When the army set off again, the faint face of the Seventh Prince could no longer see the drunkenness of yesterday. Just as many generals threw their inquiring eyes at him, the man who had never been smiling actually showed a faint smile at this time: "Xiao has made him the son-in-law of the Nuwa clan, and he should soon cooperate with us in attacking the besieging rebels." ”

The generals were in an uproar, and then complained about the unfairness of fate, only the fat cow was alone beside him humming and chirping, hiding and not knowing what he was doing, as long as the prince's eyes swept to this side, he trembled as if his heart was empty. There was only one stout and short man in the group, who looked blankly at the man on a white horse, as if waiting for the next order.

The prince leaned over and patted the man on the shoulder, "From now on, you will come and be my lieutenant." ”

No one saw the surprise in the man's eyes.

He is also the general who came back from the last rout, although according to the custom, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will not ask officials below the fifth grade, but this person was brought in for some reason. Taciturn, he couldn't tell what he was thinking from his expression, he was obviously one size smaller than the generally burly generals, but he was wearing a pair of heavy armor that no one else would wear, and he always carried a mace in his hand that was slightly out of proportion to his figure. But he was so strong, and the heavy mace was nothing more than a slender grass in his hands. There is always an unpredictable mystery on the expressionless face.

Maybe it's because he's a native of the area, no one likes to be with him, and everyone else deliberately wants to give him less when he eats, except for the fat cow who takes care of him, and I've never seen him angry in so many days.

"Your Highness Xie," he finally showed an expression that a normal person should have, but it fell into his eyes, and he felt that the smile on his face was really a little dull.

Fortunately, he was a happy man, and the prince's gaze paused on him, and then looked back at the path that twisted behind the mountains.

"Your Highness, there is the Five Wolf Valley in front, and the path in the middle can be run by two horses in parallel, in case, if you want to retreat, you can make some preparations here," the short, thin man was like a living map, and from time to time he introduced himself to any places on the road that could attract attention.

Although it is really helpless for Xiao to let this veteran of the march not let him replace him, but it seems that this person is doing a good job, not to mention that he will also give himself a little advice in a timely manner, the seventh prince smiled, but this guy is too pessimistic, and every time he thinks about it, he will count the worst possible surname, so it is not like he can lead troops.

"Although we didn't prepare much for this night attack, we took it by surprise, plus Xiao Rang will take the Nuwa people to pick up the army trapped there, if we survive this time, it will be much better in the future." The Seventh Prince smiled, now it seems that this guy really has a little in common with Xiao Rang, at least he likes to frown when he is fine.

"Then please Your Highness not participate in the night attack, stay in the camp and command the battle・・・・・・" The Seventh Prince laughed even harder, every time he encountered this kind of battle with a huge contrast between the enemy and me, Xiao Rang would always let himself withdraw first, didn't they know that if they withdrew first, they would definitely become the target of the public. And now this guy's words are even more outrageous, allowing himself to hide in the camp and command the battle? Managers are timid, what will the people who are subordinates think?

As if getting the expected answer from his face, the man, who was less than six feet tall, breathed a sigh of relief and saluted again: "At least please act when Your Highness hears my signal." ”

Several generals who had been following the prince frowned violently, in their opinion, this newly promoted lieutenant general was really crazy, and he dared to point fingers at the prince, did he really want to stay in the Metropolitan Procuratorate again.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, the smile on the face of the Seventh Prince never subsided: "Okay,"

Before a few generals wanted to say something, they were interrupted by the prince's voice, "The generals listen to the order, from now on the order of the deputy general is my order, anyone must obey it, and those who violate the order will be killed!" ”

Although there was still a small noise coming from the wind, no one dared to mention the words of retracting the fate, but the deputy general looked at the prince with more gratitude in his eyes.

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100 miles away. Luanzhou Daying.

He had been trapped here for more than two months, and although the grain route had not been cut off and the water source had not been poisoned, he knew that the army could no longer hold on.

It was not because of the grain, which was still enough for a few days, and the convoy that hastily arrived from Jinzhou to escort the military rations was less than half a day away. Although he still has no worries about eating and drinking, he knows that it is impossible for him to hold on any longer.

It has always been taboo for soldiers to have no master in the army, and several generals from noble backgrounds either shouted endlessly because of the struggle for power, or put on a face like a dead man, huddled aside with their heads in their arms, and kept silent. Although the imperial court urged them to retreat several times two months ago, just as all preparations for the army had stopped, the news suddenly came that the imperial court had sent the Seventh Prince to lead a large army to help, and in less than evening, a herald covered in mud and water came to the camp.

