Looking at the mountains and rivers

In the seventh year of Yong'an, May [-]th.

On the east wall of Ganzhou City, there are a dozen or so shadows standing vaguely.Now it's summer time, and it's noon, the sun is very scorching, there is no shelter on the city wall, and people's heads and faces are covered with oil and sweat.

Sergeant Yanyu who was ordered to guard here was already so hot that he couldn't bear it, and he was even more hungry in his stomach, and he was almost unable to stand up. The centurion Bolu who led him took off his leather armor first, and sat down in the shadow of the corner cursing. rest.Seeing the officer doing this, the other sergeants sat down to rest one after another.

It has been more than half a month since the city of Ganzhou was captured, the Hexi garrison of the Zhao Dynasty retreated two hundred miles away early, and there was no news of Yanyu continuing to attack for a long time.This group of sergeants stood here, facing the empty plain below the city all day long, they had long felt bored, and now they couldn't help complaining to each other.

While they were complaining non-stop, they heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the city tower, and it was the food delivery servant who came up with a huge food bucket.The handyman had a limp on one leg, and he walked with some drag, but with a cautious smile on his face, he sent the food bucket to the soldiers.

The sergeants had long been impatient, and they stepped forward and snatched the food bucket in his hand, and when they opened it, their faces sank.They Yanyu people often live in the north, and their favorite foods are naturally meat and bread, but today there is sparse rice porridge in the bucket, which naturally makes them feel very disappointed.

A stout sergeant was so hungry that he scooped up a bowl of rice porridge and drank it down.Maybe it was because the taste of rice porridge was too bland. He drank a few sips and became more and more annoyed. He picked up the handyman and punched him in the face, causing the corner of his mouth to split open and blood to flow profusely.The handyman was beaten so that he hugged his head and shrank in the corner, begging for forgiveness, but the sergeant was still unrepentant and kicked him in the ribs again and again.Yanyu sergeants are all cavalry, with spurs on the back of their boots, and they kicked the handyman till they were covered in blood in a short time.This handyman was a captured commoner in Ganzhou City, and in their eyes, he was naturally inferior to a pig or a dog. The rest of the people clasped their hands as if watching the excitement, watching the handyman being beaten with great interest.

Centurion Bolu didn't bother to reprimand, he bent down, stirred the rice porridge in the bucket, and found that the bottom of the porridge was still thick.When his subordinates finished beating him, he raised his chin to signal the servant to come forward to serve him porridge.The handyman responded with a smile, and crawled to the side of the bucket, and hurriedly filled the porridge and served it.Bolu took the porridge from him, and saw bloodstains on his cheekbones and cheeks, but his eyes were shining with unusual brilliance. The stout sergeant who took the porridge first fell to the ground, with black blood slowly flowing from his mouth and nose.

There is poison in porridge!Bolu was startled, and immediately shouted to the left and right to catch the handyman.The handyman had already pulled out a dagger from his chest and stabbed a sergeant in the throat. His face was covered with blood, and he frantically waved the dagger in his hand: "Bastard! Kill my parents, spoil my sister, I kill you!"

The Yanyu sergeants were a little surprised at the sudden burst of brute force from this cowardly Central Plains man, because Bolu's order was to capture him, and they couldn't draw their swords to kill him, so they had to surround him and block him against the city wall.As if thinking that their movements were too slow, Bolu strode forward and kicked the handyman on the back, causing him to lean forward, half of his body sticking out of the city wall.Bolu immediately grabbed him by the hair, pushed him against the top of the wall, and shouted loudly in Yanyu dialect.The handyman struggled to turn his head and spit a mouthful of bloody spittle onto his face, which really angered Bolu. He drew out his saber and was about to chop off the handyman's head when he heard a sound of breaking wind Then, a gray-feathered arrow pierced through the sky from below the city, and shot straight through his head.

After Bolu fell, the city was in chaos for a while, and the defenders rushed to the city wall to look down, and saw an army suddenly appearing on the empty plain.The attire is not the previous Hexi garrison, it seems that they are all from the Central Plains, the leader is wearing a heavy helmet, he can't see his face clearly, but his arrow skills are familiar.I saw that he was holding a dark longbow in his hand, with three feathered arrows on it. The sound of the arrows piercing the wind was almost sharp, and the three arrows pierced through the heads of three people in an instant.

The Yanyu soldiers hurriedly bent down and retreated from the tower, shouting all the way: "Go and tell the boss, Wujisur is coming!"

After Wei Changxuan shot the arrow, he put away his bow, reined in his horse, and stood quietly on the spot.

