Chapter 557: Encountered by chance in Zheng County

In Chang'an, after an autumn rain, the weather gradually became a little colder. The north wind started to rise, and the half-dried leaves on the branches shook in the wind. The pedestrians on the street also began to put on their robes and walked in a hurry. Every year in mid-September, Chang'an entered late autumn, but today's late autumn is particularly chilly. The instability of the political situation made everyone feel heavy in their hearts. In particular, An Lushan massacred more than 20,000 Han people in Jingxing, which aroused a huge amount of public anger. For a time, Chang'an criticized the pen and An Lushan almost became the embodiment of the demon. At this time, Li Qing'an issued a righteous edict to fight against An Lushan, listing An Lushan's sins, which aroused cheers from all over the world. For a time, the edict to fight against An Lushan was spread throughout the streets and alleys of Chang'an. Literary and poets admired him and wrote poems to praise him. All the people in the world wait and see.

At noon, a carriage transport cart drove past the empty Dongshi gate, and the tranquility returned to the front. In the Qingfeng winery not far away, Lu Huan sat in front of the second floor window, looking at the sparse pedestrians at the entrance of Dongshi. After a while, he drank the wine in his glass and sighed, "People's hearts can also kill people!"

Pei Zunqing, who was sitting opposite him, smiled and said, "I have been sighing for a whole morning, let's talk! Don't be bored in my heart."

Lu Huan sneered and said, "Are you pretending to be confused or protecting your grandson-in-law?"

"What grandson-in-law, are you talking about Li Qing'an?"

"Nonsense! Who is not talking about him in Chang'an now? Are there anyone else?"

Lu Huan seemed a little annoyed, but Pei Zunqing was not anxious or annoyed, and still said with a smile: "Now Li Qing'an has a good reputation. The proclamation for the An thief is written happily. Now Chang'an treats him as the only savior who can subdue An Lushan's demon. Everyone is praising him, why are you unhappy?"

Lu Huan said nothing. After a while, he sighed: "Maybe I am black-hearted, I'm a villain, forget it, let's not talk about it anymore, let's drink."

He didn't want to talk anymore, but Pei Zunqing became interested. He got up and locked the door, sat back and asked in a low voice, "Tell me, what's going on?"

Lu Huan stared at the wine glass, and he shook his head and said, "I don't believe it, don't you see it?"

"What the hell is, don't let me guess, just say it!"

The secret in my heart was like an unstoppable flood. After Lu Huan hesitated for a moment, he finally broke his word, "Brother Pei, you really didn't realize that this Jingxing massacre can actually be avoided?"

"How is that possible!"

Pei Zunqing shook his head and said, "Eight Passes of Taihang, immigrants are walking on every road. Who knows that An Lushan will suddenly attack and where will it attack? Who can guess in advance?"

"But Li Qing'an should know, would there be no spy in Youzhou City? When the Iron Cavalry of Youzhou came out, did he not know? Even if he didn't know which line to attack, he could issue an alarm in advance to prepare for all passes and speed up the entry of people as much as possible. However, after reading the report of Tumen Pass, he had no preparation at all. It was not until the other party rushed to thirty miles away that he found that he was very hasty and passive. I was suspicious of this!"

"What you mean is that Li Qing'an knows it but doesn't care?"

Lu Huan sighed again and said, "Maybe I am really a slut. Li Qingan didn't care. It was indeed because he was powerless, but after this incident, he became the biggest beneficiary. This made my thoughts that I shouldn't have suddenly become clear. Could it be that he set up a plan?"

Pei Zunqing didn't say anything, but he was a little suspicious. Logically, Li Qing'an's army did not participate in such a major incident of immigration. Jingxing was controlled by his army. If he stationed 10,000 troops at Tumen Pass, Shi Siming would never dare to be so arrogant, but there were only 500 people there, alas.

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Will Li Qingan make such low-level mistakes?

Although he thought so, Li Qing'an married his granddaughter after all, and he had to speak for Li Qing'an. Pei Zunqing smiled and said, "I think we have too high expectations for him, so when he did not succeed in one go, we cannot accept it. Perhaps he really didn't realize it this time, or he did not get the information on the attack of the Youzhou Iron Cavalry, so we should not be too demanding on him."

"Yes! Actually, who is not a bad person who is playing power? Alas! Forget it, I won't say it."

