Chapter 33: There are obstacles in the narrow road
Soldiers and horses galloped across the land in June, sending up bursts of dust that covered the sky and the sun.
"Miss Minghua."
Several sentinels walked through the dust and smoke to Li Minghua's location.
If it weren't for his petite stature, Li Minghua would be no different from a soldier now. He had thrown away his embroidered robes long ago and was wearing an ill-fitting military robe. He had removed his gold and silver hairpin and even his earrings. His hair was tied into a soldier's cap. He had been a boudoir for seventeen years.
Her delicate skin turned gray, her mouth was dry and her lips were chapped, but her eyes were getting darker and brighter.
"How is it?" Li Minghua asked urgently.
"Jiangling Mansion has not been lost yet." The sentinel said the good news.
Li Minghua's hand on the reins loosened slightly. It was great. He could still catch up. On the way, he heard that Pengcheng's army was defeated and fled. The other four guards retreated. The war was not going well. Jiangling City was short of soldiers and horses. People's hearts were bound to be turbulent. The rebels were fierce.
, Jianglingfu City is probably lost.
Unexpectedly, they actually defended it.
The general's expression was a little surprised but more of admiration.
"But precisely because Jiangling Fucheng was not captured, Chengqing, who was originally going to the southeast, came over." The sentinel told another bad news.
The atmosphere around him was a little stagnant. There was no need to even say how many soldiers the rebels had, only Chengqing's name was needed.
"In the past, generals were able to stabilize the border through one foreign campaign after another, just like the governor." The general said solemnly, "But now these people rely on cruelty and madness."
These are troubled times, and demons are everywhere.
The general held the long sword and said: "Jiangling Mansion is in danger."
The sentinel swiped open the map of Jiangling Mansion: "Pengcheng Camp has all the supplies and is in a unique position. We can divide some of our troops to capture Pengcheng Camp. This will not only cut off Chengqing's food and grass, but also create an encirclement and pincer attack. Even if we are unable to repel the rebels for a while.
Army, hold the Pengcheng camp to confront Chengqing, and wait for reinforcements from the Huainan Road in the mountains."
The general and deputy general nodded around the map. Without further ado, they looked at Li Minghua: "Miss Minghua, we are about to march in a hurry. If you can't keep up with us, we will leave you with twenty people."
Li Minghua said: "The five people left with me are enough. Please go quickly."
Five people, the general hesitated: "Now there is chaos in all directions, bandits are infested, it will be very dangerous."
Li Minghua said: "There is no place more dangerous than Jiangling Mansion. If Jiangling Mansion is not protected, I will not survive."
The old city fell and her relatives were separated. She, a little girl, could not survive even if she had dozens of soldiers and horses in this land occupied by the rebels.
The general no longer hesitated and clasped his fists in response to Li Minghua. As expected, only five people were left behind, and the whole group dismounted their armor and discarded their food and grass and quickly walked away.
Li Minghua did not follow immediately and asked five soldiers to collect the scattered armor and food: "Find some cars and we will take them away."
It was not that she was stingy and reluctant to part with the food and grass, she just felt that instead of following the soldiers and horses as quickly as possible, it would be better to bring food, grass, armor and weapons to follow.
"Even if you five soldiers and horses keep up, it won't be of much use." Li Minghua said, "It's better to have more food, weapons and armor, maybe it can help."
The five soldiers responded and divided three of them to search, leaving two to pack up. Li Minghua rolled up her sleeves and helped. She couldn't move the food and grass, and the armor was heavy, so she could only organize the weapons. Although these soldiers listened to her
command, but she guessed they were a little confused.
What's the use of armor and food if the people are gone?
She also thought about this, she didn't know, maybe she thought that she might be able to find someone who could wear armor and weapons and continue fighting.
It’s just that there’s no one there now…
A sharp roar pierced the sky. Li Minghua had already recognized this alarm, and two soldiers had surrounded her to protect her.
"Miss Minghua, mount up," they said.
Li Minghua grabbed a knife and got on his horse. The three of them were about to leave without saying a word, but they were still a step too late. The sound of horse hooves could be heard from both sides, and there were waves of dust and smoke, as if there were thousands of horses galloping.
Li Minghua and three others were surrounded.
The two soldiers showed no fear in their expressions and were preparing for battle. Li Minghua also tightened his grip on the knife in his hand.
When the smoke and dust dispersed, both sides saw each other clearly. What was coming was not soldiers, nor was it galloping horses...
