Zhu Nao

In the afternoon three days later, Xie Wuji finally led the army back to Fu County.

It can be said that he has won a complete victory this time, annihilating nearly [-] cult troops, capturing the camp of the cult troops, and confiscating a lot of money and food.Not only that, but he also captured thousands of people from the Qingyang Army.

——At that time, the Qingyang Army set up an ambush in the woods, preparing to cooperate with the Cult Army.Once Xie Wuji's army was ambushed at the foot of the mountain, they would pass by the forest when fleeing in a hurry.At that time, the Qingyang army would rush out from the woods and intercept the remnants of the fleeing Xie family army.

In the end, Xie Wuji's army did pass by the edge of the woods, but it was not a remnant of ambush at all, but a mighty and well-equipped army!This was completely different from what was expected. The soldiers of the Qingyang Army were all dumbfounded and didn't know what to do, so they could only hide in the woods obediently and did not dare to move.This hide, hide the time of two sticks of incense.After two sticks of incense, the Xie family's army leisurely surrounded the woods, and not a single mouse could escape.

The person in charge of the Qingyang Army is also aware of the current affairs, so he took a look at the situation: yes, what else is there to fight?Honestly led the troops to surrender, and did not let Xie Wuji waste a single soldier.

After Xie Wuji finished counting the war profits and prisoners, he sent another elite army to Qingyang, and then he went back to the manor in a calm manner.

……

The army returned to the camp in Fu County, Xie Wuji was walking behind the army, and was commanding the entire army to march.Suddenly, the team walking ahead stopped for some reason.At the same time, a burst of excited cheers erupted from the front!

Because of the distance, Xie Wuji didn't know what happened in front of him, and the soldiers around him stretched their necks to look around.

"What's going on, what's going on? Why did it stop?"

"I don't know? What are they shouting about?"

The soldiers talked a lot.

Xie Wuji was about to send a messenger to the front to see what happened, but before he could utter the order, he suddenly had a thought and had a premonition.So he hurriedly said to Wu Cong: "You are here to command." Then he left the brigade and galloped forward by himself.

Passing through the crowd and coming to the entrance of the barracks, Xie Wuji finally heard what the soldiers were cheering: "The Shu army has arrived! The Shu army has arrived!!"

He took a closer look, and saw that in addition to the soldiers staying behind in the barracks, there were indeed many soldiers wearing Shu army uniforms!

Since the last time the Yanzhou soldiers separated from the Shu army and went north, they were full of anger because of the arrogance of the cult and the fall of Yanzhou.Seeing the soldiers of the Shu army now, I feel the joy of reuniting with my fellow countrymen after a long absence, and I don't care about the formation immediately.The excited soldiers found their acquaintances one after another, hugging, cheering, and reminiscing about the old days... People huddled together at the gate of the barracks, blocking the road, which caused the army to stop advancing.

The soldiers were not the only ones who were excited.

When Xie Wuji saw the "Shu" flag and the "Xie" flag flying side by side in the barracks, he was like a small boat cleaving the waves in the turbulent waves for a long time. But finally there is a long-lost sense of peace.There was a smile in his eyes, he kicked the horse's belly, and continued to drive in.

When the soldiers saw Xie Wuji approaching, they hurriedly moved out of the way.

There are not many soldiers of the Shu army in the barracks, and it seems that they are just a vanguard.Xie Wuji asked: "Who is your leader?"

The soldiers hurriedly said: "It is the army led by Governor Zhu himself!"

Xie Wuji raised his eyebrows, slowed his breathing a few beats, and asked, "Where is he now?"

The soldiers quickly pointed in the direction of the barracks.

Xie Wuji looked around, saw an officer nearby, immediately called the officer, and ordered him to preside over the order at the gate of the barracks.Then he pulled the rein of the horse, and the fast horse drove towards the depths.

Not long after, he rode outside the yard, jumped off his horse, and was about to walk in quickly, when the people in the yard happened to hear the movement outside and came out from inside.

