In Lingzhou City, Xiahou Shuang was pacing back and forth in thousands of households in a restless manner. At dawn yesterday, Jingzhou City gave an alarm, and the head of the thousand households in Hasen Erdun took almost all the Mongolian defenders to help, and it is unknown whether he won or lost; early this morning, the Ming army in Lingzhou City came to challenge, and the head of the thousand households in Bashawati did not listen to the advice and raised troops out of the city to meet the battle, and he never returned. The huge Lingzhou City in front of him was only guarded by 2,000 people, and if the Ming army took advantage of the weakness to attack the city, it would inevitably collapse at the touch of a button. Xiahou Shuang had a premonition that the situation was not good, and he had the intention to abandon the city and flee, but except for this Lingzhou City, although the world was big, it had no place of its own. And if this city is lost, whether it is the Great Khan or the national teacher, Mongolia will also take his own life. Therefore, no matter what, we have to defend this only place where we can live.

Thinking of this, he summoned his henchman Shi Maiyu and ordered him to take a team of men and horses to the four city gates to inspect in turn, and found that the situation was reported quickly.

The news that the enemy situation was discovered outside the West Gate and that Shi Maiyu had fallen into the city with an arrow was quickly reported to the Thousand Households. Xiahou Shuang was shocked, and on the one hand, he urgently ordered the eastern, southern, and northern gates to transfer 200 men and horses to reinforce each other, and on the other hand, he led the guards and cronies to ride their horses to the west gate.

Kankan arrived at the west gate, saw the drawbridge falling, the city gate opened, from the open city gate to look out, the dust in the distance, the Ming army is about to come to the city. So he hurriedly shouted: "Close the city gate and pull up the drawbridge." ”

The man who had already stepped onto the suspension bridge with Shi Maiyu in his busy schedule took out his sword, "clicked" a few times, and cut the chain of the suspension bridge. Seeing that the city gate was about to close, he hurriedly threw Shi Maiyu back, kicked his legs, and his body hit the city gate like an arrow from the string, and at the moment when the city gate was about to close, he "flew" into the city.

"It seems that the skills are good, but it's a pity that such good skills can only help you enter the ghost gate. Xiahou Shuang shouted coldly: "Bow down and arrest it, save the old man from doing it." ”

"Listening to this arrogant tone, presumably Your Excellency is Xiahou Shuang?" the man asked rhetorically with a normal expression.

"Yes, you have a bit of knowledge. Who are you who dares to pretend to be an old man?"

"I am General Wude of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Wenqi, the editor of the Hanlin Academy and the former attendant of the Imperial Palace, and the deputy envoy of Ningxia avant-garde Zuotun Wei and Right Tun Wei Zhi. Xiahou Shuang, nineteen years ago, you were scheming and hijacking the Ming soldiers to commit treason and defect to the enemy, and you are guilty of no shame. Today, the general was ordered to come to recover the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and if you know the current affairs, you can repent as soon as possible and hand over the city, or you may be spared death. If you are still obsessed and stubbornly resist, this general guarantees that you will die without a place to be buried. ”

When Xiahou Shuang heard this, she was not angry but happy, and said: "You are Chen Wenqi? People say that Chen Wenqi is strong in martial arts and has seen people, but when I see it today, it turns out that he is an ignorant child." ”

Chen Wenqi originally came to "attack the heart", and he wanted to declare the righteousness to the people of the "new annexed army" by dealing with Xiahou Shuang, and persuade them to lay down their arms and recover Lingzhou City peacefully. Even if the "attack on the heart" fails, you can delay time and wait for He Anguo to knock open the city gate.

Therefore, he asked, "Puzzled," he asked, "What is ignorance?" ”

Xiahou Shuang raised two fingers and said, "There is a road in heaven that you don't take, and there is no door in hell to enter." fell into the mouth of the tiger, nine deaths, but he was still ashamed, this is one of them. has superior troops and does not attack the city, but relies on meager skills to go into danger alone, sending hostages to help the enemy, and this is the second. Aren't these two alone the ultimate in ignorance?"

