Chapter 1 A Sigh

"Hoo..."

Zheng Shoubei (Garrison Commander Zheng) took a rare bath today.

Slightly hot water covered the area below his neck, causing his skin to flush with an excited red, as if the fatigue of the past few days had been swept away at this moment.

Since the day Li Fusheng coerced the Qian people in the Jinggi area (area surrounding the capital) to attack the city, Shangjing City had remained tightly closed, and the Zhenbei Army (Army of the North) had not made any further attempts to attack.

Even the construction of siege equipment had stopped.

A rare "peaceful understanding" was maintained between the two sides.

However, from morning till night, every day, someone from the Yan army would go to the foot of the city wall and yell at those above, and the Qian soldiers on the wall would immediately yell back.

Neither side was within range of arrows, and the Qian people dared not open the city gates to charge out, so they harmoniously maintained the rule of "gentlemen use their mouths, not their hands."

The Qian people above cursed: Yan dogs, Yan barbarians!

The Yan people below cursed: Qian pigs, eunuchs!

Zheng Fan had even ridden his horse over to watch. He had to admit, it really felt like the online regional discrimination wars of later generations.

But after cursing back and forth, that was about all they had. They never tired of it, but Zheng Shoubei got bored after listening for a while, and wondered if he should teach the Yan people some call-and-response songs in the future.

Compose some catchy cursing songs for everyone to sing together, which would be both imposing and show that everyone was cultured.

Zheng Fan sat in the tub, while Si Niang (Fourth Wife) helped him scrub his back. They were used to each other, especially in this regard. Si Niang knew the exact pressure and pace that Zheng Fan liked. Even just scrubbing his back gave Zheng Shoubei a feeling of floating on air.

"My lord, Liang Cheng came earlier and said that Li Fusheng ordered everyone to pack their things tonight."

Zheng Fan nodded upon hearing this.

This city could not be taken. Previously, because they had seized Xifeng Ferry and gained the upper hand, Shangjing City was exposed to this Yan army.

But several days had passed, and the Qian army on the other side of the river should have almost detoured around. The Qian troops from all over the country who had been ordered to protect the emperor were probably catching up as well.

In fact, scouts had reported yesterday that several Qian armies had gathered on the southwest side of Shangjing City and built a camp.

Those people had some self-awareness and didn't dare to charge directly under the city with their flags flying and fight the Yan army. Instead, they continued to wait for the arrival of more reinforcements.

In fact, ancient emperors were reluctant to issue such "protect the emperor" orders unless absolutely necessary, because the issuance of such an edict first meant the collapse of the imperial authority and prestige. It would make everyone realize, oh, the emperor is just like Wang Ermazi at the entrance of our village, and he has to call everyone to help when he loses a fight.

Secondly, the order to protect the emperor was tantamount to giving local forces a legitimate opportunity to grow stronger. Even if the immediate crisis passed, the resulting situation of local separatist forces confronting the central government would be difficult to eliminate in the short term; it could only be described as drinking poison to quench thirst.

"Alas, I just don't know where the Zhenbei Marquis and the Jingnan Marquis have taken their main forces."

The blind man had reported the situation to him, but Zheng Fan had no way of guessing where the main forces had gone.

But since Li Fusheng had already made preparations to withdraw his troops, Zheng Shoubei, who already had some "war-weariness," was happy to accept it.

Marching and fighting was really hard work, and he hadn't even done needlework in a long time.

"Si Niang, you're tired too," Zheng Fan said, touching Si Niang's hand.

Logically speaking, a woman's hands would become rough after doing needlework for a long time, but Si Niang's hands were always so smooth, soft, and slightly warm, with a hint of coolness.

"My lord, this servant is not tired. It is this servant's blessing to be able to serve you."

Zheng Fan had become somewhat immune to the blind man's flattery, but Si Niang's words were very pleasing to him.

This once again proved one thing: men are just big pigs' trotters.

"Si Niang, let's wash together."

"Splash..."

Water rippled, mist billowed;

After the bath, Zheng Fan changed into a new set of clothes that had been found in this Qian man's house. The clothes had been altered by Si Niang to fit perfectly, but putting on the armor was not so pleasant.

However, Zheng Fan was used to being "afraid of death," so no matter how unwilling he was, he put on the heavy armor and stuffed "son" into his chest.

Zheng Fan was currently in a farmhouse in the Jinggi area, not far from the Yan army camp. Today, he had indulged himself a bit.

