In the evening, wisps of cooking smoke rose from the valley, and the sound of chickens and dogs barking was incessant, but the people who lived in it had already left.

There was a spare cave in the back mountain, which could be temporarily sheltered, and the cave had already stored enough food for several months, but the thought that the chickens and ducks that had been so hard to raise and many things that could not be taken away were still in the valley, and they were likely to be destroyed.

Feeling the solemn atmosphere, the children also honestly shrunk in their mother's arms, not daring to walk around or scream.

It's just that you can't hide, someone has to lure the pursuers away.

Xu Ji volunteered, and didn't want anyone to follow, "I have been prepared, I have my own place to go, and I have a circuit, and it will be troublesome to bring one more person." If the soldiers set fire to the village, it will be fine, and you can wait for more than ten days before you can go back and rebuild your houses. If the village is unscathed, you should be careful, at least not too late to return home until winter. ”

Everyone obeyed the order, but there were still people who wanted to follow Xu Ji, Zhang Shiqing stopped: "He said it's okay, it's definitely okay, no one has to go with him, although the cave can be accommodated, there are a lot of places that need to be cleaned up, so let's stay." ”

Xu Ji was a little surprised, and interjected: "You also have to stay." ”

"Of course, someone needs to be in charge here." Zhang Shiqing said with a smile.

"Thou shalt not make a fire for ten days." Xu Ji finally reminded him, mounted a horse, led a string of cattle, horses and other livestock on the road, untied the rope at a junction, drove the livestock away, footprints all over the place, confusing the pursuers, and he himself rode around to the main road, headed east, and soon turned north.

Bao Dun led his troops north to attack Yuyang, and he also went north.

It was inconvenient to travel at night, and after going north for a few miles, Xu Ji stopped, took out the forage to feed the horses, and before he had time to rest, he heard the sound of horses' hooves behind him.

Xu Ji was shocked, he didn't expect the pursuers to arrive so soon, his suspicious plan was useless, he was no longer familiar with the terrain here, except to get on the horse and gallop along the road, there was no choice, he lifted the saddle, and suddenly felt that something was wrong, the sound of the horse's hooves was thin, it seemed that there was only one horse, not like a chaser.

"Is it Xu Ji in front?" The people behind have seen him.

Xu Ji sighed and replied, "It's me." ”

Zhang Shiqing patted his horse and hurried over, and said with a smile: "I guessed correctly, I knew that you would go north." ”

"I should take all the horses with me."

Zhang Shiqing dismounted, unsaddled the horse, and also came to feed the horse, "No one can fight with you, so I won't fight with you, but don't want to dump me again." ”

"You've caught up, so naturally I can't drive you away, and I haven't thought about 'dumping you'."

"Say whatever you want, do whatever you want." Zhang Shiqing was in a good mood, took off his luggage, and took out the felt blanket, "I can only sleep on the ground tonight, I think when I followed the Descendant Army around, we often slept on the ground, and many people crowded together - this time it was just the two of us, but fortunately, the weather was not too cold." ”

It's been autumn for a while, and it's actually quite cold at night, so the two find a leeward place, hug each other tightly, and wrap themselves in blankets.

"Sleep less, travel more tomorrow." Xu Jidao, his heart is warm, and he really doesn't feel "too cold".

"Hmm." Zhang Shiqing lay down for a while, but couldn't sleep, and asked, "Are you going to help Huanyan?" ”

"Nine times out of ten, Bao Dun will be defeated, and Yuyang doesn't need my help."

"The Jizhou army has suffered heavy defeats one after another, Lord Yin has been killed, and there are not many Yuyang soldiers left, what can you do to defeat Bao Dun?"

"It was not Yuyang who defeated Bao Dun, but the Chu army that pursued him."

"Hey, why is there still a matter of Chu Jun?" Zhang Shiqing was more interested.

"One strong is in the middle, the group is surrounded by weakness, when each is broken, it must first be stabilized, then provoked, and then crusaded. Bao Dun wanted to compete for the world, but he thought that the king of Chu did not know, and it was precisely the strategy of 'first stability'. ”

"What about angering them again?"

