"What did you say? General Zhou is dead? Where is His Royal Highness now?" Yan Ruohai was so furious that he could no longer care about anything. He grabbed the armor of the Tianyun guards who were blocking him and shouted angrily.
With a master level cultivation, such skill, when he was angry, not only the momentum around his body surged, but all the Tianyun Guards were instantly knocked back several steps before they could stop themselves. The Tianyun Guards, who were picked up by Yan Ruohai, had already His face turned pale with fright. Who in Qi Yun's army didn't know that this grandmaster guard had killed thousands of people single-handedly in a fit of rage.
"The general...the general...succumbed to his injuries...last night..." The soldiers were not afraid to face the ferocious enemy troops, but in the face of the furious Yan Ruohai, they remained silent and trembled. The death of Zhou Min occurred.
At a loss, Yan Ruohai was convinced that he heard correctly this time, and unconsciously let go of Tianyun Guard. He looked up and saw that Luzhou was full of people. He then remembered that before the troops left Jiang Lin, he and Zhou Min had a drink. The scene of Yan Huan, in just over a month, has become a world apart.
The tiger's eyes were full of sadness, but in just a short moment, Yan Ruohai had come back to his senses, suppressed his sadness a little, raised his brows, and asked about the prince's safety.
"Where is the Crown Prince? Has he been injured?"
When the generals saw Yan Ruohai's gesture, they did not dare to be indifferent and hurriedly said: "Your Highness... Your Highness, he..."
Yan Ruohai's fiery temper heard what Tian Yunwei said, and Huandao Crown Prince also suffered an unexpected event. He could no longer suppress the anger in his heart, and his fierce true energy overflowed, knocking down more than a hundred soldiers around him.
Seeing Yan Ruohai like this, one of the generals quickly got up and spoke first: "Yan Gujun, please be patient. Your son is fine, so don't worry."
Hearing the general's words, Yan Ruohai immediately calmed down, and the fierce energy that spread out immediately dissipated. He quickly stepped forward, picked up the man, and confirmed again: "You know the consequences of lying to me."
"How dare you deceive Yan Hujun? Your Majesty... His Majesty, he was not only unharmed, he also led his army to defeat the Tang army, and then defeated the Tang army on the bank of Yingjiang River..."
Before General Pian finished speaking, he saw that Master Yan had already turned around and walked towards Luzhou City...he hurriedly called out: "Your Majesty...His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, is keeping vigil for General Zhou in a wealthy courtyard in the north of the city. The Crown Prince has given an order , don’t allow others to disturb you..."
When the voice fell, Yan Ruohai's voice was no longer heard. The grandmaster had already used Qinggong and left. No one dared to stop him. They could only watch Yan Ruohai's leaving figure and look at each other in confusion.
"I heard that Grandmaster Yan and General Zhou have a close personal relationship. In my opinion...I am afraid that even the victory over Jiangtian Moat will not be able to stop the wrath of His Royal Highness and Grandmaster Yan."
"But we only have about 40,000 soldiers. Even if the Tang army is defeated, it will not be easy for us to cross the river and fight, right?"
"General Zhou treats me like a nephew and brother. Not to mention winning Jiang, even if I go to heaven to avenge General Zhou..."
——
In the other courtyard, the Crown Prince Qi Shao rubbed the yellow paper in his hands, his eyes unwavering, looking calmly at the brazier in front of him, watching the yellow paper gradually being engulfed by the fire. Fan Mouzheng beside him was about to step forward to persuade the Crown Prince not to be too sad, but He was blocked by someone beside him.
Fan Mou was asked by King Yun to accompany Qi Shao as soon as he entered the prime minister's palace. To Qi Shao, Fan Mou was both a teacher and a friend. When he was blocked this time, he couldn't help but feel slightly angry. He looked at the person in front of him and realized that he had never been there before. Qi Yun has seen this person in the army.
He was dressed in a black robe, with a stooped figure and folds on his face. He looked almost seventy years old, but his eyes were very bright, which was very inconsistent with his face. These eyes seemed familiar to Fan Mou, but he always thought I can't remember where I have seen these eyes.
"Sir, His Royal Highness is offering condolences. Your Excellency should know the etiquette." The man spoke, his voice was steady, but his tone was sharp.
After looking at the prince for a moment, Fan Mou regarded himself as an old man in front of the prince. He ignored the people who blocked him, but stopped and saluted the prince and said: "Your Highness, take care of yourself..."
