Chapter 295 Substituting one thing for another
Dai Zong arrived at Weizhou first. When he heard that Fan Zhixu was leading his troops to attack Huaizhou, Song Jiang went to Wuzhi County to supervise the battle, so he continued his journey west without stopping.

After wandering for half a day, he finally met his brother Gongming in Wude Town, Wuzhi County.

Fan Zhixu was eager to make achievements, and relying on his large numbers, he marched lightly across the river to seek battle. However, the troops he brought were refugees and bandits recruited during Jing Kang's reign, and their combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of the old Western Army.

As a result, Wu Yong lured the enemy deep into their territory and defeated them by ambushing them from all sides. With the help of Zhang Shun's navy, only one in ten of the tens of thousands of Yongxing troops survived.

At that time, Song Jiang won a great victory. He not only seized a large amount of weapons and supplies, but also captured more than 20,000 Yongxing Army prisoners, which significantly enhanced the strength of the scattered imperial camp troops.

When Dai Zong arrived exhausted, Song Jiang was holding a banquet to celebrate his victory in Wude Town, and he immediately invited him to sit in the seat of honor.

Seeing that Shi Xiu did not return, he guessed that the siege by the Jin army was not over, so he invited Dai Zong to sit down and took the initiative to speak: "You have also seen that the Western Court sent people to seize Huaizhou from us. I think the false emperor will not give up. We are already busy with our own affairs and really cannot cooperate with the Jin army. If Erliduo insists on holding on, you might as well tell him the truth when you go back. By the way, is the battle of the Jin army not going well?"

"Well, Yang Chang suddenly appeared on the battlefield of Fenzhou and defeated the eldest prince Puluhu. The Jin army's northern front has little hope."

"what?"

Song Jiang was stunned when he heard this.

Upon hearing this, his deskmate Wu Yong quickly followed up and commented: "The attack at Fengyue Pass was fierce, but Yang Chang actually dared to withdraw halfway. I have always thought that this person is very courageous, and his courage is awe-inspiring."

"Just a traitor"

Song Jiang was harsh in words, but jealous and fearful in his heart.

How did the servant who used to be Wu Song suddenly grow into a towering tree? He always felt that he was living under the shadow of this person.

Wu Yong saw Song Jiang looking sad, and immediately reminded him in a low voice: "Now that Yang Chang has gone to the northern battlefield, Talan will definitely send more troops to attack fiercely. If they still can't take it down, it means they are incompetent. Even if the Taiwei wants to go north to Zezhou, Lin Chong must send troops to support him, otherwise it will be more trouble than it's worth."

"What the military advisor said is exactly what I want to say. His Majesty also gave us a verbal instruction before he left, asking us to stand aside as much as possible and let Yang Chang and the Jin army consume each other. This is in the national interest."

Song Jiang nodded in agreement, then turned to look at Dai Zong and asked, "Rest well after the banquet. Return to Zhending tomorrow and tell Erliduo that the battle in Huaizhou is not over. However, if Fengyue Pass is breached by the Jin army, find a chance to come back and report."

"General, you don't know that Marshal Erliduo has come to Cizhou to supervise the battle. The Jin army is now attacking day and night."

"Could it be that Fengyue Pass has been breached?"

"No." Dai Zong interrupted Wu Yong's speculation and said seriously: "There is a little dragon girl who knows magic at Fengyue Pass. It is said that the flying swords in her hand are endless. The Jin army has no way to deal with the magic. Marshal Erliduo wants to borrow Mr. Fan..."

"Borrow Fan Rui?"

"Little Dragon Girl? She also knows witchcraft?"

Song Jiang and Wu Yong asked at the same time. Dai Zong didn't know who to answer first, so he just nodded to deal with them. Then he added: "According to the information I heard from the Jin camp, the little dragon girl not only hurts people with the golden flying sword, but also has the same wind fire wheel as Ma Ling."

"What a coincidence? Have you seen Little Dragon Girl with your own eyes?"

"No."

"You say"

Wu Yong twirled his beard and looked around, deliberately stretching out his tone and muttering, "Could the little dragon girl be Ma Ling?"

