The so-called warmth and softness of a beautiful girl in one's arms, Duan Xu has tasted this feeling over the years and has deeply experienced it.
When he woke up, He Simu was in his arms, playing with his fingers out of boredom. She was lying on his arm with her back to him, naked and touching his skin. At this moment, her body was already warmed by his body, as if she were a warm living person.
Duan Xu put his arm around her shoulders, and she said lazily, "Duan Xu, you're awake."
She didn't exchange her five senses with him at the moment, so she was completely in the state of a demon, staying awake all night and not falling asleep. This situation happened frequently in the past three years. He Simu knew that Duan Xu hoped to see her when he woke up in the morning, so she would probably lie in his arms all night until he woke up.
Sometimes Duan Xu would be surprised at her indulgence. She would always stay in his arms with her eyes open, bored all night long, but the Ghost King never complained about anything.
"Good morning, Simu. How long will you stay this time?"
"I'll be back soon. I came to see you just after you arrived in Yunzhou. Who knew there would be something interesting?" He Simu rolled over in his arms, then smiled at him and said, "You talked in your sleep last night."
"Me? What did I say?"
"I can't hear it clearly. The voice is very low and it's a bit of a gibberish. I don't know if it's Huqi or Chinese. It's very interesting."
"What if I call your name in my dream when you are not by my side?"
"Then since you called me all the way here, I must wake you up from your dream." He Simu poked Duan Xu's nose and said, "This is not fair, Duan Shunxi. You can still see me in your dreams, but if I want to see you, I have to come to you."
Duan Xu laughed first, then sighed.
"I miss you so much, Simu. Why is His Majesty the Ghost King so busy?"
He Simu sneered: "How dare you say that to me? Aren't you busy? There were at least three times when I came to see you and you didn't catch up to greet me. You didn't even know I left?"
"I was wrong." Duan Xu admitted his mistake immediately.
In the past three years, He Simu stayed in Yuzhou City to deal with the affairs of the ghost world, while Duan Xu recruited soldiers to suppress bandits. The two of them always met in a hurry and spent less time together. In total, it was the ten days when they exchanged the five senses that He Simu stayed by his side the longest.
He Simu looked into Duan Xu's eyes and said with a smile, "Lord Duan, when will you finish this battle?"
"At least ten years? I guess. Why, Your Majesty the Ghost King is waiting for me to finish the war and hide me in his golden house?"
"That depends on whether you are still spoiled after ten years? Whether you are worth hiding for me."
He Simu poked Duan Xu's chest, and he hugged her tightly around his waist and kissed her deeply. During the kiss, he said, "Your Highness the Ghost King wants me for my whole life, but there is no reason for him to abandon me after having sex with me."
He Simu started to laugh.
After chatting and laughing for a while, He Simu was about to go back. She left Duan Xu's warm embrace and dressed herself. Duan Xu sighed that he had finally warmed her up, but she would be cold again in a while.
He Simu hugged his neck and kissed him, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. As she disappeared, the poor little girl who had been lying on the table all night woke up in confusion, moving her stiff limbs and looking at Duan Xu.
Duan Xu was wearing a white singlet and looked very satisfied. He smiled and said kindly, "You must have been too sleepy yesterday and fell asleep immediately. No matter how I called you, you wouldn't wake up."
The little girl was stunned and said "Ah?"
The prefect came to greet Duan Xu with a smile on his face, and wanted to send him back to the military camp. When he learned that Duan Xu did not touch the girl, the prefect was stunned at first, and then he smiled and said that Yunzhou was remote and not as good as Nandu, and he was afraid that the beauties in Yunzhou could not catch Duan Xu's eye.
Before coming here, Duan Xu had heard about this prefectural governor in Fang Xianye's letter. Although he was slick, he was very good at balancing the relationship between all parties. Fang Xianye abolished the four-tier system set up by the Huqi people, but did not liquidate the Huqi people with good attitudes, nor did he advocate hatred and revenge. Therefore, the relationship between the various ethnic groups in these states was in a delicate transition period. This prefectural governor was a good at smoothing things over, knocking here and appeasing there, and the transition over the years was relatively stable.
