Chapter Thirty-Four: Surround and Ambush

  Li Zhēng first pretended to be weak, luring the rebel army, then with a swift and fierce momentum, he killed Chéng Yí. Before the rebel army could react, he charged into the enemy's formation, this series of actions was like lightning flashing.

  But showing weakness isn't an easy thing - Li Zhēn's control over his strength and moves is still perfect, but what really makes him exhausted is controlling Qingyun. This guy gets excited as soon as he steps onto the battlefield, with his sharp horns, hooves, and mouth, he's constantly kicking, biting, and head-butting, making it even harder to deal with than Zhou Yi.

  It can be said that in this battle, Li Zhēn spent most of his energy on how to control Qingyun. As for Cheng Yi, to be honest, although his martial arts skills were not bad, they were not enough to make Li Zhēn take him seriously - he didn't die unjustly.

  When the eight riders charged out of the enemy formation, Li Zhēn fell behind, intercepting some slightly delusional rebel troops who were chasing after them. The remaining six riders of the Qingjia War Horse Team escorted Fu Xie, trampling through the rebel camp and heading straight north.

  The Wei River is in sight.

  Cheng Yi was beheaded by Li Zhen at Shan Kou, and the three thousand rebel troops were thrown into confusion for a time before finally coming to a halt.

  The deputy general hastily gathered the remaining soldiers and sent someone to Xixian County to recruit troops on one side, while reporting to Han Shui on the other.

  He again sent light cavalry to hold off Li Jing and others, waiting for the main army from Xizhou to arrive, at which point he would immediately launch a counterattack.

  Not to mention how Li Zhēng would shake off the rebel pursuit, let's take a look at White Wolf.

  On that day, White Wolf received Li Zhong's order and led more than 50 light cavalrymen to conceal their tracks and return by the original route. However, within half a time unit, they ran into thousands of pursuing soldiers sent out by Ji City.

  Among the thousands of pursuers' astonishment, White Wolf boldly launched an attack. He bestowed several waves of arrow rain upon the pursuers, reaping dozens of lives, and before being surrounded by the rebels, he escaped into the mountains.

  In the following days, as long as there was an opportunity, whether in the valley or in the dense forest, by the river of doubt, and in various terrains. As soon as the pursuing soldiers were slightly careless, White Wolf would seize the chance and try out all the methods he could think of on the rebels.

  Thus, several thousand pursuers were toyed with by a few dozen White Wolf riders, who played a game of hide-and-seek in the Zhū Yǔ mountains.

  Of course, the White Wolf was so playful that while making the rebels angry and hateful, they also came up with many strategies to lure the snake out of its hole. But the White Wolf remembered Li Jing's orders and did not attack without being sure, which made many of the rebel's plans fall through.

  After one day and night, several thousand mutineers had lost a third of their numbers.

  Either being taken away by the arrow of the White Wolf Light Cavalry, or being crushed into minced meat by a giant stone suddenly falling from the mountain, or being attacked by wild beasts...

  The word "bitter" is not enough to describe the situation of the rebels.

  At last, the rebels collapsed.

  Under the leadership of the general, the disheveled pursuers slunk away with their tails between their legs and wanted to withdraw from Zhū Yǒu Mountain.

  The White Wolf saw that the time set by Li Zhong had not yet arrived, and he was unwilling to give these bastards a cheap thrill, so he followed them all the way, using various methods to make the rebels speechless.

  Two days later, only half of the remaining defeated soldiers escaped from Zhuyuan Mountain like beggars, while Bái Láng saw that the time had come and no longer delayed, immediately leading his troops to prepare for a surprise attack on Xianfeng, opening up a shortcut, heading in the direction of the Wei River.

  Li Dang and eight others rushed out of the mountain pass, not daring to stay, and galloped for half a day. When they were exhausted but their horses were not tired, they finally arrived at the banks of the Wei River.

  Along the Wei River, a thick misty atmosphere appears in the scorching sun of midsummer. The riverbank is covered with dense reeds.

  Here the water is calm and peaceful, it was where Li Zhong first crossed the Wei River when he came north, in the dense reeds there are still hidden simple rafts made by hand to cross the river.

  Li Dian led his men to take out several large wooden rafts from the reeds, and without stopping, they immediately boarded the rafts and swam across to the north bank of the Wei River.