"The general ordered, no soldier in the Luanzhou battalion is allowed to take a step back, and those who violate the order will be beheaded! Those who dare to retreat the army half a mile will be killed! Those who shake the hearts of the army and bewitch the crowd will be killed! Reinforcements are coming, please all the generals must defend Luanzhou, remember. The soldiers who came to give the order did not drag their feet at all, and after reading the edict, they hurriedly took their leave, and prepared to return to their lives without even touching their lips.

"Special envoy stay," the young general who had been made so deprived of the six gods by this series of beheadings that he had long since disappeared from the flying and domineering when he went out on the expedition, and even ignored the wine jug on the big case when it touched the ground, and rushed to the person's side in a few steps, because he was too drunk, and the little Yin Hong on his face could no longer be seen: "Please stay!" What does the envoy mean... We're going to stay here any longer? ”

The soldier coldly glanced at the miserable but sycophantic face, and swept the worried expressions of everyone in the tent in his eyes, suddenly took a step forward, kicked away the silver pot that was still flowing out of the jade liquid agar, and shouted in a deep voice: "When did the Great Zhou military order have a general who can openly drink in the tent?!" ”

"Yes, yes, I'm confused," the general sneered and let a few guards come in and carry out the whole big case with delicious food, and his red and white face was just stunned and then put on a flattering smile: "Your Excellency the envoy has had a hard time all the way, and it will not be too late to leave after a little rest・・・・・・"

Although he was only wearing an ordinary soldier's uniform, the fierce momentum on his body was not at all what a small soldier would have. Presumably the young master general also noticed this, even if that person couldn't get off the stage in front of so many people, with his old temper, he didn't immediately turn his face.

I guessed the identity of that person in my mind, but as a low-class scribe, I stopped the pen in my hand and looked up at him quietly. Although I can't see his identity at all, I also know that it is not for nothing that someone dares to reprimand a senior general in the army like this.

"I'm afraid that this envoy's official is not small・・・・・・" Looking at the generals with shocked faces exchanging a knowing look with each other, for some reason, I always felt that the expressions that were a little panicked just now have settled down one by one, and even one who is usually timid showed a smile of unknown meaning.

His father is an important minister in the court, and his sister is the emperor's concubine, even if he really has any background, he doesn't dare to break ground on Tai Sui's head, right? The young general's face immediately had arrogance, and seeing that the herald didn't buy his account at all, he snorted lightly and arched his hand: "Since the envoy is unwilling to stay for the banquet, then please reply to the emperor, saying that we lack food and clothing, and the military strength is unsustainable, and we must retreat to the border of Luanzhou in order not to avoid the mistakes of the previous army. The ancients said that the generals will not be subject to military orders abroad, and I am afraid that we will not be able to complete the orders of the generals・・・・・・"

"You dare!" That person's gaze instantly fixed on his face, and the long sword in his hand didn't know when it hit the neck of the young master. Even if the sword was not unsheathed, the son of the old and important minister of the court who didn't know it was trembling.

"Ahh Rebellion! Someone is doing the opposite! "The young master's dull gaze suddenly shouted at the top of his throat after touching the cold scabbard, even I, a powerless paperworkman, will not be able to do so, I sighed, is it that even the heavens will no longer protect me Da Zhou?

The exclamation was heard by the soldiers patrolling outside the tent, and the two groups of people hurried in under the leadership of a general who was a tiger with a swallow's jaw, and I don't know if it suddenly became a strong light that dazzled my eyes, and I clearly saw that the fierce general who had rushed to the gate of the camp countless times actually trembled when he shot an arrow from the Gallic rebels.

"What are you still doing! Hurry up, hurry up and cut me down this person who committed the following crimes! No, no, I'm going to arrest him alive and torture him! Let's see who is going to assassinate General Ben! "The battalion commander who was held hostage by that person was still thinking about such a naïve thing, if it weren't for the bad atmosphere, I would have laughed out loud. Honestly, his one is more funny than the jugglers on the street.

Several low-ranking generals who had come in stood there without saying a word, ignoring his words.

