Li Zhiyun stood on the hillside, looking at the triumphant army on the Mayi Ancient Road. The rescued women were walking happily in the middle of the team, and they talked happily with the soldiers. This situation made Li Zhiyun feel regretful, and he couldn't help but recite an ancient poem: The people of the plains are weak, and all the incoming soldiers are barbarians and Qiang. Hunting wild and besieging the city, everything in the direction was destroyed. Cut off without any remains, but the corpses support each other. A man's head hangs beside the horse, and a woman is carried behind the horse.
These lines of poetry come from "Poems of Sorrow and Indignation" written by Cai Yan of the Eastern Han Dynasty. They describe the tragic scene in which the Central Plains region was invaded by aliens after the overthrow of the Han Dynasty and the destruction of the country. The people were ravaged, men were slaughtered, and women were robbed. Among them, "A man's head hangs beside the horse, and a woman is carried behind the horse." These two sentences particularly impressed Li Zhiyun. He thought that such a thing would never be allowed to happen in the land of Datang.
Li Zhiyun rode down the mountain and joined the army. The women in the team are all young, the oldest is in their twenties and the youngest is only sixteen or seventeen years old. Some women are not used to walking long distances. After walking for a long time, their feet cannot bear it and they walk with a limp. When Li Zhiyun saw this, he got off his horse and let the woman ride. The generals on horseback saw this and imitated him one after another.
The woman is light and can fit two people on one horse. Li Zhiyun led the horse and walked in front. The woman sitting on the horse looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old. She was very talkative and could not stop talking. She asked Li Zhiyun, "Are you an official?" Li Zhiyun deliberately teased her: " How can you tell that I am an official?"
"You give us a horse to ride. If you are not an official, how can you have a horse?"
"That makes sense."
"How old are you?"
"what do you say?"
"You're not that old, and you're about the same age as me. You shouldn't be a high official."
Cai Hu, who was walking beside him with his horse, smiled and said, "You are wrong. He is a high official."
"High official? How big can he be? Bigger than a general?"
"You are right, he is greater than the general, he is the King of Chu."
"King of Chu?" The woman asked doubtfully, "You are so young, how can you be the king of Chu?"
Li Zhiyun smiled and said: "Whether you are the King of Chu or not has nothing to do with your age..."
Seven or eight days later, the team returned to Jinyang City. Li Zhiyun saw a huge crowd of people outside the city gate from a distance, at least tens of thousands of people. It turned out that when the people in the city heard that the robbed woman had been rescued, they ran outside the north gate early in the morning and waited eagerly. A woman has at least a dozen relatives and friends, or even dozens, so it is not surprising that so many people are waiting outside the city.
The robbed woman was reunited with her relatives, feeling both happy and sad at the same time. There was a lot of crying at the scene, and many soldiers were moved to tears. Many ordinary people held the soldiers' hands and thanked them for rescuing their relatives.
Li Zhiyun mounted the stirrup and was about to leave with his entourage when an old man led a large group of people over and stopped in front of his horse. The old man cupped his hands and said: "His Royal Highness, King Chu, you have rescued these women. You are a great benefactor to our people in Jinyang. We thank you!" As he said that, he took the lead and knelt down, and the people behind him also knelt down. Come down, and immediately after, all the people on the scene knelt down.
Li Zhiyun dismounted hurriedly, repeatedly saying that he couldn't do anything, helped the old man up, and then loudly said to the people: "Everyone, please get up, it doesn't have to be like this!" However, the people still knelt and looked at him in unison, over and over again. They shouted over and over: "We thank you!" The shouts of tens of thousands of people were so deafening that all the soldiers present were moved. Looking at the sincere expressions on the people's faces, Li Zhiyun couldn't help but sigh with emotion. The people are so kind. If you do something good for them, they will be sincerely grateful to you.
After the team entered the city, Scarface took the new army to the military camp. Li Zhiyun took Zhang Zheng, Cai Hu and several guards to the post house to meet Duan Que and others.
From Chang'an to Jinyang, we walked for half a month on the road, marched in a hurry to catch up with the Turks, and fought a battle. The brothers were all exhausted. Li Zhiyun decided to stay in Jinyang for a few days to let the brothers have a good rest, and he himself could understand the operation of the inns, wine shops and other businesses of the Prince of Chu in Jinyang City.
Five days later, Li Zhiyun planned to leave Jinyang City and continue on his way. After breakfast, he asked his guards to prepare their horses and prepare to lead everyone out of the city to meet the new army. He walked to the yard and was about to put on the stirrups and mount his horse. Duan Que and Yinggu were also about to board the carriage. At this time, Li Zhongwen hurried over. When he saw Li Zhiyun, he clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor has sent an envoy to ask you to return to Chang'an."
"Ah?" Li Zhiyun was surprised when he heard this, "Where is the envoy?"
"He'll be here soon."
As soon as Li Zhongwen finished speaking, he saw a chamberlain walking into the courtyard with several attendants. He walked to the center of the courtyard and said in a sissy voice: "Li Zhiyun accepts the order."
