The night was bleak, the heavy clouds had dispersed, and the moonlight was as cold as water. Zhuge Yue slowly put down his crossbow and watched the Shengjin Palace prisoner carriage getting farther and farther away, but it took a long time for him to leave.
This long night is finally coming to an end.
The sun had risen, and sunlight shone in from the high skylight, forming a bright streak, with fine dust constantly rising and floating gently in the air. The crackling sound was very gentle and if you didn't listen carefully you would think it was the sound of a mouse crawling through the grass.
Chu Qiao leaned against a wall with her eyes closed, as if she had fallen asleep. But behind her, there was a hand moving slowly, holding a small stone and polishing it carefully on the earth wall.
The sun rose and slowly set. The hustle and bustle outside gradually faded away, and the cold night covered this prosperous imperial capital. The patrolling jailer looked back and forth twice, then yawned and retreated. The moon was high in the sky and the night was already dark. There was a dull bang, and a large brick fell into the grass.
"Yan Xun..."
A faint voice sounded slowly, and it sounded so clear in the dead silence of the prison.
Chu Qiao leaned over and looked at the cell next to her. She saw a young man in a white fur coat leaning against the opposite wall, sitting in the dirty dry grass with his legs stretched out very generously, with his eyes closed, as if he was sleeping.
"Yan Xun." Chu Qiao lowered her voice and called carefully.
The boy's eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes. He looked around in confusion, and suddenly saw the child's clear eyes. He was overjoyed, and crawled over in a few steps, smiling at the cave entrance: "Girl, you are so smart."
"Fool!" Chu Qiao hurriedly said in a low voice, "Speak softly, don't let anyone hear you."
"Oh," Yan Xun imitated her and looked around, then turned around and smiled foolishly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, "Girl, don't be afraid, my father will definitely send someone to rescue us, these guys won't dare to do anything to us."
"Yeah." Chu Qiao nodded lightly without answering.
Yan Xun frowned, "Hey, you don't believe me?"
"How dare I?" Chu Qiao stuck out her tongue and pouted, "But your father is here to save you. I don't have such a capable relative."
Yan Xun smiled upon hearing this, his eyes sparkling like the stars in the sky, "Don't worry, I won't abandon you, just follow me from now on, I will protect you."
A warm current suddenly surged through his body. The eight-year-old child smiled gently, with a bright smile, and nodded, "Then you must treat me to delicious food when you go out. I'm almost starving."
"No problem." Yan Xun agreed immediately, "You can pick whatever you want to eat. As long as you can name it, I can get it."
At some point, it suddenly started snowing heavily outside. The snowflakes floated in from the high skylight, and with the cold wind, they swept into the icy cell. Chu Qiao was about to speak when she suddenly shuddered all over. When Yan Xun saw this, he quickly leaned over and saw that the child was wearing thin clothes, his face was pale, and his lips were purple from the cold. He immediately became nervous.
"Are you cold?"
"fine."
"You must be freezing to death with so little on."
Yan Xun suddenly stood up and took off his fur coat in a few moves. He squatted down and tried to stuff it through the hole, but unfortunately the fur coat was too thick and he couldn't even get one sleeve through. Chu Qiao quickly pushed his clothes over to her and said, "Stop messing around. It will be terrible if you get caught."
"What if we are discovered?" Yan Xun snorted coldly, "When I get out, I will not let any of these people go."
"You'd better wait until you are able to escape alive before saying such harsh words." Chu Qiao said sarcastically, raising her head slightly with a look of disdain.
Yan Xun snorted unconvincedly, "Just wait and see."
The cell grew colder at night. Yan Xun leaned against the cave entrance and suddenly said, "Girl, stretch out your hand."
"Huh?" Chu Qiao was stunned. "What?"
"Your hand," Yan Xun said while gesturing, "Stretch out your hand."
Chu Qiao frowned, "What are you going to do?"
"Don't ask anymore," Yan Xun shouted impatiently, "Just reach out when I tell you to."
Chu Qiao muttered softly, then stretched out her slender arm, and put her blue-frozen little hand through the hole. She grabbed in the air, shook it, and asked softly, "What are you going to do?"
The cold little hand was suddenly held by someone. The boy’s hand was slightly larger. He held her hand while breathing continuously. His eyes were bright, but his movements were clumsy. He asked while breathing, “Are you feeling better? Are you feeling warmer?”
The night was bleak, the moon was cold and frosty, and the snowflakes outside were falling faster and faster, fluttering in through the skylight and covering the gloomy prison. The child sitting in the corner was suddenly dazed, his big misty eyes looked a little sore. She nodded vigorously, but suddenly remembered that the person opposite couldn't see her, so she said "hmm" with a slightly nasal voice.
"Haha," Yan Xun laughed and said happily, "Girl, what's your name? I heard the fourth son of the Zhuge family call you Xing'er. Is this your real name?"
"No." The child answered in a low voice. The warmth like lake water continued to flow from her arms. Her blood vessels became smoother little by little. She leaned against the wall and said softly, "My name is Chu Qiao."
"Chu?" Yan Xun frowned and stopped moving unconsciously. "Aren't you the child of Jing Yidian, the former warehouse officer of the Ministry of Personnel? How come your last name is Chu?"
