Chapter 71

Dozens of riders were running across the wilderness, the muddy water covering their horses' hooves, and the Chongzhou troops behind them quickly caught up with them.

In order to lure the Chongzhou army deeper into the canyon, Xie Zheng deliberately ordered dozens of his personal cavalrymen to pretend to flee so that the enemy would underestimate him.

Sui Yuanqing was tied to a cavalryman's horse with many broken ribs and his entire chest was squeezed and painful. He knew that the Chongzhou Army behind him would never return, but he was tied up and the Yanzhou Army pretended to be defeated to lure the enemy. This was a situation he could not save no matter what.

He endured the sharp pain that felt like his chest was being torn apart and sneered: "My Lord, you asked me to use that gilded phoenix-winged spear to pierce my heart and lungs, but you were able to endure the pain and ride the horse for so long. I really admire you."

His spear penetrated diagonally through the gap in Xie Zheng's armor under his armpit, but Xie Zheng appeared so calm that even the cavalryman who caught Chang Ning thought he was only slightly injured, not to mention the others.

After Sui Yuanqing spoke, they couldn't help but look at Xie Zheng.

Sui Yuanqing's purpose is to disrupt the morale of the army. Once Xie Zheng falls, the army will be leaderless. There may still be a chance of a turnaround in tonight's battle.

Thunder roared, and Xie Zheng's soaked cape clung to his horse's back against his armor. He tilted his head slightly, his body straight, and his profile looked like a sculpture of cold jade under the white lightning. He half-raised his eyes and spoke casually, "It seems that the head of Prince Sui's gun is made of wax. Next time you go to the battlefield, remember to change it to iron."

His tone was full of mockery.

All the personal knights laughed out loud. Sui Yuanqing looked unhappy and said, "Let's see how long the Marquis can hold out."

Xie Zheng glanced at Sui Yuanqing coldly and said to the cavalryman who was carrying him, "Prince Sui is in good spirits. Let him dismount and walk around."

As Yuan Qing's face changed drastically, he knew that this was by no means as simple as "getting off the horse and walking around".

The cavalrymen really cheered. He was tied up with his hands and thrown into the muddy rain. Mud mixed with rain splashed all over his body. Some of the mud splashed into his eyes, which was very painful. Before he could get up, the cavalrymen were already excited and whipped their horses to gallop away.

Sui Yuanqing was dragged by the rope all the way in the rain. Even with the protection of the armor, his entire back was rubbed with burning pain. The broken ribs in his chest seemed to be even more dislocated. He gritted his teeth and stared at the dark rain curtain. The cold sweat on his forehead mixed with the rain and his lips and teeth were full of the smell of blood.

Xie Zheng was riding his horse in the front. He lowered his eyes in the lightning to glance at his inner robe that was stained dark by blood. He pursed his pale lips and flicked the whip to urge his horse to continue running towards the crossroads.

His condition was indeed not optimistic. Although Sui Yuanqing's shot did not penetrate his internal organs, it did bruise his bones. The wound was quite large, and the blood was difficult to clot due to being soaked in rain water. He felt a little dizzy after losing too much blood.

But the Chongzhou Army is right behind them, so now is definitely not the time to stop.

The entrance to the Yixian Gorge was vaguely visible ahead, and in the night it looked like the gap between the teeth of a sleeping beast. When the Chongzhou army reached this point, they obviously sensed an ambush and their march became extremely slow.

Xie Zheng listened to the scout's report, his eyelids felt heavy, and he suddenly fell off his horse. Seeing this, several personal riders hurriedly pulled the reins, dismounted and ran to help him up: "My Lord!"

As Yuan Qing was dragged by the warhorse all the way, he felt great pain all over. He wanted to mock, but he didn't have the strength to utter a single word.

The abnormality here was quickly discovered by the scouts of the Chongzhou Army, who rushed back with the news.

The general who led the troops in pursuit in Chongzhou was in a dilemma at the moment. If he stopped at Yixianxia and failed to bring Sui Yuanqing back, King Changxin would definitely get angry with him when he returned.

But if they pursued them into the First Line Strait and were ambushed and wiped out, he wouldn't have enough heads to chop off.

The news brought back by the scouts was undoubtedly the last straw that broke the camel's back. In addition, there was testimony from Sui Yuanqing's personal soldier who went back to report the news that Xie Zheng was indeed injured by Sui Yuanqing.

With such outstanding achievements as rescuing Sui Yuanqing and capturing Wu'an Hou alive in mind, the general of Chongzhou who led the troops quickly made a decision. He used cavalry to lead the way and ordered the army to advance at full speed.

-

Only then did Xie Zheng's personal guards discover that he was indeed injured, and that the sword had pierced his right ribs. The wound got deeper as it moved to the left, which was truly shocking.

