fluttering night wind

After the Xianbei army retreated, the city of Xuzhou breathed a sigh of relief for a while.But Xie Kun knew that the real difficulty was in the back, so he ordered Bai Yansheng to speed up the repair work and patrol the dangerous places. When it was late, his subordinates reminded him that when he looked up and saw the bright moon rising in the east, he remembered that tonight was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Back at the mansion, the butler said that the young lady had prepared food and wine in the backyard, Xie Kun had no leisure and elegance, but he couldn't bear to win his daughter's heart, so he reluctantly moved into the garden.Seeing an altar table in the pavilion, there are some preserved fruits for the occasion, and Xie Lianbi is offering incense to his dead mother.Xie Kun followed her and burned incense, and the father and daughter sat down at the table.

Xie Kun raised his eyes to look at his daughter, painted a black moth, his eyes were flowing, and he was weak and delicate, and sighed again and again: "Mr. Bi, father is sorry for your mother and daughter."

Xie Lianbi was greatly surprised, and couldn't help saying earnestly: "16 years since my mother passed away, my father has no intention of reuniting, treats my daughter like a jewel, and never treats her daughter badly. Why do you say this today?"

Xie Kun's eyes turned red, and a few tears leaked from the corners of his eyes: "Just because I feel sorry for you who lost your mother at an early age, I have always wanted to keep you by my side to talk about family affection, but it has delayed your marriage. Now it is a troubled world, and there is no way to find it in a hurry. A good son-in-law in the east bed, is he worthy of my son?"

Xie Lianbi didn't feel a trace of sadness in the old father's words, thinking that it was this kind of thing, so he blamed: "Father, don't talk about these things, my daughter will stay with you for the rest of my life."

Xie Kun shook his head, as an only daughter, she has always been a half-baby, except for wielding knives and guns, she is as good as a man in everything else.Xie Lianbi, who was pouring wine by the side, also felt strange, and asked softly, "Daddy, how is the battle going?" She thought that Xuzhou was often harassed by Hulu in the past, but there is Youzhou in the north, Yunzhou and Zhongzhou in the west, and there are many Austrian aid. , has never been reduced to the front line against the Xianbei iron cavalry like it is today.

Xie Kun looked up at the sky, the stars were sparse and the moon was long, and in the long night, he said in a shy voice: "The thieves are coming, but it's not too difficult to resist. What I'm worried about is," when he said this, he suddenly changed the subject and looked at Xie Lianbi said: "Mr. Bi, what will happen to you if the city of Xuzhou is destroyed?"

Xie Lianbi was taken aback for a moment. In her 18 years, Xie Kun was as reliable as Mount Tai, so she smiled suddenly, her skin reflected the streamer, and said crisply: "With Daddy here, with his thousands of troops, it's just a matter of time. Just in case, the East Lake is just outside the door, no matter how bad it is, there are still a few old plum trees in the backyard, there is always a way to go."

While Xie's father and daughter were gossiping, Bai Yansheng and his party were still patrolling the city.It was cold in the middle of the night, and the family servant brought them a big cloak, and Bai Yansheng took it in his hand, and ordered the servant who was about to turn around: "Tell Ah Rong, and tell Mrs. Wan by the way, the Hulu besieged the city, and the city has a curfew, take care of it." Children, don't walk around, be careful of being mistaken for spies."

The servants responded and left.Meng Ziying pretended not to hear.

They stood on the city wall, the wind was majestic, and the armor was covered with a layer of hoarfrost. The Xianbei camp was thirty miles away, and only those with excellent eyesight could see the little campfires, which flickered like cold stars in the sky. .I don't know when it started, the melodious sound of the flute came from the north wind, and the lingering sound was overwhelming and beautiful. When wandering and admiring, a soldier who was familiar with the melody whispered: "It's "Farewell to the Crane Exercise".So the guards at the top of the city looked up and saw the shadow of the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, all of them were haunted by thoughts, and some even wept softly.

Bai Yansheng couldn't help frowning, and Mencius sneered, "I dare to use an axe even if I'm a small bird." Then he took off the Jiuxiaohuan Piqin, rubbed his body on the cornice of the wall, sat cross-legged, brushed the strings with both hands, the snowy bamboos are awe-inspiring and clean, and Like a long wind blowing through the forest, the gushing springs are rustling, overshadowing the sound of the flute.

