In the area of Chi Le Chuan, the nomadic settlement outside the Great Wall covers an area of 1,000 hectares, which is like a large city in Guanzhong such as Ye and Jinyang. The distribution area is divided by tribe, and the Tiele tribe is in the east. The residence of the Great Chanyu Xiang Shu is surrounded by mountains on both sides, facing the settlement outside the Great Wall without city walls. Outside the settlement, many nomads come with their tribes, spend a short summer, join the ancient alliance, and prepare for the long winter that is coming soon.
Chen Xing thought this place was really beautiful, quiet in a bustling city, and with beautiful scenery. Climbing up the hillside behind, he could see the whole view of Sichuan. Xiang Shu's tribesmen were also very bold and lively. Some rode horses, some played ball, and they did nothing all day long, laughing and talking, doing nothing, waiting for winter.
But why should I, a guest from afar, clean your room? I'm not a servant! Chen Xing wanted to throw the rag on the ground, but he couldn't help his curiosity and took a look at Xiang Shu's living place.
It doesn't look like he has a wife and children, but you can tell that there were people living here in the past.
Chen Xing had lived with his master since he was a child, and this feeling was very familiar. Perhaps when Xiang Shu was still a child, he lived with his father. Even earlier, his mother must have been there too.
He wiped the bookshelf casually and flipped through the books on it. He didn't recognize almost any of the words, but he recognized a lot of the pictures. Most of them were martial arts atlases, riding and archery instructions, weapons records, foreign explanations of tendons and acupoints, maps of the outside world, and many various lists.
As the sun set in the west, sounds of singing and dancing were heard outside, and Xiang Shu had returned.
Xiang Shu: "What are you doing? Don't touch my things!"
Chen Xing almost shoved the rag into Xiang Shu's face and angrily asked, "What do you think? Is it your rule to let guests clean the room?"
Xiang Shu was stunned, but then he started laughing.
Xiang Shu has been in a much better mood since returning to the Chi-Le League. It was the first time that Chen Xing saw Xiang Shu smile. When he smiled, this guy suddenly looked more handsome, and his aura of "keep away from strangers" disappeared immediately, replaced by a warmth that was even gentler and more friendly than Tuoba Yan's.
But Xiang Shu immediately stopped smiling and said, "Have dinner and follow me."
That night, Tiele held a grand celebration, and the entire Chi Le River lit bonfires to celebrate the return of the Great Chanyu. Drinking, grilling fish, eating meat, and singing shook the sky under the mountains. Chen Xing sat next to Xiang Shu, and his subordinates served him roasted lamb legs and handed him a silver knife. Chen Xing's appetite was aroused. When he cut the meat and was about to eat it himself, people around him cursed at him again.
Chen Xing: "?"
Everyone began to scold Chen Xing, signaling him to serve the Great Chanyu. Chen Xing grabbed the knife and wanted to stab Xiang Shu to death.
"I said you are ignorant." Xiang Shu said casually, and then explained a few more words to the people around him, and everyone slowly sat down.
Chen Xing had no choice but to cut the meat and give it to Xiang Shu first. Xiang Shu only ate a little, then raised his hand and said, "Have some for yourself."
So everyone started to have dinner. Soon after, a woman came with an old man. They were probably the elders of some tribe. They sat down and greeted and chatted with the old men Xiang Shu brought back from Chang'an. Xiang Shu did not interrupt, but just drank his wine and occasionally glanced at Chen Xing, who was eating roasted lamb. He kept guessing from the expressions of the people. He heard Fu Jian's name mentioned many times, so he thought they were saying bad things about him.
Xiang Shu put the empty glass beside him and motioned Chen Xing to pour the wine.
Chen Xing asked: "Are you planning to march into Guanzhong, replace Fu Jian, and become emperor yourself?"
Xiang Shu casually said, "It depends on my mood."
Chen Xing: "…"
Chen Xing filled Xiang Shu's glass with wine and asked, "What about your promise to take me to that mountain to find Dinghai Pearl? You promised me that."
Xiang Shu: "Wait."
Although Chen Xing knew that it was a bit tactless to urge Xiang Shu to work on his first day back, he was still concerned about it and couldn't help but ask, "You didn't lie to me, did you?"
Xiang Shu looked at Chen Xing in disbelief, meaning "Am I that kind of person?"