Looking at each other, the noise and cheers in the barracks receded like a tide in an instant, leaving only the delicate and melodious sound of the breeze blowing the bushes.

Xie Wuji stood still, looked at the people in the courtyard for a moment, his tense shoulders relaxed.

He smiled faintly, and said, "Master Zhu, long time no see."

When he heard that Shizhou had fallen, he never doubted that Zhu Nao could solve the crisis smoothly.But he didn't expect that Zhu Nao could solve it so quickly and smoothly.Originally, he only hoped that Zhu Nao would send a few capable people to help him, after all the situation in the north was so chaotic and dangerous.But he didn't expect that Zhu Nao would leave everything behind and come in person, even so quickly.

During this period of time, all his troubles and bewilderment disappeared the moment he saw Junao.

"General Xie, am I late?" Zhu Nao asked with a smile.Seeing Xie Wuji's vigorous appearance, he already knew the answer.

"No, not too late. You came just in time."

Xie Wuji had a lot to say, and when he was thinking about where to start, Zhu Nao's eyes wandered on his face for a moment, moved downstream, and finally landed on his waist, shaking his head slightly: "General Xie seems to be Thinner."

After a pause, he continued, "Of course, General Xie is still extremely handsome."

After a pause, he smiled, "But it would be better if you weren't so thin."

Xie Wuji: "..."

The corner of his mouth twitched.The chaotic mood gradually calmed down, and a trace of inexplicable emotions finally turned into a touch of helplessness in the eyes.

He said lightly: "With Governor Zhu helping me to share my worries, I will be more thoughtful about eating and drinking from now on, and I will not lose weight anymore."

……

Not long after, with the efforts of Wu Cong and others, the order in the barracks was finally restored.The soldiers who returned from victory returned to the camp to rest, the prisoners were imprisoned, and the spoils of war began to be counted and put into storage.

Zhu Nao and Xie Wuji went into the courtyard and sat down. Xie Wuji began to tell Zhu Nao about the victory he just won and the current situation in Fuxian, Yanzhou and Qingyang.

……

After half an hour.

"So, the captives you brought back are all from the Qingyang Army?" Zhu Nao asked, "Then the Marquis of Qingyang colluded with the cult, how do you plan to deal with him?"

Xie Wuji said: "If you ask me, I will behead him, and hang his head on the city gate for seven or forty-nine days, as a warning to others."

Eyes drooping, he said again: "If you have a better way, then I will listen to you."

Standing behind the two, Wu Cong and Jing Zhe almost stared out their eyes; is this Xie Wuji who turned against Zhu Nao a while ago because of a Han Feng? ?

Jing Zhe immediately cast a questioning look at Wu Cong: What medicine did your general take wrongly?Why did it suddenly change?

Wu Cong's expression was indescribable.Who knows?Maybe it's to make the cult angry...

On the contrary, Zhu Nao thought about it for a while, but there was no contrary opinion: "Since the matter has come to this point, let's do it this way."

The implication is that if the Marquis of Qingyang hadn't reached the point of sending troops to unite with cults to set up an ambush for Xie Wuji, he might have done something differently.But since things were like this, it would be best to do as Xie Wuji wanted.

Regardless of what Qingyanghou's crimes are, this time is different from Han Fengxian's.Xie Wuji also said that his main purpose of beheading Marquis Qingyang was to serve as a warning to others.Now that the situation is so severe, Marquis Qingyang is not the only one under the threat of cults.If they treat Qing Yanghou leniently, then all neutral forces may turn to the cult in the future. After all, the methods of the cult are more brutal. If you are in danger, you should first succumb to the cult and save your own life.The big deal is to wait for the wind to turn before changing positions.

Only when they dealt with the Marquis of Qingyang harshly and warned the world, those neutral forces saw that since it was death horizontally and vertically, and they couldn't escape, they could rise up and resist, instead of trying to protect their safety for a while. Help the evildoer.

Seeing Zhu Nao's agreement, Xie Wuji raised his eyes again: "Okay, then do this."

Zhu Nao asked again: "Qingyanghou's daughter is also here with you? Where is she now?"

