Chapter Thirty-Two: Rebuke

  "What's next?"

  Li Zheng squinted his eyes: "Hide and seek."

  The white wolf was stunned and somewhat bewildered.

  Li Zheng did not say much more and said: "You call a few uninjured brothers to guard the mountain pass outside. If there are pursuers, notify me immediately."

  Bai Lang received the order and without saying another word, personally led five soldiers quietly into the dense forest.

  After the White Wolf left, Li Zhong gathered all his soldiers and gave them a pep talk, telling jokes and rambling on incoherently to relax himself and ease the killing intent. At the same time, he also greatly eased the tense emotions that the soldiers had brought back from the battlefield.

  As for those three lost soldiers, Li Zhēn felt a pang of regret in his heart, and at the same time, he also discovered that the remaining soldiers didn't seem to have much reaction to this.

  In the words of one soldier, before going into battle, they were all prepared to die on the battlefield. For a soldier, dying in battle is a matter of course.

  Although the dry rations they ate were not particularly tasty, they were rich in nutrients. Li Jing and his soldiers quickly became a cohesive unit. Perhaps it was because they had gone through thick and thin together on the battlefield, sharing life-and-death experiences that their perception of Li Jing underwent some changes.

  Yes, it's getting closer.

  "Ah! I'm suffocating too!"

  Suddenly, Fu Xie, who was lying beside him, sat up straight like a resurrected corpse, shouting loudly and attracting the attention of Li Jing and others.

  "Your Excellency!"

  Li Zheng stood up, patted the weeds on his buttocks, walked forward, and bowed to Fu Xie with a salute.

  "Who are you?"

  Fu Xie's face was pale, but he still looked elegant and refined. His eyes gradually focused, and he carefully examined Li Zhong for a moment, looking slightly puzzled: "Why am I here? What is this place?"

  Li Zheng faced Fu Xie, sat down and said: "My name is Li Zheng, a man from Lingzhou. This is the Zhuyue Mountain!"

  "Zhū Yǔ Shān?!!"

  Fu Xi's expression suddenly turned solemn, and he exclaimed: "What about Jizhou?"

  Li Zheng's eyes were clear and bright, and he let out a faint sigh: "I suppose it has already fallen into the hands of the rebels."

  "What?! Fu Xiu heard the words, slightly startled, suddenly stood up, and immediately his expression turned gloomy: "Ji City has fallen, it's only fitting... Alas, the innocent citizens of the city, I don't know how they will be oppressed..."

  Having said that, he let out a long sigh and bowed to Li Zhong, saying: "Fu Mou still wants to thank the strong man for saving his life... Strong man, may I borrow your sword for a moment?!"

  Li Zhēng heard this and his eyes flashed, saying: "I don't know why you're borrowing a sword, sir."

  "The city of Ji has already fallen, and the people will suffer at the hands of the enemy. The three auxiliary regions have lost their shield." Fu Shuo's expression was downcast: "As the governor of Han Yang, I am unable to serve the emperor above or protect the people below. What is the point of living?"

  Li Zhong's eyebrows furrowed.

  Fu Xi is this determined to seek death?

  That can't be, otherwise all this effort would have been in vain. Those three people wouldn't have died for nothing.

  Li Zhēng's expression immediately turned stern and he shouted: "Your words are utterly wrong!"

  "The governor's reputation is known throughout the world, and the Hu people of Liangzhou still do not dare to be presumptuous towards the governor. As long as the governor is still here, Liangzhou will still exist, and the three auxiliary screens will still exist!"

  "Your Excellency, the people of Liangzhou are still looking forward to your rescue! As long as Your Excellency withdraws from Hanyang and issues a call to arms, followers will surely gather, and it will be possible to rise again, defeat the rebel army, and bring peace back to Liangzhou!"

  "If you, sir, are going to take this negative attitude, then Li is blind and has mistaken the wrong person!"

  Having drunk, Li Zhēng took off his sword and threw it in front of Fù Xiè, saying in a deep voice: "As long as the green mountain is there, we don't have to worry about not having firewood to burn. You are a great man of your generation, why can't you understand this? Furthermore, this time's Liangzhou rebellion was entirely caused by that despicable Gěng, it has nothing to do with you, why must you put all the blame on yourself?"

