Qiu Yizhi of course refused and said, "Your Majesty is a minister to me and has raised me. How can I be willing to be honored by your majesty? Although I am now a fish on the chopping board, please don't say this again in the future."
The King of Lingnan praised again, "Well said! You are so loyal and righteous! I am becoming more and more fond of you. I remember a few days ago on Lingnan Road, I said that if you, my nephew, fall into my hands on the battlefield one day, I will spare your life. I never thought that this promise would be fulfilled so quickly, so early..."
Qiu Yizhi heard Zheng Gui's words, which seemed to be intended to let him go, and he couldn't help feeling a little relieved. Just as he was about to speak, he saw two people coming out from behind Zheng Gui, bowing deeply to him and saying, "Your Majesty, this Qiu Yizhi is extremely cunning. We can't let him go back to the mountains. It will bring disaster to us in the future!"
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yizi turned her head to look, and was so frightened that her eyes almost fell out - the two men were one old and one young, and the young one was actually Yin Tai, the son of Yin Chengliang, the former governor of Jiangnan; and the old man was Yin Chengliang himself!
Yin Chengliang had apparently committed suicide by taking poison from a jar of poisoned wine because he was involved in a major corruption case involving officials in Jiangnan Province. But no one knew how he had appeared alive beside the King of Lingnan today.
Seeing this drastic change, Qiu Yizi could no longer suppress her curiosity and panic, and asked loudly: "Yin Chengliang, are you Yin Chengliang? How come you are still alive?"
The old man turned his head and yelled, "Of course it's me! I won't rest in peace until I see you, this little thief, torn into pieces!"
After saying that, Yin Chengliang turned around and bowed deeply to Lingnan King Zheng Gui: "Your Majesty, I was killed by Qiu Yi in the past. Please give this man to my father and me so that I can kill him with a knife to vent my anger!"
Zheng Gui said coldly, "I have already promised to spare his life. What? Do you want me to break my promise?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yin Tai said, "Your Majesty, please don't forget that you were able to capture Hangzhou and suddenly appear here, all thanks to the fleet my family got from Japan? My Yin family has made such a great contribution, but we don't want gold or silver rewards, we only want Qiu Yizhi, this little thief. Don't you want to help me?"
But Zheng Gui angrily shouted, "Bullshit! Why are you, a little kid, butting in when we are talking? Without your Yin family's few broken boats, I can't beat Qiu Yizi and my brother, right? I always keep my word. When have I ever taken back my words?"
Yin Chengliang and Yin Tai were still unwilling to give up. They took a half step forward to persuade him again, but they heard Zheng Gui say in a low and fierce voice: "Hmph! Remember, it was I who defeated Qiu Yizi, not you! If you don't want to follow me, it's up to you!"
Yin Chengliang and Yin Tai, father and son, were stunned: If it was really as the King of Lingnan said, if they could defeat Qiu Yizi with their own abilities, why would they bother to join the King of Lingnan
The two were silent for a while. Qiu Yizhi, who was far away, said, "It is not a pity for me to die. May I ask where is General Zuo Cui Nan now?"
Zheng Gui replied: "Cui Nan is indeed a brave general. He led his soldiers to attack our army repeatedly, causing great losses to our army. However, our army was large in number and his attacks were ineffective. He died in the chaos."
When Qiu Yizi heard such bad news, he felt a surge of sadness in his heart. He never expected that the Left General Cui Nan, who was invincible in all battles across the country, would die under the city of Hangzhou. He didn't even get to see him for the last time. Isn't it sad
But then King Zheng Gui of Lingnan continued, "General Cui is indeed a brave general. Our army was exhausted and barely won the victory. I have ordered people to properly bury General Cui's body. After I conquer Luoyang, I will bury him with honor."
Qiu Yizhi cursed inwardly: Wasn't it because of you that General Cui rebelled that he died in Jiangnan? How dare you be so shameless and sell favors here
However, he and his soldiers, including Lin Shuhan, Yuchi Jiming and others, were now under the Five Fingers Mountain. As the saying goes, "When you are under a low eaves, you have to bow your head." Qiu Yizi had to suppress his anger and said, "Since the prince is willing to forgive me, I might as well be thick-skinned and ask the prince to release the two hundred people around me as well."
King Zheng Gui of Lingnan took a careful look at the soldiers gathered around Qiu Yizi. He saw that although everyone in this group was covered in blood, their eyes were still filled with murderous intent and their morale was high. This immediately reminded him of a few days ago when Qiu Yizi relied on these two hundred people to break through Shicheng, the basin, and Lingnan, and finally confronted him head-on here.
Although this army is small in number, they are difficult to deal with, and Zheng Gui was unwilling to let them go so easily.
However, Zheng Gui was a man who cared most about his reputation. Since he had already said what he wanted to say and Qiu Yizi was begging him as a junior, it would be very ungraceful of him if he insisted and refused to agree.
Zheng Gui suddenly thought that if he released Qiu Yizi today, his reputation for magnanimity would surely spread throughout the world, and then all the heroes in the world would surely come to him, and his great cause would be twice as successful with half the effort.
So Lingnan King Zheng Gui pretended to laugh heartily and said, "Okay! I want to be the emperor, so I will give you a huge favor in advance today! I will spare your men! You can take them back and fight again another day. But I am not a unreasonable and easy-going person. If you are caught by me again next time, I will not be so patient!"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi's heart, which had been beating like 15 buckets, finally settled down. Fearing that Zheng Gui might change his mind at the last minute, he bowed deeply and said, "Well, I'll thank the prince on behalf of my brothers!"
