Chapter 267: We Must Hold On

The two on one horse, like a fugitive lone goose, finally broke out of the encirclement and plunged into the sprawling mountains.

The snow fell even more fiercely.

Feather‑light snowflakes covered the sky and earth, quickly erasing the hoofprints they had left behind.

Su Yanci's body grew heavier, almost pressing his entire weight onto Wan Tang's slender back.

His scorching breath puffed against her neck, but his breath grew ever weaker.

Wan Tang's nose twitched with a sharp sourness.

She bit her tongue hard; the sharp pain kept her barely conscious.

She summoned all her strength to grip the reins, urging the horse onward through the deepening snow.

The sky darkened rapidly, a blizzard raged, nearly devouring the entire mountain range.

All she could see was a boundless white, with no direction discernible.

Anxious to the core, Wan Tang was relieved to find a narrow cave half‑buried by snow at mid‑mountain.

She struggled to pull the nearly unconscious Su Yanci from the horse, hauling him into the cave's depths, shielding him from the biting wind.

The cave was pitch black, only the faint glimmer of snowlight from the entrance casting a slight glow.

Wan Tang's trembling hand groped to Su Yanci's back, feeling a patch of wet, sticky warmth.

By the dim light, she saw several arrows deeply embedded in his back.

"Su—Su Yanci…" she whispered, her voice quivering, gently shaking him.

Su Yanci seemed to regain a sliver of consciousness, laboriously lifting his heavy eyelids, his gaze drifting as he searched for her.

Summoning his last strength, he fished a oil‑cloth bundle, half soaked in blood yet still tightly wrapped, from his chest and thrust it into Wan Tang's hand.

"Take it…" his voice was as thin as a wisp, yet unusually clear, "perhaps… it is a chance…"

"If you are willing, you may stay outside; you need not return…"

Wan Tang opened the blood‑stained bundle; inside lay a thick stack of silver notes enough to secure her for a lifetime.

There was also an official seal‑stamped document that would allow her to leave the Forbidden City without obstruction.

He had already prepared every possible escape route for her.

The life beyond the palace…

Freedom…

This was what she had waited thirteen years for, yearning for through countless lonely nights in the deep palace.

She gazed at the swirling snow outside the cave, that realm of freedom, once her sole obsession.

The heart hardened by palace life seemed clenched by an invisible hand, sour and painful.

"Su Yanci…" she choked, still wanting to say something.

He seemed to have spent his last ounce of energy; his head tilted, and he fell completely unconscious.

His body slumped limp in her arms, his breath so faint she could barely feel it.

"Su Yanci!" Wan Tang's heart throbbed wildly; she hurriedly clasped his sliding body, her hand slick with cold sweat.

She could clearly feel his life draining away like sand slipping through her fingers.

【Wuh— wuh— wuh, Su Yanci, don't die, I don't want to see him die.】

【It sounds as if someone wants to see it, but after being riddled with so many arrows, even a bull would fall.】

【Dog Emperor knows Wan Tang is in danger, but for his game with the Empress Dowager he remains unmoved. Only Su Yanci, abandoning everything, searching the entire Forbidden City. I need Su Yanci alive, give him an injection of adrenaline!】

【Right, it's me again, the one from Medical University. No adrenaline, but we must keep his circulation and body heat. First debride, stop bleeding as much as possible, prevent infection. Then do everything to keep him warm; a person who has lost much blood loses heat rapidly, and hypothermia itself can be fatal!】

【Say more, keep Su Yanci alive!】

【Press the artery above the wound to slow bleeding. If you have strong liquor, use it to disinfect around the wound. Most important is warmth; wrap him in anything available, especially the core area. If you have a hot water bottle… no, use stones. Heat stones in fire, wrap in cloth, place under his armpits and soles. Human body heat sharing is the most direct and effective!】

Wan Tang wiped the tears blurring her vision, forcing herself to stay calm.

She could not attend to her tangled hair and blood‑stained body as urgent voices flashed through her mind.

As long as she followed their instructions, he would surely survive!

She first, trembling, examined the arrow wounds on his back.

The arrow shafts could not be pulled out hastily, lest they cause worse bleeding.

She tore the relatively clean lower hem of her inner shirt, pressed it firmly against the wound, trying to stem the blood loss.

Without strong liquor, she could only carefully wipe the blood from the wound edges with clean snow water.

Having done that, she hurriedly led the horses from outside the cave inside, at least to block some wind and cold.

Su Yanci's body grew ever colder, his complexion paling to a lifeless hue.

Wan Tang's heart was horrified; she hurriedly stripped off her outer robe, already soaked by snow water and half‑dry, and pressed it tightly over him.

Her voice, trembling in a way she hadn't even noticed, whispered repeatedly into his ear, "Su Yanci, you must not sleep…"

"Did you hear me?"

"It's too cold; if you fall asleep you won't wake up…"

When her icy fingers touched his rigid hand, a crushing terror seized her heart, the pain nearly stealing her breath.

In her mind only one crystal‑clear thought remained.

He must not die!

All palace scheming and distant freedom became insignificant at this moment.

She just needed him alive!

She could no longer concern herself with any gender taboos or proprieties.

