Zhao Song frowned, and heard Chu Qiao continue in a low voice: "What is the law of heaven? Is it that your Zhao family is the only one in power, and your words are as heavy as a mountain, and no one can resist? The battle of the imperial capital is not a crime of war. There is no right or wrong, only victory or defeat! Your father deceived his friends, massacred Yanbei, and killed all Yan Xun's relatives. How should this hatred be calculated? In the past eight years, how many assassinations and murders have you witnessed with your own eyes? You still dare to say righteously that Zhao Zhengde took good care of Yan Xun and was as kind as the sea? The so-called marriage of a daughter and marriage is just a scam to cover up the truth. If we don't rebel that night, we will definitely die at the hands of Barre and Wei Shuye. Today, all you can see are two graves and two piles of yellow earth. Zhao Song, you have been deceiving yourself, thinking that you can't see the tyranny of Daxia by closing your eyes, and that you can't hear the cries of the people of the world by plugging your ears, but you don't think about why a small rebellion in the imperial capital would cause the huge Daxia Dynasty to fall apart? I don't deny that I did fail your trust and feel sorry for your care for many years, but when it comes to betraying the empire and starting this war, I have no guilt, let alone any regrets. We have been opposites from the beginning, and there has been no possibility of reconciliation. Even if everything starts over again, I will still make the same choice as now. "
The sonorous words drifted away in the cold wind. Zhao Song sneered, shook his head and sighed: "A Chu, I really misjudged you."
"You didn't, you just didn't know all of me." Chu Qiao said in a deep voice, "Zhao Song, living in this era is a tragedy for you and me. A drop of water should be repaid with a spring. Eight years ago, Yan Xun helped me in a desperate situation. When I decided to follow him into Shengjin Palace, our fates were destined to be opposite. You are the prince of Daxia, but I am determined to overthrow the Xia Dynasty. Sooner or later, you and I will break up on the battlefield. Everyone in the Daxia Dynasty knows that Emperor Xia will not I let Yan Xun go, but you are the only one who lives in chaos as if nothing happened. In the past eight years, I have hinted to you more than once to distance myself from you, but you have always refused to face the reality and naively thought that your father would let this fish that slipped through the net in Yanbei go. Zhao Song, I have never thought of deceiving you, let alone betraying you, but I did hurt you. I will remember your care and kindness over the years, and I will repay you if I have the chance in the future. "
"It seems that I have done all this to myself. I was too naive." Zhao Song smiled sadly and turned away resolutely. "I will not let you have the ability to repay me. Ah Chu, go away. I hope I will never see you again in this life."
"Zhao Song!" Chu Qiao suddenly shouted loudly. Zhao Song stopped his horse when he heard the sound, but did not turn around.
Chu Qiao thought for a long time, took a deep breath, and then asked in a deep voice: "How is Yan Xun?"
Zhao Song's back suddenly stiffened, and as the cold wind blew, his eyes became even colder.
"If he wasn't forced into a desperate situation, he would never hurt you! If he wasn't seriously injured and unable to govern, he would never allow those people to escort you! You hurt him, fatally, very seriously, right?"
Although it was a question, there was no questioning tone in it. Chu Qiao said this sentence with certainty. It was a conclusion, not an assumption.
"Yes!" Zhao Song said in a grim tone, with his back to Chu Qiao, "He won't live long, but you can still go back in time to see him off."
There was suddenly no sound behind me, only low panting, rapid and suppressed. After a long time, a hoarse voice came from behind, "Thank you for telling me."
After she finished speaking, a crisp sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded behind her. She didn't even have time to say goodbye, or perhaps there was no need to say goodbye at all. The woman on the horse anxiously turned her horse's head and galloped rapidly towards the northwest!
The people behind him had already left, but Zhao Song still stood there, his horse paddling the ground restlessly. The cold wind blew, and the man's sleeves fluttered in the air, looking full of deep sadness and bitterness.
Ah Chu, every word you say is full of wisdom and truth. How could I be so naive as not to understand this? For the past eight years, this worry has been lingering in my heart, but I have never been willing to let go of the opportunity to hold you. It's not that I don't know, but I don't want to admit it. I always thought that if I just tried a little harder, I could keep you. I have been trying hard to deceive myself for so many years, to the point where I even believed the lies I had made up. The empire is about to collapse, the building is about to fall, and I keep talking about Yan Xun's betrayal of Da Xia. In fact, what really hurts me is that you finally gave up on me!
Although, I had guessed all this a long time ago.
When you meet on a narrow road, you will kill for help and rescue him, escort him for thousands of miles without asking a single word, but you know everything and can guess everything, just because of the firm belief and unshakable trust in your heart! Ah Chu, I used to think that the weight of him and I in your heart should be about the same, even if there is a difference, it wouldn't be that big, but until now, I realized how wrong I was.
Zhao Song raised his head and smiled bitterly, then slowly closed his eyes. After a life full of ups and downs, it was all just a mirage in the end.
The sound of violent horse hooves suddenly rang out. Zhao Song looked up abruptly and saw Zhao Chun'er and Zhao Che coming together, followed by a large number of Daxia soldiers, more than 300 people in total.
"Where is Chu Qiao?" Zhao Chun'er was riding her horse in the front, her eyes and eyebrows were sharp, she had long lost her former cuteness and weakness, like a sharp dagger. She reined in her warhorse fiercely and asked loudly, "Thirteenth Brother, where is she?"