Chen Wenqi didn't seem to understand, so he looked around, and then asked: "'Send hostages to help the enemy'? Who are the hostages?"

"Hahaha," Xiahou Shuang laughed wildly and said: "Boy, boy, whether you are so stupid, pretend, if the old man catches you in his hand, he will not worry that your accomplices outside the city will not retreat." Come on, tie this kid up. ”

Chen Wenqi also laughed indulgently, pointed around and said: "Xiahou Shuang, the people in the city are all the people of the Ming Dynasty, and the imperial court is here, I'm afraid you can't command them." After speaking, he shouted loudly to the "new annexed army" who were waiting around:

"Brothers of the 'New Attached Army', Xiahou Shuang has held you hostage to take refuge in a foreign race, so that you cannot vote for a country or a home, and you have endured humiliation and humiliation for more than ten years, and your wife has been separated. When Ben Qin was leaving, the emperor instructed: Although you have a loss of integrity, you will not die if you are threatened by a traitor. Today, the imperial army is on an expedition to Ningxia, and the three cities of Lingzhou, Jingzhou and Pingluo are about to return to the Ming Dynasty. If you are unwilling to be attached to the Tatars and do not want to bury your bones in a foreign land, you will lay down your weapons and return to the Ming Dynasty. This envoy guarantees that the court will not blame the past, and allows you to return to the field and reunite with your family. ”

Chen Wenqi's words deeply moved the soldiers of the "New Attached Army", and a commotion began in the crowd.

"It's just nonsense. Xiahou Shuang said angrily: "Brother 'New Annex' don't listen to this person's demagoguery, what is not to blame for the past, what is disarmed and returned to the field, all are deceitful nonsense. Once it falls into their hands, it is lifeless. Listen to my orders: arrest this person, stick to Lingzhou, and add 1,000 silver to each person. ”

There was another commotion in the crowd, but they looked at each other, and no one moved.

"Where are the pro-soldier guards?" Xiahou Shuang shouted.

"Yes. ”

"Those who defect in battle will be killed, those who lay down their arms will be killed, and those who wander and watch will be killed. "Xiahou Shuang issued a nirvana order in a menacing manner.

At this time, some people in the "New Attached Army" let out a crying voice of grief and said: "Brothers, we have been separated from our parents, wives, and children for nearly 20 years, and who doesn't miss them and our hometown all the time? We have been secretly in peace for 19 years, isn't it for the sake of one day returning to our hometown to reunite with our relatives? General Chen is reasonable, we can't die in a foreign country like this, we are born as Ming people, and we must be ghosts of the Ming Dynasty when we die. With that, he threw the spear in his hand.

When Xiahou Shuang saw it, he was furious. If you don't kill this person, others will follow suit. He waved his hand, and immediately several of his cronies drew their waist knives and threw themselves at the man viciously.

Chen Wenqi had already been on guard, his body moved, and the last hair came first, the cold light of the "Painted Shadow Sword" flashed, and the steel knives in the hands of those cronies fell to the ground, and the right hand holding the knife was bleeding like a torrent of blood. This is because Chen Wenqi does not want to hurt people's lives, otherwise, someone would have been killed on the spot.

Chen Wenqi pulled a sword flower, put the sword into the sheath, and said coldly: "Whoever acts rashly again, will leave a wound on someone's neck next time." ”

Chen Wenqi made one move to defeat the enemy, and the people of the "new attached army" were greatly shocked, but they were robbed by Xiahou Shuang's prestige, and they did not dare to make a choice rashly, so no one made a further response.

Xiahou Shuang jumped off the horse, untied an eleven-section soft whip from his waist, pulled away the whip head, tied the whip tail noose to his wrist, and said gloomily: "It seems that you don't shed tears when you don't see the coffin." Maybe the old man will take care of you with his own hands. ”

After speaking, the hand holding the whip shook violently, and an eleven-section soft whip was stretched straight when it landed, poking at Chen Wenqi's eyebrows like a stick.