"In prison."

"What are you going to do with her?"

Xie Wuji didn't answer this question.He was silent for a moment and asked, "What do you think?"

Zhu Nao said, "Then let me meet her."

Xie Wuji was taken aback for a moment, didn't say much, just turned his head to give Wu Cong some instructions, and Wu Cong was going to go out to make arrangements immediately.

But Zhu Nao stopped Wu Cong: "Wait a minute. I will see her again after the death of Marquis Qingyang."

Wu Cong froze for a moment, then cast his gaze at Xie Wuji.Xie Wuji nodded to him, and Wu Cong went out to give orders.

=====

There are temporary prisons in the military camps in Fu County, which are used to detain prisoners and soldiers who violate military orders.Zhu Jiao was imprisoned in it.When she was taken out of the prison, she had been locked up for more than ten days.

During the first three to five days of being locked up, Zhu Jiao was very emotional.She was afraid that Xie Wuji would lose to the cult, and she was also afraid that Xie Wuji would be unfavorable to her family, so she would cry and make a fuss from time to time, throwing herself around and asking the soldiers guarding her to let her out.

But after a few days of being incapacitated, she couldn't make a fuss anymore, so she started crying secretly for a while, sometimes praying indiscriminately when she was in a hurry, and sometimes she was numb and didn't think about anything.

When she was brought out of the prison, she panicked, worried that Xie Wuji was planning to kill her.She wanted to struggle, but suddenly thought that perhaps it would be better to die like this, so she stopped struggling.

Confused like this, Zhu Jiao was brought into a courtyard.

She looked at this place, which didn't look like a place for execution, and felt very at a loss.The guards escorted her to the door of the room and let go: "Miss Zhu, please go in."

Zhu Jiao hesitated for a moment, then walked in nervously.

Inside the house, a fair-looking young man was sitting at the table waiting, and beside him stood a handsome young man who looked like a young man's guard.Zhu Jiao had never seen these two before, and looked at them anxiously.Because the young man looked very kind, she didn't feel as bad as being brought out of prison.

The young man was very relaxed, resting his chin on one hand, looked at Zhu Jiao with great interest, and then said with a smile: "Since you are the daughter of the Marquis of Qingyang, considering your seniority, I should call you cousin." yes."

Zhu Jiao was startled: "What, what?"

At first she thought this was someone from a powerful family. After all, there are many relatives in the royal family. Any noble family with a name and surname in the world can be regarded as a cousin with a face of three thousand miles.And she was dizzy when she recognized her relatives since she was a child, anyway, she just came to recognize one by one.

But after a while, she realized that this person just said "cousin", not "cousin", that is to say, at least the person's surname is Zhu.In Xie Wuji's military camp, the surname Zhu...

She jumped back abruptly, and pointed at Zhu Nao like a ghost: "You, you, you are Chengdu Yin?!"

Zhu Nao nodded with a smile: "Cousin calls me cousin."

Zhu Jiao: "..."

Rao, she had heard from Xie Wuji that Zhu Nao was heading north, but in the past two years, she had heard too many rumors that were true or false, and she could no longer distinguish whether it was true or not.Is this really Junao?Junao actually came? ?

Confused, Jing Zhe has already stepped forward with a chair.Zhu Jiao sat down blankly.

Zhu Nao really seemed to regard Zhu Jiao as his younger sister, and began to care about her body.After being imprisoned for the past few days, Zhu Jiao hadn't bathed, couldn't eat, and couldn't sleep well.The little girl who was supposed to be as beautiful as a flower was now unkempt and sallow.Not only that, but in order to be released, she hit her head against the wall a few times while Sapo was crying. Although the wound was not deep, it was covered with scabs of blood, which looked scary.

Zhu Nao asked her a few words, then turned his head and told Jing Zhe to send someone to prepare bath and food for Zhu Jiao.

Zhu Nao's friendly attitude made Zhu Jiao gradually wake up from the chaos.Only then did she remember what happened before she was imprisoned, and with a quick wit, she rushed towards Zhu Nao: "Chengdu Yin...Cousin, cousin! Qingyang, how is Qingyang now?"

