Cover The Sky With One Hand, Beat The Ground With The Other Chapter 60: (complete)

When I returned to the hall, my shadow guard leader and the army king Qianhu knelt down together, imploring me to escape from Zezhou City as quickly as possible before the Liang army came to the city, and send the battle report back to the capital.

I said: "I have already rushed back to Beijing with two flying cavalry, and the court will take action within three days, so there is no need for this princess to make such a trip in person."

A Shang abruptly stood up: "Princess, if you are one step later, I'm afraid it will be too late..."

Wang Qianhu also stood up and said in a hurry: "The spy reported that there are nearly 400,000 Liang troops, but the defending army in Zezhou city is only 5,000 people, princess, Zezhou... I'm afraid they can't defend. Why do you stay here and wait to die..."

I was silent for a moment and glanced at them, "I'm leaving, can the 500,000 people in Zezhou City be able to leave?"

Wang Qianhu said: "Princess, you are rich in gold, how can something go wrong, we are dead..."

I stopped and said: "This princess is the governor sent by Your Majesty to Zezhou. The army is out of the nest, and there are no generals in the army. This princess is the general, and it is the duty of this princess to guard Zezhou City. Have you ever seen an army general abandon the army and run away?"

"Princess—"

I said: "Shang, order all the shadow guards of Mingjian Division to change into military uniforms and prepare to defend the city!"

Mingjian Division Yingwei has always been obedient. Seeing that I have made up my mind, I no longer persuade him, and immediately turned around and walked out.

Wang Qianhu still wanted to say something, I asked: "Wang Ping, are you afraid of death when the Liang army is attacking?"

"Subordinates...don't be afraid."

I said: "You are not afraid, is this princess not as good as a little thousand households like you?"

Such a question is, of course, stealing a concept.

Apart from being impatient to live, how can anyone in this world not be afraid of death?

But Wang Ping couldn't answer my words. Even he couldn't come up with a convincing enough reason for me to leave.

Liang's sudden attack on the territory is definitely not an impromptu intention, and when they attacked the city during the civil strife in Daqing, they must already know our military situation well.

Zezhou City will eventually be breached, just like Lu Lingjun and his team of less than 100,000 people will inevitably be overrun by Nie Ran's elite soldiers, but he has to fight to the last moment, Zezhou It must also be held until the last moment.

Let 5,000 skirmishers defend the city without any rules in fear, and defend to the death under the guidance of someone, the result is decidedly different. I know that even if I don't need to do anything, as long as I am willing to stay and live with them, the city can last at least half a day.

Maybe it will take half a day, not to wait for reinforcements from all over the country to arrive, nor to wait for Song Langsheng to rush back to turn the tide, but at least it can buy them more time to defend and reinforce to do more Prepare.

When I stepped on the city wall again and looked at Liang Jun who was slowly approaching from the battlement, I remembered the last conversation between my father and me, and he suddenly said: "In my heart, you have always been my daughter... ...forever."

I didn't say anything at that time, but now I want to answer him.

I may not be able to be a princess forever, but I am the daughter of my father, the daughter of my father, and I will never be a deserter.

We have been defending the city for a day and a night.

The moat has long been filled with the corpses of the two armies. The hot oil, rolling stones, and arrow formations never stop, but Liang Jun, who has climbed the city, has not retreated in the slightest.

Looking around, Liang Jun's corpses under the city are all over the place, but they are attacking one after another as if they are inexhaustible. Human life is like ants, and the killing will never stop.

Liang Jun's chariot was pushed toward the city gate again, and every time it shook, it seemed that the whole world trembled.

The city gate is about to be breached, but we have few troops left. It is a miracle that we can fight to this point.

Liang Jun's head coach was looking at me from a distance under the city wall. In the past, when the two countries made good friends with him, he had a relationship with him. He knew my status in the Qing Kingdom, and he would definitely try to capture me alive. If the princess of Daqing really falls above them, she will only become a hostage at the mercy of others. If she cannot be used by them, the torture and humiliation she will suffer is self-evident.

How could I give them a chance to capture a living Princess Xiangyi?

At this time, Ah Shang and several other surviving shadow guards stood by my side and resolutely said: "Princess, we swear to protect you until the last moment."

I picked up a sword and said with Ah, "I don't know how to use swords, but it's okay to pretend."

It is enough to kill oneself with one sword.

A Shang was dumbfounded: "Princess, you want to..."

