Chang'an is good

The soldier driving the carriage stopped upon seeing this, and the man on horseback said, "Deputy Envoy Cheng."

Hearing this undisguised female voice, Deputy Envoy Cheng came back to his senses, got off the carriage, and saluted Chang Suining: "Your subordinate Cheng Aolin greets Envoy Chang Jie."

Chang Suining looked at the old man who looked vaguely familiar and nodded to him.

Deputy Envoy Cheng did not dare to linger here, and he did not know how to treat the Huainan Jiedushi who suddenly led a large army into the country. After paying his respects again, he continued to rush to the military camp.

Deputy Envoy Cheng sat back in the carriage, the shock still in his eyes, and murmured in an old voice: "How can they be so similar..."

The woman was sitting on a horse, with her hood covering most of her face, leaving only her eyebrows and eyes exposed. Her facial features and expression... made him feel as if he had seen the late Crown Prince again.

Many years ago, when the former crown prince was fighting against the Northern Di, he, as an ordinary captain of Guannei Road, had the honor of fighting with Xuan Ce's army.

At this moment, Deputy Envoy Cheng felt that he was really old and confused, or perhaps he was hoping too much that God would send another savior like the Crown Prince Xiao to gather together the country that was about to fall apart.

Although the snow has stopped, the wind has not stopped, and there are still small pieces of snow flying in the air, carried by the cold wind.

Xue Fu agreed to Shi Daxiong's proposal and conditions.

Shi Daxiong proposed to fight Xue Fu alone, and the condition was that regardless of the outcome, Xue Fu must not harm the lives of his confidants afterwards. He could even be exiled to the front line to fight against the Northern Di, as long as he gave them a chance to survive.

The soldiers around Xue Fu all disagreed. Regardless of winning or losing, they had to leave a chance for his subordinates to survive. So what benefit would this bring to General Xue?
Shi Daxiong didn't care about those people's voices, just looked at Xue Fu.

Before today's changes, his master Daxiong was the most prestigious general in the army, and this prestige was earned by him on the battlefield.

No matter how strict the military discipline is, the most brutal force is still the one that can make people feel awe from the bottom of their hearts.

If Xue Fu had ambitions, he would not refuse this proposal that would allow him to establish his authority in public.

The moment Xue Fu agreed, Shi Daxiong raised half of his mouth.

It seems that he does have the ambition, so he will give it a try on behalf of the Shuofang Army to see if this guy has the ability to carry on this ambition!

The two men first fought with spears on horseback. After twenty or thirty rounds, the spear in Xue Fu's hand broke first.

The spear that Shi Daxiong held was once given by Yue Guang. The material of the spear body was extremely tough, and the spear head was particularly sharp. Moreover, the sophistication and murderousness in his moves were far greater than that of Xue Fu.

Even though Xue Fu lost his spear, Shi Daxiong still did not stop attacking. In just a few moves, he forced Xue Fu, who kept dodging, to fall off his horse.

"General Xue!"

A soldier cried out in surprise and was about to rush forward to help, but was stopped by Deputy Envoy Cheng who had already arrived.

"Deputy Envoy, General Xue..."

Deputy Envoy Cheng, leaning on a crutch with one hand, stood in the snow and interrupted the soldier: "Don't stop him."

The soldier didn't understand what the word "obstruction" meant, and could only look anxiously at Xue Fu who had rolled several times in the snow.

Shi Daxiong rode his horse closer and turned the spear in his hand to stab Xue Fu.

Xue Fu dodged sideways, but only moved an inch. The tip of Shi Daxiong's gun pierced into the snow. When he was about to retract it, Xue Fu quickly grabbed the gun with both hands.

Xue Fu suddenly exerted force with both hands, and Shi Daxiong was caught off guard and was forced to fall off his horse under the influence of this force.

Xue Fu had let go of his gun, looked at him intently, and drew the long knife from his waist.

Shi Daxiong narrowed his eyes, suddenly thrust his spear into the snow beside him, and then drew his sword.

As the two looked at each other, Xue Fu quickly moved forward, creating a cloud of snow and mist, and swung his sword to kill Shi Daxiong.

Shi Daxiong raised his knife to meet the enemy, and the two figures were intertwined with the knife light, and gradually, blood of an unknown person was spilled on the snow.

Shi Daxiong prided himself on his sophisticated swordsmanship and having no rivals in the army. Before this, he had no idea that there was a young general in the Shuofang army who was so skilled in using a sword.

The young general's sword skills were powerful and had great endurance. Although he was mostly defensive at first, as Shi Daxiong's strength was depleted, Xue Fu actually began to gain the upper hand.

Realizing that his power advantage was beginning to slip, Shi Daxiong, who was not only relying on brute force, gradually adjusted his tactics, and when he made his moves, he often made feints to the east and attacked in the west.

However, to his surprise, Xue Fu was not confused at all.

The young warrior was so focused that it seemed as if the only people in the world were him, his opponent, and the swords in their hands.

