Shen Yi, who was ordered to cover the rear, heard a loud noise, looked back, and was so scared that his lungs almost burst. He instinctively wanted to chase after them.

But General Shen had experienced many ups and downs in the frontier for many years. After all, he was no longer the spirited scholar in Lingshuyuan. The divine horse under his crotch just shook its head and moved a little in shock. Shen Yi had already recovered and held the reins tightly. He immediately pursed his lips and whistled: "Xuanqi, don't panic. Xuanying, go and detect the enemy's unusual movements. Pass on my order..."

But before he could finish his words, a Black Eagle scout suddenly landed in front of him: "Report! Marshal!"

"Wait, the Marshal can't get away," Shen Yi stopped him, "What's going on? Just tell me first."

The Black Eagle scout said quickly: "General Shen, the sixteen nations in the Western Regions have withdrawn to their home countries, regrouped, and gathered a total of eighteen chariots preserved in their countries. They are heading towards our base, and I'm afraid they are going to counterattack..."

Shen Yi asked in a deep voice: "How many people?"

"If we don't count the chariots, judging from the sky, there are at least 20,000 or 30,000 armored personnel and cavalry..."

"General Shen!"

One of Gu Yun's personal guards came running over, tumbling and crawling. Shen Yi suddenly turned his head, almost straining his neck. His scalp was numb. He simply couldn't imagine, if Gu Yun really had an accident, how would they guard the twenty-seven passes at the entrance of the ancient Silk Road?

Should I retreat again?

The personal soldier panted anxiously, "The commander-in-chief orders you to immediately behead the King of Kucha in front of the two armies and hang his head on the flagpole. You must burn your boats and destroy your boats. The Black Iron Camp will not leave a single soldier to defend the city, but will march directly to meet the enemy!"

Shen Yi just heard the first half of the sentence, and his heart, which was about to get stuck in his throat, fell back into his stomach. He almost didn't hear the second half of the sentence clearly. For the first time, he asked the nervous guard to repeat it again, and then he shouted: "Rebel... cough, the rebels are the last of their strength, the grasshoppers in autumn have made their last leap, listen to my orders, prepare for battle!"

At the moment of the explosion, Gu Yun was protected by a heavy armored man beside him.

The black-armored soldier's head and body were torn apart on the spot. Gu Yun fainted for a short while, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and lost hearing in one ear.

After waking up, Gu Yun didn't care about anything else. His first reaction was that the enemy would take this opportunity to counterattack. The Western Regions had rebelled twice, and the deep hatred with Daliang could not be resolved within one or two generations. Now they were frightened by the Black Iron Camp, which was advancing by leaps and bounds, and finally became afraid. This would probably be their last blow.

He Ronghui dragged Gu Yun out from under the heavy armor with a broken heart. Half of Gu Yun's body was covered in blood, some of which was his own and some of which was other people's. In a flash, his potential exploded and countless thoughts surged in his mind. He grabbed He Ronghui's arm and issued an order to kill the prisoners and fight. Then, as if he had burned out his last bit of strength, he said intermittently: "All military affairs are now in the hands of Shen... Ji Ping to temporarily take over my position as commander. Don't make it public..."

He Ronghui almost cried.

Gu Yun's ears were buzzing, and he couldn't hear anything clearly for a while, so he naturally couldn't hear other people's sorrow. He just murmured: "Block the news... Anyone who dares to leak even one... one word about what happened today will be punished by military law... Go to the wounded soldiers' hospital and ask Miss Chen to come... Hmm..."

When Gu Yun said this, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. The old injury obviously had not healed yet, and now a new one had occurred. His eyes went dark for a while, but he was still talking: "Slow down! Tell the messenger to make sure that Prince Yan's carriage has left before calling Miss Chen. Don't tell her what happened here yet. Invite her here secretly, and make sure..."

He couldn't continue speaking, and the hand that was holding He Ronghui fell down weakly for a moment. He Ronghui was scared half to death, and tremblingly reached out to feel his breath - seeing that the breath was weak, but at least it was still there, He Ronghui took a few breaths as if he was gasping for breath, bent down and picked up the unconscious Gu Yun.

Shen Yi exchanged glances with the red-eyed He Ronghui from a distance, whistled, and shouted angrily: "Behead the King of Kucha, brothers, follow me to crush the rebels!"

