frightfiction Chapter 260 Confrontation between the 2 armies
Chapter 260 Confrontation between the 2 armies
South bank.
In the commander's tent of the Daqi military camp, Prince Su was looking at the map with worry.
Five days ago, he led his troops to Weizhou and quickly established defenses on the south bank of the Wei River. Although the Wei River's natural barrier had temporarily blocked the Beimang people on the north bank, facing Beimang's 200,000-strong army, the Daqi army was still unable to cross the Wei River and head north.
The two armies formed a standoff north and south of the Wei River.
No one can do anything to anyone.
Over the past few days, the generals in the army have offered various suggestions and have argued fiercely. Some suggested forcing a river across the river, while others suggested breaking the riverbank upstream to release the water. However, all of them were rejected by Prince Su one by one.
The Wei River is the last line of defense for Daqi and must not be lost.
A forced crossing cannot guarantee victory. If the dike is dug to release the water, the north bank and downstream will become a swamp. Although it can severely damage the enemy, the people will also suffer.
But he did not take any action, and the soldiers under his command began to speculate about his abilities in their hearts.
Just as he was feeling troubled, he heard his confidant outside the tent say:
"Your Highness, Mr. Yanzhi has arrived."
"Please!"
Prince Su almost jumped up from the stool and rushed to the door to meet him.
As the curtain was lifted, Pei Heng appeared in a green long gown and a crane cloak, his hair half combed back with a green headband, a feather fan in his hand, and a few tufts of mustache on his lips.
Prince Su was stunned for a moment, then reacted and waved his hand to dismiss his attendants:
"Stand guard a hundred paces outside the tent, and no one is allowed to approach."
"Yes!"
Seeing his attendants retreat, Prince Su finally shouted:
"Sir, why did you come so late? And why are you dressed like this? If I didn't know you were using the alias Mr. Yanzhi, I wouldn't have recognized you."
Pei Heng held a feather fan in his hand, shook out his crane cloak, and then reached out to touch the face and mustache that were somewhat unfamiliar to him, and said slowly:
"What? It doesn't look good?"
Prince Su frowned and looked around at him from head to toe.
Pei Heng's outfit was completely different from his original image of a heroic general. In addition, he had deliberately changed his eyebrows, cheekbones, hairstyle, clothes, and even his voice and behavior. Now, the person standing in front of King Su had become a completely different person.
However, he has good conditions himself, and currently looks like an elegant, well-educated middle-aged scholar and strategist.
"It looks good, but..." It's not very pleasing to the eye.
"Haha, this is a look my wife designed especially for me. It doesn't matter if you don't like it, as long as I like it."
Without further ado, Pei Heng straightened his face, held his feather fan in his hand, and saluted the Prince of Su solemnly:
"I am Su Yanzhi, the counselor, and I pay my respects to His Royal Highness Prince Su."
Prince Su was stunned and hurriedly stood up, holding Su Yanzhi's elbow.
"Sir, there's no need to be so polite. Come and help me find a good strategy to defeat the enemy! I've been waiting for you for many days. Now it's up to you to show your skills."
"I will definitely live up to your highness's expectations."
"Let's go and take a look at the Wei River."
The two men walked out of the general's tent, and King Su saw a soldier in the distance dragging an iron pot that was bigger than him. The soldier was struggling to move forward with all his might.
Looking at the soldier's grinning face, he looked familiar, but I couldn't tell where I had seen him.
Forget it, he shook his head, jumped on the horse brought by the guards, and drove towards the river with Su Yanzhi.
……
"Snapped!"
In the teahouse, the storyteller slammed the gavel and began to talk eloquently about the story of how General Pei defeated the witch of Beimang four years ago and drove the enemy back three thousand miles!
"The Beimang witch possesses sorcery. She slaughtered three thousand animals in front of the battle formation. Suddenly, a demonic wind blew up in front of the battle formation, sweeping up a vast expanse of yellow sand and sweeping towards our army!"
"call!"
An exclamation came from the compartment on the second floor of the teahouse.
The people inside all had serious expressions and clenched their fists, as if they were on the battlefield right now, at a loss facing the witchcraft of the Beimang witch.
"Mother, this witch is so powerful that she can even call the wind and rain! What should we do?"
A childish voice sounded.
Then, a young lady followed and said:
"Yeah, what should we do?"
