Chapter 174 A bolt from the blue

After waking up in the new camp on the north side of Jinshui, Li Ping's right eyelid kept twitching.

Although he never believed this, he still had a feeling that something bad might happen today.

Just like when he came to this time and space, everything might be caused by the gods.

After walking around for a while, looking at the busy people, and asking for news about the peasant army, Huangpi seemed to be in good hands.

Li Ping couldn't help but feel a little confused. Everything he saw at Zuo Liangyu's place yesterday seemed to be okay. The peasant army didn't show any sign of a sneak attack or the possibility of successfully attacking him. So what else could it be?

Could it be Zhou Wen?

Li Ping began to feel uneasy.

Zhou Wen undoubtedly aroused Li Ping's vigilance yesterday. Whether it was his kindness to a woman or his desire to meet Zuo Liangyu with Li Ping, it was a dangerous signal.

Zhou Wen obviously wants to try to persuade Zuo Liangyu to urge Li Ping to defend Huangpi. This guy is increasingly trying to influence Li Ping's decision-making.

This is something Li Ping is unwilling to face but must face. It is also a thorny issue that must be handled carefully.

Because Zhou Wen is a very smart person, and he is also a person who can often find the essence of the problem very quickly.

Li Ping knew that Zhou Wen was confused now.

No matter how enlightened Zhou Wen was, he was still a scholar, a person with vested interests who had been educated in the Ming Dynasty's orthodox ideas for many years and had some modest income.

The sense of imperial power and loyalty to the Ming Dynasty are almost his instincts, and they cannot be given up easily.

The feelings of observing a person from a distance and meeting a person up close are completely different.

To Zhou Wen, the former Li Ping might have been a smoke and mirrors, he might have been aloof, he might have been a young man, or he might have been an ignorant warrior. Although there were all kinds of things that people couldn't understand, since he was doing official and military duties.

After all, he should be caring about Ming Dynasty.

But once he really gets close, Zhou Wen is likely to overturn all his previous judgments.

It is often said that the most effective way to understand a person is to work and live with him, because it is impossible to completely hide the person's thoughts.

Zhou Wen has been transferred to Li Ping for a while. Although the time is still short, it is enough for the smart Zhou Wen to intuitively feel the real Li Ping.

Li Ping knew very well that the deviant thoughts and all kinds of unheard-of miscellaneous knowledge that he inadvertently revealed must have given Zhou Wen a huge impact, and would definitely cause Zhou Wen discomfort.

Zhou Wen's abnormality yesterday profoundly reflected his current state.

For this reason, before attending the banquet yesterday, Li Ping specially ordered Zhou Wen to stay in Huangpi to assist Duan Qiang and only transferred Ma Yong back to East Lake to preside over the relocation camp.

Since Zhou Wen stayed in Huangpi, there was nothing he could do!

Especially after Zuo Liangyu ordered the army to flee eastward the day after tomorrow, Zhou Wen had lost his last hope of holding on to Huangpi and had no reason to think about anything else.

Zhou Wen wanted to accompany Li Ping to the night banquet because he was looking for an opportunity to persuade Zuo Liangyu.

At present, Zhou Wen should have received the Zuo Liangyu military order that Li Ping ordered to be urgently delivered to Huangpi last night.

While thinking about it, Li Ping, who was worried, went to the scouts who had been reporting the news and asked again, but there was still nothing unusual.

The cavalry who went to deliver the message last night and returned frankly said that they saw Zhou Wen himself, and vividly remembered that Zhou Wen was stunned for a long time like everyone else. The cavalry who set off from Huangpi in the morning to report the news and have not returned yet also confirmed that Zhou Wen was in the morning

Still busy with military affairs.

Since Zhou Wen did not leave Huangpi privately, there should be no problems with him there, and Li Ping felt more relaxed.

But if it wasn’t Zhou Wen who had a problem? Where would the problem happen?

With doubts, Li Ping suddenly remembered which year in the Western calendar he remembered last night, and he realized that he had to share it with Zhao Jin.

Li Ping and Zhao Jin didn't have much time to talk in detail last night. They both urgently needed to exchange their current situation and various news with each other. Otherwise, once the army sets out again, there may be something new, and it may be difficult to find time.

meet.

But look up at the sky. It's almost noon. Will Zhao Jin be in the camp?

After hesitating for a while, Li Ping made up his mind to set off. He felt that Zhao Jin would probably not go personally to clear the ship, just like Li Ping had no longer worried about such trivial matters.

He comforted himself that the twitching eyelids might just be a nervous reaction after being overtired these days and drinking too much last night.

It was the same two small sand boats and the same guards as yesterday. Li Ping thought everything should be enough.

It is said to be a small sand boat, but it is actually not that small.

It's just smaller than a regular sand boat, but much larger than an ordinary fishing boat. It's even bigger than the dozens of large and small boats that Li Ping collected in the Sunken Lake area.

Although it could carry more men and horses, Li Ping only brought twenty guards and eleven horses.

There were two boats, and there were more than a dozen people on each boat. After getting off the boat, ten followed him on horseback, and ten stayed on the boat to watch the boat. From a safety perspective, there was no big problem.