Duan Xu waved his hand and said with a smile: "Sir, it doesn't matter whether you say this or not. I don't care what customs other people from the Southern Capital bring. If you want to host a banquet for me and my generals, you can do so. You don't need a beauty like today, and you don't need to flatter me."
The prefect immediately bowed and nodded. Duan Xu patted his shoulder and said, "Now that Lord Fang has returned to the Southern Capital and the new Border Patrol has not yet been appointed, you are the highest official in Yunzhou Prefecture. In recent years, the court has allocated a lot of money to mines and horse farms. Yunzhou Prefecture should be quite wealthy. Lord, you must use the money in the right place."
"Of course." The prefect was terrified.
Duan Xu lowered his head and smiled at the prefect, saying, "Your Excellency, you don't have to be so cautious. To be honest, I like you very much."
The prefect shuddered for no reason, and then watched Duan Xu walk out of the gate of his prefect's house with his hands behind his back. He thought that this marquis from the southern capital was even more difficult to understand than the prefect.
Duan Xu walked a few steps from the prefect's house and met Chen Ying who came to pick him up, and Shi Biao, a general of his Guihe Army. Shi Biao was originally the leader of a group of bandits on the Sanshi Mountain in Huzhou. He was good at martial arts, smart, and loyal. He was well-known in the local area. Because there were many tattoos on his face, he was nicknamed "Green-faced Tiger". When Duan Xu was suppressing the bandits, he adopted the tactics of large-scale encirclement and defeating them one by one. At that time, he had defeated 50% to 60% of the bandits and surrounded Shi Biao's village for seven days. Finally, he went into the village alone and talked with Shi Biao for a day, and successfully appeased Shi Biao. Shi Biao thus became a general of his Guihe Army.
Shi Biao was a big, strong man with a broad back and a full beard. When he saw Duan Xu, he shouted, "General Duan, I heard that the prefect treated you well yesterday, with fine wine and beautiful women. Why didn't you bring your brothers to have a taste?"
"You still want to try it? Shi Biao, what did you promise me? Have you forgotten that you would never touch alcohol while you are in Guanhebei?" Duan Xu walked between the two of them, and they turned around and followed him towards the military camp.
Shi Biao said dissatisfiedly: "The war hasn't even started yet, what's wrong with having a couple of drinks?"
"Drink lightly? Brother Shi, are you sure you can drink lightly? Every time you touch alcohol, you get drunk. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been surrounded by my third brother back then." Shen Ying exposed Shi Biao mercilessly, in return Shi Biao slapped him on the head and angrily told him to stop talking.
Shi Biao was older than Duan Xu, and Duan Xu was not polite to him, so he followed Chen Ying and called him Brother Shi. He said, "Brother Shi, the terrain of Jingzhou is similar to that of Huzhou. You will be most comfortable fighting here. As long as you can stay awake..."
Duan Xu suddenly stopped talking and stopped walking at the same time. Chen Ying bumped into him from behind without noticing. He rubbed his forehead and asked curiously, "Third brother, why don't you leave?"
Duan Xu did not answer, his eyes were fixed on a messy picture on the corner of the street. He walked over with a serious expression, bent down and carefully observed the strange mark composed of circles and slashes of different lengths. Chen Ying and Shi Biao looked at each other, followed Duan Xu to look at the mark, and Chen Ying said in surprise: "These are not... what you taught me, Third Brother..."
Shi Biao was puzzled and asked, "What? Xiao Xue, do you know these ghostly painted symbols?"
Chen Ying looked at Duan Xu, not knowing whether he could speak. Duan Xu stood up and said softly, "They are coming."
This is a sign that God knows.
The general meaning is to hunt down Seventeen, and the circle next to it refers to the high priest. Now that the former high priest has passed away, Luda has become the new high priest of Danzhi. The appearance of this symbol here means that Luda has also arrived nearby.
Shi Biao was still confused and asked: "Who is here? What's going on?"
Duan Xu suddenly turned around and walked towards the military camp. He was clearly not running, but his pace was incredibly fast. Shen Ying and Shi Biao had a hard time catching up with him. He asked, "When did Han Lingqiu leave? Where did he go? Has there been any news?"
Shen Yingxiao ran after him and replied, "He left three days ago and sent a message yesterday saying that he had just arrived at General Tang's place in Jingzhou."