"There are only three people! And there is a woman!" A skinny man holding a knife, a leaf hat, and a straw rope tied around his waist shouted, his voice excited, "It's a waste of our branches and hurting our horses."
He raised his hand and slashed the branch tied to the horse's tail with a knife, and everyone else did the same. What he was most concerned about at this moment was his horse, and the three people surrounded over there didn't need to care at all.
"I knew there wouldn't be so many people here."
"So many things!"
"Move the food and grass first!"
"I want to wear a suit of armor!"
"I want that knife, no one can take it from me."
There was a cacophony of shouts, laughter and arguments.
This is a group of bandits. In troubled times, the most feared thing by the people besides rebels is bandits. Bandits are everywhere. If you can escape from the rebels, you may die in the hands of the bandits the next moment.
"We are the guards of Jiannan Road." A female voice shouted loudly in the noise, "The imperial guards are ordered to suppress the rebellion. No one can stop us."
The girl's voice was as graceful as an oriole's. Even though it was a little tired, hoarse and trembling, it still sounded very pleasant.
The noise suddenly died down, everyone looked over, and the next moment they burst into laughter, as if they had heard what a ridiculous joke.
Li Minghua tensed up and turned a deaf ear to the laughter.
"The Jiannan Road Guards are suppressing the rebellion. Anyone who dares to stop them will be treated as a traitor and not killed." She shouted loudly, raising the long knife in her hand.
Thieves are afraid of officers and soldiers, whether in peaceful times or troubled times, but fear is different. For bandits in troubled times, fear depends on the situation.
Previously, when a large number of soldiers and horses passed by, they were afraid and did not show up. Now there were only a few soldiers and horses left. Of course, they were not afraid, so they showed up.
Since they dared to show up, they wanted to kill the guards. Now two or three guards said they wanted to kill them. This is really ridiculous.
"What kind of guard is this? Why is there a girl?"
"Jiannan Road Guards? I heard that there is a boy leading the army in Jiannan Road. It turns out there are also women."
"Hey, what are you Jiannan Dao guards doing in Jiangnan Dao? You are disobeying orders!"
Laughter, shouting, ridicule, and questions rang out randomly.
The two soldiers were not angered by the words, and neither was Li Minghua. The three of them straightened their backs, as if there were thousands of troops behind them.
"Jiannan Road rushes for reinforcements at the request of Jiangling Mansion. The Jiangling Mansion rebels are in a critical situation." Li Minghua said loudly, regardless of whether anyone listened to these chattering and noisy bandits, she struggled with the noisy laughter with the loudest voice, "
Not only the guards of Jiannan Road, but also the Qi Governor of Southeast Road and the Lady of Chu State of Huainan Road all came with reinforcements..."
As she said this, a louder voice jumped out from the noise and interrupted her.
"What? So many soldiers and horses are coming? That's really scary! Let's run away."
As soon as he said this, the noise died down, and the surging bandits gave way to a road. At the end of the road, there was a young man riding a horse with his chest and back exposed. He had a handsome face under the sun and a sassy demeanor. He was holding a knife in one hand and a knife in the other.
With a piece of barbecue.
After saying this, he took a bite of meat and chewed it hard.
I don’t see what’s scary about it…
Li Minghua didn't think about whether what he said was sarcasm or teasing, and said loudly: "Yes, there are many guards from Jiangnan Road coming for reinforcements, please get out of the way quickly."
The bandits thought very seriously and looked at the man. The men standing closest boldly asked: "Brother, do you want to run away?"
The elder brother's voice was muffled in his mouth: "Run away!"
The men gritted their teeth and waved their hands at the bandits: "Escape..."
The bandits who were laughing earlier looked strange but they all urged their horses to turn around...
What do you mean? Li Minghua and the two soldiers were on guard, with a trace of confusion flashing in their eyes. Before they could react, they saw the meat-eating man swallowing the meat, raising the knife in his hand, and shouting clearly: "No.
,cannot escape.”
So is it cat and mouse? Li Minghua tightened his grip on the knife.
All the bandits also breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, preparing to roar and threaten.
"There are so many soldiers and horses coming from Jiangnan Road, can we escape?" the man said, pointing at Li Minghua with the meat and bones in his hand, "Miss, if we also kill the rebels with you, your guards will
We won’t be held accountable for our crimes, right?”
Li Minghua looked at the bandit in front of him and couldn't hold on to the breath he had been holding.
These are really troubled times, and the things and people I see are so strange.