Ten miles outside Ziwu Valley, the cold wind was blowing, but it could not blow away the thick fog.
It was almost dawn, and the cold wind rolled up the ground and mixed with the rising mist, forming an invisible barrier. Hidden under this layer of mist was a chilling atmosphere.
On the horizon in the distance, a faint blush rose, indicating that the morning sun was about to rise. The mist dispersed slightly, and countless camps could be seen. However, only one tent among the camps still had lights. The large banner next to the tent was not condensed. The cold spring breeze is blowing, but the word "Jin" on the big scroll is extremely conspicuous.
The guards in front of the tent were not wearing face coverings. The heavy bags under their eyes showed that they had not slept all night, but the murderous intent in their eyes was not diminished at all. Their eyes were burning and they scanned the surroundings of the camp vigilantly, not missing the slightest sound. .
Until several rows of soldiers patrolling the camp were seen again in front of them, the people in the camp seemed to hear the sound of the patrol's footsteps, and then a heroic voice came out: "Okay, let's go and have a rest. I told you not to be so nervous, but you don't believe me." , Qi Yun's army has been frightened by our cavalry, how dare they attack at night."
The soldiers who were guarding the tent and patrolling the camp all heard it clearly, but they just looked back in search of the sound. After respectfully saluting the camp, they still did not slack off and continued patrolling the camp.
Perhaps he noticed the persistence of the soldiers outside the tent. After sighing, the curtain of the camp tent was slightly lifted, and a man came out with his head held high. Judging from the neat armor on his body and the golden helmet on his head, it seemed that he also had not slept all night.
The golden helmeted general looked at the sky, his sharp eyes full of regret and murmured to himself: "Is this the Qi Yun army that defeated you back then? It really disappoints the child. Your spirit in heaven protects the child. After Yixue was defeated that year, shame..."
While he was talking to himself, several generals from the camp came quickly. The golden helmeted general noticed the person coming behind him, turned his gaze away, and turned to the person coming behind him. Knowing that there was a military intelligence report, he waved his soldiers back and turned back into the tent.
The general under the tent did not wait for the golden-helmeted general to sit down. He was impatient. Regardless of the obstruction of the generals around him, he stepped out and reported: "General, Qi Yun's army has been defeated three times in a row. Why don't we retreat?"
The golden-helmeted general was not annoyed by the general's question. Instead, he glanced sharply at the other generals. When he saw that no one dared to look up where he looked, he withdrew his gaze with satisfaction and slowly spoke to the general who questioned him. .
"Our army has lost less than a hundred men and has defeated Qi Yun's army, forcing them to retreat into Ziwu Valley. If we don't take advantage of the victory and pursue it now, how long will it take?"
The general saw that General Jin Helm did not seem angry because of his questioning. Instead, he pushed forward and stepped forward, questioning even louder: "The Holy Lord's decree is to pretend to attack each other, but in fact to support Lord Lu Can, the general ignored the military order. Why do you insist on fighting Qi Yunjun?"
He still spoke slowly in the calm tone before, but General Jin Helm's eyes had gradually turned from sharp to cold: "Then what will our army do according to General Liu's wishes?"
The generals under the tent had already sensed the murderous intent permeating the tent, and some of them wanted to line up to stop the questioning general. However, when they saw the golden helmeted general's eyes, he retreated and did not dare to step forward again. They had no choice but to let the general continue. Open your mouth.
"The general believes that the general should put the overall situation first and stop fighting Qi Yun's army. He should stick to the gate of the village and send out scouts to quickly find Master Lu's whereabouts." ap.
The golden helmeted general nodded slightly, as if he recognized the general's advice. He stood up leisurely and said, "General Liu is right, the overall situation is of paramount importance..."
General Jin Helm said as he walked down from the general's seat, walked to the generals, looked around, and asked: "Is there anyone who has the same opinion as General Liu? You can report it now. ..”
Seeing that all the generals in the army were bowing their heads in silence, General Jin Helm smiled, looked back at General Liu and said with a smile: "General Liu, although I think your advice is good, none of the generals present think so... .”
"Hmph, Chun Yufu, don't think Liu doesn't know what you are thinking. Others are afraid of you, but I am not. All you have been thinking about for these years is to clear the name of your father who defeated Changzhou. You use One hundred thousand cavalry show favoritism..."
