Mu Yuan rejected Xie Nanjia's temptation without much thought.
He is different from the Crown Prince of Nanzhao. The Crown Prince of Nanzhao is surnamed Song after all, and Nanzhao was originally the territory of the Great Zhou. It is reasonable for the Emperor of the Great Zhou to show leniency to his nephew. But he is a foreigner and is the one who colluded with the former crown prince and ambitiously wanted to divide the Great Zhou. How could Song Wanji show mercy to him
But then again, he didn't need him to show mercy. Although Yu Ze seemed to be at a disadvantage at the moment, that was only because they were not prepared at the beginning and were caught off guard. Now, Song Jingxing's troops were rushing here from Shanyang Pass. When Mu Ke transferred the Red Army, the Zhou army would undoubtedly be defeated under the three-sided attack.
After they have annihilated the 100,000-strong Zhou army, and then pursued their victory across the Yellow River, then the Great Zhou would have taken the initiative to negotiate peace with them. Wouldn't that be much more satisfying than being a puppet king trembling in fear at the mercy of a woman
And the most important point is that if he surrenders to the Great Zhou, he will never be able to get along with the woman he loves. Only by defeating the Great Zhou can he have the chance to take her for himself.
As for Song Jingxing and his younger brother who had obtained the Red Army, in his opinion, they were nothing to be afraid of, and he had not been the eldest prince for nothing all these years.
"It must be very hard for you to do this?" He said as he untied the ropes tied to the chair, freeing Xie Nanjia from the restraints, leaving only the ropes on her hands and feet to prevent Xie Nanjia from escaping.
Xie Nanjia stretched her stiff body and thanked him sincerely: "Thank you, Prince. I feel much more comfortable now. It would be even better if you could help me change the rope into shackles and give me a bed so that I can have a good sleep."
Mu Yuan: “…”
She really goes with the flow.
After all, she was the woman he loved, and as long as he could ensure that she would not run away, he was willing to make her live as comfortably as possible.
So, he replaced the ropes on her hands and feet with shackles as she requested. Before even changing the shackles, he ordered someone to bring her water so that she could wash and change clothes in the tent herself.
Because he really couldn't stand the woman he liked stinking all over.
In order to prevent Xie Nanjia from escaping, he personally guarded outside the tent while Xie Nanjia was taking a bath and did not leave for a moment.
He listened to the sound of the water and looked at the hazy figure cast by the light. He couldn't help but feel distracted and his body changed.
But he did not want to desecrate her easily, so he did not use rough means like he treated his other women.
This was probably the only time in his life that a rough man like him treated a woman with such delicate thoughts.
After Xie Nanjia finished washing, she changed into the clothes of a Yu Ze soldier, walked to the door, and took the initiative to stretch out her hand, allowing Mu Yuan to put handcuffs on her.
She was so obedient that if Mu Yuan hadn't known her feelings for Zhao Jingyu, he would have almost thought she was in love with him.
"Why are you so obedient?" he asked.
"Because I know the current situation," Xie Nanjia said, "I knew I couldn't escape, but I was still stubborn and refused to compromise. I would only suffer physical pain. I have been spoiled since I was a child, and I can't bear that kind of pain."
"…" Mu Yuan looked at her charming face that was glowing with radiance again, and for a moment he didn't know what to say. He paused and said, "Are you hungry?"
"I'm hungry." Xie Nanjia said, "I've been eating dry food for seven days in a row. Now I'm so hungry that I can swallow a horse."
"…" Mu Yuan laughed, "I'll go kill one for you and roast it."
Soon, the soldiers brought the food, a table full of beef and mutton, steamed, boiled, and roasted, the aroma filled the entire tent.
The two men sat opposite each other in front of the table, eating meat with big mouthfuls and drinking wine with big bowls, looking very happy.
The soldiers outside were jaws dropped, thinking that after fighting for many years, this was the first time they saw prisoners treated so well. If you didn't know, you would have thought they were a pair of close friends chatting about life!
