Accompanied by the cold wind, snowflakes fell and pedestrians on the streets of the capital city became hurried.

The snow fell exceptionally early this winter, making life difficult for beggars in the capital, especially as there are more of them recently.

About a month ago, many people with northern accents gradually came to the capital, young and old, and gathered in the capital with their families. These people were exhausted after the long journey here, and they had no skills, so they could only hang around and beg for a living on the streets and bridges.

These are the people who fled here because of the war in the north.

Their arrival reminded the people of the capital that the war in the north was still going on and was not even optimistic.

The atmosphere in the court was also solemn and anxious.

"We have lost three cities in a row. Isn't this what you call a temporary defeat?" the emperor shouted angrily. "How much of a defeat is this?"

Ning Yan stood in front of the hall with a determined look on his face.

"The gold bandits are coming with great force, so it is right to avoid their sharp edge and retreat." He said, "What's more, when Duke Cheng retreated, he escorted the people and burned down the castle. The gold bandits occupied an empty city, which could not be supplied and had no manpower to rebuild. Instead, it wasted and dispersed the troops."

Huang Cheng laughed on the side.

"According to what Lord Ning said, this defeat is still glorious. Does it still need to be rewarded?" he said.

Ning Yan didn't care about his ridicule.

"This is not a defeat, this is a strategy," he said. "When a general is away from home, he may not obey the orders of his master because the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. Only those who are in the battlefield know what is the best way to do it."

"This is all one-sided words from Duke Cheng." Another minister stood up and said, "I think he is just looking for excuses and being too ambitious, which led to his continuous defeat."

"That's right. In such a short period of time, he lost three cities, a general manager, and two military supervisors. He still keeps talking about strategies. How can he claim to have made any achievements?" Another minister also scolded angrily, "He also wants all the reinforcements from all over the country to obey his orders. What does he want to do?"

Faced with the questioning, Ning Yan was not afraid at all.

"Why do you only see our casualties? Have you forgotten the amount of losses suffered by the gold thieves?" he said.

As soon as he finished speaking, several ministers stood up and reported the casualties of the Jin army.

Compared with the casualties suffered by the officers and soldiers of the Great Zhou, the casualties suffered by the Jin soldiers were indeed worse.

"Who knows if it's a real payment or something else?" a minister snorted.

The other minister immediately stared in anxiety.

"What do you mean? Are you saying that Duke Cheng lied about military intelligence?" he shouted angrily.

"Who knows whether he is lying or not? Anyway, the entire northern area is now in the hands of Duke Cheng." Someone else also said.

"Are you saying that Duke Cheng has absolute control over everything?"

"I didn't say that. It was you, Master Tang, who said that."

There was an uproar in the court, and several ministers were red-faced and foaming at the mouth, and they all wanted to start a fight.

This kind of scene happens every day.

"Shut up, everyone." The emperor on the dragon throne shouted, pressing his forehead.

His voice was somewhat weak, but the eunuchs continued to scream. The imperial envoys and the guards stepped forward to stop the noisy ministers.

"I don't want to know what this strategy is. I just want to know when the Jin soldiers will retreat?" the emperor said anxiously.

These words brought a moment of silence to the hall.

"Your Majesty, war is not something that can be achieved overnight." Ning Yan said in a deep voice.

"Will that involve thousands of soldiers?" Huang Cheng said dimly.

Ning Yan turned and looked at him.

"Affected? What does Lord Huang mean? Is it wrong for soldiers to die fighting for their country?" he said.

"That depends on whether he died for the country or because of his ambition and vanity as Duke Cheng." Huang Cheng said indifferently.

"Sir Huang..." Ning Yan shouted, and just as he opened his mouth an urgent report came from outside the door.

Because of the war, urgent reports would arrive every few days, and the court officials and the emperor were already very familiar with this. Upon hearing this, they immediately stopped arguing and looked outside.

Everyone looked nervous.

Good news, it must be good news.

Ning Yan was thinking about it, and Huang Cheng was also thinking about it, although the good news they were expecting was different.

"Your Majesty, Kaide Prefecture has been lost, and the prefect Du Miao died a martyr." The eunuch who was carrying the urgent report knelt on the ground and shouted in a trembling voice.

Kaide Prefecture is a prefecture in the southern part of Hebei East Road. More than 20 years ago, the Jin people rushed into the capital from here and surrounded the capital. No one could come to rescue them, the palace was trapped, and the emperor was abducted.

This is a shame that the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty does not want to recall, and it is also a nightmare that no one in the world wants to remember.

I didn't expect that after so many years, this scene would appear again.

The past is back.

