The Qiang People
As it was winter, the weather was very cold. The winter in Liangzhou was a little colder than in the capital, though the daytime was fine. One can also warm up their body during training, but not too much, as, at night, the night air would be chilling. The firewood burning in the basin would also feel far from enough.
The soldiers going to the Wulu River to take a bath were much less, as they all honestly preferred to boil water to wash. The same was for He Yan. In a blink of an eye, time flashed by, Xiao Jue has been gone for more than half a month.
She estimated that by this time, Xiao Jue had probably arrived in Zhangtai. But the instructors didn’t talk about it, and He Yan had no way of knowing what’s going on at Zhangtai. She still trained with the recruits every day, but because her body was not yet fully healed, she could not follow the “triple-daily training” as Xiao Jue had said.
On this day, He Yan and the new recruits were training in the martial arts arena, and when the training was over in the evening, He Yan and Hong Shan were talking.
Hong Shan rubbed his hands and breathed into his palms, “Ahe, don’t you feel that it’s too cold these days?”
“It’s okay.” He Yan said. When she was in the Fuyue army, she fought near the river in the winters, as the camp was stationed on the shore, the river wind was bitterly cold at night, and there was no firewood to burn, the soldiers slept together at night to drive away the cold, that’s the real cold weather.
“It’s you young people who can withstand the cold.” Hong Shan lamented a few words and looked in the direction of Bai Yue Mountain, “How does it snow every day and night in Liangzhou?”
He Yan followed his gaze to look and saw that Bai Yue Mountain in winter was not as dense or green as in summer. She glanced over, only to see the mountains were covered with white and heavy snow. The recruits going up to the mountains every few days to cut firewood can no longer go above the mountainside. The higher they go, the thicker the snow, which was really not safe.
“In fact, this weather is best for hunting,” Mak came over and said, “At this period of the year, I and my big brother used to soak food in wine during the day and throw it next to the caves. As there is nothing to eat in the winters, the rabbits and foxes would approach it in search of food. So when we used to go out at night to collect, the ground would be full of prey. It was effortless and easy. Bai Yue Mountain is so big, there should be a lot of rabbits and foxes.” He licked his lips.
“Stop it,” He Yan admonished, “I think you should give up this idea, the mountain terrain is complex, and the snow is deep, before you can catch a rabbit, you might become a rabbit first.”
“Brother Ahe looks down on people too much,” Mak muttered.
As they were talking, they saw a line of new recruits coming down from the end of the horse path leading from the martial arts field to the Bai Yue Mountain, and in the middle was Shen Muxue, the medical girl wearing a jacket dress.
She wore a moon-white jacket dress, draped in an apricot-colored plum embroidered long cloak, her hairband was also white, as she came down slowly from the snow-covered mountain, she looked more and more refined, like an immortal or a fairy.
Hong Shan’s eyes stared, as he only said, “There is such a woman in the world, born extremely beautiful with a very kind heart. Even in such cold days, this weak woman up the mountain to collect medicine for the sick and wounded, only fairies have such a compassionate heart.” In the end, he also asked He Yan, “Don’t you think so?”
He Yan, “Pretty good.”
The recruits took turns going up the mountains to cut firewood every few days. Shen Muxue would also follow along because there were some medicinal herbs on the mountain, and some could only be found in winter. There was a shortage of medicinal herbs in the guardhouse, especially in winter. Some soldiers got cold, and it was difficult to heal for a while. Shen Muxue had some medicinal juices to drive away the cold packed in wooden barrels. Each person had a bowl. After drinking, they would sweat due to heat, which was very good for the body.
She looked less sturdy than He Yan, soft and frail. It was commendable to be able to go up the mountain with the new soldiers on such a chilly day.
“Who is that new recruit behind her?” Shi frowned and asked.
The crowd took a look and saw that the recruit who was following Shen Muxue had a person on his back. This person did not wear the uniform. In a glance, one could guess he was not a recruit from the Liangzhou Wei. They hadn’t spoken yet, the curious recruits already rushed over, inquiring to see what the situation is.
