The road to exile is fraught with difficulties and dangers.

The chains dragged harshly across the frozen ground as Shen Qingci and Su Yunqing were pushed onto the prison cart. Fine snowflakes were falling from the sky above the capital. The cart was made of rough, hardwood, with narrow bars that let in a biting wind that stung their cheeks. Su Yunqing was still wrapped in the thin cotton quilt her mother had given her before her departure, but it was no match for the bone-chilling cold. The unhealed knife wound on her arm throbbed with pain from the jolting.

"Hold on tight to me." Shen Qingci pulled her closer to him, the iron chains rubbing against the flesh of her wrists, the blood that seeped out quickly freezing into dark red ice crystals in the cold. He tried his best to shield her from the wind and snow with his body, his gaze sweeping over the guards escorting her—all of them were Li Linfu's cronies, their faces carrying a gloating indifference. The food provided along the way was nothing more than moldy cornbread, and the drinking water was murky cold water mixed with ice crystals.

The exile caravan wound its way north, the landscape growing increasingly desolate with each step. The vegetation along the official road had long since withered, leaving only exposed frozen earth and jagged rocks. Occasionally, the frozen corpses of birds and beasts could be seen, conveying a sense of utter despair and death. Su Yunqing, pampered since childhood, had never endured such hardship. Within three to five days, she fell ill, suffering from a persistent high fever, a relentless cough, her cheeks flushed red, and her consciousness gradually fading.

"Yunqing! Yunqing!" Shen Qingci's eyes were bloodshot with anxiety. He tightly grasped her burning hand through the prison cart bars. "Hold on, we still have to get to Ningguta alive, and we still have to wait for our injustice to be redressed!" He pleaded with the officials for some hot water and medicine, but only received a scolding and a whipping in return.

The whip stung his back, but Shen Qingci held onto Su Yunqing tightly, refusing to let go. That night, they slept in a dilapidated temple. While the guards slept, he secretly tore off a piece of his prison uniform, dipped it in melted snow, and used it to wipe Su Yunqing's forehead to cool her fever. He then broke the only cornbread he had into small pieces and fed it to her bit by bit. "Yunqing, you can't die," he said, his voice hoarse and choked with emotion. "If you leave, how will I survive alone?"

In her hazy state, Su Yunqing felt his body temperature and heard his trembling voice. She opened her eyes with difficulty and smiled weakly, "Brother Qingci, I...I'm fine, don't worry." She wanted to raise her hand to touch his face, but she didn't even have the strength to do so. She could only let the tears slide down her cheeks and freeze into ice beads.

However, the suffering did not end there. Among the exiled group were several hardened criminals imprisoned for robbery and murder. Seeing Su Yunqing's beautiful appearance, even confined in a prison cart and weakened by illness, they couldn't hide her charm and harbored evil intentions. One afternoon, as the group rested in a valley, two burly prisoners, taking advantage of the officers' inattention, quietly moved to the prison cart and reached out to grab Su Yunqing's clothes.

"Get out of my way!" Shen Qingci's eyes were bloodshot as he slammed his shoulder into the prison cart bars, the chains clanging loudly. Though his hands and feet were bound, he used the force of the impact to kick one of the prisoners in the knee. The prisoner screamed and fell to his knees. Seeing this, another prisoner, enraged, pulled out a shard of porcelain hidden on his person and was about to stab Shen Qingci.

Shen Qingci was prepared and dodged to the side, simultaneously wrapping the other man's wrist with an iron chain and twisting it hard. A crisp "crack" rang out as the prisoner's wrist snapped, and he screamed in pain. The officers arrived at the sound, subdued the two prisoners, but merely reprimanded them casually without further investigation—they were acting under Li Linfu's orders and were hoping for something to happen to Shen Qingci and his wife on their journey.

Shen Qingci looked at Su Yunqing's pale face, feeling both pain and anger in his heart. He held her tightly in his arms, his voice low but firm: "Yunqing, with me here, no one can hurt you. Even if it means death, I will protect you."

Su Yunqing leaned against him, feeling his slightly thin yet incredibly strong chest, and a warm current surged in her heart. She knew that this path was destined to be fraught with danger, but as long as she could stay with him, she would gladly face even the most perilous journey.

The prison van continued northward, the wind and snow intensifying, making the road increasingly difficult to traverse. Shen Qingci and Su Yunqing huddled together, drawing warmth from each other in the icy prison van. They didn't know how far Ningguta was, nor what awaited them, but their belief never wavered—to live, to wait, and one day, the light would return.