The Western Region coalition knew they could not defeat the Black Iron Camp, so they came up with a vicious plan during their hasty retreat. They arranged for Western Region assassins who were proficient in disguise to ambush Gu Yun. When they heard the explosion, they thought they had succeeded and were shocked. They were planning to take over the Silk Road in one fell swoop, but before they could reach the ancient Silk Road, they were confronted by the Black Iron Camp that had come out in full force.

The explosion seemed to have completely enraged this group of iron war gods. The commander of the Kucha Kingdom thought that he could welcome back the king by forcing the Black Iron Camp to retreat. However, when he looked up, he saw the king's head hanging high on the flagpole, swaying with the flag, like a knotted shabby tassel. The commander of the Kucha Kingdom screamed "Ah" and fell off his horse.

The leading general, General Xuantie, had an iron mask on his face, and it was impossible to tell who was who under the black iron light and heavy armor. As if he was afraid that the enemy would not be able to see clearly what was hung on the flag, the general waved his hand in the whistling wind, and a light cavalryman turned around and rolled the wind-cutting blade into a flower, cutting a rope on the flagpole. The head of the King of Kucha fell to the ground and rolled all the way out. The commander-in-chief of Kucha crawled over and hugged the king's head. He stared at the bald head for a moment, and finally could not help but let out a loud "ah" and howled in front of the two armies.

This shout seemed like the horn of the Black Iron Camp. The next moment, the heavy armor moved as a whole. The commander, wearing a light fur coat, sat upright on horseback. He raised the wind-cutting blade in his hand and chopped it down suddenly. The 20,000 Black Crow men and horses, who had been silent just now, moved together, and the shouts of killing were suppressed by the rumbling footsteps.

The officers and soldiers of the Western Regions were horrified. Apart from Gu Yun, which general in the Black Iron Camp would dare to make the decision to kill the King of Kucha directly?

Could it be that Gu Yun is not dead?

Judging from the situation, not only did they fail to kill Gu Yun, but they also angered the Black Iron Camp.

That night, the sand sea was covered with blood. The heavy black iron armor faced off against the Western Region chariots, and the enemy was driven back twenty miles outside the ancient Silk Road. The Western Region coalition failed to counterattack and was defeated again. The Black Iron Camp pursued the enemy brutally all the way to the territories of the Western Regions, beheaded nearly 10,000 enemies, and slaughtered all the Kucha nobles.

Chen Qingxu had just seen off the Yan Wang convoy that was returning to the capital with the victory report. Before she could recover from the excitement of crying with joy, two black eagles flew directly to the Northwest Injured Soldiers' Hospital: "Miss Chen, the Marshal wants you to come over."

When Gu Yun woke up again, someone was forcibly prying his mouth open to feed him medicine.

Unable to hear anything clearly from the chaotic surroundings, Gu Yun took a deep breath and felt a sharp pain as if his heart and lungs were on fire, which made him want to cry. He was not fully awake yet, and thought in a daze: "Is he going to die?"

As soon as this thought came to his mind, Gu Yun gritted his teeth fiercely.

"No," he thought to himself, "Galai Yinghuo is still alive, Jiangnan is still under occupation, I will die with my eyes wide open."

This ruthlessness was like a shot of chicken blood, which went straight into his heart. Gu Yun was startled and woke up suddenly.

Shen Yi, who was feeding him medicine, was unable to pry open his teeth and was sweating coldly. Suddenly, he felt Gu Yun's teeth loosen and he was able to swallow by himself. He was overjoyed and shouted, "Zi Xi! Zi Xi, open your eyes and look at me."

Chen Qingxu hurriedly said, "If he wakes up and can take the medicine, he'll be fine. General Shen, stop trembling. He's choking. Give it to me!"

Gu Yun didn't let the Western Region assassins blow themselves up, but he was almost killed by the bowl of medicine soup that Shen drank. He gathered some strength from somewhere and struggled to push away the evildoer. His move set the whole tent in an uproar, and a bunch of burly men cried and shouted, trying to help.

Chen Qingxu couldn't stand it any longer: "Enough! Get out!"

Gu Yun keenly smelled a unique fragrance of a woman, knowing that Chen Qingxu had come. He tilted his head slightly, avoiding the medicine bowl that was brought to his mouth, and opened his eyes with difficulty.

Chen Qingxu knew what he was worried about, and hurriedly wrote on his palm word by word: "Prince Yan has already returned to the capital, he doesn't know."

The corners of Gu Yun's pale mouth curved slightly, as if he was smiling. He drank the medicine reluctantly, and his spirit became distracted again.

