It had been the third day since Dai County was besieged, and Su Wei had been staying indoors, allowing the Huns to clamor at the gates and harass the surrounding villages and towns.

Pei Yuan stood in front of the table, looking at the battle report presented to him, his face was cold, he threw the paper down, and shouted angrily: "How was this battle fought!"

"Your Majesty, this is really not a solution." Deputy General Qian Feng clasped his fists and said, "Su's army has no resistance now, the soldiers and civilians in the city have been in a panic, and their morale has been destroyed. More importantly, I don't know how long the food and grass in Dai County can last. Now the four city gates are blocked. Our people can't get in, and their messengers can't get out. Sooner or later, the food and grass will run out... If we went out of the city to meet the enemy on the first day, we might have a chance of victory by surprise, but it's a pity that the opportunity has been wasted."

"I have met Su Wei several times. He was originally a scholar, He gave up his civil service and joined the military, wanting to serve the court. He was generous and upright, and had won many battles. His patriotism and loyalty are beyond doubt, but he is soft-hearted and timid. He just listens to whatever others say. Pei Yuan lowered his eyes and said slowly, "Among his conspirators, there is a man named Dai Zeng. He has a cunning face and rat-like eyes. I have always disliked him, but I can't reach out so far to find him. I wanted to wait for an opportunity to deal with him, but I didn't expect it to be too late.

Qian Feng asked: "Does the prince suspect that Dai Zeng has made a accusation to the veteran generals?"

Pei Yuan asked back: "Why do you think Chunyu Luan sent troops to besiege Dai County?"

"This..." Qian Feng didn't know how to answer, so he asked tentatively, "He wants to take advantage of the fierce battle at Shiyang Pass and the

lack of soldiers guarding Dai County to break the city in one fell swoop." "Even if he breaks the city, can he hold it?" Pei Yuan smiled, "Dai County is surrounded by our troops. Even if he occupies Dai County, it is like a sheep in a wolf's den. We can cut off his food supply without any effort. He will have to get out without sending any troops."

Qian Feng was puzzled: "I don't understand."

"His goal is not Dai County at all. He wants to make a feint to the east and attack in the west." Pei Yuan sat down and pointed at two points on the map. "He pretended to send out 100,000 soldiers, surrounded Dai County, and harassed the border towns to create a sense of urgency for us. He bribed Dai Zeng to make Su Wei think that the enemy is strong and dare not meet the enemy. He expected that I would not sit idly by and would definitely support Dai County. In this way, Feng County would be empty. At this time, he would show his real strength and break through Feng County."

Qian Feng was shocked, as if he saw the moon through the clouds. His thoughts suddenly became clear: "So, there are no 100,000 soldiers under the city of Dai County!"

Pei Yuan said lightly: "I have already sent "Some people have robbed their baggage carts. How many soldiers do they have? We'll know when Chen Jia comes back." After

he finished speaking, the door of the study was pushed open, and Chen Jia walked in with righteous anger, clasping his fists and saying, "Your Majesty, we were ordered to stop the cart. The carriage we pulled back was very heavy. We thought there must be a hundred stones of food inside, but who would have thought that when we opened it, it was all stones! Chunyu Luan has been cheating all the time!"

Qian Feng was surprised at Pei Yuan's foresight. He was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and asked, "Your Majesty, what should we do now?"

Pei Yuan said, "Take advantage of their tricks."

He ordered, "Call all the generals above the fourth rank in the city and say that there is something important to discuss."

…

The lights in the study of the palace were on all night, and the generals did not leave until the next day at 3:00 pm. They all looked exhausted, but their eyes were full of excitement.

General Qian Feng immediately counted 30,000 troops and prepared to set out after sunset, lightly armed and rushing to defeat the enemy troops under the city of Dai County in one fell swoop. At the same time, 120,000 troops were left in Feng County, waiting for Chunyu Luan to attack when he thought the city defense was weak, so as to catch him by surprise and defeat him.

There has not been such a big war on the border for several years. The soldiers' weapons have been thirsty for blood, waiting for tomorrow to kill everyone!

…

When Pei Yuan returned to the room, Bao Ning was still asleep, holding Yuanzi in her arms, and both of their faces were flushed.

Pei Yuan didn't turn on the lights. The room was dim. He sat down next to Bao Ning and touched her hand that was holding Yuanzi. Both of their hands were a little cold. He stuffed his hands into the quilt.

Bao Ning was in a light sleep and woke up immediately when he touched her. She opened her eyes in a daze and asked, "Are you back? What time is it?"