"When the Liang army breaks the city, you will protect me from the siege until the Liang army is in front of the commander." I put the sword in the scabbard, held the handle in my hand, and smiled softly: "Ah, thank you all. , can accompany me through this last journey."

I can't remember the tragic scene of swords and swords and blood and rain, but as we approached Shuaiqi step by step and got closer and closer to the commander of Liang Jun, the sky in the distance At the end, the sun finally rises.

The jade pendant on my chest came out of the neckline under the shaking of the horse. I lowered my head and glanced at it. It was carved by Song Langsheng for me before the expedition. After thinking about it carefully, this jade fan is what The first gift he gave me, I'm afraid, is also the last one.

He promised me that he would never let himself die on the battlefield and would be reunited with me alive.

He did it.

But I promised him that I would obediently wait for him to come back and join hands with him to the end of the world, but I couldn't keep it.

I thought that I would die so honorably, that I would be passed down as a good story in later generations, and since then I will be famous and mentioned in the long river of history.

But when I got close to the commander of Liang Jun and wanted to calmly wipe my neck away under the arrow formation surrounded by them, I suddenly heard a swoosh, and a feathered arrow pierced into the Liang Jun's commander impartially. 's chest.

This sudden change made me so shocked that I forgot the correct posture to commit suicide. Could it be that Liang Jun's soldiers made a slipping mistake? Or is there such a sharp archer hidden in the city of Zezhou that I didn't even know about?

Everyone around was stunned. Coach Liang Jun was on the verge of collapse. He clutched his chest and ordered someone to take me down immediately. Although I knew that I should hurry up and discipline myself at this time, I couldn't help but feel curious. Looking back in the direction of the arrow, I saw a man with a long spear in silver armor, galloping towards this side.

The ground trembled faintly, and behind the man came the sound of rolling horses' hooves.

I looked at the flying flag and was still in a daze. The man was already riding his horse close to me, and his spear was horizontal——

The blade of the spear pierced into the armor, which was extremely harsh, but when I heard a bang, the sword that was about to be swung at me by the commander of Liang Jun fell to the ground. The man turned his wrist, pulled out the barrel of the gun, and blood splashed. Just as the head coach Liang Jun fell off his horse, he wrapped his arms around him, took me on the back of his horse, and wrapped me in his arms. .

Then he said to me, "Sit tight."

I thought I had read it wrong, thought I had heard it wrong, wasn't his elite soldiers on their way to the capital, how could they suddenly appear in Zezhou.

Nie Ran, Nie Ran, how could he come?

Liang Jun finally came to his senses. Several soldiers rushed towards this place. The Nie family army beside us tightly guarded us in the middle, and the commander of Liang Jun, who was lying on the ground, shouted at Nie Ran, "You are the Qing Kingdom. Our rebels should be together with us against the Qing Army! Why should we be enemies with us!”

Nie Ran sneered: "How are we? That's our business! How can we allow foreign bandits to invade our country and kill my people?!"

The head coach Liang Jun said angrily: "You—you know that this is your coach Nie Guang..."

Before he finished speaking, Nie Ran swung his spear across his arm, cutting off the words of the head coach Liang Jun into the waves of blood.

At the same time, he whipped his whip and rode his horse, breaking a **** road amid the siege and annihilation of the Liang army!

Along the way, the sharp blade stabbed in front of him countless times, and countless people's blood splattered on his body, but all the sweeping attacks were blocked by his long spear.

Liang's army is far more powerful than the Nie family's army. In this hard battle, every step of the advance was exchanged by the soldiers with their own flesh and blood.

Nie Ran cut down one person again, and I saw from a distance the soldiers of mysterious armor coming in front of me. The big "Qing" character on the flag was the elite soldiers led by Lu Lingjun. I was shocked and murmured to him: "Why..."

Why did the Nie army join forces with the Qing army to repel the Liang army?

Why?

Nie Ran didn't bother to answer me, there were fewer and fewer elite cavalry guards around us, and every bit of his attention was on hitting the enemy, but his hands and feet were injured, Liang Jun's The offensive continued unabated, and he didn't let a single arrow hit me in the slightest.

I never thought that Nie Ran would be the one who brought me out of this chaos.

I don't understand, I don't understand at all, this Nie family army is their last elite division and their last hope to restore the country, but Nie Ran led the army to fight against Liang Guo. Do you know what kind of war he chose for this battle?

The distance from the battle circle is getting farther and farther. The Nie family's guards who were originally next to us let Nie Ran go first in order to cut off the killing path, but they never caught up.

