Hot blood splattered on his face, and his vision was covered with a layer of red. The blade of his broadsword had been bent, so he threw it down and picked up another one at random. He no longer felt the pain from the knife and arrow wounds on his body, and his arms moved mechanically, tirelessly.

There were shouts of killing, heavy breathing, and the muffled "pop" sound of swords entering the body.

A sharp arrow pierced deeply into his abdomen. Fan Qing froze for a moment, then slashed the enemy's neck with a fierce knife.

"General Fan!"

Blood dripped down the hem of his armor onto the ground. Fan Qing took two steps back and leaned on his sword: "I, I'm fine."

As long as he has one breath left, the enemy will not be able to break into Cangwu Pass.

Fan Qing took a few deep breaths and said, "Kill!"

The personal guard wiped the redness off his face, gritted his teeth and rushed forward first.

"kill!"

I swear to live and die with Guankou!

The ground was covered in blood, the feet were already sticky, and the vision was dark, but no one took a step back.

kill!

The wind was howling, and Fan Qing and other soldiers were determined to die while guarding the dangerous pass.

However, God never abandons us, at the critical moment, reinforcements arrive!

At the end of the plank road within sight, there was a sudden commotion. Han Xi led the charge and the enemy soldiers, who were wearing dark blue armor, turned back in panic to fight back, and the whole place was thrown into chaos in an instant.

"General, General, reinforcements are coming!" The guards cried with joy.

"well!"

In fact, Fan Qing's vision was blurred and he couldn't see clearly, but this did not hinder his ecstasy. He swayed slightly and stood up again: "Brothers, meet the enemy!"

The exhausted defenders regained their spirits and rushed forward again in an instant. With the strength of one force going down while the other went down, they forced the enemy troops, who were in great disorder, back to the stone steps.

With the cooperation of the two sides, in less than half an hour, Han Xi reached the open area in front of the pass, and he was the first to jump down the stone steps.

"We are late!" Han Xi clasped his fists in admiration for such a brave general as Fan Qing.

"It's not too late! Good! Hahahahahahahaha"

Fan Qing laughed wildly towards the sky, but halfway through his laughter, he made a "uh" sound, his body paused, and he fell straight down.

Han Xizao quickly stepped forward to catch it. He checked the patient's nose and found that his breathing was rapid and weak, but he was still breathing. He immediately turned around and said, "Quick, carry him out of the military medical camp!"

Fan Qing and a group of seriously injured guards were hurriedly carried out of the mountain path.

The victory at Qishan Pass was decided, and Wei Jing went to Cangwu Pass in person.

The pass sandwiched between two dangerous peaks divided the mountain road into two parts. This side was our side, while on the other side Prince An's army was still attacking fiercely.

The reinforcements had already gone up quietly, but due to his previous instructions, the news of He Xin's army being annihilated here did not leak to the other side.

The reinforcements, covered in bloody armor and with their heads and faces smeared with dust, silently replaced the exhausted original defenders.

Wei Jing glanced at him coldly and said, "Send an order to ambush troops on both sides of the Qishan Pass and let Prince An's army in."

Want to cooperate internally and externally and take advantage of the situation to swallow up Yizhou?

Now I'll put you in the rugged mountain road.

…

Some soldiers brought tung oil and spread a line along the inner edge of the mountain road, winding from Cangwu Pass to the entrance of Qishan Road. Then they cut hemp rope into pieces and sprinkled it thinly on the tung oil line.

Now the mountain road is covered in crimson, the smell of blood is overwhelming, and there is nothing out of place under the mess.

…

Jingzhou, Nanling County, West.

The 220,000-strong army under King An's command quickly moved westward after capturing Nanling County and is now camped at the entrance of Qishan Road.

Yizhou has a thousand miles of fertile land, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If we can take it as our foundation, we will be invincible. At the same time, He Yun, the governor of Yizhou, died, and the two sons of the He family fought with each other. He Hong's death and He Xin's miserable defeat, such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, how could it not make people excited.

The letter had been sent in before the attack.

Although the pass is now closed and there is no way to know what will happen next, both the messenger and Bai Gu are his staunch confidants. King An believes that He Xin will be instigated to come to Cangwu Pass.

"According to the date, He Xin should be here soon."

Prince An stood at a corner of a plank road not far from Cangwu Pass, looking at the dangerous pass sandwiched between steep cliffs in the distance.

The attack continued day and night, the ladders kept moving forward, but were constantly pushed down because they had no base; kerosene was spilled, a rocket was shot down, and flames ignited. The soldiers wailed and rolled on the ground, and had to retreat a distance. However, most of their own arrows were blocked by the rattan shield.

And so on.

The attack on Cangwu Pass had lasted for three days and three nights, with no progress.