Lu Huan still didn't quite agree with Pei Zunqing's explanation, and both of them were silent. After a while, Pei Zunqing smiled and said, "Of course, you have to do extraordinary things. As long as he can destroy An Lushan and give the Tang Dynasty a bright blue sky, I will firmly support him."

"I hope this is the case, alas! I hope it's because I'm over-thinking, come! Let's continue drinking."

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After Li Qing'an issued a manifesto to attack An Lushan the day before yesterday, he went to Ziwu Valley for inspection. Since the land of Hanzhong is actually in the hands of Li Heng, strategic channels such as Ziwu Valley and Xigu Road are the last line of defense to defend Chang'an. For this reason, Li Qing'an also deployed heavy troops in these channels. As he was temporarily in a strategic confrontation with An Lushan, Li Qing'an had the consideration of taking Hanzhong. Only by taking Hanzhong can Guanzhong be further secured.

Li Qing'an's inspection has ended. At this time, he was on the way back to Chang'an. Nearly a thousand cavalry guarded his carriage and drove slowly on the official road. Li Qing'an was still considering using troops in Hanzhong. His determination to use troops had already been decided. The key is who is the main general, which is something that makes Li Qing'an extremely troubled.

Currently, the governor of Hanzhong is Li Huan. He was enthroned by Li Heng when he was emperor in Chang'an. He had an army of 30,000 people. Li Huan is also a clan of the royal family. He is quite brave and is very rare in the royal family. Although this person was the governor of the Northern Tang Dynasty, he had an ambiguous attitude and had submitted a report to the Political Affairs Hall of the Northern Tang Dynasty. However, when Li Heng ascended the throne in Chengdu, he congratulated Li Heng and expressed his full support. He was a complete fence-bearer. The best way for such a person is to completely eradicate him.

Li Huan's general was only at medium level in Li Qing'an's eyes. His 30,000 troops were not elite soldiers, but ordinary Guanzhong army, with similar strength to Ji Guangchen. Therefore, Li Qing'an's earliest plan was to let Cui Guangyuan lead his army to pacify Hanzhong, and Cui Guangyuan could be the governor of Hanzhong. However, during this inspection of Ziwu Valley, he received unexpected information. A month ago, an Anxi Army patrol and a Hanzhong Army patrol team encountered in Ziwu Valley. The two armies fought fiercely, but the result was that both sides suffered losses. Eighteen of the 100 people in Anxi Patrol were killed and twenty-five people were injured, while the Hanzhong Army was killed and twenty-eight people were injured, and the number of casualties was equivalent.

This incident shocked Li Qing'an. He began to realize that Li Huan's Hanzhong army was not as weak as he thought. He sent Cui Guangyuan to recover Hanzhong, and he might be defeated. Li Qing'an's decision began to shake. In order to ensure the victory of Hanzhong, he had to consider replacing Cui Guangyuan who was inexperienced, and let Li Siye, who had just arrived in Beijing, lead his army to attack Hanzhong Li Huan.

Li Qing'an considered the whole way and formulated the Hanzhong strategy along the way. This was his combat habit. In the first place, we had to do a strategic deduction and take into account every detail of the right time, place, people, and so on.

At this time, the road began to flatten, and there were noises outside the car, people coming and going, and vehicles were endless. Li Qing'an temporarily stopped thinking, lifted the corner of the curtain and looked out, and the carriage had arrived in Zheng County.

Xian County, which is today's Hu County, Shaanxi, is closer to Chang'an. It is a medium-sized county town. The water from the Wei River tributary passes through the county town. The north of Xian County is a plain with fertile land, convenient irrigation and abundant grain production. The south is the branch of the Zhongnan Mountain, with dense forests and steep mountains. It has been a resort for Chang'an people to travel and vacation since ancient times.

It was noon at this time, and the county was particularly lively, but Li Qing'an's team arrived, causing the people on the street to dodge and make way. Li Qing'an shook his head. He basically couldn't help but decide his journey. The brothers also wanted to have lunch. He knew, so he didn't say anything. He just wanted to put down the curtain of the car, but he was stunned. He seemed to see a familiar figure flashing by on the corner of the street.

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Just as Li Qing'an's cavalry team slowly entered the county, busy pedestrians on the street dodged to both sides. A young woman on the road had just bought a few sesame cakes. She began to not pay attention to the identity of the cavalry team. At this time, she suddenly heard someone discussing.

