HLnovel Chapter 1048 Scratches
Chapter 1048 Scratches
The porcelain shard sliced her wrist, leaving a lasting mark. "Beyond the Great Wall is not Jiangnan," Xiao Heng's voice rasped, thick with worry and reluctance. "There are no peach blossoms in March, no gurgling streams, only consuming sandstorms and cold swords." He recalled their days in Jiangnan, when he was a high-spirited young general and she was a gentle and charming Jiangnan talent. They had strolled side by side beneath the peach trees, watching the petals fall like rain; they had boated by the lake, listening to the evening songs of the fishermen; they had studied together in the academy, discussing classics, history, and literature. Those days were filled with poetic and picturesque beauty, a world away from the austere conditions of the border. "Then I'll accompany you to watch the lonely smoke across the desert." Shen Qingci stood slightly on tiptoe and plucked a fading peach blossom from her temple. The blossom had already wilted, its petals slightly yellowing at the edges, but it still exuded a faint fragrance. She carefully pinned the peach blossom onto Xiao Heng's helmet tassel, her movements gentle as if she were protecting a rare treasure. "Xiao Heng, you defend our country, and I will protect you." Shen Qingci's gaze was clear and resolute, like a bottomless lake reflecting Xiao Heng's image. As Xiao Heng looked at himself in her eyes, his anger and worry gradually gave way to a surge of warmth. He knew his wife was no fragile, fragile flower; she possessed a resilient and courageous heart. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but instead let out a long sigh, reaching out and holding her tightly in his arms. His armor was cold and hard, causing Shen Qingci some pain, but she felt a deep sense of reassurance. She could clearly hear his powerful heartbeat, like the beating of a drum, conveying his strength and determination. At dawn the next day, the sky was barely light, a faint pale hue tinging the horizon. The city gate slowly opened with a heavy creak. The captain of the city gate yawned, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and prepared to greet the arrival of a new day. At this moment, a neat team appeared in his sight. Leading the way was a general in silver armor, with an upright posture, like an unshakable green pine tree. It was Weiyuan Hou Xiao Heng. What surprised the captain of the city gate was that next to Xiao Heng, there was a woman in a green cloth skirt and hairpins. The woman was carrying a half-full medicine box filled with various herbs, exuding a faint medicinal fragrance. She rode a snow-white pony. The horse was completely white, without a single stray hair, and looked extraordinary. The woman had a slender figure, but sat upright, with a plain belt tied around her waist, outlining her figure just right. The wind gently lifted the corners of her skirt, revealing half of her plain white trouser legs. The color of the trouser legs was the same as the straps on General Xiao Heng's boots. The two walked side by side, and although they did not communicate with each other in words, they had an indescribable tacit understanding, as if they were born to walk side by side like this. The captain of the city gate was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and hurried forward to salute respectfully. He watched the team slowly walk out of the city gate and disappear in the morning mist in the distance, his heart filled with emotion. He knew that this team shouldered the heavy responsibility of defending the country, and the woman who followed the general to the battle would also write an extraordinary legend in this war. The team gradually went away, and the sound of horse hooves echoed in the quiet streets, getting farther and farther away, and finally disappeared into the sky. And the crabapple tree in front of the marquis's mansion, after a night of wind and rain, the buds on the branches finally bloomed, and beautiful crabapple flowers bloomed, swaying gently in the morning breeze, as if blessing the travelers. Chapter 2 The fragrance of beacon fire and powder The wind at Yanmen Pass has never been the gentle wind that brushes against the willow branches in the south of the Yangtze River. It carried with it the gravel of the Gobi Desert outside the Great Wall, like countless tiny knives, lashing at the city walls and tents day and night, making crackling sounds, as if it wanted to grind everything in this world into dust. Shen Qingci's military medical tent was set up next to the main camp, and Xiao Heng had it specially reinforced. The canvas of the tent was thick, and the edges were held down by heavy stones, but the wind still found gaps to get in, blowing up the dust on the ground and making people's eyes sore. At this moment, Shen Qingci was sitting in front of a low couch, wrapping the last medicinal ingredient according to its weight. The wooden table in front of her was filled with paper packages of various sizes. The air was filled with the rich smell of herbs, with the bitterness of wormwood, the mellowness of angelica, and the astringent fragrance of hemostatic grass. Her fingertips had long been frozen red and even a little stiff, and it took some effort to pick up every bit of medicinal ingredient. A charcoal fire burned in the copper stove on the table, but it could only dispel a small amount of chill. Shen Qingci exhaled a puff of white air, watched it quickly dissipate before her eyes, and reached out to rub her numb wrist. These days, she has been dealing with these herbs almost every day, sorting, drying, grinding, and mixing them, and she is very busy. Familiar footsteps came from outside the tent, heavy and steady, with a unique rhythm of a soldier. Even in the whistling wind, Shen Qingci could recognize them at once. She raised her head, her eyes passing through the flickering candlelight, and happened to meet Xiao Heng's weathered eyes. Xiao Heng had just returned from patrolling on the city wall, and he was still carrying the biting cold of the outside world. His hair was a little messy from the wind, and there were a few grains of sand on his forehead. His face was much darker and thinner than when he was in the capital, but his eyes were still bright, as if hiding the stars and the sea. "How was the patrol today?" Shen Qingci stood up and naturally took the cloak he had taken off. The cloak still had the unique scent of dry grass outside the Great Wall, mixed with a faint smell of dust, but it made her feel at ease. "The Northern Di have increased their sentries at Shilipo." Xiao Heng rubbed his brows, a trace of fatigue between his brows. He had hardly slept last night, constantly studying the movements of the Northern Di. "From the looks of it, I'm afraid there will be some movement." His eyes swept over the medicinal materials on the table and caught a glimpse of the medicine grinder at Shen Qingci's hand. The heavy bluestone grinding wheel was still stained with some medicinal powder. "Grinding the medicine again? Let the medical soldiers do it." His tone was distressed. The medicine grinder was heavy, and it took a lot of effort to grind the medicinal materials every time. "Their hands are rough. This hemostatic medicine needs to be ground finer so that it won't hurt when applied to the wound." Shen Qingci picked up a clean cloth and gently wiped the gravel off Xiao Heng's cheek. His fingertips inadvertently touched his skin, feeling a hint of coldness. She took his hand and found a new scratch on his palm. Although it was not deep, it was still bloodshot. "Are you dueling with swords again?" Xiao Heng smiled helplessly, pulled back his hand, and scratched his head a little embarrassedly. "Most of the soldiers in the army are rough men. They like to fight when they can't sit still. Yesterday, Captain Zhao said that my swordsmanship was a little rusty, so I couldn't help but exchange a few moves." The Captain Zhao he mentioned was the commander of the vanguard camp. He was upright and had great martial arts skills, but he was a little competitive. At first, the soldiers in the army had some complaints when they saw that the commander brought a female relative with him. They felt that the military camp was a place for men.