There was another person standing beside Prince An, wearing a wide-sleeved green robe and with a handsome face. It was Wei Xu. He said, "How can the trust not come? The attack will be in vain."

Success or failure depends on these two days.

Prince An couldn't help but frown.

At this moment, Wei Xu's eyebrows moved, and he said, "He Xin should be here."

He had sharp eyesight and saw a general in black armor behind the battlement suddenly turn around, call his deputy general, say something, and then hurriedly turn around and leave.

Prince An quickly looked over there. He couldn't see clearly, but he could vaguely feel that the guards at the pass seemed to be more nervous.

"very good."

He was overjoyed: "Pass the order, attack with all your strength!"

The "bang bang" sound of banging on the door became more urgent, but there was no place with a big hammer, so no matter how hard you banged on it, it was a waste of effort.

Prince An held his breath and paid close attention to the movements at the checkpoint.

The design of the pass was such that intruders could not see what was happening behind them. The towering peaks blocked all vision and sound.

The only thing we can do is wait.

One good thing about Prince An is that he can wait.

He waited patiently, and finally, a soldier in dark blue armor rushed to the top of the city wall and fought fiercely with the defenders. The exhausted defenders were unable to hold on, screaming incessantly, and soon they all fell down.

With a loud "bang", the city gate opened.

A general in red armor came out to greet them: "I am Pang Yuan, a lieutenant under the command of the Third Young Master, and I have come specially to welcome His Royal Highness Prince An into the pass."

Pang Yuan's bloodstained and dusty face was filled with anxiety: "Yang's army is coming soon. We only have 80,000 soldiers left. Your Highness, please come in and deploy your troops quickly to resist the powerful enemy together!"

Zhang Qu, a general under Prince An, was overjoyed, but he had not completely lost his vigilance, and hurriedly asked, "Where is Mr. Bai?"

Pang Yuan was surprised: "What Mr. Bai?"

"Oh, it's Mr. Dongshan!"

"Mr. Dongshan injured his leg when he was trying to break through the siege. It was serious and he couldn't move. He is outside discussing the formation with my young master to repel the enemy."

Pang Yuan looked anxious: "Hurry up, the Yang bandit army is only 20 miles away!"

Be quick, the rugged mountain road is not easy to walk.

At this time, King An's order reached the front, asking them to advance immediately, but they still needed to be cautious.

Zhang Qu was very cautious and observed carefully when leading his troops in. The mountain road was covered in blood, and it was obvious that the battle had been going on for a long time. Corpses were lying everywhere. Those in black armor were the defenders, and those in green armor were He Xin's army.

He Xin's army also suffered heavy losses, and many wounded soldiers moved to a slightly wider area to bandage each other's wounds.

After walking all the way, it was the same all the time. Zhang Qu felt relieved and waved his hand: "Quick, march at full speed!"

Prince An was cautious. Even though he was not far from the pass, he waited until about 20,000 soldiers had arrived before he set out to enter.

The mountain road was narrow and rugged, and it took 20,000 soldiers a long time to pass through it. During the period, everything was in order and there was nothing wrong. That was fine.

He was on par with Wei Xu.

But who would have thought that not long after Wei Xu passed Cangwu Pass, his steps suddenly stopped and his brows furrowed.

Prince An asked, "What's wrong, Jinzhi?"

"No." Wei Xu sniffed lightly: "It smells like tung oil."

Tung oil has been used in research and development, but there is a slight difference in the taste of burnt tung oil and unburnt tung oil. The smell of gunpowder was thick at the pass and difficult to detect, but after leaving for a while, this somewhat different smell kept lingering, which seemed a little strange.

Wei Xu lowered his eyes and glanced at the ground, and his gaze immediately fixed on the line of tung oil sprinkled with broken hemp rope along the mountain path.

"not good!"

Prince An also saw it and shouted sternly: "Exit the pass immediately!"

He retreated quickly to the outside of the pass under the escort of his personal guards, and because the distance was not far, he was able to retreat quickly.

One of the "corpses" lying in the distance turned over and stood up. Han Xi cursed softly, it was just a little bit short.

He whistled, and ran quickly to an open area that had been selected in advance with the wounded "He Xin soldiers", took out a fire stick, blew it up, and threw it.

The fire line suddenly sprang up, and the soldiers of King An who were on the mountain road were startled. In panic, some of them turned around and jumped off the cliff without even attacking.

The fire line spread outward quickly. When the signal came, Wei Jing waved his hand and said, "Attack!"

Shouts were heard from both sides of the Qishan Road entrance, and the ambush troops immediately rushed out and rushed towards the soldiers of King An who were caught off guard just after leaving the Qishan Road.

…

With a loud bang, the gate of Cangwu Pass behind him closed again.

Prince An ran for a while and looked back at the soldiers who were guarding the top of the city again. The armor on the latter was exactly the dark blue He Xin army he had just seen.

