At the end of the twelfth lunar month, there are only a few days left before the New Year.
Wei Changying was sitting in the bright hall, holding the military newspaper, looking at the snowy wintersweet trees outside the glass window in a daze.
All the attendants in the hall held their breaths, but only Huang dared to speak out to persuade: "Although the war has been defeated continuously, the lord is still well. What's more, Doctor Ji has found out that the disease is caused by fleas. It's freezing today, so there is no one." Go and destroy these evil things. As long as they don’t live in those greenhouses, they will never be infected with the epidemic... If it weren’t for the epidemic, how could the Rong people be our opponents in Xiliang?”
"Originally, the defeat was nothing." Wei Changying no longer knew anything about military affairs. Over the past few days, she had become familiar with the maps near Yanzhou. She shook her head, "But in order to prevent the epidemic from spreading, the army cannot enter the city. They can only stay in the wilderness. Now that the soldiers are pressing forward, the army cannot defend the city, but where will Xinzhou and Gyeonggi be allowed to come? "
"Unless we go through the Gobi Desert, detour through Beirong, or even go to Xiliang..." Wei Changying murmured, "Auntie, do you know what this means?"
Huang was silent.
It is midwinter now, the most difficult time to travel in the North. Even the Rong people are reluctant to go out at this time, which shows how scary it is on the grassland in this season! However, no matter how reluctant the Rong people are to go out, they will not let go of the powerful enemy passing through their territory.
They are natives of the grassland and are familiar with everything about the grassland: paths, directions, environment... In this regard, no matter how well-equipped and rigorously trained the Wei army is, they cannot compare.
Even if most of the infantry in the coalition army have died from the epidemic, and the remaining cavalry is almost nothing, if they ruthlessly abandon most of the baggage and the soldiers who are infected with the epidemic but have not yet died, they will move faster. —But no matter how fast you are, can you be faster than a soldier who grew up on a horse? If you don't abandon these, they will only die faster!
What's more, this detour... How can all parties in the Central Plains miss this opportunity
Let’s not talk about the distance, let’s talk about Wen Yaozi in Panzhou. He has no cavalry and infantry. Can he let go of this opportunity to expand
But the Xiliang army...
Lu Shengping's rear army only numbered 50,000 people.
Once Shen Zangfeng decided to give up and retreat to Gyeonggi or Shinshu, he would take a detour through the Gobi Desert. Lu Shengping will definitely withdraw his subordinates who blocked the road as soon as possible, break up camp and escort Guard Chief Ying and others back to Xiliang! To avoid being taken advantage of by other forces, Shen Zangfeng's family members were captured!
But if Shen Zangfeng retreats to Gyeonggi and Xinzhou, Huo Zhaoyu and others will be the first to refuse!
Even under Shen Zangfeng, there are also their relatives and subordinates. They won't agree either - who is not afraid of a disease that even Ji Qubing has been unable to control
Even though it is cold today, except for a few places such as greenhouses, all the fleas have died on their own. But once you contract this disease, you can only wait for death, and it will die extremely quickly and drag down the people around you... Of course, the farther away from yourself, the better!
Not to mention relatives and subordinates, there is a biological son in there, and some people don't want to recognize it - at worst, there will be another one.
"Originally, the Xiliang Army's infantry was almost gone. If we walked through the grassland again, how many cavalry would be left?" Guard Chief Ying thought it was a dead end and fell slumped on the mica couch. "Speak slowly. My husband’s grand plan for the world... Whether Xiliang can still have peace in the future is a question... "
Who would have thought that an epidemic would turn the entire situation upside down...
"The Rong people... committed evil!" Huang also murmured, "Aren't they afraid of retribution?"
On New Year's Eve, with a tired smile, Wei Changying accepted the gifts from the juniors and gave them rewards one by one. While he was enjoying himself, he heard that Lu Shengping had come to see him.
During this period, Lu Shengping was not in Chicheng, but personally directed the road closure in Gyeonggi.
On this New Year's Day, he came here in person, something big must have happened!
Wei Changying was afraid of scaring the juniors, so he did not leave immediately. He smiled and appeased them for a while, then motioned for Shen Shujing to come over and take charge of the situation, and then excused himself from the table because he was too drunk.
After leaving the table, I didn’t even have time to change my dress and went directly to the flower hall.
Lu Shengping was dressed in military uniform, with snow on his shoulders and a tired look. He had obviously just come from the capital. He has always been a gentle person, but at this moment his face showed anger that could not be concealed.
When he saw Wei Changying, he gave a hasty salute and said: "I beg you, Queen, to pack your bags immediately and prepare to... return to Xiliang!"
Wei Changying felt a wave of cold air rising from the soles of his feet, and suddenly rushed to the top of his head!
She supported the tables and slowly sat down, then asked: "The Valve Master, he...?"
"Nothing happened to the Valve Master." Lu Shengping gritted his teeth and said, "But Huo Zhaoyu, Wen Yaozi and others refused to allow the Valve Master to retreat to the east or south. They all asked the Valve Master to lead the remnant army to break out to the north. The army had left Yan in a hurry. The city of Zhou was avoiding the severe epidemic and lost a lot of baggage. And because they heard that the epidemic was caused by fleas on skins, many people were dissatisfied and threw away their warm clothes... In this case, it was impossible to go to the Gobi Desert and go to the Beirong territory. …”
The guard commander Ying's face was ashen: "What do you say, husband?!" Even if the epidemic killed almost all the infantry, relying on the cavalry, neither Xinzhou nor Gyeonggi could stop Shen Zangfeng's retreat! According to Ji Qubing’s observation, the longest period from infection to onset of an epidemic is five or six days. As long as you survive this day and don’t die, it is definitely not an incurable and severe epidemic!
