The heavy snowfall that lasted for several days finally stopped. Everything in the world was completely silent. Only the countless remnants of snow left behind, like a bright light, were spread neatly among the mountains, leaving no dead ends.
After the snowy day, the gloomy clouds gradually opened a gap, and the faint sunshine projected down from inside, shining on the white snow, melting little by little into snow water all over the ground, moistening the originally dry mountains. The soil complements the fragrance of green grass.
It’s not cold when it’s snowing, it’s cold when it’s snowing.
Although the cold air is still raging at this time, the current rolling cold current is obviously much milder than the heavy snowfall of the previous few days; however, such mildness will not last long, and the winter of the first year of the Great Zhou Tiansheng is destined to be It's a cold winter.
The biting wind and icy snow could not conceal the majesty and majesty of the Imperial Capital.
As early as a few days ago, three knights from the border entered the capital on horseback, bringing a deafening message to the court, the world, and the supreme emperor: the eldest princess has entered the capital; it has been silent for a long time. When he came to the temple in Beijing, the moment he learned the news, there was a huge uproar, just like when King Qin entered the court, it shocked the court and the world!
In these three days, newspapers from various places in the capital, like countless snow flakes, were continuously delivered to the capital through the channels of Zhongshu, Menxia Second Province and the Imperial City Department, and were sent to the Imperial Study Room. , was sent to the desk of Emperor Zhou; even a wise and wise person like Xiao Changyao had to face the reality that Pingyang was here after all, and he still had to face this sister in the end.
To Xiao Changyao, who is Pingyang? She is not only her biological sister, the unique eldest princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but also a generation of handsome women who holds 300,000 soldiers of the Western Suppression Army, single-handedly wipes out the Western Yan, and makes the Western Barbarian Qiang and Hu frightened. The northwest princes who have a majestic military and control the sweetness and coolness; in short, in Xiao Changyao's imperial concept, whether it is Xiao Changling or Xiao Yingxue, the troops under their command have always been loyal to them personally, rather than to themselves as the emperor. The only The difference is that Xiao Yingxue is a woman, and her threat to the country is far less than that of Xiao Changling, the vassal king.
In Xiao Changyao's own words, the military power belongs to me. I don't have to ask my ministers to hand over the military power. I only have a share in taking it back. Everything you have today is given to you by me. If one day, I want all of it. It is natural to take it back, because everything originally belonged to me...
Today, the Imperial City, in front of the Yongning Gate, is solemn and solemn, highlighting the magnificence of "the first capital in the world"; it is the twelfth month of winter, but the chilling atmosphere inside and outside the capital is worse than the frost and cold wind in this winter. , but also a hundred times a thousand times more condensed.
There was a hint of clarity in the gray sky, and the Shangjing City under the dark clouds, with its tall city walls, thick city gates, and majestic palace city, became even more brilliant and majestic under the sunlight in winter.
At this moment, the city gate of Yongning Gate was wide open, with a long red carpet spread in the middle. Countless imperial guards stood on both sides. There were about hundreds of them. They were wearing golden armor and holding spears in their hands, standing straight in a row. ; The bright-colored golden armor, reflected by the skylight and residual snow, makes it even more glittering and dazzling.
Close to the open gate of the imperial city, only half a mile away, there is an arched overpass that looks like a moon and is made of high-quality white marble stone. There is a moat surrounding the bridge. The water is wide, but the water is not turbulent. , it is said that this is where the capital's water veins converged, eventually forming this moat, with bridges built on the water to suppress the water dragons.
Right in front of the stone bridge is a large square with a wide view and extending in all directions. There are many crowns and crowns there, and the eyes are full of reds and purples; more than 30 officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple all wear beam crowns and Xuanduan ceremonial robes. , uniformly dressed in the official uniforms of the Zhou Dynasty, under the leadership of Ye Zhenggao, the Minister of Rites, Shen Ying, the minister of Honglu Temple, and E Guan Bodai, stood neatly and lined up in the center of the square.
The lineup of nearly forty courtiers is basically dominated by the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple. Among them, there are many old men with gray hair on their temples who have reached the fifth rank of officialdom. There are also some who are only thirty years old and already have a bright future. Among the fourth-rank officials, there are also many ministers of the dynasty who are covered in red and purple, and are anxiously listed among the scholar-bureaucrats...