Now, what's not clear?

They fell into the enemy's trap and lost one brave general and 20,000 soldiers.

"Yang Ze, Yang Ze!"

What a great Yang Ze!

Prince An's eyes were red with anger: "Okay, I'll remember that!"

Unfortunately, at this moment, the loss is inevitable and continuing the attack would be futile.

"Investigate, investigate thoroughly for me to find out who this Yang Ze is!"

…

Yizhou battlefield.

Wei Jing won a great victory.

He Xin was completely defeated and more than 20,000 foreign enemies were annihilated.

After hearing Han Xi's regretful news, he looked cold and fierce, staring at the Qishan Road entrance for a moment.

Ji Huan stepped forward and said, "My lord, we should not pursue a desperate enemy. Our priority now is to first clear up Yizhou, then prepare our troops and horses, and then find a time to leave Yizhou."

Wei Jing has now taken over Yizhou, but several counties in the southwest that were formerly under the control of He Xin still need to be cleansed, and the military and political affairs have to be taken over. These state and county soldiers also need to be trained more.

There are so many things to do and no time is wasted.

First, secure your position in Yizhou and we’ll deal with the rest later.

Wei Jing knew all this, so he did not order a pursuit of Prince An.

"Where's Dongshan?"

He Xin died, but the Dongshan was missing. Chen Qi was ordered to search for this man, but after searching inside and outside the battlefield and sending people on fast horses to chase in all directions, there was still no news.

He looked ashamed and said, "My lord, I am incompetent and failed to find this person."

Did he escape halfway?

impossible.

He had already taken ninety-nine steps, there was no way he could miss this last step. He must follow He Xin to the entrance of Qishan Road.

But now I can't find anyone.

Chen Qi will not be perfunctory at all.

Wei Jing looked back and saw that our army had won a great victory and was now cleaning up the battlefield, some were collecting weapons, some were dragging away corpses, and some were driving away the surrendered soldiers.

There were more than 30,000 enemy soldiers who threw down their weapons and surrendered. They were all dejected and were being driven to the open space in the west.

His cold eyes swept across the large group of surrendered soldiers: "Chen Qi, surround the surrendered soldiers and check them one by one."

This Dongshan must be mixed in with the surrendered soldiers.

Sure enough, at nightfall the next day, Chen Qi rushed into the central tent and reported: "My lord, we found Dongshan!"

…

Bai Gu indeed headed straight for the Qishan Pass as Wei Jing had expected. He is loyal and willing to sacrifice his life for his lord. Now that it has come to the final and most critical moment, he naturally will not escape early.

But, it still failed.

Seeing that He Xin's army was defeated, no matter how unwilling he was, he could only quickly change into the ordinary soldier's armor that had been prepared long ago, smear mud on his face, and blend in with the ordinary infantry.

He had a group of good guards, so he was naturally safe and sound. Finally, when the time came to surrender, the group blended in smoothly.

Bai Gu was very clear about the treatment of the surrendered soldiers, so he lay low for a while and then escaped.

But the reality was somewhat different from what he expected.

Everything went smoothly at the beginning, but who knew they would encounter a sudden change and were surrounded heavily. The surrendered soldiers had to wipe their faces and be checked one by one.

There was no doubt that this was for him.

Finally, as a last resort, the guards surrounded him and broke out.

Unfortunately, the arrow array had been prepared long ago, and with Han Xi, Chen Qi and others present, the entire guard was wiped out, and he was shot and captured.

Bai Gu was taken to a heavily guarded tent. He was tied to a rack and his wounds were extremely painful, but he just snorted coldly.

These people won't know anything from him.

Bai Gu raised his head.

But who would have thought that these Yizhou soldiers did not interrogate him first. Instead, when the curtain was lifted, he caught a glimpse of them out of the corner of his eye and was frightened to death.

This face?

This face!

As a counselor who had followed King An for more than ten years and had been in Luojing for several years, how could he not know King Qi? !

Bai Gu was so shocked that he screamed, his eyes widened: "You, you..." He is really not dead? !

Although King An never believed that King Qi was dead, this was ultimately just a subjective guess. Severely injured and poisoned, he jumped into the turbulent river. Who would have thought that this man actually did not die!

Not only was he not dead, he also had all his limbs intact and was as agile as ever.

Bai Gu began to tremble all over.

The King of Qi is not dead!

They also took Yizhou, the vast, fertile, prosperous and most affluent state in the world!

"How is it possible? How is it possible? You..."

"What do you mean?!"

Han Xi turned sideways and kicked Bai Gu in the abdomen, shouting, "My master, do you think you, a thief, can point fingers at me?!"

Bai Gu felt severe pain in his abdomen and tried to convulse his body but failed. His face was distorted and he was sweating.

"I'm asking you."

