Hearing the sound from the shore, Huan She turned his head and saw that Li Weiying had already put down his new clothes, taken off her fur coat and shoes, and was rushing towards him. He hurriedly sank to the bottom of the water, and she said angrily, "Come out." He cautiously straightened up, but she moved behind him and gently, very gently, used a silk handkerchief to wipe the old wound on his back. His tense body relaxed, but his heart was pounding. Slightly tilting his body, he glimpsed her lightly floral skirt and long sash swaying in the water, and his heart fluttered along with it.
The sound of rushing water filled the air. After washing him, she immediately turned and ran ashore, grabbed her clothes, and hid in the darkness of the woods beside the hot spring. Her voice, trembling with cold, drifted out: "Don't follow me." After a long pause, she said, "Are you coming up?" Still hiding in the woods. Huan She quickly went ashore and hurriedly put on his new clothes. "I'm all better, come out now." He called several times, but received no reply. Terrified, he rushed into the woods and found her sitting against a cedar tree, her hands tightly wrapped around her knees, seemingly trembling and sobbing. Huan She breathed a sigh of relief and squatted beside her. "What's wrong?" She didn't respond. He realized he had angered her by hiding in the water, and imagined how heartbroken she must have been while tending to his wounds. He said, "It's my fault. It's all my fault. Please forgive me. Come, come outside." He coaxed her repeatedly, pulling her out of the woods. He lit a fire, put a hat on her, and her tightly pursed lips finally relaxed.
The fire blazed brighter and brighter. He stole glances at her, but she kept her head glued to the flames, refusing to look away. After a while, seeing he didn't move, she finally turned her head to look at him briefly before turning it back. But Huan She had already noticed the smile on her face, so he waited quietly. Recalling his earlier disheveled state, she finally turned her head, her eyebrows slightly raised, as if with a hint of mockery. He chuckled.
Seeing him nervously rubbing his neck against the newly worn wool coat, Li Weiying asked curiously, "Does it still hurt?" Huan She replied, "No, it's just a little uncomfortable." He wasn't wearing a shirt, so the wool from the coat was directly touching his skin, which was naturally uncomfortable. She hummed in response. Initially, because of her sulking, Li Weiying had been sitting quite far apart. Now, seeing that her expression had softened, Huan She secretly moved closer to her. Seeing that she didn't object, he moved closer still, and then even closer, until finally she noticed and stared at him seriously. He didn't care anymore and plopped down next to her. She immediately jumped up, thinking she was about to have another outburst, but instead, she took his old clothes and went to the hot spring to wash them.
Seeing her earnest expression, Huan She dared not say anything more, much less tell her that bloodstains congeal when heated, making them harder to clean. A short while later, she returned and said, "Hmm, not very clean." She smiled and said, "This is the first time I've ever washed clothes." Huan She felt a surge of warmth in his heart. Seeing his silence, Li Weiying said irritably, "You..." and sat down directly, "Fine, I won't bother you anymore." He choked back a sob, "You're so good to me... so good." Li Weiying looked at him, "Oh, it's nothing." She spread out his wet clothes to dry.
He calmed down, leaned back, and lay beside her. "How can you not care that I'm a fugitive? You're so good to me..." Recalling the ordeal he'd endured in the past month since his imprisonment, he closed his eyes in anguish. She didn't turn to look, still shaking his wet clothes, and said casually, "It's nothing special, just wrongful imprisonment. Oh, by the way, your face... your cheekbones..." She glanced at him casually, continued drying the clothes, and suddenly said, "But for a crime as serious as yours, you could be beheaded. Why exile? Exile is at most three years, not life imprisonment. And why tattoo your face? Besides, tattooing is no longer a punishment in the Tang Dynasty." He asked in surprise, "How do you know all this?" She was speechless. "Oh, my master taught me a little."
He sighed, "But they said I colluded with the enemy and concealed stolen goods, but since I didn't actually steal any, they were unhappy and wanted me to run away, so they resorted to this trick." She exclaimed in surprise, "Crime should be dealt with according to military law, so who is trying to frame you like this?" Huan She looked dejected. Li Weiying said, "Huan Lang, just tell me everything."