With the power of Huangpi's great victory, normally the rebels would not dare to trouble him no matter how wantonly they behaved.

If another accident happens, it is his fate.

Taking a boat into the Yangtze River, Wuchang City was once again displayed in front of Li Ping at close range. Although compared with Wuchang City at night, Wuchang City during the day can clearly see the tall city walls and the prominent buildings built on low mountains.

Outside the Yellow Crane Tower, it was still eerily quiet.

But Wuchang City still brought great shock to Li Ping. It stood on the east bank of the Yangtze River like a giant beast.

The Yangtze River also made Li Ping stunned. Under high visibility during the day, the river was far wider and more obvious than what he had seen in another time and space. It was far more rapid than the Han River that often accompanied him these days.

Compare and make Wuchang City more majestic.

But in fact, Wuchang City is not Wuchang County, but Jiangxia County.

In the Ming Dynasty, the county seat called Wuchang County (today's Ezhou) was still about a hundred miles away from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Everyone called this place Wuchang, but the government of Wuchang Prefecture was located here, and Jiangxia County was Fuguo County.

Wuchang got its name from the meaning of "ruling the country with force and prospering". It originally came from the fact that during the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan and Cao Cao moved the ruling center of Soochow to E County, a hundred miles away from here, on the riverside, in order to compete for Jingzhou.

E County was renamed Wuchang County.

Later, various places in the vicinity experienced various titles and changes in the name of Wuchang in the past dynasties.

By the Yuan Dynasty, the entire area south and east of the Yangtze River was collectively called Wuchang, and Wuchang became a relative regional name, forming today's Wuchang Prefecture.

Today's Yangtze River is very busy, with a mess of various ships going back and forth, and most of them are carrying armed soldiers shouting and yelling. Some of the ship gathering places on the river even lit up with raging fires and all kinds of cries.

Shouts also came and went, and Zuo Liangyu's army was obviously seizing ships in Qingjiang on a large scale.

Li Ping did not dwell on these imaginable and commonplace phenomena. He had long been numb and knew that he was powerless to change anything.

He paid more attention to the topography and landforms on both sides of the Yangtze River, the prosperity of the Yangtze River, and thoughts about the future.

Li Ping was a little shocked by the large number of ships in the Yangtze River.

The densely packed houses and countless docks on both sides of the Yangtze River, as well as the patches of large and small ships moored there, further prove the prosperity of this place, which was far better than the prosperity of Xiangyang and Hanshui River.

When he arrived at Hanyang and docked, Li Ping suddenly remembered the various palaces Zuo Liangyu showed last night, which were just like the Hanyang garrison, full of calculations and unabashed expressions.

Fang Guoan and Zhao Jin's troops were stationed in Hanyang, while Shi Ming was stationed in Baishazhou. This was a very subtle arrangement. Zuo Liangyu was definitely not the big boss that many people thought.

However, Li Ping's thoughts did not last long.

When he saw the panic-stricken Zhao Lanyue and listened to her confusing narration, Li Ping finally found the reason for his eyelid twitching and couldn't help blurting out a national curse.

After that, his face turned red and his body started to tremble slightly.

Li Ping was completely unprepared for what happened, and he tried his best to control his emotions.

He needs to wake up.

Even before Zhao Lanyue mentioned Fang Wuke's background, Li Ping immediately understood that Fang Wuke must have a strong backing, otherwise he would never have the courage to run into a general.

Those who come to run wild in the camp.

Li Ping realized that he was going through a big trouble he had never seen before.

But what should he do? What can he do?

The root of the problem lies with Fang Guoan, but it is very likely that Fang Guoan does not care about him at all.

Looking for Zuo Liangyu?

Even if Zuo Liangyu was willing to come forward, he would have to go through the official procedures. By then, Gao Lei would probably have been tortured by Fang Wuke, who was said to be a pervert, until he could barely breathe.

But Zhao Jin was not in the camp at such a critical moment. He said he had gone to the upper reaches of the Han River and took most of the troops with him.

Although Zhao Lanyue has sent people to look for him, only the devil knows when Zhao Jin will come back. And even if Zhao Jin comes back, what can he do?

Seeing Li Ping's face changing back and forth, Zhao Lanyue, who finally finished speaking, grabbed Li Ping's clothes and begged: "Li Ping, you must save Gao Lei, you must save her, she trusts you the most.

"

Zhao Lanyue seemed uneasy about Li Ping's decision.

"I know! Of course I have to save her, this is what I have to do." Li Ping agreed, his voice a little out of tune.

Zhao Lanyue immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then started crying and said, "But what should I do? It can't be delayed, it can't be delayed! You have to find a way quickly."

"I know, I know, I'm going now." Li Ping frowned and said.

"Go now? Do you have any idea?" Zhao Lanyue was a little confused. She was obviously not completely confused yet.

Li Ping didn't have the time to pay attention or the energy to analyze the meaning of Zhao Lanyue's changing expressions in the past half day. His head was thinking hard, so he just said casually: "If there is any way, of course I can get it back."

"Snatch it back? How to grab it? The day lilies will be cold by the time you go back!" Zhao Lanyue looked very dissatisfied with Li Ping's mindless response.
To be continued...