The horse ran into the woods without looking back, and ran for a long, long time, until he could no longer hear the screams of slaughter in the distance. , I don't know where Nie Ran is going to take me.

The next moment, however, Nie Ran took hold of the reins and took me off the horse.

He was covered in blood, and he couldn't tell whether it was his own or someone else's. He calmly handed a bronze medal to me and said, "Across this forest is the Songjiang River. Farmers, if you show this to them, they will take you in and leave soon after the storm subsides."

I didn't answer. He opened my fingers and put the bronze medal into my palm. Seeing that he was about to turn around, I said, "You are very hurt..."

"It doesn't matter."

After he finished speaking, he got on his horse and walked out of the woods again. I was at a loss as I watched his retreating back, and then I saw him fall on the horse's back.

The horse was also injured and couldn't run too fast. I rushed forward and grabbed the reins, which made the horse stop.

Nie Ran had passed out, his face was as pale as paper, and blood dripped to the ground along the saddle. Even at the end of the battle, he still wanted to rush to the battlefield and fight side by side with his subordinates.

I touched the horse's mane, and took the reins as I walked to the Songjiang River step by step. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the treetops.

The night fog, surging with the wind, is like a veil, I dare not open it, I dare not face it.

The candle in the house was nearly half lit. The doctor in the village bandaged Nie Ran's wound before slowly walking out the door and said to me, "My son lost a lot of blood, but luckily he didn't hurt his internal organs, so he needs to rest in peace. , the prescription that the old man has prescribed is placed on the table, and the five patches are taken over ten days, and they will be cured in a few days.”

I nodded.

As I expected, this small village is inextricably linked with the Nie family, so when the villagers saw Nie Ran, they went to find a doctor for him with great concern. They didn't know my identity. , I only thought that I was with Nie Ran all the way and made two village houses for us to rest, but I didn't dare to ask any more questions.

I slowly stepped into the room. At this time, we all put on clean cotton and linen clothes. When I recalled the thrilling day, I didn't feel a little dazed.

I picked up the jade flute on the table and immersed the body of the flute in a copper basin to wash off the blood. I gave this jade flute to Xu Fang back then, but what I didn't expect was that Nie Ran would take it with him when he was on the battlefield.

I moved the wooden chair by the bed and sat down.

Nie Ran closed his eyes and frowned slightly, as if he couldn't sleep because of the pain from the wound. I reached out to touch his forehead, feeling hot, and turned around to draw a basin of cold water for him, but he suddenly held him. wrist. I stayed for a while, but saw that his eyebrows moved slightly, and then slowly opened his eyes, his hoarse voice drifted in the night wind: "Zhefeng..."

I froze. What did he call me?

Seeing me stunned and at a loss, he looked around with some doubts, staring at me with soft warmth in his eyes, "Where are we?"

I looked at him in shock and replied blankly: "We...this is...by the river..."

"Jiang?" He blinked in confusion, "Aren't we going to Suiyang?"

There were bursts of crickets outside the house, and at that moment, I suddenly realized that Nie Ran in front of me was burned out and put myself on the way to Suiyang with me more than a year ago. He thought I was He Feng thought he was the Xu Fang who wanted to take He Feng far away.

A gust of wind extinguished the candles in the house, and it was instantly pitch black.

I hurriedly pulled out his hand, "I, I'm going to light a candle."

The flint and flint seem to be out of action, knocking and bumping again and again, but it can't strike a spark. I shook my hands, trying to ease my rapid breathing, and when I lit the candle again and turned around, I realized that he had fallen asleep again.

I walked slowly to the bedside step by step and nudged him gently: "...Xu...Fang?"

He did not respond.

I caressed my heavy heart and stared at him for a long, long time, so long that I didn't even notice my own tears.

I stayed by his bed, leaning back in my chair thinking wildly, and fell asleep before I knew it.

I don't know how long I slept.

Only when I woke up suddenly, I found that I was wearing a man's robe, and the person on the bed was gone.

Someone is talking vaguely outside the door. I put my robe on the bed with my backhand, and walked slowly to the door. I followed the crack of the door and saw a few soldiers in armor kneeling in front of Nie Ran. The veteran general said in a trembling voice, "Young master... ...Liang's army has been defeated and gone to the western border...it's just our army..."

Another veteran choked: "General Nie and the others are also... Young Master, now, there are only us, only us..."

