Under Jin Xi's guidance, Huo Shiqi and the others soon arrived in front of a large mansion.

This was originally the official post of Beizheng County, which was set on fire by the Tuqi people in 18 years, and was later rebuilt by the state government with some money and grain. Because Beizheng had experienced a military disaster at that time, the local people could not be recruited, so there was no way to entrust things to the garrison, so there was no beauty to talk about in either the gatehouse or the courtyard of the post house, and it was completely built according to the standard of the military village, and the emphasis was on simple, rugged, strong and durable. The courtyard wall is also high and thick, and the brick cap may not be able to be touched by the ladder outside, and in an emergency, a few tables and chairs are stacked in the wall, and the archers can go up to the wall to block the enemy. The post house is completely the appearance of the barracks, what corridor cloister corner door according to the wall of the irrelevant furnishings are not seen, is a stone road leading to a small courtyard with three bedrooms and four houses outside a stone's throw away; Next to the stone path, two on the left and right, four smaller courtyards are neatly connected.

Now the command yamen of the right army is located in Beizheng City, so all the officers and soldiers who live here are officers and soldiers who have entered the city to do business, there are many people with mixed eyes, and it is before and after dinner in the evening, the people squatting and standing at the door of the four small courtyards are all soldiers, even if Duan Si has asked people to take the horses to the border army command post on the front street to stay temporarily, more than half of the people also stay outside the post house, but there are two seven-rank captains walking in front, and there is a seven-rank captain with his arm in the back, and more than a dozen people walk in the middle of the road, and the spurs knock on the stone slab. It's impossible not to take a few more looks. In the blink of an eye, even the people in the courtyard ran out to see Xiqi when they heard the movement, pointing and muttering to each other by the light of the lanterns and torches on the courtyard gate. Among them, some people knew Jin Xi and ran up to greet and talk to him, but their eyes looked Duan Si and Huo Shiqi up and down.

Yi Cheng also heard that a few big officials were coming, and he brought an errand officer to rush up from behind in a hurry. He also knew Jin Xi, glanced at Duan Si and Huo Shiqi and those guards, and before he greeted them, he first cried and said, "Commander Jin, you brought so many people at once, but you can't live in the post house." ”

At this time, another eight-rank lieutenant came out of the small courtyard in front of him, strode over, glanced at everyone suspiciously, gave a military salute and said: "Three adults, several brigade commanders of the right army are discussing confidential matters in that courtyard right now, if the three adults have no military affairs, then please stay." After speaking, he stood in the middle of the road, his eyes slightly lowered but did not let go.

Duan Si glanced at Jin Xi, saw Jin Xi shook his head slightly to indicate that he didn't know, and understood that this was not Ji Zheng's soldier. He beckoned his hand to signal the captain to take two steps closer, took out Huo Shiqi's general guard from his arms, and asked quietly, "Do you know this?" Xiao Xiao frowned and tried to recognize it, his expression suddenly froze, and he took a step back to salute again, but was immediately stopped by Duan Si with his eyes.

Duan Si put away the general's defense and asked, "Which brigade commanders are inside?" ”

The Colonel hesitated.

Duan Si didn't rush him either. Seeing that it was impossible to meet Ji Zheng quietly, he immediately made up his mind, waved his head slightly, and gently said "Arrange the guard", and the more than 20 people who stayed outside the post house immediately came in, and without saying a word, the people watching the excitement on both sides rushed to the small courtyard next to them. At first, there were people who cursed and cursed, and then they were taken aback by the rank and position of these people. Among the more than 20 people, the captain of the eighth or ninth grade accounted for a small half, and all of them took out the bronze and iron waist plate of the Yanshan Admiral's Mansion in their arms, and there was an officer who looked like a Tuqi man and even took out a silver waist card for a day, and there was a seven-grade captain here!

In the blink of an eye, the inn was clear. All the irrelevant people, along with the post servants, were driven into the house, and everyone beat drums and did not know what had happened. Fortunately, the guards in charge of the Admiral's Mansion in the courtyard only forbade everyone to walk around, and the rest ignored them, and after panicking for a while, they were at ease, and they took turns looking out through the crack in the door, and they were talking about what was going on.

