The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Chapter 159 Chen Jianshan's Meaning

“Miss Shen, I’m not trying to be mean, but the person has been missing for over a month. You’re probably not alive. You’ve come all this way, and you still can’t find their body. In my opinion, it would be better to go back and report to the Emperor so that they can be buried as soon as possible and a cenotaph can be erected.”

Chen Jianshan meant that he didn't want to continue the search.

Shen Hanyu put down what she was holding and held down Ji Yuxiu, who was about to get angry.

"General Chen, do you handle similar situations like this when other people on the border encounter them?"

Chen Jianshan choked for a moment.

“It’s alright if General Chen doesn’t want to talk about it. I can ask the others here. General, the Emperor has specially sent the Imperial Guards to find someone. You can allocate these personnel. Although Pei Du doesn’t have much of a reputation here, he is still in the Pei family genealogy. The Emperor also said that he is the eldest son of the Duke’s Mansion. General Chen should take a look at his status.”

Shen Hanyu knew her words were harsh, but now she had no choice but to use her power to suppress others.

Ji Yuxiu raised an eyebrow, feeling much better upon seeing Chen Jianshan's expression.

Chen Jianshan gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll send my men and the Imperial Guards to search for him. I want to see him alive or dead."

Having received the promise, Shen Hanyu left with Ji Yuxiu.

Ji Yuxiu couldn't help but complain: "We've looked for everything we need to, and they only took it seriously at first. But then they slowed down their search, and they haven't even looked at some places yet, making all sorts of excuses."

Shen Hanyu sighed. She had rushed to the border as quickly as possible. The people here were indeed two-faced.

“I brought the Imperial Guards with me. We’ll have them help out. Since we can’t get through to the foreign tribes, we’ll search this area thoroughly.”

Shen Hanyu looked at the dark sky. How could she not be worried after the snow had been falling for so long?

Back in the tent, Miao Cui had already prepared hot water.

"Girl, warm yourself up a bit. I'll go get the food."

Shen Hanyu nodded and put her hands in the water.

As the warmth gradually returned, Shen Hanyu relaxed a little, and Jin Chui entered at that moment.

"Thank you girl."

Jin Chui heard everything that Chen Jianshan had said.

"He treated me with sincerity, so I naturally treated him with sincerity in return. There's nothing to thank him for."

Shen Hanyu felt that this was what she should do, and that she hadn't really contributed much to this matter.

Jin Chui was even more moved by Shen Hanyu's words.

Shen Hanyu was somewhat helpless as Miaocui brought in the food.

The climate here is hard to adapt to. After eating, Shen Hanyu washed up and went to bed, covering herself with a thick quilt.

She looked through the places Chen Jianshan had searched. She didn't know much about the border region, but she could still get a glimpse of it through these places.

"Don't go west," Shen Hanyu said, looking at the western part of the map, where all the land belonged to foreign tribes.

That place is definitely not safe to go. Remembering what Lin Cao said about corpses being left to rot in the wilderness, Shen Hanyu blinked. Pei Du hasn't shown up in that situation yet, so maybe he's still alive. But where could Pei Du be?

If he were conscious, he would definitely try to come back. Could it be that he was seriously injured?

With her mind a jumbled mess, Shen Hanyu put down the map.

"This place is too vast, and after a heavy snowfall, the ground is covered in snow, making it very difficult to dig people out."

Shen Hanyu thought to herself, "If only we could have a few days of good weather, like today."

The snow has melted, and the road is walkable again.

Today, when she went to Muyu Village, she realized how difficult the roads are to travel now.

Jin Chui also said that the road outside is now covered in snow.

Miao Cui sat down: "General Chen has already sent people to clean it up. If the weather is alright, it should be cleaned up in two days."

That's good. Shen Hanyu can rest assured now.

After finishing all his business in the camp, Chen Jianshan called Zhang Fengzhi over.

"What did you say to those people today?"

Zhang Fengzhi relayed the information truthfully.

"General, Pei Du's disappearance has nothing to do with us, so we don't need to worry about anything. We can just help her look for her, and once she stops looking, we don't need to get involved anymore."

Chen Jianshan stood with his hands on his hips, pointing at Zhang Fengzhi, wanting to say something, but in the end he said, "Pei Du is still the eldest son of the Duke's mansion. As long as the Emperor remembers him, it's not up to us whether we look for him or not."

Zhang Fengzhi shrank his neck and immediately fell silent.

“I originally planned to fool that Miss Shen and tell her to go back and tell the Emperor that she would stop looking, but I didn’t expect her to be so stubborn at such a young age. Besides, what she said wasn’t unreasonable. Zhang Fengzhi, tomorrow you take men out to look for her, and bring those Imperial Guards with you.”

Zhang Fengzhi exclaimed "Ah!" but dared not refute anything, and nodded in agreement.

Chen Jianshan felt extremely exhausted. He couldn't understand why Pei Du, if he were even conscious, would have found a way back. But now, they hadn't even found a body, which was rather strange.

Zhang Fengzhi whispered, "General, if Pei Du were captured by the foreign tribes, they would definitely discover his identity and kill him, hanging him on the city wall. But Pei Du isn't on the city wall, so it's possible he's still alive."

Having spent some time with Pei Du, Zhang Fengzhi, though somewhat resentful of Pei Du, had to admit that Pei Du was quite capable.

It's not impossible that he survived such a calamity.

Hearing Zhang Fengzhi say that, Chen Jianshan had actually thought about it, but he hadn't seen anyone for more than a month and felt that the hope was slim.

They both fell silent for a moment.

Zhang Fengzhi's eyelids twitched: "The prettier the girl, the harder she is to deal with."

Chen Jianshan leaned back slightly. "I've heard a bit about this Shen Hanyu. She's just as unconventional as Ji Yuxiu. Seeing is believing."

After the two finalized their search plan for tomorrow, Zhang Fengzhi went back.

When it got light, Shen Hanyu got up and saw that the Imperial Guards had already set off. The search for people was progressing much better today than the previous two days.

Ji Yuxiu rode over on horseback.

“I’m going with them today. You stay in the tent. I can handle things outside.”

In just a few days, Shen Hanyu's face has become almost the same as Lin Cao's.

Shen Hanyu applied ointment to her face: "I'd better go take a look. I won't hold you back."

She can ride a horse and keep up with their speed.

Ji Yuxiu thought about it and agreed.

I put on the thickest clothes I had in my bundle. They say it's cold for three days after a snowfall, and that's no exaggeration.

Following them there, Shen Hanyu looked at the map; this was a place they hadn't searched before.

At first glance, all I could see was a vast expanse of white.

Miao Cui followed beside Shen Hanyu. It was very quiet all around; apart from the sound of horses' hooves and breathing, there was no other sound.

"Girl, this place is so remote."

It took them quite a while to ride over, and the snowfield was eerily quiet.