Suddenly, a strong wind blew in the darkness, making a whistling sound in Pei Zheng's ears. He raised his hand to cover his eyes, and only when the wind stopped did he lift his eyelids to look over.
The scenery in front of me has already changed. Here is a barren mountain with the moon hanging high in the sky. In front of me is a tall and steep cliff. The wind is blowing up from the bottom of the cliff, sweeping people down.
Pei Zheng was standing on the edge of a cliff, nearly falling down. His eyes darkened, and he suddenly took a big step back.
“Ouch!”
A soft and tender cry came from behind him, and a little man appeared from behind him, covering his forehead, looking at Pei Zheng anxiously.
"Brother Pei, are you okay? You, you scared me to death just now..."
The little guy pouted as he spoke, looking like he was so aggrieved that he was about to cry.
Pei Zheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized where he was. He felt the blood in his body begin to flow backwards, and a chill seeped out from his back, making him shiver uncontrollably from the cold.
He reached out and pulled the little person into his arms, holding her tightly, so tightly as if he was extremely afraid of losing her.
The little guy stood on tiptoe slightly, and his whole body was almost lifted up, making it difficult for him to breathe.
The little hand gently patted Pei Zheng's back and whispered in his ear, "Don't be afraid, Brother Pei, it's okay, it's okay, don't be afraid..."
Like a little adult, he was comforting the trembling person in front of him.
After holding the little guy for a long time, Pei Zheng finally managed to calm down and let go of the little guy.
I recalled what I had said to the little man on this cliff.
- Never betray me, always think of me, remember me -
- No matter what I say or do, always believe me, stand by me, and never leave me -
It seems that he has already said these words tonight, and he felt dizzy after saying them, and kept walking towards the edge of the cliff. The little man was scared and tried to drag him from behind but couldn't. Fortunately, when he was at the edge of the cliff, his consciousness suddenly invaded and he regained his sanity, so he did not fall off the cliff.
Not wanting to stay here any longer, Pei Zheng pulled the little man onto the horse, looked back at the place deeply, and then galloped towards the hunting ground.
—On the way, Pei Zheng's face was solemn. He controlled the reins with one hand and held the little person in front of him with the other hand.
When we returned to the hunting ground, it was dark and quiet all around, and the people in the other tents had already gone to bed.
Pei Zheng was the first to dismount, then he carried the man off the horse. Instead of sending him back to the prince's tent, he carried him back to his own tent.
The little guy just obediently let Pei Zheng arrange everything for him. He nestled in his arms as quietly as an obedient kitten and didn't resist at all.
Cheng Feng, who was standing in front of the tent, saw the two of them and bowed his head and said, "Master, Your Highness."
Pei Zheng said "hmm" lightly.
"Master, the Fourth Prince came just now. I told him that you had gone to bed, but he didn't seem to believe it..."
"Don't worry about him."
Pei Zheng carried the person straight into the tent.
It became even darker inside the tent. The little guy grabbed Pei Zheng's clothes tightly on his chest with some fear, and snuggled into his arms.
Pei Zheng put the little guy on his bed, lit a candle, and looked at his forehead in the candlelight.
There was a large red patch on the fair and smooth skin, and there was a slight bulge.
The slender fingers reached over and pressed lightly.
"Hmm..."
The little guy's eyes immediately flashed with tears and he whimpered softly.
"It's red." Pei Zheng's tone was light and gentle, his eyes were very deep and dark, filled with a lot of unspeakable forbearance and complexity.
He wanted to tell the little man his love, wanted to tell him to stay away from the cliff in the future, wanted to tell him that the imperial decree for marriage he received after returning to the palace was not his original intention...
But all the words were stuck in his throat, as if there was an invisible force preventing him from speaking out.
Pei Zheng looked at him deeply for a while.
"Do you have any ointment with you?"
The little man fumbled around in his arms for a while and finally found an exquisite little medicine box, which emitted a faint medicinal fragrance.
This was given to him by Pei Zheng in the carriage today, so he obediently took it.
Pei Zheng opened the small medicine box, dipped his fingertips into some ointment, then leaned over and gently applied the ointment on the little guy's red forehead with his fingertips.
"Brother Pei..." The little guy looked up at him and called softly, the tears in his eyes still shimmering, "Are you angry?"
Brother Pei has been looking gloomy since just now, and he doesn't look happy at all.
Pei Zheng paused, then smiled with the corners of his lips curled up, "No, I'm not angry."
He put the medicine box away and put the little guy back into his arms. It felt soft and warm inside.
"I hurt you again, and I'm just sad."
The little guy pulled his hand and said, "It's okay, Brother Pei, you didn't mean it. You almost fell down just now. You must be very scared, right?"
Pei Zheng held the little hands, put them on his cheeks, and rubbed them slightly, "Yes..."