Just as he spoke, the footsteps of soldiers came from outside the courtyard: "Your Majesty..."
"No need to report, Yan personally reported to the Crown Prince...His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Yan Ruohai's voice sounded at the same time.
Several people in the courtyard looked back at the courtyard door at the same time. The rickety man who blocked Fan Mou also turned his head and turned his eyes to where the sound came from, with a little fear in his eyes.
As he spoke, Yan Ruohai, who had tiger eyes and long beard, strode into the courtyard, followed by the Tianyun guards who kept holding their hands to block him. Seeing the expression on Yan Ruohai's face, the prince raised his hand to stop the soldiers who were still trying to persuade him. Then he turned his attention to the dusty Yan Ruohai.
Yan Ruohai looked at the silent prince, and felt that the prince seemed to have changed a lot compared to before he sent out troops, but he couldn't tell what went wrong.
Holding on to the last glimmer of hope, I wanted to see Lao Zhou and the Crown Prince having a drink with the moon in the courtyard. I watched him rushing over to tease me for not knowing how to "cheat death", until I saw the white flags all over the courtyard, Yan Ruohai's His heart sank into the sea, and he murmured: "Your Highness, what's going on, Old Zhou..."
Before he finished speaking, the prince raised his hand to stop him. Seeing his eyes sweeping across the crowd, he said softly: "Please step aside first and let me talk to Grandmaster Yan alone."
Although Yan Ruohai had a hot temper, he could only observe etiquette in front of Qi Shao, suppress his desire to find out what was going on, and wait patiently for the few people in the courtyard to retreat until only His Highness the Crown Prince and himself were left in the courtyard. , raised his eyes and saw the rickety figure beside the prince.
"Who are you? Didn't you hear His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's order?" Yan Ruohai, who was full of anger, had no place to vent his anger. When he saw this man who seemed to have not heard the Crown Prince's order, he still stood and bowed, and immediately shouted angrily.
Unexpectedly, this man was still standing aside, motionless. Yan Ruohai couldn't help but feel angry, but because Zhou Minling was in front of him and the prince was also there, he temporarily suppressed his anger.
Until there was no one else in the courtyard, his eyes turned to Zhou Minling's place. Sadness finally hit his heart. No matter how much he did, he strode to Zhou Minling and knelt down in front of Zhou Minling with a "pop" sound. The iron-clad tough man could no longer suppress it. My heart is sad and I am crying.
"Old Zhou, before the troops left Jianglin, we made an agreement. After the rebellion in the Southern Tang Dynasty has been put down, you and I can have a good drink. You old boy still owes me a jar of good wine. Is it possible that you can achieve your dreams? It’s too late..."
Yan Ruohai's eyes were filled with sadness and memories at times. He reached out to grab a piece of yellow paper and rubbed it with his palms. The yellow paper in his hands suddenly turned into powder. As Yan Ruohai raised his palms, it spread like snowflakes all over the sky.
"Brother, let's go and wait until Ruohai leads his army to conquer the Southern Tang Dynasty to comfort my brother's spirit in heaven!"
When he finished speaking, Yan Ruohai suddenly turned around, knelt in front of Qi Shao, clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, Ruohai, please lead an army of 10,000 to fight the Tang army and avenge General Zhou!"
With a long sigh, the prince raised his hand to support Yan Ruohai's arm and softened his tone: "Master Yan, I can understand your mood. I have avenged General Zhou's revenge."
He raised his head suddenly, his eyes widened, and Yan Ruohai looked at the prince in front of him in disbelief. The military report he received was that 130,000 Tang troops crossed the Yingjiang River... Qi Yun's army was only 50,000, even though Zhou Min was very good at using troops. , how to defeat the enemy when faced with soldiers that are twice as many as our own.
How did the prince defeat the 130,000-strong army without General Zhou? Yan Ruohai didn't feel rude, and looked at the prince's handsome face with a pair of tiger eyes, as if trying to find the answer, but on the prince's face There was no change at all, not even the calmness in those eyes.
"If Grandmaster Yan doesn't believe it, you can lead your own three thousand Qingqi to check. There are no more Tang troops north of Yingjiang River." When the prince spoke, there was still no reaction, as if defeating the enemy with a small number was just an ordinary thing in his eyes.
"How dare Yan not believe what the prince said? I just want to know how Zhou Min died in battle." Yan Ruohai seemed to have not given up on investigating the cause of Zhou Min's death and asked.
