The arrival of Du Chuanyun strengthened Han Ruzi's determination to return to Beijing immediately.

Du Chuanyun had already been ordered to return to Beijing, but now the road is not as safe as before, he delayed some time to arrive in the capital, and hurriedly returned to Shenxiong Pass, a day later than Zuocha Yushi, no letter, only brought a sentence: "Madame said, after the border is stabilized, please return to Beijing as soon as possible." ”

Because of this sentence, Han Ruzi couldn't stay any longer.

When Zuocha Yushi Xiaosheng replied to invite the generals of the Northern Army, Han Ruzi changed into the clothes and armor of ordinary soldiers and left the city at dusk, with only two people with him - Meng E and Du Chuanyun, there was very little knowledge in the city, and the soldiers guarding the city gate had no suspicion of these three people at all, and they could not imagine that General Zhenbei was "hiding" in it.

When Chai Yue said to Xiao Shengxu and the snake, Han Ruzi and the other three had already arrived at the first post station in the Guannai, Du Chuanyun held an urgent official document, stamped by the post officer, and set off again after changing horses, only pausing for less than a quarter of an hour.

Han Ruzi and Meng E were waiting on the official road outside, he noticed that there were obvious traces of destruction at the gate of the post station, no need to ask, this was left when the group of thieves attacked Shenxiong Pass a few days ago, the post station strengthened its defense, and the number of officers and soldiers increased from less than five in normal times to more than 20 people.

"If the civil strife continues, it will drag Da Chu down." Han Ruzi said softly, since reaching peace talks with Da Shan Yu, he has been a little uneasy, occasionally feel that he has made a big mistake, now the uneasiness in his heart has decreased a lot, internal and external troubles can not be solved at the same time, there are thousands of post stations in Da Chu, even if only half of the guards are strengthened, it will also involve a large number of Chu troops and weaken the strength against foreign enemies, and vice versa, if you want to completely defeat the Xiongnu, you need to increase a large number of troops, making the defense of the pass empty.

Meng E glanced at him, "When others hear you speak in this tone, they will think that you are the emperor's private visit." ”

Han Ruzi smiled slightly, even when he had just abdicated and had no foundation, he maintained the emperor's habit of thinking, and always felt that he had an unshirkable responsibility to the world.

Du Chuanyun and the two post soldiers led the horses out, the three of them got on the horses, hurried overnight, and walked not far, Du Chuanyun asked: "Tired Hou, can you stand it?" Riding and running like this day and night, even a martial arts master can't last long. ”

Du Chuanyun had just finished a long-distance delivery of letters, and had rested in Shenxiong Pass for less than two hours, but he looked very energetic, and he was even more worried that he would not be able to stand it.

"When I can't hold on anymore, I'll stop and rest." Han Ruzi also slept for a while during the day, and there was no problem staying up all night.

Early the next morning, Xiao Sheng began to win over the generals in Shenxiong Pass, Chai Yue and others were also quietly advancing the plan, and Han Ruzi arrived at the second post station.

There are more soldiers stationed here, there are more than fifty, and they seem very nervous, the door is closed, they can't be opened if they don't knock, I heard that these three Shenxiongguan soldiers only change horses and don't change people, Yi Cheng is very happy, he really can't spare extra manpower, "As long as the nearby mob makes trouble, they will definitely attack the post station first, we have burned it down once, but fortunately it hasn't burned out......"

Yi Cheng was a little verbose, but he did things quickly, and after a quarter of an hour, Han Ruzi and the others set off again, and breakfast and lunch were solved on horseback.

Shortly before noon, the three of them passed through the first county town on the official road, although it was winter, the street also seemed too deserted, there were almost no pedestrians, most of the shops on both sides were false doors, did not want to open the door to attract business, even the yamen also closed the door, only the door, a few poor people probed their brains, panicked to see the three "post soldiers" galloping by, at this time, the faster the post soldiers ran, the more no good news.

When they were still in the Broken Iron City, the soldiers of the Chu army wanted to return to the safe pass as soon as possible, but they did not expect that the pass was no longer the peaceful world it used to be.

Three days after leaving Shenxiong Pass, when Zuo Cha Yushi Xiao Sheng was stunned outside the Yamen of Shenxiong Pass, Du Chuanyun was also surprised, they stopped on the side of the road to eat some dry food, they all looked a little sluggish, especially Du Chuanyun, who had never had a good rest, and his brain was a little dizzy, "Tired Hou really doesn't need to rest?" ”

Han Ruzi was very tired, but he didn't want to rest, he just wanted to hurry and join the competition that had already started as soon as possible.

"The emperor's attraction is really great." Du Chuanyun could only come to such a conclusion, and he didn't dare to say that he was tired.

On the fourth day, when the three had to stop, they were told that a mob was attacking a military fortress not far ahead, and that their strength had reached the limit, so they slept for the night, and the next morning, when they heard that the battle was over, they immediately got on their horses and hurried away.

It was not the bandit gang that attacked the military village, but a group of real "mobs", most of the weapons in their hands were hoes and pickaxes, their clothes were ragged, and they were skinny, and the combat effectiveness of such a group of people could be imagined, and the two or three hundred officers and soldiers in the military village were frightened to fight at first, and after several attempts, they found that the enemy was actually weak and powerless, and they launched a massacre.