Zheng Fan walked out of the bathing area, as Si Niang still needed to wash again.

Outside, Fan Li was waiting with the little sword attendant sitting on his shoulders.

The little girl was still dressed as a boy, and there was no obvious hatred in her eyes when she looked at Zheng Fan. Zheng Fan didn't know if this girl was a sword embryo, but with this kind of mindset, she would definitely be extraordinary when she grew up.

It was essential to ensure security when the lord came to take a bath, so there were also three hundred cavalrymen guarding the outside of the estate.

However, just as Zheng Fan walked out of the estate gate and was about to stretch, he saw a woman's figure appear in front of him.

Some of the Cuiliu Fort (Green Willow Fort) cavalrymen drew their bows and arrows, while others formed a formation to outflank the woman from both sides. Inspired by how the Zhenbei Army had dealt with Shatuo Queshi, Zheng Fan had specifically had Liang Cheng train his troops on how to eliminate experts.

One couldn't say that these cavalrymen were overly cautious. After all, the Jinggi area was now a wasteland. Many Qian people had fled because the Yan people had come, and Li Fusheng's use of Qian people's lives to attack the city had made the Qian people who were still watching abandon any hope and flee south quickly.

Interestingly, of all the areas affected by the Yan people's southward advance, the most severely damaged was not the three borders, nor Chuzhou, Beihe, or Xishan, but the Jinggi area.

Therefore, at this time, a woman, a very beautiful woman, suddenly appeared here, dressed neatly, not at all dirty or disheveled;

It was like a gold ingot appearing at a busy intersection, but no one dared to pick it up. She was unusual from head to toe.

Zheng Fan narrowed his eyes, trying to see the woman's appearance as clearly as possible, but she was a little far away, so he couldn't see her very clearly, except that she looked a little familiar.

However, in the Jinggi area, a woman who looked familiar to him...

"So, you sword users are all brainless, aren't you?"

He said this to the little sword attendant on Fan Li's shoulder.

The little sword attendant nodded and said, "I often say that to my master too."

On this topic, the two, one big and one small, had obviously reached a consensus.

Bai Li Xianglan had come. She had said that she would come out of the city to find Zheng Fan, and now she really had.

Then, the little sword attendant's words made Zheng Fan finally understand something.

The little sword attendant said, "She and my master were on good terms."

So, it wasn't because of his "gaze" that she was determined to kill him, but because of Yuan Zhenxing, the second swordsman of the Qian Kingdom.

"Oh, so it's a misunderstanding," Zheng Fan said.

The little sword attendant asked curiously, "You didn't kill my master?"

Zheng Fan nodded and said, "I didn't shoot an arrow at the time. Your master's fatal wound was the arrow in his chest, shot by a barbarian soldier under my command named Tuo Za, but he died in battle at Xifeng Ferry. So, your master's revenge has been avenged."

The little sword attendant's mouth widened slightly into an "o" shape.

She said:

"I used to hear people say that the Yan people are barbaric, and I often hear that the Yan people are straightforward. It turns out that the Yan people can also be as cunning as you."

Carelessly, he had blackened the name of the Yan people.

But Zheng Shoubei wasn't embarrassed at all. He looked at Liang Cheng in front, and Liang Cheng turned his head back at this time. The silent exchange had begun and ended at the same time.

What Zheng Fan was asking was, can you handle it?

He had brought three hundred cavalrymen with him for this bath.

Liang Cheng's response was, no problem.

Zheng Fan was relieved.

There was no point in guarding against thieves for a thousand days. At this moment, at the cost of losing some men, he would leave this woman's life behind so that he wouldn't have to be so ostentatious when taking a bath in the future.

However, at this moment, a man's figure walked out from behind Bai Li Xianglan.

The man held an iron sword in his hand, and his figure seemed a little unsteady, as if he were drunk.

Zheng Fan looked at the little sword attendant, pointed to the front, and said:

"Don't tell me..."

The little sword attendant reached out and touched Fan Li's big head, saying:

"Bai Li Jian is back."

Three hundred cavalrymen to deal with a Bai Li Xianglan shouldn't be a big problem. This was also an open space. A swordsman's sword was indeed powerful, but a swordsman's physical body was not as strong as that of an ordinary martial artist.

But with Bai Li Xianglan plus a Bai Li Jian, Zheng Fan was a little hesitant.

"You're finished," the little sword attendant said with a smile.