When the prince heard the words, his eyes flashed sharply, but he returned to normal for a moment, and replied in a deep voice: "I was surrounded in Qinggu, and General Zhou led his army to come to my rescue. Unexpectedly, the Tang army was cunning and used me as bait, outside the Qinggu. Setting up an ambush... General Zhou was defeated in a fight with Tang Zaixing, the leader of the Tang army's thieves, and was seriously injured. Although our army was brave and defeated the Tang army with a small number, General Zhou was unfortunately poisoned by Tang Zaixing. After defeating the enemy, the poison occurred. We There is nothing we can do to save ourselves..."
"Tang Zaixing? Tang Clan Tang Zaixing? Is he the commander-in-chief of the Tang Army?"
Listening to the prince's own words, Yan Ruohai finally accepted Zhou Min's death in battle. However, when the prince mentioned that Tang Zaixing, the leader of the Tang army's thieves, he keenly noticed the slightly sluggish figure of the rickety figure next to the prince, with tiger eyes. After a moment, he turned the conversation to Tang Zaixing.
"His Royal Highness, the leader of thieves in Tang Dynasty
Has Zaixing fled south with the Tang army in defeat? "
The prince's eyes turned slightly, and then he said: "The leader of the thief has been killed!"
"Tang Zaixing is dead? Then Tang Zaixing is well-known in the martial arts world. He has already stepped into the realm of master with his poisonous skills. Who in our Qi Yun army killed him?" There were many doubts, and he was suddenly full of seriousness. Ruohai thought in his heart that even if he fought with Tang Zaixing in front of the battle formation, he might not be 100% sure of defeating him, so he wanted to ask Qi Yun who in the army had this skill.
Looking at Yan Ruohai, the prince twisted his jade holder and spoke slowly: "It doesn't matter who it is. What's important is that General Zhou's revenge has been avenged. The Tang army has retreated to the south of Yingjiang River, but I want to take advantage of the opportunity to cross the river and go south. If When the Southern Tang Dynasty calms down, it will be difficult for our army to cross the river."
"Absolutely not! Your Highness, on the day we send out troops, we only want to retreat from the Tang Dynasty and protect the people. If we cross the Yangtze River and go south at this time, regardless of our lack of troops, if we go deep alone, the Southern Tang Dynasty will slow down and cut off our army's retreat. , then Qi Yunjun will become a turtle in the urn." Hearing that the prince wanted to send his troops south, Yan Ruohai was shocked and hurriedly opened his mouth to dissuade him.
"But General Zhou's revenge only cost Tang Zaixing one life, how can he give up..." The Crown Prince glanced at Yan Ruohai, regardless of his sincere expression, without hesitation, as if he was unwilling to give up on going south.
Although Yan Ruohai only served as a guard officer, he was also well aware of the danger of a lone army going south. Looking at the prince's calm eyes, his eyes were filled with troubles. He temporarily suppressed the hatred in his heart and spoke to dissuade him: "The revenge of General Zhou has been avenged. Let's cross the river and go south." Please think twice, Your Highness."
"I have made up my mind, and the strict guards should not try to persuade me anymore..."
Determination flashed in the prince's eyes, and when he was about to speak, he heard the sound of hurried steps outside the courtyard, together with Fan Mou's urgent voice.
"Your Highness, something bad has happened!"
The shouts interrupted the two people who were talking. Yan Ruohai stood up abruptly and met Fan Mou, who was trotting in. He raised his eyebrows and said, "How dare you rush in if the prince does not pass on the throne."
However, Fan Mou did not stop as Yan Ruohai treated him before. He only thought about the Crown Prince and opened his mouth in panic: "Your Highness, something bad is going on!"
Yan Ruohai still wanted to rebuke Fan Mou, but was stopped by the prince. A strange light flashed in his eyes, and he asked: "What made the military advisor so panicked? Could it be that the Tang army crossed the Yingjiang River again?"
Fan Mou showed hesitation and did not speak directly. His eyes kept scanning Yan Ruohai, as if he was on guard.
The prince seemed to have seen what Fan Mou was thinking, and immediately said, "It doesn't matter, the Yan Guard Army is the pillar of our army, just report it!"
"Yun...King Yun and His Highness the Eldest Prince...were...imprisoned...by Emperor Zhao. It has been announced to the world...that they will be punished for treason!" Fan Mou seemed to have been frightened. He was so brave that when he opened his mouth, he was already trembling.
