Chapter 241: Passing the Test

  The scorching sun was shining brightly, and the pedestrians on the road were sweating profusely. On the official road, there were layers of checkpoints, and the Xiongnu people had laid down heavy troops here in order to capture the crown prince of the Great Han, Liu Zhengqi.

  Several Xiongnu soldiers retreated to the slanting back of the pass, their eyes occasionally scanning the pass for a couple of times, and sometimes gazing at the movement in the distance.

  The ones truly responsible for the raids were actually Han people who had been forcibly conscripted by them.

  "Hurry up, hurry up, haven't eaten yet?" The loud shouts kept coming into my ears, and in this ghostly hot weather, it made people even more anxious.

  Although they were all wearing the military uniforms distributed by the Xiongnu people, they all furrowed their brows and looked at that loudly shouting brother.

  It's strange to say, although most people surrendered to the Huns under duress and were arranged by them to assist in defense here. Their inspections seemed severe at first glance, but in fact, they just muddled through and went through the motions.

  However, there are some people who seem to have suddenly found their parents, they spare no effort to curry favor with the new master, for their own promotion path, they have forgotten where their ancestors came from.

  This middle-aged man who kept shouting was a typical example of them.

  What is astonishing is that he was not born with a villainous appearance, ugly and unpleasant to look at.

  At first glance, it actually has a rather dignified and majestic appearance.

  A few Xiongnu people pointed here and laughed at something in their mouths.

  The man worked even harder, and didn't even have time to wipe away the thin layer of fine sweat on his forehead.

  However, he did not notice that the Xiongnu people who were talking about him had the same look in their eyes as his own companions, which was disdain and contempt.

  The sound of wheels rolling came from afar, getting closer and closer. Five or six people drove two horse-drawn carriages, their faces covered in dust, slowly approaching. Behind them, several groups of peasants followed, leading livestock.

  At the checkpoint above, the Han leader in charge of the inspection found it strange that as it was approaching noon, there were actually more people.

  He went up in person, and these two big cars were all open-top cars, inside which were just some hay and sundries, making it clear at a glance.

  He took a glance and knew there was nothing mysterious about it. His gaze followed the car to several people on the side, his eyebrows furrowed.

  These few people were tall and sturdy, although they had a humble smile on their faces, but their eyes were venomous, and they immediately saw the unruliness in these people's eyes.

  His heart skipped a beat, and suddenly a chill ran down his spine, as if he had sensed a faint hint of murderous intent.

  He swallowed hard and turned his neck with difficulty, making out the face of the man following behind the carriage. His eyes suddenly widened to their largest extent, and his gaze fell onto the man's right arm, where he saw a vacant space, and he involuntarily drew in a breath of cold air.

  It was no surprise to him, Zhang Zihua's mouth corner overflowed with a thread of icy ridicule, even on such a hot day, it made people feel chilled.

  His left hand had already tightly grasped the short knife with a deadly poison inside his collar, and as soon as this man shouted loudly to attract everyone's attention, he would take his life with one knife.

  No matter what reason, those who are willing to serve the Xiongnu are to be killed, they - death is not a pity.

  However, his action stopped halfway, and the short knife in his arms was not pulled out.

  Because the Han leader had already turned around, he actually used his own body to block Zhang Zihua's line of sight, handing over his back to this suspect he was searching without any guard.

  "No problem, let them go." The thick voice entered everyone's ears, and their expressions at that time had some unnaturalness, a mixture of emotion and astonishment.

  Zhang Zihua shifted his gaze, as the car moved forward slowly, his mind was filled with thoughts, whether to change plans and take Liu Zhengqi away?

  "There are still three checkpoints ahead, all of which are personally guarded by the Xiongnu people. Be careful, sir."

  As he passed by the side of that Han leader, he heard a sentence in his ear, although it was low but extremely clear.

  He let out a long sigh, and his heart had already made up its mind.

  The large vehicle slowly moved out of the checkpoint, and the more than 20 Xiongnu people on both sides were completely unaware.

  Zhang Zihua suddenly stumbled and let out a cry of "Ah yo...", almost falling over.

  The middle-aged man who had been chattering non-stop in his mouth heard the movement, and his eyes glanced over here. With just one glance, he seemed to be fixed in place by a spell, unable to move his eyeballs again.

  Zhang Zihua hastily hid in the shadow of a large vehicle and suddenly disappeared from the man's line of sight.

  "Stop right there..." A thunderous voice came out of that man's throat.

  This loud shout instantly attracted the attention of the Xiongnu people, and more than twenty pairs of eyes turned to look over here.

  The man ran three steps and made two steps to the side of the big car, his mouth shouting: "Zhang Zihua, I've found you."

  Behind him, the Han leader gripped the hilt of his knife tightly, his thick fingers turning an unnatural pale from excessive force. His gaze was fixed intently on that ecstatic figure in the distance. A faint glint of cold light flashed by, and the waist knife had already been drawn out of its scabbard.

  The man ran to Zhang Zihua's front with a red face, but when he saw the icy and piercing eyes, the joyful expression on his face suddenly solidified. There was no longer any excitement in his eyes, replaced by boundless fear and regret.

