Chapter 101

It took Fan Changyu three days to fully comprehend the moves that He Jingyuan taught her.

But without anyone to practice with, she had no idea how much she had improved.

Fan Changyu was counting the days. He would be able to return home the day after tomorrow, and then he would have a good time with Xie Zheng.

The last time she returned to the military camp, Xie Zheng said that he came to Chongzhou for official business. From what he said, he should stay in Chongzhou for a while.

Therefore, in addition to training with the army every day, Fan Changyu also tried hard to squeeze out time to practice his carving skills.

After ruining countless pieces of wood, she was finally able to carve out a decent prototype of a doll.

Unexpectedly, at the end of the day's training, Captain Guo said: "From today on, the barracks will be sealed off. No one is allowed to leave the barracks, and the daily training time will be doubled."

The soldiers below were whispering to each other, while Fan Changyu and another team leader looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What are you yelling about?"

Captain Guo shouted in a deep voice and scanned the area with a fierce gaze. The deliberately suppressed discussions instantly died down.

He said gruffly, "Two teams are staying here, the rest of you go back to the barracks and wait!"

The soldiers below walked back in twos and threes, and small discussions spread again.

Fan Changyu and another team member were staying where they were, waiting for Captain Guo's instructions.

Captain Guo glanced at the two of them and said, "Your chance to make achievements has come. The main army is short of manpower, so we will be transferred to the right wing battalion behind the vanguard battalion to assist the main army in the attack. Many people have served in the army for ten years and can only follow the tail of the army and get the job of cleaning up the battlefield. This time we have got a bargain. Since ancient times, wealth and honor have been sought through risks. I have never been a bad person in my life. Don't bring me a group of bad soldiers and embarrass me!"

Only after Fan Changyu and another captain repeatedly promised to increase the intensity of training were they released by Captain Guo.

The battle in Chongzhou had been at a stalemate for a long time. Fan Changyu had not expected that the two armies would have a large-scale confrontation so soon. As she was walking back with a heavy heart, she was stopped by Captain Guo. Half of his face was hidden in his thick beard. He said in a rough voice, "I know you must have someone above you, and you are not bad at martial arts, but if you are in danger on the battlefield, no one in my team will risk their lives to save you. If you go find someone above you now to transfer you somewhere else, it's still not too late."

Fan Changyu just glanced at Captain Guo and left without saying a word.

When they returned to the barracks, the soldiers who were on good terms gathered together, seemingly still discussing the meaning of Captain Guo's words.

When they saw Fan Changyu, someone asked, "Captain Fan, are we going to fight?"

In order to appear more dignified, Fan Changyu always spoke very little in front of others and had little expression on his face.

It turns out that this method is quite effective. She rarely loses her temper, but the soldiers under her seem to be quite afraid of her.

Of course, it is not ruled out that it was because she used two iron hammers to smash Captain Guo's sword on the first day she led the team.

After she grimace-strained and said "hmm", the soldiers remained silent for a while. Their faces showed fear of the unknown and sadness that they would never see their parents, wives and children again.

Fan Changyu knew that even soldiers were afraid of fighting. After all, before putting on the military uniform, they were just porters trying to make a living, or hardworking farmers.

She didn't say anything encouraging, only saying, "In the days ahead, everyone should practice swordplay and gunplay diligently. Even if you don't seek a rich future, you must have the ability to protect your life so that you can survive the battlefield and return home to see your wife, children and mother after the war."

After a pause, he continued, "I was able to survive the First Line Gorge with a pig-killing knife because the number of people I killed by the anti-thieves was not as many as the pigs I killed before."

She thought hard and finally remembered the phrase. She said seriously, "Practice makes perfect. It applies everywhere. You are afraid on the battlefield, and so are the soldiers in the anti-bandit army. Everyone is afraid, but whoever is afraid will be faster in swinging his sword or using his gun."

The soldiers burst into laughter, and the originally tense atmosphere suddenly dissipated a lot.

The next training was related to whether she could save her life, and with Fan Changyu's words "practice makes perfect" in mind, the dozens of people under her trained extra hard.

Xie Wu generously taught them many deadly fighting techniques.

On the night before the expedition, a soldier in the team found Fan Changyu and handed over all the military pay he had received since joining the army to Fan Changyu for safekeeping.

He said, "Captain, I am the only son of my mother. I am from Huangping County, Jizhou. If I die, please help me bring the silver to my mother."

After saying this, he ran away. Fan Changyu stared at the pieces of silver in his hand for a long time and finally put them away.

