Chapter 160

When the news of the attack on Xizhou reached the capital, it was the day when Jiang Yanyi returned home.

After Feng Shuo received the urgent report from the Chu family, Chu Changping and his son immediately returned to the palace with him to discuss the war situation with the rest of his subordinates.

Jiang Yanyi learned that Xizhou was caught in a war, and when he thought of the dream he had that night, he felt a chill down his spine.

The spies only brought back the news that Xizhou was attacked, and it was still unknown what the war situation was like there.

General An and his wife, Qiu Kui, the blacksmith, Zhao Tou'er, Yao Chef and Li Chef were all in Xizhou. If Xizhou was captured, Jiang Yanyi couldn't imagine what the situation would be like.

As soon as this wave of troubles subsided, another wave of troubles arose. Old Madam Chu and Old Grandpa Chu also sighed about the fate of the Daxuan Dynasty: "Fortunately, Daxuan has the support of the King of Liaoning, otherwise it would have been slaughtered by others long ago."

"The evils committed by several generations of emperors are all paid for in this dynasty, and the King of Liaoning has suffered."

When the emperor of the fallen Daqi was in power, he was licentious and immoral in his early years, and in his later years he was obsessed with immortality. Not only was he obsessed with refining elixirs and neglected government affairs, he also spent money and money to build the imperial mausoleum that helped him ascend to heaven.

When the founding emperor of Daxuan, Feng Zuo, usurped the throne, the people were in support.

It's a pity that he was suspicious in his later years. He knew that he was plotting to usurp the throne, and he was always on guard against his ministers. He valued power more than life. Many loyal people died under his suspicion.

If the emperor who destroyed the Daqi Dynasty ruined the people's livelihood, then the founding emperor of the Daxuan Dynasty, Feng Zuo, destroyed the court in his later years.

Now the Daxuan Dynasty is divided into various factions, and it is only because of Feng Shuo's suppression that they can unite and barely face the outside world. In this situation, it is more appropriate to say that there are internal worries and external troubles.

Old Madam Chu only kept Jiang Yanyi for lunch, then urged her to return to the palace: "You are now the wife of the Feng family. The King of Liaoning has been fighting wars all over the country, and you have to take care of everything at home. The last time the Turks invaded, it took Daxuan seven years to beat back those barbarians on horseback. This time, who knows how many more years it will take. You are a new bride, and the palace has many affairs to deal with. You will have to learn how to manage them. Grandmother will not keep you any longer, so go back."

Jiang Yanyi also wanted to know more about the specific battle report of Xizhou from Feng Shuo, so she bowed and took her leave: "My granddaughter will come back to see you another day."

After bidding farewell to Old Madam Chu, Xue sent Jiang Yanyi out. She was hesitant to speak all the way.

Jiang Yanyi asked, "Sister-in-law, are you worried about Ruyi Tower?"

Xue nodded with some shame. She had just taken over the business of Ruyi Tower in Beijing when the war broke out in Xizhou. You should know that Ruyi Tower was first started in Xizhou. Seeing that the old store was about to be lost, some wealthy businessmen in Beijing changed their minds and wanted to withdraw their shares. This was the first time Xue encountered such a thing in her business and she didn't know how to deal with it for a while.

She said, "Shunde Building's Huang has the Zhongyong Marquis's Mansion behind him. He took the lead in shouting that he wanted to withdraw his shares, and the others followed suit. Huang even brought people to the building to make trouble. I couldn't think of a way to stop him, so I had to avoid him for now." At

this critical moment, Jiang Yanyi didn't focus on Jingcheng Ruyi Building, and said directly, "Since he wants to withdraw his shares, just return his share to him."

"But..." Xue hesitated.

Jiang Yanyi looked into her eyes and said, "Sister-in-law, you only need to know that businessmen like to weigh the pros and cons the most. He shouted to withdraw his shares, maybe he also wanted to judge whether this business is profitable through our attitude."

"The more resistance we show, the more vigilant those merchants will be. If we return the money we have obtained openly, they will instead become disorderly, fearing that we have many shareholders in this transaction and they don't need to take some money from us." After

this conversation, Xue suddenly realized and said with a wry smile: "You are still smart, Yi."

Jiang Yanyi said: "Sister-in-law, don't be too polite when returning the shares to the Huang family. Shunde Building is backed by the Mansion of the Marquis of Zhongyong, and Ruyi Building is backed by the Chu family and me. We don't use our power to oppress others, but if someone takes chicken feathers as a token of authority, sister-in-law has no need to save face."

To put it bluntly, it is okay to withdraw the shares, but the other party must be made aware of who they are offending by the withdrawal.

