In the study of the Liangzhou prefect's mansion, the charcoal fire warmed the whole room, and the air was filled with wisps of smoke. On the heavy desk of Jinsinnan, there was a letter with the word "confidential" written on it and a special red stamp from the Ministry of War.
This letter had just been sent to Duan Xu's desk by an urgent delivery of 800 miles, and it had not been opened by him for less than an hour. At this time, he was sitting behind his desk, and Meng Wan and Xia Qingsheng were standing in front of his desk. He did not avoid Meng Wan and Xia Qingsheng, and spread the letter on the table so that they could see it clearly.
Meng Wan's eyes were gloomy. She clenched her fists and said, "This is too much! They want you to die!"
Duan Xu rested his arms on the desk, interlaced and unclenched the fingers of his hands, as he usually did when thinking.
After a moment of silence, Duan Xu raised his eyes and said, "General Qin's idea is not wrong. Liangzhou has been recovered, but most of Yuzhou is still in the hands of the Danzhi army. The south of Yuzhou is flat, and Daliang has no strategic location to defend. If the Huqi people take Yuzhou, they will go straight to Nandu, so Yuzhou must not be lost. Danzhi and Daliang are very clear about this, so that is the most important battlefield, and the war is stalemate."
"Danzhi is in a long-distance battle and must avoid many troubles. Yuzhou still has six cities in the hands of Daliang's elite troops. If they fail to capture them, Danzhi will definitely send reinforcements. They have lost Liangzhou, so this is the only route they can use to send reinforcements."
Duan Xu drew a line on the map on the table with his index finger, which was the rear of Yuzhou and the Guanhe line.
"But the rear of Yuzhou is heavily guarded by Danzhi. They will expect that we want to cut off the route of reinforcements and are ready to fight to the death here. The Tabai Army has only 80,000 people and cannot withstand such losses. To save Yuzhou, we need..."
Duan Xu's hand moved to Liangzhou on the map, pointing to the Guanhe River section in Liangzhou: "Cross the Guanhe River, go around and occupy Danzhi's Shuozhou Prefecture, and cut off the passage of the Huqi people north and south of the Guanhe River. When the Guanhe River thaws in spring, Danzhi will be powerless to save the situation."
Meng Wan laughed in anger. She said, "That's right. General Qin is right. It's easy to just talk nonsense. Let alone the thawing of the Guanhe River in spring, we will be trapped in Shuozhou. Just crossing the Guanhe River to attack Danzhi is not easy at all. When Qin Huanda faces the Danzhi army, he always defends instead of attacking. Why do you want us to attack Danzhi?"
"Such an important matter, why didn't he ask his Suying and Shengjie troops to do it? They are his personal soldiers! He is the brother-in-law of Duke Pei, and you are a thorn in his side. He clearly wants you to die!" Meng Wan's eyes turned red as he spoke, and he clenched his fist and pounded the table: "Damn it, it's already this time, and you still don't forget to do such a dirty thing as eliminating dissidents!"
She had been in the military camp for many years, and although she came from a family of officials, she had also been accustomed to some vulgar language.
Duan Xu's eyes were as clear and calm as ever. He even smiled, looking relaxed in contrast to his serious expression just now.
"General Qin is the Grand Marshal of the army, after all, and military orders are hard to disobey. If someone must die to save Daliang, we can't argue about who should go and who shouldn't, right? General Qin asked me to die, which shows that he thinks highly of me, right?"
Meng Wan looked at Duan Xu with eyes wide open, feeling a little sad for his misfortune and angry at his lack of fighting spirit. The Meng and Duan families were old friends, and she had known Duan Xu for many years, but she never understood why he had such a temper, and could treat bad things as good things and never blame anyone.
Duan Xu stood up. He was tall and slender, with handsome eyes and eyebrows. When he smiled, he was worthy of the four words "bright eyes and white teeth". He had a cheerful and open-minded temperament.
He walked to the desk and turned his gaze to Xia Qingsheng, who had been silent the whole time. Xia Qingsheng and Meng Wan were both people he brought from Nandu Yiwei. Xia Qingsheng was a man of few words, and at this moment he was frowning and looking serious.
"Qingsheng, what's wrong with you?"
Xia Qingsheng gritted his teeth, suddenly knelt down and saluted him, and said in a sonorous and powerful voice: "It is me who has implicated the general. If it were not for saving my sister, you would not have clashed with Master Fan, been impeached by Lord Fang, and fallen into the danger today."
He raised his eyes and looked at Duan Xu, with a guilty look in his eyes but a firm look, and he said solemnly: "No matter what the general decides, I will follow him till death!"
Duan Xu looked at the determined Xia Qingsheng, then at the angry Meng Wan, and couldn't help but lower his head and burst into laughter, which surprised Xia Qingsheng and Meng Wan.
Duan Xu has always loved to laugh. Meng Wan, who has known him for many years, has never seen him frown. However, even so, she still cannot get used to his sudden smile.
Duan Xu reached out and helped Xia Qingsheng up, then said to them, "What's wrong? You all have this expression, as if you are ready to sacrifice yourself at any moment. Are you so sure that I will lose?"
"I'm informing you in advance, so don't tell anyone else a word. Qingsheng, have General Wu come to the prefect's mansion to find me in two hours. Meng Wan, come with me, we're going to do something."
Duan Xu patted Xia Qingsheng's shoulder, as if to comfort him. He smiled and seemed to think that this was not a big deal. After giving some instructions, he left the prefectural government.
He also implemented his style in Nandu at the border, and did not bring guards. This time, he walked out of the prefectural government with Meng Wan alone, stood on the deserted and blood-stained street for a while, and then turned right and walked towards the small house next to the prefectural government.
