The Blood Crown

Pingliang didn't hold out for too long, and the guard surrendered seeing that the defeat was over.

Taking Pingliang, Chen Kui was extremely proud. He pointed to the dilapidated city wall, and said to Yan Sikong: "Sir, look, this is Pingliang that Feng Ye wants to exchange for you. It is so vulnerable and so easy to get. He He is underestimating you and me, so why should I trade with him? What I want..." Chen Wei sneered, "I will take everything from him."

Yan Sikong glanced at Chen Kui, cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations, Your Highness."

"Sir doesn't seem very happy?"

"Fengye obviously abandoned Pingliang and Fengxiang, and concentrated his forces in Qingyang. Although we won this battle, it is still difficult to advance."

"I can go to Pingliang now, and I can go to Taiyuan in the future." Chen Wei straightened his chest and said proudly, "Sir, do you think Fengye has three times as many troops as me, so I have nothing to do with him? The imperial court is mobilizing troops to encircle me , Feng Ye has become the target of public criticism, and will undoubtedly lose."

Yan Sikong was upset because he was worried about Yuan Nanyu, but he still tried to calm down, and said with a light smile: "There is no doubt about it, but Your Highness should not underestimate the enemy, and don't rush forward, you still need to be careful at every step."

"I understand." Chen Yu couldn't help but look to the southwest, "I don't know what's going on at Dazipo."

Yan Sikong followed his gaze and saw nothing but the endless gray and white winter scenery. His heart sank straight down, full of ominous omens.

It was not until dusk fell that the messenger brought back the news—the news that Yan Sikong was most afraid of hearing.

The Feng family army was defeated in Dazipo. Yuan Shaoxu and three thousand soldiers were captured. Yuan Nanyu led the troops to rescue them. Now they are besieged on a high slope. They failed to break through three times. Deadlocked.

Yan Sikong only felt a chill rushing from the soles of his feet to his forehead, his whole body plunged into the ice cellar, and his eyes turned black.

Chen Kui was overjoyed, clapped his hands heavily, and said excitedly, "Good! Good!"

Shen Hexuan was also very happy: "Well done, I thought it would be a worthwhile trip to ambush them with thousands of soldiers, but in the end they surrounded Que Wang. This person is more significant than Pingliang City."

Chen Kui excitedly paced back and forth in the room: "God help me, God help me!" He turned around abruptly, "Sir."

Yan Sikong forcibly pulled back his flustered thoughts, but before he had time to clean up the expression on his face, he stared blankly at Chen Kui.

Chen Kui seemed to have noticed something, frowned and said, "What are you thinking, sir? Since you are in the middle of the army, you have been absent-minded."

Shen Hexuan looked at Yan Sikong coldly, with unfriendly eyes.

Yan Sikong said: "His Royal Highness is the Son of Heaven, and he has the help of God. I just think of Yuan Shaoxu... I feel sorry for him."

"Why, I captured him alive for my husband, isn't he happy?"

"No." Yan Sikong smiled wryly, "I had a fight with his brother, and I will never repay the great kindness of his biological father Yuanmao. I thought that after we escaped, we would never see each other again in this life, but I never expected that we would be together so soon ...Although I hate him, I don't know how to deal with him now."

"Sir is not such an indecisive person."

"Maybe not for others." Yan Sikong supported his forehead and shook his head.

"Master Yan can't bear to kill him because of his father?" Shen Hexuan sneered, "It's good to keep him, this person is not a loyal person, if I persuade him to surrender, he may be of use to me."

"It makes sense." Chen Kui said, "Anyway, he is in our hands, and how to deal with him is entirely up to the master."

"In that case, please escort him to Pingliang, Your Highness." Yan Sikong's eyes showed a cold light, "I will interrogate him personally."

"This person is not worth mentioning." Shen Hexuan said, "The most important thing right now is King Que. What are your highness' plans?"

"King Que and Feng Ye are as close as brothers, and they have a reputation for loyalty. I'm afraid they won't surrender, or can he blackmail Feng Ye?"

Yan Sikong shook his head: "He would rather kill himself than drag Feng Ye down."

"If you just kill him like this, it would be a pity. Even if you want to kill him, I should behead him to show the public and shock the world."

Shen Hexuan said: "Thousands of soldiers are trapped together with him. They are desperate and will resist to the death. If I attack by force, even if I win, I will lose thousands of soldiers and horses. It's really not worth it."

"Just surround them for a few days, and they will starve to death." Chen Kui said.

"They know that they are running out of food and grass, so they will definitely break through, and Fengye will definitely send troops to rescue them. If it drags on for a long time, it may not be beneficial to us."

"Then use fire." Chen Kui said coldly, "Burn them with fire."