These high-ranking officials in the imperial court are standing in the square in front of the imperial city at this moment, looking into the distance with various eyes, perhaps with expectation, perhaps with uneasiness, or perhaps looking through the autumn water, waiting for that day. A powerful and talented female commander, and the iron-blooded warriors under her command, set foot in the capital.
The strong north wind blew like a knife, and when it cut the faces of the ministers and nobles, there was a pain that penetrated the bone marrow. There were several elderly ministers in the front row who were struck by the cold as cold as a knife. When the wind blows, the faces filled with vicissitudes of life are covered with solidified wrinkles. It can be seen that their mood, like the wind in this winter, is extremely gloomy and heavy.
"Da da da……"
Suddenly, at this moment, the flat land suddenly vibrated for some reason, like a surging sea tide, rolling in from far to near; in an instant, the sound of thundering horse hooves came one after another, along the It rumbled in the direction of the distant official road, getting closer and closer. Gradually, the thunderous sound of iron hooves naturally gathered in one place.
Suddenly, at the end of the world, there was a roar, and nearly a thousand large banners as black as ink emerged, as if dark clouds fell from the sky, rolling back and forth on the grassland, making countless hunting sounds.
The sound of horse hooves sounded, and two thousand field cavalry, with their armor sparkling and flags fluttering, passed through layers of dense forests and stepped through billowing smoke. Looking up, the cavalry column of two thousand people looked like a large piece of silver iron. Flow, caught in everyone's eyes.
Only the war horses were heard snoring in a low voice, while the black banners were flying wildly in the cold wind; the hundreds of imperial guards at the imperial city gate and the two thousand cavalry who came from afar were separated by the The white overpass faces each other from a distance, just like the black and white pieces playing against each other on a chessboard.
The golden-armored imperial guards under Yongning's sect looked curiously at the well-armored frontier cavalry. Although they had traveled such a long distance in such a bad wind and snow, they did not let the military might of the cavalry opposite them show even a trace. reduction.
The armor they wore was fish scale armor hand-forged by the craftsmen of the Ordnance Department. Even under the weak winter sun, it could still reflect the silver light as strong as a long sword, and the heavy iron helmets were sprinkled with light. A bunch of long white tassels extend all the way to the nose, protecting the entire person's face and hiding the expressions on their faces.
This light cavalry wearing silver armor and helmets and tassels is the personal guard of Xiao Yingxue, the eldest princess of Pingyang. With a thousand elite soldiers, they defeated 30,000 Xiyan Wubenjia soldiers, and killed the Xiyan Grand Sima Xiang Kai in formation. They have the highest military exploits. The most powerful force of the Western Army is the "Ganzhou Camp".
A hundred feet away from the stone bridge, two thousand Ganzhou battalion Qingqi, all reining in their horses, stood like white stone sculptures on horseback, standing still.
"Scatter—"
Following an order, the two hundred light cavalry in the vanguard were arranged on the left and right wings. In just a short moment, a ring-shaped military formation was outlined, with one hundred cavalry in the center and one hundred cavalry on the left and right. The 1,800 cavalry behind the army were reorganized according to the proportion of 30% cavalry archers and 70% cavalry trapped in the formation. They were spread over twenty miles north and south and one hundred miles east and west on Le Plain.
"let--"
Suddenly, for another brief moment, a gap opened up in the front row of the Ganzhou Camp, and it opened wider and wider, like roaring waves in the sea, one wave higher than the other, slowly moving in all directions. flow away.
At this time, I saw more than ten cavalrymen galloping out from the opposite side, with clouds of dust rising under their hooves, and they were out of range of the large group of cavalry. And those dozen knights, without exception, were all female soldiers in military uniforms. Each of them was in their prime of life and had a graceful figure, but they did not tend to their hair at the window like ordinary women. The mirror is yellow, but he puts on heavy armor, rides a tall war horse, crawls and rolls around in a military camp where a group of old men gather, and leads the way on a battlefield littered with corpses.
Speaking of which, these female soldiers are all the eldest princess's personal soldiers.
As we all know, the eldest princess Xiao Yingxue has been a heroine on horseback and sword since she was young. Now she is a prince with 300,000 soldiers. Such a powerful and strange woman is certainly not an ordinary person; because of this, Anyone who knows the eldest princess knows that there are few maids around the eldest princess on weekdays, only female soldiers who protect her. These people are soldiers in their spare time and cavalry in war.
Surrounded by more than a dozen female soldiers, a tall "peach blossom horse" slowly walked out of the military formation. Its coat was white with red, with a bright red spot in the snow-white. At first glance, it turned out to be a fine horse; and the owner of this peach blossom horse was the heroic Princess Pingyang who rode the horse with a long sword.
