General, please be a loyal minister!

Chapter 57 Conspiracy

It was night, the clouds were dark and the wind was high, and there were no stars. The woodland in the distance was silent, and the black shadows of the trees lined up in the night, like soldiers in formation.

Above the city of Xiangyang, patrolling soldiers walked by, their armor collided rhythmically, making a cold sound, and the wood was burning in the charcoal basin, and there was a "beep" from time to time.

The clatter of horseshoes broke the silence of the night. A team of about two to three thousand people came from the southeast and stopped in front of the city. They were the remnants of Zhao Ji who had withdrawn from Nanyang to Xiangyang.

Zhao Ji's personal guard immediately rushed to the tower and shouted: "General Zhao returns to the city! Open the door!"

There was commotion on the tower for a while, and then a general poked his head out: "Who is it?"

Zhao Ji said patiently: "Zhao Ji! Did you recognize it?"

Unexpectedly, the man shouted at Zhao Ji's men: "Nonsense! General Zhao came back two hours ago and is resting in the tent. You must be pretending to be General Zhao to trick us into opening the city. Shoot arrows!"

As soon as the words fell, arrows rained towards Zhao Ji's men and horses, and the soldiers in the front row fell to the ground one after another, and the rest quickly retreated.

At the moment when the variables popped up, many thoughts flashed through Zhao Ji's mind at the same time.

He was clearly outside the city, why did the guard say he had returned to Xiangyang?Also, the guards were not soldiers he knew well!

His first reaction was that Xiangyang had already fallen, and he immediately denied this idea. If Xiangyang fell, the puppet army should have set up a trap to ambush him instead of stopping him outside the city; Zhao Ji's second reaction was that someone was pretending to be him.

But unless the face is peeled off to make a model, no disguise technique can reproduce a person's appearance without distinction.

How could someone pretending to be his cronies staying in Xiangyang not recognize him?Unless, his cronies were killed.

Angry and anxious, Zhao Ji grabbed the arrow that flew in front of him and threw it aside, and shouted at the top of the tower: "Stop! Open your dog eyes and look carefully! Do you dare to shoot arrows at your coach and don't want to live?" ?”

It's not that the general has never met Zhao Ji. After several discussions, he also found that the people in the city were indeed too much like their general, so he became suspicious.

Which one is the real Zhao Ji, inside the city or outside the city?

Unsure, the general paused his arrows and ordered: "Quickly call Vice General Wei!"

The full name of Vice General Wei in his mouth is Wei Yuan, and he is one of the cronies Zhao Ji assigned to stay in Xiangyang.

Heard that Wei Yuan is still alive?The suspicion in Zhao Ji's heart settled down a bit, and he began to guess that this might be a misunderstanding.

The wait was long and silent, with the horses twitching restlessly.

The uneasiness in Zhao Ji's heart became more and more intense in the silence of the night. He asked the general guarding the city loudly: "Where is Junshi He?"

The general who defended the city was also honest, and replied in a hurry: "The military division has been executed by Vice General Wei for collaborating with the enemy! The body is hanging there."

Zhao Ji was startled, and looked in the direction pointed by the general. There, a figure in brown clothes was hanging on the flagpole, swaying gently in the cold night wind.

Zhao Ji snatched the bow of the soldiers, bent the bow and set an arrow, and shot the rope that hung the corpse with one arrow.

The soldiers around Zhao Ji ventured closer to the city gate to confirm their identity.

The soldier came back with an ugly expression on his face. He replied in a flustered tone: "General, it's Junshi He. The subordinates found this on him."

Zhao Ji grabbed the cloth in the hands of the soldiers and unfolded it. With the light of the torches lit by his subordinates behind him, Zhao Ji recognized the blood words on the white silk: "Song Cong colluded with the enemy, Wei Yuan was killed, do not return, Xiangyang."

Zhao Ji's face changed drastically, and he was about to order a retreat when "Deputy General Wei" also arrived at the other side of the tower.

Walking up to the top of the wall was a familiar figure, too far apart for Zhao Ji to confirm his appearance.But Wei Yuan usually helps Zhao Ji to take care of the subordinate generals, if the appearance is not right, they should recognize it.

"Deputy General Wei" exchanged a few words with the generals defending the city.

Then Zhao Ji heard him say loudly: "I just finished discussing the tactics with the general in the big tent of the Chinese army. How come there is another General Zhao under the city? It must be a thief pretending to be."

As he spoke, he drew out the sword at his waist and ordered: "Shoot the arrow!"

When "Vice General Wei" drew his sword, Zhao Ji knew that he was a fake, and the real Wei Yuan might have been killed.

Wei Yuan blocked an arrow for him on the battlefield back then, the little finger and ring finger of his right hand were severely injured, and he couldn't use his strength. Since then, he used his left hand to wield a weapon, so it was impossible for him to draw a sword with his right hand.

The two most important cronies are gone, so the others must have been removed as well.

Realizing that Xiangyang was already a dangerous place, Zhao Ji immediately ordered to retreat.Even out of arrow range, however, he did not consider himself safe.

Since he was designed to harm him, he must be immortal. If there are no pursuers in Xiangyang, then there must be ambushes outside the city.

Where will it be?

Zhao Ji looked up at the dense forest ahead, where the birds were restless.

"Don't enter the forest!" Zhao Ji stopped the subordinates who were about to flee into the forest, and led them to turn around and head east.

After walking a few steps, Zhao Ji and the others heard killing cries coming from the woods.A group of people rushed out quickly, and the banner was: Dou Cheng!

How could Zhao Ji not have thought that this was a conspiracy against him, vicious and bloody.

Responding from the inside to the outside, the purpose was to kill him who had withdrawn from Nanyang outside the city of Xiangyang.How dare Song Cong do such a thing!

