Guan Feng heard Madam Guan's words and quickly asked,"Mother, are you not sick?"
Lady Guan glanced at Yang Zhen and hugged Guan Feng in her arms."Mother was worried about you, afraid that you would leave again, so she came up with this plan. She hoped that you could stay by Mother's side. Feng 'er, you won't blame your mother for lying to you like this, right?”
Guan Feng pushed Madam Guan away and asked,"Mother, Second Brother also knows about this matter, right? Otherwise, why don't I see him come to pay his respects to Mother? Mother, Feng 'er won't blame you. You're my mother, so I understand what you mean. I just hope that mother will not use such methods in the future.”
"Don't worry, Feng 'er. Mother won't keep you like this anymore." I heard from your second brother that the army is about to go south. Mother also knows that your heart is itching to go, right?”
Guan Feng nodded." Mother, Feng 'er hopes to go into battle and kill the enemy. It's to show off our Guan Clan's reputation."”
"Go on, go on, mother won't stop you this time."”
Guan Feng threw herself into Madam Guan's arms and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist."Mother, you're so nice!"
Madam Guan patted Guan Feng's back gently with her hand and looked at Yang Zhen. She said lightly,"Zi Yuan, you already knew that I was trying to trick Feng 'er, right?”
Yang Zhen smiled and did not answer.
Lady Guan said,"You did well. You didn't expose me to my face. Instead, you used a little trick to make me reveal my true form." If you have such wisdom, I can leave Feng 'er in your hands without worry. Zi Yuan, come here."
Yang Zhen walked over to the bedside and asked,""Old Furen, what are your orders?"
Madam Guan reached out and grabbed Yang Zhen's hand while her other hand grabbed her daughter's hand. She placed her hands in the middle and let Yang Zhen hold Guan Feng's hand. She laughed and said,"You two have to take care of each other in the future, understand?”
Guan Feng stood up and stood beside Yang Zhen. She held Yang Zhen's hand tightly and looked at Madam Guan gratefully. With a plop, she pulled Yang Zhen to kneel on the ground. Lady Guan saw this and quickly asked,"What are you doing?"
Guan Feng kowtowed to Lady Guan several times and said,"Mother, when your daughter is not by your side in the future, you must take care of yourself.”
Yang Zhen also kowtowed a few times at the same time and said,"Madam Guan, don't worry. I won't let Feng 'er suffer any grievances.”
"Zi Yuan, why don't you change your words?" Guan Feng turned her head and asked.”
Yang Zhen was confused for a moment.”
Guan Feng raised a hand and pushed Yang Zhen's body.""Call me mother!"
Only then did Yang Zhen realize what was going on. He quickly kowtowed three more times and shouted at Madam Guan,"Mother!"
Madam Guan was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth."My good daughter, my good son-in-law, get up quickly. The ground is cold, don't let it get cold."
The servant girls present covered their mouths and giggled. When they saw Guan Feng and Yang Zhen stand up, they walked over side by side and bowed to Yang Zhen and Guan Feng at the same time. After the servant girls bowed, they shouted in unison,"Guye, Miss!"
Laughter rang out from Lady Guan's room. The entire room was filled with joy, a stark contrast to the icy world outside. The weather was cold and the heart was warm. Since Madam Guan had agreed to hand Guan Feng over to Yang Zhen, she naturally would not stop them. In her joy, she directly got out of bed and personally cooked a few dishes for her future son-in-law.
Two days later, the 200,000 strong army gathered at the Royal Drill Ground in Chengdu. The snow had been completely removed from the Royal Drill Ground. The 200,000-strong army was waiting in an orderly formation, staring at the platform. The New Year had just passed. The snow had not melted, and the cold wind was still piercing. However, no one on the drill ground felt cold. Instead, their blood was boiling.
On the platform, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang stood solemnly. The cold wind blew, causing his clothes to flutter. Behind him stood a dozen messengers. His eyes were bright as he looked around at the generals and the 200,000-strong army. After a long time, Zhuge Liang held a stick of ambergris and bowed to the sky. After paying his respects to the heavens, he inserted the Ambergris in his hand into the large cauldron on the platform and said in a clear voice,"Huang Tian is above, Houtu is below. The Prime Minister of the Great Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang, is here to pay his respects to God. Please bless the prosperity of the Great Han Dynasty. This time, I, Zhuge Liang, led the army to attack Nanzhong and suppress the rebels. I have no choice but to do so. Please bless my army so that the enemy will be terrified and return triumphantly!”
After Zhuge Liang finished paying his respects, he knelt in front of the cauldron and kowtowed several times. Yang Zhen stood in the middle of the army and knew the rules of etiquette. Whenever a big country went to war, they must first pray to heaven and earth to seek the blessings of the gods. After Zhuge Liang finished kowtowing, he stood up and turned around to face the army. He stood in the strong wind, his eyes almost unable to open. He raised the feather fan in his hand high and waved it down. The dozen or so messengers behind him bowed to Zhuge Liang at the same time and then walked down the platform.
A dozen or so messengers passed the flags in their hands to the generals standing in front of the army. When every general held a flag in their hands, Zhuge Liang stood on the platform and shouted,"Army, set off!"