The rain was heavy, and two bottles of golden medicine were poured on the wound. The personal soldiers tore off the lining of his battle robe and bandaged him hastily, but blood was still oozing out of the wound.

A cavalryman who had been keeping an eye on the Chongzhou Army's movements came back and said, "All the cavalrymen in the Chongzhou Army are heading this way."

Dozens of cavalrymen were a little panicked at once. However, Xie Zheng, who had been sitting in the rain and taking a short rest while tending to his wounds, opened his eyes at this moment, put on his outer armor as if nothing had happened, climbed onto his horse's back and said, "This time we can completely lure the counter-thieves into the First Line Canyon. Let's go into the canyon as planned!"

The few horsemen who were standing there in a daze looked at each other in bewilderment, and could hardly tell whether Xie Zheng had really fallen or was deceiving Chongzhou to rebel. After they came to their senses, they all jumped onto their horses and followed.

They had to hurry on their way, so naturally they had no time to play tricks on Sui Yuanqing.

When Sui Yuanqing was put on the horse, he suddenly understood why Xie Zheng fell off the horse just now. He did it on purpose!

He was injured, so even if he led the troops himself, let alone the important general from Chongzhou, he would not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

The horse's back was bumpy, and Yuan Qing was thrown upside down, so that the whites of his eyes were stained blood red. When he looked up at the rocks that were rapidly retreating, they seemed to be covered with a faint layer of blood.

He looked at Xie Zheng who was still riding his horse in the front, and suddenly wondered if Xie Zheng could not feel the pain?

He didn't think Xie Zheng's injuries were less serious than his own, but he was in so much pain that he felt like he had died several times. Apart from falling off his horse just now to deliberately lure the enemy, Xie Zheng had hardly shown any abnormality.

While he was thinking, the cavalrymen had already run around a bend and released a pointed arrow into the sky.

For a moment, the whole valley was filled with boulders rolling down like thunder. The Chongzhou cavalry, who were about to catch up with them at a distance of an arrow, were hit by the boulders rolling down the cliff on the narrow mountain road. They were thrown into chaos and tried to retreat, but the infantry who had just entered the canyon were blocked outside and could not retreat at all. Instead, the number of infantrymen whose horses were frightened and trampled to death far exceeded those who were killed by the boulders.

The sound of thunder that almost cracked the sky could not drown out the screams in the canyon. Lightning struck, and Yuan Qing lay on the horse's back, looking at the Chongzhou army that was killed and wounded in the distance. He closed his eyes, clenched his hands into fists, his palms were scratched by his fingernails, and blood flowed from between his fingers.

He will take revenge for this.

After the Chongzhou cavalry were frightened and trampled to death many infantrymen in the canyon, the generals behind them quickly rode forward to command and stabilize the situation. They ordered the cavalry not to retreat but to rush forward in order to reduce the chance of being hit by the boulders rolling down the mountain.

The infantrymen in the rear who had not advanced far into the canyon quickly turned around and retreated.

However, when the Chongzhou cavalry rushed to the exit of the canyon, waiting for them were rows of archers with their bowstrings already drawn.

Another Yanzhou army rushed out from the rear of the infantry formation which had not yet completely entered the valley, disrupting the formation. The soldiers who escaped from the valley alive were still in shock when they saw another chaotic fight outside. Their morale dropped and they almost fled in panic.

The Chongzhou general who led the troops knew that he was to blame for the outcome of the battle and just wanted to keep his troops retreating as much as possible. However, he was forced to retreat because he was blocked by the Yanzhou infantry in the rear. He came up with a plan to have his soldiers shout "Marquis Wu'an is dead" to disrupt the morale of the Yanzhou army.

This plan was indeed effective. The Yanzhou Army, which had been attacking fiercely, actually showed signs of weakness amid the cries of "Marquis Wu'an is dead".

-

On the mountain, Xie Zheng heard the report from the scouts. He didn't care about his injuries and climbed up with his halberd. The military doctor was embarrassed and didn't dare to stop him. Gongsun Yin pushed him back and said, "The stab of the Sui family kid was very vicious. If it was a little off, it would have pierced your internal organs. You should cherish your life. What can you do if you go down the mountain like this?"

This is a cave that the personal soldiers found on the mountain. Although it is not exposed to rain, the cold wind that blows in, wrapped in water vapor, still makes people shiver.

The grass and trees in the forest were soaked by the rain, and the soldiers below could not find firewood to start a fire.

Xie Zheng had taken off his armor, wearing only his inner robe, with his chest wide open. A sharp gunshot wound ran from his right chest to his left chest, leaving a hole in it. The military doctor applied crushed herbs on it without even having time to wrap it with gauze.

He said sternly, "Shi Yue is a veteran general under the command of Prince Changxin. He has fought in countless battles and should not be underestimated. We must not let him stabilize his morale and defeat the 10,000 troops at the foot of the mountain."

