Chapter 787 Catching a Turtle in a Jar

The old ancestor of the Fan family looked at the bowl of poisoned wine in her hand, then at her grandson in front of her.

Fan Zhengwen looked at his grandma in front of him, then at the bowl of poisoned wine in her hand.

The two generations fell into a brief but excruciatingly long silence.

Then,

the old ancestor reached out and grabbed Fan Zhengwen's wrist, saying affectionately:

"Zhengwen."

"Grandma."

"Grandma thinks she can still be saved."

After all, she only took one sip.

After all, she was different from ordinary people.

After all, she really hadn't lived enough good days.

After all,

better days seemed to be just around the corner!

"Grandma, you're quite old, why don't we just not bother?"

"Zhengwen, oh... my dear grandson, oh..."

The old ancestor stared at her grandson with tears in her eyes. The reason she didn't smash this unlucky grandson's head before the poison took effect was because she knew that the mansion had just experienced a great upheaval, no, the entire Fan City had just experienced a great upheaval. Not to mention finding a famous doctor, even finding a proper doctor right now wouldn't be easy.

And she knew,

this grandson of hers,

although he couldn't lift a finger or carry a burden,

he loved medical books, studied medical theories, and had even prescribed medicine for close family members.

In other words,

the head of the Fan family was also a master physician;

it was just that outsiders could never hire him for treatment.

"Grandma."

"Grandson, oh."

"Grandson was just joking. Grandma, try to induce vomiting first. Grandson will use acupuncture to suppress the circulation of qi and blood for Grandma, and then supplement it with herbal medicine to cleanse the system. Grandma will recover after a month of recuperation.

After all, Grandma only took one sip."

"Good, good, good."

The old ancestor didn't hesitate to use one hand to pinch her throat, and then patted her chest with her right hand.

"Ugh..."

The old ancestor in red clothes sat on the table and vomited without any grace. It was conceivable that she had eaten a lot of good things before coming out today, and had filled herself up before setting off.

Fan Zhengwen looked at the surrounding Fan family members and said:

"Everyone clean up and tidy up the house."

"Yes, Master."

"Yes, Master."

Fan Zhengwen then looked at Qu Peiluo standing there and said:

"Brother Qu, what should we do now?"

"Organize the existing manpower and break out of the city."

Whether the Chu people were playing some trick was irrelevant at this point. If the Chu people were really so bored as to play striptease at this point, then they could only brace themselves for the consequences.

"Won't it be too hasty?"

"Do you want to miss out on the excitement?"

After all, he was the former eldest son of the Qu family. Even if he had become a bandit and a Chu traitor, he still tried his best to avoid using foul language.

"Brother Qu is right." Fan Zhengwen nodded in agreement and beckoned to his subordinates, "Go, call out all those who aren't dead. Let's break out."

In fact, both Fan Zhengwen and Qu Peiluo knew in their hearts;

if there were reinforcements from outside, then it was most likely that the Yan army had arrived.

The master was home, so how could the dog not take the initiative to rush out and wag its tail?

Just as Fan Zhengwen was about to leave with his men, his arm was grabbed again by the old ancestor:

"Grandson, don't go, quickly give Grandma acupuncture."

The old ancestor had already vomited out her bile at this point, so how could she let Fan Zhengwen leave as he pleased.

Fan Zhengwen smiled and said:

"Grandson was just joking with Grandma. What I brought to Grandma earlier wasn't poisoned wine, but a tonic with a little brown sugar. Sweet, right?"

The old ancestor was stunned for a moment,

then felt ashamed and annoyed, but couldn't really get angry;

finally,

she took a deep breath

and cursed:

"You scoundrel!"

……

Let's not mention the main battlefield where the defeat of the Chu army was already a foregone conclusion. Dugu Mu bravely covered the retreat with a desperate gamble, and Dugu Nian led the rear army in an attempt to quickly withdraw from the battle circle and flee south.

Let's also not mention that in Fan City, the Chu army that had previously entered the city saw the movement outside, panicked, and instantly fell into a state of confusion and began to collapse.

Let's mention the Great Yan's Marquis of Pingxi, who personally led thousands of cavalry, bearing his own marshal flag, and marched mightily around Fan City to the side, and began to head north.

Passing through the city would be the fastest. Perhaps the Fan mansion was currently in dire straits and desperately needed Lord Zheng's divine soldiers to descend from the heavens to save their lives;

but Lord Zheng didn't choose to do so, because the city gates of Fan City had been blocked tightly by Qu Peiluo's orders when defending the city earlier. The Chu army had done some clearing after attacking, but had not yet had time to truly complete it.

To enter through the city would mean that Lord Zheng would have to dismount and climb ladders to scale the city walls with his subordinates;

this would be too tiring, and would not be in line with the style that Lord Zheng wanted at this time.

Most importantly, General Nian would not wait for him.

After riding around, he soon encountered General Nian's subordinates from the north.