Time, scenes, people and sounds from the outside world seemed to have ceased to exist in his eyes.

There was only one belief in his eyes, and that was to win.

He had more and more wounds on his body, the snow under his feet was getting redder, and his breathing was getting heavier, but there was no sign of retreat in his eyes, and he was still able to clearly analyze his opponent's moves.

After once again predicting Shi Daxiong's moves, which were already struggling, Xue Fu swung his sword even faster, cutting off Shi Daxiong's wrist holding the sword.

As Shi Daxiong staggered and fell to the ground, Xue Fu quickly stepped forward, pinned him to his knees on one knee, and stabbed Shi Daxiong in the chest with the knife in both hands.

Shi Daxiong used his intact hand to grasp Xue Fu's blade.

Facing the eyes of Master Daxiong, Xue Fu paused for a moment and did not continue to exert force.

Shi Daxiong uttered an unclear voice from his mouth, which was constantly bleeding: "Boy, remember what you promised..."

It is always difficult to generalize about human nature. Even though Shi Daxiong is cruel and ruthless and dares to kill his comrades, he is not without affection towards his trusted soldiers.

Just as although he respected Yue Guang, he could easily decide to kill Yue Chunyan - if Yue Guang were still alive, he probably would never rebel, but if the person he respected was no longer around, everything would be a different matter.

Shi Daxiong does not regret his decision. If he had to do it again, he would only act more cautiously.

But he was not unwilling to die in this way at this moment - for a warrior, it is not a misfortune to die at the hands of his opponent's true skills.

Xue Fu: "Yes."

After receiving these two words of answer, Shi Daxiong slowly loosened his grip on the knife, and his tense body fell completely back into the snow.

Xue Fu thrust the knife into his chest, and blood melted the snow beneath him.

After a moment, Xue Fu drew out his knife, stood up somewhat shakily, and faced everyone.

He no longer had much strength left, and after raising the knife in his hand, he couldn't help but lean it into the snow.

But at this moment, from now on, no one will dare to look down on this young man named Xue Fu.

After a brief silence, a soldier raised his arms and shouted, "The traitor Shi Daxiong is dead!"

This sentence was like a stone thrown into the water, causing an immediate uproar all around.

As the shouts rose and fell, the captured soldiers of Shi Daxiong knelt one after another, with only sadness in their eyes, without any struggle. They were kneeling not only to Shi Daxiong, but also to the young general who was enough to inspire awe in the Shuofang Army.

Deputy Envoy Cheng looked at Xue Fu standing in the snow with a sword in his hand and let out a long sigh. There was relief and peace in his slightly red eyes.

Two soldiers came forward and supported Xue Fu on the left and right.

Xue Fu's bloodstained mouth moved, and he said, "Send someone to report to Envoy Chang..."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he changed his words: "No, it's not necessary..."

He raised his bruised and bloodshot eyes and looked toward the front of the military camp.

Xue Fu asked someone to help him onto the horse.

More than ten soldiers followed him, and Deputy Envoy Cheng and Deputy Envoy Jin also went with him.

Not long after, Chang Suining saw the line of soldiers stop twenty steps away. The leader was helped off his horse and walked towards this place step by step.

Seeing this, Chang Suining jumped off the horse.

But the young man, whose face was almost covered in blood, stopped three steps away from her, knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists and said, "I am Xue Fu, and I have not let down Envoy Chang Jie's help. I have successfully eliminated the civil strife in the Shuofang Army!"

Chang Suining hurriedly took two steps forward and helped Xue Fu up.

Seeing that he was covered in wounds, Chang Suining could guess what had happened.

This is a young man who is capable and knows how to seize opportunities.

As long as he is given the opportunity to establish his authority, he will not let it down.

Chang Suining had a hint of appreciation in his eyes and said only one word: "Okay."

Who says that Dasheng has no young generals available? There is never a shortage of talents in this world. It just depends on whether those who hold the power to allocate talents can give them the opportunity to stand out.

Chang Suining has always liked talented generals, especially young ones, because this means that they can accompany Dasheng for a long time and can use their vigorous and lasting power to lead this land and its people out of difficulties.

Chang Suining asked about Xue Fu's injuries, which made Xue Fu feel flattered.

Not far away, looking at Chang Suining talking to Xue Fu, Deputy Envoy Cheng felt a sense of confusion in his heart again.

When he came, he almost mistook the person for someone else, thinking it was because he suddenly saw the same pair of eyes and eyebrows as the late Crown Prince. But now that he saw the whole face of the other person, it was clearly the face of a beautiful woman, but the feeling of similarity did not diminish but increased... Why is this?
He had only met the late crown prince a few times, so he was by no means familiar with him. But even just one look at such a stunning young man was enough to be remembered for the rest of his life.

Even though time will fade the face in our memory, that temperament will be engraved forever.

