The crowd lurked in the grass, waiting patiently. It was quiet, with the occasional insect chirping sound or two. Li Zhiyun looked up at the sky, the moon had disappeared, and the stars in the sky were twinkling, the brightest of which was Sirius. Sirius is the main conquest, and every autumn and winter, Sirius appears in the middle of the sky. He estimated that the third watch had arrived, and said softly: "Let's start." Zhang Zheng agreed, stood up and waved his hand, and led more than a hundred guards to rush towards the camp, while Li Zhiyun and Yu Wenxin stayed in place to watch the battle.

Everyone ran to a place forty or fifty steps away from the camp, and was discovered by the other party's sentry, who shouted: "What man? The people did not answer, but quickened their pace. The sentry hurriedly shouted and woke everyone in the yurt.

The guards rushed to the front with lightning speed, and in a burst of slashing, quickly eliminated a dozen sentinels. One of the guards took out a scythe, lit the torches that had been prepared, and threw them at the yurt.

The fire borrowed the wind, and the wind helped the fire, and more than a dozen yurts were ablaze. The people in the yurt couldn't resist the scorching heat, and ran out one by one, all of them were killed by the guards waiting outside. The fire grew more and more intense, and the guards retreated ten feet away. Constantly people ran out of the fire, covered in flames, staggered a few steps, and finally fell to the ground.

After the fire was extinguished, Li Zhiyun led the people back to the camp. The next day, news spread across the grassland that they had killed Xue Ju's envoy. Mohedosh sent a group of Turkic soldiers to surround the camp, and no one was allowed to go out.

Li Zhiyun didn't know what Mo Helu was going to do next, and just when he was nervous, Zhang Changxun came. As soon as they met, he said, "Your Highness, you are so bold! Come with me to see Mohedus! With that, he pulled Li Zhiyun out of the camp.

The two rode to the station set up by Mo Helu and walked into the yurt. Li Zhiyun glanced at it, and Mo Helu was sitting there, glaring at him angrily. To the left and right of Mo Hedu, there stood a group of sturdy guards with swords and swords, and their faces were full of murderous energy.

Li Zhiyun was just about to step forward and salute, but Mo He pointed with his hand and shouted, "Arrest this King of Chu for me!" As soon as the guards heard this, they agreed, and they stepped forward to arrest Li Zhiyun. Zhang Changxun hurriedly said: "Slow! Wait! Mo Helushe, the king of Chu has something to say, and it's not too late for you to wait for him to finish speaking. Mo He set up a hearing and glared at Li Zhiyun and said, "You say, why did you kill Xue Ju's envoy, who gave you this power?" ”

Li Zhiyun calmly: "Mo Hexuan, this king is doing this completely for your consideration." ”

"For me?"

Li Zhiyun nodded and said, "The day before yesterday, you made an agreement with this king, saying that you would not send troops to assist Xue Ju. However, Xue Ju sent someone to send so much gold, silver and jewelry, and you can't help but accept it. In order for you to accept those possessions with peace of mind, this king led people to kill Xue Ju's messenger. This way, you don't have to be torn between them. ”

"However, if I accept money and do nothing, will I not be criticized?"

"You can push it on this king. It is the king who is hindering you from fulfilling your promise. ”

Mo Helu listened, his eyes rolled a few times, and he felt that he didn't seem to have suffered a loss, so he slowed down and said, "You Han people, you are really cunning. Forget it, I'm not going to get involved in anything between you. With that, he waved his hand and told the guards to stand back.

When Zhang Changxun saw it, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, Li Zhiyun still refused to stop, and arched his hand: "Mo Hedu, this king has another request. ”

"What requirements?" Mo Helu frowned.

"The three counties of Wuyuan, Wudu, and Danqu are the homeland of the Central Plains, and this king asks you to return these three counties to the Tang Dynasty."

What? When Mo He heard this, his eyes widened, and his eyeballs almost fell from his sockets to the ground. Damn, I just pardoned him for murder, and he made such an excessive request, is this King of Chu crazy? He only sent a few boxes of gold and silver, not only broke up his alliance with Xue Ju, but also wanted to return the three counties. Everyone says that I am Mo He is greedy, this King of Chu is much more greedy than Lao Tzu!

Mo He's face turned pale, and he shouted loudly: "Come on, tie up this bullshit King Chu and burn him to death on the fire!" The guards agreed, and stepped forward to arrest Li Zhiyun again. Zhang Changxun was so frightened that his forehead was sweating, and he hurriedly raised his hands and shouted: "Slow! Wait! Mohe, I have something to say! ”

Li Zhiyun swept Zhang Changxun with his eyes, and was secretly proud in his heart. The reason why he asked Mo Helu to return the land of the three counties in front of Zhang Changxun was to force Zhang Changxun to express his position. Zhang Changxun is a Confucian scholar who reads poetry and books, he has seen a lot of this kind of people, and they are full of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. Li Zhiyun saved his father and was his great benefactor, if he watched Li Zhiyun being killed by Mo Hedu, then he would have to bear the infamy of ingratitude, which made him even more uncomfortable than killing him. Therefore, he must come forward to block the bullet for Li Zhiyun.