Gu Yun's lungs were injured by the shock, and his old injuries relapsed. He had a fever all night long. The four words "die with eyes open" supported him like a rock. The next day, he climbed up in an astonishing way, drank the medicine like water, and then called all his generals to listen to the battle report.

After the meeting was over, Chen Qingxu brought a bowl of medicine to him. Gu Yun took it and drank it all. He didn't know whether it was because of the collision that injured his head or the loud noise that hurt his ears. His ears, which were already relying on medicine to maintain their function, were buzzing all the time.

Putting down the empty bowl, Gu Yun asked the first question: "When did King Yan leave?"

Chen Qingxu said sparingly, "Early in the morning on the third day of the first lunar month."

Gu Yun heaved a sigh of relief - the Western Region was under his control. As long as Chang Geng had left, not a single word of this matter would reach the capital.

At this point, he was relieved of both the public and private matters, and automatically regarded this as a false alarm. He smiled at Chen Qingxu and said, "I have been a little carried away recently, and I didn't check for a while. I am embarrassed."

Chen Qingxu didn't laugh. Instead, he pulled a chair over and sat down, pretending to want to have a long talk: "My Lord, I have a few words to tell you."

Gu Yun was stunned.

Some doctors are the type that get very angry. If the patient does not cooperate in any way, they will get angry. Some doctors are the type that let their patients do what they want - if you ask me to do the treatment, I will take care of it. If you don't want to treat me, then forget it. I won't force you. You can do it if you want or not.

Chen Qingxu undoubtedly belonged to the latter. No matter whether Gu Yun was on the front line with a steel plate or repeatedly and stubbornly increased the dosage of the medicine, she never said anything and rarely looked so serious.

Gu Yun: "Miss Chen, please."

Chen Qingxu: "No part of the human body can fight alone. The ears and eyes are also connected to the internal organs. The consequences of the poison injury in the Marquis' childhood have continued to this day, and this battle has caused continuous injuries to his bones and muscles, causing shock to his lungs and internal organs. Now that the chaos in the Western Regions has been suppressed, in my opinion, it would be best for the Marshal to take the opportunity of escorting the prisoners of war to return to the capital for a rest, otherwise..."

Gu Yun: "One day, no panacea will be able to cure me, right?"

Chen Qingxu's face showed no strange expression. She nodded and said, "My Lord, I think you know your own health."

Gu Yun hummed, and remained silent for a long time.

When people are in their twenties or thirties, it is difficult for them to feel the "aging" and "illness" brought by the passing of time. If they feel unwell occasionally, they usually don't think it's serious. Without personal experience, other people's exhortations such as "take care" and "take care" are probably just wind in their ears - there are too many things that rank above this stinking skin, fame and fortune, loyalty and righteousness, family and country and duty... even romance, love and hate.

Gu Yun was no exception.

Until this moment.

He had always thought that his destiny was to be buried in the frontier or die in the mountains and rivers. He regarded himself as a firework, and when it was set off, the reputation of the Gu family as a loyal and brave family would be fulfilled.

But when the time came, Chang Geng suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pushed him off his planned path with a slap. He couldn't help but have delusions and wanted more - for example, after the country was damaged, there would be a few years left without any disability or illness, which could be left for Chang Geng.

If he died early, Chang Geng would be left alone with the vicious curse of that northern barbarian woman. What would he do in the future? What if Wuergu had an attack one day and he really... who would take care of him? Who would take care of him?

Chen Qingxu was not good at speaking, and was worried that she would not be able to convince Gu Yun because of her poor words. But before she could finish her speech, Gu Yun suddenly said, "I understand. Thank you. Miss Chen, please take care of me in the future. In the current situation, I may not be able to rest, but as long as I don't go to the palace to see the emperor and there is no urgent military information at the border, I will try not to use the medicine, okay?"

Chen Qingxu was stunned for a moment, and suddenly found that Gu Yun seemed different.

The three generations of the Black Iron Camp were handed down to Gu Yun, and it was like an iron plate. His words were enforced and he had absolute authority. Under Gu Yun's information blockade, the capital only received news of the great victory in Western Xinjiang.

Lord Fenghan cried as he listened to the incident in the court, and the whole country was in an uproar. Even Gu Yun's later petition to apologize for killing the King of Kucha without authorization seemed like a trivial matter. Anyway, Gu Yun's tough tactics in battle were not a day or two, and even Li Feng felt that this was something he could do.

