As the group turned around the corner of Jiulianping, the lights in the village at the foot of the mountain came into view, like stars in the sky, looming.
"My lord, look, someone is coming up!" he heard the soldier walking in front of him shout loudly.
Li Laiheng tightened his reins and watched closely. In the haze, I could vaguely see two lights on the rugged mountain road slowly moving up the mountain.
"Who is going up the mountain at this time?" Leghorn thought to himself.
"Qingping, it's the second watch, right?"
"Yes, Duke Guo." Qingping leaned on her horse and replied. When he was going down the mountain, he checked the time and calculated the distance. It happened to be the second watch of the weather. As he answered, he dismounted his horse, handed the reins to the soldier beside him, and simply sat with Laiheng on the wooden pier beside the road to wait for the visitor.
Not long after, the two of them arrived.
The man walking in front saw everyone's torches, hesitated for a moment, then immediately dismounted, bowed his hands to everyone, and then said respectfully:
"The villain is from the primary school under General Gui Huaiyuan. I have urgent military information that I would like to report to His Highness the Duke."
"Everyone who visited the horse pond reported that the horses were resting in the camp at the foot of the mountain, but why are you so ignorant of the rules?" Qingping stood up and scolded the primary school in a low voice.
"The villain has been waiting at the foot of the mountain for a long time. Because General Gui personally told him, 'You must hand it over to His Royal Highness as soon as possible,' so the villain..."
"Okay, come here." Leghorn stood up and stared at him with bright eyes.
I saw the primary school student take out a sealed urgent document from his arms, hold it in both hands, walk to Laiheng and kneel on the ground, hand it to Laiheng...
It turns out that after Hongxia broke up with Li Xuexiu that day, she sent out many scouts to investigate the military situation.
The place where the Hongxia soldiers and horses are stationed is opposite the Xiling Gorge ferry. The place name is called "Dawang Mountain". Dawang Mountain faces the river and has the Fairy Mountain Range at its back. The local villagers live by the mountains and rivers, and are located on both sides of the river for dozens of miles. A hundred miles down the river from Guizhou is the residence of Sichuan Governor Li Qinxiang. Therefore, in addition to buying food and fodder from local residents these days, Hongxia has also been sending soldiers to investigate, in order to prevent Li Qinxiang's sudden attack. .
As expected by Hongxia, yesterday's horse exploration report said: Li Qinxiang's troops outside Yidao City mobilized frequently and gathered boats and rafts everywhere, but they didn't know whether they were going to attack themselves or the mouth of the gorge. If they captured Huangliang The town should be more convenient for Tong Yanghe's troops on the other side of Yiling. She really couldn't make up her mind, so she went to Xiakou Village to discuss with Gui Huaiyuan and others.
Gui Huaiyuan and others were in a desperate situation after hearing Hongxia's words, so they sent a capable primary school to meet with Lai Heng to ask for instructions.
Laiheng had already read the pond newspaper carefully by the light of the torch, frowned slightly, and then handed the pond newspaper to Qingping to look at.
After Qingping finished reading, she stroked her beard and pondered for a moment, then said:
"My lord, how about we go to the tent at the foot of the mountain to discuss it in detail?"
Li Laiheng nodded in agreement, looked at everyone, and then said to the primary school student:
"It's getting late today. You can go back to Gui Huai tomorrow."
"Yes, Mr. Guo, I understand."
…
The red lanterns of Ciqing Palace are still hanging high.
The two female soldiers from Feng Camp who were standing guard at the door had been squeezed into the corner of the wall by the coldness of the mountain at some point and were leeward from the wind. They talked and laughed secretly, and occasionally glanced at the back of Chen Qiaoer, who was standing alone in the cold wind on the top of the mountain in the distance.
The mountain wind blew Qiaoer's heart into chaos at this time. Leng Yue Qingqiu couldn't hide her longing and admiration for Li Laiheng. She wanted to cry loudly. However, the palace manager has a respected position, let alone crying, not even a drop of tears should be shed in public, as that would really harm the dignity of the palace.
She had thought more than once about the care, love and appreciation Mrs. Zhenyi and Li Laiheng had given her over the years; how many times Laiheng taught her how to read and write, and how many times he taught her horseback riding and archery; how many times she fantasized about being with her. Laiheng can spend time together before and after the moon, and dream of growing old together with Laiheng. But all the illusions were shattered like soap bubbles by Laiheng's "I don't agree".
His throat suddenly became clogged, and silent tears finally burst out of his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.
She looked at the cold night sky and staggered towards the cliff...
Kuang Hanju led fifty archers in a hurry, not daring to delay along the way. Although he had been working non-stop for a long time and could not even take a sip of water, he felt that he must reach the place where Niu Xi arrived before he could be regarded as a competent general under the Duke of Guo. Although he was still just Just a leader of the soldiers. But what he really couldn't understand was why the Duke of Guo had such an idea?
He knew that Niu Xishan used a cooked copper rod weighing about fifty kilograms and had the unstoppable courage of ten thousand people. How could he be used to protect him? He even secretly felt funny, but when he turned around and thought again, the Duke Since I am such a talented person, there should be a reason for doing this. So I stopped thinking about it and just urged the horse to go on its way.
He came all the way from Xingshan and changed horses repeatedly at the inn. He almost exhausted several horses to death. Now he was riding a good Dawan horse, but he was also very tired. He saw the horse foaming at the mouth and kept watching. It's impossible to survive.
Just then he saw an inn not far away, so he jumped off the horse.
