C42

Chapter 42 - State of the North

On the morning of the second day, when the sky was still just starting to brighten, Zhao Chen had already woken up!

He excitedly headed out while Yue Fei, Wang Gui and Zhang Xian followed behind him! The three of them had no official post now, they were equivalent to his guards! With these three Xiantian masters as guards, there weren't many people in the world that could kill him!

In the past few days, Zhao Chen had been cooped up in his small courtyard. It was simply too stuffy, and only today could he truly experience the scenery of Tongguan City!

Tongguan City was an army city, so other than the soldiers, there were no ordinary citizens here! The city walls were not very big, it was just that the thickness of the walls was comparable to that of the Kaifeng City! From generation to generation, the Tongguan had been constantly receiving additional training. Even if the Song Dynasty was established, its strategic position was not as important as before. However, the emperor of the Song Dynasty had also added training to this place several times!

It was the second day of the second month, so the northwest weather was still extremely cold!

In the morning, when they had just woken up, Zhao Chen had already felt the sky darken. After wandering around Tongguan City for a while, and arrived at the walls of Tongguan City, there was unexpectedly a floating, light snow that fell from the sky!

As the snowflakes fell on Zhao Chen's body, he felt a burst of coolness!

He looked into the distance and saw that the mountains in the distance were also covered with pure white snow. This white snow was like the snow in winter, it couldn't be melted away for a short period of time!

"The scenery of the Northern Kingdom, the thousand miles of ice sealed, the thousand miles of snow drifting about! Looking inside and outside the Great Wall, the only thing left was the wilderness, the rivers, and the torrential waters! The dance of the mountains and the silver serpents, the original speed of the wax elephant, the desire to test higher than the emperor! Only now can I truly understand the heroic spirit of this poem! The great man back then was truly majestic, and was able to compose such a magnificent poem! " Zhao Chen looked into the distance and actually thought of this Spring Snow from Qin Garden!

In his previous life, as a high school student, he did not know what was so good about this poem, but now that he was the crown prince and the king of the country, he finally truly understood this poem. He could feel how this poem cleansed his soul!

"There is no Great Wall here, there is only Tongguan! I am not that great man, I have no army of my own! But my identity is different from others. Sooner or later, I will control this country and realize my dreams! " Zhao Chen secretly thought.

He turned around and led Yue Fei, Wang Gui and Zhang Xian forward. The snowfall grew heavier and heavier, and the weather became colder and colder!

This Tongguan City was extremely important, there were many soldiers on the city walls, but since the heavy snow had started to fall, the soldiers had all hidden themselves, and not a single soldier could be seen on the walls.

"Is this the Home Breaker? The main sect Home Breaker s of my Song Dynasty's strongest Western Army s? " couldn't help but ask as they arrived at a crenellated location.

"Your Highness, relying on this kind of Home Breaker might not be enough to protect Tongguan!" Yue Fei frowned and said.

"Oh?" Zhao Chen was startled.

"This Home Breaker is actually not even as good as Liu Guangshi's Liu Jiajia, not even as good as the numerous allied troops outside of the Xiangzhou City! Although this Tongguan is a dangerous place, it still depends on who's here to guard it! Relying on this kind of Home Breaker to protect the Tongguan, I'm afraid that once the Jin Army arrives, they will be forced to flee! " Yue Fei said.

"Are you saying that staying in the Tongguan is still very dangerous?" A look of surprise appeared in Zhao Chen's eyes as he said that.

"Yes!" Extremely dangerous! When His Highness was discussing with the other Masters yesterday, he thought that the Home Breaker would be able to defend the Tongguan, but now, it seems that it was simply impossible! Your Highness, we need to leave Tongguan immediately! " Yue Fei said.

"Am I going to run for my life again?" Zhao Chen laughed bitterly.

"There is no other way! Your Highness, the most important thing now is to protect your useful body! Why don't we go see Zhe Keqiu now and let him escort us out of the Tongguan! His Highness was the crown prince and his status was high. How could he stay in a mountain pass? With your highness' status, you should be in the Chang'an City now! " Yue Fei said.

"We should wait a little longer, Nvzhen hasn't come to Shaanxi Province yet, they are still a long way from reaching Tongguan! Let's take another look! If Nvzhen comes to Shaanxi Province and this Tongguan is still unreliable, we can escape from here! " Zhao Chen said.

As the heavy snow drifted in the air, Zhao Chen's body had already turned white. At this moment, he felt as though he was like a snowflake, floating in the air, unable to control himself! He was clearly the crown prince of the Song Dynasty, and even though his status was incomparably honorable, he was still incomparably useless in life! The Nvzhen wanted to kill him, his own Ninth Uncle wanted to kill him, while Zhe Keqiu and the others wanted to seize the heaven's son to order the dukes around!

