Shadow Guard stand-in

Yushiguan is colder than Xijing, it is so cold that people's teeth are shaking, and they can't even hold the reins when riding a horse, and their fingers are frozen like ice.

He Jue traveled lightly, led the Gyeonggi Guard General Gao Shanying and 3000 imperial troops, and hurried all the way to the border, not waiting for a moment.Originally, Lin Chi was also going, but He Jue asked him to stay in the capital and obey the cabinet's dispatch. Habayashi Guard is the emperor's personal guard, the last line of defense of the palace.

Lin Chi is not a fledgling young man, he thought of Guan Qiao when he mentioned it a little bit, so he didn't insist on going.

"Your Majesty, Yushi Pass is ahead." Gao Shanying sent a team of scouts to go ahead and inquire about news along the way. After all, they only brought 3000 people with them, and the closer they got to the border, the more worried they became.

With 3000 people, how can they protect His Majesty?The alpine eagle is full of impossibilities, for fear that if it is not done carefully, it will cause fatal danger, that is, it will lose its head.

It is a small thing to lose one's own life, if His Majesty is put in danger, it will definitely not affect the royal family, nor just the Xijing family, I am afraid that the whole Southern Tang Dynasty will change.He didn't quite understand why He Jue made such a decision. Even if he wanted to go on a personal conquest, he should bring enough troops, even if he transferred the garrison from Jiangnan?Even if it takes many days to delay, it is much safer than coming here in such a hurry.

But the question in his heart is just a question, he is a rough man, he can only practice martial arts against the enemy, his brain is not as bright as a literati, let alone His Majesty's grand strategy and martial arts strategy, so he just does his job well and follows His Majesty decision.Whether it's life or death, success or failure, he entrusts His Majesty with his wealth and life, as well as the three thousand sons of the Gyeonggi Guards.

He Jue and his party had been recuperating in Qingyang Mansion three days ago. If they wanted to inquire about it, then Yushiguan would soon know the news of Yujia's arrival.

This small town is already on the edge of Qingyang Mansion, and if you go further north, there will be only the desolate Gobi wasteland, and no people will live until Yushi Pass.Since the last repair, the horse and the people ran for three days in a row, and they only rested for less than three hours every night. Now the people and horses are very tired, so He Jue ordered a temporary rest for an hour.

"How much longer?" He Jue asked Gao Shanying.He didn't want to disturb the people in the town, he just passed along the official road for a long time, and asked people to replenish some dry food and water, and fed the horses by the way.

Gao Shanying glanced at the sky, "There are about one or two hundred miles left. If the horses gallop fast and don't stop at night, we can arrive at Yushiguan before noon tomorrow."

This is done as quickly as possible, in the shortest possible time.

He Jue thought about it: "Go forward another fifty miles today, find a suitable place to set up camp, put the whole army on alert, and change the number of sentry patrols twice as much as the previous two days at night. Then go call the door and wait until you see the situation clearly."

"Yes." Gao Shanying agreed.

When night fell that day, He Jue stopped, and piles of bonfires were lit.Gao Shanying was going to set up a tent for He Jue, but He Jue said no, not every soldier has a share in such things as tents, and he is not a person who has experienced hardships. Others can spend the night wrapped in cotton clothes around the fire, so why should he cannot?

What's more, now that we have reached the border, in case of an emergency at night, the tent will only get in the way.

After a night of nothingness, the daylight slowly shone from the sky, and dewdrops condensed on the weeds on the ground. He Jue woke up from the extinguished bonfire, and the cold air hit his face.

He stood up and looked at the misty mountains and forests in the distance. The slowly rising sunlight made people feel completely new, as if a warm current emerged from the back of his head. The warm current seemed to be bathed by the strong sun, and his whole body Follow the warm ones.

This is his country, the territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty. If you don't think about the current situation of Yushiguan, it is not an exaggeration to describe the scenery in front of you as picturesque.

The world is so vast, and people are so small.

He Jue sighed deeply in his heart, at this moment, a group of black armored cavalry rushed out from the distant forest like a roar.

"Be alert!" Alpine Eagle hissed.

The Gyeonggi Guards were well-trained, and immediately raised their swords and straddled their horses, and surrounded He Jue in the crowd in a protective manner.

"Ready to fight!" Gao Shanying took the lead, pinching the horse's belly with his legs, the horse neighed, and accelerated forward. Behind him was also a group of hundreds of elite soldiers.

He Jue also got on his horse at this time, and sat on the horse's back, he could see farther away.

The two groups of soldiers and horses collided with each other. When the swords and soldiers met, the leader on the opposite side shouted loudly: "I am Pei Rong, the deputy general of Yushiguan. Are you the Jingji guard who guards the royal family?"

