Aoyama

Chapter 281: The picture shows the dagger
Half of Guyuan City has been reduced to ruins. In the dark night, the ruins are so empty that weeds seem to grow in people's hearts.

Chen Ji was struggling to identify the direction in the night. He could hear the rapid sound of horses' hooves behind him. He didn't know how many soldiers of the Tian Ce Army were crossing the sea of ​​fire to chase him.

The Tiance Army was getting closer and closer, and Li Xuan suddenly said, "You go, I'll stop them."

But Chen Ji just looked at him and pulled him into the ruins. The smoke in the ruins was pungent, and Chen Ji held his breath and closed his eyes.

Li Xuan was worried. He had been dealing with the Tian Ce Army for a whole day and knew it would not be easy to avoid their search, but he did not dare to speak out to remind Chen Ji.

In a state of anxiety, the Tiance Army rode past the ruins. However, they had not gone far when a black pheasant tail soldier in front noticed something was wrong, tightened the reins and stopped.

He listened quietly for a moment, then turned his horse back and said, "Search all the nearby ruins. The two men might be hiding there!"

Dozens of armored soldiers of the Tian Ce Army rushed towards the ruins. Some of them held up 18-foot-long horse spears and pierced through every ruin, wanting to plow the place thoroughly.

The Tian Ce Army was getting closer and closer, and the sound of horse hooves was close to our ears.

Li Xuan's heart trembled. Just as he was about to move forward to divert the pursuers, he was held down by Chen Ji.

The next moment, they heard the sound of metal clashing in the distance, followed by the sound of someone dragging a sword. In an instant, dozens of Tiance Army soldiers turned around and looked at the source of the sound.

The black pheasant tail armored soldier pointed his spear and shouted angrily: "Kill without mercy!"

The sound of iron hooves gradually faded away, and Chen Ji started to flee in another direction. He ran three miles before he gradually slowed down his pace and couldn't help coughing.

It's safe for now.

Li Xuan looked around in disbelief: Escaped?

He couldn't help but wonder, and lowered his voice to ask, "What happened just now? Do you have support here? Is it the maid next to you, or Miss Zhang Er? How can they escape?"

Chen Ji didn't say anything, and walked through the thick smoke. The two swords returned to the pattern on his waist under the cover of night. He determined the approximate direction and turned to walk towards Taohuaifang.

Li Xuan followed him silently, watching his every move.

Passing by a well, Chen Ji stopped to listen to the noise nearby. After making sure that there was no one around, he gently shook a bucket of water and wet his clothes to avoid having to walk through fire and thick smoke in the future.

Li Xuan followed suit and wet his clothes as well.

Chen Ji tied up her messy hair again and fastened it with a hairpin.

Seeing this, Li Xuan also tied up his hair.

Chen Ji rubbed the charcoal with his hands and smeared five black marks diagonally on his face.

Although Li Xuan was puzzled, he still followed suit.

Chen Ji glanced at him and asked: "Why did Lord Li learn from me?"

Li Xuan hesitated for a moment before explaining: "You are very capable in Guyuan City, so it's right for me to follow your example."

Chen Ji said calmly: "Master Li, you don't have to learn."

Li Xuan was slightly startled: "Why?"

Chen Ji explained casually: "Lord Li has a kind heart, but I'm afraid he won't live long, so it's useless to learn so many things."

Li Xuan was speechless for a moment.

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "What did the armored infantrymen you saw just now look like? Was it leather armor?"

Li Xuan was stunned: "How do you know? Did you see those infantrymen? Where did they come from? What unit do they belong to?"

Chen Ji did not answer and continued on his way.

Li Xuan asked again: "I saw you using a knife before, and where did you learn the archery skill? Can you teach me?"

Chen Ji still didn't answer.

"Where is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

"Is Master Chen okay?"

"Is Qi Zhuo still alive?"

Gradually, Li Xuan realized that Chen Ji didn't want to pay attention to him, so he became silent.

Chen Ji was leading the way in front, and he followed awkwardly behind, as if Chen Ji was the commander of the Yulin Army, and he was a young man who had just joined the army.

Chen Ji avoided the Tian Ce Army that was searching for them, and kept changing his position to move closer to Taohuaifang.

But when they were still two streets away from Taohuaifang, he suddenly pulled Li Xuan into a burnt ruin and looked out quietly.

