Yangkou Village may not seem big, but as a military stronghold, there are many barracks in the village.
Previously, in order to repair the border wall, a semi-permanent prison camp was built next to the fort, which could accommodate troops and horses temporarily.
Tang Pan, Xu Xin'an, Yin Peng, and Tang Qing were specifically responsible for leading the troops.
Zhu Hang could handle the situation on his own. In addition to taking Xu Wukun with him so that he could call Xu Wukun to deliver messages when he needed to mobilize manpower, he was afraid that Xu Huai would cause trouble for him, so he just told him to rest.
Xu Huai was also at ease, holding Xiao Yanhan's hand and walking into the temporary single house arranged for him.
The single house has earth walls and a thick wooden roof, and is low and gloomy. In addition to a simple wooden bed, a square table by the small window, and a long wooden bench, there is a pile of hay in the corner.
Although there are several clusters of houses in Yangkou Village, Xu Huai, as a low-level military official with the rank of general, is not qualified to enjoy them. Xiao Yanhan walked to the low window, and outside was the towering wall of Yangkou Village. There were many defenders on the wall, and there were soldiers patrolling the alleys in front of the houses and the village wall.
Xiao Yanhan turned around and sat at the table and asked Xu Huai: "Where is Chen Zixiao?"
She had not seen Chen Zixiao since she was tied up and left Kelan City.
Although she could understand Xu Huai's intention of detaining her and Chen Zixiao separately, she could not figure out many things without seeing Chen Zixiao. Even at this time, she was still not sure whether all this was a conspiracy between Chen Zixiao and Xu Huai. A trap to lure her.
"Being imprisoned in the room diagonally opposite," Xu Huai took off his sword and armor, threw them on the square table, and said, "Chen Zixiao will be honest only if you fall into our hands. You'd better be honest with me. Don’t bring it upon yourself.”
Xiao Yanhan raised her hands, and her hands were still tied tightly with ropes.
How could Xu Huai loosen her bonds?
Xu Wukun gently knocked on the door, motioned for Xu Huai to walk over, and whispered: "Lao Wu must have noticed that we are speeding up our journey. They will leave Yangkou Village an hour earlier than planned, and they will be able to sneak into Datong early tomorrow morning at the latest."
Xu Huai nodded and asked Xu Wukun to seize the time to rest. He still needs to recharge his batteries now. The time when he really needs to be a hundred times more energetic will be after Datong City.
Xu Huai closed the door. The window was too small, and it was blocked by a wall not far outside. The light in the room suddenly dimmed.
Xu Huai saw that Xiao Yanhan had curled up on the haystack in the corner and said, "Stand up."
"What do you want to do?" Xiao Yanhan stood up pretending to be panicked, huddled in the corner and stared at Xu Huai and asked.
"Do you really think I would be stupid enough to put the saber under my breastplate instead of putting all the knives where they can be seen at a glance?" Xu Huai said coldly, reaching out to grab her while she was still tied up. He grabbed her hands and suddenly yanked her and threw her down on the haystack. He knelt on her back with one knee to prevent her from moving, and then searched her body.
Xiao Yanhan has tall breasts. In order to hide this feature, Xu Huai specially gave her a large armor.
The pouch knife was only slightly longer than the dagger. Xiao Yanhan had to hide the pouch knife from falling out of her empty armor, so she could only stuff it into her corset.
Xiao Yanhan was very skilled, but she was hostile and decisive. Of course Xu Huai didn't dare to be careless. He first searched her waist, opened her outer armor, and reached into her short coat. It was unbelievable that the touch was so delicate. , it was a pity that the knife was not found; then he tore off the belt and put his right hand against her round buttocks, searching for the inner thigh where it was easiest to hide the short blade.
"You bastard, if you dare to insult me, I will chop you to death!" Xiao Yanhan cursed through gritted teeth.
In addition to the surprisingly delicate feel, I still couldn't feel the capsule knife on the inner thigh.
Xu Huai did not dare to let go of Xiao Yanhan, and searched her forward from under her armpits, not missing any suspicious inch. Finally, he touched her chest and searched for the bag knife.