  His body was like a withered leaf in the autumn wind, trembling. He clearly saw Zhang Zihua move, his hand holding a bright and dazzling light, that kind of beautiful light that could cleanse the soul.

  He fell heavily to the ground and his life came to an end.

  Zhang Zihua raised his head, his eyes never glanced at the person who had fallen to death. He faced the leader of the Han people and gave a thumbs up with his remaining left hand.

  "Alas..."

  At the sound of a whistle, the Xiongnu soldiers reacted extremely quickly, immediately grasping their weapons and mounting their horses.

  "Go!" Jiang Gongming shouted loudly, and more than a dozen Han men in front of and behind him immediately turned over and mounted their horses, calling out to each other before quickly fleeing the scene.

  The two teams of people chased each other, and in an instant, they vanished without a trace.

  "What shall we do?" a stunned guard finally came to his senses and asked.

  He gave him a cold look, causing the other person to shudder involuntarily, before calmly saying, "Catch up."

  Although he had only one arm, Zhang Zihua rode his horse with ease and led the crowd to gallop northward. Behind him were more than 20 Xiongnu riders.

  A cold smile played on his lips, just as he had expected, these Xiongnu people were clearly not elite troops, their riding skills were far better than ordinary Han people, but compared to the group of powerful Han soldiers beside him, they were much inferior.

  The distance between the two sides has not narrowed, but rather has a tendency to widen.

  The leader of the Xiongnu people suddenly let out a loud shout, his voice filled with shock and anger, and incredulity.

  "Whoosh..."

  A loud bowstring sounded, followed by a shrill cry from the rear. Zhang Zihua was shocked and turned his head back, only to see that the Xiongnu leader had fallen off his horseback, with a shiny arrow lodged in his throat.

  "Hares, spare your lives!" A loud shout came from the dense forest on the side, and dozens of riders swarmed out.

  The Xiongnu saw that things were going badly and immediately turned their horses around and fled in a hurry.

  Only those dozens of riders were well-prepared, and someone was waiting in the rear. After a rain of arrows, it was a short time to meet each other. In an instant, more than 20 Xiongnu people were buried here.

  "Liu Tong? How did you get here?" Zhang Zihua exclaimed, his eyes scanning the surroundings, but he still couldn't find what he was looking for in his heart.

  "Mr. Zhang, don't bother looking anymore, His Highness the Crown Prince hasn't arrived." Liu Zhengzhong naturally knew what he was worried about.

  Zhang Zihua gazed into the old general's eyes, as if he saw something there. He let out a long sigh and said, "Commander Liu, you're always by the crown prince's side."

  Liu Zhengzhong shook his head, and for this sentence he was resolute in his denial: "If the Crown Prince can safely arrive at the Qilin Army, with Tan Old Brother taking care of him, it's more reliable than me, this old guy who is all name but no substance. Moreover..." He stopped, scanning around with his eyes, lowering his voice and saying: "We really have too many people."

  Zhang Zihua nodded silently and asked in a low voice: "How many people are still by your side, Your Highness?"

  "Even Lian Gao and Hua Liang, those two kids, make a total of twelve people."

  "Alas... General Liu shouldn't have come in person." Zhang Zihua sighed.

  Liu Zhengzhong sighed and said, "If I didn't come myself, these young whippersnappers would probably be hard to control."

  Zhang Zihua was, after all, just a scholar. The old men who came out of the Crown Prince's mansion naturally knew his origins and listened to him, but those warriors from the Northern Frontier Camp did not put him in their eyes. Zhang Zihua only brought more than ten old men from the Crown Prince's mansion at first, that was the reason.

  Apart from Liu Zhengzhong, one of the five major military leaders, there really isn't anyone else who can intimidate them.

  Zhang Zihua remained silent for a moment before asking, "Can Gao Feng's confession be trusted?"

  "He has already promised me." Liu Zhengzhong said calmly.

  Zhang Zihua looked into his eyes and nodded deeply for a long time.

  Liu Zhengzhong suddenly burst out laughing and said, "The Fang family is full of loyal martyrs, and Bo Hu's brother is even more tragic. I, Liu Zhengzhong, am also a great leader, how can I let them monopolize the glory in front?"

  Zhang Zihua also couldn't help but laugh and said: "Well, since that's how it is, Great General Liu, let's go together then."

  The two men looked at each other and burst out laughing, whipped their horses and galloped northward. Although there were only a few dozen riders, they had the momentum of thousands of troops.

  "Big brother, look, it's the Xiongnu people."

  After they left, several people came slowly, one of whom saw the corpses all over the ground, hurriedly jumped down to check, and shouted back.

  A tall and sturdy man rode up on horseback in front of him, who was the leader of the Han people they had just met at the pass.

  He furrowed his brow and carefully examined the traces on the ground and these long-dead corpses.

  "Big brother, there are about a hundred cavalrymen around. They will ambush here and capture all these Xiongnu people at once."

  "Uh-huh."

  "Big brother, what should we do now? Should we clean up this place?"

  "No, mess it up for me."

  "What?"

  "After going back, it was said that a large number of troops were discovered here, at least... at least three hundred people."

  "Three hundred people?"

  "Not bad, three hundred people..."

  The fastest update, no pop-up ads, please.