Sure enough, Zhang Changxun arched his hand and said: "Mo He, what the King of Chu just said is actually my idea. After all, I am from the Central Plains, and sooner or later I will have to return to the Central Plains. But don't worry, we are still friends, if you have a war with other tribes in the future, as long as you send someone to bring me a message, I will immediately bring troops to you, at your disposal! ”

Mo He heard that it was Zhang Changxun's idea, so it was another matter. He secretly calculated in his heart that if he refused Zhang Changxun's request to return to the Tang Dynasty, the two sides would inevitably have an unhappy quarrel, and maybe they would turn against each other. In that way, he added an opponent. Anyway, it can't be stopped, it's better to be a favor, everyone is good to get together and disperse, and it will be a big help when you need him in the future.

Mo He's face softened, and he said, "Since Mr. Zhang insists on returning to the Tang Dynasty, I don't have to say anything, let's be a friendly neighbor in the future." ”

After walking out of the yurt, Zhang Changxun took out a handkerchief and wiped the fine sweat on his forehead, and said, "Your Highness, you can scare me a lot today." Li Zhiyun said apologetically: "Lord Zhang, I didn't consult you in advance, so I forced you to make a statement, which made you embarrassed, and this king will give you the guilt." Zhang Changxun waved his hand and said, "Don't get in the way." Actually, my father also asked me to return to Datang, but I just haven't made up my mind yet. Today, I forced you to make a decision, and my heart was relaxed. ”

After Zhang Changxun returned to the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court changed Wuyuan County to Fengzhou, and Zhang Changxun was appointed as the governor of Fengzhou. Mo He also severed contact with Xue Ju and no longer received Xue Ju's envoys.

Li Zhiyun completed the mission of the Turks and returned to Chang'an through Guanglu City. After walking for a month, everyone finally set foot on the land of Guanzhong again.

On this day, as the team marched on the official road, they suddenly saw a fierce battle going on in an open field in front of them, thousands of soldiers scuffling together, shouting of killing and the clashing of weapons.

Li Zhiyun took off the binoculars hanging on his chest, raised them up to observe, and saw more than 100 mule and horse carts parked in a row on the official road in front of him, and the carts were piled with bags of grain, and the soldiers on both sides fought desperately around the grain trucks. Judging from the color of the armor on the soldiers, one side should be the Tang army, and the other side is probably Xue Ju's army, and the Tang army is small in number and is in an extremely disadvantageous position.

As soon as Li Zhiyun put down the binoculars, he saw Yu Wenxin driving a horse from the front. He came to him and said loudly: "Lord Wang, it may be that our Datang's grain transportation team has been attacked by the enemy, what should we do?" ”

Li Zhiyun was categorical: "Since we met, what else is there to say besides going into battle?" When Yu Wenxin heard this, he hugged his fists and said: "Lord Wang, please allow him to rush up without leading people, and kill him without leaving a piece of armor!" ”

"Okay."

Yu Wenxin drew his sword and said loudly: "Zhang Zheng, Cai Hu, you two protect the prince, and the others follow me!" With that, he turned his horse's head and led more than a hundred guards to rush forward.

After all, Yu Wenxin is a battle-hardened general, brave and decisive, and those guards are all elites selected from the army, brave in battle, and strong in martial arts. Although their number is not too large, they can be ten at a time, and they are overwhelming.

The battle has been going on for some time, and the soldiers on both sides are fighting with all their might. Therefore, with the addition of this living force, the balance of victory finally tilted to the side of the Tang Army. Xue Ju's soldiers gradually became unable to parry, and had to withdraw from the battlefield, and fled in a magnificent manner.

The battle was over, and Li Zhiyun took Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu over on horseback. The battlefield was in shambles, with the corpses of soldiers killed on both sides strewn everywhere, and some seriously wounded soldiers lying on the ground groaning. Several grain trucks were overturned, and sacks of grain were scattered everywhere.

Some of the exhausted soldiers sat on the ground to rest, some were busy carrying the corpses of their comrades, and some were collecting the food scattered on the ground.

Li Zhiyun turned over and dismounted, leading the horse forward. He looked around, hoping to find an acquaintance. At this time, a large soldier walked over. He hurriedly stopped and said with a smile: "Big brother, take the trouble to inquire, who is your chief?" The big man stopped, glanced at him, turned and pointed with his hand, "Well, that kid is our chief." ”

Li Zhiyun looked in the direction of his finger and saw a young man sitting on the ground three feet away, who looked about the same age as himself. He was covered in armor and his face was covered in blood, and he couldn't make out his face at all. A man was crouching beside the boy, bandaging the wound on his arm.

Li Zhiyun handed the reins to Zhang Zheng and walked over. When he arrived, he stared at the boy carefully for a long time, and finally recognized it. Hey, isn't this Liu Shuyi? Li Zhiyun hurriedly shouted "Shuyi". Liu Shuyi raised his head and looked at him stunned, and suddenly surprised: "Zhiyun, why are you?" ”