Zheng Miao nodded: "This is the regent seal that my father gave me. Although it is not as effective as the imperial seal or the golden medal, it can still scare people. My dear brother is very talented, but this thing may not be useful to you. I am giving it to you now, hoping that it can help you..."
Qiu Yizi hurriedly shook his head and said, "Third brother is the prince appointed by the emperor as regent. The regent seal can only be used by you. Why are you giving it to me? Such an important thing, you should keep it quickly!" As he said that, he threw the regent seal over Zheng Miao.
The dying Zheng Miao didn't know where he got the strength from. He suddenly raised his hands and tightly grasped Qiu Yizhi's hand holding the regent seal, repeating: "Take it, take it, it's useful, it's useful, avenge my father, avenge me, avenge my father, avenge me..."
His voice became lower and lower, and in the end it was so low that not a single word could be heard. However, the strength in his hands did not weaken at all, and he pinched Qiu Yizi's right wrist, which was holding the Regent Seal, until it became red and swollen.
Qiu Yizi seemed to be pinched too hard by Zheng Miao, and tears flowed down her eyes again: "Third brother, I remember, I remember, please let go, let go..."
Zheng Miao finally stopped answering, and Qiu Yizi was unwilling to pull his hand out of Zheng Miao's gradually cooling hand. The two brothers maintained such a solemn posture on the battlefield filled with the smell of blood and stench, like two sculptures.
Zhao Chengxiao knew the friendship between Qiu Yizi and Zheng Miao, so he didn't dare to disturb them. He could only order his soldiers to guard them, keep quiet and not allow anyone to approach.
After a long time, Zhao Chengxiao suddenly saw a group of thousands of soldiers coming from the direction of Tongguan. The leader was Wang Shijie, the defender of Tongguan. Presumably, he had just been defeated and retreated, so he gathered all the soldiers to fight back.
At this time, Zhao Chengxiao was afraid that Qiu Yi would be too sad and something might happen to her, but he was unwilling to step forward to persuade her. Seeing Wang Shijie coming up, he could only let this unlucky guy get into trouble. He quietly stepped forward and asked Wang Shijie to report the military situation.
Wang Shijie's brain was not very good, and he really "fell into the trap". He stepped forward and bowed to Qiu Yizi, saying, "Your Highness Yi, I have summoned all the garrison troops of Tongguan to come to reinforce. Those black-clad bandits who escaped were also captured by my men, about 70 or 80 of them. Please tell me how to deal with them..."
Seeing Qiu Yizhi's lack of reaction, and seeing that the Third Prince Zheng Miao was also lifeless, he suddenly felt that the atmosphere was a little strange. He swallowed his saliva and repeated, "How should I deal with this? Please tell me, Prince Yi..."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi suddenly jumped up, tightly grasping the regent seal that Zheng Miao gave him with one hand, and raised his other hand to slap Wang Shijie hard on the face, roaring: "What's the point of dealing with them? What's the point? If you kill them, will my third brother come back to life? Will Yuchi Lianghong come back to life?"
After hearing this, Wang Shijie realized that the situation had become out of control. He was so dumbfounded that he couldn't utter a word.
Qiu Yizi didn't stop and slapped Wang Shijie again: "It's all your fault, you useless bastard. What kind of soldiers did you lead? We have to fight alone, and even Yuchi Lianghong... Bastard, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you!" As he spoke, slaps fell on Wang Shijie's scarred face like hail.
Wang Shijie was an old general from Youyan Dao. He knew that he had committed such a mistake, which was unforgivable. His legs softened and he immediately knelt down. He didn't even dare to touch his red, swollen and painful face. He bowed his head and said, "Your Highness Yi, please kill me! Kill me! If you don't kill me, I will not be able to live anymore!"
"Okay! I'll kill you right now!" Qiu Yizhi said as he reached for his waist, only to find that the precious sword from the Western Regions that he often used had just been given to Yuchi Lianghong and was no longer with him. So he cursed angrily, leaned over and pulled out the sword that Zheng Miao wore on his waist, and was about to chop it off Wang Shijie's head.
"Young Master, what are you doing? How could you kill General Wang?" Just when Wang Shijie's life was hanging by a thread, an unusually abrupt and soft voice suddenly rang out on the battlefield.
When Qiu Yizi heard this, he immediately stopped what he was doing. He turned his head back stupidly, stared at her with an innocent expression, and asked, "What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do? Both of my brothers are dead, what do you want me to do?"
Wen Lingjiao, who was speaking, saw that Qiu Yizi was extremely sad and felt very sorry for him. She didn't care about the barriers between men and women anymore. She went forward and hugged Qiu Yizi in front of everyone and whispered in his ear, "The responsibility of the world is on you now. If you get worried and lose your mind, who in the world can turn the tide? Look up, you have so many people around you, including me... They all put their lives in your hands... You must take care of yourself!"
Qiu Yizi's eyes were red from crying, but the tears still flowed down, soaking a large area of Wen Lingjiao's lake blue shirt. She choked with sobs and couldn't utter a complete sentence. She only said intermittently: "I know... I know..."
