Chapter 955 Drawing the ground as a prison
"General, you are so wise. I am so grateful to you!"

Under the leadership of the Mongolian general, Liu Xunyi and his party successfully entered the heavily guarded and heavily fortified Mohe Horse Farm.

The huge horse farm consists of the central army, inner fence, outer fence, pasture, and barracks, and is surrounded by "concentric circles" from the central army to the barracks.

Among them, the Mongolian general and his 1,000 personal soldiers were stationed in the central army, which was the center of the entire Mohe horse farm. The carefully selected and carefully raised war horses were kept in the inner pen, and the old, weak and thin horses that could not fight were kept in the outer pen. Further out was a thousand acres of fertile grassland. Four thousand soldiers were stationed in eight directions: east, south, west, north, southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest, with 500 people in each camp. Each camp managed thousands of military horses. They were soldiers in wartime and herd horses on weekdays. They patrolled and deployed defenses, raised and bred horses, and were finally deployed uniformly by the central army.

The battalion that had just had a conflict with Liu Xunyi and his group was one of the eight battalions.

When Liu Xunyi and the others passed through the pasture and the outer fence and came to the inner fence of the horse farm, they suddenly found that the security here was much stricter than outside. Although it was a horse farm, there was a guard every three steps and a sentry every five steps, which was no less than a military camp.

As the saying goes, "Hearing is believing, seeing is believing."

Today, Liu Xunyi saw with his own eyes the orderly operation of the Mohe Horse Farm, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "A horse farm for raising livestock has strict military discipline, let alone a barracks for charging into battle? A glimpse of the leopard is enough to show that the strength of Mongolia is not in vain, and it is reasonable that the fighting power of the Song Dynasty is far inferior to that of Mongolia. Especially this upright general, he is much more capable than the horse policy of the Song Dynasty."

It wasn't that Liu Xunyi wanted to boost others' ambitions and destroy his own prestige. It was just that he had personally seen the officials of the Song Dynasty's Animal Husbandry Department, who were bloated and lazy. As military officers, they were completely different from the majestic and burly Mongolian general in front of him.

To put it bluntly, if two countries go to war, even if the elite troops of both sides are evenly matched, once the logistical reinforcements meet on the battlefield, it will still be a matter of life and death, and the winner will be decided immediately.

With this in mind, Liu Xunyi took two quick steps and caught up with the Mongolian general who was leading the way. He bowed and said, "I am grateful for your kindness. May I ask your name, General?"

"I am Suruge, and I am from the same clan as Suhe." The Mongolian general answered without hesitation, "So he should call me 'brother'."

"So he is my elder brother. No wonder he generously helped my elder brother in times of trouble without fear of rumors." Liu Xunyi suddenly realized, and looked at Su Rige with more admiration. "The general is my elder brother's 'brother', so he is also my younger brother..."

"No need to be polite. Although Su He and I are of the same clan, we are not of the same kind. He is willing to become sworn brothers with the Han people and call you his brother, but I won't." Su Rige interrupted Liu Xunyi's compliment without hesitation, "Although the marriage between the Mongols and the Song Dynasty is temporarily peaceful, you and I both know that there will be a bloody battle between the two countries sooner or later. When the time comes, we will still be sworn enemies when we meet on the battlefield."

Su Rige's quick words made Liu Xunyi stunned. He smiled bitterly and said, "General Su is right! Before the two countries went to war, I had already imprisoned my elder brother. If the war started... I wonder how much trouble would there be between my elder brother and me?"

"You don't have to belittle yourself. Although Su He and I are both Mongolians, we have different identities and positions. Strictly speaking, he is just a man of the world who supports the Khan, while I am a vanguard who swears allegiance to him until death. Therefore, he can be unrestrained and have close relations with the Han people, but I, the general, must obey the king's orders, and I cannot make the slightest mistake in my heart and actions."

"General, your words have enlightened me. I am grateful for your teaching!"

"You Han people are just too polite and hypocritical."

Seeing Liu Xunyi bowing to him again, Su Rige couldn't help but frowned. He didn't return the greeting, but walked away quickly.

"In fact, the Mongolians have no fewer rules than the Han people, but their customs are not even one ten-thousandth of yours. Perhaps... this is why the Song Dynasty has been isolated in a corner and has never been able to conquer the Central Plains."

I don't know when? Xunzhen leisurely passed by the embarrassed Liu Xunyi, without stopping, but left behind an intriguing irony.

"What's the meaning……"

"Although I am a Han Chinese, I think...Xunzhen is right."

Before Liu Xunyi could ask further questions, Tang Afu's voice came one after another, interrupting him and making him fall into deep thought.

After a while, Liu Xunyi suddenly realized that he was in great pain and indescribable depression. He wanted to argue, but found that they had already gone far away.

"Su He is inside!"

After a while, Su Rige led Liu Xunyi and his party to a large courtyard surrounded by broken walls and wooden fences. Through the gaps in the fences, they could clearly see rows of neatly arranged stables in the courtyard.

In front of one of the stables, a man with disheveled hair and a stubbled face, wearing a ragged, worn and faded leather coat, was pouring hay into the trough in the wind and snow.

A rough and dirty face, stained clothes, a slightly hunched body, slow and trembling movements... He looked cold and desolate. No one could imagine that the slovenly "Nusanha" in front of him was the once powerful "Mobei's No. 1 Swift Swordsman" Su He.

In just a few months, Su He had humiliated himself to this extent?

If Su Rige had not told Liu Xunyi by name that the man was Su He, he would probably never have dared to recognize him even if he was beaten to death.

