"PS: After taking medicine for several days, my cough finally got better, and my daughter-in-law was terrified when I coughed so badly in the middle of the night two days ago."

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"Shoot the arrows!"

"Shoot the arrows!"

Looking at the figure floating on it from time to time in the Zhangshui in front of him, Niu Qian's face gradually turned from panic to gloom, and his eyes carefully swept over the churning river, trying to find the trace of Master Zhao's father from the figure in the river.

No one is more afraid of letting Lord Father Zhao flee from Zhao State than him, because he knows that once Master Zhao escapes from Zhao State, when he returns to Zhao State with the momentum of Qin and Song again, he Niu Jian will definitely die without a place to bury, not only because he Niu Jian betrayed Lord Zhao Father, but also because of his Niu Qian's betrayal, Zhao Zhang's army to seize the throne was a failure, resulting in the most beloved eldest son of Lord Zhao Zhao being forced to kill himself in the Dune Palace after the defeat.

What's more, it was also his relationship with Niu Jian that made Master Zhao's father lose the opportunity to regain control of the country, and he had no chance to implement the Tianqu Ri technique of the Crane Guanzi - of course, this Niu Jian was not clear.

But in any case, just indirectly forcing Gongzi Zhang to death and making Master Zhao miss ruling Zhao State again are enough for Lord Zhao to regard Niu Jian as the first object to take revenge after Lord Zhao returns one day.

Maybe at that time, Master Zhao may forgive An Pingjun Zhao Cheng and Fengyang Jun Li Dui, as long as those two compromise, they will honestly help Master Zhao to implement the Tianqu Sun Technique, but Niu Jian believes that Master Zhao will never forgive.

It was precisely because of this fear that when Niu Jian learned that Lord Zhao's father and his party jumped into the water and fled, he did an act equivalent to killing the monarch - ordering the cavalry under his command to shoot arrows at Lord Zhao's father and his party in the river.

I have to say that this is something that even Anpingjun Zhao Cheng and Fengyangjun Li Dui dare not do, and the two of them would rather make the innocent Wang Shi Zhao pay a huge price, just use their bodies and shields to surround Zhao's father to break through, and never dare to order to kill Zhao's father, after all, this is a great evil of killing kings and kings, and it is a great evil that will never be forgiven in the world.

Thinking that year, the Chu mourning king of Chu died, and the nobles of Chu took the opportunity to launch a mutiny and attacked Wu Qi, a famous general who served as Ling Yin (state minister) in Chu at that time, Wu Qi thought that he was destined to be unable to be spared, so he fled to the coffin of the king of Chu with a heart of revenge, so that the soldiers of the nobles of Chu shot him at the same time, and also injured the body of the king of Chu mourning.

The result?

When the succeeding king of Chu Su learned of this, in addition to ordering Wu Qi's body to be dismembered, he also designated more than 70 Chu nobles who participated in the rebellion as traitors, and all of them were punished by exterminating the three clans.

This is just "hurting the king's corpse", and trying to openly shoot Zhao's father like Niu Jian is even more criminal, others don't say it for the time being, only say Zhao Wanghe, even if Zhao Wanghe also wants Zhao's father to die, but he will never dare to forgive Niu Qian's behavior, after all, in this era, crimes like "killing the king" and "killing the father" are unforgivable in the world.

Because of this, when Niu Jian shouted the order to "release the arrow" again, he actually regretted it in his heart, but he had no choice.

As the saying goes, there is no turning back when opening the bow, one wrong step, one wrong step.

Some people may think that since Niu Jian already knows that he has made a big mistake, why not defect again to help Master Zhao's father?

The reason is very simple, because he has long been unable to turn back, from the time he betrayed Gongzi Zhang in the Battle of Handan, resulting in the failure of Gongzi Zhang, he could not turn back - because even if he changed his mind at that time, Master Zhao and Gongzi Zhang would never forgive him, not to mention that not long after the fact, Gongzi Zhang killed himself because of the defeat, which completely blocked Niu Qian's retreat.

At this moment, Niu Jian can only go to the end.

Compared with the serious consequences caused by letting Master Zhao's father escape, Niu Jian chose to talk to Anpingjun Zhao Cheng and Fengyangjun Li Dui afterwards about the conditions, after all, there is no conflict of interest between them, and I believe that Zhao Cheng and Li Dui will not necessarily kill him.

Of course, if Zhao Cheng and Li Dui dared to detain all the charges of murdering Zhao's father on his Niu Qian's head, then he Niu Jian would not be easy to mess with!

As for the present......

