Chapter 21 Section VI

September 11th, Imperial Capital, Gui Palace. The eldest princess's body lay horizontally on the couch, holding the battle report and giggling with joy.She was dressed in a milky white gauze, her skin was half-transparent, her breasts were half-naked, and her bare calves were exposed under the gauze skirt. Baili Ningqing was sitting on the side of the couch and helping her massage.And Lei Bicheng sat opposite, closed his eyes and meditated like a puppet, as if he didn't hear the luxurious and lustful scene in front of him. The eldest princess gradually got acquainted with this unfathomable old man.Even when she hugged and begged Ning Qing, she didn't deliberately avoid Lei Bicheng, except for her natural lust, she felt it was unnecessary.She didn't avoid this person, because Lei Bicheng was not a human being in her eyes.

For Lei Bicheng, everything in his heart is like a cloud shadow that will not leave a trace, only some strong beliefs.When he looked at the eldest princess, the eldest princess felt that she was transparent, and Lei Bicheng's eyes passed through her.This old man has no emotions, nor does he expect to enjoy power and desire. He came here only to achieve a goal. "You guys really did not let me down, and spent so much money on them!" The eldest princess covered her mouth and smiled, "Mr. Bicheng, our army won the battle at Dangyang Valley and Gukou yesterday. Although Hua Ye was angry, he Without launching an attack, this tiger must have been suffocated to death!"

"Hua Ye may not want to attack, but those crossbow arrows can penetrate Fenghu's armor, so he has to be afraid. Our army arrived, just after he fought with the red brigade, and his loss is not small. We are a new force , Hua Ye will not care about the lives of his children." Lei Bicheng said, "Now Hua Ye is not afraid, we can concentrate our strength on Shangyang Pass." "What advice does Mr. Bicheng have?" The eldest princess straightened up, sat cross-legged, and signaled Ning Qing not to massage. "There are three people in Donglu who will save Bai Yi, Hua Ye is only one of them, and there are two others, the eldest princess must also know."

"Bai Shun, the heroine of Chu and Wei, and Baili Jinghong, the master of Xiatang Kingdom!" "That's right," Lei Bicheng nodded slightly, "With the strength and position of Chu Wei and Xia Tang, it's easy to help Bai Yi." The eldest princess thought for a while, then laughed again: "Is Mr. Bicheng trying to jam Bai Yi's throat? This is easy, too easy, so let me guarantee that Bai Yi will not get any assistance from these two families. " "I already know that the eldest princess has a way," Lei Bicheng opened his eyes, "I need time."

"time?" "When the dead stood up, I didn't expect Bai Yi to block their first wave of attack. If Bai Yi survived for a day, the danger would still be there. Although the magic technique frightens the world, it is not without flaws. Bai Yi just might He is one of the people who discovered its flaw." Lei Bicheng said in a low voice, "I need time and prepare to give him a fatal blow." The fast horse of the purple-clothed messenger passed the pontoon bridge on the Qingyi River at high speed in the setting sun, and the city that was hidden in the mountain depression in the distance had already revealed its head.

Qingyi River is a branch of Jianshui. It flows through the boundary between Yuezhou and Wanzhou, and finally flows into the sea. The establishment of Chuwei State relied on this river with abundant water and gentle flow. The Qingyi River was the main source of water for Chuwei State's irrigation, and it was also a natural danger to the east to resist leaving the country.The wide surface of the Qingyi River cannot be crossed by boats, and the dense water network downstream is also an obstacle for the cavalry. Ying Wuyi's light cavalry lightning strike tactics are completely meaningless here.Qingjiangli, the capital of Chuwei State, was built in a mountain depression beside the Qingyi River. This city is located on a water network, and the whole city is divided by rivers of uneven thickness. Residents visit each other, and boats are often needed to travel from the south city to the north city. come and go.