"install?"

"Unlikely?"

Seeing Song Jiang and Dai Zong staring wide-eyed, Wu Yong frowned and gave an explanation: "The golden flying sword and the gold bricks, as well as the same wind-fire wheels, don't you think there is a connection? In addition, after we defeated Wang Qing, Qiao Daoqing and Ma Ling resigned and returned home one after another. I heard that they met Sun An on the way. Maybe they secretly joined Yang Chang?"

"You mean"

When Ma Ling was facing Lu Junyi, Song Jiang did not have a deep impression of him, but Qiao Daoqing had some mysterious skills, which caused him to suffer a great loss. If these two people were in charge, what would the Jin army use to attack Fengyue Pass?

Wu Yong's imagination ran wild, and he continued to add: "In the past few years, the names of Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu have been widely spread in the martial arts world. The most famous one is the assassination of Wuliebu. Many people speculate that Yang Chang is Yang Guo, but what if he sneaked into the Jin army camp? On the contrary, I think if it is Qiao Daoqing, all this makes sense."

"If it's really them, even if we lend Fan Rui over, I'm afraid he won't be able to help, but..."

Song Jiang stopped talking suddenly, then changed the subject and said, "You and Silang have been to Weisheng, but you didn't hear their names. If they used the aliases Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu, it's impossible that even Fan Yinzong didn't know them. He was the magistrate of Luzhou."

"It makes sense."

Wu Yong nodded and asked, "So the commander wants to borrow it? Fan Rui is still in Hanoi."

"Since Erliduo has asked for it, it would be unreasonable not to lend it to us. However, if he goes to help the Jin army, we will completely break off relations with Yang Chang, and Fan Rui will be alienated from us."

What Song Jiang said before was all nonsense, only the last sentence was the core.

Fan Rui is a man of magic and ambition, and such people are generally difficult to control. When Song Jiang first recovered the power of Mangdang Mountain, he adopted the same strategy he used against the Dengzhou clique, namely, winning over younger brothers and isolating the leaders.

Therefore, after Mangdang Mountain was incorporated into Liangshan, Xiang Chong and Li Gun often fought as Li Kui's assistants, and Song Jiang's promise to let Gongsun Sheng accept him as a disciple was never fulfilled.

Fan Rui had not yet seen through the world, and after being recruited, he wanted to find a good home in the secular world, so he followed Song Jiang in his campaigns, and did not leave even though he was not valued.

After Gongsun Sheng and others said goodbye, Song Jiang remained wary of Fan Rui and basically assigned him combat tasks, treating him like a mascot.

It was not until Geng Yanxi brought back the edict of succession and the message from Princess Xing Bingyi that Zhao Gou remembered Fan Rui's name and asked Song Jiang about him many times.

When the retired emperor was in power, my younger brother Yang Chang was vying for favor; now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, my younger brother Fan Rui is about to rise again?

Song Jiang did not introduce Fan Rui to Zhao Gou, nor did he tell Fan Rui that the emperor was paying attention to him. He continued to be distant as usual, but now facing Erlido's request for someone, he had to find a way to persuade him.

After a long silence, he found that Wu Yong and Dai Zong were staring at him, as if waiting for the final answer.

"Ahem." Song Jiang interrupted his gaze with a dry cough, looked at Dai Zong and nodded, saying, "I'll take care of this matter, brother, don't refuse the hard work. After the banquet, go to Henei immediately and invite Fan Rui here."

"I don't drink, why wait until after the banquet?"

Dai Zong suddenly stood up, holding the table, clasped his fists and said seriously: "Business is more important. It's about 30 or 40 miles to Henei. I will set off now."

"Well, I'll open a table for you when I get back."

Song Jiang was not shy with Dai Zong. Even though the other party didn't even touch his chopsticks, he personally escorted him out of the tent.

It's only thirty or forty miles, which is totally not enough before the magic of speed.

Dai Zong returned with Fan Rui, and the celebration banquet had not yet ended. Several leaders who loved drinking were still playing drinking games.

