chapter 5; Taken captive

As hao mei struggled to climb out of the tunnel a hand grasped her wrist and pulled her out, it was long tian xi .She struggled to pull free from him but his grip on her only tightened so she began to scream but that was also a wasted effort,they were in the middle of a forest and no one could hear her and even if they could they wouldn't be able to help her.

"you really do like to cause trouble don't you" long tian xi said becoming irritated by her continuous struggles.

"please just let me go, I just want to go back to my family "

"well that's exactly where I'm taking you ,back to your family because I have your family. Now start walking " long tian xi said with a look of Glee in his eyes. Hao mei was too weary to keep up the struggle she decided to save her energy to look for a means to escape .

The journey from east qing to east peak river took about three days. East peak river was the boundary between East qing and qintong,Because the other soldiers left east qing a day before, they would probably be near the river, after considering all these factors, long tian xi decided that they would travel all day without stopping if they were to catch up with the others.

At first long tian xi felt sorry for hao mei, she looked as if she would faint soon but long tian xi pushed away the feeling telling himself that if it hadn't been for her they both wouldn't need to suffer this much .

As the day darkened long tian xi decided to look for a good spot for them to rest for the night. After setting up a fire he offered the princess food but she refused. she was trying to pretend to be strong but stubbornness would lead her no where. They spent the entire evening in silence as neither was in the mood for a conversation.

Hao mei was pretending to be asleep while waiting for the right moment to escape, long tian xi had been lying quietly on the other side for a while so she felt he was asleep ,she would have to seize this opportunity to escape before he woke up. She started creeping away stealthily when she heard an ice cold voice behind her "you really shouldn't try to escape,whereas you have no where to go if you escape. I've captured your entire family so just come along without making a fuss. " he said as he moved to tie her up "or don't you want to see your family again? "

She glared at him, her eyes as big as saucers and spat at him saying "I hate you"but that just seemed to be funny to him as he laughed a hearty deep rich laugh.

In qintong the prime minister Tang rhong guang was giving a party for the supposed demise of the crown prince, it was evident that he was dead as no one could defeat East Qing. All the governors from the 10 provinces and most of the officials were In attendance. They were trying to suck up to the prime minister since he now held ultimate control of the nation, Only a few officials who were still loyal to the Emperor were absent. While party was ongoing an eunuch came to report to the prime minister. The news was obviously one that brought joy because Tang Rhong Guang laughed hysterically before announcing to the crown.

"His highness has passed on hahaha this calls for celebration "with the emperor dead he now has full control over the nation.

Long tian xi and Hao mei travelled for another day and a half before they arrived at East peak river. It was a gruesome journey with neither speaking to the other. When they arrived hao mei was locked up with the rest of the prisoners. Long tian xi gave others to the soldier and went in to rest. He planned to continue the journey at might do they wouldn't be spotted by the beacon man. They would enter Qintong unnoticed and by morning they would arrive in daichi the capital of qintong and give Tang Rhong Guang a pleasant surprise. Long tian xi smiled at the thought of this the old fool was probably giving a party to celebrate his death.