Chapter 4: The Return (2)

However, at this moment, Zheng Ziming and the others could not have the slightest joy in their hearts to deceive the enemy, and one by one with a blue face, they frantically instigated their war horses to chase after the other brothers who retreated first.

Otherwise, that General Xiao would never have braved the pouring rain to march for hundreds of miles day and night, just to prove the endurance and courage of the Khitans.

Some people deliberately leaked the news that Zheng Ziming had infiltrated Liaodong to save his father to the Khitans! Some people did not want Zheng Ziming to return to the Great Zhou and wanted him to die in Yingzhou! And those who knew about his infiltration into Liaodong were only His Majesty the Great Zhou Emperor Guo Wei and a few of the Emperor's henchmen and important ministers!

"No, the Khitan people just said that his general received a message, not an order, nor a holy decree!" Li Shun'er suddenly shouted angrily, faintly with a little emptiness.

Although Tao Dachun's conversation with the Khitans just now was blunt and intermittent, it still revealed many key issues. If the Khitan Emperor ordered his generals to lead his troops to hunt down Zheng Ziming, it would definitely not be a message, at least in the form of a military order, or directly issue a holy decree to all the Khitan generals near Yingzhou, ordering them to lay a net of heaven and earth.

And the surname Xiao left three days ago because he received a message, which shows that the person who informed him of the news may not have a high status in the Liao State, at least, he does not have any jurisdiction over him. Or, ashamed of himself, did not have the courage to give him orders!

"We set off from Qizhou half a month ago, and after three days, it is twelve days and nights. Inspired by Li Shun's words, Guo Xin also frowned and emphasized loudly.

Regardless of the source of the Khitans, whether it is the Qizhou front line or Bianliang, at this moment, his position is very awkward. Because among all the core generals of the Heng Navy, he is the only one, and he is from the Guo family. The others are all old brothers brought out by Zheng Ziming himself, and their interests, future and even life are linked together early.

"Twelve days, it's enough for the Khitan to send the news back to Shangjing from Bianliang!" The third person to open his mouth was Zheng Ziming's brother-in-law Tao Dachun. Although he didn't read much, his knowledge was no worse than that of those old scholars who were full of books and five classics. "Therefore, it is very likely that the news was not deliberately spread by someone, but was inadvertently detected by the Khitan, but he couldn't distinguish the truth from the false, and he didn't dare to report it to Yelu Ruan, so he could only try his best to remind the nearby troop leaders to pay attention!"

Listening to his analysis, the big guy's heart suddenly felt a little hot again. His head hung down as low as before, and his face finally became a little bloody.

"Then it can't be the news from the army, Qizhou is the closest to the Liao State, as long as the news is sent across the river, it can be sent to Shangjing quickly!"

"It's impossible to get from our Cangzhou. We didn't even enter the city when we went back, we boarded the ship directly from the harbor!"

"Of course, the biggest possibility is Bianliang, Wenchen has always had a big mouth, and there are some things that the whole world knows about!"

......

In an instant, the discussion was noisy, and everyone became the master of the criminal name, from the news to the scaly claw, they kept cutting through the cocoon, hoping to dig out the mastermind behind the entire leak.

"It is indeed possible that it is a civil official in Bianliang, the Privy Council, the Zhongshu Province and various ministries, and there are too many people who can leak the news. It was still Tao Dachun, who glanced at Zheng Ziming and deliberately said it with great certainty.

This is perhaps the most reassuring inference for everyone. Otherwise, the big guys were born and died in Liaodong, but there were people in the rear who hoped that they would never survive. Such an answer is too heavy and too cold. It's enough to completely crush everyone in a short period of time.

Zheng Ziming's hint to Tao Dachun understood it. smiled, and used an iron shovel to guide the party, "It doesn't matter who leaks the news, it's only serious to hurry up." Get on the boat and go for a big boat. As long as we can change the big ship in time and go all the way to the east, even if the Khitans come with thousands of troops, what can we do?"

"The general is right, no matter who leaks the news, for us, getting on the ship is the most important thing!"

"Hurry, hurry up!"

"Get on the boat, then get to the old estuary, and then change to a big boat and go down the river!"

"Get on the boat, get on the boat......"

When the brothers heard this, their spirits were lifted again. Even more frantically instigated the war horses, galloping towards the Sancha River, where the boat was hidden in advance.

Four legs can run faster than two, even in muddy conditions. After only running for about half an hour, they caught up with Tao Yong, Zhang Biao, Wang Guigui and others. Then the big guys took turns to ride on horseback to rest their strength, and finally arrived at the scheduled meeting place at about midnight. ，

"Squeak, squeak, squeak......" threw the exhausted war horse behind him, and Li Shun immediately blew the brass flute.

This kind of communication object unique to the Cangzhou army makes an extremely sharp sound, and even in a very noisy environment, it can be heard more than two miles away. However, behind the dark night, there was no response from the same flute. Only the sound of the river roaring by, "Boom, boom, boom!" is like a muffled thunder, constantly tormenting people's nerves.

"Tao Xiu, Li Zhi, where are you two dead!" Instinctively feeling that something was wrong, Tao Dachun jumped off his mount and went straight to the riverside in his memory.

The location of the ship was very hidden, and there was no one for twenty miles around, and the brothers who stayed behind to guard the ship were very unlikely to be discovered by the enemy.

There was still no response, only the sound of his legs stepping into the mud. "Goo-dong, goo-dong, goo-dong!"

"Come back, danger!" Zheng Ziming suddenly shouted from the back of his throat, and at the same time, picked up a ball of leather rope from Li Shun's mount and threw it towards Tao Dachun's head, "Catch it, tighten the rope." It's a seasonal river!"

"What?" Tao Dachun was taken aback, instinctively stopped, and went to pick up the rope according to Zheng Ziming's order. It was too late, it was too fast, and at the moment when his palm had just tightened the rope, a strong force suddenly came from under his feet, which staggered his whole body, and thanks to the pull of the rope, he avoided falling on the spot.

"Everyone, retreat, hurry back!" Zheng Ziming put the rope on his shoulders and dragged Tao Dachun backwards in the direction away from the riverbank bushes. Tao Dachun was pulled by him and staggered a few steps, looked down carefully, only to find that the mud had already spread to his waist, if he was accidentally pushed down by the undercurrent just now, I am afraid that he would have to be washed away without a trace immediately!

"Boat, where is the ship?" Li Shun was still unwilling, took out the fire fold and the torch for emergency use from the oilcloth bag on his chest, and worked hard to ignite it.

The firelight suddenly illuminated the river beach in front of him.

There are no boats and no river banks. The reeds that used to hide the ship have been replaced by a vast mud. The Sancha River, which was only two zhang wide a day ago, has now become a yellow "sea". From time to time, waves rolled down the trees and stones, smashing the surface of the "sea" into white smoke and thick fog.

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