After saying that, Qiu Yizi pulled Zhao Chengxiao over and ordered him to quickly organize the army to retreat.
Zhao Chengxiao counted the troops and suddenly asked, "Sir, there are enemy troops everywhere now. Where should we retreat to?"
Qiu Yi was stunned and said, "Let's go home, back to Shanyin County." After that, he turned around and bowed to Lingnan King Zheng Gui, then led the soldiers and strode towards the west.
Yin Tai, who was standing in the Lingnan army, saw Qiu Yizhi was about to leave, and was anxious. He shouted loudly in Zheng Gui's ear: "Prince, why did you let him run away?"
Zheng Gui sneered: "What's the point of letting him go? If there is a chance, I will win him over and make him work for me!"
After hearing this, Yin Tai felt jealous and shouted even more hoarsely, "Qiu Yizi is my enemy. Don't forget that you relied on our fleet to win this battle. Why do you dare to let him go?"
"Why? Just because of the sword in my hand!" Zheng Gui suddenly pulled out the sword from his waist, placed it flat on Yin Tai's throat, and said viciously, "What fleet of yours? It's just a bunch of Japanese pirates gathered together. You offer one tael of silver to win them over, and I dare to offer two, three, or four taels. I will kill you now and see if they will say a word of 'no'!"
Yin Tai was still furious just now, but he was frightened by the action of the King of Lingnan and stood still like a wooden man. Fortunately, his father Yin Chengliang was a man with a long history in the officialdom. He quickly stepped forward and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, my son is young and ignorant. I have offended your majesty. Please forgive me!"
King Lingnan growled in a low voice with a sullen face: "Huh? What did you say?"
Yin Chengliang reacted quickly and quickly changed his words: "Offending the majesty of heaven, it is an offense to the majesty of heaven..."
Zheng Gui calmed down a little and said, "I always keep my word. If you continue to make noise like this, I'm afraid I won't be so good-tempered anymore."
… …
However, after Qiu Yizi retreated westward, he ran all the way, covering hundreds of miles day and night. Seeing that there was no trace of the Lingnan army around, he gradually felt relieved and chose a dilapidated land temple outside a small village to set up camp.
Zhao Chengxiao counted the number of people. Among his eighteen personal soldiers and two hundred militiamen, forty-four were seriously injured and the rest were all wounded. Fortunately, they all survived and no one was killed.
This fortunate news in the midst of misfortune did not make Qiu Yizhi very happy. He listened to Zhao Chengxiao's report silently, nodded silently, and ordered: "We haven't run far yet, I'm afraid the enemy is not far away. It's not time to rest and recuperate yet. Brother Zhao asked the brothers to work harder and be vigilant. When we return to Shanyin County, we will have a good rest."
Zhao Chengxiao agreed and went back to make the arrangements.
Lin Shuhan watched Zhao Chengxiao leave, unfolded his folding fan and was about to fan himself twice, when he remembered that his most cherished fan had been torn in the chaos. He had no choice but to fold it again and said, "Your Excellency is right to lead the army back to Shanyin for the time being, but I wonder what your plans are for the future?"
Qiu Yizi picked up a rotten branch and poked the bonfire in front of him, saying, "I am so confused that I haven't thought about this matter yet. I was just planning to ask you for advice!"
Lin Shuhan replied, "You have seen a lot of things, sir. Today is just a brief defeat. Why are you so discouraged?"
Qiu Yizi smiled bitterly, "Sir, your teaching is correct. But what makes me depressed is not today's defeat, but the fact that every incident since entering Lingnan Road has been so strange. Think about it, sir, Wen Honghui is clearly dead, but he is alive again beside the King of Lingnan. Yin Tai escaped, and Yin Chengliang should have died, but how come he is also resurrected and gathered under the King of Lingnan's tent. I really don't know what strange things will happen in the future."
Lin Shuhan smiled and said, "There's nothing strange about this. The imperial court has been searching for this Tianzun leader for so many years, but they still can't find out his identity. This shows that he is extremely alert and secretive, and he can't be drowned by a river. And Yin Chengliang has been working hard in Jiangnan for twenty years. He can use some tricks to change his appearance, so he is not completely helpless..."
He paused halfway through his speech and continued, "These people are all defeated by you, sir. It's no big deal for them to gather together like frightened birds. I think it's a good thing for you, sir!"
Qiu Yizhi looked at Lin Shuhan in confusion and asked, "Mr. Lin, you are exaggerating. My enemies are getting together to deal with me. How can this be considered a good thing?"
Lin Shilin Shuhan subconsciously opened the broken fan, then quickly closed it, and said with a smile: "What big deal can your enemies achieve if they all get together and have their own evil intentions? It's just a good opportunity for you to catch them all in one fell swoop, so you don't have to ask around to find their whereabouts. Isn't this a good thing?"
Qiu Yizi laughed bitterly, "Sir, you are too optimistic, aren't you? Once Hangzhou is lost, there is no place to defend Jiangnan except Nanjing. The court has lost half of its territory, and it has lost important places for money and taxes. I don't know when it will be able to suppress the rebellion. To be honest, it is still uncertain who will win or lose!"