"Leave."
"Gone? How could you let her go?" Princess Daxia raised her eyebrows and asked sternly, "Where did she go?"
Seeing Zhao Song's silence, Zhao Chun'er became furious and shouted, "Brother Thirteen! You have forgotten what they did to us, haven't you?"
"Thirteenth brother, which way did she go?"
Zhao Che was wearing black armor. He glanced at Zhao Song's broken arm without asking any further questions. It was obvious that he had learned everything from Zhao Chun'er.
In an instant, the events of the past eight years rushed through my mind like a huge tornado. He still remembered that day when the girl, wearing a white begonia cotton skirt, white camel-hair boots, and two emerald pearl flowers in her hair, said to him with a smile as beautiful as a flower: "My name is Zixu, I live in Wuyou Courtyard, and I am a little maid under Madam Dou. My daily job is to make clay figurines for the young masters and young ladies to play with. You must remember this!"
Zhao Chun'er raised her eyebrows and shouted, "Zhao Song! Are you still a man of the Zhao family?"
"Over there." Zhao Song raised his finger and pointed in the direction Chu Qiao left. As soon as he finished speaking, three hundred soldiers and horses galloped away, and in a flash only a cloud of flying dust was left.
Ah Chu, what happened between you and me is still a fabrication. We have different positions and there is no possibility for us to work side by side from the beginning. You took the risk to send me home, but I can't let you leave. It's totally false, it's totally false. A joke back then has come true today like a prophecy.
The wind was whirling, and the world was desolate. Zhao Song rode his horse forward, slowly going towards the ancient city of Zhenhuang. His back was lonely and slanted.
"Seventh Prince, there is no one ahead."
The scouts rode back quickly. Zhao Che's face was gloomy. Before he could say anything, Zhao Chun'er spoke first, "Her horse is fast. Send out ten squadrons to chase her. No matter how powerful she is, a woman riding alone needs to eat and drink. Sooner or later, she will be caught up by us. Also, send pigeons to inform the prefectures and counties along the way immediately, saying that Chu Qiao from Yanbei, who killed a large number of their coalition forces, has arrived. She has no army with her, only one person. I believe that there are definitely more people in this world who hate her to the core than me. There will be many people willing to take action on our behalf. Under the dragnet, I want to see how she can return to Yanbei alone?"
Zhao Che raised his eyebrows slightly, turned his head to look at his little sister, frowned and said: "Chun'er, did you encounter anything on the road?"
Zhao Chun'er was startled, raised her head nervously, and asked, "Why do you ask that, Brother Qi?"
"You've changed a lot."
Zhao Chun'er's eyes were deep, and those dirty scenes echoed in her mind again. The girl smiled coldly: "Seventh Brother, I haven't changed, I just grew up."
"Gee!" Zhao Chun'er shouted loudly and spurred his horse forward. Zhao Che and many soldiers hurriedly followed and protected her behind.
A long time later, a petite figure suddenly stood up in a patch of grass outside the official road. She looked in the direction where Zhao Chun'er disappeared, and a great bitterness suddenly spread in her heart.
As she expected, Zhao Song betrayed her. She deliberately chose a circuitous route back to Yanbei. If Zhao Song hadn't said anything, Zhao Che and others would have definitely pursued her along another route.
Zhao Chun'er, on the other hand, was quiet and silent all the way, never showing any hostility, and even intentionally led her to Zhenhuang in order to let her escort him back to the imperial capital safely, and then kill her as soon as possible.
The princess of Da Xia had long wanted to kill her!
Chu Qiao stood in the empty wilderness. In the sky, an eagle screamed loudly, its wings were snow-white, like a white eagle from the Tianshan Mountains.
She bent her fingers and blew a loud whistle. From a distance, a pitch-black warhorse came running quickly, soon ran to Chu Qiao's side, and circled around her happily.
Chu Qiao turned over and jumped onto the horse's back, smiling calmly, "Brother, we have to take a long detour, the road ahead is blocked."
From Zhenhuang to Yanbei, there is a flat plain. In order to prevent the escape of the Southwestern Town Governor, the garrisons of several large counties and fiefdoms along the way had ordered people to cut the weeds, chop down the trees, and cut down all the dense forests that could provide shelter. Every river, ferry, and post road was guarded by dedicated personnel. They thought Chu Qiao would only dare to escape secretly, but they did not expect that she would lead the Southwest Town Envoy to start a massacre. After several battles, they suffered heavy casualties and also wasted all their previous arrangements.
But now, these previous arrangements can play a huge role. Now, when these officials who had suffered great losses at their hands learned that she was trying to cross the thousands-mile siege alone and return to Yanbei, how could they not keep their eyes open and wait for her to fall into their trap? At this time, whoever can catch her will obviously hinder the new king of Yanbei, and it will be a big blow to the new Yanbei regime. After all, Chu Qiao led 4,000 troops to fight thousands of miles away without a single defeat, which was enough to make these aristocratic families wary and terrified.
If we were to return along the same route now, it would be tantamount to self-destruction, with no hope of escape.
The only way out now is to take the southeast route, enter the border of Bian Tang, go south along the Qingtong Mountain Trail, turn into the Wuxun River in southern Xinjiang, go upstream, and finally return to Yanbei!
The horse rubbed its neck against her legs vigorously. Chu Qiao pulled the reins, gave a light shout, and rode away towards the east.
(End of this volume)
Volume 4: Bian Tang Wind and Rain