The autumn afternoon sun shone on the smooth official road, and Pei Yue turned his head to look at Shimen Pass among the mountains behind him.

When more than 20 cavalrymen appeared with the sword of Xie Xiao, the Duke of Zhenguo, guard Lu Gong said nothing after receiving the order. Shimenguan immediately removed all defenses, allowing this team of more than 5,000 people to pass smoothly.

.

Pei Yue couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

Shimen Pass has always been a battleground for military strategists. Its advantage lies in defense rather than attack, so there are only infantry in the pass. Although it is impossible for Pei Yue to capture this heroic pass, with the bravery and skill of a thousand cavalrymen from the Wei camp, even if it is

Lu Gong sent out six thousand infantry but was unable to surround him.

Even without Xu Churong's reminder yesterday, Pei Yue had already considered the existence of this pass, and would not have ignored the relationship between Lu Gong and the Pingjiang Fang family. He originally thought that Fang Xiexiao would take action here, such as launching a surprise attack after he entered the pass.

This can weaken Beiweiying's strength to the greatest extent.

Pei Yue naturally noticed this, so after Lu Gong opened the door, he ordered Weiying to approach the carriage in the name of protecting Princess Qinghe, and then asked Xia Fei's Jinwu Guards to take charge of the rear. Lu Gong seemed to be really attracted by the handle.

Jian Jingwei never made any drastic action from beginning to end, which was completely different from his previous attitude of disregarding life and death.

The more than twenty riders were Fang Xiexiao's personal guards, and the leader was Fang Huai, the commander of Langtu Camp.

"Master Pei, General Lu has an upright temperament and is not good at pretentiousness. It is difficult to accept the fact that the fourth son has passed away for a while, so he behaves impulsively and recklessly like today. I hope you can forgive me. My father-in-law ordered me to be a villain.

Convey that similar incidents will not happen again in the future, and your mission will definitely arrive at Jiangling Castle safely."

Fang Huai's words were very polite, but the look on his face was cold and indifferent, naturally because Fang Yunhu died in Pei Yue's hands.

Pei Yue did not express any false thanks, but said calmly: "Thank you."

Fang Huai nodded, and then led the rest of the cavalry to gallop towards the northeast.

Pei Yue rode his horse and stood by the roadside, flanked by a long line of people moving slowly forward. They were all the entourage of Princess Qinghe. In addition to the large number of palace maids and eunuchs, there were more than 300 palace guards. Although they

They had all seen the world, but they were very afraid of Pei Yue, a powerful man in Northern Liang with a notorious reputation, and did not dare to raise their eyes when passing by him.

The Jinwu Guards led by Xia Fei were rushed to the front by Pei Yue to clear the way, and the Beiwei Camp was responsible for breaking up the rear.

Pei Yue looked at the long queue quietly, recalling everything that had just happened in his mind, and the sense of crisis became stronger and stronger.

Deng Zai came up to him and said in a low voice: "Young Master, I always feel that this is a tactic of suspicion."

Pei Yue said calmly: "Come on."

Deng Zai glanced at Feng Yi and Gai Ju who were not far away, and considered: "The Lu guard general put up such a big battle to avenge Fang Yunhu, but the thunder was loud and the rain was small, and he was defeated so easily by Fang Yunhu.

The commander of Xiao's personal soldiers stopped it. On the surface, it was because Fang Xie Xiao was considering the overall situation and didn't want things to get out of hand. I didn't think it was weird at the time, but after thinking about it carefully, I found that there were a lot of weird things in it."

Pei Yue turned to look at him, with a look of approval in his eyes, gesturing for him to continue.

Deng Zai said cautiously: "First of all, Lu Gong is a veteran on the battlefield. He should know that infantry can never stop cavalry in the wild. He wants to rely on two thousand infantry to trap the young master's Beiwei camp. This is obviously a fool's dream. To me

It seems that he can be coy and conciliatory first, and then suddenly attack after the young master leads the troops into Shimen Pass. At that time, our cavalry will not be able to take advantage of speed in the pass, and he can use the numerical advantage to launch an attack."

"Secondly, Xia Fei is General Jinwu and shoulders the heavy responsibility of protecting Princess Qinghe. At the same time, he also holds the imperial edict in his hand. He acted too weak in this conflict. In fact, when Lu Gong led his troops out of seclusion,

He should have suppressed the opponent forcefully, but in fact he just had a futile verbal dispute, and then took Jinwuwei to watch the show. If he is the kind of timid character, Nan

It is impossible for Emperor Zhou to entrust this burden to him."

