Chapter 77 The young player breaks through

When Cao Yuanzhong was about to enter Dunhuang, someone had already come to greet him. Suddenly, a sad song came from somewhere. The tune was simple and the lyrics were easy to understand. Cao Yuanzhong was at the gate and suddenly stopped to listen to the horse, but the song was:

"The prisoner is in the Dragon Palace, and the Yazi is in the steel cage. Pu Lao looks back quickly. If it is too late (three times), I am afraid that you will also be in prison."

Cao Yuanzhong felt that the lyrics came strangely. After thinking carefully, Yan Yifeng, who came to welcome him, quickly ordered someone to get the singer. Cao Yuanzhong shouted: "What are you doing!"

Yan Yifeng said: "The fourth young master doesn't know that many strange people have recently appeared in Dunhuang, and they spread rumors whenever they have the chance. So Ling Gong has ordered that everyone who dares to spread rumors will be caught."

Cao Yuanzhong said: "Dad's order? Dad was the most generous before, why has he changed recently?"

Yan Yifeng said: "Fourth Young Master, what do you mean? Let's talk about it after entering the city. Why bother to say this at the gate of this city?"

Cao Yuanzhong was about to ride a horse, but suddenly he was pulled by someone. When he saw that it was Li Jingmin, the marching Sima. Cao Yijin asked Cao Yuanzhong to go out of the city to help Zhang Mai, which was the order passed down by Li Jingmin. At the same time, Cao Yijin also asked him to be the marching Sima. This person was a famous talent in Anxi. Before he became an official, he was called "Yuehu Shuangyin" with Zhang Yi.

Cao Yuanzhong glanced at him and knew something was wrong, so he said to Yan Yifeng: "Wait." Yan Yifeng was very anxious, but there was no way. Cao Yuanzhong and Li Jingmin walked aside and asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Jingmin said: "The atmosphere in Shazhou is strange, and Yan Yifeng's attitude is strange. Before he arrived at the city gate, the nursery rhyme was even more strange, and the song just now was strange among the strange!"

"Don't tell me any weird tongue twisters!" Cao Yuanzhong said: "What's weird? What's the song says about the cow, the dragon palace, and the steel cage, I can't understand what it is saying, but the word "look back" makes me feel uncomfortable."

Li Jingmin said: "Fourth Young Master, this slang song uses a secret script. The prisoner of the cow is not a cow, but a kind of dragon."

"A kind of dragon?"

"Yes." Li Jingmin said: "In ancient times, dragons have nine sons, each with different names. Their nine sons are recorded in history. The prison bull in the first sentence of this slang song "The Prisoner of the Dragon Palace" is the eldest son of the dragon. The second sentence of this slang song is "Yaozi enters the steel cage", and Yazi is the second son of the dragon. Pulao in the third sentence "Pulao looks back quickly" is the fourth son of the dragon..."

Cao Yuanzhong was just not as knowledgeable as Li Jingmin, but his mind was also quite flexible. When he heard this, his face changed slightly: "What! Then... Then this Yuniu, Yazi, Pu Lao... were talking about our three brothers?"

Li Jingmin said: "It must be true - it's mostly because there is a change in the city, and someone secretly informs the fourth young master!"

Cao Yuanzhong thought to himself: "If Li Sima's guess is correct, then the 'Prisoned Niu Tonglong Palace' means that the eldest brother has controlled Dunhuang, and the 'Jiazi entered the steel cage' means that the second brother was locked up, and the 'Pu Lao looked back quickly' was telling me not to go into the city. The following sentence 'If it is too late, I am afraid that you will also be in prison' - that will be even more explicit."

At this time, Yan Yifeng had already come and urged him, "Fourth Young Master, Ling Gong is waiting in the mansion, let's hurry up and enter the city."

