Suddenly, he saw Yu Chi Jiming, who went out hunting, with two huge pheasants in one hand and three fat hares in the other, and climbed up the mountain happily.

So Qiu Yizhi ordered Zhao Chengxiao to light a bonfire, set up a grill, slaughter and wash these prey, and put them on the shelf to roast slowly.

In a few moments, the beasts were charred on the outside and tender on the inside, and the grease under their skin dripped into the fire, and the flames immediately "crackled" and jumped, exuding a refreshing burnt flavor.

At this time, the unitary hour was approaching, and half of the sun was embedded in the distant horizon, emitting a weak and dim light, barely casting the last rays of light into the world.

After today's encounter, all the armies were exhausted and hungry. Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi asked Zhao Chengxiao to pass the order, in addition to the cooked dry food, the roasted beasts were also evenly distributed to the soldiers and honor guards. The taste of these wild animals was unusually delicious, and the soldiers were hungry and hungry with worms running around, and as soon as they got the food, they devoured it like a gobble.

Pity those Lingnan Dao sergeants who led the way and accompanied them, they could only look at the monotonous and boring rice noodles in their hands, and the taste was like chewing wax and swallowing it into their stomachs, which was better than nothing.

By the time the army had finished eating, it was completely dark.

Camping in this wilderness, Qiu Yizhi not only had to prevent the barbarian sneak attack outside, but also to prevent the invasion of poisonous insects and beasts, and also to prevent the Lingnan soldiers around him from making trouble, and discussed with Zheng Miao, Zhao Chengxiao and others, and asked all the troops to light up the pine and torches they carried, and illuminate a small hill as if it were day, so that people inside and outside could dispel their bad intentions.

Zhao Chengxiao still felt uneasy, and divided the sergeants under his command into four teams, taking turns to patrol on duty, and the other horses were also lying on their pillows, and they had to get up and fight immediately if something happened.

In such an atmosphere, everyone spent a difficult night in the boundless mountains of Lingnan.

The next day, everyone woke up very early, and after having breakfast hastily, Qiu Yizhi ordered the army, urged Zheng Yu to lead the way, and escorted Zheng Miao to continue along the mountain trail.

In this way, the people walked through the mountains for two whole days, sometimes encountering a small group of barbarians, sometimes encountering the attack of poisonous snakes and beasts, and finally bypassed the last hill and came to a plain between the mountains.

At this time, Zheng Yu ran from the front, pointed to a house in front of him and said to Zheng Miao: "Third Highness, look over there, it is where my father is." ”

Zheng Miao looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough, he saw a large cottage built at the foot of a lonely peak according to the mountain, and one of the palace-lattice houses was very eye-catching. I saw that the house loomed in the mist of the mountains, but only the green glazed tiles on the roof reflecting the sunlight were particularly conspicuous - these green glazed tiles were used by the vassal king.

So Zheng Miao was in good spirits and said, "Then the prince of Lingnan must be recuperating in it, right?" I've been delaying a lot of time along the way, so let's hurry over and send a message of condolences. ”

Zheng Yu didn't dare to object, nodded and agreed twice, and led the army to lead the way.

Qiu Yizhi straddled his horse and followed behind Zheng Miao's imperial chariot, and after walking a few steps, he felt that this place was not so much a plain as a basin.

As far as the eye can see, there is only a dozen miles of flat land, which is surrounded by steep mountains, leaving only a few gaps in the mountain col to communicate with the outside world - Zheng Miao and Qiu Yizhi came in from a mountain pass in the northeast that can only accommodate one cart and one horse side by side.

And on the flat land are acres of neatly cultivated fertile land, but there is not a single family in the fields, but there are a team of soldiers lined up in the field to patrol and practice, and occasionally shout a few slogans, the sound of killing is shocking, and the killing is incomparable.

"Juntun!" Qiu Yizhi said this softly.

Zheng Miao, who was sitting in the car, listened, looked back at Qiu Yizhi, motioned to his righteous brother with his eyes, and said, "I didn't expect that the King of Lingnan would follow his father's example in Youyan Road and build a base for himself." ”

Qiu Yizhi also nodded and agreed: "The prince of Lingnan is really patient and capable, and he actually found this piece of feng shui treasure in this inaccessible deep mountain. This side can be attacked and retreated, and even if ten or a hundred times the force is used to surround this place, the fertile land, forests, and water sources here alone are enough to hold out for ......ten or twenty years. ”

When Zheng Miao heard this, his face became more and more serious: "Where is the country house of the King of Lingnan here, it is clearly one of his bases." Brother Xian hurriedly ordered to go down, and asked your men to deal with it carefully, but don't fall for the opponent's plan. ”

Qiu Yizhi agreed, and asked Zhao Chengxiao to order the troops to be careful, not to say a word indiscriminately, and not to take a step indiscriminately.

The army marched between the fields and barracks for more than half an hour, and finally stopped in the middle of the basin, and a large stone wall nearly two feet high appeared in front of them.

Qiu Yizhi saw that this stone wall was made of neat and uniform stones, and the length of each stone was as high as an adult, thinking that the road into the mountain was so rugged and bumpy, to transport these stones into the mountain from the outside, I don't know how much work was wasted, how much silver was spent, and the king of Lingnan organized such a big project, the court didn't know at all!

Just as he was sighing, he saw Zheng Yu twisting his fat body, walked from the front, and arched his hand to Zheng Miao, who was sitting on the imperial chariot, and said, "My father is recuperating inside, please go in quickly." ”

Zheng Miao nodded when she heard this, turned her head to look at Qiu Yizhi again, her eyes flickered imperceptibly, she bit her lower lip and said, "Okay, let's go in first to pass the decree." ”

Qiu Yizhi took Zheng Miao's eyes, looked at the iron curtain-like city wall in front of him, and thought: Now that we are in this group of mountains and basins, we have already jumped into the palm of the palm of the King of Lingnan, and when we enter the stone city later, won't we fall into the net?