Only Chang Geng frowned at the letter of apology sent to the Military Affairs Office. Although he couldn't explain why, he just felt that there was something hidden in it.

Unfortunately, before he could think about it, the Black Eagle envoy who delivered the letter took out another letter: "Your Majesty, this is a family letter given to you by the Marquis."

The last time Gu Yun wrote him a letter was two years after he left for the Ancient Silk Road, and there was one letter written by Shen Yi.

Chang Geng was a man of first-rate self-control. He calmly accepted the letter and expressed his gratitude, speaking a bunch of sincere and soothing polite words that moved the inexperienced Xuanying envoy to tears. He wished he could kowtow and swear to serve his country, but was sent away in a daze.

As soon as the special envoy left, Chang Geng immediately dismissed the eunuchs who were serving on both sides and couldn't wait to open the envelope. He was deft with his hands and was extremely careful when opening it. The envelope was not torn at all and could be used as a complete piece when taken out.

As soon as it was opened, a small piece of dried apricot blossom fell out.

Gu Yun seemed to be possessed by Shen Yi. He wrote a lot of words with great detail. He was a bad-mouthed person to begin with, and he did not hesitate to use bad words when describing the miserable state of the Western Region coalition forces. The enemy army was in a state of panic, as if they were actually seeing it in front of their eyes. If there were still people in the Military Affairs Office, they would probably be horrified by now. Who has ever seen the calm Prince Yan laughing so happily behind a desk piled with documents?

At the end, Gu Yun wrote: "There are a few apricot trees at the pass. Due to the war, most of the trunks have been burnt to ashes. There are no insects or ants. I thought they were dead. One day, when I returned from patrolling the camp, I saw that the dead trees had come back to life. Flower buds grew in the ashes and blossomed overnight. They were pitiful and lovely. Countless soldiers spoiled the mood. It's useless to talk about cherishing and loving flowers. It's better to take the initiative and pick a branch for you to play with..."

There was a sentence scribbled behind the cursive script of Marquis Anding, and Chang Geng vaguely made out it was "I wish I could cut a few branches of spring plum blossoms for the Marquis's mansion in the early spring next year". Later, perhaps because he felt that it was ominous to talk about the future, he scribbled it again and wrote a signature in a casual manner. It was not known whether it was intentional or coincidental, but there was a faint mark of a flower branch in his signature, which crossed out the word "Gu" in a simple manner. Just by looking at the word with the mark of flower, one could smell a faint fragrance coming towards him, which was indescribably elegant and unparalleled.

Chang Geng was struck by his shyness.

No matter how rough or careless these young masters of noble families seem in their daily lives, they all know these little tricks of singing and dancing with the wind and the moon, and everyone has a few tricks up their sleeves.

Chang Geng couldn't help but think of the time when Gu Yun drank too much yellow soup and was stuck between being romantic and vulgar. He was not jealous of those unfounded romantic affairs. Instead, he thought that Gu Yun was very cute.

Chang Geng drank a bowl of cold tea and slowly read Gu Yun's letter from beginning to end three or four times. He wished he could memorize every word in his mind and copy out an identical letter with his eyes closed. Only then did he put the letter paper and dried flowers into his purse and keep them close to his body.

Then he wrote the word "aristocratic family" on the paper beside him and closed his eyes slightly.

The three words "Prince Yan" represent the royal family. At this time of national crisis, the interests of the noble families and the royal family are unprecedentedly consistent. As long as he does not act out of line, no one will be so blind as to make things difficult for him. Many wealthy noble families even expressed great support for the beacon tickets, and this time they all contributed some money...

So what’s next?

Once action is taken at the border, huge military expenses will be incurred. Refugees are still crossing the river in an endless stream. People in Daliang are in panic and do not engage in production. The little emergency beacon money will soon run out. The court cannot survive by borrowing money.

Reforms of the land system, tax system, civil and commercial system, etc. are all imminent, and any change will be detrimental.

By then, all the noble families and powerful people in the court will be his enemies.

Chang Geng's expression, which had just been full of warm smiles, turned cold. He used his wolf hair to lightly hook and cross the word "aristocratic family".

Under the lamp, the young prince looked extremely handsome and extremely cold.

Be it Lord Feng Han, Fatty Ge, Miss Chen...even Gu Yun, they all seemed to think that the person who took up the heavy responsibility could just put it down and walk away when the building was completed.

But how is that possible?

The word "power" has always been a road of life and death, with no return in times of crisis.