The simultaneous disappearance of the Crown Prince of the Jiang and the Crown Prince of the Sui from the cliff is a plot that is even stranger than a storybook, bringing the originally imminent war between the two empires to a standstill.
Both sides are busy looking for them.
The situation in the Jiang Empire is complex, and only Fan Zhou is secretly searching with a few spies from Feiying Pavilion.
The Sui Empire directly mobilized a large number of troops and horses to search the mountain.
However, for three whole days, except for Fan Qi and his men, who found Sui Heng’s warhorse and sword on a collapsed mountain peak, there was nothing.
Fan Qi has been following Sui Heng all year round, he knows that he loves his horse as much as his life. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of crisis he had encountered, which forced His Highness to abandoned his beloved warhorse and sword!
“His Highness should be safe. He’s most likely to be trapped somewhere, unable to escape, and unable to communicate with us.”
Chen Qi made a sharp judgement.
The reason is simple: the Sui army has been searching the entire mountain for three days, and although they did not find anyone, they also did not find the body.
Although the landslide three days ago was severe, it should not have trapped Sui Heng, who was highly skilled in martial arts.
Sui Heng was most likely carried by a flash flood and fell to a deep cliff. The mountains in the Chen Kingdom’s area are famous for their perilous flood, and many hidden cliffs that soldiers cannot reach have not been found.
As an elderly person in the Qinglang Battalion, Xu Qiao also agrees with Chen Qi’s view.
“His Highness has encountered even more dangerous situations during his years of expeditions to the south and north, and in the end, it all turned into good luck. Can the valleys of Chen be no more dangerous than the snowy mountains of the North? Since His Highness cannot contact us, we will try our best to release the signal and contact His Highness.”
In contrast to the Sui’s confidence, the Jiang is more desperate.
Due to their Crown Prince’s weak and sickly physique, as well as his lack of martial arts skills, it was impossible for him to withstand the impact of the mountain floods. After searching for three days, Fan Zhou found nothing, and he was already filled with despair.
His Highness’s life and death are unknown, and it is highly likely that he has already died. How should he explain this to the monarch and the people?
Without His Highness, the six kingdoms of Jiangnan will be scattered into chaos. It was only a matter of time before the Sui army crossed the Yellow River and occupied the Muyun Pass.
What’s even more troublesome is that due to the Sui army’s surprise attack at the Liushang Banquet, the other five countries have already shown a trend of defection, and the Jiang Empire will soon fall into a state of isolation and helplessness.
“Master Fan, there’s a letter from the Jiang capital.”
Dressed up as a spy, General Yun Huai, who accompanied Fan Zhou to search for the person, walked over holding a specially shaped lacquer tube.
That is the secret letter holder exclusively used by Feiying Pavilion.
Fan Zhou quickly took it, opened it, and his face was slightly pale.
Yun Huai asked, “What happened?”
Fan Zhou clenched the letter and said, “The monarch has sent King Chu to take over the Jiangbei camp.”
“King Chu?!”
Yun Huai was also surprised.
King Chu is the son of the king’s favorite concubine, Concubine Shen. It is well known that the king favors King Chu, but the king has always been wise and intelligent and has kept public and private affairs extremely clear. In the past, King Chu was only given some favorable treatment in terms of food, clothing, and regulations. This time, letting King Chu, who has no experience commanding armies, take over the Jiangbei camp is really abnormal.
The only possibility…
The monarch has assumed that His Highness has been killed and has given up searching.
From the monarch’s perspective, this is understandable.
Standing from a father’s perspective, this may seem somewhat heartless.
Although searching further may not make much sense.
Yun Huai asked, “Master Fan, what should we do now?”
Fan Zhou covered his injured arm and sighed, “What else can we do? Let’s go back first and talk about it. The most urgent thing right now is indeed to guard the Muyun Pass and stop the Sui army.”
Well, there’s also a troublesome and difficult King Chu.
On the evening of the third day, the Sui army also welcomed an unexpected guest.
“Young Master Yan Qi?”
Xu Qiao unexpectedly greets him, and sure enough, he saw that in the shallow rain curtain, a young prince wearing a dark cloak was riding towards him, followed by several guards.
