As mentioned last week, General Shen had turned the tables and finally took advantage of the jealous Marshal to trick him, making him eat a flower ball and draw the note.

If we only talk about "comfort", Gu Yun has a lot of comforts, the beautiful Chang Geng ranks first, but apart from him, there are delicious food, fun things, brothers who have been through thick and thin with him, the sad-looking Shen Yi, the delicate flowers planted by Wang Bo, the BMW fed by Lao Huo... All the things in the world that can make him stop and appreciate and smile, all retain his affection, and naturally they are also his comfort.

But, what time does “reaching the end of the water” refer to?

When Gu Yun first saw this line of words, he did not think of the days when he lost his father at a young age and became deaf and blind.

Firstly, it was a story from too long ago. Secondly, it had been like this for decades afterwards, so he was used to it. Now when he recalled it, it was the years when he was the king of the Marquisate when he was a child that were all blurred. Occasionally, when he recalled some fragments or heard Uncle Wang and others mention it, it didn't seem like it happened to him.

He was not thinking of the time when the Western Army besieged the city. At that time, he was already a mature and strong man. He understood everything he should and shouldn't understand, and he had thought about everything he should and shouldn't think about. No one dared to add the word "little" before "Marquis" anymore. When people mentioned the Three Divisions of Black Iron, they thought of him, Gu Yun, instead of the old Marquis Gu Shen. He was the last wall before the country was destroyed and his family was ruined. He didn't have that much free time to feel nostalgic for himself.

What reminded him of the words "at the end of one's rope" and "at the end of one's rope" was actually the time when Emperor Long An had just ascended the throne and he was ordered to escort the Northern Barbarian Prince Jialai Yinghuo out of the pass.

The spring came exceptionally late that year. It was clearly already March, but there was still no sign of life in the northern border. The sky and earth here seemed to be frozen, as if they would never get brighter. The corpses of cattle and sheep were hidden in deep snow pits by wolves. If people walked against the wind, their scratched mouths and noses would be so fishy that they would choke their throats.

Shen Yi was wearing a light fur coat and black armor. He jumped off his horse before it even stood firmly, and hurried to the general's tent in two steps. Before he could lift the curtain, a muffled cough was heard from inside, and Shen Yi's hands trembled with fear.

The commander of the Northern Frontier garrison was standing in front of the general's tent. He said hurriedly, "It's not the general, it's Master Chen."

"Doctor Chen?"

"Yes, I heard that Master Chen is in poor health and never goes out in winter. This year he made an exception and came here. He ran into this snowstorm right after he left. Even a healthy person can't handle it, let alone him? He was treating someone, but as soon as the doctor arrived, he almost lay down. Alas!"

Shen Yi was riding a horse in the snow and felt cold all over. He was afraid that if he rushed in rashly, it would make things worse, so he retracted his hand that was about to lift the tent.

There was a hint of anxiety in his handsome and calm features, and within a few days, his cheeks became sunken. The horse handed over to the guard seemed to be connected to its master's mind and paced anxiously.

"The Emperor has instructed us to send the barbarian prince back quickly and then go back to the west." Shen Yi lowered his voice and said to the commander, "We should have set off long ago! The Protectorate along the way to the Northwest Camp has sent people to inquire several times. Although the three Black Iron tribes are here, they wouldn't dare to say anything if they were ten days or half a month late. But it's been almost a month!"

The commander also asked in a whisper, "Marshal, or..."

Shen Yi shook his head.

"Why?" the commander asked in confusion. "The Marshal grew up in the northwest when he was young. Even if he is not used to the climate in the capital, he should not be unable to adapt to the wind outside the northern border! Wasn't he fine when he came here? Could it be... that the barbarians are causing trouble?"

"No," Shen Yi was unwilling to say more. A sinister look flashed across his brows, and he waved his hand, "Stop asking."

At this time, a young man walked out of the tent. He almost couldn't stand still. He was swayed by the north wind. Then he said with difficulty: "General Shen is here. My son wants you to go in and sit for a while. He is ready to give you acupuncture."

"Hey..." Shen Yi hesitated, but still didn't say anything in the end, "Hey!"

Chen Feiyun, the second son of the Chen family in Taiyuan Prefecture, is a miraculous doctor, but he cannot heal himself. He is born weak and sickly. For many years, he has never left the house. Every time he goes out, he must be seriously ill when he comes back. As for traveling thousands of miles to the bitter and cold outside the Great Wall, it is tantamount to "risking his life to save others."

It was reasonable to let him rest for a few days since he was coughing like that. However, the words "Take care, Mr. Chen" rolled around Shen Yi's tongue for several times but he finally didn't say them out loud.

He really had no other choice.