Bai Yansheng and Sun Jiren didn't understand the five sounds, and the soldiers around him happened to have music books for generations, and said happily: "It's "Hu Jia Wu Lane", composed by musicians after You Yun fell." He hummed: "Hu Jia has collected music for many years. Yuyang, the men and women of Yuyang are all going to the generals, don’t they have parents and brothers, it’s heartbreaking to hear this sorrow.” The rhymes are endless, the sentences are beautiful, and under his leadership, the guards are all humming in unison, stirring up With the same hatred and hatred, the worries and thoughts were swept away just now.

Sun Jiren looked up and looked stupidly, Bai Yansheng smiled, Fang was about to applaud, suddenly felt a barely audible breaking sound in the air, his face changed suddenly, and he shouted: "Be careful, Ziying", before the words fell, he chirped the wind, and suddenly A feathered arrow shot past Mencius Ying's cheek and landed on the roof tiles.Ziying turned over and lowered the eaves, the sound of the piano continued, and three feathered arrows swished again.

Bai Yansheng flew to the city wall, bent his bow and shot arrows, seven arrows fired in succession, and the flute sound suddenly stopped in the distance.

Meng Ziying put down the nine rings in her hand and listened intently. The surrounding area was as quiet as a needle.

Bai Yansheng returned to his side and asked anxiously, "Are you alright?"

Mencius shook her head, raised her arm, and held a black feather arrow between her two fingers. It was longer and thicker than ordinary feather arrows. The arrowhead was made of cast iron with barbs, and the wolf feathers on the tail of the arrow were dyed five colors. Doubts abound.Last year during the siege of Yongjing, when he faced Chen Yuanda on the battlefield, Chen Yuanda was finally pierced by a stray arrow through his neck, and that's what happened to the feather arrow that hit him.

After the small contest in the middle of the night, everyone dared not relax even more, and stayed on guard all night until dawn.When the sun was rising in the east, the plains were shaking and the mountains were shaking, and the sky was full of dust. The Xianbei army and horses came to attack the city early in the morning.

Xie Kun watched from the top of the city. The Xianbei army was still not in a hurry to attack the city when they arrived at the bottom of the city. Dozens of carts were pushed out from the rear army. Fang wanted to order someone to destroy it with a rocket, Xie Kun shook his head and said: "Wait a minute."Sure enough, another group of Han people came from the back of the car, all of them looked like young men with shackles on their feet. Driven by the barbarians, they carried tools and walked to the bottom of the city, and laid planks on the moat.

Everyone frowned, they wanted to shoot arrows but they were afraid of hurting innocent people, so if they didn't shoot arrows, the barbarians would go to the city in a blink of an eye.In less than an hour, the boards were laid, and the army slowly crossed the river, shooting arrows at the backs of the dozens of Han people who had previously paved the road.The iron shackles on those Han people's feet were clanging, and they couldn't dodge in time, and they all fell down and trampled under the horses' hooves.The surviving ones threw down their tools and threw themselves under the city gate, banged and slammed into the city gate vigorously, crying, "Thank you sir, thank you sir, let us enter the city."

Xie Kun pursed his lips tightly, his face was pale, Bai Yansheng asked in a low voice: "My lord, let them in, I will resist for a while."

Sun Shuye said solemnly: "No. There will be strong enemies in the future, it is a trap, besides, there must be spies from the Yan army among these people, and they will be put into the city, harming innocent people."

Xie Kun was well aware of this simple truth, but he couldn't just leave him alone. When he stepped back from the city wall, his complexion became even uglier, as if he had aged ten years instantly.He has always cherished his reputation, and thinking that in the future, a villain will use this to make an accusation that will tarnish his reputation for the rest of his life, it would be like a thousand arrows piercing his heart.

Bai Yansheng was in a dilemma, and Meng Ziying was very anxious, hoping that Xie Kun would come up with a way to get the best of both worlds. How could they expect that the lord of a city would cherish his reputation more than his life, and only Sun Shuye knew what Xie Kun was thinking at this time, although He was very disdainful, but he also knew it was a wise move, so he kept silent and watched with cold eyes.

While hesitating, the Yan army had already shot and killed more than half of the Han captives, and the remaining ten could not survive, so they slammed into the city gate with all their strength, and the towering bronze gate trembled.

