"Bring that body here......"

"Damn rebel ......"

"Uh, uncle...... Woohoo......"

In the Tan Valley where the Jin army was ambushed, more than a thousand Liangcheng soldiers carried Tong Ze's body with mixed feelings.

Not far away, Zhao Yu and Niu sat by a bonfire, and behind them stood several black tigers led by Gong Jiao.

He looked at the Liangcheng soldiers who were carrying the corpse of the robe from a distance.

Different from the guilt of the Henan army that day, Zhao Yu did not have the idea of guilt for those Liangcheng soldiers, after all, eight years ago, Tong Yan led these Liangcheng soldiers, destroyed his home, and killed more than 200 people up and down his Luyang Township Marquis's Mansion.

Although Zhao Yu also understood that those Liangcheng soldiers back then were just acting according to orders, and were even deceived by Tong Yan, he still didn't have the slightest good impression of these Liangcheng soldiers, and not pursuing the accomplices of the year was already his greatest tolerance.

"Report!"

With a sound, several brigade wolves came to Zhao Yu panting, and clasped their fists and said: "Great Leader Qiyu, within a radius of ten miles, I have never found any trace of Tong Duwei. ”

"How can you find it...... Huh.'

He smiled secretly in his heart, but Zhao Yu pretended to be angry on the surface, and shouted: "Look for it again!" ”

"Yes!" Several brigade wolves clenched their fists and left.

Not long after, with a rush of footsteps, Wang Xun and Zhang Qi, the commanders of Liangcheng, came to Zhao Yu.

"Zhou Duwei ......"

I saw Wang Xun hugging his fists towards Zhao Yu, and said with a look of gain and loss: "The soldiers have collected the corpses, I don't know...... I wonder if there is any news of Tong Duwei? ”

Hearing this, Zhao Yu shook his head heavily.

Seeing this, Wang Xun's face turned pale, and he glanced at Zhang Qi, standing in place at a loss.

At this moment, there was a faint sound of horses' hooves in the distance, Zhao Yu turned his head to take a look, and found that a team of Taiyuan cavalry was quickly coming towards this side.

This Taiyuan cavalry was personally led by the Jin general Dong Dian, and I saw that he slowly slowed down after approaching the camp, and then turned over and dismounted, and walked quickly to Zhao Yu.

"General Dong."

Zhao Yu stood up and took the lead in saying hello, although with his identity, he didn't actually need to take the initiative to salute, he did this completely to show favor to Dong Dian.

"Captain Zhou."

Dong Dian also replied respectfully, and then asked with some expectation: "Zhou Duwei's side, have you ever found Tong Duwei's whereabouts?" ”

Zhao Yu shook his head and said in a regretful tone: "I thought General Dong could bring some good news...... It seems that General Dong also got nothing. ”

"I'm sorry."

Dong Dian glanced at Wang Xun and Zhang Qi, and immediately clasped his fists and said to Zhao Yu: "The last general led people to search for twenty miles to the north, but he never found the whereabouts of Tong Duwei and his party......

"Yes." Zhao Yu sat down by the bonfire again, and said in a deep voice: "Wait a little longer, I hope others can bring back some good news......

From the side, Wang Xun and Zhang Qi were like white paper.

During this period, the Yingchuan soldiers sent by Wang Qing, Qin Yu, Jia Shu, Zhang Ji, and Cao Wu, or the brigade wolves led by Xu Bai, Wang Ping, or the Taiyuan cavalry under the command of Dong Dian and Zhong Liao, the soldiers of the three armies carefully searched a radius of twenty miles, but unfortunately, they could not find Tong Yan and his party.

"Tong Duwei...... Will Tong Duwei return to Liangcheng......"

Before one bad news after another, Wang Xun was sweating like a pulp, he barely managed to squeeze out a few smiles, and made an almost impossible guess.

Even he himself knew that this was completely impossible—how could Tong Yan escape back to Liangcheng alone despite his army after suffering a defeat? If nothing else, Xue Ao alone will tear him apart!

In other words, there is only one possibility......

"Captain Tong, I'm afraid I've been poisoned by the rebels."

Zhao Yu sighed and said the guess in everyone's hearts.

Oh, except for Niu Heng, Zhang Ji, Gong Jiao and the other two Black Tigers.

"Zhou Duwei ......"

Wang Xun's face suddenly became very ugly, and like Zhang Qi, he looked at Zhao Yu with pleading eyes.

"I'm afraid these two people are ...... this time."

