In front of the Gu'an County government office, a group of heavily armored cavalrymen escorted a middle-aged man on a white horse. The doors and windows on both sides were closed, and there were few pedestrians on the street. The occasional passerby would face the wall tremblingly, as if he was facing the wall to reflect on his mistakes.
The man on the white horse was none other than Xiao Siwen, the King of the Southern Court. When they arrived in front of the county government office, Xiao Siwen jumped off the horse in a dashing manner. He was a tall, handsome man with a very good appearance.
He also thought so, so he was always very particular about his appearance and usually did not wear armor. The two hanging strips on his hat were red silk, just like his beautiful hair; these hanging strips were cool in the summer and were purely decorative, but in the winter when the weather was cold, they would be replaced with animal fur, which was very warm.
Xiao Siwen got off his horse, carefully used his fingers to trim the beard above his philtrum, making it slightly curl up to the sides, then raised his head and strode inside.
He always cared a lot about his appearance, so much so that his subordinates often spoke ill of him, and there was such discussion as: The king likes to pay attention to his appearance, but he does not look like a talented general.
However, Xiao Siwen did not care about people saying that he loved beauty, and he was usually very tolerant towards his generals, so he was still very supported by the Khitans and Xi people in Youzhou. As for why the Han people cared about them, the Liao army had not been supported in Youzhou for 20 years, and everyone was accustomed to this situation.
The women came to ask for help, what should we do? Seeing Xiao Siwen's calm look, a general could not help but asked in Khitan.
His colleague was surrounded by the Zhou army, and he finally came to report the news. He had several arrow wounds on his body and looked very critical. At this time, Xiao Siwen was still concerned about whether his beard was messy or not, which really made his subordinates anxious.
The general who just spoke was called Xiao Xige, and he was the one who often spoke ill of the king. Xiao Siwen had heard about this and hated this man.
Xige often abused Han'er, and everyone advised him: The king has a prejudice against you, don't get caught and use it as an excuse for revenge. Xige had done many bad things, such as robbing southern merchants before. After capturing people, he would do everything he could to torture and kill them for fun. His methods were so brutal that some people still talk about it today.
At this time, Xiao Siwen was heard saying slowly: I will lead the troops to rescue them.
Xige then said: Southerners are good at deceiving. Your Majesty, if you go to rescue them without making any preparations, you should be careful not to fall into their trap.
Xiao Siwen was surprised when he heard this: You mean I can't even defeat Zhou Jun's division
Brother Xi said hurriedly: "I didn't mean that. I just wanted to remind the king to be careful."
Xiao Siwen raised his head and squinted his eyes and said: As long as the army of Zhou Lord Guo Rong and Chai Rong does not cross the Juma River, I am afraid of no one and no evil scheme will work. Southerners are sheep, we are wolves. This is something that flows in our blood and is innate. Have you seen wolves being surrounded and killed by sheep
The generals laughed when they heard this, and someone happily echoed: "Unless the sheep stop eating grass and eat meat instead!"
Xige was also very pleased with this talk, and he immediately shouted: A sheep can never become a wolf, but a wolf may become cowardly if it learns things from a sheep. It is not a good thing for those who are close to the Han people to learn bad habits. We Khitans just need to treat the southerners as sheep for meat, and don't be fooled by them.
Xiao Siwen spread his arms and made an exaggerated gesture to attract everyone's attention, saying: If we don't learn the good things from the Han people, we are still just wanderers on the grassland; it is because of Youzhou that we can get excellent armor. It doesn't matter if we learn from others' strengths because we Khitans have noble and strong blood and will not easily fall. Those who have learned the strengths of the Han people are not cowardly; only those whose blood is polluted will be bullied.
Xiao Siwen said: After my brother died, he left behind a beautiful Han Chinese concubine, and his son was taken into his household. Later, the concubine gave birth to a son. Because the boy had Han blood, he was completely different from other people. He was often bullied by his peers but dared not resist. See? This is the revelation given to us by our ancestors. Stupid people turn a blind eye to those subtle details and suffer the consequences of their own actions.
After hearing the revelation, everyone looked at Xiao Siwen in awe.
Seeing this, Xiao Siwen sang loudly: Victory will belong to the powerful Khitans. I have already felt the sign from heaven. Everyone, take your horses, your brothers, your clansmen, hold your bows and arrows, put on your armor, and follow me. King Nanyuan will lead you to defeat the Han people who are invading from the Zhou Dynasty.
The generals were immediately excited and wanted to go to war. Xiao Siwen then asked them to go back and gather their subordinates and decided to go to war.
Soon after, Guo Shao heard from scouts that the Liao cavalry had reached the eastern bank of the Zhuo River. He immediately gave an order: Send a messenger out immediately to tell all commanders: Xiao Siwen's troops are coming from behind.
After hearing this, the generals around him cursed and were unwilling to give up. After everyone set out, they chased and compressed the Khitan light cavalry from east to west. Although they drove the scattered light cavalry everywhere, they had not achieved any results. Now they are returning, naturally without any gains.
Seeing the reaction of the soldiers, Guo Shao shouted again: The military order must be clearly written. Strictly order all troops to withdraw from Zhuozhou immediately.
