From Lingxiao City, the capital of Chaoyan Kingdom, to Xianxia Pass, it was only half a day's journey.

Emperor Hao received Mu Han's secret letter, and sure enough, he hurried to the north with his personal guards.

The guards of Xianxia Pass hurriedly took over, but they were ordered to strictly guard their mouths and not to leak His Majesty's whereabouts.

However, for some reason, the news still spread quickly. Immediately afterwards, at dawn the next day, the black-pressed Lieyang army descended from the sky, surrounded the north of Xianxia Pass, and the crossbow battalion with its mount hovered above the city tower, blocking the path in mid-air and cutting off the way out of everyone in the pass.

One step ahead of the Lieyang army, there were three other people.

One of them is Mu Han, who was captured by the "Lieyang people", and on the way to Beilu, he "encountered" Chun Yuyan who came here to play and relax. Seeing this scene, he decisively and heroically "rescued" Mu Han who fell into the hands of the gangsters, and rushed to the nearby Xianxia Pass for temporary refuge.

The other person is Mu Chen, the deposed and wanted prince of Chaoyan, who came in white and Danfeng, riding the wind, saying that he saw the Lieyang army moving south on the way to Beilu to exile, and he specially returned to Xianxia Pass to tell him.

The people in Xianxia Pass, including Emperor Hao, were shocked and confused, and they were not a problem.

At the same time, Qingling, who was hundreds of miles away, fell into a long and anxious wait.

Because the foothold of Guanwu Town was exposed, Mu Chen Rang Xun sent Qingling to the top of a peak in the Xianxia Mountain Range.

There is only a makeshift cottage at the top of the peak. Xun let Qingling live in the house, and he moved to a cave next to him.

Qing Ling didn't approve of Mu Chen's arrangement, but she didn't want to argue with him endlessly over this matter. She has gradually realized that Mu Chen looks cold and elegant on the surface, but in fact he is a proud and powerful man, who never seems to give in when it comes to violating his inner principles, and will always have a way to let herself die down in an instant and willingly continue to be the little woman who needs to be protected by his side. She also realized a truth: no matter how scoundrels and domineering people in this world are, once they meet someone they like, they will be eaten to death!

But compared with the way she gets along, she is more worried about Mu Chen's safety at the moment.

So she caught Xun when she had nothing to do and inquired about Xianxia Pass.

"What the hell is your plan?"

"Are you going to set up another formation this time?"

"Could it be that Mu Chen plans to make his own formation again?"

"Or ...... With someone else? ”

Xun is usually a person of few words, but before leaving, he was specially instructed by Mu Chen, and his tone was tight and impeccable, and even the puppet maid who came out to serve the living room was as silent as him, which made Qing Ling very annoyed.

On the evening of the fourth day, Xun checked the barrier placed at the top of the peak as usual, and then returned to the cave to rest. Shortly after he lay down, he suddenly heard a low sound of a piano outside the cave.

Qing Ling is proficient in the art of sound attack, Xun once listened to Chun Yuyanti. But he didn't know that Yuan Qing had returned the Imperial Organ and the Qilin Jade Plaque to her, only saying that she had no weapons or mounts by her side, and that there should be no possibility of escape if she was trapped at the top of the peak.

Therefore, when the piano sounded, Xun was completely defenseless.

The melody lingered and low, like a thin silk thread, and instantly wound into Sun's thoughts. He only had time to sigh "I suffered" before he suddenly lost consciousness......

Qing Ling held the royal organ, slowly stepped into the cave, plucked a slow and long light sound from his fingertips, and shouted with a smile: "Xun." ”

Xun opened his eyes and sat up, his eyes cloudy, and his gaze had lost focus.

Qing Ling sat opposite Xun, his fingers still didn't dare to relax, and from time to time he plucked out a note, and said, "Don't blame me for sneaking up on you, who made your mouth so tight?" I just want to ask you a few questions, and I won't interfere with your business......"

She cleared her throat and repeated the question she had asked thousands of times a few days ago: "Then tell me honestly now, what is Mu Chen's plan?" Be more detailed and tell you everything you know. ”

Xun was in a trance, his voice stiff, and finally gave the answer one by one.

