Qiu Yizi and his companions burned and killed all the way as they moved forward, running day and night without stopping for a whole day and night, and finally arrived at the most important pass in the world - Tongguan - at the time of Chenpai on the third day.
Along the way, Qiu Yizhi led his army to destroy eight post stations, two county offices, and robbed more than 30 post horses, but he did not even capture a messenger. In this regard, Qiu Yizhi secretly thought: Maybe it was because of the disruption he had caused along the way, the messenger from Luoyang would definitely not be able to arrive first, so it was not surprising that he was not captured.
But although Qiu Yizi thought so, he was still worried, so he asked the group to slow down a little, and he and Yuchi Lianghong went ahead to Tongguankou to find out the situation.
The town on the Tongguan side was like a baby who had just woken up from sleep. It was still confused and seemed not to have noticed the earth-shaking event that had just happened in the court. Except for a hint of sadness brought about by the death of the late emperor, there was no unusual atmosphere.
Qiu Yizi was still worried, so he saw an old man setting up a breakfast stall on the roadside, so he dismounted and bought some fried dough sticks. He pretended to ask casually, "Sir, we are merchants from other places. May I ask, since the old emperor passed away, will there be any new rules for entering and leaving Tongguan?"
The old man looked up and saw that Qiu Yizhi looked very gentle and didn't look like a troublemaker, so he answered while doing his work, "There are no rules, but the inspection is a bit strict. Alas, these are troubled times! There's nothing we can do about it."
Qiu Yizhi was panicked when he heard this, and asked again, "What do you mean by 'troubled times'?"
The old man glanced at Qiu Yi and said, "You young people only care about money and don't care about national affairs. Prince Youyan was arrested by the new emperor. You must know, right?"
"Of course I know. This matter has been widely spread, but I wonder how the prince is doing now?" Qiu Yizi asked.
The old man finally stopped his work and sighed, "Who knows? The prince is a good man. He helped the court fight the Tartars and provided disaster relief... I don't know which treacherous minister in the court has bewitched the new emperor. Sigh! Let's just hope that God will open his eyes and the prince can get through this!"
Hearing this, Qiu Yizi felt relieved—the news of Prince Youyan's escape from prison had not spread here; and he was going to break through the gate anyway, so as long as the door was not closed tightly, it didn't matter whether the inspection was loose or strict.
Qiu Yizhi thanked the old man and said, "Thank you for your advice!" He took some more breakfast and fumbled around for silver. However, he didn't expect that all the gold and silver he brought with him had been distributed to the soldiers who stayed in Kinki, and he was now truly penniless. Yuchi Lianghong saw this, smiled, took out a piece of loose silver from his side, stretched out three fingers and shook it at Qiu Yizhi, and then handed the silver to the old man.
Qiu Yizhi rode back to Zheng Rong and told his adoptive father and master everything he had learned before the pass. Zheng Rong and Zhong Likuang heaved a sigh of relief.
Zheng Rong said with relief: "This is both God's help and the credit of the two of you. As long as we can break through Tongguan, this plan will be half successful!" He ordered, "Yizhi, you lead the elite cavalry to occupy the gate in one fell swoop, and I will come here in a carriage soon."
Qiu Yizhi said: "Foster father, this seems inappropriate. It is better for you to lead the way with your carriage, and we will provide cover from behind to break through Tongguan in one fell swoop."
Zheng Rong waved his hand and said, "I know this Tongguan. The gate is opened and closed by the winch mechanism on the city wall. Even if we can kill all the guards at the gate, the soldiers on the tower will get the news and can still close the gate. You go ahead. Even if I am trapped inside the gate, you can escape back to Youyan and make plans later!"
Qiu Yizhi knew in his heart: if he followed his adoptive father's idea and led his men to break through the pass first, the city gate guards would immediately close the gate, and then it would be difficult for a slower carriage to get out. If his adoptive father fell into Zheng Yao's hands again, there would be no way to rescue him.
Thinking of this, Qiu Yizhi hurriedly shook his head, thought for a while, and asked Zhong Likuang again: "Then I will contact the Qian Zong surnamed Ruan and ask him for help, okay?"
Zhong Li Kuang rejected the idea repeatedly: "This is absolutely not feasible. Ruan doesn't know the details of this guy, and there's no guarantee that he won't betray us. Then we will regret it."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi also felt that what Zhong Likuang said made sense. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then asked Zheng Rong, "I wonder if my foster father... can ride a horse now?"
Zheng Rong was startled when he heard this, but he guessed Qiu Yizhi's plan. He straightened his spirits and said loudly, "Are you kidding me, Yizhi? Your father hadn't even married your mother when I rode a horse to lead the army to fight! I ate and slept well in the carriage these two days, and the minor injuries I suffered in the prison of the Ministry of Justice are nothing to worry about. If Yizhi doesn't believe me, you can bring the horse over to try it out!"
Qiu Yizi still vividly remembered how Zheng Rong was injured and could not even walk steadily two days ago. She knew that her adoptive father said this out of consideration for her, and she was deeply moved. She quickly selected a horse with a broad back and a steady gait from among the horses they brought, and led it to the side of the carriage.
