The capital is mostly cool, and autumn is cool. Dazai's desk has just sent more than a dozen copies of good news from all over the country, in the past year, this kind of thing that can make the emperor happy is getting less and less, and after Dazai's review, it will be presented to the emperor by the Yellow Gate official.

At this time, a squire came with a copy of the fold and said to Dazai: "My lord, I just received the good news from Pingzhou Prefecture and County, and the Hussar General Ma Yu led his troops to recover the two county towns of Xin'an and Yong'an, which were captured by the Red Turban bandits, and beheaded tens of thousands of bandits. ”

Dazai didn't look happy when he heard this, but frowned slightly, waved his hand and said, "Put it here first, you go down." ”

The squire Shili withdrew from the door, and Dazai's mustachioed hunchbacked master took a few steps forward and said in a low voice: "My lord, there was also this person in the joint list of colluding with Wang Shangshu of the household department to impeach your old one last time, and the emperor not only condemned him, but also appointed him to lead the hussar camp to suppress the bandits, which shows that this person has a lot of foundation in the court." If he makes new contributions, the emperor will definitely be happy and add officials to him. You have to be careful, my lord! ”。

Dazai closed his eyes slightly, and snorted coldly in his nostrils. Said lightly: "How could I not know? This person is unruly, and he secretly communicates with the old cabinet of the DPRK and the Central Cabinet, in a vain attempt to kill his true appearance. On the day of my birthday, I only promised some congratulatory gifts, and I did not come to congratulate myself in person. Those who are not of my race will have different hearts. It's just that there are bandits everywhere right now, and it is when the court is employing people, that the old man has repeatedly forbeared him. ”

The master gave a deep salute and said: "The old man is kind-hearted and well-known in the world, but --- people's hearts are sinister, beware of raising tigers!" ”

Hearing this, Dazai opened his eyes violently, and there was a cold murderous aura in his eyes, and he grabbed the piece of music on the case, tore it to pieces, threw it on the ground, and then closed his eyes again, as if everything just now had never happened.

After a while, he sighed faintly: "It's time for him to move around and give some credit to others!" ”。

Li Shiqing gently wiped the medicine stains from the corners of her mother's mouth with a silk handkerchief, and tucked the corners of the quilt for her, seeing her sleeping deeply, she tiptoed out of the bedroom. In the hall, an old Lang Zhong was changing the prescription under the lamp, and Li Shiqing was lightly blessed and asked in a low voice, "Sir, how is my mother's condition?" ”

The old gentleman put down his pen and glanced in the direction of the bedroom again, then got up solemnly and said deeply: "Madame's external injuries have long been healed, but --- is only angry in the chest, and the pulse is weak and messy. This is a heart disease that is too sad and has accumulated into a disease. The old decay had the courage to take a few doses of tiger and wolf medicine, and if he survived this period, he would get better. If you can't get through it--- forgive the old and incompetent, I'm afraid ---". Li Shiqing's body trembled involuntarily when she heard this, but she immediately regained her composure. Curtsed his knees and bowed deeply: "Anyway, there is Mr. Law!" The little girl is the father and mother of the family, and Mr. Xie Guo. Then he turned back to the maid and said, "Pei Zhu will send my husband out for me." ”

Looking at the back of the old gentleman leaving, Li Shiqing's tears finally couldn't help but spill on her clothes, and she hurriedly raised her hand to wipe them away. After that upheaval in the capital, she told herself more than once to be strong, tears can't solve any problems in this world, and she still has too many things to do. That day, her father dragged her into a carriage, hurriedly pulled her grandmother's body to the outskirts of Beijing, found a random mass grave and buried it hastily, and fled the capital without stopping. Until recently, the saint has not condemned the sin, and my father has come to his senses. And the mother coughed up blood all the way, and the father found the best Langzhong in Pingzhou City, and after treatment, although he no longer had hemoptysis, his condition became more and more serious, and he couldn't wake up all day.

