Chapter 2: The Stormy Weather of Yan and Zhao Section 19

  March 185 AD.

  Li Hong's mood has always been bad.

  He couldn't forget the eyes in the wind and snow, he didn't know what had happened to Feng Xue, but he knew it must have been something that made her suffer greatly. He often stood alone on the city wall, gazing at the snow-capped mountains wrapped in silver, gazing at the vast expanse of white snow, his spirit dazed and depressed.

  It wasn't until more than a dozen days later that Yan Wuyou's subordinates returned to Lulong Pass one after another, and Li Hong finally learned the truth.

  Fengxue is getting married. She will marry into the Dahan Mountain and become the queen of the Xianbei Kingdom, marrying King He Lian.

  Li Hong was stunned, the huge sense of loss left him at a loss, his heart felt like it had been hollowed out, extremely uncomfortable and painful. Li Hong suddenly lost his smile and became silent and taciturn.

  After helping Wei You and Chen Da, the two gentlemen took their leave. Then Xiaoyu asked Li Hong to return to Xu Wucheng. Li Hong called Xiaolan and had him bring a dozen soldiers to escort Xiaoyu home. Li Hong saw them off for thirty miles before Xiaoyu firmly declined his further accompaniment.

  "Big brother, you go back."

  Li Hong felt extremely annoyed when Xiaoyu called him "dàren" (adult), and after a few times, Xiaoyu changed to calling him "gēge" (older brother). Li Hong thought it sounded very intimate, as if Xiaoyu were really his younger sister.

  Li Hong nodded silently. For three or four months, they had been together day and night, although the time spent together was not long, but because of their special backgrounds, one an orphan and the other having lost his memory, in this world they no longer had any relatives, they were connected by their shared misfortune, and vaguely regarded each other as the only family they had left.

  "Are Big Brother and Fengxue girl sworn sisters?" Little Rain suddenly asked.

  Li Hong didn't make a sound. The other day, when Li Hong and Xiao Yu were chatting, Li Hong inadvertently mentioned this matter due to his heart being troubled. He recalled the days of fleeing on the grasslands, where he and Feng Xue spent a lot of effort taking care of those women and children, and escaping pursuit. If one had to say it, they could be considered sworn brothers for life and death.

  He nodded and looked at Xiaoyu with a puzzled expression.

  "If a sworn brother is in trouble, will the elder brother go to rescue him?"

  Li Hong nodded again. He understood Xiaoyu's meaning, smiled bitterly and said: "This time Fengxue married He Lian, no matter what the reason is, it involves the stability of Xianbei State, the relationship between Zhongbu Xianbei and Tanhan Mountain, and the survival of Niutou tribe. The internal situation is self-evident. If Fengxue doesn't marry, the consequences will be severe, affecting the interests of various tribes in Zhongbu Xianbei, the close relationship between Dashi and Tanhan Mountain, and the lives of tens of thousands of people in Niutou tribe. Who would care about the fate and feelings of a insignificant girl like Fengxue? How dare she not marry? How can I save her?"

  "Ko is very miserable."

  "The snowstorm is also painful. Now, even if she's given the opportunity to escape, or to commit suicide, she doesn't dare to do it, because this directly relates to the survival of her family and clan members. The snowstorm has reached this point, what else can I do but watch with my eyes wide open? Knowing clearly what should be done yet unable to do it, how can one not feel pain?"

  Xiao Yu looked at Li Hong with great sympathy and said softly: "If this affects the safety of the Great Han State, what would big brother do?"

  "Destruction."

  Li Hong suddenly understood what Xiao Yu meant. For a while, he had been immersed in the bitter sorrow of disappointment and loss, completely losing his mind. Xiao Yu's words were like a knife cutting through the dark clouds that covered the sun, and the golden sunlight instantly dispersed the gloom in his heart. The worries and sorrows that had been accumulating in Li Hong's heart suddenly vanished. He burst out laughing.

  "Thank you, Little Rain."

  Xiao Yu smiled comfortingly, "As long as big brother is happy, that's all that matters."

  Li Hong didn't make a sound. He gazed at Xiaoyu's ethereal and otherworldly beauty, her tranquil and elegant eyes, and silently muttered to himself: As long as you're happy, that's all that matters.

  The heavy snow is slowly melting away, revealing many places' original black appearance. In the mountains and fields, on the grasslands, there are patches of white and black, which look very beautiful.