Huan She smiled and said, "That must begin with my family history." Li Weiying nodded: "The Huan family's ancestral home is in Qiao. The Huan clan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty held immense power. Chancellor Huan Wen led four northern expeditions, recapturing Luoyang; the Gengxu Incident brought prosperity and abundance; and there's the famous line, 'Even trees are thus, how can people endure?'" Huan She opened his mouth wide, and after a long while, he said, "Actually, I only learned about these things today from what you told me. Before, I only heard my uncle mention that the Huan family was quite prestigious after their migration south." He said wistfully, "That was all thanks to our ancestors..." "That's all in the past. Qiao County, well, that's just Zuwang. Our branch of the family moved to Xingyang during the Sui Dynasty. My parents died early, and my uncle, who was in the army, took me to Guazhou." He reminisced about the joys of his childhood: "Guazhou is famous for its delicious melons, so big! My uncle always said, 'A fox can enter one without showing its head or tail.' I would often run to the melon patch at midnight to wait for foxes, to see if any of them had actually crawled into the melons." Li Weiying laughed: "And did you ever catch one?" Huan She also laughed: "I only got a slap from my uncle."
He immediately suppressed his smile. "Later, my uncle was seriously wounded in battle, and his friend Chen Fu carried him back. Unfortunately, my uncle succumbed to his injuries. Uncle Chen Fu then took over caring for me. He has a son, Chen Ti, who is ten years older than me and also took good care of me. I've always considered him my older brother. Chen Ti was appointed Left Commandant of the Right, and I was his subordinate." Li Weiying said, "Hmm, you were probably imprisoned because of Chen Ti, weren't you?" Huan She sighed softly, "Three months ago, he summoned me for a meeting. It turned out that Lu Shuang, the Right Commandant of the Right, had asked him to discuss something. Lu Shuang had received a letter from a friend in the capital." Huan She gazed into Li Weiying's watery eyes, the signature on the letter flashing through his mind: two hastily written characters: "Cao Ling." He smiled bitterly to himself, "It's truly a cruel twist of fate."
Li Weiying asked curiously, "What did you say?"
"The letter says that Mr. Sun Simiao had some insights when refining elixirs. He would grind two ounces each of chalcedony and saltpeter into powder and put them in a clay pot. Then he would put the pot into a pit and fill the pot with soil so that the top of the pot was level with the ground. He would burn soapberry into charcoal and put it into the pot. If you were not careful, it would start a fire. This is called chalcedony fire suppression."
She laughed and said, "It turns out that Mr. Sun is not only a skilled doctor, but also has other ingenious methods."
Huan She continued, "Lu Shuang's friend said that if we could replace the clay pot with an iron pot, the soap charcoal with wood charcoal, add crushed stones, and intentionally set it on an open flame, it would achieve the same effect as Li Bing's blasting of mountains, but even surpass it. If we could also load it into a catapult, then we would be able to conquer any city." Li Weiying pondered for a moment, "It does make sense, but it's not easy to do."
She thought for a moment and then said, "The process of 'fusing yellow fire' is extremely complicated and dangerous. Heh, I'm afraid Lu Shuang herself didn't dare to try it and deliberately showed it to Chen Ti."
“Yes. Actually, Chen Ti is not unaware of Lu Shuang’s intentions. Wang Su, the Commandant of the Vanguard, is getting old, and Chen Ti and Lu Shuang are secretly competing with each other, both hoping to fill Wang Su’s vacancy in the future. Their seniority and military achievements are about the same, but Lu Shuang comes from a famous family in Hedong and has a better family background. If Chen Ti wants to win, he must do something big.”
"So even though he knew Lu Shuang's intentions, he still took the risk."
“That’s right. Later, when we went north to attack the Turks, Chen Ti tried out the Yellow Fire technique. He made an improved catapult according to the method in the letter and actually managed to blow up a convoy of Turkic grain carts. Afterwards, we joined forces with Lu Shuang’s troops and annihilated a Turkic army. What made Chen Ti most happy was that we also captured the treasures that the Turks presented to the Khan, which filled forty boxes.”
"Forty boxes? Ha! So much stolen goods, where did you hide your treasure?"
“Some of it was transported by Lu Shuang’s tribe, while the part I was in charge of was all ordered to be thrown into the Hulu River.”
Li Weiying was astonished: "Are you crazy?"
Huan She shook his head with a wry smile, “We have no choice but to throw it away. We then encountered another Turkic army near the Hulu River, and many of us died. The pontoon bridge over the Hulu River was also burned down. Even if the pontoon bridge were still there, it would still be fifty li away from Guazhou. If we don’t throw it away, we definitely won’t be able to get out.”
"This is the crime of concealing stolen goods. But the General Administration can always send people to retrieve them again."
"Of course they were fished out, but the number is wrong."
"Perhaps it was swept downstream by the rapids."