Yan Sikong shook his head: "At this time, the snow has melted in the early spring, and the ground is wet. It doesn't seem like the sun will rise in the past few days, which is not conducive to fire attack. If he refuses to surrender, his soldiers may not be willing. Your Highness is short of troops at this time. Ma, wouldn't it be a pity to burn thousands of elite soldiers?"

Chen Kui touched his chin: "Then what should we do?"

"First set up an ambush on the reinforcement road to prevent Feng Ye's reinforcements from coming to rescue, and then send someone to persuade them to surrender." Shen Hexuan looked at Yan Sikong.

Chen Kui also looked at Yan Sikong, his expression full of hesitation.

Yan Sikong was waiting for the two of them to propose this plan, if he brought it up, it would inevitably arouse suspicion, he said: "Your Highness wants me to persuade you to surrender."

Chen Kui thought for a while: "No, what if he takes you as a prisoner and threatens me instead?"

"He dare not..."

"Bring Que Wang back to Pingliang." Shen Hexuan rushed.

Yan Sikong clenched his fists.

"Tell Que Wang that as long as he surrenders obediently, he will let his soldiers go."

"What?" Chen Wei stared straight at his eyes.

Yan Sikong wished he could strangle Shen Hexuan to death on the spot. When he wanted to persuade him to surrender, he tried to help Yuan Nanyu break out of the encirclement, but it was impossible. The two exchanged their identities, and Yuan Nanyu could get out of the encirclement alive. Now he can only follow Shen Hexuan Said: "For Fengye, Que Wang, the right-hand man, is better than thousands of people. If he dies, it will only arouse the righteous indignation of the Feng family army, but if he is captured alive, he will severely hit Fengye. And the morale of the Feng family army."

"That's right, Que Wang is a bargaining chip. If he dies, it will be useless except to increase hatred." Shen Hexuan narrowed his eyes, "If he is alive, Feng Ye will always be afraid. This person is very useful."

Chen Kui was silent for a moment: "Okay, forgive him for being in this situation, and he doesn't dare to do anything to sir."

Yan Sikong said in a deep voice: "I will live up to His Highness' high expectations and bring Que Wang... back to Pingliang."

It seems that the only way to do it is to wait for an opportunity on the return journey.

-

Chen Kui sent his general, Qu Jiao, to escort Yan Sikong to Dazipo, and then escort the captives back to Pingliang.This person is both wise and brave, and he is loyal to Chen Yu. Yan Sikong knew that it would be as difficult as climbing the sky to let Yuan Nanyu escape on the return journey.

When I came to Dazipo, I looked at the white smoke rising from the hillside from a distance, and thought that he was so close to Yuan Nanyu, but I could only watch him being trapped in a tight siege and his life was dying, and I felt so heavy that it was hard to breathe.

"Lord Yan, some guards will be sent to take you up the mountain at the end. If you don't bring Que Wang down the mountain before dark, we will attack by force."

"Okay, thank you General Qu."

Yan Sikong took a deep breath and rode his horse up the hillside.

All the main roads on the hillside were guarded by Yuan Nanyu's soldiers and horses, and when they saw them, they pointed their spears at each other.

Yan Sikong said: "I came to see General Que in the name of the King of Chu, there are only a few people waiting for me, please inform me."

After the guards discussed in low voices, one of them went to report.

After a while, the man came back: "You have to go alone."

"Okay." Yan Sikong left the guard in place to wait, and followed the guard up the mountain.

Climbing up the hillside, what Yan Sikong saw was a picture of a defeated army. Thousands of soldiers were scattered on the hillside, each of them was disheartened and dejected, and the wounded and disabled could be seen everywhere, which can be described as a mess.

Many people recognized Yan Sikong, they stood up and looked at Yan Sikong with contempt, hatred, and murderous eyes.

Stared at by countless people with cannibalistic eyes, Yan Sikong's hairs stood on end, his Adam's apple rolled, and he walked forward without looking sideways.

"Traitor." Among the soldiers, someone called out in a low voice.

That sound was the fire of a prairie fire, which instantly ignited the emotions in the desperate situation. More and more people denounced the "traitor", and their voices became louder and louder. They walked towards Yan Sikong step by step, full of resentment, eyes Blood red, as if to tear him apart.

Yan Sikong clenched his fists, wondering if he could survive this calamity today.

Just when those people surrounded Yan Sikong, there was a "boom", and the loud sound of ringing gold penetrated everyone's ears, like a bell ringing in a dream in the middle of the night, waking people up instantly.

The crowd consciously gave way to a passage, and a slender, familiar figure walked through the crowd. He still wore the cold mask on his face, but seeing him standing in front of him alive, Yan Sikong only felt cold. A warm current finally poured into the stiff body.

"General." A general shouted, "The last general begs the general to kill this shameless traitor!"