I am afraid, very afraid, afraid of everything that has not happened, afraid of experiencing all the pain again, afraid that even if I have love in my heart, it will only hurt me endlessly, afraid that I can only watch you leave and be powerless to save you...
It was like a cliff with the first snow falling, a fiery red figure falling recklessly in the heavy snow...
Feeling someone stroking his head gently twice, Pei Zheng raised his eyes, which were filled with red bloodshot, as if he was very depressed and was about to collapse at any time.
"Don't be afraid, I will be with you... Just like when I was scared before, Brother Pei would suddenly appear to accompany me. I promised Brother Pei that I would always stand by your side. You still have me..."
The sincerity and passion in the little guy's eyes burned into Pei Zheng's heart like a fire. He stared at those bright red lips and leaned over to gently kiss them.
The candlelight went out.
Early the next morning, there was a loud noise outside the tent. Pei Zheng pinched his brows and sat down with a terribly gloomy face.
Last night, he hardly slept, as his mind was constantly flooded with memories of the past, good and bad, playing out one after another like a revolving lantern.
On the contrary, the little person lying beside him was able to sleep so soundly, which was rare even in a tent in the wild with such a bad environment.
Pei Zheng didn't do anything last night, just a long, hot kiss, and then coaxed the little guy to rest.
Seeing that the little guy had not woken up yet, Pei Zheng put on his clothes and left the tent.
He remembered that today he would compete with the barbarian envoys in archery and horsemanship.
A lot of people and horses had gathered outside the tent. The barbarian envoy Amul stood among the crowd on a tall horse, looking very mighty and majestic.
Cheng Feng saw Pei Zheng coming out with an unhappy look on his face, and whispered to him, "Master, Envoy Amul proposed to the Emperor to have a contest in archery and horsemanship, and specifically requested that you participate as well."
After Chengfeng finished speaking, he saw Pei Zheng looking coldly at Amul who was riding a horse not far away. His eyes were full of ruthlessness and sinisterness, with a strong sense of attack and aggression.
Suddenly, Pei Zheng casually pulled out Chengfeng's sword, and with a flick of his finger, the sword flew straight towards Amul.
Pei Zheng stood in place and controlled the sword with his Qi. The sword flexibly passed through the crowd and flew in front of Amul's horse in an instant.
Everyone was in an uproar. The horse was frightened and suddenly raised its front hooves high, throwing the person off its back.
Amul reacted quickly, and he jumped down from the horse with his hands. Just as he was about to land, the sword turned around and came back, still entangled with him.
Amul was unable to react in time to dodge the sword and fell to the ground.
Several ministers covered their mouths and began to laugh when they saw the barbarian envoy, who had been so arrogant just now, making a fool of himself in public.
Amul stood up from the ground in a rage, his face covered in dust. Seeing Pei Zheng standing calmly in front of the tent, he pointed at him and shouted, "Pei Zheng! How dare you tease me! I am an envoy sent by the barbarians, an honorable guest of your Celestial Empire. Is there anyone in the world who would treat a guest like you? You... you can't just take revenge on someone because of a personal grudge!"
Everyone looked over.
At this time, Pei Zheng just hooked his finger, and the sword flew back obediently, with a bird stuck on the sword.
Chengfeng folded the bird from the sword, threw it into the crowd with a wave of his hand, and then put the sword back into the scabbard.
"This morning the birds were chirping so loudly that it was annoying. I was just looking for some quiet time. Why did the envoy react so strongly?"
Pei Zheng curled his lips and smiled, then glanced at the other ministers indifferently, and those people immediately lowered their heads obediently.
There were no birds making any noise this morning. The noisiest one was probably the envoy Amul.
Amu Le gritted his teeth and looked at Pei Zheng steadily, "Okay, okay, I have seen that Master Pei's swordsmanship is amazing, but I wonder if the others are equally impressive?"
Pei Zheng stopped smiling and raised his chin slightly, looking extremely unattainable and arrogant.
"Whatever you want to compete, I'll be there for you."
At this moment, there was some movement in the tent behind him, as if someone jumped down from the tent barefoot, and then ran towards him with a clattering sound of legs.
Pei Zheng ignored how many eyes were staring at him and turned around and went back into the tent, leaving the others outside.
Amul said loudly to his back, "Master Pei, as promised, I will wait for you outside the woods, don't make excuses!"
The curtain of the tent just fell down.
Pei Zheng opened his arms and caught the little guy who was running towards him. He looked down and saw that he was not wearing shoes, with his small, white and tender feet barefoot on the ground.
Pei Zheng picked the man up by the knees and lifted him up horizontally. He scolded him in a low voice, but his tone was full of tenderness and doting, "Why did you come down without shoes? Huh?"
The little girl hooked her arm around his neck obediently, nestled in his arms and said sullenly, "Brother Pei, I didn't see you when I woke up... I thought, I thought... you were gone..."