Huan She pondered deeply, “Those boxes were all sturdy and heavy, not easily drifted away. Lu Shuang’s unit transported twenty boxes, and I had previously counted the twenty boxes under my unit’s responsibility before receiving Chen Ti’s order to escort them the next day. But when we retrieved them, the twenty boxes were still there, but the contents were not right. Previously, the left and right captains of the Guoyi Army had sent people to carefully count the quantity of various items. Moreover… I saw it later, and the contents of the boxes were not arranged as originally.”
Li Weiying pondered for a moment, "Before you transported them, were those boxes personally guarded by Chen Ti? Did Chen Ti rush you to transport them the next day without even letting you check them? Were there more gold and silver than lightweight jewels? During the investigation by the Zhechong Prefecture, did Chen Ti insist that he personally handed over twenty boxes to you?" Huan She was speechless for a long time before saying, "He was eager to make connections with powerful figures in the court, so he inevitably had to spend money to bribe them. Besides... my uncle and I have always been taken care of by the Chen family..."
Li Weiying had already dried Huan She's old undershirt and handed it to him, saying softly, "Put it on quickly." Huan She took it, rubbing the warm garment for a long time, then pressed it against his cool face to warm it. Suddenly, he grasped her small hand, "Thank you." Li Weiying chuckled and pulled her hand away, "Silly boy, you're willing to suffer such a loss just because someone is being nice to you." Huan She smiled, put on the warm undershirt, and then covered himself with a sheepskin coat, feeling incredibly comfortable.
She picked up her skirt, which had gotten wet in the hot spring, and Huan She reached out to take it. "Let me do it." He unfolded the skirt, and the firelight illuminated the water-soaked tie-dye, making the delicate flower petals woven on it even more distinct and lovely under the red flames. He turned his head and looked at Li Weiying's loose strands of hair fluttering with the colorful fallen petals, her cheeks appearing exceptionally beautiful in the flickering red flames. He couldn't help but say, "You're so beautiful." Li Weiying scolded, "Be careful, this is my only skirt." Huan She quickly put the tie-dye down in front of him and carefully dried it in front of the fire.
She suddenly said again, "That's still not right. You only have the charge of concealing stolen goods, so why are you also accused of treason?... Oh, so you're saying you deliberately sank the treasure into the river for the Turks?" Huan She looked distressed. "No. Because two hundred men under Zuo Guoyi's command died." Li Weiying said, "Battle casualties are normal." Huan She said, "I was responsible for escorting the treasure in front, and Chen Ti led the guards behind. His team encountered another Turkic army on the way. He used fire-propelled catapults. Unexpectedly, one of the catapults exploded on his own side, causing the other catapults to catch fire and explode as well, resulting in heavy casualties among his men. I heard the sound..." He ordered his men to return to camp, while he took fifty men to help him. We fought fiercely with the Turks; I protected him as we caught up with our troops escorting the treasure, while the brothers covering the rear all perished. Next, I ordered my men to sink the treasure into the river. Because the pontoon bridge was destroyed, I had to reluctantly kill our warhorses, skin them, and inflate their hides into air bladders, sending Zuo Guoyi with a group of men across first. Time was too short; only a few could safely cross the river using the bladders, while the others had to jump into the icy water and struggle to swim. The Hulu River, the Hulu River, was littered with bloody bladders and the swollen corpses of Tang soldiers.
Li Weiying screamed and covered her ears. Huan She's face was also covered in tears. "I was probably the last one to jump into the river. As soon as I jumped in, I was swept into the icy torrent. I quickly became frozen and choked, losing consciousness. In my semi-conscious state, I grabbed onto something and wouldn't let go, even in death. It wasn't until the people downstream rescued me that I realized it was the shaft of a spear. Could a spear shaft have saved me? I think it was the owner of that spear, my fallen brother, who must have been watching over me from heaven." He choked up and couldn't continue.
Li Weiying silently handed him a handkerchief. Huan She clutched it tightly, letting tears stream down his face. Li Weiying gently patted his hand. Huan She took a deep breath and calmed himself. "As soon as I returned to the camp, I was arrested and imprisoned. The General Headquarters accused me of concealing stolen goods. I knew it was Zuo Guoyi who did it, but I didn't argue. Anyway, they searched my entire body and couldn't find a single copper coin. There were only a pitiful few military pays in the barracks. Later, they accused me of treason. Only then did I learn that he had concealed the accident where he misused a catapult and accidentally injured his men. He only said that after encountering the second Turkic army, he broke out first, leaving me to lead the rearguard. In this way, more than two hundred people died in battle, and I was the only one who escaped. In addition, I later abandoned the treasure in the river and jumped in but didn't die, which made people even more suspicious that I was secretly colluding with the Turks."
