At dusk, the sun set, the sun was on the side with only the last trace of afterglow, the prince, Liu Yu, Guo Huan, Qin Shao and others with the only remaining more than 1,000 people ran out of the Taiji Palace, the remnants of the prince went all the way to the east, and Cui Yan, the old and decrepit prime minister, did not break out with them, but stayed in the Taiji Palace and was captured.

The prince and others passed through Hedong County, trying to escape to the border of Zhongyue County, to see if they could escape across the border to Dongyi Rao's territory, and with the identity of the prince, they might be able to save their lives.

At this time, the prince and his party members have become insensitive, only caring about fleeing for their lives, and people keep scattering or fleeing directly along the way......

Fourth, at this time, Zhou Jian, the captain of the Northern Army, led 5,000 light cavalry to pursue the prince and the rebel party non-stop.

This group of rebels is composed of some dead soldiers, well-armed, extraordinary combat effectiveness, and good at using the terrain to ambush, many of the vanguard scouts sent out by themselves have not heard from them, it seems that they should have been eaten, and now they can only follow behind and bite the prince rebels tightly, until they are exhausted, it is the time for Zhou Jian to attack.

The surrounding counties also received the emperor's edict, and they sent county soldiers to chase and intercept the prince's rebellion, and Zhou Jian's 5,000 cavalry was like a black torrent, biting the traces of the prince's rebellion.

At this time, a scout came to report: "Report! Captain, I have found the trace of the prince's rebellion. ”

Zhou Jiandao: "Quick, where is the chaotic party?" ”

The scout said: "The rebels are in Huai'an County, dozens of miles ahead, they deceived the county gate last night, and now they are hiding in the city and do not come out." ”

Zhou Jian frowned, thinking for a while, he was a light cavalry, he couldn't attack the city, he could only wait for the reinforcements of the surrounding counties to come here, and then he could attack the city, and now he could only order to go to Huai'an County to surround the prince.

When Zhou Jian's troops chased down the county seat, the prince's rebel party had already controlled the county seat, closed the city gate, and looked like a confrontation to the end, Zhou Jian could not attack the city, so he had to order a rest on the spot.

In the early morning of the next day, Zhou Jian walked out of the camp tent, stepped on a war horse, and took his subordinates around Huai'an County to go around the city, inspect Huai'an County, and see what places could break through the city.

When Zhou Jian was making a plan with his subordinates, an officer rode a horse and chased to Zhou Jian's side and reported: "General Hui, the county guard of Hedong County, Lord Ding Shengding has rushed to the barracks with 20,000 county soldiers. ”

Zhou Jiandao: "Good come, let's go back to the camp immediately." ”

Zhou Jian returned to the army, only to see that Ding Sheng had rushed to the county town with a large group of men and horses.

Zhou Jian stepped forward to greet him and said: "Lord Ding, you are here at the right time, the chaotic party is in this Huai'an County, we will immediately step up the siege of the city, and we can't let the chaotic party have a chance to breathe." ”

When Ding Sheng heard this, his eyes turned and said: "General Zhou, you see, the incident happened suddenly, I came from afar with my troops, the heavy food and grass were not enough, and the soldiers were also exhausted, so it was better to set up camp first and rest for a while." ”

Zhou Jian saw that Ding Sheng's department was indeed as he did, so he had to nod and agree, and in this way, three times passed, and Ding Sheng's department just surrounded Huai'an County, but there was no next move.

Seeing this, Zhou Jian was in a hurry, he had to go back to pay the order of the emperor, he couldn't afford it, so he had to go to Ding Sheng to discuss the strategy.

Ding Sheng saw Zhou Jian coming, got up and arched his hand: "General Zhou, why are you here?" ”

Zhou Jian frowned and said, "Lord Ding, this general is under the emperor's order, and he wants to suppress the prince's rebellion as soon as possible, and this is not a matter of delay?" Our army is all light cavalry, unable to attack the city, the prince rebellious party is only five or six hundred people, so Lord Ding must send troops to take down the rebellious party as soon as possible, and the general will go back to hand over the emperor's errand, but Lord Ding, you can rest assured, this time to suppress the prince's rebellious party, I will play the son, and you will be the first to take the credit. ”

Ding Sheng waved his hand again and again when he heard this: "General Zhou, this merit, this official doesn't want it, after all, General Zhou pursued all the way, and the hard work was high, and the official just sent troops to assist in ensuring that General Zhou attacked the city smoothly, and he didn't dare to covet the general's credit......"

Zhou Jian hurriedly paced back and forth, persuading Ding Sheng to hurry up and attack the city, but Ding Sheng just didn't move, Ding Sheng opened his mouth and closed his mouth to play the official tone, it was a series of various excuses not to move the troops, he was waiting for a few, and the siege equipment was ready to attack the city, Zhou Jian had no choice but to go back to the camp.

Seeing this situation, Ding Sheng's subordinate Changshi, that is, the assistant of the county guard, came over and asked Ding Sheng: "My lord, is it a great merit to suppress the prince's rebellion?" My lord, why did you stand still? ”

The corners of Ding Sheng's mouth twitched, glanced at Changshi, and sneered: "Stupid! What a big credit! If you really take Huai'an County, in case the prince has a good one, this is the way to die, you have followed me for so many years, you can't understand this way? ”

Changshi had no choice but to smile humbly: "My subordinates are stupid, I really can't understand it, and I ask my lord to show me." ”

Ding Sheng said: "Listen, now the imperial court has only issued an order to round up the prince's rebellious party, but the edict does not clearly abolish the position of the prince of His Royal Highness the prince, so the prince is still the king, and he is still the master. ”

"As long as the imperial court does not invent an edict for a day, and does not abolish the prince's position as the prince, we can't use the sword lightly for a day, not to mention that His Royal Highness the prince has stayed in the position of the prince for more than ten years, and he is quite famous.

