Chapter 37: Even when beating a dog, one must look at its owner. Ashina Yu was furious...
The night was freezing cold, the north wind howled like a knife, and the temperature in the air seemed to be frozen.
However, Lou Wanqiao was not afraid at all. She rode her horse as fast as she could through the snow, and then she galloped through the snow, crushing the long night and breaking through the nebula, and traveled thousands of miles under the cover of night.
Come to a gamble where the winner takes all.
The northern frontier is an even colder place. When Lou Wanqiao arrived, it was night. Her clothes and hat covered most of her face. The cold wind blew through her hair. She looked up at the vast desert, squeezed her legs against the horse's belly, and went deeper into the desert.
The purpose of her trip was not only to inform the troops stationed here, but also to integrate all existing forces and personally plan the layout.
Prince Duan cannot be trusted, and neither can Li Su.
Even Marquis Pingyuan, she couldn't trust him 100%.
Lou Wanqiao only trusts the knife in his hand.
Snowflakes blew against her face, icy and biting. She exhaled, reined in her horse in front of the tent, and rolled to the ground.
The guards were on guard at first, but after seeing the man's face clearly, they clasped their fists and saluted respectfully: "Lord Lou."
Lou Wanqiao nodded to him and walked into the main tent: "General Yunlai."
The people inside saw her coming and quickly stood up to greet her: "Brother Zizhao! I've been waiting for you since I received the letter. I think the journey must have been very dangerous. Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard, it just takes a little longer, but it's worth it." Lou Wanqiao smiled faintly and handed him the cloth bag around his waist.
"This is..." Yunlai opened the cloth bag, looked at the things inside in surprise, and then held it in his palm and squeezed it.
This feel, this pattern, can't be fake...
"Military token?" Yunlai was shocked. "How did you get it?"
"It took some effort to get Prince Duan's military token, but it's quite useful." Lou Wanqiao reached out and tapped the military token on his palm. "I plan to borrow Li Su's name first. What do you think?"
"The prince who lives in the Taoist temple?" Yunlai raised his eyebrows. "Him?"
"If we want to be legitimate, then this is the only way. There's no need to rush and proceed step by step after the matter is accomplished." Lou Wanqiao gestured for him to put the military token away. "By the way, do you still remember Cen Luye?"
Yunlai nodded: "Cen Luye, the former great general. Wasn't he exiled? That person shouldn't tolerate him."
"Even a rabbit will bite when it's cornered, let alone Cen Luye. He's not as docile as he appears." Lou Wanqiao sneered, "He's too eager for revenge, which makes it easy for him to reveal his flaws."
Yunlai seemed to be thinking: "So?"
"So it can be used. As long as it's a knife, it has its value." She said in a calm tone, looking at the map on the table, "How is the border going lately?"
"It's still the same. The rest of the people are fine, but the more difficult one is the leader Ashina Li." Yunlai touched his chin. "There's no problem for now. If you need me, then I'll fight you. The worst that can happen is just one life, and you saved my life, so it doesn't matter!"
"I'm here to find you. You're right, the worst that can happen is one life, but I can't bear to take you to death. Although I can't be absolutely sure, I have to make the most adequate plan anyway."
Although Li Lianhan wasn't a very good emperor, the imperial guards he trained were not to be underestimated. Lou Wanqiao only had one chance, and she didn't want to let anyone around her die.
If possible, it's best to get it in one go.
"There are still a few things to take care of before I leave. I have to find something for Ashina Yu to do, otherwise it will be uneasy."
Lou Wanqiao had some impression of this person, but not much. Most of the information was told to her by Yunlai. Yunlai had also provided a good check and balance over the years, so Lou Wanqiao was quite relieved.
"Okay, I'll give you three days. If you need any help, just tell me."
"Ha, I'm not being polite with you!" Yunlai stretched out his hand and pointed at a place on the map. "I've already calculated it, it's here. I'm going to make a big move tomorrow! Coincidentally, you also have an important mission."
Lou Wanqiao looked in the direction he pointed: "I see."
"Brother Zizhao..." Yunlai looked at her, sighed suddenly, and patted her shoulder, "You've lost a lot of weight recently."
Lou Wanqiao shrugged nonchalantly, "This is rough living, nothing like the delicacies of the capital. Just being able to get this far is enough. Nothing else matters. Okay, get some rest early and try to get back this morning. Happy New Year, everyone."
Yunlai was stunned for a moment, then he smiled happily: "Happy New Year, Brother Zizhao! In the new year, I will still follow you!"
The north wind howls, and another night has passed.
…
The next morning, Lou Wanqiao woke up and walked out of the tent. The biting wind blew across his face, making him instantly more awake.
