After killing Kang Junli, Zhao Zilong swung his sword and cut off the opponent's head. Without even looking at the stunned guards and soldiers, he immediately went into the dense forest and returned to the mountain stronghold.
As soon as he returned to the mountain stronghold, Zhao Zilong immediately said to Yuchi Jin: "Little sister, you can send a signal now, and let General Huo wait for the opportunity to act."
"Okay," Yuchi Jin responded without hesitation.
Once Kang Junli died, the Hedong side would certainly no longer care about their face. Taking Yuchi Jin into account, the Hedong side lost one general and two others who were captured. As long as Xue Tieshan is not a fool, he will realize how serious the situation is.
Now it is no longer a matter of face. Xue Tieshan can't and dare not cover it up. As a result, the matter of the Yunzhong Mountain bandits will inevitably attract the attention of the Hedong military.
This hiding place must be evacuated immediately. Zhao Zilong must be responsible for these fighting men and break them up into small groups as soon as possible and blend them into the civilian population. This way, they will be safe.
Neither He Huihu nor Kang Junli rashly chased into the mountains and forests. It was not that they had not thought about it, but veteran generals like them would never take risks without knowing the enemy's strength.
All along, Zhao Zilong relied on this point to set up an empty city plan for the opponent.
If those palace guards really rushed in, he would certainly have ways to deal with them, but these brothers who had followed him through thick and thin would inevitably be harmed, and that was something he did not want to see.
Now that Kang Junli is dead, no matter what, even if we clear the land and fortify our defenses, the Hedong military will still rush in. This place is no longer safe.
Passing the message to Huo Qing at this time, while the Hedong military focuses its attention on Yunzhong Mountain, is the best time to capture Yangqu.
After sending a signal through Xie Tian and evacuating all the brothers, Zhao Zilong protected Yuchi Jin, while Xie Tian and Xie Di suppressed He Huihu, and they immediately fled to Taiyuan, which should be the safest place at the moment.
Shiling Pass stands at the junction of Taiyuan and Xinzhou.
The mountains are steep and the passes are majestic, and it is known as the "gateway to Taiyuan and Xinding".
On the Heshuo side, there were General Zhou Dewei and Deputy General Xue Wei, who led 30,000 troops to defend here.
Xue Wei was originally under the command of Zheng Congdang, the governor of Hedong. When Zheng Congdang was defeated and fled to Hedong, Wang Chan and Xue Wei followed him to Shuozhou and became Zhou Dewei's deputy general.
In early September, Zhu Li led his troops to Shiling Pass, but there was no news from Yuchi Jin afterwards, so he had no choice but to wait in Guanzhong.
Lu Fengxian, Gao Siji and Gao Mian, who came with Zhu Li, met Zhou Dewei and Xue Wei from Shiling Pass for the first time. They chatted very enthusiastically with each other, and within a few days, they began to call each other brothers, especially when Zhu Li was not around, they talked about everything.
That day, the few of them met again. As soon as they met, Zhou Dewei stared at Lu Fengxian with a strange look on his face. Lu Fengxian felt very uncomfortable when he looked at him. When he looked back at him in confusion, he asked mysteriously, "I heard that you like the lady from the Wang family?"
Lü Fengxian did not doubt him and said calmly, "So what? Miss Wang, you are as lovely as a fairy. I consider myself a hero. Since ancient times, beauties are matched with heroes, and heroes are hard to resist beauties. Am I, Lü Fengxian, not worthy of Miss Wang?"
Zhou Dewei was one of the first people to follow Zhu Li.
Many people don't understand Wang Yueyao's thoughts, but Zhou Dewei knows it very well. Seeing Lv Fengxian's expression that no one else can match Wang Yueyao, Zhou Dewei hesitated for a long time before whispering, "Fengxian, you call yourself Fengxian and compare yourself to the ancient Lv Bu. We all have no objection to this. Your bravery is worthy of this name. But you call yourself a hero and a good match for the wife of the Wang family. This is very wrong."
Lu Fengxian was stunned when he heard this, and then his eyes became confused. He looked at Zhou Dewei unkindly and asked, "Could it be that General Zhou is also interested in the lady of the Wang family?"
When Zhou Dewei heard this, his face immediately turned red, and there was even a hint of panic in it. He waved his hands at Lu Fengxian and said, "General Lu, please don't talk nonsense. A beauty like the lady of the Wang family is not something I, Zhou, can dream of."
Seeing Zhou Dewei's expression, Lv Fengxian immediately felt relieved. He looked a little apologetic, but he was still entangled in Zhou Dewei's previous words and wondered, "Since General Zhou has no interest in the lady of the Wang family, what did the general mean by what he said just now? Don't you think that Lv is a hero?"
Zhou Dewei looked at Lü Fengxian, who looked unconvinced, and said, "Whether General Lü is a hero or not is not up to the general himself to decide; of course, it is not up to me to decide either; but even if the general is a hero, it is a good story that heroes love beautiful women, but this also does not mean anything."
"Heroes love beauties, but do beauties necessarily love heroes? In Zhou's opinion, this is not necessarily the case. The general admires Miss Wang, but does the general know Miss Wang's feelings?"
