"Mr. Chen, if you follow me, will there be something wrong with Master Chang?"
"No, if you ask me to follow my boss to the border, it will be regarded as acquiescence."
Xu Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
Changshiro's temperament is difficult to figure out, and he doesn't want to offend him.
"My boss, the same goes for us. As for the Marquis, let us make our own choices." The speaker is Wei Feng, who has been considered the top leader in Qinglong Camp since Feng Qiu died for his country.
"It couldn't be better." Xu Mu was completely relieved.
The Daji is rotten to the core. Although it is said that Beidi will be defeated this time, no one can say when the next Beidi army will go south.
Next time, his luck may not be so good.
"Master, will there be any problems if I leave the city like this?"
Xu Mu frowned slightly. He understood what Chen Jiaqiao meant, referring to the silver and jewelry that came with the car. Even if they were covered with curtains several layers, he couldn't rest assured.
Even if the time comes to return to the inner city, we still need to stay away from official roads and follow the paths back.
"If someone reaches out to grab you, use the knife immediately and kill him later." Xu Mu's voice was steady. Entering the border as a righteous soldier is not allowed to earn military merit. These gains must not be given away.
To put it bluntly, it is equivalent to the foundation of Xujiazhuang's future. Those thousand sets of robes, armor, and weapons were still intended to be reserved for thousands of private soldiers.
"Si Hu, you follow the carriage."
Si Hu responded angrily, patted his horse and ran back to the carriage containing silver and jewelry.
Gong Dog was wrapped in a gray robe and sat silently on the top of the carriage, his eyes looking around from time to time. If there is any abnormal movement, he can twist the arrow and kill it in just two blinks of an eye.
More than four hundred people and horses, as well as three or four carriages, slowly left Wangzhou City.
Zhao Qingyun, who was collecting military achievements outside the city, frowned slightly after seeing this, but he did not stop him in the end.
"Brother Xu, is this what you want?"
"Go back to the inner city."
"Brother Xu, I have already asked people to hold a banquet in Hezhou, and I also asked Brother Xu to stay for two more days. When the angel comes to the court, I will help introduce Brother Xu to the court as a general."
Zhao Qingyun only thought that after saying these words, he should be able to put an end to the past with Xu Mu.
Unexpectedly, Xu Mu, who was riding on the horse, didn't even change his expression. He picked up the reins and continued to move forward.
"Old general, when you return to the inner city tomorrow, remember to come to Xujiazhuang to meet me for a drink."
"It's an honor." Lian Yong hurriedly clasped his fists. Why couldn't he hear what Xu Mu meant, which was a hint to him to be careful about the military exploits of King Guli.
"Brother Xu, if I have time, I will definitely visit you." Zhao Qingyun smiled, as if he was sending off his old friend.
"I'm going to break your legs!" Xu Mu said nothing, but Si Hu burst out angrily.
"Bold!" Dozens of people from Xiaofeng Camp came over, their faces filled with anger, and then more and more people gathered, reaching thousands.
More than four hundred big men on horseback raised their heads and stared coldly at the people and horses in front of them. Their hands with swollen veins were also pressed on the scabbards.
During this period of fighting at the border, the baptism of blood and fire had already beaten them into heroes like cast iron.
As long as Xu Mu gave the order, even if there were ten thousand or one hundred thousand people in front of them, they would dare to kill them with their swords.
The thousands of people blocking the road all had expressions of shock when they saw the gazes of these big men on horseback. In the past, ordinary people would have been frightened when they saw these official soldiers.
"Brother Xu, I'll give you a ride, you and I... we can be considered old friends from the border at least." Zhao Qingyun spat out a complex sentence.
"Lian Yong, take your troops and stay in Wangzhou. I will report to the Ministry of War immediately when I return to Hezhou City, and then we will make plans to annihilate the enemy."
There are still nearly 30,000 veteran households under Lian Yong's command. There should be no problem in staying in Wangzhou. But Xu Mu didn't understand why Zhao Qingyun was like a dog.
He doesn't have any bones.
Of course, he had no choice but to order a fixed-edge general to get away. Furthermore, the two of them were no longer familiar with each other.
"Brother Xu, I have been thinking a lot just now. I just feel that there should be a misunderstanding between you and me."