The little colonel who came to inquire was completely dumbfounded. Duan Si said "lead the way" twice, and then he hurriedly turned around, taking steps under his feet, but his eyes were wandering. Jin Xi kindly reminded him next to him: "Brother, be smart, don't make everyone unhappy." ”

The people in the courtyard were also alarmed by the chaos outside, and some people came forward to inquire. Duan Si didn't even look at the two or three guards at the door, nor did he pay attention to the "stop" and "stop" orders, strode up the steps, crossed the threshold and swept the courtyard with his eyes, and his eyes fell on the three green-robed people standing under the dripping eaves of the main house.

"Who the fuck is here to stir up trouble? Is it old gold? Another person came out of the house with one foot in the door and one foot outside the door, wearing a coat without a robe, and holding a bowl in his hand, glanced at Jin Xi behind Duan Si, and asked impatiently, "Who are you with?" made such a big commotion, what do you want to do? If you alarm the mad dogs of the command yamen, you don't want to stop! I'll tell you, I'll help you intercede when you go back to the matter of food, you must not make trouble at this time, otherwise the gods will save ......" The words came to an abrupt end. The person who spoke had only now seen what was going on in the courtyard. A group of wolf-like soldiers were rushing in, and then they dispersed, and the courtyard kept resounding with the sound of whispering and ordering the guards to disarm and enter the house, and occasionally one or two people dared to resist and were immediately smashed by a few knives on the back, and then someone was heard shouting violently: "Brothers, no one should move!" They are the guards of the Admiralty's General! ”

This shout swept through, and all the people in the courtyard were stunned like they had been immobilized in the legends of ghosts and legends and fairy biographies.

With the muffled order of "no noise, no movement, no trespassing", in an instant, there were more than a dozen people in the courtyard, and the four brigade commanders who were surrounded by seven or eight guards in front of the main house were left.

Duan Si laughed and walked down the stone steps, slapped his palms with a horsewhip, and said with a smile: "I can make a name for myself." It's just that I've been idle for the past few days, and I want to find you for a few sips. Two steps forward and casually raised his hand to salute, and said, "Lvshuai Qian, Lvshuai Fan, I haven't seen you for a long time, but I think you are going to die." Yiyi These two are a bit of a face, I think they are also the brigade commander and deputy brigade of which brigade of the Right Army, right? Pointing to Jin Xi beside him, he said, "Who he is, you all know him, so I won't spit on him." I am the fourth lieutenant of the Admiralty. As he spoke, he let go, and the two soldiers helped Huo Shiqi over. You may or may not know this one, but even if you don't know each other, you should have heard of at least one by one, this is Huo Shiqi, the prosecutor of the Yinjian Capital of the Yanshan Admiral's Mansion and the guerrilla general. ”

Qian Laosan, Fan Quan, and the two brigade commanders hurriedly didn't know what was going on, and they all looked at him with a dull expression, until they heard about the long list of honors and positions and the addition of the word "Huo Shiqi", they reacted suddenly. Qian Laosan and Fan Quan didn't even care about the courtesy, so they took Huo Shiqi over first, one left and one right, while carefully holding on, while shouting and scolding in their mouths:

"Tu Xian, hurry up and take a few quilts out and spread them in the seats!"

"Duan four! What are you doing to make a name for yourself? Make Uncle Seventeen like this, you don't want to live! ”

Duan Sili ordered at the front of the stairs: "Command, be careful at the door." From now on, only in the post station is allowed to enter but not out, there are those who act recklessly or dare to make noise, regardless of the reason, all chopped and thrown back to feed the dogs. ”

"Yes!" The two officers agreed, and hurried out to give the order.

Only then did Duan Si say to the other two brigade commanders with a smirk on his face: "The two adults are also invited." It's windy outside, so be careful of catching a cold. Regardless of whether people were willing or not, he grabbed an arm, and pulled the two captains who had not yet woken up into the room half-forcedly, half-forcedly, half-dragged alive.