She wrapped her robe tightly and looked into the distance, where she could smell the aroma of mutton.
Lou Wanqiao followed the smell and found Yunlai. There was a large pot of mutton stewing. Seeing her coming, he waved to her: "Come, Brother Zizhao, you've come just in time. I'll give you some nourishment."
She reached out to take the mutton soup handed to her by Yunlai, blew on it first, and then lowered her head to take a sip.
It tastes delicious.
"It tastes good! It must be because of your good cooking skills, Guizhi."
"Hehe, you'll naturally learn how to cook after staying here long enough. I'll make you some grilled skewers in the evening." Yunlai felt a little embarrassed by the compliment and scratched his head.
Lou Wanqiao took a bite of meat and gave him a thumbs up.
"By the way, Brother Zizhao, I want to ask you to help me guard this place... Ashina is very unlucky, I feel uneasy without you here."
"Is this the important mission you entrusted to me?" Lou Wanqiao was stunned. "So you don't plan to let me go with you?"
Yunlai touched his nose and said nothing.
"Forget it. I think you have your own thoughts, so I won't interfere. Since you asked me to hold the position, then I will do it. Don't worry, Guizhi, as long as I'm here, no one can break in."
"Hey, that's not what I meant, Brother Zizhao! Don't misunderstand me, I..."
"I know you trust me, and I also know you don't want me to die. It just so happens that I'm not familiar with the terrain there, so it's nice to rest in the camp." Lou Wanqiao lifted himself up and brushed the snow off his shoulders.
"Okay! If everything goes well, we'll return to Beijing the day after tomorrow."
After Yunlai and his men left on horseback, Lou Wanqiao concentrated on guarding the camp to ensure everything was safe.
Soon the sky became gloomy, and she sat in the tent, slowly wiping the embroidered spring sword.
The long sword has been drinking blood with her for many years and is now even brighter.
She also saved Yunlai many years ago.
Then he was pushed to this position, and Yunlai lived up to expectations and became a very useful knife.
Yunlai came back with a group of people near evening. He seemed to be in a good mood. He greeted Lou Wanqiao and they sat around the fire and grilled meat together.
Lou Wanqiao was chewing the roasted lamb leg with relish when he suddenly heard a noise coming from afar.
She raised her head alertly, and so did the soldiers around her.
"General, Ashina Yan is rushing over with his men!" The guard who was on the lookout noticed something was wrong and hurried to report.
Yunlai hadn't even had time to swallow the meat in his mouth, and his expression was a little puzzled: "Is he crazy?"
"Yunlai! Get out!"
The sound wasn't actually very close, but it reached Lou Wanqiao's ears clearly and sounded very penetrating. She stood up, grasped the hilt of the knife, and turned to look at Yun Lai: "What's going on?"
"Maybe he is planning to burn his boats? I don't know what this guy is thinking. This Turkic leader is very weird." Yunlai said in a light tone, but he drew his sword in his hand.
Wow, I get to see the real person so soon.
Lou Wanqiao followed Yunlai out. Seeing him look back hesitantly, he raised his eyebrows and snorted, "Don't you trust your brother Zizhao? Yunlai, don't forget, I taught you some of your moves."
Yunlai was stunned for a moment, then raised his head proudly: "You're right, Brother Zizhao, I'm stupid! Humph, even when beating a dog, you have to look at the owner first..."
She held her forehead helplessly: It seems that I need to let Yunlai read more books in the future.
"Come on, I'll vent your anger for you."
The wind on the wasteland was biting and cold. Lou Wanqiao looked at the burly man coming towards him, drew his bow quickly, aimed at his shoulder, and then shot an arrow.
Ding!!
He blocked the flying arrows with the heavy sword in his hand, his eyes were fierce, like a hungry and warlike wolf on the grassland.
"Yunlai! Don't think you can get away with plotting against me! I'm going to chop off your head and drink it with my wine today!"
"Oh, so fierce? You're still safe. I think you should go and read a book." Lou Wanqiao was shocked and mounted his horse to meet him.
Ashina Yu was furious: "How dare you let a child humiliate me!!"
Lou Wanqiao: ? ?
"Keep your mouth clean, you bastard! Your mouth is so dirty, are you waiting for dad to clean it for you? Then dad will reluctantly teach you a lesson!"
She jumped up from her horse, the embroidered spring knife in her hand cut through the cold wind, and went straight towards Ashina Li's face.
He pursed his lips and raised the heavy sword, but the man in front of him brushed past the sword lightly in the next second with incredible agility.
Ashina Yu opened his eyes wide and saw out of the corner of his eye that a strand of black hair was cut off and quickly disappeared with the wind.
