With such a delay, the twelfth lunar month will arrive soon.
Gu Shubai led the army to fight for several months, and he just took this opportunity to recharge his batteries and rest his team.
The continuous tall city wall of Lin'an is right in front of him, Gu Shubai looked into the distance, and when he came back here again, he always felt both familiar and strange.
This is the place where he grew up, carrying many of his memories, and carrying many memories of him, his father, younger brother, and the soldiers of the Gu family army.
Now that the times have changed, he is no longer qualified to enter, and can only watch from a distance here.
"General!"
Yan Zheng called him from the bottom of the city tower, and ran up while shouting, "General, there is a letter from Beijing, and it is His Majesty's personal letter!"
His icy face immediately melted away, and a slight smile bloomed at the corner of his mouth, like a winter plum blossoming in the frost, warming the winter with joy.
clatter clatter.
With the sound of military boots flying across the frozen city wall, Yan Zheng ran too fast and almost fell at the corner, but fortunately he jumped up again with his skill.
Gu Shubai shook his head helplessly, Yan Zheng handed the letter to him with a smile, "General, take a quick look, it's almost Chinese New Year, it would be great if His Majesty's letter told the general to go back!"
"Yufu won't do that."
He carefully cut off the sealant on the envelope, Yan Zheng said: "Why not?"
Gu Shubai smiled and said: "The battle situation is at a critical moment, and I can't leave at all. Yufu knows it. She won't say such unrealistic things, let alone ignore the overall situation."
Yu Fu will not be unrealistic, but Yan Zheng is more unrealistic.
Yan Zheng muttered: "But Your Majesty is ill. After all, she is a little girl. If she is ill, don't you want the general to be by your side?"
Gu Shubai froze his hand holding the envelope, frowned and looked at Yan Zheng, "Is she sick? When did it happen?"
Yufu often wrote letters to him, but she never mentioned her illness in the letters.
Yan Zheng regretted his slip of the tongue, so he had to tell the truth, "Perhaps His Majesty didn't want the general to be distracted, so he didn't tell you. Actually, it's not a serious illness. It seems that he was frozen in the snow when Mrs. Ning was sent out of Beijing. This winter is extremely cold. , I heard that the capital city is several times colder than Lin'an!"
"She has gotten used to the weather here in Lin'an, and the Immortal Valley is as warm as spring. This is the first year she has spent the winter in a place as icy and snowy as Beili, so she is not used to it. Fortunately, Yuehu and Tianshu are by her side. Will take care of her body."
Gu Shubai spoke, not knowing whether he was explaining to Yan Zheng or comforting himself.
He took the letter out of the envelope, with a slightly uneasy expression, lest the letter would mention that Yufu's illness had not recovered or worsened, and he didn't want his complexion to become warm again after reading it.
Yan Zheng was surprised, "General, did the letter say that His Majesty's illness has recovered?"
"Um."
Gu Shubai replied lightly, the smile on his face couldn't be hidden even more, and Yan Zheng couldn't understand it.
I'm afraid that the letter not only mentioned about Yufu's recovery from illness, but also mentioned some better news to make him so happy
"General, general?"
"Um?"
Gu Shubai was a little distracted, his eyes fell on the last sentence of the letter, and he read it back and forth several times.
For the first time, he felt that he couldn't control his emotions, and he wished he could yell at the sky full of snow, so that he could express the joy in his heart vividly.
"General, what did the letter say?"
Yan Zheng was so curious that he couldn't bear it, Gu Shubai smiled and said: "She said that we will have a big wedding ceremony on the day she returns in triumph."
After finishing speaking, he put the letter carefully and strode down the tower.
At the end of the letter, the woman's handwriting is beautiful, less domineering, and more graceful like a girl waiting to be married—
"The Ministry of Rituals is preparing my wedding ceremony, as well as our wedding ceremony. I hope you will return home soon."
…
"Report!"
Outside the big tent, soldiers quickly entered the tent, "A letter from the spies ahead!"
Gu Shubai sat at the head, nodded slightly when he heard the words, and the soldier handed the letter to his case.
When I opened it, it turned out to be quite good news, "It's really cold this winter. Fortunately, our soldiers are all from Beili and are used to the cold. But the rebels came from Lingnan and Minzhou. Those who waited for warmer lands now suffer from severe frostbite casualties."
"This is a good thing!"
Yan Zheng and the others were very happy, "We have taken advantage of the time to be harmonious with people, and now the most important thing is the location. I hate that Emperor Ning refused to open the city gate to let us pass. It will be even more troublesome to start a war!"
Gu Shubai suddenly thought of something, "Where is Chi Fei, he led the army back to Lin'an?"
Mentioning this, Yan Zheng and other generals became even more angry.