Meng Ziying whipped the silver whip around his waist, and Sun Jiren groaned inwardly. He reached out to catch him, but this time he didn't stop him.

Yan Jun saw only one person jumping down from the city wall tens of feet high, regardless of whether the person was dead or alive, thousands of feathered arrows all pointed at the place where he landed.

As soon as Mencius landed on the ground, thousands of arrows rained from all directions. He was not afraid at all, the silver whip suddenly collapsed, the silver light shone impenetrably, and it turned into a shield, and the feathered arrows came to him They were all smashed into the air. His move was called "Sweeping Thousands of Armies". As soon as the wave of feathered arrows stopped, there was a gap between the Xianbei people bending their bows and setting their arrows. Overturned again, this trick is called "one whip the world", so people turned their backs on their backs, and the Xianbei people in the back row stepped on the people in the front row and swarmed again.The more critical the situation was, the calmer Meng Ziying became. What he saw when Chongming was defending the city in Xiangyang in the ninth year of Chongming flashed through his mind. Facing the tall Xianbei horse, he dwarfed his body and passed under the horse's hoof. , The horse belly ate another note.

In just a blink of an eye, Mencius Ying had separated the Han captives from the Xianbei army and horses. The sound of Bai Yan could be seen clearly from the top of the city, exchanged glances with brothers Sun Shuye and Sun Jiren beside him, and shouted down the city: "Command, open the door quickly."

The soldiers in the city were still in a daze, but Sun Jiren jumped down from the inner city, walked a few steps to the gate of the city, and vigorously pushed the latch. The people around were slightly stunned, and followed him to open the latch.As soon as the heavy iron door opened a gap, the people outside squeezed in desperately.Bai Yansheng watched from the city, and shouted again, "Close the door." Sun Jiren gritted his teeth and pushed the bronze door back on top.

Mencius Ying held the silver whip in his hand, and while listening to the movement behind him, he looked at the Xianbei sergeant in front of him. There was a thick layer of black feather arrows under his feet, and there were some horses with rotten guts lying on the feather arrows. dripping blood.

When the Xianbei people saw that the city gate was closed and no troops came out to fight, they surrounded them again and stared at this thin Southern Dynasty man.

Mencius Ying knew that there was no way out from now on, so she took a big step forward with reassurance.

The Xianbei people hesitated for a while.There were a few people looking at each other furtively from the side, trying to shoot Meng Ziying with an arrow, only to hear a few screams, one after another shot in the forehead, another person floated down from the city, in white clothes and armor, and landed beside Meng Ziying, standing shoulder to shoulder .

Meng Ziying was overjoyed and choked up for a while.

Bai Yansheng smiled at him, then turned his head forward.

A horse was separated in the enemy formation. Xu Kuang held a whip in one hand and a spear in the other. He walked around the front of the formation, sizing up the two of them. Man, you are a man who shoots seven shots in a row, your sword is brave and your heart is strong, and it complements each other, but it is a pity that you will die here."

Mencius yelled: "Xu Kuang, you are also a Han Chinese, and you didn't care about your compatriots, and drove you to death. Has your conscience been eaten by a dog?"

Xu Kuang said solemnly: "There is no righteous war in the Spring and Autumn Period, and there is no fairness in the battlefield. It's just the winner and the loser."

Bai Yansheng said slowly: "Confucius said to be benevolent, Meng said to take righteousness, only when his righteousness is exhausted, so benevolence is the best. Generals change masters and serve, do you have to be so cruel and merciless?"

Xu Kuang looked at the two with raised eyebrows, a smile suddenly flashed in his eyes, and said: "It's fun to share the same spirit, you two report your names."

Bai Yansheng and Meng Ziying both glanced at each other, jumped out at the same time, and struck out with sword and whip.

Bai Yansheng and Meng Ziying both glanced at each other, jumped out at the same time, and struck out with sword and whip.

=================================================================== =========================

It is said that after Sun Jiren closed the gate of the city with all the soldiers, he was worried about the situation outside, so he rushed up the tower again. He raised his eyes and saw Bai Yansheng and Mencius Ying surrounded by the Hulu, his face turned pale with horror, and he looked at his brother. Sun Shuye said: "Brother, quickly send troops to snatch them back."

