Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 306 Killing someone by destroying their spirit (1)

Wanyan Guangzhi paused, frowned, and tilted his head, looking at Mu Chi with suspicion.

The person he trusted most had betrayed him at this crucial moment. His eyes held less pain and more disbelief. Mu Chi, his childhood friend and the most outstanding scout in the entire Wuji tribe, would have died long ago in his brother's scheme if Mu Chi hadn't risked his life to infiltrate and gather intelligence on numerous occasions.

This is why Wanyan Guangzhi trusted Muchi immensely, a trust no less than that of his own younger brother, Wanyan Guanghan.

Even the soldiers nearby were stunned, unsure of what to do.

Seeing the blood gushing from Wanyan Guangzhi's chest and his suspicious gaze, Mu Chi grinned and said, "Your Majesty, forgive me."

"It was my suggestion to encircle and suppress Anchegu..."

"The people still alive in the Wuji tribe are very angry."

"So, I'm sorry, but someone has to take this responsibility."

"Go with peace of mind. I will take good care of your son. I will even take back the princess."

princess.

It's the princess again.

Why is everyone staring at his Nakhtoya?

Wanyan Guangzhi chuckled, then looked down at his chest, which was covered in blood: "What a pity..."

"What's a pity?"

“It’s a pity your knife…” Wanyan Guangzhi suddenly raised his head: “It wasn’t deep enough.”

……

The heavy snow has continued for days with no sign of stopping.

Looking out over the vast Haixi Grassland, not a single color can be seen.

Four thousand heavily armored cavalrymen moved slowly through the heavy snow. In such weather, even riding horses could not go fast. Under the cover of snow, no one knew what the road conditions were. If they were not careful, their horses' hooves would step into the hidden pits, and the warhorses would fall and never get up again.

The carriage got stuck in deep pits several times, each time taking a lot of time.

In this vast expanse of snow, it's easy to lose your way. The footprints you left behind have long been buried under the snow, and you can't find any trace of them anywhere you can see. Song Yan was very glad that he had left Nakhtoya behind. Perhaps because she had lived in this icy and snowy place for many years, Nakhtoya could always find her way accurately under the snow cover.

Looking around, he saw that the black-armored soldiers beside him were all exhausted. They had never shown such an expression when he led them across the snowfield and trampled the royal court. They were probably just worn out.

Song Yan sighed, shook his head slightly, and a lot of snow fell off his helmet: "Everyone, cheer up. We'll distribute the rewards when we get back, and... we'll have a seven-day break. Everyone should get some rest."

The black-armored soldiers perked up slightly, their eyes lighting up, and they quickened their pace. Song Yan was no longer sure what day it was; the New Year celebrations had definitely passed, and the fifth day of the Lunar New Year should also be over. He just didn't know how many days were left until the Lantern Festival, but it must be coming soon.

Three more days passed.

The heavy snow has finally stopped.

As evening approached, the sun shone brightly on the horizon.

The pristine white snow was veiled in a fine, golden veil, shimmering and exceptionally enchanting.

Looking ahead, the familiar city walls of Xinhou County came into view.

They've finally come back.

On the city wall, one can see warriors clad in black armor, and a cavalryman, waiting quietly outside the wall.

It was Jiao Junze.

Song Yan's return was naturally noticed by the black-armored soldiers on the city wall, and someone immediately went to the county government to inform Liu Yisheng, who was in charge here. Nominally, Song Yan was the magistrate of Xinhou County, but he had been away for a long time, so Liu Yisheng had been handling most of the affairs of Xinhou County. At first, Liu Yisheng was still a little inexperienced and awkward in handling various matters, but after a few months, he had matured a lot.

There was a hint of joy in his eyes.

It was clear that although Liu Yisheng trusted Song Yan greatly, this was, after all, an expedition to the Haixi Grasslands, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't worried. Liu Yisheng hadn't had much rest these past few days; his dark circles were heavy, and he looked somewhat haggard. Only now, seeing Song Yan return with his own eyes, did Liu Yisheng finally feel at ease.