The ceremony officials in the square all raised their heads at this moment. The eldest princess they saw was not a woman, but a female Rakshasa who had just returned from the bloody hell.
They saw that the eldest princess today was not wearing any armor, only a light black outfit, a pair of iron wrist guards on her forearms, a pair of deerskin short boots on her feet, and a handle hanging from her waist. The sword named "Feishuang", her long black and shiny hair was tied up in a high bun, and the rest of her hair flowed down like a waterfall along the graceful lines of her back.
It is said that the late Emperor’s Empress Zhang Xian, who is the mother of His Majesty, His Royal Highness King Qin and the eldest princess, Dugu Yuanji, herself has some blood from the Xianbei family in the North, so the eldest princess’s facial features are relatively regular. Yes, sharp edges and corners.
In addition, over the years, she has been in charge of the military and guarding the border as a female prostitute. Her skin, which was originally as soft as cream, has long been scorched by the scorching sun outside the customs, and has lost its feminine charm; look at her sharp eyebrows. , is a pair of eyes that are as cold as the pearls left in the North Sea. There is a strong murderous aura in the eyes, which seems to be able to pierce through everything.
Xiao Yingxue is riding on a peach horse. Her nose is high and her thin lips are slightly pursed. In her deep gaze, there is no trace of the woman's original charm and sentimentality, but only the heroism and fierceness of a handsome woman in the Western Region. She looks as good as a man.
"drive!"
At this moment, Xiao Yingxue picked up the reins, gently pinched the horse's belly with her legs, and subconsciously accelerated the horse. She led the dozen female soldiers behind her through the long red carpet and walked to the gate of Yongning. Then he reined in the horse and stood resolutely in the square.
Looking from a distance, Xiao Yingxue is sitting on the horse, playing with the riding whip in her hand. Her whole figure, in the dim light of the sky, looks slightly thin and tall; this legendary female commander who commanded an army of 300,000 people is standing at the moment. Staring at the people in the square with cold eyes.
Seeing the eldest princess approaching the horse, two officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple, Ye Zhenggao and Shen Ying, immediately came to greet Xiao Yingxue's peach horse and bowed solemnly.
"I'd like to see you, Your Royal Highness, the eldest princess!"
"See Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
Behind Ye and Shen, more than thirty officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple waved their sleeves and saluted Xiao Yingxue in unison.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Yingxue, dressed in black, was sitting on her peach horse, with a face as cold as snow. She just raised her eyebrows slightly and responded calmly, showing the demeanor of a heroic woman. "My lords, there is no need to be too polite. I am wearing armor, so I cannot dismount and salute. I hope you will forgive me."
"How dare you, how dare you, the princess's reputation is like thunder, how dare we, the officials with swords and pens, be rude!" Ye Zhenggao lowered his head and lowered his eyebrows, saying very humbly.
"Princess, according to your Majesty's order, we are here to welcome your Highness back to the capital and invite the princess to enter the city." Shen Ying bowed again and spoke slowly.
Xiao Yingxue nodded indifferently, "Yes, I understand."
…
It was almost noon, and the gates of the imperial city had been open for a long time.
"Ta, ta, ta..."
At this time again, a roaring sound, like a thunderbolt in the clear sky, rose out of thin air from the official road in the distance; for a moment, the sky above the entire wide official road was covered with clouds that blocked the sky and the sun. dust.
And this sudden sound, from far to near, was uniform and uniform, with a strong penetrating power that even the earth trembled.
That's right.
It's the sound of iron hoofs clanking!
The fierce cavalry and the fierce front of the soldiers swept across the vast land, crushing the decaying dust of the world; this was an unprecedented shock, and the thunderous hoofbeats seemed to shake this towering capital. Loud noises brought a group of roaring Jingbei Tigers.
The thin air seemed to be mingled with a permeating, desolate and tragic chill, which rushed straight to the backs of everyone present; at this moment, the sky and the earth were completely immersed in a solemn atmosphere, silent.
No matter whether they were officials from the Ministry of Rites, Honglu Temple, or the two thousand cavalrymen from the Ganzhou Battalion, they all held their breath and concentrated at this moment; especially the two important ministers Ye Zhenggao and Shen Ying, they did not understand that the two thousand cavalrymen of the eldest princess had already So, where do these hoofbeats come from?
