Brocade tears

The appearance of Zhan Yu was beyond Meng Yan's expectation. Although she knew that Zhan Yu had joined Li Rusong's army and participated in the battle to quell the Northwest Qibai Rebellion, she never expected to meet him unexpectedly here near Shanhaiguan. .

And Meng Yan's stunned call also attracted Zhan Yu's attention. He cast his gaze, and his eyes widened for a moment.

"...Meng Yan..." He seemed to suspect that he was dreaming in a low voice, and then there was a puff of breath from the spine straight up to the top of the sky, and a burst of ecstasy quickly surged up with the eagerness that had been suppressed for a long time, like a flood of magma erupting , telling him to turn his pale face flushed red in the severe cold.He jumped off his horse eagerly, and rushed to Meng Yan in three steps at a time.

"Meng... Doctor Meng! Is that you?" He hurriedly stopped in front of Meng An, with his arms slightly open as if to hug her, but he restrained himself.His dark eyes looked at Meng Ai eagerly, and when he saw Meng Ai raised a smile and heard her haunting voice, Zhan Yu finally confirmed that he was not dreaming.

"Commander Zhan, long time no see. I didn't expect to meet you here." Meng Yan's voice was still so warm and charming, making Zhan Yu feel as if he had been soaked in a hot spring from head to toe.

"I... I didn't expect it either, long time no see, I..." He was incoherent, stuttering, deep in his heart he wanted to express his love for her, but out of instinctive restraint, he was afraid of hurting her or It's hard to talk about being rejected by her.

"Xiao Yan... who is this?" Mencius Xiu and Daoist Luo also rushed up behind him.Seeing his reserved younger sister talking to a strange officer rarely, Mencius was very surprised, but he still maintained politeness and restraint when making inquiries.

"Ah, brother, this is the conductor Zhan Yuzhan I mentioned to you. He was taken care of by him in the middle of Beijing before. He relieved the siege of Lingji Hall and helped us several times. After we left Beijing, he went to I followed General Li Rusong to fight in the northwest, and I didn’t expect to meet him here today.” Meng Ai hurriedly introduced to Mencius Xiu and Daoist Luo, then she turned to Zhan Yu and said:

"This is my...cousin Meng Zixiu, and this is Qingxu's master—Daoist Luo."

Zhan Yu hurriedly bowed his hands to salute the two, Mencius bowed to return the salute, and Daoist Luo saluted with a meridian formula with a smile.These two people have never met Zhan Yu before, because they reunited with Meng Kuang, Sui Er, and Meng Ai after they left Beijing. Before the Beijing-China blockade, they could not enter Beijing, so they never met. Zhan Yu, who had a close relationship with Qingsui in Beijing.It wasn't until Meng Zixiu and Luo Daochang returned to Beijing with the princess that they learned of Zhan Yu's existence from the people of Lingji Hall.Meng Yan had never even mentioned such a person to them before.On the contrary, when Meng Kuang chatted with Meng Zixiu once, he mentioned that there was a young soldier in Beijing who was pursuing Meng Ai, Commander Ma Si.But because they couldn't protect themselves at that time, and they didn't know when they would be able to settle down, they really didn't think they could take Meng Ai back to Beijing to settle down, or even arrange Meng Ai's marriage, so they didn't continue to discuss this matter.

Zhan Yu looked at Meng Zixiu. He heard that Meng Ai had a brother and a cousin, namely Meng Kuang and Zhao Ziyang, but he had never heard of her having a cousin.This cousin and Meng Yan look quite alike, and they really look like brothers and sisters, which made Zhan Yu feel at ease.Since he is a cousin, he is someone who needs to be close to him. He behaved quite politely and asked:

"At this season, Liaodong is covered with heavy snow and ice. I don't know why Doctor Meng's family went north with the caravan? There is going to be a war outside Shanhaiguan, and it is really dangerous to go further north."

Hearing Zhan Yu's question, Meng Zixiu glanced at Meng Ai, who bit his lip and said:

"Commander Zhan, take a step to speak."

They took a few more steps to avoid the cavalry leader in front of them. Meng Yan and Meng Zixiu briefly told Zhan Yu about their current situation, hiding many details, and never mentioned Meng Kuang's identity. Meng Kuang and Sui'er are now on the front line with Jin Yiwei's leading patrol team, waiting for them to meet up.Zhan Yu didn't know the existence of the picture of thousands of beasts and hundreds of flowers, and he didn't have time to explain that much to him right now. Mencius Xiu and Meng Ai only said that they had something important to do and they had to leave the customs to meet Meng Kuang and Sui Er.