There was deathly silence in the hall, and soon the emperor stood up from the dragon throne.

"Someone come..." He shouted, his voice trembling, his face pale, and before he finished speaking, he trembled and sat back on the dragon chair.

The eunuchs were shocked.

The court officials were too frightened to care about the dispute and rushed to the dragon throne.

"His Majesty."

"Quickly call the imperial physician."

The hall fell into chaos.

Ning Yunzhao was still standing at the end of the line. He had no qualifications to squeeze in, nor did he try to squeeze in. He just stood there with the same anxious look as the other officials who were unable to move forward.

But if you look closely, you will find that his anxiety is much calmer than that of others. But now no one is paying attention to him. Everyone is standing on tiptoe, looking forward, and whispering from time to time.

"This is such a coincidence." Ning Yunzhao did not discuss it with others, but just muttered to himself with a frown on his face.

…

"What a coincidence."

Zhu Zan spat out the grass in his mouth, sneered, and tapped the ground with his hand.

A simple map was drawn on the ground, with stones representing cities and blades of grass representing the route of the Jin people.

"Only a group of elite soldiers, under the cover of many Jin soldiers, broke into here. This is not so much an attack as it is an adventure of a lone army going deep into the city." Zhang Baotang said, "We all know that the Jin soldiers are good at riding and shooting, and they move quickly, so it is not impossible for them to do this."

"Maybe it's more than just the Jin soldiers' cover." Si Feng said suddenly.

Zhang Baotang was stunned for a moment, but Zhu Zan remained calm and composed.

"Did you find out?" he asked.

Zhang Baotang looked at Sifeng in confusion. Sifeng had disappeared for some time before, saying that she had some official business. So was this official business ordered by Zhu Zan?

"We can't find out the details, but it is true that some generals pretended to obey orders but secretly disobeyed them and fled without fighting," said Sifeng.

This kind of thing is not uncommon on the battlefield and it doesn't mean anything.

"It's hard to explain, but their actions have caused a lot of consequences that shouldn't have happened. It's just a coincidence." Sifeng said.

Zhu Zan raised his foot and kicked the stones and grass on the ground.

"I understand now. The Jin soldiers are not here to fight, but to scare us," he said, stepping on the place marked as Kaide Prefecture. "Everything they do is following the route that once destroyed our capital, just to remind the emperor, his officials and the people of that time of what happened, and to make them feel afraid."

Zhang Baotang understood and laughed out loud.

"The gold thief will do the same trick again," he said.

"This trick is very effective." said Zhu Zan.

Sifeng didn't laugh either, and his expression remained silent for a moment.

"Just now, the emperor ordered Duke Cheng to dispatch troops to rescue Kaide Prefecture and garrison Kaifeng at the same time," he said.

Zhang Baotang stared.

"How can uncle move? If he moves, the whole body will be affected." He said, "Uncle doesn't need to come back. These gold thieves won't stay in Kaide Prefecture for long."

Sifeng smiled bitterly.

"Because, Your Majesty is afraid." He whispered.

Zhu Zan patted his clothes and looked towards the northwest.

"I'm leaving." he said suddenly.

Sifeng and Zhang Baotang were stunned, seemingly unable to react to what he said.

"You came today and told me the news that Kaide Prefecture had fallen. Now I am running away to kill the enemy for the country. This is reasonable and logical, and I will not blame you." Zhu Zan continued.

This is indeed reasonable, but this is not the crux of the problem now.

"How are you leaving?" Sifeng asked.

Zhu Zan had already walked a few steps away, but when he heard this he turned back and smiled.

"Just, go," he said, raising his hand to his mouth and whistling a few times.

Along with the whistle, Sifeng Zhang Baotang heard the horses neighing and the ground shaking. What happened? They turned around and were stunned.

I saw groups of horses rushing out of the stables and running in all directions. The whole stable was like a thunderbolt.

"The horses are startled!" Zhu Zan shouted and ran towards the horses. He ran very fast and quickly blended into the chaotic herd of horses. In the blink of an eye, he had jumped onto the horses and was like a small boat rising and falling among the galloping horses.

But not only was the boat not overturned by the waves, but it was actually leading the tide.

The entire stable was alarmed and everyone ran out, but they were unable to stop the herd of horses that was like a rolling flood. They could only watch helplessly as the horses jumped out of the fence and went in all directions.

The horse was startled and ran away.

Shouts continued to ring out and people ran around.

I...

Sifeng and Zhang Baotang stood there in a daze. Only this word could express their feelings. They stared at the figure that had already gone far away from their sight, with their mouths wide open for a long time.