Looking left and right, Niu Jian ordered in a deep voice: "Come on, quickly send people along the river to the upstream and downstream to explore the road conditions, and find a bridge that can cross the river!" ”

"Whoa!"

The nearby cavalry clenched their fists and led the way.

After giving the order, Niu Jian stared at the Zhangshui in front of him with a sinking face, not at all shaken by the screams and horrors of the sergeant who was wounded by the arrow, and a thick murderous intent appeared in his eyes.

Now that the big mistake has been made, how can he let Master Zhao get away from him?!

At this time, Meng Zhong, Pang Xuan and others had already escorted Zhao's father to the shore from the other side of the river.

I have to say that the river in November is really cold and biting, don't look at this section of Zhangshui is only about 20 zhang wide, but this distance of 20 zhang is simply an incomparably long torture for Meng Zhong, so that when his hand grabbed the bank stone on the other side of the river, he didn't even have the strength to climb ashore, thanks to the two Xinwei soldiers behind him who pushed him ashore.

Don't think that Meng Zhong is just an example, in fact, even the sturdy Xinwei soldiers are shivering from the freezing ground of the river, not to mention being blown by the cold wind at night after going ashore, it is like the torture of a blunt knife cutting on the flesh.

"Master Zhao."

Seeing Pang Xuan helping Master Zhao to climb up from the river, Meng Zhong hurriedly handed it out and helped him.

With the faint light of the countless cavalrymen holding torches on the other side of the river, Meng Zhong saw that Master Zhao's face was also bloodless, his lips were purple, and his whole body trembled.

Meng Zhong knew that if they didn't find a safe place to light a fire to keep warm as soon as possible, they would definitely be frozen to death by the cold wind at night tonight, even if they were a little lucky, most of them would be infected with wind chill - and in this era and in this environment, once they were infected with wind chill, it was basically a dead end.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong whispered to Master Zhao in a trembling tone: "Master Zhao, we must run quickly and find a place where we can make a fire to keep warm as soon as possible." ”

"Okay." Master Zhao nodded, and then couldn't help but turn his head to look at the countless Zhao cavalry on the other side of the river, but he didn't say anything, just in a pair of eyes, there was an emotion called anger.

At this time, Meng Zhong ordered Meng Hu, Ji Xin, Zhao Hao and others around him: "Quick! You wait and find a safe place to get warm......"

After that, he urged the Xinwei soldiers who were standing in place to run forward with Meng Hu, Ji Xin, Zhao Hao and others, to warm their bodies as much as possible.

During the period, Meng Zhong also secretly counted his own losses, fortunately, although the cavalry under the command of Niu Jian was very bluffing, but the effect was minimal, at least under Meng Zhong's inventory, only more than 20 Xinwei soldiers did not know where to go, it is very likely that they were swept away by the icy river after being shot at the vital point, but most of the Xinwei soldiers, including the clan uncle Menghu and Meng Sui, Wu Ying and other friends of Meng Zhong, are basically safe and sound.

This made Meng Zhong breathe a sigh of relief.

With the help of the faint light of the starry sky, Meng Zhong and Pang Xuan and their party ran in small steps in the cold wind, and after running for about a quarter of an hour, they finally saw a low hill.

At this time, Meng Zhong didn't care about anything else, and immediately ordered to hide in this low hill, cut wood and wood, and make a fire to keep warm.

Probably because of the desire to survive, nearly two hundred Xinwei soldiers soon raised more than a dozen bonfires in the mountains and forests, and they gave two of them to Master Zhao, Meng Zhong, Pang Xuan and others, and the rest gathered around the bonfire, letting the temperature of the bonfire roast the cold clothes and armor on their bodies.

I have to say that these soldiers who have followed all the way here are all veterans of the Xinwei Army, that is, the first batch of soldiers who have undergone strict training from Le Yi and Mengsui, so whether it is the ability to withstand cold or the ability to withstand setbacks, they are not comparable to ordinary soldiers.

This one said that he was shot in the buttocks by an arrow when he crossed the river, and hoped that Tong Ze from the side would help him see the injury, and that said that he had just almost frozen to death in the cold river water, all in all, the atmosphere was still relatively lively.

It wasn't until these soldiers were scolded by Le Yi that they lowered their heads one by one.

"What's going on?"

Seeing Le Yi walking back from a distance, Meng Zhong asked with a chuckle.

"Nothing." Le Yi shook his head and explained, "Just ask them to put it up, barely enough to block a little fire......"

The cloth in his mouth was the cloth that the soldiers had used when they were hiding in the snow during their flight, and since no one could say whether they would use it during their escape, the soldiers did not discard it, but stuffed it into their armor, and now it hangs on the trees around them to block the fire.