When Gao Shanying heard this, he immediately waved his hand and ordered to stop his actions, but he was still on guard with a knife, "I am Gao Shanying of Gyeonggi Guard!"

"The last general is here to pick you up, is your majesty here?" Pei Rong made a clasping ceremony.

Gao Shanying also returned the gift, did not say whether He Jue was there or not, but said: "Do you have an identity certificate?"

Pei Rong immediately handed out the commander's badge, and Gao Shanying checked it carefully and returned it to the other party, "General Pei, please follow me."

Lead by Gao Shanying, Pei Rong rode away from the team alone and came to the front of the guard He Jue.Gao Shanying stopped, got off his horse, Pei Rong also got off his horse, and the two of them walked through the surrounding Gyeonggi Guards.

A foot away in front of He Jue, Pei Rong made a plop and knelt down to salute, "I pay homage to Your Majesty!"

He kowtowed, then raised his head, there were two lines of tears on his face.

He Jue was startled and said, "Could it be that Yushiguan is lost again?"

Pei Rong shook his head, "No, I just haven't seen His Majesty for several years, so I was a little excited for a while."

He Jue called out quickly, Gao Shanying also went to help, Pei Rong wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and said with emotion: "Your Majesty, Bian Guan Erlang has been away from home for many years, and some people even returned home with a pair of bones. Minister, last time When I saw His Majesty, I returned to Beijing with General Ma three years ago to report on my duties. At that time, I only watched His Majesty from afar..."

Speaking of this, Pei Rong smiled, showing two rows of simple and honest big white teeth, "Your Majesty seems to have never changed, and I don't know what Xijing looks like now, does my son still remember what I look like?"

When He Jue heard these words, he felt a pang of pain in his heart, "On behalf of the people of Southern Tang Dynasty, I thank all the border officers and soldiers."

Pei Rong hurriedly said: "This is a matter within the rank and file of the minister."

He Jue got off his horse and approached Pei Rong. When he got closer, he saw that the young general's skin had been roughened by the wind and sand, and some places were chapped and peeled.

He patted the other person's shoulder with emotion, only touching the thick armor, and suddenly remembered the identity of this person, "Who is Ma Xianshou, uncle?"

Pei Rong nodded, "Yes, it's my uncle, Your Majesty still remembers it?"

"General Ma sacrificed his life for the country, and I and the people of the Southern Tang Dynasty will always remember it." He Jue said, "Who is the current master of Yushi Pass? How is the situation?"

"It's Brother Chen, Pei Xingge." Pei Rong replied, "Since the defeat of the Wolf Smoke Cavalry in the twelfth lunar month last year, he has never come to harass him. Now the pass is relatively stable, but His Majesty also knows that Commander Qi has been missing for more than a month. Now the Shadow Guard It has been more than half a month since the adults lost contact."

"More than half a month?" He Jue counted the time, "Is it because the last report said that after finding Qi Le's clue, he never came back?"

"Yes." Pei Rong nodded, talking about the situation that day, "Master Shadow Guard only brought a few dark guards out after he got the clue, but none of the soldiers. If you don’t listen, my brother even misunderstands that Lord Shadow Guard is stubborn and determined to go his own way.”

"He has always been so determined to go his own way." He Jue's expression was unclear, and he couldn't tell what emotion he was feeling.

Pei Rong paused, then continued: "Later, there was a dark guard surnamed Lin next to Lord Shadow Guard, who told my elder brother and me in private that it was extremely risky to go there, and it was very likely that he would not be able to come back. Secretary Xuanyi They can all be driven by Lord Shadow Guard, and they will risk their lives for His Majesty, but the soldiers of Yushiguan can't. If the enemy designs a trap to lure the tiger away from the mountain, then the Yushi Pass that has been fought so hard will be lost again."

"So he is in danger alone?" He Jue's tone suddenly turned a little cold.

Pei Rong couldn't tell what He Jue was thinking, so he fell silent for a moment.

He Jue sighed, knowing that Jin Jiuye was such a person, he was used to pushing himself into desperate situations, and then he fought bloody to get out of desperate situations.He always bears it silently, but never expresses it. His silence is often like a weight of ten thousand catties.

"Forget it, let's go to Yushi Pass first." After He Jue joined Pei Rong who was welcoming him, his original worries about the pass were greatly reduced, so he ordered everyone to move forward at full speed and head straight for Yushi Pass.

Pei Xingge, the general of Yushi Gate, led a group of generals to greet him outside the city gate. Among them were two generals who followed Jin Jiuye. When they saw He Jue coming, they burst into tears and almost cried on the ground hugging He Jue's thigh.