Li Weiying said softly, "So they tortured you and tormented you." Thinking of the numerous wounds on Huan She's body, she couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety. "And who came up with the idea of tattooing your face?" "It was Lu Shuang. He said that although my crimes were obvious, it wouldn't be appropriate to report me to the Dali Temple without the stolen goods, so I could only be imprisoned in the army for now. But they had to be careful that I wasn't too skilled and might escape. If my face was tattooed, even if I escaped, I would be easily recognized, and I would have nowhere to run." Huan She recalled the day he was severely tortured, unable to even stand, yet still bound to the torture post, his neck secured with a leather belt, his left cheekbone tattooed, and dark ink smeared onto the bleeding wound.
Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in hatred. Looking up, he saw tears glistening in Li Weiying's eyes and quickly comforted her, "I...I'm fine...I'm fine." He sighed heavily, "After that, there was still torture, sometimes even being tied up in the training ground and subjected to torture."
"It seems that Lu Shuang suggested tattooing your face not because she was worried that you would run away, but to humiliate Chen Ti."
"Chen Ti has been staying in his tent and hasn't come out, so you can't see him."
"Later, the governor of Zhechong Prefecture saw that they couldn't get anything out of me, so they had no choice but to imprison me. I was tortured to the point of being on the verge of death, so the guards simply chained my hands. There was no medicine or medical treatment, but I didn't die. Until one evening, masked men came to break me out of prison."
Li Weiying exclaimed in surprise, "Who is it?" Huan She smiled and said, "Judging from his figure and eyes, it must be Chen Ti." Li Weiying asked, "How did he save you?" Huan She replied, "He broke through the iron lock on the prison gate and came in. I was very happy, and saw that it was you, Zuo Guoyi. He swung his sword down, and I understood. I immediately used the iron chain on my wrist to block it, and the chain broke. At this moment, the guards also rushed in. During the fight, I was stabbed in the lower back, but fortunately, it didn't hit any vital organs. I desperately escaped, stole a horse from a night patrol soldier, and rode as fast as I could. I ran until the horse could run no more, then I abandoned it and fled westward."
Seeing Li Weiying's furrowed brows, he said, "You see, Zuo Guoyi isn't entirely heartless." She looked directly into his eyes, which held a hint of relief, and slowly said, "He didn't come to save you; he came to kill you." Huan She was shocked: "No...no...no way." Li Weiying said in a deep voice, "Stretch out your hands." Huan She placed her half-dry skirt on his lap, hesitated, and stretched out his hands, the iron chains hanging from his wrists. She carefully examined the broken ends of the chains, then put the two pieces together and looked at them. "Take off your clothes." Huan She vaguely felt something was wrong and resisted, "No need to look...don't look..." Li Weiying ignored him and swiftly lifted the fur coat and undershirt from the back of his body, revealing a deep, shallow knife wound on his lower back that ran from the upper right to the lower left.
She straightened his clothes and sighed softly, "Chen Ti is left-handed, isn't he?" Huan She was furious. "You're talking nonsense...you're talking nonsense..." He stood up abruptly, drew his short sword, and frantically struck the campfire, shouting hoarsely, "You're talking nonsense..." Li Weiying's floral skirt fell into the fire with a thud, sizzling and burning into a charred mess.
PS: The concept of "flowing yellow fire" (流黄伏火) is recorded in Sun Simiao's *Dan Jing* (丹经) from the early Tang Dynasty, and further developed in later Tang works such as *Zhen Yuan Miao Dao Yao Lue* (真元妙道要略) and Qing Xuzi's *Qian Gong Jia Chen Zhi Bao Ji Cheng* (铅恭甲辰至宝集成). Experts believe that gunpowder may have already been used by the mid-Tang Dynasty. Since this article is fictional, Chen Ti can be considered an early experimenter.
