??????? Three days later, the Zhou army suddenly attacked Haozhou at night, and the emperor Chai Rong personally led the army to invade from Nanguancheng, and the Tang warships guarding outside the city and the Zhou army's naval army fought together. After several days of fierce fighting, the Zhou army suddenly set fire to it at night. There are snow particles from time to time after the winter in Haozhou. But in those days, the sun was sunny and dry, and in the blink of an eye, the warships of the Tang Army were burned into a sea of fire. The outer city was lost, and more than 10,000 soldiers who defended the city were killed. There was a panic in the main city of Haozhou.

The news was reported back to Jinling, and the court was also in chaos, with those who fought the main battle, those who sued for peace, and those who abandoned the city, each holding their own opinions. Only Xu Kai played: "Your Majesty, please recall the prince quickly." ”

Emperor Li Jing's mind was already full of confusion, and he was even more anxious when he heard Xu Kai's recital, the prince was still on the battlefield in Haozhou, in case there were three long and two short, but the country would not be guaranteed. Hurriedly sent 3,000 Yulin troops to Haozhou, no matter what, to recall the prince. As far as the ditch is concerned.

Li Jing's edict was issued three times in three consecutive days. But the prince turned a deaf ear, stuck to the battlefield in Haozhou, refused to come back no matter what, swore to live with Haozhou, and sent 30,000 soldiers and horses from Sizhou to intercept the back road of the Zhou army.

Inside Jinling City. The statement and Qi Zhengxiu sat opposite the table in the courtyard in the back alley of He Mansion, and the war made them all a little anxious, and the statement said: "Zijie, you better go and persuade the prince to come back." Haozhou saw that he was no longer guaranteed and couldn't catch the prince. The emperor's edict has been issued three times, and he refuses to come back, I'm afraid that only you can persuade him to come back. ”

Qi Zhengxiu's face. It was Ling Yan, who had never been before, brought the prince back, and the army's morale was unstable, which meant that he gave up Haozhou. It's another city, he can understand the grief and indignation in the prince's heart, why shouldn't he! However, if he leaves Jinling, Haozhou will really be over. It's just that the Zhou army's attack is too fast, and if he waits for another day, Cui Li can transfer a thousand soldiers and horses from the outer city of Jinling to guard the back alley, and he can withdraw and go to Jinling to find the prince. But now, he can't go.

The statement saw that Qi Zhengxiu was silent. I couldn't figure out what he was thinking for a while, but he must have something more far-reaching. Then he said: "Xu Kai will also come over later, and listen to what opinions the court has." ”

As soon as the words fell, a guard suddenly came in and whispered a few words in Qi Zhengxiu's ear. Qi Zhengxiu's face suddenly turned pale as snow. The statement stood up: "What's wrong?" ”

Qi Zhengxiu didn't speak, and strode out. The statement was unclear, so he went out with Qi Zhengxiu. After a few steps, he arrived at the Hefu Courtyard, and the statement was a little surprised, and asked, "You want to go in?" ”

Qi Zhengxiu frowned, kicked open the door of the Hefu Courtyard, and the guards guarding the door saw that it was Qi Zhengxiu, who was not only He Gongzi's best friend, but also the husband of the eldest lady, and didn't know how to stop it for a while, so he had to watch Qi Zhengxiu with a statement, and followed a team of guards into the courtyard.

Qi Zhengxiu walked straight to the backyard, and walked to He Zhitang's courtyard in a few steps, and as expected, the person he had been waiting for was standing in the house and talking fiercely with He Zhitang.

Qi Zhengxiu's voice was very flat, but there was no trace of warmth: "Zhixun, are you back?" ”

He Zhixun turned his head, and Qi Zhengxiu, who was dressed in plain white, was wearing a green jade crown, standing in front of him with a long body, and was a little stunned for a while: "Why did you come here so quickly?" ”

"Don't want to see me?" Qi Zhengxiu sneered, "I've been guarding the back alley for so many days, just waiting for today, how can I not be happy?" It's just that I'm disappointed that you dare to come back. ”

He Zhixun's face also changed, and the surprise just now faded, and a layer of coldness floated on: "Qi Zhengxiu, you and Li Hongji have always believed me?!" ”

"The prince doesn't believe you, how can he give you a talisman to go out of the city?" Qi Zhengxiu shook his head helplessly, but the prince still didn't remember his words. He told him not to hand over the talisman of Haozhou City out of the city to the He family's father and son, but in the end it was in vain.

"You still have the face to tell the letter?" The statement has understood the situation, and he can't bear to speak, "You have done this kind of thing, and you are embarrassed to let others believe you?" Do you believe that you just watched you come back and prepare to pack up and take your family away, and then surrender to Zhou Gou? ”

"That's enough." He Zhixun said sharply to the statement, "You guys are shrinking in Jinling, do you know what Haozhou has become?" Do you know how I feel when I go out with my head every day, and I don't know if I can come back with my head again? He Zhixun ripped off his shirt, revealing a piece of scars, "I'm like this, my father is like this, we are all desperately trying to protect Haozhou, but Haozhou can't protect it, do you know, Wu Yue is going to send troops to help the Zhou army fight us, Jing Chu's warship has arrived in Ezhou, we can't even beat the Zhou army, and there are sieges from other countries, how can we fight?" Datang is going to die sooner or later, I don't want to wait for death. ”

