He was really relieved, because he didn't care about the possible outcome of this battle, nor how heroic Wei Shangshu's death was. He just thought that the distance was so close, and if he took the body, he might be able to change horses and turn back immediately, and he could pursue him early tomorrow morning.

Join a large army and hand over your errands early.

This seems a bit cold-blooded.

But the fact is that the fundamental significance of this battle is similar to the unveiling and the trumpet, similar to the chants and slogans, and is by no means the military operation itself. And all those who sacrificed for no reason in this battle can only be reduced to the prelude to the political storm.

Debris.

In Zhang Xing's eyes, there was no difference between the people of Mayi who were taken captive, the elite cavalry who fell off their horses and died due to a hasty march, the soldiers of the Wu clan who were left to die on the other side of the sea of ​​suffering, and the Minister of Wei.

Of course, it is different in the eyes of others, because this Wei Shangshu was a Shangshu, and he died heroically and with a heroic temperament. Especially this kind of angry death remonstrance is destined to deeply touch the hearts of the people.

The emotions between the Long warlords and the saints... Bai Yousi was obviously touched. After hearing about it, Li Ding would most likely be touched.

But even if he was touched by Zhang Xing, he could only be touched from a humanitarian perspective. However, corpses were not uncommon along the way.

In short, this seems to be a hero. In the future, someone may write an article to commemorate him, and he may even be famous. If Zhang Xing is in a better state, he may be moved and empathized, but at this time, all he thinks about is how to deliver the work and end the mission early.

, end this ridiculous inspection as soon as possible, return to Dongdu to rest, and prepare to find a foreign minister.

At this time, King Qi behind him suddenly said: "Zhang Xing."

"Your Majesty is here." Zhang Xing, who had recovered his senses, turned around in surprise. "What are your orders, Your Highness?"

"I won't go in now." King Qi stood expressionless on the roadside. "You take people in, go directly to Duan Shangshu, and ask him to return with the body in person and catch up with the Holy Driver. Let Fulongwei and the two accompanying him

The messenger also returned with him. You go to Youzhou Manager Li alone, and then ask Manager Li to wait for me in the tent. Then you can come out and take me to see him."

As he said this, His Highness the King of Qi actually found a white ribbon in his arms, hung it on his waist, and turned back to look at the other Fulong Guards and the two guides: "Some of you know me, some of you don't...

…It doesn’t matter…no one is allowed to tell anyone about today’s events.”

Zhang Xing instinctively felt that something was wrong, but he had no choice but to agree with the others.

Next, since he was just running errands to inform the two officials and did not need to do it himself, things were particularly easy. Zhang Xing did not even see Wei Chi's corpse. He only took a quick glance when he came out to lead King Qi in quietly and saw Duan Wei with a sad expression.

I just turned back south with my twelve companions.

When they returned to the temporary camp again, Zhang Xing failed to enter Li Cheng's tent and just sat outside.

But King Qi didn't stay long and walked out. Zhang Xing greeted him with his last hope... He very much hoped that this matter would end here.

Let's go!

"Let's go." Qi King Cao Ming sighed. "General Manager Li means that if the Wu tribe really wants to withdraw, Deputy Changjian might as well come with me to see the sea of ​​suffering."

Zhang Xing was completely speechless, but he could only accompany the leader, who was either crazy or the Riddler, to get on his horse, pass through the temporary military camp, and continue to gallop north.

After galloping for about twenty or thirty miles, he heard the sound of waves rising, and signs of battle began to appear in a large area in front of him. King Qi suddenly galloped his horse up the relatively gentle hillside on one side. Zhang Xing did not dare to neglect it.

, follow closely.

Climbing up the hillside, looking down from a high position, Zhang Xing was completely stunned.

Without him, under the afternoon sun, the waves of the Sea of ​​Bitterness were trembling slightly, lapping at the rugged banks, while the huge Wu tribe camp was also making final preparations to board the ship... Maybe they realized that they could not wait for those small tribes who had lost the message.

Fires began to be set randomly in the clan camp... The smoke was billowing. It was relatively thick at first, but when it rose to a certain height, it was dispersed by the north wind coming from the bitter sea and turned into a fine mist-like thing, like cloud smoke.

