Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 766: Coming is almost the same as not coming

Snap, snap! Snap, snap!
There were heavy and hurried footsteps everywhere.

Soon, more than a dozen Chishui soldiers rushed into the courtyard where Li Baoyu and Li Baozhen were. They were holding horn crossbows and aiming at Li Baoyu and his men.

As long as the person behind them gives the order, Li Baoyu and others will be shot into a hornet's nest!
As for where Li Baoyu's personal soldiers went, the facts were clear. If they had not all fled, they must have been killed.

"What are you doing here so late at night?!"

Li Baoyu looked around at the "rebels" and questioned in a stern voice.

"No need to waste time talking to him, just shoot!"

A familiar voice came from behind, it was undoubtedly Xin Yunjing!

In an instant, the soldiers of the Chishui Army under his command pulled the trigger of their horn crossbows almost at the same time, and arrows rained down on Li Baoyu and Li Baozhen.

"Brother, come in quickly!"

In a flash, Li Baozhen yelled and pulled Li Baoyu into the house.

He had just finished inspecting the camp and was still wearing armor, so he could try his luck. But Li Baoyu had already been resting, wearing only cloth, so even if he was hit by an arrow, he would be seriously injured!
In the brightly lit courtyard, human figures swayed like ghosts, and everything became chaotic in an instant!
Li Baozhen took a wave of arrows with his back and protected Li Baoyu behind him. The two of them stumbled into the house, bolted the door with their backhands, and then used a table to hold the door tightly.

"Use the log to break the door open!"

At this moment, Xin Yunjing's voice also contained a hint of anxiety.

His army and that of the Lun brothers did not have an absolute advantage.

Only by deliberately killing Li Baoyu and Li Baozhen first, and then taking their heads to other parts of the army to persuade the neutral factions, can we accomplish the great cause.

If we let Li Baoyu and others escape, there will be more trouble and the situation will be difficult to handle.

It’s not okay to pop champagne at halftime!

Soon, the soldiers in the yard began to bang on the door.

Inside the house, Li Baozhen was hit by at least four or five arrows, but none of them hit his vital parts, let alone penetrated his body. From a distance, he looked like a hedgehog, but he was still breathing.

The horn crossbow is originally a horse bow with very limited power. It can hold five arrows at a time and is used to clear the way in close combat.

The horn crossbow's firing speed is its strong point, but its power is not.

Otherwise, Li Baozhen would have been dead. Even so, he was seriously injured. If he couldn't find a doctor to treat and stop the bleeding quickly, it was hard to say whether he could survive tonight.

"It's Xin Yunjing. He actually rebelled! He didn't rebel earlier or later, but only after I inspected the camp!
This thief is really cunning! "

Li Baozhen said while panting, his breathing became more and more rapid, his forehead was covered with cold sweat, it was obvious that the situation was not good.

When he was patrolling tonight, he met Xin Yunjing. Both of them brought a group of personal soldiers. They nodded and passed by. At that time, Li Baozhen didn't notice anything unusual. Now thinking back, it should be Xin Yunjing who was organizing his trusted troops and preparing to attack!
Damn it, why didn't I see it at the time! Li Baozhen felt very regretful, but it was too late to say anything now.

"It doesn't matter, we still have a chance!"

Li Baoyu looked around and pulled Yuan Zai out from under the bed.

He placed his sword across Yuan Zai's neck and said with a grim smile, "Mr. Yuan, I'm sorry. When the rebels come in later, please introduce yourself. You are Fang Qing's favorite, so I think Xin Yunjing will not be willing to kill you."

At this moment, Li Baoyu also realized that he had underestimated the ruthlessness of Xin Yunjing and others. He was too late to act and was completely passive. If he held Yuan Zai hostage, there might be a glimmer of hope. If he didn't do this, he would die soon!

"Good good..."

Yuan Zai was so frightened that he could only nod and say yes, not daring to do anything rash. Just a few breaths after Li Baoyu finished speaking, there was a clang, and the shaky door was knocked open by a log, with wood chips flying everywhere.

Whoosh! Whoosh!
A volley of arrows was fired.

Li Baoyu wanted to use Yuan Zai as a hostage. It cannot be said that there was anything wrong with this idea, but it was a pity that he overlooked a very crucial thing.

Their contacts with Fang Chongyong were all conducted in private, so Xin Yunjing and others didn't know Yuan Zai at all, let alone the Chishui soldiers under his command.

These people are here to kill and silence people, there is no way they will give Li Baoyu any chance to speak!

So what if it's Yuan Zai, so what if it's Fang Qing's cronies, who can take care of them now!

Anyway, the dead can't talk, so Xin Yunjing can just throw the blame on Li Baoyu for surrendering to Tubo. As for Yuan Zai, it's even easier to deal with him. He came to persuade Li Baoyu to surrender, but was killed by him. How simple!
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I am an envoy sent by Fang Qing!"

Yuan Zai knelt on the ground and crawled, taking advantage of the time when Li Baoyu and others were dodging arrows to crawl under the bed again.

call out!call out!call out!
clang!clang!clang!
call out!call out!call out!
clang!clang!clang!
Yuan Zai could only hear the sound of arrows breaking through the wind and nails hitting the bed. He looked through the gap and saw a terrifying scene.

