Su Yi felt like his head was exploding. His hands moved faster than his brain, and he covered her head as she tried to run away, gently leaning closer.
I didn't use much force; I just carefully ground and lingered over it as a memento, and then let it go.
"More Moisturizing"
After saying that, he hugged her and kissed her forehead. "Sleep a little longer, it's still early."
The two of them slept through the night instead of staying up all night on New Year's Eve. When Liu Huan woke up in the morning, Su Yi and his brother had already left.
He left four words: "Wait for me to come back."
Liu Huan knew he couldn't stop him. Su Yi was not only an imperial envoy but also Su Cheng's brother. He couldn't possibly run away or abandon his younger brother.
The workshops rested for two days and then resumed production on the third day of the Lunar New Year. If anyone could go to work, they would receive an extra ten copper coins, and almost no one would refuse.
I heard that the war has reached a critical point these past few days. After the battle, either the neighboring country will surrender and withdraw its troops, or the border city will fall.
Liu Huan's mind has been elsewhere from the workshop these past few days. Han You knows what she's worried about, so he sends her messages by carrier pigeon every few days.
At least she could guarantee that Su Yi and the other person were safe.
But after ten days, she stopped receiving messages.
"Han You, why haven't you replied for ten days? Has something happened?"
Han You's eyes darted around, and he stammered, which made Liu Huan anxious and kept pressing him: "Just tell me, you're driving me crazy."
Han You felt that she would find out sooner or later, so he brought out the information he had obtained in the previous two days.
"This is a secret letter I received a few days ago. My information is usually very accurate, but I'm afraid this time the matter is quite serious."
Liu Huan snatched it and read that it said they had won, but the imperial envoy from the capital and a junior officer from the army camp were missing and had not been found yet.
War is merciless, and the death or disappearance of generals and young soldiers is inevitable. The coincidence is that Su Yi is an imperial envoy. Whether they are dead or alive, he has to find them.
Who else could be the imperial envoy besides Su Yi? That young general is probably Su Cheng.
It means that both brothers have gone missing.
Liu Huan panicked immediately. She didn't know what to do or where to look for them.
"Han You, can you help me?"
Seeing her so helpless, Han You said, "I've already sent people to look for her, so don't worry."
Liu Huan shook her head, tears welling in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. "I want to go find them myself."
"But……"
"Don't worry, now that we're safe and sound, there shouldn't be any problems. I just want to see them as soon as possible; my parents are waiting for us to come home."
Liu Huan's smile was more like a grimace, making Han You unable to refuse. "Let's go. I'm going to deliver goods today anyway, I'll go with you."
Hundreds and thousands of down jackets have been made, but they haven't been sent over due to the war. Although the war is over, the soldiers guarding the border still need clothes.
"Okay, let's go now."
Liu Huan didn't want to bring Qiu Rong along, but Qiu Rong insisted on coming, so she had no choice but to go along with her.
...
At the foot of a small hill in the distance from the border town, there were two men in a rocky cave. One of them lay unconscious, his face flushed.
One of them was lying half-reclined beside him, his legs covered in scarlet blood, his eyes half-closed.
Both men had scratches on their faces and unshaven beards, clearly indicating they had suffered considerable injuries.
Fortunately, there were many furs, grass clippings, cow dung, uneaten naan bread, and two broken bowls inside. They must have been left behind by herders who grazed their livestock in the past, but were left here because of the war.
Otherwise, in such cold weather, the two of them would probably have frozen solid long ago.
The person sleeping on the ground groaned in pain, and the person lying half-reclined opened their eyes and crawled to the side of the sleeping person.
"Second brother, wake up."
No matter how much Su Cheng pushed, the person on the ground didn't wake up, only showing signs of pain.
"Why is he running a fever?" Su Cheng was extremely anxious but helpless when he saw that Su Yi had started to get a fever.
Despite the excruciating pain, he stepped out from behind the rocks and looked around. All he could see was a vast expanse of white, making it impossible to discern which way was north, south, east, or west. Given the weather and his leg injury, he dared not rashly take Su Yi away.
After driving the neighboring countrymen to the border that day, during the battle, someone took advantage of the chaos and stabbed Su Cheng's horse. Su Cheng and his horse slid down the snow slope. Upon seeing this, Su Yi jumped off his horse and rolled in the direction Su Cheng had rolled down.
The two were carried by the snow for an unknown amount of time, and Su Cheng's feet were constantly being snagged, but fortunately he remained awake the whole time.
Su Yi, however, had bumped into something and remained unconscious.
As night fell, Su Cheng dragged Su Yi to this cave, intending to rest for the night before leaving.