Chen Wenqi held the sword in his hand, neither meeting the enemy nor dodging, and the attack on Xiahou Shuang was invisible. It wasn't until the tip of the whip was about five inches away from the face door that the body leaned back, and the left leg quickly popped up with the momentum of leaning back, and kicked the outer Guan point of Xiahou Shuang's wrist with his toes.

Although this Waiguan acupoint is not a great acupoint of life and death, once it is sealed, the whole arm will be sore, numb, and lose mobility.

Xiahou Shuang tightened his whip and lowered his elbows, and shouted: "Okay, eat the old man's whip again." The soft whip in his hand was rounded and rolled towards Chen Wenqi's waist.

Hundreds of soldiers of the "New Annexed Army" stood around the scene, nervously watching the situation in the field. For the sake of themselves and their families, they have to choose the strong to rely on. Chen Wenqi is well aware of this, so he intends to show his martial arts to strengthen the return of these people.

Chen Wenqi "choked" and pulled out the shadow sword, and shouted: "Come and don't be rude, look at the sword." Infused the true qi into the sword body, and with one move, the "Willow Fireworks Mist" conjured up countless sword shadows, and made a "buzzing" sound towards Xiahou Shuang.

As soon as the connoisseur stretched out his hand, he knew if there was one. Xiahoushuang has been walking the rivers and lakes for decades, not only knowing the "weight" of Chen Wenqi's move, but also knowing Chen Wenqi's intention to do his best as soon as he came up. smiled secretly at the moment, and said in his heart, boy, you actually want to compete with the old man for internal strength? That's impatient.

Xiahou Shuang took a deep breath, shook the eleven soft whips straight with internal force, and poked at Chen Wenqi's eyebrows.

Chen Wenqi's sword was deflected, and the flat thorn was turned into a vertical cut, cutting towards Xiahou Shuang's soft whip.

Xiahou Shuang's soft whip was wrapped in gold wire, and ordinary swords could not hurt it. Although the Shadow Sword is sharp, it may not be able to cut it. But when Xiahou Shuang heard that the city gate was slammed, he peeked at it in his busy schedule, and the city gate was already crumbling, so he wanted to fight quickly and take Chen Wenqi as a hostage in exchange for the safety of the city. So without waiting for Chen Wenqi's sword to stick to the soft whip, he withdrew a little internal force, and the soft whip fell and wrapped around Chen Wenqi's wrist.

The two of them whipped back and forth, and the more they fought, the more frightened they became. Chen Wenqi thought that Xiahou Shuang was just a low-level general, at best he could only do some superficial kung fu, but he didn't expect his skills to be so good, and his internal skills were even more pure, enough to be on par with the top masters in the rivers and lakes;

Of course, the reason why Chen Wenqi was frightened was that he couldn't imagine that Xiahou Shuang was a hidden martial arts master (this is Chen Wenqi's opinion). In fact, this person debuted very early, and his notoriety is known to everyone in the rivers and lakes, whether the official guessed a few points?), it is not that his martial arts are worse than Xiahou Shuang. Among the people he has fought since his debut, Xiahou Shuang is not the strongest in martial arts, and he is still slightly inferior to Wu Yun, Ji Dian, and even Shan Xue, who has defeated him in his internal strength. Not to mention that there is one enemy and two enemies in front of the house, all of them are because of the favorable time and place, so that Wu Yun and Ji Dian will not be able to help him for a while; But since he cracked the secret of the sword spectrum and obtained the internal strength speed success method, his "Yi Marrow Gong" has been refined to the sixth layer, and it is no longer the same as at that time, if it is compared with Shan Xue again, Shan Xue's victory is minimal, not to mention Xiahou Shuang, who is worse than Shan Xue's martial arts?