At the same time that the courier entered the city with the letter stamped with the imperial seal, a meeting of the ministers was being held in Zi Palace. Zigong is the forbidden palace of the Duke of Chuwei. It is as famous as the Zihuan Palace in the Lower Tang Kingdom. It faces the Qingyi River, and the buildings are majestic and majestic.Looking out from the window at this time, the Qingyi River is rippling, and the setting sun seems to have sprinkled a hundred thousand pieces of gold on the water, making people unable to open their eyes. Looking out from the window is a woman, her long hair is tied up in a high black crown, and she is wearing a long blue silk robe that stretches out to a length of ten feet.There was a maid behind her pulling the hem of the robe for her, and two other maids used long crimson poles to prop up a blue silk barrier behind her, so that the silent courtiers under the steps could not easily see the face of the hostess.

The heroine looked down at the river, without making a sound or expression.She is not very young anymore, but she is still the best age for a woman, as gorgeous as a begonia in full bloom.But this crabapple is not ostentatious, she always lowers her head like this, avoiding anyone's gaze, she looks like a stubborn girl.The maid carefully looked at the hostess, knowing that she was angry.When the heroine is extremely angry, she will be extremely quiet, but her lips are tightly pursed, and a sharp line appears on her soft cheeks.That's because she was gritting her teeth. The courtiers under the steps didn't dare to make a sound, they just secretly gestured to each other with their eyes.

"Have you finished all the reasons you want to say?" The heroine finally spoke. A dignified minister came out and said, "My lord, this is the opinion of my ministers. Please put your country first and think twice. Now that the Li army has escaped, Ying Wuyi has returned to Jiuyuan. The border of the country is in danger. If the lord of the country wants to send troops to rescue General Bai, the country's troops are empty, and the Li army takes advantage of the vacancy. How should we deal with it? General Bai still has a strong army in his hands at this time. The situation in Yangguan is only obtained from a few words of information, and it is not clear at all. At this time, the king wants to use all the power of the country to rescue an unclear battlefield, but give up guarding the country. The courtiers can't understand. Even if the country The Lord insists, we also want to remonstrate to the death!"

The minister's eyebrows were raised, and he spoke righteously. "You all think so?" The heroine's voice trembled slightly. The courtiers were silent for a very short time, looked at each other, and at the same time took a step forward, bowed and bowed: "We all think that what Lord Lu Zhongkai said is a policy of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. .” A piece of speech with the same voice, so neat that there is no difference in word, the courtiers don't mind revealing that they have reached a consensus on this matter.Before they were summoned to Zi Palace for a meeting, they already knew what they should say, and they never hesitated.