"Big brother..."

The first time he saw Su He, Liu Xunyi, who was full of expectations, suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an abyss, and his blood ran cold. At the same time, his eyes turned red and tears flowed down his face.

He never expected that Su He's miserable situation was far more cruel than he imagined. "Since he came to Mohe Horse Farm, he has never taken a bath or changed his clothes." Su Rige sighed, "Every day he only eats leftovers and barely fills his stomach. Not to mention wine and meat, he hasn't even had a bowl of decent rice porridge."

"Why is this happening?" Liu Xunyi's fists clenched in his sleeves made a "crackling" sound. His good impression of Su Rige instantly vanished. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Isn't the general a relative of my elder brother? Why do you treat your brother like this..."

"It's not that I'm mean, but he...deliberately punished himself in this way." Su Rige said helplessly, "On the first day he came to the horse farm, he told me that he had made an unforgivable mistake. He felt guilty towards heaven and earth, the grassland, his ancestors, the Khan and the prince, and even more so towards the people of his tribe who had been proud of him for many years. He should have died to atone for his sins, but death is not the act of a hero, but rather the act of a coward. Therefore, he decided to torture himself in this way to make up for his debt to the grassland and to calm his inner guilt."

"Su He feels that he has let everyone down. Perhaps the only person he has not let down is you." Xunzhen stared at the depressed and exhausted Liu Xunyi thoughtfully, and said faintly, "As I expected, Su He is unwilling to die to atone for his sins. It's not that he is afraid of death, but... he doesn't want you, his sworn brother, to regret it for the rest of your life."

Xunzhen's every word was like a knife, cutting into his heart and bones, making Liu Xunyi feel sad and miserable. For a moment, he was at a loss and speechless.

"Brother Liu, Brother Su has become like this because of you, you must not stand by and watch him die." Pan Yuyin had already been deeply moved by Su He's loyalty and righteousness, and at the same time, she felt extremely sympathetic towards his miserable situation.

"Liu Xunyi, if you can tolerate Su He wasting the rest of his life here, you will be the most ungrateful person in the world." Although Tang Afu's tone was plain, the implication made Liu Xunyi uneasy.

"Liu Xunyi, you... go in!" After saying that, Su Rige slowly pushed open the fence gate.

Following the direction of Su Rige's finger, the uneasy Liu Xunyi subconsciously moved his feet and slowly walked towards Su He like a zombie.

Seeing this, Abaolu and Xiao Yang wanted to follow him, but Xunzhen waved his hand to stop them: "Don't follow, let him go in by himself."

At this moment, Liu Xunyi's legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead. He walked towards Su He step by step, almost exhausting all his life's energy. Even in the cold winter, he was sweating profusely and panting like a cow.

"Crack!"

When Liu Xunyi's right foot accidentally broke a dead branch covered with snow, it seemed to attract Su He's attention.

His cloudy eyes moved slightly, and he slowly stopped pouring the fodder. He stood up with a confused look on his face, raised his head slightly, and looked in the direction of the sound.

"Big brother..."

Looking at the dishevelled and ragged Su He, Liu Xunyi tried not to show his surprise and sadness. He forced a smile that was uglier than crying, and stood tremblingly beside the stable, looking at the shocked Su He with tearful eyes, and forced a smile in a nearly sobbing tone: "Long time no see, don't come... Are you okay?"

"Looking for...looking for clothes?"

After a brief shock, Su He quickly regained his senses. He first looked down at his disheveled self, then looked up at the shabby stable. He subconsciously reached out to tidy up his hair and beard, but found that they had already been covered by the remaining snow and turned into clumps of ice.

After the embarrassment, a fleeting melancholy flashed across Su He's eyes, and he grinned at Liu Xunyi and said jokingly, "I'm relieved to see that you're safe and sound. But... I'm so embarrassed that I made you laugh."

"Brother, why are you doing this?" Liu Xunyi's eyes trembled and his voice was hoarse.

"No problem! No problem! Big brother must be a little tired after wandering around, so he came here to relax and have some free time." Su He smiled nonchalantly, "You don't have to worry, the general of Mohe Horse Farm and I are brothers. I'll eat and drink well here..."

"General Su has already told me about my brother's situation. If you consider me a brother, don't act as if nothing has happened in front of me."

Before he could finish his words, Liu Xunyi, filled with grief and indignation, rushed to Su He, snatched the bucket from his hand without saying a word, and poured the hay into the trough for him.

"I am here, how can I let you do the dirty and tiring work?"

As Liu Xunyi spoke, he took off his cloak and put it on Su He. He quickly picked up several buckets of hay on the ground, ignoring Su He's dissuasion, and filled all the stone troughs in the front and back stables with hay.

"Xunyi, what are you doing?" Su He grabbed Liu Xunyi who was busy running around and said in an unhappy tone, "This is not the place for you to work."

"Brother has suffered so much, how can I stay out of it?" Liu Xunyi held the bucket tightly and refused to let go, and was in a stalemate with Su He. "This is not a place for me to work, and it is also not a place for brother to work. How can I, the 'fastest knife in Mobei', stoop to feed horses? I want to take you away..."

"Xun Yi, big brother has made up his mind and will never leave!"

"In that case... I will stay and feed the horses with you, big brother!" Seeing Su He's firm attitude, Liu Xunyi neither argued nor contradicted him. Instead, he said seriously, "Even if it's ten or eight years, even if it's thirty or fifty years, even if it's a lifetime... I swear to share the joys and sorrows with you, big brother, and never leave your side!"

……

(End of this chapter)