How could Cao Yuanzhong dare to enter the city easily at this time? Seeing Yan Yifeng so eager, he felt even more suspicious, but he had already returned to the doorstep, and there was no reason not to enter the city! He gave Li Jingmin a wink, and Li Jingmin understood and said to Yan Yifeng: "When the fourth son was vowed to make a vow in Jinchang, he said to the second son: If we cannot make achievements in this way and revitalize our Cao army, I, Cao Yuanzhong, will not enter Dunhuang to avoid being ashamed of seeing the elders. When the fourth son was about to enter the city, he suddenly remembered this oath, so he turned around. I don't know that the second son reported to Ling Gongwei for this matter."

Cao Yuanzhong's big snake came with the stick and said, "Yes, yes, I have not made any achievements now, so I dare not enter the city easily, so as not to break my oath." He led his thousand men to station outside the city. Yan Yifeng couldn't persuade him, so he had no choice but to go back.

Li Jingmin told Yan Yifeng when he left: "The fourth young master is the most serious person. Although he just made a casual oath, he was unwilling to be careless. I had no choice but to ask the second young master to persuade him."

After Yan Yifeng left, Li Jingmin said, "The oath is just a nonsense. If the second son is safe in the city, he will definitely know that we are lying. If it were Ling Gong, after hearing this, you will know that the fourth son has doubts in his heart and will definitely send the second son to pick up the fourth son immediately. But if the second son doesn't come, then the city will be really bad."

Cao Yuanzhong said: "How bad can you do? Even if you want to do something, it will not be bad for me."

"That's hard to say." Li Jingmin said: "As the saying goes, "It's not easy to get married." But if the second son doesn't show up later, the fourth son will have to make the worst plan - if the other party dares to move even the second son, there will be no one they dare not move."

Cao Yuanzhong said: "If...if something happens to my second brother, then...what should I do!"

"We have to leave quickly!" Li Jingmin said: "If you stay in the green mountains, you will not worry about burning firewood."

They were waiting outside the city, waiting around and not seeing Cao Yuanshen come. Half an hour later, they heard the sound of iron hooves. Li Jingmin was careful and quickly ordered the entire army to get on the horse. After a while, the team of people approached, but not Cao Yuanshen, but Kang Long's younger brother Kang Xing, and the people behind them were still driving from the city gate one after another.

Li Jingmin said: "Fourth Young Master, something is wrong, so you must be ready to leave at any time!"

Cao Yuanzhong felt like he was losing something, but he still turned over and met him. Although his troops were only a thousand people, they were a complete organization and the elite of the Guiyi army, so he was not afraid of the number of people in Kangxing.

Kang Xing approached and shouted, "Fourth Young Master, why haven't you entered the city yet?"

Cao Yuanzhong said: "I made a vow that day that I would not enter Dunhuang without any achievements, so I hesitated."

Kang Xing laughed and said, "What are the words of the fourth young master? You are not unsuccessful, but Zhang Mai suddenly had a strange intention and things changed, so he cannot make achievements for the time being. Come to the city quickly, the eldest and second young masters are waiting for you to discuss how to deal with Zhang Mai."

It would be fine if he didn't say this. As soon as he said this, Cao Yuanzhong knew that something had happened to Cao Yuanshen and said angrily: "Old man Kang, where is my second brother?"

Kang Xing was stunned: "What did the fourth young master say?"

"What did you say!" Cao Yuanzhong said: "If it were the second brother, he would naturally understand! Now you don't understand, it was because something happened to my second brother!" He pointed to Kang Xing and said: "What happened in Dunhuang City!"

Kang Xing said anxiously: "Fourth Master, don't listen to people's provocation. Where is there anything? Come with me and enter the city quickly. Don't make Ling Gong angry. At that time, I, the uncle, can't protect you."

"Who wants you to protect me back and forth!" Cao Yuanzhong said: "You go back now. What do my father say? Let my second brother come out of the city and bring it to me. As long as I see my second brother, I will naturally enter the city!"

Kang Xingqing frowned, knowing that things were hard to be good, and the soldiers behind him were ready to move. Cao Yuanzhong shouted: "What are you doing? Are you going to do it!"

He has a great reputation in his own army, and suddenly raised his eyebrows and became angry. The soldiers behind Kang Xing did not dare to step forward for a moment. Li Jingmin whispered: "Fourth Young Master, it is not advisable to stay here for a long time!"