Waves of strange and strange numbness made Xiao Yanhan panic. She didn't know what it felt like. She didn't wake up until Xu Huai took the bag knife and stood up. She stared at Xu Huai's right hand fiercely, thinking that she must
Cut off the dog's paw and feed it to the dog.
"Kneel down!" Xu Huai pulled Xiao Yanhan's upper body up again and asked her to kneel on the haystack with her back to him.
"What are you going to do?" Xiao Yanhan turned her head and asked when she saw Xu Huai taking out a rope more than two feet long from his luggage.
Xiao Yanhan was one of the few bargaining chips in his hand. Xu Huai was worried that long-term binding would hurt her, but Xiao Yanhan was too restless. At this time, he folded the rope in half and tied it first according to the picture that flashed in his mind.
Xiao Yanhan's rather slender neck, the long folded ropes were tied in knots on Xiao Yanhan's clavicle, chest and other parts; then the folded ropes were wrapped from the crotch to the back and tied again; the rope was threaded through the neck
Afterwards, the long ropes were folded in half before being separated to the left and right, and then looped back to Xiao Yanhan's chest from the armpits on both sides, and finally formed a diamond-shaped rope network, binding Xiao Yanhan firmly, but not affecting the flow of Xiao Yanhan's blood.
Affects the recovery of whiplash.
Throwing the tied Xiao Yanhan into the haystack, Xu Huai put several knives and quivers on his pillow, then lay down and rest with his clothes on.
…………
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Going north along the Hui River, only fifty miles away is Shuozhou City.
Shuozhou borders Yingzhou to the east, Lanzhou to the south, and the remaining mountains of Yinshan to the west and north. The mountains are endless and the Hui River (Sanggan River) crosses it.
During the Warring States Period, Shuozhou belonged to the Zhao territory and was home to Mayi. Han and Tibetan people lived on both sides of the Huihe River and cultivated countless fertile fields. However, since it was captured by the Khitan, a large number of Han people fled to avoid border wars. The waterway of the Huihe River was unmanaged and blocked by siltation.
It was so serious that most of the dykes were washed away by frequent floods. The vast hectares of fertile farmland on both sides of the river bank that were once green and lush were almost all turned into pastures.
Standing at the head of Yangkou Village, you can often see bold farmers herding horses, driving herds of cattle and horses to graze in the vast pastures.
Xu Huai and the others rested in Yangkou Village until noon. After having lunch, they left Yangkou Village and walked eastward along the border wall. They changed into their Hu clothes in an uninhabited valley, rode their horses north, and rushed into Shuozhou City before nightfall.
.
At this time, Shuozhou City was built in the Northern Qi Dynasty and has been repaired in the past dynasties. It has been six hundred years since then. The city has a circumference of more than nine miles. The city walls are built with rammed earth and are more than four feet high. The city plate is six feet high and stands on
There is a kind of desolate majesty in the gentle slope valley between Heituo Mountain and Huihe River.
Seven hundred men and horses pretended to be Hu soldiers, and under the leadership of Cao Shili, they galloped into Shuozhou City without attracting any attention.
Although in the past two hundred years, the Khitan has been unremittingly migrating Khitan and other Tibetan tribes to the Yanyun states to strengthen control over the border areas.
There are also thousands of Tibetan tribes under the jurisdiction of Shuozhou, but they mainly live outside the city by the water, retaining traditional tribal customs. However, in Shuozhou City, the majority are Han people; look at the shops and houses among the streets and alleys.
The hurried pedestrians are very similar to Kelan City, where Han and Tibetan people live together.
Before entering Shuozhou City, Yue Hailou, Zhu Hang and others were in front of Cao Shili, while Xu Huai was far away from them.
However, after entering Shuozhou City, considering that Cao Shili would attract the attention of passers-by in the streets at close range, he only found some strong knights with beards and Hu Rong to surround Cao Shi.
Even though Yue Hailou, Zhu Hang and others all put on armor and their faces were covered by helmets, their faces looked very different from those of the barbarians, so they were hidden among the marching queues and headed towards the Governor's Mansion.
Xu Huai was very close to Yuehai Tower and Zhu Hang at this time. It could be seen that their hands were sweating after entering the city. Zhu Zhi's back was so stiff that Xu Huai even worried that he would fall off his horse.
