Chapter 62 Chapter 62 is the only genuine version...
Liu Nuo was frightened, with obvious panic in his eyes.
He pulled the corners of his mouth, smiled flatteringly, and said, "You are from Liang, right? My surname is Liu, and I come from the city of Awul."
The Xiliang man in the lead sat on a tall horse, looking down at him with contempt.
There has always been unrest on the border between the two countries. After so many years, even if he can't speak Daqi's official language, he can still understand a little.
However, Liu Nuo did not understand the Xiliang dialect. Seeing them whispering to each other, he asked cautiously, "Could I borrow your passage?"
He bowed deeply in the carriage with a smile on his face.
"It's an official!"
"Hahaha, he really is a fat sheep."
"Should we capture her and trade her for some gold, silver, and beauties from Daqi? We've been at the border for so long, and all we see are rough-looking women. Tsk, there are only a few decent-looking ones in that village up ahead, but they're not as delicate and tender as they used to be, lacking a certain allure. Isn't it said that the beauties of Daqi have skin as white as cream? How about we trade this official for some?"
Liu Nuo still didn't understand, but when he saw the smiles on their faces, he thought it was a response to his kindness.
He felt relieved and continued, "Daqi and Daliang have been diplomatically friendly for generations and have always been harmonious. We are all brothers. If you need anything in the future, you can come to me.
He patted his chest and said, "I am definitely not that kind of barbaric warrior. I have always been close to Daliang."
The bearded leader glanced at him with a strange look, and for a moment he doubted whether he had learned the Daqi Mandarin correctly.
"Stupid?"
The bearded man pointed at Liu Nuo, turned around and yelled, bursting into laughter.
Liu Nuo didn't understand and continued to talk: "Brother Daliang, as far as I know, there is a small village not far to the west that is very rich. If you brothers are hungry, I can take you there to borrow some food. As the saying goes, 'Courtesy is useful, harmony is precious'..."
The people of Liang could understand the official language of Daqi, but they could not understand the messy nonsense.
The bearded man sneered and said nonchalantly, "Forget it, just kill him. He's a fool."
"If you are so stupid, Daqi will not spend gold or silver to redeem you."
"It's a waste of food to keep them."
He also said something about taking them to the village to borrow food. Either he was stupid, or he thought they were stupid.
The people of Daqi were the most cunning. The bearded man was too lazy to use his brain and just waved his hand: "Go."
Liu Nuo was about to lament that it was all because the people at the border were not kind enough that they had to become bandits, but his eyes suddenly widened, and his suddenly contracted pupils reflected the Xiliang people who were riding horses and drawing swords and rushing towards him.
The guards also drew their weapons.
Liu Nuo's eyes were filled with the flashes of knives and blood. A guard who was blocking the carriage was stabbed in the chest by Liang Ren. Warm blood splattered on Liu Nuo's face. He was completely dead.
He shouted, "Hurry up, hurry up!"
The guards scattered and fled in all directions. Liang Ren laughed and killed them one by one with his sword.
Blood splattered the ground.
Liu Nuo was so scared that his legs were trembling.
All of his guards were brought from the capital, and were given by the King of Jin.
He thought they were powerful and he turned a blind eye when they occasionally robbed a few girls and young wives, but it turned out that they were all idiots.
"I, I am the military supervisor of Aur City, a fifth-rank officer. I wish to forever establish friendship with Daliang..."
He muttered incoherently, with a friendly smile on his lips, which was uglier than crying.
The bearded man picked up the wine bag hanging from his waist, drank several mouthfuls, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, dragged him out of the carriage and threw him on the ground.
The wine bag was empty, and he turned it over and shook it a few times. All the scattered wine splashed onto Liu Nuo's face. Liu Nuo was so scared that he didn't even dare to wipe it off.
The bearded man tutted his lips in displeasure, threw the wine bag away, and as if teasing his prey, deliberately wiped the bloody tip of the knife against him.
Again and again.
The strong smell of blood hit Liu Nuo's nose, and he almost fainted, with tears and snot all mixed together.
"No, don't kill me."