Lu Zhongkai bowed respectfully: "The military of our country has always been in the hands of General Bai. Even if the lord of the country is going to go out at this time, who can be the leader? Who can mobilize the soldiers trained by General Bai? " "I have someone who can lead the army." The hostess said. Lu Zhongkai was stunned for a moment: "Could it be Mr. Anping? Mr. Anping is good at bowing and horses, but leading a major event, I'm afraid Mr. Anping has no experience?" Anping Jun is the heroine's husband, a vigorous and noble son of a family.Lu Zhongkai glanced secretly at the ministers behind him. For him, there was no need to worry about the position of these ministers now, none of them would be willing to lead the army.He thought about the person that the heroine can deploy now, and probably only Mr. Anping is left. "No, it's not Mr. Anping, it's me." The heroine turned around and lifted the silk barrier, looked down at the ground, and said slowly, "I will lead the army to conquer!" She turned around and retreated into the back hall, not giving any chance to argue. The courtiers left Zi Palace in groups of threes and twos, discussing in low voices.It wasn't until they left the gate of Zi Palace and walked towards their respective carriages that their voices became louder.Several courtiers approached Lu Zhongkai, a little worried. "Lu Gong, if the lord conquests himself, we're afraid it will be really troublesome." One of the young courtiers said. "Trouble?" Lu Zhongkai sneered, "You can say bold words with your mouth, but it's another thing to lead the army to fight. A woman, but by blood, inherited the status and land of the duke, what does she know? ? I’m afraid that before she reaches Shangyang Pass, she will cry out in fright when she sees the first corpse.” The young courtier was still worried, and opened his mouth to say something. Lu Zhongkai patted his arm: "What are you worried about? There is no Bai Yi in this city in Qingjiang, so who else in Chuwei Kingdom is worth our fear?" He laughed lowly: "Maybe this time, Bai Yi will really disappear." The courtiers were suddenly silent, they stopped, you look at me, I look at you.For a moment, everyone showed a look of anticipation. This scene was so weird that it seemed that the same demon woke up in all of them at the same time. The autumn wind was bleak, and the fallen leaves were blowing towards the majestic gate of Zi Palace. The courtiers walked silently without saying anything. A person in full armor came running with big strides, and met Lu Zhongkai: "My lord, the emperor has envoys here, saying that there is an important letter for your lord to see in person." Lu Zhongkai was stunned for a moment, and smiled. Go down to the Tang Dynasty, Zihuan Palace, in the evening. Baili Jinghong put down the pen in his hand, and sighed: "Zhangxiang, please come in, General Tuoba." Zhang Xiang's inner supervisor went out in small steps, and after a while, invited Tuoba Shanyue who had been standing under the steps for half an afternoon to come in. Tuoba Shanyue saluted with the knife: "Master, the Lord must have known the meaning of my coming." "Of course I know, otherwise the general wouldn't have waited for half an afternoon without summoning him." Baili Jinghong still sighed, "Light on the lamp." The inner eunuch lightly lit the candle, covered it with a broken glass lampshade, and placed it on the table in front of Baili Jinghong.In the fragmented light, Baili Jinghong's face was expressionless.He patted the table, got up and walked to the calligraphy screen left by King Wenrui back then, turned his back to Tuoba Shanyue, and remained silent for a long time, as if admiring the screen he had seen since childhood. "Please allow the lord to send troops. One day sooner, we will be more confident." Tuoba Shanyue said. Baili Jinghong shook his head slightly without turning around. "I heard that Tuoba Qing and General Xi have been at odds for many years, so why is Tuoba Qing the one who urged me to send troops?" He asked slowly, "General Xi, like Tuoba Qing, is the pillar of the country. It is my honor that Ba Qing is willing to think about me and personally lead the troops to the rescue. However, rushing to rescue a political enemy, and even urging him several times, seems to be contrary to common sense, I wonder if Tuoba Qing can explain it?" "The victory or defeat of a soldier is the same as the victory or defeat of the country. When I served in Xia Tang, I have to consider the situation of the Eastern Land for the Lower Tang. If General Xi is annihilated by the Li Army this time, then the entire Eastern Land will never There is no one who can restrain Ying Wuyi. At that time, Lei Qi's iron hooves will turn over every inch of land one by one, and we can only watch and wait for Ying Wuyi's knife to fall on our heads!" Tuoba Shanyue Paused, "And as far as I am concerned, I have never considered General Xi to be a political enemy." Baili Jinghong turned around and looked silently at the barbarian warrior who seemed to be made of steel.After a long time, he sighed again: "Why don't I know how important General Xi is to our country? I heard the news of the change in Shangyang Pass, and I wish I could lead the troops to fight! But, I can't move, Tuoba