The fire in the general's tent was burning very hot, and a warm air blew towards me, which seemed to be mixed with a hint of blood.

"Light up some braziers." Young Master Chen's voice came from the tent. He had a layer of gauze covering his face to prevent his cough from disturbing the patient. His voice was muffled, "Aren't you afraid that the heat will harm him? When has your commander ever been afraid of being too cold?"

His hands would tremble when he coughed, so he didn't dare to give the injection himself. He just stood by and gave careful instructions to the medicine boy. He was more nervous than if he had done it himself and didn't dare to waver even for a moment. After a while, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Shen Yi didn't dare to go over and waited at the door from a distance.

After half an hour, Master Chen straightened up and said, "Okay."

Gu Yun seemed to have regained some consciousness and was helped up by the medicine boy. Just as Shen Yi was about to run forward, he saw him push the medicine boy's hand away and fall to the side of the bed, vomiting blood.

Shen Yi was so frightened that he lost his soul: "Zi Xi!"

Gu Yun couldn't sit still without help and fell to one side.

Chen Feiyun was writing medicine quickly beside him and said, "It's okay, I'll give him a boost."

Shen Yi: “…”

Gu Yun said in a hoarse voice: "...Chen Er?"

Chen Feiyun was stunned and asked Shen Yi: "You didn't give him medicine for hearing and eyes these two days, right?"

Shen Yi quickly shook his head, reached out to touch Gu Yun's forehead, felt a hand full of cold sweat, but the temperature had dropped.

Chen Feiyun thought about it, lowered his head and sniffed his cuffs, and said with a smile: "Dog nose."

Gu Yun's eyes were blurry, and he recognized Shen Yi with great difficulty. He said sickly, "Why did you invite him here? It's noisy... I can't die."

"Marshal," Shen Yi said with a wry smile, "The porridge pot this morning was cooked on top of you. If you continue to cook, it will become the first human-shaped purple gold field in Daliang."

Gu Yun couldn't hear clearly to begin with, and now he had tinnitus, so he didn't hear a few words. He didn't seem to care what Shen Yi said. He tilted his head and closed his eyes. It was unclear whether he fainted again or was just resting his eyes.

"General Shen, why do you look so sad every time I see you?" Master Chen shook the written prescription and started coughing again. His eyes turned red from coughing, but he still spoke with a smile. This man is always cheerful. In Master Chen's words, those of them who are born with a short life span are already miserable. If they can't be more open-minded than others, wouldn't that be even more miserable?

Shen Yi thought: Isn't this nonsense? Eight out of ten people who go to the doctor are sick. Do we have to set off a string of firecrackers to celebrate?

But since he was not familiar with Master Chen, he could not be too rude, so he bowed his head and clasped his fists and said, "Brother Chen, please come all the way here."

"It's okay. General Gu saved my sister and he's good with my temper. I'll wait until he gets better and ask him to write a fan for me."

Shen Yi hurriedly asked: "So what is the cause of his illness..."

"General Shen should know the cause of his illness." Chen Feiyun smiled at him. "He is young and has the foundation of a military commander. As long as he can eat in the next three days, he will be fine. Don't worry."

What is the cause of Gu Yun’s illness?

Years ago, he hurriedly brought the Fourth Prince back to the bedside of Emperor Yuanhe to see the old emperor for the last time.

He said to the old emperor: "If the emperor dies, Zixi will have no relatives anymore."

Now I realize that he had been gone for a long time.

Gu Yun was not a willful patient, and as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, there was no place for him to act like a spoiled child. He was served medicine and food. After he woke up, the personal guards followed the doctor's instructions and cooked him a bowl of thin meat porridge. Gu Yun drank it all without saying a word.

When Shen Yi heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief. People from the Chen family in Taiyuan Prefecture always had their say.

Unexpectedly, before midnight, the high fever that had just been suppressed by the injection came back again, and he vomited everything he had eaten.

Shen Yi broke into Master Chen's tent, but was surprised to find that the young man in white had dressed up as if he was waiting for him. Seeing Shen Yi, Chen Feiyun was not surprised: "I'm not talking about eating, I'm talking about eating... Let's go, I'll give him another injection. Tsk, this is only treating the symptoms but not the root cause."

Shen Yi was the first to walk out of the tent and shield Master Chen from the wind and snow. He suddenly turned back and asked in a low voice: "If, three days pass..."

Chen Feiyun paused and exhaled, "Then... General, I'm afraid I'll have to forgive my lack of knowledge."

Shen Yi's heart sank slightly.

Three days were about to pass, but Gu Yun, the seemingly cooperative patient, showed no improvement. He became thinner and thinner as if his spirit had been drained. The worst thing was that no matter what others said, it was useless - he was deaf in his own world and could not hear anyone.

