Chapter 28: Pursuit
At this time in the palace, Yang Yuanqing was still drinking and having fun, and was completely unaware of what was happening in the military camp.
Yesterday, his servants presented him a pipa girl from the south of the Yangtze River. Although she was not good-looking, she played the pipa very well and her voice was as beautiful as the sound of nature.
The singing of the Jiangnan folk song sounded like a kitten's meow, which made Yang Yuanqing feel itchy inside.
Suddenly the sound of stringed instruments was interrupted by a commotion outside.
Yang Yuanqing opened his eyes unhappily: "Who is making noise outside?"
Soon a soldier came in and said, "My Lord, something bad has happened! The Right General has been murdered!"
Yang Yuanqing seemed to hear a joke: "Yang Zhao was killed? Are you kidding me?"
The soldier in charge of delivering the message was so frightened that he almost cried: "Yes, it's true, General Yang's body has been sent here and is parked in the front yard..."
Yang Yuanqing stood up suddenly and stumbled towards the front yard, where he saw a body covered with a white cloth.
He walked forward, lifted a corner and saw that the person lying inside was indeed Yang Zhao.
"Oh my God!" He was so scared that he sat on the ground, and said in disbelief: "Who killed him... Who dared to touch him!"
Deputy General Gong Xin, who was kneeling beside him, cried as if his father had died. He sobbed and said, "Wei Huai had an argument with our general this afternoon! He even threatened to kill the general on the battlefield!"
In fact, the deputy general was more frightened than sad. To be honest, Yang Zhao treated them normally when he was alive, and he was dead if he died. But he was afraid that Yang Yuanqing would bite people like a mad dog and drag him to be buried with him.
"Wei Huai?"
Upon hearing the news, Xu Bing rushed over and was shocked to see Yang Zhao lying in the yard. He quickly asked Lieutenant General Gong about the whole story.
"Wei Huai's nephew served as a lieutenant under him. Today, he died in the military prostitute camp. General Wei suspected that someone from our right army had murdered him, so he wanted to investigate us..."
Xu Bing had already guessed what was going to happen next. He said with a serious face: "Your Highness, there is something fishy about this matter. How could Wei Huai have the guts to murder General Yang?" If he had the courage, he would not have handed over the military power as soon as Yang Yuanqing went to Xizhou.
At this moment, Yang Yuanqing was not willing to listen to any advice. His mind was filled with thoughts of revenge for Yang Zhao!
Yang Zhao had played with him since he was six years old, for twenty years, and they were closer than brothers! Now that he had died tragically in the army, it would be strange if Yang Yuanqing didn't torture the murderer to death!
His eyes were red as he angrily said, "Go, quickly call Wei Huai over. I want to interrogate him myself!"
*
On the other side, Wei Huai was escorted out of the military camp by several personal guards. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. Yang Zhao suddenly died in the military camp. It just so happened that he had an argument with him in the afternoon. No matter how he looked at it, this incident was directed at him!
But he didn't kill the person. He believes it himself. Can Yang Yuanqing believe it?
Thinking of the violent temper of Prince Qing, Wei Huai couldn't stop shivering, and his back felt cold...
No! I can't stay here. If I fall into Yang Yuanqing's hands, he won't give me a chance to figure it out! He might just tie me up and feed me to the two bears!
Fear was like thorns, wrapping around his ankles. Wei Huai suddenly pulled the reins.
"Cui An! Go back and gather the troops. Let's go back to Xizhou immediately!"
The deputy general asked in confusion: "General, why did you suddenly go back?"
The situation was urgent, so he had no time to explain why. "Don't worry about the reason! Hurry up and gather the people who obey my orders, and follow me back to Xizhou!"
"Yes!" The deputy general didn't think too much and hurriedly rode back to the camp to gather troops.
The left army, including the logistics, has a total of more than 8,000 people. If they march, fight and break camp normally, it will take two hours to leave.
Wei Huai was so anxious that he could not wait for two hours. He ordered everyone to go into battle lightly, riding horses and carrying weapons only, and not taking anything else!
