Qi Changyi secretly swallowed his saliva, glanced at Zhao Litang and Yue Nu opposite him, and asked in a low voice, "But you don't want to eat it? This is yours."
Pei Zheng whispered, "What's mine is yours."
Then he naturally put the chopsticks into Qi Changyi's hand.
Qi Changyi couldn't stand the sweet smell, "Then, then I will eat it"
He ate up Pei Zheng's bowl of noodles, leaving his mouth greasy and his stomach full.
After they finished eating, they walked out of the small noodle shop.
Zhao Litang said, "Okay, it's getting late, we should go back."
Qi Changyi was full and nodded obediently, "Okay."
As they were about to leave, they heard a commotion not far away, and a few children were running around screaming.
One of the children seemed to be frightened and rushed straight towards the group of people.
Pei Zheng quickly pulled Qi Changyi away to prevent him from being hit by the child, and put his hand on his waist to prevent him from falling.
Seeing that Qi Changyi was fine, Zhao Litang grabbed the running child.
"Kid, what happened over there? Why are you running?"
The child had a blank look in his eyes, and he kept mumbling, "Murder, murder, so many people died, run, run!"
After saying this, he struggled to break free from his restraints and ran away.
Zhao Litang and Pei Zheng looked at each other, both of them had serious expressions.
"You guys go back first, I'll go take a look."
Pei Zheng nodded, "Be careful."
Then Zhao Litang walked towards where the crowd was pouring out, while Pei Zheng and others returned to the military camp first.
Along the way, one could see civilians packing up their belongings and fleeing. They were rushing to the city gate with their valuable belongings, wanting to leave this border town and go to a city further away from foreigners and barbarians.
Qi Changyi was still worried about Zhao Litang, afraid that something might happen to him if he went alone.
After returning to the military camp, Wu Quan happened to be leading a team of well-equipped soldiers, preparing to rush to the scene of the incident. When he saw Pei Zheng and Qi Changyi, he only had a quick glance at them.
When Chengfeng saw Pei Zheng and his companions, he came forward and reported to them what had happened.
It turned out that a few barbarian assassins suddenly appeared in the town, killed many innocent people in the town, created panic, and then disappeared.
According to the latest intelligence, the barbarian army has already set out, and it is unknown when they will cross the desert and reach the border of the foreign race. Once the foreign race loses, the border of the Celestial Empire will immediately be endangered.
It's no wonder that the people in the small town were so scared when they saw the barbarian assassins. It's not like they haven't seen how powerful the barbarian soldiers are. When the two countries fought fiercely before, the cities at the border were all rivers of blood.
Zhao Litang's garrison here gave the people living in the border areas a great sense of security, but now that war is imminent, this sense of security is almost gone.
"Send the order to lift the ban on the city gates and evacuate the people in the city as soon as possible. Which city is the closest to here?"
Cheng Feng replied, "It's Anli City, under the jurisdiction of Lord Li Wu."
Pei Zheng said, "Send a message to Li Wu, and ask him to open the gates of Anli City in my name and accept the refugees."
"yes!"
Chengfeng took the order and retreated.
Pei Zheng brought Qi Changyi back to his tent. When they were alone, Pei Zheng's expression relaxed a little.
"Is there going to be a war here?" Qi Changyi suddenly asked.
Pei Zheng pulled him to sit on the bed, bent down and looked into his eyes.
"Do you know what war means?"
Qi Changyi nodded solemnly, "I know, but a lot of people will die and a lot of blood will be shed."
Pei Zheng stroked his hair and said, "War will protect many, many people and save them from shedding blood."
Qi Changyi was a little confused.
Pei Zheng continued, "Those soldiers who go to the battlefield are protecting the people they love most. If they bleed more, their loved ones can bleed less."
He gently stroked Qi Changyi's cheek with his fingers.
"And you, I hope you don't bleed at all."
Qi Changyi blinked his eyes, tears welling up in them.
"What about you?"
Pei Zheng smiled and said, "Are you worried about me?"
Qi Changyi pursed his lips and nodded. He was worried to death.
"You can't bleed, not at all."
The voice was soft, but unusually firm.
Pei Zheng withdrew his fingers, did not answer, but hugged the little guy in his arms.
It was not until the evening that Zhao Litang and others returned.
After much effort, they finally captured those barbarian assassins. Unfortunately, they had all bitten their tongues to commit suicide in advance, so they could not be captured alive.
Everyone in the army became more nervous, and the atmosphere in the barracks suddenly became very solemn.
A spy reported that the barbarian army was very close to the foreign border and might reach it tomorrow night.
Although there were some Celestial Empire soldiers stationed within the borders of foreign countries, their numbers were too small to resist tens of thousands of elite barbarian soldiers.