"My life is not even comparable to that of an ordinary commoner! Forget it, to be able to survive in this chaotic world is already not bad! I still need to be strong, gather my strength, and one day, I will be able to truly control my own destiny! " A trace of determination appeared in Zhao Chen's eyes!

Unexpectedly, the snow did not stop for five days. On the seventh day of the second month, a troop of cavalrymen came under the Tongguan! These riders were dressed like the Song Dynasty soldiers, they were sent by Zhe Keqiu to investigate!

After hearing that they had returned, Zhe Keqiu immediately got them to come and pay respects to him!

"Did you guys find out anything about the Nvzhen?" All of them knelt down, and Zhe Keqiu immediately asked.

General, Nvzhen is invading Shaanxi Province! I'm afraid that Shaanxi Province will fall very soon! " A deputy general said.

"As expected... They have already attacked Shaanxi Province! " Zhe Keqiu said in a daze.

Shaanxi Province is currently Henan Three Gate Gorge, which is not far from Tongguan! If that place was captured, with Female Genuine Cavalry's speed, she would probably be able to reach the bottom within two or three days! Originally, there was a surging Yellow River beside Tongguan, but the weather was cold now, and the Yellow River was frozen, unable to stop Nvzhen!

"Father, I have already sent someone to inform Yao Gu, he is bringing the Yao Army with him, he is heading towards the Tongguan!" Zhe Yanzhi said.

"Very good! Looks like we need to retreat from Tongguan! " Zhe Keqiu clenched his teeth and said.

He was extremely reluctant. To him, the Tongguan was his foundation, and he had run this place for a long time. But now, he wanted to give this place to an outsider! But there was no other way, the Nvzhen was approaching menacingly, he was definitely not Nvzhen's opponent!

"Forget it, forget it …" If there were mountains and rivers, even if there were no firewood, it would be fine! As long as Home Breaker is still in my hands, and as long as the crown prince is still in my grasp, turning over a new leaf in the future will be very easy! Yan Chi, immediately send someone to inform the crown prince that we are leaving the Tongguan! " Zhe Keqiu said.

Immediately after, Zhe Yanzhi left. He stood in his room and sighed.

In the past few days, Zhao Chen was still practicing martial arts, at the same time, he was also paying close attention to the news from the Nvzhen, but as the crown prince, other than Li Gang, Yue Fei and the others, there was no one else that could use him, the surrounding Home Breaker s did not listen to his orders, thus he did not receive any useful information!

Based on the results of his discussion with Li Gang, Yue Fei and the rest, they could only judge whether the Nvzhen had arrived or not based on her actions!

Zhe Keqiu's spies had just returned from Shaanxi Province, so the news had not spread. As a result, Tongguan was still very calm, and Zhao Chen and the rest continued to do their own things calmly!

"Crown Prince, Your Highness, Zhe Keqiu has sent someone to report, telling us to pack up and follow them out of Tongguan!" Zhao Chen was learning from Li Gang, when Yue Fei suddenly barged in.

"Leave the Tongguan?" Zhao Chen was startled.

They had wanted to leave the Tongguan from the start, but they did not expect Zhe Keqiu to ask them to leave the Tongguan as well.

"What happened? Why did they want us to leave the Tongguan?" Li Gang said in shock.

"It is said that the Nvzhen has already conquered Shaanxi Province! Zhe Keqiu didn't even want to protect the Tongguan at all. He has already decided to leave, so we are naturally being asked to leave as well! " Yue Fei said.

Zhao Chen was originally writing, but he put down the pen in his hand and laughed bitterly: "Is this Zhe Keqiu as cowardly as a mouse, or does he know his limits? Previously, when he was defending the Yellow River, he 'heard the sound of the drum and fled'.

Li Gang coldly snorted: "He just wants to protect his own strength! "Hmph, I had originally thought that after joining him, even though his mind is impure, we would still be able to live peacefully. I never thought that we would have to run for our lives again!"

Zhao Chen said: "Since that's the case, let's pack up and follow him! "He has over a hundred thousand men under his command. We'll be safer with him!"

Li Gang nodded, his expression gloomy as he said, "Your Highness, I am afraid that if the Tongguan is lost, Chang An and the rest's land will also be taken over by the Nvzhen! At that time, the whole of Shaanxi will fall, where can your highness go? "

"This …" Zhao Chen let out a light sigh, and said: "We can't help it! If that happens, we'll have to go to Sichuan! I don't believe that the Nvzhen will go all the way to Shu Pass and enter Sichuan! "

His mood wasn't very good. He had just stabilized, and the escape route was about to begin again!

When they finished, Zhe Keqiu, Zhe Yanzhi and the rest were already waiting for them!

It was snowing heavily, and they were actually moving through the snow! Other than them, the rest of the main generals, most of the troops that were stationed in the Tongguan had fled with them. Only a thousand or so people remained here to guard the Tongguan!