shangguan Mountain. Beyond the mountain is Qizhou. But our team is going around. We can go into the mountain and take a look."
Qin Huaiqiu said, "Okay. Let's just wander around."
Neither of them knew the way, so they could only make marks as they walked forward. Because the forest in the mountain was very dense, blocking the moon, and they were walking deeper into the mountain, to prevent encountering wild beasts, Qin Huaiqiu cut some dead branches with his short knife, tied them into a simple torch, and lit it with a fire starter.
"There's nothing in this mountain," Qin Huaiqiu said. "But the vegetation in the south is really lush. I don't know how many layers these vines have wrapped around. They're so wet. No wonder they grow so well." He pointed to a tree.
The whole tree was entangled with vines and was almost on the verge of dying. Once the vines wrapped the whole tree tightly, the tree's life would come to an end. As time passed, the dead tree would decay and weather, and eventually, only a "tree shell" woven by vines would be left.
Qin Lan looked and said, "It's really much wetter than the border area."
"Speaking of which, there was a serious drought in the border area this year. When Lian'er got married, Father couldn't even take out enough rice from the granary of the Western Regions Protectorate."
Qin Lan didn't say a word. She had just carved a new mark and blew the sawdust off the handle of her knife.
"In my opinion, our Protector of the Western Regions is completely unworthy of his position," Qin Huaiqiu said to himself. "Although he seems respectful to Father on the surface, in fact, he speaks ill of Father secretly. He's very dissatisfied that Father always opposes him in governance."
Qin Lan was stunned. "Is the young master talking about Zheng Yuan?"
Qin Huaiqiu kicked away a broken branch that was in his way. "Who else could it be? Our Western Regions Protectorate is such a large area with fertile fields, cattle, and horses, but the common people go hungry and are poorly clothed every year. They always rely on the court's relief."
"Store grain in good years and distribute it in drought years. It's such a simple principle, but he just can't do it well." Qin Huaiqiu sighed. "There's a drought in the northern border, and there's also a drought among the Xiongnu. In this way, the possibility of them joining forces with Loulan to attack the Protectorate is high."
Qin Lan nodded. "Indeed. The general said before that they caught a Loulan spy in the city."
Qin Huaiqiu said, "Yes. So I think Sima Ting marrying Lian'er is also a way to stabilize Father. Father understood, so he didn't object when the imperial edict came. Besides, Lian'er's life in the capital must be better than before."
Qin Huaiqiu suddenly clicked his tongue. "I'm so angry when I think of Lian'er. Where on earth has this dead girl gone?"
He angrily stomped on the soft, wet soil under his feet. "There's nothing in this mountain! We've been walking for so long, and all we can see are trees. It's so boring."
Qin Lan found a place where she could see the moon and calculated the time. "We've been out for more than an hour. It's time for us to go back."
Qin Huaiqiu nodded reluctantly and followed behind Qin Lan on the way back.
He originally wanted to come out to change his mood. After all, it was rare for him to leave the palace. It wasn't his style to stay in the carriage all the time. Who would have thought that there was nothing interesting in this mountain? After walking for a long time, he didn't even see a single spring. All he could see were lush trees and vines.
Since Qin Lan was walking in front, she naturally held the torch. Qin Huaiqiu walked unsteadily behind Qin Lan. He felt that the dense branches and leaves around him seemed even more obscure in the firelight. He suddenly said out of the blue, "This seems to be a good place to hide."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Lan suddenly stopped. Qin Huaiqiu, who was walking behind, didn't react in time and almost bumped into Qin Lan's back.
"Damn it!" Qin Huaiqiu staggered and patted Qin Lan's shoulder. "What's going on?"
"This..." Qin Lan stared at a certain place in front of her, her voice filled with surprise and panic. "This isn't the mark I made."
Qin Huaiqiu's heart skipped a beat. He looked over Qin Lan's shoulder and saw a clear "X" mark on a tree trunk not far away.
This wasn't Qin Lan's habit of making marks.
Qin Lan squinted her eyes and stepped forward to take a closer look. She reached out and touched the mark. "New carving marks. It hasn't been soaked by rain yet."
Qin Huaiqiu stepped on the soil under his feet. "It just rained here not long ago. Judging from the humidity... it should be just one or two days ago."
The two of them looked at each other.
That meant that someone had been here one or two days ago.
Come for an outing? It couldn't be that coincidental. Qin Huaiqiu thought. The only use of this mountain might be for hiding. So who on earth needed to hide in such a place with lush vegetation?
Thinking of this, both Qin Lan and Qin Huaiqiu became cautious. There were only two of them, and they were afraid of something going wrong, so they didn't dare to waste any more time. Qin Lan led Qin Huaiqiu to speed up their return. They followed the marks they had carved before and shuttled through the forest, only hoping to leave this place as soon as possible.
But unexpectedly, on their way back, under the illumination of the torch, they both saw a very familiar mark.
"△"
The exclusive tracking mark of the Qin family.
Both of their faces turned ugly. Qin Lan walked closer with the torch and touched it. She suddenly gasped and took a few steps back. She turned to look at Qin Huaiqiu and said in disbelief, "This was carved by Nie Rong."
Both Qin Lan and Nie Rong were secret guards of the Qin Mansion. They had trained together for even longer than Qin Lan had accompanied Qin Huaiqiu. That was why Qin Lan could quickly recognize Nie Rong's way of carving marks.
Qin Huaiqiu's face turned deathly pale. He was in a daze for a moment and quickly asked, "When was it carved?"
Qin Lan frowned and looked at the mark. "He should be chasing that group of people."
Nie Rong was called by Qin Feng to search for Qin Huailian. If they met Nie Rong here, did it mean that the group of people who used the "X" symbol were related to Lian'er?
Qin Huaiqiu suddenly turned his head and looked deep into the mountain.
That meant that Lian'er might be in Shangguan Mountain!
"Young master!" Qin Lan grabbed Qin Huaiqiu's hand. "You have to go back now!"
Qin Huaiqiu naturally understood this. Now he was the Noble Consort De. If the Noble Consort De disappeared the next day, the consequences would be unimaginable. But at the thought of possibly finding Lian'er, Qin Huaiqiu couldn't help biting his lower lip. The hesitation and doubt in his eyes intertwined, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Qin Lan pulled him again. "Nie Rong hasn't sent any news, which means this matter is still under investigation. I'll contact Nie Rong tomorrow and ask him about the situation."
Qin Huaiqiu bit his lip. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "I know. Let's go back first."