Not long after, a recruit who had already inquired came back and told his companions what was going on, He Yan listened sideways and heard people say, “That man is a hunter from the other side of the mountain, his family is poor and can’t afford anything, so he ventured up the mountain to hunt and was trapped by the snow. When they met him on the way, half of his body was buried in the snow, but the group plowed him out of the snow and returned with him unconscious.”
“He is very lucky, Bai Yue mountain is surprisingly cold, I am afraid that if he wasn’t found out for a few more moments, even the gods wouldn’t have been able to save him.”
“That’s right!”
Mak muttered, “Going up the mountain in this weather is really dangerous.”
“That can’t be helped. The life of the poor is not life, the family has no money to eat. Where would they care about other things.” Hong Shan sighed and spoke.
After watching for a while, the crowd dispersed.
But the matter was not finished, in the evening, Cheng Lisu came back, said to stay in Xiao Jue house. He Yan said curiously, “I thought you wouldn’t move back in?”
Cheng Lisu said with a sad face, “I was thrown back when the man saved by Doctor Shen stayed in our room today. I can’t let him live in my uncle’s room. When my uncle comes back, he will definitely smack me to death. Forget it. I’ll stay for a few days, and when he leaves in a few days, I’ll move back. Brother He, can you go back with me tomorrow to get the trunk? I can’t move it alone.”
“Of course you can, but I’m afraid you’ll be staying here not for a few days, but for a long time.” He Yan shook her head.
“Why?”
He Yan smiled and didn’t answer, but Chen Lisu soon knew why He Yan said that.
On the second day, after the day of training, He Yan accompanied Cheng Lisu to go back to get a few trunks placed in the bunk room and happened to meet Shen Muxue who was going to give medicine to the hunter she saved yesterday.
He Yan looked at her hands, in addition to some energy replenishing medicine, frostbite, and abrasion medicine, there was also some trauma/injuries medicine. He Yan then asked, “Miss Shen, is that person injured?”
“There are wild animals in the forest. He encountered a bear and was attacked by the bear. When he dodged, he fell off the cliff, only to be buried in the snow. There are some traumatic injuries.”
Cheng Lisu asked, “So he’s seriously injured? Does he have to stay in Liangzhou Wei for a long time, and it will take a long time before I can move back.”
“Little Prince Cheng,” Shen Muxue said helplessly, “even if he has recovered from his injuries, he can’t leave Liangzhou Wei for the time being, he came from the other side of the mountain. Now that the snow has blocked the mountain, I’m afraid we have to wait for the snow to melt or for the sun to clear before one can go up, so if we let him go back now, he will only freeze to death on the mountain again.”
Cheng Lisu heard, almost jumped up, “Doesn’t that mean I would have to wait for the entire winter!”
“When the Second Young master returns, perhaps there will be another way.” Shen Muxue said with relief.
He Yan noticed that Shen Muxue referred to Xiao Jue, not as “General” but as “Second Young Master”, as if they aren’t in the relationship of master and servant, but as if they were very familiar. While she was thinking, they have already arrived at the front of the room.
There was no one else in the room at the moment. After training in the martial arts arena, they all went to eat and rest first. In the room, at the edge of the wall where He Yan to lie, there was a person lying at the moment. He was wearing a thin single coat and had the quilt wrapped tightly, seems to be feeling cold. Shen Muxue put the medicine tray on the table and turned to call him, “Hu Yuanzhong?”
The person lying on the bed heard the words; the bedding moved slightly. In a moment, he propped his hands on the bed and slowly sat up.
He lifted the bedding and faced Shen Muxue and said with some urgency, “Shen, doctor Shen.”
“It’s time for you to change your medicine.” Shen Muxue said, “Come sit by the bed and pull up your trousers.”
The man named Hu Yuanzhong looked even more nervous, rubbed his hands, and mumbled, “How can I trouble the doctor? I’d better do it myself.” He bent down, and as soon as he moved, he let out a “hiss” of pain.
Shen Muxue saw this, squatted down in front of Hu Yuanzhong, pulled up his trousers for him, and indeed, the leg was covered with deep and shallow scars, probably scratched by the rocks and branches on the mountain.
“Not yet healed,” Shen Muxue said, “Today I will apply more medicine.”
Hu Yuanzhong froze and nodded.