Qing thought I just need to speak and give orders. That's enough, but Tuobaqing, do you think my power is unlimited? Do you know that every order I give, I have to weigh it over and over again, and there are many last resorts?" "As a last resort?" Tuoba Shanyue was slightly taken aback, "Our country is one of the five powerful countries in the Eastern Continent, and its wealth is the number one. Apart from the royal family, who else can limit the power of the country's lord?" "Yes, someone can." Baili Jinghong shook his head, "The two letters I received, the two messengers arrived in Nanhuai almost immediately. One letter came from the royal family, and the other letter came from my Baili family. The letter from the royal family asked me why there was a change in the corpse in Shangyang Pass, whether the killing spirit was harmful to Tianhe, or the Qin Wang's division was acting unkindly. The letter from the master asked me to hold off on sending troops until the situation became clearer .” "A letter from the master?" Tuoba Shanyue was shocked. He knew that the Baili family was the second largest family among the seven major families of the Yin Dynasty, after the Bai family of the royal family, and the main family and several major branch families were all very important figures.The main family has no fief and is only loyal to the royal family, and the last heir of the Baili family, Baili Changqing, was executed by the royal family for treason more than ten years ago.There should be no so-called "main house" in Bailishi. "I didn't even tell General Xi about these things. All I said here today, Tuobaqing just needs to keep it in his heart." Baili Jinghong slowly sat back at the table.He stared at Tuoba Shanyue, his eyes reflected the lights, extremely bright, as if a strange light was shooting from the depths of his eyes. "Tuobaqing is from a barbarian tribe, and I don't fully understand the history of our Eastern Land Empire. I can't explain them one by one. I just want to tell Tuobaqing that the power in the Eastern Land is not completely in the hands of the princes. Several major families have different The well-known strength is restrained by extremely strict family rules. Even if I am the duke of a country and rule the roost in Wanzhou, I dare not go against the wishes of the elders of the family. Over the years we have been in the Tang Dynasty, we have been able to gain the trust of the royal family and gain many His support is inseparable from the main family's activities." He whispered, "Our Baili family's family rules cannot be broken by killing a Baili Changqing. My family has been the leader of the Donglu family for seven hundred years. , the tree is so big and deep rooted that even the royal family cannot uproot it!" Tuoba Shanyue was stunned, feeling a chill coming from the bottom of her heart. "Let me give you two examples, and Tuobaqing can think about it." Baili Jinghong said in a low voice, "First, Shangtang was able to separate from our country with almost half of the country, and it was the strength of the main family. Manipulating. I don’t know the whole thing about this, but at that time the conquest was ready, but the main family came forward to mediate, and our country had no choice. Under the planning of the main family, the royal family also immediately issued an imperial edict to the Tang Dynasty. This matter was forcibly settled down, our country was divided into two countries, and our strength was greatly damaged. However, the family's laws still had to be obeyed. Later, the main family did fulfill the original promise to us and gave us great benefits. The later rise of our country is due to the favor of the master. Second, does Tuobaqing still remember your trip to the North Continent?" Tuoba Shanyue nodded: "I remember." "Everything about that matter was arranged by the master's family, and when we went to the Tang Dynasty, we were just people who carried out the orders of the master's family." Baili Jinghong looked straight at Tuoba Shanyue, "We are not chess players. , Donglu's game of chess, we ourselves are also pawns on the chessboard!" He flipped the glass lampshade lightly, and the lampshade rotated on a delicate wheel, and the fragmented light shone on Baili Jinghong's face, moving quickly, as if thousands of flowers were flying.He looked directly at Tuoba Shanyue, endless meanings were hidden in the ensuing silence. It is difficult for historians of later generations to explain a doubtful point in the Battle of Shangyang Pass. From the night of the mutation on the fifth day of September in the third year of Emperor Yincheng to the seventh day of October, no effective reinforcements went to the battlefield. Support the allied forces of princes in crisis. After careful research, there are various reasons why the reinforcements from various countries did not arrive.Under the command of Hua Ye, the 25,000 wind tiger cavalry of the Chun State went out to the Dangyang Valley and defeated the army of Liu Wenzhi, the left minister of the Li State, but they were not allowed to pass through the king's domain; For the Northern Kingdom, it was too long to support Shangyang Pass; while Xiu Kingdom and Chen Kingdom were not considered powerful princes, and it was difficult