Of course, in Meng Zhong's opinion, this move is just a cover-up and stealing the bell, how can the light from a dozen or so bonfires be blocked? - Even if you can block it all around, what should you do if you go to the top?

However, when he teased Le Yi about this, Le Yi said helplessly: "Although I also know that I can't stop the light, I can't do nothing, right?" …… At least it gives me some peace of mind. ”

His words made Meng Hu, Wu Ying and others nearby, and even the Xinwei soldiers not far away, laugh one after another.

I have to say that this Le Yi Zuo Sima has always given people a sense of stability that Mount Tai collapsed in front of him and his face did not change, but in fact, Le Yi would also feel flustered, but he would not show it.

At this time, Zhao Hao of the Tan Guard Army walked to the bonfire on the side of Meng Zhong and the others: "Meng Sima, Le Zuo Sima, everyone." ”

"What's wrong?"

Meng Zhong asked Meng Sui, who was sitting next to him, to lean to the side and give up half of the log that was used as a stool for Zhao Hao.

"Thank you."

After Zhao Hao thanked him, he sat next to Meng Zhong, only to see him glance at the Xinwei soldiers who were chatting and laughing quietly around the bonfire in the distance, and said incredulously: "Along the way, I paid close attention to the soldiers of your army, and found that compared with my Tan Guard, the heart of your soldiers is more tenacious, even if there are many changes on the way, no one panics, and they all obey the orders of Meng Sima and Le Zuo Sima...... What is even more surprising is that even at this moment, your sergeant can still maintain such an optimistic attitude, which is very remarkable. I wonder what the secret method is? ”

Seeing that Zhao Hao seemed to be interested in inviting the trainer of the soldiers, Meng Zhong pointed to Le Yi and Meng Sui and said: "I didn't care much about training soldiers in the past, it was Le Yi and Meng Sui who practiced soldiers on my behalf, if Zhao Sima was interested, you can talk to him......"

As he was talking, Pang Xuan's voice came from a distance: "Meng Zhong, come here for a while." ”

Seeing this, Meng Zhong stood up and patted Zhao Hao's shoulder to signal the latter to continue chatting with Le Yi and Meng Sui, while he stepped over the log and walked towards the bonfire where Master Zhao's father, Pang Xuan, and Ju Xin were not far away.

When Meng Zhong walked to the bonfire, several Xinwei soldiers had already built a simple windshield out of cloth and branches, so that Master Zhao could sit in a windless place and bake the fire.

And Master Zhao's father also untied his armor, as if he was about to take it off, but for some reason he stopped after taking off half of it.

"What's wrong?"

Meng Zhong stepped forward and asked.

Hearing this, Pang Xuan pointed to the back of Master Zhao's father.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong walked to Master Zhao's side, and at this time he saw that Master Zhao's back was shocked, an arrow pierced through the armor on his body, no wonder he only took off half of his armor.

At this time, Master Zhao said with a smile: "It's just that I was hit by a stray arrow, I think when I was fighting in the south and the north, I was sometimes injured by an arrow, it's not a big deal, you can help me dig out the arrow cluster." ”

"Dig it up?"

Meng Zhong squatted down and carefully examined the arrow on Master Zhao's back, only to find that this arrow was a little deep into the ground, thinking that this was the reason why Pang Xuan called him over.

But when he told Master Zhao's father about the situation, Master Zhao's father was a little unconvinced: "Why don't I feel much pain?" ”

Of course, Meng Zhong knew why Master Zhao didn't feel much pain, because he had soaked in the cold and biting river water before, and his whole body was almost unconscious, so how could there be any pain? But as his body gradually warmed up and the blood began to flow normally again, Master Zhao would slowly feel the pain in his back.

After all, in Meng Zhong's opinion, Master Zhao's arrow wound was still relatively serious, at least he didn't dare to rashly help Master Zhao pull out the arrow, after all, this arrow was too deep in the ground, and he had to ask an experienced doctor to do it.

And Pang Xuan also thought of this, and said to Meng Zhong with a frown: "We must find a city as soon as possible, and find a doctor in the city to remove arrows for Master Zhao's father." ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong immediately called his clan uncle Meng Hu, and after understanding the situation, Meng Hu frowned and said: "To the east of Zhangshui, only Gaotang and Pingyuan can be called Dayi, and this place is still more than 200 miles away from Gaotang or Pingyuan......

"More than 200 miles away......"

Hearing Meng Yu's words, Master Zhao, Meng Zhong, and Pang Xuan all frowned.

What does it mean to be more than 200 miles away? It means that it is basically impossible for him to enter Gao Tangyi.