“I’ll do it.” At this moment, He Yan’s voice interjected, and without waiting for Shen Muxue’s reaction, she reached out and snatched the medicine from Shen Muxue’s hand, squatting down, “Miss Shen get up first.”
“This…” Hu Yuanzhong was a little surprised, “This little brother ……”
“My name is He Yan, you are now sleeping on the bed that was originally mine. Miss Shen is a girl, it’s inconvenient, so I came to apply medicine to Brother Hu. It should be fine, right?” He Yan smiled and looked at Hu Yuanzhong.
Hu Yuanzhong sighed in relief, “Of course, I don’t want to bother Doctor Shen.”
“He Yan, stop fooling around,” Shen Muxue frowned slightly, “There are no men or women in front of the Doctors, you don’t know how to rub the medicine.”
“I can still rub the wound medicine, doctor Shen does not need to be nervous, you should check Cheng Lisu first, this morning I saw that he has some cough, he might catch a cold.”
Cheng Lisu said, “Yes, doctor Shen, I feel that my throat is a little dry.”
Shen Muxue was stunned and said, “Really?” Then she stood up and said to Cheng Lisu, “Come outside with me, I’ll take a look first.”
The two of them left, and only Hu Yuanzhong and He Yan were in the room.
She asked, “Brother Hu, your wound is a bit heavy. Does it hurt a lot?”
“It’s okay,” Hu Yuanzhong said, “It’s just a few external wounds.” Despite these words, his voice was spoken through clenched teeth, looking very painful.
He Yan’s hands moved and hit a little harder, Hu Yuanzhong screamed in pain, “Ah…”
“Sorry, Brother Hu,” He Yan blushed, “I was careless.”
“It’s okay, no problem.”
“Doctor Shen is careful and considerate, I’m a big man who is clumsy, I hurt Brother Hu, I hope you don’t mind.”
Hu Yuanzhong reluctantly smiled, “Don’t mention it.”
He Yan smiled and lowered her head to continue applying the medicine, with a cold snort in her heart.
She could clearly see just now, this surnamed Hu refused to say that he wanted to take the medicine, and behaved as if it hurts when he moves. When Shen Muxue squatted down, there was a glimmer of joy in this person’s eyes although it was very well concealed, but was still seen by He Yan, she has always hated such lustful people. Shen Muxue has saved his life, and he still had such thoughts about his savior. What kind of person is this?
He Yan could see these so-called “serious injuries” clearly when she pulled up his trousers. They looked messy as if they were serious, but in fact, they were all just some superficial injuries. He Yan, a girl suffered more serious injuries than this can not say a word, this person was poor to fight for his life to hunt in the mountains, would not be delicate. When people are hungry and can not afford to eat, where would they have the thoughts to rack their brains to play crooked ideas.
In a few words, you can probably see the character of this person. Shen Muxue is kind and innocent, moreover, she is a doctor who looks at the wounded, and wouldn’t see these twists and turns, but He Yan as a bystander could see clearly, only feeling uncomfortable in her heart.
“Brother Hu has what are your plans after this injury?” He asked.
Hu Yuanzhong scratched his head, “I …… I have not thought about it.”
“How about staying in Liangzhou Guard, you;d have enough to eat as a soldier, would not go hungry.” He Yan joked.
“….Alright.” Hu Yuanzhong smiled naively.
Alright? This time He Yan was more surprised, she just joked casually, but Hu Yuanzhong actually agreed, and did not say anything like “how embarrassing”, Firstly it can be seen that, he does not feel grateful, and secondly, he never thought of the plan after.
A person who does not know what lies ahead should always be worried about how to plan for the future, how can he be so rash? He Yan felt displeased. Is he trying to take advantage of Shen Moxue all the time by relying on Liangzhou Wei?
Thinking of this, He Yan applied him some medicine 2 or 3 times, after that she handed him a medicine bowl and said, “Brother Hu, drink the medicine first.”
Hu Yuanzhong reached out to take it, “Thank you.”
He drank the medicine quite quickly. He stubbed his neck, and drank it gurglingly, after that he handed the medicine bowl back to He Yan. She reached out to pick it up, saw his outstretched hand, and inside of his wrist were full of rad rashes.
He Yan paused.
Hu Yuanzhong noticed He Yan’s movement and asked, “What’s wrong with Brother He?”
