Since Jingniang had said that, Guo Shao asked her to look after Qingxu. In mid-June, the Privy Council arrived with an official document, transferring the First and Second Armies of Guo Shao's Tiger Army back to Tokyo for reorganization.
Guo Shao had a premonition that he would be transferred to the Huainan battlefield to participate in the war. He was still uneasy about whether these arrangements were influenced by the Queen. He was afraid of the unknown, but he still had to carry out the military orders.
Wang Jing was now the governor of Qinzhou and the commander of the western border. He could mobilize troops from the northwestern towns to replace them. If Guo Shao wanted to move his troops away from Guzhen, a place that controlled the road, he had to wait for Wang Jing to send troops to take over the military stronghold.
Therefore, the troops did not move for the time being and just began to prepare for the journey.
Guo Shao was in low spirits. Fortunately, he didn't have to fight at the moment, otherwise he would be in a very bad state. The rainstorm had stopped, and the weather had returned to being hot, with many mosquitoes. That night, he fell asleep very uncomfortably on the wooden mat bed.
The old tile-roofed house was filled with a smell a bit like burning straw. It was the dried herbs sent by the civilians, which were said to drive away mosquitoes. Guo Shao thought it was mosquito coils, but the effect was not obvious. The buzzing of mosquitoes in my ears was still annoying. The army did not prepare mosquito nets, and I was bitten even with clothes on, and my hands and feet were covered with red bumps. Fortunately, I would return to Tokyo soon.
In a daze, Guo Shao suddenly found a person standing beside the bed, a woman, wearing a long dress like pajamas, with disheveled hair. He was shocked and wanted to get up, but found that he couldn't move his hands and feet. The woman looked like his sister, but also like Empress Fu. She was a female ghost.
Guo Shao thought he was quite brave, but now he found his hands and feet were weak, and he stared at her with wide eyes. She said quietly: I am leaving, and I came to say goodbye to you.
In just a moment, Guo Shao didn't see the person clearly, and he didn't have time to react. The person disappeared. He didn't know where he was. He looked up and saw that the door was open. There was smoke outside the door, like thick fog, and it seemed that there was some kind of smoke, with a faint blue light. The fog and the light were desolate and cold.
Guo Shao felt dizzy and wanted to sit up suddenly. He finally opened his eyes. He found himself sweating profusely. The fog and light in front of him disappeared. What followed was a completely different scene. The roof was covered with spider webs covered with dust, and the old tiles were dim. The light was dim, and the firelight flickered in the cracks of the windows. The annoying sound of mosquitoes buzzing quietly but seemingly everywhere could still be heard in the air, and the smell of burnt ash could be smelled in his nose.
There was no one around him, and he gradually remembered that he was in the unfamiliar Guzhen. He was just a passer-by here and would leave after Wang Jing's troops arrived to take over the defense.
When he thought about it, he didn't feel scared, but a little lost. Even if that woman was not his sister, it would be better if it was Fu.
Suddenly, he gradually realized that it was not so important not to marry Fu Ermei, and he could accept it even if he could not achieve anything successful. But he was reluctant to lose Fu's care, even though he had never even seen what she looked like.
Apart from the memories of his youth, Guo Shao had seen Fu twice in recent years. The first time was in the Tokyo Blacksmith Shop, which was too far to see clearly; the second time was when he escorted Fu to the Daxiangguo Temple to fulfill a vow. She was first in a carriage, and later was surrounded by a group of people. How could Guo Shao dare to ignore etiquette and stare at her? Then she spoke with her back to him in the Buddhist hall, and Guo Shao didn't even see her face clearly at that time. At other times, she bowed and could only look at the ground.
But why am I so obsessed with her care and concern for me
Guo Shao got up, opened the door and walked out of the bedroom. He saw that the sky was dark and it was night. It was not yet morning. In the distance, near the fence, a small group of soldiers were walking slowly, inspecting the area around the central army camp. There were torches on the fence, and a pile of firewood was lit in the open space in the middle. It was half burned and revealed the unique shape of charcoal.
There were at least 6,000 people in and around Guzhen, and there were many acquaintances he knew in the Central Army alone. But at this moment, the night was so bleak that he felt inexplicably lonely.
Suddenly, a slight noise attracted his attention. When Guo Shao looked up, he saw a swallow under the eaves. Then, with the light of the fire in the open space, he saw the bird's tail like scissors. It must be a swallow. He immediately felt very strange. He had never seen a swallow here before, even in the spring when he first entered Shu to fight. It should be the season for swallows, but he had never seen one. How could he see one here? Moreover, there were so many people in the Guzhen stronghold. What animals had not been scared away
Guo Shao looked at it carefully for a while and thought: There really are souls in the world. If there are no souls, how did I end up in the body of an ancient person? Could this swallow be a human soul transformed
For a time, he was worried about gains and losses, and felt that he had completely lost the spirit of a military general.
The various strange visions at night, at least in Guo Shao's opinion, were some kind of mysterious hints, which made him unable to fall asleep that night. He tossed and turned in bed, and looked around in the camp to kill time in the middle of the night. Of course, he was also skeptical about these things, suspecting that they were just random thoughts caused by his recent poor mental state.
