When Shilan first arrived, dusk arrived and the sun began to sink below the horizon.
By the time Shi Lan left, dusk had come to an end, and there was no longer a disk-like sun on the horizon, only the remaining dim light.
As she left the courtyard door, the remaining rays of the setting sun began to dissipate little by little, and the darkness of night fell.
Gu Xun sat in the yard, looking at the gradually darkening environment, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
Compared to other sword masters he chose, this Ice Soul Sword Master is really too immature.
Perhaps I shouldn't describe it as immature, but more accurately...too confused.
She had nothing in her heart except a goal that she thought was firm but was actually unattainable.
Of course, it is difficult to ask a half-year-old child to have a firm goal from the bottom of his heart and plan a direction for it and work hard to achieve it.
She hasn't reached the right age yet.
However, her own lack of firmness is destined to affect her progress in the Ice Soul Sword Technique.
Shi Lan is indeed very suitable for Ice Soul Sword, and Ice Soul Sword is also taking the initiative to get close to her, but it is difficult to get a sufficient and clear response.
I don't know if I can make her wake up a little bit after spending so much time talking.
But even if she couldn't think straight, Gu Xun didn't have the extra energy to teach the children.
Next, there are still many things to be busy with.
Tianming and the others are the protagonists and are destined to become influential figures in the world, but this has nothing to do with Gu Xun.
………………
A few days later.
The news of the defeat of the Hundred Battles Armor-Piercing Troops finally reached the central court and the ears of Ying Zheng who was on his eastward patrol.
Wang Li really wanted to hide it for a while, but without Luo Wang's full support and Zhang Han's shadow secret guards, the news would not be hidden for long.
What's more, the logistical equipment of the Hundred-War Armor-Piercing Soldiers has almost been lost, and the Empire must replenish this aspect as soon as possible.
Food, grass, ordnance cannot be conjured out of thin air. Once a large-scale flow occurs, it will be difficult to conceal the situation.
Except for Zhao Gao, who was responsible for reporting the incident at the time, and Ying Zheng himself, no third person knew His Majesty the First Emperor's first reaction to this incident.
But thinking about it, it won't be very peaceful...even if he is Ying Zheng.
The empire has not experienced such a disastrous defeat in a long time.
As the ace of the army, the armor-piercing soldiers of Hundreds of Battles suffered a close to one-to-one battle loss ratio with the enemy, and also lost almost all of their food, grass, baggage, ordnance and equipment.
In fact, this is a defeat, but the peasants lack the strength and are unable and unwilling to launch a counterattack, otherwise the casualties of the armor-piercing soldiers will increase significantly.
For the empire, attacking farmers is equivalent to attacking bandits, and cannot be considered a real war at all.
When calculating military merit, a peasant disciple's head cannot even be counted as a standard 'head'.
As a result, the ace army of the empire defeated a rogue bandit and achieved this kind of virtue.
It can be said that these were the only two major defeats of the empire in more than ten years, and the losses were second only to the last time Li Xin attacked Chu.
But Li Xin's defeat was based on Changping Jun's sudden rebellion and the Chu army's own strength.
Relying on Fusu to bring order to the rear in time, he did not suffer a disastrous defeat, but only lost 20,000 to 30,000 people.
In absolute terms, Li Xin's losses were greater, but considering the different nature of the army and the different strength of the enemy... perhaps Wang Li's defeat was the biggest defeat for the empire in more than ten years.
In short...Wang Li is worthy of being nailed to the pillar of shame.
And the impact of this defeat goes far beyond that.
Wang Li's defeat can be described as a shock to both the government and the public.
Needless to say, the court was shocked, but the key was the ripples it caused in the world.
The empire's tough policies have long aroused dissatisfaction among too many people.
Some forces chose to resist directly, some chose to plot secretly, and some chose to endure temporarily.
However, the vast majority of them hold a hostile attitude towards the empire.
The fact that Wang Li was defeated by the peasant family made everyone realize one thing - the empire was not invincible.
Although the Empire has only lost twice in the past ten years, a loss is a loss.
Of course, it's not like the whole country will turn against Wang Li because of his defeat, but people's hearts are indeed beginning to wander.
However, these have nothing to do with the people.
In a few days, the news of Wang Li's defeat did not spread widely among the people.
In fact, Wang Li's defeat was blocked by the court as soon as possible.
All powerful organizations that need to know know it, but the public is not allowed to spread it.
If there weren't too many forces behind it, probably only the people around Daze Mountain would know that the imperial army suffered such a huge defeat.
However, even when this incident began to spread throughout the country, people did not respond.