His face is as elegant as a jade.
Yan Qi nodded and said, “I was ordered to escort provisions to the army, and when I heard that His Highness was in danger, I turned around here to take a look.”
This turn requires crossing the Yellow River and risking oneself.
Xu Qiao was moved in his heart and quickly invited the person into the camp. He briefly explained the situation he currently had and called Chen Qi over to introduce the two to each other.
The two of them, one from the south and one from the north, are both famous for their literary works and are also known as the “Southern Qi and Northern Qi,” which can be considered a long-standing friendship.
Yan Qi said, “Brother Ji Cai has outstanding literary talent and is known for his insights. And the fact that he is willing to come to serve the Sui Empire is really a blessing for the Sui Empire.”
Chen Qi was busy humbly saying that he wouldn’t dare.
Afterwards, they started talking about finding the person. Xu Qiao asked, “Young Master and His Highness have had a deep friendship since childhood. Is there any special way to get in touch with His Highness?”
Yan Qi thought about it and suggested a method of tattooing words on the back of a type of yellow sparrow that loved to move around at the bottom of cliffs.
Xu Qiao was overjoyed, he found it feasible, and immediately had someone implement it.
It’s sunny but raining in the mountain, and it’s not easy at the bottom of the cliff either.
The cave was surrounded by water, Jiang Yun and Sui Heng could only stay together in the narrow space inside.
As soon as the night fell, Jiang Yun’s Qin Gu Xiang effect kicked in right on time, and he had to rely on Sui Heng’s help again to calm down the drug inside his body. On this day, the two of them were lost in thought when Sui Heng suddenly heard a painful low moan in his ears.
He thought he had lost his composure and gone too far. Thus, he quickly withdrew and looked at him through the flames, only to find that Jiang Yun seemed to be trapped in some kind of deep nightmare, curled up in pain, clenched his fists, bit his lips, and exerted so much force that he even bit out blood marks. On the snow-white skin, there is even rolling cold sweat, like he has been drained in rain.
“Hey.”
Sui Heng patted Jiang Yun’s face and called out softly.
Jiang Yun remained unresponsive, still biting his lips and clenching his ten fingers in pain as he fought against the nightmare.
Sui Heng had been on the battlefield for a long time and was fine with dealing with external injuries, but he did not have the experience to deal with a situation like the one at hand, and in just a few moments, Jiang Yun had already bitten his own lips in another spot again.
His fingers also made a few bloody marks on the ground.
How can this go on?
Sui Heng simply pinched Jiang Yun’s chin to make him loosen his teeth. He wanted to change the wooden stick for him to contain, but he was worried that the wooden stick would be too rough and hurt him even more, so he directly put his finger in.
Those snow-white, sharp two rows of shell teeth immediately bit onto his finger.
Sui Heng hissed.
He thinks to himself, It’s pretty strong.
The strange smell of blood finally stimulated Jiang Yun’s mind. When Sui Heng felt that his finger bones were about to be bitten off by his newly picked little lover in front of him, Jiang Yun finally loosened his teeth and slowly opened his heavy and sticky eyelids, looking at Sui Heng in confusion.
Sui Heng withdrew his “surviving” finger, which were almost bitten into sliced potatoes, and asked, “Feeling better?”
Jiang Yun tilted his head and looked at the bruises on his finger, clearly understanding what happened. He whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. Gu’s got thick skin and can handle it. But it’s you. What’s wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare?”
Jiang Yun didn’t answer.
He only said, “There are herbs for external wounds in the mountains, I’ll go pick them tomorrow.”
Sui Heng frowned.
He wanted to say something, but he saw that Jiang Yun had already braced himself on the ground, ready to get up. He hurriedly held him back and said, “It’s still early, what are you getting up for?”
He suddenly felt that the skin between his palms was extraordinarily hot and reached out to probe Jiang Yun’s forehead. Sure enough, he has a bit of a fever.
“Don’t move, Gu will go and boil some hot water for you.”
Jiang Yun said he’s fine and is still sitting up, leaning against the stone wall, saying, “There’s no need to bother, I just need to rest for a while. You…go get yourself some rest, don’t worry about me.”
Sui Heng still insisted on going to boil water.