The last guard died under their swords. The fear of death enveloped him. He couldn't help but retreat backwards with his hands, and his back hit the carriage.
"Sir, I have silver."
Liu Nuo nervously opened his purse and handed it over with both hands. He came out to ask Master Changfeng to help him untie the talisman and brought a lot of silver with him.
The bearded man snatched it away, weighed it in his hand, and said with a satisfied smile, "What a plump sheep."
They slaughtered three villages, but the combined number of people was not as strong as this fat sheep.
"Let's go buy some wine later!"
"Hey, Boss, it seems like he's hiding something."
The bearded man tilted the tip of his knife and cut open Liu Nuo's collar. The sharp blade easily cut his skin, and a piece of high-quality jade pendant fell off. The bearded man raised his hand and pulled it.
"You dare to hide it?"
The bearded man twisted his wrist and stabbed his shoulder with a knife.
The pain and fear reached their peak. He adjusted his posture awkwardly and knelt down, begging for mercy repeatedly in a crying voice.
"Don't kill me, don't..."
Just at this moment, he inadvertently caught a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
The joy of surviving the disaster surged up crazily.
On a small hill only a few hundred meters away from him, Miss Gu, who came from the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, was leading a horse and looking over here, with hundreds of people following her.
There is hope.
“Save me!!”
He shouted loudly.
He waved at them desperately.
The Zhenguogong Mansion is the military family of Daqi. Now that the Liang people are rampant in Daqi and want to kill him, they should come to protect him!
They will save him.
They're going to kill this bunch of bastards!
The bearded man from Xiliang also looked over and frowned. Although he didn't know who they were, it was obvious that there were many people over there.
Looking at the look on the face of this great official, he might really come over and meddle in other people's business.
When they came to Daqi, they never engaged in head-on confrontation with the Daqi army, so they always returned unscathed.
Tsk.
"I wanted to play for a while."
"Kill him. Let's go!"
The bearded man raised his sword and slashed it down.
Liu Nuo saw a knife swinging towards him, and his terrified face was reflected on the blade.
Liu Nuo's eyes widened to the extreme.
“Save me!!”
Why don't you save him!
As military generals, they should fight for their lives and die on the battlefield!
Why didn't you kill these people? Why didn't you save him?
"save……"
"Gu..."
A line of blood appeared in his pupils, and his consciousness was completely scattered.
Until the end, his sight was still on the small mound not far away.
Gu Zhizhuo sat on the back of the jade lion, his face expressionless and his eyes as sharp as torches.
Qi Fu, the captain of the Thousand Machines Camp, looked at her from behind, his eyes full of admiration.
The eldest girl asked him to find this group of Liang people and tip them off to a potential thief passing by. This task was indeed easy. Liang people loved wine, so all he had to do was pretend to be an ordinary citizen and say something to them from a distance when they were disguised as going to the city to buy wine. This would naturally instigate them.
Unexpectedly.
Liu Nuo actually came.
"Miss, how do you know..."
Is it rare for a grown-up girl to have the ability to predict the future?
"It's that piece of talisman paper."
"After he swallowed the talisman, whenever he encountered any small problem, he would think that it was the talisman that was harming him."
"He feels guilty and wants to save his life, so he goes to Shangxu Temple."
This road is the only way from the city of Aul to Shangxu Temple.
Qi Fu was full of praise.
It was said that Third Master Gu was a master of foresight, always able to anticipate his enemies' moves on the battlefield. Miss Gu was no less capable now.
Only Qingmei showed no surprise, she was used to it!
"Big sister, is that talisman really that vicious?"
Gu Zhizhuo turned his wrist, and the talisman paper he had taken from the wooden box was clamped between his fingertips. As for what she had asked Liu Nuo to swallow, it was just something she had casually drawn to practice.
"When we get back to Beijing, we'll find someone to ask."
Gu Zhizhuo is good at medicine and compass. She knows a lot about talismans, but is only proficient in the most commonly used ones, such as peace talismans, meditation talismans and so on.
She had never seen such a talisman before.