Moreover, even if Ye and Shen were weak civil servants, they could still hear the sudden sound of iron hooves, which was firm and sonorous and even more murderous than the Qingqi of Ganzhou Camp. What exactly did these people do? Who is it? Could it be...
At this moment, everyone was motionless, staring at the unbelievable, unforgettable, and extremely shocking scene in front of them——
They saw an endless black iron rage, roaring, sweeping, rising from the horizon, shining with an extremely cold luster, like the cold light on the tip of a knife, cutting into the depths of everyone's eyes; But I saw this black iron rage rolling in from the horizon, getting closer and closer to the imperial city, and it looked like it was going to swallow everything.
Gradually, everyone saw clearly the figure of the black tide, which was a group of vigorous riders, with black helmets, black armor, spears, and sabers. Everyone wore a big axe, and all of them were covered by iron masks. .
It's the Iron Pagoda, the Iron Pagoda of King Qin Xiao Changling, the Iron Pagoda that killed countless people!
One hundred people.
Two hundred people.
Three hundred people.
A total of three hundred iron pagodas.
Horse hooves formed in formation, and the heaven and earth shook. Such a formation was obviously not something that ordinary cavalry could create. Only the Jingbei cavalry could grind out a bloody road in this peaceful and prosperous era.
I would like to ask who in the world dares to stop in front of Jingbei's war horse, and who dares to stop in front of the iron Buddha's blade and bear the raging anger from the 400,000-strong army. The answer is yes, no one.
Now that the Iron Buddha has been dispatched, the world-famous King of Qin has naturally arrived. Looking at the entire Zhou Dynasty, except for Xiao Changling, who else has this generation of heroes who make 400,000 cavalry obey his words? Such courage and talent?
Surrounded by a group of iron cavalry with spears like a forest, dressed in elegant white clothes, they rode towards Juechen.
I think back then, this Erlang of the Xiao family, dressed in white, also led the now all-powerful Jingbei army with such a free and uninhibited demeanor, across the world, forcing hundreds of thousands of Southern Chu elites into desperate situations, and conquering the arrogant Chu. The abyss drove those savage prairie wolves out of northern Xinjiang and created a period of immortal glory...
Now, he's here again.
Xiao Changling was riding on a horse, dressed in white and wearing a long sword. His handsome face made him even more elegant and heroic. He was dressed in white and wore a black cloak, riding the "Sa" horse. "Lu Zi", behind him were three hundred blood-thirsty iron pagodas, two generals on the left and one on the right, Yang Fang holding a gun and Long Xifeng holding a saber.
The cold north wind blew Xiao Changling's cloak and made a hunting sound.
In a daze, Xiao Changling's eyes gradually became a little hazy, as if covered by a layer of mist, and his long-cold heart of stone also showed a moment of softness; and Xiao Changling's eyes, from beginning to end, He didn't move away from the woman opposite him, his sister, the pillar of the country who was as famous as himself.
This is the first meeting between two world-famous commanders, a pair of siblings whose blood is thicker than water, after more than ten years of separation.
Looking at his proud brother, a sincere smile finally appeared on Xiao Yingxue's cold cheek.
"Amao, you've lost weight."
Thousands of words in my heart finally come down to this few words.
Xiao Changling also smiled.
"Sister, long time no see."
I don’t know how much time passed, but the elegant and suave King of Qin Xiao Changling slightly arched his hands on his horse. Under his two sword-shaped eyebrows were a pair of piercing eyes.
"I heard that the eldest princess has returned to the capital. Gu, led the iron pagoda to greet her. Sister, please look, this is Gu's iron pagoda, the spear of our Jingbei army."
As the lingering sound fell to the ground, Xiao Changling turned his horse's head and squinted at the soldiers behind him.
"I haven't met the eldest princess yet!"
King Qin gave an order, and Yang Fang and Long Xifeng rode forward.
"The last general Yang Fang and the last general Long Xifeng have met Her Royal Highness the eldest princess!"
"I have met Her Royal Highness the Princess—"
The roar of the cavalry resounded throughout the imperial city and the scene was spectacular.
Going to Beijing in the ice and snow reflected the majestic appearance of countless men from Jingbei, and also reflected the heart of a hero, lonely but not lonely.
…
At the end of Yangguan, the back of the general's expedition was nowhere to be seen, leaving only the lingering sound of the horse's neighing in the past, echoing over and over again for a long time.
Looking eastward, I can see mountains and rivers in my eyes, but I can't help but feel this way.
