Zhang Ce and Tan Xiong suddenly turned around.
In the distance at the rear of the Yan Army, there were successive earth - shaking explosions. Thick smoke billowed into the sky, and flames shot up everywhere. The army was in disarray.
Tan Xiong's face suddenly changed. "What's going on?"
Zhang Ce replied, "I don't know! Let's go and check it out!"
Before they could move, a closer and more violent explosion startled their steeds. Immediately afterwards, countless Southern Army soldiers rushed in, scattering the panicked Yan soldiers who had been blown about by the gunpowder, and broke through the middle of the formation.
Tan Xiong waved his sword and beheaded a Southern Army soldier, saving Leng Fei, who was covered in black ash. He shouted loudly,
"What's going on? Weren't you supposed to bring the firearms to attack the city?"
Leng Fei was the general who had been specially recruited into the Divine Machine Battalion by Song Yinghuai in Lingbi. He wiped his face and shouted,
"A group of Southern Army soldiers suddenly emerged from behind and detonated our gunpowder in advance! General! All the gunpowder has exploded! We can't attack the city anymore!"
"Damn it!" Tan Xiong glanced at the army that had been blown to pieces by their own gunpowder and roared at the top of his voice, "Retreat! Sound the gong to recall the troops!"
Inside the city of Jizhou, Li Muge and the others watched in astonishment as the Yan Army, which had been about to reach the city wall, suddenly withdrew in a hurry.
Li Muge nervously straightened his official hat and asked, "What... happened?"
Everyone looked panicked and shook their heads like rattles.
Previously, the young emperor had successively assembled five hundred thousand troops and sent them north in batches.
When attacking Yanjing, Li Muge had already commanded one hundred thousand troops in the north, and another two hundred thousand were expected to arrive in about three days.
However, that night, the Yan Army counter - attacked and captured a large area of Hebei within three days, blocking all the military routes leading to Jiaodong.
The reinforcements of the Southern Army were unable to reach Jizhou.
So they had no idea where this sudden army that was attacking the Yan Army came from!
At this time, the thick smoke below the city gradually dispersed. A handsome man in red and black armor rode forward on his horse.
When they saw his face, everyone's pupils shrank slightly.
"Sheng Jiangli?" Li Muge blurted out, "The Hu cavalry has entered the pass!"
Sheng Jiangli reined in his horse under the city wall, looked up at Li Muge, raised his eyebrows and smiled,
"Sir Li, I'm sorry I'm late to the rescue!"
"Quick! Open the city gate!" Li Muge was overjoyed. He greeted everyone to open the city gate wide and welcomed the thirty thousand Hu cavalry into the city.
The Hu cavalry rushed into Jizhou like red plum blossoms in a snow - wave.
After days of consecutive and terrifying defeats, the whole city of the Southern Army erupted in joy.
Li Muge had sharp eyes. He immediately noticed the young soldier beside Sheng Jiangli. With red lips and white teeth, the soldier's beauty was simply irresistible.
This is...
When the previous emperor was still alive, Li Muge was a compiler in the Imperial Academy. He worked under the Grand Scholar Gong Qingliang and had the honor to attend the palace banquet.
Wasn't this woman...
"Cai, Caiyu... Lan..." Li Muge gasped!
The affair between Miss Lan San and the King of Yan was well - known to the world.
Wasn't she dead?
"Sir Li, this is my fiancée." Sheng Jiangli calmly interrupted his involuntary exclamation.
Li Muge immediately shut his mouth!
He looked at Caiyu and then at Sheng Jiangli.
After all, he was a master flatterer and quickly reacted.
Li Muge laughed heartily. "So this is sister - in - law... Congratulations!"
He sized Caiyu up and down and praised, "Sister - in - law is truly as beautiful as a goddess. General Sheng is so lucky."
Caiyu glanced at Sheng Jiangli, suppressed the uneasiness in her heart, and nodded slightly at Li Muge. "I'm Hongxiu. Thank you for your kind words, Sir Li."
Ever since Sheng Jiangli led the Hu cavalry to outwit Tan Xiong's army, she had started to feel something was wrong.
Brother A Li brought her to Jiaodong not to live in seclusion, but to fight against Song Yinghuai!
Li Muge harbored strange thoughts.
This woman was the beloved of the King of Yan. It was said that she had died six years ago, but then she came back to life and caused quite a stir in the city.
Then she had been dead for another two years, but now she appeared before everyone in good health.
