The middle-aged man shouted, "You rebels! You must not die well! You must not die well! ”

Yang Peng ignored him and turned to check on the woman and child. Then it was discovered that the woman was in fact only eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in the garb of a maidservant, with a delicate face, a face pale with fright, and lips trembling; And the child in his arms, four or five years old, looked stupid, gorgeously dressed, and had blood stains on his body, but he didn't seem to be injured.

Yang Peng asked, "Little girl, who are you?" The girl came back to her senses. looked at Yang Peng, his eyes were full of vigilance, and said, "You, who are you?" Yang Peng smiled: "Don't be afraid, I'm a good person, I won't hurt you!" ”

When the girl heard Yang Peng say this, and thought that it was the person in front of her who saved her and the little master's lives just now, the vigilance and uneasiness in her heart immediately turned into gratitude, and she knelt down with a plop and bowed: "Thank you for saving your life!" She knelt down, but she held the child tightly in her arms.

Yang Peng picked up the girl, pointed to the middle-aged man with a crazy look who was controlled by the secret guards, and asked, "Who is he?" Why did he kill you? The girl glanced at the middle-aged man, her eyes showed a look of fear and incomprehension, and she subconsciously shrank behind Yang Peng, crying: "He, he is the master, he ......" Yang Peng was very surprised, frowned, and asked: "He is Cao Tong, the prefect of Daozhou?" ”

The girl nodded, and said fearfully: "Master, he killed all the ladies, and he still wants to kill the young master!" I, I ......" Speaking of this, she suddenly rolled her eyes and fell down, but although she fell, she still held her little master. Yang Peng hurriedly checked her situation and found that there was nothing serious, she just fainted. At this time, the little young master finally woke up and cried out: "Mother, mother......"

Yang Peng ordered a few secret guards to take the two of them down. Standing up and walking in front of Cao Tong, Cao Tong glared at Yang Peng angrily and shouted: "Rebellion! If people don't punish them, heaven will punish them! ”

Yang Peng frowned, and said: "Zhao Song has no way, making the people unhappy and alien invasion, you actually killed your own wife and concubine for such a royal family, and you also want to kill your own children!" ”

Yang Peng glared and said: "I was born as Zhao Chen, and died as a Zhao ghost, since we can't keep the country for Your Majesty, we must be loyal to Your Majesty by death!" You rebel and thief, I only hate that I can't kill you! ”

Yang Peng only felt speechless, shook his head and sighed: "What an out-and-out loyal dog, the loyal slave of the Zhao family!" Cao Tong shouted and suddenly rushed towards Yang Peng. However, as soon as his body moved, he was slammed back by the two guards who were holding him! Although Cao Tong couldn't pounce on Yang Peng's body, he still opened his teeth and claws and shouted: "Yang Peng, I won't let you go if I'm a ghost!" I won't let you go if I'm a ghost! If you, as a courtier, commit rebellion, you will not die a good death, and you will not die a good death! ”

Wang Kai was indignant, hugged his fist at Yang Peng and said, "Master, kill him!" Cao Tong shouted: "A death will repay Jun's grace, and the snow will be full of mountains and rivers!" I died as I deserved, I deserved! ”

Yang Peng shook his head and said: "What he did before was just his duty as a courtier of Zhao Song, and it was not a crime. As for the act of killing wives and concubines, it was also before our army occupied this place, and we should not take care of it. Let him go. Wang Kai was very depressed, and the two secret guards who held Cao Tong let go of Cao Tong.

Cao Tong originally thought that he would definitely die, but he didn't expect the other party to let him go, and he couldn't help but feel incredulous, then glared at him, and asked sharply: "Yang Peng, don't play conspiracy, kill if you want to!" ”

Yang Peng was too lazy to talk nonsense with him, and said, "Throw him out for me." The two secret guards answered, and immediately set up Cao Tong and ran outside. Cao Tong felt insulted to his dignity and shouted and cursed.

