Chapter Thirty-Nine: One Step Too Late

  From a prisoner of war to a honored guest, Gu Zhenhua quickly turned the tables, making him somewhat arrogant, and perhaps changing the course of history. Without Wu Sangui, Li Zicheng might have been able to resist the Qing dynasty!

  But just as Gu Zhenhua was full of hope, Wu Sangui suddenly shook his head.

  "Brother, the families of these tens of thousands of Guanning Army soldiers are all in Liaodong. If they were to run away to the south like this, I'm afraid your brothers won't agree."

  Gao Di sneered: "Lord Gu, you've never been in the officialdom, so you don't understand these things. Even if we risked a huge loss and rushed to the south, could those people in Jiangnan tolerate us? They'd be lucky not to swallow us whole!"

  Li Yutian and others also nodded frequently, Gu Zhenhua saw that everyone did not agree, and immediately gave up the idea. To a certain extent, the Ganning Army had become an unmanageable warlord, and it was almost impossible for them to give up their old nest.

  But as long as Wu Sangui remains in Shanhai Pass, the course of history will not change much. The Qing army will definitely enter the pass, and the cooperation between him and Wu Sangui is doomed to be short-lived.

  "It's just Gu being unreasonable, please don't mind him." Gu Zhenhua also gave up his unrealistic fantasy.

  Deputy General Chen Kun said: "General, if you want to start an army, you must hurry back to Shanhai Pass, that is the fundamental place."

  "Uh-huh." Wu Sangui nodded: "Pass on the order, break camp and set up tents, return to Shanhai Pass immediately."

  "Hold on." Gu Zhenhua hastily intercepted, smiling: "Brother Wu, Li Zicheng still doesn't know that the Shanxi army and he have already split, most likely still dreaming of surrendering, I think we might as well continue the play."

  "High!" Before Gu Zhenhua finished speaking, Wu Sangui stretched out his thumb and laughed loudly: "My brother is right, when I left Shanhai Pass, I had already handed over Shanhai Pass to Tang Tong. This guy has more than 10,000 men under him. If Li Zicheng becomes alert, they will attack us from both sides, our situation won't be good."

  "Wu brother, I think we can use the strategy of openly repairing the plank road while secretly passing through Chen Cang. On one hand, we'll use the excuse that our family members have been affected by the conflict to send a few representatives to express our intention to surrender to Li Zicheng. At the same time, we must ensure the safety of Wu's elderly father. On the other hand, we'll select elite soldiers and rush back to Shanhai Pass overnight to drive out Tang Tong!"

  "Brother, you are indeed wise and resourceful. No wonder you were able to rescue the prince from among ten thousand horses. This plan is truly brilliant."

  Wu Sangui smiled and said to everyone: "Did you hear what Lord Guo said? Hurry up and make arrangements to go."

  At the sound of the order, the army began to move nervously. Gu Zhenhua and the prince were also settled in the military camp, a special tent was set aside for them. These people ran anxiously for more than two days, their bodies and minds exhausted to the extreme, without even having time to eat, everywhere was filled with snoring sounds.

  Gu Zhenhua also took off his heavy cotton armor, and when he left the city, there were several arrow wounds and knife wounds on his body. According to common sense, after riding a horse for such a long time, it would be a great blessing if they didn't get worse.

  But after checking, Gu Zhenhua was surprised to find that several wounds had almost healed, and were even itchy, apparently growing new flesh. It seemed that in about ten more days, he would be fully recovered.

  It's actually obtained Xiao Qiang attribute, it's simply the blessing of heaven!

  The body is the capital of conquest, I'm so strong and robust, what beauty can escape me? Mei Juan that little girl, Hong Niangzi that saucy woman, and the famous Chen Yuanyuan, the eight great courtesans of Qinhuai...

  It is said that disaster stars have not left, and evil thoughts have risen again. Just as Gu Zhenhua was thinking about something improper, Yue Poxu hurriedly ran over.

  "General Guo, the commander invites you over for a drink."

  As soon as Wu Sangui extended the invitation, Gu Zhenhua also quickly came to his senses, secretly scolding himself for being useless, with a treacherous wolf by his side, what was he thinking, wasn't he afraid of losing his head!

  Gu Zhenhua hastily adjusted his collar and arrived at the central army tent with Yue Poxi. Wu Sangui had been waiting at the door for a long time.

  "Brother, this cup of wine has two meanings. One is to apologize to you, and the other is for everyone to swear an oath together, to jointly wipe out the bandits and restore the great Ming dynasty!"

  "Brother Wu is too polite, I'm deeply honored."

  Two people hand in hand, as if they were old friends, walked into the big account together. Wu Sangui sat down in the middle position with a plop, then pulled Gu Zhenhua and sat down tightly beside him.