Sun Shuye glanced at him, and said calmly: "No. It's not good for us to be too close to the city gate. What if Xu Kuang led someone to rush in?"

Sun Jiren was so anxious that he wanted to jump down the city as soon as he gritted his teeth. He was held up by the guards on both sides, but Sun Shuye reprimanded him: "Sometimes you try your best. First, let's see how the two of them understand each other."

Bai Yansheng and Meng Ziying jumped out at the same time, the former's target was Xu Kuang, but the latter passed the two chief generals and rushed towards the Xianbei army.

Xu Kuangfei got off the horse, raised the spear in his hand and pointed at Bai Yansheng's long sword, he had the advantage on the horse with the long weapon, so he got off the horse to show fairness, the purple gold spear held down the Tai Xu sword, secretly proud of himself, the opponent made a backhand, Unexpectedly, he counter-pressed on the Zijin Spear and slashed at his arms.This trick is called "a pear blossom presses the crabapple", and it is a unique technique passed down by Bai Yansheng's family.Ordinary warriors can lift weights as lightly as possible, but it is even more difficult to lift weights as lightly as possible. A willow leaf, a pine needle, and a soft sword can all crush Mount Tai. This is a higher level of martial arts.Unexpectedly, this young man has such a cultivation base at such a young age, and it has been rare to see such an opponent in the past ten years, Xu Kuang was amazed, but at the same time, he accepted his underestimation, and made a serious move.

Mencius rushed into the enemy camp without looking back, and everyone in the city felt that he was looking for a dead end. After a while, they saw the Xianbei army was slightly chaotic.It turned out that he shrank his body as soon as he entered the enemy's camp, and just rolled around under the horse's belly. He came from the Huajian School, and even the low-level martial arts such as "Sao Tang Kung Fu" practiced very chicly and beautifully, like a naughty horse. kitten.Because in our own camp, the Xianbei people are not good at shooting arrows. They are afraid of hurting their own people. If they want to catch him, they can't catch him no matter what. If they are not careful, they will scratch their claws.He also chopped off horse legs and made a mess in the army. Just because of one person, the team of 5 people was in chaos.

These two men disturbed the enemy outside the city, so Sun Shuye ordered Sun Jiren to take 500 troops out from the west gate, and copy the rear of the Xianbei army: "You should bring more flint and kerosene, and Xu Kuang must be heavily guarded by the supply camp and the grain and grass camp. You don't want to fight, just set fire to them." Once successful, we will retreat immediately, and the siege of General Bai and Brother Meng will be relieved."

Sun Jiren led people down the tower, and Sun Shuye glanced at him. Xie Kun had been silent for a long time, and quickly stepped forward and knelt down to plead guilty: "The villain is overstepping, please forgive me."

Xie Kun shook his head with a smile and said, "Follow the matter urgently, you have done a good job, I will leave this to you."

Sun Jiren said: "The villain will do his part. When he is brought back to General Bai, the villain will come to the door to plead guilty." After talking a few steps, he stepped onto the crenel again.

Both Xu Kuang and Bai Yansheng's martial arts followed the masculine line. Xu Kuang was a rare warrior in the Southern Dynasty. He had more actual combat experience than Bai Yansheng, but in close combat, the spear was not as flexible as the long sword, and the two were evenly divided.But Meng Ziying went further and further behind the enemy's rear. When he probed, he just saw dozens of yellow flags fluttering in the wind. His heart skipped a beat. Passing by, the long whip was raised, and a row of large flags embroidered with golden step waving patterns were rolled into a bundle, and a sense of arrogance was raised in his chest, and only a few clicks were heard, and a bundle of large thigh-thick flags was unexpectedly held in his hand. The long whip was cut off in the middle.

A strong wind blew across the plain, and the broken flags were scattered in all directions, causing screams again and again.

His move was originally the "one whip breaks ten spears" in the Dragon Whip, from now on, it will probably be changed to breaking ten flags.

The battle flag was folded before the battle was over, Xu Kuang could see clearly behind him, his brows furrowed, but he was entangled in the sound of white geese, and couldn't let go. His complexion changed drastically, and he hurriedly looked towards the southwest corner of the rear. There were several plumes of thick smoke rising from the plain, which was the direction of the Grain and Grass Camp.

