I had many dreams in the dark. I could realize that they were dreams, but I couldn't wake up. \\\ .()().It's not that I don't want to wake up, but I want to wake up but can't.
I will drift to Qianshan with the wind and snow, and there will be only me and her in the snow.
Although I want to avoid it, this is the only relatively warm dream.
Other dreams were of this mountain stronghold or Luoping being breached by the Dong bandits, towns being massacred one after another, countless innocent people running and shouting in despair, and behind them were the sinister black-armored cavalrymen charging towards them.
In my dream, I would be in a place I had never been to, thinking about what I had heard about Dong Ze who had attacked Qingyun Mountain in my name. It was obvious that Dong Ze had known of my arrival and my plan, and that they had spies inside us or inside the Yunnan people.
These dreams often repeat themselves, and I finally start to get angry and anxious, but I am still trapped in an endless dream in vain. I can even feel the change of day and night outside, but I can't wake up. This world is quiet and silent, it seems full of vitality and yet so desolate that it makes people want to escape quickly.
I even thought that I might have been poisoned by a snake, and then wondered if I was already dead. Is the world after death like this? Can I return to my home? But I was still trapped in an unknown place, in various scenes that seemed familiar but never seen before, and couldn't extricate myself.
There seemed to be all kinds of shouts in my ears, slowly getting closer and clearer.
Until I opened my eyes and saw a face that was all too familiar—a ferocious look that showed surprise.
I sat up suddenly, probably not because he scared me. It was just the pleasure of finally breaking free from the nightmare that made me unable to lie still.
But my mind worked quickly: "E Huan, why are you here?"
"After two days, there was no movement. I was afraid that you were... killed. Our tribe had walked in this forest before, and we knew the way. The main mountain roads were guarded, but some brothers knew some hidden paths in the mountains, so they came up."
"No fight?"
"It was almost a fight." His ferocious face showed a trace of embarrassment, and he really looked like he was going to kill someone immediately: "But there was no fight. I also know that I look like this. If there was no fight, it might have happened. I sent someone to go back at night to ask Miss Su to bring people over, and then I followed her, and Miss Su followed the people who had walked this way up. If nothing happened to you, she is a girl, and she is pretty, so it is not easy to get into a fight. If something happened, Sister Su Mei and her gang would fight. But we were discovered after passing two ridges. After we were discovered, they came to find you. It was Sister Su Mei again. After a stalemate, a leader came over and asked Sister Su Mei some questions, and then she was let in. However, the team did not let us enter the main mountain stronghold, so we stayed outside the stronghold temporarily. Only Miss Su and I came in."
"You've made a lot of progress recently!"
"Brother Liang instructed me to do this before he left. He even sent Miss Su and a hundred southern soldiers to station directly at the border of the Dian people's territory. That's why there were no delays."
"Oh, okay. What happened to me these days?"
"Oh. I heard what they told me. You helped a young lady named Huang suck out poisonous blood. If you chewed herbs, you would be fine. But those old ladies snatched them away and chewed them. Plus, you had some cuts in your mouth, so the poison took effect. Fortunately, you are not an ordinary person, so you are fine. The young lady Huang was basically detoxified but was unconscious for a few days. It seems that she just woke up. After waking up, she had a dream. She dreamed that you were blocking the mountain pass in her dream to kill the thief Dong. After the thief Dong was defeated, she woke up. There was a man in Sister Su Mei's team who could dance Nuo. After dancing for a while, he took some gourds and straw and shook them on the fire. He mumbled something in his mouth and thought that you should wake up. And you really woke up."
I don't know how to comment on this kind of thing. I have always believed that the prophecies and prophecies are not credible, but it just so happens that so many people believe in them, including the former emperors of the Han Dynasty and the barbarians, and sometimes they really work. And most of the time I seem to benefit from it, so I can't complain.
I tried to get up, my steps were a little light, but everything else was fine. I quickly put on my clothes, which seemed to have been washed by someone, and no longer smelled of dust.
Before leaving, I remember joking with E Huan: "It might be helpful for you to grow a big beard in the future."
"My Lord, you know that I am not old enough to have a full beard yet."
I nodded: “That’s right.”
"I want to see your General Wu." I asked the sentry outside as soon as I came out.
General Wu's name was Wu Yi. He had a thick beard and looked very majestic, but he was only in his twenties. He led the army to resist in times of crisis, and gathered the remnants of the defeated soldiers and the families of the nobles, and finally settled here. Relying on the advantages of the terrain and uniting with several surrounding southern tribes or Yizhou soldiers and civilians who were still resisting and had also settled here, he managed to resist several attacks by the bandit Dong.
