Zhou Fan said goodbye to his sister Xi, came to Yi Yin, and said: "Yi Xiang, I heard reliable news today, the Xia Dynasty is about to attack the Kingdom of Jin, which is a neighbor of our Shang State and has been subordinated to my Shang State, how is this good?" ”

"Ahh Is there such a thing? This news is very important to my Shang country, you quickly return to Shang Guo, tell King Tang this news, and take countermeasures in time, everything here is up to me to deal with for the time being. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"Alright, without further ado, I'll leave right away."

"You should dress up as a merchant and leave the summer capital."

"Okay." Zhou Fan walked out of the summer palace and came to the east market of the summer capital, although the entire summer capital was in a depression, but in the corner of the east market, there was still prosperity, all kinds of jewelry and clothing, everything. When Zhou Fan saw a set of Western Regions merchants' clothes, he said, "How much silver does this set of clothes cost?" ”

"Two silvers."

Zhou Fan tried on the clothes on himself, and they fit well, so he paid silver to buy them.

When he came to the horse market again, he saw a black-mouthed horse, and when he saw that it was a good horse, and that it might be worth a lot of money, he said, "How much silver does this horse cost?" ”

"At least three hundred taels."

When Zhou Fan heard it, these three hundred taels of silver were not too expensive, but he didn't bring so much silver, only gold bars. He said, "I didn't bring so much silver, only a gold bar, okay?" ”

"You can take a look."

Zhou Fan took out a gold bar from his waist pocket and handed it to the horse merchant, who looked left and right, and weighed it and said: "On the fineness of this gold, it is okay, but this amount seems to be a little less, can you add more silver?" ”

Zhou Fan was in a hurry, and it was rare to bargain with him, so he took out some broken silver from his pocket and gave it to him, saying, "This is feasible, right?" ”

"Alright, alright."

Zhou Fan led the horse with his hand, put the salute on both sides of the horse, and jumped on the horse. At first, the horse was very impatient, ran a few times, Zhou Fan grabbed the reins, the horse was quite obedient, never jumped again, and walked obediently.

Zhou Fan disguised himself and came to the gate of the summer capital, and when the guard saw that it was a merchant from the Western Regions, he didn't ask, so he went out of the summer capital smoothly.

Zhou Fan had no intention of enjoying the scenery all the way, and rode a horse and ran. He climbed up and down the slope, ran and ran on and on, and came to a high wave, and after running down the wave for a while, he found something piled up on the road ahead and around him, and he looked closer, and it was nothing else, it was all human corpses. He had to dismount, only to see that some of his heads had been cut off, some of them had been slashed in the bosom of his sword, and some of his wounds were still bleeding...... Blood flowed everywhere, and it was cruel to see. There were men and women among them, and their costumes were very distinctive, as if they had seen them there, but he could not remember for a moment, and he touched a corpse with his hand, and there was still some heat on it, and he knew that they had just died. The face of a corpse was facing him, and he looked at the face of the corpse a little familiar, so he wanted to go over and take a closer look, and he suddenly remembered that he was Lao Hong with Shi Gu. Zhou Fan immediately thought that something had happened to Shi Gu, no wonder he had seen his clothes there just now. I rode my horse and galloped, but I had come to the foot of Huashan. He didn't think much about it, so he pulled Lao Hong up, and shouted vigorously while shaking: "Lao Hong! Lao Hong! ”。 Coincidentally, Lao Hong was shaken by him like this, and slowly opened his eyes. When Zhou Fan saw him wake up, he shouted again: "I'm Zhou Fan!" I'm Zhou Fan! What's going on at the bottom of the valley road? ”

Lao Hong looked at Zhou Fan for a while, he seemed to remember, and said, "Are you ...... Zhou Fan? There is a ...... Suffer...... Xia Bing...... Hit, help...... She ...... "He finished his last words with all his strength, and pointed in a direction.

