Chapter 72 Emperor Chengqian leads the army in person, and Zhou Zelin saves the beauty

◎ Ten days ago, in the Palace of Heavenly Purity in Kyoto,

Emperor Chengqian had already received a letter from Liaodong two days ago.

Ten days ago, in the Palace of Heavenly Purity in Kyoto,

Two days ago, Emperor Chengqian had received urgent military intelligence from Liaodong, transmitted over eight hundred miles. Now, all influential civil and military officials of Dayan had gathered in the Palace of Heavenly Purity to discuss how to resolve the crisis in Liaodong...

"Your Majesty! The only option now is to send Lu Xiang from Yanzhou Guard to rescue!" a general stepped forward and said.

"No, Lu Xiang's 50,000 troops still need to guard against the Jurchen tribes. They cannot move!" Another civil servant immediately jumped out to object.

"Then where do you think we should mobilize the troops? Are you going to send the three guards of Kyoto? Who will protect Kyoto then?" Another general jumped out and shouted angrily at the civil servant.

"That's better than a fight between the snipe and the clam, with the Jurchens ultimately taking advantage!..."

…

This dispute has lasted for two days and one night, and Emperor Cheng Qian's anger has also lasted for two days and one night!

Damn it! If it weren't for the fact that the remnants of Chen Liang's army, which had been hiding in the mountains of Sichuan and Shaanxi for many years, had made some unusual movements recently, and Mu Feng hadn't been sent out, and Fu Huaide and Deng Yu hadn't returned from Yunnan, Guizhou and Fujian, he wouldn't have been in such a state of being left with no one to use!

Alas! It was because the veterans who followed him gradually aged and passed away, and the younger generals were unable to rise up, that this situation came to this! !

Emperor Cheng Qian sighed in his heart.

Now, he either had to swallow his pride and beg that old man Lan Ting to gather troops from Kaifeng and Jinan along the way to rescue Fuzhou, or he had to lead the army himself!

But no matter what, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. Even if they lead their troops to rush to rescue, it may be too late by now!

Fuzhou City has been under siege for nearly twenty days now. How can we resist the 80,000-strong Tatar and Oirat army with just 5,000 soldiers?! I'm afraid the city would have been breached long ago!

Damn it! What a bastard Geng Jingzhong was! He had 80,000 soldiers under his command, plus nearly 30,000 from the other three guards, a total of over 100,000 soldiers and horses, yet he was trapped by the Tartars and watched helplessly as Fuzhou Guard was besieged for so many days!

This indecisive old man must be afraid that the other three guards will also suffer losses, so he dare not advance rashly! If this old man's hesitation really kills his grandson this time, don't blame him for being heartless!

"Stop arguing! Send down the order, mobilize three battalions in Kyoto, each with 10,000 soldiers, and assemble outside Kyoto City tonight! Tomorrow morning, I will personally lead the army!"

Emperor Cheng Qian slammed the table, interrupting the dispute among the civil and military officials below. He ignored the officials' attempts to stop him and made his decision on his own.

He must go to Liaodong to personally bring his grandson back, whether it's a person or a corpse! !

…

In Taohua Village,

The people of Taohua Village had been hiding in the mountains for almost a month, but they still hadn't heard any news from Fuzhou City. During this period, they were unlucky enough to encounter a wolf attack. Although they eventually repelled the wolves, several men were injured.

Among them was Zhou Zelin, who had a piece of flesh bitten off his arm by a wild wolf in order to protect Zheng.

The reason was because Zheng and his men went outside the cave to collect firewood...

Because they were worried about the Tartars coming, everyone in Taohua Village tried to stay in the cave as much as possible these days. They didn't dare to leave the cave easily. Even to fetch water or go to the toilet, they didn't dare to go too far.

Fortunately, there was enough food in the cave, and the drinking water was melted from the snow near the cave, so there was no need to leave the cave too far.