The first thing I said when I saw him was, "Hurry up and send someone to guard the road my men are coming from."
"I have already sent people. We have lived here for two or three years, but we didn't know there was such a road up the mountain. Fortunately, the thieves didn't know it either. But I checked and found that it is more dangerous than other roads up the mountain. The thieves should not come from this road. But to be on the safe side, we still sent people to guard it."
"Dong the thief already knows about my trip. Maybe he already has spies in the south. I remember Sister Huang once said that someone from Qingyun Mountain came to surrender. Can we ask him to tell us about Qingyun Mountain?"
After a while, the man was invited. During the conversation, I heard that he was originally from this place, but was later sent to Qingyun Mountain. After Qingyun Mountain fell and escaped, he knew the way back. As for why he went there, he did not say much.
I have been in a dream these days, and it was rare for me to have a clear mind now. After listening to his story, I discovered a problem.
"Didn't anyone else escape?"
"The Dong bandits, who pretended to be Yue Hou and his followers, opened the gate of the village at night, surrounded everyone, and started killing people. I happened to get up at night, hid in the woods, and ran back at night to report the news. Others may have escaped, but they may not know to come to our village."
"Those thieves who pretended to be me went to the mountain, and the stronghold was broken into. There was a gap of several days."
"It was after the banquet that night."
I was thinking about something. But I kept talking while looking at the map in the hall: "It's a pity that we used to form a strong alliance to protect each other, but now we can only rely on you alone."
He went out.
"Why was he sent to Qingyun Mountain?"
"He behaved frivolously with a decent girl. Although this place is not in accordance with Han law, there are still rules in the mountain stronghold. Considering his past military exploits, let him go to Qingyun Mountain to serve."
After sending everyone away, I said to General Wu, "It's better to have someone keep an eye on him."
"Before you came, I had someone keep an eye on him; now that you are here, I have to keep an eye on his every move."
We both laughed.
After laughing: "You made a mistake earlier... a big mistake that is very similar to what I made before."
The solemn expression on the other side was even a little sad: "So I don't want to make the same mistake again, and I want to make up for it by the way."
"How long has he been back?"
"In a few days."
"We have to be ready."
It was very pleasant to chat with him. It was very convenient. Wu Yi, courtesy name Ziyuan, was not originally from Yizhou, so unlike many locals who chose to defend the isolated city to the death, he was able to gather the remnants of the army and the refugees and find a new place to settle down.
His ancestral home was Chenliu, a place that produced many talented people, and many high-ranking officials in the court were from Chenliu. During the Party Imprisonment in Chenliu, many innocent upright scholars died.
We are surprisingly compatible. We often have exactly the same opinions on military operations and various aspects. We have similar temperaments, but he is calmer and more stable than me. I can't help but sigh that if he were out there, I'm afraid he would have achieved more than me by now.
He shook his head and waved his hands. He was also forced by the situation. The Dong bandits had been attacking the mountain for two years. They were able to hold on by relying on the steepness of the mountain and the soldiers' sacrifice of their lives. They relied on recruiting refugees and scattered soldiers. They gradually grew stronger, but they couldn't help it a year or two ago. They went down the mountain to pursue but were ambushed and chased by cavalry, and lost thousands of strong men. After that, they had to train female soldiers to fill the vacancies in various sentry posts. Now there are more than 3,000 people on the mountain, and there are only more than 1,000 people who can fight, including the female soldiers. Since this battle, his soldiers have been unable to go out of the mountain to fight head-on. This lesson and this situation forced him to think more about everything. I also realized the consequences of my various impulses in the past, and I could only sigh at each other. I feel closer.
But since he was older than me, I didn't bring up the idea of becoming sworn brothers with him. Maybe he also took my status outside into consideration and didn't feel comfortable bringing up the idea of becoming sworn brothers first. It was just that here, we both felt like we had met too late and felt like we had known each other for a long time.
He has a younger sister who is very pretty and looks quite wealthy. When we were having dinner together that day, I could hear him hinting that I could be his sister-in-law. I quickly revealed that I had been engaged since I was born and married two wives when I became an adult.
He felt very sorry, I was very glad, and of course I had to express some regret as well.
Even so, I still felt that I was not a good husband for abandoning two pregnant wives. When I was walking in the village, I still wanted to meet her.
Fortunately, I didn't have any improper thoughts, I just wanted to see her.
