In March of the fourth year of Yuanhe, in order to consolidate the friendly relations between the Long Dynasty and the Turks, the Turks married the Turkic princess to the Emperor Qi Yao of the Long Dynasty as a concubine at the request of the Long Dynasty.

In November, the Turkic princess was assassinated in the Black Mountain Gorge a hundred miles after entering the Yumen Pass, and hundreds of people were not spared.

The news reached Shangjing, the emperor Yao was shocked, the courtiers of the Manchu Dynasty did not dare to speak, the four princes Zhen asked for the envoy to represent the Long Dynasty to the Turks for negotiations, with the approval of the emperor, the prince Zhen did not dare to delay, and the next day he rode to the Yumen Pass.

On the other side, the Turkic king was furious when he received the news and raised an army.

At the beginning of December, the Turkic prince Ashina Hertz led an army of 50,000 cavalry and 200,000 troops to the Central Plains with the strength of the whole country.

The Turkic army approached strongly from the northwest, due west, and due north in three groups, and the Yumen Pass on the northwest border bore the brunt of the bombardment.

On the eighth day of the twelfth month of the imperial calendar, a group of 80,000 soldiers arrived at Yumen Pass, fifty miles outside the city gate, and shouted to hand over the body of Princess Yan, otherwise the army would be overwhelmed.

Because the imperial order had not yet arrived, the guard general He Jin did not dare to act rashly, and the stalemate was held for several days with the city wall as the boundary, and the relationship between the two armies was very tense.

Ten days later, the fourth prince Qi Zhen arrived at the General's Mansion, and after some discussion, he decided to hand over the princess's body first, but at this time, he found that the body of the princess who was placed in the General's Mansion was missing, and he was suddenly in a difficult situation. An uphill battle is about to begin.

At the end of December, the Turkic army suddenly rose up to the outside of Yumen Pass, and the people in the city hurriedly fled to the Central Plains.

This first battle lasted for six hours, from day to night, and Qi Zhen, who was sitting in the command room in the city pavilion, could even hear the sound of the soldiers fighting, screaming and handing over weapons ten miles away, one after another, which made people frightened and frightened.

General He sat in the command room without saying a word, and his face was full of slaughter. In this battle, the soldiers swore to the death, and finally repelled the enemy's 80,000 army with 30,000 men, and the Turks had to pull out their camp and retreat, and even pushed the battle line back ten kilometers alive.

After nightfall, General He and Qi Zhen went to check on the casualties.

The wounded soldiers, some with broken arms, some with lost legs, and some with wounded heads, were surrounded by strips of cloth.

The dead soldiers, some of whom only had one arm, one hand, and one head, were brought back by their comrades, and they were kept for later to be handed over to their families to build a grave.

Every soldier's face was pale with death, and the blood on his face mixed with yellow sand stuck on his face had to be wiped clean with biting cold water.

Finally, next to the pile of dead people, a medical officer was wiping a corpse, and when he looked closer, he realized that it was the adjutant general who was always by General He's side.

A few days ago, he was trained by Qi Zhen to be rough and rude, and now he was lying there, a blood mark ran from his left shoulder to his lower back, if it weren't for the chest cavity and ribs, he would have been in half a long time ago, but even so, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised.

General He walked over, picked up a white cloth and gently wiped the adjutant general's face: "Old brother, it's hard work, leave it to me next." ”

Back in the command room, the whole room was silent, and after a while, the soldier in charge of counting the number walked into the room with red eyes: "Report to the prince and general, nearly 18,000 people were killed and wounded in the 30,000 army in today's battle." ”

Qi Zhen's face turned white, but the general's eyes were red. No one answered, and the soldier bowed his head with tears in his eyes, and was about to cry, but the soldier replied to the little soldier before going out.

"Commander, how is the situation of the withdrawal of the people in the city?"

"General Hui, in the past few days, all the people have withdrawn to Lingzhou (a city under the Yumen Pass), but the distance is still too close, if the Yumen Pass is lost within seven days, the people fleeing along the way will soon be caught up by the Turkic cavalry."

"What about the grain and reinforcements?"