It can be seen from Niu Qian's actions of ordering his corporal to release arrows that this person has murderous intentions towards Master Zhao's father, so it is not difficult to guess that after dawn, Niu Qian's cavalry will search for the whereabouts of Master Zhao's father and his people all over the mountains - even at this moment, Niu Jian has already issued this order.

Pursued by nearly 10,000 cavalry, he traveled more than 200 miles to reach Gaotangyi from here? It's simply impossible!

In order to encircle Lord Zhao's father, Niu Jian would definitely lead the cavalry to Gaotangyi first, and lay a defense in the area of the Great River (Yellow River) to prevent Lord Zhao and his party from crossing the river and sneaking into the area of "Dong'e" in Qi Realm.

In this case, how to find an experienced doctor to treat Zhao's father?

Meng Zhong and Pang Xuan looked at each other.

Just when the two of them were a little at a loss, they saw Master Zhao sneering and said: "More than two hundred miles, hehe, I'm afraid we only went halfway before we were intercepted by Niu Qian's cavalry...... This Niu Jian was so important to him back then, but I didn't expect it to be such an ungrateful person......"

After scolding a few words, Master Zhao said to Meng Zhong and Pang Xuan: "Pang Xuan, Meng Zhong, while I don't have much consciousness on my back, you two pull out ......arrows for me" After that, he saw Meng Zhong and Pang Xuan, you look at me, I look at you, and stood in place in a daze, so he scolded and urged: "If you don't do it now, do you have to wait until I feel the pain before you do it?" ”

“……”

After looking at each other, Meng Zhong suddenly drew a short sword and roasted it back and forth on the bonfire.

Seeing this, Pang Xuan was greatly surprised, and looked at Meng Zhong with admiring eyes, but Meng Zhong immediately handed the hilt to Pang Xuan after roasting the short sword.

"......" Pang Xuan looked at Meng Zhong speechlessly.

"I don't have any experience pulling arrows for people...... Meng Zhong explained.

"You don't, and neither do I!"

Pang Xuan was also a little at a loss.

In the end, Master Zhao's father couldn't stand it anymore, so he ordered Meng Zhong to call two Xinwei soldiers with relevant experience and let them do it on their behalf.

I have to say that it may be because of Master Zhao's noble status, or it may be because this arrow is really deep into the ground, so that the hands of the two Xinwei soldiers holding the short sword are trembling.

With a "dang long", the two Xinwei soldiers knelt on the ground, and repeatedly said that they did not dare to hurt Master Zhao's father.

Master Zhao was so angry, he ordered with a calm face: "Pang Xuan, you are older than Meng Zhong, you come and do it, Meng Zhong, you are on the side!" ”

In desperation, Pang Xuan had no choice but to take the short sword, first carefully cut off the arrow, and then slowly cut the arrow wound on the back of Master Zhao's father, and immediately, Meng Zhong held his breath and stretched three fingers into the wound, little by little, carefully trying to pull out the arrow cluster.

may be because of the fire, Master Zhao's body gradually warmed up, and gradually recovered the sore spot in his back, so that when Meng Zhong pulled out the arrow for him, he clenched his teeth in pain, although cold sweat broke out on his forehead, but he didn't say a word.

I don't know when, Meng Hu, Meng Sui, Le Yi, Zhao Hao and others have surrounded them, shielding Master Zhao from the wind, while watching Master Zhao's strong willpower to be silent under this severe pain.

After a long while, Meng Zhong pulled out the arrow cluster, and only heard a snort, a smear of blood burst out of his face, and Meng Zhong was shocked.

Seeing this, Master Zhao laughed and teased: "I haven't said anything yet, why did you, the one who pulled out the arrow for me, end up like this?" ”

Hearing this, everyone turned their heads to look at Meng Zhong again, but saw that Meng Zhong was also sweating profusely, and what was even funnier was that because he was too nervous and forceful, Meng Zhong didn't shake off the arrow cluster he was pinching with three fingers a few times, which made everyone next to him can't help but laugh.

However, everyone also understands that if there is a person who is extremely bold and courageous to pull out an arrow for Lord Zhao, ordinary people really do not have that courage.

After the arrow cluster was removed, the two Xinwei soldiers immediately bandaged the wound of Master Zhao's father, because there was no wound medicine, they could only tear the cloth into strips and tie the wound firmly to prevent the wound from bleeding continuously.

After instructing Meng Zhong, Pang Xuan, Ji Xin and others to sit down again, Master Zhao discussed with them the next countermeasures.

After removing the arrows for Master Zhao's father, the biggest problem became food.