“Brother Hu, do you want to ask the doctor to take a look at the rash on your hand as well.” He Yan said, “Did you also get it on the mountain?”
Hu Yuanzhong was stunned, rubbed his hand on his wrist twice, and laughed, “No need, it should subside in a few days. It’s not a serious illness. Don’t bother the doctor.”
“In that case,” He Yan nodded and smiled, “never mind.”
She stared at Hu Yuanzhong and did not speak for a while, which made Hu Yuanzhong feel uncomfortable as he touched his face, saying, “Brother He, is there something on my face?”
“No.” He Yan smiled and shook her head, “I’ll take the empty bowl out first. Although Miss Shen is a Doctor, she’s still a girl after all. I have nothing to do these days, so I will run errands for Miss Shen, and I will deliver all of Brother Hu’s wound medicine.” Then, pretending not to see the loss in Hu Yuanzhong’s eyes, she turned around and went out of the door.
When she left the door, Shen Muxue was asking Cheng Lisu to stick out his tongue to see, and when she saw He Yan come out, she wondered, “So soon?”
“There weren’t many wounds.” He Yan asked, “How is Cheng Lisu?”
“I ate too much spicy food in the past few days, and my throat is burning.” Cheng Lisu reviewed with embarrassment, “It’s nothing serious.”
“Then it’s fine, let’s go back.” He Yan returned the medicine tray to Shen Muxue, and said to Shen Muxue, “I have discussed with Brother Hu, I will deliver all of Brother Hu’s wound medicine in the next few days. From tomorrow I will come to Miss Shen’s room at this time every day to get the medicine and deliver it to Brother Hu, so Miss Shen doesn’t have to make another trip.”
Shen Muxue still has some hesitation, “This ……”
“It’s a deal. Take it as a thank you Miss Shen for giving me that box of scar removal and skin regeneration cream.” He Yan took Cheng Lisu’s shoulder, “Then we will take a step first.”
He walked away with Cheng Lisu.
On the way, Cheng Lisu asked him, “Brother He, what’s wrong with you?”
“What?” Wo Yan returned to her senses.
“You stopped talking after you came out of Hu Yuanzhong’s room. What happened in the room just now? Did you have a fight?”
“No.” He Yan walked two steps, thought about it, stopped, and said to Cheng Carisu, “You go back first, I have something to do with Hong Shan and the others.”
“But you haven’t eaten anything yet.”
“I’ll just ask for two steamed buns.” He Yan waved her hand, “You go back first and wait for me. See you later.”
……
Hong Shan and Mak were drinking porridge, and when they saw He Yan coming, they made room for her and said, “Why are you so late today, I thought you weren’t coming.”
“There were some things on the way.” She took a steamed bun, did not gobble it up like usual, stopped after only one bite, and pondered for a long time before saying, “I have something I want you to help me with.”
“Why are you so serious?” Hong Shan put down the bowl in his hand, “What else can we be used for?”
“The hunter Hu Yuanzhong, who was rescued from the mountain by Doctor Shen yesterday, is now in your room, right?” He Yan said, “In these days, it’s enough to train during the day, can you keep an eye on him for me at night?”
Hong Shan and Shi looked at each other, but Hong Shan asked, “I don’t understand what you’re saying, what’s wrong with Hu Yuanzhong? Why do you want to keep an eye on him?”
“…I don’t think he’s right.”
Now, even Mak can not care to eat, the atmosphere was solemn for a moment, Shi whispered and asked, “What is not right?”
“Maybe I’m overthinking it, I’m not too sure yet. It’s just that I think maybe it’s not a coincidence that he was saved by Doctor Shen in the mountains.”
At these words, Hong Shan’s eyes widened, “Spy?”
“Keep your voice down,” He Yan said, “I’m just skeptical, that’s why I asked you guys to help keep an eye on him, to see if he moves at night, or if there are any unusual movements.”
“No,” Hong Shan still found it unbelievable, “you have to tell us first exactly what is wrong with him that makes you suspect him of having problems.”
He Yan took a deep breath and just said, “I’ll tell you guys in a few days, right now I can only ask you guys to help keep an eye on it.”
“I hope it’s just me overthinking.” She said softly.