  Not a moment too soon, the rebel scouts who had been trailing Li Zhēn and his men also arrived here, but could only stop at the riverbank, watching helplessly as the wooden rafts drifted further and further away on the surface of the river.

  Hanyang County

  On the way from Xidao to Jicheng, a mighty army wound its way across the land like a black dragon. The thunder of hooves shook the earth, and birds and beasts fled in terror wherever they passed.

  The middle section of the dragon formation is where the central army is located.

  A large banner with a single character "Han" is waving vigorously in the strong wind.

  Han Sui was about forty years old, with a three-inch beard under his chin, a refined and elegant face, a full forehead, and an imposing manner. Wearing a golden armor, Han Sui showed off his majestic appearance, which was not that of an ordinary person.

  Under the great banner, Han Sui rode his horse at a slow pace, with several generals following closely on either side.

  "Now, this vast land of Liangzhou is all under my control!"

  Pointing to the four directions, Han Shui's spirit was inspired and his energy was refreshed.

  The generals on both sides congratulated each other, and Han's mood was extremely pleasant.

  But then he thought of Wang Guo and his smiling face calmed down, saying: "I only regret that the foolish Wang Guo ruined my great plan!"

  "My lord, don't worry. Wang Guo is a mere rebel who has lost his value. What's the harm in killing him on our way to Jicheng?"

  A general beside him hastily said.

  "Not bad, General Yan's words are quite right." Another general echoed: "Killing Wang Guo and taking his troops' rations would be just in time to supply our lord for this expedition against the Three Auxiliaries and the capture of Chang'an!"

  Han Sui stroked his beard and smiled, slightly nodding his head, then shook it, saying: "The kingdom is not worth mentioning, Fu Shuo is the one who worries me! This man in Liangzhou has too much prestige, many heroes and Qiang tribes are all under his benevolence. If this man does not die, my heart will be uneasy."

  As he spoke, Han Su turned his head to glance at the Yan general beside him and said: "The top priority is to intercept Fu Jue, either capture or kill him." After a pause, Han Su continued: "This time, there was actually a fierce general who rescued Fu Jue from among the ten thousand troops. This person cannot be underestimated. Although I have ordered Xian Chengyi to go and block them, why do I feel somewhat uneasy in my heart?"

  "You're worrying too much, sir."

  General Yan was not convinced, saying: "That man has only a few dozen cavalrymen. Although Cheng Yi is not a famous general, he has also experienced many battles. With the more than 10,000 elite soldiers in his hands, it should be easy to intercept that person."

  Han Sui nodded slightly.

  However, contrary to Han Shui's expectations, news that would slap General Yan in the face soon arrived.

  But it was a messenger from Xixian County who came galloping on horseback, telling Han Sui about the events that had occurred earlier.

  Han Sui's expression remained calm as a deep pool. However, Yan Qing's face turned red with rage and he shouted loudly.

  Just boasted that Cheng Yi would definitely succeed, but didn't expect it to end up like this. While being furious at the Han general, he also hated Cheng Yi.

  "Cheng Yi is actually so useless, it's infuriating!"

  "Don't underestimate this person."

  Han Sui slightly raised an eyebrow, filtering the message brought by the messenger in his heart, and said with a deep thought: "Since Cheng Yi is already dead, let's not mention this matter for now. It's more important to pursue and attack Fu Jue!"

  "Come in!"

  Han Sui ordered several soldiers to send a message and issue an order: "This man rescued Fu Shou, he must be heading in the direction of Sanfu. Pass on my orders, instructing Liang Xing of Long County to pay attention to checking, and dispatch troops from east to west to intercept him."

  "Order the deputy general of Xizhou to mobilize all troops and horses, and pursue from behind. Make sure to bite onto their tail, not allowing this bandit any time to rest."

  He then turned to General Yan, saying: "This bandit is bold and daring, with just a few dozen cavalry he dares to charge into our army of ten thousand, and can even behead Cheng Yi. He must have exceptional martial skills. To ensure complete victory, I'm afraid only you, Yan Ming, can subdue this bandit!"

  Yan Xing listened and hastily clasped his fists, shouting: "Don't worry, Your Excellency! I will go now and definitely behead this rebel and capture Fu Jue!"

