The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 128: Trade Zhu Xiu’s head
Two days later, Zhu Xiu sent Pan Mei back the same way.

When she left, Pan Mei still didn't quite believe that Li Shouzhen would rebel.

It's just that Zhu Xiu introduced a theory of celestial phenomena that made him suspicious.

After all, Zhu Xiu had already proven his ability as a magic stick when he was in Cangzhou, which made Pan Mei a little superstitious about his rhetoric.

After bidding farewell to Pan Mei, Zhu Xiu summoned the Yajun soldiers to display the [-] shi of grain in a high-profile manner.

With this batch of food in hand, the Ya army has completely put an end to the food shortage crisis, boosted their morale, and stabilized their morale.

Land surveying and household registration revision work are carried out in an orderly manner with Anding County as the core.

~~~
North of Yuanzhou and southeast of Panyuan County.

This is a vast grassland with rugged low hills stretching for dozens of miles.

In early spring, the grass is long and the orioles are flying, and green and tender grass emerges one after another.

Standing high on the hills, looking up at the blue sky, white clouds seem to be passing by.

A large river is like a jade belt, meandering from south to north, and the quiet river water gently nourishes this pasture.

This river is called Wei Rushui, which is a tributary of the Yellow River that flows from Zhongwei to Zhongning in Ningxia in later generations.

More than 1000 years later, the river shrunk and changed its course several times, and gradually merged into the Weihe River system, giving it a new name: Hulu River.

Several prairie dogs emerged from their burrows, stood upright, and looked around warily. The whiskers on both sides of their black noses trembled rapidly, receiving signals from all directions like radar.

Suddenly, the prairie dogs all looked to the southeast. After a burst of chirping, they burrowed into their burrows in panic and dug up clods of earth to cover their burrows.

A moment later, a team of more than twenty riders galloped over.

The leader is Xue Xiuming.

"Drive~" Xue Xiuming whipped his riding whip vigorously and looked back in panic to see if the pursuers led by Guan Tieshi had caught up.

After narrowly escaping Qingshiling, Xue Xiuming and his party fled into Yuanzhou without stopping.

I thought that after leaving the former site of Han Xiao Pass and entering the grassland, there would be no danger in the sky high and the clouds wide.

Unexpectedly, just half a day later, Guan Tieshi led his troops to catch up.

Helpless, Xue Xiuming had no choice but to continue fleeing northward, along Wei Rushui to the north, striving to enter the boundary of Lingzhou as soon as possible.

Several horses in the team were so exhausted that they neighed and fell down, foaming from their mouths.

Helpless, Xue Xiuming had no choice but to rein in his horse and stop, shouting: "Dismount and rest where you are."

Many of the Xue family guards took a breath as if relieved. They had been fleeing for many days, and their horses and people were tired.

There was a woman in the team. She was riding alone, carrying a three-year-old girl on her back. The little girl was sobbing loudly as the ride was bumpy.

This woman is Xue Xiuming's sister, Pei Jin's wife, Xue Shi.

Mrs. Xue dismounted and untied her back, held the little girl in her arms, found some dried biscuits, soaked them in water and coaxed the child to eat them, and then she stopped crying.

The little girl quickly fell asleep. Mr. Xue touched her daughter's forehead and found that it was a little hot, and her heart sank.

She turned around and looked around, seeing endless grassland in all directions.

Xue gritted his teeth, tied the child to his back again, pulled out the long knife stuck to the side, got on his horse, turned around and headed south.

Xue Xiuming rushed out from the side and stopped him with a gloomy expression: "What are you going to do?"

Mrs. Xue tightened the reins and shouted: "I'm not going to run away, I want to go back to Anding! You want to escape to Xiazhou and join the party members, but I won't go! My daughter has a fever, I want to take her to a doctor!"