Therefore, Chen Wenqi was not afraid of Xiahou Shuang, and believed that he could defeat him within 300 moves. But the current situation does not allow the two to have too much time to entangle, because the city gate can not be held is the key to the victory or defeat of the two, once the city gate is knocked open, the "new annexed army" will inevitably disintegrate; and if the city gate cannot be broken open for a long time, the soldiers of the "new annexed army" who are still waiting and watching may join the war group under the coercion of Xiahou Shuang, and Chen Wenqi is outnumbered, even if he is not killed, he will die of exhaustion.

Just as Chen Wenqi was thinking about how to end the situation in front of him, Xiahou Shuang's move changed, and he used the famous stunt "Urging Life", changing the whip into a binding, and the eleven soft whips were like a spirit snake spitting letters, jumping on the ground and wrapping around Chen Wenqi's feet.

This move is absolutely in the opponent's lower plate, so that the opponent's weapon can not be blocked, and the range of the soft whip attack is large, the attacker's feet can not land, the next plate is unstable, even if the body does not fall, it is full of flaws, and winning or losing is only in an instant. Of course, if the opponent uses a long weapon such as a gun, spear, or stick, this move cannot be called a "special move". Unfortunately, Chen Wenqi happened to use a short weapon - a sword.

But there are exceptions to everything, since you can't land on your feet, you get off the ground. Chen Wenqi took the jade on the flagpole as he did that day, and did not wait for the soft whip to be entangled, "the dragon and snake flying", "pulling the onion on the dry land", "Mount Tai pressing the top", one move and three types of continuous use.

Xiahou Shuang's eyes suddenly lit up, and there was no trace of the enemy who was still fighting with him just now, and when he was startled, a strong wind was blowing on his head. When he looked up, he saw a large knife shining with cold light slashing at him like thunder and lightning.

Xiahou Shuang was horrified and screamed: "Double kill with swords!" A lazy donkey rolled to dodge the fatal blow.

Maybe it was to hide his embarrassment, or to see that he couldn't win quickly (it's hard to say whether he could win or not, Xiahou Shuang was wishful thinking), and the city gate was in danger, Xiahou Shuang yelled angrily at the guards: "What are you still doing in a daze?

The pro-guard received the order and immediately rushed to the place where the "new annex" was standing. The soldier who had thrown away the spear bent down to pick up the spear and shouted: "Brothers, Lingzhou City is about to fall, don't you still understand? After finishing speaking, he rushed towards the pro-soldier guards with a spear.

"Kill. Encouraged by this man, the soldiers of the "New Annex" shouted in unison and surrounded the pro-soldier guards.

Xiahou Shuang did not expect the situation to change so suddenly, and suddenly jumped like thunder, and the eleventh soft whip shook and wrapped around the neck of a soldier of the "new annexed army" in the nearest place.

Where can Chen Wenqi allow him to succeed? The Shadow Sword slashed towards the tip of the soft whip, and said: "The victory or defeat is not scored, let's continue to play." ”

Xiahou Shuang lacked skills, so he had to sink his elbow and retract the whip, and once again fought with Chen Wenqi. But at this time, his heart was like numbness, seeing that the guards were alone, and he was put down like a devastation by the soldiers of the "new attached army" in an instant, he had become a lonely man, and he no longer had the intention of fighting, so he attacked Chen Wenqi with a false whip, jumped up and jumped on the horse, and galloped away with the horse.

Chen Wenqi did not care about the pursuit, he quickly rushed to the city gate, and shouted to the soldiers of the "new annexed army" who were still desperately resisting the city gate: "Xiahou Shuang has fled, do you still want to fight for the tiger? I order you to open the city gate quickly." Whoever dares to disobey will be guilty of the same crime as Xiahou Shuang. ”

When those soldiers saw Xiahou Shuang fleeing, where did they dare to continue to resist? Then they shouted and pulled out the wooden poles that bound the city gate.

"Boom ......", the city gate was wide open, He Anguo rushed into the city first, saw Chen Wenqi at a glance, hurriedly rolled the saddle and dismounted, grabbed him in a few steps, and asked with concern: "General Chen is okay, is it okay? ”

"I'm fine, let General He worry. Chen Wenqi was greatly moved when he saw He Anguo's anxious demeanor.