  Tuoba Hong stood on a small hill, gazing out in all directions. To the front was Huahongyuan, to the right was Yexi, and to the left was Qihu Lake. From Huahongyuan, walking northeast for five days would bring one to the Baishan Mountains. But if one walked across the already frozen Qihu Lake, it would only take three days to approach the Baishan Mountains.

  Tuoba Hong was the younger brother of Tuoba Feng, one of the four great nobles of the Tuoba tribe. This time he was ordered to lead three hundred cavalrymen to participate in the welcoming procession for Da Wang and Lian's wedding.

  The great king and Huan are preparing to welcome Fengxue at the Spring Hunting Conference next month. The annual Spring Hunting Conference is a top priority for the Xianbei country, with heavyweight figures from the three major divisions of Xianbei in the east, middle, and west all attending. Firstly, it is to pay homage to the great king, secondly, to discuss some military and national affairs of the Xianbei country, and thirdly, to use the hunting conference to connect the emotions between the various tribes and select talents. This year, Huan has real power internally, and externally has the support of the three major division leaders Murong Feng, Miga, and Tuoba Feng, and the forces of the various divisions of the Xianbei country have once again converged, vaguely reappearing the powerful momentum under the rule of the great king Tan Shi Huai.

  The Tuoba tribe was repeatedly frustrated under the command of a man named Bao, losing many soldiers and generals. Tuoba Feng's anger was hard to calm down, and he attributed all his hatred to Murong Feng. He wanted to take revenge on the Niu Tou tribe, but was worried that Murong Feng would intervene, so he suddenly had an idea and recommended the most beautiful woman from the Xianbei grasslands to Da Wang and Lian. There were hundreds of thousands of women in Lian's account, where did they care about such a small woman? But under Tuoba Feng's strong recommendation, especially that it could better control Murong Feng and also take the opportunity to win over the Niu Tou tribe, divide the forces within the Murong Feng group, this made Lian's heart move greatly, and he immediately sent someone to propose marriage and set a date for the wedding.

  Murong Feng loved Feng Xue, and regarded her as his own daughter. Everyone on the vast grasslands knew this. Although Heli was a great king of the Xianbei state, Murong Feng had always disliked him from the bottom of his heart, and would never marry Feng Xue to such trash. So when Murong Feng heard the news, he became furious, knowing that it was Tuoba Feng's deliberate revenge against him for past grievances. But in this matter, he could not express his opposition. A mute person eats bitter melon, with a bitter taste that only they know.

  If they explicitly express their opposition, it is to explicitly tell the various tribes of the Xianbei country that Murong Feng never put Da Wang and Lian in his eyes. This is no different from raising a large flag to rebel. Countless tribes mistakenly believed that the relationship between the two was still incompatible due to Murong Feng's actions, and some extremely dissatisfied tribes with Lian would riot as a result.

  Murong Feng now deeply resents Tuoba Feng. If it weren't for being forced to ask for his help last year, there wouldn't be a day when Tuoba Feng could rise to power. Unexpectedly, this treacherous person not only didn't think of repaying the favor but instead sought revenge. What Murong Feng couldn't tolerate the most was that he spread rumors about Feng Lie in various parts of Xianbei country. And that licentious and shameless Helian, who himself had narrowly escaped disaster, managed to keep his throne, yet immediately forgot his past sufferings and sought his own downfall. Murong Feng never tolerated anyone who might affect the resurgence of Xianbei country, especially those treacherous people, for he had suffered too much at their hands. Immediately, he conceived the idea of eliminating Tuoba's tribe and getting rid of Helian. The two men, unaware of their impending doom, were now basking in their own glory, completely oblivious to the fact that Murong Feng hated them to the bone and would surely eliminate them first before feeling relieved.

  He Lianbo rode up on horseback. He was the deputy leader of the Han Shan Garrison, a Wanfu Chang and He Lian's trusted aide, responsible for escorting the wedding party this time.

  "Hao Shuai thinks that taking that road would be more suitable?" He Lianbo asked with a smile. Tuoba Hong hastily made half a bow on horseback and said cautiously: "The weather is gradually warming up, I'm worried that the ice on Qu Lake will become thinner, it's not safe to walk on it. Sir, why don't we take a detour and go via Huahongyuan?"

  He Lianbo smiled and glanced at him, with a hint of mockery in his eyes. "Alright. Your troops will lead the way, my men will bring up the rear, and Lord Lie Kuangfeng will protect the convoy."

  Lü Feng rode on a tall horse beside the wind and snow carriage, with Knife Scar leading two hundred guards around the long convoy.