Li Baoyu and Li Baozhen had been shot into hedgehogs by arrows. Not to mention whether they were dead or alive, the horrible state of their corpses was unbearable to look at.

However, the soldiers of the Chishui Army continued to shoot arrows at them, round after round. No one came forward to finish them off, nor did they want Li Baoyu to speak.

They came here to silence the witnesses, and they acted swiftly and decisively.

Soon, the sound of arrows stopped. Yuan Zai slowly crawled out from under the bed and saw a general in leather armor clasping his fists and saluting to him, saying, "I am Xin Yunjing, and I have been ordered by the emperor to kill Li Baoyu and Li Baozhen. I wonder who you are..."

"Yuan was an envoy sent by the government to persuade Li Baoyu to submit to the imperial court. Unexpectedly, he secretly defected to Tubo.

Yuan Mou should thank General Xin for saving his life!"

Yuan Zai climbed up the pole and immediately "connected" with Xin Yunjing's words.

"That's great. Mr. Yuan, do you have a letter from the government? Words are not enough. The camp is still in chaos. I need a token to persuade those who haven't figured out the situation yet."

Xin Yunjing did not hide anything and asked directly.

Yuan Zai did not hesitate, and directly took out the handwritten letter written by Fang Zhongyong from his sleeve and handed it to Xin Yunjing. The general who planned the mutiny read it at a glance and felt relieved!

The person in front of him could be said to be the key to unlock the door. Although Fang Qing and the emperor were not here, it was enough for Yuan Zai, the envoy, to come here.

As long as Xin Yunjing pointed out through Yuan Zai that Li Baoyu was secretly communicating with Tubo, then the rest of the matter would be easy to deal with. This matter is just like in physics, an object cannot move itself.

Xin Yunjing also needs to introduce external forces to stabilize the situation.

"Mr. Yuan, are you willing to follow me to other camps? There are many things that have not been completed yet."

Xin Yunjing pointed out very subtly that the envoy named Yuan in front of him seemed very smart and should be able to cooperate.

"General Xin, please lead the way. I can personally persuade those who are loyal to the court, no problem!"

Yuan Zai's heart was burning with excitement, and he saluted Xin Yunjing with his arms folded.

Look, isn’t the credit coming now?
Yuan Zai had always thought that after he arrived in Bianzhou, he would be the type of person who would be blessed with good fortune and whose promotion was unstoppable. Now it turned out to be true.

A tree that is moved will die and a person who is moved will live again. The ancients were right!

The group arrived at the camp east of Xinfeng Post Station, only to see that the soldiers in the camp had already lined up, with sword and shield soldiers in front and archers in the back, waiting for battle along the wooden fence.

Xin Yunjing's troops confronted them across the wooden fence. Although there was no conflict, the atmosphere was tense at all.

"This is Kang Chengkui's army. His father, Kang Taihe, served as the military commander of the Chishui Army during the Kaiyuan period. Kang Chengkui is his eldest son. He has been in the Chishui Army for many years and has many connections.

They are from the Nine Zhaowu Clans, but they are not Li Baoyu's direct descendants." Xin Yunjing leaned close to Yuan Zai's ear and gave a brief introduction.

As one of the Nine Zhaowu Clans, the Kang clan is definitely a supporter of the Liangzhou An clan, compared to Xin Yunjing. However, supporters do not mean die-hards. The Kang clan and the An clan are both naturalized members of the Nine Zhaowu Clans, and many of their descendants also moved to Chang'an to serve as officials.

To some extent, they are in competition with Li Baoyu's family.

Yuan Zai pondered it for a moment and realized that Kang Chengkui could be won over.

He held the scepter high in his hand and walked slowly towards the camp gate.

Yuan Zai shouted as he walked:

"I am an envoy sent by the court to contact Li Baoyu. After learning that Li Baoyu was secretly communicating with the Tibetans, I was ordered by the court to arrest the traitor who was secretly communicating with the Tibetans!

Now the two thieves Li Baoyu and Li Baozhen have been executed, and their heads are here. I have the imperial court's letter and token as proof, please open the camp gate and let Yuan in to negotiate!"

An unarmed scholar in a scarlet official robe would not have any tricks. Soon, the gate of Kang Chengkui's camp opened, and a bearded general walked out of the camp very cautiously under the escort of his personal soldiers.

He simply clasped his fists and bowed to Yuan Zai, standing one and a half steps away from him. After that, he stood there without saying a word.

"The official letters and court documents are all here, please take a look."

Yuan Zai handed the envelope in his hand to the bearded general, who read it almost word by word and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kang Chengkui greets the angel. This happened suddenly and I don't know what happened. Please forgive me for my impoliteness. I will open the camp gate and order the soldiers to return to the tents and wait for orders, and withdraw the troops."

Kang Chengkui clasped his fists and bowed to Yuan Zai, then returned the letter to Yuan Zai.

The letter might be fake, or even forged temporarily. The messenger in front of him might not be real either, maybe he was an "actor" sent by Xin Yunjing.

