has become a demon

On the grassland, the hail became bigger and even snowflakes fell.

The north wind is howling, and the coldness is no less than the cold weather in Sanjiu.

Han Chuanjun's troops chased Dongsheng and Yulin all the way.

This is the place where Zhao Yuan camped before. Boss Qian under Duan Baozhai took people to count the stoves, and reported back: "The number of stoves has been reduced by half and half. The number of Zhao Yuan's team is probably a lot smaller."

Duan Baozhai reported back to Han Chuanjun with this news.

"Since Yinshan, Zhao Yuan still had 6000 troops, but now the number of furnaces has decreased by more than half. It is speculated that his army has only more than [-] people. The sudden decrease in the number of troops may be a bit strange." Duan Baozhai replied.

Han Chuanjun sat in the tent and wrote the memorial. Hearing this, he raised his eyes and glanced at the soldiers in the tent, and asked Tian Yun'en, "What do you think?"

Tian Yunen stepped forward and replied: "I speculate, I'm afraid that if we knew we were pursuing, we would have collapsed without a fight. Why should Yushu be so cautious? Could it be that such a weak person cannot be timid."

Duan Baozhai didn't bother to answer, he closed his mouth after seeing him.

"I agree with Yushu." Han Chuanjun put down the pen and paper, thought for a moment and said, "During the Warring States period, Sun Bin of Qi State used the trick of reducing the stove to confuse Pang Juan. The stove on the first day could feed hundreds of thousands of soldiers. On the second day, the stove was reduced to [-], and on the third day it was only [-]. Sure enough, Pang Juan thought that the Qi army was fleeing, so he underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, fell into Sun Bin's trap, and died in Ma Ling."

Tian Yunen understood it, and asked: "Then he is luring the enemy deep... There will be an ambush ahead? Then shall we still pursue it?"

"No. Zhao Yuan originally only had six thousand riders. Since Yinshan, he has gradually reduced his stoves, which is a bit deliberate. But he has such a strange person as Xie Taichu by his side, so it will never be so simple." Han Chuanjun smiled, "It must be used Reduce the stove and pretend that they are preparing to set up a trap. Let us have some concerns. Just imagine, if we really mistakenly believe that there is an ambush ahead, will we slow down the pursuit speed... In this way, Zhao Yuan, Xie Taichu and the others can get a breather Time. Look, haven't you fallen into their trick?"

Tian Yunen suddenly realized: "In fact, their number has not decreased at all, it's just because we bite them tightly, making them very difficult. In order to make us worry, slow down the pursuit speed, and give them a chance to escape, we did it on purpose. Such a trap."

"On the battlefield, true and false, false and true... who can tell clearly." After Han Chuanjun said this, he looked up and found Duan Baozhai's face was troubled, "Yu Shu thinks...is it wrong?"

"Yes." Duan Baozhai said, "Regardless of whether this plan is to delay our army's time, the subordinates all think that it should be repaired on the spot."

"Why do you say that?"

"When our army left the customs, the weather was already warm, and it was already freezing halfway through. Now it's snowing, and there are very few things to keep out the cold. Many people have already fallen ill. There are not many medicines for wind and cold. It is also difficult to find medicinal materials during the rapid march. This is one of them." Duan Baozhai said.

"What about the second?"

"Secondly, after our army received the imperial decree to arrest Zhao Yuan, we were ordered to go out of the pass and headed northward for more than ten days without rest. We only spent half a day in Yinshan Mountain. In order to catch up with Zhao Yuan's team, Turn around and come back. It has not been properly repaired for about half a month. The soldiers below have complaints, not to mention the frustration of morale, exhaustion and exhaustion are even taboos for military strategists. So the last general thought-"

"If Zhao Yuan takes the opportunity to go north and go deep into the Tartars, or even collude with the Jurchen tribe, he will miss the opportunity to capture Zhao Yuan. If Zhao Yuan takes the opportunity to become a big man in the future... have you thought about the consequences?"

"The final general is willing to bear it all." Duan Baozhai said, "But no matter what, the army shouldn't be tired and rushing."

"You can't afford it." Han Chuanjun said coldly, and then picked up a command arrow from the table and handed it to Tian Yunen, "Tian Yunen, Duan Baozhai, I order you two to lead the vanguard and travel lightly all the way, and must catch up before reaching Dulongkou Zhao Yuan's team intercepted them outside the Dulongkou Pass. There is no room for loss!"

"Yes!" Tian Yunen replied.

Han Chuanjun glanced at Duan Baozhai: "What about you?"

The military order has been issued, although Duan Baozhai frowned, he could only bow and cup his fists to receive the order.

"The last general... accepts the order!"

Logically speaking, when Zhao Yuan came to Kaipingwei, he should rectify outside the city before entering the city, not only for the team to rest, but also for him to prepare himself.However, Han Chuanjun's team followed closely behind, so there was no such time.