Pei An behind him couldn't help asking: "General, do you want to retreat a few hundred steps, we are still within the enemy's range now."

Wei Changxuan shook his head: "Yanyu people are very bloody. Shooting arrows back and forth across the city will not hurt anyone and waste time. They probably won't do this. They will definitely open the door to fight."

When Pei An heard this, he seemed even more hesitant. Their troops were stationed in the valley, and they brought only a few thousand light cavalry this time.

Perhaps aware of his hesitation, Wei Changxuan said in a low voice: "The scouts who sneaked into the city yesterday have sent news that there are less than [-] Yanyu soldiers stationed in the city, and their main force has not yet entered Panmen Pass."

"But," Pei An said with some concern, "shouldn't we inform Liangzhou first, so that if we attack the city without permission, we're probably overstepping it?"

Ever since Wei Changxuan forced his way into Prince Mu's mansion and was almost beheaded last time, this soldier became more cautious, for fear that the young general's impulsiveness would cause him some trouble.

"I've sent someone to inform Liangzhou Lord Tuoba, but I guess they haven't been able to reply for the time being." Wei Changxuan frowned tightly, and then said after a pause, "You should have heard of it, those Donghu chief guards They are scheming to snatch the position of the Patriarch of the Tuoba family. If not for this, they would not have lost the door easily. Except for General Yuchi, the rest of them have their own plans, so they don't care about the affairs of the army. But the battle situation is ever-changing, There is no delay at all, I don't want to miss this opportunity by waiting for their news."

Hearing what he said, Pei An had no choice but to lower his head: "Yes!"

With the sound of the horn, the gate of Ganzhou's east city gate slowly opened, and a group of cavalry jumped out from the gate. The cavalry, wearing light armor and holding their sabers, rushed straight to this side.The first one had brown curly hair, deep and wild in outline.

Wei Changxuan had already aimed his bow and arrow at him, but he hesitated after seeing his face: "Tuoba..."

The other party seemed to notice his gaze, pouted and smiled at him.

Wei Changxuan's lips were tense, and when the feather string rang, he shot an arrow at him suddenly.

This arrow came fiercely, although Tuoba reacted extremely quickly and dodged it sideways, the arrow still grazed his shoulder, leaving a bloodstain.His face changed instantly, and he rushed over, brandishing a long knife.

Wei Changxuan also pulled out the saber beside him, and the two generals stopped talking, and the horses under their crotches bumped into each other with a fierce snort.At the same time, the blades of the two knives met in mid-air, and the sound of gold and iron colliding resounded heavily.The impact of the horse and the strength of the opponent's blade slashed together, Wei Changxuan's arm was numb from the shock, he clenched his teeth tightly, holding back the pain, and stabbed again from the side of the horse.The Chen-style saber technique he learned is wide open and closed, which is exactly the kind of murderous saber used on the battlefield. Every strike uses all the strength of the whole body, as if to split the enemy in half.

After Tuoba received the knife, the muscles on his face twitched, he gritted his teeth and smiled bitterly, and said in a low voice, "You really want to kill me."

Wei Changxuan looked at him coldly: "The general of the enemy country, what else can we say when we meet on the battlefield."

Tuoba repeated in a low voice: "The general of the enemy country..." He suddenly laughed, and at the same time exerted all his strength, turning the blade and slashing towards Wei Changxuan's face.

Wei Changxuan leaned back, and was about to raise the long knife in his hand to block, but saw that the opponent just made a feint, and then rode his horse back.He was stunned, and quickly pulled the reins to catch up.

The direction Tuoba retreated was not Ganzhou City, but towards a field south of the city. Wei Changxuan followed him to the south without hesitation.

The two armies had already handed over swords and soldiers, and the battle reached a certain place, but the main general suddenly rode away on his horse, which obviously made them all a little bit at a loss.Pei An hastily turned his horse's head and chased after him, shouting repeatedly: "General! Yanyu people are cunning, beware of ambushes!" The soldiers of Yanyu over there also looked blank, as if they didn't know why the general galloped away. They chased towards the south of the city one after another.

In fact, chasing the enemy general rashly is really dangerous, Wei Changxuan is not unaware of this, but he expected that there would be no ambush ahead.First of all, today's battle was initiated by him first, and the people of Yanyu were forced to fight, so how could they have thought of setting up an ambush here in advance.Furthermore, just before Tuoba fled, he cast a meaningful look at him, which looked very strange.