Mu Yuan enjoyed this way of getting along, but he couldn't help asking Xie Nanjia: "Are you really not worried about the war at all?"
"I'm worried." Xie Nanjia said, "But I consider you a friend. Today is the last time we'll drink and chat together, so I'm willing to put everything else aside for now."
Mu Yuan was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"
Xie Nanjia smiled, narrowed her eyes slightly, and raised her glass to him.
Mu Yuan finished the wine in his glass, and somehow, he felt a little uneasy in his heart.
This woman simply treated his place as a place for fun and had no worries at all. Could she have designed some conspiracy or trap and was waiting for them to fall for it
No, no matter how the war goes in the future, this woman cannot stay on the front line. She should be sent back to the Yudu Palace while the war is currently lulled. This way, there will be no need to worry about her colluding with the Zhou army, and Zhao Jingyu will be afraid to attack Yudu rashly.
Thinking of this, he forced Xie Nanjia to drink a few more glasses of wine. When Xie Nanjia fell asleep due to excessive drinking, he ordered people to send her back to Yudu overnight.
The next day, Mu Kexun's Red Army had not returned, and Song Jingxing's troops were also on their way to Lechuan. Mu Yuan was worried that the Zhou army would launch a new round of attacks before the Red Army arrived, so he began to deploy a plan to fight them before dawn. Unexpectedly, the Zhou army that was originally stationed outside the city retreated back to Lechuan overnight and closed the city gates.
Mu Yuan felt that there must be something strange going on, and his uneasiness grew stronger.
However, his subordinates all comforted him and said that it was all right. The Great Zhou was probably afraid that we would harm their Crown Princess, so they did not dare to use force rashly.
Mu Yuan didn’t think it was just because of this reason. If Zhao Jingyu was really worried about his woman, he should have sent someone to negotiate long ago. Why has he been sitting on his hands until now and hasn’t even sent a word
"They must be waiting for some opportunity. We can't give them enough time." Mu Yuan said, "Since they won't move, we should take the initiative to send troops to preempt them and destroy their plans."
However, more than half of his soldiers disagreed with his decision, believing that the Second Prince had not returned from searching for the Red Army and that it would take some time for Prince Song's troops to arrive. If the battle was lost, they would not even have reinforcements, so they should not act rashly.
Mu Yuan refused to accept those people's opinions. He was the commander-in-chief and had the final say on attack and defense. Therefore, even though most people opposed it, he still personally led his troops to attack the Zhou army.
However, the Great Zhou did not fight back. They allowed him to challenge them at the gate of the city, but kept the gates closed and ignored him.
The soldier who was challenging the enemy shouted until his throat was smoking, but there was still no movement from the other side, and there was not a single soldier on the city wall. He fired a row of arrows, but it was of no use.
Mu Yuan lost his patience and immediately ordered a violent attack, ordering his men to bring battering rams in an attempt to break open the city gate.
One of his old subordinates stopped him and said that the Han army was always cunning and that if they forced their way in without understanding the situation, they might fall into the enemy's trap.
The other soldiers also agreed, thinking that now was not the best time to attack the city.
Mu Yuan was annoyed and was about to lose his temper when Zhao Jingyu suddenly appeared on the city wall.
Zhao Jingyu was dressed in a fluttering red dress. She looked down at Mu Yuan calmly and said in a gentle voice, "Prince, long time no see. How are you?"
Mu Yuan: “…”
This guy is a psychopath. They had just had a fierce battle yesterday, so how could it be like they haven't seen each other for a long time
"Zhao Jingyu, are you a man? Your wife was kidnapped, but you closed the city gate and became a coward. Come out if you have the guts, let's have a good fight!"
Zhao Jingyu was not angry at all, instead he smiled calmly: "Come in if you dare, I will fight you."
"Open the door if you dare." Mu Yuan said.