They are also dissatisfied with the empire, but as for the common people, as long as they are not about to die, they can't be expected to really vent their dissatisfaction.
They don't care whether the empire's army loses the battle, or even whether the empire dies.
They only care about whether they die or not.
Back to the topic.
Ying Zheng did not immediately issue a punishment to Wang Li, but only ordered him to rush to the East Patrol Team to report his work as soon as possible. He presumably planned to meet before making a decision.
However, what attracted attention was not that Wang Li was called to report on his duties, but that the armor-piercing soldiers did not withdraw.
They are still stationed on the outskirts of Daze Mountain, not knowing what their next move will be.
This can't help but make people a little daydreaming.
Ying Zheng ordered the armor-piercing soldiers to continue to garrison Daze Mountain. Could it be that he also planned to attack the farmers?
No one knows the answer.
In short, since the armor-piercing soldiers have not moved, it is impossible for the farmers to completely relax, and the situation in Daze Mountain is still tense.
………………
A camp of armor-piercing soldiers.
Wang Lizheng was arranging military affairs with Zhao Bu.
Wang Li also had a lot of doubts about the fact that Ying Zheng ordered the Hundred Battle Armor-Piercing Soldiers to continue stationing in the Daze Mountain area.
But he was not in the mood to ponder these issues now.
The worst that could happen would be to let the armor-piercing soldiers fight another battle with the peasants, which would be insignificant compared to the troubles that were about to come.
What Wang Li has to do now is to arrange his military affairs after leaving the camp so as not to cause any trouble again.
This matter is not troublesome. After all, it is the ace army of the empire. Even if people's hearts are a little shaken after just suffering a defeat, military discipline can still be guaranteed.
Even though it was a bit trivial, he arranged it with Zhao Bu and several other lieutenants for a long time before it was finished.
After arranging military affairs, he would rush to join the patrol convoy and meet with Ying Zheng to report on his duties...or to put it more bluntly, to receive his punishment.
Ying Zheng did not directly issue a punishment for him, which made Wang Li very uneasy, but he was also a little lucky.
Being called alone to be punished would definitely be more severe in theory, but his father, Tongwuhou Wang Bi, was also among the entourage of the patrol team, so he might be able to help him.
Of course, Wang Li had no idea about this.
Because after he sent the news of the defeat back through the channels of the Wang family, neither his grandfather Wang Jian nor his father Wang Bi gave him any response.
This is actually the normal behavior of the Wang family.
After Wang Jian and Wang Ben retired and returned home, they never asked anything about Wang Li.
This time the situation is much more serious, and it seems that there is no exception.
Wang Li understood what his elders did, but he couldn't fully understand it.
All he can do now is be prepared to bear all the consequences... Fortunately, he can do this.
Wang Li waved his hand and drove Zhao Bu and others away, and at the same time asked them to go down and prepare everything he needed for his departure.
Although Ying Zheng's order was for him to report his duties alone, Wang Li certainly couldn't really ride back alone.
There must be at least the necessary personal guards.
The entourage, horses and carriages, as well as food and grass supplies all need to be prepared and arranged.
Wang Li himself planned to take advantage of this moment to take a short rest.
He had barely had a good night's sleep in the past few days, and his whole body was as tight as a bowstring, until he received Ying Zheng's order not long ago.
After actually receiving the order, even if the knife hanging above his head did not fall completely, Wang Li still felt a lot more relaxed, and actually wanted to rest.
At this point, he didn't go to lie down, but sat in the large tent of the Chinese army, intending to sit down and close his eyes to rest for a while.
However, as soon as his eyes closed, Wang Li felt that there was someone else in the tent.
"Is it you?" As soon as Wang Li opened his eyes, he saw a man covered in armor. His brows subconsciously wrinkled at first, but then relaxed.
I was indeed so tired that I almost forgot the most important thing.
"It seems that the general is not living a very good life." Zhanri spoke first, with a mocking tone in his tone.
Wang Li looked at him expressionlessly, "Zhao Gao taught you so much nonsense? Where are the things?"
Zhan Ri snorted coldly, but did not continue arguing with Wang Li. He reached out and took out a box from behind and threw it to Wang Li.
Wang Li stretched out his hand, caught the box firmly, weighed it twice, and then said after confirming that the box was not empty:
"You didn't do any superfluous tricks behind my back, did you?"
Zhanri chuckled, "Of course, no."
"What this thing looked like when it was on the farm is what it looks like now, unchanged."
"It's best this way." Wang Li felt that Luo Wang would not plot against him in this matter, but he didn't really believe them either.
After Zhiri left, he had to check it himself.