She could sense a strong malice from above, and she discovered it through the wooden box.
She could guess its general purpose, but as for the rest, she didn't know for the time being.
Gu Zhizhuo looked down from a distance. The bearded man kicked Liu Nuo's headless body, jumped on his horse, and galloped away.
The others, each holding a purse in their hands, followed closely behind, chatting and laughing.
Liu Nuo's head still had its eyes wide open, staring straight at them.
He looked down on the generals, slandered their honor, trampled on their bloodshed and sacrifice, and in the end, he even wanted them to save his life? Wishful thinking!
Thinking of his stunned expression and his eyes open before his death, Qi Fu suddenly felt extremely happy.
Look, this is the Xiliang man he thought could be educated by the teachings of the sages. How come his mouth, which was well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, didn't make the barbarians spare his life?
Gu Zhizhuo touched the jade lion's horse head, as if he was talking to himself, but also as if he was talking to him.
She said, "To kill an official appointed by the imperial court at the border without authorization is a crime tantamount to conspiracy to rebel."
"We can't move."
Qi Fu said that he would kill Liu Nuo secretly, which was also stupid.
Unless the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion immediately raises the banner of rebellion, otherwise it would be handing the handle to the emperor directly.
"We can't kill them, but the people of Xiliang can."
Since there are people from Xiliang nearby, there is no reason not to take advantage of them.
Moreover, Jiang Youzheng said that he would not let Liu Nuo file a complaint, but how could Gu Zhizhuo entrust such an important matter to someone else?
Living people can file complaints.
The dead cannot sue.
A faint smile escaped from Gu Zhizhuo's lips: "Do you understand?"
Her brilliance carried an innate majesty that made Qi Fu feel submissive. At this moment, Qi Fu seemed to see his own faith in a trance.
"Miss, do you want to chase me?" He raised his hand and made a gesture of swinging a knife.
"Need not."
Gu Zhizhuo raised his hand and said, "Mobilizing troops at the border without authorization is also considered treason."
"Captain Qi, have someone keep an eye on this group of Liang people. Go to Awul City and tell Garrison Commander Jiang about this."
"I obey your orders!"
Qi Fu accepted the order without hesitation and rode away with a few people.
Qi Fu did not go directly to Awul City, but continued to pretend to be an ordinary citizen, asked a traveling merchant for directions, and then "accidentally" mentioned that he saw people from Liang robbing on the road. Liang people's robbery was nothing unusual, and the traveling merchant laughed at him for being surprised.
"It's common for people from Liang to come to the Western Frontier to rob and kill people. There's bloodshed every year. We wouldn't dare come here without hiring a escort team of a hundred or so people."
"But this time, the one being robbed was the official. He said he was the military supervisor, but Liang Ren ended up hacking him to death."
"Really?"
"It was not far ahead. There was so much blood. I was so scared that I ran away. Luckily I wasn't discovered."
"If the official..."
The traveling merchant gritted his teeth and almost didn't say the second half of the sentence.
If he were an official, that would be great!!!
If it weren't for these military supervisors from the capital giving orders, how could Western Xinjiang be in such chaos!
A military supervisor was robbed and killed by people from Liang!
This exciting good news spread among traveling merchants in less than half a day and spread to the thirteen cities in Western Xinjiang.
Liu Nuo never returned after leaving the city. Jiang Youzheng, fearing that Liu Nuo was dead (not necessarily), went there himself. When he saw the body with its head and body separated, he could hardly suppress the smile on his face.
He sighed, "Why did Lord Liu leave the city?"
Liu Nuo's advisor looked terrified and said quickly, "Master Liu wants to go to Shangxu Monastery."
Why did you go to Shangxu Temple for no apparent reason?
That's right. Jiang Youzheng suddenly remembered that when Miss Gu left, she had asked about Liangren's whereabouts.
Could it be...
Jiang Youzheng's heart skipped a beat.
At that time, he and Miss Gu talked about how the Liang people often invaded and massacred people, and that the people had a hard time.
Miss Gu has returned a huge gift to Xinjiang!