"The chickens haven't crowed yet." Pei Yuan dug her out of the quilt, pulled the quilt over her shoulders, rubbed her face to wake her up, and asked softly, "What time did you go to bed last night? Did the baby bother you?"

Bao Ning was forcibly awakened and was not very happy. She pushed him away uncooperatively: "I haven't slept enough yet. You're so annoying. You make trouble as soon as you come back..."

Pei Yuan kissed her eyes and interrupted her complaints: "Baby, I may not accompany you in the next few days. You stay in the mansion by yourself. Don't run around. It's very dangerous outside. I'll leave Chen Jia to accompany you. Don't worry. Take care of yourself. I'll be back in five days at most. "

Bao Ning was stunned for a moment, and noticed the seriousness in his tone. She asked confusedly, "What happened?"

Pei Yuan said, "There's going to be a war."

Bao Ning was completely awake, and her heart sank to the bottom.

The war was too far away for her. Even though she was at the border, she heard that there were frequent border wars. Last month, Qiu Mingshan led his troops to Shiyangguan to fight, but she had never seen it. To be honest, she was lucky in her heart. She was afraid of bleeding and death. She hoped that Feng County would never be disturbed by war. Baoning once thought that Feng County would be fine. This was Pei Yuan's base camp, with strong soldiers and countless brave soldiers.

So even when she heard that Dai County was in emergency, she still did not throw away that glimmer of hope, and stubbornly believed that everything could be resolved peacefully.

But now, Pei Yuan said he was going to war.

Baoning realized that the situation might have become very bad. Baoning

was silent for a while, got her clothes and put them on, then pulled Pei Yuan out: "Let's go out and talk, don't disturb Yuanzi."

The morning light was dim outside, and with the faint light, Baoning could see the dark color in Pei Yuan's eyes. He came back at this time, and he must have not slept all night. Bao Ning rubbed his eyes distressedly and asked, "When are you leaving?"

Pei Yuan replied, "At the hour of You."

"Then there's still a whole day." Bao Ning said, "I'll go get some water, you take a bath and sleep for a while."

"No need." Pei Yuan stopped her and shook his head, "There's no time. We have to count the soldiers, offer sacrifices to the flags, and arrange for food and supplies. The whole day may not be enough. I'm afraid you'll worry. I'll come back and say a few words to you, but I have to leave immediately."

Bao Ning's eyes gradually turned red. She is now sensitive and thoughtful. She says that Pei Yuan hates her, but deep down she doesn't want to be separated from him for a moment.

Or a separation with an unpredictable future and an uncertain life and death.

Pei Yuan said it lightly, but after all, it was a war and a fight. How can you win without dying?

This all happened so suddenly.

Pei Yuan sighed and hugged her: "Why are you crying? You are going to be a mother, but you are still crying all the time. You have never grown up. I promise you, I will be back in five days at most."

He held Bao Ning's shoulders and distanced himself from her, his face more serious: "Ning Ning, don't forget your status, you are the princess, if I leave, you will be the one with the highest status in this city. You should be more determined, it's okay to shed a few tears now, but you must not do this in front of outsiders."

Bao Ning pursed her lips and looked at him, Pei Yuan rubbed her eyelids with his thumb helplessly: "Besides, what's there to cry about."

Bao Ning knew that she was wrong, the war was imminent, she shouldn't disturb Pei Yuan's mind like this. But she was really corrupted by Pei Yuan, for so long, she lived in an almost carefree state, crying when she wanted to cry, laughing when she wanted to laugh, and forgot how to control her emotions.

"I understand." Bao Ning forced a smile, "Don't worry, I'll wait for you at home."

Pei Yuan ruffled her hair. He wanted to say something else, but looking at the sky, he really didn't have time.

"I'm leaving."

Baoning said "Oh", adjusted her mood, smiled and waved at him: "You go, I saw someone looking for you over there, it seems to be General Qian Feng."

Pei Yuan instructed: "I've left Chen Jia with you. Don't be afraid of any movement outside and don't go out. Take good care of yourself and don't bother yourself..."

He threatened: "If anything happens to the child, I will..."

Baoning asked: "What will you do?"

Pei Yuan couldn't think of a harsh answer, gave up after a while, and pinched her face helplessly: "Be good, don't make me uneasy outside."

Baoning said "um" sullenly, stepped forward and hugged Pei Yuan's waist, and then let go: "You should take care of yourself too..."

Pei Yuan knew what she meant. His body is no different from that of a normal person now, but the remaining poison has not been cleared. No one can tell when the poison will take effect again.

