Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 506: Beast, Hero

Wukang official road.

A group of people were galloping at high speed.

There were about 4,000 armored soldiers and hundreds of elite cavalry, which was very rare in the south. These people formed a long formation and marched at an extremely fast speed.

There were a few woodcutters on the hillside in the distance. When they saw the noise, they turned around and ran away in fear.

Among the army, there were several horse-drawn carriages, which were also moving very fast.

In order to successfully break out, Chen Xu dispersed his entourage. The serving palace maids and eunuchs were dismissed first, followed by the elderly and weak who could not travel quickly, and even some members of the royal family were abandoned in Wuxing by Chen Xu.

He selected the most important group of people, and without informing them in advance, he quickly left with the soldiers, passing Wukang and heading south, preparing to take advantage of the opportunity when Gao Yanzong and Chunyu Liang were not yet together to pass through their controlled area and escape to the south.

After the State of Chen lost the area north of the Yangtze River, Jiankang's position became extremely awkward. It was too dangerous to face the enemy across the river. However, the territory of the State of Chen was still vast, and there were large tracts of territory to the south that could be garrisoned. Although the living environment in those places was relatively harsh, it was at least much better than in the past and was not completely uninhabitable.

Chen Xu was sitting in the carriage, which was traveling at full speed. The violent shaking caused Chen Xu's body to sway constantly.

Mao Xi was sitting in front of him, and it was Mao Xi who arranged this breakout for him.

Chen Xu had changed his clothes. He was wearing the military uniform he wore when hunting, and a hat. He looked like a complete warrior, with a sword at his waist and a solemn expression.

Mao Xi did the same, changing into clothes that were more convenient for riding and looked quite capable.

There was a map in front of the two of them, but it was not easy to read the map amid the violent shaking.

But they didn't dare to slow down.

Mao Xi stared at the map in front of him with an extremely solemn expression.

"Lord Yuan will send someone to meet us in Yu Qian. I have already told him that he cannot attack first. The enemy cannot determine our location right now and only knows a rough idea. If Lord Yuan's army shows up in Yu Qian, the enemy will instantly know our route. I am afraid Gao Yanzong and Chun Yu Liang will rush over."

Mao Xi's confidence came from Yuan Xian. Old Yuan had gone to the south to quell a rebellion before and still had some troops under his command. He could come and pick them up and escort them to the south. Old Yuan was a relatively trustworthy person.

There are many places to break out, and the large-scale Han army is still in the rear. Chunyu Liang and Gao Yanzong do not have too many troops. If they can find the right gap, there is still great hope of breaking out.

From beginning to end, Chen Xu did not speak a word, and it was Mao Xi who was expressing his thoughts.

Mao Xi finished speaking and looked at Chen Xu. "Your Majesty, the only thing I am worried about is the people you brought with you. In my opinion, you should let them stay in Wuxing and not let them follow you."

Chen Xu whispered, "If they stay in Wuxing, they will definitely betray me."

Mao Xi hesitated for a moment, but still mustered up the courage to say, "Your Majesty, even if they were by your side, I'm afraid they would have evil thoughts."

"They know our route. If they tell the Han people about it, I'm afraid..."

"I have arranged people to protect them. These guards are all carefully selected by me. With their protection, Lord Mao does not need to worry about these people causing trouble."

Mao Xi frowned. This was the only way for now.

The group continued on their way.

At the end of the team, there were many horse-drawn carriages. The people sitting in these carriages were all important officials in the court, people that Chen Xu considered important.

As expected, just as Chen Xu said, their carriages were closely protected by knights to ensure that they would not fall behind or "encounter" any enemies.

They walked like this for half a day, but it was still dusk, so they stopped and did not continue their journey.

Because if we go any further, we will enter the range of combat.

They could not break into the battle zone between the two sides in broad daylight. A team of their size would be discovered if they broke in, so they decided to stay in this secret place to rest and try to break in after dark.