Come down.
Although people's hearts are apart, Yue Hailou has had the most contact with the Cao brothers for the longest time, but he cannot completely conclude that Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili Nanfu are not a Khitan trick.
If there was a deception, seven or eight hundred of them had already entered Shuozhou City and would have become turtles in a urn - with such a small number of people, one could not hope to fight their way out of the siege that had been prepared for them.
Xu Huai curled his lips and lazily used his riding crop to drive away the small flying insects.
In his mind, Yue Hailou was considered a figure. Xu Huai thought that Yue Hailou had been in contact with the Cao brothers many times. He should have promoted the Nanfu incident. Even he was so unconfident. No wonder Ge
Boyi and others wanted the Cao brothers to massacre the Khitans and Tibetan people in Shuozhou City as proof.
And this lack of confidence is sometimes more fatal than shortsightedness.
At this time, Xu Huai suddenly thought that the Chihu people were going south, and Bianjing City might have surrendered without a fight, so that thousands of clan members and officials from the emperor down were captured and headed north; and those who were preparing to flee Nanyang from the south of Tongbai Mountain Road might be
King Qin's troops established a new emperor outside Bianjing City.
Xu Huai sighed softly and silently followed the team towards the governor's mansion.
Before entering Shuozhou City, Xiao Yanhan was untied. At this time, he was able to follow Xu Huai on his own horse, so he could naturally see everyone's expressions.
To be honest, it is very normal for ordinary generals to pretend to be enemy soldiers and break into the enemy's city. Their backs will stiffen and their palms will sweat. Like Tang Pan, Xu Xin'an and others are unavoidable.
Looking at the expressions of Zhu Hang, Yue Hailou and others, Xiao Yanhan could confirm that they were not completely sure or confident that there was no ambush in Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili, and Shuozhou City.
All this was as they expected in advance. The kings and ministers of Dayue had no confidence in Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili Nanfu. The most effective, simplest and fastest way to verify this was to force the Cao family brothers to massacre the Khitan people in order to have no escape - and that was the only way.
Only when the Vietnamese army retreated to Datong did they dare to cross over.
She followed Xu Huai all the way north, not only was she able to enter Yangkou Village, which was heavily controlled by the Tianxiong Army, and saw mountains of grain and fodder there; she also kept encountering other Tianxiong soldiers and horses along the way, and at this time she was sure that the Tianxiong Army had already
Be prepared to raid Datong and wait for the final verification of Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili.
At this moment she could also confirm that Chen Zixiao had not betrayed the Khitan and conspired with Xu Huai to deceive her.
Now that they have entered Shuozhou City, what else can Xu Huai and Chen Zixiao have to deceive her about.
As long as she doesn't try to escape anymore, it will be impossible for Xu Huai to spread false news through her!
If Xu Huai and Chen Zixiao wanted to expose their conspiracy, wouldn't it be more effective to persuade Ge Boyi to stop the plan to raid Datong and hand her over, or to prevent the death plan from succeeding beforehand?
She knows better than anyone what kind of corruption the Khitan has become, and the crises faced by Linhuang Mansion, Dading Mansion and other places in the heart of the Khitan.
She also knew how weak the defense of Xijing Road was, and she had no choice but to implement such a dangerous plan as a last-ditch effort.
Even when Kelan induced Tianxiong's army to massacre the people, she did not consider her own safety and refused to evacuate early. She was also mentally prepared to die in Lanzhou unfortunately.
When she was caught, she was extremely angry and even frightened, just because she was afraid that Chen Zixiao and Xu Huai would conspire to cut off the Khitan's last hope of struggle.
At this moment, the anger and fear disappeared like snow, and her mind calmed down. Looking at Xu Huai's young and even handsome face, there was only a touch of helplessness and sorrow.
There was no sense of urgency at all, and I looked at the street shops on the left and right with a sense of freedom.
She was suddenly very curious: According to Chen Zixiao, this guy is only seventeen years old. How could he see through all this and still face it all so calmly?
Of course, the anger and fear in her heart were not there, but thinking that this guy had molested her, she was so angry that she wanted to chop off his dog's paws.
