Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

Chapter 120

In late autumn, the prairie was frosty and dew-cold. They carefully walked through the withered long grass, like walking in a golden river. Geese flew over the distant sky, and their long calls echoed in the sky of the prairie.

Qingping led the horse and walked cautiously. There were many puddles in the grass, the kind of mud pits that had been accumulated for many years. They looked the same as usual. If someone stepped on them accidentally, it would be difficult to get up. , it must take some effort.

But time is their most precious thing at this time, and a moment cannot be wasted.They had to leave the Erlan grassland before the Xibing army arrived at Moon River, otherwise they would never have the chance to enter again.

No one dared to take it lightly, they bypassed the checkpoint day and night, and finally reached the edge of the Irish grassland.Qingping found that the grass here was obviously different from the previous ones, indicating that they were almost out of the range of the grassland.

This was actually a reassuring discovery, but she swallowed nervously, holding the saber at her waist tightly with her right hand, no one would know when Xirong's pursuers would appear, the previous escape gave her enough Experience and lessons.There is only life and death here, if you relax a bit at this moment, then what is waiting for you may be a cold and ruthless feather arrow flying out of the grass.

If you want to live, you have to run desperately and get out of here.But for them, a bigger crisis is still ahead. The Yuehe defense line that originally belonged to the Dai Kingdom is now occupied by the Xirong people, which makes their original tortuous escape even more treacherous and unpredictable.

What's ahead?Have the soldiers and horses of the Xirong people reached the Moon River?Will Xirong go to war with Dai? .......Many thoughts flashed through Qingping's mind, and he took a deep breath.

After leaving the golden tent, the efficacy of the grass gradually lost its effect. She remembered many things, good and bad.

But she remembered meeting Xie Qi on the street that day, and talking to her in the carriage, which weighed heavily on her heart.

So she was a little distracted.

"...Master Li, I dare to say something boldly. I am afraid that this peace talk will not come to fruition."

Qingping lowered his head and fiddled with the teacup, and asked after hearing the words: "Why did Xie Changshi say that?"

Xie Qi just smiled, but did not explain why.Qingping naturally understood where this worry came from. If Xirong was really willing to negotiate peace, then the previous temptations would be meaningless.Although it is said that the war between the two countries will not be executed, but if a prince is taken hostage, if there is a war, there will be only advantages and no disadvantages.

The peace talks are just a test for the Xirong people, if the Holy One can really refuse to accept the peace talks like Marshal Zhou Qian did, and give up Yuehe.If you want to fight, you can fight. Daiguo is not without this ability. Xirong is just here to test the attitude and direction of the court-is there more peace or war?

This may seem useless, but it is a very critical place.If they are united as one and are not afraid of going to war, the Xirong people will naturally weigh the pros and cons of this war.But I didn't expect that there would be such discord within the country. The powerful officials in the DPRK and China were in control, and the party was fighting against dissidents. The officials were hesitant because of the empress's delay in appointing a princess, and they had no time to be distracted. Could there be a better opportunity than this? ?

Xie Qi said: "Yunzhou is His Royal Highness's fiefdom, and the Holy Majesty sent her here to guard the country's gate. Yunzhou cannot be trapped, as long as she is here, Yunzhou will be fine. Master Li, you Do you understand me?"

Qing Ping's heart moved, and he said: "If the war breaks out, His Highness will stay in Yunzhou?"

Xie Qi said: "This is inevitable."

Since Chu Jun stayed in Yunzhou, he would not sit idly by.Qingping thought to himself, Anping County is too close to the sideline, and so is the exchange market.She already understood what Xie Qi meant, and this also coincided with what she thought in her heart.None of them wanted to let Chu Jun go to Xirong. No matter what the reason was, they were all on the same front at this time.

So she said: "Does Xie Changshi have any ideas? I would like to hear more about it."

Xie Qi smiled, and said lightly: "I still need Master Li's help."

"Qingping, what's wrong with you? What are you thinking?"

Her memory was interrupted by a sudden voice, Qingping subconsciously leaned to the right, Wu Ying didn't mind, and asked: "You have been out of your mind all this way, what's wrong?"

Qing Ping sat on the grass and said, "What should I do when I go back?"

Wu Ying folded a blade of grass, bent her knees, and said, "Have you thought about it?"

There was a little joy on her face, diluting the exhaustion from running around and looking radiant.Wu Ying made up a grass ring and put it on her wrist. Qingping let her play with it. She shook her wrist childishly and asked, "Why don't you talk?"

Qingping said: "I didn't expect that." She paused, and then said, "...I'm a little worried that something will happen in Yunzhou."

Wu Ying was also silent, forced a smile, and said: "No way, Juning Pass is surrounded by natural moats, and there are a large number of troops stationed there, how could something happen?"