But firewood was not a good option. It was the coldest time of the year and they were living in a cave. They did not dare to cut the weeds and trees around the cave for firewood. If the Tartars came into the mountain to search, they would see that the area around the cave was bare and would immediately know that someone was hiding inside.

Therefore, we could only send a dozen people every few days to a place a little further away from the cave to chop some firewood...

In order to avoid everyone feeling unfair, Zhou Ruiquan and Li Gui divided the adults in the village into groups of more than ten people. They said, "Your group will go this time, and their group will go next time!"

That day, Zheng's group went out to chop wood. In addition to the women like Zheng and Bai, there were also seven or eight men including Zhou Zelin...

The men all held axe, firstly to help chop down the big branches from the trees so that the women could pick them up, and secondly to protect the women in case they encountered wild animals like wolves or boars...

But as the saying goes, what you fear will come to you...

Just as everyone was walking back after picking up more than a dozen bundles of firewood, a pack of about six or seven wolves suddenly jumped out from the bushes nearby and pounced on them.

The women screamed in fear and ran away in panic...

The men immediately threw away the firewood they were carrying, stood behind the women with axes, and started fighting with the wolves!

But there was still a clever wolf that cleverly passed the men and chased after the women.

Zhou Zelin, who was at the back of the group, saw this and quickly chased after him with a hatchet in hand...

Zheng had been worried about Zhou Jin and his sister day and night these past few days, so she was inevitably a little dazed. She was a little slow to react and ran to the back of the women. When she was about to reach the cave, she was unfortunately caught up by the wild wolf and pinned to the ground...

Seeing that the wolf's fangs were about to bite Zheng's throat, Zhou Zelin rushed over in time and swung his axe to chop at the wolf's neck...

The result... the cut was off...

The chop only hit the wolf's shoulder blade, causing only minor skin injuries...

That wild wolf...

Zhou Zelin...

Then, the man and the wolf looked at each other.

The wolf probably judged from this glance that Zhou Zelin was a weakling, so it let go of its prey and pounced on Zhou Zelin! !

Zhou Zelin hurriedly swung his hatchet to chop, but the wolf dodged the blade with a leap and bit his arm holding the hatchet...

With one bite, he bit off a piece of flesh from his arm...

Zhou Zelin cried out in pain and immediately dropped the hatchet in his hand and fell to the ground. When the wolf pounced on him again, he could only instinctively use his arms to block the wolf's fangs...

He thought he was going to die in the wolf's mouth this time, but suddenly he found that the wolf in front of him stopped attacking him. Zhou Zelin looked carefully and saw Zheng holding the hatchet he had just thrown, chopping at the wolf's neck one by one!

At this time, his body was covered with wolf's blood!

Zhou Zelin...

…

Fuzhou City...

Because the Tartars had been besieging Fuzhou City for almost a month, and no reinforcements had arrived, the people in the city were becoming increasingly panicked. Some of the more timid ones even started to talk about surrendering to the Tartars...

They said that since no one from the Great Yan army came to rescue them and they were left here without a care, it would be better to open the city gates and surrender now, rather than being slaughtered by the angry Tartars after the city was captured. Maybe there would be a chance of survival...

Mu Qingni didn't punish or beat these people, but instead had her soldiers throw them onto the city wall, letting them see with their own eyes what happened to the civilians outside the city who had been captured by the Tartars in recent days...

Then, after these people came down from the city wall, no one said anything about surrendering. Instead, they were more active than the civilians and joined the ranks of helping the soldiers defend the city...

Because the people outside the city who were captured by the Tartars were so miserable...

Men, women, young and old were driven to the outskirts of Fuzhou City by the Tartars. Not only were they whipped, but to intimidate the soldiers defending the city, every once in a while the Tartars would randomly pick two people from among the civilians, place them on a specially built high platform, and then brutally kill them in front of the soldiers defending the city...

Seeing those children being held on the point of a spear by the Tartars or the women being stripped naked, humiliated in public and then killed, even the most timid coward would be aroused to his blood! !