This is the largest main house of the three upper rooms. In line with the overall style of the inn, this place is also not about beauty but practicality, even if there are two large wooden beds and two armor shelves in the corner, the rest of the place can be placed two or three tables of eight people. The large wooden bed, pillows, futons, cotton wool, and clothes were wrapped in a mess, and in addition to the armor, there were a few pheasants and an air-dried leg meat of an unknown beast and livestock hanging on the armor stand. Between the two wooden beds against the wall, there are two layers of large clay jars used by ordinary people to make pickles, some of which are still sealed with mud and oiled paper, and some are simply empty jars. There is a candle mountain against the wall on the west wall, and seven or eight large sheep fat wax flames are blazing, illuminating the room brightly. On a large wooden table in the middle of the room, most of the sides were filled with clumsy cups and plates, bowls and plates, chopsticks, wine cups, chicken and duck bones were thrown everywhere; In a large wooden plate were two stick bones that had been gnawed to the point of a few shreds of meat......

Huo Shiqi sat on the main seat behind the table. The corner of the table in front of him had been cleaned up, and now Shang Cheng's Jun Ling and his general Guan Fang were placed side by side. Duan stood behind him expressionlessly. Fan Quan, Ji Zheng, Qian Laosan, as well as Ma Chen, the commander of the First Brigade of the Right Army, Qin Gan and Jin Xi, the commanders of the Second Brigade of the Right Army, sat on both sides of the square table. There was also a subordinate of Fan Quan, Tu Xian, who stood quietly in the corner of the room with bated breath. He bowed his head and hunched over his waist, almost pressed against the wall, as if trying desperately to fill himself into the shadows that the candle flame could not reflect.

It's been a long time since anyone spoke.

Since Duan Si concisely introduced the situation of the Central Army and the First Division of the Left Army in Mogan, no one has spoken.

Everything Duan Si said was really beyond their expectations!

The general actually hit Mo Gan? The general not only occupied Mogan, but also drove Mogan's enemies to the west bank of the Heishui River along with the reinforcements of Heishui City and Alegu, and also blocked the king of Donglu Valley in the White Wolf Mountain? Because the right army violated military orders without authorization, the middle route army finally had to give up the advantageous battle situation that had been achieved, and had to start retreating under the unfavorable situation of a strong enemy? The general personally cut off the queen? The old camp of Luhe still doesn't know if it can hold it......

These unimaginable news jumped out of Duan Si's mouth one after another. Faced with so much shocking news at once, none of the generals of the Right Route Army present could speak. No one was able to speak. What Duan Si said was completely different from the military report they heard from the Yamen of the Right Army! Didn't you say that the general began to retreat after hitting the Deer River? Didn't you say that the king of Donglu Valley gathered a large army to follow and pursue? Didn't you say that reinforcements from the Right Army might be needed in the direction of Liuzhen? It's not that ......

Their judgment and train of thought have been utterly confused. They need time to judge whether what Duan Si said is true or false, and they need time to judge what it means. They need more time to regain the judgment that a general should have!

It was very quiet in the house. It was so quiet that everyone could clearly hear their heavy gasps and pounding heartbeats. In the oppressive silence, every crushing sound of the wax core burning was as loud as a thunderbolt tearing through the sky during a thunderstorm. It's really quiet. One can even hear the sound of other people at the table swallowing saliva and squirming in their throats and head joints......

It seemed that a long time had passed, but everyone felt that it seemed to be just a moment, Huo Shiqi sat up straight from his seat with difficulty, raised a weak arm, and pinched the Jun order that Shang Cheng gave him: "You have all read this order, right?" ”

Several brigade commanders nodded silently.

"I didn't forge this order, did I?"

Everyone still nodded with blank expressions, and said in unison: "No!" ”

Among these people, Ji Zheng and Huo Shiqi have a very close personal relationship, and the corners of his mouth are involved in wanting to make a joke, who knows before he opened his mouth and didn't have time to spit out a word, he was forced to swallow back by Huo Shiqi's cold gloomy gaze. He didn't take a breath, and immediately coughed hard, and the more he coughed, the worse it became. In the end, he coughed so much that he couldn't support his waist at all, and he just lay down in a pot of broth in front of him. Even so, he was still coughing. It seems that he fell from his horse a few days ago and not only broke two ribs, but also perhaps injured his lungs......

