"Meng Wan!" Huangfu Yi was also anxious. He also wanted to go out and search, but as he said, going out at this time would only lead to their own deaths. Not only would they not find her, but they would also lose their lives.
But Meng Wan was at her wit's end, on the verge of collapse. She couldn't hear what he was saying and struggled desperately, her fists clenched tightly. One or two blows landed heavily on his chest. Huangfu Yi coughed repeatedly from the blows, but he still wouldn't let go. Seeing her going crazy, he got angry and raised his hand, slapping her across the cheek.
"Meng Wan, wake up! If Seventh Brother were here, he certainly wouldn't want to see you like this!"
With a sharp, angry shout, Meng Wan winced in pain, her face instantly turning red on one side, and she stood there stunned.
Seeing this, Huangfu Yi was also somewhat taken aback, seemingly not expecting to strike someone. His hand froze in mid-air as he stared at her swollen cheek. After a long while, he softened his tone and said, "I've already inquired. The Empress's forces were repelled by your eldest brother's troops, and the Empress's whereabouts are currently unknown. This is probably why she's chasing us. I've already sent a message back to the capital by carrier pigeon, informing Father of our situation and asking him to send people to search for Seventh Brother. Don't worry, I'll search alone for the next two days. If I can find him, great; if I can't find him alone, then wait for the search party. Trust me, I will definitely find him."
Meng Wan listened blankly, but she only caught the last sentence of that long string of words. As soon as he finished speaking, she suddenly looked up and asked, "Really? Can we really find it?"
Her flustered appearance suggested that she would faint if he shook his head. Huangfu Yi narrowed his eyes, pondered for a while, and nodded: "Yes, I can definitely do it. I promise you. But you also have to promise me that you will stay here properly these next few days."
Meng Wan bit her lip, and after a long while, nodded: "Okay."
--
In the following days, Huangfu Yi searched everywhere, going back and forth along the path down the cliff, but after several days, there was no news at all. Even later, when Meng Junheng brought people and almost turned the bottom of the cliff upside down, there was still no news.
Meng Wan was extremely disappointed and heartbroken, but she comforted herself, saying that no news was the best news, after all, the body hadn't been found.
In this way, a month passed quickly, autumn turned to winter, and the weather grew colder and colder.
Western Sichuan is located in a remote area, mainly consisting of mountains and hills. In winter, it becomes exceptionally cold, with howling north winds rustling through the bare trees, making the place even more desolate in this chilly season.
In fact, everyone had already given up hope. If it weren't for Meng Wan's insistence, Meng Junheng would have returned to the capital to report back instead of staying here. But Meng Wan refused. She said that she would not go back until she found him, whether he was alive or dead.
Meng Junheng knew Meng Wan's personality best. Now that Huangfu Mi, whom she admired so much, had disappeared, she probably wouldn't leave no matter what he said.
At this point, all he could do was send someone back to report, while he spent his days accompanying Meng Wan in her search.
The area below the cliff was desolate for miles, but there were many villages in the surrounding area. So after confirming that they could not find anything below the cliff, Meng Wan and the others turned their attention to the surrounding villages.
She thought that perhaps good fortune would come, and she might be rescued by the villagers in the surrounding villages. So, visiting each household became her daily routine.
Although Western Shu was small, it was still a country, and there were many villages built around it. They went from village to village, asking from house to house, but each time they returned disappointed.
On this day, they arrived at a village called Silver Dollar Village.
Yinyuan Village is the closest village to the capital of Western Shu. Because of its abundant land, when Western Shu was founded, the capital was specially chosen to be located around it. Meng Wan had given up hope, but she still had to search for it.
After going door to door and asking around all morning, both she and Meng Junheng were parched. At noon, Meng Junheng went to buy food, while Meng Wan sat down to rest at a nearby teahouse.
She thought that if she couldn't find Silver Dollar Village, then she should really give up. Perhaps her obsession had long since disappeared. She had watched herself fall off that high cliff. How many of them could have survived? She didn't dare to think about it, or perhaps she didn't want to think about it!