Across the screen, a noble lady from next door spat out two melon seed shells and poked her head out to take a look over here.
I saw a young lady sitting on a chair, she was very dignified and had an extraordinary demeanor. She was wearing the most fashionable styles in Lin'an Prefecture. There was a hint of elegance and nobility in her eyes and eyebrows, as if she looked down on everything. At first glance, she was the lady of a prominent family.
Next to her sat a slightly older, but also very beautiful and aloof young woman, who was extremely respectful to the young lady in her behavior. She looked like a concubine.
Beside the young lady, there lay a delicate little girl, who was very pretty, especially her twinkling eyes, which made one unable to look away.
There were three masters, two adults and one child. Behind the lady stood two pretty maids, and outside the compartment there were two guards with swords.
Look at this person with such bearing and posture, he must be from a famous and noble family.
The woman immediately became very interested in the guests at the next table. She pushed aside the screen and leaned over, speaking in a soft Wu dialect:
"Madam, you are from Beijing, right?"
Su Li turned around after hearing that.
Seeing that she was also a lady of good status, with a plump and plump figure, she looked very wealthy. She nodded and greeted her, and smiled kindly.
"Yes, I've been here for almost half a month."
"No wonder you haven't heard the story of General Pei battling the Beimang witch for ten days and nights, breaking her magic, slaying a million of her soldiers, forcing her to kneel and beg for mercy, and finally returning to the grasslands in disgrace. This storyteller has been telling this story in this teahouse every day at this time for three years. He always bluffs and fools people, just to trick you outsiders. Don't worry, General Pei will soon launch a counterattack!"
Seeing Su Li's response, the woman became even more enthusiastic. With a wave of her hand, she asked the servants on her side to remove the screen and move the stools over to this side. To show her hospitality, she also asked people to move all the cakes on her table over to Xi Jie'er.
"Little Nonnon, try it. This is a local specialty pastry. Auntie will treat you to it. It's so sweet and delicious."
Seeing Su Li nod, Xi Jieer immediately picked up a piece and stuffed it into her mouth, smiling with her eyebrows curved.
"Thank you, Auntie! Auntie, you can have some of my nuts too!"
Xi Jie'er sweetly pushed several plates of nuts in front of her over to the woman and invited her to eat.
The woman was so happy that she almost touched Xi Jie'er's chubby face. She even gestured and began to tell Su Li the story of General Pei.
Apparently, she'd heard it many times.
Every time she would finish the next part of the story before the storyteller. When she heard that the storyteller had told the same story as her, she would smile with satisfaction and clap her hands and shout:
"Look, look, I tell you!"
Su Li was fine and just smiled along. But Aunt Lu beside her frowned. She didn't like spoilers!
"Snapped!"
Downstairs, another gavel banged. Then the storyteller said:
"To know what happens next, please wait for the next chapter."
The storyteller was talking with saliva flying everywhere, but there was no reaction from the audience. Everyone was still drinking tea and eating melon seeds, doing what they were supposed to do.
This story is indeed inspiring when you first hear it, but you can’t resist telling it and hearing it every day!
Perhaps because they had heard the same story too many times, few people offered tips, and some customers even started shouting:
"Hey, you keep telling me the same story all day long. Why don't you tell me something new?"
"That's right! This is all just old, outdated stuff. General Pei is a hero, but now that the Beimang witch has made a comeback, how come he ran off with his beautiful wife and concubines? How can he still be considered a hero?"
"I heard that when he was fleeing south, someone hit his head and he fell into the water and became unconscious. He deserved it!"
For a while, people in the teahouse were talking about all kinds of things.
Xijie'er, who had been listening to the story with great interest just now, was now furious. She stood up and waved her chubby hands, about to rush out to defend her father, but Su Li blocked her mouth with a piece of cake.
She picked up the handkerchief and wiped her fingertips, then said to Song Tao:
"I think this story is very well told! Reward!"
"Yes!"
Song Tao took out a heavy purse, walked onto the stage in full view of everyone, and placed the purse on the storyteller's table.
Su Li stood up and said goodbye to the woman. Then he said to Xi Jie'er:
"Xijie'er, we've listened to the story and eaten the cakes. Let's go to the bookstore to find our brother."
"Okay, mother."
Xi Jie'er pouted and walked out obediently holding Su Li's hand.
But as soon as he walked out of the teahouse, the storyteller caught up with him.
"Madam, please stay."