Zhou Fan called out several times: "Lao Hong! Lao Hong! But Lao Hong never heard back again. At this time, Zhou Fan remembered a conversation between Xia Wangwei and Zhao Liang outside the gate of the Summer Palace...... The widow wants to build a palace in the valley......""...... Forgive them their capital sins, and send them to search for the site of the valley......"...... The Huashan Valley in the east is the best. "Could it be that Heli and they are looking for the address of the palace, and when they come to Youshi Valley, they will choose Youshi Valley as the site for building the Long Night Palace? Don't think about it, it's important to save people. In order not to let Heli and them recognize him and cause unnecessary trouble, he covered the bottom of his eyes with a black cloth, quickly got on his horse, and ran in the direction pointed by Lao Hong.

Zhou Fan climbed over another high slope and ran for a while, and he saw a group of Xia soldiers surrounding the two girls, like a pack of wolves teasing two little sheep, saying some obscene words.

"General Heli, there are so many beautiful women living in this valley, we have killed too many, it is better to bring these two women back and dedicate them to the emperor to enjoy, thank the emperor for not killing."

"Yes, I have this meaning, if the emperor doesn't want it, we will dedicate it to Lord Zhao, if Lord Zhao doesn't want it, it will be my turn to make profits, haha!"

"At that time, the big red one will be given to you, and the chrysanthemum yellow one will be rewarded to your subordinates?"

"Of course."

"You brutal soldiers who kill people without blinking, we have lived in Youshi Valley without fighting with the world for so many years, your Heavenly King wants to choose our valley as the site for his palace, and drive out my valley, God will punish you." The girl in red said angrily.

"You see how angry she looks, it's still so good-looking, why don't we take them now, and give you General Harry to enjoy first, and then let the brothers enjoy it."

"Haha......" The group of summer soldiers laughed like madmen.

When the girl in red heard these insulting words, she couldn't bear it, so she raised her sword and slashed her neck, thinking that she would die, and the girl in yellow cried: "Valley master, you must not! ……”

At this moment, Zhou Fan jumped out of the horse, slapped his palm in the air, and shook the horizontal sword of the red-clothed girl down. He came to the midst of them, and with lightning speed, he drew out the Xuanyuan sword, and swept through thousands of troops with one move, and the surrounding soldiers fell one by one. When Xia Bing saw this, he knew that he had met a master, and everyone felt in danger. Zhou Fan took the opportunity to take the red and yellow girls to fight a bloody road, and the three of them rode on horses and ran east. Heli didn't dare to chase anymore.

Zhou Fan sat in the center of the horse's back, with the girl in red in front and the girl in yellow behind, the girl in yellow hugged Zhou Fan's waist tightly, for fear that the horse would run too fast and fall under the horse. Zhou Fan took them all the way to run wildly, and the girl in red thought that the scene just now was like a dream, it was really a desperate situation. But she didn't know who the person who rescued them was, and she felt his strong arms shake in front of her, and she couldn't help touching her breasts, and she seemed to feel an inexplicable familiarity. But she still thought that he was deliberately teasing her, and she tried to push his arm away, and asked, "Who is your Excellency?" Why don't you let me die? Why do you save us again? Zhou Fan was inconvenient to answer on the horse, for fear of being negligent for a moment and falling off the horse.

The woman in red didn't hear Zhou Fan's answer, and said: "You put us down, we don't have to worry about our life or death!" ”

The girl in yellow heard what the girl in red said: "You put us down, we don't have to worry about life or death!" She couldn't help but let go of the hands that were holding Zhou Fan's waist. Zhou Fan thought that the horse was as fast as flying, and if she let go of her hands, she might be in danger of falling, he looked back, but the veil was blown off by the strong wind, and the girl in yellow saw Zhou Fan's true face of Lushan. She exclaimed in surprise: "Brother Zhou Fan! Valley master, he is Brother Zhou Fan! ”

When the young master in red heard that it was Zhou Fan, he almost fainted in his arms.