"If you have the guts, just break the door open." Zhao Jingyu said.
The more this happened, the more Mu Yuan dared not to confront him. This guy was so cunning, who knew what he had ambushed in the city.
In this way, the two sides were deadlocked for more than half an hour. Zhao Jingyu simply asked someone to bring him a zither so that he could perform the Empty City Strategy for Mu Yuan on the spot.
The melodious sound of the piano rang out, and Zhao Jingyu's red dress was blown up by the wind, making her look as graceful as a fairy, full of elegance and grace.
Mu Yuan was so angry that his blood rushed back, but seeing how Zhao Jingyu was playing it safe, he really didn't dare to attack the city rashly.
In the end, he could only lead his troops to retreat back to his own camp in disgrace, just like Sima Yi did back then.
"It's definitely a trick, it's definitely a trick..." After returning to the camp, he kept repeating this sentence all day long, but he couldn't tell what the trick was.
After a night of anxiety, after lunch the next day, a spy came to report that the second prince had led 20,000 red-clothed soldiers into the territory of Lechuan, and Song Jingxing's 50,000 troops were about to arrive.
Mu Yuan was overjoyed. With these 70,000 soldiers and horses, plus the existing Yuze Army, even if Zhao Jingyu filled Lechuan City with traps, they would be able to crush the traps.
"Order the three armies, prepare their horses and be ready to attack the city at any time!" He issued the order excitedly.
Half an hour later, the sound of horse hooves like thunder came from both the east and the west, shaking the grassland within a hundred miles.
From the east were Song Jingxing's troops coming from Shanyang Pass, all of them wearing brown uniforms. From the west were the legendary invincible Red Army, all of them wearing red uniforms. From afar, they looked like red clouds surging from the horizon, covering the entire sky and earth, creating a spectacular sight.
“Red Army, Red Army…” The Yu Ze Army was in an uproar. While being amazed by the Red Army, they all praised the Second Prince for his wisdom and courage.
Although Mu Yuan didn't like to hear it, he no longer cared about these trivial matters and rode to greet them personally.
When he got closer, he saw Mu Ke and a red-robed general walking side by side in front of the team. It went without saying that Mu Ke was very proud and complacent. The red-robed general had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and was very dignified. He held a shiny silver spear in his hand and rode a Ferghana horse. He looked very majestic.
Such a talent was going to be given to that treacherous man Mu Ke. Mu Yuan felt quite aggrieved but did not show it on his face. He pulled the reins and greeted Mu Ke.
Mu Ke had grown up under the shadow of Mu Yuan. Today, he finally got his moment of pride. When he saw his brother, he did not dismount. He just bowed and laughed, "Brother Wang, I have brought the Red Army back. This is the current commander of the Red Army, Zhan Feiyu."
"It's General Zhan." Mu Yuan clasped his fists and said, "General, you've had a hard time on your journey."
General Zhan seemed to take his status as the eldest prince lightly. He nodded slightly and said, "Hello, eldest prince."
Mu Yuan understood that the Red Army only recognized the command token and not the person, so he did not bother with him and immediately took the two of them to the east to meet Song Jingxing.
The three parties met and entered the big tent to discuss the siege.
Zhao Jingyu had already received the news, and together with Xie Zhanting and others, he climbed up the city wall and looked out to the west.
The twenty thousand red-clad soldiers were like a fiery sunset falling on the rippling green grassland, and just looking at them made one's blood boil.
"Xiu'er is smart. He got Mu Ke to send the Red Army to me without any effort." Zhao Jingyu said with a smile.
"Yes, otherwise you really wouldn't know where to find them." Xie Zhanting said, secretly proud of his daughter's intelligence.
"In that case, can we open the city gates to meet the enemy?" Xie Nanfeng was already getting ready to fight.
"Let's go now!" Zhao Jingyu was full of fighting spirit. He threw away his scarlet cloak and strode down the city wall.
(End of this chapter)