Xue's worry turned into joy, and she nodded repeatedly: "I've remembered it all."

When Jiang Yanyi returned to Feng Mansion, she saw a group of black armor guards gathered outside the mansion gate, and guessed that Feng Shuo was going to Xizhou in person again.

She walked into the mansion quickly with her skirt lifted, and just as she walked to the front yard, she ran into Feng Shuo in armor walking hurriedly from the inner courtyard.

Seeing her, Feng Shuo just paused slightly and said: "The battle situation in Xizhou is urgent, and the situation is probably not good. I will lead the troops there myself."

If Chi Qing is Feng Shuo's one arm, then An Yongyuan is definitely Feng Shuo's other arm. Jiang Yanyi knew that he must not lose such a talented general as An Yongyuan.

She looked at him, and no matter how many words came to her lips, they all turned into one sentence: "Swords have no eyes on the battlefield, you must be careful."

Feng Shuo wanted to say something else, but a young general at the gate began to urge: "My lord, the troops of King Beiqin and Marquis Wu are waiting outside the city."

Jiang Yanyi's eyes were red unconsciously, and she said: "Go." Feng

Shuo looked at her deeply, squeezed her palm hard: "You must take good care of yourself in the capital." He

turned around and walked away quickly.

Jiang Yanyi raised her hand to grab something, but only the cold north wind passed through her fingers.

Feng Shuo walked all the way to the gate, climbed onto the Wuyun horse, and did not look back.

Seeing Jiang Yanyi's red eyes, Chenyu advised: "Princess Dong...Princess, let's go out and see the prince off?"

Jiang Yanyi shook her head: "Going there will only increase the sadness of parting. He didn't want to see me sad, so he never came back."

She turned around and prepared to go to the courtyard of the Grand Concubine Dowager, but a servant suddenly ran in hurriedly: "Princess, there is a letter for you!"

"My letter?" Jiang Yanyi was a little confused.

The servant stood in front of her and panted: "It's sent from Xizhou."

When she heard the word "Xizhou", Jiang Yanyi's eyes changed.

She took the letter, opened it, glanced at it quickly, and her face became extremely solemn. She told the servant: "Go to Huo's Escort Agency quickly to find their boss and ask her to come to the palace." After hearing

the words, the servant hurried out of the house and went to Huo's Escort Agency.

Xizhou.

Heavy snow fell for several days, covering the charred and bloody surface of the city gate.

The gate of Xizhou City was already as broken as a dead leaf in the wind. The back of the gate was propped up with wood as thick as a bowl, and in front of it were Turkic soldiers' corpses piled up almost as high as the gate.

Heavy snow fell on the pile of corpses, covering the original wounds of the corpses.

The soldiers guarding the city found a shelter at random, and sat down exhausted and paralyzed, not caring whether the ground was ice or solidified blood, to temporarily catch their breath.

A muffled groan came from the simple room inside the tower where the night watchmen rested temporarily.

There was a brazier in the room, but it was still so cold that people shivered in the cold outside the pass where water would freeze at any drop.

An Yongyuan was half-naked, with his shoulders and back full of tendons and muscles, as strong as a small mountain.

However, he had countless knife and sword scars on his body, and the heaviest one was probably the arrow wound that was only half an inch away from his heart.

A lot of blood-soaked gauze was piled on the table next to him. The military doctor's hand was a little trembling when he pulled out the arrow: "This is the last wound. There is no Ma Fei San. General, please be patient."

An Yongyuan looked at the map of the imperial court on the table and said without raising his head: "Pull it out."

The moment the doctor pulled out the arrow, An Yongyuan's tendons were as hard as stones, and blood gushed out of the wound. The doctor hurriedly pressed the wound with gauze, and waited until the bleeding stopped a little before quickly applying herbal bandages.

"Your arrow wound was only half an inch away from injuring the heart. You must not hold heavy objects in the near future. It is best to stay in bed and rest." The doctor instructed.

An Yongyuan pulled up his collar, took a look at the raging snow outside the city tower, and said: "As long as Xizhou can hold on for one more day, the people of Xizhou can all retreat to the back of Xingling. Stop the wolves outside the city, and the people in the city will have a way to survive."

He was in a trance for a moment. On the day of the Turkic night attack, Mrs. An was pregnant.

The snow fell particularly heavily that night. When the deputy general came to the mansion in a panic to inform him of the Turkic night attack, Mrs. An was screaming in pain in the delivery room. Outside the city gate were the Turkic barbarians who were going to trample the mountains and rivers of Daxuan.

