Chapter 166 The recipient has arrived. Remembering that dream, his pen...
Seeing the unusual movements of the army behind him, Xiao Daozun realized that something had happened on the battlefield.
But he could only send someone to inquire first; at this moment, he was more concerned about the letter in his hand.
He unfolded the letter and quickly scanned it.
Every word in the letter made him frown.
"From which direction did they come, and where exactly did they go?" Xiao Daozun asked sternly, suppressing his inner turmoil.
"Your Majesty, judging from the direction, they are heading towards our right flank army! The scouts say that their formation is very well-organized, they have come in full attack formation, and there is no sign of them resting. I'm afraid, I'm afraid they will start fighting our right flank army at any moment!"
Xiao Chengyan was shocked upon hearing this and interjected, "How is this possible? This is illogical! The Beiya Army has come from the northern frontier and is exhausted. Even if he is a war god, he would not disregard the lives of his soldiers and rush into the battlefield without even taking a breath. Moreover, he is new to the area. How could he know the specific deployment of our army in Jianghuai?"
Xiao Daozun's expression clearly indicated that what the scout said was most likely true.
He understood Yan Yue; in his eyes, Yan Yue was a monster who could forge himself and his army into steel in order to achieve his goals.
“Nothing is illogical.” He muttered to himself, turning to look towards the right flank of the army: “For Yan Yue, he himself is illogical!”
A strong sense of foreboding gripped his heart.
Without further hesitation, he yanked the reins, turned his horse around, and shouted sharply, "Go! To the right!"
The sound of hooves was as rapid as a sudden rainstorm, raising a cloud of dust as the horse galloped away.
On the distant horizon.
A black line is advancing steadily and coldly, like an indestructible city wall.
The Southern Yin army, positioned on the right flank, never expected that on this ordinary night, the iron hooves of the Northern Frontier would suddenly appear before them.
There was no warning, no challenge.
The killing came like a sudden, violent storm.
The Northern Cliff Army ruthlessly penetrated the weakest link in their defenses.
Flames blazed inside the tent, illuminating panicked faces.
Resistance was futile, and they were quickly engulfed by the black torrent.
The Northern Cliff Army, arriving from afar, brought with them the wind and sand of the northern frontier and the chill of winter. They displayed a terrifying ferocity, seemingly unaware of fatigue, and drove the Southern Yin army into a series of defeats.
In just a few days, the soldiers of Nan Yin were routed and fled.
When the battle report reached Xiao Daozun, who had not yet reached the right flank, he realized the seriousness of the situation.
The right flank suffered a crushing defeat, and the morale of the army at Zhenyong City collapsed after Xiao Nansheng was beheaded, forcing them to retreat.
Having suffered setbacks on both fronts, his face turned ashen. He finally stared intently at the direction of the Northern Cliff Army's formation before returning to his main camp in Yishui City.
With the sudden arrival of the Northern Cliff Army, he needed to rethink his strategy—a completely new one targeting both Yan Yue and Huan Xun.
The changing battle situation naturally affected Zhenyong City as well.
Huan Xun stood on the city wall. At this moment, the fighting on the city wall was no longer as fierce as it had been the day before. Some soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield, and the area inside and outside the city wall had become quiet.
Even before entering Zhenyong, he understood that if he simply held on, the city would eventually be worn down.
He had to find another way out under the enemy's strongest offensive.
Therefore, on the fifth night of the city's defense, he summoned Xie Cheng.
He was ordered to lead men to infiltrate Xiao Nansheng's camp, take his head, and thus intimidate his troops and force them to stop their siege.
This journey is fraught with peril, with only a slim chance of survival.
He made a pact with Xie Cheng that if he failed to succeed within seven days, or if no news was sent back, he would consider them all martyred for their country.
With this mission in mind, Xie Cheng ultimately fulfilled his duty, disguising himself to enter Xiao Nansheng's tent and beheading him while he slept.
Of the ten men, only three returned; the rest perished during the breakout attempt.
The remaining three, covered in blood and exhausted, nearly fell off their horses as they carried Xiao Nansheng's head back into the city.