"There are many ways, one of them is to accept Yuyang's submission and prohibit Bao Dun from attacking, Bao Dun can't Jizhou, he will be furious, or disobey the order, or directly rebel, and the king of Chu will have a reason to 'crusade against it'."

"So troublesome?"

"If this is not the case, as soon as Bao Dun is destroyed, the heroes will inevitably be vigilant, and it is very unwise for Chu Wangping to be chaotic and chaotic."

"Is the King of Chu really that smart?"

"If he didn't have this cleverness, how could he be the overlord of the group? How to defeat King Ning? ”

"You have seen the king of Chu and said that he is smart, that is really smart. But Yuyang still can't seem to be saved, Bao Dun will definitely capture Yuyang first, and then turn around and fight with the Chu army - oh, this is exactly the plan of the king of Chu, using Yuyang as bait to trick Bao Dun into going north, so that he can lead his troops to take Yecheng directly. ”

"Exactly." Xu Ji said with a smile.

Zhang Shiqing thought for a while, "The king of Chu led the heroes to defeat King Ning, he should have gotten Yecheng and Jizhou, he would rather give up to Bao Dun, what he likes is that Jizhou is not peaceful, Bao Dun is greedy, and he must go north and then south first." ”

"You can be a counselor." Xu Ji said with a smile.

"It's broken, everything is logical, I can't see it clearly before it is broken. Alas, the king of Chu is treacherous enough, Bao Dun is stupid enough, no, he is not stupid, but greedy. Sure enough, it's still leisurely in the valley, and I haven't seen anyone yet, so I have to worry so much. I don't ask how Yuyang is, sleep, sleep. ”

Zhang Shiqing quickly fell asleep.

Xu Ji fell asleep late, but woke up early, only to feel cold to the bone, colder than before falling asleep, only a warm chest and abdomen, Zhang Shiqing almost curled up in his arms, sleeping soundly.

Xu Ji waited for a while before waking his wife up.

"When?" Zhang Shiqing asked, and began to feel a chill as well.

"I don't know, there should be a while before dawn, let's hit the road, don't let the pursuers catch up."

"They probably haven't noticed anyone in the valley yet." Zhang Shiqing yawned, but still got up, quickly packed his luggage, and stomped his feet to keep warm, "It turns out that autumn is so cold." ”

"It's cold at night, it's better during the day, and today I have to find someone to spend the night no matter what."

The two led the horse on foot, and only after the soles of their feet were warmed up did they get on the horse and march.

The pursuers never appeared.

After several wars in Jizhou, the people have decreased, business travel has become extinct, there is almost no inn for accommodation, the two can only find someone to borrow, meet a good Samaritan, you can live for one night for free, and you can get a little food, if you meet a greedy one, you have to pay a very high price, and you have to be careful at night, and you don't dare to sleep too soundly.

Along the way, there is finally no danger, the closer you get to Yuyang, the more news you hear, but it is difficult to distinguish between true and false, one will say that Yuyang has fallen, and the other will say that it is still holding on.

Xu Ji is not like a soldier, Zhang Shiqing is a woman, and the people he met advised them not to go to Yuyang to take risks, it was very dangerous, once they were caught by the sergeant, they would be subordinate at least and killed at worst.

Xu Ji asked for the path, bypassed Yuyang far away, and ran to the pass further north.

Zhang Shiqing understood Xu Ji's intentions, and didn't ask much, just followed him and didn't avoid the wind and frost.

Xifengkou is one of the several passages to Liaodong, and Xu Jida heard that it was still guarded by Jizhou soldiers, so he came to knock on the pass.

Xu Ji had no evidence on him, he lived in seclusion for five years, his reputation declined, and ordinary soldiers did not know who he was, refused him entry, and ordered him to leave his horses behind.

Zhang Shiqing took out a few letters written by Huan Yan before, and sent the wooden letter alone, with the marks of the county lord of Huan Yan and the emperor on it.

Only then did the guards let the two in, sent someone to guide the way, and sent them to the camp outside the gate.

