Return of the Swallow

Outside the tent, Xie Yue, Xu Weizhi and other counselors were accompanying the Jinghu Guards to count the food.

Looking at the cart full of grain, Xu Weizhi couldn't help but sigh: "When the prince left the capital, the condition of the eight carts of grain given by His Majesty was worse than this. The Xie family, a big family in Jiuhe County, can come up with so much stored grain. But the Holy One can’t get it out, which shows that the court is really nervous.”

"That's not necessarily true. Your Majesty just wants to embarrass the prince." Jinghuwei was already very dissatisfied with Li Qitian's behavior.

Xie Yue smiled. They followed Pang Xiao all the way to the south. Along the way, they not only helped the victims and won the hearts of the people, but also made everyone who followed Pang Xiao more sure of their choice. It was their choice to follow such a kind man. Lucky.

"Your Majesty has just ascended the throne. Although he has deep thoughts, his vision is limited. In addition, as an emperor, no one dares to say that he is unworthy in his actions. There is also that flattering villain who is on the side. No matter what the Holy One does, there are people following him. It is foreseeable that the Holy One will become like this over time."

"The imperial court has suffered from natural and man-made disasters one after another, but the Holy Emperor still insists on going his own way. He feels that as the emperor, everything in the world belongs to him, and he can do whatever he wants. This is also helpless."

If what they said spread, it would be enough for the emperor to kill them several times. But people have emotions, and they are now full of dissatisfaction and can't care about that. Anyway, regardless of whether the prince rebels or not, the emperor is very afraid today. They will accuse the prince even if there is no crime. They are all followers of the prince. Once something goes wrong, the emperor will not let them go.

As they talked, the people registered the grain in the register, and marked the day, time, how and from whom they got it.

Now that he has a solution, his life has become a little more hopeful. Jiuhe's food collection has been completed. Pang Xiao ordered people to continue to find out where there is food available in various places. At the same time, he arranged a group of people to bring food and wait for the Pingnan Army. arrival.

When the Pingnan Army was stationed near Jiuhe, the food obtained by Pang Xiao in this way was also delivered one after another.

The more than 100,000 people in the Pingnan Army were originally worried about the food problem, especially those who were new to the army. They were all victims of the disaster. Although they trusted Pang Xiao, what could they do after solving the food problem? .

Now that they saw so much food and grass, everyone felt relieved. When Commander Feng and several Fushou spoke, their voices were a little louder than usual, leaving the common people who had just participated in the conversation stunned.

"Who is the prince? The hard life we ​​had when we defeated the Nanjun army was not unbearable. As soon as the prince came, he led a group of us to live a good life. You ask how we lived a good life? The court didn't give it. For food and salary, the prince took us to look for food. At that time, our brothers had to pick out all the bandit dens near the old capital of Dayan.

Those who eat bandits come to protect the people. Who says our prince doesn’t give a thumbs up? "

The recruits heard this with excitement and lamented that they were not so lucky and could not follow the prince to suppress the bandits.

The person at the center of their conversation had already gone to the next place where there was food. He was still trying to get food and money in the same way. Not only did he recover a lot of treasure money, but there were also ways to buy more food and grass. Many people even planned to follow Pang Xiao and join the Pingnan Army to fight against the Tatars. It can be said that the team of the Pingnan Army has grown stronger.

At this time, the armies of King Qin from various places were heading towards the capital one after another. The mountains were high and the roads were far away, so the time to reach the capital was quite different. When Pang Xiao and his party were halfway through the journey, the prince's army had already entered the capital. Li Qitian was so happy that he assigned Ji Zeyu with a stroke of his pen.

Ji Zeyu has lost weight a lot these days, and his face that was once as handsome as an immortal was cold and expressionless, but now he has fewer expressions and speaks less.

The Tatars were approaching the city, and the court had no money or food, but he had to find a way to defend this last city. If the capital city falls and is driven in by the Tatars, I am afraid that the entire capital city will turn into purgatory.

This is the most difficult battle Ji Zeyu has ever fought in his life, because he has no way to retreat and has no other choice but to hold on with all his strength.

Fortunately, King Qin's army arrived one after another, so that he would not be caught off guard. However, military pay is insufficient. Now all the soldiers, including Ji Zeyu himself, can only eat gruel every meal. They were all young men of the right age, and none of them could bear three gruels a day. Everyone was screaming with hunger and there was nothing they could do.

Ji Zeyu never wanted to treat his soldiers badly, but now the treasury was empty, and all the money from the emperor's internal funds was used to buy materials for the construction of the emperor's tomb. The court really couldn't get the money to sell food, let alone pay the army.

Ji Zeyu stood on the high city wall. The cold wind of early spring blew on his face like a knife, and his bright red cloak was raised high behind him, like a hunting flag.

Ji Zeyu looked at the Tatar camp stationed on the plain in the distance under the pale morning light with a stern face. Those tents were connected one after another, forming a magnificent scene outside the capital. This feeling was like a knife against the throat, making people completely lose their thoughts and emotions, and became confused and at a loss.