Xue Xiuming said coldly: "You are the one who came with me. Now that you are here, let's go to Xiazhou together. When we get to Xiazhou, I will help you choose a good marriage, and your daughter can have another baby."

Mrs. Xue was furious. She had a strong temper and immediately reprimanded: "You forced me to marry Pei Jin as the head of the family, and now you want to use me to please the party members? Humph~ I would rather go back and kowtow to Pei Jin to admit my mistake." I won’t be deceived by you anymore! Get out of the way!~”

Xue's horse ran past Xue Xiuming, and Xue Xiuming suddenly drew his knife and slashed the horse's leg.The horse hissed and fell over, Xue was protecting her daughter and fell heavily, the little girl was frightened and cried again.

Mr. Xue got up, held his knife in front of him, and yelled: "If you set fire to Mr. Li, the party members will not let you go!"

Xue Xiuming shouted angrily: "Kill her!"

Several guards rushed forward and slashed at Xue Shi fiercely.

Although Xue had practiced martial arts and liked to dance with weapons on weekdays, she was still a woman. She was exhausted from running around for days and had no strength. She soon suffered several injuries and was covered in blood.

She waved the knife like crazy, desperately trying to protect the daughter in her arms.

"Boohoo~" A series of arrows pierced the air, and from the south, Guan Tieshi led his troops to catch up, shot several guards to death, and then rushed into the crowd to kill them.

Xue Xiuming's face changed drastically, he rushed forward with the knife and chopped down the child in Xue's arms.

Xue held the child in her arms, suffered the blow on her back, and fell to the ground screaming.

"Let's go!" Xue Xiuming's hands were stained with blood. He dropped the knife and climbed onto the horse's back. He whipped the whip as hard as he could and drove the horse up the grassy slope.

Only six or seven guards were left running for their lives behind him.

Guan Tieshi dismounted and rushed to Xue's side. She was lying on the ground dying. The child underneath her was crying weakly but was not injured.

Mrs. Xue tried her best to push the child to Guan Tieshi and said intermittently: "Pei Pei Jin"

Guan Tieshi picked up the child and sighed: "Don't worry, the child will return to Pei Jin safely."

Xue's blood-stained face forced a smile, and he tilted his head and lost his breath.

"Get on the horse and keep chasing!" Guan Tieshi put the child in his arms and got on the horse.

"Dong Dong Dong~~~"

As soon as I ran up the grassy slope, I heard the rumble of war drums coming from the north.

Guan Tieshi stared into the distance, his expression suddenly changed.

I saw a black-armored cavalry troop pouring down from the high slopes in the north like a torrent, followed by a mass of black infantry, with a total of no less than 5000 troops.

From a distance, you can see the opponent's flag: Dingnan Army, Li Zishuai flag.

Xue Xiuming fled into the Dingnan Army like a lost dog.

A heroic young general held a horse spear and rushed towards Guan Tieshi by clapping his horse.

He is covered in black scale armor, wearing a ghost-faced dagger on his head, and carries six short spears on his back. The Suan Ni beast under his crotch is a divine steed whose fur is as bright as flames.

A single man came riding alone, but his momentum was like a thousand troops, marching forward inexorably.

Sweat instantly broke out on Guan Tieshi's temples, and his hand that clenched the handle of the knife trembled slightly.

"Appreciate~"

With a long hiss, the Suan Ni Divine Horse stood up and kicked.

The heroic young general Ma Shan pointed at Guan Tieshi and shouted: "Is this a general of the Zhangyi Army?"

Guan Tieshi suppressed his fear and said in a deep voice, "Exactly!"

The heroic young general laughed loudly, his voice as loud as thunder: "Go back and tell Shi Kuangwei that from now on, the Yuanzhou Racecourse belongs to our Dingnan Army! If he wants to take it back, he can exchange it for Zhu Xiu's head! This man killed my fourth brother, I’m sure Mr. Li won’t let him go!”

Guan Tieshi dared not speak out, and shouted, "Who are you?"

The young general's thunderous voice resounded across the grassland: "The Army of Determination, General Wuyuan, Li Guangyan!"

(End of this chapter)