But at noon the next day, Xiang Xun's reply arrived, which was delivered by Xiang Xun's retainer who had traveled all the way to deliver it.
He counted on his fingers and found that it took only half a month from sending the letter to receiving the reply. The reply was sent very quickly, so Guo Shao hurriedly opened the envelope to read it. The whole letter was written in classical Chinese. People of this era used to use the word "zhihuzheya" when writing on paper. Guo Shao could understand it, but the key point was that there were no punctuation marks and it looked very laborious and tiring. The queen was seriously ill and more than a dozen imperial doctors from Tokyo could not save her.
Guo Shao's heart suddenly sank, and he hurriedly read the contents carefully. Xiang Xun said in detail in the letter that he had accompanied the emperor on the expedition, suffered heavy rains during the hot summer, and became ill due to the accumulated worries.
He immediately recalled the signs from last night. This letter had traveled thousands of miles, and at least a few days had passed since it was written. It would also take time for Xiang Xun to learn that the queen was seriously ill. Could it be that the queen had passed away
At this time, Jingniang walked into the hall first and saw Guo Shao's face was pale, as if he had suffered a great disaster. She took a look at the letter in his shaking hand and asked hurriedly: Can I see it
Guo Shao sat on the wooden bench in a daze, and Jingniang took the letter and read it. She read it very quickly, and it seemed that she was much more relaxed than Guo Shao when reading such a letter. After reading it, Jingniang asked: Are you worried about the queen
Guo Shao did not answer, and asked: Where is Qingxu
Jingniang hurriedly called Qingxu over. Guo Shao's expression was different from before. He had a stern face and looked cold. Qingxu put his hand on his flat chest, acting a little exaggerated, as if he was frightened. He turned around and said to Jingniang: "Guo Shao, you are not going to eat me, right?"
Guo Shao asked directly: How many skills did your master Chen Tuan teach you? Can you save people
Qingxu said innocently: "Master usually does his own thing except sleeping, and doesn't care about me at all. I haven't learned much, but I only know a little bit about how to make elixirs. Besides, we are Taoists who practice Taoism, not doctors."
Jingniang also frowned and said: Qingxu is only in his teens, how much can he learn? It is not easy to find Chen Tuan, but maybe we can go to Huashan and try to find the Taoist in hemp clothes.
Guo Shao asked: Who is the Taoist in hemp clothes
Jingniang said: He is the master of Fuyaozi Chen Tuan. Qingxu also said at almost the same time: My master, you have never heard of the Taoist in hemp clothes.
Guo Shao blurted out: Why didn't you say so earlier
Jingniang said: You didn't tell me why you were looking for Fuyaozi, how could I tell you
Guo Shao's sad face suddenly gave him a little hope, and he immediately stood up and said, "We will set off immediately in half an hour, and rush to Huashan day and night. Jingniang, you go and prepare the things to accompany you, and I will gather the generals to hand over the military power."
While he ordered his personal soldiers to beat drums and summoned military officers above the rank of commander to the central army to discuss matters, he took out all the military seals, appointment letters and other things from his bag. When his generals arrived at the lobby one after another, he put his things on the wooden table in front of him that served as a public desk, and without any extra words, he said directly: I have important matters to rush back to Tokyo immediately. I now appoint Li Chuyun as the temporary commander of the First Army, and he will report to the Imperial Guard Department and the Infantry Department in the future; the military power of the First and Second Armies of the Hujie Army will be temporarily handed over to General Li Chuyun, and Luo Yanhuan, the formation commander, will be his deputy. After a while, Wang Jieshuai's troops will come to take over the defense and return to Beijing in accordance with the court's transfer order. Li Chuyun will be responsible for all matters. There must be no mistakes, and those who disobey orders may be dealt with by the temporary commander of the military power.
After hearing this, Li Chuyun's bearded face seemed to glow red, but his expression remained serious. He hurriedly stepped out with Luo Yanhuan, clasped his fists and said, "I obey your orders."
The temporary appointment that Guo Shao mentioned means temporary, but he also said that he would report to the Imperial Guard. There would be almost no problem in the formal appointment of the military post of the Army Commander because the first Army Commander had died in battle, leaving a vacancy; the battle to attack Shu was quite swift and a great victory. At this time, the commander-in-chief would ask for merit in the court and recount the military achievements. If the Imperial Guard had no other considerations, he would definitely appoint the general according to the opinion of the commander-in-chief of this wing.
Li Chuyun was only a deputy general under the governor of a northwestern town. Within a few months, he was directly promoted to the military commander of the regular army of the imperial guards: equivalent to the deputy commander of the ace army. The speed of promotion was very fast and even extremely rare. Military generals who did not participate in the Gaoping Battle, which determined the battle for the throne, would hardly have the opportunity to rise to prominence like after the Gaoping Battle.
I will definitely live up to my mission, said Li Chuyun.
Guo Shaodao: As for other matters, I will definitely take credit for them when the time is right. I hope you will all do your job.
The generals bowed and said: We obey your orders.
Guo Shao threw the military seal on the desk in the hall and asked Yang Biao and Luo Mengzi to prepare war horses and marching supplies, and to bring 17 personal soldiers with him. This trip was completely unprepared and seemed hasty and rushed.
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