Although they didn't come here specifically to protect Jin Jiuye, they followed each other after all. Now they have lost the Lord Shadow Guard who is the favorite of the palace, and His Majesty came to look for it himself. The back of the knife's neck felt cold, and for a moment, he felt that the headless fly had a direction, and he also took a reassurance in his heart.As long as His Majesty is around, big things can be stabilized. If His Majesty can't, then what hope is there for Southern Tang?They might as well be buried together.

"Your Majesty, the most difficult thing at Yushiguan is not the Northern Qi wolf smoke cavalry who are staring at them like a tiger. At least they have not been seen for a long time in the past two months, which means that they also need to recuperate." Pei Xingge said to He Jue.

He Jue asked, "When did you disappear?"

Pei Xingge thought for a while, and then replied: "About the twelfth lunar month, Commander Qi led his ministers to fight back to Yushi Pass. When they retreated in the past few days, the scouts released could bring back some news. After that, no one saw it again. gone."

He Jue hummed, and Pei Xingge continued: "In Yichen's opinion, the most important thing now is to find the two adults. His Majesty came to the border in person, and that's probably why."

When he was writing the report that day, his hands were shaking, and he couldn't even read the handwriting, but at that time he had exhausted all he could, and even the scouts sent out for more than ten days couldn't find Lord Shadow Guard. Their whereabouts, they did not dare to go deep into the territory of Northern Qi, so they could only report to Xijing at the risk of offending the king's wrath.

"You just said that Qi Lezhi disappeared suddenly, right at Yushiguan?" He Jue asked suddenly, recalling the details of Pei Xingge's report.

Pei Xingge nodded, "Indeed."

"Then Jin Jiuye went out by himself and never got in touch again, right?"

"Yes." Pei Xingge didn't understand what He Jue wanted to confirm, but he answered truthfully.

"Actually, you reported Jin Jiuye missing because he never came back, not because there are other clues to prove it."

When Pei Xingge heard He Jue's words, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat, and quickly explained: "Your Majesty, I had to be cautious in the situation at that time, and I didn't intend to make a false report."

He Jue's expression was cold and calm, he couldn't see what was on his mind, he just said: "You don't have to worry, I understand your pressure, if you keep waiting, I'm afraid it will cause even bigger disasters, you are worried that you will be locked up with Yushi They can't afford it."

"Yes." Pei Xingge bowed his head.

He Jue didn't say anything else, maybe what he asked now was considered good news, at least it meant that Jin Jiuye hadn't really had an accident, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that He Jue stopped asking questions, Pei Xingge led the people into the city gate, followed by the accompanying soldiers, overwhelming the crowd.Then there were the sentry posts of the guards, and the Jingji Guard brought by He Jue. It seemed that the entire gate of the city was blocked by the wolf smoke cavalry again.

"Report! Urgent! Help, help!—" Someone behind him shouted hysterically, rushing into the crowd from nowhere, and immediately became noisy.

The Gyeonggi Guard reacted the fastest and stopped the man directly. He Jue turned to look, and found that the man was covered in blood, his feet were distorted, and he was dressed in black clothes with eagle patterns. He was a dark guard.

The dark guard also saw He Jue's appearance, and immediately rushed forward desperately, "Your Majesty, my subordinate...my subordinate is Xuanyi Si Lin Jiyuan!"

Jingji Wei was still blocking, the knife was out of the sheath and lay across Lin Jiyuan's body, but he rushed forward without pain, stretching out his bloody hand as if trying to grab He Jue.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty is here, right? Your Majesty, hurry up and save Lord Shadow Guard!"

He Jue immediately walked forward, waved back the blocking Jingji Wei, and everyone dispersed, Lin Jiyuan suddenly lost the strength he could rely on, he couldn't stand upright, and collapsed on the ground.

"Where is Jin Jiuye?" He Jue pinched the man's shoulder and asked while staring at him.

It was at this time that he realized that the Xuanyi saber in Lin Jiyuan's hand had been broken in half, leaving only a broken blade less than a foot away.

Lin Jiyuan gritted his teeth and supported himself to barely stand up. He looked at He Jue, his eyes seemed to see light.

"Your Majesty, Lord Shadow Guard is in Gourd Valley, and Wolf Smoke Cavalry is also in Gourd Valley..." He almost deceived the king and grabbed He Jue's sleeve, "Hurry up, Your Majesty, Lord Shadow Guard can't wait! There are too many The wolf smoke is riding, can't finish killing! The knife is cut off! The eyes are covered with blood, only a piece of red, can't see anything!"

Lin Jiyuan was so anxious and excited that he couldn't even say the words completely, let alone let people hear them clearly.Pei Xingge who was at the side hurriedly ordered someone to bring water, and let Lin Jiyuan take a sip to catch his breath and regain his senses.