"Qing'er" Li Shiqing looked up suddenly, but saw that her father had arrived in the courtyard at some point, and was waving at her.

She hurriedly took a few steps forward to salute.

Li Hongchang asked, "How is your mother's condition?" ”

Li Shiqing replied: "Lang Zhongxin changed the prescription, saying that his mother has been getting better day by day, so please don't worry too much about my father." ”

Li Hongchang nodded slightly and sighed: "I am busy with official business all day, and your mother has to rely on you to take care of me." A few days ago, I received a letter from Kyoto, and your grandfather has been shown to the public. The weather is unpredictable, but fortunately it didn't affect us. ”

Li Shiqing's slightly thin shoulders shook slightly, as if a gust of wind had ruthlessly swept off a young leaf.

"Then Grandpa, does anyone go collect his body?" Li Shiqing bit her lower lip and asked.

Li Hongchang was stunned for a moment, and prevaricated: "Well--- he has a lot of old friends and customers, and someone should do it." It is better for us to stay away from the vortex of right and wrong, so as not to be blamed by the Holy One. Now that the hussar battalion has won successive battles, and the bandits are about to be pacified, you just have to take care of your mother. ”

Li Shiqing didn't answer, she thought of the white-bearded old man with a smile on his face, remembered his warm big hands, and tears couldn't help but roll in her eyes.

Guan Yu was promoted to a thousand generals, with three thousand soldiers and horses under his command. In the military attache system of the Red Turban Army designed by Shi Tiangong himself, there are three levels of generals, namely: general, with 10,000 people under his jurisdiction; General Meng, under the jurisdiction of 5,000 people, 1,000 generals, under the jurisdiction of 3,000 soldiers and horses. Above the rank of general is the marshal, commanding 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers and horses, which is equivalent to the current army commander before Guan Yu crossed.

Unfortunately, the first thing General Guan did when he took office was to gather the scattered remnants, rescue the besieged brothers, and regroup. Under the coercion of the hussar battalion step by step, even with heavy punches, all the forces of the Red Turban Army were compressed on the front line of Fu'an and Ping'an counties, and the troops were seriously reduced, and more than 40,000 people were killed and fled from the 100,000 male soldiers in the heyday. The leader and the Shi army division planned to concentrate all their forces and find an opportunity to fight to the death with the hussar battalion, after this battle, either there was no more hussar battalion in this world, or the three words of the Red Turban Army would be wiped out.

It was almost late at night when Guan Yu led his subordinates to the Hekou camp, and the next day he had to lead the officers and soldiers of the camp to the ambush site designated by the Shi Military Division. Suddenly, Guan Yu grabbed the reins of the horse and waved his hand to signal the team to stop. Commanded: "All on alert, extinguish all torches." ”

Cui Dakui trotted up and asked suspiciously, "What's wrong, General Guan?" ”

Guan Yu didn't answer immediately, but listened carefully for a moment before he whispered, "Don't you think it's strange?" It's so quiet! So close to the camp that you didn't even encounter a single sentry? ”

The moon is bright and the stars are sparse, and the surroundings are pitch black, and it is indeed surprisingly quiet, not even a bird call.

"Send a few scouts, sweep them within a radius of five miles, and meet here after a stick of incense, pay attention to safety." Guan Yu ordered in a low voice.

After a stick of incense, the scouts returned safely one by one. The scouts who entered the camp brought back shocking news: the camp was empty.

"How is that possible? According to the military advisors, there are at least a few thousand brothers here! ”

Guan Yu was still not at ease, so he ordered the others to stand by on the spot, and he dismounted and personally led dozens of his own soldiers into the camp in the dark. I drilled several camp tents in a row, but they were empty. As soon as an empty tent was drilled, one of his own soldiers said in horror: "General, there seems to be something moving there."

