If Cui Jing gets into trouble, it means that Xuan Ce's army will be leaderless, which is of great importance at this critical juncture.
Although Qin Duhu was filled with grief and anger, he did not dare to hesitate for the moment. On the one hand, he sent people to check out the place where Cui Jing had the accident, and on the other hand, he wrote an urgent letter, divided into two letters, one to be sent back to the capital, and the other to be delivered to Luoyang.
When this extremely urgent secret letter reached Luoyang, it was the second day after Xuan Ce's army, which had set out from the capital, arrived in Luoyang.
The letter was delivered to Li Xian, who was temporarily in charge of the Xuan Ce Army.
Xuan Ce's army was camping outside Luoyang City. Li Xiande was received by the Luoyang Governor and discussed the matter of defending the city with Luoyang officials inside the city.
After leaving the governor's mansion, Li Xian mounted his horse and, accompanied by an official, led a group of personal guards to inspect the defense of the Luoyang Palace.
This was also what the Holy Ce Emperor instructed before he left Beijing.
He dismounted outside the inner palace gate and was greeted by a palace messenger. After inspecting various places, he entered the Ziwei Palace, climbed up the high pavilion and overlooked the entire Luoyang city.
"It really is worthy of being the Central Capital Luoyang mentioned in the books..." A young woman wearing a light blue cloak and following Li Xian, whose attire and accent did not seem like those of the Han people from the Central Plains, exclaimed in amazement.
Li Xian stood with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance: "Next month, when the peonies in the city bloom, it will be the Luoyang of my childhood memories."
There was reminiscence in his tone, and the young woman couldn't help but look at him.
The man had a good appearance. Although he was in his thirties, he looked less than thirty. He had no beard, had a fair face, and had a pair of very beautiful eyes. The slightly upturned curve at the end of his eyes was elegant and graceful. He seemed to always have a smile on his face, and looked gentle and affectionate.
The woman's eyes were like water, and she said softly: "The general has been homesick for a long time, and now he is finally back."
"Yes, after four years, I'm finally back." There was a sigh in Li Xian's tone and a slight smile in his eyes.
At this time, a guard with a sword came quickly and saluted, saying, "General, there is a secret letter from the north!"
When Li Xian took the letter, the woman lowered her head and stepped back a few steps.
Li Xian opened the letter and was slightly shocked when he saw its contents.
Cui Jing…something happened to him during the trip?! He quickly hid the shock that flashed across his eyes, but his heart could not calm down for a long time.
Cui Jing was in trouble at this time, and the Xuan Ce Army...
The sky was gloomy and the spring breeze was still a bit chilly. Li Xian calmed himself, restrained his expression, put away the letter, and turned to look in the direction of the army camping outside the city.
…
At 3 p.m. in the afternoon, Li Xian led his men out of the city and returned to the military camp.
Several deputy generals of Xuan Ce's army soon came to ask for a meeting and asked Li Xian about the next arrangements.
Li Xian sat cross-legged behind the sand table and said calmly, "No hurry. The Xu family's rebel army was blocked by heavy rain for more than seven or eight days. The army is stagnant and has not yet reached Bianzhou."
It rained a lot on their way to Luoyang, but the rain was heavier in the south, and the roads were muddy, so the baggage carts and horses could not move forward. When there were strong winds and heavy rains, the river water rose rapidly and it was impossible to move forward by water. As a result, Xu Zhengye's army was forced to stay where they were for nearly ten days.
In Li Xian's opinion, if it weren't for this heavy rain, the weather in Bianzhou would have changed by now.
At this time, Bianzhou was still intact, so...
He went on to say: "We are here to protect Luoyang. As the situation of the war is still unclear, we should wait and see first, and not leave rashly, so as not to put Luoyang in danger of losing it."
He then looked at the generals and said, "Besides, General Cui has not arrived yet. We must follow his command in this battle to ensure that nothing goes wrong."
His tone was humble and he treated Cui Jing with great respect. The generals immediately responded and said in a friendly manner, "If General Li has any instructions, please feel free to send them at any time."
Li Xian nodded.
After several people discussed Xu Jun's movements for a while, the generals left Li Xian's tent.
"...When will the Grand Admiral arrive?"
"If you calculate it, it should be two or three days at the latest."
"Then we will wait for the Grand Commander to come and then discuss countermeasures. Before that, we must pay close attention to the situation in Bianzhou."
“…”
Several generals talked in low voices for a few words, then separated and went about their business.
In Li Xian's tent, a white-haired military advisor's eyes were shaken, and his voice couldn't be any lower: "General, are you saying... Commander Cui died on the way?!"
Li Xian nodded: "It is a letter from Anbei Protectorate, I think it can't be wrong."
"This...do you know who did this?"