Yang Peng saw that there were blood stains in the corridor that extended all the way to the back hall not far away, thinking of what the maid said just now, he frowned and walked along the blood stains. A moment later, when they came to the back hall, they saw four gorgeously dressed women of different ages lying in a pool of blood, each with a look of great horror on their faces. Yang Peng sighed and muttered, "This is loyalty? It's clearly a brute! Confucianism has turned man into a beast, and it should have been eliminated a long time ago! ”

Hurried footsteps could be heard outside the door. Yang Peng turned around and saw the two secret guards who were escorting Cao Tong to you just now rushed over. The two saluted, and one of them said: "Master, that Cao Tong is outside the gate, and he hit his head against the stone lion and died!" Yang Peng snorted and said, "This kind of person is dead!" Then he asked, "Where are you the little girl and the child?" Another secret guard clasped his fists and said, "Back to the master, the two of them are temporarily placed in the wing room of the mansion." Yang Peng nodded, "Let them live here for the time being." When the receiving officials come, they will be handed over. "Yes." In Yanyun, all orphans and elderly people who are helpless will be put into official institutions to be raised.

Yang Peng left Daozhou and went all the way south, and the soldiers pointed directly at Wuwang Mountain. This Wuwang Mountain, in the southernmost part of Jinghu South Road, is the remaining vein of Linhe Mountain, and it is the only way to enter Guangxi from the middle line of Jinghu South Road. According to the intelligence from the scouts not long ago, there were 10,000 Song army guards on Wuwang Mountain, and the guard was Cao Yong, who escaped from Dingzhou.

Turning his attention to Tanzhou, the Ninth Army of Yanyun led by Han Bing attacked Tanzhou, and the 10,000 Song troops in Tanzhou resisted desperately, but it was lost in only two days, and the Yanyun army broke through Tanzhou and the tide poured in. The city of Tanzhou was in chaos, the officials, scholars, and people rushed to flee outside the city, and some people took advantage of the chaos to rob their homes.

Cao Yong's wife and children, seeing the loss of Tanzhou and the chaotic situation, panicked, and didn't know what to do. At this moment, a group of officers and soldiers of the imperial court suddenly broke in and went straight into the lobby. Mrs. Cao originally thought that her husband had sent her to pick up her and the children, but when she saw their fierce appearance, she couldn't help but feel worried, and asked, "Who are you?" How dare you trespass into Cao Dashuai's mansion without permission? ”

The leading officer snorted coldly, clasped his fists into the sky and said, "By Your Majesty's order, I am here to pick up Cao Dashuai's family and go to Guangzhou!" Come on, take away! The officers and soldiers immediately stepped forward and suppressed the Cao family. Madame Cao was furious and shouted, "Are we prisoners? I want my lord to do his best for the Zhao family, but you dare to treat us like this? The officer said coldly: "Now that the situation is urgent, there is no need to take care of it!" Come on! Immediately led the officers and soldiers to escort the Wu family out, and the officers and soldiers shouted and dragged them, treating the Wu family with no politeness at all, and it was completely the same attitude towards prisoners!

The group came out of Cao's mansion. At this moment, someone suddenly exclaimed: "It's not good, it's Yanyun War Rider!" Everyone was taken aback, and hurriedly looked in the direction the man was looking, and saw a heroic and beautiful female general leading a team of war horses rushing forward, and everyone changed color when they landed.

Han Bing saw that there were many officials, soldiers and civilians in front of him, so he immediately waved his hand, and the war horse roared and rushed away, surrounding them. The officers and soldiers and the Cao family saw that the fierce Yanyun war cavalry surrounded them, and they were so frightened that they didn't know what to do, and those officers and soldiers completely lost the momentum of shouting and arresting people in the Cao family.

Han Bing came out of the crowd, glanced at everyone, and shouted: "Those who surrender will not be killed!" The officer immediately knelt down and shouted, "We surrender!" We surrender! Seeing this, the other officers and soldiers quickly knelt down one after another. However, everyone in the Cao family still stood and did not kneel.