He Anguo saw that Chen Wenqi was safe and sound, and said happily: "It didn't take a single soldier to recover Lingzhou City, and General Chen went deep into the tiger's den alone to persuade the soldiers of the 'new attached army', and the last general admired it to the extreme." ”

Chen Wenqi waved his hand and said with a humble smile: "General He has won the award, if you hadn't led the army to the city in time and formed a high-pressure situation against the enemy, even if you have the eloquence of Zhang (Yi) and Su (Qin), I am afraid that it will be difficult for them to join the imperial court for a while." Then the conversation changed: "General He, Xiahou Shuang is on the run, please lead the men and horses to search around, and you must arrest him." ”

"Yes. He Anguo agreed, turned and left.

After He Anguo left, Chen Wenqi ordered several generals to lead soldiers and horses to take over the city gates separately and inspect the remnants of Xiahou Shuang. After a short time, all the "new annexed army" in Lingzhou City were disarmed, Chen Wenqi asked them to gather in one place, and then walked up to the "new attached army" soldier with a spear and asked:

"What's your name?"

"Lord Hui Qincha, small Wei Chimao, Shuozhou Shanyang people. ”

"Shuozhou Shanyang? Could it be that he is a descendant of Chi Rong, the commander of the Zhongwu Gong of the Hubei State?"

"Exactly. Yu Chimao's eyes flashed with a bright light, and then dimmed: "The little one is disloyal and unfilial, and the ancestors are disgraced." After speaking, his eyes filled with tears.

Chen Wenqi was silent, not knowing whether to blame or comfort at this time. After a while, he asked:

"Do you have any grades in the 'New Annex'?"

"Back to the adult, the little one now...... It's the flag officer. ”

"What about 'now'?" and what about 'original'?" Chen Wenqi heard something in his words.

"Back to the adult, the small one was originally the total. ”

"Oh, why was it degraded?"

"This ......" Wei Chimao seemed to be unable to speak.

"My lord, he was accused of gathering a crowd to make trouble, so he was demoted. A soldier of the "New Annex" next to him replied on his behalf.

"Huh?" Chen Wenqi seemed to be about to break the casserole and ask the soldier with interest, "When, where, and why did he gather a crowd to make trouble?"

The soldier scratched his head, thought for a moment and said, "Then let's ...... Cast...... One day after the Tatar surrender, everyone saw that Xiahou Shuang's cronies were not there, so they privately discussed the matter of defecting to the enemy, and the result became more and more angry, he and Le Jiang (Le Yufu) took everyone to see Xiahou Shuang, asking him to secretly send someone to contact Xia Zongbing, and the inside and outside should be combined to destroy the Tatar defenders and horses, and return to Daming with Lingzhou City. Xiahou Shuang was furious when he heard this, and immediately ordered his soldiers to withdraw and behead them. Because everyone risked their lives to intercede, Xiahou Shuang was afraid of arousing public anger and causing a mutiny, so he spared their lives, but still demoted the two of them from general to flag officer on the spot on the charge of gathering a crowd to make trouble. ”

"Well, I see. Wei Chimao—"

"The little one is here, what do you want the adults to command?"

"I order you to temporarily take up your post on behalf of Qian, and before returning to the capital, you will lead the 'new annex army' of Lingzhou City, no, it should be called the 'new Ming army'. ”

"This ...... Adult, small ......" Yu Chimao was at a loss, and his eyes were a little panicked.