to organize effective reinforcements in a hurry.Chu Weiguo's 20,000 reinforcements set off quickly, led by Bai Shun, the heroine of Chu Wei.But when her army advanced to Muhetan where she bid farewell to Bai Yi's army, she saw 10,000 Nanman warriors in red leather armor standing in formation through the curtain in the beautiful chariot, like a huge red giant. The snake lay in front of her.Zhang Bo's army from Liguo was waiting here, but this army did not rush back to Liguo.Zhang Bo didn't attack, but just waited in full force, and the heroine Chu Wei didn't attack either. Some people privately rumored that this woman was helpless in the face of the red brigade who only had half the number of her, and she shed tears every night during the confrontation.Because none of the important ministers of Chu and Wei followed her, such a woman of noble blood and beautiful appearance didn't have a single general under her command, so she didn't know how to command her 20,000 elite soldiers to launch an effective attack. The weirdest thing was the Xiatang reinforcements that finally set off on the seventh day of October. This reinforcements, led by the commander-in-chief of the three armies, Tuoba Shanyue, had been preparing for a month.For a month, Tuoba Shanyue, one of the four famous generals in the Eastern Continent, actually only did things like raising horse fodder and preparing horses for the convoy.And when his army marched halfway, the last tragic battle at Shangyang Pass was over. Despite all the explanations, the facts of history are still unconvincing.On the eve when the generals of the Yin Empire were about to fall together, the huge empire failed to provide them with any effective support. On September 16th of the third year of Emperor Yincheng, the sky over Shangyang Pass was pale, and Bai Yi stood at the top of the city and looked north, which was the direction of the imperial capital. All the commanders of the armies of the various countries were present, and soldiers from the six countries stood on the city wall.These people saw with their own eyes that the huge phalanx slowly advanced to a place only five hundred steps away from them, and then stopped.Without exception, these phalanxes carried the banner of the flame rose, and every soldier was well-armored and well-equipped.The soldiers of the royal family did not greet the army of King Qin in Shangyang Pass, but erected wooden fences, sprinkled barbed caltrops, and raised 20,000 crossbows behind the wooden fences. Their crossbows pointed south, towards the gate of Shangyang Pass. "The reinforcements from Xia Tang and Chu Wei have not arrived, and General Hua has retreated north, but these people have come." Gang Wuwei said in a low voice. "We seem to have been forgotten." Xi Yan shook his head and smiled wryly. "No, they haven't been forgotten, they care about it." Gu Yueyi pointed at the royal army in the distance, "They came prepared, look at their crossbows, they are not ordinary things, if we charge head-on, we will The loss will be severe." "Charge head-on?" Xi Yan sneered, "Can we charge against the Royal Habayashi Heavenly Army and the Jinwu Guard?" "I don't care about the fucking emperor..." Cheng Kui wanted to say something, but couldn't say it in the end. He stomped his feet hard, turned and left. "We can't be forced to die. At that time, we can't control anything." Gu Yueyi whispered. The sound of war horses wailing came from far away in the city, which made people's hearts ache.Gu Yueyi's face darkened, he was a cavalryman, and like Cheng Kui, he loved horses.He knew that was killing horses, they had exhausted the last rice noodles, and now the only thing that could solve the military rations was war horses, and it was indeed difficult for them to even get horse grass. "The imperial mission of the royal family ran away in time." Xi Yan said, "The royal family is lining up behind us, do you have any written instructions?" "Order our army to forcibly guard Shangyang Pass and not retreat... Since the zombie mutation is too miraculous, our army is not allowed to leave Shangyang Pass, let alone enter the imperial capital, so as not to bring ominousness into the apocalypse. "Bai Yi's voice was hoarse, "This is an order I received." "Is this an order? You have to obey such an order?" Gang Wuwei asked in a low voice. "Everyone is trapped here, but you should still be able to receive letters from your respective lords with pigeons, so I dare to ask you, which lord has written to the generals now, asking us to open the north gate and launch an attack on the royal army? Or allow us to abandon the city and escape?" Bai Yi looked around the crowd. Everyone froze for a moment, then shook their heads and sighed. "Yes, so we have to obey. Whether it is your lord or the royal family, we are required to do the same thing at present. We have no choice but to insist." Bai Yi's voice lowered, "Even now, everyone turned into our enemy!" "Is there really someone who wants to let the famous generals of Donglu die in the same battle?" Xi Yan smiled coldly, looking around everyone, "I'm afraid it's not that easy." He gently stroked his sword hilt, his eyes were as bright as a torch: "Those who want to do this must first know why we became famous generals!"