But Kang Chengkui recognized the two heads held by Yuan Zai's personal guard. They were the heads of Li Baoyu and Li Baozhen!

No matter what Xin Yunjing's plan was, at this moment, he had already succeeded. It was meaningless to investigate whether he should have rebelled or whether Li Baoyu had committed a crime.

Xin Yunjing's mutiny was successful. The next step is to take sides and fight for his own interests.

Kang Chengkui was not at all bothered by this, nor did he have any thought of standing up for Li Baoyu and his brothers.

People who are already dead should just lie down on the ground and shut up!

Once the food is cooked, it should just sit quietly on the plate and wait to be served!
After living for so many years, Kang Chengkui's most important life lesson is not to waste time and energy on boring things, and even more so on boring people.

Li Baoyu died, he lost, this is the original sin!
Let's turn the page and look at the next one. Li Baoyu and the others are already a thing of the past.

After dealing with Kang Chengkui, Yuan Zai suppressed his inner excitement, comforted the other party, and promised Fang Chongyong that he would never purge the former generals of the Chishui Army (excluding the An faction of Liangzhou). Then Kang Chengkui sent out elite troops to join forces with Xin Yunjing's troops and obey his command.

Yuan Zai, led by Xin Yunjing, came to another camp and continued to repeat the previous operations.

……

For Fang Zhongyong, riding two horses for a hundred miles was just a daily occurrence. He was the kind of general who led troops on horseback, not a weak scholar who commanded from behind.

It's just a few dozen kilometers of watering.

But Li Qi, who had been pampered, felt very uncomfortable. When he arrived at the outskirts of the Hedong military camp, the skin on the inside of his thighs was rubbed raw and he was shaking when he walked.

The camp gate in front of me was wide open, but there was no one guarding it, so I had no idea what was going on inside.

The layout of the Hedong Army’s camp was similar to that of the Chishui Army in Hexi back then.

The infantry had 300 men in a battalion, the cavalry had 100 men in a battalion, and each division had several to ten battalions under its jurisdiction. Each battalion in a division had a small camp, and each division had a large camp managed independently.

This is how the elite Tang Army set up camp. In case of a night raid by the enemy that would blow up the camp, these elite soldiers have contingency plans and can handle the situation very quickly.

The entire camp is like a small town, and it is easy to get lost without a guide.

Now Fang Zhongyong brought Emperor Li Qi to the gate of one of the camps, but found that there was not even a sentry!
They had no choice but to ride their horses carefully forward and enter the camp. After passing through the empty camp, the view in front of them suddenly became clear. The camp not far away was surrounded by soldiers, and they could not see what was happening inside at all!

"Who are you?"

Seeing Fang Chongyong and Li Qi approaching on horseback, a team of patrolling cavalry rushed over and surrounded the two men, but did not use weapons.

After all, Fang Zhongyong was wearing the emperor's staff! It was obvious that it was not an ordinary item.

In addition, Li Qi was wearing a dragon robe. Even if the soldiers in the border town had never seen a dragon robe, they could still recognize it. They would not be so blind as to not have this much insight.

"I am Fang Qing! This is the emperor! Why don't you dismount and salute!"

Fang Chongyong's face was solemn. He raised the scepter on the horse's back high, looked around at everyone and shouted loudly.

"You didn't know the emperor and the emperor were here, you deserve a death penalty! I will take you two to the central army tent now!

General Xin has already sent people to invite the emperor, but he didn’t expect…”

The captain on duty had never expected that the famous Fang Qing would bring the emperor into the camp alone! His courage was simply unmatched!

The group quickly dismounted from their horses and knelt in greeting.

"We came here alone because the Chishui Army is here to defend the king! They are our own people!
Please lead the way!"

Fang Zhongyong smiled and gestured for invitation.

"Okay, okay! I will lead the horse for you in the future!"

The captain on duty was overjoyed and hurried over to take the reins of Fang Chongyong's warhorse.

Is this over?

Li Qi's eyes widened, totally unable to believe that things were going so smoothly.

The plot he imagined, such as going through hardships, getting hurt and bleeding, and convincing the rebels by explaining the righteousness of the cause, did not happen at all.

They entered the camp so smoothly, and then nothing happened.

"Your Majesty, I have said that the Chishui Army is a powerful force that has fought for the Tang Dynasty for more than a hundred years.

There is no need to doubt their loyalty. We can go to the military camp alone and trust them."

Fang Zhongyong "plotted loudly" to Li Qi, so loudly that the soldiers guarding them could hear it. They all straightened their backs.

Soon, they arrived at the commander's tent under the protection of a group of soldiers. At this moment, the generals in the army gathered together, seemingly discussing something. Xin Yunjing sat on the main seat with a frown on his face.

When these generals saw Fang Chongyong coming, those who knew him hurriedly stepped forward and knelt on one knee to salute, with excitement written all over their faces!
"Official!"

Xin Yunjing stood up suddenly and hurried forward to salute. At this moment, he was happier to see Fang Chongyong than to see his own father, and he was shaking with excitement.

As for Li Qi, it seemed as if no one noticed him and he was simply ignored by the generals.

(End of this chapter)