However, Liu Yisheng knew what was important and what was urgent. He first bowed to Song Yan, and then arranged for the black-armored soldiers to enter the city and go to the military camp to rest. They had prepared warm blankets and clothes. Before leaving the county government, Liu Yisheng also arranged for a large number of constables and some people in the city to start a fire and boil water so that the brothers on the expedition could take a hot bath and change into clean clothes. He also found all the restaurant owners in Xinhou County to prepare food and send it to the military camp.

Liu Yisheng is not short of money now.

Of course, such an arrangement is somewhat inappropriate, as Ningguo doesn't have such rules. It's just that the rules in Pingyang Prefecture are different from those in other places and are not as strict.

"If you hadn't come back today, I was already planning to go to the snowfield to look for you." Jiao Junze patted Song Yan on the shoulder and smiled.

The two became much closer, after all, they had fought side by side, so their relationship was quite special.

Song Yan shook his head wearily, "It's all because of this damn weather. If it weren't for the heavy snow, I should have been back sooner." He paused, then asked, "How are things on your end?"

"Not bad, we attacked four tribes: the Shuhu tribe, the Shuzu tribe, the Tudan tribe, and the Pennuli tribe." Jiao Junze's smile grew even more smug; this time, the harvest was quite good.

The Shuhu, Shuzu, and Tudan tribes could barely be considered medium-sized tribes, with populations ranging from ten thousand to twenty thousand. The Pennuli tribe, however, was even smaller than the Haoshi tribe, with only a few thousand people. These tribes, excluding women, children, and the elderly, had few soldiers capable of fighting, especially since their elite troops had been transferred away by Wanyan Guangzhi. Jiao Junze's 26,000 troops, especially with the addition of four thousand black-armored warriors, could easily handle them.

After the cavalry was transferred away, Jiao Junze felt the terror of the Black Armored Warriors even more. Their strong bodies and thick armor meant they wouldn't retreat an inch even when they withstood a Jurchen barbarian cavalry charge. And then there was that weapon called the Mo Dao, which, although few in number, could be called the nemesis of cavalry.

With a single strike, both man and horse were shattered.

Whenever such a scene occurred, it terrified the Jurchen barbarians.

Thinking of that scene, Jiao Junze's eyes filled with envy. How wonderful it would be if his soldiers had such equipment. Unfortunately, even though he had a good relationship with Song Yan now, it was clearly impossible to get Song Yan to provide such armor and weapons. This was Song Yan's trump card, and he wouldn't use it easily.

As for special forging methods, that's out of the question.

Shaking his head, Jiao Junze said, "Four tribes, more than 30,000 heads were beheaded in total. You like building mounds of heads, so I had people cut off all the heads. The cooks sent the heads back ahead of time. Look, they're over there."

Following Jiao Junze's gaze, at the foot of the mountain to the left of Xinhou County, there was a large pile of heads.

A black line appeared on Song Yan's forehead. Damn it, he had previously used the heads of Japanese pirates to build several mounds of skulls, but he didn't really have any particular fondness for piling up heads, so there was no need to go out of his way to send the heads back.

He made such a fuss that he seemed like a pervert.

"I really don't know how you train your soldiers. Even when facing barbarians, they are all incredibly brave and fearless. They always charge ahead in every battle. Basically, as soon as the black-armored soldiers launch a charge, the enemy's formation is shattered. Although they are all infantry, their charging power is no less than that of cavalry. It's a pity that there are still too few soldiers to form an encirclement. Although they charged into the tribe, most of them still escaped. However, the tents and other things were burned, which will not make their winter too easy."

"You black-armored warriors deserve much credit for taking down four tribes so easily. I'll give you two-thirds of this number of heads taken."

“No need for that. Let’s just stick to the previous agreement and divide it equally,” Song Yan said with a smile.

"How's the situation over there?"

"Fortunately, the operation to trample the royal court can be considered complete, with roughly over ten thousand people killed."

The two walked side by side into the city, chatting casually along the way, exchanging ideas on how to deal with the Jurchens. When Jiao Junze heard that Song Yan had even burned the warhorse he had killed, he felt quite regretful, something he had forgotten.

The sun was getting lower and lower.

Jiao Junze was about to leave, as he could not stay away from Dingzhou for too long as the governor of Dingzhou. The infantry had already returned to the prefectural city under Jiao Junze's arrangement, and only the cavalry remained.