At this time, Fan Li also laughed,

Then he picked up his axe,

And placed it in front of the little sword attendant sitting on his shoulder.

The little sword attendant angrily slapped Fan Li's head a few times,

And cursed:

"I'm blind, I misjudged you!"

Fan Li still smiled憨厚ly (憨厚 - honestly and naively), and the axe was closer to the little sword attendant.

In front, the Bai Li siblings stopped, and the surrounding cavalry also reined in their horses.

Si Niang had also finished her bath at this time. Because she had re-disguised herself, she had taken a little more time. She looked at the scene in front of her and said with some surprise:

"This is really similar to a scene in a movie. This servant has to find a chair for the lord."

As she spoke, Si Niang really went back and brought out a master's chair for Zheng Fan.

He didn't know what material the master's chair was made of, and the workmanship was a bit rough, but when Zheng Fan sat on it and crossed his legs, he had the air of a eunuch.

The villain's chair, the villain's hostage, the villain's surrounding soldiers;

The two swordsman siblings on the opposite side, the woman was beautiful and pure, and the man was muddle-headed and looked drunk, a complete replica of the protagonist team in a wuxia film, simply a classic.

Hey, to be honest, although Bai Li Jian looked a little decadent, he really had a bit of Tony Leung's flavor.

Zheng Fan's face was calm, but he was a little flustered in his heart, and he subconsciously wanted to bite his nails.

Si Niang handed a handful of sunflower seeds to Zheng Fan in advance,

So Zheng Fan started嗑 (ke - to crack and eat) the sunflower seeds.

Bai Li Jian stopped, while Bai Li Xianglan continued forward. After walking a distance, she also stopped. Her gaze fell on the little sword attendant sitting on Fan Li's shoulder.

"She, give, us, you, can, leave."

Obviously,

In the eyes of the Bai Li siblings,

The little sword attendant's life was much more precious than Zheng Fan's.

Moreover, these two siblings really didn't take these three hundred cavalrymen too seriously.

"Okay."

Zheng Fan agreed very readily, and at the same time said:

"When we return to the barracks, we will release her. We Yan people always keep our word!"

Bai Li Xianglan frowned slightly.

Obviously, although she hadn't had much contact with him, Zheng Fan's image in her heart wasn't very good.

She raised her sword and pointed it at Zheng Fan,

And said:

"Hand her over."

Yuan Zhenxing was a reckless man, a man who was clearly an excellent swordsman but could live his life in a muddle-headed mess, but this man had always kept the little sword attendant by his side, which was enough to show Yuan Zhenxing's重视 (zhong shi - emphasis/importance) on this little sword attendant.

Zheng Fan could probably guess what a sword embryo meant, similar to some innate physique, which would allow one to achieve twice the result with half the effort when practicing swordsmanship in the future.

"Then there's nothing to talk about." Zheng Fan shook his head.

It was impossible to hand over the person first. Zheng Shoubei wasn't very confident in his own integrity, so he didn't trust the integrity of others either.

At this time, Bai Li Jian raised his iron sword, raised his head, and the turbidity in his eyes began to slowly dissipate, replaced by a kind of clarity.

From a personal emotional point of view, Zheng Fan didn't really like setting up a stage for others to show off, but people really had the capital to show off. In this world, there were martial artists, magic, battle qi, and cultivation,

Allowing "侠以武犯禁 (xia yi wu fan jin - chivalry uses martial arts to violate prohibitions)" to be better annotated.

The two sides were in a silent confrontation. Fan Li's axe was also always placed in front of the little sword attendant, like a gun pointed at a hostage's temple.

"They are gathering momentum," Si Niang said.

"Saving up for a big move?" Zheng Fan asked.

Si Niang hesitated for a moment. It seemed that in this environment, such a modern description would ruin the artistic conception, but she still nodded and said:

"My lord is wise."

Swordsmen pay attention to a sword qi like a rainbow. They are not like pure martial artists, who can bathe in a sea of soldiers, so they pay more attention to the damage that can be unleashed in a short period of time after they strike.

Obviously, they were about to strike.

After all, if you were lucky enough to encounter a Yuan Zhenxing-like idiot powerhouse, you couldn't hope to encounter another one.

Liang Cheng could naturally see what Si Niang could see. Immediately, fifty of his cavalrymen began to surround Bai Li Xianglan, while the remaining men swarmed towards Bai Li Jian.