Seeing that Mrs. Cao had an extraordinary bearing, Han Bing couldn't help asking, "Who are you?" Mrs. Cao's mind was racing, she wanted to hide her identity and deceive these Yan Yunjun, but after thinking about it, those officials and soldiers had surrendered, and it was impossible to hide the identities of these people. As soon as he thought of this, he walked to Han Bingma, smiled slightly, and said without humility or arrogance: "Back to the general's words, the old woman is the wife of Generalissimo Cao Yong!" ”

Han Bing was taken aback. Immediately, Mrs. Cao turned around and pointed at the others, and said, "They are also the family members of Generalissimo Cao Yong." Han Bing turned over and dismounted, hugged his fists and said: "It turned out to be Mrs. Cao, disrespectful and disrespectful!" Mrs. Cao replied: "Don't dare!" Seeing that this female general seemed to respect herself, she couldn't help but feel a lot more relieved. Han Bing glanced at the officer who was kneeling on the ground, and said puzzledly: "Since it is Marshal Cao's family, why are the officials and soldiers of Zhao Song acting as if they are escorting prisoners?" ”

Mrs. Cao couldn't help but get angry, looked at the officer, and said, "This is going to ask the general!" Han Bing looked at the officer. The officer swallowed his saliva and hurriedly said, "This is what Your Majesty and the Grand Master mean!" They were worried that Marshal Cao would defect to the enemy, so they sent a villain to lead people to Tanzhou to take Marshal Cao's family to Guangzhou, so that Marshal Cao would not have different intentions! ”

Mrs. Cao was angry and said angrily: "My lord is loyal to the official family, but I didn't expect the official family to be suspicious of my lord!" It's chilling! The officer was speechless.

Han Bing said to an officer beside him: "Take those officers and soldiers down and watch them." The officer clenched his fists and promised, immediately beckoned his men, and escorted the officers and soldiers down.

Mrs. Cao glanced at Han Bing curiously and asked, "Presumably the general is a certain lady of King Yan, right?" Han Bing smiled and nodded, "My name is Han Bing." Mrs. Cao suddenly realized and said: "I have long heard that Princess Han Bing helped King Yan to fight in the east and west, and has made countless contributions. Han Bing smiled slightly.

Madam Cao asked calmly, "I wonder what Princess Han Bing wants to do with us?" Han Bing glanced at the 'Cao Mansion' not far away, pointed there and asked, "That must be where you live, right?" Mrs. Cao glanced in the direction of Han Bing's finger and nodded.

Han Bing said: "Now that the war is not over yet, for the sake of safety, it is better for Mrs. Cao to stay at home!" Mrs. Cao nodded and said, "This is natural." Glancing at Han Bing, "I just don't know what the princess wants to do with us?" In fact, Mrs. Cao is not worried about herself, but about her children, because Cao Yong has always been an enemy of Yan Yunjun, Mrs. Cao is worried that Yan Yun will not let go of his family.

Han Bing saw Mrs. Cao's worries and said, "Mrs. Cao doesn't have to worry about anything, our Yan Yunjun will never hurt any innocent people!" Under Yan Yun's rule, your safety is guaranteed! ”

When Mrs. Cao heard this, she couldn't help but feel a little relieved, but she couldn't be completely relieved. Han Bing brought the Cao family back to the mansion, and she herself led the troops to continue to exterminate the remnants of the enemy. The battle lasted for more than half an hour before Tanzhou City gradually calmed down.

Mrs. Cao stood on the attic of her backyard and saw that Yan Yunjun was cleaning the battlefield, someone was in charge of patrolling, but no one broke into the people's homes, the whole city seemed very calm, and the terrible scene that was originally expected did not appear. Mrs. Cao was relieved and turned around and went back to the bedroom. Several children happened to come to their mother, and they all looked worried, and when they saw their mother, they didn't care about saluting, but talked nonsense. Mrs. Cao frowned and said, "Don't panic! The children stopped talking. Mrs. Cao looked at her eldest daughter and said, "You come on." ”

The eldest daughter hurriedly said: "Mother, now that the Yanyun Army has occupied Tanzhou, what should we do?" The children looked at their mothers in the hope that they would come up with an idea.

