The two sides slowly approached each other.
When they were about 17 or 18 feet away, Li Yuanhao's personal guards shouted, "Stop!"
Fan Zhongyan had no choice but to rein in his horse and stop.
Because the other side had crossbows in their hands, and the Song army had shields raised, it seemed disadvantageous to the Song army if they continued to move forward.
However, even in such an unfavorable situation, the Song army did not obey the other side's orders and continued to move forward. Obviously, something was wrong.
So in order to prevent Li Yuanhao from noticing, Fan Zhongyan had to follow the other party's instructions.
Li Yuanhao, on the other hand, had a puzzled look in his eyes.
Under normal circumstances, he would definitely hope that the distance between the two sides was as close as possible, so that he could kill the other party by surprise.
But when he got closer, he found that the Song army did not carry bows and crossbows, and each of them had a bulge on their waist. The hands of the Song soldiers were also on their waists, as if they were hiding something.
This made Li Yuanhao suspicious.
When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.
He was a suspicious person by nature, and the strange behavior of the Song army made him cautious and not allow the two sides to get too close.
After all, compared to capturing Fan Zhongyan, his own safety is the most important thing.
"Mr. Fan!"
Li Yuanhao emerged from the crowd, reined in his horse on the hillside, and called out from above, "You've been in Shaanxi for almost two years. We've often written to each other, but this is the first time we've met."
While Fan Zhongyan estimated the distance, he casually replied, "Your Majesty is right. The Great Song and Western Xia are friendly neighbors. I wonder what your majesty's intention is in suddenly bringing so many troops into our Song territory today?"
Li Yuanhao said, "My subordinate You Shanyu Weiliang has rebelled and fled to the territory of Song State, so I hope you can hand him over."
"oh?"
Fan Zhongyan laughed and said, "But I have never seen this person before."
"My husband is joking."
Li Yuanhao said with a grim expression, "Someone saw him escape into Song territory and was picked up by your army."
It seems that there are Western Xia spies everywhere along the border of the Song Dynasty.
Fan Zhongyan frowned.
Although he had withdrawn the outer fortresses, cleared the countryside, and carried out a strategic defensive retreat.
However, there were still a large number of Hu and Han people living on the border between Western Xia and the Song Dynasty.
There are Dangxiang people, Qiang and Di people, and Han people.
They traded with each other and lived in the surrounding hills and mountains, so Fan Zhongyan could not expel or move everyone back to the interior.
Therefore, it was normal for Li Yuanhao's spies to discover Shan Yu Weiliang's whereabouts and report it to him.
Thinking of this, Fan Zhongyan no longer denied it and said, "General Shanyu has surrendered sincerely, and I have already accepted him. If the Song Dynasty surrenders him, where will the dignity of the Song Dynasty be?"
"This is my Great Xia domestic affairs. I hope you can be kind and not interfere in our national affairs."
Li Yuanhao's tone became increasingly hostile. "If you insist on not handing over the person, I wonder if you can bear the responsibility of provoking a war with Daxia."
"Are you threatening me, my king?"
Fan Zhongyan sneered, "You brought so many soldiers and horses and trespassed into the territory of the Song Dynasty without authorization. This is already considered provoking a war. I advise you to leave and not make mistakes!"
Seeing that they could not reach an agreement, Li Yuanhao's eyes became increasingly gloomy. He looked Fan Zhongyan up and down, was silent for a moment, and suddenly turned his horse and left without hesitation.
This was beyond Fan Zhongyan's expectations. He instinctively reached for his waist to get something, but in the end he did not take out the grenade.
Because the distance between the two sides was already far, and Li Yuanhao was retreating instead of advancing, he just walked away. He couldn't throw the grenade at all. If he threw it now, he would expose his secret weapon, which would be a loss.
Forget it.
Fan Zhongyan could only look at Li Yuanhao's departing back with regret, and also turned his horse back.
(End of this chapter)
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