Southern Chu suffered heavy casualties, and the Wei Dynasty did not give in too much this time, also suffering heavy casualties.
Nangong Zheng and his men retreated to the rear. After bandaging his wounds, he knelt on one knee and apologized to the Wei Crown Prince Yuan Zhao. He promised Yuan Zhao that he must protect the four siege cannons today, but he failed to do so and had all the siege cannons destroyed. Although the last two siege cannons were destroyed by the Wei Dynasty on the order of His Highness the Crown Prince. It was in his own hands, but he also had responsibilities that he couldn't shirk.
He Lanjue did not target Nangong Zheng this time, but knelt down with him with a pale face to plead guilty, "Please punish me, Your Highness."
He is worse than Nangong Zheng today. He has long been affected by the sound of the piano that breaks through the air on the Heiyaguan city wall. He has a splitting headache. He can only be a little stronger than ordinary soldiers. He can barely stand still with a knife, but he can't even kill the enemy. None. As long as he moved, the sound of the piano penetrated his eardrums, making his eardrums feel like they were being torn apart.
Nangong Zheng could still lead the Nangong family's secret guards to fight, but as a general, he couldn't do it. He had used up all his strength to prevent himself from falling.
If someone had told him before that Qin Yin could kill someone, he would have never believed it, but he didn't expect that now he has truly seen it.
Although Xie Yuan's music cannot kill people, it can damage one's mind.
Yuan Zhao looked at the two of them for a long time, then raised his hand to ask them to get up, "Get up, I don't blame you."
Nangong Zheng raised his head and looked at Yuan Zhao.
Yuan Zhao said calmly: "Even if I lead the men to attack the city today, I can't do better than you. Get up!"
"Thank you, Your Highness, Prince." Nangong Zheng stood up.
He Lanjue was very ashamed, "Your Highness, I am incompetent. Today's battlefield has no effect at all."
"Get up, I said it's not strange, but it's not strange." Yuan Zhao waved his hand.
He Lanjue also thanked him and stood up.
Yuan Zhao motioned for the two of them to sit down, "I didn't expect that there would be several people in the Nanchu military camp who could play this unheard song of his like Xie Yuan's, and they could also use it on us a second time. . I didn’t expect that a large number of masters from Nanchu would suddenly arrive, join the battle, and even try to seize my king’s siege cannon. It would be a bad thing if they really took it away, but fortunately it was destroyed.”
After he finished speaking, he looked at Nangong Zheng with admiration, "He did an excellent job of receiving my order in time and leading his men to destroy the siege cannon without hesitation."
Nangong Zheng also expressed regret, "It's a pity that all six of His Highness's siege guns were destroyed."
"It's not a pity to destroy it. It can be rebuilt. If it falls into Su Rong's hands and is used for research by Nan Chu, it will be the end." Although Yuan Zhao was also heartbroken, thinking about the situation at that time, he didn't feel it was a pity at least. Not given to Nanchu.
He Lanjue asked: "Who are those people who suddenly came to rescue Su Rong today? Are they the masters sent by Yan Huisheng, the prince of Daliang?"
"No, they are from the Cui family of Qinghe, Daliang." Yuan Zhao said: "One of them, I have seen his portrait, is the most respected grandson of the Cui family of Qinghe, named Cui Xingzhi."
"It turns out that he is Cui Xingzhi, I know him." Nangong Zheng said: "My grandfather once mentioned it to me, but I didn't expect that he would come to Nanchu."
"Well, I really didn't expect that the patriarch of the Cui family in Qinghe would be so determined. In order to support Su Rong, he sent all his most respected and promising grandchildren to Nanchu for help." Yuan Zhao said: "It can be seen that, Cui Gong of the Cui family in Qinghe really values his grandson Zhou Gu very much."