When Han Ruzi and others rode by, they saw the scene after the massacre, the mob had dispersed, leaving hundreds of corpses on the official road and the hillside, the soldiers were excitedly inspecting the corpses and harvesting heads, and a bearded officer waved the smooth and clean waist knife in his hand and shouted: "Meritorious service!" Meritorious! Leave no mouth, just heads! Whoever takes my knife and stains it with some blood, and from now on this is a treasure knife. Just get bloody, don't cut it, it'll break my knife. ”

The three "post soldiers" were almost stopped by the overexcited soldiers, Du Chuanyun was extremely angry, and almost drew his sword and rushed forward, Meng E stepped forward first, and showed his identity in a rough voice, and the soldiers were let go, and when they walked far away, they could still hear the officer's smug laughter.

"We shouldn't have slept last night, we should have ...... It should be ......" Du Chuanyun didn't know what to do, and turned his head to look at the tired marquis, "You must become the emperor and save the people of the world, they just can't stand the hunger, it is the officers and soldiers who take the food, and it is the officers and soldiers who kill them." ”

Han Ruzi nodded and said nothing.

The next trip was day and night, except for changing horses, the three of them rarely stopped, even in the snow, it was only a slight slowdown, closer and closer to the capital, there were fewer and fewer signs of riots, and the towns they passed on the way began to have a bit of liveliness.

Finally, in a place called Baiqiao Town, they were about to enter the border of Gyeonggi, and they also encountered an insurmountable obstacle, which was not a moat, not a bandit, not a mob, but a Chu army.

There is an arch bridge made of white stone in Baiqiao Town, crossing the bridge is the territory of the capital, when the weather is fine, standing on a high place can even see the towering city wall, but Baiqiao Town belongs to Huailing County.

A group of officers and men of the Southern Army occupied Baiqiao Town, ten steps and one post on the main street, five steps and one sentry, and several heavy deer fences were set up at the bridgehead, where hundreds of soldiers guarded, and the direction of leaving Beijing was not strictly controlled, but the direction of entering Beijing was like a great enemy, and all pedestrians had to be personally inspected by at least ten officers.

Han Ruzi kept going all the way, and the news of leaving Shenxiong Pass had definitely not reached here, but the Southern Army was ready, and he guessed that it was related to the King of the East China Sea.

Han Ruzi didn't dare to enter the town, nine times out of ten, the southern army was specially intercepted by him, there must be someone among the soldiers who knew him, and Meng E couldn't go in, her dress and voice were not flawed, but once she was searched, she would still be exposed.

Du Chuanyun took off his armor, changed into ordinary clothes, entered the town alone, and came back not long after, shaking his head and saying: "No, I saw several servants from Cui Mansion mixed among the soldiers at the bridgehead, they must know the tired marquis." ”

They stopped behind a detour outside the town, with snow-covered woods on both sides, neither advancing nor retreating, and staying here was a bit dazzling, so Han Ruzi had to go back first, hoping to find a place to rest and find a way to cross the river at night.

He and Meng E took off their helmets and put on robes over their armor, although it was a little weird, but they would not be treated as soldiers.

There was an abandoned land temple not far from the town, where Han Ruzi and Meng E rested, while Du Chuanyun went to the woods to survey the terrain and find a way to cross the river.

The temple was very small, leaking on all sides, and Han Ruzi sat on the toppled stone incense case, with his back to the half-cut statue of the god, and felt nervous about returning to Beijing for the first time.

In Shenxiong Pass, he has a subordinate battalion, a follower like Chai Yue, and a group of loyal soldiers, even in the face of high-ranking officials in the DPRK, he can be easily defeated, but here, he was stopped by a group of soldiers of the Southern Army, and it was difficult to move an inch.

Meng E stood at the door, looked at the official road, and asked without looking back, "Do you regret it?" ”

"I don't regret it, although Shenxiong Pass is safe, it is not a long-term solution, Chai Yue and others want to support me as emperor, but they haven't thought about one thing, once the ministers of the court and the central government establish a new emperor, or the current emperor will pass through the difficulties and return to the court, will the northern army still support me? At present, this is an extraordinary time, people's minds are changing, everything is possible, and once the time passes, even if Emperor Wu is reborn, he will not get much support. I have to go back to Beijing, and the support of the Northern Army will help me somewhat, and my success in the capital will in turn make the Northern Army support me even more. ”

Meng E couldn't think about so many things, just chatting with Han Ruzi, her eyes still looking into the distance, but she could feel that he needed to talk.

"But in the capital, what did you rely on to win the throne?"

"Well, the champion Hou came back the earliest, with the support of the minister, and the king of the East China Sea has the southern army as a backer, what do I rely on? I believe in Xiaojun, she must have a reason for me to return to Beijing, and will never let me take unnecessary risks, as well as my mother, and ...... Yang Feng. ”

Saying the word "Yang Feng", Han Ruzi was a little reluctant, in the most trustworthy list, this eunuch has been ranked to dozens of people, in addition to recommending Fang Daye, for so long, Yang Feng has not passed on a word, he himself said that he only supports the person who is most likely to be the emperor.

"The most important thing is that I believe in the Queen Mother."

"The Queen Mother?" Meng E turned her head and glanced at Han Ruzi, she knew the Queen Mother, so she was even more surprised.

"The Queen Mother occasionally goes to the Qinzheng Palace to listen to the government, which shows that she is still alive." Han Ruzi paused, "When the Queen Mother makes a move, how much advantage will the Champion Hou and the East China Sea King have left?" ”

Only when the strong compete with each other can the weak have a chance.

Han Ruzi was only worried about one thing, he couldn't enter the capital at all.

No matter how to cross the river tonight, Han Ruzi was about to speak, Meng E whispered: "Someone is coming." ”

Han Ruzi got up and walked to the door, and saw a group of cavalry coming from the direction of Baiqiao Town. (To be continued.) )