"The letter said that the identities of the assassins have not yet been found out." Li Xian's eyes narrowed slightly: "But I think someone must have leaked the news that General Cui was rushing to Luoyang."
The military advisor thought carefully for a moment, and finally focused on the current matter: "Since Cui Jing is dead, why didn't the general tell them just now?"
"How can I publicize such a major event without the approval of the Saint?" Li Xian said, "If this causes the morale of Xuan Ce's army to be disrupted, how can I bear the consequences?"
"So what are your plans next... General?" the military advisor asked carefully.
These questions asked in succession seemed to be somewhat unclear as to "who is the military advisor?", but this was precisely because he knew Li Xian's character very well.
Although he is a military advisor, he should keep his mouth shut before he understands Li Xian's plan.
"This matter will surely reach the Saint's ears soon, and we will wait for the Saint's instructions." Li Xian said: "Before that, we just need to guard Luoyang City."
"As for Bianzhou..." the military advisor whispered, "The rain has stopped. I expect Xu's army to take action soon."
"Bianzhou..." Li Xian smiled and said, "I was just ordered to defend Luoyang."
He has his responsibilities, and Bianzhou also has its responsibilities. As the line of defense in front of Luoyang, Bianzhou needs to be defended in accordance with the imperial order.
If it hadn't been for this rain, Bianzhou would have fulfilled its duties long ago.
Although he arrived with Xuan Ce's army, he should not have hindered Bianzhou from continuing to perform this duty.
Xu's army had more than 100,000 soldiers. Rather than leading his troops on a long journey to fight, it would be better for him to let Bianzhou fight with all its might and tear off a piece of Xu Zhengye's flesh first. He would then wait for the enemy to tire themselves out in Luoyang and be more confident of victory.
"Isn't it the same in the southern border back then?" Li Xian's tone was very calm, as if he was talking about a very ordinary matter: "My father and I were ordered to guard the southern border. We guarded it for a whole year and spent a whole year fighting the foreign army until my father died. Countless of our personal soldiers were killed and wounded. Only then did General Cui and General Chang Kuo lead the Xuan Ce Army to go there-"
But later, after the battle was won, almost no one remembered their Hanguo Mansion.
Nowadays, even if you walk on the street and casually mention the battle with the Southern Barbarians, people will only say that it was the credit of Xuan Ce's army, Cui Jing and Chang Kuo.
"My father and I could do this back then, so it's natural that we can do this in Bianzhou as well." He said, "This is for the overall situation, for the safety of Luoyang, and even more for the chances of defeating Xu's rebellion in one fell swoop."
After a moment, the military advisor responded "yes".
"However, if anything goes wrong in Bianzhou... General Chang will be blamed. After all, it was they who let Xu Zhengye go, which caused Bianzhou to be implicated." Li Xian raised his hand and picked up the teapot: "But it doesn't matter. I will definitely protect Luoyang. As long as Luoyang City is stable, General Chang will not be punished with a serious crime."
"As for the fault of implicating Bianzhou..." He slowly poured tea into the tea bowl and said, "I can only ask the saint for mercy for General Chang afterwards."
The military advisor smiled knowingly: "General, you are nostalgic after all."
Li Xian picked up the tea bowl and said sincerely: "General Chang is a good man."
He added, "And he has always had good luck... Actually, he was born in the grassroots, but he became the famous General Chang because he was appreciated and valued by the late Crown Prince."
"This is the first time the general has returned to the capital, and he has been given such an important task. It shows that the saint values him..." The military advisor said, "If we win this battle, the general will be able to become famous and realize his ambitions."
Li Xian smiled and said, "So my luck is finally coming."
If Cui Jing died, he would be the commander of this battle, and when it came to judging the merits, no one would surpass him and overshadow his name.
With the right time, right place and right people, luck finally came to him.
"People don't always have luck." He took a sip of warm tea and said slowly, "So, I can't allow any mistakes in this battle."
Then, let’s wait for news from Bianzhou.
…
The sky had been gloomy for many days, but today near dusk, a brilliant glow finally appeared on the horizon, piercing through the layers of dark clouds and illuminating the river water that had become turbid due to continuous rain, making it sparkle.
A warship was anchored at the edge of a remote and winding river that was overgrown with reeds and weeds and seemed to have no trace of human habitation.
And if you look more closely, you can see not just one, but two, ten...
The exterior of these warships is disguised, and their winding parts are used as natural blind spots. Unless you get close to them, it is difficult to detect their existence.
At this moment, a young girl was standing on the second-floor fence of the largest ship, covering her eyes with her hands, looking into the distance at the wide main river channel.
However, the sunset glow was too dazzling, so Chang Suining gave up looking.
