On a little-known hill twenty miles northwest of Shangyong Imperial City, there are several solitary tombs standing in the valley toward the northwest.

There was only a tablet erected in front of the grave, but it was empty and had nothing written on it.

Over the years, the monument has been eroded by wind and rain, losing its original edges and corners. There is a light moss creeping up from the bottom.

Maybe people have passed by this place frequently over the years, and they would be curious when they saw these solitary graves. No one would have thought that buried here would be Cui Liao, the famous general of Dingyuan, who was famous at that time, and his family.

Cui Liao was one of the first generals to follow Emperor Gaozu back then. In terms of seniority, he was much older than Luo Yun today. In terms of military exploits, although he was not as good as Luo Yun, he was still about the same.

The most important thing is that his adopted son and son-in-law, Yu Chen, was better than his master. He was hailed as the next generation of battlefield wizards after Luo Yun.

At that time, Luo Yun alone led the army to wipe out the southwest, and the Zhenguo Army in charge of the northwest had just been taken over by Yu Chen, who was only 27 years old, from Cui Liao, who was unable to go to the battlefield due to injury.

At that time, Xie Yan was still a young general who had not yet reached the rank of crown. Although he had also made great achievements and was already in charge of the personal guard at the side of the late emperor, he was still different from Yu Chen, who was in charge of more than 300,000 national troops at the age of twenty-seven.

And words.

However, just half a year after Yu Chen took charge of the Zhenguo Army, in the last critical battle of the Northwest Campaign, Yu Chen surrendered to the enemy on the battlefield, almost leading the more than 300,000 Zhenguo Army into the siege of the remnants of the Bai family and the Qi people.

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After General Cui Liao discovered that something was wrong, he forcibly dragged the sick body and led his troops to the rescue. He was trapped in an encirclement and fought and died.

Although Luo Yun and Xie Yan heard the news and hurriedly led troops to rescue from two sides, Luo Yun was far away in the southwest mountains and the roads were far away. Xie Yan only had 50,000 personal guards in hand. It took more than a month to finally break out of the siege.

There were less than 180,000 Zhenguo troops left out of the tens of thousands.

Among them, 40,000 to 50,000 people followed Yu Shen and surrendered to the enemy, and nearly 100,000 people were all killed in the battle. This battle caused heavy losses to Da Sheng. The plan that could have wiped out the remaining forces of the Bai family entrenched in the northwest and stubbornly resisted was also failed. At the same time, it was the first time for the late emperor four years later.

After his death, the Qi people took the opportunity to invade Dasheng again and laid the groundwork.

If you fail in one battle, you can try again next time. At that time, the biggest blow to the Zhenguo Army and even Dasheng was Yu Shen's surrender to the enemy.

One of the top generals in Dasheng only needed a few more battles before the Zhenguo Army commander, who was almost as famous as Luo Yun, surrendered to the enemy. This was an almost fatal blow to the Zhenguo Army at that time.

For a time, the entire army was distraught and rumors spread.

There were even some who escaped. The generals who had a good relationship with Yu Chen could not accept the casualties of their own soldiers and committed suicide due to guilt. At that time, the government and the public unanimously asked the late emperor to depose the Zhenguo Army and reorganize a new army.

At that time, it had only been two years since the death of Emperor Gaozu. The foundation of the late emperor was not stable, and Dasheng could no longer withstand the slightest storm.

At that time, Xie Yan, who had just turned 20, was parachuted into the Suppressing Army by an order from the late emperor, and became the general of the Suppressing Army.

No one paid much attention to this matter at that time. In everyone's opinion, the Zhenguo Army was about to collapse. Even if a young man of only twenty years old fought again and became a general with great achievements, it would only accelerate the pace of the Zhenguo Army's annihilation.

Unexpectedly, Xie Yan led a group of generals who were about the same age as him or even younger than him, and it only took two or three years for the Zhenguo Army to gradually stabilize.

In the year when the late emperor passed away, Xie Yan led his army to attack thousands of miles and put down the rebellion of the three kings with lightning speed. He then returned to the border at an extremely fast speed, and within a few months he pushed the invading Qi people back to the border.

Only then did the Zhenguo Army really stand up again.

Afterwards, Xie Yan recovered Cui Liao's body from the rebels. Along with his body was a last note written in blood.

Cui Liao wrote in his final letter: He did not know people well enough that the Zhenguo army suffered such a disaster, and he had no face to face the world. Even if he was cut into pieces by five horses, his bones and ashes were thrown away, he could not atone for this crime. He only asked your Majesty to spare the lives of his wife, children, and children.

At that time, the government and the public had indeed made numerous criticisms against Cui Liao. After Cui Liao's wife heard that her son-in-law had defected to the enemy and her husband had disappeared, she fell ill and returned to the west within a few days. I am afraid she died a few days earlier than Cui Liao.

Cui Liao also had a son who was originally a captain by Yu Chen's side. After Yu Chen surrendered to the enemy, his whereabouts are unknown, and he was probably killed secretly by Yu Chen.

In the end, there was only one daughter left, Yu Chen's wife, who was nineteen years old and named Cui Wanyu.

Xie Yan secretly brought back Cui Liao's body and last letter. The late emperor stayed up all night and finally just sighed and ordered people to take Cui Liao's body back to Shangyong and bury it quietly with Mrs. Cui.

It was announced to the public that Miss Cui Wanyu of the Cui family was ashamed of her surname and had committed suicide and followed her parents.

This is half true and half false. The lie is that Cui Wanyu committed suicide.

It is true that from now on there will be no Cui Wanyu in the world, only Cui Zheyu.

