Dingjiangshan

General Xie didn't expect that he could bring back a living His Majesty after sending someone to deliver a letter.

But when the news that Ning Yan was about to arrive at the front reached Xie Jue's account, Xie Jue felt that it seemed reasonable, as if it was something Ning Yan could do.

"Understood, please rest for a while." Xie Jue finished settling the imperial guards who had sent a message in advance, and then turned to the guards and said: "Send the order to the second battalion of the left army to follow the road to meet them."

Xie Jue's personal guards took the order to go, the curtain of the Chinese army was raised and lowered, Cheng Yuan came out from the inner room, stood at the partition of the tent, and looked at Xie Jue with some concern.

"My lord is lost, will His Majesty blame you?" Cheng Yuan asked in a low voice.

"No." Hearing the sound, Xie Jue turned around and walked to him, forced a smile, and said, "Anything can happen before the war, and the prince hasn't been seen yet. His Majesty is not someone who will act on his will."

Xie Jue comforted Cheng Yuan, but he didn't know what to do in his heart.

If it was someone else, he didn't have to worry too much, but now that Ning Huaijin was lost, Xie Jue really didn't dare to think about what Ning Yan could do.

Even leaving aside the unclear relationship between the uncle and nephew, the loss of Prince Gong by the two armies before the battle can be big or small, depending on what Ning Yan thinks.

These days, he has been casting a net to let people out, trying to find Ning Huaijin's trace before Ning Yan can reply. Half of the news from Huai Jin.

——But no news is good news, at least it proves that Ning Huaijin has not yet fallen into Ning Zheng's hands.Otherwise, the other party would have brought Ning Huaijin to negotiate conditions.

But it’s not a problem that there has been no news. The weather is bad these days, and there have been two sporadic rains. Ning Huaijin and the others are fighting shortly. What's the matter, I'm afraid life will not be easy.

It's just that Xie Jue is not good at telling Cheng Yuan about these things. What happened back then made Cheng Yuan still have lingering fears about the court dispute. Telling these things will only increase Cheng Yuan's worries.

Xie Jue refused to tell Cheng Yuan about these concerns, but it was not that Cheng Yuan didn't understand.

Although Cheng Yuan didn't understand the importance of the overall situation and Prince Gong, but he put himself in his shoes and thought that if Xie Jue disappeared on the battlefield for no reason, he, a commoner doctor, would go crazy, let alone Ning, who is sitting on the world. Yan.

It has only been seven or eight days since Prince Gong's disappearance, and taking into account the time spent by the courier, Ning Yan must have rushed here without a moment's delay.

With his energy alone, Cheng Yuan would not believe it if he said that he came to the front line to preside over the overall situation calmly and rationally.

"If..." Cheng Yuan looked at Xie Jue nervously, and asked, "If His Majesty wants to accuse you, what should I do?"

Before the messenger who delivered the letter came in, Cheng Yuan was grinding medicine in the tent, and the herbal dregs in his hand rushed out without wiping it off. The rich and bitter herbal juice dripped down his thin wrist bones, hitting his cheek on the toe.

Xie Jue silently tore off the cloth towel from the washstand, wiped his hands, and repeated: "No."

Cheng Yuan frowned, his face full of disbelief.

Xie Jue didn't know how to explain it. He didn't know what to do now, and he didn't want to lie to Cheng Yuan, so he could only repeat to him over and over again: "Don't worry."

But no matter how much Cheng Yuan regarded Ning Yan as a scourge, Ning Yan still rushed to the front line that day.

Generally speaking, even if Ning Yan conscripted himself, he couldn't go directly to the front line. Not to mention the rules, it would be too dangerous.

But with Ning Huaijin in his heart, he didn't stop when he passed the mall, followed the official road outside the city to meet the Zuoying sent by Xie Jue, and followed them to Xie Jue's camp.

It was already night when Ning Yan arrived at the camp, besides Zuo Ying, he was surrounded by only a team of about a thousand personal guards escorting him, looking extremely inconspicuous in the dark night.

The commander of the Divine Guard Battalion used a waist card to knock away the defenders outside the camp. Ning Yan took off his hood and rushed in without even dismounting his horse, heading straight for the Chinese Army.

The lights in the camp of the Chinese Army were brightly lit. Xie Jue hadn't rested yet, and was guarding the sand table with several lieutenants, thinking about Ning Huaijin's possible withdrawal route.

"—I searched both the north and the south." A young man said: "I took my brothers and even searched the surrounding plains, mountains and forests, but I didn't find any trace of the prince."

"Then there is only the east side." Another man who was slightly older than him said. He was silent for a while, as if he thought it was impossible, so he looked at the man who spoke before: "...Ding Yue, you Are you sure you've turned everything over?"

"How dare I be sloppy with such an important matter." Ding Yue raised his voice and said, "Let's not talk about plains and mountains, I've searched for rivers and creeks, and I'm only three feet away from digging the ground!"

"Don't make noise." Xie Jue frowned, "What kind of virtue?"

"I have searched for five hundred miles from the north to the south, and no matter how far it is, I can't go there." Xie Jue said, "Now it seems that only the east side has not been visited yet."