He laughed heartily and said: "Ming Jin, withdraw the troops. Mr. Xie has successors, let's fight again in the future." As he spoke, he shot off the attack of Bai Yansheng, turned around and mounted his horse, and left without hesitation.

Bai Yansheng staggered at his feet, bent his left knee and half knelt on the ground, fortunately he had a sword in his hand, otherwise he would really have fallen to the ground.He raised his head and looked forward anxiously, only looking for Meng Ziying in the billowing smoke and dust of the Xianbei army retreating.

Not long after, I saw a figure walking against the flow of people among tens of thousands of people.

Sun Shuye saw the two meet at the bottom of the city, and heard a report from Ximen. Sun Jiren returned to the city unscathed, and took a deep breath. At this moment, he felt that the two were standing still, and he couldn't stand upright, so he sat cross-legged on the city wall and floor tiles. down.

This day was considered a small victory, and more importantly, it broke Xianbei's spirit, and the city of Xuzhou was full of cheers.Meng Ziying felt tired after the battle that day, and asked the soldiers to know that all the Han people who were rescued into the city were guarded and questioned carefully, so she went back to the mansion in peace.

He was about to wash his face after fetching water, but Sun Shuye ordered someone to invite him.

Although he was a bit at odds with Sun Shuye, today he was grateful for his timely rescue, even though he was very tired, he still went to his side.

The Sun brothers lived alone in the same hospital.When Meng Ziying passed by, Sun Jiren was still drinking and celebrating in the camp, and Sun Shuye was the only one in the room.The oil lamp was dim, illuminating his face with a pale yellow color, making him look more preoccupied.

Mencius sat down beside Hu's couch. Sun Jiren hugged the stove and wore a cloak, his eyes were terribly bright: "What does Ziying think of today's events?"

Meng Ziying asked him to be stunned: "What do you think?"

Sun Jiren realized that the words were a little hasty, so he laughed it off: "I was being abrupt. Ziying, in your opinion, does Xu Kuang have the will to fight?"

Mencius was also silent.This is not a problem at all, leading [-] cavalry, came from a long distance, is it an outing without fighting spirit?But, but, Meng Ziying pondered for a long time, uncertain: "I also feel puzzled. With Xu Kuang as a man, a teacher of fifty thousand tigers and wolves, he will do his best as soon as he comes, and he will not be a man unless he flattens Xuzhou City. It's too straightforward. Or, is he waiting for the main force of the army to overwhelm the border, so as to avoid bloodshed?"

Sun Jiren didn't answer but instead asked, "Did you meet the group of people who arrived yesterday?"

Mencius Ying said: "You mean that the horseshoes and saddles are made of gold by Emperor Yan's personal guard?" He shook his head to show that he didn't see it.

Sun Jiren thought about it, and said: "If I'm not wrong, these people are just a cover-up. They came here to go through the motions, and they have left now."

Mencius Ying's heart moved, she raised her eyes to look at him, both of them were smart people among smart people, they could see through their seven orifices and exquisite hearts, but when they tried to pass, they felt startled and broke out in sweat.

Sun Jiren's face was heavy, and he picked up a map from the couch and spread it on the small table. Meng Ziying's expression was not much better. The two of them looked at the pale yellow oil lamp for a long time, and Sun Jiren said, "Do you still remember yesterday, Mr. Xie?" What did you say to Xu Kuang at the city gate? The oblique path is quick, and you don’t worry about losing your way.”

Mencius Ying tremblingly said: "You mean that Xie Kun saw the clue early in the morning?"

Sun Jiren said in a deep voice: "Not only did he see the clues, he must have already made up his mind. He will abandon the city and go south as soon as the imperial decree arrives."

A blush smudged on Meng Ziying's face, and she said excitedly: "Then what about the people in this city? Could it be that I came here from Xiangyang to Linxi, and then from Linxi, just to experience the ruin of my family and the loss of my homeland again?" ?"

Sun Jiren raised his pointed chin, and said coldly, "Xu Kuang is right in saying that there is no righteous war in the Spring and Autumn Period. What is the difference between Liu Mu, Liu Xie, father and son, and Hulu? Ziying, strike first and be strong." Why don't we kill Xie Kun first and occupy Xuzhou City, you must stand by my side."

The author has something to say: