Chapter 260 I Won’t Leave
Chang Liu did not agree outright, nor did he speak. He just stared at Chen Yu steadily, with a terrible guess in his mind, guessing what the letter was.
"I won't leave." Chang Liu said after a long while: "You can let Si Xi take me there. I have to listen to the prince and take care of the princess here. Let's wait for the prince to come together."
Chen Yu's throat felt sore for a moment, and she pretended to be serious and said, "He asked you to listen to me, will you listen?"
"Listen." Chang Liu said, "But I'm not stupid. You want to get me out of here."
"Don't you want to go back and see your little turtle?"
"Yes." Chang Liu lowered his head and said, "I want to go back with the princess to see the little turtle."
Chang Liu shed tears again as he spoke, "If the city is really breached, I will carry the princess on my back and walk away. I am very good at lightness skills, and no one can catch up with me."
Chen Yu sighed softly and listened to the sound of gunfire outside.
She now finally understood why her father had insisted on fighting no matter how she tried to stop him.
That is the military spirit engraved in his bones.
There is a fire burning in the soldiers' bodies, and they will not retreat until the fire is extinguished.
Now, she will not retreat either, because Shen Zhongan’s blood is flowing in her body.
"I can't leave. Soldiers can't abandon the city and flee. But stay, you are still young."
Chang Liu just shook his head. "I helped evacuate the people, but many of them refused to leave. There have been wars here all year round. Why don't they move to other places?"
"Because this is their home." Chen Yu said slowly: "If it is not absolutely necessary, no one is willing to leave their homeland. They have food to eat and land to farm here. If they go to other places, they will become refugees. They may not be able to survive on the road. Everyone is just trying to survive."
"Some people don't think so." Chang Liu muttered.
Chen Yu tilted her head, "Hmm?"
"Cao Datou," Changliu said, "Cao Guangjin is already packing his bags. I saw a lot of carriages parked in his backyard. He must be preparing to abandon the city and flee."
The people can evacuate, but Cao Guangjin cannot escape. As a senior official, if he escapes first, the people will be terrified and it may cause riots.
Chen Yu gave the lunch box to
Changliu, she also had to arrange people to keep an eye on Cao Guangjin and not let him run away.
…
The snow outside was so strong that I couldn't even see the road.
Han Jiwu dismounted and threw his helmet on the ground as he entered the tent. "Your Highness, Huyantuo only bullies the weak and fears the strong. He won't fight us head-on."
Han Jiwu fought very unfavorably in these consecutive battles. When they chased them, the Beirong people retreated. Once they stopped pursuing them, the Beirong brought small groups of light cavalry to harass them and started guerrilla warfare with them.
Xie Tingzhou's eyes were deep, "They want to delay us and give Boda enough time to break into the city."
Han Jiwu and Chang Heng looked at each other. Neither of them dared to ask about the situation at Yanliang Pass, for fear that mentioning the princess would upset the prince.
The tent was warm, and the snow on Han Jiwu's body and eyebrows melted into water. He wiped his face with his hand and said, "We can't afford to delay. We must fight quickly and find a way to deal with this."
The lamp oil in the military tent was refilled, but no countermeasures had been come up with yet.
Xie Tingzhou had been in poor health in the winter and had been running around for several days. Doctor Yu said that he was not in good health and needed to rest.
Chang Heng and Han Jiwu did not want to disturb his rest, so they left the military tent and returned to their own tents.
After a while, the sound of horse hooves was heard. When they went out to take a look, they saw Xie Tingzhou, wearing a cloak and riding his guards out of the camp in the wind and snow.
"Your Highness." Chang Heng chased after him and shouted, but his voice was drowned out by the wind and snow, and Xie Tingzhou didn't even look back.
"With such heavy snow, Your Majesty is going back to the palace?" Chang Heng asked worriedly.
Han Jiwu's expression was heavy as they walked into the military tent. "Your Highness can't sleep in the camp. I think he'll feel better if he returns to the palace."
After all, that is the home of the prince and princess.
The goat milk was heating on the stove, and Han Jiwu poured a bowl for Chang Heng. "You don't know, I was shocked when the prince ordered to return to Beilin that night. I thought the prince would allocate half of his troops to rescue, but he only allocated 2,000. What should the princess do? The prince is thinking about the soldiers and the people, but he is asking for his own life. He actually pushed himself to such a point. I really can't imagine it..."
Han Jiwu shook his head helplessly and said, "If something happens to the princess, what will the prince do?"
Chang Heng held the bowl but didn't drink. "The prince looked fine on the surface, but I heard from the guards that he couldn't eat these few days and couldn't sleep at night. Someone even saw the prince walking back and forth in the yard in the middle of the night."
Both of them were silent.
Xie Tingzhou made the decision he should make as the King of Beilin, and no matter what decision he made, he would be criticized.
Whether he abandons his wife or his people, he will be called cold-blooded and heartless.
The next morning, the generals and staff were in the meeting room.
"Xifeng and the Qingyun Guards were blocked by Marquis Xuanping on their way to Yanliang Pass. Due to the disparity in numbers, they could not fight head-on. They could only hide in the mountains with 2,000 Qingyun Guards and try to bypass them. Fortunately, the Southern Camp arrived in time and held Marquis Xuanping back."
Chang Heng cursed: "This Xuanping Marquis, I was wondering why he had rested for so long, it turns out he was just waiting here, but why did the court suddenly mobilize the troops again?"
An aide said: "This time we have to thank the Minister of Revenue Jiang Ji."
Han Jiwu said: "Sir, please teach me."
The staff said, "I don't deserve your advice. Jiang Ji originally went to Yanliang Pass to negotiate peace. Emperor Yongning was seriously ill in the capital. After preparing the coffin and writing the letter, the cabinet minister Jiang Yuanqing also fell ill. It is said that Jiang Ji rushed back to Shengjing from Yanliang Pass without stopping. He only saw the cabinet minister for the last time. That day, Jiang Ji went to the palace and knelt before Emperor Yongning to ask for troops to proclaim him Marquis of Ping."
"That means that Lord Jiang gave the task to Jiang Ji before he died."
The aide stroked his beard and said, "It is unknown what the minister talked about before his death."
Chang Heng thought for a moment and said, "But hasn't the imperial court always been crying poor and having no money?"
The staff said: "The family has stood together with the Great Zhou for hundreds of years, and the wealth accumulated cannot be underestimated. Jiang Ji requested to use the wealth accumulated by the Jiang family for several generations as the military expenses for the South Camp."
Someone in the room gasped, they didn't expect the noble family to be so rich.
The aide added, "Jiang Ji is a character. Some people in the Jiang family are dissatisfied with this. It is said that it was the master of the third house. That person died suddenly at home that night. Everyone knows who did it, but there is no evidence and they can't do anything to Jiang Ji. This is to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and no one dares to oppose it anymore."
Chang Heng nodded, "He's a ruthless man."
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