As a captain under his command, Zhao Xiao naturally received the order to return to Xizhou. He calmly gathered his men together and said, "Today, no one is allowed to run out of the barracks without my order. If you are regarded as a traitor, even the king of heaven cannot save you!"
"Yes!" Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what had happened.
At 3:30 pm, Wei Huai took only 2,000 soldiers with him and left Xuzhou at full speed. His departure was not a big deal, as it directly confirmed that he had killed the man, which almost drove Yang Yuanqing crazy. He issued a kill order and ordered the entire army to hunt down Wei Huai. Whoever killed him would be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and take over the position of general!
*
Liu Yanzi came out of the camp, ran to a deserted place, took off her clothes, removed the disguise on her face, and after tidying her hair, she turned into the suave Mr. Liu San again.
He returned to Louwailou, fanning himself. There were not many customers in the restaurant at that moment. Song Yuzhu was sitting at the counter, staring blankly at an abacus.
Liu Yanzi walked forward and knocked on the table with the handle of her fan. "What are you doing, Master Zhu?"
"You're back? Where's Lord Zhao...Xuan Ying?"
"He stayed in the barracks."
Song Yuzhu asked: "How was it? Was it successful?"
"Ask Sister Xiangyu to bring me a pot of good wine and I'll talk to you later."
Song Yuzhu was so anxious that she had no time to joke with him.
Liu Yanzi stopped joking and said in a serious tone, "It must have been successful, otherwise there wouldn't be a sudden chaos in the camp."
As he was speaking, there was a sudden rumbling sound of horse hooves outside.
The pedestrians on the street were terrified. They dropped their belongings and ran into the alleys. Some even ran straight into the restaurant and hid!
"What's going on? What happened outside?" Xiang Yu and Song Quan hurried over to ask.
Some people bowed and said, "Shopkeeper, please be kind and let us hide for a while. There are soldiers outside again!"
Xiangyu was also scared to death and nodded blankly: "Hide, hide." The last incident happened less than half a month ago, and the people of the entire Xuzhou city are still in fear, fearing that such a tragedy will happen again.
After waiting for about an incense stick of time, they found that the sound of horse hooves was getting farther and farther away. Those who were brave enough stuck their heads out to look, but they could no longer see any trace of the army.
"It seems the soldiers have left." Upon hearing this, these people all ran home.
As a result, before they ran far, the rumbling sound of horse hooves rang out again. This time there were more people, and the sound of horse hooves was like thunder, making their ears itchy.
They were so scared that they quickly retreated back into the restaurant and waited until dark before quietly leaving.
*
"Master, please eat something." Song Quan brought over the food that had just been prepared in the kitchen. Even though the restaurant was closed, Song Yuzhu was still staying in the front hall without taking a rest, and was walking around the room anxiously.
"I'm not hungry, Brother Quan, you eat."
Song Quan put the food on the table, took his arm and sat down and said, "Master, I haven't asked you these few days, what happened in Xuzhou? Since you are not working in the Prince Qing's Mansion, why don't you go home?"
"Nothing..."
Song Quan said earnestly: "No matter how good Xuzhou City is, can it be better than our Jiangcheng County? The master and the mistress are waiting for you!"
Song Yuzhu paused and said, "Brother Quan, it's not that I intentionally hid this from you, but this matter is so big that I'm afraid it will scare you if I tell you about it."
Song Quan asked nervously: "You... killed someone or set a fire?"
"It's more serious than murder and arson." Song Yuzhu looked at him and said, "I rebelled."
Song Quan thought he had misheard, and turned to look at Lin Dayong who was wiping the table, and then at Sister Xiang Yu who was sweeping the floor. "Master... this... this..."
Song Yuzhu held his shoulder and said, "Don't panic, they all know."
"Why?" How could the Song family, with three generations of good people, come to the young master and see the most honest child do the most daring thing?
Song Yuzhu told him what happened in Xuzhou a few days ago: "Yang Yuanqing can order his soldiers to rape all the women in Xuzhou City. One day he will order a massacre in Jiangcheng County. Even if there is no Yang Yuanqing, there are still Yang Yuanchao and Yang Yuanzhen... I don't want my parents to suffer the same dilemma."
