Kaifeng Bistro

The wind and sand in the northwest were blowing up, and every military tent was tightly covered.After midnight, the candles in the tents were all extinguished one after another.The large tent in the middle of the barracks was empty, and a smaller tent next to it was still lit, but soon, a tall figure stood up from the table, lowered his head and blew out the only lamp. "You all go out." He whispered.The two guards in the tent retreated from the tent in response.

After a while, the other corner of the tent moved, and a figure flashed past. Bo turned around, and an unremarkable woman dressed as a maid came in.Bo looked out cautiously, and the two guards were still standing erect at the door of the tent.Bo lowered his voice and said anxiously to the woman, "Any news?"

The woman nodded and replied in a low voice: "Let me pay attention to the whereabouts of that monster. Last time, after Li Yuanhao was drunk, he said unintentionally that he and that thing depended on each other. That monster is him, and he is that monster." ...Moreover, I heard that many dead soldiers were fed to that monster!"

Beau sat in the shadow of the tent, pondering over the woman's words.The woman was in a hurry to leave after saying these few words, but Bo stopped her and asked: "Your tribe... the people who escaped Li Yuanhao's murderous hands a few years ago, have all gone to the capital to celebrate?"

A faint smile appeared on the woman's face: "My lord, those who hate Li Yuanhao are not only people from our Wei Mu family. After Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor, the Xixia people fought for years and the people ran out of money. How many of them followed the former king to make achievements?" The whole tribe was wiped out by him because they opposed his perverse actions. They were all happy and hoped that he would die here earlier! Moreover, I think he has practiced some sorcery now, his body is full of blackness, and his whole body The few concubines who brought him into the army tossed him to death, his appearance seems to be different from before..."

Before she finished speaking, the sound of soldiers walking and patrolling came from outside.The woman hurriedly bowed and said: "Because Li Yuanhao defeated the Song Army a few days ago, he said that he would interrogate a few prisoners of the Song Army overnight, so he won't stay in the side tent all night, I have to take advantage of it." Go back before they wake up..."

Bo nodded, and the woman sneaked out from behind the tent while there was no one around.After thinking for a while, Bo also walked out of the tent and walked outside the barracks.

Although Li Yuanhao was brutal, he managed the army very strictly. Every gate of the camp was guarded, and even Bo could not come in and out casually.Sure enough, as soon as Bo came to the gate of a camp, the soldiers guarding there stopped him: "Master Ye Li, the king has ordered that no one can go to the camp over there except him."

Bo nodded, standing on the edge of the camp, looking at the sky in the distance, he could feel that there was like a huge furnace, a puff of black smoke rolled out from the surrounded tent, and the whole sky was covered with smoke. An indispellable black mist filled the air.The cries and cries of countless people before death echoed in the fog. After standing here for a long time, Bo felt that his body, which had no temperature at all, was getting cold gradually.

He shuddered, tightened his clothes, and walked to his tent, but the hatred and fear gathered in him, just as they gathered in anyone in the camp.

"Chi You, this is what we've been waiting for..." He let out a long sigh: "Your resurrection will be a disaster for everyone!"

……

Tan Zhifeng's car and people walked for several days, and the last bustling town was left behind by them. Seeing that the fields in front of them began to become sparse and desolate, and the long yellow sand was flying in the wilderness.

As the sky was getting dark, Zhan Zhao stopped his horse and said to everyone: "It may be difficult to cross the wilderness ahead tonight, we might as well rest in a small village nearby before going." They saw a few crooked houses on the horizon, and there was no one in the field, and the road was crooked and narrow. They could only tie their horses, jumped out of the car and walked towards those houses.

When we reached the door of the first room, Tan Zhifeng stepped forward and knocked lightly on the door, but there was no sound from inside. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao also went to the front to check and then turned back, telling everyone: "This village has been abandoned. , the common people don’t know where they went. Let’s find a spacious room to stay for one night.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard bursts of crying from outside, and the crying became more and more clear from far to near.They hurriedly returned to the carriage, and saw many ordinary people in white clothes coming from the northwest direction. They held torches, stood on both sides of the road, and sprinkled paper money everywhere while crying. These people gathered more and more. Many people came here from the direction of the town. Tan Zhifeng saw that there were young children, old people with gray beards, and many women with white cloths on their heads, kneeling on the side of the road and mourning. Sobbing.

"These..." Zhan Zhao muttered to himself, "Aren't they all the family members of the dead soldiers?"

Tan Zhifeng was very shocked when he saw it. He looked from a distance and saw this group of people coming along the main road. There were thousands of people. He heard the heart-piercing cries of these people, and saw a kimono The child who was about the same age as Chang was sitting on the side of the road crying hoarsely, and he felt his mind was blank. He wanted to go over to comfort the child, but his legs were so heavy that he couldn't even take a step.