Xu Ji guessed correctly, the county lord of Huanyan really abandoned Yuyang and led the only remaining soldiers to retreat to Guanwai, but did not go to Liaodong, but stayed in the camp to watch.

The camp is not big, there are only three or five thousand soldiers, and there are some people who haunt it, no matter how you look at it, it looks like a flight, but there are many flags, fluttering in the wind, showing the only remaining majesty of the imperial court.

The farther north it went, the colder it became, and on the first night of the camp, there was a light snow falling in the air.

The two men were sent to the tent, but they were not summoned immediately, and it was not until the next afternoon that the eunuch came to invite them.

Lord Huanyan lived in an ordinary tent, no different from a soldier, except for a low bookcase and a large number of documents, she did not leave a waiter, and read the documents alone and waited for guests.

The king of Xiangdong was killed by King Ning three years ago, and his grandson, the nephew of the lord of Huanyan, succeeded him as emperor, but the situation did not change much.

The county lord of Huanyan raised his head, Xu Ji and Zhang Shiqing were surprised, they hadn't seen her for a few years, she seemed to be more than ten years old, and she no longer looked like a girl.

"How did you get here?" Lord Huanyan asked, his tone rather cold.

"I'll see you off." Zhang Shiqing replied, Xu Ji did not speak.

"Sending off? The imperial court will soon be able to recapture Yecheng, and you will run outside the gate to see you off? ”

Zhang Shiqing sighed lightly, "Huan Yan, although we haven't seen each other for many years, we keep writing letters, and we are still friends, I advise you, don't hold on hard." It's not your fault, and it's not your fault that you can bring the dead back to life. ”

The county lord of Huanyan sneered, stared at Zhang Shiqing for a while, turned his gaze to Xu Ji, became more stern, and asked silently.

"The general trend has gone, and it is a miracle that you can survive until now."

"I thought you wouldn't go out of the mountain, but who are you doing as a lobbyist this time?"

Xu Ji shook his head and asked, "Who is guarding Yuyang?" ”

Lord Huanyan didn't seem to want to answer, so he was silent for a while before he said: "Tian Jiang, he said that he didn't want to go out of the fortress, and recruited eight hundred soldiers to defend the city." After a pause, she said again: "Feng Juniang is also in Yuyang." ”

"Bao Dun didn't chase here, Tian Jiang must have guarded Yuyang."

"For the time being, unless the king of Chu sends troops north in time, the imperial court has sent an envoy to deliver a letter of surrender to him, and he has not received a reply."

Zhang Shiqing glanced at Xu Ji and knew that he had guessed again.

"The king of Chu will definitely go north, but after defeating Bao Dun, he will also take Yuyang, and he will not return it to you."

"You still speak for the King of Chu after all."

"The King of Chu doesn't even know that I'm still alive, I'm speaking for the general trend: at most, there will be three and five more years, the troubled times are coming to an end, and no one can stop it."

"Thank you husband and wife for coming to see you off, I'm busy, you go and rest first." The county lord of Huanyan issued an eviction order.

The two said goodbye and returned to the tent, Zhang Shiqing asked, "Will Huan Yan listen to persuasion?" ”

She saw it clearly, and she had a plan in her heart, and she expelled the Huangfu family from Liaodong two years ago. Our persuasion only made her leave a day or two earlier. ”

"Alas. Shall we follow along? ”

Xu Ji shook his head with a smile, "Let's think about it." ”

Three days later, news came from the pass that the Chu army had indeed arrived and was preparing to fight with Bao Dun.

Without waiting for the outcome of the victory, the county lord of Huanyan ordered the camp to set off, and when she came to say goodbye to Xu Ji and his wife, she said: "Although Liaodong is far away, it is enough to temporarily accommodate the imperial court, Tiancheng is not dead, and when I return to Jizhou, I will definitely visit." ”

Xu Ji and Zhang Shiqing didn't say much, they were sent a few miles away, stopped at a high place, and watched the carriage and horses go away.

The cold wind was bleak, Xu Ji was wearing the old clothes he had received many years ago, knowing that he would never see her again.

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