She used to be afraid of the battlefield, but when she thought about her parents' revenge, Yu Qianqian who was trapped in Chongzhou City, and Xie Zheng, she was no longer afraid.

Military merit was the best way she could think of at the moment and how she could accomplish it all on her own.

But now, she has one more belief in her heart - she hopes to lead every soldier under her command off the battlefield alive.

There were still a few hours before the troops were to be dispatched. Fan Changyu lay down for a while but couldn't fall asleep, so he took out the half-carved puppet he had carved from under his pillow and continued carving it.

The puppet had already had its hair carved out, and she turned the blade and slowly carved out the eyes.

Because the sculpture was of a round-headed puppet, the eyes were carved larger.

Thinking of Xie Zheng's appearance in his mind, he carved the tail of his eye a little higher before putting the knife away. The silly kid suddenly had a look of arrogance as he looked down on people with his nostrils.

Fan Changyu smiled unconsciously. She poked the puppet's chubby face and whispered, "It looks quite like it."

I don’t know where he is now?

-

The moon was at its zenith, and the crows in the woods started up in surprise.

Zhao Wen was forced to his knees. There were dead bodies all over the ground, all of them were his bodyguards.

His face was pale, his forehead was covered with sweat, and his pupils reflected the tip of the sword dripping blood in the firelight. He trembled and called out, "Marquis... Marquis..."

Xie Zheng shook off the sticky blood on the sword and looked over with his eyes slightly tilted: "Even a cunning rabbit has only three burrows, but Master Zhao has so many burrows, it's really easy for me to find him."

The breeze blew through the treetops, and the voice that fell in the light of the fire was cold and a little nonchalant.

A few days ago, after Fan Changyu returned to the camp, Xie Zheng went to see Master Tao. He originally wanted to discuss the matter of the emperor's grandson and the Li family with Master Tao, but Master Tao said that he had an urgent matter and had to go to the capital, so he asked Xie Zheng to thoroughly investigate the relationship between the emperor's grandson and Prince Changxin before he came back.

Xie Zheng agreed and originally wanted to find He Jingyuan to get an answer about Fan Changyu's life experience.

But unfortunately, He Jingyuan was personally counting the grain and military equipment transported from the court with Li Huaian. He was currently in Kangcheng. If he suddenly appeared in Chongzhou, it would only give Li's party a handle to accuse him of dereliction of duty. Xie Zheng then went directly to investigate the matter of the emperor's eldest grandson.

The person who had a direct relationship with the emperor's eldest grandson was Zhao Wen, so he naturally started his investigation with Zhao Wen.

Because the Zhao family was in business and had good access to information, Zhao Wen had already left the city before Chongzhou was besieged.

The Zhao family's business was extremely extensive and they had many bases. Xie Zheng had to work very hard to stop them.

When Zhao Wen saw Xie Zheng coming in person, he knew something was wrong and reluctantly replied, "You are joking, my Lord. As long as you can use me, I will do my best to help you..."

Xie Zheng looked at him with a half-smile: "Young Master Zhao said the same thing when he found me in Qingping County a few years ago."

Zhao Wen’s face froze.

The bloody sword in Xie Zheng's hand fell on his shoulder. Zhao Wen swallowed hard and said harshly, "My Lord, please calm down. My life is in the hands of others. In many things, I have no choice."

Xie Zheng used a little force in his hand and pressed the sword down. Zhao Wen was so frightened that he dared not say a word. Cold sweat rolled down his forehead like beads, and his body was as stiff as an iron plate.

The bloody sword swept across the clothes on his shoulders, leaving a glaring blood mark on his robe.

Although there was a layer of clothes between them, Zhao Wen seemed to have felt the chill of the sword and the stickiness of the blood on his clothes. The smell of blood stimulated his senses, making his face so pale that no trace of blood could be seen, and his whole body was shaking like a sieve.

Xie Zheng took the sword, handed it to the guard behind him, and said casually: "Don't mind, borrow this piece of clothing from Master Zhao to wipe the blood."

Zhao Wen's whole body went limp, and he said in a somewhat dejected tone, "Sir, please give me a way out."

Xie Zheng smiled slightly and said, "When I was in trouble, Master Zhao bought 200,000 shi of grain for me. We are old friends. I will ask you a few questions. As long as you answer truthfully, I will not make things difficult for you."

It would have been fine if he didn't mention the grain purchase, but as soon as he mentioned it, Zhao Wen's face turned even paler.

He bought the grain at the beginning because he saw that Wei Yan wanted to kill him, and Li Taifu was sitting on the mountain watching the fight between tigers, and only wanted to make the matter bigger so as to impeach Wei Yan. That was why he prepared in advance and stored grain and fodder for Jinzhou.