At least I saved her, at least General Wu trusted me because I nearly died saving her. At least these two excuses were reasonable and sounded like reasons.
I can feel that Ziyuan likes her.
The weather in the mountains changes quickly. It seems to be raining in the morning, but after a gust of wind in the afternoon, the clouds and fog cleared. God granted my wish and I got to see my beloved.
The woman, dressed in military uniform, rested lightly under the porch. Only her sharp and polished face was exposed, her chin slightly raised, a slight smile on the corner of her mouth, her eyebrows and eyes moved with the clouds in the mountains, as if she was remembering something or thinking about something.
I don’t know when I will be able to engrave this image and preserve it, so I can only keep it in my heart for the rest of my life.
Come here with excitement, and leave when excitement is over. This love should not have a new beginning, so the past should end here.
"Is it Lord Yuehou?" came the beautiful woman's voice.
He could not help but stop and turned around, pretending to be confused: "Sister Huang? I just woke up and heard that you are fine. Now I see that everything is fine, I am very relieved."
Although she was wearing armor, she still came to me gracefully, bowed in front of me and said, "Thank you, Lord Yue, for saving my life! My sisters were negligent and tired, and caused Lord Yue to be poisoned. Please forgive me, Lord Yue."
"It's okay, it's okay." I smiled and waved my hand, then turned around and left.
"Master Yue Hou is here... Is there something wrong?"
"Well, I was just thinking while walking along the way, and suddenly I remembered some military matters, so I went to discuss them with General Wu."
"Oh, then I won't bother Lord Yuehou anymore. If I see Ziyuan, I will tell you that I have recovered and can return to my post."
I looked at the package on her ankle: "The heart is the most important thing. The poisonous blood may not be completely cleared. I understand. I will go."
I can feel that she likes General Wu.
I feel jealous, but also ashamed of my jealousy.
Then he comforted himself, isn't it good that she likes someone who is very similar to him? Isn't it better that Ziyuan got it first
He went to visit Su Mei and others. After returning, he felt free and had nothing to do, so he went to find Ziyuan again.
Unexpectedly, something happened at the same time.
The man who came back from Qingyun Mountain suddenly disappeared! The person who was watching him was in the house, but he didn't come out for lunch. After lunch, the person who was watching him couldn't help it. He found a reason to knock on the door to look for him, but found that he was gone. There was a big hole on the floor. He went down and found footprints all the way to a cliff. There was a rope hanging down. He must have gone down the mountain along the rope.
"He should have noticed that we were watching him."
"He knows I'm here. We just asked him a lot of questions. If he finds you staring at him, he will definitely run away... Oh, I was unconscious before, so he didn't know whether I was alive or dead, so he naturally had to wait for news. Now that he is sure that I am still alive, he will definitely rush to report it."
"So..." We looked at each other and said at the same time, "The thief Dong will attack the mountain with all his strength soon!"
I added, "We also need to send people to patrol the cliffs that lead to the road down the mountain. Since he ran away, the Dong bandits may speed up the attack on the mountain. If they are still so elite, I'm afraid there will be a big battle in a day or two."
Ziyuan nodded: "Of course."
This is very clear. I am on the mountain, so the trick of pretending to be me is no longer useful. And I don't lead many troops, and the situation of the troops on the mountain is clear to Dong thief at this time. It doesn't matter how he surrendered to Dong thief before, but he will definitely lead Dong thief's troops soon. Because when I contact this Yizhou mountain stronghold and gather the forces of all parties in the south, Dong thief will have a headache. Now is the best time to deal with me.
"There is no time to lose. Marquis Yue needs to leave quickly." He said firmly.
"I can't leave." I said firmly.
"Why?"
"The thief Dong is determined to put me to death, and now there is an insider who has informed me, and I will definitely kill all the way."
"He is too late. Even we don't know the way your people came here in all these years. That thief certainly doesn't know it. Even if he knows it now, he doesn't know where he came from. You will be safe if you leave from there." Just as I thought, this one is not easy to fool.
"Since I came here to destroy Dong, how can I go against my duty? I will go against the will of heaven and betray the people. I will order people to bring reinforcements as soon as possible. I will fight against Dong with you all. I have made up my mind. Brother Ziyuan, there is no need to say more."
He and I had basically the same thoughts, so there wasn't much need for us to say anything, and he stopped trying to persuade me to leave.
He quickly began to arrange defenses in various places, and even began to request to change the location of traps and mechanisms. He also sent out many scouts to ambush on the mountain roads to spy on the situation.