General Liu angrily rebuked Jin Helm, but before he could finish his words, he found that he could no longer speak. There was only a gurgling sound in his throat. He looked down and saw that a finger-wide bloody hole had been poked in his throat. At this time, Just "poof" blood came out...
With his eyes wide open, General Liu wanted to grab the golden helmet.
However, unexpectedly, the opponent had already retreated a little, as if he was worried that his blood would be splashed on his golden helmet... His hands fell into the air, and General Liu was slumped. When his arms dropped, he fell forward and fell to the ground.
General Jin Helm looked coldly at the blood all over the ground in the tent, looked at the frightened generals around him, and said calmly: "I am very pleased, you all still have your late father in your hearts... Yes, this time I came to Qi, your Majesty is there. The order was issued, but the general was outside, and the military orders were not obeyed... Our army's cavalry had followed the order and responded to Mr. Lu. Unexpectedly, Qi Yun's army had detected our army's movements early and attacked with all its troops. Our army had no choice but to fight with him. Confrontation."
Pacing calmly, the golden helmeted general observed the expressions of the generals and kept talking: "The generals also swarmed to kill the enemy and defeated Qi Yun three times in a row. Unfortunately, General Liu was injured in front of the formation. After returning to camp, he was cowardly and afraid of fighting, talking nonsense. Nonsense words have touched the hearts of our troops... Please tell me, is it true or not?"
After Chunyu finished speaking, his eyes swept across the generals in the tent. Wherever his eyes went, all the generals opened their mouths to respond.
"What General Chunyu said is true..."
"General Liu was frightened by Qi Yunjun. We saw it with our own eyes..."
"I'm so annoyed that General Liu is afraid of fighting in front of the battle line, unlike me, the son of the Jin Dynasty... The general can kill well!"
Withdrawing his gaze, Chunyu Fu smiled with satisfaction, turned around and said, "Chunyu has sent someone to write down your military merits. On the day he returns to the court, Chunyu will definitely report it to the court and reward him based on his merits... But if anyone talks too much..."
"Don't worry, General Chunyu. We will look after him with due diligence..." All the generals saluted in unison.
"Chun Yufu is lucky to have you all advancing and retreating together. Someone is coming -" Chun Yufu shouted loudly, and all the generals in the tent trembled. When they heard the order, several swordsmen and axe-hands and the military secretary had already walked quickly. enter.
Turning around and glancing at the expressions of the generals, Chun Yufu sneered and said, "Write it down... General Liu is afraid of war and disturbs the morale of the army. I will gather all the generals in the tent to convict him and kill him in the tent!"
The generals who were still somewhat selfish at first could only stop thinking and bowed their heads when they saw that the secretary was recording tonight's events one by one.
"Since Qi Yun's army has retreated into Ziyang Valley, I think their reinforcements are already on the way... Where are the scouts!" Chunyu's eyes sharply reappeared.
When the order came out of the tent, the scouts quickly walked in. The general continued to give instructions: "I order you to lead a thousand people to circumambulate the Ziwu Valley and detect the movements of Qiyun's reinforcements within three days. If there is no report for three days, come and see me!"
"Got the order!" The scout took the order and left.
Chunyu Fu looked outside the tent. The morning sun had risen. The red clouds had illuminated the sky. Ziyang Valley was far away. He looked towards the place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Chunyu Fu's eyes showed a trace of solemnity and he turned back to the tent. The generals spoke.
"Feng Chong!"
A tiger general under the tent raised his head and responded: "The end is here!"
"Order the whole army to have breakfast. After three hours, you lead five thousand troops to call for formation. Remember... once Qi Yun's army attacks, you can only lose, not win!" Chunyu Fu said in a deep voice.
"Take your orders!" Feng Chong lifted his cloak behind him and stepped out in the wind.
The generals in the tent were still puzzled, but before they could ask questions, Chun Yufu had already moved to the sand table. He searched with sharp eyes for a moment and landed on a forest on the sand table...
"Shi Lang...how far is this forest from our army's camp?"
"General, it's about fifteen miles away."
"Okay, I order you to lead an army of ten thousand and set off immediately to this forest. Before nightfall today, you have to dig three feet into the ground to find a place where I can hide my troops." Chunyu Fu spoke without any doubt.