Arriving at Jiukaiping in the afternoon, I saw a pitch-black scorched city standing before my eyes.

When we get closer, we can see that the outer city wall has basically collapsed, and only the inner city wall is still intact.

There lived some beggars, thieves and thieves.

Tao Shaochuan led people in to clear out the idlers and others, and then Zhao Yuan entered the city. He didn't go directly to King Su's mansion, but set up a camp on the south side where the market used to be.

In the evening, Kaipingwei began to smoke again, and it became more popular.

After waiting in the tent, Xie Taichu put the map on the case table, read the latest urgent reports, and said to Zhao Yuan after a while: "The strategy we used before is effective. Han Chuanjun's 5 troops are on the front line of the grassland. They were dragged into stragglers. According to the news from Xiao Jiang and others, some of the troops were pulled down due to the typhoid fever. The food, grass and luggage ran even slower, and they just passed Yulin. The combined number of these two groups was 1. Han Chuanjun The large army is on the way, and there are still three hundred miles away from Pingwei, and there are about 3 people in this group, and they are exhausted."

"But even so, his team didn't stop at all. He even sent [-] vanguard troops to travel lightly and arrive at Kaipingwei the day after tomorrow."

"Yeah." Zhao Yuan nodded, "Han Chuanjun has a keen and suspicious mind. He was misled by his cleverness... He must have never thought that we only brought 1000 people as bait in front of us."

Zhao Yuan carefully looked at the map, pointed to Beishan on the west side of Kaipingwei, and said, "Let Xiao Jiang and the others leave a hole here to let Tian Yunen come in and eat them on the spot. Be careful of all the messengers and never release any news. Wait for Han Chuanjun After entering, we have to leave a narrow pass leading to Dulongkou. Give them hope...they will not fight back when dying. 3 people, bit by bit, are enough."

"Okay, I'll send someone to send a letter to Xiao Jiang immediately." Xie Taichu said that he had already started to grind his pen, and looked at Zhao Yuan again, "Will your Highness ask who is in Tian Yunen's vanguard team?"

Zhao Yuan was still analyzing the battle situation carefully, and asked casually, "Who is there?"

"Duan Baozhai."

Zhao Yuan was stunned, then looked up at him: "Duan Yushu?"

"Exactly."

Su Wang remembered all the past, was silent for a moment, and suddenly said: "We are sworn brothers, maybe we can't drink together."

Zhao Yuan woke up from the nightmare, he turned over and sat up, gasping for breath.

A mixture of sweat and tears slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the bedding.He stared blankly at the quilt on his knees... After a while, he realized that his legs could move.

The quilt beside him was folded, and the bed was empty.

Xie Taichu is not around...

He originally hoped to use marriage to tie Xie Taichu by his side, but for some reason, after the brief intimacy of the grassland wedding, Xie Taichu treated him with more respect, courtesy and distance.

Not like a husband and wife...more like a monarch and minister.

In the tent at night, he always fell asleep while waiting for Xie Taichu, and when he woke up in the morning, Xie Taichu got up early.If it wasn't for being hugged into a warm and familiar embrace in the middle of the night, he would almost have thought that Xie Taichu hadn't returned all night.

Zhao Yuan felt down for a while, but soon he cheered himself up again.

Now that Han Chuanjun's [-] chasing troops are approaching, Kaipingwei is a scorched earth, it is the time of life and death, so he cannot be sad.

He rolled out of bed.

The washing water in the copper pot at the door is still warm, and there is a bowl of meat porridge next to the stove in the outer room...it was left by Xie Taichu before he left.

He is still careful and gentle, even in such details, people can't help but think wildly.

Zhao Yuan washed and changed his clothes, and after breakfast, he put on Yesa and Bijia, put on his big hat and lifted the curtain to go out.

Tao Shaochuan had been waiting outside the tent for a long time, and when he saw him coming out, he quickly opened his umbrella and followed him.

The Kaiping guard outside the tent was devastated.

Except for the inner city wall that was burnt black, there is no intact existence.

The road is full of rubble, and the beams that have not been completely burned can be seen occasionally. The bustling patterns drawn on them tell how rich and stable this frontier city was before.

In fact, this place has been sleeping for a long time, and now their arrival has made this abandoned city noisy.

The soldiers cut down all the surrounding trees and brought them in to strengthen the gates of the inner city.The city gate was directly nailed to death with steel nails to prevent anyone from entering.

The drizzle of rain moistened this lonely city in the wilderness.

Zhao Yuan staggered in the city, and then he stopped in front of the ruins.

"There used to be a pair of bronze lions here." He said suddenly.

Tao Shaochuan went to look at the place where the pair of copper lions were, now there was only a little melted base left, and the rest might have been stolen.

Between the two bronze lions is the former gate of King Su's Mansion.

Red lacquer and gold nails animal face swing door.

There used to be an endless stream of guests coming and going here.