"If you don't believe it, go back now!" Xiang Shu said angrily.
Xiang Shuyi spoke loudly, and everyone stopped talking and looked at them. Chen Xing immediately said, "Don't be angry, don't be angry. I was the one who said something wrong. Come, Great Chanyu, I'll toast you a glass!"
Chen Xing was afraid of being in trouble by this group of barbarians, so he quickly filled his glass with wine, smiled and toasted everyone, and gestured to everyone, "Look, we are not quarreling." However, Xiang Shu held Chen Xing's head with one hand, took the wine bowl with the other hand, and poured it directly into his mouth.
Chen Xing: "!!!"
The people at the table only heard the two people speaking in Chinese and had no idea what had happened. They soon resumed the conversation.
Chen Xing was choked all over and said angrily: "You..."
Xiang Shu ignored him and asked another person beside him in Xianbei language: "When will the Akele tribe come?"
The man also replied respectfully in Xianbei language: "Great Chanyu, according to the custom of previous years, they will arrive at the foot of the Chi Le River before the third day of October."
Chen Xing suddenly thought that this wine tasted good. It was sweet and not spicy at all, so he poured himself a drink.
Xiang Shu said casually: "The Akele tribe is a branch of the Xiongnu. They operate in the far north. They know the exact location of Mount Erqilun better than I do."
Today is September 15th, so it's OK to wait until October 3rd. Chen Xing drank and said, "If you are busy, draw a map for me and I can go by myself."
Xiang Shu showed a mocking expression: "Do you know what it's like in winter when we go further north?"
Chen Xing said: "At worst I can just wear more..."
The guard next to him said in Xianbei language: "Wait for Che Luofeng to come back. Maybe he can bring news about Akele."
"Che Luofeng is my brother-in-law," Xiang Shu did not look at Chen Xing, staring at the fire in a trance, "He grew up with me. He left Chi Le Chuan and went north to hunt. He went a long way this time. I can ask him when I come back."
Chen Xing ate too much roasted lamb, which was too salty. He was thirsty, so he drank several bowls of wine in a row and felt groggy. The wine tasted sweet, as if it was brewed from honey and goat's milk. He drank more and more without realizing it. He knocked his head on the table and fell drunk without hearing Xiang Shu's words.
Xiang Shu: "…"
"He drank a whole jar!" the guard sitting on the other side exclaimed in amazement, "Incredible!"
When Chen Xing was drunk, he felt as if he was carried back to the tent by Xiang Shu, with a blanket covering him. When he was thirsty in the middle of the night, he heard singing and drunken laughter outside, and said, "I want to drink some water."
Xiang Shu had no choice but to feed him with the kettle. Chen Xing turned over and fell asleep.
Chen Xing woke up in the early morning. The sky was turning pale. The whole Chi Le Chuan was still sleeping soundly after the party.
"Xiang Shu, I want to take a shower..." Chen Xing scratched his body, sat up and said.
"What?" Xiang Shu, who had been tormented by Chen Xing all night, stood up in single clothes and gave him an impatient look.
"I want to take a shower," Chen Xing said, "where can I boil water?"
"Wash it in the river." Xiang Shu said impatiently.
Chen Xing: "I'll catch a cold. I want to take a hot bath."
"You don't want to take a hot bath." Xiang Shu rejected Chen Xing, "Say another word and I'll throw you into the river."
Chen Xing: "…"
It was already past noon when Xiang Shu finally woke up and took Chen Xing to the stream to take a bath.
"It's so cold." Chen Xing wailed as soon as he entered the water, but Xiang Shu looked unhappy and stripped naked to the stream. Chen Xing had seen this several times, and they had bathed together before when they entered Chang'an. But for some reason, his face suddenly became hot and he felt a little embarrassed.
Xiang Shu's figure was like a wild horse, thin but with a masculine and rugged feel, his skin was fair and delicate, without any of the roughness of the Tiele people, especially his shoulder and back lines and long legs, which were extremely attractive.
"Back rub! What are you looking at?" Xiang Shu said.
Chen Xing: "Why? I'm not your slave! I've had enough! Xiang Shu! If you keep treating me like a servant I will..."
"So what?" Xiang Shu asked sarcastically, "What do you think?"