Nangong Zheng thought for a moment and pursed his lips, "The Cui family of Qinghe has been going downhill these years. Even if Cui Gong is quite talented, it is difficult for one person to save the Cui family of Qinghe. In recent years, he has not made any efforts to the court, but It is said that the plan is to keep a low profile with the Duke Protector's Office. It is said that the plan is to use Zhou Gu to raise the declining Cui family when Prince Daliang ascends the throne. But now Zhou Gu has chased Su Rong to Nanchu to become the king's wife. , then there is no guarantee that his plan will not change to letting the Qinghe Cui family settle in Nanchu to make a splash."
He Lanjue was in disbelief, "Isn't this possible? Who in the world doesn't know the Cui family? They have been a family for hundreds of years and have deep roots. How can they be moved easily? They are just here to help Zhou Gu and Su Rong."
Yuan Zhao glanced at He Lanjue and shook his head, "Nothing remains the same in the world. If the Cui family of Qinghe split their roots, it would be unthinkable, but it is not impossible. I never look down on anyone. Mr. Cui of the Cui family of Qinghe, He is someone with such courage.”
He Lanjue stopped talking, still feeling it was too incredible.
Seeing that Yuan Zhao admitted his statement, Nangong Zheng continued: "If it is true as I guessed, then we must capture Heiya Pass as soon as possible. Once the war reaches a stalemate, it will be the most disadvantageous to us. Cui Gong has such courage, so the protector of Daliang Where is the government? If the old protector knew the current situation in Nanchu, would he send a large number of help for his grandson? And Prince Yan Hui of Daliang will definitely not let Nanchu fall into our hands. Maybe Reinforcements will be sent.”
Yuan Zhao nodded, "That's the truth."
He raised his eyebrows and said, "We have a rest today. Luo Yan should wake up tomorrow and continue to attack the city."
If Luo Yan hadn't been seriously injured and fell into coma yesterday, she would have been able to kill Su Rong long ago if she were here today, and she wouldn't have been allowed to wait until someone came to rescue her.
Cui Xingzhi, who was being discussed by Yuan Zhao, Nangong Zheng, and He Lanjue, was busy without touching the ground. As Zhou Gu said, there is no longer a general who can take charge in Heiya Pass. In addition to Su Rong, Zhou Gu, Ye Guixue, Xie Yuan, Fengling, Jiang Zhu and others who were unconscious, Zhang Mao and Ning Ze also fainted after vomiting blood due to injuries to the inner palace, and Shen Yi even suffered from eating. After taking Baotaiwan, he was sent back to bed and fell asleep again. There was only one Zhang Yun, who had lost too much blood and his face was pale. He was still holding on, making people look like he was about to collapse at any time.
Cui Xingzhi took over such a heavy responsibility for a while. No matter how talented he was, he had never handled military affairs. He studied the hundreds of schools of thought and the six arts of the gentleman. What he taught was the strategy of governing the country, people's livelihood and helping the world. Faced with such post-war deployment, , feeling a little unable to start, Zhang Yun swallowed a lot of medicine, supported himself, and explained everything to him.
Cui Xingzhi was smart. He took action after an hour and quickly ordered people to send Zhang Yun back for treatment and rest.
Zhang Yun also knew that he couldn't hold on anymore, so he stopped insisting, relaxed and fainted, and was sent back.
Cui Xingzhi was busy until late at night before finishing everything. Mo Shu, a close guard, reminded him, "Sir, there are people here to guard the city. You go back to your house to drink water, eat food, and have a rest."
Cui Xingzhi shook his head and rubbed his brows tiredly, "I'll just find a place nearby and rest for a while."
He really didn't expect that the situation in Nanchu had reached such a crisis. The worst plan he had ever thought of was that the princess and her cousin would be constrained by the Nangong family and frequently in danger of being assassinated. Who would have thought that the Wei Dynasty would quietly mobilize 800,000 troops and horses to attack Nanchu, and it was the Wei Crown Prince Yuan Zhao who personally led the troops.