  "Racing, Wu Bao the two masters are like they've gone mad, surrounding and attacking horse thieves all over the border. Commander must have taken action again?" Qiao Kun rode his horse behind Lie Kuang Feng, shouting to Ke Bi Xiong who was riding on Hei Bao. The two little ones were making a fuss about going to Tan Han Mountain to attend the Spring Meeting, to see their sister get married. Lie Kuang Feng liked them and brought them along together. Ke Bi Xiong's small face was frozen red, his nose running non-stop.

  "You don't know anything. General Dai must be afraid that the bandits will rob us, so he ordered his men to eliminate them everywhere. Look, now my sister and all these valuable dowries are worth a lot of money." Kobi Bear disagreed with him and immediately retorted.

  Kui Kun sighed and said: "Looking at sister's unhappy appearance, it would be better to let the horse bandits take her away."

  "There isn't a horse thief on the prairie with such great power. There are so many soldiers here, over 700 people, who can kidnap my sister?" Kobi Bear also cried with a sad face, pitifully saying.

  "Now I know why you said that. Last time I asked you to go with me to Lulong Town to find Uncle Leopard, why didn't you go?" Qu Kun said unhappily.

  "Don't be silly. Didn't you see that sister stopped crying after she came back from the Lu Long Pass? Sister personally went to find Uncle Leopard, how could he not come to save her. What's the point of running again, we'll just get into trouble on the way."

  Kuang stopped talking. He gazed at the continuous small hills on his right side, looked at the vast white forest, and suddenly asked Kobi: "Do you think Uncle Leopard will come to save Sister?"

  Koby shook his little head and said, "You just don't believe me. Uncle Leopard will be here soon. Do you know why I followed you?"

  Kuang looked around worriedly and said casually, "Didn't you say you were going to Tanhanshan?"

  "You're really stupid. I know Uncle Leopard is coming to save Sister. Sister has already been taken away by Uncle Leopard, what's the point of going to Tan Han Mountain?"

  "That's why?" Kuang Qiu was puzzled.

  "I want to return the black leopard to him. When I grow up, I will take it back from Uncle with my own skills."

  "Haha......" Quan Kun looked at Ke Bi Xiong's serious face and suddenly burst out laughing.

  "What's so funny?" Kobi Bear shouted angrily.

  "Haha……, Uncle Leopard has captured all of them at the Lu Long Pass, including Lord Pao Su Li, Lord Qian Ji, and even Khan Ru Wang from the Wuman tribe. If Uncle Xiong Ba hadn't run fast enough, he would have been caught too! You think you can defeat Uncle Leopard? Haha……, that's hilarious!" Qian Kun laughed so hard he fell off his horse, and eventually ended up lying on the horse's back, laughing uncontrollably.

  Kerbie's little face turned even redder with anger. He shouted furiously: "Don't laugh, I'll definitely do it!"

  Qian Kun stared at him, bursting into loud laughter.

  Colby Bear could no longer bear it and raised his whip to lash out.

  The fierce wind heard two little kids quarreling behind him, and his heart was filled with waves of sadness.

  His father's scandalous affair he had heard many rumors, but Murong Feng didn't say anything, the people around Murong Feng didn't say anything, he couldn't get any confirmation. But he believed in his own father, who would never do something to betray the Xianbei country or his uncle Murong Feng. Even if the rumors were true, as long as Uncle Murong Feng was there, the Niu Tou tribe wouldn't have any problems. But what about the Niu Tou tribe once Murong Feng wasn't around anymore?

  Feng Xue wanted to escape. He and his brother Liebao had no choice but to tell Feng Xue the rumors that had been circulating in the Xianbei kingdom. After a trip to Huoyunyuan, where she met Murong Feng, she never mentioned escaping again. Feng Xue was going to go to Lulong Pass, to see Baozi for the last time, and also to stop her brothers from doing so. If people found out that the Niu Tou tribe had contact with the leopard of the Great Han kingdom, especially during this sensitive period after their defeat at Lulong Pass, it would be even more unfavorable for the Niu Tou tribe.

  Feng Xue spent the whole day in Tan Yue Valley, washing her face with tears, how pitiful. The two brothers accompanied her on either side, also feeling desolate and sorrowful in their hearts, unbearable grief. Until Xiong Ba arrived at Tan Yue Valley.

  Xiong Ba stared at his two brothers with a worried look on their faces, and suddenly burst out laughing.

  Then he said something earth-shattering.