Not only to see if Luo Wang had done any extra tricks, but also to see what Luo Wang had done before - he knew that Luo Wang had done something to the Stone of Fire, but he didn't know what Luo Wang had done.
After getting the Stone of Enlightenment, Wang Li felt a little more relaxed.
With this thing, I can still have some excuses when meeting the emperor.
"You can leave." Wang Li, who had obtained the items, issued an order to expel him without any courtesy.
Wang Li will not wait to see Luo Yu until his troubles are completely resolved.
However, Zhanri did not leave directly. He deliberately changed his voice and let out a few sinister laughs and asked:
"Has the general had any contact with Zhang Han in recent days?"
"Contact?" Wang Li sneered and replied, "He has been sending secret guards to keep an eye on me secretly. Does this count as contact?"
"If it doesn't count, it's gone."
After answering, Wang Li continued to emphasize, without waiting for Zhan Ri's response, "I'm leaving soon. I can't help you with Zhang Han's matter."
"Ha!" Zhanri smiled, "No, the general can do it. There just happens to be a chance."
Wang Li immediately looked at the box he placed on the table.
Are you trying to catch Zhang Han with the Yinghuo Stone?
"Do you think he would step into such an obvious trap?" Wang Li asked with a sneer, crossing his arms.
"He will." Zhan Ri replied decisively.
Zhang Han could tell it was a trap≠he wouldn't step into a trap.
Just like Luo Wang knew that the success rate of continuing to assassinate Zhang Han was low, but he still continued to plan the assassination.
Even if it fails again, the trap may cause unnecessary additional losses.
For people like them, achieving their goals is the most important, and everything else can come later.
According to the information known by Luo Wang, Zhang Han already knew clearly that there was a prophecy written on the Yinghuo Stone that was extremely detrimental to Fusu.
In order to protect Fusu, he will definitely try his best to seize the Stone of Fire.
Wang Li shook his head when he heard this, "You guys really have done everything possible...but I don't have the time, nor the interest, to accompany you on your mischief!"
"General." Zhan Ri's voice turned cold, and he said with a hint of threat, "Now everyone is prospering and everyone is losing. How about you taking things and not doing anything?"
Wang Li frowned, and a ball of anger rose in his already irritable heart.
However, considering his situation, he still managed to suppress his anger and replied in a suppressed voice, "This is not part of our agreement!"
"We are collaborators, general." Zhanri responded, "Everyone must show their sincerity."
"Of course Luo Sheng will not force General, I just hope you can provide the necessary help."
Wang Li stared at Zhanri, and finally relented, "Luowang is the best... and it can show his sincerity!"
"Of course, if there is a chance." Zhanri replied with a smile.
………………
Daze Mountain, the cave where Zhang Han hid before recovering from his injuries.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhang Han has been hiding here these days and continues to cultivate his body.
He was injured several times in a row, and there was no good place in his body from the inside out. He had to take good care of himself for a few days.
However, although it is said to be self-cultivation, in fact, I am not completely idle. I have been monitoring the situation in Daze Mountain.
The main targets are naturally the movements of Wang Li and Luo Wang.
At this moment, Zhang Han happened to receive a piece of information about Wang Li.
At the same time, a man hurried here and walked into the cave.
The man in black robe is none other than Wei Zhuang.
After he came in, he happened to see Zhang Han burning the information.
"It seems you received it."
Hearing the voice, Zhang Han looked up at Wei Zhuang and replied with a smile, "Mr. Wei Zhuang came just in time."
"Wang Li is about to leave to report on his duties. If nothing unexpected happens, Luo Wang will not miss this opportunity."
"Are you ready?" Wei Zhuang asked in a low voice while holding Shark Tooth in his arms.
"There is nothing to prepare for." Zhang Han shrugged and smiled, "As long as I show up, it will be fine."
"This is a clear-cut game."
However, Luo Wang has more bright cards than Zhang Han.
Luo Wang knew that Zhang Han would intercept the Yinghuo Stone.
Zhang Han knew that Luo Wang knew that he would seize the Stone of Yinghuo.
Luo Wang also knew that Zhang Han knew that they knew.
They both know everything.
So this is a two-party game surrounding the core point of the Stone of Fire.
But Luo Wang didn't know one thing.
Zhang Han's goal has never been the Stone of Fire!
He went to Wang Li to ask for the Stone of Enlightenment, but he was just trying to deceive the paralysis snare.
What he wants to seize is not the Yinghuo Stone at all, but the lives of all the snare killers in Daze Mountain.
The key information Luo Wang knew was wrong from the beginning.
When Luo Wang thought Zhang Han took the bait, that was when Luo Wang took the bait himself, and the outcome of this game was also doomed.