Thinking about this, Deputy Envoy Cheng gradually came up with the answer in his heart. Therefore, the reason why this Envoy Chang Jie gave him such a strong sense of similarity was not only because of his eyebrows and eyes, but also because his demeanor and aura were exactly the same as those of the former Crown Prince...

However, in this world, it is more difficult to find people with similar demeanor and aura than to find people with similar looks... let alone both.

Deputy Envoy Cheng was filled with doubts but did not dare to express them too much.

By the time Xue Fu's injuries were treated, the chaos in the military camp had basically subsided.

It was already dark, but the light from the snow made the sky and the earth look as bright as day.

Xue Fu and his two deputy envoys prepared to rush back to the city and invited Chang Suining to go with them.

Chang Suining did not refuse - the army had made the decision, and it was time to go into the city to see Wei Shuyi.

She Cai only ordered 500 people to accompany him, and the remaining cavalry were settling in the Shuofang military camp - this was also the suggestion of the two deputy envoys and Xue Fu. The north is extremely cold in winter, and it is very difficult to camp for the winter, not to mention that the snow today is very thick, and camping on the spot is too time-consuming and labor-intensive.

The Shuofang army temporarily vacated half of its barracks for this purpose.

The soldiers brought by Chang Suining all brought their own dry food. After settling down, they only asked for water and a stove.

They did not want to trouble the Shuofang Army too much, but the Shuofang Army was very diligent. They helped to light fires and boil water, ran around, and asked about their well-being.

As for the Shuofang Army, they did this not because they were afraid. People in the north are just like that, warm and hospitable!
So hospitable that I couldn't sleep at all...

The army rested early. Many of the Shuofang soldiers lying on the large bunk beds in the barracks had their eyes open and their ears pricked up to listen to any movement outside.

After enduring this till midnight, one soldier sighed quietly and said, "Now I know what it feels like to be with a tiger in the saying 'Being with the king is like being with a tiger'..."

Although the two sides had equal numbers of people, the cavalry seemed like divine soldiers sent from heaven, and their origins were also a mystery, which was really frightening...

The soldier who sighed poked his companion beside him and said, "Tell me, where did those 50,000 cavalrymen come from?"

"You are making clay figures..."

Another soldier continued, "I heard from the captain today that when they went there to deliver things, the generals they met all seemed to speak with Taiyuan accents..."

"Taiyuan... Bingzhou? Bingzhou has so many cavalrymen?!"

"Speaking of this, I remember an old story..." said an older soldier, "I vaguely remember that six or seven years ago, General Cui proposed to expand the Xuan Ce Army Cavalry Battalion... but the court did not agree."

At that time, the imperial court temporarily rejected Cui Jing's request on the grounds that "the expenditure on cavalry food and military pay was too high and the national treasury could hardly support it."

Some people also privately speculated that this was because the civil officials were dissatisfied with the military expenditures and were afraid of Xuan Ce's powerful army.

"So...the Imperial Court didn't approve this, but Commander Cui actually started planning in Bingzhou without telling the Imperial Court?" A soldier was surprised and asked, "Isn't this deceiving the Emperor?"

To put it in a more serious way, privately expanding the military is a serious crime of treason.

"Why are you bullying me, my Lord? Bingzhou is a horse ranch, and many of our war horses are Bingzhou horses. It's unfortunate that they have raised their horses too well in recent years and accidentally gave birth to a few extra foals?" The older soldier turned over and said nonchalantly, "The court itself does not pay attention to horse affairs, and the people at all levels have been perfunctory for a long time, so they failed to supervise... Who can we blame?"

Do we really want to punish Grand Commander Cui at this time? In this situation, does the court dare to do so?

Besides, why did Commander Cui attach so much importance to cavalry? Rebellion? Xuan Ce's army was in his hands. If he really wanted to rebel, why wait until today!

After all, isn't it to prepare for the defense against the Northern Di? The court did nothing, and the ministers worked for the country. How could the court have the nerve to blame them? If he were to say, the court should be secretly happy to have such a general!
When the other soldiers heard this, they responded tacitly.

As soldiers stationed in the northern border, they never doubted Cui Jing's loyalty to the country. At this time, countless evil spirits and monsters were causing internal troubles, but there were still people with heavy troops fighting to protect the border with their lives... If they still doubted the intentions of such an admirable person, then this military uniform would be worn in vain.

Several soldiers who were talking avoided the topic and did not delve into it. One of them changed the subject and asked, "By the way, you say... Commander Cui dared to hand over tens of thousands of cavalry to Envoy Chang. What is the relationship?"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a rustling sound. The soldier who was asking the question turned his head and looked around. He saw that the soldiers who were crowded on several large bunks had all crawled up and sat up. In the dim light, pairs of eyes were flashing with gossip.

The soldier was almost frightened: "...Why didn't you sleep?"

When they were talking just now, these people didn't say a word!
So you are not interested in serious matters and just like to listen to gossip, right? (End of this chapter)