"The grain and grass in the city is only enough for the soldiers to eat for seven days, and the grain and grass brought from Shangjing have not yet arrived. Marshal Chen Xianzhong is leading an army of 40,000 from the east, and he was supposed to gather with us the day before yesterday, but there was no news for a long time, presumably he had encountered an ambush.

General Wu led 70,000 troops from the southwest, and it was expected that it would take another ten days. ”

"Seven days of food, enough. Set up my military order and inform General Wu that there is no need to rush to Yumen Pass, it can't be guarded, and the general must be asked to arrive in Lingzhou to protect the people along the road. Also, send fifteen cavalry to escort the four princes away. ”

Qi Zhen, who was speechless, got up from his chair: "Marshal, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to send soldiers to send me away at this time." ”

"Fourth prince, you have also seen that this situation can no longer be left for you, the last general thought that he could hold out for a few more days and wait for reinforcements, but in today's battle alone, our army lost two-thirds. You should return to Beijing as soon as possible, and you don't have to lose another prince in this battle. ”

"General, I have already lost more than half, and the remaining 10,000 soldiers are not a few, now that I am in charge, the morale of the soldiers is obviously higher, if I leave at this time, how will they guess.

Besides, Marshal Chen's situation is still unknown, and with the wisdom of the marshal, he will inevitably send vanguard troops to help, and it may not be necessary to arrive tomorrow. ”

Qi Zhen gathered his expression and said: "I am also a member of the Long Dynasty, more expensive than the prince, at this time I must not abandon my soldiers and abandon my people, General He does not need to say again, at this time, I will never leave." ”

General He still wanted to open his mouth to say something, but after the words of the fourth prince, he didn't know where to start, and after a long time, he made a question: "Then the general won't say anything anymore, just obey His Highness." ”

It was night, and there were some whispers in the house of the four princes.

"Lord Wang, Marshal Chen Xianzhong's army was ambushed by the Hui army on the south side of the cannibal Lingnan, and it will take four days at the latest to get out of trouble, and if you rush here, it will already be ten days away, if you don't leave at this time, wouldn't it be a good idea." A man's voice suddenly sounded in the darkness.

"When I came, I didn't expect that the Turkic army would be so fierce and fast, nor did I expect that the Turks would join forces with the Hui to attack my Dalong. The army is already under the city, and if I go back at this time, there will not be a few people in the court who speak of me in vain. The prince smiled: "I'm really a little embarrassed." ”

The man stopped answering, and the fourth prince continued: "Can you find out who the Turkic princess is ambushed by?" ”

"When the subordinates rushed to the Black Mountain Gorge, there was no trace of the scene being processed, and then went to Lord Xie, who was in charge of cleaning up the scene, and he said that the person who carried the waist card of the prince had already taken away the collected evidence.

In addition, two bodies were found in the bamboo forest ten kilometers away from the scene, and it was the brother who received my message and went to the scene in advance to check on them. The hands and eyes of the doer are open to the sky, and the water does not leak. ”

The man lowered his voice and asked, "Lord Wang, could it be the same group of people who ambushed the princess and stole the princess's body, but who did it do?" ”

"It's hard to say who it is, but it's obvious why. The eldest brother's mother's family is powerless, and this marriage with the Turks is just to use external forces to clear the internal thieves, I thought that there would be no mistakes in this marriage, but the people behind this would rather risk the soldiers entering the country and the country to limit the expansion of the eldest brother's power, which is interesting and interesting. ”

The man asked, "Then who does the prince think in the court can do this?" ”

The prince hooked his hair, raised the corners of his lips and looked at him and said, "I never speculate about things that I am not sure of, who is this person~?" Only after finding out the evidence will know. ”

"The subordinates understand, and they must find out who is behind the scenes. In addition, within three days, the Turkic army outside the Yumen Pass is bound to counterattack, and the prince will take care of himself at that time. ”

Qi Zhen waved his hand and walked to the couch and stopped talking.

The man in black quietly retreated, leaving only a quiet room. The moonlight poured in through the window, and Qi Zhen's complexion on the bed was more soft and exquisite.

The man touched the scar on his wrist, and a crying voice suddenly flashed in his mind: Xiao Jiu will never let the fourth brother be injured in the future, and Xiao Jiu will definitely protect the fourth brother in the future......