As soon as I came out, I looked for Su Mei and asked her to take some female soldiers back to ask for reinforcements. She naturally wanted to stay and advised me to send E Huan instead.
My E Huan and his tribe are originally locals. We are familiar with the mountain terrain, which makes it convenient for us to go back and forth for reinforcements.
After all, she couldn't disobey my orders, and left somewhat resentfully.
The whole mountain immediately became busy and orderly. No one said anything, no one was impressed by what was going to happen, as if it was just a routine exercise. It was hard not to sigh that a few years of training could really change a lot. I asked casually, they felt that with the help of the dangerous terrain, it would not be a problem to hold on.
I spent some time to understand the situation of each important road in the mountain. I applied to go to the intersection guarded by the female soldiers for reinforcement. I have walked that road before and seen the surrounding situation, so I am relatively familiar with it. And Miss Huang has just recovered, so someone may need to take care of her there.
Ziyuan wanted me to command the central army while he went to the front. I laughed and said how could I command your army. If the general does not know the soldiers and the soldiers do not know the general, there will be chaos. It is better for me to go to the front to fight.
He thought about it for a long time and finally agreed.
After sending Su Mei and the others off with E Huan, I immediately followed the guide to the west. The camp there was still a few hundred feet above the mountain road where they met me. After turning a corner, there was a cliff on one side and a cliff on the other. In the slightly wider area, there was a two-meter-high stone wall with many rattan shields erected on it. There were not only female soldiers here, but also male soldiers. Miss Huang was the leader of the female soldiers here. The male soldiers had a leader called Lao Wang, who was an old soldier who had been in the barracks all his life. Usually, Lao Wang would arrange the sentry posts, and Miss Huang would command the female soldiers to do some auxiliary work. The soldiers stationed there. The Dong thief's soldiers were skilled in archery and needed to be taken seriously.
E Huan looked around and found out the road fortifications and was puzzled. He thought that the wall should be built at the bend instead of just setting up a sentry post. This would be a better way to kill the enemy, and there would be no need to build such a long wall.
I told him that if we build a wall at the bend, there will only be three or four people stationed there to attack the enemy, while there will be dozens or even hundreds of people within the range of their arrows, which will definitely overwhelm us. Isn't that dangerous? And this is just around the bend, it's still narrow, and the distance is within the range of the bow and arrow. There is a cliff next to it, so the enemy can't quickly deploy a large group to rush in, and the siege equipment can't be transported up. On our long wall, dozens or even hundreds of people can shoot arrows at the narrow place at the same time. Isn't that better
E Huan raised his head thoughtfully, with a look of an unrepentant and vicious person.
But I feel that there are some loopholes here, which need to be considered carefully.
Miss Huang arrived later than us, and she was a little surprised by my arrival. I have thought it through and made it clear that this place is likely to be the enemy's main attack position this time. Although it is relatively steep, the traitor should know that most of the people here are women, and in a hurry. Ziyuan will not take the risk of letting everyone rashly exchange defense areas and defend in relatively unfamiliar places. Therefore, the possibility that the enemy will attack here is very high.
It is possible that there was a girl's school nearby who interrupted, as the rebel often lurked here.
I was also in a bad mood, because Ziyuan and I knew that the rebel had been to all the intersections, checking in the name of looking for an old friend, but it was really wrong to let him get away this time.
I asked Miss Huang privately, but it was not easy to ask in front of Ziyuan. When General Wu was defeated and returned to the mountain, where did the Dong bandits attack the mountain? She was on the north side, just here and along the mountain road to the left, there was a slightly wider mountain pass, which was convenient for the bandits to deploy. General Wu held out at the pass for three days before the Dong bandits retreated. After that, the troops on the mountain were seriously insufficient, and they could only train female soldiers, because the terrain here was relatively good, and the large army could not be deployed at all. Last time, only a few dozen people repelled the feint attack and harassment of hundreds of bandits.
I am more convinced that there will probably be a feint attack from the north this time, and this is the main attack direction. Although this place is not suitable, attacking from here is very much in line with my appetite.
I looked left and right at the corner, looking at the cliffs on this side and the precipice on the other side, thinking about what would happen if I were to attack.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt that although this place was dangerous, there were still many dangers. I quickly ordered more preparations. If the bandits did this or that, we would do this or that. Originally, there was a visible sentry at the corner and several hidden sentries in the forest. I also suggested adding patrol sentries and arranging a method of changing shifts. However, this group thought it was too cumbersome and didn't take it seriously. Fortunately, after Miss Huang finished drinking, they still did it honestly.