  "What is most urgent now is not to seek death to apologize to the world, but to take responsibility, pacify the rebels and retake Liangzhou, which is the top priority, Your Excellency!"

  Fu Xi was stunned.

  Li Zhong's words were like the evening drum and morning bell, shaking the deaf and awakening the dumb.

  Is this behavior worthy of one's reputation? Is it worthy of the people's admiration for oneself?

  This is the behavior of a coward!

  Fu Xiang took a deep breath and gradually calmed down in his heart, but a sense of shame inexplicably surged up.

  As a famous person and holding a high position, having eaten rice for tens of years for free, yet still not a single young person can see through it.

  "Thanks for clearing up the confusion!"

  Fu Xiuren bowed deeply: "If it weren't for your words, I, Fu, would have almost become a coward! Please accept my bow, sir. You can be my teacher!"

  "You mustn't!"

  Li Zhong's heart was greatly settled, and he hastily supported Fu Xie, saying: "It's good that the lord can understand, I just spoke a few reckless words, don't take them seriously."

  "Hero, you saved my life and also dispelled my heart knot... Fu Mou is older than Hero, if Hero doesn't despise him, Fu Mou will address him as younger brother... Younger brother, Fu Mou bids farewell!"

  The two sat down facing each other, and Fu Xianguo leaned forward slightly, sincerely bowing his head.

  Li Zheng's eyes lit up with a smile and he bowed, saying: "It is an honor for me to be able to call you brother, Master Fu, thank you!"

  In just a moment, Li Zhēng's sudden rebuke brought the two people closer together by tens of thousands of miles.

  Fu Xi's spirit was stirred up and he said, "This time escaping from Hanyang is a shame for my whole life. Sooner or later I will lead the army to come here and eliminate the rebels..."

  As he spoke, Fu Xie finally had the mood to carefully examine the surrounding soldiers. In a moment, his mouth couldn't help but show a hint of surprise: "I didn't expect that under your command, there would be such an exceptionally elite group of soldiers, which is not much different from the elite troops of my Great Han border army!"

  "Huh, this horse..."

  In the blink of an eye, Fu Xie saw again the full-body armored Qingjia warriors and war horses, and his eyes lit up with surprise and curiosity: "Both men and horses are fully armored, this is rarely seen even in the border army, and there are even horned horses, truly extraordinary."

  Li Zhong smiled, knowing that the soldiers under his command were far inferior to the elite troops of the Great Han Empire in terms of individual strength. However, Li Zhong believed that if they really fought, they wouldn't lose too much.

  War horses are not for fun, first-class armor, not made of paper.

  However, judging from Fu Xi's words, it seems that there should also be elite cavalry units with both men and horses wearing armor in the Great Han border army, which made Li Jing pay attention.

  "Brother Fu is overpraising," Li Zhēn said with a smile: "I'm very clear about what kind of people my subordinates are. Compared to the elite troops on the border, they're vastly inferior."

  As soon as this was said, the soldiers on the side all felt dissatisfied in their hearts.

  These men under his command are more elite than the border army, even if they have excellent armor, most of them are not their opponents. The elite border army is not like the mob under Jizhou City, but rather a group of brave and fierce soldiers who dare to fight and kill, and dare to sacrifice themselves in battle!

  Li Zheng glanced at him and continued, "As for these war horses with sharp hooves, they were discovered in the depths of Helan Mountain. These guys are naturally violent, difficult to capture, and after being tamed for a long time, they barely became useful."

  This was a lie. The soldiers around him couldn't help but secretly turn their heads away, feeling ashamed - their master lied without even drafting it, speaking nonsense.

  Skip these useless idle talks, and the two of them again pulled the topic to the recent war.

  Li Zhong recounted today's battle in great detail, causing Fu Shuo to be amazed and speechless.

  Although Fu Xiande deeply knew that the rebels led by Wang Guo were mostly a mob, with dozens of riders charging into tens of thousands of troops, such a feat was indeed impressive and worthy of admiration.

  Li Zhong finally spoke of those soldiers who were willing to die for their country, and both men let out a deep sigh.

  "It's all good." Fu Xie felt a little sad: "What a pity, it's all because of me... alas..."

  "It's a worthy death for one's conviction." Li Zhong sighed: "What a pity they were all good men..."