At the intersection ahead, Tian Ce was passing by with a torch in hand. The neatly-organized cavalry was slowly marching northward, accompanied by infantrymen leading hunting dogs.

The long line seemed endless, blocking Chen Ji and Li Xuan's way.

Chen Ji held back and said, "Wait for them to pass."

The two men squatted behind the ruins and waited patiently, but they waited for half an hour and the army still hadn't passed.

Li Xuan looked over quietly and saw a strong armored soldier sitting on a warhorse, holding a black flag waving in the firelight. A circle of black pheasant tails was sewn on the edge of the flag, and the word "Yuan" was embroidered on the flag with gold thread!

Li Xuan lowered his voice and said, "This is the Central Army's banner. The Tiance Army's commander-in-chief Yuan Zhen is about to enter the city!"

Chen Ji nodded calmly.

After a moment, Li Xuan suddenly said, "Chen Ji, he escaped in the battle at Qu Wushan in the 25th year of Jianing... If we kill him, maybe we can break the morale of the Tiance Army."

Chen Ji asked casually, "How old is Lord Li this year?"

Li Xuan replied: "Thirty-four."

Chen Ji continued, "Has Lord Li ever been on the battlefield?"

Li Xuan shook his head: "No, I joined the Yulin Army after marrying into the Qi family at the age of seventeen. I trained every day and never went to the battlefield."

Chen Ji said calmly, "Lord Li scolded Qi Zhuozhuo for being a playboy, but how can you be any better? You often look like you are a talent that is not appreciated, but in the Yulin Army, everyone only looks up to you because you are the son-in-law of the Qi family. Your rapid rise to prominence is all thanks to the Qi family."

"You keep saying that your ancestors served in the Wansui Army, as if they are superior to other Yulin troops, but you are as naive as a child. Lord Li, you are indeed better than Qi Zhuzhuo, but you are only better because you dare to die, that's all."

Li Xuan was slightly startled, and lowered his head in shame: "I just thought that Guyuan City had fallen. Since I was going to die anyway, I wanted to die meaningfully. Since I married into the Qi family, I have accomplished nothing except helping the Qi family. I just..." Chen Ji shook his head and said unkindly: "Master Li, don't say these hypocritical words to me. It has nothing to do with me."

Li Xuan was silent for a moment: "Sorry, sorry for making fun of me."

At this time, the Tiance Army suddenly stopped.

A team of Tian Ce Army cavalrymen, escorting dozens of people, stumbled to the intersection.

Chen Ji looked hurriedly and saw Zhang Xia, Zhang Zheng, the prince, and Xiaoman among the dozens of people. They were actually found out by the Tian Ce Army!

Chen Ji was stunned on the spot.

why?
Why would they be found even if they were hiding in the cellar?

The underground cellar of the grain and oil shop was so hidden that as long as the bricks and stones at the entrance of the cellar were blocked, who could find the secret? Was it because they carelessly forgot to block the entrance of the cellar? Impossible, everyone could have carelessly forgotten, except Zhang Xia.

Chen Ji looked at the flickering flames in front of him, the fire flickered in his eyes.

That familiar feeling came back, as if no matter how hard he tried, the outcome would not change.

In the light of the torches, a soldier rode up to the crowd. He first asked a woman a few questions, then raised his spear and stabbed her in the chest.

The Tian Ce Army brought another person forward for questioning and stabbed him to death again.

Chen Ji bent over and approached silently until he could clearly see Xiaoman's cursing mouth and the stubborn and unwilling expressions of Zhang Xia and Zhang Zheng.

The soldier on the warhorse glanced at everyone coldly, then pointed his spear at the prince in the crowd and said coldly: "Bring him here for questioning."

The Tiance Army took the prince forward, and the soldier on the warhorse lifted the jade pendant on the prince's waist with the tip of his spear and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

The prince replied slowly, "I am a merchant from the Central Plains who came here to do business."

The soldiers on the war horses laughed loudly, as if they had heard a huge joke: "May I ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Ning Dynasty, which merchant in this world dares to wear a four-clawed dragon jade pendant? Come on, run to the outside of the city to report to the commander-in-chief that we have captured the Crown Prince of Ning Dynasty!"

"Yes!" A cavalryman turned his horse and galloped out of the city.

The armored soldier on the warhorse waved his hand and said, "Leave the Crown Prince of Ning Dynasty here, and kill the rest!"