  "Brother, you rescued the prince from a desperate situation and killed the bandit general, it's truly a thrilling victory, here's to you!"

  Wu Sangui raised his wine cup and Gu Zhenhua also hastily drank it all in one gulp. The people present frequently urged them to drink, with three cups downed in succession. Wu Sangui and Gu Zhenhua chatted more and more warmly.

  From the specific way out of the city, to the fighting power of the general who broke through the camp, to what to do next, Wu Sangui kept asking questions, and Gu Zhenhua answered them one by one, saying everything he knew.

  Looking at them chatting so happily, General Gao Di of Shanhai Pass frowned. He had always looked down on Gu Zhenhua, a young whelp who didn't know how he got lucky and became an earl, suddenly stepping on his own head, the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt.

  Gao Di held up his wine cup to cover his face, and smiled as he said to Gu Zhenhua: "Lord Gu, your elegance surpasses others, I also admire you greatly. However, there is one thing that is unclear, please enlighten me."

  "General Gao, don't be so polite, if there's anything I've done wrong, please point it out."

  "Lord Gu, I have something to ask you, why is your hair so short? Your body and skin are gifts from your parents, and should not be damaged lightly. Only the barbarians outside the Great Wall would shave their heads, it's shameful and laughable."

  He said barbarians in his mouth, but actually he was talking about Gu Zhenhua. Everyone present is a sharp person, and everyone is clear. In fact, they also noticed Gu Zhenhua's hair problem. After removing the helmet, it can be seen that Gu Zhenhua's hair is extremely short, only three or two inches long.

  Gao Di had become the target of dislike, and he voluntarily spoke out. Li Yutian, Yang Kun, and others were all staring at Gu Zhenhua, wanting to know how this glib-tongued Master Gu would respond.

  "Gao Zongbing, I recall that there was a punishment called 'Toufa' which involved shaving one's head. Now thinking about it, we are all subjects of the great Ming dynasty, yet we allowed bandits to enter the capital city, and Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill with only Wang Chengen by his side. Shouldn't we be ashamed? Don't we have any guilt on our bodies?"

  Gu Zhenhua stood up and said with deep emotion: "Gu thinks that the rise and fall of a country is the responsibility of every individual, and when the dynasty collapses, every minister of the Ming Dynasty bears a share of the blame. I have made up my mind that until the day the Ming Dynasty is restored, I will not regrow my hair. Before then, Gu is willing to emulate the ascetic monks, dedicating himself to the cause of the Ming Dynasty and exhausting his life for it!"

  "Well said!" Li Yutian was the first to applaud, and soon other generals also nodded in agreement.

  Regardless of whether it's true or false, Gu Zhenhua's words are righteous and unassailable, completely embodying the grand image of a loyal and devoted heart to the great Ming dynasty.

  In comparison, Gao Di's attempt to seize the handle of others' homes and coldly mock them is even more petty and narrow-minded, purely self-inflicted humiliation. Indeed, Gao Di's face turned alternately pale and red, as if performing a Sichuan opera facial change!

  Wu Sangui also saw Gao Di's embarrassment and hastily laughed: "Gu Xian, loyal and righteous, admirable, let's have another drink!"

  The generals also did not want to continue in such an awkward situation, so they all raised their cups. Just at this moment, someone suddenly rushed in.

  "I have something to report to the general: a few old acquaintances have come to visit and wish to pay their respects to the general."

  "Who is the deceased?"

  The urgent report brought a visiting card, Wu Sangui opened it and saw three familiar names: Wang Zezhong, Zhang Ruoxi, and Zuo Maotai!

  "Hum, these guys aren't the ones who surrendered to the bandits? How dare they still have the face to come and persuade me!"

  Gu Zhenhua listened to it and suddenly understood that Li Zicheng had first sent Li Jia and Chen Yi, and now he probably felt the importance of Wu Sangui, so he sent out a few heavyweight figures.

  Wu Sangui would not be moved, Gu Zhenhua was also unsure in his heart, this is a matter of life and death, so he couldn't help but hang his heart.

  "Everyone accompany this handsome guy to see what they have to say!"

  Wu Sangui led the crowd into the large tent for receiving guests, and soon several officials entered one after another. The leader was none other than the surrendered official Wang Zhenyao.

  "General Wu, thinking back to when we both called the emperor our lord, now we're going to work together to assist the great Emperor Da Shun. What a tremendous joy! When I came to the palace, he repeatedly mentioned General Wu, saying you are one of the few talented generals who should be strongly promoted. I'm afraid in the future, we will all have to rely on your guidance!"

  "Whenever Wu is mentioned, I think about how he wants my head?"