There are still 20,000 Chongzhou infantrymen stored at the foot of the mountain. If the Chongzhou army reacts, their 10,000 sneak attacking troops will be trapped.

Gongsun Yin looked at the armor he had taken off and piled aside, and said, "I have a plan. Find a personal soldier with a body shape similar to yours, put on your armor and ride down the mountain to stabilize the army's morale. It's dark, and no one can tell whether it's you. Shi Yue is a cautious person. He fell into your trap and rushed into the canyon before. He has learned his lesson. If he sees you appear at the foot of the mountain again, he will not dare to fight again."

The deputy general standing by also said that this plan was feasible.

Xie Zheng weighed the pros and cons again and again, and finally nodded.

The military doctor continued to bandage his wound. Gongsun Yin then took a look at Changning, who was sleeping against the cave wall wrapped in his dry cloak. The child had good facial features. Even though his hair was frizzy after being wiped dry, like a ruffled chick, he still looked very cute.

But her face seemed to be red as if something was not normal. Gongsun Yin reached out to check and found that Changning was not asleep but had a fever after being caught in the rain all night.

He hurriedly said to the military doctor, "After you bandage it, take a look at this child as well."

Xie Zheng turned his head and saw the red flush on Chang Ning's face. He said to the military doctor who was wrapping the bandage around him, "Go see the child."

The military doctor had no choice but to let Xie Zheng press the wrapped gauze himself while he checked Changning's pulse.

Gongsun Yin originally planned to go over to help Xie Zheng, but he saw himself lowering his head, biting one end of the gauze with his teeth, and quickly tied a knot, as if he had done this many times before.

He wanted to find out something about Fan Changyu. He originally thought that a woman who could kill pigs must be strong and sturdy. After Xie Zheng went to Qingping County to rescue people last time, he privately asked his personal soldiers whether they had seen the girl.

Gongsun Yin was very puzzled by the answer of the personal soldier. He was very handsome and could pick up an adult man with one hand and throw him several meters away.

Gongsun Yin couldn't imagine what kind of girl she was.

He once thought that Xie Zheng's personal soldiers might have the same preference for choosing women as Xie Zheng, which was why they thought girls like that were pretty.

After meeting Changning tonight and knowing that she was Fan Changyu's younger sister, Gongsun Yin suddenly doubted his previous guess. Since the younger sister had such distinctive facial features, the older sister should also be good-looking.

So what the guard said before about the pretty girl who kills pigs must be true?

He became more and more curious about Fan Changyu's appearance.

The military doctor's medicine box contained a lot of medicines for injuries and colds. After checking Changning's pulse, he was afraid that such a young child would not be able to endure it, so he went to ask his personal soldiers to find a way to light a fire and boil the medicine.

Only Xie Zheng and Gongsun Yin were left in the cave. He coughed and said to Xie Zheng, "You saved the child intact. If you go to see her sister with all these injuries, the girl will be so heartbroken that she will cry!"

Xie Zheng looked at the rain without answering.

Gongsun Yin didn't want to be too obvious, so he continued to ask in a roundabout way: "How are you going to take care of this child?"

Xie Zheng glanced at Chang Ning, who had a handkerchief on her forehead covered by a military doctor. "Her sister is in Jizhou. When she recovers from the cold, we will send her back to Jizhou."

Gongsun Yin asked, "Are you not going with me?"

Xie Zheng suddenly turned his head to look at him. His little trick was seen through. Gongsun Yin quickly stood up and fanned himself to look at the rain curtain outside the cave: "Oh, it's raining so hard. If everything goes well at the dam, the 50,000 Chongzhou troops who surrounded Lucheng would have all been buried in the water by now."

Xie Zheng turned his gaze away and ignored him, but his brows were slightly furrowed, and it was obvious that he was also worried about the battle situation in Lucheng.

The author has something to say:

Thank you for your concern, I have been trying to adjust my sleep schedule, but I have developed a habit of insomnia, and it is not something I can adjust to in a short period of time. Sometimes I can lie down and do nothing, but I can sleep till dawn.

Insomnia affects not only sleep and the body, but also the mental state. Because you can't sleep at night, you will feel dazed and lack energy the next day. In serious cases, you will have a headache, feel uncomfortable all the time, and can't concentrate on anything. The body seems to be telling you that it is tired and wants to rest, but you spend a lot of time trying to rest during the day, and the quality of sleep is still poor. As a result, time is wasted, and you don't rest well. Many tasks have to be postponed until the evening to be completed.

This seems to be a vicious cycle. I can't sleep at night, and my mental state is poor during the day. I want to make up for it, but it's impossible. If I don't make up for it, I don't have the energy to do other things, and many times I get half the result with twice the effort.

I hope insomnia will stay away from me and my babies, and we all want to have a healthy body!