Cao Yuanzhong pointed at Kang Xing and said, "When you go back, tell your elder brother, Cao Yuanzhong is also a descendant of the Cao family. If you have anything, please tell him honestly. I may not support him. But the first thing is that he has to let his second brother go first! As long as I see my second brother, I will go back to the city without saying a word! Before that, I will not enter Dunhuang!"

He followed the troops and left. Kang Xing hesitated behind him, but he didn't catch up after all. Yan Yifeng asked, "Old Kang, why don't you stop him?"

Kang Xing snorted and thought to himself: "It's okay for others to forget it, but Yuanzhong and the eldest son are close relatives of brothers. It's okay to quietly put down the house arrest. If they meet outside Dunhuang City, they will be afraid that Shazhou will be filled with people's hearts. If they can't stop him, it will be even more detrimental. We had made many arrangements in our city, but we didn't expect that Yuanzhong would not enter the door, which could be said to have miscalculated."

But he said nothing to Yan Yifeng, and said, "Go back first and report to the eldest son."

—————

Cao Yuanzhong led his troops there and walked for more than ten miles. The man immediately became tranced. Since he couldn't figure out what happened in the city, he didn't know where to go.

Seeing that passing by a manor, Li Jingmin helped him get off the horse and rest. When the owner heard that the fourth young master was here, he hurriedly greeted him and asked him to come in and rest. Before leaving, Li Jingmin ordered the requisition of all the horses, camels and grains from his manor. How could the owner dare to say that he was not a word?

Cao Yuande has not issued a conquest order against Cao Yuanzhong so far, so he is like at home in Shazhou. A thousand troops are not a large number, and he is not afraid of being hungry wherever he goes.

He has been discussing with Sima and his subordinates for several days, and unknowingly passed forty lizes, but he still didn't discuss it. Li Jingmin said: "Now there is Zhang Mai outside Dunhuang and there are huge changes inside. We must not act rashly. For the current plan, the best strategy is to look forward to change from afar."

Cao Yuanzhong asked: "What is the distance waiting for change?"

Li Jingmin said: "From the situation in the past two days, the eldest son has no intention of chasing the fourth son. Perhaps it is because the eldest son still has brothers and sisters in his heart, or the eldest son is afraid of it. It is better for us to find a remote place to stay in order to ensure that we do not intervene in this chaos. We send someone to secretly sneak into Dunhuang to see if we can contact the second son, and wait until the matter is in sight, and then we will decide our whereabouts."

Cao Yuanzhong thought for a long time and felt that this was the only way, so he sent people to sneak into Dunhuang and led his troops to continue northwest to station in the pastures near Xinghubo. In this era, the water resources in Hexi were much richer than those in Zhang Mai's previous life. There were dozens of Danshui Lakes in Shazhou, and Xinghubo was also an inland lake, located 150 miles northwest of Dunhuang, and further west to north, there were deserts.

Li Jingmin was very vigilant. After stationing, he sent scouts to the surrounding area. However, there was no news from Dunhuang, but his subordinates came to report that a team of people and horses passed by in the north seemed very suspicious. Li Jingmin immediately led his troops to stop the team of people. It was the envoy sent by Zhang Mai to Yanqi. His guide Cao Ju was surprised to see hundreds of soldiers and horses besieged: "How could there be such a majestic person nearby?"

There were 51 people in this team. If other troops in Shazhou were met, they might be able to take advantage of the flexibly cavalry to break through the chaos. However, Cao Yuanzhong's subordinates were the elite of the Guiyi Army. At this time, he had a 50-50-around circumference, which was the advantage of ten times the strength of the troops. The team of people and horses fought and fled to a deserted valley to resist stubbornly.

After hearing the news, Cao Yuanzhong said, "Our Guiyi Army is becoming more and more disgusting. Can't even 50 people do anything to the 50 people?" He personally put on his armor and went to the deserted valley and shouted, "Where do you come from? Why don't you surrender quickly!"

The deputy team leader Tian Han recognized Cao Yuanzhong, discussed with the team leader, and went out of the valley and shouted: "Fourth Young Master, you are polite!"