As Zhuge Liang's voice fell, the 50,000 soldiers in the drill ground shouted at the same time,""The Han army is mighty! The Han army will win!" Waves after waves of voices drowned out each other. The vigorous shouts rose from the drill ground to the clouds and resounded throughout the sky!
The 200,000 strong army was divided into 20 formations, with 10,000 men forming one formation. As a general, Yang Zhen was under Ma Zhong's command. The army advanced. After leaving Chengdu and walking less than ten miles, the army divided into four routes. On the left, Wei Yan, Wu Yi, and Liao Hua led 50,000 troops to attack Youli County. On the right, Zhao Yun, deputy generals Wang Ping and Zhang Yi led 50,000 troops to attack Yueyu County. Zhuge Liang personally led 100,000 troops in the middle road, with Jiang Wan and Ma Su as the army, Fei Yi as the long history, Dong Jue and Fan Jian as the assistant history to attack Jianning County. Finally, the army met in Yongchang County.
After the army split up in the outskirts of Chengdu, they slowly advanced, leaving no trace of any offense. Yang Zhen's Ma Zhong Army was under Wei Yan's left army, while Guan Feng was under Zhao Yun's right army. Wei Yan was the commander of the army. After leaving Chengdu for a hundred miles, he ordered the army to march day and night without stopping. The 50,000 strong army traveled 300 miles a day. On the difficult mountain roads, it was considered quite fast. Yayu County was more than two thousand miles away from Chengdu. The 50,000-strong army had already reached the border of Yayu County after marching for a few days. The army continued to march, and the soldiers were exhausted. Wei Yan ordered them to set up camp and rest for three days while sending out scouts to gather information.
The army set up camp and Wei Yan went to the main tent to summon the generals. In the main tent, Wei Yan sat in the middle, while Wu Yi, Liao Hua, Ma Zhong, and Yang Zhen stood in two rows. Wei Yan sat in the tent with a solemn expression, as if he was waiting for something. The other generals did not dare to say anything. Not long after, a scout reported,""Reporting to General, Zhu Bao, the prefect of Qie County, has already set up a large number of troops in Qielan City. He has also set up guards in Wanwen, Yelang, and Pingyi.”
Wei Yan waved his hand, and the scout left the tent. He frowned and lowered his head. He pointed at the map on the table, then slammed the table and shouted,""Zhu Bao, you want to surround us!”
Yang Zhen and the generals looked at each other when they heard this. Wei Yan raised his head and waved at them."Come and take a look!"
Yang Zhen and the other generals walked over. Wei Yan pointed at the map on the table and said,""Look, this is Qielan City. Here, here, and here are Wanwen, Yelang, and Pingyi City respectively. There are sixteen cities in Yayu County, and only these four cities have a large concentration of money and food. Zhu Bao sent troops to guard these four cities because he wants us to retreat!”
When Yang Zhen saw the location of the four cities on the map, he couldn't help but be shocked. The four cities were in an arc, and there were many steep mountains around them. It was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Wu Yi said," These four cities are so close to each other. We only have 50,000 soldiers in total, and we can't send all of them. If we attack any one of them, the other three cities will send troops to save them. It's indeed very difficult.”
Liao Hua stroked his beard and said," This damn place has countless steep mountains. There's not even a flat ground where we can fight?" Our army mostly uses a square formation as the main formation. If we can't even form a formation, how can we fight them?”
"Not only that, if they continue to hold on and not fight, we won't be able to do anything to them.”
Wei Yan looked at Yang Zhen and saw him staring at the map on the table with a frown. He asked,""Brother Zi Yuan, what do you think?"
Wu Yi, Liao Hua, and Wei Yan were all old acquaintances. When they heard Wei Yan call Yang Zhen brother, they couldn't help but look at Yang Zhen and ask at the same time,"Wenchang, you guys…Are you two sworn brothers?"
"We became sworn brothers three years ago. How did you guys find out?" Wei Yan laughed.”
"You've been in Hanzhong for three years, and you haven't written to me in these three years. How would I know about your situation?" Wu Yi said.”
"I'm also in Hanzhong, why haven't I heard you mention it?" Liao Hua mumbled.”
"You didn't ask me!" Wei Yan said.”
"That's true. Who knew you'd met him before?" Liao Hua chuckled. However, I heard that Yang Zhen and the old lord's daughter are very close. I wonder if it's true?”
" Of course," Wei Yan said." I don't need to say anything about the daughter of the Guan Family. She's a perfect match with my brother!"”
Ma Zhong heard their conversation and didn't know what they were talking about. Seeing that Yang Zhen was still paying attention to the map, he asked,"General Yang, what do you think?"
Yang Zhen was engrossed in the map, so he didn't hear what Wei Yan, Wu Yi, and Liao Hua were talking about. Ma Zhong was standing beside him and was the closest to him. As soon as he opened his mouth, his words entered his ears. He turned his head and glanced at Ma Zhong. Seeing that Ma Zhong was only a few years older than him and appeared very young, he said,"I already have a plan in mind! However, I need to scout the terrain first.”
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]