In the wee hours of the morning, it was already white in the east, but the sun had not yet come out. The light is hazy, and everything seems to be sleepy-eyed and can't see clearly.

On the mountain road of Pingyi County Wei (north of Fuyuan County, Qujing City), the sound of horses' hooves is from far and near. In the woods on the side of the road, a group of officers and soldiers suddenly appeared, blocking the middle of the road, and a military general shouted at the two horsemen who rushed towards him: "Who are you waiting for?" ”

There was no answer, and in the dim light the two horses reined together, and the horses neighed, and continued to rush forward, but gradually slowed down; One of the riders also made a "whoo" sound.

The military general who blocked the road shouted again: "Who is Shangfeng?" Accost! The officers and sergeants around him immediately raised their bows and arrows.

The two horsemen remained silent, and turned their horses around. A moment later, there were a few chord sounds, and a scream came from the front, one horse fell off the horse, and the other horse fled.

The general in the middle of the road drew his bow, aimed for a while, and released the arrow with a "bang". The arrow struck the horse, and immediately the neighing of the horse sounded, and the knight screamed and fell off his horse.

"Catch it alive!"

The next day, the captured knight, along with his belongings, was sent west by the scouts. The group passed through the Qujing Military and Civilian Mansion, which had been occupied by the official army, and arrived at the official army camp outside Kunming.

Gu Cheng, whose hair and beard were mostly white, got a lacquer-sealed letter first in the middle of the army. He tore it open and looked at it, and it was written in excellent calligraphy: General Ping is invited to send a letter to Sheng Yong and Mr. Li, pass on the military order of the king, and strictly order them to defend Kunming and Ming, and not hesitate to fight until a single soldier is killed.

Signed by Zhu Gaoxu, the king of the Ming Dynasty. It was also stamped with the golden seal of the King of Han.

Gu Cheng asked the military general who sent the letter in: "Where are the people captured?" ”

The military general replied: "Returning to the marshal, Pingyi County is ten miles north of Wei. There was no garrison over there, and the last general was stationed in the Qujing Military and Civil Mansion, and the day before yesterday he was ordered to inspect the north, and he happened to arrest this person. ”

Gu Cheng pondered for a moment and said, "You did a good job." Immediately torture him alive and ask him to confess where the base of contact is! ”

The military general clasped his fists and bowed: "The last general will be ordered!" ”

The arrested messenger couldn't help but torture to extract a confession, and on the same day he confessed to the place where the letter was delivered, which was located in a Yi cottage between the Wusa Military and Civilian Mansion and the Qujing Military and Civilian Mansion. or because Mufu joined the Han army, many of the barbarians in the southwest were inclined to the Han army; However, the Han Wangfu dared to set up a secret stronghold in the place of the Yi people, which was somewhat unexpected by Gu Cheng.

Gu Cheng immediately dispatched troops to that place to eradicate the stronghold of the Han Wang's army! A few days later, the mountains and forests near the Yiyi village were dense and the terrain was complicated, so that most of the people and horses in the stronghold fled.

The news leaked, so the officers and soldiers could no longer follow the vine and go to raid the safe military camp. However, King Han's military order was of course withheld by Gu Cheng.

……

The spring breeze in February is like scissors, and in this bright spring time, the four cities of Kunming are in a mess. Amid the roar of the cannons, most of the people hid in their homes, the market was depressed, and the city was filled with a lifeless atmosphere.

The general safely released the carrier pigeon into the city and sent new news.

Zhang Fu's 100,000 army is only 100 miles away from Kunming City. The weather is fine these days, and the enemy will be in four to five days!

Ping'an also had a message informing the civil and military forces in the city that he would leave the area near Yunnan Prefecture in five days, mobilize all the cavalry to Dali, and escort the families of the soldiers to Lingguan Road......

Around the city of Kunming, the enemy soldiers built perfect siege fortifications, Sheng Yong believed that all the remaining soldiers and horses were concentrated and broke through to the west of the city, but they were still not necessarily successful; Only a night raid can be attempted. If Zhang Fu's reinforcements arrive, the defenders will completely lose the chance to break through!

If at that time, the defenders can surrender, or they can survive the difficulties and have a way to live, or they may be killed, captured, and angry because of the siege of the city, everything depends on fate. However, Sheng Yong, Mr. Li and others will definitely die!

Mr. Li still reads "The Mean" every day, and has never had a clear position on whether to break through or not.

Sheng Yong occasionally had a whim, would "Mr. Li" live enough and want to go down to accompany his kiln sister? Sheng Yong immediately felt that it didn't seem very reasonable, even if Sister Yao's fate made Mr. Li regretful, but a Jinshi would not die or live for Sister Yao who had tasted it by thousands of people!

After dark, Sheng Yong came to the study of the government office again to meet Mr. Li. The big decision that the two of them have been considering recently is, of course, a matter of breakthrough.

Mr. Li finally talked about this matter head-on, and he said: "This battle is about the survival of the Han King's forces!" If this battle is completely lost, the main force of the Han army can only retreat to Sichuan. I don't dare to say for sure that the Han army will be finished, but there is no doubt that the chances will be very slim. ”

Sheng Yong couldn't refute it, nodded vigorously, and then muttered: "The prince has not been able to break through Guizhou so far, I'm afraid it's too late to reinforce Kunming City." ”

Mr. Li said: "This time the army is not a child's play, with a net worth of 100,000 people, we can't all go, someone has to stay...... General Sheng can prepare and lead the soldiers to break through. I was determined to stay. ”

As soon as Sheng Yong was about to speak, Mr. Li rudely aggravated his tone and said, "General Sheng! ”

Sheng Yong finally hugged his fists and bowed, walked to the door of the study, he turned his head again and said, "Wait for three more days!" If there is no news from the prince, Ben will lead the remaining brothers to try to find a way to survive. ”

Mr. Li nodded slightly.

