The hour before dawn is the darkest time of the day.

Pei Yuan rode through the dense forest, his robe scraped against sharp branches, some places were torn, and there were scratches on his cheeks. His pale fingers grasped the reins, trembling slightly, partly because of his nervousness for Bao Ning, and partly because of the cold. It was too cold, the breath he exhaled turned into a dense white mist, and the wind blowing on his face was like a knife cutting, and most importantly, his legs began to ache slightly. The pain spread throughout his body along the meridians, and he did not fall off the horse now, relying on his faith to hold on.

The moment he heard the news that Bao Ning was abducted, Pei Yuan was unbelieving at first, and then he was in uncontrollable panic.

He recalled the sweet smile Bao Ning gave him before he left. She was soft and needed protection. Pei Yuan couldn't imagine what she would look like in the hands of the Huns. He couldn't accept it just thinking of her tears. So at that moment, all his rationality disappeared. He didn't think about the ins and outs, and didn't think about whether it was a trap. Even if the people around him advised him not to, he still chose to embark on this road alone, just to get to Bao Ning as soon as possible.

It was also at that time that Pei Yuan suddenly realized that he might not be able to become a calm and wise man forever in his life, because he had the most fatal weakness.

He loved Bao Ning too much, more than glory, more than the people and everything, and even more than himself.

He was resurrected from the dead, smashed his golden body and rebuilt it. He had lost everything before, so he was not afraid of anything. Except Baoning.

People living in the world are always supported by some beliefs, otherwise their souls are dead and they are just walking corpses. His belief is her.

...

Pei Yuan suddenly felt regretful. Should he really go to a quiet town and live a peaceful and happy life as Baoning expected? There would be no glory now, but there would be no worries and burdens that came with glory.

To put it bluntly, the reason why he insisted until now was because of stubbornness.

He wanted to give Baoning the best things, and hoped that she could stand on the top of the mountain and look down on everything. Only when he brought all the rare treasures in the world to her did he feel that he had taken good care of her and that a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. When Baoning smiled, he was happy.

Pei Yuan now understood that there was a price to pay for all this, and that he had to take responsibility for being in this position. He must be responsible for the people here, and he needs to protect them as he protects Baoning. This is what he had always done before, and he had shed blood and sweat for it, and he had never felt tired.

But it is no longer possible now.

Because he can no longer love others or the world.

...

When they said goodbye in the morning, he had not yet hugged her properly.

...

Pei Yuan's eyes were bloodshot, and he stared at the road ahead. He gritted his teeth and thought, if Bao Ning really had an accident, or if the baby in her belly had an accident, then even if he risked his life and disobeyed the emperor's order, he would lead the three armies to march northward, and he would not stop until the royal court was razed to the ground!

...

Normally, it would take more than an hour for a fast horse to travel this distance, but Pei Yuan only took more than half an hour to reach the position of the first line of sky.

The warhorse was already very tired. In the quiet night, only the sound of the horse stepping on the snow and its heavy breathing could be heard.

The silence was too much. Pei Yuan's suspicion was aroused. The moment before entering the valley, he pulled the reins by intuition. The horse raised its neck and neighed, and slowly stopped.

Pei Yuan stared at the road ahead.

On both sides of Yixiantian are high mountains with sharp cliffs, and the gap between the two cliffs is so narrow that two people cannot even pass side by side. When the weather is clear, looking up in the valley, the sky is like a thin blue line. Hence the name Yixiantian.

Now, Yixiantian has lost the beautiful scenery of the daytime. There is only darkness in front, as if a beast has opened its huge mouth, and walking in is the abyss.

Pei Yuan waited quietly for a moment, and there was nothing unusual. He manipulated the reins and walked in slowly.

His right hand reached for the bow and arrow behind him.

The sharpness of a warrior is innate. The chill extending from his spine upwards told Pei Yuan that this place is not right and he must be alert.

This journey in the canyon is safe and sound. He is about to pass the pass, and there is a flat and wide road ahead. Pei Yuan shouted, and the warhorse ran faster, and now only ten feet were left.

The sky was dimly lit, and it was about to dawn.

Pei Yuan's pupils suddenly shrank, and he saw a low horse rope at the pass.

There was indeed an ambush!

