"Your Majesty, where should we go now? Should we return to the capital, or head to Narcissus Village?" Li Xue asked.
The Emperor sighed and said, "The capital has fallen into the hands of the barbarian soldiers, and there is no way to go back. Going to Shuixian Village is also fraught with danger. If we are not careful, we will be captured by the barbarian soldiers."
"Your Majesty, I have good news for you. The capital has been recaptured by my father. If Your Majesty wants to return to the capital, the further you go, the safer you will be."
"Xue'er, what did you say? The Prince has already taken back the capital?" The Emperor was both surprised and delighted.
"Just now, we captured a minor leader of the barbarian soldiers. He told us this news in order to save his life."
In Sullivan's view, only by capturing the Emperor could they have a chance of winning; otherwise, they would be utterly defeated.
In addition, Zhao Shaofu set up camp at Wulitun, more than 200 li away from Kaiqing'an Prefecture, to intercept Sullivan's 50,000-strong army.
In this way, Sullivan would also set up camp in Wulitun, confronting Zhao Shaofu, making it even more difficult to reach Shuixian Village.
"Xue'er means for me to return to the capital, but I still need several ministers. They are still on their way to Narcissus Village. If they are captured by the barbarian soldiers, it will be dangerous."
"Judging from the current situation, we have recaptured the capital. Sullivan only has 50,000 troops left, which is not enough to attack the capital. It would be the best choice for the Emperor to return to the capital at this time."
As for the ministers, I have a way to let them know the news. After the emperor leaves, I will have someone spread the word that the capital has been recaptured and the emperor has returned to the capital.
Upon hearing this news, these exiled ministers will return to the capital, and it won't be long before you, the emperor and your ministers, can meet again in the capital.
"Xue'er is very clever, this is a good idea, then I will hurry back to the capital."
Two days later, the emperor left this dangerous area, and as he continued forward, he could no longer see a single enemy soldier.
Seeing that things were about right, Li Xue had several guards drive the carriage to escort the emperor and Lord Yao back to the capital, while she herself led a few others back to spread the rumors.
Li Xue estimated that Sullivan should have arrived in Wulitun by now, and that they would return to Wulitun immediately after spreading the rumors.
As for Li Guang, after a period of rapid march, he had already approached the Panzhou Lake area.
The road was full of fleeing refugees. When they saw Li Guang's army, they were relieved. Now that the rescue army had arrived, they would no longer be hunted down by the invaders.
Since Li Guang was dealing with the Jin general Somailong, whose army consisted mostly of Jin soldiers, dealing with Jin soldiers was far more difficult than dealing with foreign troops.
With only 10,000 men, he was unable to confront the Jin army head-on. If he were to fight the Jin army, he would have to outsmart them.
Li Guang inquired about the situation at the front from the refugees, who told him about the atrocities committed by the Jin soldiers. Wherever they went, they killed, burned, and did all sorts of evil.
Currently, a Jin army unit has crossed Panzhou and reached the territory of Lingzhou, where it has begun to massacre the villages along the way.
Li Guang calculated the distance and realized that this place was only a day's journey from Lingzhou. He had to hurry and intercept the Jin army to save the people from harm.
At noon the following day, Li Guang led his army to Lingzhou. Lingzhou had not yet fallen, but most of the people in the city had already fled.
Li Guang immediately sent scouts to gather information, and the scouts returned with news shortly afterward.
The Jin army is less than a hundred miles away and will reach Lingzhou in less than a day.
Li Guang nodded, and the large group continued forward. Two hours later, they arrived at a village.
The village was very large, but unfortunately the villagers had long since left, and not a single person could be seen. Li Guang walked around the village and then came outside the village to survey the terrain. After considering for a moment, he prepared to set up an ambush in the village.
At this moment, a scout reported that the Jin army was still forty li away and would arrive before dark.
Li Guang immediately arranged for people to set up traps in the village. After they finished doing this, it began to get dark.
Anticipating that the Jin army would soon enter the village, Li Guang immediately withdrew his troops and ambushed them two miles away from the village.
Not long after Li Guang's army left the village, they saw a large force of more than 10,000 people approaching from not far away.
The commander of this army was a Jin dynasty man named Lü Chuang. He was tall and strong, possessed immense strength, wielded a mountain-splitting axe, and was as brave as ten thousand men.
As dusk approached, Lü Chuang was considering where to set up camp when he suddenly spotted a village ahead and was immediately overjoyed.
This village is large enough to house his more than 10,000 troops, so there is no need to set up a camp.
To his even greater surprise, there were several large, fat sheep grazing leisurely at the entrance of the village.
When Lü Chuang saw the fat sheep, his eyes lit up with a green light. The Jin people were a nomadic people, and beef and mutton were their staple food. Since invading the Central Plains, they had rarely eaten meat. Today, seeing several big fat sheep, how could Lü Chuang not be happy?
Lu Chuang immediately sent men forward to seize several fat sheep; he wanted to eat roasted whole lamb that night.
After the Jin soldiers entered the village, they began to loot houses. After all, there were more than 10,000 people, and it was impossible for them all to live inside. Some of them would live in tents outside the houses.
Living indoors is definitely better than living in tents, so those who live indoors are mostly leaders and physically strong soldiers.
They weren't worried about safety either. They hadn't encountered any danger in all these days. Everyone in the village had long since fled, and they hadn't seen a single person for miles around.
As darkness fell completely, the Jin soldiers began to cook. At this time, a southeast wind began to blow, which was perfectly normal for this season.
In the southeast of the village, there are densely packed houses, most of which are thatched houses, and the firewood used in their kitchens is also thatched.
The thatch in the kitchen is usually used to start a fire. If you use thatch to start a fire, you need to be careful at all times, as a slight mistake can easily cause a fire.
The Jin soldiers began cooking. Because they were using thatch to start a fire in the kitchen, the flames inside the stove easily shot out and ignited the thatch outside the stove.
Once the thatch was lit, it quickly ignited into a raging fire. The Jin soldiers rushed forward to put out the fire, but the thatch burned brighter and brighter and was impossible to extinguish.
Since most of these houses were thatched huts, the flames in the kitchen quickly leaped up to the roof, and the thatched huts caught fire.
At this time, the southeast wind grew stronger and stronger. The wind fueled the fire, and the fire amplified the wind's power. Soon, the southeast side of the village became a sea of fire.
A sudden fire broke out in the village, which immediately caught Lü Chuang's attention. After all, he was a warrior and had a certain sense of risk.
Having ruled out an attack, Lü Chuang was furious. How could these people burn down a house just by starting a fire to cook?
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