I think Miss Huang is still a little weak. These kids are still new soldiers. Although they respect her, they don't care about military orders. I don't know how they defended it before. I asked Lao Wang. There were not many people coming in the previous times, and it was during the day. They were seen by the sentries early. They defended in a dangerous place, so there was no danger.
I do feel like it’s more dangerous here.
It was getting dark. Except for dinner time, I kept wandering around this corner, looking up and down. The more I looked, the more I felt that there was a big problem here. The sentry post here was a stone fort half a person's height with an arrow hole. The sentry was behind the stone fort looking down the mountain. When he got tired, he sat down and looked down through the arrow hole. I could feel that he was quite bored.
I made a decision and found a dozen strong men, and together with them, we dug a horizontal trench as wide as the wheels behind the corner, and piled the excavated gravel into a horizontal ridge in front.
She became curious and asked me why.
As for me, since they have suffered losses before, they will definitely bring something, at least to give them a surprise.
She smiled, and the firelight reflected her, so beautiful.
That night, Lao Wang checked the sentry position again and found me an iron helmet. I lined up the two iron rods behind me, put the iron helmet at my side, and rested on the wall. Lao Wang was old, so he went to rest for a while and got up early to replace us.
That night the sky was dark, with thick fog. The lights on the city walls could only illuminate the outline of the corner of the cliff. The sound of the wind was mournful, like the cry of a mother animal losing her child.
I felt someone was watching me, so I opened my eyes and turned around, and as expected, it was her again.
She is very curious.
I didn't want to cause any more trouble, so I turned around and continued to rest with my eyes closed: "What do you want to ask?"
"You are a vassal, and you have a lot to offer. Why do you want to take the risk here?"
"It has been like this since I entered the officialdom. The people who died because of me could fill up the valley, and the people I killed could form a mountain. The blood I shed could fill up the horse trough. I'm used to this kind of life." I want to make myself more terrifying and disgusting.
"If we eliminate the thief Dong, what will Yuehou do?"
"go home."
"Is there anyone at home?"
"Two ladies and some children."
She sighed.
"You like General Wu, right?" I decided to take the initiative and end the passive topic.
"How did Yue Hou know?"
"I've been married for many years, so I'm an experienced person." I pretended to be mature: "He likes you too. If you win this battle, I'm still alive. I'll go and help you."
"Alas." She sighed again, "He had a wife, but when the thief Dong came, she was gone. His sister was also married. That man was ambushed when he went down the mountain last time, and she is gone too."
After hearing her words, I recalled the conversation with Ziyuan in the morning and thought about my own experience. Suddenly I sighed: "The wind blows over the battlefield and it is cold. The stars fall in the wilderness and it is silent. It is easy to understand the difference between people and ghosts, but it is difficult to understand the meaning of life and death. Who remembers the knot of black hair, who hears the cry of white hair. Poor widow, lonely and relieved."
"Whose poem is this? Did you write it?"
"It was written by a clerk in the army when I was there."
She sighed softly, "There has been no war, but it speaks volumes about the desolation of this place. It has been a long time since I have discussed writing and poetry with anyone. After all the things I have been through, I heard this today. It really makes me feel endlessly sad."
After you guarded this place, did you have any confrontation with the thief Dong
I came up a few times, but was discovered and beaten down very early.
Have you ever killed anyone
I shot someone with an arrow, but I don't know if he died or not.
In this way, we slowly passed the time by talking about a lot of nonsense that we already knew.
Suddenly, someone stood up and ran quickly in the village. He was stopped by the sentry and asked for the password. He adjusted the time of the shift change today, but he overslept and saw that it was already past the time. Old Liu over there must be scolding me to death.
The sentry post over there is strange. Aren't you and the other scouts supposed to go back after their patrol today, and then one of you waits here for him to come back before you set off again
I stood up suddenly, turned around and looked at the corner. There seemed to be no movement. Only a back figure was vaguely visible on the sentry post in the dim and swaying lights. I whispered to Miss Huang, "Don't make a sound, wake everyone up." I went into the house and kicked E Huan awake, asking everyone to get up quickly. Huang Yi also knew that something was wrong, so she quickly asked Lao Wang to get up.
Suddenly, the sound of a bowstring was heard, and the sentry on the arrow tower screamed and fell to the ground. He was still able to squeeze out a cry of pain: "The thief Dong is coming!"
Suddenly, the lights at the corner went out, and a few dark shadows appeared under the dim starlight. They drew their bows and shot at the lanterns on the top of the city. In an instant, it was pitch black outside the city, and the people on the top of the city quickly drew their bows and arrows and shot in that direction.
