On the afternoon of the second day after Zhou Qingfeng's escape, Abahai confirmed that there were no more nobles in the city who could monitor her. It was getting dark, so Hai Dongqing couldn't fly around at night. It could only wait until the morning of the third day before it was released by the old servant. Hai Dongqing returned to the old servant's house in Liuhe Village in less than four hours. Abahai's head of bodyguards, Daer 'han, was waiting there.
The note sent by Hai Dongqing wasn't very big. It simply recorded the situation of Zhou Qingfeng's escape, Chu Ying and Uța's pursuit, and the current situation of Ehekulun being unguarded. This note vaguely indicated that Zhou Qingfeng was going west through Jianzhou territory to escape back to the Ming Kingdom.
However, what Abahai didn't know was that the person in charge of Liuhe Village at the moment was not Daer 'han, but Mangurtai, who was sent by Nurhachi as the vanguard. Wild Boar Skin had long wanted to uproot Ehekulun, which was located west of Hetuala, because the wild Nüzhen in the city were too unruly. That bastard Uța, taking advantage of the geographical advantage of being far away from the emperor, had always been disobedient.
Now that Jianzhou Nüzhen was about to establish a nation, getting rid of Uța and Ehekulun before that would also boost the momentum of the upcoming 'Great Jin'. With this goal in mind, rescuing Abahai was only secondary.
In order to win the battle, Nurhachi specially sent out his fifth son, Mangurtai, who was highly skilled in martial arts, to offset the power of his eldest son, Chu Ying, on the battlefield. If it were someone else who was the vanguard, they might not be able to withstand the sudden attacks of the madman Chu Ying.
After receiving the message from Abahai, Mangurtai didn't care about the movements of others. Zhou Qingfeng, Uța, and the others were all useless in his eyes. He only cared about one thing — Chu Ying had left Ehekulun.
"I want to meet this big brother of mine." Mangurtai was also tall and sturdy. Because he was nearly two metres tall, he appeared at first glance to be a very thin man, and it was only when he drew near that one could see his thick and powerful limbs and his iron-like back and waist. When he first came out, Chu Ying's name had already spread far and wide. It could be said that he had been living in his big brother's shadow.
Only today did Mangurtai have the chance to topple Chu Ying in one fell swoop.
"If that Zhou Qingfeng kid wants to escape to the west, he'll definitely pass through here. My big brother isn't a fool. If he can't catch up to that kid in a day, he'll definitely come for us. Grand Concubine's message was still a step too late. This happened three days ago. I guess even if they haven't arrived yet, they're not far away. "
After reading the note, Mangurtai tossed it aside and immediately shouted to the soldiers who had followed him: "Get ready, follow me to capture that traitor Chu Ying."
Daer 'han, who was right beside Mangurtai, hurriedly shouted: "Fifth Beilei, Grand Concubine Abahai is still in Ehekulun. Why don't you take advantage of the fact that there's no one on duty in the city right now and kill your way over? That way, you can rescue Grand Concubine. "
Mangurtai, however, couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Daer 'han. He ordered his men to bring out his earth dragon and jumped onto the saddle with one step. Holding the reins, he shouted: "Saving Grand Concubine is your business. I only care about following my father's orders and killing the traitor Chu Ying. As long as Chu Ying dies, no one will be able to resist my Jianzhou army. "
"Then Fifth Beilei, can you leave some men for me? Otherwise, with just the old and weak soldiers in this stronghold, I'm afraid that kid Zhou Qingfeng will suddenly attack." Daer 'han begged again. "That kid Zhou is crafty and cunning, but he's good at training soldiers. The local forces in Liuhe Stronghold are too weak. They really can't stop him. "
"What does that have to do with me? If you can't even stop a kid, you might as well die." As the vanguard, Mangurtai only brought fifty riders. The one he wanted to deal with was his once famous big brother Chu Ying. He didn't care about some Zhou Qingfeng at all.
The earth shook as the earth dragon moved. This demonic beast's legs were as thick as an elephant's, and the pads of its feet had sharp claws. Its long tail was like a steel whip as it swung left and right, leaving deep grooves in the ground. Even the horses of the bodyguards had to hide more than ten meters away. No one dared to get close. Just like that, Mangurtai swaggered out of Liuhe Stronghold to find Chu Ying and fight.
Seeing Mangurtai leave so casually, Daer 'han was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat. His master was Abahai. If anything happened to Abahai, Nurhachi would definitely take the head on his neck.
Now that the Jurchen leaders of Ehekulun had come out to chase after Zhou Qingfeng, it was a good chance for Abahai to escape. But Abahai was a weak girl who didn't know any martial arts. Without anyone to help her, there was no way she could escape. Daer 'han wanted Mangurtai to leave some men behind so that he could go save her himself, but Mangurtai refused.
Daer 'han had no choice but to drag another person to go with him — Yang Jian.
Ever since he was forced to retreat by Zhou Qingfeng's army ten or so days ago, Yang Jian had been running back to Liuhe Stronghold like a dried vegetable. When he saw that Daer 'han was stationed here, he simply stayed in the stronghold and didn't leave. He was in a daze for a few days. At first, Daer 'han was worried that Yang Jian was the Khan's grandson-in-law, so he would go and greet him from time to time. But when he saw that Yang Jian was dispirited every day, it was truly disgusting.