Pei Yuan did not respond to this topic. He just pushed Bao Ning's shoulder and asked her to go to the house: "Go back and sleep for a while."

He watched Bao Ning go into the house, looking back every few steps, until she closed the door, then turned around and left.

...

At exactly 12 o'clock, the city gates were wide open, and the army set out on time.

Bao Ning stood on the city wall with Yuanzi and watched them leave.

Thirty thousand soldiers lined up in neat rows to leave the city, and went out from four gates. It took half an hour to walk through each gate.

The dusk reflected the white snow, and the horses' hooves left shallow pits. The soldiers all stood up straight, and their armor reflected golden light. The team was like a long black dragon, following the black flag embroidered with a golden tiger in the front, and slowly walked away.

Bao Ning did not find Pei Yuan. Perhaps he did not leave the city through this gate. She came here with him on her back and missed him.

After a brief moment of loss, Bao Ning cheered up and took a deep breath.

Madam Liu's voice came from the side: "Princess, look, most of those who went to the war are young men."

Baoning said: "I heard that in the past, when the war was intense, the strong soldiers died in the battle, and there was no way to fill the gap, so even children had to go to the battlefield."

Yuanzi asked: "What about the soldiers who died in the battle? How sad they must be if they can't wait for them to come back."

Baoning and Madam Liu didn't know how to answer this question. They looked at each other for a while, and Madam Liu took Yuanzi's hand and walked to the stone steps: "Yuanzi, are you hungry? Let's go to dinner, okay? Let's have meat tonight."

Yuanzi agreed.

Baoning smiled, holding the hem of her skirt and followed her down the tower. When she reached the last stone step, she saw a soldier guarding the city running over in a panic from a distance. The soldier also saw her and seemed to be even more panicked. He quickly stopped and stood up, saluted and said, "Greetings to the princess."

Baoning asked, "Are you late?"

The soldier who was changing shifts had just left. Looking at his appearance, he obviously missed his shift.

Jiang Sheng swallowed nervously and suddenly knelt down and said, "Please forgive me, princess!"

Baoning frowned and was startled by him. She waved her hand and said, "Forget it."

She didn't say anything more. She walked towards Liu Ma and Yuanzi who were waiting for her not far away, and walked towards the palace together.

Jiang Sheng breathed a sigh of relief with a lingering fear.

...

Seeing Baoning here, he really felt guilty for a moment, not because he was late for the change of post, but because he had just accepted a request that he should have sternly refused a quarter of an hour ago.

A man named Wang Cha found him, stuffed him with a silver ingot, and asked him to secretly let him in when the city gates were closed late at night.

The military order repeatedly forbade such behavior. Jiang Sheng agreed to Wang Cha's request and felt worried and afraid, but the temptation of a silver ingot was too great, not to mention that this was not a dangerous thing.

It was just to let one person in. There were more than 100,000 defenders in the city, and 3,000 Benlang troops, which were the most elite cavalry in the Zhou Dynasty.

Even if a spy was sent in, what kind of trouble could it cause?

Jiang Sheng agreed to it.

...

When the third watch drum sounded, Jiang Sheng finished his shift.

The soldiers with him were already very sleepy and were anxious to go back to the barracks to sleep. Jiang Sheng found an excuse to go to the toilet and slipped out. He went to the northwest corner of the wall where he and the man named Wang Cha had agreed to go, and uttered a few secret signals.

An echo came from there soon. Jiang Sheng climbed up the wall and looked down. He saw a figure. He knew it was Wang Cha, so he quickly threw a hemp rope down and tied the other end to the wall.

Jiang Sheng carefully looked around. It was quiet and no one came. He felt relieved.

Wang Cha over there seemed to be very skilled. He climbed up in a moment and thanked, "Thank you, brother."

When Jiang Sheng heard Wang Cha's accent, he felt it was a little strange. He was busy reeling in the rope and asked casually, "You are not from here, are you? Where are you from? Why do you have to come in at this time? What do you want to do?"

Chaergua said, "I am indeed not from here."

As he said, he took out a dagger from his boots and gently pulled out the scabbard.

"If you don't want to talk, then don't talk. I'm too lazy to ask." Jiang Sheng held the rope in his hand and said, "Although this area is a blind spot, there are people patrolling it, one shift every hour. You'd better leave quickly. Calculate the time, the next patrol will arrive in a quarter of an hour."

Chaergua asked, "How many people will there be?"

Jiang Sheng replied, "About twelve or thirteen."

He asked suspiciously, "Why are you asking this?"

Chaergua smiled and said, "Nothing."