"Don't mention this, general. I'll be even angrier if I mention it! The general said it was because of his 1,000-man garrison army, so he asked them to follow us and wait for us to wipe out the rebel army in the north." Back to Lin'an. Who knows that Chi Fei submitted a letter to enter the city and asked to enter the city, but the city refused to let him go. He said that he had already led the army to vote for Beili to mix with us. Who knows if he was trying to trick the city gate so that the army could enter? "
Yan Zheng became angrier as he spoke, "Listen, general, we are their friendly troops begging for help with shy faces, but now they treat us as enemy troops! If we weren't here to frighten Lin'an, Lin'an would have been captured by the rebels long ago. Now, the emperor of Dongling is Yin Shuo! It's good for them to guard us like thieves!"
Gu Shubai frowned slightly, "After all, I was the one who delayed Chi Fei and his thousand soldiers. I underestimated Emperor Ning's suspicion too much, and instead made Chi Fei and the others a homeless army."
"You can't blame the general!"
Another general said: "If the general hadn't taken them in at the beginning, the 1,000 people would not be enough to attack the rebel army! Did the general forget? There are also 1,000 defenders in Linzhou, and they were not rebelled. The army killed everything?"
"General, I think we should just attack Lin'an without any hesitation, and let Emperor Ning's idiot take a look. It's not that we dare not attack, it's just because of the gentlemen's agreement between the two countries!"
Gu Shubai said in a loud voice: "Don't let me hear the words of attacking Lin'an again. Our Beili army is here to help the friendly country, not just for a while. If others listen to this kind of words, don't they think Am I, Beili, a country that does not believe in injustice?"
Everyone shut up and bowed their heads, and no one dared to say another word.
Gu Shubai paused and breathed a sigh of relief, "Emperor Ning's issue has to be negotiated with the court. As soldiers, what we can do is to adapt to local conditions and think of the most appropriate way to defeat the enemy no matter how difficult the situation is. A mere Lin'an City stands in front of you, does it bind your hands and feet? Is my Beili army so incompetent?"
"of course not!"
The generals blushed, and their voices shook the snowflakes off the top of the big tent.
The soldiers standing guard outside the tent suddenly trembled, then straightened up even more, and stood with their heads held high.
I only heard Gu Shubai's voice in the tent, "Immediately send someone to go back to the court, and ask Honglu Temple Minister Chen Jingxing to think of a way to persuade Emperor Ning to open the gate of Lin'an City. You can come up with a plan for me here." The method of bypassing Lin'an to attack Huzhou is to prevent Mr. Chen from persuading Emperor Ning, or the rebel army has already taken action before he persuades him, understand?"
"clear!"
Yan Zheng hesitated: "General, let's discuss, what about you?"
Gu Shubai got up and walked out of the tent, without turning his head, "You should also think about it, those who keep fighting fiercely are local ruffians, not Beili's dignified generals."
He walked away, and the faces of the people in the tent were reddish. After hesitating for a moment, they honestly put their heads together and looked at the sand table on the case.
Lin'an, Huzhou, where they are now stationed, are marked with different colors.
The three places form an angle, and Lin'an is a city sandwiched between the two armies, like a sheep being fought by two ferocious beasts.
The army of Beili was stronger than the rebel army, and the victory was like a smashing bamboo all the way. However, the rebel army who fought all the way from the south at first, after retreating steadily in the north, has lost its original momentum.
No matter how you think about it, the Beili army has a better chance of winning.
But the difficulty lies in Lin'an City. What the rebel army wants to do is capture, what they want to do is protect, and the offensive and defensive situation is instantly unfavorable to the Beili army.
How can I take this sheep into my hands and keep it unscathed
Most annoying of all, this sheep doesn't trust their protective hearts at all...
Gu Shubai got out of the big tent and headed towards the camp where Chi Fei's thousand soldiers were stationed. The two camps were not far apart, with only a symbolic wooden fence in between.
Gu Shubai had a lot of trust in Chi Fei, and he often took him in the big tent to discuss strategies with him during the process of clearing up the rebel army. Chi Fei is even more grateful for his shelter and protection, coupled with the affection from the Gu family army, he still treats him with the same respect as he used to treat his own major general.
When Chi Fei's soldiers saw Gu Shubai approaching, they all stood still and saluted, but their expressions were quite strange.
It seems that there is hope, but he hesitates to speak.
Gu Shubai had a vague idea in his heart, but his face was as usual, "Is your general there?"
The soldier hurriedly said, "Yes, my subordinate will send you a message, please?"
"No need, I'll go by myself."
Gu Shubai walked towards Chi Fei's tent, and several soldiers watched him leave, and whispered to each other, "Do you think this can be done?"
…
Before he got close to the tent, Gu Shubai heard the sound of arguing.
After recovering from his last injury, Xu was nursed by Immortal Gu Lingdan, his martial arts are better than before, and his hearing has also improved a lot.
He could clearly hear the content of the quarrel in the account at this moment.
"Why are you still hesitating? The imperial court no longer wants us, can you be more sober!"
This voice is from a general beside Chi Fei, the relationship between the two has always been harmonious, Gu Shubai has seen them go in and out together several times, eating and drinking tea together.
"But we are Dong Ling's generals, we would rather die than betray the imperial court!"
This is Chi Fei's voice, mixed with pain and forbearance, it seems that what Yan Zheng said is true.