"Commander Zhan, I know this is an unfeeling request, but I hope you can help." Meng Yan finally begged.

Zhan Yu suddenly fell into a difficult situation.From his standpoint, he certainly hoped that he would be able to do his duty faithfully and not let the caravan leave the customs.He was favored by Li Rusong, and now he is a deputy general of Li Rusong's Vanguard Cavalry Battalion, this time he rushed to Liaodong with the vanguard of Li Rusong's army.At present, their task is to guard Shanhaiguan, supervise the delivery and storage of grain and grass from various places, strictly control business exchanges, prevent inland caravans from leaving the customs and trade outside the customs, and at the same time strictly prevent external Mongolian forces from infiltrating or even raiding.He just arrived at Shanhaiguan two days ago, and has been patrolling with the cavalry for the past two days, intercepting the caravan and trying to persuade him to return.

But out of selfishness, he naturally hoped that the Meng family could be reunited. Meng An and Mencius traveled all the way to Liaodong. If it wasn't for something urgent, why would it take so much trouble.He finally reunited with Meng Yan, and he still wanted to get closer to her so that he could propose marriage in the future. Now if he rejected her request, how would the relationship continue?

While hesitating, Zhao Ziyang also got out of the carriage in the rear and rushed over.He and Zhan Yu are old acquaintances, and they are quite happy to meet this time.After saluting, he explained the purpose of the trip and took out the household documents.Seeing the documents and orders from the Ministry of Household Affairs, Zhan Yu suddenly gained some confidence.He then said to the crowd:

"How about this, you go to Shanhaiguan first and wait a while, I will lead Mr. Zhao to ask my superiors to see if I can let you go."

Zhan Yu's superior was not the leader of the cavalry team in front of them. He was on the same level as him and was also a deputy general. It was just because he was older than Zhan Yu, and he was a native of the Liaodong Army and was familiar with the terrain. As the patrol leader, Zhan Yu followed him only temporarily to familiarize himself with the nearby terrain and routes. After that, he would separate to lead the patrol alone, and he would not leave the customs until the army arrived at Shanhaiguan and then continued to approach the border.His current Shangfeng is stationed in Shanhaiguan, and he is the advance deputy commander under Li Rusong's command - Zha Dashou.

Zha Dashou is the servant of Li Chengliang's family, and it is the characteristic of Li's army that Li Chengliang trains the servant as a general.He can be said to be a member of the Li family. He played with Li Rusong since he was a child, and now he fights together on the battlefield. He is generous and extremely brave and good at fighting.

Zhan Yu appeased everyone and returned to the car first, while he himself led Zhao Ziyang and took the household documents to discuss a few words with the deputy general who led the team. The deputy general nodded, turned his horse's head, and led the caravan. Continue to Shanhaiguan.Zhao Ziyang didn't go back to the carriage, he got on a horse and followed Zhan Yu.Zhao Ziyang knew in his heart that Zhan Yu was now a celebrity in front of Li Rusong, and the leader and deputy general did not want to offend him. Since the caravan had an endorsement from the household department, and Zhan Yu knew people in the caravan and wanted to be a favor, then Let Zhan Yu take care of anything, and he can relax easily.

On the way to Shanhaiguan, Meng Yan kept lifting the curtain of the car to look forward, looking anxious, but also somewhat indescribably joyful.Mencius frowned tightly, feeling that she was in a very strange state, but Bai Yuyin joked:

"We, Xiao Ai, have grown up."

Meng Yan's face flushed immediately, and she retorted weakly: "Sister Bai, don't talk nonsense."

"Do you like that Zhan Yu?" Meng Zixiu asked directly, unexpectedly.

Meng Yan was stunned, his face turned redder, but he didn't speak.

"Well... I like it just because I like it, and I won't say anything about you." Meng Zixiu felt uncomfortable when he saw his little sister's reaction.

"I... I don't know. I just feel sorry for him. I always ask him for something, but I never give him anything in return. This time, I want to use his help to let us go out, but... I'm afraid it will implicate him." Meng Yan said.

Hearing her words, there was a sudden silence in the carriage.Luo Dao, who had been silent all this time, said:

"Whether you care about him because you owe him favors, or because you like him, you have a clear score, Xiao Ai. We can help you pay back favors, but we can't help you sort out feelings."

Meng Zixiu changed the subject and said, "Don't think so much for now, just think about how to get out of the customs first. If Zhan Yu can't help, we have to find another way, and then we can only rely on Ziyang Cousin is acting as a member of the household department. I am a little worried about Ah Qing and Sui Er, they have not heard from the front line, and we don’t know how they are doing now, where they have gone.”