Madam Cao sighed, "In this case, what can I do?" I'm still most worried about your father! ”

The children frowned, and one of the sons said, "The Yanyun people will definitely take us into blackmailing our father to surrender!" As a father, I will definitely not agree! In this way, the Yanyun people will inevitably be annoyed and angry, we, we are dead! The faces of the people changed, the daughters could not help but weep, and the sons were sad and pale. Mrs. Cao frowned and shouted, "What do you look like! Don't forget, you are Cao Dashuai's children, how can you show such a cowardly look! Death is death, how can you disgrace your father? How can the Cao family be disgraced? ”

The children couldn't help but feel ashamed in their hearts, but they couldn't help but be afraid of the terrible outcome.

Mrs. Cao couldn't help but feel a feeling of love in her heart, sighed, and said, "If our family is really doomed this time, there is no way!" No matter what, my mother will always be by your side! The sons were silent, and the daughters sobbed again.

The people of Tanzhou City, even those who believed that it would be better under Yan Yun's rule, were all trembling and panicking. At a time when the situation is changing dramatically, everyone has a feeling that they are in the midst of stormy seas and their lives are not guaranteed. A day passed in trembling and uncertainty, and a night passed in a nightmare of panic and anxiety.

Early the next morning, the roosters in the city crowed, and the people dragged their tired bodies to their feet. Immediately, all the people saw an extremely shocking scene, they saw that those Yanyun soldiers who were the victors were all curled up and sleeping on both sides of the street, looking around, until the city gate, the huge snoring echoed on the street! How could the people have ever seen such an army, even the mouths of storytellers have never heard of it, the people couldn't help but burst into tears, and the vigilance and worry about Yan Yunjun in their hearts turned into nothing in an instant!

When Mrs. Cao heard the servant's report that all the soldiers of Yan Yunjun were sleeping on the street, she felt incredulous and immediately ran to the attic. Looking around, I saw that Yan Yun soldiers were sleeping on several main streets. Mrs. Cao's eyes blurred in an instant, and suddenly she understood, she understood why Yan Yunjun could rise in the land of Yan Yun's projectiles, why it could sweep the world in just a few years, and it was invincible!

Yang Peng led the Eighth Army to the foot of Wuwang Mountain, and saw that the wooden fence on Wuwang Mountain, which was steep and steep, was like a wall, with dense flags, and the army was in strict order, and he couldn't help but sigh: "Cao Yong is really not simple!" Defeated so badly on Jinghu South Road, he was able to stabilize his foothold! ”

The commander of the Eighth Legion said excitedly: "Sect Master, attack!" "The generals of the Ming Sect are all called Yang Peng by the sect leader.

Yang Peng looked at the precipitous situation of the mountains and the military village located in it, slowly shook his head, and said, "The terrain is too dangerous!" The trail is too narrow! With such a terrain, not to mention that he has 10,000 garrisons, even 1,000 people, it is difficult for us to attack the mountain with only stones! Si Xing's feverish mind was calmed down by Yang Peng's basin of cold water, he looked carefully at the terrain in front of him, and felt that King Yan was right, frowned and nodded, and asked; So what now? ”

Yang Peng said: "Since it is not easy to fight, don't fight for the time being, the army retreats ten miles to the village, waiting for news from other directions!" "Yes." The army then retreated ten miles, backed by the mountains, and set up camp according to the news. The soldiers of the Song army on the mountain couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they saw Yan Yunjun retreating.

Yang Peng camped at the foot of Wuwang Mountain and waited for the other directions to the west, and the groups from Shi Liancheng and Han Bing came one after another. The advance on both sides was also very smooth, Shi Liancheng connected the states and counties west of Jinghu South Road, most of which went down without a fight, while Han Bing took a little effort to capture Tanzhou on the east side of Jinghu South Road, and then it was effortless to seize all the states and counties. In the process of the armies of all walks of life sweeping the entire Jinghu South Road, the Mingjiao people played a very important role, and many prefectures and counties were either captured by the Mingjiao people before the arrival of the Yanyun army, or the Mingjiao people persuaded the state officials and county officials to surrender the city.