The morale of the Southern Yin army outside the city completely collapsed under the gaze of this head. Without their commander, their deputy dared not make any further plans and could only order a retreat.
Zhenyong City was thus secured.
That night, Huan Xun rewarded the three armies.
Amidst the atmosphere of relief and relief in the city, he received a military report about Yan Yue.
The military report stated that Yan Yue had completely defeated the Xiutu in the northern frontier. The Xiutu royal court was destroyed, and its royal family and resisting nobles were all slaughtered, with the rest surrendering. The overall situation in the northern frontier was now being handled by Duan Tingxian.
Therefore, he no longer needed to worry about the northern frontier. He had already led the Northern Cliff Army into the Jianghuai region to aid him in his battle against the Southern Yin.
Yan Yue arrived a month earlier than Guan Zheng had predicted.
On the city wall, Huan Xun gazed into the misty distance, with only one thought in his mind.
That is, his godfather is exceptionally powerful.
At this moment, Deputy General Sun, who was in charge of the cleanup, also went up to the city wall.
He stood beside Huan Xun and followed his gaze to the distant mountains shrouded in morning mist.
"Now the right flank of Nan Yin is also retreating." Deputy General Sun said, referring to the news brought by the messenger that morning: "The Grand Commander personally led the army to do this, and in just three days and two nights, he has forced them back more than a hundred miles."
Deputy General Sun was full of admiration: "The Grand Commander truly lives up to the title of God of War."
Huan Xun remained silent.
However, Deputy General Sun did not notice his expression and kept talking: "I just don't understand why the Grand Commander did not enter the city to reorganize first, but was so eager to launch such a fierce offensive without giving Nan Yin any chance to catch its breath, and even disregarding the exhaustion of the Beiya army on the long expedition?"
This statement reminded Huan Xun that this action was indeed not as cautious as Yan Yue's usual military tactics.
Even Guan Zheng, a former subordinate who had followed Yan Yue for many years, was puzzled when he heard the news, wondering why his commander was taking such a risky and hasty step.
Huan Xun simply said, "The governor is working hard for the country and probably wants to settle things with the Southern Yin as soon as possible."
After speaking, he instructed Deputy General Sun: "Pass down the order that the most urgent task is to do everything possible to appease the people and continue to restore order in the city. Organize manpower to clear the ruins, distribute the stored food and medicine, and make sure to properly compensate the wounded soldiers and the damaged civilians in the city."
Deputy General Sun accepted the order and then withdrew.
Although defending the city was extremely difficult, with arrows and stones almost exhausted and soldiers suffering casualties, the city walls remained intact and the city was safe and sound.
Now that the fighting has stopped, people have gradually come out of their homes, and the streets are slowly returning to their former bustling atmosphere, finally bringing peace back to the city.
Furthermore, the arrival of Yan Yue's main force of the Beiya Army not only put immense pressure on the enemy's morale but also completely reversed the situation in terms of strength, leaving Nan Yin no longer in a superior position in terms of total troop strength.
The defensive pressure on Beiye's outer outposts and routes has been greatly reduced. More importantly, Beiye can switch from defense to offense, take the initiative to launch a counterattack against Nanyin.
Now is clearly the time for Beiye to launch a full-scale counterattack.
After standing on the city wall for only a short while, Huan Xun's gaze involuntarily turned to the southeast.
These days of constant warfare had almost consumed all his attention, and only now, with the battle situation somewhat settled, did that deeply suppressed longing resurface in his heart.
These days, he hasn't even had time to write a letter to let her know he's safe and sound, wondering if she's still doing well in Jiangling.
Thinking of this, he could no longer stay on the city wall in peace.
After carefully arranging the subsequent inspection and handover of military affairs, he walked down the city wall and returned to his temporary residence.
This mansion is not large, with three courtyards. Compared with the General's Mansion in Jiangling and the Jiheng Mansion in Jian'an, the study is also smaller.
Behind the desk in his study, he dismissed those around him, ground ink and spread out silk, pondered for a moment, and then picked up his brush and began to write.