Song Jiang set up a table with a small account and hosted a welcome party for Fan Rui and Dai Zong with Wu Yong.

The food and wine were served one after another. Song Jiang first glanced at his two confidants, and finally his eyes fell on Fan Rui.

Song Jiang first spoke earnestly about the situation of the court and the difficulties of Zhao Gou in pretending to be friendly with the Jin people. It took a long time before he mentioned the idea of ​​asking Fan Rui to help the Jin army.

Fan Rui knew that Song Jiang was afraid of him, so he had been deliberately following him to get by in the past few years. So when he saw Dai Zong coming to invite him in a hurry, he knew that Song Jiang was up to something.

At this time, Song Jiang made his intention known. Fan Rui showed an awkward expression after hearing it, frowned and tactfully refused: "Your Majesty and the general's difficulties, I can understand, but if I help the Jin people to attack my former brothers, won't people stab me in the back? I am afraid I can't bear this heavy responsibility."

"Former brothers?"

Song Jiang smiled contemptuously and said coldly: "Yang Chang is now a rebel, there is no need to be on good terms with him. As for worrying about rumors, which hero who has accomplished great things since ancient times is not praised by the world and slandered by the world? Please put the overall situation first." "How dare I call myself a hero?"

"General, I have come up with a plan that will preserve Mr. Fan's reputation!"

"Hmm? Tell me quickly."

At Song Jiang's urging, Wu Yong stroked his beard with a confident look on his face, "Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu are aliases, and both of them wear masks to show themselves to others. Why don't you disguise yourself and go to help the Jin people under aliases?"

“That’s a good idea.”

Dai Zong put down his chopsticks and agreed, but Fan Rui's unmoved expression made him swallow his words halfway.

It's not easy to force something that will bring you such a bad reputation. After Wu Yong finished speaking, he saw that Fan Rui seemed uninterested, so he nudged Song Jiang with his foot under the table, meaning that his brother had to do it himself.

"hehe."

Song Jiang grinned his signature smile, suddenly tightly grasped Fan Rui's palm, and advised earnestly: "As ministers, you and I can be loyal to His Majesty, so what if we lose our reputation? In the rivers and lakes, in the court, especially in the old brothers who defected to Yang Chang, people who scold me, Song Jiang, are everywhere. Do you think I care? As long as you have a clear conscience, sir, do you know that His Majesty values ​​you very much?"

"An? Me?"

Fan Rui, who was calm just now, couldn't help but be moved when he heard the last sentence.

"of course."

Song Jiang nodded and said solemnly, "Sir, you are very knowledgeable in magic. I will naturally recommend you to the emperor. However, I don't like to publicize it before the great event is accomplished. The emperor, Consort Wei, and Empress Xing were taken to the capital by the Jin people last year. I don't know if they are suffering. The emperor is always worried about them."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"They are trapped in a bitter and cold land, and you can call the wind and rain. The government hopes to borrow your magic to bring their relatives back to the Central Plains."

"The government thinks too highly of us"

Seeing Fan Rui shaking his head, Song Jiang interrupted and added: "I know it's difficult to go to the capital to rescue people, so the emperor has issued orders to you several times, but helping the Jin army right now is an opportunity. Marshal Erliduo has a high status in the Jin Kingdom. If you can help him win the fight, you will owe him a big favor."

"This"

"Although we cannot get all the hostages back, we can ask Marshal Erlido to help mediate. There is hope that we can get Queen Xing back first. If that doesn't work, we can learn about their current situation."

Fan Rui, who originally had a "heart of stone", quickly "fell" under Song Jiang's overwhelming verbal offensive, and followed Dai Zong to Cizhou that day.

Of course, Fan Rui couldn't be so shameless, so he adopted Wu Yong's previous suggestion and disguised himself and went into battle under an alias.

On the last day of March, the Jin army arrived at Fengyue Pass again.

Although both were marshals of the Eastern Army, Erlido and Wulibu had very different personalities. He did not like to take risks in commanding on the front line, and most of the time he was strategizing in the rear.