Dong Dian and Zhong Liao glanced at Wang Xun and Zhang Qi.

When they came, they had already heard that before dusk yesterday, due to the greed of Wang Xun and Zhang Qi, the army led by Zhou Hu and Tong Yan encountered an ambush by the rebels in this Tangu and suffered heavy losses.

It was a serious mistake to be greedy for merit and cause heavy losses to your own army, but I didn't expect to kill my own captain......

This crime is added to the crime, how can Wang Xun and Zhang Qi have good fruits to eat?

Of course, Dong Dian and Zhong Liao did not have the power to punish Wang Xun and the others, and even they didn't care much about Tong Yan's life or death, because they knew that their general Xue Ao had always hated Tong Yan, and they cared about another matter.

"Captain Zhou."

Dong Dian took a step forward and said in a low voice: "Tong Duwei's life and death are unknown, and the last general is very sorry for this, but it is imperative that we pursue the rebels as soon as possible, and we must not let the rebels escape from our pursuit......"

As soon as the words fell, Zhong Liao also stepped forward and said to Zhao Yu in a consultative tone: "Zhou Duwei, I believe that Tong Duwei is a good man and will be able to save the day." …… But taking a step back, if Tong Duwei has really been killed by the rebels, it is useless for me to worry here, it is better to pursue the rebels first, and then slowly find the whereabouts of Tong Duwei during the period, as long as Tong Duwei is still alive, we can finally find him. ”

"This ......"

Zhao Yu pretended to hesitate, then turned his head to look at Wang Xun and Zhang Qi, and asked, "Wang Xun and Zhang Qi, what do you two think?" ”

Wang Xun and Zhang Qi were in a mess at the moment, how could they calm down, so they had to nod when they heard the words.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu nodded and said, "Okay, since that's the case, pass on my order, and the three armies will immediately rush to Xianping!" ”

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, and said in a heavy tone: "If, I mean, if Tong Duwei is really killed by the rebels, then we will avenge Tong Duwei!" ”

"Yes!" Wang Xun and Zhang Qi nodded with pale faces.

In view of Zhao Yu's order, the generals left one after another, preparing to lead the troops to Xianping, but Wang Xun and Zhang Qi did not leave for a long time.

Of course, Zhao Yu knew what was going on, but he deliberately didn't say anything, just looked at Wang Xun and Zhang Qi with confused eyes: "The two? ”

Before the words fell, I saw Wang Xun and Zhang Qi glance at each other, and suddenly knelt down on one knee in front of Zhao Yu with a pop, and pleaded bitterly: "Zhou Duwei, the two of us are ignorant, we committed such a mistake, and even the life and death of Tong Duwei are unknown, or we were killed by the rebels, this crime, I can't afford it, and now only Zhou Duwei can save my two lives......"

"This ......," Zhao Yu said in embarrassment, "what can I do?" ”

Zhang Qi hurriedly said: "If Tong Duwei is really killed, General Xue and the imperial court will inevitably pursue it, and I implore Zhou Duwei to intercede for the two of us in front of General Xue...... The two of us are old and young, please Zhou Duwei must save my two lives. ”

"This ......"

"Zhou Duwei ......"

"Well, that's it."

Zhao Yu pretended to sigh, stepped forward to help Wang Xun and Zhang Qi, and said with relief: "Although the two of you are at fault, you ...... Alas, if General Xue asked afterwards, Zhou would try his best to complete the two of them. But just as the two generals Dong and Zhong said, it is imperative that we catch up with the rebels and wait for General Xue to come with reinforcements. …… If the two of them can make meritorious contributions during the period, maybe General Xue will open the net. ”

"Thank you, Captain Zhou! Thank you, Captain Zhou! ”

Wang Xun and Zhang Qi thanked them repeatedly.

Looking at the grateful faces of the two, Rao is Zhao Yu was also a little embarrassed.

Of course, this emotion is only for a moment.

"Hey."

Very suddenly, one of the two black tigers beside Gong Jiao laughed uncontrollably.

Fortunately, the voice was very soft, and neither Wang Xun nor Zhang Qi heard it—although even if they did, they didn't care too much.

But Gong Jiao still glared at the laughing black tiger group viciously, and the latter immediately lowered his head.

I have to say that in fact, Gong Jiao actually wants to laugh too.

Obviously, it was their big leader who planned all this, and ordered them to take advantage of last night's chaos to rob that Tong Yan, and harm Wang Xun and Zhang Qi to such a field, but who would have thought that Wang Xun and Zhang Qi would be grateful to their big leader.

