Sun Renluan was very disappointed with Qu Yunmie at that time. Having backbone is a good thing, but showing off one's fist in public is a bit stupid. On the other hand, Yuan Baifu knew how to avoid the opponent's edge when he was weak. This is the child who can go a long way.

But the next day, Qu Yunmie came as usual and glared at all the officials as usual. However, the man named Yuan Baifu never appeared again.

So it's not that he knows what's going on, nor is he avoiding the spotlight, he just can't stand those people's ridicule.

So why did he come in the first place? Was it to experience the majesty of the palace, or to make friends with the officials? At the very least, he wanted to accompany Qu Yunmie so that he would no longer be alone.

But no matter what his reason was, he gave up the next day. As the saying goes, a child's future can be seen from his age. Yuan Baifu was not three years old at that time, but a teenager. If he still didn't take responsibility when he was in his teens and had just experienced a huge change, then he probably wouldn't have any in his life. …

Well, one thing may be arsenic to one person, and another thing may be honey to another. Use Yuan Baifu's soldiers to stop Qu Yunmie's soldiers. No matter whether it succeeds or not, it will hurt Qu Yunmie anyway.

After thinking for a while with his hands behind his back, Sun Renluan walked to the map and looked at the city on the map that had changed hands again.

When Yizhou was just conquered, everyone in the court was jubilant. Several officials held family banquets. It was said that there were revelries every night in these people's homes, and the banquets did not disperse until dawn. However, after the news of the capture of Yiyang came, these people were filled with righteous indignation, and cursed Song Suo as a traitor and a running dog in the court, and cursed the entire north of the Huai River and the entire Zhenbei Army as traitors who should be punished by heaven and earth.

After they finished scolding, they went back home to have a banquet, because the banquet had been prepared long ago, and if they didn't sit down, wouldn't it all be wasted? ...

Sometimes Sun Renluan would regret why he ordered Shen Yangrui to attack Yizhou, but sometimes he felt that he really shouldn't regret it, because at this point, no matter whether he retreated or took the initiative to attack, they were already fish on the chopping board. Seventy-three years.

Seventy-three years have passed since the establishment of the Yong Dynasty. When the Murong tribe was destroyed, the entire court was laughing and mocking the short-lived Murong tribe. But what qualifications did they have to mock the Murong tribe? At least they had persisted for a hundred years, while they were not sure whether they could even make it through this year.

For Yuan Baifu, everything he did determined his ending, while for Sun Renluan, everything around him determined what he would do. As for the ending, it was basically the same after all.

Shaking his head, Sun Renluan left the room and went out to visit the little emperor again.

September 28th, early morning.

Xiao Rong supported his head and sat on the edge of the freshly built carriage. He was feeling much better now, at least he had no problem moving and he wasn't sleepy all the time. But Qu Yunmie insisted on leaving early, so everyone was busy packing their luggage.

Yu Shaoxie followed along, but after walking a dozen miles, he would turn to Shengle. Jian Qiao escorted him and helped him deal with affairs for a while, and then they would head to Xihai County before the heavy snow came.

Xihai County is located in the desert, which has one advantage: it never snows there.

But the lack of snow doesn't mean that people won't freeze to death over there. Xiao Rong left half of the warm items originally prepared for the army to Jian Qiao. This was the portion originally intended for 200,000 people. Jian Qiao only had a few tens of thousands of people with him, so he would have no problem spending the winter in the West Sea.

Everything was ready, and everyone set out on the return journey. Qu Yunmie rode his horse outside. After the two sides separated, Qu Yunmie handed his mount to his personal soldiers, and then climbed onto Xiao Rong's carriage with familiarity.

Xiao Rong had become more proficient in building a nest. He piled up the furs that Murong tribe had secretly kept. Then he sat in front of the furs and pounded them hard to make a shape of his own. Then he nestled comfortably in it and read some books from Murong tribe's collection to pass the time.

Qu Yunmie looked at him and found that there was nothing unusual in his expression. Then he took Xiao Rong's sword. Just as he pulled out the sword, Xiao Rong said faintly, "My lord, if you keep sharpening this sword, I'll have to change its name to a dagger."

Qu Yunmie: “…”

He said nothing, raised his hand and pulled out a piece of deerskin from his sleeve. When he shook the deerskin open, he deliberately used a lot of force. If you didn't know, you would think he was holding a whip.

Xiao Rong was attracted by the voice. He raised his head and saw Qu Yunmie wiping the sword. He wiped it slowly and after wiping it twice, he raised his eyes and looked at Xiao Rong coldly.

Xiao Rong: "..." Childish.

In the past, Qu Yunmie and his men marched in a hurry and it took them more than half a month to reach Yanmen Pass from Chenliu. This time, they were walking back from Shuofang. If they maintained their current pace without stopping, it would take them a full month.

Because to go back from Shuofang, they had to go around the Qinling Mountains to get back to the heart of the Central Plains. Basically, they had to go south along the middle section of the Yellow River, and then turn east when they reached Luoshui.

Coincidentally, eight hundred miles to the east is Chenliu, and eight hundred miles to the west is exactly the route that Qu Yunmie pointed out at the time to enter Ningzhou.

It was extremely boring to just keep on traveling, not to mention that it was winter, and there was no scenery to see. It was desolate everywhere. Xiao Rong took out a box of warm jade chess pieces out of boredom. He played black and Fuzi played white. Fuzi thought he wanted to play a game, so he nodded and agreed, but then Xiao Rong said, "Let's try something new."

Half a cup of tea later, Xiao Rong cheered, "Here, here! Five in a row, I win!"

Buddha: “…………”

He looked at the chessboard and suddenly raised his head: "Let's do it again."

When Xiao Rong noticed that the Buddha's eyes had become determined, he knew that he shouldn't have agreed to him.

After playing five games, he didn't win once. It is said that you can never judge a person by his appearance. Don't be fooled by Mi Jing's kind face, but when it comes to chess, he is a ruthless person. Xiao Rong was chased by him and soon lost his mind. Once he was confused, Mi Jing won.

Xiao Rong: “…”

This time, it was Xiao Rong's turn to stare at the chessboard in a daze.

After a moment, Xiao Rong raised his head with a determined look: "You wait!"

Mi Jing waited for a while and saw Qu Yunmie being pulled over by Xiao Rong.

Apparently Qu Yunmie had heard the whole story. He waved his robe and sat down opposite Mi Jing neatly. Holding the small black piece, Qu Yunmie sneered and said, "They say that a chess game is like a battlefield. I want to try it too. Please teach me, Buddha."

Mi Jing: “…………”

There was one thing that neither Qu Yunmie nor Xiao Rong knew.

Mi Jing was a famous chess master. When he was in Chang'an, he was invincible. He had played chess with the emperor and the prime minister. Even old chess players in their 80s had to admit defeat when they saw him. Later, the abbot said that he was too obsessed with winning when playing chess, which was not the behavior of a monk, so he forced himself to quit.

Even if Mi Jing hadn't played chess for ten years, Qu Yunmie would never be his opponent.

But Qu Yunmie had a helper who could disrupt the enemy's mind. Xiao Rong had been sitting next to him, concentrating on the chessboard, and from time to time he would encourage Qu Yunmie: "Come on, King! Kill him!"