At that time, Erlido was in Cizhou. Even though Fan Rui joined in magic, he did not go to the front line with him. Instead, he asked his think tank Liu Yanzong to follow the army to make plans, and after the battle, he drew a picture to report what he had seen and heard in the fight.

The Jin army attacked the pass for a month and was finally intimidated by Zhao Fujin's magic. However, just two days after the break, the war broke out again, so all the generals went to the upper city to meet the enemy.

Seeing the black flag appear in the Jin army, Mrs. Gu excitedly reminded Qiu Qiongying: "Madam, that is the flag of the commander-in-chief, Talan. The Jin army is coming back today, and I'm afraid they have new support."

"Don't be nervous."

Qiu Qiongying blurted out without thinking, then looked at the serious Zhao Fujin and said confidently: "With the help of the princess's magic, they can't win."

"Of course, but Talai is very cautious in his use of troops. He rarely leads troops at the front."

Before Mrs. Gu could finish her words, she saw the Jin soldiers, who were marching in an orderly manner, suddenly stop a mile away, and only saw a cavalryman approaching quickly.

The clatter of horse hooves became louder and louder.

Everyone stared at him in confusion. The man in full armor stopped his horse at the pass and pointed upwards, shouting in Chinese: "Heavenly Master Lingying is coming to Fengyue Pass. Why don't you surrender quickly?"

"What did I think it was? It turned out to be a request to persuade you to surrender. How brave!"

Qiu Qiongying bent down and picked up a stone, ready to throw it from a high altitude at the opponent. His full body armor could block arrows, but he was most afraid of damage from heavy blows.

Unexpectedly, Mrs. Gu suddenly stopped her and said, "Wait a minute, Madam Third!"

"how?"

"You won't respond, right? Is the woman who used the flying sword two days ago here? Master Bao came here specifically to meet you. If you don't want Master Tianshi to hurt innocent people, then come down to the seclusion and fight with him yourself."

"So you're looking for Princess Sister to challenge you to a fight?"

When Qiu Qiongying heard the visitor's words, she couldn't help but look at Zhao Fujin again.

Zhao Fujin was wearing a mask, so his facial expression could not be seen, but he met Qiu Qiongying's gaze and said in a slightly reproachful tone: "You are so noisy, what are you waiting for, Third Sister?"

"An? Yes, yes."

Qiu Qiongying smiled awkwardly, then raised her hand and pushed towards the city. A goose egg-sized stone flew straight towards the chest of the Jin soldier.

boom.
The Jin soldiers under the city were unable to react in time. They covered their chests and vomited blood, then panicked and rode their horses back.

"Princess sister, you reminded me in time. I don't know where the Jin people invited this wild Taoist priest from. He dared to speak wildly and provoke you. What can we do if we ignore him?"

"You two ladies may not know that this Lingying Celestial Master is not a wild Celestial Master, and he is quite famous in the martial arts world."

"you know?"

“Yes.”

Mrs. Gu nodded slightly, then glanced at Sun Li and murmured, "This Lingying Tianshi's surname is Bao Daoyi, and he is a mage under Fang La's command."

"Wait, Fang La's people?" Qiu Qiongying became more and more confused the more she listened.

"Yes, we followed Song Jiang to fight Fang La before, and asked someone about the generals under his command. Among them was the spiritual master Bao Daoyi. I heard that his Taoism was unfathomable. I don't know how he appeared here. Madam, please be careful later."

"Yang Lang once taught me that what you hear is not as good as what you see. I have to try it to know whether this person is good or not."

"The princess said"

Seeing that Zhao Fujin's response was indifferent, Mrs. Gu wanted to use Qiao Daoqing as an example, but she swallowed the words back when they reached her lips.

Although the golden flying sword's moves are simple and not as brilliant as Qiao Daoqing and Gongsun Sheng's magic, the general must have his reasons for wanting to keep the princess here.

While Mrs. Gu was thinking to herself, the sky ahead suddenly changed color. In the open space below the pass, strong winds blew up, sand and stones flew everywhere, and the sky was dark.

In an instant, the Jin army not far away could no longer be seen.

"This must be a trick by Bao Daoyi. Princess, can you break it?"

(End of this chapter)