A figure staggered out from the crowd of people being escorted. "Don't kill us, we are also useful! I am a juren of the Ning Dynasty, Chen Wenxiao, the son of the Junior Zhanshi of the Zhanshi Mansion. The two people over there are Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia, the children of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Don't kill us!"

The soldier on the warhorse was stunned, and then laughed even more wantonly: "Okay, okay, what I like most in my life is this kind of spineless Southern Dynasty scholar! Put an iron chain around his neck and keep him by my side as a dog!"

As he was speaking, Chen Wenzong rushed out of the crowd and pushed Chen Wenxiao down. He rode on Chen Wenxiao and his fists rained down on Chen Wenxiao's face.

Some soldiers wanted to pull Chen Wenzong away, but the Tiance Army soldiers on their horses sneered and said, "Let them fight. Southerners are used to dogs biting each other!"

Chen Ji held his breath in the dark ruins. Li Xuan clenched his fist beside him and said through gritted teeth, "I'll go kill someone to distract the pursuers, and you take the opportunity to save them?"

Chen Ji did not answer. These were the main forces of the Tian Ce Army. Even if they had hundreds of lives, they would not be enough for the other side to kill.

He stared at the intersection and whispered, "Wait a little longer."

Li Xuan was so anxious that he clenched the hilt of his sword, but he didn't know what Chen Ji was waiting for. He wanted to just kill him, but when he looked at Chen Ji and thought of what he had just said, he held back.

Two sticks of incense later, a group of people came here, guarding a middle-aged man with gray hair like stars surrounding the moon.

The middle-aged man was not wearing any armor, only a black robe and a golden crown on his head.

Yuan Zhen.

With the arrival of this team, the Tian Ce Army quickly dispersed in all directions and firmly controlled the area within a hundred steps to prevent any assassination attempts.

Chen Ji and Li Xuan were forced to retreat again and again, and could only retreat to a farther place and watch quietly.

At this time, Yuan Zhen rode his horse slowly to the front of the prince, glanced at him from a high position, and said lightly: "Raise your head."

The prince ignored him. A soldier from the Tian Ce Army stepped forward and forcibly lifted his head so that he could look at Yuan Zhen.

Yuan Zhen said calmly: "Bring someone to identify it."

A personal soldier turned and left, and after a while he came over with the owner of the Longmen Inn.

Yuan Zhen raised his whip and pointed it at the prince: "He is the prince?"

The shopkeeper saluted and said, "Reporting to the commander-in-chief, it is correct!"

Yuan Zhen asked calmly, "Why did the troops sent to Longmen Inn never return?"

The shopkeeper bowed his head and said, "I don't know. Maybe we can only find out after we go to Longmen Inn."

Yuan Zhen did not comment, turned to look at the prince and asked with interest: "Zhu Chunwen, I will give you a chance to live, do you want it?"

The prince straightened his back, raised his head and sneered, "You won't kill me. What you should worry about is what will happen if I die. If I die, you will have one less bargaining chip in your hand."

Yuan Zhen smiled and said, "The Zhu family is full of tough guys. It doesn't matter. The death penalty can be avoided, but the living punishment cannot be escaped. Come, take the collar off the hound's neck and put it on the Ning Dynasty prince."

Li Xuan watched this scene from afar, his eyes bloodshot.

He said angrily in a low voice: "I am a minister of the Eastern Palace, how can I sit and watch Your Highness be humiliated!"

Chen Ji said again: "Wait a little longer."

Li Xuan clenched his fists: "Until when?"

Chen Ji suddenly said, "I know that Guyuan is a trap, but I couldn't figure out why the people who set up the trap didn't move since the Tiance Army had already entered the city. Now I understand that the other party didn't move because they were waiting for Yuan Zhen to enter the city. For this moment, they would not hesitate to sacrifice half of the people in Guyuan."

Li Xuan was stunned.

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Now that Yuan Zhen has come in, it's time to reveal the real purpose."

As soon as he finished speaking, a loud roar was heard in the distance, causing the Tian Ce Army's horses to neigh.

In the distance, flames shot up into the sky. In the flames, a large section of the city wall at the Guyuan city gate suddenly collapsed, like a mountain collapsing. The towering city gate tower collapsed, completely blocking the city gate.

Chen Ji looked at the fire from afar and realized that Bai Long had used firearms here.

(End of this chapter)