However, since he was ordered to pass on the order, he naturally couldn't flinch, secretly gritted his teeth, stretched out his hand and beckoned Zhao Chengxiao and said: "Tell the brothers to be more careful, I'm afraid things will change at any time after entering the city, and we must be ready to fight." ”

Zhao Chengxiao nodded vigorously, turned around and went to deploy.

Zheng Miao's side ordered the accompanying honor guard to take out the flag and music, line up the team according to the regulations, and play the spirit of twelve points, and then enter the city to deliver the decree to the king of Lingnan.

Unexpectedly, the brigade had not yet started, but he heard Zheng Yu say: "Third Highness, this stone city is very small, I am afraid that I will not be able to enter so many soldiers and horses, please forgive me." ”

Although Zheng Yu's words were not explicitly stated, the meaning of the words was extremely clear - it was to ask Zheng Miao to go into the city to announce the decree single-handedly, or with only a dozen or so followers.

Zheng Miao is not the kind of puppet who does not hesitate to die, of course he disdains to do such a dangerous thing, and said: "This is difficult to do, it's not that I take the big one, I am a Qincha and a prince, and the honor guard around me can neither be less nor more, let alone be replaced at will." I'm announcing this decree, and I've made it beautiful, isn't it even more beautiful on the face of Uncle Lingnan? If it violates the court etiquette system, it is also disrespectful to the prince of Lingnan, isn't it? ”

Zheng Miao's words were polite, courteous, and reasonable, so that Zheng Yu, who was a little dull and wooden, had nothing to say, but he still refused to let go, and insisted on not letting Qiu Yi's men go to the countryside to practice in the city.

Suddenly, Qiu Yi's inspiration moved: "It's not a way for us to waste money like this. Otherwise, the soldiers here would not enter the city to disturb the peace of the prince. ”

Zheng Yu listened to Qiu Yizhi's words and actually stood on his side, he was stunned at first, and then smiled happily and said: "That's good, that's good, then please the Third Highness, and His Highness Yi also go in together!" ”

Qiu Yizhi waved his hand and said, "I didn't say that the third brother was going to the city." What I mean is to bother the Lingnan prince to walk a few more steps and go out of the city to welcome the holy decree. This not only does not violate the rules of the court, but also prevents this group of rough men from running into the city to make trouble, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds? ”

Of course not!

On this road, Zheng Yu has already seen the combat effectiveness of this group of "Imperial Forest Army" three or four times - not to mention that the defense of the "Dangya Battalion" is extremely stable, like a moving city wall; not to mention that the sword and shield are strong in martial arts and full of morale; It is the crossbow in the hands of these dozens of crossbowmen that has the power to take people's lives with a single shot from a hundred paces away - once his father is exposed to the range of the crossbow, it is equivalent to his life in the hands of his opponent.

When he thought of this, he was about to open his mouth to refuse, but Qiu Yizhi brought out the "court rules", so that Zheng Yu couldn't think of half a reason to refute, racked his brains and thought for a while, and finally said: "This matter is not something I can do on my own, after I have asked my father, can I come and reply?" After that, Zheng Yu arched his hand towards Zheng Miao again, and went into the city to ask for instructions.

Qiu Yizhi sent Zheng Yu away, and hurriedly said in Zheng Miao's ear: "The situation here is extremely dangerous, the third brother must not easily leave the army to move, otherwise if it falls into the hands of the enemy, the younger brother will lose the opportunity, and it will be difficult to do it then!" ”

"What if the Lingnan prince doesn't agree, and he wants me to go in alone?" Zheng Miao asked.

Qiu Yizhi replied: "Then it is better not to preach this will, but also to leave the land of right and wrong immediately." Since entering Lingnan Road, the younger brother has sent someone to write down the route and terrain in detail, and these elite soldiers under my command, including the younger brother himself, are risking their lives to let the third brother leave here safely. ”

Zheng Miao heard a bit of murder in his words, and reluctantly squeezed out a smile: "Brother, this is serious, right?" It seems that the Lingnan King is like a tiger's den in Longtan. ”

"Yes!" Qiu Yizhi cut the railway, "This is the Longtan Tiger's Den, the emperor sent the third brother over, most of it is to explore the reality of the Lingnan prince." But the third brother looked at the base of King Lingnan, looked at this stone city, and looked at the nearby soldiers, where did it seem to be done by a vassal king who kept to himself? ”

Zheng Miao's heart sank when he heard this: Didn't his father back then, relying on the strength of Youyan Dao, forcibly take the capital Luoyang in one go, and forced the emperor Zheng Yao, who had only been a few months to set himself on fire, and then ascended to the throne?

While thinking about it, he heard the first cannon sound in the stone city in front of him, and the city gate opened, and countless soldiers came out of the city—all wearing armor and helmets, holding swords, guns, swords, and halberds—lined up in front of Zheng Miao's guard of honor. I also saw that the head of the city was suddenly full of soldiers, all of whom were also holding bows and crossbows, and their eyes were also staring at the people and horses under the city, as if they were about to launch a rain of arrows at the first order, shooting all the enemy soldiers into hedgehogs.

Qiu Yizhi saw that the total number of enemy troops in the city and under the city was more than 1,000 people, and hurriedly carried Zheng Miao down from the imperial chariot, hid in the crowd of villagers he recruited, and at the same time ordered Zhao Chengxiao to quickly line up and prepare for this battle in front of him.