He didn't even have time to hesitate. He led his troops and rushed to the city gate, leaving behind the miserable and helpless cries of the "generals" in the snowy night.

Now it was the third day, and he had been guarding the city gate without moving a step. He had no idea whether Mrs. An's delivery was smooth or whether it was a boy or a girl.

An Yongyuan was not able to be distracted for too long, as his personal guards soon came running over with their backs bent and their bodies hunched over: "General, the Turks have started to attack the city again!"

The cannonballs thrown from the catapults hit the city walls, making a series of muffled sounds.

An Yongyuan put on his armor, picked up the five-hook halberd leaning against the wall and walked out: "Fight!"

The people of Xizhou who were forced to retreat to Xingling encountered a surprise attack, and the guards of the An Mansion who were responsible for protecting the An family fought with the Turkic troops that bypassed Xizhou to attack them, and most of them were killed.

It snowed heavily for days, and the carriage where Madam An was was sealed tightly. However, the carriage was still not as cold as home. The thin walls of the carriage could not stop the severe cold. Madam An was still in confinement, and she still felt very cold even with several quilts.

The wet nurse died under the hooves of the Turkic horses during the raid. The child was crying with hunger in the cradle. Madam An was in the carriage, holding the child and could only cry helplessly.

She had a difficult birth this time, and just after giving birth, she learned that An Yongyuan went to guard the city gate. She was too worried and her body was weak. She drank several doses of milk-inducing soups, but still had no milk.

On the road of escaping, everyone was busy with their own affairs. Even if the An family had great financial resources, they could not find a wet nurse at this time.

Madam An was afraid that the grandson she had waited so long for would be hungry and get hurt. She was so angry that she just scolded Madam An. It was useless. Old Madam An scolded her daughter-in-law and asked the servants to look for the people who were fleeing to see if there were any families with milk-producing ewes to buy.

The person who went to do the work was an old servant. When he went to find someone to buy sheep, he found a pregnant woman who was about to give birth. He thought that if the pregnant woman gave birth, she would have milk to help feed the young master, so he took the couple over.

It was also a coincidence that the old servant found Qiu Kui and the blacksmith.

Qiu Kui was nine months pregnant and had difficulty moving. When she fled south from the city, the blacksmith had prepared a carriage, but they ran into the Turkic army and the carriage was destroyed. In this cold weather, the blacksmith had to support Qiu Kui as they walked.

Qiu Kui's belly was too big, so the blacksmith couldn't carry her even if he wanted to.

There was frost on the ground this morning, and Qiu Kui slipped and immediately had a bleeding. Although she didn't have an attack on the spot, Qiu Kui kept saying that her belly was throbbing.

The blacksmith cried several times in secret. In this icy and snowy weather, if Qiu Kui really gave birth prematurely on the road, he really didn't know what to do.

An's old servant met him and said he was willing to give them a ride. The blacksmith was grateful and burst into tears.

The An family lent them a simple carriage, which was neither shockproof nor warm, but much better than walking in the snow.

The blacksmith squatted and rubbed Qiu Kui's calves to dredge the blood vessels, with his head buried low: "Qiu Kui, don't be afraid, I will definitely take you to the capital."

Qiu Kui gently touched the cloth wrapped around the blacksmith's head: "Brother Yong, don't cry, it doesn't hurt."

Because of her words, the blacksmith could no longer try to hide his sobs, and hugged Qiu Kui's waist, which was thick due to pregnancy, and choked with sobs: "You are fine, you must be fine, when we get to the capital, I will work hard to earn money and buy you and the child a two-story house..."

Qiu Kui nodded, her expression a little yearning, but also a sense of seriousness. She touched her bulging belly, and the corner of her mouth was a pure smile: "Go to the capital to see Huahua, and show Xiaobao to Huahua too."

Xiaobao is the nickname they gave to the child, because they didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl, the blacksmith said to call him Xiaobao, no matter whether it was a girl or a boy, they were all their treasures.

Lu Linyuan was also among the people who fled this time. After experiencing the raid this morning, he also realized that the large Turkic army had to attack from Xizhou, but the small army could bypass Xizhou to attack along the border between Daxuan and the neighboring country.

There are small countries around Daxuan, which are poor and weak in military strength. The Turks don't bother to rob them, and those small countries dare not stop them from marching through their territory.

The Turks may have found out that the An family is here in the morning. They can't capture Xizhou City for a while. If they capture An Yongyuan's family and threaten them, it will be a big problem.

Lu Linyuan gathered the refugees and the young and strong men formed a temporary guard team led by the chief guard of the An Mansion.