Li Zhiyun quickly stepped forward and knelt down and said, "My son, I have received the order." The chamberlain opened the yellow scroll and read aloud: "By God's blessing, the emperor issued an edict: King Chu Li Zhiyun returns to the capital as soon as possible. He has other missions. I hereby express my gratitude!" the chamberlain read. After finishing, he closed the imperial edict and said, "King Chu, please accept the edict."
Li Zhiyun raised his hands high and received the imperial edict respectfully. He then stood up, turned around and handed the imperial edict to Zhang Zheng behind him, and then said to the eunuch: "The emperor's edict has been conveyed. You can go back to Chang'an." The eunuch said with some confusion. : "Then, where are you, King Chu?"
A little chamberlain actually took charge of him, the prince. Li Zhiyun couldn't help but get furious. He glared and said: "What the hell are you talking about? Get out of here!" The chamberlain shrank his neck in fright and said quickly: "Okay, okay, I'm leaving." After saying that, he led several followers out of the yard.
After the envoy left, Li Zhongwen came over and said: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid the emperor knows about our attack on the Turks and wants to call you back to Chang'an for questioning." Li Zhiyun probably had this reason as well. They wiped out the Turks' 5,000 troops. People will definitely not let it go. This is a big disaster!
Li Zhiyun frowned and pondered for a moment, then said: "Ignore him, let's continue on our way!" Duan Zhen, who was on the side, heard this and said with concern: "Your Majesty, the Emperor asked you to return to Chang'an. If you disobey the order, I'm afraid it's not very good. Is it suitable?" Li Zhiyun waved his hand and said: "We will be outside, and I will not accept your orders. Let's go to Huaixi and set off immediately!" So, after saying goodbye to Li Zhongwen, he led the people out of the east gate and met those who were already waiting outside the city. The new troops merged and the large group of troops continued to move toward the southeast.
After more than ten days of arduous trek, the team crossed the Shahe River, climbed over the Funiu Mountains, and entered the Nanyang Basin. On this day, the large group of people marched under the scorching sun. Li Zhiyun saw a forest on the road ahead, and said to Scarface, who was riding next to him: "When we get to the forest in front, let the brothers rest for a while."
"yes!"
The team disbanded when they reached the woods, and the soldiers, who had been scorched by the scorching heat, scrambled into the woods. Li Zhiyun also got off his horse and wanted to find a place to cool down. At this time, Duan Que got off the carriage, walked towards him, and asked: "Your Majesty, where is this place? How far is it from Jutan?" Duan Que was in his thirties, not very tall, with a long hair. With a purple-red face, the person looks quite elegant and generous.
Li Zhiyun smiled and said, "I don't know where this place is, but it's probably not too far from Jutan." While the two were talking, Duan Que suddenly saw the soldiers walking into the woods running away again. When they came out, they seemed to be sick, bending over and vomiting.
"What's wrong with these people? Are they possessed by something evil?" Duan Que asked in surprise.
Li Zhiyun turned around and looked for a while, then said to Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu who were standing aside: "Let's go over and have a look." The three of them walked toward the woods, and Duan Que followed. When they arrived at the woods, Li Zhiyun asked the vomiting soldiers: "Brothers, what's wrong with you?" A soldier wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, pointed to the woods with his hand and said: "Your Majesty, please go in and take a look!"
Li Zhiyun didn't know what happened and led everyone into the woods. As soon as they entered, they smelled a strong rancid smell. When everyone looked up, they saw more than a dozen huge fire pits within a hundred feet of the woods. Not far from the fire pits were scattered a large number of eaten animals. Skeletons, and what is even more horrifying is that there are many skeletons piled on the ground. These heads are large and small. Heads without bodies are more terrifying than bodies without heads. After seeing this scene, Li Zhiyun was stunned. After a while, he began to bend over and vomit. Zhang Zheng came over and punched his back with his fist to help him calm down. He didn't thrash a few times and started vomiting himself.
In addition to the bones and skeletons scattered all over the ground, there were piles of mushy things on the ground, some purple-black, some milky white. These were probably discarded internal organs. Because the weather was too hot, these internal organs had already rotted, and after being dried and weathered, they became what they are now. However, some of them can still identify the lungs, heart and liver, and the curved and stacked white intestines. The strong rotten smell in the woods is them. radiated.
In such a scene, who can not feel nauseated? Duan Que and Cai Hu had already covered their mouths and ran out of the woods, and Li Zhiyun and Zhang Zheng also hurried out. Outside the woods, Duan Que bent down and vomited for a while, then straightened up, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said, "Animals don't eat their own kind. Who did this?"
In the woods just now, Li Zhiyun noticed a lot of torn clothes on the ground, and some clothes were hung on the branches by the wind. Most of these clothes are brightly colored, including cyan, blue, and red, with tops, trousers, and skirts. Some of the clothes are too small. He frowned and said bitterly, "These man-eating demons may specialize in eating women and children."
"Your Majesty, let's leave this unfortunate place as soon as possible!" Duan Que urged.
Li Zhiyun nodded, returned to the avenue, and asked the guards to notify Scarface to assemble the team. After the new army was assembled, Li Zhiyun mounted the stirrup and led the team to move forward.