Changshi suddenly said: "My lord, I understand, is this Your Majesty wanting to borrow our hand to get rid of the crown prince?" I don't want to bear the notoriety of killing virtuous people, if the prince has an accident with us, just borrow the head of Xiang Shang from us to calm down the public opinion of the government and the opposition, my lord, my right? ”

Ding Sheng bowed his head slightly and said: "Finally, you haven't been completely stupid to get home, if the prince is really good, then the official can only be escorted back to Beijing by the Tsing Yi envoy to move, and take the blame for the death of the prince, if I am as stupid as you, don't climb to the high position of the county guard, the grave grass is three feet high." ”

Changshi hurriedly patted the horses for a while, and said: "Lord Ding is far-sighted, and his subordinates can't reach it." ”

Ding Sheng stood up, turned around a few times and said: "It seems that this General Zhou is a reckless man on the surface, but in fact he is also an understanding person, and his five thousand elites have chased the hundreds of remnants of the prince's chaotic party for so long, and they can't take it down?" It seems that he doesn't want to be stained with the blood of His Royal Highness the Prince, and he also has a good plan to cause trouble, it depends on which fool is willing to take the bait and be greedy, hum! ”

Changshi frowned and said: "My lord, now that the prince's chaotic party is in our jurisdiction, how can it be good to stay like this?" ”

Ding Sheng put his hands behind his back, thought for a while, and said: "Then we can only invite this immortal away, he Zhou Jian wants to lead the water to the east, then we will simply help him and lead the prince to another place, as long as he is out of the jurisdiction of this official, no matter if he is flooded, it has nothing to do with this official." ”

Changshi said: "My lord, my subordinates have a plan, the art of war is missing from three of them, it is better for our army to take the initiative to make a way out for the prince's chaotic party, and when the time comes, he will go wherever he wants." ”

Ding Sheng bowed his head and said, "En! Just do it like this, by the way, after the two times, our army will attack the city as usual. ”

Changshi was puzzled: "My lord, you are not ......"

Ding Sheng said impatiently: "Fake, do a show, act for the above, who let you really attack the city?" We received the edict from the imperial court, but at least we have to make a show! ”

Changshi suddenly said: "My lord is smart, I'll arrange ......."

"Yes! You go, remember to restrain your subordinates, the more realistic the performance, the better, it's best to get a little injured, hang some color, and go back to the official to have a big reward......"

Changshi understood it and withdrew from the camp......

Five days later, Zhou Jian watched Ding Sheng's command of the siege of the city, and with just a stick of incense, the county soldiers quickly broke up, and Ding Sheng personally stepped forward to supervise the battle, threatening to kill the deserters, but the officers and soldiers of the brigade saw that they were going to attack the city and retreated inexplicably.

Zhou Jian was speechless, knowing that this old fox was acting, and he was a professional in the war, so it was okay to be sent by the imperial court to a civil official, and he was able to be sent by the imperial court, so he was treated? Isn't this a big knife in front of Guan Gong?

Zhou Jian watched Ding Darao's siege performance, bored to the extreme, so he simply turned the horse's head and returned to the barracks, he understood that this old slippery head was not on the sleeve, but now he was frozen here, and he didn't want to really get the prince, who let his top boss, Cheng Pu, the captain of the military academy, pull the saddle around, and finally dumped the pot on him, he himself saved the car and sealed the marquis, what about me? I can only take this thankless royal errand.

Never mind! Wait, all the old fritters you encountered along the way are fucking smoother than loaches, and when you can't help it, you will naturally send someone to deal with it, even if you lose your official position at that time, it is better than losing your life.

Outside Huai'an County, surrounded by more than 20 years, the siege battle is still in full swing, it seems that Huai'an County is like a solid soup, more than 20,000 people, surrounded by hundreds of remnants of the city defeated generals, how can not be taken.

The prince's chaotic party can probably see that this Ding Sheng is making a show, and the chaotic party does not take advantage of the chaos to break through, and goes away from home, and does not want to fight to the death, and the two sides are frozen again.

This can make Ding Sheng worried, and he can't let them go, which is the truth, sometimes both sides have to guess each other's intentions, and they can only understand, not understand.

At this time, Ding Sheng was frowning in the big tent of the Chinese army, and he didn't know what to do, when the guards outside came to report: "Lord Ding, there are more than 100 mysterious people and horses outside the military camp, and the leader is to serve before coming to the army to encircle and suppress the chaotic party." ”

When Ding Sheng heard this, he was secretly happy in his heart, he was really sleepy and sent pillows, it seemed that the back-handed man of the high wind and bright festival was here, and immediately ordered someone to invite them in.

I saw the first person who came, wearing a mask, and when he saw Ding Sheng, he took the initiative to take off his mask, and stepped forward to speak: "In Xia Sumu, I am a friend of His Royal Highness the Prince, I watched Lord Ding attack the city for a long time for more than ten days, and there was no progress, but why?" ”

When Ding Sheng heard that he was a friend of the prince, he was shocked, seeing that he was sturdy and had tattoos on his face, it seemed that he should be a martial arts kung fu expert, and he was still a prisoner in the past, could it be to save the prince and assassinate himself? Ding Sheng saw that he was going to call the guards to take him down first.

Su Mu seemed to see his intentions, and said with a slight smile: "Lord County Guard, don't panic, I won't do anything to you, besides, there are thousands of troops in this camp, isn't it my own death to do it rashly?" I came to see you today to break the current deadlock for you, and you don't want His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to die in your jurisdiction, right? ”

When Ding Sheng heard this, his heart moved: "Can a chivalrous man have a way to crack it?" ”