Mrs. Wu Shao hurriedly marched to Yizhou, and Wu Ya'er hurriedly marched to Linzhou, and there were many fewer letters between husband and wife.

So far, Mrs. Wu has only received two brief letters.

One was to report that the road was safe, saying that it was going well, and that the rebels of Ankang Mountain and his son and other retinues were mainly in the northeast, southeast, and northwest, and the northwest side was relatively stable.

The second was to reach Linzhou, which was besieged by rebels.

At night, the city of Linzhou is brightly lit, and the summer wind is blowing with cries and shouts flying around, without the prosperity of the city, and it looks like a ghost town in the wilderness.

Walking in the wilderness, the feet creaked, there were gravel, twigs and bones.....

Cui Zheng looked down, and the torch shone on a bone that I don't know what kind of animal it was, or a human bone....

Cui Zheng's shoes were worn out, the bones were poked and stinging on his feet, and I don't know if it was a blister or an unscarred wound that had been punctured.

This kind of pain is too much and has been numb, unlike when I walked out of the capital, the carriage was broken, the horse was sick and died, the army in front did not wait for anyone, they had to chase on foot, wearing thick official boots and often walking on the smooth and smooth stone road of the feet, soon worn out, one by one painful unable to sleep, difficult to walk an inch.

But there is no way, the soldiers and horses don't wait for anyone, they either grit their teeth and keep up, or stay where they are.

The people who followed out of the capital continued to disperse along the way, the journey was too hard, the trek through the mountains and rivers to eat and drink uncertainly, many people either fell ill and could not follow, or voluntarily gave up following, even though they faced the threat of being lonely and helpless in a foreign land and the rampant ravages of rebels and bandits.

The common people, the powerful, the rich, and even the palace maids and eunuchs are constantly decreasing, and the officials of the court are gradually not keeping up with the number of people, but Cui Zheng has never stopped, anyone can escape, he can't and will never be.

His feet fell to the ground over the bones, and he looked up to look ahead, the torches shining on his thin and yellow face, and his chapped lips trembled: "Is there really not?" ”

An official stood in front of him, also with a haggard face, and his eyes were panicked: "The soldiers and horses have searched all over the city, and there is no trace of His Royal Highness King Lu." ”

Cui Zheng's mouth trembled, and he didn't say what he wanted to say.

The hardships along the way are the hardships of the road, but there are no rebels, but half a month ago they received the siege of Linzhou.

Wu Ya'er led the soldiers and horses through a rapid march, and then fought for three days and three nights, and finally defeated the rebels, but entered the city but could not find the king of Lu.

Was King Lu killed like King Zhao?

Thinking of this result, Cui Zheng only felt that the ground under his feet was no longer as hard as a knife, but as soft as a cloud, one foot deep and one foot shallow.

The officials behind him were talking about the messy news.

“...... At the beginning of the Ankang Mountain Rebellion, His Royal Highness King Lu was ready to face the battle. ”

“.... The soldiers, horses, grain and grass were hoarded, and he had to personally take the soldiers to the capital to protect His Majesty, but he was persuaded by the officials of Linzhou. ”

“..... After the rebellion, in addition to mobilizing soldiers and horses from all over Linzhou to guard, the palace also practiced troops every day..."

“..... People from all over Linzhou rushed over in panic, and the prince took the princess to personally give porridge to the homeless. ”

“..... Therefore, when Cui You, the general of Ankang Mountain, led his troops through Hedong to raid Linzhou, the soldiers and civilians of Linzhou had already prepared to face the battle. ”

“..... There are many soldiers and people in Linzhou, and they work together to defend the city for a month, attacking the city several times, and finally the army and people drive them out of the city again, so they have persisted until now. ”

“.... Otherwise, it would not be the case when we see Linzhou City at this time. ”

With talking, Cui Zheng and his party finally walked to the front of Linzhou City, and the city presented in the bright firelight made the sound of talking stop instantly.

This was not the case with the original Linzhou City.....

The ruined city was burning everywhere, there were cries everywhere, and the ditch outside the gate was filled with corpses, the corpses above were still bleeding, and the corpses at the bottom were rotting bones.

The gates were filled with fire and weeping, but there were not many living people in sight.

A month ago, more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians gathered in Linzhou City, and almost half of them were buried in this city.