Li Bing, the governor of Shu Commandery in the Qin state during the Warring States period, needed to prepare food supplies for King Zhaoxiang of Qin in preparation for his conquest of the empire. He needed to divert water from the Min River upstream to the Chengdu Plain, but this was blocked by the mountains of Chengdu. Following the method of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains, it would take thirty years to complete the task. Li Bing then utilized the principle of thermal expansion and contraction. He first cut down trees and burned the mountain, then used the icy river water to further weaken it. The rocks cracked, and the task was completed in eight years.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong, a prefecture was also known as a Zhechong prefecture. A prefecture with 1,200 soldiers was considered an upper prefecture, 1,000 soldiers a middle prefecture, and 800 soldiers a lower prefecture. Each prefecture was headed by a Zhechong Duwei (Commander-in-Chief) and two deputy commanders, a Left and a Right Guoyi Duwei (Commanders-in-Chief). At its peak, there were 634 prefectures nationwide, with a total of 600,000 soldiers, mainly distributed in Guanzhong, Longyou, and the Central Plains, which were the political centers.
The character "卢" in "瓠卢河" should have a "瓜" (melon) radical on the left, which the computer cannot type. 瓠卢 means gourd, or simply gourd. The first time I saw this river's name in a book, it reminded me of Zhuangzi's "Free and Easy Wandering": "Now you have a gourd of five stones, why not consider making a large vessel to float on the rivers and lakes, instead of worrying that the gourd will fall and have nowhere to go? Then you still have the heart of a wanderer!" This refers to crossing rivers and lakes with a large gourd tied to one's waist. Hence, the tragic crossing of the river by Huan She and his companions.
Chapter Four
4. [Qi Kuo]
Li Weiying watched him silently, seeing the tears of pain on his face, his long hair dancing wildly in the cold wind, and the iron chain trembling on his wrist, occasionally tangling around the hilt of his sword. Sparks from the sword's strikes scattered in the silent night, some even flying towards her face. Suddenly, he noticed that her only dress was burning in the fire, and he desperately tried to extinguish the flames with his bare hands, desperately trying to snatch the charred hem of the dress.
She grabbed his waist and tried to stop him, saying, "No, no. It's all burned, I don't want it anymore." She finally managed to persuade him to stop, and said softly, "Look, it's just a dress, nothing special. I'm tired and cold, will you come back with me to rest?" She took the sword he was holding and said, "Let's go." She pulled him back to the Yanqi people's lodging. Huan She remained silent, wrapped himself in a blanket, and rested.
The next morning, Li Weiying woke up to find Huan She sitting alone in the cold wind, dressed only in a thin shirt, his disheveled hair almost completely obscuring his face. She quietly stood behind him, took out a delicate jade comb from her bosom, and gently combed his long hair. She then took a jade pendant from her waist and placed it in his palm: "Look how pretty the silk ribbon on this jade pendant is!" Huan She nodded, holding the pendant: "Yes, it is." Li Weiying smiled: "Then take it off." Huan She didn't understand, but did as she was told.
She took the dark green silk sash and carefully tied up his long hair. Looking at his clean-cut appearance, she praised, "Just now you were feigning madness with your hair down, but now you truly are a refined gentleman in this turbulent world." Huan She, seeing her happy smile, finally smiled back and said, "Thank you." Holding her hand, he said, "Thank you. I've been thinking about this all night. I consider Chen Ti an elder brother; I respect and value him. I haven't let him down, nor have I betrayed my conscience. He's the one who should be sad. I'm so sorry to have kept you up all night; I even burned your dress." She unusually didn't pull her hand away, letting him hold it tightly, and nodded slightly.
Suddenly, a group of people approached from the front. The two men paled at the sight: "Tang army!!!" Escape was too late. Seeing the many goods beside the unscrupulous Yanqi merchant, Huan She quickly pulled her behind them. The merchant remained silent, casually covering them with several heavy tapestries. Huan She pressed close to Li Weiying, their faces touching, feeling her rapid breathing and flushed cheeks. He whispered, "Don't worry, they won't notice."
The Tang army arrived swiftly, reaching the Yanqi merchant caravan in the blink of an eye. An interpreter dismounted, holding an embroidered portrait, and showed it to the group for identification, asking in Yanqi, "Have you seen the woman in the painting?" Huan She was surprised: "So they weren't after me?" The interpreter continued, "Anyone who has seen this woman, whether alive or dead, please inform the Tang army; a great reward will be given." Huan She secretly lifted the edge of the tapestry and saw that the portrait depicted Li Weiying. He was astonished, not knowing who she was, and that the Tang army had to search for her so extensively.
Someone recognized the woman in the painting as Li Weiying and exclaimed, "Isn't that...?" But the unscrupulous merchant interrupted, "None of us have ever seen such a beautiful girl." He then glanced at the crowd and added, "Nobody has seen her either." He seemed to be the leader of the caravan, and no one dared to speak again. The translator, slightly disappointed, still said, "Then please ask others when you encounter them."
