The snow was falling, the ground was silvery white, and in this small town near the grassland, a row of small tents stood on the edge of the town. Bands of soldiers in dark armor patrolled the camp with horses in hand. And in the direction facing the Turks, rows of horses blocked it, and perhaps there were many traps under the snow. This is the Xuanjia new battalion led by Xue Wanche. The main general is not in him, he does not dare to lead the team to Dingxiang, so he can only wait here to pick up Li Kuan and his party. Although he was unusually worried about Li Kuan's safety in his heart, his current identity could not stop Li Kuan's actions.

Xue Wanche stood outside the camp gate, snowflakes falling on his armor, spreading into a layer of snow-white snow. The hot breath from his mouth condensed in the air, and he seemed to hear the sound of the water in the exhaled breath condensing into ice. Looking in the direction of the grassland, Xue Wanche made no secret of the worry in his eyes. They had been waiting here for almost half a month, and they had not yet seen Li Kuan return from the grassland, and if he could not wait for the exact news, he would have to take these soldiers to the grassland to look for them.

At this moment, some small black dots appeared in the distance at the junction of heaven and earth, and the sound of horses' hooves was faintly heard.

"Is it His Royal Highness the King of Chu or the Turks?" Xue Wanche couldn't see clearly, but he hurriedly ordered the soldiers behind him to assemble, whether it was to greet or fight, they were always prepared when they gathered together.

Those little black dots gradually got closer, and a relaxed smile appeared on Xue Wanche's face, it was the person he had been waiting for. So he greeted him now, and a hearty laugh came out of his mouth again after half a month. Xue Wanche has been gloomy for half a month. In addition to looking in the direction of the Turks, in a daze, he was desperately training this group of surviving Xuanjia guards. These two hundred and twenty people have been in dire straits for half a month. Although the meals were well supplied, the daily training was exhausting. It's just that no one complained, and they found out on the battlefield this time that they were not as powerful as they imagined. These people all entered the Xuanjiawei later. It's not the gang of super killers who originally followed Li Er to fight the Tang Dynasty. All of them may have very strong combat qualities, but they have always fought a smooth battle, and this time a large number of robes died tragically to make them understand their shortcomings. The teamwork is also a bit stiff. The biggest reason for the loss is that the strong assistance given to the colleagues around you at the best time can no longer be.

As for the possibility that the Turks could attack at any time, they also considered that the town had long been deserted, and the residents had already moved to more hinterland in the Tang Dynasty. Whenever the Turks attacked, they would burrow into the town and use the terrain to counterattack at the prompting of the sentinels.

Li Kuan and the others rode on horses, and the group entered the grassland with fifteen people. Now it's still fifteen people who have come back. Three soldiers died, but three prisoners were captured.

The two sides followed the round, and Li Kuan cremated the body of Li Xiao, who was killed in battle. All the Xuanjia guards saw off their robes. It was the only corpse of the soldiers who died in battle, and the rest were all thrown deep into the grassland. This is a knot that cannot be untied in everyone's hearts. But who will give you time on the battlefield for you to gather the corpses? Who would have the heart to collect the corpses of their comrades at the moment of fleeing for their lives? It's not anyone's fault, it's just that everyone can't let go.

Therefore, Li Xiao's body became the spiritual sustenance of all living soldiers, and a grand cremation ceremony was held. Everyone gathered around the pyre. Stood quietly. A small jar of fire oil was poured on the firewood, and Li Kuan held a torch, the flames of which distorted the air above the torch.

"Brother, go all the way!" Li Kuan stood solemnly at the front, followed by Xue Wanche and Liu Wei, followed by two hundred and thirty-one Xuanjiawei soldiers.

"Take off your hat! A moment of silence for the dead brothers! Li Kuan took off the helmet on his head, and his long hair fell down and scattered on his back. Li Kuan's hair is very long now. It's enough to reach the lower back. After the confluence, Li Kuan washed up vigorously, and the days on the grassland made him feel very dirty. But in the days when he would be surrounded and suppressed by the Turks at any time, where did he still have the heart to pay attention to this, and when he returned to his own territory, of course Li Kuan had to wash first.

Of course, there was also respect for the deceased, after all, he knew that the cremation ceremony that was about to take place was very important, and it was the ceremony for all the Xuanjia Guards to bid farewell to their deceased robes.

All the soldiers took off the iron helmets on their heads in a hurry, looked at Li Xiao lying on the pyre, and tears in their eyes: "Brother, go all the way!" A few soldiers who were a little more sensual let out low sobs.

"Rest in peace! I will definitely help you fulfill your last wish, and those Turks, I will definitely make them pay, you can rest assured, wait until I send countless Turks down, so that you can kill under the Nine Springs! Although Li Kuan didn't believe in any Jiuquan, but now he felt that it was not bad to have such a place, at least let the living have a sustenance. At this time, he understood why his mother would speak to his father's tablet in later generations, and he would give incense to his father on the fifteenth day of the new year. This is also what her mother is thinking about!