Before he finished speaking, the statement had already rushed up to He Zhixun is punch: "Bad seed." It's a pity that he is a civil official, and when he punched down, He Zhixun just tilted back, without any reaction, and scolded loudly: "Are you still a man?" The country is in danger, you can't fight and run, disloyal and unjust, as a general, you would rather die on the battlefield than surrender to the enemy, do you understand? ”

He Zhixun sneered: "I don't understand. You know, why don't you go to war? ”

"Bastard!" The statement was so angry that he jumped into anger, "How can you say such a thing, I am a civil official, Zijie is the prince's attendant, and he has no right to lead troops, but he has always accompanied the prince on the battlefield, and there is still residual poison on his body that seals his throat with blood." Do you still have the face to say? Could it be that the imperial court keeps you generals like shrunken kings for the sake of fighting? You're not as good as Wang Ba! ”

He Zhixun shook his head in pain, he didn't want to surrender, as a man and a general, it was a great shame to surrender. But the outcome of this battle has been clearly laid out in front of us, and no matter how it is fought, it will be defeated. He couldn't see his brother who shared weal and woe, he was still talking one moment, and the next moment his head was cut off by Zhou Jun, rolled under the horse's hooves, and was trampled to pieces.

Every day the dead are a senseless struggle. There is no light, no prospects, just a dying sway. He couldn't stand it. And since Zhao Kuangyi sneaked to his camp that night and told him that there would be reinforcements coming, he was even more desperate. Zhao Kuangyi's ability to persuade surrender is good, and his determination and momentum made He Shizhong's father and son hesitate.

After thinking about it for a few days, with the fall of the outer city of Haozhou, He Shizhong finally decided to surrender. It's just that before surrendering, he had to take He Zhitang and He Zhilan over, otherwise once they surrendered, the people of the He family would be dead, and he was reluctant to leave his daughter, so he asked He Zhixun to come back and secretly take them over. It's just that I heard that Qi Zhengxiu returned to Jinling, and I was a little worried.

He Zhixun pondered for a while, Qi Zhengxiu had a good relationship with him, and he had a marriage contract with Zhitang, so he would rather watch them die than let them go. In the end, he returned to Jinling.

He Zhixun looked at Qi Zhengxiu and said: "Zijie, let my He family go, you and Zhitang have a marriage contract, if you can protect her, I will only take Zhilan." ”

Qi Zhengxiu's lips hooked up a chill: "I don't negotiate conditions with the rebel generals. If you want to take the people here, you can, step on me! ”

He Zhitang's heart "bang" and "bang" began to hurt one by one, she was wrong, she was all wrong. She thought that Qi Zhengxiu was guarding the back alley to protect her, but she never expected that he was just to warn her father and brother who were fighting in Haozhou that her and Zhilan's lives were in his hands, and he didn't dare to surrender to the Zhou army. Intellectually, my father and brother shouldn't have the idea of surrendering, and she shouldn't follow her brother? But emotionally, her heart hurt terribly. In addition to scheming, does he not even have any affection for himself? She sat on the side with her chest clutched, struggling to **. Yun Niang hurriedly handed over a pill to He Zhitang to take.

He Zhixun looked at He Zhitang's appearance, felt a pain in his heart, turned around and walked out of the courtyard and said coldly to Qi Zhengxiu: "People, I must take it away." If you can't beat it, don't talk nonsense. ”

Qi Zhengxiu also rushed out of the courtyard with a flick of his robe, stating that his head was a little big, although Qi Zhengxiu's kung fu was good, but He Zhixun was born as a military general after all, so he was afraid that he would not be able to beat him. Before he had time to think about it, the two people in the courtyard had already fought together, and He Zhixun made a strong move, because he wanted to take away the He Zhitang sisters in a hurry, every move was ruthless, and Qi Zhengxiu was like a swimming dragon, dodging flexibly. He knew that he couldn't beat He Zhixun now, but he had to stall for time.

Their movements had already alarmed the entire courtyard, Xiao Tao ran from the house to the courtyard of the eldest lady, watching the two of them fighting inseparably, although I don't know why they were fighting, but Xiao Tao's heart had already hung on Qi Gongzi's body. Since that night, her heart has been full of Qi Zhengxiu's figure with all her heart and eyes. At the moment, I am even more worried about him.

The two fought for an hour and still didn't know the winner, but Qi Zhengxiu was gradually at a disadvantage, and as the fight progressed, the residual poison on his body that saw blood and sealed his throat began to jump everywhere because of the heat in his body, and Qi Zhengxiu's whole body itched badly. Xiao Tao saw that he was uncomfortable, and his heart was also wrenching, He Zhixun took advantage of Qi Zhengxiu's inability to take care of him, flew up and kicked Qi Zhengxiu to the ground, and turned around and kicked again. Xiao Tao didn't have time to think about it, and subconsciously rushed up to drag Qi Zhengxiu on the ground, He Zhixun's foot swept on Xiao Tao's side chest, how could Xiao Tao withstand He Zhixun's kick, and fell into Qi Zhengxiu's arms, a sharp pain almost closed his breath, and after a pause, he took a breath lightly and coughed up two mouthfuls of blood.

Qi Zhengxiu's heart tightened, and he quickly took Xiao Tao aside, turned around and kicked He Zhixun's chest, and the move was fatal. The itching pain on his body became even worse, Qi Zhengxiu's eyes began to bloom, and his steps began to be unsteady. He Zhixun suddenly saw a bamboo pole standing next to the wall, waved it and poked it at Qi Zhengxiu.

The statement shouted loudly: "Enough, He Zhixun, you won't want his life, right?" ”