Chen Xing: "Do you all look down on Han people? I know now. They asked you who I was, and you said 'servant', right? You really have bad intentions, asking me to come to your clan to serve you!"
"What else?" Xiang Shu asked, "You want the Great Chanyu to serve you?"
"You are the protector!" said Chen Xing.
"Go! Rub your back!" Xiang Shu said, "Are you moving?"
Chen Xing was holding a cloth, Xiang Shu was about to reach out and press him, Chen Xing dodged and accidentally slipped in the water, almost falling in, Xiang Shu grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the water. Chen Xing had no choice but to wipe Xiang Shu's back in disappointment.
Xiang Shu said casually: "If you can let them see your ability, naturally no one will dare to use you as a servant."
Chen Xing: "Okay, even if you're not a guardian, is this how you entertain guests?"
"You are not a guest." Xiang Shu looked at Chen Xing's naked body and was about to say "You came here on your own", but his breath was suddenly held for no reason and he turned slightly to the side.
Chen Xing: "Don't underestimate people."
Xiang Shu avoided Chen Xing's gaze, turned his head, raised his eyebrows at him, and gestured for him to go ahead.
Chen Xing hurriedly took a bath, put on his clothes, and returned to his tent. Xiang Shu wrapped himself in his inner clothes and did not avoid people. He had breakfast and entertained guests in the tent. Many people came and went, some to pay homage, some to greet, and some to bring business. Although Xiang Shu was dressed in white and his hair was wet after bathing, he had a kingly demeanor.
"How do you write in Tiele script when you are sick and want to see a doctor?" Chen Xing sneezed after breakfast and didn't want to serve Xiang Shu anymore, so he asked the young man who knew Xianbei language earlier.
The other party was puzzled and wrote it down on the ground. Chen Xing asked again: "What did the doctor say?"
The other party taught him, so Chen Xing went out, found a piece of wood, wrote on it, and hung it outside Xiang Shu's tent.
Xiang Shu: "…"
That afternoon, someone came to see a doctor. Xiang Shu was entertaining guests in half of the tent, while Chen Xing was receiving the patient in the other half. The Tiele man looked around for a while at first, then Chen Xing moved a low table and sat down. He waved outside the tent, motioning for the man to come in, and began to take the man's pulse and treat the disease.
"Can you speak Xianbei?" Chen Xing pressed the patient's tongue with a stick and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
The man mumbled a lot of nonsense, leaving Chen Xing with a lot of questions in his head. Xiang Shu had no choice but to send the guests away and declined to see them today. He said, "He has a stomachache."
Chen Xing said, "Translate it. What are you sitting for?"
Xiang Shu looked at Chen Xing in disbelief and said, "Where do you get the courage from?"
Chen Xing: "This is one of your people! Ask him what he has eaten in the past few days and how long he has been in pain?"
Xiang Shu had to suppress his anger and translate. Chen Xing successfully identified the disease, prescribed medicine for him, and asked Xiang Shu to write Tiele script on paper with charcoal and go find medicinal herbs.
Xiang Shu didn't expect that Chen Xing would start to order him around in one afternoon, but he was the only one in Chi Le Chuan who could speak Chinese, and the one who was sick was a member of his tribe, so he had to take care of him. It was okay to translate, but the key point was that many Chinese medicinal herbs were not understood by others, so the great Chanyu had to sit aside and help Chen Xing.
"Can you open a business somewhere else?" Xiang Shu couldn't help but ask when there were no patients.
"No." Chen Xing said, "If there are too many patients later, how can I close the shop? You are the Great Khan, they can't come to bother you at night."
"You..." Xiang Shu wanted to beat Chen Xing, but in a blink of an eye, someone came to see him for medical treatment. No matter Tiele, Xiongnu or Sixteen Hu people in the Chi Le River, they were all Xiang Shu's people. They regarded the Great Chanyu as their parents, and Xiang Shu couldn't bear to see his people sick. Doctors on the grassland came once every few months, had no fixed place to stay, and saw patients everywhere. Many people could only delay treatment when they were sick, or leave it to fate. When doctors came, they often gave bloodletting treatment. Chen Xing's move obviously helped the Chi Le Ancient League a lot.
In less than three days, the valley was already crowded with people waiting to see the doctor, and Xiang Shu's tent was packed with people. He couldn't do anything every day, so he could only sit next to Chen Xing and help ask questions to the patients in various Hu languages.