But Zhao Wen deliberately left a tail for He Jingyuan, letting He Jingyuan know that it was Xie Zheng who bought the grain.

Originally, they wanted to make Xie and He fight each other, after all, one of them turned against Wei Yan, and the other was loyal to Wei Yan. Who would have thought that He Jingyuan would not take any action at all, which led to the betrayal of Wei Xuan and the forced collection of grain, and Sui Yuanqing pretended to be a grain collection officer and killed people to fan the flames.

He kowtowed heavily to Xie Zheng, resting his forehead on the ground, and said in a trembling voice: "My Lord, please calm down. I also advised Your Highness at the beginning, but I am too insignificant to influence Your Highness's decision. What happened at the beginning was definitely not my original intention."

Xie Zheng asked: "You said you work for the emperor's eldest grandson. How can I believe that the person behind you is the emperor's eldest grandson?"

Zhao Wen's eyes flashed with some struggle, but he finally answered: "My mother was a senior maidservant of the Crown Princess. Later, she was released from the palace when she reached a certain age. In fact, she married my father and secretly managed the Crown Princess's business outside the palace."

Xie Zheng had ordered people to check the files on the fire in the East Palace that year and found out that the Crown Princess did have a maid who was expelled from the palace when she was 25 years old.

The defeat of Jinzhou and the fire in the Eastern Palace occurred one after the other. After the death of Crown Prince Chengde, the Crown Princess and the eldest grandson of the Emperor also suffered misfortune. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the two events must be related.

Behind the fire in the East Palace may lie the truth behind Jinzhou’s disastrous defeat.

Xie Zheng unconsciously clenched his hand behind his back, and said in a cold voice: "Didn't the Crown Princess and the Emperor's eldest grandson both die in the fire in the East Palace?"

Zhao Wen replied: "The fire in the East Palace was set by the Crown Princess in order to give the Emperor's eldest grandson a glimmer of hope."

Xie Zheng frowned and asked, "Who wants the emperor's eldest grandson to die?"

Zhao Wen smiled bitterly, "I really don't know. My mother only received a letter from the Crown Princess herself after the fire in the Eastern Palace, which told her about the whereabouts of the Emperor's eldest grandson. But the letter did not mention the people who wanted to harm the Eastern Palace."

Xie Zheng's eyes turned cold and he looked sarcastic: "So Master Zhao made up a lie to fool me?"

Zhao Wen hurriedly said, "I dare not. If you do not believe me, I still have the Crown Princess's handwritten letter and tokens to prove it."

Xie Zhengfeng's eyes were dark in the firelight, and no one could see the underlying color in them. He asked: "Is the emperor's eldest grandson the eldest son of the current Prince Changxin?"

So many questions have been asked. Zhao Wen has close contacts with the Prince Changxin's Palace. In addition, Chang Ning mentioned before that Yu Baoer and her son were detained in the Prince Changxin's Palace. It is obvious that all of these questions point to one answer. That's why Xie Zheng asked the last question so confidently.

Zhao Wen didn't dare to hide it and nodded.

Xie Zheng narrowed his narrow eyes slightly.

Everything matched up. Prince Changxin could only rebel under the banner of eliminating Wei Yan and purging the emperor's court. However, he did not dare to directly use the legitimacy of the emperor's eldest grandson as an argument, because Prince Changxin had no idea that his son had been replaced.

The emperor's eldest grandson did not dare to expose himself.

After all, Prince Changxin was able to rebel directly. Once he found out that his son had been occupied for so many years, I'm afraid he would not give the emperor's eldest grandson any chance to survive.

He asked: "Years ago, he appeared in Qingping County with the Yuanqing Society. Was he also the work of the emperor's eldest grandson?"

Sweat dripped from Zhao Wen's eyelids. He answered, "Yes."

The eldest grandson of the emperor learned from Zhao that Xie Zheng was in Qingping County, and planned to send Sui Yuanqing there in order to use Xie Zheng to get rid of Sui Yuanqing.

At that time, Chongzhou was still invincible. If Prince Changxin could take advantage of the fact that Xie's army was restrained by the Northern Jue, capture Jizhou in one fell swoop and continue to move south, it would not be impossible for him to reach the capital and force the emperor to abdicate.

But Prince Changxin appointed Sui Yuanqing as the crown prince, and even if he conquered the country in the future, it would be Sui Yuanqing who would inherit the throne.

Therefore, the emperor's eldest grandson must die with Yuan Qing.