I heard the sound of arrowheads hitting shields, both near and far below the city walls. Suddenly, someone groaned and seemed to fall into the ditch. Seeing everyone rushing to the top of the city walls in a panic, I felt that the problem below was even bigger. I only remembered that I had time to say to E Huan: I will push them around the corner, come to support quickly. I jumped down from the top of the city walls. I took two steps at a time, heard the arrows whistling in the sky, and saw the black shadow moving in front of me, so I just used my two iron rods to hit it.
"Who jumped?" I heard her voice.
The iron rod was heavy and I put all my strength into it. Wherever I went, besides the sound of wooden signs breaking, there were only shrill screams. I felt that they brought a group of people specifically targeting this terrain. I didn't know what they looked like, but they must be behind this cliff.
They were very surprised by my appearance: "You are in the battle, it's hard to deal with you!" Someone shouted. I was in their battle, and they couldn't shoot arrows to drive me away, and they didn't even know where I was. I listened to the direction of the sound, which should be near the cliff. I smashed a bloody path and pushed several black shadows on the cliff down the cliff, and finally saw the scene behind the corner.
"E Huan! Bring someone out quickly!"
After drinking, he didn't say much and rushed into the enemy camp. He was hit many times on his armor, with arrows piercing him and knives slashing him, but he didn't have time to care about them. He rushed directly to something like a siege ladder. He couldn't free his hands, so he just rushed towards the cliff with all his might.
It was very heavy and only swayed a little. Also, I don't know when the ground was covered with thatched grass, so I couldn't step firmly on it and couldn't exert any strength in the last few steps.
He quickly smashed the rear wheel with a stick. Fortunately, the wheel was not strong enough and collapsed immediately. The whole car fell backwards. He did not have time to cheer in his heart and continued to fall with the car. He approached the second car. During this time, he was hit hard several times. Although his hands kept rotating, he still could not resist the siege from all sides. For a while, something came up in his mouth, but he could only swallow it. The sound of killing suddenly arose behind him, and E Huan finally brought people to help. For a while, there were fewer people around him, but there were also many sounds of bows and arrows in front.
He rushed in without caring about his own safety, only caring about smashing the wheels first and then the people, not caring about protecting himself. He could only smash all the way down. Fortunately, he brought two iron rods. So his left arm was injured again, and he had practiced with his right hand, so at this time, both hands rotated. It seemed to form a path of its own. If he had brought Tianlang, it would have been difficult to stretch between the car cliff. I am afraid he would have died by now.
Four cars were destroyed in a row, and there was no such car behind. He quickly hid behind the fallen car and watched the chaos on the road. The thieves behind him were not easy to shoot arrows. Finally, he heard the sound of bells ringing at the foot of the mountain, and heard a loud shout: "You are ambushed, hurry up."
He took care of a few bandits who had not been able to retreat in time. He dragged the fallen car from above to form a barrier with the last car below. He looked at the situation ahead. It was not clear in the darkness, so he tied a torch and threw it far out on the road. There was no one around for a while.
"Burn these cars and return to the village."
As the fire grew bigger, they slowly retreated with the discarded shields on the ground. Turning around the cliff, they had also left the village and were checking the dead sentinels.
A cut on the neck. Very clean.
They were still discussing whether to check the secret sentry.
I don't need to, I should be the same as him.
I didn't say much, but asked E Huan to send a few more people to guard the bend, with our hearts racing, until dawn.
I dragged my two iron rods and walked slowly back to the fortress. Everyone made way for me along the way and no one dared to talk to me. There were arrows stuck in my body and blood was dripping from the corners of my collar. I didn't know whose it was. The two iron rods in my hands were sticky with all kinds of things, which looked even more disgusting.
Lao Wang caught up with me, asked the military doctor to check my injuries, and asked me to give him the two sticks in my hand. I handed them to him, and as expected, I heard a cry: "Ouch, it's heavy."
Lao Wang used the straw he picked up to help me rub the blood off the stick, and I sat opposite him to remove my armor and treat my wound.
Sure enough, when the clothes were taken off, there was another burst of sighs: I didn't expect that the adult had so many wounds all over his body.
Under the firelight, the wounds on the body were fine, not too deep. I heard the doctor had good medicine, and many of the wounds were old dead flesh, so it was not a big deal.
After Lao Wang helped me rub my weapons, he also found some straw to rub his hands and asked, "How did you know there was something behind?"