"Chrysanthemum, take a look behind you, is Xia Bing chasing after you?" Zhou Fan said.

Chrysanthemum looked back and said, "Xia Bing didn't chase after us, we are already safe." ”

At this time, Zhou Fan grabbed the reins, stopped the horse, jumped off the horse first, and then helped them down one by one. When Zhou Fan saw the valley master, he said: "Zhou just ran away with all his heart, and didn't answer the valley owner's words, please forgive the valley owner!" ”

"What is your sin? It's my peony, the sin is heavy, it's useless, I didn't protect the clansmen, so that the clansmen died under the knives of the rioters, I really want to die, thank the clansmen! Although Peony spoke strongly, she was ashamed, and her grievances poured into her heart together, and tears fell down one by one.

"Valley master, don't be too sad, it's only a matter of time before the Xia Dynasty produces a child and the heavens and the earth will be destroyed."

"I'm not the lord of the valley now, the valley is gone, and the people are gone. If I and the chrysanthemum exist, how can I be called the lord of the valley again? ”

"What the hell is going on?" Although Zhou Fan knew some clues, it was just a guess, and he thought that his guess could be affirmed from her mouth.

Peony briefly told him what happened in the valley after he left.

After Zhou Fan left, the water in the valley rose and fell, and they could only let the Xianyan Cave open for the time being, but did not block it, in order to discharge the water from the cave when the flood rose. At this moment, Heli suddenly appeared from the Xianyan Cave with a few Xia soldiers, saying that they were soldiers of the Heavenly Empire, and they wanted to see the valley lord to say something, but the valley people did not dare to disobey because they had never seen the world, so they took them to the valley master, Heli said: "We are sent by the Celestial Empire, and we will requisition Guigu to build a palace, please leave the valley quickly." "He used the Celestial Empire to talk about things in order to intimidate Peony.

Peony said: "We have lived in the valley for many years, isolated from the world, not under the jurisdiction of the so-called Celestial Empire you said, and we have never heard of any Celestial Empire. The world is so big, and there are uninhabited valleys everywhere, why do you choose my valley? ”

"This valley is obtained by divination, and it is the most auspicious to build a palace here."

"My ancestors have been operating this valley for many years, and we can't leave the valley."

"In that case, then we can only return to the Celestial Empire and choose another valley." After that, Heli and the others walked away.

Hearing them say that they chose another valley, Peony did not put this matter at ease, who knows, a few days later, they took advantage of their unpreparedness, led the troops to attack, Peony hurriedly led the valley people to resist, but they were the opponents of the summer soldiers, resisted for a while, and were defeated. They burned and plundered the valley, Peony had to take a group of valley people to kill out of the valley, but they didn't expect them to chase after them, Peony they were isolated, the valley people in order to protect the valley owner Peony, they fell down, and finally only Peony and Chrysanthemum were left, and they were injured. At this time, Zhou Fan saw that both of them were bloodied, but there was no danger of life.

After listening to Peony's sad and indignant narration, Zhou Fan was heartbroken, thinking that this tragedy of Shi Gu's extinction was related to his request to open up the Xianyan Cave. He said: "No wonder when I wanted to open up the Xianyan Cave, I was opposed by my grandmother and you, it seems that I hurt you." caused this tragedy. ”

"It's no wonder you, everything is unpredictable, my matriarchal clan has died out since then, and I am ashamed of my ancestors."

"Peony, don't blame yourself too much, let alone take it lightly, do you remember what grandma said before she died?" The world is changing, if one day, the matriarchal line will not be able to survive in the world', it seems that her old man had expected it a long time ago, and it is not surprising today. Do you and Chrysanthemum have any plans at the moment? ”

"We can't go back to Shi Gu, and we don't know where Shi Guo is, so we really don't know what to do now?" Peony said with tears in her eyes.