That's the means!

That's conspiracy!

Gong Jiao was in a surging mood.

Whether it is the Jin army or the rebel army, they are just pawns in the hands of their big leaders.

It is undeniable that for Gong Jiao, a person like Zhao Yu who can manipulate everything behind the scenes really has a very strong charm for him, which makes Gong Jiao willing to work for such a person.

At this time, not far away, Zhang Jizheng was sorting out his war horse bags, watching the interaction between Zhao Yu, Wang Xun and Zhang Qi over and over again.

Although they were far away, it was still not difficult for him to guess what Wang Xun and Zhang Qi were kneeling for.

"How?"

Cao Wu, who happened to lead the war horse past, noticed the strange look on Zhang Ji's face.

"Oh, nothing."

Zhang Ji smiled, turned over and jumped on horseback.

After a while, the army slowly began to move towards Xianping County.

Because of Tong Yan's disappearance, Liang Chengjun temporarily obeyed Zhao Yu's orders, plus the 6,000 Yingchuan troops brought by Zhang Ji and Cao Wu—he left 1,000 people in Kaifeng County—the current total number of troops under Zhao Yu's command is about 17,000 or 8,000.

In addition to this, there were five thousand Taiyuan cavalry.

Of course, this cavalry is not under the command of Zhao Yu.

"It's going very well......

Driving the war horse at the head of the team, Zhao Yu thought a little proudly.

Through Fang Cai's gesture, he has successfully made the generals of the Jin army accept the possibility of 'Tong Yan being killed'.

And next, he is ready to get the rebels to admit it.

He believed that his brother, who was still quite smart, would surely guess the information he gave vaguely and give him cooperation.

The rebels didn't care if they actually killed a lieutenant anyway.

"Seamless."

After thinking about it a few times, Zhao Yu didn't think there were any flaws in his strategy.

Hmm, if you want to say the only flaw, that is, Zhao Yin's release of his Yingchuan army last night was really a bit obvious, and Zhao Yu was a little worried about whether it would arouse Xue Ao's suspicion in the future.

"You have to think about how to deal with it in advance......

Zhao Yu thought secretly in his heart.

On the way to Xianping County, Zhao Yu and his party did not encounter another ambush by the rebels, but unfortunately, in order to search for Tong Yan, Zhao Yu and his party wasted nearly three hours in vain, which made the distance between them and the rebels be widened again.

It was not until they entered the territory of Xianping County that the Taiyuan cavalry led by Dong Dian and Zhong Liao discovered the traces of the rebels again.

"Report!"

When Zhao Yu led the army to arrive only seven or eight miles away from Xianping County, a team of Taiyuan cavalry came to report to him.

"Captain Qiqi Zhou, according to our army's cavalry investigation, the main force of the rebels has now retreated into Xianping County. The two generals, Dong and Zhong, hoped that Zhou Duwei would camp on the spot as soon as possible, and they would do their best to delay the rebels. ”

"Okay, I got it."

Zhao Yu nodded.

At the same time, as the Taiyuan cavalry investigated, Chen Miao, Cheng Zhou, and Zhao Yin had led nearly 60,000 rebels to retreat into Xianping County, and successfully joined up with Xiang Geng, the defender of Xianping County.

As soon as he returned to the city, Chen Miao summoned the generals to discuss the next retreat plan.

After all, the retreating army that his righteous division wanted was not only these 60,000 people, but also the nearly 40,000 Jiangdong righteous divisions led by Wu Yi who were about to come to Xianping to join them, and furthermore, there were still generals such as Zhong Fei and Yan Xuan who were still stationed in Weishi, Yanling and other counties at this moment.

Even, Chen Miao had to send someone to inform Guan Shuo's Changsha army.

All in all, there were a lot of troubles in the future, and he needed to coordinate and arrange for all scattered armies to withdraw into Chenjun together to resist the counterattack of the Jin army, but he didn't want to pull down any army.

However, when Chen Miao and others were discussing the matter at the county government in the city, a soldier suddenly came to report: "Qi Chen Shuai, a large number of cavalry have been found outside the city!" ”

Chen Miao immediately understood: the Taiyuan cavalry has arrived!