"What is Madam Wang's intention?" Zhou Dewei's words made Lu Fengxian stunned. He had never paid attention to this.
There has been a saying since ancient times that "parents' orders and matchmaker's words". In his opinion, as long as he likes Wang Yueyao, he can choose an auspicious day to propose marriage and obtain the consent of the other party's parents. There is no need to consider Wang Yueyao's thoughts.
Appreciating heroes and respecting heroes can be applied to women, or it can be said that we should appreciate beauties. It is true that Lu Fengxian loves beauties more than the country, but what should he do if the beauty he loves has no interest in him
What if he likes Wang Yueyao, but Wang Yueyao doesn’t like him
Thinking of this, Lu Fengxian couldn't help but frowned.
If you think about it carefully, Heshuo is really a magical place. In Heshuo, it is very common for women to serve as officials. In some places, they even do better than men, such as Shen Qinniang, the magistrate of the Nufang Office.
Because of this trend, the women in Heshuo are more dignified and have more outstanding temperaments. Even in many ordinary families, there are many cases where the women are stronger than the men.
Coupled with the strict laws in Heshuo and the restrictions on the separation of men and women, many men do not care about their wives showing up in public.
For women who grow up in such an environment, it is very important for them to consider whether their future partner is suitable for them. It is no longer as casual as it used to be and they can just leave it to fate.
Wang Yueyao was the best among them. She was the first female official in Heshuo and also the highest-ranking female official. Her words and deeds were imitated by many women even in Heshuo.
How could Lu Fengxian treat Wang Yueyao the same way he treated Diao Chan in his previous life? He had to consider the other person's feelings.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see how much he loved Wang Yueyao. It was as if he had engraved the five big words "I love Wang Yueyao" on his forehead. No one could fail to see that.
But if he thought carefully about Wang Yueyao's attitude towards him, it seemed that she had always been lukewarm. That was why he frowned.
"That's right." Zhou Dewei looked at Lu Bu calmly and said, "Back then, I followed the general to the north to conquer Chang'an and confronted Zhu Wen and Meng Kai in Fuping. At that time, the lady of the Wang family was serving as a secretary beside the general. It seems that she was also..."
"All of you, come here quickly. The Ghost Guards have sent us a message. We have to feint an attack on Tianmen Pass immediately." Before Zhou Dewei could finish his words, Zhu Li came quickly from a distance and greeted everyone solemnly.
Upon hearing this, several people did not dare to delay and hurriedly walked towards Zhu Li. Zhou Dewei was of course no exception. He gave up talking before he even finished speaking and walked quickly towards Zhu Li.
But his half-sentence made Lu Fengxian feel very anxious and depressed.
He quickly chased after Zhou Dewei, tugged at his collar from behind, and whispered, "What happened to the wife of the Wang family in Fuping? Brother Zhou, can you please finish what you are saying?"
Zhou Dewei looked back at him, changing his gossipy expression and said seriously, "The war is imminent, General Lu should think about how to make meritorious contributions. As for other things, there will be plenty of time later."
As soon as he finished speaking, the black guy ran to Zhu Li in a flash and asked Zhu Li in a low voice about the situation. After all, he was the commander of Shiling Pass and was most familiar with the terrain here. Once he understood the situation, he might be able to give Zhu Li some advice someday.
He didn't listen to half of what was said, and he couldn't let go of the half that was said. It was obvious that Lu Fengxian could no longer let go of Zhou Dewei's half of what he said.
But this black guy had no intention of continuing to talk, which made him feel depressed and resentful.
As soon as everyone entered the big tent, Zhu Li immediately said, "The guards of Tianmen Pass are Xue Atan and An Xiuxiu. They are both famous generals who have fought many tough battles with Li Cunxiao. They are both experienced veterans. With these two people around, it will be very difficult to capture Tianmen Pass."
"But now, we have to feint an attack on Tianmen without causing too much damage. Our only option now is to challenge the enemy." Zhu Li turned around and looked at Zhou Dewei and others, saying helplessly.
He hoped that he could break through Tianmen Pass in one fell swoop, and then capture Jinyang and bring Yuchi Jin to his side; only in this way could he feel at ease. Any man who cared about his wife would be worried about her while she was wandering around outside.
"General, please allow me to send three thousand elite soldiers. I will go to meet them right away." Zhou Dewei hurriedly bowed and asked for a fight, his expression solemn and very sonorous.
"General, I am also willing to go. I only need two thousand elite soldiers, and I will behead the two bandits and bring them to you." Although everyone got along well, no one would be willing to lag behind others when faced with the opportunity to compete for merit and fight. Before Zhou Dewei finished speaking, Gao Siji immediately interrupted him.
"General, I only need a thousand elite soldiers to kill the two thieves Xue and An." Gao Mian suddenly spoke up, ignoring Gao Siji's sidelong glance and asking for a fight.
"Fifth brother, you are competing with second brother for this too?" Gao Siji turned his head to look at Gao Mian and said in a low voice with frustration.
Gao Mian raised his head and replied without giving in: "Second brother participated in the battle of Fengzhou and has made a contribution. I accompanied that scholar to Bohai, but I didn't fight a single battle and didn't make any contribution. In this battle, second brother should give way to me."