She sighed, her hand tightly gripping the sandalwood hairpin tucked into her bosom.
When the Empress captured her and forced him to submit, he even personally helped her put on the sandalwood pendant. She still remembered his whispered words in her ear that day, "As long as the sandalwood remains, I will not leave." The vows of eternal love still echoed in her ears, but where was he?
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she looked up at the sky, trying not to let the tears fall. Through her blurry vision, she suddenly saw a tall man in red standing in the gold shop across from the teahouse. Because his back was turned, she couldn't see his face clearly, but his back view still made Meng Wan pause in surprise.
Standing tall, her red robes billowing around her, her figure and silhouette striking. She suddenly stood up and rushed over: "Huangfu Mi!"
The man turned around, and Meng Wan's hand rested on his shoulder. Looking at that unfamiliar face, Meng Wan frowned immediately: "Why are you wearing red for no reason? Why are you standing here!"
She glared at him angrily. Even though she was beautiful, she still startled the man opposite her. He gave Meng Wan a strange look, wondering what was wrong with her. He didn't dare to say anything and hurriedly rushed out of the gold shop.
Meng Wan remained standing there, letting out a deep breath. For a moment, she thought she had found him, but it was just a very similar back view. How could it be him?
With a sigh, her mind racing, she was truly heartbroken. Without waiting for Meng Junheng any longer, she left the gold shop in a daze and headed back to the inn where she had stayed.
Meng Junheng searched the streets but couldn't find Meng Wan. After inquiring, he learned what had happened in the gold shop. He couldn't help but sigh. Heaven was truly playing tricks on people. If Huangfu Mi was dead, it would be good if they could see his body. In the end, it would make Meng Wan give up. It would be better than searching everywhere without finding anything and refusing to give up.
With a sigh, he carried dinner into Meng Wan's room.
"Wan'er, don't be discouraged. If we can't find it today, we'll look again tomorrow. I believe that if His Highness is still alive, we will definitely be able to find him."
That was just a comforting remark to Meng Wan. The group searched together for more than a month. After the Eighth Prince returned to report the news, the two of them traveled to every village, big and small. In total, it took them more than three months.
If Huangfu Mi were truly still alive, he should have been able to find her within three months.
But no, not even the slightest bit of information, let alone finding it.
"Big brother--" Meng Wan shifted her gaze from the window and turned to look at her older brother. The two of them had been searching alone for two months, braving wind and rain every day, and her older brother had lost a lot of weight.
Perhaps, it really is time to end this!
“Brother, let’s search for another day tomorrow. If we still don’t hear anything, let’s go back!” she said.
Even though she was unwilling to accept it, even though she didn't want to believe it, at this moment, all she could do was probably give up.
If Huangfu Mi hadn't died in three months, he wouldn't have disappeared without a trace. The fact that they were searching for him so openly meant that if he were still alive, he would definitely look for them, or at the very least, send them a message.
But there was nothing there, so it's probably gone now!
"Wan'er--" Meng Junheng was clearly taken aback by her words, but Meng Wan smiled slightly and patted the back of his hand: "Although I will still be sad, as long as I don't have any hope, I won't be disappointed anymore. Since he won't keep his promise to stay by my side, then I'll give up too. I can still live a good life by going back to my father and my aunt."
Her smile was very faint, as if it would disappear in an instant. Meng Junheng felt heartache seeing it, but he was speechless.
Yes, it's all in vain to say anything more. The result of comforting her is to give her hope, but at this time, giving her pointless hope is not helping her, but will only disappoint her again and again.
So he nodded, looked at her with tenderness, and remained silent for a long time.
The next morning, the two got up early. They had already inquired about many families yesterday, and today they would inquire about the rest.
Perhaps because I figured things out yesterday, I wasn't so conflicted today. I went door to door asking, and even when I was disappointed, I was able to hold back. In this way, most of the day passed by.
Because of its proximity to the imperial city, Yinyuan Village was quite lively. As evening fell, the two of them wandered aimlessly through the bustling streets, their hearts filled with mixed feelings.