.

But these clouds and smoke still cannot cover the Bitter Sea, which is hundreds of miles wide and extends all the way north to where the icebergs can be seen.

This is a real sea. It doesn’t matter if it’s man-made, or it’s done by witches or dragons, but it’s just a sea.

At this moment, Zhang Xing put away all his weariness, put away all his disgust and irritability towards political tricks, and also put away his self-righteous guesses about the historical context.

Because in front of this sea that appears directly north of Jin Dynasty, there can be no absolute overlap of history.

And this seems to mean new possibilities and new stories.

Zhang Xing wanted to cry inexplicably, but he couldn't tell whether he was sad or moved.

"Did Vice Changjian Zhang start to feel homesick after seeing the sea of ​​suffering?" Qi King Cao Ming suddenly laughed. "Why do you feel like crying? I remember you are from the North?"

"I'm from the North, but it's not necessarily homesick." Zhang Xing didn't look back, he just looked at the sea. "Maybe he's homesick...it's hard to say."

"Homesickness is homesickness, what's wrong with that?" Cao Ming shook his head. "It's just you and me here, aren't you embarrassed?"

Before Zhang Xing could respond, His Royal Highness the King of Qi was thoughtful again: "It is indeed not necessarily the case. It is normal to be homesick at first, and then worry about the future, and then state affairs. Then he mourns the officers, friends, relatives, and laments Wei Shangshu, and

What's wrong? I'm just a little narrow-minded."

"The ancients have never been seen before, and the newcomers have never been seen after. Thinking about the long journey of heaven and earth, I burst into tears with sadness." Zhang Xing thought of this sentence almost instinctively, and then blurted it out. "When people want to cry, why can't they cry? Why ask for someone?

The reason? Besides, I didn’t cry after all."

Cao Ming fell silent and stood still, just looking at the sea like Zhang Xing.

It wasn't until before sunset that almost all the Wu clan's ships left. The Wei army sent a team to search and enter the seaside. The noise rose and then fell, and the two stopped watching the sea.

"Your Highness, do you want to go back to camp?" Zhang Xing asked seriously under the setting sun.

Cao Ming shook his head: "Thank you, Deputy Chang Jian, let's light a bonfire."

Zhang Xing smiled bitterly and could only get off his horse, collect some firewood, take out the flint, and carefully light the fire.

The bonfire was lit, and the two sat down together. Cao Ming finally took the initiative to speak after being silent for a long time:

"Zhang Xing, Deputy Changjian Zhang, Zhang Sanlang, do you know? Ever since we met again in the willow forest, I have been waiting for the two of us to get along with each other calmly like this in private and settle our grudges..."

Zhang Xing's scalp felt numb, he thought for a moment, fiddled with the fire with a branch, and then told him seriously: "To be honest with you, Your Highness, I encountered the Fenshan Lord and the Banhai Lord during the second expedition to Dongyi, and I was frightened.

, I have forgotten all the incidents before the war... If there is any fate between your Majesty and Your Highness before, please ask Your Highness to talk about it from the beginning."

Cao Ming was surprised for a moment, but after a moment, his tone became more serious: "If this is the case, I will be even more ashamed... But it doesn't matter, we will meet later."

Zhang Xing was completely confused, what the hell is this? Isn’t it a grudge? What are you ashamed of?

"Do you know why I came here?" Cao Ming saw this and asked slowly.

"Sage, because when His Highness was in Taiyuan, the civil and military forces of Jin naturally gathered together. Although he knew that this was a natural situation, he still felt unhappy. He wanted His Highness to stay away from the officials, soldiers and civilians of Jin?" Since he asked, Zhang Xing didn't bother.

Pretending not to know, not to mention that he was so confused at the moment, he was just trying to stay calm. "So this time I went north, I was named Governor, and it was actually for distribution, isolation, and surveillance. I waited until Taiyuan was in a good place, or even returned to Dongdu.

Let His Highness go back?"

"Yes and no." Cao Ming answered calmly. "That's roughly what it means, but from a logical point of view, my father's arrangement is really effective, because I really have a way to ensure that the Wu people can't come back easily... It's just that

The harm is great, and nine out of ten it will not succeed."