"Wuwu... Damn you Tartars! Your grandpa will fight you to the death!!!"

A man who once advocated surrender the most, after watching the Tartars abusing the people of Dayan, roared with snot and tears on his face!

He was no longer timid like before, but after running down the city wall, he found a kitchen knife and took the initiative to help the soldiers defend the city...

Damn it!! Rather than being killed in such a humiliating way, it would be better to fight the Tartars! Killing one would cover the cost, and killing two would still be a profit!

…

It's almost midnight in Fuzhou City.

Zhou Jin felt that their General Mu was a very contradictory person. When he killed the Tartars, he was like a piece of ice, cold and decisive! But when he laughed, he was like a ball of fire, flamboyant and flying!

But now she is quiet, like a pool of water, deep and unpredictable... It makes people curious, what is she thinking about when she lowers her head in thought?

Was she ever afraid of the possible fall of the city?

………

"What's wrong with you?!"

Mu Qingni woke up from her thoughts and found Zhou Jin standing not far from her in a daze without saying a word. She couldn't help but ask.

Why does this guy get distracted so often? It's happened so many times that I have to wake him up!

"ah?……"

Zhou Jin was once again brought back to his senses by Mu Qingni's call, and then he secretly regretted it, wondering what was wrong with him. Why could he always not control his thoughts on General Mu in front of him, and she always caught him...

He shook his head hurriedly, regained consciousness, and then smiled and explained to Mu Qingni:

"Haha, General, I have something to talk to you about. I saw you were lost in thought, so I waited for a moment!"

"Oh, so that's it." Mu Qingni nodded, agreeing with his explanation. She patted the steps beside her and said, "Sit down and talk. You've been exhausted these past few days. Take a break if you can!"

Zhou Jin was not polite and sat down next to her with a smile. He reached out and took out two small wine gourds from his arms and handed one to her.

"Hey, I finally got this. Let's each have a gourd. When we get tired, we can drink a sip and it will help us relieve fatigue!"

Mu Qingni's eyes lit up when she saw it. She took it impatiently, opened the cork, and took a sip.

I immediately felt all the fatigue was gone...

"Wow! What a great wine! Where did you get this? This is some good stuff!"

How could Zhou Jin dare to say that this was a certain machine he had stored in the space! He could only vaguely say:

"If you like to drink, I'll find it for you later!"

"That's not necessary."

Mu Qingni said with a smile, raised the gourd and took a sip, squinting her eyes to savor the taste for a while, then looked into the distance and said to Zhou Jin in a slightly hoarse voice:

"Thank you for the wine! You know, today is my seventeenth birthday. I was just sitting here, thinking,

This year's New Year is so peaceful!

The Lantern Festival is almost here, and there's not even anyone setting off firecrackers. I can't even get some fireworks to celebrate my birthday. Now, this gourd of wine you gave me is enough!"

So today is her birthday? No wonder she's been quieter than usual, maybe she's homesick?

Zhou Jin thought silently, raised the wine in his hand towards her and said with a smile:

"Then I wish you a happy birthday!!"

Then he pointed to the moon in the distance and said:

"Do you have any birthday wishes? Even though there's no cake now, the moon is still quite round. You can make a wish towards it!"

Mu Qingni... wondered:

"What's a cake? Why do you have to make a wish on your birthday?!"

Zhou Jin...

"Uh~, it's a custom in my hometown. They say that making a wish towards the cake on your birthday is more effective..."

Mu Qingni...

"Well then! Since you put it that way, I'll make a wish..."

After saying this, he really stood up, clasped his hands together, and bowed to the moon very devoutly, then closed his eyes and said:

"Moon above, I hope that today's birthday of mine, Mu Qingni, is not my last!!"

Zhou Jin...

The author has something to say:

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-07-12 14:56:04 and 2022-07-13 06:26:22~

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Shuangmulinlin 20 bottles; Lan 10 bottles; Chenxi 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!