When they went to check the next day, the path they had taken was covered by heavy snow, making it impossible to see the direction. In addition, both of them were injured to varying degrees, so they had no choice but to stay in the cave for the time being.
A few days ago, Su Yi did not have a fever, and Su Cheng wanted to wait until he recovered a little or until Su Yi woke up before leaving.
Or perhaps they should wait for rescue.
I just didn't expect Su Yi to start having a fever before he even woke up. If we don't leave soon, he'll either freeze to death or get burned.
He disregarded everything else and went back to use the small jar inside to boil some snow and make some soup, which he then poured into an earthenware bowl.
After it cooled down a bit, I lifted Su Yi's head and fed him from the corner of his mouth, but it all spilled out from the side.
I was able to feed it the past two days, but now I can't.
"Second brother, second brother, wake up!"
Seeing that he couldn't even feed him water, Su Cheng didn't waste any more time. He put away the only bread in the cave and wrapped a piece of skin around Su Yi's body.
Despite the pain, he carried Su Yi on his back, went outside for a look around, and then decided to head in one direction.
The snow in the border town can last until May, and there's no sign of it stopping now.
Su Cheng carried Su Yi, and every step they took left a crater.
He remembered rolling down a slope, so if he could get back up, he should be able to find his way back.
But why hasn't anyone come looking for them? That shouldn't be the case.
What he didn't know was that after he was ambushed and killed, those people went back and said they had fallen in a different place, so everyone went to look for them there.
They would never come here.
The path up was steep and the snow was thick; one could easily slip and fall.
Su Cheng couldn't carry Su Yi anymore, so he put him down to rest.
When Su Cheng got up again, he wasn't paying attention and dropped Su Yi. After a muffled groan, Su Yi slowly opened his eyes.
Su Cheng burst into tears of joy, "Second Brother, you're finally awake."
Su Yi was terribly cold and reacted slowly, taking a long time to come to her senses. "Help me up."
Su Cheng wiped his nose and got up, then helped Su Yi up as well. "Second brother, let's go home."
Su Yi found it difficult to get up; every part of his body ached. He initially wanted to help Su Cheng, but after noticing his injuries, he abandoned the idea.
He endured the pain and limped away.
Su Cheng was heartbroken. "Second brother, let me help you walk."
Su Yi was too exhausted to walk any further, so the two of them had to help each other climb up.
In the border town's military camp, the general was extremely anxious, "Why haven't they found it yet?"
The deputy general beside him hurriedly explained, "I have already sent people to look for it, but the wind and snow are too strong in that area, and they can't pinpoint the location clearly. Our men are also at a loss."
After the lieutenant finished speaking, the general asked again to confirm, "Are you sure the person fell from that spot?"
The lieutenant was certain: "That day, Commander Zhang and Lord Su were together. They all said that Lord Su and his companion went down from there."
"Zhang Qianzong and the other person used to have a good relationship, that's for sure."
The general nodded. "Send more men to search, and intensify the search!"
After the deputy general left, the general's confidant said, "General, the Su brothers have not been found these past few days. I'm afraid they are in grave danger. We probably won't be able to find them until the snow melts."
The general sighed, "How could I not know? But Lord Su is His Highness the Crown Prince's man, an imperial envoy, and a young and promising official. Let's wait a few more days."
"You should go and look for it too, expand the search area."
"yes"
...
In the snow, in the opposite direction from Su Yi and the others, Changbai was turning over the corpses one by one, wanting to see his young master but also afraid to see him.
My hands were swollen and bleeding from being turned over.
One of the guards said, "Could it not be here? Otherwise, we've searched the whole place and haven't found it."
"I think so too. Maybe Zhang Qian and the others made a mistake."
Changbai recalled that day when he was temporarily called to transport something. When he returned, there was a chaotic battle. Later, he heard that the two of them had accidentally fallen down.
He didn't see it with his own eyes; could it have fallen from somewhere else entirely?
Thinking back to Zhang Qianzong's reaction that day, he cursed himself for being stupid. He stopped searching the corpses and ran in the opposite direction.
Seeing him run, Ermo immediately followed, "Changbai, where are you going?"
“I suspect that the young master and the others are not here at all. I will go look for them elsewhere.”
Ermo said, "Then I'll go too."
The two ran towards another place for a long time, and then saw two people climbing up a slope.
Changbai ran downstairs with wide eyes, calling out, "Master, Third Young Master."
Seeing someone come down, Su Cheng collapsed into the snow, saying, "They've finally arrived."
Changbai felt heartbroken seeing the two of them like this. "Master, let me carry you up."
Su Yi simply held his hand, saying, "It's difficult to walk here, let's help each other up first."
