"Everything is fine, let's go."
Chu Qiao nodded and glanced back seemingly unintentionally, "Where are the troops of the Southwest Town Envoy? Why haven't they caught up?"
Yan Xun naturally couldn't deceive her with the lies that the Southwest Town Government had voluntarily left the troops to fight the enemy, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, they will be here soon, we will go first."
"Okay." Chu Qiao followed Yan Xun towards Chishui without hesitation.
The large army quickly began to cross the river. Although there was only one pontoon bridge, most of the troops had crossed the river after half an hour. Chu Qiao stood beside Yan Xun, watching the team crossing the pontoon bridge one after another, looking at the flaming red Zhenhuang City in the distance, and suddenly said with emotion: "After eight years, we finally got out."
Yan Xun sighed, put his arm around Chu Qiao's shoulders, and said emotionally, "Ah Chu, you've suffered."
Chu Qiao shook her head, her eyes bright as stars, "No, it's you who gave me a goal in life and gave me the motivation to live. Yan Xun, in the past eight years, we relied on each other. We supported each other, took care of each other, improved each other's strategies, and made up for each other's mistakes. It is because of this that we can survive day by day in that imperial city. We owe each other nothing."
"Well, we don't owe each other anything." Yan Xun smiled gently, "We have long been one, sharing weal and woe, life and death together."
"Yes," Chu Qiao nodded slowly, "We will share weal and woe, life and death together."
"Your Highness, the troops have already crossed the river, we can go now." A Jing ran up and said in a deep voice.
"Okay," Yan Xun nodded, "Give the order and march the whole army."
"Yan Xun!" Chu Qiao suddenly called out, "Aren't you waiting for the officers and soldiers of the Southwest Town Envoy?"
Yan Xun shook his head and smiled: "Don't worry, they will catch up with us."
“If the pontoon bridge is removed, how will they cross the river?”
Yan Xun had already thought of a good excuse, and he said slowly: "The imperial capital's pursuers are no longer a threat. They can follow the official road to Ximaliang to meet us."
Chu Qiao nodded, "Oh, so let's go."
After taking two steps, the girl suddenly raised her eyebrows, touched her waist, and said in shock: "Where is the Datong token you gave me? It's gone?"
Yan Xun frowned. The token was very important, so he became nervous and said, "How could it disappear? Didn't you carry it with you? Don't worry, think about it carefully."
Chu Qiao turned around twice and searched everywhere but couldn't find it. Suddenly, the girl slapped her forehead and said, "I am so stupid. The token is in the horse's waist bag. I will go and get it."
Yan Xun grabbed the girl's arm. For some reason, he suddenly felt a sense of fear in his heart. He hurriedly said, "Let someone else take it. You wait here."
"With so many horses, how can they know which one is mine? Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
Before Yan Xun could stop her, the girl ran onto the floating bridge. She had a slim figure, and the floating bridge hardly sank when she stepped on it.
In half an incense stick of time, the girl ran to the other side of the river. Yan Xun ordered his men to light torches and looked towards the other side of the river. He saw Chu Qiao had found her horse, and was leading it to the floating bridge, seemingly thinking about something.
Yan Xun was stunned and shouted, "Ah Chu, have you found it? Come here quickly!"
The girl suddenly raised her head, her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes were as sharp as swords, and she stared fixedly at Yan Xun on the river bank.
In an instant, it was like a bolt of lightning piercing his heart. Yan Xun pushed Ah Jing away and ran madly towards the floating bridge.
Almost at the same time, Chu Qiao drew the sword from her waist, and with a flash of silver light, she slashed it down fiercely. The floating bridge was immediately broken and floated downstream along the surging river!
"Ah Chu!" Yan Xun shouted, his eyes blazing with anger, "What are you doing?"
The girl stood by the surging Chishui River, her hair like a waterfall, her eyes like swords, and she shouted loudly: "Yan Xun! You just said that you and I are one, sharing weal and woe, life and death. So, I can't watch you commit this heinous crime!"
Yan Xun was about to jump into the Chishui River when Ah Jing and the others grabbed him from behind. The man shouted, "Ah Chu, don't be stupid. Come here right now!"
"Yan Xun, the reason why you are so popular and the people of Yanbei are eagerly waiting for your return is because Prince Yan implemented benevolent policies in Yanbei. The officials of the seven factions in the imperial capital were unable to take over Yanbei because of the prestige of the Yan family for generations! Yan Xun, I can't watch you destroy your foundation and collapse the Great Wall!"
Yan Xun was furious, completely losing his usual calmness and peace, and shouted angrily: "Ah Chu, come back immediately, we will put the rope over, you catch it over there, come back immediately, I command you!"
Chu Qiao shook her head, turned around silently, climbed onto the warhorse, and then turned back, "You made a mistake, I must correct you! Yan Xun, we will meet in Ximaliang. If I don't arrive in two days, you will take your people back to Yanbei first, and I will bring the officers and soldiers of the Southwest Town Envoy to the Yanbei Plateau to meet you."
After saying this, the girl shouted loudly, raised her whip, and galloped across the dark wasteland. Five thousand ownerless war horses followed the girl and galloped towards the towering city wall.
"A-Chu..."