The large groups of horsemen scattered nearby gradually gathered their formations and turned north. Guo Shao remembered the TV program Animal World that he watched in modern times, and said loudly to the soldiers around him: Brothers, think about it, the tigers and leopards in the forests on the grasslands are not always caught, and often go in vain. Only by constantly looking for opportunities and trying can you successfully get a delicious meal.
Although no prey was caught, Xiao Siwen was still encouraged to mobilize a large army; the Liao army crossed the river from Gu'an and trudged here, but it was a wasted trip.
At this time, Li Chuyun rode his horse to catch up with Guo Shao and said: It is too much effort for us to chase him like this, why don't we invite Xiao Siwen to Zhuozhou and ask them to come to our door
Guo Shao said casually: We are hospitable, but Xiao Siwen is a Khitan barbarian who does not know etiquette. We are afraid that he will not appreciate it and will not accept our invitation.
When several generals and bodyguards heard this, they were originally a little depressed and burst into laughter.
Li Chuyun also smiled: If we don't send some gifts, the Liao people will naturally not appreciate it. Zhang Ying's men sent some Youzhou people to pretend to surrender, saying that the people of Zhuozhou wanted to make merit and were willing to open the city gate for the Liao army, luring them to come voluntarily.
Guo Shao did not comment, thinking that the Khitans did not seem to trust the Han people in Youzhou, and it seemed not very smart for someone to surrender suddenly. What if Xiao Siwen was a very smart person? His first move was so crude, which was really below his level, so he did not agree to Li Chuyun for a while.
He just said: "Let's go back to Zhuozhou first to see the situation. It's possible that Xiao Siwen will come on his own without our invitation. The Liao army has set out, so we have to come to the city to take a look. Xiao Siwen must not be afraid of us, otherwise the cavalry would be so bold to go all the way to Qigou Pass in the southwest."
The group rode back to Zhuozhou and met Deng Fei's troops at the south gate of the city. Deng Fei was sitting on a horse-drawn cart. Guo Shaoce went up to see that there was an arrow stuck in his thigh.
Deng Fei helped himself down the cart, clasped his fists and said: “Greetings, my lord.”
Guo Shao pointed at the arrow on his leg with his whip: I've been chasing you for so long, and now I see that you're injured.
Deng Fei cursed: There was a Liao man who was very good at archery on horseback. I chased him for several miles, but he shot me off my horse instead of me. My thigh was injured and it was too painful to ride a horse. I happened to pass by a village and requisitioned an ox cart from the village, but I didn't want the ox and replaced it with a horse.
After that, Deng Fei's troops followed Guo Shao into the south gate. Everyone waited on the tower for a long time, and the generals of various units reported back one after another. Guo Shao was relieved and let Deng Fei continue to sit on the cart and return to the central army.
After walking for a while, Guo Shao remembered that there was a pharmacy in the front street, where Doctor Lu was practicing, so he took Deng Fei there so that his acquaintance Doctor Lu could see his injury.
Madam Lu was also in the pharmacy, her name was Lu Lan. The Lu family moved here from Youzhou, but they should have settled down in Zhuozhou. Lu Lan was already engaged to the man from the Li family, the owner of the pharmacy.
She has been quite busy lately. Her father and most of the doctors in the city have been recruited by the Zhou army. During the day, they have to go to the provincial capital and other places to treat the wounded soldiers. So she helps to verify prescriptions and dispense medicines in the pharmacy.
The doctors who can sit in the clinic are all famous, not the barefoot doctor. Although Lu Lan has no reputation, she has learned a lot from her father since she was a child. It is not a big problem for Li's pharmacy to ask her to help in an emergency.
At this time, the young master of the Li family, wearing a futou and a long robe, came out and said, "Madam Lu, come in and help me take a look at this batch of medicinal materials." Lu Lan looked up and saw the old shopkeeper clacking on the abacus, so she responded, "Okay, I'll be right there."
The young man lifted the curtain of the back door and let her pass. When Lu Lan passed by, the young man smelled her fragrance and his face suddenly turned red. Although she was dressed tightly, she was so attractive for some reason.
Maybe it was because Lu Lan's face was white and smooth, which made it easy for people to think that her skin was also so white and lovely. But her body was covered tightly with dark and plain coarse cloth, so the young man had an urge to tear it open to see the skin underneath.
Lu Lan was unaware that she was already very familiar with the Li family. The marriage between the two families was based on getting to know each other first and then slowly talking about that matter. She asked: Which medicinal herbs
The young man from the Li family took her into a side room. As soon as she stepped into the room, she saw that this room did not look like a place to store medicinal herbs. She immediately became alert and tried to back out. Unexpectedly, she was pushed by the young man and stumbled and fell inside.
The young man immediately blocked the door and followed him in.
Lu Lan said anxiously: What do you want to do? I need to call someone.
You will marry into the Li family anyway, so what use will it be to you? The young man's face flushed with excitement, he stared at Lu Lan and slowly approached.
I'm not married yet, aren't you afraid of being criticized for doing this? Lu Lan took a few steps back, but seeing that he ignored her, she immediately shouted, "Hurry up and get some help!"
The young man was very anxious. He rushed forward, immediately covered Lu Lan's mouth, pressed her against the wall, and then reached out to pull her collar.