After the Tang army left, Huan She and Li Weiying emerged from under the tapestry. The cunning merchant grinned and said, "My little lovers, I helped you. How will you thank me?" Huan She knew he had misunderstood them as a couple eloping, but didn't want to expose him. He smiled and said, "Thank you. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything." The merchant asked, "What's that tattooed on your face?" Huan She paused, thought for a moment, and smiled, "It's her name." The merchant laughed heartily, "Very good, very good. That's very devoted. My name is Baqitu. What's your name, little brother?" Huan She told him, and after trying to pronounce it for a while, he found it too difficult and said, "From now on, I'll call you Kekelte." Kekelte means devoted love. Huan She smiled and said, "Okay."
Seeing them chatting and laughing, Li Weiying asked, "Why are you so happy?" Huan She replied, "He gave me the name Yanqi." Li Weiying said, "You've been chattering away for so long, and that's all you've said?" Knowing her shrewdness, Huan She simply said, "He said we're eloped lovers." Li Weiying retorted angrily, "How did the Tang army drag me into this fugitive hunt?" Huan She said, "They're looking for you." Li Weiying was startled, "What did you say?" Huan She said, "The Tang army is looking for you with your portrait, saying that regardless of life or death, anyone who has news of you will be richly rewarded."
Li Weiying remained silent. Huan She said softly, "Your family has come looking for you. I'll send you back to Tang territory." She was stunned for a moment, then asked, "What about you?" Huan She replied, "What do I care about? I'll just have to go back to Guazhou prison." He helped her onto her horse, bowed deeply to Baqitu and the others, said goodbye, and headed in the direction the Tang army had gone.
Li Weiying, still on horseback, felt her body growing colder and her head throbbing more and more. Dizzy and disoriented, she softly called out, "Huan Lang..." Just as she was about to fall, his warm arms caught her steadily. Through her hazy vision, she only saw his anxious eyes and heard him uttering something through his open mouth, but she couldn't make out what he was saying...
Huan She carried her back to the Yanqi merchant caravan and found someone with some medical knowledge to examine her. Fortunately, it was just a cold. He secretly blamed himself for letting her catch a chill the night before. After watching over her for half a day, Li Weiying slightly opened her eyes. Huan She exclaimed happily, "You're awake!" She looked confused and asked, "Which lord's troops are you under?" Huan She was taken aback, thinking she was asking about him, and replied, "The troops of Commander Wang Su." She grunted and asked again, "Which army does Wang Su belong to?" Huan She said, "The garrison of Guazhou in Jinchang, Longyou Road." She asked in surprise, "We haven't even passed Shazhou yet, and we're already in Guazhou?" Huan She realized she was delirious from the fever, so he said, "You're sick. We haven't even returned to the Tang Dynasty yet." She regained consciousness, opened her eyes wide, saw that it was Huan She, grunted, and then fell asleep again. Huan She gently covered her with a felt blanket and placed a damp towel on her forehead. Her face was flushed, her eyes seemed to be moving rapidly beneath her tightly closed eyelids, and her brows seemed to be furrowing more and more tightly. Huan She sighed inwardly, "Are you dreaming about Cao Ling again?" Seeing that her expression in her sleep was becoming more and more uneasy, he took the jade flute from her waist and gently placed it in her hand. Sure enough, she saw her brows relax and she fell into a deep sleep.
She finally woke up, smiling sweetly at Huan She, like a dazzling peach blossom suddenly blooming in the biting cold wind. Huan She asked, "What did you dream about?" Li Weiying was still lost in her dream: "I dreamed that I climbed the Heavenly Mountain, and a god placed a spirit stone in my hand." Huan She smiled and asked, "What did you wish for?" Li Weiying smiled happily, but did not answer. Huan She gazed at her joyful eyes, but a pang of sadness welled up in his heart. He quickly got up and went to bring her a bowl of medicine.
She saw that the medicine was dark and thick, containing all sorts of withered herbs, and smelled sour. "What is it?" she asked. Huan She explained, "It's a common cold remedy used by the people of Yanqi. You'll feel better after drinking it." Li Weiying said, "I don't want to drink this." Seeing her stubbornness, Huan She took the medicine, took a sip, and frowned, "The taste is really strange." He put down the bowl, then suddenly screamed and collapsed. Li Weiying cried out in alarm, "Huan Lang, Huan Lang!" shaking him violently, "Huan She, what's wrong with you?!" Huan She suddenly rolled his eyes, startling Li Weiying who screamed in fright.