"Don't ask anymore," the child said in a low voice, but with a hint of unspeakable solemnity, "Yan Xun, no one knows this name yet. I only told you, so just remember it and don't tell anyone else."
Yan Xun was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that it might be some family secrets, and it would be shameful to tell it to others. Suddenly, he felt a little happy and satisfied, thinking that since she even told him such a secret, didn't she treat him as her own? He quickly patted his chest and assured: "Well, don't worry, I won't tell you even if I die."
"Then what should I call you?" The young man frowned and said, "How about I call you Xiao Qiao?"
"No," Chu Qiao suddenly thought of the beauty of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period, and frowned in objection, "Don't call me that."
"Why?" Yan Xun asked doubtfully, "Then can I call you Ah Chu?"
"Hmm..." Chu Qiao thought about it for a while, then nodded, "Okay, let's call you that."
Yan Xun laughed, "Ah Chu!"
"Um."
"Achu!"
“Yes.”
"Achu! Achu!"
"Are you done yet?"
“Achu-achu-achu!”
…
"Achu, that hand."
Chu Qiao obediently retracted her now warm hand and stretched out the other one. Yan Xun hugged her arm, breathed twice, and found that his hands were also cold. He simply opened his clothes in front of his chest and stuffed her hand into the clothes.
"Ouch!" Chu Qiao cried out softly and immediately wanted to shrink back.
"Haha," Yan Xun laughed, holding on tightly and not letting go, "This is a great bargain, I'm sure you're secretly happy in your heart."
“Virtue!” Chu Qiao snorted, her small palm pressed against the boy’s chest. The night was so quiet that she could even feel Yan Xun’s heartbeat, so strong, again and again. The boy was very thin, but due to years of riding and practicing martial arts, he had a strong body and his chest was covered with well-defined muscles.
Yan Xun held Chu Qiao's hand, sat down against the wall, and said slowly and gently, "Ah Chu, when this is over, you can come back to Yanbei with me. If you have anything that worries you, I'll find someone to do it for you. The world is so chaotic, where can a little kid like you go? If you meet a bad guy, you might get bullied. Don't think you're fierce, that's because you haven't met a real bad guy. If you meet one, and I'm not by your side to protect you, you'll definitely suffer."
Chu Qiao leaned against the wall, with dry straw under her feet and flying snow in front of her. Her eyes seemed to see so far, yet seemed to be limited to the area in front of her. Where did she want to go? Maybe she herself doesn't know.
Without hearing Chu Qiao's answer, Yan Xun continued, "I don't know why, I just want to help you. When I first saw you in the hunting ground, I thought this kid was quite interesting. He was so small, but he was so fierce, so I couldn't bear to kill him. I have been in the capital for so many years, but this is the first time I have lost to that bastard Zhao Che. I feel suffocated just thinking about it."
The third watch drum suddenly sounded, and the sound came from the distant street. The young man's voice seemed a little ethereal, faint and distant. "Achu, Yanbei is very beautiful and there are very few wars. In summer, there are green pastures everywhere. My father, my eldest brother, and my third brother often rode horses to hunt wild horses on Huolei Plain. At that time, I was still young, only seven or eight years old, and I couldn't ride a big horse. My eldest brother gave me the colt born by the horse king he hunted. I was always angry and felt that he looked down on me. In fact, later I gradually understood that he was just afraid of hurting me. The third brother had the worst temper and always fought with me. When he got angry, he would lift me high up and shout that he would throw me to death. Then the second sister would rush up and whip him with a whip, and they would start fighting. Although the third brother was strong, he couldn't even beat the second sister. I looked down on him very much back then. Now think about it, maybe he didn't want to fight with the second sister.
"When winter comes, Yanbei will have heavy snow for more than a month, so we go to the Shuobei Plateau. There is Huihui Mountain there, which is high and steep, and there are many hot springs on the mountain. My mother is from Bian Tang, and she can't stand the cold in the north. Her health is not very good, so she always lives in the palace near the hot springs for half a year. We always sneak out of the school to see her without telling my father, but when we get there, we find that my father has already arrived in the palace ahead of us."
The moonlight was bright, casting a clear glow on the ground. The boy's face suddenly became so gentle, with a warmth that Chu Qiao had never seen before.
"Achu, our Yanbei is not like the imperial capital, where fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives can all become enemies. There are cold arrows and plots everywhere, greed everywhere, rotten songs and dances everywhere, and people starving to death everywhere. In our Yanbei land, there are very few wars, no refugees, everyone can eat, and slaves can live according to their own wishes. Achu, come back to Yanbei with me! There, you can live a better life, with me to protect you, no one can bully you, and no one can point arrows at you. I will take you to Huoleiyuan to hunt wild horses, and take you to Huihui Mountain to see my mother. She is a very gentle person, and you will definitely like her."
The air was so quiet, with only the boy's slightly low voice speaking quietly. The thinly clothed child suddenly felt very warm. She raised her face and seemed to see the Yanbei that Yan Xun mentioned, the green pastures, the snow-white and crystal Huihui Mountains, the galloping and roaring herds of wild horses, and heard the boys' hearty laughter and the free sound of the wind.