There is a dense forest in the field south of the city. It is summer now, and the leaves are luxuriant. When Wei Changxuan rode his horse into it, he could only hear the rustling sound all around, and there was no one in sight.He rode Gale Wind around on the spot a few times, and suddenly saw a leaf move in front of him, and immediately rushed forward, just as he was about to raise his knife, a black shadow fell from the side, throwing him off his horse viciously down.

"Tsk tsk, Wujisur, you've already been planted on my hands twice." Tuoba pressed him to the ground, and smiled somewhat smugly.

"Really?" Wei Changxuan looked at him coldly, and motioned him to bow his head with his eyes.

Tuoba lowered his eyes, and saw that the dagger in Wei Changxuan's left hand was already out of its sheath, and it was pressing against his chest. It seemed that as long as he moved a little, his chest would be pierced right through.

Faced with this tense situation, Tuoba still laughed, and he shook his head repeatedly: "Don't you people from the Central Plains always know how to repay your kindness? I let you off for a while before, and you just treat your savior like this?"

"Yes, you saved me once, but you slaughtered my city and my people, of course I will kill you!"

Tuoba frowned: "So you thought I slaughtered Ganzhou City," he sighed, let go of Wei Changxuan, then stood up and said, "To tell you the truth, break through the Panmen Guan, the capture of Ganzhou City is the credit of Ashinanur. I just arrived here three days ago, and Ashinanur asked me to temporarily guard here for him. His old and cunning thing has already withdrawn from Panmenguan , and went back to his tent in the Chinese army."

Wei Changxuan looked at him dubiously: "Tuoba, I already know your true identity. You are not a centurion at all, but the prince of Yanyu. Why do you obey Ashinanur?"

Tuoba raised his eyebrows: "Oh? You already know?" He smiled helplessly, "What's the use of being a prince, our Yanyu is not like your Central Plains, who can enjoy the glory and wealth by being born in the emperor's family. My father has nineteen sons, each of whom has to fight in the battlefield. Whoever has made more military exploits will be the most honored, otherwise, he is not even a fart. This time he attacked your Hexi area, led by Ashinanur Leading the army, I can only be regarded as one of his generals. Since he asked me to defend the city, I have no choice but to come."

Hearing what he said, Wei Changxuan finally understood. He whispered, "Since you are the general defending the city, why did you lure me here?"

Seeing his defensive face, Tuoba shrugged his shoulders indifferently: "You don't have to worry, if I want to harm you, I will do it just now. I have brought you here because I have something to discuss with you." When he said this, he slightly With a smile, "Speaking of which, how did you know my real identity? Yesxi told you?"

Suddenly hearing the name Yexi, Wei Changxuan felt as if a needle had been pricked in his heart, and he nodded silently.

Tuoba didn't notice the slight change in his expression, he just smiled and said, "Although I lied to you that I was just a centurion, there is one thing that didn't lie to you." He paused, "I'm really I really hate Ashina Nur."

Wei Changxuan looked at him a little strangely: "Why? Isn't he the right general of your Yanyu, and he is also a member of your royal family."

"That's right, he is General You, and my uncle." Tuoba sneered, "But so what, he doesn't regard me as his nephew, he only sees my ninth brother."

Hearing that there seemed to be a lot of suspicion within the Yanyu royal family, Wei Changxuan couldn't help but became curious, but he didn't ask further questions, just quietly listening to what he said.

"I just said that my father has nineteen sons. I am the eldest son, and my mother died very early. I stayed in your Zhao country when I was young, and they treated me as a foreigner when I came back. No one would put me in In the eyes." Tuoba's expression faintly showed displeasure, "Later, I laid down Rouran for my father, and my father was happy for a while, saying that he would inherit the position of Khan to me after his death. Although this sentence is private But soon, the big elders and brothers in the tooth tent knew about it. Because of this, Ashinanuer framed me several times. He was full of tricks, and I couldn’t fight him. As for being killed by him, but my father has become more and more alienated from me, and it has been more than half a year since I was called into the gold account to discuss matters, but he likes my ninth brother even more."

Wei Changxuan asked: "Since you are all brothers, why did Ashinanur help you with your ninth brother?"

Tuoba's face showed a wicked smile: "My ninth younger brother's mother is the current Da Yan family. You may not know that she is a famous beauty in the grassland when she is young. I heard that Ashina Nuer fell in love with her very early. After falling in love with her, even though they failed to marry her, they would hook up in private. With this relationship, of course he will help her son become a khan."

"So that's the case." Wei Changxuan nodded, then raised his head and asked, "You haven't said, what exactly are you going to do to attract me today?"

"I want you to do me a favor." Tuoba looked at him and lowered his voice, "Help me kill Ashinanur."