In the twentieth year of Tianyuan, at the turn of summer and autumn.
On the border of the Great Shun, at the Jade Gate Pass.
In the boundless expanse of the desert, the wind and sand were swirling. A fiery red figure staggered forward. Her delicate face was blurred by the wind and sand, and her lips were chapped.
Wen Sheng had tears in her eyes but stubbornly continued to move forward.
Vaguely, the city wall appeared in front of her. A glimmer of joy flashed across her eyes. She just needed to hold on a bit longer.
She forced her exhausted body to move on, but accidentally sprained her foot. She fell and rolled down the sand slope.
When she finally stopped, she had fainted.
She didn't know how much time had passed. When she woke up, it was already night.
The night on the border was a deep blue-black, dotted with twinkling stars. It was extremely beautiful.
Wen Sheng quickly got up and continued on her way through the wind and sand. She had to stay alive. She had to go to the Golden Wheel.
Xiao Man had taken her clothes and gone to the Golden Wheel on her behalf. She wondered if the people there would recognize that she wasn't the princess.
She walked for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she saw the city wall, but then she collapsed from exhaustion.
In a daze, she felt as if someone had picked her up.
She slept soundly this time. In her dream, there was a clear and cold spring. She gulped it down mouthful by mouthful and had never felt so happy.
When she opened her eyes, there was a cold and handsome face in front of her. He looked a bit flustered and casually picked up a dry branch to stir the campfire.
Wen Sheng looked at him warily and whispered, "Who... who are you?"
Seeing the wariness on her face, Nalan Yinsi handed her a water flask and some dry rations.
Wen Sheng looked around and saw that there were campfires everywhere, and soldiers were sitting in front of each one.
"I'm a general of the Great Shun. My name is Nalan Yinsi. I'm on my way to annihilate the Golden Wheel. You collapsed at the Jade Gate Pass. I just happened to pass by and saved you." Nalan Yinsi avoided her gaze and spoke indifferently.
Wen Sheng took the water and drank it greedily. She didn't notice the look in Nalan Yinsi's eyes, which carried a smile and an increasingly complex emotion.
After drinking the water, she started to eat the dry rations. She secretly glanced at the man beside her and then let out a sigh of relief before saying,
"My name is Wen Sheng..."
Wen Sheng took a bite of the dry bun and swallowed it with difficulty. Then she looked at the scale of the army.
She had long heard that the Great Shun had a powerful army. Seeing it with her own eyes today was truly astonishing.
Wen Sheng's eyes rolled.
If she asked to go with them to the Golden Wheel, this man would surely refuse. It was better not to arouse his suspicion. She would wait until the army broke camp and then quietly follow them.
There were so many soldiers. Who would notice her?
She kept silent and tried to make herself as unnoticeable as possible. From time to time, she would look at the man in front of the campfire. The firelight illuminated his three-dimensional facial features. He was extremely handsome.
And very manly.
At least more manly than those men who were always daydreaming about rising to the top and pretending to run into her.
Sensing a pair of eyes staring at him, Nalan Yinsi turned around. His extremely aggressive gaze met Wen Sheng's panicked eyes.
"Thank you... thank you for saving me. I'll leave soon. If I have the chance in the future, I will surely repay your kindness a hundredfold." Wen Sheng hugged herself and grinned.
For some reason, the man in front of her was stunned for a moment and then turned his head away, no longer looking at her.
"How did you end up in the desert?" Nalan Yinsi asked, turning his head.
The last time he saw her was at the Crescent Lake. She was so beautiful. Why was she in such a sorry state today?
"I... I went to the Crescent Lake to play. Then the wind and sand suddenly rose, and I got lost..." Wen Sheng rolled her eyes and didn't tell the truth.
Nalan Yinsi looked at the fiery red inner shirt on her body and said nothing.
Little liar.
Wen Sheng stayed for a while longer. She found an excuse to go to the toilet and then slipped into a camp. When she saw a set of armor, her eyes lit up. Just as she was about to reach out for it, she stopped.
She felt around on her body and finally found the surviving earring on her ear.
She was the daughter of the eldest princess of the Great Yan. She had been doted on since childhood. Even her earring was inlaid with smooth and shiny mermaid pearls, and there were many precious stones on it. Although it was covered in sand, it was still enough to buy a set of armor.
She put away the earring, picked up the armor, and quietly slipped away to hide it.
When she returned to the campfire again, she shrank herself as small as possible because of her guilt. She didn't notice a smiling gaze that would glance at her from time to time.
The army rested for another two hours and then broke camp to continue on their way. By then, it was almost dawn, and Wen Sheng also woke up slowly.
Before Nalan Yinsi could say anything, she said goodbye with a smile.
Before he could stop her, she had already run away with her two legs.
A look of disappointment flashed across Nalan Yinsi's eyes. Ungrateful little thing.
The army was getting ready to set off. Wen Sheng went deep into the bushes and put on the armor. She carefully followed behind the army and became a little soldier.
She had to go to the Golden Wheel. If the Golden Wheel found out that the princess who came for the marriage alliance wasn't the real one, the Great Yan would be in trouble.