The surging river water hit the river bank, the waves were surging, and the huge waves were surging. In the endless void, only the man's heart-wrenching cry remained. The sound penetrated the sky and echoed in the dark night!
This world is not an amusement park. There is no such thing as a second chance. All we can do is to turn the tide before the disaster is fully caused! Yan Xun, what I did today, maybe it will take you many years to understand. I am not soft-hearted, I just don’t want you to be blinded by hatred. Wait for me, I will bring my mighty army back from thousands of miles away to reunite with you.
"drive!"
"Commander, we have been abandoned!"
Broken despair spread among the crowd. There were enemies on all sides, no way forward, and pursuers behind. These soldiers who had left their hometowns thousands of miles away finally became wanderers with nowhere to go. In this vast world, there was no place for them to settle down!
"Why! Why did you abandon us?"
"Kill! Haha, kill! The end of the world is here, let's go to hell together!"
…
The raging fire embraced the entire city. There was no way out and no escape anywhere. The soldiers fled in panic. There was no formation or strategy. They were completely independent and scattered. The defenders of the imperial capital had been suppressed for so long, and finally they got their revenge. They used ruthless tactics and used every possible means.
Everywhere you look, there are messy corpses. Twenty or thirty soldiers from the imperial capital surrounded one person and hacked at the officers and soldiers of the Southwest Town Government with their swords, venting their hatred for the traitors with all their might!
Zhao Che sat on the horse, looking at his younger brother whom he always looked down upon. The young Zhao Yang was covered in blood, his handsome face was covered in blood, but he still held the sword unyieldingly, examining the Shura battlefield in front of him with a calm and almost cruel look.
"Seventh Brother, the enemy can't be stopped."
"Well," Zhao Che nodded, "it's time."
However, just when he was about to give the order for the entire army to attack, a huge roar suddenly sounded in the direction of the northwest city gate, as if thousands of thunders were shaking at the same time, and the entire Zhenhuang land was trembling. Everyone stopped in shock and looked up at the northwest sky.
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A violent tremor drilled out from everyone's bones and into everyone's spine, as if the entire universe was angry in front of them. Everyone raised their heads and looked up in astonishment. The saber of the Yanbei soldier was still chopping on the shoulder of an imperial guard, but he forgot to pull it out. The imperial guard's sword was on the neck of the Yanbei soldier, but he also forgot to swing it down!
With a loud bang, the west city gate was knocked open. The hooves of five thousand war horses rumbled, and they rushed towards the fighting crowd like a tide, immediately creating a huge gap in the team!
The guards of the imperial capital immediately remembered the method Yan Xun used to massacre the sixteen battalions of soldiers. All of them turned pale and their legs were shaking. At this moment, a black eagle battle flag was firmly planted on the top of the city wall. The petite but tall figure of a young girl stood under the battle flag and shouted to the entire Zhenhuang Imperial City like a white eagle: "Warriors of Yanbei! You have not been abandoned. Listen to my orders! Obey me! Follow me! I will take you home!"
After one, two, and three seconds of silence, huge cheers suddenly broke out like a tsunami!
"Go back to Yanbei! Go back to Yanbei! Go back to Yanbei!"
The desperate people grasped at the last straw of survival, and they shouted towards the northwest sky like an unstoppable tide!
"Seventh Brother, Fourteenth Brother, who is that person?"
Zhao Yang looked at Chu Qiao and didn't speak for a long time. Zhao Che sat on the horse, his eyes narrowed slowly, looking at the fierce woman under the fluttering army flag, and slowly said: "Remember, this woman will become the biggest threat to Daxia in the future. If we want to recover the lost territory and unify the country, this will be the first towering mountain that is difficult to climb!"
The sky was filled with flames of war. On that day, on the northwest city tower of the imperial capital, the entire Great Xia Dynasty remembered this name together. Eight years ago, she entered the Great Xia Palace as a slave; eight years later, she took away the last Yanbei armed force in Zhenhuang City, left the territory of Zhenhuang, and galloped to the vast land outside Zhenhuang City.
Chu Qiao didn't know now, but it was her action today that saved Yanbei from an instant disaster and saved the new Yanbei regime. At the same time, it also brought out the first batch of armed forces for herself in the troubled times.
On that night, every officer and soldier of the Southwest Town Government swore in their hearts to be loyal to this delicate girl until death. From now on, they followed their master to fight in the north and south, and their cavalry swept across the entire Simon land, sticking to their oaths tightly. No matter how difficult the environment and situation were, they would be loyal to Chu Qiao for the rest of their lives.
And this delicate girl took the first step towards being called "King Xiuli" by people all over the continent many years later... May 20th, 755th year of the Imperial Calendar, is a day that will never be forgotten. Half of the Great Xia Empire's capital, Zhenhuang, was destroyed in a raging fire. The Shengjin Palace, the symbol of the empire, was completely burned down. Seven or eight out of ten of the city's armed forces were lost, and as many as 170,000 of the empire's most elite soldiers stationed in Zhenhuang were killed. Among them, nearly 30,000 died in the battle with the Southwestern Town Government, 70,000 died in the massacre by Yan Xun, and the rest died in the riots and mutinies where the enemy was unknown.