Chuanzhu grunted for a long time before saying, "I'm not stupid. Of course I know that this will cause trouble for Brother Tianshi."
"Since you knew it would cause him trouble, why did you still come?"
Chuanzhu argued, "I also know that Brother Tianshi is omnipotent. This little trouble is nothing to him."
"Oh? How do you mean?"
"Tofu tied with hemp rope—not worth mentioning."
Zhang Shixun was listening outside and shaking his head secretly.
Li Shishi continued to ask from the sedan chair, "Although Mr. Zhang has some abilities, he is still incapable of handling certain matters, especially when it comes to your royal family affairs. He is of no help at all."
"I know that neither my father nor my brother the emperor likes him."
"That's good to know."
After a moment of silence, Li Shishi asked again, "Besides running away from your marriage, do you have any other ideas when you go to Mr. Zhang?"
"Yes! Running away from marriage is just an excuse. My real thought is that I can survive by following Brother Zhang."
"Can't you survive in the palace?"
Chuanzhu sighed deeply and said leisurely, "Brother Emperor is narrow-minded and doesn't know how to employ people. Look at the ministers he employs. They have no other abilities except fighting among themselves. The one or two who are somewhat capable have all been driven away by him for excuses. As for someone as capable as Brother Zhang, he won't even meet with them."
Zhang Shixun, who was outside the sedan, felt something in his heart. He had never seen Zhao Huan since he came to the Song Dynasty.
"After the Jin soldiers retreated last time, the emperor drove back all the troops that came to support him. Now that the Jin soldiers are coming again, it's too late to recall the troops from all over the place."
Li Shishi asked, "How can a young lady like you be so concerned about national affairs?"
"It concerns my life and property, so of course I care... Sister! I heard the eunuchs in the palace whispering that Zhang Tianshi was going to flee, and I knew then that the capital would be lost this time."
"Just because Zhang Tianshi is about to escape, you predict that the capital city cannot be defended?"
"Yes! Master Zhang is very good at fortune-telling and can predict things like a god."
Li Shishi laughed and said, "How do you know he can predict things so well?"
"He told my father a year ago that the Jin army would launch a massive attack on the Song Dynasty, but my father didn't believe him. But a year later, everything he said came true, so..."
At this point, Li Shishi finally understood everything. To put it bluntly, the other person's purpose was very simple, which was to escape with them.
The group braved the wind and snow and finally arrived at Zhang Xiaozhuang.
Mr. and Mrs. Ding arrived yesterday. They lived in the second house and left the backyard to their daughter and Li Shishi.
Although there were many rooms, Zhang Shixun felt embarrassed to live in the back because Ding's father and mother were there, so he had to live alone in the front yard.
Ding's mother had already lit the fireplace brightly, and the house was warm as soon as she entered.
Zhu came into the house, looked around, and was very curious.
After resting for a while and eating, Zhang Shixun went straight to Gao Laozhuang.
There are many things to discuss with Wang Dong.
As soon as the two met, Wang Dong teased them: "I just got the news that you kidnapped a princess."
"Nonsense! She came to me on her own, firstly to escape marriage, and secondly to save her life... Honestly, this little princess is smarter than the emperor. She's able to recognize the general trend and avoid risks. It's truly commendable."
Wang Dong looked at him and said sarcastically, "It's probably you who took the initiative to seduce her and captured her pure heart. Otherwise, why would she elope with you?"
"That's bullshit!"
"Look, I hit your sore spot, and you're getting angry out of shame."
Zhang Shixun didn't want to get entangled with this guy, so he waved his hand and asked, "Where are the Jin soldiers now?"
Wang Dong pulled out a map and pointed, saying, "Wanyan Zongwang's eastern army conquered Puyang and Huaizhou, with their vanguard only a few hundred miles from Kaifeng. Wanyan Zonghan of the western army crossed the Yellow River at Mengjin, and the Song troops in Luoyang, Yong'an, and Zhengzhou surrendered without a fight."
Zhang Shixun frowned, staring at the map and said, "So, within a day or two, the Jin soldiers will be able to attack Kaifeng?"
"The heavy snow blocking the roads shouldn't happen that soon, but it won't be too late for a few days. The situation is serious."
Zhang Shixun remained silent for a long time, feeling indescribably conflicted.
According to his and Wang Dong's plan, they will sit back and watch the clouds roll by.
It was only when the royal family was wiped out by the Jurchens and began to retreat north that the two of them took action.
"Old Wang, I feel bad watching the Jin soldiers wreak havoc."
"There's nothing we can do about it. As long as the Zhao Song Dynasty exists, there's nothing we can do. The only way we can do that is to rebel and overthrow them, and then create a new world."
"Now that we have been forced to rely on the Jin soldiers, I feel a sense of resentment, and I don't know how people in the future will judge us."
"Never mind the afterlife. The most urgent task is to find a way to protect ourselves. Don't forget, Pharmacist Guo is on his way here... Haha! I'm very curious about how this stray dog will deal with us."
Zhang Shixun looked out the window at the still heavy snow and said worriedly, "This heavy snow is not good for us."
Wang Dong nodded. "The power of explosives will be greatly reduced by the accumulation of snow, and the effectiveness of Molotov cocktails will be greatly reduced. It seems that we will have to dig a tunnel when the time comes."
A burst of laughter came from the yard. Looking out through the window glass, I saw Taoqi and Yue Yun happily rolling snowballs.
Zhang Shixun's mind suddenly moved, and he immediately came up with an idea.
"Old Wang, what do you think if we build another ice wall outside the village wall?"
"Damn! What a great idea!" Wang Dong clapped his hands. "Making ice bricks in this kind of weather is too easy. Not to mention an ice wall, we can even make an ice city wall. By then, even if Pharmacist Guo brings a large-scale catapult, he won't be able to break our wall."
Zhang Shixun added, "For safety's sake, evacuate all the people from the other villages to Gao Laozhuang and Zhang Xiaozhuang. This will make management easier and increase our defenses."
"Okay! Let's do it." Wang Dong rubbed his hands excitedly and praised: "As expected of someone who has led troops, when it comes to fighting, his IQ is on point."
Zhang Shixun glanced at him sideways, "According to you, my IQ is usually not online?"
"Compared to me, it's really not that good."
"Get lost, you stinky duck egg! With your IQ that's so high, if I didn't protect you, you would have been eaten to the bone."
"Shixun, you must have a conscience. If I hadn't provided you with something groundbreaking, you'd probably be worse off than a beggar now."
Zhang Shixun slapped him on the head and said, "Stop arguing here. Time is running out. Quickly gather everyone and get to work."
Immediately, a vigorous wall-building operation was launched in the two villages.
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