It was too late to rein in the horse, and Pei Yuan reacted quickly. He put it down and neatly drew the long sword from his waist. Before Sai Feng was caught on the horse rope, he tightened his arms to hold the reins and squeezed the horse's belly. Sai Feng neighed in tacit understanding, raised his front hooves, and jumped over the rope smoothly. Pei Yuan gritted his teeth and swung his sword at the vague figure behind the mountain wall. As expected, he heard a howl, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

Pei Yuan did not stop his horse, but continued to gallop forward. From behind, he heard the sound of arrows breaking through the air. A feathered arrow was heading for his back. Pei Yuan bent forward to avoid it. The arrow brushed against his hair tie, causing his hair to fall apart. Two more arrows followed. Pei Yuan controlled his horse and turned around, swinging his sword to block one. The other arrow was unavoidable and went straight into his left shoulder! A

sharp pain came from his shoulder. Pei Yuan tightened his grip on the hilt and looked up at the pass.

Chunyu Luan was looking at him with a smile, and two guards were beside him, each holding a bow and arrow. There was also one person lying on the ground.

"Why are you running? You wasted my three arrows." Chunyu Luan waved his hand, motioning for him to pass. "Fourth Prince, you'd better come here obediently and follow me back so that you and your wife can be reunited. I promise you, if you behave yourself, I won't be violent, and you can meet your wife in a decent manner. Otherwise, she will only see you in a coffin."

Chunyu Luan stared at the wound on Pei Yuan's shoulder. The smell of blood dissipated with the wind. He grinned excitedly: "Don't be delusional, you can't run away. The two archers next to me are the best archers. It's no exaggeration to say that they can shoot through a willow tree from a hundred steps away. No matter how good you are, you can't withstand the long-range attack of two archers."

He waited for Pei Yuan's answer, and after a long while, he got a sneer.

"How shameless." Pei Yuan asked him sarcastically, "Your name is Chunyu Luan, but your father's name is Chunyu Jie, right? He gave birth to a shameless bastard like you."

Chunyu Luan's smile froze on his face.

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "Oh, I forgot that you are a barbarian. I'm afraid you haven't read any books. I said the word 'slut' to you. Do you understand? Do you know the word? If you don't understand, then I'll change it to 'disgusting'. Do you understand? You stink so bad that the feces of your horse is more fragrant than you. Is there no water source where you live? You look so pitiful. You haven't taken a bath since you were born. No wonder you are so thick-skinned. With your face, you can boil three buckets of lard, which is enough for a family of five to eat for ten years..."

Chunyu Luan listened to him and his face turned pale and blue. Finally, he shouted, "Enough!"

Pei Yuan licked the corner of his lips, looked down at the arrow still stuck in his shoulder, and said nothing more.

Chunyu Luan didn't want to talk to him anymore, and waved his hand in hatred and said: "Shoot! I want to catch him alive!"

The two archers took the order and immediately drew their bows and arrows. They cooperated well and their archery skills were really accurate. Pei Yuan felt tired after resisting for a few times. He knew that this was not a solution. He could be injured, but the horse could not. If the horse was injured, he would really fall into the hands of the enemy.

Unknowingly, the snow started to fall again.

Pei Yuan made a decision quickly. He narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of Chunyu Luan.

Chunyu Luan's eyes met his and he understood immediately. He smiled playfully and shook the halberd in his hand: "Why, do you want to resist? I am not a fair person. If you resist, it will be one against three. Have you thought about it?"

Pei Yuan said nothing. The two archers stopped shooting arrows for a short time because of the change. Taking advantage of this interval, Pei Yuan shouted and urged his horse to move forward. The high-quality warhorse burst out with amazing power, and it swept forward like a gust of wind. One of the archers was unable to dodge and was knocked away by the horse, hitting the stone wall and falling to the ground. The other archer quickly dodged and stood behind Pei Yuan, pulling the longbow again.

Pei Yuan heard the sound of the bowstring being tightened and rushed towards Chunyu Luan quickly. Chunyu Luan fought back with his halberd. After a round of fighting, the two were evenly matched, but their positions were reversed. Chunyu Luan was directly in front of the archer. He frowned and had to give up the attack.

Chunyu Luan raised his chin and said, "Don't do this useless work. You can't escape."

Pei Yuan asked back, "How do you know if you don't try?"