Zheng Rong climbed out of the carriage shed, struggled to mount his horse, sat on it, and forced himself to stand up and said to Qiu Yizi, "How is it? Yizi, do you think your adoptive father is still as handsome as he was back then?"
Qiu Yizi hurriedly nodded and flattered him, but he saw that his adoptive father was already sweating profusely after doing these simple actions. So he immediately called Zhang Long and Ye Lu and whispered, "The prince is still weak, and I am afraid there will be any accidents. Please do your best to protect the prince. If my adoptive father gets into trouble this time, I will have no face to live alone!"
Zhang Long and Ye Lu certainly knew the weight of Qiu Yizi's words, and they immediately nodded in agreement solemnly, and then whispered a few words to each other.
Qiu Yizhi saw this and felt relieved. He ordered more than a hundred knights under his command to abandon their baggage and supplies, draw their swords and mount their horses, and form an assault formation. He specially deployed Zheng Rong, Zhongli Kuang, Yiran, Wen Lingjiao and others in the middle of the team. He himself stood in front of the team and asked Yuchi Lianghong beside him: "Brother, are you ready?"
Yuchi Lianghong was about to nod, but he said, "Wait a minute." He dismounted and selected two swords from the discarded curved blades on the roadside. He broke them into pieces of iron with his bare hands, held them in his hands, and got on his horse again. He said to Qiu Yizi, "Okay. My dear brother, just give the order!"
Many people in the team saw Yuchi Lianghong's method for the first time, and they all cheered in their hearts.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizi deliberately raised his voice and said, "Brother, your Kung Fu is truly invincible. Under your leadership, we will definitely be able to leave Tongguan safely!" He saw that the expressions on the faces of the soldiers behind him were slightly relaxed, so he drew the sword from his waist and ordered loudly, "If we break out of Tongguan, we will survive. Everyone follow me!"
After saying this, he clamped his legs around the horse's belly, whipped the horse's buttocks hard with the whip in his hand, and the horse under his crotch rushed out first like flying.
When everyone saw this, they urged their horses to gallop out.
There is a straight official road before Tongguan. Although it can be called wide and flat, it is in no way comparable to the vast grasslands and Gobi deserts in the northern part of the Great Wall. Galloping on such a road, no matter what formation, it is very easy to become a mediocre so-called "long snake formation". However, Yelu, who Qiu Yizi originally wanted to use to protect Zheng Rong's life, actually played a significant role at this moment. He was in the team and was well versed in the use of cavalry. While running at full speed, he continued to issue orders forward and backward, and it took a lot of effort to keep the team in a spindle-shaped assault shape.
The Han Dynasty had been at peace for a long time, and a large-scale market had long been formed in front of Tongguan, which was originally a military fortress. Even though guards and patrol soldiers were deployed in front of the pass according to the ancestral system, these people had never experienced a battle, and faced with this sudden cavalry charge, they were completely unable to react, and they watched the hundreds of people gallop away in a daze.
Qiu Yi led the way and saw from afar that the gate of Tongguan was lined with travelers and merchants waiting to pass through the customs as usual. The official road was blocked and no one could get through. He quickly shouted at the top of his voice: "Get out of the way! Otherwise, your life will be in danger!"
The merchants heard the warning from the roar of horses' hooves from afar, and seeing that the enemy was not friendly, they quickly fled in all directions, instantly making way for a passage. The soldiers guarding the gate were terrified and also shouted: "Come on, take the horses and wait for inspection, otherwise you will be killed immediately!"
This empty threat had no effect at all. Qiu Yizi ignored it and instead sped up his horse, galloping towards Tongguan even faster.
The soldiers guarding the pass panicked when they saw that the newcomer ignored them. They hurriedly took out their bows and arrows and were about to shoot.
Yuchi Lianghong was accompanying Qiu Yizhi, and seeing this, he whistled and threw the iron pieces tightly held in his hands to the soldiers on both sides like a fairy scattering flowers. Hidden weapon skills were not Yuchi Lianghong's special skill, and he lost some of his accuracy during the bumpy ride. Some of the flying iron pieces hit the soldiers' vital points, while others only hit their limbs, but it was enough to make them lose their combat effectiveness.
So Qiu Yizi took this opportunity and rushed through Tongguan in one go. Then he turned his horse back and commanded the troops who had passed the pass to kill all the soldiers guarding the other side of Tongguan. Then he waited anxiously for Zheng Rong to come.
Qiu Yizi didn't have to wait long, Zheng Rong and others immediately broke through Tongguan and arrived in Linzhou on the Heluo Road.
The commander of Tongguan finally reacted at this time and ordered the soldiers to push the capstan and lock the gate.
When Qiu Yizi saw the gate of Tongguan slowly closing, he sneered in his heart, thinking that the commander of Tongguan was just a stupid ox or a stupid horse. Closing the gate now would only block the reinforcements and news from the capital in the vicinity, and invisibly buy him time to escape to Youyan.
Qiu Yizhi was lost in thought when Zheng Rong rode his horse slowly forward, smiling and saying, "Okay..." But he closed his eyes, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell off his horse. (To be continued)