At this time, a girl wearing an indigo robe and with black hair tied into a ponytail came out of the cabin, holding a cup of hot tea, and said, "Madam Chang, don't worry. The boat sent out to investigate will be back soon. We have been training all day today, so have some tea and take a break first."
"I'm not in a hurry, I just can't sit still, so I just want to take a look." Chang Suining took the teacup from her hand and said, "Xi'er and Azhi are here to take care of these things, so you don't have to do it."
Yao Ran smiled: "It's okay, I can't sit still either. I've been in the cabin for a long time, so it's a good time to come out and get some fresh air."
She arrived at the military camp on the day when Chang Suining left Shouzhou camp. Chang Suining didn't want her to come with him, but she insisted on going, so Chang Suining took her along.
She also tried to pick up weapons and practice with Shepherd's Purse and the others, but her foundation was too weak and her skin was too delicate. Her hands were covered with blisters on the first day. She hid her hands and didn't dare let Chang Suining see them, for fear of being driven back.
But she heard Chang Suining say to her - learning martial arts is not a one-time thing, it is better to focus on one's own strengths and do some clerical work.
Yao Ran studied very hard.
She learned very quickly, was very organized in her work, and was eager to learn. In Chang Suining's opinion, it was rare to find someone who was dedicated and willing to work hard.
Chang Suining drank her tea slowly. Yao Ran looked at the dazzling sunset glow with her and couldn't help but whispered, "Madam Chang, the sky is finally clear."
Chang Suining said "hmm" and turned to look at her. The girl was wearing a neat robe with a slim waist. The scar on her fair cheek was still eye-catching, but it was no longer covered by a veil.
When Yao Ran first came, she always had a veil on her face. It was not because she cared, but because she was afraid of scaring others and attracting unnecessary attention.
Until two days later, Shepherd's Purse saw the scar in private and immediately exclaimed "Oh my God" - what did I think? It's not scary at all. Look, sister, who in our army doesn't have some scars on his body or face?
Yao Ran was stunned for a moment.
Over the next two days, she paid careful attention to every person she saw. She saw people with injuries on their faces, injuries on their hands, and a young soldier who was missing half of his ear.
Then she took off her veil and never took it up again.
"The sky is clearing up, and we are about to see a murder. Are you scared?" Chang Suining asked casually at this time.
Yao Ran looked at her and nodded gently: "A little nervous..."
"Don't be afraid, just hide behind us!" Shepherd's Purse came over, wiped off the sweat or river water from the water battle practice on her face, and said with a smile.
Yao Ran smiled and said, "Thank you, Sister Shepherd's Purse."
Shepherd's Purse laughed even more happily: "Don't mention it... Miss Yao's calling you 'sister' is just nice!"
They only knew Yao Ran's last name but not his identity, so they got along very casually with each other.
At this time, the small boat sent out to explore turned back, and the two soldiers jumped onto the deck of a large ship and reported the exploration situation to Xiao Min.
They were quite far away, so Chang Suining couldn't hear clearly, but from Xiao Min's expression he knew that there was no unusual movement for the time being.
According to common sense, it is impossible for Xu's army to appear suddenly, but three explorations a day are necessary, and they must not be careless at any time - the word "common sense" is just common sense, not the only standard. For example, she and General Xiao led the army to arrive here half a month ago. Isn't it very "uncommon sense"?
As if noticing her gaze, Xiao Min turned his head to look at Chang Suining on the second floor of the boat and nodded slightly to her.
This means that no trace was found, Chang Suining nodded in response.
She Cai and the others all wanted to learn to read, so they asked Yao Ran to be their teacher when they had free time. Now they returned to the cabin, but Chang Suining was still standing there, looking further away on the opposite bank.
She thought about it and asked Xier to find Yuanxiang over.
"Have you heard any news about Grand Commander Cui in the past two days?"
Hearing Chang Suining's question, Yuan Xiang was startled, then said, "There has been no news about the Grand Commander recently."
As Cui Jing's most trusted confidant, he was able to keep in touch with the Xuan Ce troops in various places. As early as when the Xuan Ce troops left Beijing for Luoyang, Yuan Xiang learned that his own commander-in-chief would rush to Luoyang from the northern border to meet with the Xuan Ce troops.
Naturally, Chang Suining was also informed.
Chang Suining only knows this news at the moment and has no idea of the rest.
"According to calculations, he should be here soon." Chang Suining had estimated the route and time in his mind more than once. Now, looking towards the north, he said thoughtfully, "I'm a little worried about him."
The girl's voice was frank and pure, but it still caught Yuan Xiang off guard and made his eyes widen.
Madam Chang actually said...she was worried about the Grand Commander?!
If his Grand Commander heard this, even if he encountered any danger, he would probably die without regrets... Pah! It should be a blessing in disguise!
Today's 4,000-word update is delivered, good night!
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