The area inside the pass was not as cold as the area outside, and the snow was not as thick. At the speed of the cavalry, they would probably be back by midnight. Before leaving, Jiao Junze suddenly glanced curiously at Nakhtoya, who had been following behind Song Yan. He remembered very clearly that Song Yan did not have this woman with him when they left.

"Nakhtoya".

"Wanyan Guangzhi's wife."

Jiao Junze clicked his tongue, giving him a knowing look.

There are rumors that Song Yan, this general, governor, and count, has little interest in young and beautiful women, and prefers women a few years older than him. Nahetuya is a perfect fit for the bill... Jiao Junze had some doubts before, but now it seems there's no smoke without fire.

However, I never expected that Song Yan would be so bold as to dare to lay a hand on the princess.

This is an overstepping of authority.

Although Song Yan has the courage and status to worry about nothing, it's still not good to have someone catch him red-handed.

He patted Song Yan on the shoulder and said, "Brother, take it easy. If you really have that intention, it would be better to inform His Majesty and ask him to grant you a marriage. That would shut up a lot of people. Besides, it's your spoils anyway, so His Majesty shouldn't be stingy."

Song Yan was clever enough that, although he was a little confused at first, he quickly understood by the end that Jiao Junze probably thought he wanted to take Princess Nakhtoya for himself. He couldn't help but smile wryly, wanting to explain, but Jiao Junze's eyes suddenly lit up: "By the way, if His Majesty really bestows a marriage upon you and Nakhtoya, you'd better send an invitation to Wanyan Guangzhi as well. As her ex-husband, he should at least give a monetary gift..."

puff.

Song Yan stared at Jiao Junze in astonishment. How come she hadn't realized before that this person was so shameless?

Good heavens, if Emperor Ninghe really granted him and Nahetuya a marriage and sent Wanyan Guangzhi an invitation and asked for a gift, wouldn't that make Wanyan Guangzhi so angry that he would die?

Killing people and killing people is nothing more than that.

Even if Wanyan Guangzhi were calm and cunning, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood and then recklessly lead his army to attack Xinhou County.

The thought of that scene actually fills me with a strange sense of anticipation.

Jiao Junze laughed heartily, mounted his horse, and led all his cavalrymen out of the city.

Nakhtoya followed quietly behind Song Yan, showing no reaction even when Jiao Junze made those lewd remarks. Perhaps it was because she was new to the Central Plains and, being a member of a different race, was ultimately a little afraid and didn't want to get into unnecessary trouble.

Her little face, however, was slightly flushed.

Nahetoya did not participate in the last raid on Pingyang Prefecture.

It was clear that she was extremely curious about the situation in the Central Plains. Looking at the smooth road surface, she felt a little envious. It was impossible for the Jurchens to build roads; the roads were full of potholes.

Looking at those brick and tile houses, my eyes are shining.

Seeing the lanterns hanging under the gates of some mansions, I felt an urge to climb up and take them down.

She looked exactly like a country bumpkin.

Song Yan couldn't help but smile, and then led Nahetoya to the magistrate's mansion.

Yang Siyao, Gao Yang, Gu Banxia, ​​and the others have all arrived in Pingyang City, but some maids have been left behind. News of their son-in-law's return has already reached them. Presumably, their son-in-law's journey to the capital must have been arduous, so the maids have already prepared clean clothes and boiled water.

Song Yan then temporarily entrusted Nakhtoya to these maids.

He ordered that some clothes be prepared for Nakhtoya as well, as the Jurchen attire was still too conspicuous.

As for Song Yan, he removed his armor.

It had been more than ten days since he had washed up, and his whole body was stiff and hard, with dirt and blood stains almost clumped together. Even his cotton clothes seemed to be stuck to his skin.

"call……"

As her entire body was immersed in the warm water, Song Yan let out a comfortable groan, and even had the urge to stay in there forever.

Squeak!

Just then, the door was pushed open.

But then a figure stood outside the door.

She was tall and fit, holding some clean clothes belonging to women from the Central Plains.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed; it was Nakhtoya.

She looked at Song Yan, her cherry lips slightly parted:
"Sister Xueying said that since I was taken back by you, I have to serve the master when he takes a bath, and I have to attend to the master when he sleeps..."

(End of this chapter)