But no one paid attention to him. Several brigade commanders straightened their waists, folded their hands on their knees, held their heads high, and stared fixedly ahead. As long as they look at the series of actions after Duan Si entered the door, each of them knew in their hearts that Huo Shiqi's coming to Beizheng was definitely not what Jun Lingshang said about Lao Shizi's "business trip"! Compared to the coming storm, coughing will not kill people......

Huo Shiqi was also coughing. But it's not Ji Zheng's continuous cough, but a gentle cough every other half a day. His cough was so shallow that it seemed to come from his throat, and if he wasn't careful, he might have gone unnoticed; But it seems to be so hollow that it makes people feel that his body is now completely a big hole, and it is the kind of bottomless big crack, swarthy, and there is no light at all......

Huo Shiqi gasped a few times, a viscous phlegm sound rolled in his throat, and said, "What do you think? ”

Everyone knows what they mean. Everyone's heart was tight. But no one's gaze wavered, and they still stared straight ahead. Not to mention answering this question, which seems difficult to answer and cannot be answered.

"Fan Quan,"

"My Majesty!" Fan Quan snorted and jumped up like a wooden stake.

"What do you think?"

"Everything is subject to General Huo's orders!"

Huo Shiqi nodded and waved his hand to sit down.

"Qian Laosan, what about you?"

"Everything is in accordance with General Huo's orders!"

"Ji Zheng,"

"Under the office, under the office...... I didn't say anything. What did General Huo say, the job ...... Do what you do. Ji Zheng said while coughing.

Seeing that Huo Shiqi was thinking about himself, Ma Chen, the commander of the A Brigade of the Right Army, stood up without waiting for him to ask, and said respectfully: "Up and down the A Brigade of the Right Army, everything obeys the orders of the Governor Jun and General Huo!" ”

Huo Shiqi lowered his eyebrows, chuckled, and said, "The commander's order is to let me go to Beizheng and the Right Army on business. He put Shang Cheng's order back on the table, restrained his smile and said, "The commander also said that as long as Li Shenken sends troops, no matter what the conditions, let me agree to him." Deputy Lieutenant Duan, did the Governor say that at the time? Duan Sidao: "Yes." These are the words of the Governor. The afternoon before yesterday, in Moganzhai, the governor said this. Huo Shiqi nodded, sighed, and continued, "However, I don't plan to carry out the commander's order now. So, Captain Ma, if I don't intend to carry out the orders of the Governor, will you obey my orders? ”

Ma Chen's face turned pale all of a sudden. He didn't expect Huo Shiqi to say this at all. He didn't even think about what he would say in such a situation. He tensed his face and tried to straighten his back, swallowing several mouthfuls of spittle, still not knowing how to answer. He secretly looked at Qian Laosan and Fan Quan. But to his disappointment, these people didn't seem to hear what Huo Shiqi said just now, and they still had the indifferent expression like a wood carving clay sculpture. He also wanted to find a possible answer from Huo Shiqi's face. However, after six or seven days of continuous travel, Huo Shiqi's face was covered with a thick layer of oil sludge and dust, which was like a mud shell, hiding all the expressions on his face.

Huo Shiqi drooped his eyelids, his gaze drooped, and rested on a plate of salt sauce on the table. He seemed to be very interested in the saucer all of a sudden.

Ma Chen thought about it painfully for a long time, and finally made a difficult choice: "Under the post, only General Huo is the head of the horse is Zhan ......"

Huo Shiqi had no expression on his face, neither nodded in approval of Ma Chen's decision, nor did he say words of encouragement to the commander of the Right Army A Brigade. His gaze slowly but resolutely moved to Qin Gan, the commander of the Second Brigade of the Right Army. He didn't speak, but just looked at Li Shen's number one henchman with a calm look in his eyes.

Qin Gan didn't look at Huo Shiqi. He said very calmly: "General Li Shen is the Sima of the Yanshan Central Army, and he is the commander of Duanzhou, and he has the right to decide the advance and retreat of the right army and the military action in the direction of Duanzhou. This point is very clear to both the commander and General Huo. ”

Yes, he does have that right. But that's not what I want to pursue. I just want to investigate why he blocked the traffic between Duanzhou and Yanzhou without authorization, and why he blocked the news of the retreat of the right army to the commander. Captain Qin must know what these two things mean. ”

Qin Gan fell silent for a moment. After a long time, he said slowly: "General Huo also knows that this dynasty has been established for more than a hundred years, and there has never been a matter of a commander killing a general without permission before. The Governor ......"