But as Lord Zheng expected, the movement in the south was not unknown here. And seeing the black-armored cavalry rushing towards them like fierce gods, and the marquis flag of military merit that only the Marquis of Pingxi of Yan could use, these "loyal and righteous men" who had been patting their chests a few days ago to assure General Nian that they were absolutely loyal to the general and loyal to Great Chu, immediately abandoned their so-called "blood" and "loyalty," either simply scattered like birds and beasts or directly dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground to beg for surrender.

In a chain reaction, Lord Zheng had clearly only led thousands of cavalry deep into the area. In theory, the number of General Nian's "rabble" was several times that of Lord Zheng's, but they became "routed at the mere sight of the enemy."

However, this was also normal. If they were so steadfast, why didn't they stand up when the Fan family was the sole power in this place?

The so-called "prudent self-preservation" and "waiting for the opportune moment" were just another interpretation of "cowardice." When "disaster struck," wouldn't they have to fly away on their own?

"Get out of the way, get out of the way, kneel to the side, kneel to the side, don't block the way!"

In front, more and more people began to surrender, in groups and clusters, because most people were very clear that in the face of the Yan army's iron hooves, the possibility of their own escape was very low.

What they didn't know was that Lord Zheng's mind was now full of General Nian,

and for this reason, he even turned a blind eye to the retreat of the Chu army in the south.

But there were too many people surrendering, blocking the road. The knights under Lord Zheng had no choice but to quickly drive away these surrendered people, telling them to get lost, as there was no time to accept prisoners now!

As for the location of General Nian,

it was easy to find,

General Nian had previously led his lone army into Meng Mountain, relying on his great general's flag to gather and win over people's hearts. Where the flag was, was where General Nian was.

"Master, could it be that Nian Yao has already slipped away?" Si Niang asked.

"He's not that decisive!"

A change had just occurred, the situation had just been reversed, how could Nian Yao abandon his situation and throw down his men to slip away?

As fellow commanders, they understood each other on this point.

Just then,

Lord Zheng encountered the first wave of resistance when his army broke through.

Centered on the Shanyue soldiers, and wrapped with a clearly extremely panicked group of auxiliary soldiers, they rushed towards Lord Zheng.

They didn't form a formation,

because forming a formation at this time would have no other meaning than to continue to cause the auxiliary soldiers who were already collapsing to collapse further. It would be better to directly smear their faces like a paste.

"Kill!"

Lord Zheng also didn't give too many commands. The brave win when enemies meet on a narrow road. At this moment, he was clearly in the ascendant.

The two armies collided, with the Yan army occupying an absolute advantage. Although they suffered many casualties in the charge, the casualties of the Chu army would only be greater.

And after a round of impact, the auxiliary soldiers who had been able to hack and kill together were soon began to abandon the battle and run away after witnessing the ferocity of the Yan army.

The Shanyue soldiers were loyal to General Nian, and they were also brave and good at fighting, but first, they had been marching for a long time, and they had suffered heavy losses as the main force in the continuous siege of the city. Second, the friendly forces who had been rushing together had all fled, exposing their own gaps.

After Lord Zheng commanded his subordinates to charge again, he basically dispersed this last organized force that dared to stop him at this time.

Lord Zheng still didn't delay, but gathered his troops and continued to charge towards the general's flag.

Long-distance raid, not hesitating to take risks, betting all his elites, was to catch the bastard who dared to provoke his temper!

Dare to provoke me, dare to anger me,

I have been working hard for so many years,

just to live out a satisfying life!

……

Under the flag,

the Eighth Prince's young face was filled with disbelief, and he couldn't help but murmur:

"How could this be... how could this be..."

Once, when he was younger, he had watched the Yan army's defeat at Wangjiang from a pleasure boat, and had also gestured and commented with great emotion.

But no matter how young and intelligent, no matter how knowledgeable, when thrown into the current situation, his reaction was no different from the kind of people he had once ridiculed and looked down upon.

In this situation, it was no longer a question of whether the coronation gift would be in time, but that the youngest brother of the Great Chu Regent, whom he loved most, might not even be able to return home.

"It's very simple. I borrowed the road from Jin to attack Fan City, and that Marquis of Pingxi directly came out of Zhennan Pass and borrowed the road from my Chu to attack me."

General Nian didn't say that the Marquis of Pingxi had come to save Fan City,

he had a feeling in the dark,

that the Marquis was coming for him.

He also understood the reason.

This feeling was like two neighbors. A child of one neighbor stood on a ladder, his head poking over the courtyard wall and spitting at the children playing in the other's yard, and then he went down.

He had just clapped his hands and hadn't been proud for long when he found that the other side had first gone out of his house, then kicked open his own door, and came to his yard to settle the score.

Very vivid, really very vivid;

so vivid that General Nian himself couldn't help but laugh.

"Your Highness, don't be afraid. This servant will show you what it means to catch a turtle in a jar!"

When the Eighth Prince heard this, he immediately reached out and grabbed General Nian's wrist, and said with surprise:

"Does the General still have a backup plan? Catching a turtle in a jar, is there another army hidden here?"

General Nian shook his head and said:

"There are no more armies hidden."

"Then how can it be called catching a turtle in a jar?"

"Because, this servant is the turtle."