……
At night, after parting with Hong Shan and the others, He Yan returned to her room, and after familiarizing herself with it, she went to the collapse, full of thoughts that made it difficult to sleep.
Today’s meeting with Hu Yuanzhong was an accident, who knew that in the end, it would cause her to be distracted and feel restless.
The words she said with Hong Shan were not made up by He Yan, she does suspect that Hu Yuanzhong is a spy, who had mixed into Liangzhou Wei, perhaps with another purpose. As to why she found him suspicious, it was because today when she handed the tonic to Hu Yuanzhong, and he handed it back after drinking, she saw that he had rashes between the thumb and the index finger.
It made her think of the Qiang people.
The Qiang people live in, dense forests, the climate there is always humid. The Qiang soldiers usually hold swords, so it is easy to grow such red rashes between the thumb and the index finger. When she was general Fei Hong, she also deliberately looked for military doctors to study together, even though these Qiang people later entered the Central Plains, but the red rash was something to subside in a short time.
So, when she saw the red rash between Hu Yuanzhong’s thumb and index finger, she almost immediately thought of those Qiang soldiers. It is just that she was not entirely certain, because all the red rash in the world looks same, maybe because of the humid climate or by touching something one could also have such rash. There is really no need to suspect the other because of a rash.
But probably because He Yan developed the habit of acting cautiously when she was a general, especially when dealing with the Qiang people. It may also be because Hu Yuanzhong’s hidden thoughts about Shen Muxue were detected by He Yan, making her have a preconceived bad impression and now immediately suspicious of him.
After thinking carefully, there were indeed all kinds of doubts. For example, the snow on the mountain is so heavy, At the other end of the Bai Yue Mountain, the snow should be denser. Their new recruits even at this side are having difficulty climbing over, but Hu Yuanzhong alone had climbed over from that end. Since he said his family was so poor that they couldn’t afford to buy a pot, and he was desperate to go hunting in the mountains, so why didn’t he find some milder ways? For example, go to the dock to help people move goods, or to do some hard work for people, or at least temporarily withstand the hunger and cold. The best case would be to hunt beasts on Bai Yue mountain, to relieve the urgent need, but more likely, one will die on the mountain, making one lose money and resources.
Letting go of the easier road, to take a seemingly unimaginable difficult road, this is not to meet the challenge, this is just being stupid. But looking at his pretending to cry out in pain to trick Shen Muxue to personally take care of him, he does not look like a stupid person.
The more she thought about it, the more suspicious she felt, but unfortunately, Xiao Jue was not here now, so she could not remind him. But even if Xiao Jue was there, she couldn’t directly say the most important suspicion. The Qiang tribe was thousands of miles away from Shuojing, and it was unlikely that the recruits of the Liangzhou Guard had ever seen a Qiang soldier, and even Xiao Jue had probably never fought with the Qiang tribe before, so how could He Yan, a person born in the capital, know the hidden habits of the Qiang tribe?
When she led the soldiers to put down the West Qiang rebellion, the Qiang commander Ridamuji died in battle, the rest of the Qiang surrendered. In the following years, there was nothing wrong, the Qiang people were very stable and never caused turmoil. But… that does not mean that one can really put down their heart. [t/n: like relax and not be cautious]
If this is really a person from the Qian tribe, an ordinary unarmed civilian, how could he in such a snowy day, coincidentally climb on the Bai Yue mountain, but also was picked up by Shen Muxue and entered the Liangzhou guardhouse.
Too many coincidences are not coincidences, someone must have done it deliberately.
Now Xiao Jue is not here, if there is really any conspiracy, how to cope with it.
Xiao Jue is not here …… Xiao Jue is not here?
In an instant, He Yan sat up and a terrible thought swept through her mind.
Why alone when Xiao Jue is not in when such a person came, could it be that the plea for help at the end of… Zhangtai is also all a fake? “Claiming to strike the east, but in fact striking the west”, did she forget the article in the military book that she recited every day?
At some point, the snow stopped.
He Yan raised her eyes to look out the window. Outside the wind was quiet, snow-covered the ground, even a needle falling on the ground can be clearly heard.
But under this calm, perhaps there were some shocking undercurrents hidden, just waiting for the time to come, later releasing a heinous flood.