Jiang Sheng was a little impatient: "Then hurry up and leave. What are you waiting for? Are you waiting to die?"

As he said this, he turned around and was about to walk away when he was suddenly covered by Chargua behind him. Jiang Sheng's eyes widened in fear. Before he could fight back, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He lowered his eyes and saw that he had been pierced by a sharp blade. Blood flowed down his armor and soaked the upper of his shoes in an instant.

Fearing that he was not dead, Chargua stabbed him several more times until Jiang Sheng was completely paralyzed and could not even make a "ho ho" sound in his throat, and then he let him go.

Jiang Sheng's eyes were wide open, and he fell to the ground like a stiff dead fish.

Chargua snatched the rope from his hand, tied one end to the parapet in the same way as before, and threw the other end down. Soon, more than a dozen tall warriors climbed up one after another. At this time, a quarter of an hour had passed, and the sound of boots stepping on the stone pavement came from not far away.

Chargua knew that these were the guards who came for patrol. He gestured with his hands, signaling everyone behind him to hide. The group hid in the shadows of the corner of the wall, watching the guards approach and then go away. Chargua found the right opportunity, waved his long arms, and more than a dozen people swarmed up immediately. In just a breath, they succeeded in the sneak attack and cut the guards' necks from behind.

Chargua smiled and praised: "You are worthy of being the most outstanding warrior in my court."

It was cold and windy at night. The moon was blocked by dark clouds. Snowflakes were falling again. It was snowing.

This was the time when everyone was most tired and most relaxed. It was also the best time for a night raid.

Chargua ordered the soldiers to take off the guards' armor and change them. Then they dragged the bodies to a corner. They pretended to be guards who had just finished their patrol and marched towards the main city gate in a line.

The leader of the guards of the main city gate was a centurion. He saw them coming from a distance and stopped them unhappily, saying, "What are you doing? Patrols must be carried out according to regulations. How can you walk around everywhere? Go to where you should go!"

Chalgua did not stop, but walked straight over, secretly tightening his long knife in his hand.

The centurion was furious and strode forward, raising his hand to slap Chalgua: "You don't understand what I say, right! I told you not to walk around..."

Before he slapped him, Chalgua's long knife had already pierced his abdomen.

"There is a traitor..." The centurion shouted the last three words weakly, and Chalgua pulled out his knife and waved his hand, saying, "Go!"

The city gate defense was instantly in chaos.

The alarm bell sounded, and soon someone rushed to reinforce. But Chaergua brought with him the best warriors of the Xiongnu, and it was no problem for them to defeat ten enemies with one. As the two sides were in a stalemate, the sound of thousands of horses galloping suddenly came from afar, as loud as thunder. The 200,000 Xiongnu troops surged like a black tide, and the snow was hazy. The guards on the city wall saw the winding dragon, and they all showed fear in their eyes. They knocked on the gong and shouted: "Enemy troops are coming! Danger! Danger!"

...

The city gate was in chaos. The general Qian Feng who stayed behind immediately went to meet the enemy. In the palace, Baoning was also awakened.

She couldn't help, but she couldn't sleep. She sat at the table with Yuanzi in her arms, anxiously waiting for the battle report from the front. The first hour was almost all bad news.

Although Pei Yuan left behind sufficient troops and was well prepared, the enemy was too cunning and assassinated most of the guards on duty. He expected to open the city gate from the inside, but was fortunately stopped by Qian Feng. However, after this attack, morale was greatly reduced. The enemy's offensive was fierce and there were many people, so they almost succeeded several times. After

an hour, the battle gradually stabilized. The two sides were evenly matched. The Huns also lost their initial sharpness. In addition, the city gate was slippery and wet after the snow. They had no advantage and showed signs of retreat. It

was only an hour before dawn.

Hearing the good news, Baoning's heartstrings gradually relaxed. Only then did he feel a splitting headache and his physical strength was exhausted.

Nanny Liu helped Baoning to rest, and Chen Jia stood guard outside the door.

At this time, the palace had almost no guards, and all the people were called up to the front to repel the enemy. The palace was empty, with only the women left.

In a remote corner, a small team that had sneaked into the city a few days ago was ready to sneak into the palace during the chaos.

They received an order from Chunyu Luan: kidnap the Princess of Jibei and a five-year-old boy named Yuanzi.

This was Chunyu Luan's fulfillment of his promise to Pei Xiao, and it was also out of selfishness.

He had heard of the reputation of the King of Jibei's beloved wife, and he really wanted to see what this woman who was famous in the northern frontier without leaving her house looked like.