Eight years of auspicious charm, Chinese New Year's Eve.

Imperial capital.

Pei Zhang sat under the porch, the moon in the courtyard was bright and the snow was distinct. Pei Zhang's house in the imperial capital was served by only a few sporadic subordinates, and the house was so silent that the echo of his footsteps could be heard. A big piece suddenly draped over his shoulder, and Pei Yao stood silently behind him.

"Why are you back?" Pei Zhang asked without looking back.

"Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, and the female official of the palace who charters the family near the imperial capital is going home to visit relatives." Pei Yao was also wearing a dark purple palace dress under her cloak, and her hair was in a towering bun. She is not a few years older than Chu Zhixia, but she has a different kind of composure and coldness.

Pei Yao pulled up her skirt and sat beside him, and asked casually, "What are you doing sitting here alone?" ”

Pei Zhang took a deep breath and said, "There are already people in the DPRK who have begun to urge the matter of Gyeongju. I'm waiting for Miss Chu's reply. ”

"Is this a difficult thing to do?" Pei Yao asked.

"The difficulty is not to conquer Gyeongju, but to satisfy His Majesty without chilling the supporters of His Royal Highness King Qi. Wu Guang is officials forced the people to rebel, and Gyeongju is not all rebels, if it is a large-scale crusade and bloodshed, it will only outweigh the losses. Pei Zhang shook his head, "This is also the reason why Miss Chu has not done anything. ”

Pei Yao suddenly stood up and dusted off the snow dust on her skirt.

Pei Zhang looked at her unexpectedly, "Why are you going?" ”

"I'm going to cook for you." Pei Yao said, "Anyway, Gyeongju can't take it today, so you might as well eat first." ”

Pei Zhang looked at her cold face, a little wanted to laugh, and a little incredible, "You can also cook?" ”

"I learned it from other female officials." Pei Yao didn't have any expression, "You will eat it." Even if the sky falls tomorrow, you have to eat, don't you? ”

——

Gyeongju.

The sound of gold pierced through the red-hot sky.

Cheng Yuan struggled to pull out his feet from the corpses piled up everywhere, and raised his eyes to look at the uncertain battlefield and the breached gate of Bicheng.

The corpses of the coalition and the rebels are entangled in one place, and blood and fire flow freely across the charred land. The defenders of Bicheng opened the city gate to meet the coalition forces head-on, and the city gate behind them was locked. The allied cavalry charged, followed by the foot soldiers, and in the end, they could only distinguish friend and foe according to the difference in the color of the clothes of the two sides, and their eyes were already numb to blood, and cutting people was like chopping wheat.

Cheng Yuan was unconsciously separated from Chu Zhixia in the rush, he wanted to kill a bloody way to find Chu Zhixia, but found that he couldn't finish killing at all.

Cheng Yuan's mouth was dry, and he only felt an evil fire burning from his stomach to his throat.

"Miss?" Cheng Yuan shouted nervously as he walked, "Miss! ”

"The alias is lost."

Cheng Yuan's footsteps were certain, looking left and right, in addition to the coalition soldiers cleaning the battlefield, there were only piles of corpses around him. Cheng Yuan walked around the corpse mountain, but did not find the source of the sound, and suspected in horror that he had seen a ghost.

"Stupid or not?" The tired voice said again, "Look up." ”

As soon as Cheng Yuan looked up, he saw the Great Zhou Army flag planted on the corpse like a small mountain bag.

Chu Shixia sat under the military flag, the unextinguished flame was like the afterglow of the sunset, and a layer of rose color burned on her cheeks. She was wearing a light red gold armor, her helmet had fallen somewhere, and the rest of her visor had been ripped off and thrown aside. A spear was inserted next to the military flag, and Chu Zhixia leaned on the gun to bandage his hand, and his messy hair rose and fell.

"Miss, are you injured?" Cheng Yuan climbed up and wanted to help her, but she deftly dodged her.

"Minor injury," Chu Zhixia said, "the gun is sharpened." Help me find the scabbard where I drank the snow. ”

Chu Zhixia jumped down from the pile of corpses and whistled somewhere. When Cheng Yuan was confused, he saw a snow-white foal running from not far away.

Cheng Yuan was a little surprised, "I thought it was ......"

"Xuecheng is a war horse, and when the situation is not right, he can find a way to escape." Chu Zhixia touched his back, grinned in pain, and said nonchalantly, "Fortunately, I wasn't trampled to death by it when I fell." ”

——

In the first battle of Bicheng, the rebels suffered heavy casualties.

Due to the fierce resistance of the Bicheng Lord, the coalition forces used trebuchets, and half of the city wall was smashed to pieces. The coalition army drove straight in, arrested all the retreating rebel leaders, and tied them to Chu Zhixia like a pig.

Bicheng changed hands.

According to the confession of the captive, there were three of Wu Guang's most powerful subordinates. One is a teacher in Cheongliu Town, Gyeongju, surnamed Yang, who is a staff member-like character; One is Wang Ji, the former captain of the Gyeongju garrison, who is the general of Gyeongju City; The last one is Wu Guang's brother-in-law, stationed at the last barrier of Gyeongju City-"

Chu Zhixia planted a small green flag in front of a valley, and everyone's eyes converged on that flag.

"Meridian Road."

The meridian road is located in the gap between the two mountains, and the city pass is impregnable. If you want to bypass the meridian road and go straight to Gyeongju City, you must climb those two steep mountains. Meridian Road is a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, backed by Gyeongju City, and is not afraid of being cut off from grain and grass transportation, let alone forming a siege.

"What's the general's plan?" The Lord of Yangzhou asked obediently.

If it was before, the lords of the four states would have been making calculations in private and talking about it cracklingly. But Chu Shixia won two battles in a row, and she maintained her majesty in the army, and no one dared to ignore her words, everyone waited for her to speak first.

Although everyone present was eager to fight this battle, Chu Zhixia's strategy and command made the previously indestructible Gyeongju army completely defeated, and they saw the hope of victory and the opportunity to make a name for themselves in this war.

If the peace talks are successful, then there will be nothing.

"Don't worry, we have another piece of news." Chu Zhixia took out an open secret letter and threw it on the sand table lightly.

"Just one day after the capture of Bicheng, Wu Guang announced that he would proclaim himself the king of Gyeongju and make the above three people dukes." Chu Zhixia repeated the contents of the secret letter in the surprised eyes of everyone, and his tone was calm, "All those who responded to my peace talks have been executed. ”

Chu Zhixia gave Wu Guang two paths, one was to watch his subordinates fall apart and have different intentions, and then be defeated by the coalition forces in one go; The other way is to be betrayed by the surrender faction, and even personally take off his head to make a petition to the imperial court.

But Wu Guang didn't choose either.

Before he proclaimed himself king, Wu Guang was just a small grass-headed people who rebelled vigorously; After proclaiming himself king, he was the definitive leader of the rebels, a rebel who tried to overthrow the emperor. The purpose of establishing his own name is to make a name for himself, which also means that he does not intend to negotiate peace with the coalition forces at all, but will not die.

The atmosphere in the tent dropped to freezing point.

"Peace talks broke down." Chu Zhixia announced lightly.

"All the captives who refused to surrender were beheaded, and their heads were hung at the head of Bicheng City as an example. If the rebel commander refuses to write a letter of surrender, he will be treated equally. ”