The mountain road to the north is clearly visible, but there is cover here. We just need to eliminate the sentry and silence it, and then we can carefully push the equipment in. Moreover, since we have not been able to capture this place before, the enemy will definitely think that we will not defend this place particularly seriously.
How does Your Excellency know the thief Dong so clearly
My first battle was with the bandit Dong. In that battle, the bandit soldiers were so strong and quick to react, which was the first time I had ever seen them. My first disastrous defeat was when the Xiliang soldiers broke through Mingzi in one hour. The next day, I crawled out from the pile of corpses. You see, they changed to attack at night today, and sent archers as the vanguard, and they must shoot down the lights that illuminated the cliff. Then they used large shields as a cover, obviously hoping that we could not see what they were going to do and were afraid of fraud and dared not leave the city and shoot arrows with all their strength. Then they quickly dragged the ladder truck up here and directly broke through our pass.
Suddenly, we heard hurried footsteps on the mountain road. Ziyuan actually brought a lot of people to reinforce us. Looking at us, he was puzzled: "Did the Dong thief get beaten back?"
Old Wang reported the situation, and Ziyuan sat next to me: "You really don't look like the son of a noble family."
I had just put my clothes back on and had someone help me put on my armor.
"Brother Ziyuan, why did you rush here?"
"The northern side only made a feint attack, with great momentum, but they quickly withdrew. When we were chasing them, we caught a slow runner, but he was still stubborn. He sneered at us and said: I'm afraid the western side has been breached by now. I think it's not good, so I quickly brought people here. I'll let you interrogate the thief tomorrow."
"It seems that other people know the locations of all your secret sentries. Is there a traitor? Or did the guy who ran away collect the information?"
Ziyuan asked Lao Wang to leave and dismissed the others. Then he paused and said to me, "That thief likes Yimei and used to approach her actively. But Yimei was not interested at that time, so he became a bit persistent. He would go to visit Yimei when she was on sentry duty. He even took advantage of the fact that there was no one around to attack her once."
"Isn't this a capital crime?"
"Hey, he was very brave in the battles in the past, and... and I spoke carelessly after drinking before, letting him know that I like Yimei. If I execute him, bad words will spread in the village against Yimei. And this thief did make great contributions in the past, otherwise why would I drink with him, and I can only offset his merits and demerits in the end. In order to avoid embarrassment when we meet in the future, I let him go to Qingyun Mountain, at least he can start over, but I didn't expect that he would bring disaster to others." He is still a little soft-hearted in this regard, I am much more ruthless than him.
"You like her, why not?"
"Since Sister Yi refused to be with him and has no intention of doing this, how can I bring it up again? Besides, this has just happened, and if I do this, won't I be criticized?" It's not like me to do this. I would have done it a long time ago.
"I'm an experienced person and I can see that she likes you. She rejected that thief because she likes you. Don't waste your time and her time." I couldn't help feeling a little sour, but I thought it was better this way.
Ziyuan was silent, and I patted his shoulder. I went out, and then I asked Miss Huang, who had been outside and unable to go in, to go in.
Then I closed the door from the outside and bolted it.
Lao Wang smiled at me. I gave him a thumbs-up gesture, and he smiled even harder. It was obvious that he was missing several teeth.
I lost some blood. I ate and drank something, found a corner and fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up the next day, Ziyuan was sitting not far from me, rubbing his hands and said excitedly: "Wake up, Master Zirui, come and see the thief Dong we caught."
When he saw me, he cursed me and told me to kill him immediately. He even mentioned that I was a bastard that the dog emperor had thrown into the world.
Finally, Ziyuan couldn't stand it anymore and had someone shut him up.
I frowned and thought, "The thief Dong still has someone in the palace!"
Ziyuan told me not to worry about it, but there were some things he wanted to say but stopped. I knew what he wanted to ask. The rest didn't matter. The fact that this dog emperor had bastards among the people was really scary.
"Brother Ziyuan, it's okay. I know what you want to ask. It's nothing. I was born in the same year and month as the eldest princess, only a few days apart. In the past, there was a rumor in the palace that Empress He gave birth to twins. Since I can remember, I have lived in Xiangyang Lane and don't know who my parents are. So someone spread rumors and this happened. I don't know how the thief Dong could find out such gossip."
There was no movement that day, and the thief Dong did not make any moves.
What was even more surprising was that Ge Liang came to kowtow at the mountain gate that night.
He was still calm and composed. Last night he had burned the baggage and food supplies of the Dong bandits behind the mountain and also launched a surprise attack on the central army tent. Now the bandits had fled far away and would not pose a threat for the time being.