In the Eastern Continent, in addition to the powerful Chaoyan Kingdom, there are also small countries such as Yuzhong, Yanye and Zhongqi. In the beginning, the land and military strength of these small countries were not much worse than Chaoyan, but since this generation of Emperor Hao ascended the throne, they began to encroach on the territories of neighboring countries little by little, and through various means, they coerced the other party to cede rich cities and tribute grain products, and forced other royal families to give up the title of emperor and respect Chaoyan. In the last few hundred years, the Eastern Continent has gradually formed the status quo of Chaoyan dominating the Eastern Continent and dominating the Eastern Continent.

Now these small countries have long lost the ability to compete with Chaoyan, and most of the royal families have also become vassals of Chaoyan in peace and security, claiming to be princes. The actual status is not as good as the four major families that belong to Chaoyan.

But there are also people who are unwilling. Some of them lost their original family power because of Chaoyan's expansion, and some of them were hot-blooded children of the royal family's close branches, who often denounced Chaoyan's actions behind their backs, hoping to find an opportunity to revive their own clan's majesty.

Luo Heng, the national teacher of Jiuqiu, grasped the psychology of these people and secretly supported a group of forces, and since the past few months, he has been constantly causing various incidents in the vassal states. Provoke Chaoyan's garrison on the border, cut off military supplies, burn down mines and smelters, and occasionally engage in a few battles with the Jiuqiu Defense Army in the southwest, ostensibly a group of rogues with unclear political goals.

Other things are fine, but the minerals of Yu China and the weapons and utensils it smelted are very important to Chaoyan. Therefore, Emperor Hao sent the nearest garrison to the vassal states to encircle and suppress the Liukou, and this group of garrisons sent from Weizhou happened to be an important force used to defend against the raid of Lieyang in peacetime. As soon as the garrison of Weizhou was withdrawn, the number of troops originally reserved to defend Lieyang was less than 30,000.

After the first Lieyang King Jiuyu died in Xianxia Pass, the throne was inherited by his son Qianzhong. At that time, Qianzhong was still young, and the morale of the Lieyang people was weakened by the defeat of Xianxia Pass, and many nomadic tribes chose to move north to find a more suitable habitat than the Eastern Continent, so Emperor Hao was not too worried about a resurgence in the short term. Although the garrisons and spies in the border area are always keeping an eye on the movements in the north, after two hundred and ninety years of idle time, their vigilance and combat effectiveness have long been much lower than before.

Xun said mechanically: "The people of Lieyang were determined to attack Chaoyan, and once they knew that His Majesty was in Xianxia Pass, they would definitely not give up this opportunity to capture the king." But that doesn't mean they don't have any suspicions. Therefore, there are two possibilities for Lieyang's offensive method. First, first send a small number of troops to test the truth and see if it is a trap deliberately set by His Majesty. If this is the case, it will not be difficult for His Highness to help His Majesty break the siege. ”

Qing Ling knew that although Lieyang had a large number of people, he did not have masters like Mu Chen and Chun Yuyan, so he nodded and asked, "What about the second situation?" ”

"The second situation is that as soon as Lieyang started the war, he used all his troops. In this case, it would be impossible to protect His Majesty from the defenders of Xianxia Pass and His Highness's men and horses alone. Moreover, if Xianxia Pass is lost, it is possible for the Lieyang army to drive straight into and besiege Lingxiao City in the south, and if it is coupled with the assistance of Jiuqiu, the situation will be very dangerous. ”

"What then?" Qing Ling became nervous, and the movements of his hands stagnated slightly, almost messing up the beat of the piano.

"Therefore, His Royal Highness will find a way to delay Lieyang's offensive, and then Prince Chun Yu will take His Majesty's talisman to dispatch reinforcements, and at the same time spread what happened in Xianxia Pass, so as to make full preparations for creating necessary public opinion in the future. Chun Yu Gongzi and His Royal Highness joined forces, outsiders actually don't know. But in order to ensure that His Majesty's suspicions can be dispelled, he will pretend to come here to play in advance, and 'by chance' he rescued Prince Muhan, who was captured by the people of Lieyang, and then was trapped in Xianxia Pass together. ”

Qing Ling didn't understand the meaning of holding the talisman, so he only thought to himself, this Emperor is probably a very suspicious person, could it be that someone is willing to help at the moment of life and death, and he still has to doubt the other party's intentions?