After listening to this, Song Quan sighed and said, "Master, I am incompetent and can't help you. But don't worry, as long as it is your decision, I will always support you!"
*
Wei Huai knew that Yang Yuanqing would not let him go, so he ran for his life. He ran all the way to Xizhou after leaving Xuzhou, wishing the horse could run faster and faster! As long as he returned to his base camp, he could save his life!
He had been the Grand Marshal of Xizhou for more than ten years, and his prestige was greater than that of Yang Yuanqing! Even if Yang Yuanqing fought back, he could gather troops to resist.
In addition, Yang Yuanqing had just conquered Xuzhou and his foundation was not yet solid. If he really dared to attack him, he would be courting death! Yang Yuanqi would definitely not miss this good opportunity!
His idea was very good, but reality slapped him hard! As he was running, a group of people suddenly appeared in front of him and blocked his way!
"Ouch~" Wei Huai pulled the reins and stared at the people in front of him in amazement. "No way! How could they get ahead of me?"
He didn't know that there was a small road beside the road from Xuzhou to Xizhou. Although this road was not easy to walk on, it could save a lot of time.
"General Wei, where are you going?" Zhao Xiao held the sword at his waist, his face full of excitement. He finally caught up!
"Zhao Xiao?!"
"Would you like to turn your horse around yourself, or would you like me to take you back?"
Wei Huai's eyes were red with anger: "I have no grudge against you, why do you have to block my way?"
"No grudges or hatred? General Wei is a forgetful person. I guess you have forgotten how you made things difficult for me before?"
Wei Huai knew that this kid would not let him go. If he went back, he would definitely die. But if he went forward, he could still fight for a chance of survival.
Wei Huai shouted: "All troops, be on alert, prepare to charge!"
In fact, it was only Zhao Xiao's group that caught up with them through the small road. There were less than a thousand people, and the enemy would definitely not be able to stop them by charging head-on.
Zhao Xiao hurriedly stalled for time: "General Wei! Don't be stubborn. If you kill Yang Zhao, King Qing will not let you go even if you run to the ends of the earth!"
"Bullshit! I didn't kill Yang Zhao!"
Zhao Xiao ignored him and continued to shout, "Brothers, do you know that leaving Xuzhou is considered a defection?"
The officers and soldiers below were whispering to each other, so they hurried back to Xizhou to escort Wei Huai to escape? They didn't want to be enemies with King Qing!
Think about what Yang Yuanqing did in Xuzhou. If they followed Wei Huai back to Xizhou, would Yang Yuanqing directly order a massacre? ! Their relatives were all in Xizhou, how dare they defect! Some people were already panicking, loudly asking Wei Huai why he took his troops away if he didn't kill Yang Zhao?
Wei Huai was speechless: "Soldiers, don't be fooled by him, let's rush out, it will be too late if we are late!"
Zhao Xiao said: "The army will arrive soon. If you don't want to die, come to my side quickly. I will ensure that you will not die!"
Once the first person in the crowd wavers, the second will follow immediately. The most feared thing in marching and fighting is the wavering morale of the troops.
Wei Huai watched as teams of people passed him and stood behind Zhao Xiao, and in the end there were less than a hundred people left.
He shouted in despair: "Do you really think Yang Yuanqing will let you go? Just wait to be liquidated!"
The rumbling sound of horse hooves was approaching in the distance, and Zhao Xiao's eyes changed. There was no time to lose, and the credit could not be taken away by others!
He drew the sword from his waist and rushed forward!
The army arrived late, and Zhao Xiao quickly dismounted and said, "Greetings, General Gong."
Gong Xin looked at the dead Wei Huai with a gloomy expression.
Soon he dismounted and helped Zhao Xiao up, saying with a smile, "Thank you for your courtesy, Brother Zhao. You have done a great deed by killing Wei Huai. The prince will definitely reward you well."
(End of this chapter)
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