  Having spoken, he led several thousand cavalrymen and galloped away.

  Han Shui looked at Yan Xing who was leaving in the distance and let out a soft sigh.

  Fu Shuo was his heart's worry, and that Han general was not an ordinary person either. He could defeat tens of thousands of troops, kill the fierce general Ma Teng, rescue Fu Shuo, and then behead Cheng Yi. Such a person would also make Han Sui feel like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat. If he didn't kill this man, and let him escape from Fanchuan, if he took advantage of his attack on the three auxiliary regions to stir up trouble in the rear, that would really make Han Sui suffer.

  However, Han thought that he would surely succeed this time.

  To the east, there is Liang Xing blocking the way; to the south, the soldiers and horses of Xixian are pursuing; to the west, Yan Xing's large army is pressing in; although the north has no arrangements, there is still a ridge stretching across. The entire situation is like being trapped in a cage. And that Han general has few men, and in the midst of pursuit and siege, he is also exhausted and his horses are weary. Even if he were to grow wings, it would be difficult for him to fly out of the palm of one's hand!

  But Li Zhong and his eight riders stopped advancing after crossing the Wei River, instead staying on the north bank of the river to rest and reorganize their troops.

  His subordinates would occasionally wave their hands southward, teasing the Western County scouts who were wandering on the southern shore, sending out waves of terrifying laughter, causing the rebel scouts on the southern shore to jump in fright, but they could do nothing about it.

  Fu Xi was watching with a smile on his face.

  Fu Xi and Li Zhuang chatted idly as they ate dry rations and drank water.

  "Such a talented younger brother, and also from Lingzhou, yet Fu Mou has never even heard of him." Upon saying this, Fu Xie couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly.

  Lingzhou is his ancestral home, as the head of the Fu family, Fu Xie should be familiar with Lingzhou, but he has never heard of a person named Li Zhong.

  Li Zhēn chuckled and said, "Li Mou is just a small figure who only took root in Lingzhou last year. At that time, Fu Xiong was still in Hanyang, I didn't know Li Mou was also within the bounds of reason."

  "Oh?!"

  When he heard this, Fu Xie was both startled and amazed at the same time.

  In the past two years, Liangzhou's situation has been severe. As the governor of Hanyang, he is most concerned with national affairs. As for family trivia, it is naturally handled by the clan elders, and Li Zheng also thinks it is a matter of course.

  Surprisingly, Li Zhēn had only taken root in Língzhōu last year, but didn't expect to have established such a large family business - the dozens of elite cavalry under Li Zhēn's command are not made of paper, even if it were a powerful family that had accumulated wealth over the years, they wouldn't be able to produce this kind of power.

  "It's said that if it weren't for Mr. Fu's help, Li wouldn't have made it this far."

  Li Dang chewed on his dry rations and smiled, "At the end of last year, Li Mou first arrived in Lingzhou and sold a precious horse to Fu Shi. This was the opportunity for him to make a fortune. Later, he also received grain support from Fu Shi, and only then was he barely able to get to this point."

  "Oh?"

  Fu Xi heard this, but seemed to be thinking deeply, and after a moment of silence, said: "Brother, the precious horse you sold to my Fu family, is it a colt with scales on its neck?"

  Li Zheng nodded: "So Brother Fu also knows?"

  "How could you not know?!"

  Fu Xie said with a snort, blowing his mustache and glaring at Li Zhong, laughing and scolding: "You fine horse, almost got me to leave Liangzhou!"

  "How do you say this?"

  Li Zhong's face was inexplicable, but in his heart, he roughly understood.

  "The clan elder presented the precious horse to the Emperor of Luoyang, who then issued a decree ordering me to take up a post in Jizhou. If I hadn't managed to decline with all my might, I would have left Liangzhou at the beginning of the year."

  Fu Xi smiled wryly and said.

  Fu Xi is not a fool, he actually understands the reasons behind his family's actions.

  But man has his will, and he also has things he won't do.

  Is he Fu Xi just a timid coward who retreats in times of crisis?!

  So he evaded the emperor's decree and even submitted a memorial to express his apologies. As for the hardships of his family, Fu Shuo could only suppress them in his heart.