Chen Wenqi knew what he was afraid of, so he said loudly to all the soldiers of the "New Attached Army" (now to be renamed the "New Ming Army"):

"Brothers of the New Ming Army, the ancients said: If you know your mistakes, you can change them, and you will be good. Just now, you fought back and helped Ben Qin to kill Xiahou Shuang and his cronies, which can be regarded as making some contributions to the Ming Dynasty and the imperial court. The envoy still said the same sentence: If you can make up for your mistakes, the court will not blame the past, and after returning to the Central Plains, you will be allowed to return to the field and reunite with your family. Now that Lingzhou City has returned to the Ming Dynasty, before the imperial court has sent troops to take over the defense, you still have to continue to garrison Lingzhou City for a period of time. During this period, if anyone disobeys the dispatch and causes trouble, it will be an enemy of the imperial court and an enemy of Ben Qincha, and Ben Qin will be severely punished according to military law. Do you understand?"

"Understood. ”

Chen Wenqi patted Wei Chimao on the shoulder and said, "I'll let Le Yufu help you again, don't let me down." ”

"Yes, sir. Yu Chimao replied loudly.

Chen Wenqi caught a glimpse of He Anguo waiting not far away for a long time, so he ordered Lieutenant Chi Mao to take the Xinming army to the original barracks to rest and listen to orders. Then he came to He Anguo and said apologetically: "General He has been waiting for a long time. ”

He Anguo said with a look of frustration: "Xiahou Shuang slipped away so fast, he opened the south gate before our army took over the city gate, and he had already fled." General Chen, do you want the last general to lead the troops to chase after you?"

Chen Wenqi shook his head and comforted: "If you do too much injustice, you will kill yourself." Xiahou Shuang and his ilk betrayed the country to the enemy and recognized the thief as their father, and one day it will be difficult to escape the legal net. ”

Seeing him say this, He Anguo gave up his intention to pursue, and then asked: "General Chen, Lingzhou City has been recovered, will we send troops to Jingzhou City next?"

"Of course. The elite of Abahai gathered in the city of Jingzhou, with many soldiers and generals, and the city was high and thick, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it was not enough to capture Jingzhou City by Qin and Lu alone. Therefore, our army must quickly return to help the generals Qin and Lu. Chen Wenqi paused, and then said: "But I think, Lingzhou City has just been taken, and although the original 'New Annexed Army' (oh, I renamed it the New Ming Army) has been reversed, it is unknown how many people still have different intentions." If someone takes advantage of the retreat of all our troops to plot against the enemy, will Lingzhou City be lost? I intend to leave 2,000 soldiers and horses, one to guard Lingzhou City, and the other to take care of the 'New Ming Army' that has just been reversed. What does General He think?"

He Anguo said sincerely: "General Chen's words are reasonable, the guards of Lingzhou City really can't be taken lightly. Who does the general plan to leave behind to guard Lingzhou?"

"Although Lingzhou City is a peaceful return, without a major war, but occupied by the Tatar thieves for nearly 20 years, the old system of our dynasty has long been unrecognizable, and today it is back to the Ming Dynasty, and it is urgent to put things in order and clean up the source. Therefore, in addition to the responsibility of defending the land, those who stay behind also have the duty of rectification, and they are not competent for a shrewd and capable person. I think about it, General He is the most suitable person, I wonder if General He is willing to stay?"

"I, no, no!" He Anguo shook his hands.

"General Feihe is afraid of being trapped here?"

"General Chen misunderstood. The last general was born in the army, but he was only rough and strategic, and if he ordered me to guard the city, even if he was old at the end of the border. If I want to clean up the place, it will be a difficult end. He Anguo said earnestly.

"So, who else does General He think is more suitable?"

"This ......" He Anguo scratched his head and thought for a long time, but he didn't come up with anyone, and finally said helplessly: "Since General Chen values the last general so much, it is better to be respectful than to obey his fate." ”

Chen Wenqi was overjoyed when he heard this, shook He Anguo's hand and said: "It's rare that General He takes the overall situation into account so much, and says thank you for the court and the people of Lingzhou City. After capturing Jingzhou City and recovering all the three guards, I asked General Xia to send a more suitable person to replace the general. ”

After saying that, the two of them smiled.

At dawn the next day, Chen Wenqi led most of the South Route Army to open up, and He Anguo sent him outside the north gate before waving goodbye.