"Sanlang, whose carriage is this? It's amazing to have so many cavalry guards."

"Nonsense! Now, except for King Zhao, Chang'an, who has such a big show? You are so stupid."

‘Li Qing'an!’

The young woman turned around, and her beautiful face could not hide the hard work of the journey. This young woman was Gao Wu, who had been away from home for more than half a year. Gao Wu left Chengdu and went to Anxi half a year ago. She slept all the way, went to Kucha, Shule, and Bahuancheng. She burst into tears in the small hotel where she first met Li Qing'an. She went to Sulou Fengshou Castle to find the marks of Li Qing'an back then and recalled every detail of her and him.

Gao Wu finally did not find Li Qing'an in Anxi, but learned that he had returned to Chang'an. Gao Wu, who was already exhausted, finally bid farewell to Anxi and returned to Chang'an. Coincidentally, she met Wuyi and Rushi who also returned to Chang'an in Dunhuang. At their kind invitation, Gao Wu finally returned to Chang'an with them.

Just this morning, Wuyi and Rushi went to their own home in Chang'an, but Gao Wu was homeless. She had to return to Chengdu alone and return to her father. Only her father was the only person she could rely on.

She was tired and was about to return to her father and spend the rest of her life quietly with her father forever. At this moment, Li Qingan, whom she missed day and night, suddenly appeared in front of her, which made her feel extremely inferior. The nearly ten years of longing for her have soured her youth and made her no longer young. The courage to go to Anxi for thousands of miles was quietly extinguished at this moment. She turned around and left the street silently.

Gao Wu rode her jujube horse that had been with her for ten years to the edge of the water. There were several girls who were washing clothes by the river, laughing and playing in the water. They were only fourteen or five years old. They had no intention of washing clothes at this time. They simply sat on the river bank, with their white and tender little feet pounced in the water, and their laughter was as crisp as silver bells.

Gao Wu sat down by the river not far away. She looked at the group of carefree and innocent girls and couldn't help but remember what Wu Yi told her. Li Qing'an would marry Pei Wan'er, who was also only sixteen years old. What a distant past. How many years of storms and storms have made her forget the feeling of being sixteen. The only thing she remembers was that when she was sixteen, she met Li Qing'an, who sold black panther skins in a small hotel in Bahuancheng.

Gao Wu chewed a few bites of sesame cakes with difficulty. Although she was hungry, she could no longer eat them. She was stunned by the clear and slow river water. Suddenly, she covered her face and cried bitterly. At this moment, she could no longer suppress the sadness in her heart, the despair in her heart. Years of longing and pain surged out at this moment.

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Thousands of years later, a great poet used the simplest language to describe Gao Wu's sadness at this time:

The farthest distance in the world

It's not the distance between life and death

But I stand in front of you, you don't know that I love you

The farthest distance in the world

It's not that I stand in front of you, you don't know that I love you

But I love you so much that I can't say I love you

The farthest distance in the world

It's not that I can't say I love you

But I miss you so much that I can only bury my heart deeply

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Several girls playing in the water stopped playing and looked at the lonely young woman beside her in surprise. They whispered, not understanding why she was crying, but the sword and bows on the horse not far away made them a little scared. They quietly pulled each other, packed up their clothes and left in a hurry.

Gao Wu cried a lot, tears were covered in her eyes and face. She took out a handkerchief to wipe it from her side, but found that the handkerchief was in the bag of the war horse and was not by her side.

Suddenly, a thick cotton veil appeared in front of her, and Gao Wu was suddenly shocked, but a familiar feeling made her mind dazed, and a voice that made her unforgettable sounded in her ears: "Silly girl, why are you crying alone by hiding here?"

Gao Wu slowly turned his head and stared at Li Qingan's gentle eyes blankly. Her tears rolled down again. Li Qingan wiped away the tears from her face for her, and her smile was still so bright and so full of care.

Gao Wu grabbed Li Qing'an's arm tightly, as if he was about to leave him at any time. She whimpered, her face resting on his arm and cried sadly, "Qilang..."

Li Qingan gently stroked her hair, feeling that her hair was yellow and dry, and Li Qingan's nose also became a little sour. He understood the suffering she had suffered for years, and a kind of touch and guilt filled Li Qingan's heart.

"Mum Wu Niang, come back to Chang'an with me!"
To be continued...