I was surprised he came so quickly.
He sneered, "You brought E Huan with you, and your reasons were half true and half false. Before we set off, Madam Pingguo and I had a long talk about your character and what I should do. So I expected that you would leave E Huan behind and go up the mountain alone. So before we set off, I specifically looked for him and told him that I would transfer Su Mei to behind you. If there is any problem, go to Su Mei and ask for her. And since it was my arrangement, as long as the patrol found Su Mei moving, I would immediately dispatch troops to meet her. As a result, when we crossed the big swamp, we met Miss Su who came back to report the news. What else was there to say? We just attacked Wei to save Zhao."
His attitude made me ask: "Who is the master between us?"
"you."
"Thank you for remembering it's me."
We both laughed.
There were not many hardships for him. He could only sigh at the tenacity of Dong's soldiers and their resolute execution.
He said calmly: "I was defeated by you. You are bragging about yourself... You are the lord!"
"I haven't asked yet."
"But I remembered."
"In fact, I am just afraid that you will report to your family what makes my two ladies worried."
"That's a pretty reasonable explanation." He looked as if he had suddenly realized something.
His facial expression only looked a little unnatural when he saw Miss Huang.
He asked me secretly, is it the one I met in Shanglinyuan
I am not.
They look very similar.
Who did you learn this word from
Four generals.
Can't you learn well
If I had followed you, I would have died long ago.
Don't think that I won't beat you just because you're not a **.
Oh, before she left, Sister Lan told us to keep a good record of our Lord's words and deeds, and to report them to her when we get back, so she can write them down in the history books. I took note.
You are truly a loyal minister, with integrity and moral character.
Thank you for the compliment, sir.
I checked the bodies on the mountain road, but I felt sad. In fact, the Dong bandits were a strong and good fighter. It was a pity that they helped the tyrant to commit atrocities.
Ziyuan asked me what I was going to do next. I thought that facing such an army, he had to try his best to protect himself and block the Dong thief from going south. After that, we had to build a safe passage for communication with the back, including the trade of various necessities. I asked what was lacking on the mountain, ordered Ge Liang to write it down, and then I left with my people.
When saying goodbye, she stood beside him and I smiled and wished them well.
This time it seemed like he was really laughing, with no bitterness in his heart. Like a jade stone in a calm lake, the ripples will eventually calm down, and no matter how bright it is, it will still need to sleep in the calm lake.
Su Mei was a little dissatisfied with not taking her to this fight. So, I decided to push E Huan out and let her kick him a few times to calm down. Su Mei couldn't and didn't want to kick me. If she didn't kick me a few times, she wouldn't be able to vent her anger, and it wouldn't be good to hold it in. E Huan seemed to be a suitable person to vent her emotions. After kicking him in the face, the guilt was gone. This method of treating the symptoms and the root cause is so good. Just like **, I would feel sorry for all women in the world if I didn't beat him up a few times.
Ge Liang thought I was irresponsible. He began to write a poem to comment on this incident. I thought I should treat him to a good drink, so I invited E Huan, Su Mei, and Shi Gongzi and others. He seemed to have decided to re-examine the manuscript he was going to send to the Grand Historian. In my Han Dynasty, wine and banquets are still the best way to regulate the relationship between superiors and subordinates and between peers.
Dong Zhuo's military force is still strong, so he needs to continue looking for help.
I asked Ge Liang to collect various information about the people fleeing from the south, and sent scouts deep into the north to gather various news, and then I prepared to continue my journey west.
Unexpectedly, an imperial decree came, and Yinling also sent someone along. I understood that Yinling knew what I would do.
Yes, I came up with this idea when I saw the will.
The visitor also described to me that he was called by Madam Yinling to do something, and Madam Peier was listening. Suddenly, the imperial edict came. The visitor was an acquaintance, and after understanding the situation, he immediately set out to deliver the imperial edict.
Yinling said: We will let him go directly after receiving the order. The eunuch will rest for two days and then return. He should arrive in Luoyang faster than you.
The father-in-law doesn't believe it, but the Marquis of Yue will come back eventually.
Yinling held her waist and smiled and shook her head. Lian Pei'er wiped the sweat off her forehead and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, my husband will go directly north from the Qiang land to the west of Yizhou."
Yes, I do think so.
In September of that year, the weather in the south was clear and crisp, and the red leaves covered the mountain roads. At a glance, the scenery was colorful and beautiful. (To be continued...)