After that, he urged his horse forward, and the two fought again. Chunyu Luan did not despise him because of his superior numbers and Pei Yuan's injury. He had heard of Pei Yuan's reputation in the army and had been looking forward to fighting with Pei Yuan. No matter what, you must respect your opponent. Chunyu Luan knew this very well.

He saw that Pei Yuan was running out of strength, and carefully looked for his weak spot. Finally, when Pei Yuan leaned forward and exposed his injured left shoulder in front of him, Chunyu Luan knew that the opportunity had come.

He roared, and swung the long spear at Pei Yuan's left shoulder again. The archer behind him was also ready and released the arrow.

Watching the feather arrow pierce through Pei Yuan's back, Chunyu Luan thought he had won. Just as he smiled, he suddenly felt a white light in front of him. Pei Yuan turned around and chopped down in front of him with a long knife.

The knife slashed Chunyu Luan's nose and lips, and tore a big hole in his chin, and finally landed on his chest.

Pei Yuan paid the price of his own serious injury in exchange for a fatal blow, and blood spurted out.

Chunyu Luan, holding his halberd, screamed and fell backwards.

"Sir!" The archer screamed and went to rescue, and Pei Yuan took the opportunity to withdraw.

He did not go any further, nor did he return to Feng County, but went directly to Qilian Mountain.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and Pei Yuan lost too much blood. After only walking for a quarter of an hour, he could no longer control the trembling of his body. The warhorse was also extremely tired. After climbing a steep slope, it knelt on its front legs and fell to the ground. Pei Yuan also fell down.

He pulled the shoulder off his shoulder, hastily wrapped it with cloth, and then he had no strength left. He could only lie on his back in the snow, staring at the dark sky with his eyes wide open, gasping for breath.

For a moment, Pei Yuan felt that he might really not make it.

But if he really died here, what about Baoning?

He couldn't die, and he couldn't bear to die. He didn't know whether his child was a boy or a girl, and he still had a lot of things to do and a lot of things to say to Baoning. Most importantly, he still owed Baoning a grand wedding.

If he died in this mountain and was buried in the snow, Baoning would be bullied in the days to come.

Pei Yuan suddenly thought, would she remarry?

It seemed that he had some strength again.

Pei Yuan supported himself on the ground with a knife, gritted his teeth and slowly stood up. He absolutely couldn't die, at least not within sixty years. He had to get better as soon as possible, take Baoning back to his side, watch her give birth to the child, and then raise them together by his side, never leaving again.

People really need some faith. Supported by this thought, Pei Yuan endured the severe pain and walked in the knee-deep snow for another half an hour.

In his last glance before fainting, he saw a familiar shadow in white at the foot of the cliff.

...

Since being captured, Chen Jia has been imprisoned in a remote tent, guarded by several Hun soldiers.

He had nothing to do, but fortunately no one beat or scolded him, just teased him, and food and drink were delivered on time.

On the third day, Chen Jia found something wrong.

They did not attack the city again.

This is not surprising. It is now deep winter, with strong winds and heavy snow. It has snowed heavily for three consecutive days. The Hun soldiers lack cold-proof clothes, and several people are frozen to death every day. Naturally, they cannot attack again.

The strange thing was that Chunyu Luan never came to see him.

According to common sense, the wife of the enemy's highest general should at least show up, whether to say something or to show off. But Chen Jia never waited for him.

Later he learned that Chunyu Luan was seriously injured. Although he was rescued from the Yanluo Palace, his vitality was severely damaged. Not only could he not recover in a short time, but he was also disfigured.

The original rumor was that this Xiongnu Zuoxian King was handsome and suave, and many girls had a crush on him. But now, even the men who came out of the central army tent were scared. There were rumors that Chunyu Luan looked like a fierce ghost. There were even rumors that he had done too many evil things and was punished by the gods?

Regardless of the reason, Chen Jia ate more vigorously after learning that Chunyu Luan was not doing well.

On the evening of the fifth day, Chunyu Luan had woken up. Although he was still weak, his mind was still flexible. He gave an order.

He asked to send the Princess of Jibei back to the royal court as a hostage, and sent people back to the royal court to ask the old Chanyu for clothes to protect the cold and 100,000 soldiers.