When the carriage stopped, these important officials staggered down from the carriage. Some of them began to vomit directly, and some of them vomited so much that they were unrecognizable.

The roads in the south were already rugged, and coupled with the speed of travel, riding in a carriage was simply a torture. The important officials had never experienced such hardship before.

The soldiers stood not far away, staring at them coldly.

There was no one around to serve them.

Looking at this scene, these people felt sad and couldn't help wiping away their tears.

They couldn't make a fire, so they could only eat cold food.

Kong Fan looked at the soldiers around him and said, "Someone is causing trouble here. At this critical moment, he is instigating His Majesty to have someone keep an eye on us."

He whispered and looked at his friends around him.

"No wonder Dachen has fallen to such a state."

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

Sun Rong, who was sitting opposite him, glared at him and said, "Be careful! Don't show off!"

Kong Fan put away his frivolous look and put on a sad expression again.

There was sadness on the faces of the ministers, but their eyes were quite calm, as if they had been prepared and were not panicking at all.

In front of these people, Sun Rong, the Minister of Five Armies, was considered quite famous. His family was also a famous family, a family of officials. Among many insects, Sun Rong was considered to be extremely capable. He was good at fighting and had defeated the people of Qi and Zhou, and had also subdued many enemy generals. He was considered to be a famous general of Da Chen, second only to Huang, Chunyu and others.

But in recent years, he was kept in high esteem. The emperor stripped him of his military power, kept him in the capital, promoted him to a higher position, and in name only showed him favor, but in reality he was on high alert against him in every way.

So, why should the emperor be on guard against him when the State of Chen was very short of such experienced and famous generals?

This is all because he had a very good classmate when he was young.

His classmate is Wang Lin.

This guy became an official because of Wang Lin's recommendation. Later, when Wang Lin established his own regime, he simply recruited him. He followed Wang Lin to fight against the Chen people and won many battles. Later, Wang Lin ran away and he had no way to escape, so he surrendered to Emperor Wen.

To him, Wang Lin was not only his classmate, but also his old friend and even his sponsor. With such a lord as him, the State of Chen certainly would not let him go to lead the troops.

When Wang Lin just led his troops to guard against the State of Chen, Sun Rong actually had no other thoughts. No matter what, he was the one who betrayed Wang Lin in the first place, so he couldn't possibly go back to find him, right?

However, as the situation changed, Sun Rong's heart also changed. Later, the ministers found him and told him that they hoped to submit to the will of heaven.

Because of Wang Lin, Old Sun was in an awkward situation in the State of Chen. Although he was a good fighter, he was not a very good person. He had a common problem among aristocratic families: he loved luxury, had a rather extravagant lifestyle, and was casual and did not follow the rules.

When Chen and Han were on good terms, he even wrote a letter to Wang Lin openly, asking about Wang Lin's health and expressing that he missed him very much.

Although the relationship between the two countries was good at that time, because of this action, this brother was almost killed on the charge of "colluding with foreign enemies". It was also because of that incident that his military power was taken away and he never served as a commander-in-chief again.

He was targeted by Chen Xu many times for many issues.

After learning about the ministers' ideas, Sun Rong said straightforwardly, let's do it, it's not shameful to vote for Wang Lin.

The important officials also knew his background and knew who was most capable of getting things done, so they handed many matters over to him to make decisions, hoping that he would say something good about them to Wang Lin in the future.

Kong Fan couldn't help but move closer to him again, and then revealed an ugly smile.

"Mr. Sun, this time it's all thanks to you. If it weren't for you, we would have been so coerced and would have had no chance."

Sun Rong glanced at the other person. Sun Rong's relationship with the important officials in the country was not very good. He was a man who could get things done, and he looked down upon those who had a good family background but achieved nothing.

I don't like this flatterer either.

"Thanks to the woodcutters you arranged in advance."

"Just sit here and don't say anything."

After Sun Rong gave a warning, Kong Fan lowered his head again and dared not speak.

