It’s hard to break a phoenix’s destiny

Chapter 553: The Battle Continues in the Southeast

In the end, Luoyang was burned down by a huge fire.

In Liu Cong's words, "This place makes me angry just looking at it. There's nothing left anyway, so it's better to burn it down."

The people of Luoyang suffered, so they could only pack up their belongings and flee in a hurry. The city gates had already been opened, and there was not a single garrison left. In such chaos, both the poor and the rich officials were swept away by the crowds and fled this imperial city. As for where to go in the future, they had no idea at all.

The roads and paths were full of people, and no one spoke. Everyone had a sad face. The women who had once lived in luxury had changed into coarse cloth clothes and even smeared dirt on their faces to cover up their original appearance. The ornaments on their bodies and heads were hidden in secret places, for fear that they would be snatched away.

Only the children were still able to run on the road, even shouting and laughing, and no one came to control them. After seeing these children more and more times, passers-by began to doubt their identities.

"These children are all seven or eight years old. Why are some of them wearing armor? Are they Han soldiers? They are too young." Someone whispered to his companions.

"I heard it's some young heroes group. They're all orphans. They're all very ruthless. Don't mess with them."

"Of course I don't dare. But, was that the royal convoy from our Great Jin that just passed by?"

"That should be it." Looking at the dust in the distance, everyone sighed again, "The emperor and empress are dead, what do you think will be the fate of those people in the harem? I heard that many people from the Sima family were also arrested... Tsk tsk tsk tsk, a madman like Liu Cong, who took them to Pingyang, may not have any good intentions."

"Hey, is the Phoenix-born Sheep Queen also in the team?"

"Who knows? Even if she's dead, she might not be happy. What a pity for that beautiful face. Beauty is the root of trouble. I'm afraid she might not be happy even if she's alive."

No matter how people comment, the torrent of history has already rolled forward. Now it is the Han Dynasty, the reign is Jiaping, and the emperor is Liu Cong. What he wants to do is to unify the world, kill all the members of the Sima family, and eliminate the bandits and all the disobedient people.

He was really busy. In addition to building his own palace in Pingyang, he also sent all his generals to fight in various places. For example, he sent Zhao Ran and Anxi General Liu Ya to lead 20,000 cavalry to attack Sima Mo, the King of Nanyang, who was guarding Chang'an, and ordered Liu Yao and Liu Can to lead the army as successors. In the end, they captured Chang'an and killed Sima Mo, the King of Nanyang, and let Liu Yao guard Chang'an.

But soon after, Liang Zong, the governor of Fufeng, Zhu Hui, the governor of Xinping, Jia Pi, the governor of Anding, and Qu Te, the governor of Yongzhou, launched a counterattack. Liu Yao was defeated in succession and had to withdraw his troops from Chang'an. He marched all the way to the southeast and even ran to the southern part of Anhui. It was cold and damp in the cold month, and the soldiers hid in the bamboo forest, which was even more miserable.

On the one hand, he had to report to Liu Cong, and on the other hand, Liu Yao was also organizing his army to check the wounded and the food supply. This inspection was not important, but his mood became even worse. Most of them were Northwest men, and they were not familiar with the terrain of the bamboo forest in the south, so they retreated slowly and consumed a lot of supplies. What's more, the weather was cold, and the soldiers needed to replenish warm food to resist the cold and damp.

There was even an incident last night where someone lit a fire in a dilapidated temple to keep warm, but the temple was burned down to the ground. It is said that many children from the Young Heroes Corps almost died in the fire. It was extremely dangerous.

After listening to the report from his personal attendant, Liu Yao was also shuddering. After all, his adopted son Liu Cheng is currently a junior general of the Shaoying Group. The factional disputes in the Han Dynasty are very obvious. He discovered this situation when he came back to take charge of the seal. Therefore, he immediately organized these children who were running loose in and out of Luoyang City. On the one hand, he brought them to his side and kept a close watch on them. On the other hand, he also wanted to personally train Liu Cheng, hoping that he could be a useful person. Therefore, when he heard that the Shaoying Group was almost in trouble, he decided to go and see the situation in person. After all, his team has suffered a series of defeats recently. With 50,000 troops converted to 10,000, the morale of the people is very low. As the head of the army, he really needs to cheer everyone up and cheer them up from time to time.

The soldiers were very happy to see Liu Yao coming over, and they all greeted him. The young soldiers of the Shaoying Group told about the fire, saying that it was because of their lack of experience that the sparks ignited the tattered curtains, and because they were extremely sleepy after traveling for days, they all fell asleep, so no one discovered the fire in the first place.

"No one was hurt, right?" Liu Yao felt sad as he looked at those young faces who were trying to look calm.

"No, everyone escaped." The young generals were quite excited. "Liu Cheng almost didn't make it out, but then a woman rushed in and dragged him out."

"Why didn't he almost come out?" Liu Yao's heart tightened again.

"Why, he sleeps like a pig, and can't even hear the thunder."

"That woman was quite strong. She actually dragged him out."

"It seems that the old woman is injured?"

"I seemed to see blood on her arm."

"It's okay anyway... Hey, Liu Cheng, come and talk to the general." These people also knew Liu Cheng's identity, so they naturally stepped back and brought Liu Cheng, who was still rubbing his eyes, to Liu Yao.

Taking advantage of the good afternoon light, Liu Yao also looked at the child carefully. He was already a boy. When Liu Sheng said he had a son, he described the child as dark and not like him at all. Now, the child was gradually growing up, getting taller, and becoming stronger. His face was somewhat similar to Liu Sheng, especially the honesty in his eyes, which made him a little dazed for a while.

"Father." Liu Cheng was not vague at all and immediately saluted Liu Yao. "Father, why are you here? They must be talking nonsense. Our Shaoying Group has not suffered any losses. Everyone is fine."

"Well, I feel relieved to see that you are safe and sound." Liu Yao couldn't help but touch Liu Cheng's head. This kid is only as tall as his heart now, and he will surely grow up to be as tall as Liu Sheng in the future.

"It's really okay. I'm just blessed with a long life." Liu Cheng laughed, revealing his little canine teeth, which made him look a little childish. "Dad, have you eaten? I have another pancake here."

As he spoke, Liu Cheng took out a shriveled cake from his arms. The way it was made was what Liu Yao and his friends had learned from Yang Xianrong. In fact, he had just eaten the same dry food. For some reason, at this moment, when he saw the cake, he suddenly remembered that pretty face and called out softly, "Brother Liu, have you eaten?"