After I was reborn, I was scumbag

Xia Tong led two steeds, prepared enough silver taels of water and food, and looked up at the sky. It was the long night before dawn when the night sky was dark and the stars were dim.

"Your Highness, son, you really want to..."

He watched as the two got on their horses, dressed in coarse cloth and soap, and there was no trace of the luxurious accessories of princes and nobles around them.

There was an unspeakable pain in my heart: "Aside from walking...is there no other way?"

Murong Xing and Shao Guan looked at each other, and said with a light smile, "There are other ways, but this is the only way, it's good for us and Daliang."

"But--"

"It's just hindering your official career. I originally thought that I would let you be my father's bodyguard, but now I'm afraid it's impossible. You must remember to leave Jiayuguan within three days, so as not to be implicated."

Xia Tong could only nod desperately, praying in his heart that his eldest son would have a smooth journey.

"My subordinates, remember, if the prince still needs me in the future, I will definitely be willing to do so."

The two horses galloped all the way, crossed the gate of the camp, and disappeared into the boundless night with the rumbling sound of the gate opening...

"Who is it? Martial law is imposed on the frontier, no entry or exit is allowed without a stamp of passage!"

Shao Guan pulled the rein loosely, and the hot air he exhaled instantly condensed into thin frost in the cold air.

After running around for three consecutive days, the young man's face was stained with dust, and his handsome and soft lines became more angular.

He lowered the brim of his cloak, covering most of his face, and said in a low voice.

"This is the seal letter stamped by the eunuch himself. It is an urgent report at the border. Why don't you open the city gate soon?"

The soldiers guarding the pass looked suspiciously at the two people whose faces could not be seen clearly in the dark, and after taking the seal and examining it carefully, their tone relaxed a little.

"It turned out to be the brother who sent the military newspaper, so I offended him a little bit ago. Since it is an emergency military situation, please hurry into the city!"

The streets of the small town at the border are desolate, and the doors of every house are closed. Occasionally, patrolling soldiers pass by holding long knives.There is no singing and dancing in Chang'an City, and the lively scene of the night market all night long.

Shao Guan unconsciously controlled the horse and slowed down, feeling his hands hurting from the bitter north wind.

"Your Highness, would you like to rest for a while, drink water and eat something?"

"No need." Shao Guan turned his face to the side, met Murong Xing's worried gentle eyes, and a comforting smile flashed across his brows, "Let's stop and have a good rest after passing the border city."

Behind the city gate, which was already so small that it could hardly be seen, suddenly there was a sound of beating, shouting and cursing from afar.

A child's cry, in the cold morning of the remote frontier, is as heart-palpitating as the howling of a ghost.

"What's going on?" Shao Guan subconsciously turned his horse's head, listened carefully for a while, and said hesitantly, "It seems that the fleeing civilians had a dispute with the soldiers..."

Although the relationship between Daliang and the State of Wei has been tense recently, there have been no refugees fleeing the flames of war because there was no war.

If those who are making noise at the gate of the city today are really fleeing civilians...

Murong Xing narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly, her voice was a little hoarse: "Let's go back and have a look."

"Master Jun, Lord Jun, Wei Jun has already started fighting with our soldiers outside Jiayuguan, please let us enter the city for the sake of our family, young and old!"

Dozens of people in thin clothes were holding children or supporting the elderly, shivering slightly in the cold wind.

The leader, an old man whose temples were already white, pointed his thin fingers at the old, young, women and children behind him, begging in a mournful voice.

"Beyond Jiayuguan?" The soldiers guarding the city sneered.

"Don't say that the enemy army has not yet entered the customs, it has really entered. Without the order of the court, anyone can only enter and leave the city with a seal!"

"Master Jun, we have traveled for two days to get here... The children and the elderly are almost overwhelmed, please be accommodating!"

The soldier sneered, pulled out the saber from his waist, and pointed at the trembling old man.

"There is no way to accommodate! Leave immediately from outside the city gate, or if the eunuch sees it and blames it, it will not be so easy!"

"Master..."

"Why don't you go quickly?!"

The old man was shoved violently by the soldiers, and immediately fell on the cold and hard mountain ground, his hair was mixed with snow and morning dew, and he was extremely emaciated.

Several half-grown children rushed up to help the old man, but they were so frightened that they couldn't help sobbing softly.

"Grandpa, what should we do, the dry food is almost finished..."

The soldier seemed to be disturbed by the crying of the child, holding a long knife to drive away: "Hurry up, get out of here, and mourn here again, swords don't have eyes!"

"You——" Shao Guan's wrist was grabbed as soon as the words came out of Shao Guan's mouth.

Holding back his anger, the pitch-black peach blossom eyes looked at Murong Xing darkly, and saw the young man beside him slowly shaking his head at him, signaling him to stay where he was, and rode his horse to the city gate.

"When the two armies are at war, the old and weak, women and children are innocent, so why not let them enter the city?"

The soldiers guarding the city could tell that Murong Xing was the one who entered the city with the seal just now, their domineering tone restrained a bit, but they were still impatient.