Nie Ran turned his back to me, I couldn't see his expression, his back was like a sculpture, motionless, the veteran wiped away his tears and said, "Young Master, no, don't be discouraged, your subordinates are ready by the river. Once you get off the boat, you can cross the river and stay away from the Qing soldiers... Young Master, we still have the military talisman, and we can also win over the old troops of the former dynasty in the north, and we will definitely make a comeback. Young Master, as long as the Young Master is still there, the Young Master will belong to Da Zhou. Hope..."

Nie Ran was silent for a while, and his voice could not tell the emotion: "General Chen is very true. You two step ahead, I will meet you when the sky is bright."

After the veteran soldiers left, Nie Ran sat quietly by the door, wondering what he was thinking.

I slowly opened the door, and Nie Ran looked up at me, "Waking you up?"

"...No, I see you're not here...so..." I was in a mess, thinking of the way he called me "Hefeng" when he was in a drowsiness, it's like a different person from the calm and alienation at the moment, I said : "Just now..."

"Huh?"

"In your sleep...you stumbled...asked me..."

"Ask you?"

"Ask me... where are we..." I looked at him tentatively, "Can't you remember?"

Nie Ran frowned and thought for a while, then shook his head, "Maybe I'm injured and my mind is a little unclear. Don't take it to heart."

I looked at him, his expression didn't seem to be fake, so I nodded and sat down beside him, "Your injury... Is it getting better?"

He said: "Yeah."

I didn't know how to continue the topic, my mind was blank, he said to me: "Zezhou City is saved, Lu Lingjun is still alive, you can rest assured." After a pause, he turned to look Me, seeing no joy in me, "what's the matter?"

I lowered my head and found that my hands were trembling slightly, "The Liang army is attacking the territory, the imperial army can't keep up, and the capital is too busy to take care of itself, shouldn't you take this opportunity to attack Huanglong? Why? Why did you come to Zezhou? ?"

He said slowly: "At this moment, what does this question mean to you?"

I said: "Yes. I want to know the answer...I want to know, is it because you are worried that Liang Jun will eventually take advantage of the fisherman? Or is this also one of Nie Guang's strategies? Or..."

"Because you're there," he replied without warning.

Everything in front of me blurred in a trance, and then gradually became clear. The moonlight reflected Nie Ran's deep sea-like eyes, "Because you are in Zezhou, I want to save you."

I looked at him blankly and heard my voice tremble: "Nie Ran, I don't deserve you to treat me like this..."

"Worth it."

This sentence sounds so familiar.

The year I first met Xu Fang, I yelled at Xu Fang in the village and told him that my true heart was not on him, and he said the same thing to me.

But these warm words, at this moment, stabbed my heart like a knife, and I met his gaze: "You..."

He suddenly raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, "I lied to you."

I don't understand, "Huh?"

"Princess." He said: "Today, you also heard Feng Zhike, the head coach of Liang Jun, say that they attacked Zezhou together with their father. How did we save you?"

Tonight's moon hangs in the dark sky, so desolate. He looked at the night sky calmly, "As for me, even if... I choose to embark on this road to restore the country, but I don't despise them using the power of foreign invaders and enemy countries to exchange the lives of millions of people for the country... This is what , my answer."

Moonlight pulled our figure to the ground, his hands crossed on his knees, clasped tightly.

He didn't know that in the past in Chenjia Village, when Xu Fang made a guilty conscience, he would clasp his hands like this.

I don't look away when I suddenly feel that something is jammed up in my chest. Nie Ran suddenly said, "I've always had doubts..."

I looked back casually, "Huh?"

He took out the jade flute from behind and shook it in front of me, "Where did you buy this flute for him? I remember that Chenjia Village is a fishing village, and there is no way that any jade flute can be sold. ."

I was reminded and couldn't help laughing, "In order to buy this jade flute, I walked for half a day, I just bought it in Linzhen... Don't look at the poor quality of this flute, in order to buy it, I've been washing clothes for a long time..."

His eyes softened, "It seems that the princess suffered a lot at that time..."

I blurted out: "Being with the person you like, what kind of hardship is that..."

Nie Ran's turning to the xiao stopped, and then I realized what I said, and said softly, "What I said...is the past..."

He was noncommittal, with a self-deprecating smile on his lips. He turned to look at the peach tree in the courtyard. Back then, in front of my house and Xu Fang's house in Chenjia Village, there was also a tree very similar to this one. Likes to play the flute for me under the tree. Nie Ran stared at it for a while, then slowly raised the Xiao to his lips, and slowly played the familiar piece of music.

The wind and the moon.

Only when he was halfway through, he stopped, he turned his head and asked me: "In the woods that day, you only hummed the first half of this song with me, and I have never been able to figure out the second half. Part of the music, now, can you sing it for me?"