However, how could they have such a great ability to kill his cronies and control Xiangyang City quietly?

Zhao Ji thought of the possibility of the Song family's rebellion, and began to worry about Liu Xuan's safety.But the situation in front of him didn't give him much space to think. Arrows flew from behind one after another, and the soldiers around him fell down one after another.

They just withdrew from Xiangyang, there were not many people, and they were short of soldiers and horses, so they might not escape the ambush.

Fighting and fleeing all the way, the soldiers around Zhao Ji were dead and scattered, and when they escaped from the encirclement, there were only dozens of people left, and each of them had large and small wounds on their bodies.

Not everyone has the guts of a general. Facing the plight of having no food or medicine, most people are desperate. They don't even realize what happened. They only know that they are going back to the city, but the defenders The people refused to open the door, and then encountered an ambush.

These people pinned all their hopes on Zhao Ji: "General, where are we going?"

Zhao Ji also wanted to ask this question: Where can he go?Shangyong?

No, since Song Cong dared to murder him, he must have set up an ambush in Shangyong, and if he went there, he would almost die.The only plan for now is to escape the pursuit first, and then return to Liangzhou to expose the true colors of the Song brothers.

Zhao Ji turned his horse's head and said, "Go to Jingzhou and ask the King of Zhongshan for help." Liu Ci was considered to be Liu Xuan's uncle, and he might be able to get help if he asked for help.

After speaking, he took the remnant soldiers and headed towards Jingzhou, the territory of Zhongshan King Liu Ci.

This is the last whereabouts of Zhao Ji recorded in the history books. Like a shooting star in the night sky, this young general suddenly appeared and disappeared in a flash, leaving only a few battles that people still talk about decades later.

News of Zhao Ji's accident and uncertainty about his life and death spread back to Liangzhou. Liu Xuan almost fainted in the court hall, causing a commotion.

Song Cong said that Zhao Ji was betrayed by his confidant Wei Yuan, and was killed when he went out of the city to ambush Dou Xiao, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Liu Xuan couldn't accept this statement anyway, and he ordered people to find Zhao Ji no matter what the price was.

Jing Xiu was suspicious but couldn't find any evidence. He smelled something ominous, and he felt extremely uneasy.

The impact of Zhao Ji's accident is very great. Leaving aside the emotional aspect for the time being, let's just talk about the most urgent question at present: Who will give the military power in Xiangyang?

Now it seems that only Song Cong can guard Xiangyang in a short period of time.

Liu Xuan refused to accept this matter: "Sir, do you think there is something hidden in this?"

The matter is of great importance, and he became more cautious when facing Liu Xuanjingxiu. He did not directly express his opinion: "We will discuss all these after verification."

"Xiangyang let General Yuwen go, I can't trust Song Cong alone." Liu Xuan always felt that Song Cong was not clean in this matter, and he didn't want to hand over the military power of Xiangyang to him.

"No!" Jing Xiu stopped Liu Xuan's decision, "For the safety of the young master, General Yuwen must not be allowed to leave Liangzhou."

His safety?

Liu Xuan was stunned for a while, and then recalled: Jing Xiu also felt that there was something hidden in Zhao Ji's murder, so he was worried about his safety.

"What about Xiangyang?"

Jing Xiu let out a heavy breath: "I can only leave it to Song Cong temporarily. The young master is patient, and when Xiu finds out the inside story of this matter, he will definitely give General Zhao justice."

Liu Xuan clenched his teeth, swallowed his grief, and squeezed out a word between his teeth: "Okay."

He will never let anyone who harmed Zhao Ji.

……

Ten days after the Xiangyang Incident, a black-clothed figure wearing a bamboo hat appeared at the foot of the city.He squatted down, stretched out his hand, and picked up the remaining weapon fragments on the ground. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly raised his head and looked east, revealing a sharp and handsome face at the same time.

——It was Han Zhao who came here starry night after hearing the news.

He still carried the wind and frost of the last city on his body, and his physical strength was exhausted due to the day and night driving, but he couldn't care about being tired.Han Zhao didn't know how to describe how he felt now. He had lived two lifetimes, and he had almost never been so anxious and worried.

However, years of combat experience have taught Han Zhao to turn negative emotions into calmness and reason, so he can still survey the scene calmly now.

He didn't know what happened before Zhao Ji's disappearance, but he firmly believed that Zhao Ji was not dead—because the system hadn't declared the mission failed.

Just like a counselor is familiar with the field of power, the battlefield is the place Han Zhao is most familiar with. He can read all the traces left by the battle, and can also restore the course of the battle based on these.

Zhao Ji was obviously ambushed. Although he was caught off guard, he did not lose his footing. He quickly organized a counterattack and led his people to retreat.

However, Zhao Ji did not take anyone back to the nearest Xiangyang, nor did he take anyone to Shangyong, but plunged into Jingzhou.

Why?Han Zhao was puzzled.

The road is impassable, or have these two cities become more dangerous than Jingzhou?

Internal and external enemies?

Han Zhao had a vague guess.

But restoring the truth is not his most urgent task now, he wants to find Zhao Ji, even if the world is turned upside down.

The author has something to say: It was originally included with the previous chapter, but it was taken apart because it was too long.

Dinner in the next chapter (frenzied speech)

Some ability settings in this article:

Invincible Han Zhao, the boss with top combat power, Jingxiu who governs the country and the people, master who calculates people's hearts, court politics (strategy) Cheng Ju, and others to be counted (the characters are not finished yet)

But it doesn't mean that you won't lose if you have the highest ability value, no matter how high your martial arts are, you will be afraid of kitchen knives

Liu Ji: What about me?And me?

Han Zhao: You owe it to being number one in the world.