Now that Prince Changxin has clearly been defeated, the emperor's eldest grandson also knows that he can no longer rely on fighting to the capital to regain the throne, so he frequently shows goodwill to the Li family.

Xie Zheng sneered: "Is this what the descendants of Prince Chengde are?"

Zhao Wen smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness had half of his face burned when he was young in order to replace the eldest son of Prince Changxin. He was left with a lot of illnesses and has become more and more moody in recent years. Although I am just a businessman with a lot of money, I can tell right from wrong and justice. I secretly admire such a great hero like you. I also know in my heart that if Your Highness inherits the throne one day, I am afraid that the people will suffer."

He seemed to struggle for a while, and finally risked speaking his mind: "Your Highness already has a child, I think you have seen it, the female shopkeeper of Yixianglou in Qingping County is your Highness's concubine who ran away, and her child is the great grandson of the emperor. Now the world is in a state that you have also seen, the imperial power is declining, the political parties are strife-ridden, and people's lives are difficult. You are worse than Wei Yan back then, if you are willing to follow Wei Yan's example and support the great grandson of the emperor to ascend to the throne, I am willing to serve you like a dog and a horse!"

Xie Zheng's eyes showed no sign of moving, as if he had no interest in what he said. The corners of his lips raised with a hint of sarcasm: "You can betray your Highness and turn to me, how can I be sure that you won't turn around and turn to someone else?"

From ancient times to the present, slaves with two surnames have always been despised by people.

Zhao Wen knew this very well, and finally confessed: "I just want to find a way out for myself and my mother. Since the return of the emperor's grandson, His Highness's temper has become more and more erratic. He even sent shadow guards to monitor me and my mother, just to prevent us from turning to support the emperor's grandson. His Highness's suspicion is growing day by day, and I am afraid that he will attack me and my mother one day."

He paused, and then said, "From the first time I saw you, I felt that you were a man of great stature, so I dared to speak such arrogant words in front of you."

Xie Zheng ignored his last few flattering words, his eyelashes half drooped, as if thinking about the current situation.

The crackling sound of the resin torches was particularly clear in the night where only the sound of the wind could be heard.

Xie Zheng asked, "Where are Huang Zhongsun and his mother now?"

Zhao Wen replied sternly, "They and my mother are still in Chongzhou City."

It is like a hostage, forcing him not to have any second thoughts when doing things outside.

Xie Zheng frowned slightly when he heard this.

Huang Changsun is now cooperating with the Li Party. If he wants to help the Li Party gain military merit in Chongzhou, he can only overthrow He Jingyuan first.

The capital and Chongzhou were thousands of miles apart, and the impeachment of He Jingyuan in the court had not yet reached Xie Zheng's ears.

He asked: "What evidence do you have against He Jingyuan?"

-

Fan Changyu carved the puppet for a whole night and finally finished carving the doll's head and body.

It's ugly, but after looking at it for a long time, I find it weirdly cute.

She was quite satisfied with her first finished product.

While she was washing up, Xie Wu got her a breastplate from somewhere and asked her to put it inside her military uniform.

Fan Changyu took a look at the size of the breastplate and thought it would be safer to continue using the two steel plates that he had installed when he set out from Yangzhou to find Changning.

Xie Wu was stunned when he learned that she had to be tied with a piece of steel plate from head to toe.

Fan Changyu thought that Xie Wu was so frightened because he had never seen anyone as afraid of death as she was. However, based on the most important principle of staying alive, she accepted it without hesitation.

Generals wear breastplates because the armor already protects other vital parts, and the chest is just the last line of defense.

The soldier's uniform she was wearing probably couldn't even block a single blow, so she had to rely on the steel plate to save her life at the critical moment.

Xie Wu thought the palm-sized breast shield was inconvenient to carry and affected his mobility, so Fan Changyu secretly gave it to the soldier who had given him the silver to keep for safekeeping.

When the other party took the heart-protecting goggles, he looked at Fan Changyu with tears in his eyes, as if he was looking at his reborn parents, which made Fan Changyu feel particularly embarrassed.

When Captain Guo was counting the ranks, he discovered that Fan Changyu had not left. It was hard to tell whether the look in his eyes was one of fear of trouble or something else, but it was complicated anyway.

He shouted, "On the battlefield, if you kill one, you'll make money. If you kill two, you'll make a profit! If you come back alive, I'll celebrate for you!"

Fan Changyu shouted "OK" along with the soldiers around him.

Fear, passion, and worry all seemed to roar out in that one voice.