The four characters “萋萋如晤” flowed out slowly.
After writing these four words, he paused slightly, the pen tip hovering above the paper, as if considering how to tell her all the things on his mind.
This writing took a long time.
He wrote about the moon atop the city wall, saying he finally understood why poets loved to use the bright moon to express their longing; he wrote about the amulet she had placed in the inner pocket of his armor; and he wrote about how he dreamed of her again in his dreams.
Recalling that dream, his pen paused slightly, and he felt a sudden, inexplicable dryness in his mouth and a burning sensation in his heart. The enchanting and lingering warmth of the dream still lingered in his mind.
At the very end, on the edge of the letter, he added a sentence in extremely small print, almost like a cheat:
[If you ask when this longing will end, it will only be when we meet again. But even then, meeting won't ease the pain of longing; better yet, I hold you...in my arms.]
Finally, he put down his pen, picked up the letter, gently blew the ink dry, and then put it into the letterbox.
Just as he was about to seal it with sealing wax, he suddenly heard a light footstep outside the door.
Unlike the guards' composure or the servants' efficiency, his pace carried a hint of hesitation and lightness.
Huan Xun paused for a moment, his hand holding the sealing wax, glancing out the door out of the corner of his eye, before returning to normal.
Who's outside?
A maid's voice came from outside: "Reporting to the general, I've come to serve tea."
Upon hearing this, Huan Xun's ears twitched, but he said calmly, "Come in."
As he spoke, he dripped the melted lacquer onto the rim of the box and calmly stamped his seal on it.
The study door was gently pushed open, and a slender figure entered silently, head bowed, carrying a tea tray.
The newcomer was dressed in an ordinary light blue dress, and her hair was styled in the same way as the maids in the mansion. She walked up to him with her head down and placed the tea from the wooden tray on a corner of the desk.
He reached out and picked up the cup of tea, without looking up at her, his tone as calm as a casual instruction: "This tea tastes good, sweet and pleasant."
The newcomer lowered his head even further, revealing a section of his fair neck, and placed his hands neatly in front of him.
Lowering her voice, she replied softly, "It's a fresh batch of 'Xi Lu Qiu Bai' from the kitchen. It was specially filtered through water three times before frying, so the taste is naturally the best."
As soon as she finished speaking, her gaze swept over the letter that had just been sealed with sealing wax, and she added in a low voice, "General, should I send this letter to the post station right now?"
Upon hearing this, he brushed his fingers over her lowered face, over her veiled eyes and brows, and finally rested on the tips of her reddened ears.
"Why are you wearing a veil?" he asked casually.
The person who came was calm, but her voice sounded muffled and weak through the veil: "General, I caught a cold a few days ago and my face looks a little haggard. I was afraid of passing on my illness to you, so I wore a veil."
After she finished speaking, Huan Xun said nothing, but slowly took another sip of the tea in his hand.
Amidst the fragrant tea, a long-suppressed smile lingered deep in his eyes.
After a short while, the young man put down his teacup, tapped the sealed envelope lightly with his long fingers, and turned his head to ask with a playful tone, "You just said you would help me deliver a letter to the post station?"
She replied respectfully and obediently, "Yes."
Huan Xun: "No need, there's no need to send this letter out."
He waited for her response, but saw that the people around him, following the rules for maids, did not continue to respond to him.
She simply said softly, "In that case, this servant will take her leave."
Before she could finish speaking, she had already turned around.
From his unseen front, she smiled, about to turn around and carry out her surprise.
But just as she was about to take a step, her wrist suddenly tightened, and a force gently pulled her along, instantly turning the world upside down.
In a dizzying moment, she was pulled into his arms, the scent of sandalwood and the familiar warmth instantly enveloping her.
She looked up in surprise, only to meet his eyes, which held a lazy yet gentle smile.
He leaned down, his thin lips almost touching her ear, his voice full of triumphant pleasure: "The person who was supposed to receive the letter has arrived."
His warm breath brushed against her earlobe: "My lady, tell me, what else should I send?"
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