Sheng Yong is not very afraid of death, but his temperament has always been like this, he is very aware of current affairs, and when he knows that he will lose, death will not solve the problem. So as long as there is still a way not to die, he always has to try...... after the "Battle of Jingjing", his method is to surrender, knowing that he will be cleared, but there is still a chance to be lucky.

Now in this situation, there must be no luck in surrendering, and the new hatred and old accounts are counted together, and Sheng Yong will definitely be razed to the whole clan; It is still possible to choose to break through and run to Sichuan to continue to resist to the end.

He knew that "Mr. Li" was not the kind of person who would struggle to the end, so he didn't say much. It's good to understand each other, and you don't have to force it.

…… The pear orchard near Caihaizi has a closed gate at this time. There hasn't been business here for a long time.

In the theater that used to be hard to find, now it is empty. It had only been closed for more than a month, and there was a rotten, musty smell in the dust, like the smell of wood after it had been damp.

Shen Xu, who was wearing a white dress dragging the floor, strolled silently, from the private rooms where the dignitaries sat upstairs, to the stage where the smash hit actors showed their skills. She wore a dress made of white cotton, without a trace of pattern, and a white dress was pale among the dark wood; She didn't have a piece of jewelry on her body, and she didn't have pink on her face. Suddenly, even Shen Xu himself felt as if he had become a ghost.

Shen Xu raised his head, as if he saw someone sitting upstairs, Zhu Gaoxu, the prince of the Ming Dynasty, and Mu Sheng, the head of the Mu Mansion who was well known to everyone in Yunnan, were nodding to her slightly, revealing a slightly arrogant and self-contained smile.

The sound of the surrounding silk and bamboo orchestra also sounded, and the noisy cheers and noises also followed, Xiao Er and Dr. Tea shuttled between them, and there were people everywhere. Li Lou on the stage bowed lightly, showing a reserved and shy smile to the lobby.

"Madame......" a voice came.

All the "people" around disappeared at once, and Shen Xu turned around and saw a middle-aged woman standing at the door and bowing. The middle-aged woman was her close attendant, and she didn't remember what her surname was, and Shen Xu's family didn't remember, but she gave the woman the surname Shen; From Shen's Mansion to Liyuan, everyone called her Aunt Shen.

Shen Xu came back to her senses, and immediately smelled the musty smell of the rotten wood again, she seemed to smell the smell of the coffin board buried in the soil, soaked in the rain and slowly rotting, as if she felt that the silky skin on her body was rotting and falling.

The middle-aged woman walked over and whispered in Shen Xu's ear: "Our people outside the city have sent news back with carrier pigeons, Zhang Fu's Jiaozhi army is less than a hundred miles away from Kunming City!" Coming to Kunming City. ”

"Oh......" Shen Xu responded.

When the Han Wangfu fled from Kunming City and went to Dali, the people from the Han Wangfu did not call Shen Xu. Shen Xu also understood that Princess Han must not be very satisfied with her...... But if she wants to escape, she doesn't have to follow the people of the Han Palace, there are people from the Shen family and the Xu family everywhere in Yunnan.

When it came to the deadline for the officers and soldiers to come to the city, Shen Xu finally did not leave here.

She is a young woman, as Xu Fujiu's daughter-in-law and Shen Wansan's daughter-in-law, she has invested heavily many times. But to say that like this time, to provide more than 100,000 yuan of military expenses to the Han Wangjun before and after, it is still a "business" that has never been done. The things that can be compared with this kind of business are probably the things that Shen Wansan funded the Ming Tai Zu to repair Nanjing City.

But in the end, it didn't seem to end well. It is indeed too dangerous for a businessman to do business with those who are vying for the world. Shen Xu understood this truth again.

Shen Xu said: "Shouldn't I hurry up and disperse the family property and prepare the white silk?" ”

"Madam, never!" The woman fell to her knees, her voice choked.

Shen Xu's face was gloomy, "The minister of the ministry back then, the female dependents of his family, also suffered a lot of humiliation and were tortured to death, let alone a businessman like us?" She smiled bitterly, "It's a pity that no one praises me for my chastity, and my reputation is too bad...... Alas, it was too humiliating to die. ”

Aunt Shen in front of her was already crying, and Aunt Shen, who didn't talk much, also cried and complained at this time, "Madame should have left Kunming City a long time ago, stay in Qingshan, and you will definitely be able to regain your strength." ”

Shen Xu shook his head slowly, but did not speak. She knew in her heart that it was possible to turn over at a loss in business, but this kind of thing would not work. The righteous path is the greatest land in the world, and the court wants her life, and it is too difficult to escape, and I don't know how much suffering she has to endure in a foreign country. Shen Xu suddenly felt a little tired.

Although Kunming City has the reputation of four seasons like spring, all things also have prosperity. I am afraid that the world will not be spared, prosperity will always fall, and wealth and calamity will not be normal.