"Madam Zhang, do you think He'er might..."
"Don't talk nonsense. You mustn't let Qin Xiaoniang hear these words, or she'll be heartbroken and cry her eyes out again."
Li Qiang's wife nodded apologetically, "Alright then, but we haven't found any marks they left along the way. How could a prince from the Western Regions be so lacking in common sense..."
Zhang Xiue knew what Li Qiang's wife's words meant, but since the person hadn't been found yet, they couldn't define it.
Now we are only a few dozen miles away from Xinzhou. If we go south, we can reach the post station set up by the local government.
"Everything will be alright. We've been through so much together, so this little disaster is nothing."
Zhang Xiue breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, returned to Nianjie'er's side, and hugged the child tightly to keep her warm.
The soldiers searched back and forth at the foot of the mountain for any clues, thinking that if someone had fallen down, they would surely find out; if not, then the person must still be on the mountain, and they would have to go back to look for them.
One of the leading soldiers walked to a patch of low, withered grass and saw a few charred tree branches. Judging from the white snow on them, they must have fallen not long ago.
"His Highness must be trapped on the mountain. Let's hurry up and go find him!"
Is the news reliable?
"There's no one for miles around here, so where did these charred branches come from? Even if there were people, who would light a fire here? Hurry! Get up the mountain! His Highness and the others are probably already dead!"
"yes!"
After saying that, a group of soldiers hurriedly went up the mountain.
……
Cliffside, inside a cave.
As dawn broke, Song He'er hadn't slept a wink all night taking care of Jiang Huaifu, and then couldn't sleep because of the cold in the second half of the night. So now she was starving and freezing, and her eyelids were too heavy to lift.
"Come closer... I'll hold you, and you won't be so cold..."
Without her fox fur cloak, Song He'er's lips turned purple from the cold, and she was completely stiff, finding it difficult to even move.
"How much longer will it take for your soldiers to find you? I'm afraid I can't hold on any longer; it's just too cold here."
Despite the pain from his wounds, Jiang Huaifu walked step by step toward Song He'er.
When he reached her side, he slowly squatted down and hugged her from behind.
"It's best not to be reckless now. We must hold on until someone comes to find us. Don't worry, when I fell off the cliff, I threw down my personal jade pendant. If they see it, they will definitely come back to save us..."
A jade pendant worn close to the body?
Last night, Song He'er had already thrown away the charred branches. As long as the soldiers find them, they will definitely search the surrounding area carefully. If they also find Jiang Huaifu's personal jade pendant, they will find them in the shortest possible time.
She must hold on! She can't die!
They were almost at Xinzhou. Once they reached Xinzhou, they would no longer have to endure such perilous hardships...
The soldiers around Jiang Huaifu were indeed rigorously trained; before noon, they had already found the top of the cliff.
Song He'er heard the noise and wanted to call for help, but at this moment, Jiang Huaifu fainted again. It seemed that the antipyretic had lost its effect and he started to get hot again.
Song He'er didn't care about anything else. She put him down on the ground and then slowly made her way to the entrance of the cave.
"Help! We're here, and His Highness is here too!"
Hearing the commotion, the people above quickly lowered the ropes and climbed down one by one.
When the leading soldier saw the cave, he jumped right in.
"Miss Song, where is our prince?"
Song He'er's voice was hoarse from the cold. She pointed behind her, "His Highness is injured... Quick! Save him..."
The soldier hurriedly ran behind Song He'er, his face full of panic.
Immediately afterwards, three or five more soldiers jumped in and followed the man in front, running toward Jiang Huaifu.
Song He'er understood their feelings at this moment. After all, Jiang Huaifu was their master, and if something happened to their master, they, as servants, would certainly be held responsible.
Queen Chen only has this one son left. If anything happens to him, the soldiers will be the first to suffer!
"Hurry up, carry His Highness up, and bring a few more down to rescue Miss Song."
"yes....."
Several soldiers lifted Jiang Huaifu and were about to walk outside.
Because there were only two ropes for the way up the mountain, to carry a person up, one soldier had to pull from above while the other dragged from below. Only by doing this carefully could they reach the top safely.
Jiang Huaifu seemed to have been subjected to a tremendous jolt, and he began to slowly regain consciousness.
He opened his eyes and looked in the direction where Song He'er was.
"Save her first."
"Your Highness!" The soldier was clearly unwilling.
"I... will let you save her first!"
"yes....."
The soldier had no other choice but to carefully put Jiang Huaifu down again, then walk to Song He'er's side and gently pick her up.
Hypothermia is fatal, and Song He'er was already in a state of semi-hypothermia. Therefore, she could no longer pay attention to etiquette. As long as she could get out safely, that was more important than anything else.
The soldiers exerted tremendous effort to successfully rescue the two men from the cave.
Because one of the two men was injured and the other was freezing, and the soldiers had no supplies to help them, they had no choice but to quickly descend the mountain. Once they reached the foot of the mountain, they asked the remaining soldiers for the few warm clothes they had left.
"Your Highness, please hold on. All the medicines are at the foot of the mountain. Once we get down there, I will definitely have a physician treat you."
Jiang Huaifu didn't speak, but simply nodded with his eyes closed.
After descending the cliff, there was an easy path to walk. The soldiers successfully brought the two back to the foot of the mountain in the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn.
When Qin Xiaoniang saw that her daughter had been rescued, she rushed over to check on her.
"He'er, what's wrong? Why is your face so pale? Are you injured?"
"Ladies, quickly bring all the warm clothes you can. Miss Song is just cold, but she's not injured."
Upon hearing that it was from the cold, Qin Xiaoniang quickly took off her own clothes and draped them over Song He'er.
Zhang Xiue rubbed Song He'er's hands and feet while blowing on them.
"Just covering it up won't do any good. We'd better find some hot water to drink!" After saying that, he turned to the group of soldiers and shouted, "You must have something that can save us in an emergency. Please, give us some. Your Highness's status is certainly noble, but you can't treat other people's lives like dirt!"
Upon hearing this, the soldier hesitated, but he could see his master's feelings for the girl, and he didn't want to offend him rashly, so he could only nod in agreement.
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