"Impossible, General." Ding Yue said loudly: "Starting from Jinzhai Town, further east is Ning Zheng's garrison. The mountains are high and the water is far away, and it is very difficult to fight. Even if the prince is subdued, he cannot go there. Running around. Going that way, wouldn’t it be self-inflicted—”

He didn't say the second half of the sentence, but was stared back by Xie Jue's cold eyes.

"My lord is lucky." Xie Jue didn't know whether he was stating the facts or comforting himself, so he said in a low voice, "It will be fine."

Several other lieutenants in the room looked at each other, and they all saw the same heavy expression on each other's faces.

——Isn't it? If Ning Huaijin had something to do, everyone here might have to follow suit.

"That--"

As soon as Ding Yue opened his mouth, he suddenly heard the sound of heavy footsteps outside the tent.Immediately after a while of singing, Ning Yan had already opened the curtain and walked in.

Ning Yan was wearing a light armor for battle, with a sword on his waist, and a layer of cold dew dust on his cloak. His face was pale and ugly.

Seeing him coming, the expressions of several generals, big or small, in the tent changed, and they all wanted to apologize.Xie Jue got down from the main seat in a few steps, and when he walked in front of Ning Yan, he was about to throw off his robe and kneel.

"Your Majesty, my subject—"

"Get up first." Ning Yan grabbed his arm and interrupted him.

Ning Yan picked up Xie Jue, then looked around the room, and said, "The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, so I don't blame you."

The head coaches and lieutenants in the room, big and small, were taken aback, as if they didn't expect Ning Yan to say such empathetic words.

"Get up." Ning Yan called out again, and said, "The other generals will go down for a while to rest. I have something to tell Zhaoming, and I will talk to you tomorrow."

The rest of the lieutenants saw that he looked calm and spoke quite calmly, and they were willing to call Xie Jue's name. They guessed that he probably had no intention of venting his anger, and the big stone in his heart inevitably fell to the ground.

Before Ning Yan came, all the people in the camp thought that he was here to Xingshi to inquire about his crimes. Now seeing his appearance, they knew that they had a villainous heart.

Several lieutenants pushed each other out of the tent, Ning Yan walked up to the main seat, poured himself a cup of cold tea, poured it down, and only showed a little tiredness on his face.

"Zhaoming." Ning Yan whispered, "Doctor Cheng is in the camp?"

Xie Jue didn't expect that the first thing he said was to ask Cheng Yuan, he was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly said: "Yes."

Ning Yan nodded, and told Qin Liu who was at the door, "Please."

"Your Majesty is not feeling well?" Xie Jue asked worriedly.

Ning Yan drank another cup of tea by himself, smoothed out his slightly shortness of breath, played with the teacup, and nodded.

"I haven't closed my eyes for three days." Ning Yan's voice was very deep, with a strong sense of fatigue, it sounded like a sentence was squeezed out of his throat with breath: "...I feel a little unable to hold on."

Xie Jue felt uncomfortable when he heard that, and when he thought of his attitude when he entered the door, he felt even more ashamed.

"Your Majesty, I'm already looking for you. If you dig three feet into the ground, you will definitely find him." Xie Jue said, "You have to take care of the dragon's body, otherwise the prince will feel distressed when he comes back."

Ning Yan shook his head, rested on his seat for a while, and then asked again: "Where are you looking?"

Xie Jue has indeed done his best these days. Since Ning Huaijin disappeared, he has almost memorized the map and sand table with a radius of five hundred miles.He pushed the sand table to Ning Yan's side, pointed to the place where the wooden stick was stuck on it, and described in detail all the places they had been looking for these days, including the possible retreat routes for Ning Huaijin All said in great detail.

Ning Yan listened quietly for a while, then said, "Have you searched the east side yet?"

As soon as Xie Jue heard it, he knew that he wanted to go with him, and said, "I went there once, but the terrain over there is complicated, and Ning Zheng's defenders stopped in Jinzhai County, so I couldn't search carefully."

"My lord has 2 soldiers and horses by his side. It is impossible for these [-] people to be damaged for no reason. Even if there is a fight, there must be traces of the battlefield." Xie Jue said: "These days, I have been following this clue. Looking for it, but unfortunately I can't find it yet."

Ning Yan nodded.

Xie Jue's thinking was correct, it was obviously easier to find a team than to find someone in a haystack.

But until now, Xie Jue hadn't figured it out, which meant that Ning Huaijin was not ambushed on the sideline where the two armies were fighting, that's why he couldn't find out where the battlefield was until now.

Ning Yan squinted his eyes, sketched the nearby terrain in his mind, and asked, "Which way did Huaijin want to take Jinzhai County earlier?"

Xie Jue raised his head from the sand table, shook his head in embarrassment, and said, "I don't know about it for the time being. In order not to leak the news, the prince's marching route is determined by himself. Only when he goes out will he know which way to go. This time The lord is a feint attack, he wanted to pull the enemy's energy and then retreat, he never wanted to drag the enemy too much, so he didn't discuss with the minister in advance."

Ning Yan frowned and rubbed the bridge of his nose, his heart sinking uncontrollably.

He had an extremely bad guess in his heart, and he was worried all the way when he came, but now he has finally verified it.

"...That's the case." Ning Yan asked slowly: "Then how did the enemy know where Huai Jin was going?"