Chapter 20

The soldier carrying the stretcher replied, “Reporting to the General, the injury isn’t severe, it seems to be from the cold.”

As they spoke, Xie Tingzhou and Han Jiwu had already approached.

“Your Highness,” Chang Heng greeted with a salute.

Xie Tingzhou nodded slightly and looked at the person on the stretcher, asking, “Do you know this person?”

The person on the stretcher was covered in blood stains, making it impossible to see their face, even their eyelashes were stuck together.

Chang Heng said, “Not really acquainted, but this person is the one I saw earlier on the female wall. He was particularly fierce in battle and quite skilled.”

Han Jiwu, who rarely heard Chang Heng praise someone, became interested as well. He carefully examined Shen Yu’s appearance on the stretcher and shook his head. “Too thin, doesn’t look like much in terms of physique.”

“You didn’t see the scene back then,” Chang Heng said excitedly, “this person was using dual blades.”

He placed his hand on Shen Yu’s neck and asked, “How did he end up like this from the cold?”

The soldier replied, “This person seems to have spent the night searching for someone on the battlefield. This morning, when we went to count the bodies, we saw him holding onto a corpse and refusing to let go. He almost froze together with the corpse. It took some effort to separate them.”

Chang Heng shook his head in disbelief, “Probably a close friend. He’s quite loyal and emotional.”

“It’s General Shen’s body,” the soldier said solemnly.

Both Chang Heng and Han Jiwu looked at Xie Tingzhou simultaneously. Han Jiwu spoke, “Where is General Shen’s body?”

The soldier said something to the person beside him, and in no time, another stretcher was brought over, but this time, it was covered with a layer of white cloth.

Chang Heng was about to reach out to lift the cloth, but Xie Tingzhou intercepted him with a gesture, causing Chang Heng to scratch his head in embarrassment.

“I don’t mean to disrespect General Shen, I just wanted to confirm,” Chang Heng said.

Xie Tingzhou’s expression turned cold, “Arrange General Shen’s tent for him.”

This was the treatment that the pillar of the nation, full of loyalty and integrity, deserved. Even in death, he shouldn’t be displayed for others to see at will.

The somber atmosphere of the early morning was suppressed in the wind, and no one’s mood was good.

Chang Heng instructed the soldiers, “Take him in and treat him well. I have my eye on this lad. When he’s recovered, bring him to my camp.”

The soldiers quickly agreed and prepared to send the person for treatment. The next moment, everyone was shocked and stood still.

They saw the hand, covered in blood stains, hanging on Xie Tingzhou’s sleeve.

The Crown Prince usually had a penchant for cleanliness; how could he tolerate this?

Chang Heng valued talent and feared that Xie Tingzhou would draw his sword and cut off the hand. He quickly reached out to pull it away, persuading, “Your Highness, this is a talented martial artist, it would be a shame to cut it off.”

Xie Tingzhou: “…”

Chang Heng held Shen Yu’s hand, feeling puzzled as well. Even though he had fainted, his grip was still strong, refusing to let go of the sleeve.

“What are you waiting for?” Chang Heng said, “Quickly, help me pull him away.”

The soldiers hurried forward to help, one person held Shen Yu’s hand while the other tried to pry his fingers open.

“Tsk, if we force it, his fingers might break. How will he hold a sword in the future?”

The soldiers were at a loss; neither forcing it nor leaving it was an option.

Suddenly, the person on the stretcher moved slightly, tightening their grip on the sleeve even more. Their cracked lips moved, and they uttered a barely audible whisper:

“Dad…”

The crowd stood dumbfounded.

Chang Heng widened his eyes, “Your Highness, this lad just called you ‘dad’.”

Xie Tingzhou gave Chang Heng a sidelong glance, “I heard.”

Chang Heng and Han Jiwu suppressed their laughter.

The Crown Prince hadn’t even married yet, and he was already being called “dad” in advance by such a grown-up lad. This lad really knew how to pick, choosing the Crown Prince like that.

Xie Tingzhou lowered his gaze, the hand grasping his sleeve was exerting a lot of force, leaving a ring of bruising around his wrist.

The person lay on the stretcher, their head limp to the side, their neck so thin that it seemed a slight effort could snap it.

“Don’t… leave…” Shen Yu muttered again.

Xie Tingzhou frowned slightly, showing a hint of impatience between his brows.

Seeing something wrong, Chang Heng started, “Your House”

With a snap, the sleeve broke in two.

Xie Tingzhou sheathed his knife, lifting an eyebrow, “Your what?”

“N-nothing,” Chang Heng touched his chest nervously, chuckling. He thought thankfully that it wasn’t his hand that got cut.

Xie Tingzhou left with a flick of his sleeve, and Chang Heng bumped into Han Jiwu’s shoulder, whispering, “Is this what they call the ‘broken sleeve’?”

Han Jiwu shot him a sideways glance, “If you don’t want to die, you’d better not say that.”

Shen Yu was burning up and delirious.

In her dreams, sometimes it was scenes from her past life, sometimes it was her father turned into a hedgehog-like corpse.

Where was her brother? Where was Shen Zhao? Where was Kong Qing? Did he find them?

The wind from Yanliang Pass didn’t seem as cold anymore, but the sky was dark, like dark red blood sinking from the horizon.

Shen Yu walked laboriously through the snow, feeling a force pulling her down with each step.

She looked down and saw blood all over the ground, countless hands struggling in the blood.

She felt like she couldn’t move anymore.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the distance in the wind.

“Don’t look down, look ahead.”

“Dad!” Shen Yu called out and staggered towards the direction of the voice.

The figure in the distance drew closer, standing tall on the high city wall, Shen Zhong’an stood in the wind.

He reached out to her, “Come up and take a look, what do you see?”

Shen Yu looked into the distance, “It’s a sea of corpses.”

Shen Zhong’an shook his head, “Girl, you’re looking in the wrong direction. Look back—”

Shen Yu turned around and looked towards the city.

“Girl, you didn’t come back to save me, you came back to save the thousands of people inside the pass.”

“You see, history didn’t repeat itself. You’ve changed the original trajectory, bought us time. Yanliang Pass didn’t fall, Gan Prefecture wasn’t massacred. That’s the meaning of your existence.”

Shen Yu shook her head desperately, “But I just want to save you and my brother. I want you both to live.”

Shen Zhong’an smiled, “Your mother is waiting for me. She’s been waiting for too long.”

“Then you both wait for me, I’ll come too.”

Shen Zhong’an shook his head, “You have more important things to do, Ah Yu. You can save more people, do you understand?”

The figure gradually faded away, and Shen Yu desperately moved forward, but she couldn’t catch hold of even a piece of clothing.

“Dad!”

Shen Yu woke up trembling, feeling like every breath was being cut by a small knife in her chest.

Her eyelids were heavy, she didn’t open them, feeling that there were other people in the room.

Something approached her lips, warm and with a strong medicinal smell.

Shen Yu opened her eyes and the medicine servant who was feeding her was immediately startled.

The bowl of medicine fell to the ground with a clang, and the medicine servant looked at Shen Yu on the bed in surprise, exclaiming, “You’re awake.”

Shen Yu turned her head and saw the medicine servant already getting up. Soon, an older doctor came into the tent.

As soon as the doctor entered, he grabbed her hand to check her pulse, then ordered the medicine servant to bring in another bowl of brewed medicine.

There were too many injured, and the military doctors were too busy to keep up.

The doctor had been specially assigned by General Chang to take care of this person, and his life had to be saved. The medicine couldn’t even be forced down before, but unexpectedly, he woke up on his own.