The sky gradually became dark, but Sun Rong's eyes were particularly complicated.

Although he had written a letter to Wang Lin, to be fair, he had never thought of betraying the State of Chen in the past. Chen Qian and Chen Xu were both very good to him. Even though Chen Xu did not give him military power because of Wang Lin's incident, he was still polite to him and would ask for his opinion on major issues.

But as the Han Dynasty grew stronger and gradually had the intention of annexing the world, the ambitious emperor who once wanted to surpass his brother became more and more different.

He became increasingly violent, cruel, and suspicious, and was even willing to attack his favorite general, Huang Fachi.

There were several times when the emperor summoned him and he could see murderous intent in the other party's eyes.

Sun Rong just sighed and then closed his eyes.

The sky was pitch dark.

It was quiet.

Outside the emperor's carriage, many soldiers were looking around vigilantly, while inside the carriage, Chen Xu's eyes were wide open, bloodshot, and he was not sleepy at all.

He looked at Mao Xi again and asked, "Can we set off now?"

This was the fifth time the emperor had asked. Mao Xi stuck his head out again and looked at the sky. It was still not time yet, but Mao Xi saw the emperor's uneasiness and said, "We can set off now."

Chen Xu immediately gave the order for the entire army to set out. The entire team became lively again. Fortunately, they had rested during the day and still had some energy left.

The team moved again and the carriage began to shake again.

Looking at the silent and tense emperor, Mao Xi felt a little bit reluctant.

"Your Majesty has not rested for several days. It's still some time before we reach Qiantang. Why don't you take a rest first and I will come later."

"No need."

Chen Xu shook his head.

Mao Xi did not persuade him any further.

The team advanced at a rapid speed. The knights in front raised torches and headed south along the official road, speeding up.

They soon entered the area where the fighting was taking place. Fortunately, the road was quiet and they were walking very fast. This was exactly what Mao Xi expected. He hoped that he could pass through here and meet up with Yuan Xian before the enemy could react.

They walked like this for more than an hour, getting farther and farther away from Wukang. The official road connected several small villages in the distance, but they were all quiet and deserted at the moment. No one dared to go out at night. Even in big cities, there was a curfew at night.

"kill!!!"

A roar broke the silence.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The unique sound of Han's war drums rang out all around.

At that moment, Chen Xu stood up in shock and almost fell down.

Outside, the soldiers were in chaos, and many enemy troops rushed out from three directions. They had ambushed here in advance.

They only shot one round of arrows. After all, they couldn't see clearly in the dark, and they could only fire one round at the enemy's formation when they just appeared.

The soldiers fell to the ground one after another, and before they could fight back, the enemy started to engage them in close combat.

Under the cover of night, this fear was magnified countless times.

Torches continued to appear, illuminating the entire battlefield, and someone set a fire, with flames shooting up into the sky.

The Han army seemed to be energized at this moment.

They shouted to capture Chen Xu alive and rushed forward like crazy.

The Han army attached great importance to military merit, and there was no greater military merit than capturing an emperor. Both soldiers and officers were like crazy at this moment and began a fierce attack.

These soldiers of the Chen State were obviously elite. Even if they were attacked in this situation, they were able to quickly form a battle line and try to fight back.

However, the gap between the two sides in all aspects is too great. Although both are elite, there are differences between them.

The elite troops of the Han army were obviously several levels higher than those of the Chen army, and their morale was even higher. As Chen's soldiers continued to fall, more and more Han troops rushed towards the central army like hungry wolves.

At this time, the last ministers finally got the chance to escape.

The soldiers in charge of guarding them no longer had the energy to keep an eye on them and went to fight the enemy.

The ministers quickly evacuated the battlefield to avoid being killed by mistake.

Mao Xi and Chen Xu rushed out of the frame.

Mao Xi's eyes widened as he looked in disbelief at the enemies rushing out from all around him, "There's a thief! There's a thief!!"

He was cursing both the external thieves and the internal thieves.