The young master's face changed color in an instant, he could no longer care about his identity and shouted in his throat, and the sharp voice instantly scraped everyone's eardrums: "Are you... I know that you are all Gauls and have the wrong internal coping! Don't think that you can make all the 70,000 soldiers here listen to you! Even if you kill us, I... my father won't let you go! You're going to be torn to pieces! You ・・・・・・" he blushed with his last words, but no one paid any attention to him.

In the shocked gaze of those young generals, the few military attachés who came in later knelt down in unison, and the dozens of soldiers behind them also knelt down as if they had received some orders in an instant, "Your Highness!" ”

There was a dead silence in the tent, and I felt as if I heard a gasp. In the Great Zhou army, whether it is a general or an ordinary soldier, everyone knows what those two words mean, even though there are countless people who can be called His Highness, but there is only one person who can make them salute so respectfully.

"Seven, the prince," the young general at the head of the group stood there in a daze as if he had been completely stunned, and did not respond as if he could not even hear the call of his companion next to him.

"This is a problem," I quickly pulled him to his knees and bowed his head, "Greetings to the General." ”

Maybe in the eyes of these young masters and generals, the identity of the Seventh Prince is much more important than the general's token, but I know that I am familiar with military orders and know that it is really not suitable to be called so on this occasion, if the person in front of him is really as rumored, then he will also open the name of the general, after all, everyone knows that it is not a good thing to behead a general before the army, and if it is for a prince who can kill people no matter what kind of reason he comes up with, he has no scruples at all.

Sure enough, the face of the person standing in the center of the big tent like a god slowly calmed down, and the long sword was also taken down from the neck of the young master, and he couldn't hold it almost immediately, and the young master, who was known as the little overlord among the courtiers, suddenly collapsed to the ground, and not long after, there was a puddle of water under his feet.

The disdain of the Seventh Prince flashed through his face again, and before he could speak, I shouted at the soldiers: "General Li is young and vigorous, and the crime of offending the general is unforgivable, come on, pull him down, and punish him with twenty military sticks!" As I spoke, I kept my head down, groping for paper and pen from a small desk next to me.

I touched the paper and pen, and before I dipped it in ink, the stone inkstone that fell off the desk because my hand was shaking fell in front of my face. I could feel that at that moment, almost everyone's eyes circled around me, and before they could react, I put my right index finger in my mouth and bit it hard, and wrote down the matter on the paper that had already been spread out in front of me.

One hand gently lifted the bloodstained paper, perhaps I bit hard, and the words on the paper gradually became blurred, as if mocking me for making a self-determination.

"General," I looked up in a cold sweat, and the expressionless face sent a chill down my heart.

I'm not afraid he's going to kill me. I'm just afraid that he will cut off the Li family's lone seedling in front of the army on the spot in the name of disobeying military orders. Master Li has the grace of knowing me, from a county order to push me to the position of the secretary of the army of Zhengqipin, as the saying goes, Maxima often has, and Bole does not often, he is kind to me, I can't help but repay, and it is because of this that he let me follow him, this unsuccessful son, told me to watch him. Although I knew that the prince governed the army very strictly, and the order must be carried out, I would never be able to do it when I saw Lord Li's son being beheaded because he did not obey the military order.

"Hmph," I seemed to hear the man snort with disdain, and the prince waved his hand and smiled inexplicably, "Can't you hear me?" Just do as he says! ”

Those generals who knelt on the ground and didn't dare to breathe breathed a sigh of relief, as long as they didn't cut off their heads, they were lucky, after all, the flesh on their buttocks could grow longer if they were broken, and if their heads were cut off, they would not grow anywhere. made an excuse indiscriminately, and more than a dozen generals said goodbye in unison, and the prince did not stop them, waving his hands casually, and there was deathly silence in the big tent.

"You are the scribe of the Great Horde?" His voice was calm and steady, not at all as young as he looked.

"Yes," I replied in a low voice, letting the beads of sweat fall to the ground on my forehead.

"Get up, how are you doing these days?" He asked casually, grabbed a teacup and drank the herbal tea that had been left for the night.

"The Gauls confronted us for more than ten days, and every day there were provocations outside the camp, and a few generals did not want to do so, so they brought dozens of men to fight with them a few times, and there were casualties on both sides. It is estimated that he only came to explore our reality, and when he saw that it was unprofitable, he withdrew again. Now the army is panicking, although there is General Li in charge, but because the generals below are not very convinced of him, so it won't last long, "I'll tell you the truth, since he personally came to give the order, compared to these questions he should have already thought of, this question should also be a test of me, look at the Li family's son, although I have a weak heart, I try my best to excuse him: "These things The general should ask the chief general of the army, General Li, he has already written the report, Prepare to return to the general's ・・・・・・ immediately."