Cui Zheng and the others were so shocked that they suffocated when they watched this scene, and some couldn't help but vomit in the bloody and hellish scenes.

Although I knew that there were wars all over the place, and although it was hard all the way from the capital to Linzhou, it was the first time I saw the results of the real siege and the death battle of defending the city.

It's unimaginable, but everyone still can't help but imagine that if they hadn't left the capital, would it have been this kind of scene after the battle between the capital and the hundreds of thousands of troops in Ankang Mountain.

Cui Zheng's eyes were a little blurry, he didn't know how he walked in, the blood-stained city under the firelight was full of soldiers and horses, searching for the living, extinguishing the fire, and more gathered on the side of the palace.

The guards and horses of the palace and the eunuchs who went to defend the city were basically dead, and only the female dependents and the children of King Lu, because they did not know or believe the soldiers and horses that rushed in, were all hiding in a large hall.

was pulled out by the soldiers and horses still couldn't believe it, and they were huddled together, and Cui Zheng led the officials forward to identify themselves.

"Where the hell is the prince?" Cui Zheng asked, "Why didn't I come with you?" ”

The princess, who was in her forties, was as old as eighty years old, and she couldn't stand up when she was supported by four palace maids: "Since the prince heard that His Majesty died, he has been praying for Daxia in the palace, saying that it is only possible to be pious for 7749 days, and we dare not disturb." ”

It wasn't until the Zhenwu army, which had defeated the rebels and rushed into the city, that they didn't dare to disturb it, and they smashed open the door of the temple to find that the temple was empty.

"Maybe they've been captured by the rebels." The princess cried and couldn't hold it and was going to faint.

The rebels stormed the city once, and the soldiers and civilians of the city drove them out.

Cui Zheng was still asking, and his footsteps behind him were chaotic, accompanied by Wu Ya'er's voice: "Don't look for it, the prince has already run away." ”

Cui Zheng's body stiffened, and he suddenly turned around angrily: "Wujun, what do you mean by this?" Then he squeezed out an angry explanation from between his teeth, "Before you find out, be cautious." ”

Wu Ya'er said: "Check it out, there is a secret passage in the hall, which leads directly to the outside of the city, I have already entered and exited, and the traces of the cave entrance were left a month ago." ”

What does this mean? That is to say, when the rebels came, when the whole city was defending the city and the people were fighting back, King Lu, who claimed to be able to protect everyone, had quietly left.

Cui Zheng trembled, and the princess kept rolling her eyes: "Oh my God, Hugh is talking nonsense." ”

"Wujun, do you know what you mean by that?" Cui Zheng stood in front of Wu Ya'er and gritted his teeth.

Wu Ya'er seemed a little puzzled by his words: "Shouldn't I ask His Royal Highness King Lu what this means?" ”

What does His Royal Highness King Lu mean, Cui Zheng doesn't dare and doesn't want to think about it, he can't remember King Lu clearly, and he doesn't have much impression, His Majesty is suave, no matter what his qualifications are, the children born are all golden boys and jade girls, but King Lu, the golden boy, was born with squint eyes, although it is not too serious, but he himself cares very much, so he always lowers his eyes in front of people, and he only looks at people quietly, and there is always a little sneaky.....

Cui Zheng took a deep breath and suppressed the churning breath: "In short, now that there is no one alive and no corpse is dead, the military generals should not argue in vain." ”

But the argument came quickly, and when the day was bright, a group of scouts brought over a thin man dressed in a civilian shirt.

"He said that he was a personal soldier of His Royal Highness King Lu, snooping outside the city of Linzhou."

Cui Zheng didn't recognize King Lu's person, so he asked the princess to identify him, and the princess recognized Ah Huang at a glance.

King Lu loves to raise dogs, and this Ah Huang is a personal guard who walks dogs specifically for King Lu.

"Oh my God, I thought you were dead." "You weren't the first to volunteer to go out of the city to meet the enemy," the princess shouted. ”

As soon as he went out and did not return, the rebels dragged the slain body around the city for a few laps, thinking that he was among them.

Cui Zheng was not interested in resurrecting from the dead, and asked the dog walker: "Do you know where the prince is?" ”

Ah Huang Putong knelt down and fell to the ground and cried: "Go and save the prince, the prince is in danger." ”