In the past, Kuida and Jiasuo would have a truce every winter, for no other reason than the severe cold climate in the north: heavy snow fell almost every night, and the biting cold wind was so cold that no amount of clothing could stop it! In addition, everything was dormant.

, fruits and vegetables are scarce, and only stored dry goods and livestock such as cattle and sheep are used for food! Of course, strong liquor and a hot earthen stove are indispensable to withstand the extremely low temperature in the north!

This is already the case under normal circumstances, let alone spending the winter outdoors in the mountains and forests covered by heavy snow - in the deep blue night sky, clusters of snowflakes landed quietly in the mountains on the border of Jiasuo, a silvery white, as if

There was no sign of any life activity, but in the lee of a mountain col, there was a faint light. If you looked carefully towards the weak light, you could see clearly a cave entrance wide enough for one person, from which a gently swaying firelight was reflected...

When you get closer, you can hear the occasional vague human voice.

If you enter the entrance of the cave, you will find that the interior is not as narrow as you imagined. It has accommodated at least several hundred people sitting or lying down, as well as weapons and armor piled in the corners. There are still gaps. The shape of the cave is winding, and the terrain is high and low.

It is not flat. There used to be a flow of water against the cave wall, but now most of it has frozen. What is strange is that there are cold water droplets dripping from the top of the cave from time to time. When you look up, you can see large and small water on the top of the cave.

Because of the hot breath exhaled by hundreds of people, the melted water slowly dripped down from the surface of the small ice edge.

In the deepest part of the cave, Prince Qinglan sat alone by a small bonfire. His handsome face had long lost its original luster, and was only covered with fatigue and haggard. His eyes stared blankly at the dancing flames.

I don’t know what I’m thinking about…

Ever since they were besieged in this mountain by the armies of Li Mu and Bai Shaotang, they could still live on dry food for a while at the beginning, and it was still summer and autumn, so these rough people who grew up on the grasslands were not suffering from these hardships.

After saying this, their hearts were still firm, and they all believed that their eldest prince would lead them to defeat the cunning enemy and return to their homeland. However, as the predicament continued to be unable to be overcome, the season gradually entered the cold winter, and they were short of food.

Wearing through, it is even more difficult to find a shelter for tens of thousands of people to avoid the cold... The power of nature is the most powerful, and it is enough to shake the will of the most fierce warriors. So when the cold winter comes, when they even lose their roots like this

No food could be found, and people in the army began to freeze and starve to death... At this time, dissatisfaction and panic appeared, and doubts about the leaders also appeared.

Of course Prince Qinglan also knew the seriousness of the problem, but there was nothing he could do. No matter how resourceful he was, he had no power to stop the seasonal changes of nature. So he could only watch his soldiers freeze to death and starve to death.

He had never thought of surrendering to Yun Bai - his dignified prince Jia Suo, the noble Abuhan Qinglan, would never recognize Bai Shaotang as the master of their beautiful Jia Suo grassland!

However, the soldiers below obviously did not have the same pride as him, and they did not think there was any pride in dying in such a predicament in the wilderness, so they began to flee together to Yunbai and return to Yunbai. Yunbai was naturally generous to deserters like them.

He persuaded some people with clemency and promised benefits to sneak back into the mountains to promote Emperor Yunbai's benevolent government. As a result, the number of Prince Qinglan's original large army decreased rapidly. In less than a month, there were only two or three people left.

Another month passed from the thousand people, and there were only four or five hundred people left now. Even though they were so scattered, people were still distracted, and the atmosphere of despair continued to increase day by day...

The dancing flames in front of him reminded him of summer bonfires on the prairie. Young men and women danced happily around the bonfire. The broad music of Hu strings accompanied by the heroic singing of men could be heard far away... People drank wine from large bowls,

Cut the fragrant beef and mutton from the bonfire... The women's smiles are beautiful, the men's laughter is rough... Prince Qinglan closed his eyes: That is his home, those are the people! But he doesn't care anymore

There’s no way to go back!

More than ten feet away, against the cave wall, five people were sitting around another bonfire. Although they were like the others, they were messily wrapped in warm clothes that were probably ripped from the corpses of the enemy soldiers, but their necks and wrists were

From their original clothes exposed, it can be seen that they are not ordinary soldiers, and their original status is probably not low. At this time, these five people just sat quietly. From time to time, someone turned to look at Prince Qinglan.

glance at each other, and from time to time exchange glances with unclear meanings.