Guan Yu looked up and saw that in the center of the square surrounded by camp tents, there were three huge black pillars. In the shadows, the three giant pillars seemed to be moving all the time, like three giant pythons shaking their heads and tails.

"Light the torch!" Guan Yu commanded loudly. The guard lit a torch, and Guan Yu held the torch high and walked towards the three pillars.

With a "boom", three tornadoes rushed into the sky, which were hundreds of thousands of densely packed green-headed flies. I saw that the three tall flagpoles were densely tied with black human heads from top to bottom, and the red cloth strips on some people's heads were still faintly visible. The heads of these brethren must have been hanging here for some time, many of them had their noses and eyes hollowed out, and fat white maggots crawled in and out of the black burrows. Many of the soldiers behind Guan Yu fell to their knees, crying and vomiting. Guan Yu couldn't help but throw away the torch, and fell to the ground and vomited wildly until he vomited thick bile.

With a "snap", Xiao Chenggui angrily slammed his helmet on the desk and shouted: "What does the court mean by this?!" The battle has come to this, so many brothers have died, and seeing that the red turban bandits are about to collapse, transfer us to change our defenses outside the customs? Give the credit to someone else?! Don't do it! ”

Ma Yu closed his phoenix eyes slightly, without a trace of expression on his face.

The other generals were also indignant, gossiping, and bitterly scolded the military headquarters of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of China, the traitorous party, and all the female dependents within eight generations, and the noise almost lifted the roof of the big tent.

Ma Yu finally couldn't stand it anymore, and coughed lightly twice and said: "The military order is like a mountain!" What's more, it is the old man's lifelong ambition to drive out the barbarians, protect my homeland, and serve the emperor. Those who practice martial arts, the horse leather shroud, and die on the battlefield is their duty! If you don't want to go out with me, you can apply to stay, and the old man will never force it. ”

Although the generals were depressed, they were speechless. They all clasped their fists and saluted, and silently withdrew from the big tent.

"General Xiao, please stay." Ma Yu nodded and called Xiao Chenggui, who was walking at the end of the crowd and still holding his neck.

Xiao Chenggui turned around, continued to bow his neck and saluted: "The last general is here, what are your orders?" ”

Ma Yu smiled slightly and said: "Brother Chengguixian, you have been with me for many years, before and after the saddle, you have worked hard, and it is time to stand on your own." ”

Xiao Chenggui was taken aback and said loudly: "What do you mean by this?" ”

Ma Yu waved his hand and said with a smile: "I'm not worried about the red turban bandits, no matter which general the imperial court appoints to come to quell the chaos, you are not familiar with the environment and understand the opponent." I want to recommend you to the imperial court as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, if you don't cut the grass and eradicate the roots, the future will be endless! ”

Xiao Chenggui was anxious, his face turned red, and he shouted: "Am I the one who is greedy for merit? I'm just complaining about it! Xiao is the only one who looks forward to you in this life, and swears to die! ”

Ma Yu's face sank, and he reprimanded: "Confused things! You and I have joined the army and been loyal to the country, and we have long put life and death aside, so how can we care about personal merits and demerits? Can't you look at the big picture? If the bandits are not eliminated, this handsome man will not be blinded, and I can rest assured that I will be handed over to others? ! ”

Xiao Chenggui was stunned for a long time with his mouth open, and finally understood the general's good intentions, he couldn't help but have tears in his eyes, and hurriedly bowed his head and saluted and choked: "The last general understands, but listen to the general's orders!" Don't dare to disobey! ”

"Hmph, what is Xiao Chenggui? Nobody! Dazai-sama, who was sitting on the Taishi's chair, slowly straightened his waist, threw the piece of music delivered by Ma Yu in his hand to the ground in a chic manner, waved his sleeves lightly, and said with a faint smile that he didn't intend to take away a cloud: "Let him accompany Ma Yu to gnaw sand outside the gate!" The old man has his own arrangements. ”