noffsinger Chapter 895: Life and Death Uncertain
Chapter 895: Life and Death Uncertain
Tang Chujun saw that his daughter's originally plump cheeks were now sunken and her face was frighteningly pale. The most shocking thing was her bulging belly, which was like an upside-down pot pressing on her thin body.
A moment of sadness came from it.
Before he could say a word, tears already flowed down his cheeks.
Shi Anxia was a stubborn person, her eyes became even calmer, "Then mother said."
Yao Sheng turned his back, tears streaming down his face.
The curtain moved, and Shi Yunqi, wrapped in frost and snow, stood at the door, but did not move forward. "Xia'er, go sit down first. I'll come in after I shake off the snow and tell you in detail."
Shi Anxia was very obedient. He looked at his brother deeply, his heart sank again and again, and then he followed Bei Hui's support and sat back on the couch.
She waited, waiting for definite news.
Shi Yunqi hesitated, slowly took off his frost-covered shawl and handed it to the servant beside him, then took the hot water bottle handed to him by Nan Yan. The warmth from the copper stove instantly penetrated his stiff and white knuckles.
He stood there for a while, letting Nan Yan brush away the coldness from his body, before he stepped inside.
When passing by Tang Chujun, Shi Yunqi paused and said softly, "Mother, mother, you two go back to Yu Sheng Pavilion and rest first. Leave this to me."
Tang Chujun and Yao Sheng left with tears in their eyes.
Shi Yunqi walked closer and sat on a low stool beside the couch, remaining silent for a long time.
Shi Anxia did not urge him, but tilted her head slightly towards him. She just clenched and unclenched her fingers, trying to hold back the blood and energy surging in her chest.
There were only two people in the room.
Shi Yunqi finally spoke, "It is unknown whether my brother-in-law is alive or dead."
In just six words, he seemed to have used up all his strength.
Shi Anxia's face was calm, but there was a ripple in her eyes, "But life or death is uncertain?"
It was also six words, but she felt relieved. Her tense shoulders relaxed imperceptibly, and her tightly clenched fingers loosened quietly.
In her opinion, the uncertainty of life and death is much better than hearing the news of death in battle. Especially for people like Cen Yuan, it almost means "alive".
Shi Yunqi nodded slightly, but he was not as optimistic as her. Sometimes, "uncertainty about life and death" is just a chance for the living to have a moment of reverie and respite.
His fingertips unconsciously rubbed the lines on the hot water bottle, "The emperor wrote a secret letter to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, saying that there was a great victory in Tiema City. The battle was over, and when it was time to finish it off, Ma Chuyang was deceived by a girl..."
In this matter, we really can’t blame Ma Chuyang entirely for trusting others.
The truth was that the girl was originally from Beiyi, and during the war, she had actively led the royal army, so she looked very trustworthy.
It would be easy for a trustworthy person to lead the young generals of the northern wing into the encirclement of the Wan people.
The girl's name is Su Qiurong. Her real identity is not only the stepdaughter of He Shuo, the governor of Wan State in Tiema City, but also a hidden chess piece of the other party in Tiema City.
Since it is a hidden chess piece, it is naturally concealed, and few people have seen Su Qiurong's true face.
Her mother was beautiful and married He Shuo as a concubine after her husband died. The mother and daughter had already considered themselves as Wan people and enjoyed wealth and splendor.
Su Qiurong was favored by He Shuo and received a high salary from the State of Wan.
The king's army's recapture of Tiema City undoubtedly shattered the mother and daughter's dreams of wealth and glory.
Su Qiurong saw that the king's army was coming and the Wan people were defeated. In order to give He Shuo and her mother a chance to escape, she disguised herself as a civilian and led the army to the back mountain, where she captured the fleeing Wan soldiers.
She made great contributions and gained the trust of Master Wang.
She was wearing a coarse linen dress, with whip marks on her neck. Her bare feet were frozen blue in the snow, and she looked like she had escaped from the dungeon of Wan State. Anyone who saw her would think she was a tortured woman from the North Wing.