"I hope I can get out of the customs smoothly." Meng Yan lifted the curtain of the car again, and looked at the blurry back of the horse riding on the horse hidden in the wind and snow. For the first time in her life, she gave everything she had All my hopes are pinned on a person who is neither a relative nor a very familiar person.As a result, the back figure gradually became thicker and taller in her eyes.

……

Guanshan is snowing, and there is no smoke in the beacon garrison.On the vast snowfield, a pass city came into view.That is Fushun Guancheng, the border between Jurchen and Liaodong.

The Hun River, known as Shenshui in ancient times, or Xiao Liao River, is the largest tributary of the Liao River, with abundant water, nourishing the people on the plains on both banks.It will also wreak havoc from time to time, bringing disasters.On both sides of the river are farmers, and they are also soldiers who can straddle horses and wield swords.They have lived here for generations, witnessed the looting of nomadic foreigners outside the pass year after year, fought with them for 200 years, and traded with them for 200 years.

The Fushun Pass was built on the commanding heights in the north of the Hunhe River Valley. It is an important passage from Jianzhou Jurchen to the Liaodong Plain, and it is also one of the important passes in Liaodong Town.Guanma City in Fushun is well-known far and near. It has fed the prosperity of the Jianzhou Jurchen, and it has also become one of the means by the Ming Dynasty to control Liaodong.Today's horse market is thriving, benefiting from the alliance between Li Chengliang and the current Jurchen hero Nurhachi, which seems to be a situation that everyone is happy to see.During the period when the horse market was closed, Jurchen's life was far from as easy as it is now, and sometimes life was really difficult, and Jurchen would take a gamble and rush over to plunder, and the border guards had to suffer along with it.

Today's Fushun Gatekeeper is Li Xing, who is also Li Chengliang's family member.The servants of Li Chengliang's generals are called "Jian Er" in the local area. Li Xing is an old veteran among them.Obedience is his biggest characteristic. He kept Li Chengliang's advice in mind and took good care of Nurhachi. Therefore, he turned a blind eye to the Jurchen's comings and goings inside and outside the customs. As long as the number of people did not exceed five hundred, The weapons that are not worn into the system are supposed to be traded in Mashi, and they are completely ignored.

This news is the information obtained by the Jinyiwei [-]-member regiment after they rushed to Fushun Pass and joined the spies from Fushun Pass.After Guo Dayou heard the information, he decided to give up the fantasy of negotiating with Li Xing and make a quick decision.He couldn't fall into a time-consuming delay with Li Xing, and there was a thousand-man cavalry regiment who was suspected of chasing after them, and they had to take advantage of this very short time to get out of the barrier.

Before entering Fushun Pass, Guo Dayou first sent Meng Kuang into the city to observe the location of the horse market and the nearby terrain. Meng Kuang kept the terrain and key locations around the horse market in mind, and went out of the city to meet Guo Dayou and others, and A map was drawn on the ground.Guo Dayou pointed to the map and made the deployment:

"Everyone, hide your armor and weapons in a while, and lead your horses into the horse market. Divide into ten teams. The captain sees me waving his arms and directing. I will look for opportunities to go to the turret in the northeast corner, and you will definitely see me. You follow the order Go out of the pass one by one, don't startle the defenders in the pass. If it goes well, we can leave the pass without panicking, but if we accidentally startle the defenders in the pass, we will break through. Meng Kuang, your mission is Ambushing the Guancheng General Office, ready to hijack Li Xing at any time. Do you understand?"

All the soldiers responded in unison: "Here!"

"Okay, ready to go!"

The combat meeting was dissolved, and everyone began to prepare.Meng Kuang glanced at Sui'er, who was standing not far away, preparing next to the horse, and quietly asked Guo Dayou:

"What about Sui'er?" She was worried that something unexpected would happen to her if she was not with Sui'er.

Guo Dayou rolled his eyes and said, "Are you two stuck together? Let her go out first with the first team. She is fine and alone, and she is not disabled. She has hands and feet, so she can't go out with the team by herself?"

Meng Kuang was still worried: "But in case the exit doesn't go well, and there is a conflict, we have to break through..."

"Don't worry, I put Li Laosan and Zhu Yan in her team to protect her, and I also sent Chen Danggui to guard her to ensure that she won't lose a hair. You two... I really held back all the way." Now, let me remind you, stay calm, the people in the team don't look right at you, you two are too close." Guo Dayou couldn't help but said.

Meng Kuang: "..."