"My lord, Princess Anyang is here." The soldier approached and whispered back.

Ji Zeyu said without looking back: "This is a battlefield, let the princess go back. This is not the place she should be."

"Why is this not the place where I should come?" Li Helan's voice appeared behind Ji Zeyu.

Li Helan wore a silver fox fur coat and a red pomegranate skirt that lifted slightly when she walked, revealing the toes of her deerskin soft boots with soft fur.

She personally carried a food box and said with a smile: "The prince-in-law has refused to accept the summons for many days. I missed Jin, so I had to come uninvited."

The surrounding soldiers lowered their heads when they heard the words, pretending that they did not hear the explicit words.

Ji Zeyu looked back expressionlessly and said in a deep voice: "This is not a place for you to play. Go back."

The smile on Li Helan's face couldn't be stretched at all. He pursed his lips with a stern face. Just when he was about to speak, Ji Zeyu's deputy general smiled and said:

"Elder princess, please calm down. It's our prince who is worried about the war situation and has no time to think about it so much. This place is indeed extremely dangerous. Arrows are often stabbed in. Someone died on the city wall yesterday. My prince is also worried about you.

"The Tatars have now seen that we are short of food and grass, and are deliberately trying to deal with us to make us consume the little food left. They may soon organize an attack to harass them. If the sword has no eyes, the prince of the country will have no time. Considering that the eldest princess was injured by a stray arrow, how do you think the Duke should handle himself? Therefore, I ask the eldest princess for your understanding."

What he said was so sensible that it made Li Helan feel a little more comfortable.

Anyway, since she met Ji Zeyu, she has never seen him smile and talk. He always looks impatient when he faces her every morning and night. She was angry, and felt that Ji Zeyu's indifference to her in public was a disgrace to her, so her words now had a tinge to them.

"Aren't you afraid that you will starve to death on the wall? If you have any bad intentions, the people will suffer. Or do you think that I am willing to come here to blow the cold wind? Take it!" He handed the food box forward.

Ji Zeyu still paid no attention to him. He frowned and observed for a while, then suddenly turned around and left. When he passed by Li Helan, he didn't even look at him and said in a deep voice: "Everyone be on guard."

As soon as these words came out, it became clear that the Tatars were about to take action again.

Li Helan was angry at being left out at first, but in the blink of an eye he was stunned by the sudden battle situation.

The soldiers didn't care about many, and immediately escorted Li Helan down to the tower with a few people.

No one paid attention to the exquisite food box, and it was just placed on the tower.

After Li Helan got off the city wall, he was semi-forced into a carriage and sent directly back to the eldest princess' mansion.

As the carriage gradually left the city gate, Tatars attacked outside the city gate.

For a moment, the shouts of killing by the Zhou soldiers and horses and Tatars who were guarding the city were so loud that it took Li Helan's breath away.

This is a cruel battlefield, either you die or I die.

The carriage turned a corner, and even if Li Helan leaned half out of the window, it was impossible to see the battle on the city gate tower. However, Li Helan vaguely felt that he saw Ji Zeyu on the city gate tower.

It was another fierce city defense battle, and the Tatars had retreated in less than an hour. They were like this during this period. It seemed that they were not trying to capture the capital directly, but to consume the limited supplies and energy of the defenders of the capital.

When Li Qitian heard the news, he was extremely anxious for a while.

A person was pacing back and forth in the Yangxin Hall. Even Xiong Jinshui, who was personally serving him, did not dare to approach Pang Xiao at this time. He was afraid that the emperor would be displeased and treat their servants as a vent.

Even though it was still far away from the city wall, Li Qitian still seemed to hear the Tatars shouting and killing. He was also a horse-riding emperor and had fought in battles in his early years. However, over the years, Li Qitian had not only gained weight, but he had also almost forgotten all the strategies for confronting the enemy in battle. He used to be excited when he thought of going to the battlefield, but now he wants to But he was very resistant, even a little contradictory.

"I just want to be a wise king, why is it so difficult? As an emperor, why can't I just let myself go..." Li Qitian murmured in a low voice. His words echoed in the room, causing Xiong Jinshui and several of the chamberlains to lower their heads.

At this moment, an inner prisoner suddenly rushed over from outside, knelt down in front of the Linghua gate with a plop, and said in a high-pitched and joyful voice: "Back to the Holy Spirit, two teams of princes have arrived at the South City Gate!"

Li Qitian was overjoyed, "Quick, quick, open the city gate and let them go directly to the city to meet Ji Lan at the north gate! Tell them that everything is under Ji Lan's command!"

"Yes!" The waiter turned around and ran away.

"It's really an eye-opener for God." Li Qitian gave a high-five and wanted to stay in the house, but he felt restless. "Hurry, prepare your horse, I want to go to the North City Gate to see the situation!"