Immediately, an elderly postman in his fifties came out of the hall. He hurriedly took Han Ju's reins and said, "General, please wait a moment. It will be fine for a while." while leading the horse to the stable next to the post station. Several soldiers who had followed from Xingshan also went with the old postman to exchange horses.
In the time of a cup of tea, the horse has been changed. The old postman brought over a tall "Licorice Yellow". The "Licorice Yellow" was snorting, its front hooves were pawing, and its ears were erect. It looked very majestic.
Han Ju couldn't help but stepped forward and praised, "Good guy!"
The postman approached Hanju, handed over the horse's reins, looked at the soldiers standing upright, and said in a low and mysterious voice:
"General, this was left by General Niu Xi when he passed by here a few days ago. At that time, he said, 'I don't want to let it run away.' Hey, I think this horse can't run away!" "
Han Ju nodded after hearing this, thinking that it was no wonder, it turned out to be Niu Xi's mount. I wanted to reach out and touch the horse's head. I wanted to see how much taller it was compared to the Dawanliang horse I just rode. Unexpectedly, he even stood up and couldn't even touch his feet.
So he rolled his eyes, stared at the postman and said:
"Aren't you afraid that General Niu Xi will come back and ask you for a horse?"
"I think the general must be a very good person, and this horse is very suitable for the general to ride on. General Niu Xi can handle it, but can you tell me the name of the general?" the postman said respectfully.
"I am the personal guard of the Duke of Guo. My surname is Kuang."
"Oh, it turns out to be General Kuang, no wonder." The postman turned around and looked at the archers again and said:
"Disrespectful little man, disrespectful!"
Han Ju was in a hurry at this time, so he casually took out two taels of silver from his body and handed it to the postman, saying:
"Thank you for your hard work. Let's buy a bowl of wine." After saying that, he was about to get on his horse. Suddenly he remembered something and asked:
"When did the Xingshan troops and horses pass?"
"It's exactly two-quarters of an hour to get back to Mr. Kuang." The postman bowed and replied.
Han Ju turned around and got on his horse and continued on his way with everyone. Just listen to the voice of the postman from behind: "Thank you Mr. Kuang for enjoying the wine..."
It didn't take long for Han Ju to catch up with the rear of the Zhongzhen Battalion. After walking for a while, he could vaguely see the banners with the characters "Zhongzhen" and "Niu" in the firelight. Han Ju rode across directly and quickly, but heard Niu's joy in his ears. The soldier said:
"Hey, look, that looks like General Niu's 'licorice yellow'!"
"Really? Where is it? Why didn't I see it?"
"Look, isn't that?" Someone pointed at the small group of people walking away.
Not long after the second watch, there were only a few sparse lights left in the Xihe camp. The temperature was not very cold tonight. Hei Yougong was leaning against the wall of the village and was falling into a deep sleep when he was suddenly awakened by the sound of horse hooves.
He looked following the sound and saw that the fire was not very bright.
"There shouldn't be many people. Who are they at this time?" he thought to himself. He stood up and walked toward the village gate. There is the newly built Nanzhai Gate, leading to Nanyang Town, he knows.
He shook his head and became more awake. He grasped the handle of the knife at his waist and shouted loudly to the soldiers guarding the gate of the village:
"Open the village gate!"
Following this shout, hundreds of soldiers poured out of the barracks in the village. They all hold torches and weapons in their hands, as if facing a powerful enemy.
When the village gate opened, one could see the leader riding a very tall war horse, with two neat rows of soldiers standing behind him.
The soldiers all carry a hard sword on their backs, a sword and a cowhide sword pouch on their waist, and wear cotton armor and felt hats on their heads.
Immediately the man did not enter the stronghold. He only held his fists and shouted loudly to the people in the stronghold:
"Kuang Han, the leader of the military camp under the general's command, came to the tent of General Hei Yougong to listen to his orders." After saying this, he immediately dismounted and waited. Hei Yougong was really surprised when he heard this and said hurriedly:
"Please, please, this brother, please come into the stronghold and talk!"
Hei Yougong let Kuang Hanju into the stronghold. Although he had never met Hanju and did not know his name, he also knew that there were actually a few leaders of the soldiers around the general. But I don’t know what the purpose of the Duke of Guo was in sending them here? Just as he was about to ask, Han Ju said:
"The general has a letter here. General, please open it yourself and read it." After saying this, he handed over the letter.
I took it in my hand and when I opened it, I saw the letter said:
"Meritorious General, I recently learned from Tongbao that you had a brief battle with the troops of the Governor of Shaanxi and the Governor of Huguang, and achieved a complete victory. I am very pleased, but I have discussed it with the military advisor in private, and I am afraid that you have something wrong with me. I have lost, so I ordered General Niu Xi to lead the Zhongzhen Battalion to rush to your aid. Although General Niu is brave and brave, his experience and experience are not as good as those of the general. I hope that the general will look down on Niu Xi. I am extremely grateful. I also sent Kuang Han, the leader of the central military camp, to lead fifty sacred arrows. My hands are your arms, and I hope you can work together to guard the pass. It will be a blessing to the people, a blessing to us, and a blessing to the Southern Ming Dynasty. Let me encourage you! General Li."
After I finished reading the letter, I seemed calm and calm on the surface, but actually I was in a state of confusion inside.
"How can I be so virtuous and worthy of my black meritorious deeds? The general thinks so highly of me! Based on this, even if my black meritorious deeds are to be shattered into pieces immediately, I am willing to do so!"
…
