In Dingxiang City, Su Lie led his troops into the city dejectedly. Even if they captured the Turkic leaders, military advisor Zhao Deyan, General Zhi Shisili and others, they could not escape Jieli, which meant that all their previous efforts were in vain.
"Master Marquis, Su Lie is here to apologize!" In the city lord's palace, Su Lie bowed his head when he saw Xiao Rui.
Xiao Rui personally stepped forward to help him up, "General Su, what are you guilty of? Isn't it just that you ran away from Jieli? You broke from 10,000 to 40,000, captured a large number of Turkic generals, captured many war horses, and achieved great results. I am here for you." It’s too late to repay him, so where can I blame him?”
"But letting Jie Li escape under the eyes of the general... Sigh! I really couldn't bear to do it. I obviously saw him at that time."
Xiao Rui said with a smile: "Come, sit down first, and talk about the battle last night in detail."
Su Lie said eloquently: "Last night, while they were camping and drinking their horses, we suddenly rushed out. It happened that Jieli and a few people were riding horses outside the camp. The general rushed towards him and killed him."
"However, Jieli ran too fast and hid in the crowd. After the other party organized several groups of people to break up, a large number of people fled towards Dingxiang."
"The last general chased him all the way to the most crowded place, but he captured Zhao Deyan and many Turkic generals along the way, but there was no Jieli. In the end, there were no more Turkic troops in the front, and there was still no Jieli."
"It was then that the general realized that Jie Li must have taken advantage of the chaos and escaped among the broken troops. So the general left a small number of people to guard the prisoners, and sent out most of the hundred troops to pursue the deserters to the west."
West? Why the west? Instead of all directions?
"Because fleeing to the west is closer to the Turkic royal court, most of the deserters ran to the west."
Xiao Rui slapped his thigh, "Wrong! This is Zhao Deyan's trick. By letting the soldiers flee to the west and mislead, in fact, they are covering Jie Li's eastward escape into the night alone. As long as you stay far away from you under the night sky, you will be alone. , you can’t find it at all.”
Su Lie was so angry that he shouted, "Damn it! This cunning Zhao Deyan, I'm going to settle the score with him right now."
Xiao Rui persuaded him: "This man can be regarded as a loyal protector of the Lord, so there is nothing wrong with him. Bring him over and let me see him. You can take the brothers to have a good rest first. Jieli can't run too far with a group of defeated soldiers by himself." , just wait until you recharge your batteries and rest, then go catch them."
"Can you still catch it? Could it be that Mr. Hou has already figured out Jie Li's position?" Su Lie said in surprise.
Xiao Rui smiled bitterly and said: "I just do my best to obey fate. I am not a fortune teller like Lao Yuan. Go and have a good rest first. It is not easy to go deep into the grassland to find people. If you are tired, you will not be able to catch up."
Su Lie happily went to make arrangements.
Xiao Rui asked someone to bring a grassland map. It was not a military map, but a special map drawn by the Xiao family caravan. The markings on it may not be as detailed as the military map, but there are some more things than the military map.
"Master Marquis, the prisoner Zhao Deyan has been brought here." The deputy general sent people over.
Xiao Rui stood up from the table, looked up, and said with a smile: "Commander Zhao, we meet again."
Zhao Deyan snorted coldly, "Yes, you won again. You pretended to let the Tang army withdraw, but in fact you were confusing us. You sent people to ambush us halfway, intercepting and killing us, and taking Dingxiang easily. Mr. Hou really has a plan. .”
Xiao Rui cupped his hand and said, "Thank you! Untie me. Military Advisor Zhao is not a prisoner, but my guest."
Lieutenant General: ...
"Don't worry, celebrities have moral integrity and won't slip away."
The deputy untied Zhao Deyan and then retreated to the door to take care of him. Xiao Rui stopped urging him and signaled Zhao Deyan to relax and come over for a chat.
Zhao Deyan stared at Xiao Rui for a long time, as if he wanted to see this person through, but finally gave up. The person in front of him looked like a lazy young man in troubled times. How could he be a strategizing commander?
"Stop looking. If you look again, I'm afraid you will fall in love with me. I'm not a man. Just ask whatever you want. Xiao will tell you everything he knows."
Zhao Deyan raised his hand and thanked him, "Thank you for the promotion, Lord Marquis. If you want to recruit me, you'd better give up. Zhao Deyan was a minister of the Sui Dynasty at first, but later he went away to join the Turks, and now he is a prisoner of the Tang Dynasty. If he surrenders to the Tang Dynasty again, wouldn't he have three surnames? House slave?"
Xiao Rui was stunned for a moment, looked at Zhao Deyan, and couldn't help but laugh: "You are thinking too much. Surrendering you? I don't have the spare time. If I really want to recruit you, I don't need to take action. The frontier is bitterly cold, and no one can do it. Chat with me to relieve your boredom. You are the only one in this city of Dingxiang. If you don't want to chat, I will send someone to take you back."
Zhao Deyan was choked, blushed and walked into Xiao Rui. He lowered his head and saw the strange map on the table, "What are you looking for on the map?"
"Of course I'm looking for someone. You're really good at it. You just let Jie Li be captured. In that case, you can still plan a way out for him, tsk tsk... No wonder Jie Li loves you so much." Xiao Rui praised.
pet? Why does this sound so weird?
Zhao Deyan said confidently: "The Great Khan has been running alone all night, and now the dragon has entered the sea. The Marquis wants to find him with a map, but I am afraid he will disappoint you."
Raising his eyebrows, Xiao Rui became interested, "Oh? Really? Are you so confident?"
"Although you used a stratagem to hide the truth and let Jieli flee eastward, avoiding General Su's pursuit. But you can only extend Jieli's life for a while. It is not difficult to find him."
"Don't believe me? How about you and I making a bet?"
bet?
Zhao Deyan was doubtful.
Xiao Rui said angrily: "If you don't dare, let it go. I am said to be victorious in every battle in Chang'an City. No one dares to bet against me. Invincible, so lonely!"
Zhao Deyan asked: "What does the Marquis want to bet on?"
Xiao Rui smiled and said: "It's very simple. Just bet on whether I can catch Jie Li this time. If I do, how about you come back to Chang'an with me and become the prince's teacher? I can see that the prince likes you very much and respects you very much." you."
"Over the years, His Majesty has given the prince many teachers, and finally there is one who can convince him."
Zhao Deyan said in surprise: "Zhao, a sinner, went to work as a teacher for the Tang Dynasty prince? Are you kidding me? Do I have that qualification? Da Tang Dynasty dares to use me?"
Xiao Rui laughed loudly and said: "His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty demoted talents in any way. He never looked at family background, only talent. You, Zhao Deyan, may be a Sui minister or a Turkic staff member, but after all, you are of Han Chinese blood in the Central Plains. You dare to use You will believe me. If I don’t believe you, I won’t spare your life.”
Zhao Deyan was speechless, and then he thought, "Master Marquis, you still want to surrender."
"Whatever you think, just bet on it and treat it like a boring game. If you don't want to bet, just treat it like I didn't say anything." Xiao Rui said casually.
Zhao Deyan burst into laughter, "You only said how about catching the Khan, but you didn't talk about the other side of the bet. What if you can't catch the Khan? What's your bet?"
Xiao Rui looked at the other party jokingly, "What? Listen to the tone, you still want me to let you go? Stop dreaming. If you can't catch him, Jieli will escape and I will deal with him next year. As for you, kill him I won’t let you go back and cause trouble to the Tang Dynasty.”
"Not all bets have another side. Don't forget, you are a prisoner now. What fairness and human rights do prisoners want? Do you want to play or not?"