"Thirdly, Xia Fei and Lu Gong's behavior was too abnormal. What's even more weird is that Fang Xiexiao's person showed up at just the right time. It not only gave Lu Gong time to make up his mind, but also didn't let the two sides start fighting, as if they were hiding in the dark.

Show up at the right time.

"

Deng Zai finished his analysis in one breath and gradually calmed down.

This was the first time that he showed his ability in this area in front of Pei Yue. He was really nervous at first, but gradually got better and his speech became very clear and fluent.

Pei Yue asked with interest: "Then what conclusion can you draw?"

Deng Zai was greatly encouraged and said quickly: "Master, I think Southern Zhou has a big conspiracy. The scene outside Shimen Pass is just to let you relax your vigilance. Lu Gong pretends to show that there is no danger in the follow-up, but in fact this is just the beginning.

"

"You have indeed grown a lot in the past six months." Pei Yue said happily.

Deng Zai's face was full of joy and he replied honestly: "Young Master, in fact, I have been secretly studying military books in the past few years."

Pei Yue joked: "If you stay with me as a soldier for the rest of your life, no matter how many books you read, it will be useless."

Deng Zai shook his head and said: "If I can really follow the young master all the time, I will be willing to study for nothing all my life."

Pei Yue couldn't help laughing and said calmly: "Your analysis is generally correct. Fang Xiexiao has been creating an illusion for me from beginning to end, trying to make me think that he has exhausted his skills. In order to avenge Fang Yunhu, he

Let Fang Yuntian challenge me at the big banquet, and he even did not hesitate to use a face-breaking method after the banquet.

After being beaten by Emperor Qingyuan, he now stopped Lu Gong's almost crazy provocation for the sake of the overall situation. Through these two performances, he successfully created two contradictory but unified images.

The father who lost his son at the age of 18 was also a loyal and important minister of the Southern Zhou Dynasty."

Deng Zai said puzzledly: "It's just that I don't understand why he did this. If he really wants to deal with the young master, Shimen Pass is the best opportunity. Going further north to trap Beiwei Camp is as difficult as climbing up

sky."

Pei Yue looked at the Southern Zhou entourage that had already passed more than half way, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he said softly: "If Fang Xiexiao just wants to kill me, how can he control the military power of the entire Southern Zhou Dynasty?"

Deng Zai's heart trembled, and his expression became extremely solemn.

Pei Yue shook the riding crop in his hand and said slowly: "Go back, I want to talk to General Xia."

"Yes, Master." Deng Zai responded respectfully.

After a while, Pei Yue and his own soldiers rode up to the queue of Jinwu Guards. After receiving the report, Xia Fei hurriedly came over and said with a smile: "If Marquis Pei has an order, you only need to send someone to pass it on, why come here in person?"

Pei Yue said with a gentle expression: "General Xia, there is no need to be so polite. I just remembered something and want to discuss it with the general."

Xia Fei's eyes moved and he said respectfully: "Marquis Pei, please speak."

Pei Yue said calmly: "The ferry north of Jiangling City is a little cramped. It will be a bit troublesome for more than two thousand people to cross the river. I heard that Mengjin in the northeast of Muyang Mansion is the largest ferry along the river. It is better to cross the river from this place.

"

Xia Fei was slightly surprised and said: "What Pei Hou said is reasonable, but the itinerary has been determined for a long time. If you want to change it, I'm afraid it will be a bit troublesome."

Pei Yue stared closely into his eyes and asked, "Why?"

Xia Fei sighed: "Pei Hou, the most important part of a princess's journey is the etiquette of clothing, food, housing and transportation. Even the route of this trip has been determined early and cannot be changed at will during the journey. Your country's Minister Sheng should know this very well.

Because these details were confirmed by him and me, Minister Xu. However, if Marquis Pei insists on changing it, I can immediately send someone back to Jian'an City to ask for His Majesty's instructions. I only need to wait a few days."

A gust of autumn wind passed by, blowing their sleeves.

Pei Yue said calmly: "That's all, I just had a whim. There is no need to go to such trouble. Take my leave."

Xia Fei looked at his retreating figure and thought about his answer secretly. There should be no flaws.

But he always felt that his heartbeat was getting faster and faster.


Chapter completed!