Tian Han flew down Jing Qiong, who was disguised as Di Yin's substitute, in the battle of night attacking Di Yin, was the first contribution to seizing Di Yin's golden crown. This matter was a good story in the Anxi Army. During the meeting with Zhang Mai, Cao Yuanzhong visited the heroes of the army who made contributions in the night attacking Di Yin's battle. Therefore, although he was young, Cao Yuanzhong also recognized him. Not only did he recognize him, but he also drank blood wine with him while drunk. At this time, he was surprised: "Tian Han, it's you! Why are you here!"

Tian Han raised his head and said, "At the invitation of Cao Linggong, our lords went to Shazhou in person. He also used his relatives to be of the same clan and allies, regardless of the difficulties, and used his visiting army to enter Guazhou to force Di Yin to retreat, and lifted the siege of Jinchang. He did not want to be kind and not rewarded! For no reason, he was surrounded by a group of traitors who were kind and revenge and colluded with the Hu people in Yumen Pass. Now I am ordered by the lords to rush to Kucha for help! Fourth Master, why are you here?"

He was very fragile at such a young age, and he did not deliberately conceal his intentions from Cao Yuanzhong. Although he was a little unreasonable, he knew that deception was useless and even more open and honest.

Cao Yuanzhong also had the idea of ​​Zong Tang in his heart, and there was a difference between good and evil. He heard Tian Han ridicule the Guiyi Army as a "traitor", and he felt a little confused, but he thought that what he said was correct. Zhang Mai was invited by the Cao family and helped the Cao family. Now that the great kindness has not been received, the Guiyi Army has joined forces with the Uighurs in Ganzhou to siege Zhang Mai. This matter is indeed unreasonable, and he blushed and said, "I'm hunting here."

Tian Han laughed and said, "The fourth young master is so interested, but I don't know if I, Tian Han, are considered prey?"

Cao Yuanzhong said: "Brother Tian is joking, I don't know it's you."

Tian Han said: "The fourth young master knows now, but he doesn't know how to deal with me?"

"Don't say anything about dealing with each other or not, it's just a misunderstanding." Cao Yuanzhong said: "If you don't say these disappointing words, I'm just being resentful. Brother Tian is coming just right, so I'll have a drink with my brother and I'll stop drunk!" Then he called out: "Let's go, follow me to Xinghubo Ranch."

Unexpectedly, Tian Han said: "If it were normal for me, as long as the fourth young master spoke, I would not refuse to refuse. But now I have a general and dare not stay for a long time. Besides, I am the military law of the Tang Dynasty. The soldiers dare not drink when they are wearing armor, otherwise they will be severely punished, so they have to let down the fourth young master's wishes."

A general in Guiyi army called out: "Fourth young master, regardless of personal affairs, let's take him down first."

Cao Yuanzhong was quite hesitant. The Anxi Army team was afraid that Tian Han would be alone, so they all rushed out to support him. When Cao Yuanzhong's subordinates saw him, they gradually stepped forward. The strength of the two sides was very different. If they didn't ask about the ending, it would be clear that for the Anxi Army, it was just a matter of dragging a few people before their death.

Tian Han sighed, "It's a pity that I couldn't take Di Yin! If Di Yin was knocked down that night, I would be willing to die on the spot. Now I die together and have died at the hands of compatriots in the Han surname who have drunk blood wine. This way of death is really unwilling to die!" As he said that, he raised his sword and prepared to fight for trapping beasts!

Cao Yuanzhong was hit by his words and saw that his subordinates were about to take action, so he called out: "Stop! Stop! Come back!"

Hundreds of people were shocked, some stopped, some rushed forward, and some returned, and the Guiyi army's team had a flaw. Seeing that the opportunity was so fast, Tian Han shouted, "Go!" He led fifty cavalry and slipped out of the gap!

The generals of the Guiyi Army were shocked and said, "Fourth Master, they have escaped! Chase me!"

Cao Yuanzhong looked at Tian Han's back as he was gone, but sighed and shook his head: "Forget it, let him go... We have no face to keep them!"
Chapter completed!