Wan Tang did not hesitate to bend over, pressing her body tightly against his icy chest, arms wrapped firmly around him, trying to transfer the little heat left in her own body to him.

She tucked his cold hands into her comparatively warm embrace, pressed her cheek against his icy face, continuously exhaling warm breath, futilely trying to warm him.

"Su Yanci... hold on... I beg you..."

Her voice choked, sounding especially helpless in the silent mountain cave.

Outside, the blizzard howled as if it would tear the heavens and earth apart.

The blizzard that had raged all night finally ceased at dawn, leaving the world blanketed in white and utterly silent.

Inside the cave, Su Yanci remained in a half‑conscious, half‑coma state, his breath weak, his brows occasionally knitting from the searing pain of his wounds.

His icy hand unconsciously clenched tightly around Wan Tang's sleeve.

Wan Tang leaned down, pressing her ear close to his cracked lips.

She could barely make out his shattered words:

"Run..."

Just a single word, repeated stubbornly.

Run.

Is it to run forward, to escape the Xiao Family's relentless pursuit like maggots on a heel bone?

Or to leave, right then, the palace walls that have trapped her for thirteen years?

Wan Tang looked at his face, even in his coma, a trace of bitterness curling at the corner of her mouth.

She gently squeezed his cold hand again, offering no answer.

She turned her gaze outward, where the snow had just cleared; sunlight poured over the endless snowfield, reflecting a blinding glare that made her eyes ache.

There was no more time to delay.

His injuries were too severe; they had to find a healer quickly.

Wan Tang clenched her teeth, using every ounce of strength—almost dragging and pulling—to laboriously hoist the much taller Su Yanci onto the horse's back.

She dared not ride, fearing the jolts would worsen his wounds; instead she led the reins herself, stepping deep then shallow, trudging through knee‑deep, heavy snow.

Each step felt like stepping on cotton—heavy and soft—as the cold snow seeped into already soaked shoes and socks, freezing her feet numb and senseless.

After an indeterminate amount of walking, they finally met an elderly herb‑gatherer halfway up the mountain.

The old man was startled, rushing forward to ask.

He immediately led the way, guiding them home.

For three days, Wan Tang kept vigil by Su Yanci's bedside without sleep or rest.

She cleaned the wound, changed the herbal poultice, fed him warm water…

She performed each step with extreme care.

During that time Su Yanci suffered several high‑fever seizures, his life hanging by a thread, saved only by the frantic voices in his mind constantly guiding his responses.

The herb‑gatherer sighed that surviving was nothing short of a miracle.

He also saw Wan Tang's seemingly inexperienced handling of medicine and wounds, yet she consistently applied it precisely where it mattered.

He couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement: "Young lady, you are so young, yet your medical skill is so superb; I, an old doctor of decades, feel inferior!"

Wan Tang merely lifted her weary brows and gave the old man a faint smile, offering no further explanation.

After three days of torment, Su Yanci's breathing finally steadied; though still weak and comatose, his life was at last preserved.

【Su Yanci is alive after all; the rest is to tend him carefully and restore his body.】

【I hate the Dog Emperor. Xu Yanchuan barely fought his way back, and as soon as he returned to the Capital, he received news of Wan Tang's disappearance.】

【The Dog Emperor did it on purpose; as long as Xu Yanchuan dares any reckless move, he and Wan Tang will meet a bad end.】

【Wuwu— Xu Yanchuan has already reached his limit; that's his own sister, how could he stand by and watch her die?】

Reading those words drifting through her mind, Wan Tang's heart, which had just eased a bit as Su Yanci's condition stabilized, tightened again sharply.

She walked to the cottage window, gazing at the snow‑capped mountains outside, a cloud of unshakable melancholy shadowing her brows.

Yanchuan... he's back.

Given his nature, knowing his sister is in peril, he must be burning with anxiety now, wishing he could overturn the entire Capital to find her.

But over at the Emperor's side…

Wan Tang knows Chu Yunzheng all too well.

He suppressed the charge of "assassinating" the Empress Dowager, not solely for her, but more for the royal face and his power play with the Empress Dowager.

He is like a coiled beast, watching everyone's reactions from the shadows.

If Xu Yanchuan now makes any move because of her, even merely showing excessive concern or searching, it would undoubtedly confirm suspicions of collusion between the siblings.

"Yanchuan..."

"You must endure..."

The palace.

Xu Yanchuan strode out of Yangxin Hall; half a year of blood‑soaked battles on the Northern Border had stripped away the last hint of his naiveté, replacing it with sharpness and resilience.

Yet now, beneath that resilience, a surging killing intent and burning fury threatened to break free.

How could a perfectly ordinary person simply vanish out of the heavily guarded palace?!

He doesn't believe a single word of the Emperor's claim that "she was abducted by villains and her whereabouts unknown!"

He can't stand it, not even for a moment.

He must get a clear answer.

Xu Yanchuan's gaze hardened; seeing no one around, he turned and sprinted toward Cining Palace.

The cold aura he exuded made passing palace staff step aside, unwilling to meet his gaze.

Yet before he could set foot on the corridor to Cining Palace, a tall figure blocked the doorway.

Consort Hui still wore her martial attire.

She held Minghui in her arms.