Chapter 54: Blocked at Hangu Pass

  Luo Zhan rode forward, first sweeping a glance at the mountain bandits who were holding clubs and wearing tattered clothes, looking terrified and uneasy. He asked: "What kind of people are you? Seeing General Ben's army, why do you want to run away? Are you not mountain bandits?"

  The faces of the mountain bandits turned even paler, and no one dared to speak.

  Several disheveled women were so frightened that they fell to the ground and fainted.

  A family member hastily replied, "General, these are mountain bandits. They just tried to rob us and fortunately your army arrived in time, scaring them away. Thank you for saving us."

  Luo Zheng glanced at those mountain bandits again and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  Only dozens of mountain bandits, not only are there old people, but also women and children.

  If it weren't for being unable to make a living, who would be willing to risk their life to rob others.

  Those faces, one by one, desperate and numb, all reveal how difficult the lives of ordinary people are.

  Li Meng.

  "The end will be there."

  Luo Zheng waved his hand and ordered: "Give them some money and grain, persuade them to go back to farming, and don't come out to rob again."

  "I will obey orders."

  Li Meng responded with a sound and immediately went down to handle it.

  In the carriage.

  Xiao Bi couldn't help but curl her lip, "How can we let these despicable mountain bandits off, honestly."

  The young lady glared at her and said, "Don't talk nonsense, be careful what you say."

  Dozens of mountain bandits were quickly taken away, and Luo Zheng also looked at the horse carriage.

  "Who is in the carriage? Come out and let's have a look."

  The voice in the carriage was small, but it was so close to Luo Zheng, and he wasn't deaf, how could he not hear. He didn't want to interfere, but when he heard the woman in the carriage actually dared to criticize him, he wanted to see who this young lady was who was so bold.

  More than ten family members held their breath in tension, yet no one dared to speak up.

  The curtain of the horse-drawn carriage was lifted soon.

  Xiao Bi quickly jumped down from the horse carriage and helped the young lady down as well.

  Luo Zheng took just one glance, and his eyes froze.

  The young lady had a beautiful face and a lovely appearance, which was in no way inferior to that of Gan's wife. She had a unique beauty that was both elegant and refined.

  The only regret is that she has already married and become someone's wife, as evident from her hairstyle.

  "Have seen the general."

  The young lady calmly gave Luo Zheng a slight bow, and at a glance, she was a noble lady.

  Xiao Bi supported Miss and also followed suit with a courtesy, secretly sizing up Luo Zheng.

  It wasn't until Luo Zheng's gaze swept over that he hastily lowered his head in a fluster.

  "Miss, what is your name and where are you headed?"

  The young lady replied: "Cai Yan, the wife of Wei from Hedong, wants to go to Luoyang to look for her father."

  Cai Yan?

  Luo Zhen was taken aback and asked in surprise: "Are you Cai Yan, the daughter of Grand Councilor Cai Yong?"

  The young lady looked surprised and said: "It is I."

  Luo Zhenhao looked at Cai Yan for a while before slowly asking: "Is your husband Wei Zhongdao dead?"

  Xiao Bi subconsciously curled her lip, but quickly became startled and hastily lowered her head.

  Cai Yan's eyebrows slightly furrowed, but she still replied: "My former husband has already passed away."

  Luo Zhen said with a smile: "It's really an honor, it turns out that you are Lord Cai's esteemed guest. General, I am about to return to Luoyang, and since we are traveling in the same direction, please get on the horse carriage, and follow me to Luoyang. Along the way, we can also take care of each other, to prevent any small mishaps."

  Cai Yan hesitated for a moment before bowing and saying: "Thank you so much, General."

  Xiao Bi stole a glance at Luo Zheng again and quickly helped Miss get on the carriage.

  More than a dozen guys let out a long sigh of relief, and their hearts were secretly excited.

  This general doesn't seem to have any malicious intentions towards the young lady. With the current unrest on the roads, if we can get these several thousand Western Liang cavalrymen to escort us along the way, then we won't need to worry about being robbed by mountain bandits at all times.

  Luo Zheng took another glance at the horse carriage, then spurred his horse and galloped away.

  There are several famous women in the Three Kingdoms period who have been passed down through history, and Cai Wenji is one of them that Luo Zhen knows most about.

  This woman's life can be said to be extremely bumpy. First, she had just married into the Wei family when her husband died. Unable to bear the cold eyes of her in-laws, she returned to her natal home in a huff, only to be captured by the Xiongnu and taken beyond the borders, where it seems she even gave birth to two sons for the Xiongnu king.

  During the Xiongnu period, he also created the famous "Eighteen Beats of the Barbarian Flute".

  As a woman, she was able to leave a profound mark on China's literary history and music, which shows how outstanding her talent was. However, her unfortunate experiences have caused many historians to lament and sigh in regret.

  The army set out again and arrived at Shan County by nightfall.

  The next day, the army set out from Shanzhou and headed east along the ancient road of Chang'an towards Hangu Pass.

  They passed by Quchi and Xin'an, and arrived at Hangu Pass three days later.

  Hangu Pass is located on the ancient road of Chang'an, west of the plateau, east of the cliff, south of Qinling Mountains, and north of the Yellow River. It is one of the earliest and most important passes in Chinese history. Due to its depth and danger, it is called Hangu Pass, with the reputation of "one man holding the pass, ten thousand men cannot open".

  The guardian of Hangu Pass was Li Hu, a close general under Dong Zhuo and the younger brother of Li Jue. He held the rank of Colonel and had a somewhat arrogant personality.

  Luo Zheng led his army to the foot of the pass and ordered a small group of soldiers to go forward and present the documents for passing through the pass.