Zhang Xing was at a loss.

"Do you recognize this sword?" Cao Ming said, taking out an unsheathed sword from his side.

Zhang Xing was still at a loss, but he immediately made a guess: "This is the Shocking Dragon Sword? Your Highness can use this sword to summon the imperial dragon here? But once used, it will cause great damage? And the sin dragon in the sea of ​​suffering is extremely powerful.

, it is very likely that the real dragons in the Jin region will not respond, or will be unable to do anything?"

"Yes." Cao Ming finally sighed, and then he held the long sword and stared at the opponent as he spoke word by word. "In the early spring of last year, the two fronts conquered Dongyi, and the rear Yang Shen rebelled. I, who once cultivated to the level of Chengdan, was appointed Shaocheng.

I left the Eastern Capital in plainclothes under the Holy Order...Don't look at me like that. On that day, it was I who held this sword and walked quickly to Luolongtan, leading Fenshanjun to go out and cut off Dongyi's pursuing troops..."

Zhang Xing was already numb from his scalp to his heart. After a long time, he took his eyes away from the unsheathed sword and asked seriously: "Is Your Highness the person under the tree that day? Because he summoned the true dragon to bite back, he ended up like this.

What’s the outcome?”

"That's right." Cao Ming sneered. "After Fenshanjun came out, I realized that if I used this sword to command the real dragon with my cultivation level as an elixir and as a prince, it would be lucky to lose half of my life... But in contrast to this

I am even more chilled by my father's ruthlessness. He is obviously the emperor and a grandmaster, but he insists on doing things that only require a little cultivation. Zhang Sanlang, do you know? The emperor's grandmaster, the great grandmaster.

Your realm is special, so you should do this."

"He is afraid of your cultivation!" Zhang Xing blurted out, while flashing back to the saint's panic after hearing about Dulan's attack.

"It's not just about cultivation. In the early years, I didn't know how high the sky was. I relied on my own cultivation to be outstanding. After my eldest brother's death, I had some evil thoughts, recruiting talents and managing influence. Then I was easily dealt with by my father, and then I focused on cultivation.

...Now that I think about it, I'm afraid that this is the reason why my father was so frightened that he decided to kill two birds with one stone to eliminate my cultivation after Yang Shen's rebellion." Cao Ming laughed even more. "Therefore, when I woke up that day, not only did I suffer

Seriously injured and waiting to die, I feel even more depressed... I just feel that since the father wants his son to die, and the king wants his ministers to die, I will just die... But you gave me two cakes, which made me less greedy for life.

Get up again.”

Zhang Xing opened his mouth to speak, but had nothing to say.

"Since I met you that day, I have often inquired about you, and then guessed that according to your temperament of carrying that Hongshan man home, you may not say it on the surface, but in fact you hate me in your heart, right?"

Maybe I will become a prime minister in the future, find the person who summoned the dragon that day, and express my hatred with a knife." Seeing this, Cao Ming turned to smile bitterly. "But I didn't expect that the enemy who ruined the lives of tens of thousands of you,

I was in front of you, but instead of killing him with one blow, you gave him two pancakes!"

"Am I your opponent now?" Zhang Xing suddenly asked.

"No." Cao Ming answered seriously. "But if the Wu tribe doesn't leave, or comes back, forcing me to summon the dragon again according to my will, then you can kill as much as you want... This is why I asked Duke Niu to invite you.

Because... If you are really going to die, I will pay you with my life. But on the other hand, I learned from Nanpo since I was a child and believed that this life was given by my father, so if I don't have to call the dragon, I will give you this life.

My life can only be taken away by your father."

"Your Highness is just risking your life and your life with your father-in-law after you have ruined all your prospects." Zhang Xing responded coldly.

"Maybe." Cao Ming responded with a sigh. "But so what? Zhang Sanlang, you are not my opponent at all now, and you have no choice."

"So, if His Highness calls me here, you will most likely humiliate me?" Zhang Xing turned to look at the already dark sea of ​​suffering. "Dulan Khan didn't care about military gains and losses at all, so he surrounded the Emperor of Wei.
To be continued...