He frowned and said to the generals present: "Sure enough, Zhou Hu and Tong Yan requisitioned the Jin army in Kaifeng County, and added the 7,000 Yingchuan troops and 5,000 Taiyuan cavalry...... If our army wants to evacuate from Xianping County, I am afraid it will take another lot of work. ”

Cheng Zhou chuckled when he heard this: "Zhou Hu and Tong Yan have just suffered defeat, and General Wu Yi is about to lead the army to join us, even if Zhou Hu and Tong Yan converge with the Jin army in Kaifeng, why be afraid?" ”

Hearing this, Chen Miao shook his head and said in a deep voice: "Zhou Hu and Tong Yan are just the vanguard of the Jin army, I am not afraid of the two of them, I am afraid of being dragged by them...... Especially the 5,000 Taiyuan cavalry, if our righteous division is attacked by them when they retreat, even if our righteous division has more than 100,000 people, I am afraid it will be difficult to support the retreat to Chenjun......"

Everyone was discussing, and I don't know how long it took, suddenly a soldier entered the interior and announced: "Qi Chen Shuai, the northwest direction found a large number of Jin army traces, looking at the banner, it is Zhou Hu, the commander of Yingchuan, and Tong Yan, the commander of Liangjun." ”

Hearing the announcement, Chen Miao was slightly stunned, and then his face showed a little surprise.

Zhou Hu and Tong Yan led the army to catch up, which was not his expectation at all, he was strange, these two had just suffered a defeat, how could they dare to approach him in Xianping County?

Could it be that the reinforcements of the 7,000 Yingchuan Army and 5,000 Taiyuan cavalry restored Zhou Hu and Tong Yan's self-confidence?

Just when Chen Miao was surprised, another soldier hurriedly came to say: "Report! The Jin army assembled outside the western city wall. ”

"Assemble?"

Cheng Zhou smiled and said, "What do the two of them want to do?" Siege? ”

Hearing this, the generals laughed out loud, probably because they had just defeated each other's relationship.

In the midst of laughter, Chen Miao stood up and said, "Let's go, let's take a look, see what Zhou Hu and Tong Yan want to do." ”

Everyone nodded.

After about a stick of incense, Chen Xuan, Cheng Zhou, and Zhao Yin took Xiang Xuan, Zhou Gong and other generals to the West City Gate Tower, standing in the open space in front of the City Gate Tower and looking at the wilderness outside the city.

At this time, the Jin army outside the city had also been assembled, with 6,000 troops led by Zhang Ji and Cao Wu in front, another 6,000 troops led by Wang Qing, Qin Yu and Jia Shu in the back, and the Liangcheng army, which had just suffered a defeat, was still led by Wang Xun and Zhang Qi, lined up on the left side of the Yingchuan army.

On the flank, on the far flank, there was a cavalry, at least three thousand in number.

Considering that there were nearly 60,000 righteous teachers in the city, Chen Miao was not worried that Zhou Hu and Tong Yan would attack the city immediately, he just wondered what the two guys who had just suffered a defeat had plans for the soldiers to come to the city at this moment.

Just when Chen Miao was puzzled, Zhao Yu took Niu Heng, Gong Jiao, Liu Tu and twenty black tigers to the city slowly.

"Zhou Hu ......"

With Xiang Xuan muttering softly, the atmosphere in the city became solemn.

"He's Zhou Hu? Is he Adi?'

Zhao Yin's eyes lit up, and he carefully looked at Zhao Yu who was sitting on a horse under the city.

As far as he could see, this brother, who had not seen him for eight years, had obviously grown much taller.

At this time, Zhao Yu also raised his head and looked at the people in the city carefully, and suddenly, his gaze was fixed on Zhao Yin.

Although Zhao Yin has changed a lot, Zhao Yu still recognized the other party at a glance.

It's no wonder, after all, Zhao Yin's appearance not only has a six-seven-point resemblance to their father Luyang Township, but also a six-seven-point resemblance to Zhao Yu, at least six or seven points.

“……”

“……”

The brothers, who hadn't seen each other for eight years, finally met each other today, on such a bizarre occasion.

And just as the brothers looked at each other, Chen Miao's chuckle broke the atmosphere.

"When I saw Leader Zhou last time, Leader Zhou was just a county lieutenant...... Congratulations to Captain Zhou for his promotion. ”

『Chen Miao......

Zhao Yu shifted his gaze from Zhao Yin to Chen Miao.

On weekdays, he wouldn't mind chatting with this Chen Miao, but today is not appropriate, because he is about to put a basin on the other party's head.

I saw that he was brewing his emotions for a while, and then said in a deep voice: "Chen Miao, you don't want to be proud!" …… Yesterday was just a negligence on the part of Zhou, and this was the trick of you and others, but do you think you can escape defeat in this way? ”

"Tiger this week...... What's going on?'

