Chapter 450 - 449: Yellow Sand

Chapter 450: Chapter 449: Yellow Sand

Anxiety in her heart.

Du Yunluo wanted to drive those emotions away, but the more she resisted thinking about them, the more they flooded her mind.

She took a deep breath and lay back on the bed.

Brother Yan imitated her, tumbling down quickly, and finding it amusing, giggled endlessly.

Du Yunlo tried hard to focus on her son.

But even when it was lunchtime, she still couldn’t calm down.

She simply stopped resisting and asked Jin Rui to call Jiuxi.

"Take me to Shanyu Pass," Du Yunluo instructed.

Jiuxi widened her eyes, "Madam, this hour? By the time you get there, my lord might have already left."

"Then let’s hurry."

Seeing Du Yunluo’s insistence, Jiuxi nodded, and went to prepare the carriage.

Du Yunluo entrusted Lady Peng to take Brother Yan to Zhuang Ke’s place, and then got on the carriage with Jin Rui.

They jolted along the way.

The sky gradually darkened. From afar, Jiuxi saw the lights in Shanyu Pass, the entire military camp was lit, and he breathed a slight sigh of relief. It seemed Mu Lianxiao hadn’t departed yet.

Outside Mu Lianxiao’s room, Shuying looked at Jiuxi in surprise, "Didn’t you just visit this morning? Ah, a carriage? Madam is here?"

Jiuxi nodded vigorously, setting the footrest.

Du Yunlo, with Jin Rui’s supporting hand, got off the carriage. As she had just steadied herself, she saw Mu Lianxiao and Ming Liu coming out of the house one after another.

Their eyes met, and Du Yunlo smiled gently.

Mu Lianxiao had already donned his armor, holding a spear in his hand, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes when he saw Du Yunlo.

Du Yunlo stepped forward two paces, stood closer, looked up at Mu Lianxiao, and said, "I’ll just take a look and then head back."

The torches in the camp illuminated Du Yunlo’s cheeks, and the reflections in her eyes sparkled with the firelight, all of which were the figure of Mu Lianxiao.

Mu Lianxiao suddenly recalled the times at the Northern Border when, whenever he had free time, he couldn’t help but wonder what Du Yunlo was doing.

Now, he suddenly had an answer.

While he was missing Du Yunlo, Du Yunlo was missing him too. It was just the distance of thousands and thousands of miles that made them unaware of each other’s thoughts.

Once within reach, Du Yunlo’s concern was so direct, so obvious.

Mu Lianxiao’s heart softened, and a few personal attendants had already sensibly turned their backs. He raised his hand to embrace Du Yunlo, whispered in her ear, "Yunlo, I will surely return!"

The silver armor serving as protection felt uncomfortable against Du Yunlo, but she didn’t mind at all, resting her face against the cold Bright Armor, and replied, "Alright."

Time was short. Ming Liu brought the horse over, Mu Lianxiao released Du Yunlo, and mounted the horse.

When Mu Liankang arrived, Mu Lianxiao nudged the horse’s belly, glanced back at Du Yunlo, and headed toward the training field.

In the night wind, the red tassel on the helmet fluttered with the breeze.

Du Yunlo widened her eyes, gazing intently until Mu Lianxiao, Mu Liankang, and Ming Liu disappeared from sight, then silently withdrew her gaze.

The night deepened.

Du Yunlo returned to the carriage, Jin Rui climbed up and cushioned the pillow for her.

After Shuying saw them off from Shanyu Pass, Jiuxi drove the carriage back to the small town.

By the time they returned to the town, the sky had already brightened.

Du Yunlo went to Zhuang Ke’s place to pick up Brother Yan.

Zhuang Ke smiled and asked her, "Did you see him?"

Du Yunlo nodded, "I saw him, and I also saw Big Uncle."

A hint of worry flickered in Zhuang Ke’s eyes, but she quickly smiled again, "He is most familiar with deserts, gobi, and oases, so I’m not worried."

Du Yunlo took a deep breath and smiled.

Talking with Zhuang Ke, one would unconsciously be infected by her emotions, involuntarily smiling. The anxious mood from a moment ago would become much more relaxed the next.

Du Yunlo enjoyed this feeling, "Yes, with Big Uncle there, they will surely reach Ancient Meili smoothly."

Back home, she rested the entire morning, finally shaking off the fatigue from the overnight jolt.

At night, it suddenly started to snow, wrapping the north wind and howling all night.

By the time they got up the next morning, the snow had stopped.

A layer of snow covered the courtyard. Brother Yan got excited, reaching out to grab it, not feeling cold, and played merrily.

Du Yunlo accompanied him for a while, but fearing he might catch a cold, she brought him back inside.

Brother Yan pouted, upset, and sharply voiced his displeasure with Du Yunlo.

But Du Yunlo wasn’t afraid of his tantrum, finding a gilded, hollowed-out incense ball that Brother Yan favored.

The incense ball was just the right size for Brother Yan to play with, so she simply didn’t light it, cleaned it, and let Brother Yan roll it around.

Upon seeing the object of his affection, Brother Yan immediately forgot about the snow, cheerfully hugging the incense ball.

That night, after blowing out the lights, Du Yunlo lay on the bed, pondering if Mu Lianxiao and the others had reached Ancient Meili yet...

Had the boastful and arrogant Wuna Li been caught off guard by their surprise attack, and could the army seize Ancient Meili City, then rest while awaiting the Dazi’s return from the Northern Border?

Thinking and thinking, drowsiness crept in.

Du Yunlo hazily dreamed again, in which she once more saw the Great Desert.

This time, she wasn’t riding alongside Mu Lianxiao outside the pass, but stood atop the city walls.

Still spread before her was an endless stretch of desert, even the sky was a dull yellow, merging with the desert.

In the distance, a cavalry seemed to gallop past, raising a cloud of dust that obscured her view.

She heard the deafening sound of war drums, the horn piercing the sky, her heart pounded heavily, yet her vision blurred.

In her mind, the maps she had seen countless times were clearly mapped out.

The Capital, Northern Border, Shanyu Pass, Ancient Meili...

As the yellow sands in the dream faded, Du Yunlo suddenly opened her eyes.

Cold moonlight lit up a corner of the room, while the rest remained in darkness, Du Yunlo evened her breathing.

The battlefield in her dream was her imagined one; she didn’t know what the battlefield looked like in Mu Lianxiao’s eyes, and as for the ruler, the Holy Emperor, what did these mountains and rivers, cities look like...

All sorts of strange thoughts crowded her mind, and Du Yunlo soon fell asleep again.

This time, however, she did not dream again.

Another five or six days passed, and Du Yunlo sent Jiuxi to Shanyu Pass.

If the surprise attack had succeeded, soldiers would surely return to report to General Huang guarding Shanyu Pass, Shuying stationed in the camp would definitely have news.

Jiuxi rode to the garrison and from afar saw Shuying leap onto a horse, whip in hand, lashing hard.

Shuying rode swiftly toward him, and Jiuxi was stunned, unable to speak to Shuying in time. Shuying had already brushed past him, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Jiuxi waved his hands, spat out the dust from his mouth, and watched Shuying’s diminishing figure.

Shuying was heading toward the pass.

Jiuxi noticed, Shuying’s eyes were bright red, red as if they were bleeding.