A girl was sitting on the steps at the entrance of the house. She was wearing a moon-white padded jacket and a lotus-pink cloak. A circle of white fluff was visible around her neck. She looked very sweet, with a blush on her fair skin, like a peach.
The girl held a sugar figurine with a complicated pattern in her hand, and the boy in a blue jacket also held a similar one and sat beside her, leaning against her. A group of children, about seven or eight years old, sat on the ground, tilting their heads and listening intently to the story the girl was telling.
As soon as Meng Wan saw He Xiaoxiao, she was furious: "General, you ordered me to take care of her during this period. I gave her a house, food and clothes, but now she lives like a spoiled lady. How long are you going to take care of her?"
Duan Xu said calmly, "Didn't you say that she might be a member of the Pei Party and approached me with bad intentions? Isn't it good that she asked for food and a house but not my life? Let's not talk about this for now. How have you been getting along with her these days?"
Meng Wan suppressed his anger and reported with his sword in his arms: "She claimed that she had no relatives. Xue Chenying's father had been kind to her, so she took care of Xue Chenying. But I have inquired, and no one in Liangzhou City has seen her, and no one has heard Xue Chenying's father mention her."
"I have intentionally asked her about weather changes in the past few days. She always predicts the weather correctly, with the time being accurate to the hour, wind direction and wind speed. But General, I don't think this person can be trusted."
Duan Xu did not comment on Meng Wan's comments, but just said, "I understand."
As they approached the group of people at the gate of the courtyard, they heard He Xiaoxiao's clear voice.
"The evil ghost was as pretty as a flower, but her eyes were pitch black. She was holding a large jar in her hand, and blood was dripping from the jar. She suddenly grew fangs and sharp nails, and opened her bloody mouth..."
He Simu raised her slender hands, pretending to pounce with a fierce look in her eyes, and the children in the circle screamed in fear. She immediately softened her expression and laughed, so the children who had run away ran back again.
A little girl with pigtails said tremblingly: "Sister, are there really ghosts? Are ghosts so scary?"
"Of course, Chen Ying and I were almost eaten! If you meet a strange person in the future, especially someone with black eyes and no whites, you must run away quickly." He Simu touched his chest, looking frightened: "I am most afraid of ghosts. I couldn't sleep well for several nights and had nightmares all night! I heard that people who are eaten by ghosts will have bad luck in the next few lives, and may not be able to eat candy for the rest of their lives!"
The group of children immediately showed genuine fear in their eyes.
"Aren't there things that evil ghosts are afraid of?" A chubby little boy asked worriedly, perhaps because he was afraid that he couldn't run anymore.
"Yes, I heard from my father that they are afraid of magic weapons, spells and..." He Simu thought for a moment and said, "Their leader is the Ghost King."
The little boy in blue clothes beside her asked in surprise: "Ghost King? Ghosts also have a king? Just like the emperor?"
"That's about right. I also heard from my father that only the Ghost King can reproduce blood with humans. The blood is born as an evil ghost, much stronger than ordinary evil ghosts, and usually inherits the position of the Ghost King..."
He Simu was sharing knowledge about the ghost world with the group of children - in fact, it was her own story. When she looked up, she saw Duan Xu standing outside the group of children, looking at her with a smile.
He was still wearing casual clothes, a round-necked robe with square patterns, a hair crown, and a gray headband. The sun was shining brightly today, so he stood in the bright light, with clear eyes that could see through everything, reflecting her appearance.
He Simu recalled that Feng Yi told her that Duan Xu was just nineteen years old this year, and that was truly the brightest time of his youth.
He Simu showed a happy smile, she stood up and saluted to Duan Xu and said, "General."
Duan Xu also bowed and said, "Miss He is very knowledgeable and experienced. I admire you."
He Simu was very modest, lowered his head and said: "It's just hearsay."
She dispersed Shen Ying and the children, turned and walked towards Duan Xu, stood in front of him, and looked straight at him: "General, what's the matter?"
"I heard that Miss He has a special skill and can predict the weather." Duan Xu went straight to the point.
"It's just that I was born with good eyesight and can distinguish the wind and clouds. It's just a trivial skill."
"Would you be willing to be the Fengjiao fortune teller for my Tabai Army?"
Warfare requires favorable timing, terrain, and people, and Fengjiao Zhanhou is the one who deduces the weather in the army.
He Simu was a little surprised. She thought that with Meng Wan's suspicion, shouldn't the young general be on guard against her? Why did he suddenly trust her so much and entrust her with important matters
She pretended to be flattered for the moment and said, "If I can be with the general and do my part for Daliang, I will certainly do it. What does the general need me to do?"
Duan Xu ignored Meng Wan's anxious look and said, "Miss, do you know which night of the next few days the east wind will blow? The stronger the better, and it would be best if there is also snow."
At night, there was an east wind and snow was falling.
He Simu was slightly stunned, and a trace of compassion appeared on his face for a moment, as if he guessed what Duan Xu was going to do, but the compassion disappeared in an instant, and He Simu's original joyful expression appeared again.
"This place is low-lying and has many houses, so it is shielded from the wind. If you don't mind, General, can you take me to the city wall to watch the wind?"
Meng Wan finally lost her temper. She had never understood why Duan Xu would seek help from such a person of unknown origin, and now she was even more furious.
"The city wall involves defense deployment and is a strategic location. Who are you? How can you just go there whenever you want?"
"Who am I? Am I not the Fengjiao Zhanhou of the Tabai Army, Captain Meng?" He Simu showed an innocent smile.
"you!"
Duan Xu stopped Meng Wan from going forward. He looked at He Simu for a while, then smiled and nodded, "Okay, I'll take you to the city wall."