Unfortunately, her hiding wasn't very good. She was soon picked out of the army by Nalan Yinsi.
Wen Sheng was very dissatisfied when he grabbed her out. Was she really that obvious?!
"Didn't you leave? Why did you sneak into the army? What? Do you still want to go to war?" Nalan Yinsi looked at her coldly.
"I... I just couldn't bear to part with you! I was afraid you wouldn't let me follow, so I... I just had this sudden idea."
Wen Sheng quickly tried to make up an excuse while picking at her fingers.
As soon as she finished speaking, there were bursts of laughter from the army. Nalan Yinsi gave them a look, and they immediately fell silent.
"The battlefield is dangerous. If you want to go home, wait until I finish the war and I'll arrange for you to go back." With that, Nalan Yinsi took out his token and put it in her hand.
"This token is for a mansion of mine outside the Jade Gate Pass. There are people guarding it. You'll be very safe."
He bought this mansion after he met her.
It was really useful now. She didn't need to enter the territory of the Great Shun. Sending two people to protect her would make him feel at ease.
"No, I don't want to go. I want to follow you." Wen Sheng pushed the token back and was very stubborn.
"You're a woman. The battlefield is dangerous. It's not suitable for you."
Before Wen Sheng could finish speaking, she was taken away by Nalan Yinsi's confidants and was about to leave.
Nalan Yinsi didn't look at her anymore and led the army away in a mighty manner.
Along the way, she was watched by the two confidants and couldn't run away at all.
After arriving at the mansion, she behaved herself. She didn't make any trouble and just looked at the sky boredly every day.
The turning point came on an ordinary day. The two confidants received a letter. This was the final battle with the Golden Wheel. They were told to protect Wen Sheng well.
Wen Sheng knew how cunning the Golden Wheel was. Otherwise, the Great Yan wouldn't have been constantly losing battles.
In her heart, a voice told her that she must go.
She always felt that something was going to happen.
So, on that ordinary night, Wen Sheng carried a包袱 and crawled out of the dog hole behind the mansion. She ran towards the battlefield against the wind and sand.
The wind and sand were howling along the way, but it didn't make her back down.
There was only one belief supporting her.
After her efforts, she finally arrived at the battlefield before dawn.
When she got there, the war was raging. Fortunately, there were many sand slopes on both sides of the battlefield where she could hide. She lay on the ground and wriggled into the sand, burying herself completely.
The battle between the two armies was extremely fierce. The sound of the fighting seemed to tear the sky apart.
Wen Sheng didn't dare to move while buried in the sand. She didn't know how much time had passed when one side let out a deafening cheer of joy.
She raised her head and saw the soldiers of the Golden Wheel retreating in a hurry. One of the leaders was holding Nalan Yinsi's blood-stained helmet in his hand!
She didn't dare to act rashly. She waited until all the soldiers of the Golden Wheel had retreated and the night had become even darker. Then she changed into the armor of a Great Shun soldier and mingled with them to look for Nalan Yinsi.
One soldier said angrily, "Those barbarians are really cunning! The general was ambushed by poisoned arrows and then separated from us by that leader's trick. Just now, I saw the general's helmet in that leader's hand. I hope he's okay..."
Wen Sheng stopped in her tracks.
A general of the Great Yan was also ambushed by the Golden Wheel. No one knew what kind of formation they used, but they managed to split the closely-knit army of the Great Yan. That general had his head chopped off, and after that, the Great Yan had been constantly losing battles and had no choice but to arrange a marriage alliance to stop the war.
Now... they were using the same trick on Nalan Yinsi.
Wen Sheng didn't dare to delay any longer. Her search became more and more impatient.
Just when she was at her wits' end, she caught sight of a trail of blood that extended outside the battlefield.
Wen Sheng's heart skipped a beat. She picked up a torch and followed the blood trail. Finally, she found Nalan Yinsi in a forest near the Jade Gate Pass in the desert.
He was poisoned and was leaning against a tree, half-conscious.
There was nothing she could do. Wen Sheng helped him up and let him lean on her.
Just as she was about to leave, there were again bursts of fighting sounds from the battlefield.
Wen Sheng listened carefully. She guessed that the Golden Wheel had come back for another attack while the Great Shun army was off guard.
Just as she was about to help Nalan Yinsi leave, arrow feathers with flames came flying in this direction in the night.
Wen Sheng's face changed. The Golden Wheel was afraid that there might be some survivors, so they were going to burn all the hiding places near the Jade Gate Pass.
Wen Sheng cursed under her breath and didn't dare to delay any longer. She helped Nalan Yinsi move deeper into the forest.
Countless arrow feathers landed behind them.
She didn't know how much time had passed before they finally saw a rocky cave.
Wen Sheng helped him into the cave. Then she removed the scales from the armor and cut open the clothes on the poisoned part of his body.
An arrowhead was deeply embedded in his collarbone, close to his heart. It was quite dangerous.
Wen Sheng had no choice but to grit her teeth and pull out the arrowhead. Then she sucked out the poisoned blood with her mouth.