His reason was that it would be better to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, send a large army to besiege, and kill them in one fell swoop, rather than losing troops and returning empty-handed.

Chen Jia was escorted by a team of fifty people and set off on the morning of the sixth day, heading north.

...

Baoning had not slept well for five consecutive days. On this day, before dawn, she opened her eyes again.

It was still quiet outside, everything was asleep, and Yuanzi was sleeping soundly in her arms. Baoning stared at the curtains, and after about a quarter of an hour, she heard a rooster crowing. After a while, the mansion woke up from the darkness, and there was the sound of servants coming out to sweep the snow. Baoning sat up, got out of bed quietly, opened the window a little and looked out.

Pei Yuan still hadn't come back.

Baoning closed the window in disappointment.

She knew in her heart that such an action was stupid and useless. How could Pei Yuan suddenly appear at the gate of the courtyard like a god? The heavy enemy forces outside the city have not been withdrawn yet. Not even a bird can fly out of the city, and not even a bird can fly in from outside the city... But she still couldn't help it. After getting up, she quietly took a look.

What if Pei Yuan suddenly appeared?

Baoning always thought of the day he left. He looked tired and worried, but he still comforted her very gently.

When she recalled his expression and tone at that time, Baoning felt her nose sour and wanted to cry. She didn't dare to cry. She regretted it very much. Why did she cry when she sent Pei Yuan away? Is this a bad sign, a sign of separation? If she hadn't cried at that time, everything would have changed, and Pei Yuan would have come back smoothly?

Baoning sat in front of the dressing table, looking at herself in the mirror, imagining that Pei Yuan suddenly walked out of the door, appeared behind her, and told her that the enemy had withdrawn. In fact, this was all a game, and he was teasing her. He didn't go far at all, he lived next door, and he was in good health. He just wanted to see her anxious look and hear her say something nice.

...Since Pei Yuan left, she hasn't received a single message about him.

It's so cold, she doesn't know where he is now, whether he is short of food and clothes, or whether his old injuries are healed.

She woke up in worry every day and fell asleep in worry. She told herself every day not to think too much and that she had to take good care of herself and the children, otherwise Pei Yuan would be angry when he came back. But such warnings were useless.

The most terrifying thing was that she didn't even dream of him once.

Where on earth was he?

...

Baoning sat silently in the dark, her eyes looking towards the window, watching the window light up little by little. She exhaled deeply, forced herself to smile, and heard footsteps outside the door, and Aunt Liu pushed the door open.

Bao Ning pretended to have just woken up, smiled and made a snoring gesture to her: "Yuan Zi is still sleeping."

When she was alone in the room, no matter how fragile she was, it was her own business, but as long as she appeared in front of outsiders, even if it was Aunt Liu, she could not show the slightest bit of weakness. Because she was the Princess of Jinbei, everyone's eyes were on her. If she messed up, the whole palace and the whole Fengxian would be in chaos.

Before Pei Yuan left, he told her that she was the princess and she had to

do her best. Bao Ning thought, when Pei Yuan came back, she must pull him to complain and complain, and also take credit, listen to his praise, and let him take out his private money to buy her delicious food.

He should be back soon, right?

...

Almost at the same time, in a bedroom in the general's mansion in Dai County, a hundred miles away, Pei Yuan suddenly opened his eyes.

He had just had a dream. He dreamed that Bao Ning was sitting alone in the dark, secretly shedding tears. He wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't touch her at all. He was anxious and could only watch her cry helplessly. He felt his heart tighten and uncomfortable in the dream, and now that he woke up, the feeling still lingered.

Where is Bao Ning now? Is she still in danger? He has to save her.

Thinking of this, Pei Yuan tried to sit up with one hand on the bed, but a sharp pain came from his left chest. Pei Yuan's eyes went black, and he fell down with a hissing sound, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Awake?" Le Xu heard the noise in the room, and walked in through the curtains, holding a lamp in his hand.

He smiled and said, "I advise you to be quiet. The arrow in your back is only half an inch away from your heart. If you move around like this, the wound will burst open and I won't be able to save you again."

Pei Yuan asked, "Where is this?"

Le Xu replied, "The General's Mansion of Dai County."

Pei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. He gradually recalled what happened before he fell into a long sleep, closed his eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Call Su Wei over."