"Dayue is adjacent to Daxuan. Although its army is not as strong as the Turkic army, it is more than enough to deal with a single Turkic cavalry. As long as we can persuade Dayue to send troops, we will be safe." Lu Linyuan drew a sketch on the snow.

The general of An Mansion asked, "What if Dayue refuses to send troops?"

Lu Linyuan said firmly, "They will send troops."

"Get out!" A loud shout suddenly came from the prison cage in the distance.

The general of An Mansion looked and saw that it was the Turkic prince in the prison cage who knocked over the bark porridge handed to him.

He drew his sword and pointed it at Ogusdan, saying: "Your father has appointed another son to inherit his throne. Do you think the Turks will care about your life or death? Believe it or not, I will chop you down with my sword!"

Ogusdan had blood at the corner of his mouth, and his androgynous face showed a bit of seduction: "You should kill me!"

The famous general was provoked by him and was about to take action. Lu Linyuan stopped him and looked at Ogusdan. Dan said, "His biological mother was strangled to death, and the second prince took the throne. The tribe that supported him had all their cattle, sheep and women robbed by other tribes during the heavy snow on the grassland. He is indeed seeking death now."

Lu Linyuan said this lightly, but Ugusdan clenched his palms tightly, and the warm blood flowing from his palms smashed the snow under the cage into small bloody holes.

The family general snorted and walked away. Lu Linyuan then walked into Ugusdan and said, "How about we make a deal?"

Ugusdan sneered, "I am just a prisoner. Now I can't help you as a hostage to restrain the Turkish army. What other deals do you want to make with me, Master Lu?"

Lu Linyuan took out a bunch of keys and said, "I will secretly open the iron handcuffs and cages for you. I will go to Dayue Kingdom for help. If the reinforcements don't arrive, and the Turkish soldiers come back this morning, they will definitely kidnap General An's family. You catch Young Master An before they do. Madam and her child, this should be a great achievement. When you return to the Turks, you will no longer be a rescued prisoner, but a meritorious official. What do you think of such a deal?"

Ogusdan sneered: "What are the conditions?"

Lu Linyuan said: "Protect the young madam and her child."

Ogusdan sarcastically said: "It sounds good, I seem to have taken advantage of it, aren't you afraid that I will kill them directly after returning to the Turks?"

Lu Linyuan smiled gently: "Then please swear by your grassland god, Your Highness."

Ogusdan looked disdainful: "Don't say you Young Master Lu can't get reinforcements, and even if he does, the Turkish warriors will have to kill them all."

Lu Linyuan said calmly: "However much you Turks have offended my Daxuan, my Daxuan will definitely pay you back tenfold in the future. Moreover, Your Highness, you might as well think carefully about your mother's family. Should you go back with merit to strengthen your mother's family, or go back as a prisoner and be laughed at."

He left after he finished speaking. He hadn't taken a few steps when Ugusdan's voice came from the cage: "I promise you, I, Ugusdan, swear in the name of the grassland wolf god that after I regain my freedom I will protect An Yongyuan's wife and children."

Lu Linyuan smiled, called his attendant, and handed him the key: "Qingsong, you stay in the prison car. If the Turks come again and the An family can't stop them, you open the prison car."

Qingsong nodded: "Don't worry, Master."

Ugusdan's face was twisted with anger: "Are you kidding me?"

Lu Linyuan glanced at him: "I said I would let you out, but I didn't say when."

Ugusdan was dumbfounded, secretly hating this surname Lu who looked gentle, but actually had a lot of twists and turns.

After solving the most worrying problem, Lu Linyuan immediately decided to set off for Dayue Kingdom.

The territory of Dayue is small, and it is almost smaller than the whole of Xizhou. If you ride fast, you can definitely go back and forth within one day.

But before going, you have to find a guide who can speak the language of Dayue.

Lu Linyuan asked the people along the way, and finally only Xie Chuji stood up, "I can speak Dayue language, and I can go with Master Lu."

Lu Linyuan looked at Xie Chuji, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Yes, but it will be more convenient for Miss Xie to pretend to be a man."

Xie Chuji didn't think too much. In this chaotic time, pretending to be a man can indeed save a lot of trouble.

She and Lu Linyuan both taught in the school, so they were acquaintances.

On the way, Xie Chuji asked Lu Linyuan: "Mr. Lu, how likely are you to go to Dayue to ask for help?"

Lu Linyuan looked ahead and said: "Ninety percent."

Xie Chuji couldn't help but frown. In this situation, the Turks are coming in force, and Dayue's strength is only equivalent to that of Xizhou. How could they easily send troops to help?

She thought it was only thirty percent at most, but Lu Linyuan said ninety percent in a firm tone, which made her feel strange.