Yu Chen is a tall middle-aged man. Although he almost single-handedly destroyed half of Da Sheng's troops and has remained unknown for nearly ten years, he is actually only thirty-six years old this year.

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His appearance is not very outstanding, there is not much expression on his face, his eyes are deep and silent, and he seems to be a taciturn person.

If it weren't for that aura that made him look unusual, just looking at his appearance would almost make people think that he was just an ordinary northern man.

At this time, Yu Chen was wearing black clothes and was accompanied by seven or eight people. Two of them could be identified as being from the Qi tribe at a glance, but the rest all looked like people from the Central Plains.

They stood in front of the four lonely graves, looking down at the empty tombstones in front of the graves in silence.

Although it is an isolated tomb, the surrounding area is very clean, and it is obviously taken care of by someone.

The two men standing closest to Yu Chen looked about the same age as him, and they looked down at the lonely graves with complicated expressions.

They are all former generals of the Zhenguo Army who followed Yu Chen to the enemy. This means that the people lying in this lonely grave were once their superiors and colleagues.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The atmosphere in front of the grave was a bit solemn, and Yu Chen looked down at the tombstone without speaking for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, the two Qi people standing aside became obviously impatient.

After all, they were in Shangyong. Isn't there something wrong with them going to such a wilderness to look at a few lonely graves for no reason?

However, although Yu Chen was from the Central Plains, he was deeply trusted and valued by Mrs. Rong, and his status among the Qi people was not ordinary. Although the two Qi people were impatient, they did not say anything more.

Yu Chen suddenly knelt on one knee in front of the grave and reached out to pull out a clump of dead grass beside the tombstone.

Just when his hand was about to touch the withered grass, there was a whoosh and an arrow shot from the side.

"..." If he hadn't stopped quickly, the arrow would have nailed his palm to the tombstone.

People around him immediately became alert and gathered around Yu Chen.

Yu Chen stood up and looked in the direction where the arrow was shot.

On the other side of the hillside, I saw a woman in black walking towards this side holding a bow and arrow. Behind her was a young general wearing the armored uniform of a general of the Zhenguo Army.

As they walked towards this side, there were many figures moving down the hillside, and there was a faint flash of silver light in the hidden place.

That's the arrowhead of the feather arrow.

"General, we are surrounded." The general following Yu Chen whispered.

Yu Chen was not in a hurry. He raised his head and looked at the man and woman walking this way.

When his eyes fell on the woman, his eyes were a little dazed for a moment.

The woman was beautiful, but she no longer looked the same as he remembered.

The woman who was once elegant and slightly playful now has a frosty look on her face.

She was dressed in black, with her long hair gently pulled back, without any accessories except for a white flower in her hair.

Her face was painted with makeup, her brows were slightly raised, her red lips were like blood, and she was walking on the mountain path with a bow in hand, making people inexplicably feel that she was a lustful ghost who came to seek life.

Obviously he was not the only one who felt this way. The man standing on his left couldn't help but take a step back and whispered: "Eldest...eldest lady..."

"Wanyu." Yu Chen looked at Cui Zheyu for a long time and then said softly.

Cui Zheyu stood a few feet away from them and said coldly: "Where is Cui Wanyu?"

Yu Chen glanced sideways at the four solitary graves, and quickly turned his gaze back to Cui Zheyu, obviously not taking her words seriously.

A slight smile appeared on Cui Zheyu's lips, and her brows became a little more charming, "You don't believe it? If you don't believe it, you'll know if you dig it out and take a look."

Yu Chen shook his head and said, "You are Wanyu." Although it's nothing like her.

Cui Zheyu chuckled and ignored her.

Gu Jue, who was standing behind Cui Zheyu, said in a deep voice: "Yu Chen, what do you want to do?"

Yu Chen looked at Gu Jue and frowned slightly, "Who are you?"

The person standing next to Yu Chen said in a low voice: "He is the Zhenxi General Gu Jue, the commander-in-chief of the Western Army of the Zhenguo Army."

Yu Chen looked at Gu Jue for a while and then said: "I have never seen you among Xie Yan's men." Since surrendering to the enemy, Yu Chen and his soldiers and horses occasionally fought against the Dingguo army several times, but they did not

I met the Zhenguo Army.

Perhaps Bai Jingrong and Ji Sui were also worried that Yu Chen's men would lose their sense of caution or defect again when encountering the Zhenguo Army.

Therefore, Yu Chen has indeed never seen the new generation of generals in the Zhenguo Army.

He and Xie Yan knew each other well. In the past, Xie Yan was Gaozu's nephew, and after Gaozu's death, he was the late emperor's most relied-upon and trusted brother. Naturally, the two of them had to deal with each other, and they even fought against each other.

The National Army stayed for a while.

Gu Jue said coldly: "A traitor is worthy of mentioning the prince's name."

Yu Chen twitched the corner of his mouth slightly and did not defend himself.

"I just want to pay homage to my old friend and don't want to cause trouble," Yu Chen said.

Gu Jue sneered, "To pay homage to an old friend? Your head is a suitable sacrifice." He raised his hand, and the soldiers and horses of the Zhenguo Army hidden in the darkness poured out from all sides, and hundreds of feather arrows surrounded them.

Surround.

Yu Chen glanced around and didn't seem to be in a hurry.

He was not in a hurry, but someone else was. One of the two Qi people stood up and said, "We are envoys of the Qi people. What do you mean by being prosperous? Do you want to assassinate the envoy?"

"Whoosh!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Zheyu raised his hand and shot an arrow right into his heart.
To be continued...