What a strange woman!
Caiyu didn't say a word. She was smart by nature, but she had an impatient temper.
However, after so many twists and turns and the passage of time, the current woman had matured and learned to be calm. She only said to Sheng Jiangli,
"Brother A Li, I'm tired. I want to rest first."
"I'll take you back to your room." Without hesitation, Sheng Jiangli left the others behind and walked away.
Lan Guifan and A Ye also followed behind. Li Muge arranged two rooms for them.
As soon as Caiyu entered the room, she closed the door and pressed her ear against it to listen for a while.
When she straightened up, she bumped into Sheng Jiangli's smiling eyes. He was standing there with his arms crossed, looking at her and asking,
"What are you listening for?"
Caiyu looked into his dark eyes seriously. "Brother A Li, if you're being threatened, just nod."
Sheng Jiangli remained calm, but there was a hint of darkness in his eyes. "What are you daydreaming about?"
"Really not?" Caiyu looked at him in confusion. "You're not like this. You were living well in the small fishing village. Suddenly you said you wanted to come to Jiaodong, but you're not here to live in seclusion. You're going to fight against the prince?"
"You're right." Sheng Jiangli knew he couldn't hide the matter of the war, so he readily admitted it. "So are you worried about me or about him?"
"Is that the point?" Caiyu glared at him annoyedly. "I want to know the reason!"
Sheng Jiangli paused for a moment. A carefree smile reappeared on his face. "The reason is... I actually have great ambitions. I only reluctantly lived in seclusion for two years for your sake. I thought I'd live like this for the rest of my life, but now it's different."
He paused and then said, "Song Yinghuai is now a rebel. If I lead the army to defeat him and capture him, then we won't have to hide anymore. I'll become a general again, and you'll be the wife of a first - rank general. Don't you like that, Shu'er?"
Caiyu was stunned for a moment and looked at his face suspiciously.
She didn't want to believe Sheng Jiangli's reason.
Especially after being "baptized" by Song Yinghuai's repeated deceptions, she now knew that when a man's temperament changed suddenly, there must be a hidden reason behind it.
Sheng Jiangli met her suspicious gaze, and his heart pounded like a war drum.
He was good at lying, but when it came to the woman he loved, he couldn't help but feel breathless when lying.
He took a step forward, looked down at her and said in a deep voice, "Shu'er, trust me."
Trust me?
Caiyu was stunned again.
These two words... She hadn't been able to do it in front of Song Yinghuai before, so she had caused a lot of trouble and ruined his plans.
So when Sheng Jiangli asked her to trust him this time, did he also have something big to do?
After much hesitation, the light in Caiyu's eyes gradually faded. She nodded. "Okay."
She stopped asking questions and didn't plan to explore further.
Anyway, Brother A Li wouldn't hurt her.
Sheng Jiangli immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He jumped onto the bed in one step, lay down, and patted the empty space beside him, inviting,
"I'm sleepy. Go to sleep!"
"We have to fight tomorrow!"
Caiyu looked at him lying on the bed with his legs spread wide and was speechless,
"Where am I going to sleep?"
Sheng Jiangli looked at her strangely. "You sleep beside me! Aren't we going to get married soon?"
Caiyu choked.
For some reason, knowing that Song Yinghuai was not far outside the city of Jizhou, she couldn't help but object even more,
"But we're not married yet. We..."
Sheng Jiangli blinked and sighed. "But Sir Li was kind enough to leave us only one room. You can't expect me to squeeze in with Fan'er and A Ye, can you?"
"Li Muge will be suspicious. He already recognized you. If we had nothing to do with each other, he'd worry that you're a spy sent into the city by Song Yinghuai."
Sheng Jiangli said with a mischievous smile, "Come on, Sister Shu'er, this bed is so big."
Caiyu looked at him hesitantly and then suddenly smiled mischievously. "Although we're engaged, it would be a bit strange for you to sleep with Fan'er, but I have a way to make it seem normal, and Sir Li won't suspect me either."
Sheng Jiangli: ??
A moment later.
Li Muge, who was observing behind the beam, suddenly heard a noise in the room.
Immediately afterwards.
Sheng Jiangli was thrown out of the room bare - chested.
His clothes flew out of the open door and landed on his head.
Caiyu's overbearing scolding came from the room. "What did you just say? You've taken a fancy to that girl you saved on the road?"
"Sheng Jiangli! You're being a womanizer even before you've married me!"
"Get out!"