Chen Xu drew his sword at some point and looked at the Han army around him.

His breathing became heavier.

A cry of surprise came from the rear. It was the Queen. The Prince's carriage had begun to come under attack.

Chen Xu only felt a roar in his ears, and everything slowed down.

Mao Xi grabbed him and said, "Your Majesty!"

"Please get on your horses, we're retreating!"

He tried to drag him several times, but Chen Xu didn't move at all.

Chen Xu slowly looked at Mao Xi. At this moment, his eyes finally became calm. Suddenly, he was no longer afraid of the Han army in front of him.

Ever since Liu Taozi rose to power and killed his greatest support, Wu Mingche, Chen Xu has spent not a single day in fear.

He is the oldest among the three, and his son is so disappointing.

However, Liu Taozi's ambition to annex the world became more and more obvious. The Zhou Dynasty was destroyed, and Chen Xu became more and more afraid, and at one point he lost his mind.

"Mao Gong, you can't run away."

"I was entrusted by my elder brother to revitalize Dachen, complete the Northern Expedition, and achieve fame."

"However, I lacked the talent and fell into traps many times, leading to this situation today."

Chen Xu began to sigh.

At this moment, several people slowly approached Chen Xu.

Mao Xi had sharp eyes and suddenly drew his sword and pointed it at them. After seeing their appearance clearly, he couldn't help but curse, "Sun Rong! Did you sell us out to Wang Lin?!"

Sun Rong was holding a sword in his hand at this moment, followed by several brave ministers.

He did not answer Mao Xi, but looked at Chen Xu.

Chen Xu's eyes were full of sadness.

"Did Sun Delian betray me?"

Sun Rong's face changed drastically, but he didn't dare to look at Chen Xu again.

Several ministers behind him advised: "Your Majesty! These warriors are mostly rude. Don't be humiliated by them. Lead the army to surrender, and perhaps you will be treated with courtesy! ”

Chen Xu raised the sword in his hand and cried out in grief: "If you want to surrender, then surrender! I am the Son of Heaven, how can I surrender to the Hu?!"

The next moment, he drew his sword and committed suicide. Mao Xi screamed and wanted to step forward to stop him, but it was too late. In a moment, Chen Xu's sword fell, blood splattered, he covered his throat, and fell down in pain.

Mao Xi rushed over crying, but he just grabbed his body and burst into tears.

The surrounding soldiers noticed this, their morale collapsed, and they finally began to surrender.

When Chunyu Liang hurriedly pushed the soldiers away and rushed to the innermost part, he saw Mao Xi holding the emperor's body with tears on his face.

Chunyu Liang looked at his former master lying in a pool of blood, but there was no sympathy in his eyes.

"He who destroys his own walls and cannot tolerate others is not a wise king."

Mao Xi tidied up Chen Xu's body, wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve, then stood up and looked at Chunyu Liang.

"I have heard that a minister should not kill his former master. The man is dead, so go to General Chunyu to remember our old friendship and do not insult his body."

He bowed deeply to Chunyu Liang, then picked up the sword on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I am here!"

Without waiting for Chunyu Liang to speak, he simply cut his neck. Blood spurted out again and Mao Xi fell to the ground with a bang.

Chunyu Liang was silent for a long time, and then ordered, "Collect the bodies of these two people, and do not be disrespectful to the concubines and royal family of Lord Chen."

"only!!"

The soldiers rushed forward. Sun Rong looked at the two people lying in a pool of blood silently without saying a word. The ministers around him pulled him a few times, but he remained unmoved.

Chun Yuliang took the initiative to salute him, "General Sun!"

Only then did Sun Rong look at him.

"today."

"You and I have both become beasts."

"No."

"Today, you and I have ended hundreds of years of turmoil and assisted the Holy King in unifying the world. From today on, the people everywhere will no longer have to suffer the pain of war and will be able to live and work in peace. This is a heroic act."

(End of this chapter)