The group of soldiers who followed Shangguan Hong, the iron cavalry and the guards did not dismount because of Zhan Qi's appearance, they restrained their mounts and stood on both sides, while the other soldiers who did not have mounts stood neatly behind the carriage. Shangguan Hong, dressed as a Confucian student, stood particularly conspicuous in this barracks full of iron cavalry uniforms.

Shangguan Hong saw Zhan Qi coming over, he let go of the little girl in his arms, stood up straight and walked a few steps closer to Zhan Qi, clasped his fists and said, "Xiaguan has seen General Zhan." ”

Zhan Qi looked around at the army brought by Shangguan Hong, and finally his eyes fell on Shangguan Hong. He asked with a calm face and displeasure, "Lord Shangguan, what do you mean by this?" ”

A smile appeared on Shangguan Hong's calm face, and he replied calmly: "General Zhan, Xiaguan has been ordered by the Third Prince to lead the troops to meet you. ”

Zhan Qi squinted at Shangguan Hong and asked dissatisfiedly, "The third prince is questioning the ability of this general?" ”

Shangguan Hong's smile did not decrease, and he said, "The third prince has no such intention. It's just that the prince is not only scheming, but also has a team of elite troops in his hands, and the third prince is afraid that General Zhan will suffer a loss when you fight the prince, so he specially ordered the official to lead the troops to come to help. ”

Zhan Qi snorted coldly, and said disdainfully to Shangguan Hong: "This general has experienced a hundred battles, and he will not be inferior to the prince in terms of strategy and military strength. Why did the three princes need to send powerless scholars to help in the war? ”

"The general's words are wrong." Xiaguan Hong didn't seem to care about Zhan Qi's contempt for him, he looked at Zhan Qi with a meaningful gaze, with a calm smile on his face, "Although Xiaguan is a humble Confucian, he has studied the art of war for many years, and he has a lot of experience in the way of marching and arranging formations. It is believed that the lower officials will be able to help the general defeat the crown prince, so that the general can go to the capital to reunite with his family as soon as possible. ”

Speaking of the last sentence, Shangguan Hong looked at Zhan Qi with a smile but not a smile.

Zhan Qi heard the meaning of Shangguan Hong's words. Shangguan Hong was reminding him that the people of the Zhan family were still in the capital and in the hands of the third prince.

Zhan Qi raised his face to Shangguan Hong and asked in a deep voice, "How is my family now?" ”

"General Zhan, please rest assured, your family is protected by the officers and soldiers specially sent by the Third Prince, and it is very safe." Shangguan Hong seemed to reply respectfully, but his eyes didn't show any respect, "As long as General Zhan and you serve the Third Prince wholeheartedly, the Third Lord will definitely not treat you and your family badly." ”

Zhan Qiqiang endured not to get angry with Shangguan Hong, and after glancing at him, he said word by word: "Since General Ben has promised to serve the third prince, he will definitely go all out." ”

After that, he didn't want to talk to Shangguan Hongduo for half a word, so he turned around and was about to leave.

Shangguan Hong shouted to him from behind: "General Zhan, please stay!" ”

Zhan Qi stopped but didn't look back. Shangguan Hong stood beside him from behind and said: "Xiaguan sees that General Zhan's military camp is not so tightly guarded, if anything goes wrong at such an important moment, if the third prince blames it, General Zhan and Xiaguan can't afford it." The work of this guard cannot be sloppy in the slightest, the sergeants who came with the subordinate officers are all elite soldiers from a hundred, and the subordinate wants them to take up the work of guarding the camp, I don't know what you think, General Zhan? ”

"Lord Shangguan is an envoy sent by the Third Prince, what you mean is afraid that it is the meaning of the Third Prince, how dare this general disobey?" Zhan Qi was obviously unhappy, and he didn't show Shangguan Hong a good face at all.

Shangguan Hong didn't care if Zhan Qi gave him a good look, he owed slightly, and smiled with a victor's attitude and said, "Xiaguan thanked General Zhan." ”

Zhan Qi was angry, but he could only suppress it. He glanced at Shangguan Hong, snorted coldly, and took Shen Wan away with a belly of fire.

Shangguan Hong brought a team of elite soldiers to take over the barracks, and Zhan Qi became the deputy in charge of the barracks to listen to Shangguan Hong's orders, which soon reached the ears of Du Xiaomeng, who was hiding in the cooking camp. And it was not Shen Wan or Zhan Qi who told her these things, but her top boss, Brother Jin.

The leader of the cooking camp, Brother Jin, was a kind and enthusiastic uncle, it is said that when he was young, he was not the leader of the army stationed in the rear but a heroic pioneer, but later in a tragic battle with countless casualties, he and his companions were ambushed by the enemy, and he was the only one who survived the battle. However, because he was seriously injured, he was left with a disability after recovering from his injuries, and he could no longer be a soldier at the front of the charge, and finally became a gang leader who did not need strong combat effectiveness.

Brother Jin has been in the army for many years, basically there is no one in the camp that he doesn't know, plus his easy-going and enthusiastic personality, he has excellent popularity in the camp, no matter whether it is a big or small thing in the camp, as long as he wants to know, he will definitely be able to inquire, even if he doesn't inquire, those front-line soldiers who often come to him to chat and brag will be happy to tell him all kinds of new things that happen in the camp.

With Brother Jin, a living acceptance station, even if Du Xiaomeng stays in the cooking camp farthest away from the main camp, he can know what is going on in the camp without leaving the camp.

Because Shangguan Hong was in the barracks, Du Xiaomeng did not dare to turn outside the cooking camp; And Zhan Qi didn't want to arouse Shangguan Hong's suspicions, he didn't go to the cooking camp to learn about Du Xiaomeng's situation, and he didn't let Shen Wan go to investigate. He arranged Du Xiaomeng to the cooking camp, in addition to being relatively safe away from the main camp, and more importantly, there was a very reliable Brother Jin there, and it was very reassuring to hand over Du Xiaomeng to Brother Jin to take care of him.

In fact, Brother Jin really took good care of Du Xiaomeng, a recruit brought by Shen Wan, and knew that she was injured, so he didn't arrange any heavy work for her, and picked some light jobs for her to do. For example, sitting there picking vegetables and washing vegetables, squatting in front of the stove to add firewood and watch the fire. In addition to not letting her do heavy work, he also deliberately made her sick meals every day so that she could nourish her body.

Under the careful care of Brother Jin, and insisting on applying the special ointment made by the military camp every day, Du Xiaomeng's injured shoulder quickly healed, and the bruises that came out of the body were scattered.

On Zhan Qi's side, Shangguan Hong had been in the barracks for two days, and Du Xiaomeng had also heard that Yu Tianzheng's army was camped more than a hundred miles away. However, I didn't see Zhan Qi leading his troops to attack Yu Tianzheng, and I didn't see Shangguan Hong's move to urge Zhan Qi to go on the expedition.

According to Brother Jin's combat experience over the years, he believed that Lord Shangguan did not let General Zhan immediately send troops to attack His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The main reason for not allowing the troops to be sent was because Lord Shangguan was worried that General Zhan and Yu Tianzheng had always had a very close personal relationship, and he was afraid that the two would collude, and he believed that Zhan Qi, whose family was controlled by the third prince, so he ordered the troops to remain unmoved, and to see the form clearly before taking further action.