No one suspected her.
Later, the royal army recaptured Tiema City and discovered that He Shuo, the governor of Wan State, was missing.
It was also Su Qiurong who reported that she had discovered traces of the remnants of He Shuo, who appeared in Yingshuijian.
Ma Chuyang shouldn't have been so reckless.
But Su Qiurong was very sure that He Shuo was in the cave of Yingshuijian, and there were only a dozen guards left with him, like a dog that had lost its home. He also said that if the army gathered, he would definitely flee to the Weeping Wind Cliff. By then, it would be very difficult to catch He Shuo.
Upon hearing this, Ma Chuyang selected dozens of elite soldiers and asked them to lead the way, preparing to explore the situation first. Before he left, he sent someone to report to Tang Xinghe for safety reasons.
He originally thought that if the situation was true, he would send a signal and wait for Tang Xinghe to lead his troops to encircle them.
Su Qiurong led the way very fast. The mountain road was rugged and the snow and wind were getting thicker. When Ma Chuyang realized the dangerous terrain, the cliffs on both sides of Yingshui Stream were like iron barrels surrounding the country.
At the same time, Tang Xinghe received an urgent report and immediately led 300 light cavalry to help. He sent someone to report to Cen Yuan while galloping into the stream.
But... it's too late.
In Yingshui Gorge, the rain of arrows was like a dark cloud pressing down on the sky.
When Cen Yuan received the news and led his men to Yingshuijian, the troops led by Tang Ma and the other man were fighting and retreating, with heavy casualties, and had been forced to the edge of a cliff.
Surrender or die.
Tang and Ma chose to die standing.
At the critical moment, Cen Yuan came again like a god to save people.
Only this time, I wasn't so lucky.
Due to the dangerous terrain, Cen Yuan was hit by several arrows. In order to save Tang Xinghe, he was hit in the right leg by a stray arrow and fell off the cliff face up.
Falling down with him was Ye Baoer, who was trying desperately to protect his master.
In this battle, there were only a few words in the letter, but every word was dangerous.
Shi Yunqi's eyes had turned red without him noticing, and his voice was choked with sobs, "That cliff is called Ten Thousand Feet of Ice. It has a vertical drop of over three hundred feet. At the bottom of the cliff is a thousand-year-old glacial lake, and the water temperature is freezing all year round. The emperor sent people to search from the cliff with ropes day and night..."
Where can I find someone?
Shi Anxia listened quietly, tears silently flowing down the corners of her lips, leaving dark marks on the hem of her white skirt.
When she raised her head again, she wiped the tears with the back of her hand. The gray winter outside the window shone through the window lattice, creating fragmented light and shadow in her eyes.
"My husband will not die." Her voice was frighteningly calm, but the last word "die" suddenly changed its tone, like a guitar string stretched to its limit and suddenly breaking.
A dense pain crept up from the heart to the throat, followed by abdominal pain.
The bloody mass in her belly seemed to have suddenly grown sharp claws, tearing at her as she fell. Cold sweat instantly soaked through her shirt, and she turned pale. She only had time to shout out one word: "Quick!"
Shi Yunqi was shocked and hurried out to call for help.
There was another burst of chaos.
When everyone was busy moving Shi Anxia onto the lacquered bed, her pale fingers tightly grasped the bed curtains and golden tent, her knuckles were stretched to a shine.
The blood on her lips was revealed by her own biting, but she didn't let out a moan.
The "Hundred Sons and Thousands of Grandchildren" carved on the top of the bed became a blurry shadow in her sluggish pupils. All she could hear was Madam Meng's low voice, "Ginseng slices! Quick!"
Liang Yanbing's silver needle flashed coldly under the candlelight, and the three-inch-long needle accurately pierced into the Sanyinjiao acupoint. As her wrist shook, Shi Anxia suddenly arched her body and a muffled groan escaped from her throat.