What was different from the previous time they went to the battlefield was that this time Fan Changyu and his men were not standing so far back, and they were not going to provide support midway, so they could fully see the formation of the two armies before the battle.

It was so dark and oppressive that it looked like two ant colonies confronting each other. They were too far away and could only see the red threads entangled on the long spears held high by the counter-thieves on the opposite sides.

When the horns on both sides sounded, the vanguard troops of the two armies roared and rushed forward, and soon collided with each other, as if making a muffled sound.

Fan Changyu felt that among the soldiers in the army, the bravest ones were probably those in the vanguard camp.

After all, the people behind were following the people in front, while the people in front were rushing forward facing the enemy's swords and spears.

What surprised and relieved her was that the dozens of soldiers under her command followed her almost closely. Wherever she went to kill, they would rush over immediately.

Fan Changyu couldn't tell whether they followed her so closely because they were trying to protect her or because they wanted to ask for her protection.

But their combination was like a cone. As the tip of the cone, there was no place that Fan Changyu could not penetrate. Xie Wu was always following closely three steps away from her.

The Mo Dao was turned into a shadow in Fan Changyu's hand. She pushed forward. At first, she could still see the shadows of the vanguard troops, but later she found that all she could see were enemy troops.

She remembered that they were assisting the vanguard troops, and became very anxious when she could no longer see the vanguard troops. She continued to charge forward while asking Xie Wu, "Have you seen the flag of the vanguard troops?"

The vanguard was responsible for breaking up the enemy's camp, while they had to squeeze in through the hole torn open by the vanguard, allowing the infantry behind to make the hole bigger and bigger, thus dividing the enemy's forces.

If the rope breaks somewhere and they are surrounded by thieves, they will be trapped in the trap, which is a life-threatening situation.

Xie Wu's face was covered in blood. He slashed at the counter-thief who rushed up with a knife and said in a somewhat frustrated tone: "The vanguard has been dispersed. Now we have become the vanguard!"

Fan Changyu let out an "ah" in confusion, and relying on the length advantage of his Mo Dao, he forced back the soldier who was attacking him with one blow. Looking back, he realized that the soldiers following him had grown from a few dozen people at the beginning to a huge group.

Captain Guo followed not far behind her, panting heavily while leaning on his long sword, and swearing, "You idiot, you keep rushing forward like you're reincarnated. You turned my right wing army into the vanguard!"

Xie Wu ignored Captain Guo, wiped the blood off his face and said to Fan Changyu: "I will go and pick up the vanguard flag. The soldiers behind can't see the flag and don't know where to charge."

The worst thing to do on the battlefield is to mess up your formation and be eaten up by the enemy as they divide you into small groups.

Fan Changyu kicked one man away and shouted, "Where is the flag?"

Xie Wu was good at Qinggong. He stepped on the heads of the rebels and leaped forward several steps. He pointed a direction to Fan Changyu, and Fan Changyu pushed forward in that direction like a sharp knife.

The generals who were watching the battle from a high altitude had solemn expressions on their faces when they saw the vanguard's goose formation being dispersed, as if they had foreseen that they would lose this first battle. However, they did not expect that a spike suddenly appeared in the right wing of the vanguard's charge, and like a bee's stinger, it continued to pierce the abdomen of the counter-thief's mother formation with extreme sharpness.

The generals looked at each other in bewilderment at first, and then when the newly formed cone-headed army joined forces with the few scattered vanguard troops and carried the vanguard flag, killing the rebels and forcing them to retreat step by step, their eyes became strange.

A general said: "I've heard that the rear guard can become the vanguard, but this is the first time I've seen the right wing army become the vanguard. They can stabilize the offensive and defensive situation without changing the formation. I'm afraid the leader must be a veteran to be so sharp and have a good understanding of the overall situation."

Another general said: "This right wing army was temporarily formed by General Tang's new recruits. General Tang really has a lot of talented people under his command."

Tang Peiyi responded with a stiff smile, staring at the battlefield below, trying to see who was leading the troops. However, the distance was too far, and he couldn't see clearly even though his eyes were almost numb. He racked his brains but couldn't figure out when he had such a capable person under his command.

Only He Jingyuan looked at the battlefield below the mountain without saying a word.

The author has something to say:

General Tang: My brave generals lead me to achieve great things.

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The war plot about the heroine who keeps charging forward is relatively light-hearted and humorous, and can be regarded as a tribute to "Forrest Gump" (I should explain that the writing of this stupid author is definitely not worthy of being compared with the classic, and this is just to explain the source of inspiration for this plot).

Good morning, my dears~ 100 red envelopes will be given out in this chapter~