Hidden in the court

Seeing this, Hu Die hesitated for a moment. Was it another case of the cannon defeating the horse?

The old man chuckled twice, raised his hand and pushed the old general forward.

When Hu Die saw that the old general was gone, she immediately used her cannon to capture the official.

The old man set up the middle cannon, "How about you practice in this yard?"

Hu Die's cannon also followed up and aimed at the old man's two cars.

The old general ignored the cannon and used his own cannon to attack the soldiers.

Just as the old general had finished landing, Hu Die's cannon shot down one of his chariots, and the other chariot also seemed to be in danger.

The old general moved the artillery to the riverside and also removed Hu Die's gun mount.

Only then did Hu Die realize something was wrong. The old general's cannon only needed to be moved to the middle to form a pair of cannons, but now she couldn't move any of them.

"Look, you're anxious again. You lost again, didn't you? Don't hold it in. If you want to overturn the table, just do it."

But Hu Die remained unmoved and continued to play chess quietly.

"Hey, little ancestor, what do you want to do? Tell me."

"Grandpa, I just don't know what I'm doing sitting here?"

"Oh, that's right."

……

During this period, it was unusually quiet. Ji Mingshang lay in bed and couldn't get up. Luo Lin occasionally went to play with Hu Die. Nangong Xiao continued to "evolve" in the palace fight under the guidance of his sister.

Luo Wei began to move closer to the emperor, and stopped calling him a relative, because Su Youde had found out that "Noble Lady Liang was plotting to murder Her Royal Highness the Princess, the evidence is irrefutable, and her heart is damnable..."

Although Mr. Hu was resting at home, he was the "stabilizing force" of the military generals. He could make people feel at ease just by sitting in the court every few days.

Suo Wei was also able to get started with some business under the guidance of Xie An and Suo Wanjin. Especially in arithmetic, as if she had some talent, her speed of turning the abacus was comparable to that of an accountant who had worked for more than ten years.

If there is something bad going on, Xihe Huchen, who is traveling outside, would have something to say.

The weather has been getting hotter and hotter since the army left the pass. At this moment, his three thousand men have taken off their armor and are wearing cloth, but they are still very hot.

Although the North had guaranteed supplies, the transportation line was long enough and difficult to manage. Especially since they were cavalry, they had horses in addition to humans. Horses could eat and drink more than humans, and they had hair on their bodies. Without water, the horses would collapse on the ground in the heat. The life along the way was much harder than expected, especially the lack of water. Even the horse urine had to be collected and then poured back into the horse.

It was noon and the sun was scorching. I wanted to find a place to rest, but all I could see was desert and Gobi. I could only take a nap under a nearby rock wall...

Compared to the inexperienced Xihe Huchen, the two veterans Lu Peng and Liu Dong are different.

Their team took advantage of the early morning and evening to avoid the sun's brightest moments, and quickened their journey after the sun set while the temperature in the Gobi Desert had not yet dropped.

It only takes a few hours to travel a day, but because we have horses, the speed is not slow, and it is the most comfortable way.

As for Chen Ju, he was basically the same as Lu Peng and Chen Ju. He just disliked the slow pace and ordered his soldiers to wear thicker clothes at night, put on leather armor, travel overnight, and rest during the hot day.

I have to say, it was much faster than others. The only problem was that it was hard to find the way at night. I had to ask someone to explore the way during the day, and at night I just held up the map and groped in the dark.

Soon, Xihe and Huchen also realized the situation and adjusted the marching time.

As for the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions, when they learned that the northern border was attacking, some were happy and some were worried.

Some of them were so scared that they wrote to the North, saying that they had no such intention and that they would always be friends. Some small countries were even willing to surrender.

There are cowards and there are brave ones, and Qiuci is the most representative one. What? There are only more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. Well, 20,000 against 10,000, the advantage is on my side, not to mention that I am defending the city, and I have the prince of Liang Wu as an ally...

Khotan and the former Cheshi Kingdom were thankful for their awareness of the current situation.

The King of Khotan was so happy that he wanted to celebrate by marrying his son, and even invited Xihe Huchen. In response, the King of Khotan said: "Since you are going to come anyway, why don't you attend my son's wedding? I, Khotan, will do my best to ensure the advancement of the Northern Heavenly Army."

Xihe Huchen received the news from Yutian in Loulan, and the prince of Yutian wanted to marry the princess of Loulan.

Speaking of the Prince of Khotan, his name was Yuchi Zheng. He was also a talented person and was known as "the bravest hero in the Western Regions."

At this time he was also in the royal city of Loulan, preparing to pick up the bride.

But something happened in the hotel where he was staying.

He saw several people dressed as Kucha merchants harassing a maid in an inn.

"Girl, we are wealthy merchants from Kucha. You will not suffer any loss if you follow us. We will give you a hotel like this one."

It would be fine if it was just talk, but the key point is that these men stared at the maid with eyes full of greed and desire, and the most important thing is that their hands were not honest either.

As the prince of Khotan and the bravest hero in the Western Regions, how could Yuchi Zheng, an eighteen-year-old boy, tolerate this?

He drew the sword from his waist and was about to go forth to do justice.

The merchants saw Yuchi Zheng in front of them, took a look at his clothes, looked at the maid he was protecting behind him, put their hands on his shoulders and bowed, and said, "We are merchants from Qiuci. We don't know how we have offended you. Please forgive our ignorance. But please give us the maid behind you. We are willing to be friends with you."

Yuchi Zheng almost laughed out loud, "Merchants from Kucha, Kucha is about to be attacked by the northern border, can they still come out to do business?"

Several Kucha merchants also smiled when they heard this.

"The power of my Qiuci is incomparable to that of a small Loulan. Besides, the northern border is so far away from my Qiuci that it is impossible for them to attack us."

"And even if they attack, I have 20,000 soldiers in Qiuci, and the army from the northern border will eventually be buried under my Qiuci city."

After hearing this, Yuchi Zheng couldn't hold back any longer. These merchants might have mistaken the market management of the northern border for the northern border's army.

He vaguely remembered that his father took him to the northern border a few years ago, and he still remembered what a terrifying army he saw.

Seeing Yuchi Zheng stunned, the merchants thought he was shocked by the reputation of Qiuci, smiled, and reached out to pull the maid behind him.

Yuchi Zheng reacted quickly and raised his hand to chop at the hand he stretched out.

"what!"

The man screamed like a pig being slaughtered. His entire hand was almost chopped off, but it still hung there because some flesh and skin were not broken off.

"How dare you attack the Kucha merchants... Bang——"

But before he could finish, he was kicked out by Yuchi Zheng.

Seeing this, the other people did not dare to act rashly. The boss heard the noise and came out from behind, and after looking at the situation, he understood.

"Remember, the one who attacked you is Yuchi Zheng, the royal family of Khotan. You can go to the Loulan royal court to sue me, or you can go back to Qiuci and ask them to send troops to attack you."