But now, Daer 'han was also helpless. He didn't have enough men, so he took a fancy to the seven or eight elite soldiers in white armor and archers that Yang Jian had brought back. If everyone gathered together and brought along some miscellaneous soldiers to boost morale, they might be able to lure Grand Concubine Abahai out.
But when Daer 'han went to find Yang Jian and told him why he had come, the latter refused to go to Ehekulun no matter what. He said bluntly, "Forget Chu Ying and Uța, even Zhou Qingfeng isn't someone to be trifled with. We don't even have enough people to fill the gaps between their teeth. It's better to wait for the Khan's army to arrive and move together. Otherwise, not only will we be trapped in Ehekulun, but Grand Concubine Abahai will also be implicated. "
Daer 'han didn't know what Yang Jian had encountered when he went to assassinate the Khan. In any case, this guy wouldn't say anything after he returned with a heavy loss. When he asked Yang Jian's subordinates, they all looked like they had seen a ghost and couldn't speak in detail. They only said that Zhou Qingfeng was very powerful.
When Daer 'han was forced to leave Ehekulun, Zhou Qingfeng hadn't yet mastered the art of military formations. He only knew that Zhou Qingfeng was practicing his spear thrusts with Chu Ying and was improving very quickly. But he also roughly knew why Yang Jian refused to go to Ehekulun again, so he threatened him, "Emperor Yang, you can't hide the fact that you were defeated by Zhou Qingfeng. I'm afraid it won't work if you count on the Khan to avenge you."
Yang Jian really did think this way. As soon as he was pointed out, he was surprised and asked, "Why not?"
"We Adepts value heroes the most and hate weak people. It doesn't matter if you lost the battle, but if you are decadent every day and don't want to pull yourself together, the Khan won't like a grandson-in-law like you. Maybe he won't make you his granddaughter, "Daer 'han said darkly.
Yang Jian was instantly horrified. Only now did he realize that people would look down on him if he was so decadent. He didn't have any ideas to begin with and was easily persuaded. After the assassination failed, he didn't dare to go back to see his master, and he didn't even dare to see his father-in-law. Staying in Liuhe Village was nothing more than an ostrich mentality. Now that Daer 'han had exposed him …
Yang Jian was also a person who cared about his reputation. He stood up and shouted, "Uncle Daer 'han is right. I really haven't been behaving properly these past few days. I already have a grudge against that brat Zhou Qingfeng, and this time I've betrayed Master and the Khan's trust. No matter what, I can't make the same mistake again. I need to work hard again. "
Thinking about all the losses he had suffered at the hands of Zhou Qingfeng, and then thinking about the talisman pouch he had dropped in Ehekulun, Yang Jian felt a burning anger in his heart and was eager to take revenge. Daer 'han also analyzed the current situation in Ehekulun. Thinking about how Zhou Qingfeng was running away like a stray dog, he was in a good mood and was eager to give it a try.
"I still have two White Armor soldiers, four archers, and four hunters that I've recruited. They're pretty strong as well." Yang Jian counted his subordinates. Together with Daer 'han, he had about a dozen elites who could fight.
Daer 'han selected another twenty people from Liuhe Village and had the slaves from the village bring along carts to help with the logistics. Altogether, they had about a dozen people. The only advantage they had over Zhou Qingfeng was that they had enough horses. They could ride a dozen elites at a very fast speed.
Once the troops were organized, Daer 'han left the village. But before they could travel five miles, they discovered a battlefield — Mangurtai, who had just left Liuhe Village, was ambushed on the way, and the one fighting him was Chu Ying, who had appeared out of nowhere.
The two brothers of Jianzhou were fighting fiercely, determined to fight to the death. Both sides were shouting and cursing as they charged at each other. Mangurtai, who was riding an earth dragon, was the most ferocious, and no one could stop him. But there was a pool of blood on his chest, as if he had been ambushed right from the start.
Chu Ying, on the other hand, wielded a heavy axe and charged at Mangurtai's formation like a bolt of lightning. Both sides were experts who had mastered the art of military formations. Every strike they made gathered the combined strength of their subordinates and themselves. Both sides fought with earth-shattering might. The narrow mountain path was filled with holes from the bombardment of all kinds of powerful spells. For a moment, it seemed like it was hard to tell who would win.
Daer 'han and Yang Jian stared blankly for a long time, as if their souls had been stolen. It wasn't until the last gust of wind arrived in front of them, causing the sound of thunder and wind to howl that they hurriedly urged their horses to retreat, increasing the distance between them.
As the battle reached its climax, Daer 'han and Yang Jian still hadn't figured out what to do when an ear-piercing horn sounded from the forest beside the road. Under the urging of the horn, a series of marching footsteps and shouts came from the forest, causing people to feel quite frightened.
"Retreat, retreat, retreat, increase the distance. Archers, aim at that patch of forest. No matter who comes out, fire a volley of arrows at them. "Da 'erhan had lived in Willow River Village for quite some time, so he was certain that whoever came out of the forest was definitely an enemy. He hurriedly gave out all kinds of orders and arranged himself into a formation, waiting for a head-on attack.
Once the enemies in the forest were in formation, they charged out without any hesitation. Just by listening to their unhesitating footsteps, Daer 'han could tell that they were definitely not ordinary people. He hurriedly called over the few White Armor soldiers he had and ordered them to line up on the flank. As soon as the enemies appeared, they were to charge at their weakest points on horseback and not let them have an easy time.
But before the formation in the forest appeared, a layer of tenacious green light lit up.
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