Chrysanthemum said: "Valley master, don't worry, with me for one day, I will wait for you for one day." ”

"It's better to do this, if you don't dislike it, you can go with me and go to the Shang country. Shang Tang King is a very enlightened person, there have been countless people with lofty ideals in the world have taken refuge under his command, he is the only one who can lead the Shang State and the Xia Dynasty, and it is also said that the Heavenly Dynasty as Heli and others said, can contend with the country. If the time is ripe, you will be able to overthrow the Xia Dynasty, and then you will be able to avenge the blood hatred of the sacrificed Youshi Valley people. Besides, you are injured, and then you go to find Youshiguo, I don't know when I will find it, I have something important to do, I want to go to Shangguo to serve, I can't be by your side, the world is chaotic, if you meet bad people, harm you, so what should I do? ”

"You have saved us from Xia Bing, we are already grateful, how can we trouble you again." Peony put away her tears.

"Peony, don't you remember saving my life? I should save you, and I hate myself for coming too late and not saving Youshi Valley. You are the only bloodline of my teacher Huang Hu, and before my grandmother died, she also entrusted you to me, and you were seriously injured, how can I ignore you at this time, please follow me quickly and go to Shangguo. ”

Peony heard Zhou Fan's words, her sorrow was mixed, tears welled up again, and she sobbed: "Then we can do this." ”

When Zhou Fan heard Peony's agreement, he immediately helped the two of them on the horse and ran towards Shangguo.

When they came to Shangdu, they went straight to the palace, and when the guards saw that Zhou Fan was coming, they helped to help the two girls down. Zhou Fan called a guard, and quickly called the imperial doctor to his bedroom, he took them to his bedroom first, and after they were properly settled, they arrived at the palace, and King Tang was having a meeting with the ministers, so he asked the attendants to report it.

"The commander of Zhou who went to the Xia Dynasty is back, and there is an urgent report!"

"Call him in."

Zhou Fan entered the palace.

"Weichen Zhou Fan, meet King Tang." Zhou Fan said.

"No courtesy, Commander Zhou has been in the dust all the way and rushed from the summer capital, what's the urgency?"

"King Tang, Weichen heard the news in the summer palace that the Xia Dynasty was about to send troops to crusade against the kingdom of Xuan.

"Oh, is there such a thing?"

"The kingdom of Jin is a neighbor of our merchant kingdom, and has been subordinated to our merchant kingdom. After hearing this, I immediately consulted with Yi Xiang, and Yi Xiang asked me to come back quickly, report the news to King Tang, and ask Wang to make a decision quickly. ”

In the court, the ministers talked about it like a frying pan.

"While all the ministers are here, how is this good?" Tang Wang said.

Zhonggu asked, "May I ask Commander Zhou, why did the Xia Dynasty crusade against the Yan Kingdom?" ”

"It is said that the Xia Dynasty asked for grain from the State of Xuan, and when the State of Yan rejected it, the Xia Dynasty was furious and wanted to attack it."

"In the past few years, the country has suffered from drought, and there is no harvest of barley, and it is all dependent on our merchant country to provide food, and it is really impossible for him to provide food." Tang Wang said.

"It's better for us to hand over the grain for the country, so that the Xia Dynasty will come to fight." Micro on the road.

"The Xia Dynasty was insatiable, and the Xia Dynasty knew that the country was suffering, and they came to force food. This time instead of handing over food, next time I will ask for it, so how is it good? Besides, although our Shang country is rich, in recent years, the expenditure on subsidizing the princes has been large, and the treasury is tight. "Shang Hai Dao.

"What should I do with Lord Shang?" Tang Wang said.

"I think my Shang country will directly send troops to the country of Jin to start a war with the Xia soldiers."

"This is not feasible, our Shang Kingdom has not yet reached the time to openly declare war with the Xia Dynasty, and besides, we will send Yi Xiang to assist the Xia King and contradict ourselves." Tang Wang said.

"King Tang, I have a plan for both worlds." Zhou Fan said.