However, Shi Liancheng's march to Xixi Cave was also blocked by the dangerous terrain and the Song army; And Han Bing marched to the Yanshou Silver Pit at the junction of the Luoxiao Mountains and Nanling, and he couldn't move forward. It seems that Cao Yong has already made arrangements for the worst outcome a long time ago, and has arranged soldiers and horses in various dangerous places in Nanling Wanzhong Mountain. Although Yan Yun was like a bamboo all the way, it was difficult to break through the barrier of Nanling Wanzhong Mountain for a while.

Yang Peng received the report from Shi Liancheng and Han Bing, and couldn't help but think about it, he was thinking about whether to storm Nanling Wanzhong Mountain now, or to end the battle temporarily. If the battle ends at this time, it will undoubtedly give the Song army a chance to breathe, but even if it is attacked at this time, I am afraid that it will not reduce much loss, after all, Cao Yong has already arranged it in Nanling Wanzhong Mountain, and the rush to attack at this time also makes his side temporarily have little energy to stabilize the place, I am afraid that there will be some turmoil, but it will make it more energy to restore the place later, it is better to suspend the attack and digest the fruits of victory first! Steady and steady, now the initiative is completely in your own hands, and there is no need to rush! Maybe a little slowdown will lead to unexpected gains!

Thinking of this, Yang Peng decided to suspend the attack, so he wrote two orders and ordered the herald to be sent to Shi Liancheng and Han Bing respectively. Immediately, Yang Peng led the Eighth Army Corps and retreated to Jianghua County, on the south bank of Tuoshui, dozens of miles north of Wuwang Mountain, and ordered Si Xing to garrison on the spot and not to attack rashly, and then led the guards to leave Jianghua County and rush to Tanzhou. Along the way, I didn't see many people fleeing, and the situation on Jinghu South Road was relatively calm.

A few days later, Yang Peng and his party entered Tanzhou. At this time, Tanzhou is not at all like there was a big war not long ago. Most of the shops on both sides of the street were open, and there were many pedestrians on the streets, and the faces of the people did not have the same trepidation as they should have just experienced a great war.

Yang Peng and his entourage came to the prefect's yamen. Cao Hu, who was working in the palace, suddenly received a report from his subordinates that King Yan was coming, and he was startled and hurriedly led everyone in the palace to go out to greet him. Seeing Yang Peng and his party, he hurriedly saluted and said, "Meet King Yan!" I don't know if King Yan has missed the distance, please forgive me! ”

Yang Peng smiled slightly and led everyone into the lobby. He walked to the top and sat down, while the others stood respectfully at the bottom of the hall.

Yang Peng said with a smile: "Lord Cao is still used to being the prefect of Tanzhou?" Before Yang Peng left Dingzhou, he appointed Cao Hu as the prefect of Tanzhou, and was responsible for handling all government affairs on Jinghu South Road as the prefect.

Cao Hu smiled: "Fortunately, although there are many things, there is no big mess!" Fortunately, there are many officials transferred by King Yan from the Central Plains to fill everywhere, otherwise even if his subordinates are busy, they are afraid that they will not be able to deal with it! "The 'officials transferred from the Central Plains' mentioned by Cao Hu are actually the preparatory officials that Yang Peng prepared in advance in order to accept the south, some of which were selected from all over the Central Plains, and the other part was selected from universities. During this period of time, the Yanyun army has attacked the city in the front, and those reserve officials have taken over the states and counties in the back, and it is precisely because of their existence that the states and counties occupied by the Yanyun army can quickly restore order, and social life can return to normal in the shortest possible time.

Yang Peng smiled: "You are too modest! I came all the way and found that the situation was very good! The entire Jinghu South Road has basically returned to calm, and there has been no chaos! Cao Hu said with admiration: "This is not the credit of his subordinates!" It's because Yan Yunjun has strict military discipline, and he has no offense in the autumn where he passes, and he is extremely loved by the people! In this way, there will be no chaos, and order will be easily restored! ”

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.