Yes, they are a group of nearly two hundred people, almost not carrying any food, and the distance from this place is the big river on the border of Zhao Qi, at least more than two hundred miles, if in the past, this is about two or three days away, but because it is winter now, it is cold outside, it may take twice as long, that is, five or six days, then the question is, how to solve the food of these five or six days?

In this regard, Meng Zhong thought for a while and said: "Although there are no big cities around here, I believe that there should be villages and villages, so we might as well exchange some food with the villagers." ”

Master Zhao nodded and was about to speak, but saw a few Xinwei soldiers running over in a hurry, and reported: "Fangcai, I just heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the bottom of the mountain. ”

Hearing this, Master Zhao, Pang Xuan, Meng Zhong and others suddenly changed their faces, after all, there was the sound of horses' hooves here, and it was undoubtedly the cavalry under Niu Qian's command.

"Hateful!"

I saw Master Zhao's father smashing his fist on the ground next to him, and scolded hatefully: "I never thought that Niu Qian's desire to die was so urgent, and he led the cavalry across the river to pursue before dawn......"

Pang Xuan immediately said: "Master Zhao, without further ado, you must leave as soon as possible. ”

"Hmm!" Master Zhao nodded.

And just as Pang Xuan was about to order the Xinwei soldiers to extinguish the bonfire, Meng Zhong suddenly stopped him.

Seeing Pang Xuan's puzzled face, Meng Zhong explained: "Extinguishing the bonfire at this time is undoubtedly to tell the pursuers under the mountain that we have been aware, rather than so, it is better to go straight down the mountain, if the cavalry under the mountain wants to go up the mountain to verify, only temporarily abandon the horse, we will quietly go down the mountain, if there are many people on the other side, then evacuate immediately, if the other party has few people, you can take the opportunity to take a few of his war horses, and give Zhao's father a ride." ”

Pang Xuan thought so.

As a result, Master Zhao's father and his party did not extinguish the bonfire, and even did not accept the cloths used to cover their ears and steal bells, and quietly descended from the other side of the mountain.

At this time, under the low hill, there was a group of cavalry holding torches looking at the mountain, the number of nearly 100 horses, thinking that it was a hundred cavalry under Niu Qian, just because he saw the faintly visible fire on the mountain from a distance, so he chased all the way to here.

Just as Meng Zhong judged, in order to ensure that the fire on the mountain was indeed the Zhao master's father and his party, and not the mountain people living here, the commander who led the cavalry ordered twenty cavalry to stay in place and guard the war horses, and the rest of them all abandoned their horses to climb the mountain to confirm the situation on the mountain, so as not to be punished for misreporting the military situation.

As a result, half of the cavalry had just gone up the mountain, Meng Zhong, Pang Xuan and others led nearly 200 Xinwei soldiers to kill from the col on one side, how could the 20 cavalry who stayed behind be able to block nearly 200 Xinwei soldiers, and immediately turned their horses and fled, while Meng Zhong, Pang Xuan and others took the opportunity to snatch more than 30 horses before those flight attendants fled in panic, which can be described as a complete victory.

Divided a horse and was taken by Lord Zhao's father, Meng Zhong and Pang Xuan accepted it when they saw it, and immediately led their subordinates to continue to flee south.

It has to be said that although Meng Zhong and his party skillfully grabbed more than 30 war horses, they helplessly exposed their whereabouts, and only half an hour later, Niu Qian, who learned the news, led a cavalry with thousands of people and torches held high to arrive here.

"Are the remnants of the rebels fleeing south?" Niu Jian questioned the cavalry commander in a deep voice.

"Exactly! …… According to the report of my corporal and soldiers, the rebels seem to be heading straight for Gaotangyi. ”

"Gao Tangyi?"

Niu Jian glanced in the direction of the south.

"Could it be that he plans to cross the river from the area of Gaotang Yi and then pass through the territory of Qi and Wei to the Song Kingdom?"

Thinking of this, Niu Jian snorted coldly.

What if more than 30 war horses were snatched away by Master Zhao's father and his party? This place is more than 200 miles away from Gaotangyi, and with thousands of cavalry under his command, Niu Jian has absolute confidence to intercept Lord Zhao's father and his party in the area.

"Zhang Ji! Chang Yong! He exclaimed.

"In!"

As soon as the words fell, the two Xing Sima pulled their horses and came to Niu Qian.

I saw Niu Jian looking at the south, and said in a deep voice: "I will first lead people to Gaotangyi, and ask the soldiers to be deployed on the riverbank to prevent the remnants of the rebels from escaping across the river...... Kill on the spot, don't let anyone go! ”

"Whoa!"

The two linemen clenched their fists and took the order.

Among them, the Xing Sima named Zhang Ji had a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes with his head down.