He Jue stared at the man in front of him, his expression made people feel fierce and cruel, as if he wanted to eat people, but he tried his best to restrain himself.

"The subordinates, the subordinates escaped to report the news under the cover of Lord Shadow Guard. We separated in Calabash Valley." Lin Jiyuan began to explain the information, still not forgetting to emphasize that he was almost begging everyone, "You have to go quickly, you You must hurry! Lord Shadow Guard won't last long!"

"In order to save Master Xiao Qi, he sneaked into the Sun Moon Temple. He came out at a place called King Ming Altar. When he came out, he alarmed those killers. The wolf smoke riders flocked to him. I saw that Lord Qi was shot by many arrows. It was too late to pull out the arrows when he fled. Broken arrow feathers..."

He Jue's heart was suffocated, he took a sharp breath, and tried his best to calmly ask: "Has Qi Lezhi been rescued?"

"We have been rescued. Except for Master Xiao Qi and Miss Bai, the rest of the people are protecting them. The Wolf Smoke Rider has been chasing them. We have fled with our people for a long time, maybe for several days..." Lin Jiyuan closed his eyes. He paused for a moment, as if unwilling to recall, "It was really impossible to get rid of it, so Lord Shadow Guard decided to lead the pursuers to Gourd Valley, and his subordinates went with Lord Shadow Guard, while Lord Xiao Qi and the others were captured by the rest of the dark guards." Take it to another place. You can find it along the north bank of the river, and you will definitely find it."

"Those people are like lunatics, they are not afraid of pain at all, and they will not stop even if they lose their arms or legs. Unless their heads are chopped off, Lord Shadow Guard will trade his own life..." Lin Jiyuan murmured, "He He even let me go, saying he was calling for reinforcements, but there were so many people surrounding him, he...he..."

Lin Jiyuan lowered his head, not daring to think or speak anymore.

He could only have anticipation and hope, and he could only believe that Jin Jiuye could last until this time, but he knew very well that he ran back from Calabash Valley for a whole day and night without stopping.

Can that man persist until now?Can you still persist until the rescuers from Yushiguan rush over?

He couldn't even think about whether it would be useful to move the rescuers and report back to Yushiguan. At the end of the flight, there was only an indelible obsession in his heart.Now that he saw He Jue, the obsession he had been desperately insisting on suddenly had no support and support. He realized that time was not enough at all, and Jin Jiuye just sent him back.Faced with such a dangerous situation, and in the Northern Qi Dynasty, that man may have only one way to die.

An uncontrollable fear filled his whole body, even though he didn't have a good spot all over his body, he still gritted his teeth and trekked for a day and a night, but up to now, he couldn't help biting his fists, trembling and crying out.

"Your Majesty, please save Lord Shadow Guard! I beg you to save Lord Shadow Guard!" Blood and tears slid down his face, and he raised his face, pinning all his hopes and desires on He Jue. Your Majesty.

He Jue's face was tense, and his eyes were red. He hardly spoke at the back, and it must have been patient for a long time before he could maintain his superficial calm.

Then he said solemnly: "Pei Xingge, take someone to search for Qi Lezhi in the lower reaches of the Beihe River! Gao Shanying, take all of Jingjiwei and go to Calabash Valley with me immediately!"

"Yes!" Gao Shanying replied.

Pei Xingge hesitated, "Your Majesty, you can't go to Calabash Valley. There are wolf smoke riding around. It's better to let the minister and General Gao lead the troops."

"You stop me?" He Jue looked at Pei Xingge fiercely.

Pei Xingge was terrified, but had no choice but to say: "Your Majesty, it's better to sit at Yushi Pass and wait for the news."

"Impossible!" He Jue vetoed it categorically, and pulled out his saber with a swipe. The blade of the sword gleamed coldly, and his voice was also cold and threatening.

"If you stop me and go to Calabash Valley but can't bring Jin Jiuye back, I will let you and all your soldiers be buried with Jin Jiuye!"

Pei Xingge flinched, and everyone present trembled.

"But if I go in person, I will only blame myself and resent myself, and will not implicate others!" He Jue closed his eyes and said in pain, "Which is more important, weigh it yourself!"

He has never been a wise king, but he used to restrain and suppress the evil and hatred in his heart, but now he is more aware that if he loses Jin Jiuye, he will go crazy.

Those evils and hatreds can no longer be suppressed.

His kindness and tolerance have always been given by Jin Jiuye. It was the man who carried all the darkness and karma for him, so that he could stand completely under the sun, and that made him keep telling himself not to let down the other party's efforts, and to do a good job. A wise and diligent monarch who loves the people.

Jin Jiuye is his little fairy, and he will personally take him home.