"It's an explicit order from the imperial court not to let other people in and out. Who knows if there are secret agents sent by Wei Jun among these refugees, how can they let them go easily?"

"They heard Daliang's accent, and besides, who would send a group of old people and children to do the fine work?"

Murong Xing got off the horse, divided more than half of the dry food in his arms, and handed it to the elderly and children.

"Where are you from, do you bring any proof of identity?"

The old man thanked him again and again, as if he saw hope, he quickly took out a stack of papers from his cuff.

"This is the house deed, the land deed, and this is the certificate for my two sons to join the army...My lord, I really have no choice but to ask my lord to let me enter the city!"

The soldier's face turned blue and white, as if he was angry from embarrassment.

"I only let you enter the city for the sake of your seal. Since you are passing on the military order, leave quickly! Don't use chicken feathers as arrows here!"

The long and narrow phoenix eyes were pressed under the brim of the cloak, and a very faint cold light flashed across them.

Murong Xing pursed his thin lips slightly, and repeated: "Let them enter the city."

"Who do you think you are--"

A long knife was so fast that it was impossible to see the movement of unsheathing, and it lay across the soldier's neck almost instantly.

"Pingxihou Shizi Murong Xing. Do you want me to invite the prefect over here to verify my identity?"

The boy tore off the cloak casually, his handsome face looked gloomy and cold in the dim light of the sky.

The soldier's eyes widened, he looked at the young man in front of him in surprise, his tone became flustered.

"You, you are... His Royal Highness Murong?"

Murong Xing stared blankly at the soldier in front of him with a blank face, his voice already had a bit of murderous intent.

"Don't let it go soon?"

It will take a few days before the deposed prince's edict is delivered here. Although they may be exposed because of this incident, it is better than letting dozens of innocent people freeze to death and starve to death outside the city gate.

It's just that before the soldiers had time to react, there was a sudden rush of horseshoes on the road leading to the distant forest.

Murong Xing looked sideways.

A sergeant in blood-stained armor held up a paper and shouted all the way: "Jiayuguan urgent report, Wei army surprise attack, the city pass has been breached by Wei army! Jiayuguan urgent report—"

After shouting hoarsely, the soldier seemed to have exhausted his last strength and fell off the galloping horse without making any more sound.

Like a drop of boiling water dripping into a frying pan, the refugees outside the city were in an uproar.

"Jiayuguan was breached? Then the Wei army is not far from here?"

"How could this happen? Didn't it mean that Jiayuguan was stationed by more than [-] elite soldiers, how could it be so easily broken by the Wei army?!"

The soldiers guarding the city froze for a moment, then their legs suddenly shook like chaff, and they didn't care whether the refugees entered the city or not.

"Jiayuguan has been broken, Jiayuguan has been broken..."

10,000+ soldiers and horses stationed in a majestic pass can't stop Wei's offensive, so what's the use of a mere thousand people here?If you stay here again, you will die in vain.

The soldier retreated a few steps hastily: "Refugees, all the refugees go to the city, I'll go and report to the prefect!"

"stop!"

Murong Xing's eyes were cold, and with a movement of his wrist, he used his long sword to force him back.

"All the refugees enter the city first, you, go and pick up that military newspaper and hand it over!"

"When did this military report come from?"

Murong Xing glanced at Shaoguan, passed the paper over, and said in a deep voice, "According to the time, it should be the day after we leave Jiayuguan."

"Wei Jun is using—" Shao Guan gritted his teeth and swallowed the words that came to his mouth.

Wei Jun took advantage of the secret deal reached with his father, and while chasing and killing Murong Xing, he took the opportunity to bribe some generals in Jiayuguan.

Otherwise, relying on the Northwest Army that is accustomed to fighting and the city that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is absolutely impossible for the Wei Army to break through the city pass in just a few days.

The sky had already completely dawned, but the turbulent dark clouds blocked the already thin sunlight so that it could not penetrate at all.

Shao Guan was silent for a few moments, then suddenly said in a cold voice: "Lead us to see the prefect of this city, don't let out any news about the destruction of Jiayu Pass, otherwise—"

Feeling the sharp blade on his neck, the soldier hurriedly responded: "Yes, yes, my subordinates will never dare to say a word."

Murong Xing stared at the soldier walking ahead, and whispered in a voice that only he and Shao Guan could hear.

"If the Northwest Army loses its combat power and the disaster relief in Central Sichuan has not been completely completed, the imperial court may not be able to squeeze out any extra money and food, let alone conscripts to defend the city."

Shao Guan lowered his eyes, the knuckles of his hand holding the rein turned white, and when he spoke, his voice was a little suffocated.

"I'm sorry... I may, there is no way to leave the Northwest."

He looked back at the refugees fleeing with their families in the distance.

"I can't stand and watch Wei Jun's iron hooves trample across the land of Daliang, even if it's——I'm sorry, I..."

Murong Xing hooked his lips.

"It doesn't matter, I will stay with His Highness... At worst, I will leave with you after Wei Kou is wiped out."