Zhuo Zhuo went over to pick up the child and coaxed him a few words, then asked a woman next to him, "You...why are you gathering here to burn paper?"

The woman wiped her tears and replied: "Tonight... that Mr. Han, who was defeated just now, is going back to the capital with the rest of his soldiers and horses... all of us... have fathers and brothers who died in Huaiyuan City Outside, so with paper clothes and paper money, we are here to summon the souls of our relatives..."

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard the sound of horseshoes in the distance, and the retreating remnants of Huaiyuan City came along the main road.Since Li Yuanhao did not capture Huaiyuan, they rested in the city for a period of time. Although some wounded soldiers were being carried, the military appearance was fairly neat at first glance.Tan Zhifeng looked far away, and vaguely saw a young official among the group of people walking in front, surrounded by the crowd, getting closer to these people.Bai Yutang whispered in his ear, "That's Han Qi."

Seeing the Song army appearing, these people rushed up one after another. Thousands of people blocked the roadside. A few trembling old men stepped forward and grabbed Han Qi's horse by the bridle, crying: "Mr. Han, our Your son went to the battlefield with you, and now...you are back, where are they all?!"

The guards around Han Qi escorted him off the horse, and he walked all the way forward. The people did not continue to stop him, but they were still crying. The burned paper was burned, and the burnt ashes immediately floated around. The dusky sky in the evening Almost stained gray.Han Qi's footsteps became heavier and slower. Before he took a few steps, he bowed to the people who had lost their relatives, and the cries of those people became even more miserable. They asked one after another, "Where is my husband?" Where's my father?" Even the tall soldiers behind Han Qi couldn't help wiping away their tears with their hands, and the soldiers walking behind were crying even more.

Han Qi walked to the end of the field ridge, raised his eyes and suddenly saw Tan Zhifeng and the others standing there.He recognized Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, and seeing them standing under the tree, he explained a few words to the guards beside him, and walked towards them.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang raised their hands to salute him at the same time, and Tan Zhifeng and others also bowed and said, "Mr. Han."

Han Qi let out a long sigh, his voice also sounded very hoarse, his originally upright and majestic face was now full of tiredness, he seemed to be ten years older at a glance, he sighed again, and said to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang : "You two, Mr. Han regrets that he didn't listen to you and Xiwen's faithful advice!"

Zhan Zhao looked at the people who were still offering sacrifices to their families, then turned his gaze away, and said to Han Qi, "Mr. Han, don't blame yourself, Li Yuanhao is cunning, Xixia...the Xixia people have assembled another army of tigers and wolves, and now they are defeated... It's not all your fault."

Han Qi obviously hadn't recovered from the blow just now. He stood silently for a while before he said, "No matter what, I can't escape the responsibility for the heavy casualties of the soldiers. But what I'm worried about now is that Li Yuanhao has boasted Haikou said that he wanted to 'visit the Weishui River in person and directly occupy Chang'an'. Now in the imperial court, who can turn the tide of the battle and save the building from falling..."

Zhan Zhao said: "Han Xianggong, when we left Huanqing last time, didn't Ren Fu and the others just win a battle and let Li Yuanhao withdraw his troops back to Xichuan? Why did they come back again in just half a month? ?”

Han Qi regretted and said: "Oh, last time we were able to see through Li Yuanhao's treachery, it was actually all thanks to the two of you. But after the victory, my generals and I began to somewhat underestimate the enemy... As for Why did Li Yuanhao recover from the last defeat so quickly... If you are not in a hurry, I can tell you the whole story..."

After all, he ordered the soldiers to stop temporarily, appease the people, and take a rest.Then, he sat on the field ridge at the entrance of the village with Tan Zhifeng and others, and told them about the last tragic battle.It turned out that Li Yuanhao's old trick was repeated. While sending a false letter requesting peace talks with the Song Dynasty, he sent troops to harass the village near Huaiyuan where Ren Fu was stationed.After Han Qi got the news, he immediately ordered someone to send a letter to Ren Fu, asking him to stick to it as much as possible, not to fight unless it is absolutely necessary, and if he goes to fight, he should only retreat from the enemy and not pursue the victory.Who knows, the letter was robbed halfway, and it didn't fall into Ren Fu's hands. Ren Fu saw that there were not many Xixia people who were invading, so he led his troops out of the city to fight. Nearby, another group of Xixia soldiers were fighting against the Song army on the West Road of Zhenrong Army, Ren Fu turned south to support the opponent, while the Song army from Huaiyuan City was still coming out of the city in a steady stream, ready to respond.

This small group of Xixia people led Ren Fu and the two groups of soldiers and horses on the West Road of Zhenrong Army farther and farther, and finally...