My eyes were hot, I quickly turned my head away, and wiped away the tears that slipped from the corners of my eyes without leaving a trace, "It's been too long...I can't remember..."

For a long time, he gently broke the silence: "You're right, it's been too long, it's time to forget."

I lowered my head and dared not look into his eyes, "Nie Ran, are you leaving as soon as the sun rises?"

"Hmm."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know, probably, it will go a long way..."

I nodded, "It would be nice to forget everything here and start over..."

"Well, that's fine too."

A few clouds moved slightly, obscuring the moon, and the light and shadow were mottled and dim.

I stood up slowly and walked into the house, "I, I'm sleepy, go to the back room to sleep for a while, you, you also rest early."

Just as I stepped through the door, he suddenly stopped me: "Princess..."

I paused, pressed one hand on the door frame, then slowly turned my head and smiled diligently, "What's wrong?"

He looked at me, there was a momentary fluctuation in his eyes, as if he wanted to say something to me, but he looked at me deeply for a moment, after all he didn't say anything, just smiled very lightly, and said, "It's nothing. , get some rest..."

The two rooms, separated by a wall, are exactly the same as when the Chen family's village house was at that time.

It's just that it's impossible to go back to the forgotten time of the past day. When I open my eyes every morning, I see him sitting beside my bed, and then asking me carefully: "You... Remember me? My name is Xu Fang."

I am no longer a gentleman, and he is no longer a gentleman.

But this night, who of us can sleep peacefully?

The night is getting thinner, and the sky seeps light.

When I woke up, I realized that the sky was already bright.

I put on my shoes and socks silently and walked around to the outhouse. There was no one in the room. Neither Xiao nor Jian was on the table. He had already left.

It turned out that the last sentence last night was actually saying goodbye.

I walked out of the village house slowly, the sound of the river slamming on the bank in front of me, and my clothes were facing the wind.

A river of autumn water, brushing like silk brocade, condenses into a thin mist at the top of the water and sky.

I saw a flat boat. On the boat, there was a man in a commoner sitting quietly, paddling and slowly sailing to the heart of the river.

It's not who Nie Ran is.

But why, he was only one person, didn't he leave with his subordinates?

I felt uneasy, and subconsciously walked forward, and then saw Nie Ran throw the long oars into the water and slowly stood up.

He, what is he doing?

The next moment, I saw that the torch in his hand was gently placed on the boat by him——

A little crimson light burst into flames!

"No!" I exclaimed in disbelief, "No!"

That leaf light boat seemed to be filled with straw drenched with kerosene, and the fire spread with the wind.

I stared forward in horror, thinking back to last night, how could I not see the clues of all the anomalies!

He lived for the restoration of the country in his life, carrying too many burdens, but in the end, all the tribes who followed him died for him, but not on the road to restoration.

How could he still be alone!

I just feel that the flame is burning in my heart, but nothing can stop it. I can only stumble into the river and shout with exhaustion, hoping that he can hear it and change his mind. A dead end.

In the Hokage, the figure of Qing Jun still stood quietly, as if the swirling heat did not affect him at all. He took up the jade flute and slightly bowed his head to blow it.

The sound of the flute is clear and gentle, flowing quietly, like the warm morning sun and the breeze under the moon.

Once, the person who composed this piece told me: Be warm and warm, follow and be warm, wherever the wind blows is my direction.

Xufeng and Yue, this is the promise of Xu Fang and Zefeng under the moonlight.

The next portamento, my breathing, almost stopped for a split second.

It's him.

The sound of the song is long and lingering, which means love. It is the second half of Xu Feng and Yue.

This is the half that I couldn't finish singing in the woods, and the half that I lied to Nie Ran that I couldn't remember it anymore.

It's always been...he.

"Xu Fang..."

"Xu Fang!!!"

The vision in front of me began to blur, I fell into the water, and shouted his name over and over again, but I couldn't hear any response except for the sound of the song.

I ask in the song, but I still remember the peach blossoms in March, the bright moon and the bright night, swimming on my shoulders, accompanied by long appearances.

Just a few trips, a few drunks, and a few stays, but I can't keep that dream of youth.

The splendid glow of the red fire dyed the clouds in the sky red, and the melodious wind and the moon became the ultimate soul-soothing tune.

When the melody ended, the river surface returned to tranquility again, the sunrise in the east fully rose, and it was a new day.

But in this world, there is no other way.

——(End of this chapter)