Lou Wanqiao mounted his horse lightly and swung his sword back. Ashina Yu quickly turned around to block. The horse neighed in pain and broke into a gallop.
The horse's back was shaking, Lou Wanqiao half-crouched to steady his body, and Ashina Yu swept the heavy sword across without hesitation.
A strong wind blew towards her, her eyes flashed and she dodged sideways, the tip of the sword almost brushed against her waist. Lou Wanqiao slid a dagger out of his sleeve with his other hand and unexpectedly touched Ashina Yu's Adam's apple.
There was a moment of silence all around, with only the whistling sound of the wind.
His Adam's apple rolled, and after a while he squeezed out three words: "Who are you?"
"I told you I'm here to wipe your mouth." Lou Wanqiao said it calmly. Just as she was about to strike the man with a sword, she suddenly realized something was wrong. In a flash, she kicked her legs and did a backflip off her horse. An arrow shot past the place where she was crouching.
Lou Wanqiao squinted his eyes and looked towards the direction where the arrow came from. There was a figure standing in the wind.
The horse stopped, Lou Wanqiao stood up, and looked at Ashina Yu coldly: "You'd better be smart. If you don't want to die, don't come here again."
Ashina Yu dismounted and suddenly burst into laughter: "Death? I'm not afraid of death! I underestimated you before, but I didn't expect you to be so capable, no less capable than Yun Lai! It's just that you're so troublesome running around like a monkey, it's so annoying to hit you!"
Lou Wanqiao folded his arms and looked him up and down. "You have to use different methods to deal with different people. You don't expect me to compete with you in strength, do you? What, you still want to fight? Don't let your people shoot arrows from behind."
"Hey! Where are you from?"
"I'm from Dali. If I remember correctly, you can go back to the tribe and see if your idiot brother can't hold back anymore."
Ashina Yu's eyes suddenly became sharp: "What did you say?!"
"If you don't believe me, go back and take a look. This is just a friendly reminder from me. If the leader is replaced by someone who doesn't understand the situation, we will also be in trouble." Lou Wanqiao shrugged. "You don't want to fight anymore, right? We can't determine the winner in a short time, and you don't want to waste your time here."
Ashina Yu narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a long time. Lou Wanqiao just stood there indifferently and let him look at her, putting the dagger back into her sleeve.
"Humph! I'll come back. If things are really as you say..." He paused, "I'll just consider it a favor."
Lou Wanqiao turned and left.
She didn't know how far the horse had run, and there was nothing but vastness all around. The desert in winter was monotonous, and she had difficulty making sense of it.
She walked slowly back along her memory lane, and soon heard a familiar shout.
"Zi-zhao-brother-"
"Zizhao!"
"Lord Lou——"
There were several eagles circling in the sky. Lou Wanqiao walked in the direction of the sound and saw Yunlai looking for her.
"Brother Zizhao!" Yunlai rode up and quickly gave up his horse. "Are you okay?"
"What could possibly happen to me? That person shouldn't come to cause trouble anytime soon. We can probably go back now."
"Brother Zizhao, you're amazing! You solved it so quickly! I was so worried when you left...hiss!"
Before he could finish his words, Lou Wanqiao knocked on his head. Lou Wanqiao stared at him with some dissatisfaction: "Why are you dithering? What's there to worry about? Yun Guizhi, the last thing you should doubt is my ability. Stop worrying about my safety all day long and get things done as soon as possible."
"……I see."
Lou Wanqiao mounted his horse and sighed secretly.
Yunlai is indeed a good knife to use. She always feels at ease when using it. This child is good in everything except that he is a little indecisive when it comes to her affairs.
Several people rode their horses back to the camp before dark, and Lou Wanqiao ate barbecue, which left a lingering fragrance in his mouth.
Yunlai poured two cups of kumis. She drank one cup and went back to the tent to rest.
She is not like Wen Xuechi, a wine jar who always carries wine with her.
The wind was howling outside. Lou Wanqiao lay on the quilt, looking at the ceiling, feeling a little dazed for a moment.
I don’t know how Wen Xuechi is doing now. Since he said that he is on the same front with her, I guess he is also on the road now.
He has been traveling around the world for many years and should be used to living in the open air, but is the delicacies of the capital what he desires?
It was she who dragged Wen Xuechi into this power struggle.
However, some things cannot be turned back once they are done, and some choices have to be made. If she had not taken action, someone else would have gone to find Pingyuan Hou.
Lou Wanqiao sighed and turned over.
I don’t know if it’s because of the alcohol, but I’m having trouble sleeping tonight.
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