The twilight fell together, and the sky quickly darkened.Qingping didn't speak, and didn't want to aggravate this unnecessary panic.She said: "Yes, maybe you can enter the customs."

Wu Ying was still talking, when she suddenly heard a whistle, she stood up strangely, and looked towards the direction of the sound, and then the whistle sounded quickly, one after another, getting faster and faster, as if urging her to go over quickly.

Wu Ying's complexion was not very good, she lowered her head and said to Qingping, "I'll go over there first to have a look."

Qingping agreed, and sat in the grass for a while, but no one came.A person beside her said: "I'll go and have a look." After speaking, he left.

Sitting alone in the grass, she felt abandoned by the world in a trance.After an unknown amount of time, it got dark, and she suddenly heard a rustling sound in the grass, she narrowed her eyes, and held the handle of the knife.

In the dimness, I couldn't see what it was, and suddenly a person jumped out from the grass, grabbed her hand and said eagerly: "Go! Go!"

It turned out to be Wu Ying, Qingping's tense nerves relaxed a little, Wu Ying said: "Go, where is the horse, go!"

The horses were brought in, Qingping got on the horse, and the leader rushed out first, completely different from the cautious look of the previous few days, before she had time to think, she subconsciously flicked the whip, like an arrow leaving the string, Run into the unknown night.

There was no moon and no stars in this night, and the horse didn't know where it was in this dark night.Qingping could only follow them closely and not let himself be left behind.If you slow down a little in this environment, you may lose your direction and get lost on the grassland very easily.

She has heard from many merchants who frequently travel between Xirong and Daiguo that caravans often take a safe route, even if there is a convenient path, they will not easily try it.Because on the vast grassland, it is extremely easy for people to lose their way. No matter how they walk, they will find that they seem to be spinning in the same place.The seemingly peaceful grassland actually hides murderous intentions, and those bizarre rumors are the best evidence.Qingping remembers a saying that people who get lost in the grassland will never be found again, but her soul will always linger in the grassland, and she must light up the lamp when driving in the middle of the night, otherwise it is very easy to encounter those unclean things and keep following her.

Qingping's throat was dry and he couldn't see any light in the dark night.The gang wind passed by her ears, and she vaguely heard the sound of someone crying. She was a little nervous, and flicked the whip again. The horse suffered from pain and ran faster.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, a light suddenly appeared in front of him, especially in the thick darkness.Suddenly Qingping felt a tremor, the horse seemed to be walking on some rough road, and she suddenly remembered that there would be no such road in the grassland, so they must have left the Erlan grassland at this time.

Those lights are getting brighter and brighter, and when they get closer, they realize that they are continuous beacon fires, burning down from the top of the mountain in the distance. In the night, they play the role of indicating, winding like a fire dragon. Pan Heng is above the mountains.

The roaring flames were reflected in her pupils, the leader got off his horse and said, "I don't want the horse anymore. You can reach Yifeng County by turning over from Lueyang Mountain. Hurry up and leave before the pursuers arrive!"

Qingping was stunned, then climbed up, and asked, "Yufeng County?"

Wu Ying replied: "This is a commercial road. Those traders secretly opened a road here. They can go directly out of the customs and reach the Darlan grassland. It's just that this road is dangerous and tight. It's a dead end. If we don't have to, we won't do it." Go from here."

The leader suddenly said: "Hold tight, don't fall, there is a rift below, if you are not careful, no one can save you!"

In the dark night, seeing a misty mist under the rocky cliff, Qingping grabbed the stone and walked on the cliff step by step.After walking for an unknown amount of time, she felt that her legs and feet were weak, and she just walked numbly.Suddenly the leader said: "Here we are."

They finally walked over the edge of the cliff. At this time, the sky was getting brighter, and Qingping could see clearly that this was a long and narrow valley, criss-crossing to the southeast, and there was a road at the edge that could not be called a road at all. As for the traces of artificial excavation, the rock is probably very hard, and it took many people's painstaking efforts and lives to excavate this jumping road.The reason why the leader told them to stick to the wall was because only one person could pass on that road, and any more people would not be allowed.If it wasn't for driving at night and looking at the deep valley during the day, I'm afraid my legs would be weak from fright, and I wouldn't be able to walk through it no matter what.

The leader said: "Don't look back, rest for a while."

Qingping sat down slowly, suddenly there was a loud noise from the south, and they all looked in that direction at the same time.

She asked softly, "What's that sound?"

The leader stared straight at that place, Wu Ying stood up with the support of the stone, her chest was heaving and unsteady, Qing Ping looked back at her, she opened her mouth, quickly lowered her head, then raised her head abruptly.

She said with great difficulty: "...Juning Pass—broken."