Almost all the citizens in the city who could run had already run away. There were also some elderly people who had lived in this small town all their lives. They could no longer run and did not want to run anymore.
The entire town almost became a deserted city overnight.
Some people from other ethnic groups also evacuated to the Celestial Empire.
Zhao Litang also urged Pei Zheng to return to the imperial capital as soon as possible, asking him to take Qi Changyi with him and leave quickly, to leave here, to leave this dangerous place.
Pei Zheng and Zhao Litang stood side by side on the city wall of this small town, looking at the foreign city in the distance. They could also vaguely see the foreign border, which was a desert with a group of wild beasts staring at them, invading towards them.
"What about you? Do you have any chance to retreat?" Pei Zheng asked calmly, looking into the distance.
"Retreat? The word 'retreat' has never appeared in the orders the Emperor gave me. I must stand until the very end, even if I die. I cannot retreat, and there is no way to retreat."
The red tasseled cape behind Zhao Litang was rustling in the cold wind. "Besides, I am the invincible General Zhenyuan. When the enemy sees me, they have no choice but to retreat."
"This time is different. Don't you know that the barbarians have been preparing to go to war with the Celestial Empire for several years. After being suppressed for so many years, their army has been trained like wolves and tigers. This time they are desperate to start a war. The Celestial Empire is now in ruins."
"Of course I know." Zhao Litang's eyes lit up, "But so what? As long as there is a glimmer of hope, I will defend the battlefield to the end.
There was no one behind me. ”
Pei Zheng couldn't help but glance sideways at the great general beside him. He had to admit that the chivalrous spirit and ambition to serve the country with loyalty in him were things that Pei Zheng had never possessed.
To a certain extent, Pei Zheng had some respect for Zhao Litang, and this respect was probably even heavier than that for the emperor.
"There is one more thing I need to ask of you, Master Pei. Perhaps this will be the last time."
"Okay." In fact, Pei Zheng had already guessed what he wanted to say, but he still listened patiently.
"Chang Yi, I have to hand him over to you again. I don't need to tell you what you did the last time I handed him over to you. But now, I can only trust you again. After all, I can't even control my own destiny, so how can I protect him again?"
Zhao Litang paused, "Pei Zheng, I envy you very much. You can do whatever you want, you can do whatever you want, you can follow your heart to make choices, and you have enough ability and ambition to control everything. I can't do that. I have concerns, I have fetters, I have shackles that bind me, and I carry the peace and tranquility of the entire Celestial Empire on my shoulders."
"So," Pei Zheng restrained his expression and looked away again, "General Zhao, you must win the battle and be invincible. If you win the war, I wish you a happy life in the world."
Live freely in the world.
After returning to the military camp, it was almost noon. The barbarian army would arrive at the foreign border tonight.
Jiang Yubai had already packed his things, and Qi Yirou had been placed on the carriage. They were all going back to the imperial capital with Pei Zheng and Qi Changyi.
Zhao Litang also ordered his men to stuff Yue Nu into the carriage, but Yue Nu jumped off without caring. Not only did she sprain her ankle, she also cried like a tearful person and refused to leave no matter what.
"General, I won't leave. Please, don't let me go, okay? I can go to the battlefield, I can kill the enemy, as long as you don't let me leave..."
Zhao Litang's face turned pale. He walked forward, picked up Yue Nu, and dragged him to a deserted place behind the tent.
"What did you say before? Huh? You said you would go back to the general's mansion obediently, but you lied to me?"
Yue Nu's tears kept falling, "General, I, I didn't know at that time that there would be a war. If I had known, I would not have agreed.
I want to go back.”
Zhao Litang said coldly, "Don't cry, do you really think I don't know your identity?"
Yue Nu's body froze. "General, it's not you as you think. Please listen to my explanation."
"I never thought that I would save a barbarian and keep him by my side. Now the barbarian army is about to arrive and you will see your people. Are you reluctant to leave?"
Yue Nu cried and shook her head, her lips were bitten white, but she didn't know how to explain so that Zhao Litang would believe her.
Although he has barbarian blood, he has no feelings for the barbarians. He was born in the barbarian tribe but grew up in the Celestial Empire. He has regarded himself as a Celestial since he was a child.
Seeing him crying heartbrokenly, Zhao Litang calmed down and said, "If you think of yourself as a Chinese, go back to the imperial capital now. If you want to be a barbarian, I won't stop you. When the barbarian army arrives, you can go and join them."
After hearing this, Yue Nu burst into tears, and the crescent mark at the corner of her eye turned red.
"I'm going back, General. I'm going back to the Imperial City."