"Kill the traitor, kill the traitor!" All the soldiers roared loudly.

Yuan Nanyu raised a hand, and the surroundings were suddenly silent.

Yuan Nanyu looked deeply at Yan Sikong, his eyes were extremely complicated, and he whispered: "Follow me."

"General..."

"No need to say much."

Yuan Nanyu turned and left.

Yan Sikong strode up to follow.

Yuan Nanyu brought Yan Sikong into the simple Chinese army tent built with trees. He sat down on the tree stump, lowered his head, and said in a deep voice, "What are you doing here?"

Yan Sikong took a deep breath: "Did you receive my letter?"

"……received."

"You don't believe it, do you?" Yan Sikong said in a trembling voice, "Do you know why I went to Chen Kui, for, for, you."

Yuan Nanyu raised his head, stared blankly at Yan Sikong for a while, and said with difficulty: "Really?"

Yan Sikong said in a trembling voice: "You touch your conscience, rely on your intuition, even if you don't remember anything, do you think in the deepest part of your heart that I will harm you?"

Yuan Nanyu took a long breath: "I don't know, I really... I feel like a fool, just because I don't remember anything, I let you play around, who is lying and who is sincere, you are all My brother, how can I tell the difference?!"

Yan Sikong said in a hoarse voice, "You can only tell the difference yourself."

Yuan Nanyu inserted his hand into the messy hair, as if he was in great pain: "I don't dare not to believe your information, and I don't dare to believe it all, but my elder brother doesn't believe it, he thinks you are helping Chen Kui to cheat, you have to Take Fengxiang, he will cross the big character slope and sneak attack the rear."

"Then you let him lead the troops to attack?" Yan Sikong gritted his teeth, "I don't believe you are so stupid!"

"It's my fault... I never refuted him in public because of my brother's affection, so that he would have nothing to worry about, but actually passed on my military order..."

"Yuan Nanyu!" Yan Si trembled in the air, "You have followed Feng Ye for many years, the military discipline is strict, and you have never lost anything. Feng Ye also took a fancy to you and let you lead the army. He is not a nepotism. How can you indulge your cronies?!"

Yuan Nanyu regretted endlessly: "I...in my memory, I have never had a relative, I..."

"Even so, you should never, never, least of all come to save him!"

Yuan Nanyu lowered his head, as if he was under a heavy weight: "He and the soldiers fell, and I, as the commander, cannot absolve myself of the blame."

Yan Sikong felt heartache and resentment again.Everyone has weaknesses. Yuan Nanyu's biggest weakness is being too emotional. Before they appeared, Yuan Nanyu would not make mistakes because of this weakness, but the brother who suddenly appeared was too much for his blank past. Important, so he committed a stupidity, and the consequences are irreversible.

Yuan Nanyu raised his head and slowly took off his mask. His eyes were red and tears hung from his eyes, full of self-blame.

Yan Sikong felt extremely uncomfortable, he squatted down, held Yuan Nanyu's face in his hands, and said softly: "Don't be afraid, with Second Brother here, I will rescue you out."

Yuan Nanyu shook his head: "I am ashamed to be the general, the wolf king and the soldiers, I want to live and die with them."

"Yu'er." Yan Sikong looked deeply into his eyes, "People are not sages, and no one has faults, but only when you are alive can you correct your mistakes, avenge the soldiers, and pay off your merits to the Wolf King. Yes or no."

Yuan Nanyu stared blankly at Yan Sikong.

"Listen to me." Yan Sikong said in a low voice, "Chen Yu sent me here today to persuade you to surrender. He asked you to go to Pingliang alone, and let the soldiers go."

"Really?" Yuan Nanyu's eyes widened, "Will he really let the others go?"

Yan Sikong nodded: "I wanted to wait for an opportunity to let you escape on the way, but the person in charge of the escort is the fierce general under Chen Kui's command, and he will not give us such a chance. You follow me to Pingliang, and I will try to help you escape, otherwise you Trapped here, there is only one dead end."

"But..." Yuan Nanyu hesitated, "If he forces me to take off the mask."

"I don't care so much now, I can only adapt to the situation." Yan Sikong said in a deep voice, "If you don't fall for a long time, they will set fire to the mountain after the snow has melted."

Yuan Nanyu's stiff mouth twitched slightly: "...Okay, I surrender, as long as he lets the others go."

Yan Sikong said sternly: "Yu'er, you must never commit suicide. Yuan Shaoxu and three thousand soldiers have been escorted back to Pingliang. Chen Yan has a lot of ways to blackmail you. You want to live. Do you understand? You must live." Go down, the second elder brother swears, if you risk everything, you will definitely help you escape."

Yuan Nanyu bit his lip and nodded heavily.