On the evening of the third day, the guards with red eyes brought food again, and Gu Yun finally turned his head away.

The guard was about to cry, and looked at Shen Yi who walked in at a loss.

Gu Yun raised his neck slightly, smiled at the little guard, and shook his head - the soup you cooked is quite fragrant, but my throat hurts so much from tossing and spitting it out over and over again, and I really can't swallow it.

"It's okay, you go out first." Shen Yi took the soup bowl, covered it, and placed it on the small stove beside him. He waved to the guards, then took out a pair of glass mirror from his arms and pinned it on Gu Yun's nose.

The cold metal frame was somewhat stimulating, and Gu Yun sobered up a little. After a while, he finally gathered enough strength to gesture to him - what's the matter?

Shen Yi stood there for a moment with a complicated expression. As if he had made up his mind, he took out a letter from his arms: "Beijing... A reply letter from Beijing, you..."

The two of them kept it a secret from Chang Geng and left the mansion secretly. On the way, Gu Yun grabbed a handful of hair and didn't know how to coax him. He simply forced Shen Yi to write for him and copied a copy himself and sent it back.

Chang Geng wrote back.

The child of Emperor Yuanhe and the northern barbarian.

The reason why he ended up living among the people and grew up in the countryside of Yanhui was because his mother became a scapegoat for his father when thirty barbarian warriors attacked the Xuantie Camp.

Gu Yun looked at Shen Yi expressionlessly through the glass mirror for a moment: "...get out."

Shen Yi pursed his lips, put the mailbox on his bedside, and walked out. After a few steps, he couldn't help but look back: "Zi Xi, you..."

The answer he got was a crisp sound—Gu Yun dropped the letter tube to the ground.

Shen Yi suspected that he had made a stupid move and had to ask Doctor Chen for help again. The general's tent was so quiet that not even a breath of wind could be felt.

Gu Yun leaned against the head of the bed, almost hollowed out by this serious illness. He seemed to have suddenly fallen off a cliff. His first twenty years were on the other side of the abyss, as if he had just walked through it, but looking back, it seemed so far away.

He tilted his head to look at the letter box that rolled on the ground - half a month ago, he was still looking forward to this reply. Thinking that his little Chang Geng had just celebrated his birthday with joy, he left without saying goodbye the next day.

I think that child must be very sad...

Gu Yun's hands were so thin that only a layer of skin remained, and veins popped out.

"Sixteen, take your medicine!"

"...Don't move, be careful the hot porridge will burn you!"

"Godfather, you are the best person in the world to me."

"If I don't go, I still have to practice sword fighting! If you don't learn your skills well, who will take care of you in the future?"

"Godfather, finish your noodles before entering."

There were egg shells in that bowl of noodles, which had been cooked into a paste, and was similar to the bowl that Shen Yi had just put on the stove.

The fire slowly roasted the bottom of the bowl, and a subtle smell overflowed from the cracks, like... the bowl that greeted him at the door on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, in the cold and desolate weather of the capital.

Gu Yun's chest rose and fell violently for a few times. He suddenly struggled to get up, but his knees went weak and he knelt on the ground again. He casually grabbed a wind-cutting blade from the tent and used it as a crutch to support himself. He picked up the mailbox that had rolled away, and his exhausted hands were shaking so badly that it took him a long time to open it.

"To my esteemed foster father: Since we parted, I have no relatives in this huge capital city, and only my armor is with me, which is a little comfort..."

I have nothing left but your shoulder armor.

The plum blossoms in the mansion are about to wither. I hope you see the flower before you leave, otherwise its love will be wasted, and it will be another year of vain. Even if the flower blooms every year in the future, it will not be this one.

The Northwest is busy with military affairs. Can't I write to you often to disturb you?

You must be very busy and don't miss me at all...but it's different for me.

The capital city is too lonely. Apart from you, I have no one else to miss.

Gu Yun's hands could not hold the letter anymore, and the Wind-Cutting Blade fell to the ground with a clang. The vibration of the metal could be heard from far away, and the guards rushed in one after another out of fear.

That night, Gu Yun endured the pain and drank half a bowl of noodle soup mixed with the smell of blood, but he did not vomit again.

Master Chen had a good hand and was very accurate in his diagnosis. Three to five days later, he was able to get up and walk. Another half month later, he was almost fully recovered. He buried the secret of the Northern Frontier here with his own hands, along with his own broken bones.

From then on, his youthful arrogance was finally gone, and he grew up to be invulnerable to swords and guns.

The army marched westward in a mighty manner, leaving smoke and dust for thousands of miles.