So many days had passed, she had no idea what was going on outside.

"Cousin, don't worry," Zhu Nao said with a smile, "The evil cult army has been wiped out, Qingyang is very peaceful now."

Zhu Jiao breathed a sigh of relief.Qingyang Taiping, it seems that the matter has been resolved satisfactorily.But how was it solved?

She was about to ask a question, but Zhu Nao continued: "Uncle has confessed to the law for colluding with a cult. Auntie is fine."

Zhu Jiao: "..."

His tone was too peaceful, as if he was saying that he ate a pancake for lunch and a steamed bun in the morning.Zhu Jiao was stunned for a while before realizing that the uncle he was talking about was referring to her father, Zhu Yue.She was stunned for a moment, with her mouth half-opened, unable to find the right emotion.

After a long while, she moved her lips in disbelief: "You mean... my father... is dead?"

"Yes."

"……real?"

"real."

Zhu Jiao was still sluggish.She had actually thought about this possibility during the few days she was detained, but when she actually heard it, she felt that the news came too suddenly and it was unbelievable for a long time.

——It's not that she really didn't believe it, she knew Junao wouldn't joke about it with her.It's just that she doesn't know how she should react.

She felt that she should be sad, should be angry, and should be in pain, but she had to work hard to find a little bit of anger.

"Xie Wuji..." she tremblingly said, "It was Xie Wuji who sent my father..."

When her emotions finally began to gradually return, Junao made another unexpected move—he suddenly pulled out an abacus from under the table.

Zhu Jiao: "..."

Zhu Nao unhurriedly dialed the abacus and said, "I don't know if my cousin is clear, but according to the account books seized from the Qingyang Mansion, my uncle has donated a total of 500 shi to Xuantian's education this year, silver, copper coins, Jade and other coins total 6000 taels. This is the total amount of taxes paid by more than [-] households in Qingyang for five years. The money and food are enough to support [-] heretics for a whole year. Don't do any work, just kill, rob, and preach."

He raised his eyes, his expression still gentle: "Cousin, have you ever calculated, how many people can these [-] cultists kill in a year? How many things can they rob?"

Zhu Jiao was dumbfounded.

She knew that Zhu Yue adopted a policy of appeasement this year, and secretly gave the cult a lot of money and food, so that the treasury was empty, and the food and clothing of everyone in the family changed from extravagant to extremely frugal.But she still didn't feel that Zhu Yue made a big mistake - it was because of helplessness and being bewitched by others!

She was still angry that Xie Wuji didn't give her a chance to stop everything: "Xie Wuji, he..."

Before he finished speaking, Jun Nao interrupted him gently: "I have known General Xie for many years, and I thought General Xie was a cold-blooded and heartless person, but this time I really want to thank General Xie."

"What, what?"

"This time, because my uncle teamed up with the cult, he sent five thousand soldiers to ambush General Xie. The five thousand soldiers didn't know that their uncle ordered them to be pawns for the cult -- and these five thousand soldiers came from Qingyang. There were five thousand households, and these people knew nothing about it. When the news came back to Qingyang, there was a riot in Qingyang, and the angry people set fire to the Hou's mansion, and even rushed into the Hou's mansion to kill people to vent their anger."

Zhu Jiao was terrified when she heard that, her heart was clenched together.

Zhu Nao continued: "Fortunately, General Xie's men arrived in time and beheaded my uncle in public, quelling the anger of the people, and then saved my aunt and others. To appease the hearts of the people, my uncle's head will be placed on the city gate It will be hung for 49 days on July 49. After [-] days, I will bury it with honor."

Zhu Jiao was stunned again.

She originally hated Xie Wuji, but Zhu Nao's words shattered her original position.She suddenly became at a loss again, she couldn't find the right emotion, she couldn't find what she wanted to say, and she couldn't find where she came from and where she was going...

Junao didn't say any more.He turned his head and ordered a few more words, and then asked Zhu Jiao to be taken down to take a shower and change clothes.