She didn't believe that her husband was so easy to intimidate. It was related to the safety of the remaining subordinates, and even more to the Shen family's world plans. How could it be blocked by Huo Zhaoyu and Wen Yaozi's rejection
But Lu Shengping came over in person and suggested that she take the children back to Xiliang. This...
"The Valve Master... agreed!" Lu Shengping, who is no longer young and has grandchildren, couldn't help but shed tears at this moment, "Because someone in the imperial capital sent a letter to the Valve Master - if the Valve Master refuses, then let him During the epidemic in Gyeonggi, someone secretly collected the clothes of infected people and brought them to Wanzhou! "
Wei Changying fell onto the couch and was speechless for a long time!
After a long time, she said word by word: "Huo Zhaoyu... Wen Yaozi... They want to force my husband to death!"
Today's remnant army is not all Shen Zangfeng's direct descendants. Even if they are, there are very few who remain unwavering in the face of this severe epidemic. In this situation, what were these people who survived by chance thinking? Of course, escape from this environment as soon as possible!
Taking advantage of the cold weather, I returned to the prosperous imperial capital, took a good bath, had a good meal, and then slept... Try my best to forget the catastrophe in Yanzhou City!
This is also their hope for support during the severe epidemic!
What now? Not only do they need to cross the vast desert, they also have to go from Beirong, all the way west, and return to the Central Plains from the vast and sparsely populated Xiliang... Can they still come back? The Rong people are not dead!
Since there is no way out anyway, one can only imagine what these people will do!
But now someone has taken advantage of this severe epidemic to threaten Wei Changying and others, forcing Shen Zangfeng to force the remaining army to embark on this dead end!
Not to mention how dangerous this road is, it can almost be said that there is no way to survive. How could the remnant army not mutiny after knowing the news? !
Even Shen Zangfeng's direct descendant Xiliang Army may not listen to the general at this time...
Lu Shengping shed tears and said: "So the general asked the queen to pack her things immediately, and the general would escort her and evacuate to Xiliang!"
"No!" Wei Changying stared at the soldiers not far away for a moment, his eyes getting colder and colder, but he smiled sternly after a while, "What I said at the beginning was good, let's work together to expel the Rong people, and let's discuss the world again. What happened... Now that my husband and the army were unfortunately plotted by the soldiers, they were quick to add insult to injury! Now they even took the lives of our mother and son and forced my husband to die... Since I left the cabinet, my husband and I have not been reunited for a few years. I don’t understand. Jun Lue Er is not familiar with political affairs... Guang'er and Xie'er are still young. Once our husband is gone, how can we, mother and son, survive? This is the fate of our family!"
She raised her head, looked directly at Lu Shengping, and said coldly: "I know that I was naughty when I was young, and I don't even know anything about military and political affairs. The elders in my family also said that my husband is talented and resourceful, and there is no need for me to talk about external matters. , just tell me to just stay in the back house! So over the years, I have occasionally asked about the past out of curiosity, but I have never come up with any ideas... for fear of doing my husband a disservice! "
"But now there are people who want to kill our whole family, and I can't control that much - leave, I won't leave! I have already evacuated from Gyeonggi to Wanzhou, and I want to flee back to Xiliang. If I do this, husband It's safe, so I agreed. But even if we evacuate to Xiliang now, can you guarantee that we will have time to tell my husband and let him retreat to Gyeonggi or Xinzhou with peace of mind?"
Lu Shengping said hastily: "But the safety of the queen and the two princes..."
"The people in the imperial capital have something that can spread the disease. I think they sent people to clean up the person who sneaked into the imperial capital without telling you about the road closure and took the opportunity to stay." Wei Changying's face turned pale and his eyes were cold. Han Bing, "What about you? Don't you have any?! Shouldn't you have more?"
Lu Shengping was stunned: "That kind of thing... I am stupid. I never thought that something like this would happen, so I burned them all. It's really..."
"Don't forget that you sealed the road before!" Wei Changying sneered and pointed to the door, "You should go back to the imperial capital now and talk to Huo Zhaoyu and the envoy sent by Wen Yaozi to contact Huo Zhaoyu in the imperial capital and tell them! You also have something that can spread the disease. If you are worried, you will not survive! There are only three of us, including the nieces. How many nobles do they have in the imperial capital? Do you dare to believe it? A severe epidemic that cannot be cured by miracle doctors... Aren't they afraid? Even my husband's remnant army, which has been carefully inspected and protected, and no one has died for several days, is afraid of you, the person responsible for blocking the road! "
Lu Shengping suddenly realized it! He secretly cursed himself for being so stupid - although he had never thought of keeping such harmful and dangerous things before, but since someone in the imperial capital dared to keep them, why should he be innocent? When he led the Xiliang rear army to seal the road, there was no one to supervise him!
Just when he was about to agree and leave, he suddenly remembered something and said in a panic: "But the general rushed here overnight after learning the news. I'm afraid they won't believe me if I go back and tell them what the general has in his hand..."
"Then send dead soldiers to Yanzhou to find your husband! If your husband doesn't have any, go dig up the graves of those infected with the epidemic!" Wei Changying said coldly, "An ordinary commoner can spread the epidemic to the imperial capital, let alone Our family?! Tell Huo Zhaoyu! Whoever wanted to coerce our mother and son, hand him over and have him cut to pieces in public! If he dares not to hand it over, just tell me what I said, and I promise to do so within seven days. , the epidemic is rampant in the imperial capital! Don’t think that the reputations of Fengzhou Wei and Xiliang Shen can hold me down. My husband’s family has no elders that I can rely on, but the elders in my natal family are still all around me. I am favored by him! If you don't know, go and find out! They started this matter, and he and Wen Yaozi together will not be my parents' rivals! He wants Yunxia Huo to be buried with him! Just wait for me!" (To be continued)