"It's never happened before!" Huo Shiqi slapped the table with a slap, interrupting him. The dishes on the table clinked. "You said that the commander killed the senior in the field? I'll tell you: he, Li Shen! Just rely on him Li Shen! One by one, he is not worthy of the Governor's sword! He doesn't deserve it! He almost gritted his teeth and burst out of his teeth, and his saliva sprayed onto Qin Gan's face. What is he, Li Shen, who still wants the monk to bear the charge of 'unauthorized killing'? What is he? What else can he do but be arrogant, take credit from others, deceive and deceive, and stuff silver money into his waist? You say, you said that he Li Shen would do nothing but this, what else would he do? He slapped the table crackling, his cheeks flushed like two coals around him, his eyes spewing cannibalistic flames, and the room filled the room with his angry roar!

"He's a thing? What do you think he is? I didn't listen to anyone say a good word for him! If it's far away, let's just say that this is Beizheng County! He is the commander of Duanzhou, how did he command Beizheng? Just command Bei Zheng out of this look? Three months for two county orders, that's how he commanded? Others would rather sit at home and live idle, and no one wants to come to Beizheng! Why? Tell me, why is that? ”

Qin Gan stopped talking. He could answer every one of Huo Shiqi's words and questions, but none of the answers could make him answer them confidently.

"I said it clearly to you Qin Gan today! I'll just say to you clearly, I, Huo Shiqi, Huo Shiqi of Yanshan Yi County, will dispose of Li Shen tonight! His eyes were red, like a tiger in a rage, viciously scanning Fan's whole body all the way to Qin Gan. Who the hell dares to stop me," he slammed his fist on the table, and with a thud, he said coldly, "Then I'll deal with him first!" ”

…… At the beginning of the night, Sima Li Shen of the Yanshan Right Army, was executed on the spot by Huo Shiqi, the prosecutor of the Yinjian Capital of the Yanshan Governor's Mansion, on six charges of lying about the military situation, retreating without authorization, framing friendly troops, and losing the plane when facing the enemy. Xie Dan, the commander of the right army of Yanshan, was executed on the spot for seven crimes, including coercion and conspiracy to commit an accomplice and failing to report the opportunity. The rest were executed 12 people, 47 were detained, and 26 were banned.

Huo Shiqi immediately ordered in the capacity of the prosecutor of the Yinjian Capital of the Yanshan Governor's Mansion, temporarily headed by Qin Gan, the commander of the B Brigade of the Right Army of Duanzhou, supplemented by Ma Chen, Qian Laosan, and Fan Quan, the commander of the Right Army Brigade, and the four jointly planned to decide the defense of Duanzhou, and sent four cavalry brigades, divided into Ma Zhichuan and Gutang Post Road, to quickly march into the grassland and rescue the old camp of Luhe.

After making these arrangements, Huo Shiqi took off the general's helmet, removed the general's armor, removed the sword, distributed a bun, brown clothes and short clothes, asked for restraint, and ordered Duan Sijie, the deputy lieutenant of the Yanshan Governor's Mansion, to send himself to Yanzhou.

On the way to Yanzhou, Duan Si once asked him very incomprehensibly, why did he do this? Because Duan Si felt that even if it was for the sake of business, Huo Shiqi didn't have to do this......

This question stumped Huo Shiqi. Is he for the monks? Of course, this is for the monks. However, he knew in his heart that he was not doing it all for the sake of the monk. In fact, only a small part of the reason he did it was because of the monks. More reasons, he himself can't say. Maybe he should have done it. Who made him a Yanshan man? No! That's not right either! But he really didn't know how to explain his thoughts......

He sat in a cramped cage, his hands and feet shackled, and he didn't speak for a long, long time.

For the first time in his life, he began to explore the changes in his thoughts from the depths of his heart......

Seven days later, the Battle of Luhe ended, and the reinforced Yanshan Central Army, after paying the price of heavy casualties, slowly retreated under the cover of four cavalry brigades of the right army. On the sixth day of the fifth month, the last Zhao army on the grassland walked through the fire platform and retreated to Liuzhen......