The topography of Jingzhou flashed through Duan Xu's mind quickly. The parts occupied by the rebels and the Danzhi were displayed in front of him. Combined with the Tianzhi mark he had just seen, he sneered and said, "This is really a good show of luring people into a trap. Tang Dequan of Jingzhou should have been bribed by the Danzhi. Under the pretext of asking for help from us, he wants to join forces with the Danzhi army to annihilate us after we enter Jingzhou."
"What? General Tang is a Han Chinese!" Shi Biao said in surprise.
Duan Xu sneered and said, "There are enough benefits. I can even be a dog, let alone just being a slave."
"But General Han has already entered Jingzhou, and he didn't bring many troops with him."
"Han Lingqiu has probably been detained. Chen Ying, you must hurry to the Tabai Army and inform them that Han Lingqiu's military orders are no longer credible. Even if he comes back in person, it is not possible to mobilize troops in person." Seeing the military camp in front, Duan Xu walked into the camp and said to Shi Biao, "Pass on my order. From now on, no army can set foot in Jingzhou without my permission, and we must strengthen our defense against the Jingzhou army. Call everyone to gather in my camp."
Shi Biao clasped his fists and said yes.
Not long after, several generals of the Guihe Army had gathered in Duan Xu's tent, discussing countermeasures around the huge map. There were some territories belonging to the rebels at the border of Jingzhou and Yunzhou, and both sides had garrisons. However, because General Tang repeatedly showed goodwill to Daliang, everyone thought that General Tang would lead his troops to surrender soon, so they had no intention of guarding against the rebels. If the rebels suddenly launched an attack, there would be heavy losses.
"They have people in Yunzhou and Luozhou who are well aware of our movements. I just ordered the troops not to act rashly, and they should get the news soon. The opportunity is fleeting, Shi Biao..." Duan Xu looked at Shi Biao, drew a line on the map, and said to him: "I will give you 50,000 soldiers and horses, you set out immediately and take the four cities in the southwest of Jingzhou within three days. Can you do it?"
Shi Biao's eyes were bright, full of excitement about being able to fight, and he said cheerfully, "Leave it to me, while Grandpa plays with them."
Duan Xu turned to look at Ding Jin, who was another general of Guihe Army. He was completely different from Shi Biao. He was born in a military family and was well-versed in military tactics and riding skills. He chased bandits around in Huzhou, but he didn't expect to end up as a colleague of the bandits. He always looked down on Shi Biao and didn't talk to him much.
"Ding Jin, I'll give you 5,000 cavalrymen. Can you take these two cities east of Jingzhou within three days? Can you do it?"
Ding Jin glanced at the excited Shi Biao, saluted and said, "Ding Jin will definitely fulfill the mission."
Shi Biao rubbed his hands and said, "General Duan, do you want to show them our unique skills?"
"Not yet."
Shi Biao felt a little disappointed.
Duan Xu took two steps back, folded his hands on his lips and looked at the map. The places he had just ordered the two to attack were all occupied by the Huqi people. After taking them, they could cut off the connection between the Jingzhou uprising army and the Huqi people. However, if time went on for a long time, the Huqi people and the uprising army might react and they would be attacked from both sides.
However, the rebels were not united. Tang Dequan waved the banner of expelling the Huqi and restoring the Han Dynasty, and he must have recruited Han people who had grudges against the Huqi. Tang Dequan had to sell out his subordinates when he surrendered to Danzhi. I think these people didn't know they were being sold out.
This requires the participation of Ziwei.
Duan Xu was thinking, Shi Biao interrupted and said: "But what about General Han? He is already in the traitor's camp, and he will definitely be taken hostage."
"Since ancient times, it has been common for generals to fall into traps without paying attention and die as a result." Ding Jin said coldly.
"My goodness, we are all brothers who fought against the Huchi together. Are you going to stop saving us if you say you don't want to?"
"This is a military camp, not your mountain stronghold. You should stop being such a bandit."
"Hey Ding Xiao? White-faced you..."
Duan Xu raised his hand to stop the quarrel between his two generals. He said calmly: "Of course we need to save the people, but there is no need to mobilize the army. You guys just fight well, and I will go to save the people."