Jiang Youzheng's heart beat faster.
Jiang Youzheng gripped the sword at his waist and said sternly, "The Liang people killed an official of our imperial court. This matter will not be tolerated!"
He didn't send troops randomly! It was the Liang people who killed the imperial officials first.
Jiang Youzheng changed his depressed mood and rushed back to Alwu City to mobilize troops and encircle and kill the Liang people who were causing chaos in the western border.
Qi Fu caught up with Gu Zhizhuo in front of Luoxia Pass.
They had just set up camp. Gu Zhizhuo leaned in front of the campfire, staring at the flickering flames, his eyelashes trembling.
Qi Fu said excitedly, "My dear, Commander Jiang has led his troops to kill all the people from Xiliang, leaving only one alive and sending him to the Prince of Jin."
Jiang Youzheng was a man with a purpose. Gu Zhizhuo nodded indifferently. He had kept this person alive on purpose as a witness to draw a clear line between her death and Liu Nuo's.
It was the people of Liang who killed Liu Nuo.
It is absolutely not the case that the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion interferes in border affairs.
Qi Fu said angrily, "They robbed a dozen girls from a nearby village and tortured them to death. Only two survived and are still insane. Everyone in their village was killed. They had nowhere to go, so Guard Jiang took them back to Awul City."
His eyes were cold and he angrily said, "Liang Ren. He is simply hateful!"
Back then, the Duke broke the Liang people's fighting spirit, which could have brought at least ten years of peace. However, Daqi instead cowered like a defeated country, allowing the Liang people to freely enter and exit the border and massacre civilians.
The Liang people are just like the Di people. When they are scared by a fight, they will hide. But when they find that Daqi is even weaker, they will immediately come back to attack.
Gu Zhizhuo said with a faint smile: "It all depends on whether Jiang Shoubei can seize the opportunity."
"Big sister. I don't understand."
Gu Yiqun didn't understand and asked directly.
Gu Zhizhuo tilted his head, his eyes gentle as he explained, "The military supervisors of the twelve cities in Western Xinjiang have now discovered that even they could be killed by the Liang people, and they should be afraid. If Garrison Commander Jiang can seize this opportunity, unite with the generals of the twelve cities, and incite them, and together force the Prince of Jin to promise to defend the city to the death and send troops for inspection, he will surely rise to prominence and at least be promoted to a higher rank."
The girl is really kind-hearted. Qingmei thought to herself that she was not giving Jiang Shougong a credit, but bringing hope to the ordinary people in Western Xinjiang who were living in fear.
"Okay, take a break."
Gu Zhizhuo patted his head and said, "We will leave for Beijing early tomorrow morning."
"I can't sleep." Gu Yiqun said coquettishly, "Big sister, can you tell me a story?"
"No! If you don't sleep, I'll prick you with a needle."
Qingmei smiled and made the bonfire brighter.
When he came, he rode lightly, and when he returned, he carried a coffin and walked much slower.
It took nearly half a month to reach Youzhou.
Before entering the capital, Qi Fu took the Qianji Camp ahead, and they needed to return to the camp secretly in batches.
"Miss, I will take my leave."
Qi Fu clasped his fists, eager to return to the barracks. He wanted to tell his comrades that, apart from the Crown Prince, the eldest daughter was no less capable than anyone else!
Gu Zhizhuo and others did not delay and headed straight for the capital.
As they approached the Shili Pavilion, Gu Yiqun suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Big sister, look, there's a Kongming lantern!"
Gu Zhizhuo pulled the reins and raised his face.
In the blue sky, hundreds of Kongming lanterns are flying all over the sky, like birds flapping their wings, heading towards the blue sky.
“Daddy…”
"Dad promised me when he left Beijing that he would take me to fly Kongming lanterns when he returned."
"Dad, we're back."
"I'm taking you home."
The tears that I had been suppressing for so long could finally burst out no longer.
In the Shili Pavilion, Xie Yingchen was dressed in blue and stood tall and graceful.
When facing Gu Zhizhuo who was riding a horse, he smiled at her and stretched out his hand.
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