When he returned, Jiang Yun had already closed his eyes and leaned against the stone wall to sleep. His lips were puckered with dry skin in several places.
He quickly moved the person back to the ground that was covered with hay and laid him down, then tore a piece of fabric from his inner garment, carefully soaked it in hot water, wrung it dry, folded it into a strip, and applied it to Jiang Yun’s forehead.
At dawn, Jiang Yun’s fever subsided.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Sui Heng with a piece of grass in his mouth, sitting on one side with his legs crossed, his eyes bright with a smile as he looked at him.
“You’re awake?”
Jiang Yun nodded and he had regained some strength. He got up, took off the stuff that was put on his forehead, and with a glance, he recognized it as inner garment fabric. He said, “Thank you very much.”
“What’s the point of always thanking and making it so polite?”
Sui Heng casually threw away the piece of grass in his mouth and leaned over to ask, “What would you like to have for breakfast? Gu will go and make it for you.”
Jiang Yun shook his head.
“I don’t have an appetite, you can eat it yourself, don’t worry about me.”
He had just finished speaking when he felt his body lighten and he was lifted up by the waist.
Jiang Yun frowned.
Because his limbs had not yet fully recovered their strength, he could only lie limply on Sui Heng’s shoulder.
Shocked, he looked at the man.
In broad daylight, what is he trying to do?
Sui Heng raised his eyebrows and said, “Gu has already said that if you don’t eat properly you will be punished.”
His gaze landed on his little lover’s hips under the silk robe. He reached out and slapped it, not too gently nor too hard.
Jiang Yun’s ears instantly reddened as if they were dripping blood.
Both ashamed and angry, “You—”
“Eat well if you’re ashamed; otherwise, it won’t be just once next time.”
Sui Heng put him down with a smile.
There are weathered rocks in the caves that can be used as containers. Sui Heng cooked a simple pot of congee with shredded chicken and wild herbs, and he personally fed Jiang Yun half of the pot before he was satisfied.
Although he was forced to eat it, Jiang Yun had to admit that it was already a miracle to be able to make such a pot of congee under such rudimentary conditions.
Jiang Yun was actually a bit surprised that he, the God of Slaughter whose name was known all over the world, could even cook.
Sui Heng seems to be able to read something in his eyes. He squatted on the ground, ate up the remaining congee, and said, “It’s all been practiced by Gu on the battlefield. You think Gu is as delicate as you?”
After speaking, he extended his finger and poked the little beauty across from him on the nose, leaving a trace of dust on his jade-like skin. Successfully transformed the beauty into a little-spotted cat.
Jiang Yun: “……”
In the afternoon, the weather cleared up, and the two continued to move separately. Jiang Yun went to a high place to sense the wind direction, while Sui Heng continued to cut down the bamboo materials needed to make wooden kites.
Bamboo material grows in low places, and sensing the wind requires climbing high.
The two are going in completely opposite directions.
Sui Heng was actually not at ease with having Jiang Yun come out of the cave.
After two nights, he had completely regarded the little lover he had picked up halfway as his private property.
Jiang Yun insisted on going, saying that it was an old habit of his and that he was fine.
After thinking for a moment, Sui Heng took out a short whistle from his arms and stuffed it into Jiang Yun’s palm. “If you can’t hold on anymore, blow it, and Gu will come over immediately.” He said.
Jiang Yun looked at it, it should be made of some kind of bird or animal bone. The surface was yellow, and it showed a sign of wear, indicating that it was his personal item. Then he curled his fingers and nodded in agreement.
Sui Heng himself went to a deep valley where bamboo material grew.
As he passed through a bamboo forest, a few chirping birds suddenly came to his ears.
Sui Heng’s ears were so sharp that he immediately jumped up and took a small black dot hovering over the bamboo forest into his palm.
He released his finger and took a look to see a yellow sparrow.
The yellow sparrow flapped its wings, frantically struggling and screaming.
Sui Heng ignored it and peeled off the fur on the back of the yellow sparrow, only to see a line of small characters.
It was an elegant, small handwriting characters.
He didn’t look happy, and instead, his eyebrows gradually darkened, and he tightened his fingers bit by bit, strangling the sparrow in his palm.