  Li Huan received the news and hurriedly led hundreds of soldiers to welcome him outside the pass.

  Hu Zhi was a trusted general under Dong Zhuo's command, and his position was even higher than that of Li Jue. How could Li Huan dare to be slow?

  Unexpectedly, when they arrived outside the pass, they saw the banner from a distance and became suspicious.

  When he learned that Hu Zhi had died in Qiao County and was replaced by Luo Zheng as the commander of the army, this guy immediately changed his face.

  Without saying another word, he led hundreds of soldiers back into the city, ordering the garrison to raise the drawbridge.

  More than three thousand Western Liang cavalrymen below the pass looked on in indignation and burst into loud curses.

  Li Meng's face turned iron-green as he cursed: "This dog Li Huan, being rude is one thing, but actually closing the gate and locking it, not allowing our great army to pass through, this is simply unreasonable. When we return to Luoyang, I will definitely impeach him before the Prime Minister."

  Wang Fang and Xu Chu also burst into a torrent of abuse, almost asking after Li Huan's 18th generation ancestors and female relatives.

  Luo Zheng's face was gloomy and frightening, with a terrifying glint flashing in his eyes.

  As the sky was already late, he had no choice but to order the army to retreat three miles and set up camp for the night, resting first before doing anything else.

  The next day at dawn, the army set out and arrived outside Hangu Pass.

  There was a small school in front of Guan's house, and after waiting for half a day, there was no movement.

  Luo Zheng had no choice but to come out himself, riding his horse to the foot of the pass and shouting loudly: "Why don't you open the gate?"

  The gatekeeper looked out and said with a difficult expression: "Without General Li Huan's order, I dare not open the gate."

  Luo Zheng was furious and shouted: "Where is Li Huan?"

  The little soldier replied: "I also don't know."

  More than three thousand cavalrymen were on the verge of bursting their lungs and began to curse loudly.

  Lu Zheng shouted: "The general is under the command of the Prime Minister to conquer Guandong, now leading the army back, wanting to return to Luoyang to report, Li Huan, a dog thief, dared to close the pass and block it. When he returns to Luoyang, General will definitely impeach him in front of the Prime Minister, why not open the pass?"

  The officer and soldiers exchanged embarrassed glances, opening the gate was not right, but not opening it wasn't either, they were in a difficult situation.

  Seeing more than 3,000 cavalrymen under the city wall, with a surge of indignation, he had to turn his head to one side and pretend not to see.

  Luo Zheng's face turned pale, and after waiting for a while, he didn't see any movement, so he had to let the soldiers dismount and rest.

  This wait is just a long time.

  Everyone's heart is burning with a fire, and they can't wait to rush into the pass.

  From Guanzhong to Luoyang, there is only one ancient road of Chang'an that can be taken. The Hangu Pass happens to be located on the necessary path, with steep and precipitous peaks and cliffs on both sides, even if you want to bypass it, you can't get around it, and can only pass through Guanzhong.

  It wasn't until nearly noon that a shout was heard from above, and the drawbridge crashed down, opening up the city gate.

  Luo Zheng didn't say a word and ordered the army to mount up and quickly charge into Guanzhong, exiting from the east gate.

  It wasn't until they had walked a few li that the official road gradually opened up on both sides.

  Luo Zheng turned his horse's head and gazed afar at the K'a in the valley between the two mountains, a cold-blooded killing intent flashing at the corner of his mouth.

  Li Jue had been unfriendly towards him as early as the Battle of Tiger Trap Pass.

  Li Huan's actions today have thoroughly provoked his desire to kill Li Jue.

  The whole army and soldiers were still scolding their mothers, scolding as loudly as they could, for fear that Li Huan would not hear them.

  "Go!"

  Luo Zheng waved his hand and galloped forward on horseback first.

  More than three thousand cavalry gathered in a cloud of dust, and the official road was filled with rolling smoke and dust.

  Just as they were about to proceed, a convoy of vehicles slowly came into view on the official road ahead.

  This is a team of over ten large vehicles, with no less than five hundred guards, among whom there are more than thirty knights in bright clothes and angry horses, each holding spears and wearing knives, obviously the private soldiers of a powerful and wealthy family.

  Whenever they travel, they can bring at least 500 guards, this is not an ordinary powerful clan.

  Luo Zheng waved his hand and dozens of cavalrymen immediately galloped over, blocking the convoy and questioning them.

  Before long, a young man in his twenties, dressed in magnificent attire, was brought forward.

  "Who are you?"

  Luo Zheng waved his whip and asked.

  The young man replied: "I am Chen Liu, a retainer of Wu Yi."

  "Wu Yi?"

  Lu Zheng pondered for a moment, then asked, "Where do you want to go?"

  Although I feel this name is somewhat familiar, I couldn't recall who it was.

  Wu Yi replied: "I want to go to Guanzhong."

  Luo Zheng pointed with his whip at the dozen or so large carts and asked: "What are these carts carrying?"

  Wu Yi remained silent and didn't respond, his face looking very displeased.

  A Western Liang cavalryman replied: "General, there are only family members and goods in the carriage."

  "Family and property?"

  Luo Zheng was taken aback, this is going to move the whole family to Guanzhong!

  However, Guanzhong is now more chaotic than Luoyang, isn't this rushing to send oneself to death?!

  He looked at Wu Yi carefully for a few more moments, and suddenly remembered.

  After Liu Bei seized Chengdu, there was a general named Wu Yi under his command. Moreover, he married a beautiful younger sister who was considered one of the few peerless beauties in the Three Kingdoms.

  Isn't this the guy?