Chen Miao frowned slightly.

In his impression, Zhou Hu has always been very personable, even if Zhou Hu and Guan Shuo were like that at the beginning, when the two met, Zhou Hu was still gentle and elegant, making it difficult to believe that this person was born as a thief.

I didn't expect that today, this guy was fierce as soon as he came up.

Just when Chen Miao felt strange, Zhao Yu said in a deep voice again: "The imperial court has sent Chen Taishi to lead hundreds of thousands of troops to encircle and suppress you and other thieves, if you know each other, you will quickly return Tong Duwei, and then ask the soldiers under his command to unload their armor and surrender in Kaicheng, so I can still intercede with Chen Taishi and General Xue on your behalf and spare your lives." ”

"Return the Tong Commander? Tong Yan?'

Chen Miao was stunned, and said to the generals on the left and right: "Did anyone catch Tong Yan yesterday?" ”

It seems that Xiang Xuan, Zhou Gong, Zhu Yuan, Xu Di and other generals shook their heads one after another, and they were also confused.

Only a few traces of light flashed in Zhao Yin's eyes.

"Good boy, he's got it!"

He clenched his fists excitedly.

I don't know if it's the brothers who have a heart, as soon as he heard Zhao Yu's words, he understood the intentions of this little brother.

"This cunning boy has arrested someone himself, and he actually wants to blame my righteous teacher...... Well, for your brother.'

Laughing secretly in his heart, Zhao Yin said lightly: "Heh, I guess I died in the chaos last night...... I didn't expect this windfall. ”

Originally, Xiang Xuan, Zhou Gong, Zhu Yuan, Xu Di and others were still wondering, but when they heard Zhao Yin's words, they suddenly realized.

It is no wonder, after all, the example of a general dying in the chaos of the army has been common since ancient times, and there is nothing unusual.

As for what to deny, the generals didn't even think about it - they, the righteous teachers who wanted to rebel, still cared if they killed a captain?

They wanted to kill all the generals of the Jin Kingdom, including the Zhou Hu under the city.

"General Xiang, could it be that the soldiers under your command killed that Tong Yan by mistake last night?" Zhao Yin asked with a chuckle.

Xiang Xuan knew that Zhao Yin was 'uneasy and kind', out of respect for Zhao Yin, he thought about it carefully, then shook his head and said, "This ...... It doesn't seem to have a soldier's message, well, it's hard to say, it was too chaotic last night......"

Hearing this, Cheng Zhou said with a smile: "Anyway, this is good news, right?" ”

All the generals smiled and nodded, among which Zhao Yin was even more happy with a smile, turned his head to Xiang Xuan and said: "It is estimated that a soldier under the command of the general killed Tong Yan, and only the soldiers under the command of the general had this opportunity last night......

Xiang Xuanzheng was frowning and pondering, and suddenly heard Zhao Yin say again: "This time, Jin Guo is afraid that he hates the general even more." ”

This sentence aroused the arrogance in Xiang Xuan's heart, and he laughed and said: "It is exactly what Xiang wants!" ”

After that, he took a step forward and smiled at Zhao Yu under the city: "Zhou Hu, it was Xiang's soldiers who killed Tong Yan, if you insist on being an eagle dog of the Jin Kingdom, and be the enemy of my righteous teacher, when you fight again, Xiang will personally cut off your head!" ”

“……”

Zhao Yu's momentum suddenly stagnated, and he stared at Xiang Xuan for a long time.

Rao guessed that Zhao Yin would cooperate with him, but he didn't expect Xiang Xuan to jump out stupidly and admit it, so that he didn't react for a while.

After all, in his impression, Xiang Xuan was still quite witty.

After a long time, Zhao Yu raised his hand to Xiang Xuan in the city, and said in a deep voice: "Xiang Xuan, you wait, I will kill you and avenge Tong Duwei!" ”

Xiang Xuan crossed his arms and sneered arrogantly: "Okay, I'll wait for you." ”

This back-and-forth conversation is equivalent to confirming the fact that 'Xiang Xuan killed Tong Yan', and it is still in front of more than 20,000 Jin troops.

Satisfied, Zhao Yu took one last look at Zhao Yin in the city, and then waved his hand and ordered: "Withdraw!" ”

Under his orders, the Jin army slowly retreated.

On the same day, the Jin army retreated five miles and set up camp.

During this period, Zhao Yu wrote a note in the battle report submitted to Xue Ao.

Liang Cheng Lieutenant Tong Yan, confirmed to be killed in battle!