In the end, even I was a little weak, not because I was afraid that he would blame, not because the person outside the tent still didn't know whether to live or die and cursed loudly, but there was something in his eyes that seemed to pierce my heart, and made my heart beat every time I said a word.

"Oh," he said noncommittally, and suddenly came up again, "I guess even that military newspaper was written by you for him." ”

I was speechless for a moment, my handwriting had already fallen in his eyes, and this time it was impossible to get rid of it. Thinking that the son of the Li family was so incompetent, he even had to ask someone to write the report himself, and he probably couldn't escape this charge.

Unexpectedly, the Seventh Prince didn't hold on to him, but instead set his eyes on me, "You see that there is no master in the army now, who can be this general?" ”

What, he didn't come to lead the army, so what did he come here to do alone? I was a little confused, and subconsciously blurted out: "General, don't you stay?" ”

Then I realized my mistake, since he came secretly, he must not want people to know his whereabouts, how could I ask this so stupidly? I really don't know whether to live or die.

He wasn't angry, he looked at me quietly as if he was just waiting for my answer.

I was even more alarmed when I saw his calm and relaxed appearance, although I had heard of the generals of his descendants who followed him with all their hearts when I was in the imperial capital, but now I am not only a fierce general who is left in the army, but also a wise general who can stick to this place, to be honest, although there are several tiger generals who have followed him in the southern and northern wars, but when it comes to strategizing, they are still far behind.

But I couldn't guess what he meant by these words to me, whether he was testing my loyalty to him, or simply wanting to see how I felt towards him.

"cough," I immediately broke out in a cold sweat after being stared at by his eyes that seemed to see through all his thoughts, and I no longer dared to guess and directly said what I thought in my heart, "Although those generals just now were brave, they couldn't take on this big task in the end, and only General Qiu could consider it at present." ”

While I did tell the truth, I couldn't tell if he was satisfied. Especially the identity of General Qiu is special, he is the only one who still stays in the court, and still keeps in touch with Ning Guogong, since the two princes were left idle at home and no longer ask about the court, most of their descendants chose to go to the richest place in the Great Zhou to do business and sell grain, only this General Qiu is a special case, he is an orphan picked up by Ning Guogong from the battlefield, and he is not with Ning Guogong's surname, and everything is low-key, the court has been turning a blind eye to him for so many years, if it were not for the rout of the former army, These generals, who are simply pieced together, are estimated to rush back before they get out of the pass. If it weren't for the fact that I really couldn't help it, I wouldn't have brought up his name at this time.

"Qiu Moyi is a good general, but not a good handsome," the Seventh Prince shook his head slightly, as if to see the incomprehension in my eyes and pointed at me, "How are you?" ”

"I'm just a little clerk with the army, so I guess those generals will be even more unconvinced if I climb to the position of a general so quickly, right?" It's not so much a shirk, it's better to say that I don't want to die yet, being a small Zhengqipin scribe can get enough money every month to feed and drink, why do I need to be a general who always lets myself stand on the cusp of the blade? I don't know if the lord was joking with me, but when he said it, I had a plan in my mind that the general himself would not go back.

"I heard that you are Lord Li Baoju here, so it doesn't matter what his precious son has become?" There was an ominous atmosphere in the prince's words, not to mention why he had investigated me so clearly as a little scribe, and even the last threat could not be ignored by me.

"If you don't obey military orders, disobey orders, openly oppose me in front of so many people, and disturb the morale of the army, can these crimes be avoided by offending with one word?" Although his face was still smiling, there was a little more coldness in his smile now.

Although I knew that this little trick could not be hidden from him, I was still a little surprised that he would threaten me to become the general with such a thing, "Your Highness, aren't you afraid that I will be captured alive by the Gallic rebels?" "I know it's a foregone conclusion, but even then I want to give him a try.

"As long as I take him away, you will stay here with all your heart, and if you are defeated, he will definitely die." Although there was a smile on his face, there was not the slightest smile in his eyes. I know that he is not threatening, if he can't hold this place, as the chief general of the rear army, the son of the Li family will definitely be responsible.

I let out a long sigh, "How long are you going to keep me here?" ”

"Two months," a flash of sharpness flashed in his eyes, "if you can hold out for two months, I can guarantee him well." After saying that, he walked out of the tent without looking back.