At this time, Lin Shuhan had also rushed over after hearing the news. He was a weak scholar, with slow steps but quick brain. When he saw such a tragic scene, he guessed what had happened without anyone explaining it to him.
Seeing Qiu Yizi and Wen Lingjiao sobbing together and unable to manage things, Lin Shuhan remembered that he was actually a military advisor. It was his duty to sort out the chaos before him. He took a few steps forward, coughed twice, and said loudly: "This is not the place to talk. So, Zhao Chengxiao, you pick a few reliable people to properly bury the bodies of the Third Prince and Yuchi Lianghong, and choose an auspicious day and a good place for burial in the future. Wang Shijie, you mobilize the military doctors of Tongguan now. If there are not enough people, you can also recruit from the public. Make sure that all the wounded are properly treated. The fallen soldiers must also be carefully buried. If there is any damage, be careful that Lord Qiu will use military law to punish you! As for those captured bandits..."
Suddenly, Qiu Yizhi said, "Send all those bandits to the top of the Tongguan city wall. Choose a date and behead them in public to pay tribute to the spirits of my third and older brothers!"
This treatment is somewhat cruel, but Qiu Yizhi's resentment must be vented, so Lin Shuhan did not refute or stop him, and said in accordance with his meaning: "Your Excellency's treatment is very good, and it will also let the traitors in the world know how powerful we are. However, 'life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and honor are determined by God'. There is nothing that can be done after a person dies. The only thing that lies before us is how to deal with the aftermath and ask for revenge. Please pay attention to this, Lord Qiu."
Qiu Yizhi listened to Lin Shuhan's words with a somewhat frightening calmness. Suddenly, he saw the shadow of his dead master Zhong Likuang in his thin figure, which immediately made him regain his consciousness. He gently pushed Wen Lingjiao away and said, "Mr. Lin is still thinking long-term. Let's do everything according to Mr. Lin's words."
After saying that, Qiu Yizhi glanced around and saw that all his men had lost their comrades in this bloody battle. All of them had sad expressions on their faces. He then said loudly: "Everyone cheer up. We still have countless things to do. It's not too late to be dejected after we have finished them all!"
His words were not only to boost everyone's morale, but also to encourage himself. After saying this, he wiped the tears from his face with his dirty sleeves and walked towards Tongguan without looking back.
As soon as they entered Tongguan, before everyone had even sat down in the house, Qiu Yizi asked, "Zhao Chengxiao, how many of our brothers are ready to go into battle right away?"
Zhao Chengxiao had already counted the number of casualties, but he didn't expect Qiu Yizhi, who always valued his troops, to ask such a question at the first time. He quickly answered: "Three of the brothers who came down from Funiu Mountain died, two were seriously injured, and the remaining thirteen were slightly injured; forty-three of the militiamen in Shanyin County died, and there were fifty-five seriously injured. There were more than a hundred slightly injured people who could move, and only a dozen or so were not injured..."
"You mean, we can set off immediately now—" Qiu Yizi gritted his teeth. The loss of nearly half of the troops was enough to make him heartbroken, but his tone was calm and almost cruel. "There are still 115 people?"
Zhao Chengxiao nodded: "Yes... yes, that's right..."
"Okay! Gather them together and wait for my order." Qiu Yizhi immediately ordered, "Also, find someone to treat Zhao Maiji first. I don't ask for his injuries to be healed, but just hope that he can survive for ten days. Bring them to me."
Zhao Chengxiao was full of doubts after hearing such an order - even if the situation was urgent, was it really so urgent that he had to take action immediately and not allow his soldiers to rest for a while
But Lin Shuhan whispered in Zhao Chengxiao's ear: "Just do it now. Lord Qiu is full of sorrow and resentment. Only by keeping yourself busy can you dilute such emotions. If you relax, I'm afraid..."
Zhao Chengxiao also lost several good brothers who had fought side by side with him in this battle. He felt the same way as Lin Shuhan did, so he quickly said "yes" and went down to gather the troops.
Qiu Yizi ignored him and shouted loudly: "Where is Wang Laowu?"
Wang Laowu was responsible for delivering orders, and his martial arts were average, so he was not brought along by Qiu Yizhi in this battle. Instead, he stayed behind at Tongguan to provide support. When he heard Qiu Yizhi's call, he quickly responded, "Here I come!"
Wang Laowu had heard about the battle situation at the front today. He knew that Qiu Yizi had suffered a loss and was in a very low mood, so he changed his usual habit of being nagging and just said the two words "here it comes", and dared not say another word.
Seeing Wang Laowu's trembling appearance, Qiu Yizi had no time to guess what he was thinking, so she said, "I will write a note now, and you send it to the young captain Li Shengjie, asking him to do it. I'll leave this matter to you, and you must do it well for me."
As Qiu Yizhi spoke, he walked to the table, picked up the four treasures of the study on the table, and began to write on a piece of rice paper.
Wang Laowu said awkwardly, "I don't know Li Shengjie... You have important matters on your hands, and you're afraid that I'll mess it up and delay your business. I don't know how to find Li Shengjie... You should find someone else, okay?"