Zhao Yuan stepped on the brick ruins and walked in through the non-existent gate... In the barrenness, he seemed to see Su Wang's mansion in his memory.

"My lord..." Tao Shaochuan was a little uneasy, and called out to him, "It's raining heavily, let's go back."

Young King Su ignored him, walking faster and faster through the rubble.

Tao Shaochuan could only follow him in embarrassment.

The corridor with the remaining walls passes through the courtyards that were once remembered. There are mother's, elder brother's... and other relatives in the family who used to live.

Under the wet withered vines on the side of the road, many geckos quietly crawled past.

Only the hallway with the broken wall is left, and there is a nest made of swallows with mud in their mouths.

In the study on Dieshi Mountain, he and his eldest brother were distracted in the same teacher's class.

There are also Zangshu Pavilion, Yingri Hall, Sishui Terrace, Huishu Hall...

Every building has accumulated countless pasts over the years, and superimposed new memories belonging to King Su's clan.

This palace has never been so quiet.

Never been so bleak.

Zhao Yuan walked faster and faster, faster and faster.

He passed through the waterside pavilion, as well as the rockery, the gazebo...suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Tao Shaochuan followed pantingly, and found that there was an open space in front of him.

"My lord..." Tao Shaochuan didn't dare to disturb him loudly.

Because at this moment his figure was too sad and lonely.

After a while, footsteps were heard, and Zhao Yuan was familiar with the sound of footsteps, so he didn't look back. Soon, an umbrella covered the pattering rain.

Then someone wiped his shoulder lightly.

It's Xie Taichu.

"This is Mirror Lake." Zhao Yuan said, and then he pointed to a dead tree by the lake, "There...is a pomegranate tree that is over a hundred years old. Every autumn...it will bear a lot of pomegranates."

The pomegranate is big and round, bending every branch heavily.

Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, the family picked pomegranates and gave them to relatives and servants in the palace.

Always the big brother climbs the tree.

Mother will prepare other melons and fruits and moon cakes under the tree, and smile to tell elder brother to be more careful...

What was once a sea of ​​blue waves is now only a muddy puddle of stagnant water.Green algae covered the surface of the lake, as dead as the collapsed King Su's Mansion.

The pomegranate tree, with only its blackened trunk left after being smoked by the fire, was lying crookedly on the pond.

The Eight Immortals table under the pomegranate tree shattered into pieces and collapsed to the ground.

Zhao Yuan stepped over the rubble and walked under the pomegranate tree. After searching carefully for a while, he found the traces of the knife carving on the trunk.

"Big brother, big brother is as childish as me." Zhao Yuan rubbed those marks, "Every year, I compare my height under the tree. Obviously I can't stand up...He always said that one day I will be taller than him."

There were a few blurred handwriting beside the last knife mark, covered by fire and moss, those few handwriting could not be seen clearly.

He wiped the moss with his sleeve, and the slippery and cold feeling made him realize that none of this was a dream.

It actually happened.

Using the cruelest means, he cut off the way back to the hometown that remained in the memories of the 14-year-old.

Everything around is very quiet, only the sound of rain.After a while, Zhao Yuan said in a hoarse voice: "I... have been restless since I entered the city. I dream at night, always dreaming about the details of the massacre of the city. The flames were burning, everyone fled in a hurry, screaming and begging for mercy one after another... I Obviously I didn’t see how Kaipingwei’s tragedy happened, but I don’t know why but I can see it clearly.”

Xie Taichu responded.

"Your Highness thinks about it every day and dreams at night. After returning to Kaiping, all the tragedies he saw reflected in his mind, so he had such thoughts."

"In the early days, Han Chuanjun...killed my father and brother, and ruined my hometown." Tears rolled down Zhao Yuan's cheeks, dripping into the rubble, "I have no home anymore."

"You are wrong." Xie Taichu said to him, "His Highness and I are husband and wife. Where I am, is His Highness's home."

Zhao Yuan couldn't help but turned around and hugged Xie Taichu tightly.

"In the beginning."

"Your Highness..."

"If we can really survive this calamity, if I can really rule the world. Promise me, don't leave."

Xie Taichu's body stiffened for a moment, and he fell into silence.

"You said that where you are is my home... If you leave, where will I have a home?" Zhao Yuan raised his head and asked him with red eyes, "Are you trying to lie to me?"

"The people of the Qingxing Pavilion beside the emperors of all ages will retire after they succeed, and none will stay by the emperor's side. I am enthroned, where are you going? What do you want to do?"

After a while, Xie Taichu slowly raised his hand to wipe away Zhao Yuan's tears.

"Your Highness is worrying too much." He said softly, "Since I am married to Your Highness, why would I leave?"

"really?"

"Hmm..." Xie Taichu responded lightly, "I dare not lie to Your Majesty."

Zhao Yuan stared at him blankly for a while, then hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek.

"Okay... I believe you." He smiled with tears, as if he wanted to make himself believe it, and emphasized once, "I believe you."