A nanmu chair was lifted to a height of ten feet above the rack, and Wei Jing sat on it. His face was as cold as ice, and his voice was extremely cold: "Prince An has been plotting evil for many years. Did he do anything during the shocking incident a year and a half ago?"

Bai Gu closed his eyes and remained silent. The moment he saw the King of Qi, he was horrified but he also knew that there was no way he could escape alive. Moreover, even if there was a chance, he would never betray His Highness.

Even for the King of Qi, it would be wishful thinking to try to dig out a word from him.

"What about the private seal? The private seal that Prince Ji used on the secret letter was made by Prince An?"

As early as the beginning of the year in Luojing, after Wei Jing knew that Prince An had evil intentions for many years, he began to wonder what role the other party played in the death of his mother and brother.

This doubt reached a peak after learning about Prince Ji's private seal.

Could it really be such a coincidence? When Prince Ji was in need, he happened to find a eunuch who once was in charge of the previous emperor's private seal?

Wei Jing didn't believe such a coincidence. He was sure that someone was manipulating it behind the scenes.

Who is this person?

Even a private seal has been prepared, which can be said to be quite prepared for a rainy day.

The first person he thought of was Prince An, but unfortunately there was no evidence at all.

He has sent a message to Tao Hong who is in the Luojing Palace to try to investigate. Unfortunately, Tao Hong has few people under his command now, so he has not been able to find out.

Now that Bai Gu has been captured, he must be interrogated thoroughly.

Bai Gu recognized him. In fact, he also felt that Bai Gu looked a little familiar. He must have seen him before and had followed Prince An for many years.

Bai Gu refused to confess. As expected, the person sent by Prince An must be his close confidant.

Wei Jing said coldly: "Use torture."

…

Among the Qing Zhai guards, there are experts in punishment, who are first-rate in using severe punishments, torture, and extracting confessions.

Unfortunately, Bai Gu was indeed loyal to Prince An. Even though he suffered all kinds of pain, he still refused to reveal a single word.

Moreover, knowing that he was going to die, he openly mocked Wei Jing.

"Hahahaha, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi is a peerless hero. It's a pity that there is someone else sitting on the dragon throne now!"

Bai Gu was in great pain, but still had a mocking look in his eyes: "Your Highness's mother is virtuous, and your brother is talented, where are they now?"

This was simply stirring up a hornet's nest. Wei Jing could not rest in peace after the death of his mother and brother. The anger and hatred in his heart had not subsided at all since he received the news, and he immediately "boomed" and spread like wildfire.

He stood up suddenly and said, "Someone, skin him alive!"

Han Xi tore off Bai Gu's clothes and said, "Bring the knife!"

He did it himself.

The punishment of slow slicing was to cut off the skin and muscles from the body piece by piece. After ten or so cuts, the smell of blood filled the entire tent, and Bai Gu's upper body was covered in red.

He looked up to the sky and laughed loudly: "Hahahaha, I was right! Your Highness Prince Qi, I heard that you took a detour via the Nanshui Dam?"

“Hahahahahahaha, it seems that despite the tragic deaths of your mother and brother, you still haven’t changed your mind!”

Bai Gu was twitching with pain all over his body, staring at Wei Jing with extremely resentful eyes, and shouted: "Are you worthy of your mother and brother in the netherworld?!"

With a "snap", a string in Wei Jing's mind broke. He yelled angrily and kicked hard.

With a "click", Bai Gu flew backwards with the torture rack, and hit the tent without slowing down. He rushed out of the hole where he was pulled out for seven or eight feet, knocked down a tent, and then stopped. No more sound.

The night wind poured in from the gap, Wei Jing's face was distorted, and his chest rose and fell rapidly for a long time before it barely slowed down a little.

"Skin him and grind his bones to dust!"

He turned and left the tent, which was covered in blood.

Bai Gu was given the cruelest punishment, but even so, Wei Jing's heart was still filled with emotions, and his back and palms were wet.

He had never forgotten his previous guilt, and at this moment, it was overwhelming like a tidal wave.

He was breathing heavily.

After a long time, it finally eased a little.

He murmured, "I finally took Yizhou. My mother and my brother shouldn't blame me too much."

It should be like this.

He would never break his promise to his wife.

Wei Jing thought he had done nothing wrong.

But I still feel a little uneasy, feeling that I have let down my mother and brother.

Soldiers from far and near were patrolling with flaming staffs in hand, people were coming and going, and he had his close confidants around him, but Wei Jing felt deeply alone.

He wanted to express his anxiety, but he couldn't.

His wife.

Wei Jing suddenly longed for his wife to be by his side; he missed her very much.

Too bad she wasn't here.

He closed his eyes.

At this moment, a complex sound of footsteps came from the distance, a little messy but a little urgent.

A personal soldier had already rushed forward, "My lord, the lady is here!"

The author has something to say: Wei is missing his wife