With the help of able-bodied people—or rather, being dragged along—they quickly reached level ground.
Changbai squatted down, "Master, let me carry you on my back."
Su Yi didn't refuse; he really couldn't walk anymore.
Ermo also carried Su Cheng on his back, and the two of them carried Su Yi and his brother towards the city.
They were spotted as they approached the city gate. "Ah, it's Lord Su! Lord Su and the others are back!"
Zhang Qianzong and Wu Mazi, who had returned from searching for someone, exchanged a glance. "What happened?"
Wu Mazi shook his head in fear, "I don't know either. I'm sure the two of them fell down, but why haven't they frozen to death yet?"
They thought that as long as they could delay for a few days, even if the people were found, they would have frozen to death long ago. They never expected that the two of them would come back alive.
Zhang Qianzong gave Wu Mazi a vicious look, then said he had something to do and took him to a corner.
Wu Mazi thought Zhang Qian always wanted to talk to him about the plan alone, so he followed him around eagerly.
Unexpectedly, after reaching the corner, a long sword pierced his abdomen. "You can't even handle this simple matter, what use are you?"
Wu Mazi looked down in disbelief at the blood flowing from his abdomen, then looked up as if to say something, but was kicked to the ground.
"waste!"
After Su Yi and his brother returned, everyone stopped searching. The military doctor examined the two and said, "General, both of them have frostbite on their legs, but it's not a big problem."
"In addition, Lord Su and his companion are in good health and will be fine in a few days after taking the medicine. However, their legs need to be rested more, otherwise, changes in the weather may cause many problems in the future."
The general glanced at the two of them and said, "It's good that you're alright. Go pack your things, and we'll go home once the emperor's decree comes down."
This war lasted for half a year and resulted in heavy casualties; nearly 100,000 of the original soldiers were lost.
However, after this battle, it is believed that neighboring countries will not dare to invade again for at least ten years.
The two remained unconscious for two days, with persistent high fever, which puzzled the military doctors.
"Why is my fever still so high? What could be wrong?"
The medic muttered to himself as he examined the person, and the tent was pulled open from the outside.
Seeing that the person who came in was a dark-skinned, thin young man, he said unhappily, "Hey, who are you? Do you even know where you are before you barge in?"
Liu Huan apologized: "I'm sorry, I'm a servant of Master Su's household. I heard that my master has been found, so I came to serve him."
Hearing this, the military doctor was displeased but still let her come closer. "Alright, since you're here, you can go and brew the medicine."
The army doctor gave her a packet of medicine. "Go, boil three bowls of water down to one bowl for him to drink. Come find me if anything happens."
After saying that, he went out.
Liu Huan walked to the bedside and couldn't help but shed tears as she looked at Su Yi's face, which was cracked from the wind and snow.
When I reached out and touched her, I realized she had a fever. Following the army doctor's advice, I started brewing medicine. Ermo came in with water and was quite surprised to see this.
Who are you?
Liu Huan explained again, and Ermo's tone softened, "So you're from Lord Su's family. I knew I'd never seen you before."
After saying that, he put down the basin and started to take off Su Cheng's clothes. Liu Cheng quickly turned around and asked, "What are you doing?"
Ermo said matter-of-factly, "Take off your clothes. The medic told me to fetch water to wipe them down. It's good that you're here, so give me a hand."
Although Liu Huan is open-minded, she's not this open-minded. If Su Yi woke up and found out, he'd probably be angry.
So she asked, "Can't you manage on your own?"
Ermo replied matter-of-factly, "Sure."
Liu Huan turned around and said, "Then you can do it yourself. I still need to brew medicine for my young master. The army doctor said that this medicine must be kept under control and cannot be delayed."
Ermo didn't insist, "Okay, then you really can't leave."
While talking, she wiped Su Cheng's body, and after wiping him, she thoughtfully changed his clothes.
"Alright, should I do it for your parents or you?"
Liu Huan said, "I'm not finished here yet, so you should help me with that. I'll also be brewing medicine for another official in a bit."
Ermo, unsuspecting, wiped Su Yi clean with the basin of water again, saying, "All done."
After finishing, I took the water out and said, "You stay here and watch over them. If there's any problem, just call out. I'm leaving now."
Liu Huan brought the prepared medicine to Su Yi and fed it to him little by little over a long period of time.
They then prepared the medicine for Su Cheng, and it took them a long time to finally feed him the medicine.
Liu Huan sat by Su Yi's bedside, looking at him. She recalled the feeling of relief and heartache when she received the news this morning. The tension she had been holding in for the past few days was released all at once. She didn't ask for anything else, she just hoped that he would be alright.
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