  As he spoke, Li Zhēn suddenly remembered something and a look of apology appeared on his face: "Brother Fù, due to the urgent situation at the time, we didn't have the opportunity to enter the city and rescue your family members. It's really..."

  Fu Brother heard this, but just smiled slightly and said: "Younger brother doesn't need to be polite," As he spoke, a strong self-confidence appeared on his refined face: "Since Fu Mou hasn't died, those rebels will definitely not dare to bully my family. Even if Fu Mou had died, they wouldn't dare act recklessly!"

  Li Zhong listened and suddenly felt a little enlightened.

  Fu Xi's reputation is lofty and prestigious, killing him would bring infamy, making it hard to stand firm, let alone bullying his wife and children. Moreover, among those rebels, there must be people who had begged Fu Xi to retreat, they will surely protect Fu Xi's family from harm. Besides, since Fu Xi is still alive, people will naturally hesitate to take action against him.

  Finally, Li Zhēng thought of those five subordinates who were still in Jì City.

  These few people should take some action if they are smart.

  Although the chances are slim, Li Zhong is still very much looking forward to it.

  Two people were chatting leisurely when suddenly a white wolf led someone out of the dense forest at a rapid pace.

  "Your Majesty... My Lord!"

  Bai Lang caught sight of Fu Xi and hastily paid his respects, then said: "Your Majesty, there are several thousand pursuing soldiers heading in this direction. At most, it will take no more than half an hour for them to arrive here."

  Upon hearing this, Li Zhēng and Fù Xiè immediately stood up.

  "Gather all brothers, prepare to set off immediately."

  Li Zhēng said a sentence and then said: "Bring a horse for Brother Fu."

  A group of people acted quickly and swiftly mounted their horses, without covering their tracks, directly following the mountain valley, heading deep into the mountains.

  After Li Zhong and others left for about three quarters of an hour, the rebel army with thousands of soldiers and horses indeed tracked them down to this place.

  The leading general looked around for a moment and shouted: "The Han dogs have not gone far, follow me to pursue them quickly, don't give them time to rest!"

  This rebellion will make it clear that Li Zhong and others have the strength to fight, while fearing in their hearts, they also know that after a long battle, Li Zhong and others must be exhausted, as long as they are entangled and not allowed to rest, there must be an opportunity to win!

  As soon as he finished speaking, several thousand people surged forward with a loud noise, following the trail left by Li Zhuang and chasing after him.

  But contrary to the rebel general's expectations, Li Zhēng and others did not stay at all afterwards, and no one felt tired or exhausted.

  Chased for half a day, not a single hair was seen, but instead the thousands of troops under his command were exhausted to death - in this deep mountain, going up and down, the physical energy consumed far exceeded that on flat terrain.

  He didn't know that with high-energy dry food replenishing his energy at any time, Li Zhēn's team was already full of vitality.

  ...

  After a day of continuous running, Li Zhēng and others arrived at Shè Hǔ Gǔ on the afternoon of the next day.

  On their way through Shè Hǔ Gù, Bái Láng proposed an idea.

  "Your Majesty, Duke, this Tiger Valley is a good place for an ambush, why don't we make our move?"

  Li Zhong had not yet replied when Fu Xi laughed and said: "It's precisely because the terrain of Shehu Valley is too good, that we can't set an ambush here."

  The white wolf is at a loss.

  Li Ding continued to laugh and said, "Anyone who comes to Shehu Valley will first think of General Duan's military achievements, and then they will be on guard against whether there are any ambushes here. In that case, how can we set up an ambush? Although the art of war has the way of emptiness and reality, we have too few people and cannot move around."

  Li Zhong had actually weighed this idea before and ultimately gave up on it.

  The way of military strategy is to be empty and full, false and true.

  If the rebel general was slightly smarter, he would naturally think that Li Jing and others would absolutely not ambush here, because this place is too famous. But if Li Jing insisted on ambushing here, maybe he could be outsmarted by his own cleverness.

  However, Li Zhong thought that with only a few dozen men under his command, such a plan would require far more manpower to execute, so he had no choice but to abandon the ambush.

  Fu Xie nodded frequently on one side, looking at Li Zhong's gaze, more and more appreciative.