"The general has the order!"
"Tao Wu, Jiang Shang, Jin Kui!" Chunyu Fu continued to order without stopping.
The three fierce generals had already come out, clasped their fists and bowed their heads, saying in unison: "The last general is here!"
Chunyu Fu never took his eyes off the sand table and continued to speak: "The three of you each led an army of 20,000. When Feng Chong was defeated, you pretended to rescue him, but you were still defeated. You lost more armor and horses, which led Qi Yun's army to pursue them. You waited for an ambush and immediately Counterattack...the rest of the generals, follow me and lead the central army to support us!"
"Have an order!"
The generals came out after the order and performed their duties. Chun Yufu looked again and saw that the light of the morning sun had sprinkled into the tent and was shining on the top of his horse's branch.
The sun is warm,
The light is cold, the sharp eyes are filled with murderous intent...
——
Outside Yanbei City, Gu Xiao was in a daze as he looked at the backs of the patrolmen retreating towards the rising sun. His eyes that should have been happy to escape from Yanbei did not see the slightest bit of joy, but revealed deep worry.
Yandianguo, who had met Gu and Jiang outside the city, was about to step forward to recall the young man's thoughts, but was stopped by Jiang Ningxue, who was beside him, raising his hand. Then he handed the horse's reins to Yandianguo's hand, and gently moved Lian Step forward.
"Are you worried about them?" Jiang Ningxue had already seen the young man's thoughts and said softly.
"Not only them, but also the people of Yanbei are more worried. If the Yanbei army is defeated and the Jin cavalry goes south again, what kind of tragedy will it be like..." The young man looked at the morning sun and remembered the scene in front of the Yunlai Inn. The strange celestial phenomena he saw coincided with the time when the Jin army entered the Qi Dynasty. He secretly thought that there might be a master who knows the sky among the Jin army this time.
Jiang Ningxue asked suspiciously: "Do you think the Yanbei Army can't resist it?"
"There was a fight at the Yunlai Inn. Even if the generals in the Yanbei camp were not killed by the butcher's knife, they were all injured. Moreover, Gao Deng was in charge of Yanbei for the first time. Although he was already the commander-in-chief, he might not be able to convince the crowd. Yan Although the Northern Army is brave, they are leaderless and they can only fight on their own..." The young man expressed his worries.
Jiang Ningxue thought of Qi Tao and asked: "Then... what Prince Ning can't control these soldiers?"
Miss Jiang's question seemed to remind Gu Xiao of the essentials of military art taught by his master when he was a child in Wugui Mountain. He shook his head slightly and said, "Mr. Yun... Although His Highness Prince Ning is a prince, he is not a general after all. These things What the military men need now is not the royal family and nobles... After losing three battles in a row, what they need is a victory, a leader who can lead them to defeat the enemy's army head-on, so that they can regain their morale."
Looking at the boy's young face as the sun shone down, worry gradually filled his eyes, which seemed to have made him a little tired. Jiang Ningxue was about to say something to comfort her, but she heard that he had already withdrawn his gaze and spoke to herself and the pipe pot.
"Miss Jiang, Brother Chixin, I have something to ask of you right now."
"What's the matter?" Jiang Ningxue and Yandianguo looked at the young man's determined eyes, seeming to have a vague sense of what he was going to do.
"Lu Can's whereabouts are important, not only because of Brother Yang... but also because of..." Gu Xiao looked hesitant, not knowing how to tell Lu Can that he had found out that he had never returned to the mountain, but Jiang Ningxue heard She has stretched out her hand, as thin as a spring onion and as white as jade, to herself.
"Give it to me." The fairy in white whispered two words.
The young man's eyes were full of surprise, as if the woman in front of him had already seen through his thoughts. He opened his palms and said curiously: "How did you know..."
"When you let Shan Bin go, you whispered a few words to him. He gave you something. Brother Chi Xin is good at tracking. If you want to find Lu Can, you will definitely need something he brought with him. I would like to see it. He What exactly is it that I entrusted to you?" After saying this, Jiang Ningxue's originally cold and piercing eyes revealed a bit of cunning as she looked along the young man's slender palm.
It was a secret letter, a secret letter promising to be granted the title of Marquis. It was exactly what Lu Can wanted for An Danbin. It was lying quietly in the young man's hand.