The most ideal result would be to kill one first and then solve the other. Of course, the casualties would definitely be very heavy, but this was not what needed to be worried about now, but whether these three hundred cavalrymen could stop these two top swordsmen of the world, one of whom was faintly the number one swordsman in the world.

Just as both sides were about to strike, suddenly, a group of people appeared in the southwest direction, with hundreds of cavalry in front and thousands of infantry behind.

The leader had arms like apes, a long beard, and a spear in his hand.

"Master Bai Li, don't worry, Han Wu from Beihe County has come to help!"

Han Wu?

The ninth thousand year old Zheng, sitting in his chair, looked over and found that the man looked very familiar. Only then did he remember that this wasn't a general from the Qian army that Li Fusheng had defeated outside Chuzhou City that day?

At that time, he had determined that the other party was a big fish, but this big fish was a bit fierce, so he didn't dare to catch him.

Han Wu had come, bringing nearly two thousand men and horses.

He was actually very unlucky. After the team was scattered outside Chuzhou City, he gathered some remnants and returned to Beihe County. After all, his men were basically Beihe Daredevils, and his father-in-law was also in Beihe County.

Who would have expected that he would witness his father-in-law leading his troops to be blown up by Li Leopard as soon as he led the remnants back? This was great, so Han Wu, as the son-in-law, directly received his father-in-law, the jiedushi (military governor) of Beihe County, and then the father and son-in-law ran south together.

Li Leopard, at the back, was still racing with Li Fusheng at that time, so he was chasing with all his strength, but Han Wu's ability was really not to be underestimated. His men's quality was indeed not as good as the Yan people, but he was indeed capable, and he managed to take his father-in-law across the Bian River.

Just as he crossed the Bian River, he wanted to take a rest at Xifeng Ferry, and by the way, let his father-in-law submit a letter to the emperor admitting his mistake, hoping to start over, and so on.

Wasn't it a coincidence that Li Fusheng's great raid came again, and came directly to attack Xifeng Ferry.

At that time, Han Wu and his father-in-law were actually in the camp at Xifeng Ferry. When the Yan people killed in, seeing that the situation was not good, Han Wu once again supported his father-in-law and began to run.

However, this time, he also brought a supervising eunuch and a vice minister of the Ministry of War who was sent to announce the imperial decree.

Shangjing City was already tightly closed, so he couldn't get in for the time being. Han Wu directly led a large group of people around Shangjing City and continued south.

With the identity of his father-in-law, plus the support of the supervising eunuch and the vice minister of the Ministry of War, Han Wu quickly gathered several other troops who were ordered to protect the emperor, and in a blink of an eye, he became another warlord.

Han Wu had seen through it. The Yan people's southward advance would not destroy the Great Qian, but he didn't know how many civil and military officials would perish as a result. Wasn't this the opportunity for him, Han Wu, to rise to power?

So he was very diligent in playing the role of simp.

However, when Liang Cheng saw Han Wu leading the Qian soldiers, he immediately relaxed a little.

The momentum that Bai Li Jian and Bai Li Xianglan had just gathered was also dissipated. At the same time, the siblings sheathed their swords and ran towards Shangjing City without hesitation.

They didn't fly on their swords, but the speed at which the two swordsmen ran was quite fast.

Han Wu was a little dumbfounded. What was going on?

Suddenly, Han Wu realized something and immediately cursed:

"Damn it, I've been blinded by lard!"

The earth began to tremble,

Teams of Zhenbei Army knights began to appear,

The Zhenbei Army was reacted quickly to Han Wu's mobilization of Qian troops across the camp.

The leader of this Zhenbei Army was none other than Li Fusheng, who had been stifled for several days.

"Damn it, this general didn't want to clean up this rabble, but this rabble dared to push their luck and take the initiative to provoke us. If the tiger doesn't show its power, they really think I'm a sick cat. Charge! Crush them!"

At this time, Fan Li put down his axe.

The little sword attendant's face was a little ugly.

Zheng Shoubei, who had been trembling with fear all along, finally felt relieved at this time. He slumped slightly and leaned back in the master's chair. For a moment, he really had the subtle and lazy air of a eunuch.

Zheng Fan pointed to the front,

And said to the little sword attendant:

"They ran away."

The little sword attendant looked sullen, as if she was thinking about something. Finally, she said:

"I suddenly feel..."

"Feel what?"

"I feel that my unlucky master was quite cute."

Zheng Fan smacked his lips and nodded, saying:

"That's right."