Just one sentence made Xiao Yunfei's eyes hot.
He bent down quickly.
"Hurry up and tell me what happened. Why did the news say that you were all dead?"
Hu Zhan's face showed pain, and he frowned as he stated.
"When word of your story spread back to the army, we didn't believe it and impulsively decided to rush back to the capital to rescue you. However, we were suppressed by the Emperor and the Crown Prince's men."
"Originally, they couldn't defeat us, but we had a traitor on our side. Our food supplies were burned, and our water was poisoned. In just two days, we lost nearly 30% of our soldiers."
"At this critical moment, Sun Yu changed his strategy and had the main force pretend to surrender and stay in the army to wait for the general to return. Sun Yu and I, along with a group of brothers, pretended to fall off a cliff and die during the pursuit. This was to avoid pursuit, and we changed our route to return to the capital to find a chance to rescue the general."
"We wasted too much time on the journey. When we returned to the capital, we heard that you, General, had been exiled, and your family was controlled by the old emperor."
"Upon learning of this, we dared not act rashly. We pursued you all the way, searching for you until we found you. Our actions were hindered at every turn, and it took us so long to find you. We are truly useless, leaving you to suffer here alone."
As Hu Zhan spoke, he raised his fist with a guilty look on his face and hit his chest twice, tears in his eyes.
Xiao Yunfei frowned as he watched his performance and couldn't help laughing silently.
"Oh, why don't you open your eyes and take a good look at where I'm suffering?"
Hu Zhan was immersed in his own emotions. He was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then slowly turned around and scanned the decorations in the house.
How come this is different from what he thought?
He thought that the general would have a very dangerous journey, and even if he arrived in Ningguta safely, he would not have enough food or warm clothes, and would have to do hard labor every day and be abused beyond recognition.
But the scene before him told him that he was wrong.
"This...this house belongs to you, General?"
"What else? You found this place and you don't know whose house it is? How did you become stupid after leaving me?"
"Oh, you're insulting me right after we met. I can't believe this is true. General, are you really not suffering here?"
"No." Xiao Yunfei shook his head. "I have a wife and children here, and in some ways, I'm living a better life than before."
When mentioning the child, Xiao Yunfei's eyes darkened.
"Da Jun and his children are all sleeping upstairs. You can go and take a look at them. They all look a lot like their father. You'll know when you see them."
Hu Zhan, who was originally smiling foolishly because he knew that the general he had been thinking about was doing well, suddenly froze when he heard this.
He nodded with tears in his eyes.
"Well, I'll meet them later. They should be pretty big now."
"They have grown up a lot. They are now well taken care of by my wife. My wife is the best woman I have ever met. If you meet her, you will think I am blessed."
When talking about his wife, Xiao Yunfei couldn't help but want to praise her a few more times.
Before he finished speaking, he saw Hu Zhan's conflicted look on his face, and asked tentatively in a low voice.
"General, is the sister-in-law you are talking about the same one as before?"
All the brothers in the army knew that their boss and his sister-in-law had a bad relationship, and they had not even consummated their marriage for several years.
This question is not easy to answer, Xiao Yunfei said in a deep voice.
"Yes and no, anyway, the person next to me now is your sister-in-law for life."
"General, have you chosen her?"
"Um."
"Hehe, that's great, General, you finally have a home. This is like a miracle."
They are of similar age and often stay together. They are not only comrades-in-arms but also brothers who can trust each other.
Xiao Yunfei is not arrogant and gets along well with his subordinates.
That's why they dared to joke with him.
Xiao Yunfei was not angry either. He smiled and nodded.
"It is indeed a blessing to meet someone you want to spend your life with. If circumstances permit, I hope all my brothers can get married, have children, and live a peaceful and stable life without fighting and killing."
This is really tear-jerking.
A wife, children and a warm bed are luxuries for these people who have dedicated themselves to defending the country and showing loyalty.
It is an unattainable dream for them today.
Many of their brothers died in battle. They never had the chance to marry, honor their parents, or leave descendants for their family.
Hu Zhan knelt on one knee again and saluted Xiao Yunfei.
He spoke word by word.
"General, the world has changed since you lost power."
"Thinking back to the days when we fought side by side on the battlefield, we were so glorious. Even though you've fallen on hard times now, your fame remains. You're the only one my brothers and I respect the most."
"My brothers and I know that you won't just accept your fate. We have already established intelligence networks in various places and are secretly recruiting soldiers in the mountains, waiting for you to come out."
"General, we still have some power in our hands. As long as you plan, you will be able to turn the tide and lead us back to the top!"
Xiao Yunfei was very touched and nodded.
"Since you brothers still believe in me, I will not let you down. When we get what we want one day, I will make sure that all of you who follow me live a happy life."
Hu Zhan was overjoyed when he learned of Xiao Yunfei's idea.
In the following time, the two sides exchanged information and analyzed the current situation.
The situation on Hu Zhan's side was not optimistic. They could only hide in the mountains to train their troops secretly, living like rats in a gutter. Most of the time, food and drink were problems.
Xiao Yunfei was not surprised by this. It was already amazing that they could survive under the opponent's power.
As long as people are still there, nothing else matters.
What he lacks most now is people, confidants whom he can completely trust.
With them, he has taken another big step towards his goal.
Once we started talking about business, we forgot about time and before we knew it, it was already dawn.
"It's dawn, you should leave. Do as I say first, and tell the brothers that I will come to find you tonight."
Hu Zhan was so angry that he went upstairs, took a peek at the children, and left Fengtou Village before everyone woke up.
Great, he found the general and now has a backbone.
Sun Moushi and the others would definitely be very happy to know this.
The sun slowly rose, and the yard of Xiao Yunfei's house gradually became lively again.
Dozens of people came and went, laughing and chatting, and queuing up to get water to wash.
The big pot meal in the village was ready. Xiao Yunfei took people with big basins to get the food back and ate it with Meng Xiangyu and others in his own yard.
Looking at the pots of steaming hot food being brought back, Xu Xiuli's eyes lit up and she asked a little embarrassedly.
"Sister, with so many of us eating from the village's big pot, won't the other villagers have any objections?"
"Won't."
Su Miaomiao smiled and shook her head. Seeing that Xu Xiuli was confused, she continued to explain.
"Because the whole village eats my food, and the ingredients are all taken from my home."
"Ah? The whole village eats your food."
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