Li Kuan threw the torch in his hand to the pyre, the raging flames rose, and the surrounding area was bright, the scorching flames melted the snow on the ground, and the gurgling snow began to flow, wetting the firewood underneath, and a thick smoke rose up, scattered in the wind, constantly swaying, like a big hand, waving gently, like the dead robe saying goodbye to them.

"Brother, go all the way!" Li Kuan shouted.

"Brother, go all the way!!" Countless soldiers shouted along.

Bidding farewell to their brothers, Li Kuan and the others returned to their respective camps with heavy hearts. Then he remembered that there were still these three captives, so he ordered Princess Yicheng and Queen Xiao, as well as their maids, to escort them in.

Princess Yicheng was tied with her hands, and her arms tied behind her continued to struggle. Although she is quite old, she is very good-looking, and she looks like a mature woman in her thirties and forties. Although she was close to the Turks when she was in the former Sui, it is obvious that she did not really become a sloppy appearance like the Turks who did not take a bath for a year and a half, and although she was wearing animal skin clothes, she was also well-cut. It looks clean and neat, although it has the color of wind and dust, but it is also because of this rush back to the border of the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, it must be a noble Turkic nobleman.

In fact, the Turks did not bathe as a last resort. The winter on the grassland is cold, and it is too late to keep warm, who still has the heart to take off their clothes and take a bath, and they should live for grazing, be with the sheep, and the smell of the sheep can not be washed away. Therefore, Turkic civilians rarely took a bath, and the smell on their bodies was all covered by the smell of mutton. The Turkic nobles still had the habit of bathing, but not as diligently as the Han Chinese.

Princess Yicheng is okay, Queen Xiao and the maid named Xingya seem to be very depressed, both of them are weak women who are powerless, and they have not fallen ill for half a month in this wind and snow because Li Kuan and others wrapped them in sleeping bags and tied them to horses.

By the candlelight in the tent, Li Kuan saw the appearance of the three of them clearly for the first time, and I have to say that these three people are all beautiful women, especially the eldest Empress Xiao, who is already an old woman over sixty years old, but she still looks beautiful and moving, not the kind that still exists, but the kind that is in her prime. This kind of beauty mixed with the vicissitudes of maturity and her personal experience is very attractive.

"This woman is really a goblin, she is regarded as the darling of God, and there is not the slightest trace of time left in this year! No wonder even her father was tempted by her, or Xiao Yu went to intercede and assured that this Queen Xiao would live alone to dispel her father's thoughts, this woman does have such a style and charm! Li Kuan thought in his heart.

"Alright, now that we're on our territory, I'm going to ask you some questions, and I hope you can answer them! Otherwise, I'm afraid the result will be difficult to say......" Li Kuanduan sat behind a desk and made a simple folding chair. Such things are easy to carry, so they are mostly provided to generals in the army.

"Hmph......" Princess Yicheng snorted coldly and turned her head. And Empress Xiao was calm, after the soldiers untied the ropes that bound her, she carefully tidied up the clothes on her body, her slender ten fingers were like green onions, and the animal skin clothes on her body were carefully sorted out and smoothed by her, and she couldn't afford a trace of wrinkles. Then he saluted Li Kuan: "The concubine has seen His Royal Highness the King of Chu of the Tang Dynasty!" I wonder what His Royal Highness the King of Chu wants to know? ”

"Imperial sister-in-law!" Princess Yicheng turned her head and shouted to Empress Xiao.

"Yicheng, the Sui Dynasty has fallen, and there is no Sui Dynasty queen here! Hehe......" Empress Xiao smiled sadly.

"You ......" Princess Yicheng looked at Empress Xiao fiercely, she didn't understand why Queen Xiao, who was like-minded with her on the grassland, turned her face directly after returning to the Central Plains as if she had changed a person.

"Yicheng, isn't it surprising that I'm not like this on the grassland?" Empress Xiao said to Princess Yicheng with a desolate look: "Do you know that when your second brother died, I had already died with him!" After that, those so-called kings and emperors compete with me and treat me as a plaything, hehe...... Do you know how I spent those years? Because I may have the heirloom jade seal of Zài on my body, for the sake of my beautiful skin, those people's ugly faces...... After that, my good sister, you actually took me to the grassland, and my Xiao served the Han people and served the Turks with you! It makes me sick just thinking about it! Empress Xiao's beautiful face, which had been weathered by the vicissitudes of life, a pale red tear stain slid down.

Li Kuan looked at it with interest, it seemed that this Empress Xiao was still a chaste woman, but why had she endured the insults and ravages of those anti-kings and even Turkic people until now? Is there a different story in it? Li Kuan became interested, and the soul of gossip began to burn! (To be continued......)