"Then, what method will Mu Chen use to delay Lieyang's offensive?"

Xun said: "His Highness did not tell me his specific plan. But I suspect that he may have intended to use himself as bait to lure the King of Lieyang into a duel with him on the battlefield. For hundreds of years, King Qianzhong of Lieyang has always wanted to take His Highness's life and avenge his father, so he will definitely not refuse. ”

Qing Ling frowned and thought about it, and said to himself: "The people of Lieyang do not have such a quintessential cultivation as our God Clan...... That Qianzhong, it shouldn't be Mu Chen's opponent......"

Xun, whose mind drifted away, still replied to the voice in the void: "Qianzhong himself may not be His Highness's opponent, but the people of Lieyang do not have the etiquette of the Eastern Continent, if His Highness really threatens their king, others will also help." ”

Qing Ling was stunned when he heard this: "What do you mean...... Are they a lot of people hitting a person? How does this work? ”

She tried her best to control her mind and not let her inner breath be disturbed, so as not to be eaten by her own piano sound, and after thinking for a while, she said to Xun: "You immediately summon your mount and take me to Mu Chen!" I'm not going to risk his life! ”

Xun shook his head, "Your Highness has instructed that you will not be able to leave this place for five days. Five days later, he would send someone to answer him. If no one answers, it means that he has been defeated, and I will give you the letter and send you away. ”

There was a "boom" in Qing Ling's brain, and his fingers slipped, making the piano sound mournful.

Xun suddenly drooped his head and fell headlong.

"Sun!" Qing Ling hurriedly put away the royal organ and leaned over to support Xun, "What letter?" What letter did you just say? ”

She investigated his injuries and saw that he seemed to have been injured by the sound of the piano she had just heard, and although it was not serious, he would definitely not wake up for a while.

Qing Ling put Xun on the straw mat, fed him a coreless pill that Mu Chen had left for him, hesitated for a moment, and reached out to grope on him.

I searched for a long time, but found nothing.

Qing Ling sat aside in frustration, resting his elbows on his bent knees, and slowly buried his face in the crooks of his arms.

In fact, even if she didn't find the letter Mu Chen left for herself, she could guess the content on it.

On Zhang Gu Peak, when the two were in love, he once said, "Now the future is uncertain, and I dare not make any promises".

His repeated refusal to allow her to intervene in what she was trying to do made her so distressed that she even doubted his trust in her.

But Chun Yuyan's pretended to be ridiculous and ended suddenly: "If it were me, Ba would have to be involved in this matter." Although you led him to escape from Chongwu, as long as you don't really get involved in what he is planning, there is still a way out. Even if we ...... one day, it has already revealed Mu Chen's true psychology.

Mu Chen, in fact, has long known that his plan may fail.

That's why I pushed her away again and again......

Qing Ling twisted his head, the tear stains on his cheeks at the corners of his eyes were cooled by the night breeze at the entrance of the cave, and the person slowly calmed down.

She stood up, went out of the cave and summoned the Muna maid made by Sun, and told her to stay in the cave and take care of Sun, who was unconscious, and she walked slowly to the peak.

At some point, it began to rain.

In the fierce mountain wind, mixed with a drizzle, it blew on Qingling's face.

Using yourself as bait?

A contest of one enemy?

Mu Chen......

Qing Ling raised his hand to his chest, and his fingertips touched the purple jade ring under the placket.

It doesn't matter to me what kind of person you are, down, or powerful. But you once said to me that the rarest relationship in this world is life and death. And what are you doing now?

You don't need me to fight side by side with you, you want me to stay by your side. But where are you now?

I won't let you leave me like this!

Qing Ling wiped the droplets of water on his face, who didn't know whether it was rain or tears, and his expression became resolute.

She took out the unicorn jade card left by Yuan Qing for herself from her arms, threw it out, and jumped off the cliff with her body.