Another day passed, and the patients he had seen before, whether they had colds or fevers, gradually got better. The reputation of the "miracle doctor" spread like wildfire, and most of the patients in Chi Lechuan flocked to the Tiele settlement. Xiang Shu finally had no choice but to move the Great Chanyu's royal tent to the center of the open space outside the valley.
"How long has it been growing?" Chen Xing looked at an old Xiongnu woman with concern. The patient had a tumor on her back. Chen Xing thought that if Feng Qianyi knew that he was treating the Hu people, he would probably curse him in the underworld.
"Three years." Xiang Shu translated coldly.
"Why do you come to see me now?" Chen Xing said.
Xiang Shu was too lazy to talk nonsense. Chen Xing prescribed a plaster for her and asked the next patient to come over. During the examination, he suddenly saw Xiang Shu staring at him with a distracted expression, which made Chen Xing feel uneasy.
"Hey!" Chen Xing said, "Speak!"
The sound of "Hello" immediately frightened everyone in the tent. Xiang Shu came to his senses and said impatiently: "Rheumatism! Knee pain! Foot pain!"
"What about here?" Chen Xing was treating another old man. He didn't mind his festering wounds at all. He cleaned them first and then prescribed medicine.
A woman came up.
"What about you?" Chen Xing asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Xiang Shu replied: "I had a nightmare and couldn't sleep well at night."
Chen Xing: "There's nothing we can do about this. Please prescribe some tranquilizing soup. There are some herbs at the back. Can you help me get some?"
Xiang Shu helped to prepare the medicine. He did not expect that as the Great Khan, he was actually ordered around by Chen Xing. After being treated by Chen Xing, all the patients first thanked Chen Xing and then went to thank Xiang Shu. Xiang Shu just waved his hand and sent them away.
"Why are you looking at me?" Chen Xing said, "I'm seeing the patient."
"You..." Xiang Shu took a deep breath and hesitated to speak.
Chen Xing: "?"
"Nothing." Xiang Shu said, "He has rib pain for more than half a year."
Chen Xing pressed the man's chest and said, "Do you always sleep on your stomach? Go back and make the cushion softer, don't sleep on your stomach all the time... Next one."
There was a sudden commotion outside the tent, and the sound of a girl crying could be heard. Chen Xing immediately had a premonition that a patient had arrived and was dying, so he asked the patients in line to wait and said, "Send her in quickly!"
Xiang Shu frowned slightly, and then a young man was carried in on a stretcher from outside the tent.
"Che Luofeng?!" Xiang Shu immediately stood up, rushed forward and knelt down.
Chen Xing quickly signaled everyone in the tent to leave. He saw a young man lying on a stretcher on the ground. He was pale, covered with scars, with a ceramic bowl on his stomach, and a foul smell all over his body.
"Che Luofeng!" Xiang Shu said anxiously.
"Shulu...Kong." The young man murmured.
"Do you know each other?" Chen Xing glanced at Xiang Shu. It was the first time since they met that he saw him so confused. He was completely different from the Xiang Shu he used to be!
"Hurry up and save him," Xiang Shu grabbed Chen Xing's wrist, his voice trembling, "He is my brother-in-law, save his life no matter what! I will do whatever you ask me to do!"
"I will!" Chen Xing felt pain. Xiang Shu's grip was so strong that his wrist was about to be broken. He said, "Let me go! You don't have to promise me anything. I will save him!"
A woman, a Rouran woman, was crying nearby. Chen Xing was so upset that he couldn't concentrate. He said, "I will do my best to save him! Where was he injured? What caused him to be injured?"
Chen Xing untied the bandage tied around Che Luofeng's abdomen and gently opened the bowl. As expected, his stomach was ruptured and his intestines were spilling out. There were two marks of a sharp blade on the young man's lower abdomen, and his belly was cut open.
In addition, there were many scratches on this person's body caused by the claws of wild beasts.
"Wolf claws and knife wounds." Chen Xing murmured.
Xiang Shu hugged Che Luofeng's upper body, let out a long sigh, and was extremely sad. He held him tightly in his arms.
"Sew up his stomach first." Chen Xing went to get some medicine first, then said, "Boil a bowl of numbing soup for him to drink, I'll go get the needles."