"What is the best of both worlds, let's hear it." Tang Wang said.

"It's better for my Shang generals to wear the armor of the soldiers of the Ming Kingdom, disguise themselves as the soldiers of the Ming Kingdom, go to the Ming Kingdom, and fight against the Xia soldiers, on the one hand, to avoid the direct confrontation between the Shang State and the Xia Dynasty, on the other hand, we can take this opportunity to understand the military strength of the Xia soldiers." Zhou Fan said.

"The strategy of Zhou Commander not only makes our Shang State not need to pay grain to the Xia Dynasty for the Xia Dynasty, but also avoids a direct confrontation between our Shang State and the Xia Dynasty. The End of the Ancient Road.

"The minister thinks that this method of Zhou commander is inappropriate, if our Shang Kingdom loses the battle with the Xia Dynasty, what will happen?" Micro on the road.

"If that happens, we can only return the soldiers to the Shang Kingdom and make plans again." Zhou Fan said.

"If the soldiers sent are defeated and return to the Shang Kingdom, and let the Xia soldiers know, it will obviously push our Shang Kingdom to the opposite side of the Xia Dynasty." Micro on the road.

"How did the Xia army know that the soldiers who returned from the defeat were my soldiers of the Shang Kingdom? Xia Jun only knew that our Shang State took in soldiers from the Xia Dynasty, which would not make our Shang State and the Xia Dynasty antagonistic, which showed that our Shang State was humane and benevolent and took in the soldiers. At that time, it will not be too late to pay grain to the Xia Dynasty to withdraw troops for the country. This move was heard by the princes, but they admired the righteousness of our merchant country even more. Zhou Fan said.

"Directly paying grain to the Xia Dynasty for the Xuan State will attract the insatiable greed of the Xia Dynasty. As Commander Zhou said, pretending to be a soldier and fighting with the Xia soldiers, he can explore the reality of the Xia soldiers, which is the best embodiment of the lonely heart. In time, my Shang country paid grain to the Xia Dynasty for the Jin State, which clearly and magnificently showed the righteousness of our Shang State, and further exposed the Xia Dynasty's *** I have made up my mind to do it according to the Zhou Command method. But who is the most suitable candidate for the general, you may wish to discuss it again. Tang Wang said.

"Since it is a suggestion put forward by Commander Zhou, it is most appropriate to call Commander Zhou." Micro on the road.

"I don't know which general the Xia Dynasty is? Can you recognize me. Zhou Fan said.

"Yes, if the generals of the Xia soldiers know the commander of Zhou, according to the strategy, once they fight, they are recognized, it is indeed inappropriate." Tang Wang said.

"Report to the country to ask for an envoy." The squire said.

"Quick!"

The envoy of the Kingdom of Xuan hurriedly entered the hall, knelt down and said, "Bai Zhi, the envoy of the Kingdom of Jin, meet the King of Tang." ”

"What's the point of coming to my business country?"

The envoy of the state of Yan said: "King Tang, the army of the Xia Dynasty has arrived at the border of the country, and our monarch has sent a minister to ask the king of Tang for help. ”

"How many summer soldiers are there?"

"About two thousand.

"Who will Xia be?"

"Meng Liang."

"Commander Zhou, do you know Meng Liang?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, pass on Gu's order, according to the law we agreed, lead 3,000 soldiers and envoys to enter the country quickly."

"Wechen takes orders."

"King Tang, there is another matter, the minister got the news in the summer palace and welcomed the princess of Youxin Kingdom, the assassination of King Tang was actually committed by the Xia Dynasty, and it has nothing to do with Youxin Kingdom, and the details here will be slowly clarified later, if the two countries can eliminate misunderstandings and rebuild reconciliation, it would be great." Zhou Fan said.

"Lone had a premonition about this, but when I heard you say it at this time, it will be clearer, Lone will handle this matter well." Tang Wang replied.

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