"I must know that Brother Xu, Brother Hu, and Brother Sheng all look down on me."
"I was just a small captain in Wangzhou back then. I was so brave that I dared to lead two teams of troops to escort hundreds of thousands of people to escape ten miles outside the city."
Zhao Qingyun was riding on the horse, and suddenly started crying under the sunlight.
"The Tongzi camp of three thousand could not wait for the reinforcements from Hezhou and died for the country. The last good horse to ride, a few captains were left to me."
"You're just asking for help, you want me to escape."
"Brother Xu, there is nothing right or wrong between you and me. What is wrong is that the mountains and rivers are broken and the borders are uneasy."
"What do you want to say?" Xu Mu turned his head coldly.
"Brother Xu, how about joining Xiaofeng Camp in our Hezhou Province? If so, you will be inferior to one person in our Hezhou Province and above ten thousand people in the future."
"You want to be emperor? One person is inferior to ten thousand people?" Xu Mu sneered.
"This is nonsense."
"There is nothing wrong with people going up and water flowing down. What you are wrong is that you treat thousands of people as stepping stones. You stole military merit to be promoted. If you are a stable general, I will naturally not blame you. You. But you are not, Zhao Qingyun, I’m afraid you haven’t even noticed that you have changed. "
"Has anything changed?"
“Power corrupts the heart.”
Zhao Qingyun frowned and lowered his head, "Anyway, I at least defended Hezhou City."
"Congratulations to General Zhao for another promotion."
Xu Mu was too lazy to talk nonsense. The old friend in front of him had become a stranger. Zhao Qingyun reined in his horse silently and stopped in place for a long time.
There was no rain in the sky, and the slightly exposed sun finally covered the border land again.
Two long groups, one behind the other, followed the official road for more than a hundred miles and gradually headed towards Hezhou City.
Xu Mu deliberately slowed down his movements, allowing Zhao Qingyun to take the lead with three thousand Qingqi and the chattering Third Battalion of Xifu behind them.
A scout from the Xifu Camp wanted to get closer to the carriage to investigate. As soon as the hilt of his knife reached the carriage, Si Hu raised his leg and kicked him, causing both the man and the horse to fly out.
The fat general named Liu Zhu, thinking of Zhao Qingyun's attitude, did not dare to take action after all. After scolding twice, he led the people on their way in a hurry.
Passing by the old racecourse of Sitong Road, Xu Mu stopped his horse subconsciously. Under the familiar scenery, he almost subconsciously kicked off his horse, then pushed open the village gate and went home.
"Boss and Zhuangzi are all dead." Chen Sheng sighed.
As Chen Sheng said, the Xujiazhuang in front of him had become dilapidated. There were still seven or eight dried corpses hanging in front of the village gate.
The wooden walls were splattered with blood and scabbed. The manor's courtyard, which had not been taken care of for a long time, was overgrown with withered and lush weeds.
People like them, when the city of Wangzhou was destroyed, were in a hurry like a bereaved dog, just thinking about surviving.
The world is unhappy and the people are displaced.
Xu Mu picked up the horse's belly again, and Di Ma began to step towards the misty official road again with his hooves.
Another half a day passed along the way, until the outline of Hezhou City finally came into view.
"Master, there's smoke in Hezhou." Gongou suddenly spoke on the top of the carriage.
Xu Mu was startled, and looked up. Sure enough, he found Hezhou City, which was not far away from them. Under the bright sky, there were seven or eight lines of thick smoke floating suddenly into the sky.
Zhao Qingyun, who was in front, raised his head and cursed a few words, quickly led three thousand Qingqi and rushed back like crazy. Even the slow-moving Third Battalion of Xifu quickly accelerated their marching pace.
"My boss, could it be someone from Di knocking on the city?" Chen Jiaqiao approached on horseback.
"Probably not." Xu Mu thought about it seriously, "It is impossible for Beidi's 80,000-strong army to cover such a long distance in such a short period of time. Besides, the morale of the army is so bad that they will not even think about attacking Hezhou."
"Who could that be? There can't be fires in several places at the same time."
"I do not know either."
Xu Mu lowered his voice and felt faintly uneasy again.