The man sitting against the wall winked at the man sitting on his right and raised his chin. Then the two of them stood up together and walked in the direction of Prince Qinglan. When the other three saw each other, they looked at each other.

After a quick glance, he also stood up, a few steps behind the two of them and walked towards Prince Qinglan.

Prince Qinglan didn't notice anything and just stared at the flames in trance. It wasn't until five people surrounded him that he became alert and looked up at the two people in front of him. He slowly stood up and said, "What are you doing?

"

The man in the lead looked directly into Prince Qinglan's eyes and said: "Prince, we can't stand it anymore. If this continues, we will either freeze to death or starve to death. We have decided to surrender to Yunbai."

Prince Qinglan was shocked: "Do you know what you are talking about, Nianhan was struck by lightning!? It is understandable that the soldiers surrendered... It was only their personal honor and disgrace that they betrayed me and became deserters. Who are you? You are Nianhan

The leader of a clan, and also my cousin of the Abuhan royal family! Do you want to abandon your own people, do you want to abandon your honor, and become a villain who betrays the country!?"

Nianhan was unmoved by the thunder: "Prince, wake up, Jiasuo is gone. Our country has been destroyed. You are the only one left in your so-called Abuhan royal family who is still resisting. You are gone."

The army can be commanded, but you no longer have the capital to make a comeback. You lost and I surrendered because I wanted to protect my people." Nianhan Luolei raised his finger and pointed at the soldiers in the cave, and continued to Prince Qinglan: "You yourself

Look, these few hundred people we have left, they are my people... But if we continue to follow you, even they will die. If they can die in a proper way, I will not say anything about it, but today there are still

What’s the point? Their persistence is not for the country, nor for their relatives, but for your personal self-esteem and so-called honor.”

At this time, another person also said: "The emperor of Yunbai is not a bloodthirsty person. He has issued an edict: allowing the Jiasuo people to move inland and live in Yunbai. The treatment will be the same as that of the Yunbai people. There will be no

Discrimination and inequality. If you are willing to continue to live in the Jiasuo grassland, the court will provide subsidies for winter and difficult times. The emperor of Yunbai did not exterminate the Jiasuo people, but if you continue to follow the prince, you will starve and freeze in the deep mountains and old forests.

We are really going to be exterminated and we can’t hold on anymore. To be honest, I feel like there’s no reason to hold on.”

Prince Qinglan glanced around the five people and saw that the soldiers outside were just looking at him quietly. No one had any intention of standing on his side. Prince Qinglan nodded, full of anger but unable to express it.

, I just felt heartbroken for a moment: "So, you have agreed to betray me? Are you going to tie me up to take credit?"

Nian Hanluo Lei said: "We are not betraying the prince. You also know that the rest of the Abuhan royal family has been moved to the capital of Yunbai Kingdom, including your relatives, prince. So, prince, you can continue to insist on it alone."

What's the point? As long as you come with us to surrender to Emperor Yunbai, then this war will be over, Jia Suo can regain his peace, and those soldiers who are still in exile and dare not return home can also return to their relatives.

And the remaining people of Jia Suo can also live a stable life again... This is the unanimous hope of all of us here, so I ask you, prince, to listen to the words of those who don't..."

"Otherwise, what are you going to do like this?" Prince Qinglan pulled out the scimitar from his waist with a livid face, "Are you going to rebel? Do you plan to use force against your prince?"

Nianhan Luo Lei nodded to the three people behind Prince Qinglan, and the three people immediately moved at the same time - two people grabbed Prince Qinglan's shoulders on the left and the other, and the other grabbed the scimitar in his right hand.

In an instant, Prince Qinglan was firmly restrained!

Nianhan Luolei said to Prince Qinglan: "Eldest Prince, why bother... They are all your cronies who have followed you for many years, and they know your moves very well."

Prince Qinglan gritted his teeth and thundered at Nianhan: "I trust you so much in vain! I didn't expect that it would be you who betrayed me in the end!"

Nianhan Luolei said again coldly: "My eldest prince, those who know the current affairs are heroes. We have done this now, and we have done our best to benevolent and righteous."

Prince Qinglan stared at Nianhan and said nothing.

Nian Han Luo Lei turned to look at the man beside him: "Go and ask the soldiers to get ready and go out of the mountain at dawn." Then he turned back to the three people who restrained Prince Qinglan and said: "Tie up the three of you for now.

Responsible for watching over him"
Chapter completed!