The man's voice was ironic, "What betrayal is not betrayal, we did not betray, it was the court who betrayed us, the loyal soldiers! How much thought and time have we spent to bring these thousand soldiers back to the imperial capital safely! Now I finally came back, I thought I could defend my family and serve the court, but they locked the gates of the city and refused to let us in!"
The sound of slapping the table, the sound of teacups falling to the ground and breaking.
Gu Shubai stood where he was, the tent was eerily quiet, as if he could hear the excited heartbeats of the two.
It took a while for Chi Fei to say in a deep voice: "The general said that members of the Gu family army can't betray Dong Ling even if they die."
"But Gu Hou left Dong Ling a long time ago. What do you still remember these words for? Could it be that when Master Gu Hou died on the execution ground with his whole family, he was considered loyal to Dong Ling? His Majesty treats loyal soldiers like that. Grandpa has long since left with chills, why are you still obsessed with it?"
The man said: "Look, look for yourself! Now the commander of the Beili army is the young general you admire very much. Under his rule, the Beili army has the same strength of character as the original Gu family army. Look again , look at our Dongling dynasty, do we still have such an army now? Wake up, Dongling is dead!"
Even if the rebel army is completely wiped out, Dong Ling is already dead. He died when the common people had no choice but to rise up and resist. He died when the Guhou family was forced to leave Dong Ling. When his son was murdered, he died...
For a long time, Chi Fei did not respond.
Gu Shubai stomped his footsteps deliberately, and walked slowly towards the tent, the two of them had already calmed down their expressions when they entered the tent.
Seeing Gu Shubai looking at the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, Chi Fei smiled and said: "I accidentally knocked over the teacup, general, please come in and sit down, do you want to find the general?"
Gu Shubai didn't ask any further questions, and sat down as he said, "I've heard about that incident, and I know that you are in a bad situation at the moment. I will send someone to explain this to Emperor Ning. You never led your army to join me, but The two armies are just walking together. Until Emperor Ning is willing to open the city gate to welcome you into the city, you can stay at ease without worrying."
"General, we..."
The general wanted to say something, but after looking at Chi Fei's expression, he didn't say any more.
Gu Shubai smiled, got up and said: "I think Emperor Ning is just suspicious for a while, and sooner or later he will believe you. If you need any help, just tell me, I will go back first."
After saying that, he turned around and walked out of the tent, Chi Fei and the two hurriedly followed, but Gu Shubai left without looking back.
Right now is the time to avoid suspicion, he doesn't want to stay here to embarrass Chi Fei, and he doesn't want to give unnecessary hopes to the soldiers.
How to choose should be decided by Chi Fei himself, he is unwilling to interfere.
Chi Fei said in a low voice: "What he said just now... tell me, did he guess that we had quarreled, and guessed the content of our quarrel?"
"Do you still need to guess?"
The general rolled his eyes at him and pointed to the soldiers outside, "Look at everyone's hopeful eyes, everyone is looking forward to you quickly leading them to vote for General Gu. General Gu walked all the way from outside the barracks and saw these soldiers Can you still understand? But he didn’t say anything, didn’t ask us to follow him, and said that he would help us explain to His Majesty. This is the real high-spirited, you are called foolish loyalty, hum!”
After saying that, he left angrily, too lazy to talk to Chi Fei.
Chi Fei looked up, and saw that the soldiers all around him were looking at him quietly, with hope in their eyes, wishing that he would announce that he had joined Gu Shubai right now.
It's perfectly normal for them to have such thoughts. The hearts of the soldiers are condensed with blood, made of steel, and invincible.
The only thing that can destroy them is the ruler who sees no hope, the king who treats them as nothing...
"General..."
In the silence of hope, someone finally couldn't help but speak.
As if being struck by an electric shock, Chi Fei immediately trembled and waved his hands at the soldiers, "Needless to say, I'm going to chase after the major general!"
After saying that, he rushed out of the camp as if flying, his movements were as quick as lightning, and everyone was stunned.
The general who was with Chi Fei before suddenly opened his eyes wide, "He finally got the hang of it! If he still doesn't get the hang of it, I'll kill him and take you to General Gu!"
All the soldiers in the army knew about his relationship with Chi Fei, and knew that it was a joke, but they were indeed relieved.
The soldier who spoke before said with a smile: "General, it's fine if you want to. I used to hate that I couldn't enter the Gu family army, the strongest army in Dongling. Now I can vote for General Gu, so forget it." long-cherished wish."
The general squinted at him, "Good boy, have ambition!"
Chi Fei quickly drove out of the camp and chased after Gu Shubai, seeing Gu Shubai stepping over the wooden fence separating the two armies, he rushed up and was stopped by the soldiers on duty beside the wooden fence.
The soldier frowned and looked at him, "General Chi, what are you doing?"
It turned out that when the soldiers saw him running fast behind Gu Shubai, they thought he was plotting something wrong, so they stopped him.
Chi Fei didn't know how to explain it for a while. He took a look at the useless wooden fence, bent down and uprooted it, "I'm here to seek refuge with the Major General. I don't need this wooden fence, and I don't need to set it up again in the future!"