The Child Emperor

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Jin Chunbao's leather straps on his hands and feet were untied, he took a sip of wine, slowly sighed, and told his own experience.

A few months ago, the three Jin brothers and sisters entered the grassland with a maid, and soon encountered the Huns. After explaining their identities, they were sent to Dong Danyu's camp.

They came to the grassland to find freedom, but what they found was another "Great Chu court".

"The Eastern Huns are also divided." Jin Chunbao was extremely frustrated, especially in the face of a group of acquainted noble children, who had ridiculed and bullied him in the capital, and now saw him in the most embarrassing side.

During Emperor Wu’s time, the Huns were divided into two parts. The Western Huns insisted on being the enemy of the Great Chu, and as a result, they were defeated continuously and were forced to flee to the west thousands of miles away. For many years, there was no news of them, while the East Xiongnu became subjects and paid tribute to the Great Chu. , for decades.

In the past few decades, there has been a clear differentiation within the Eastern Huns. Ordinary Huns still live by water and grass, while a large number of nobles, including Dong Danyu, settled in Hanoi, using horses, animal skins and other things. In exchange for food and clothing utensils in the customs, they basically have nothing to do with grazing, except that they enter the grasslands for hunting in fixed seasons every year.

When King Qi rebelled, he made a generous promise to the Huns in exchange for help. The Xiongnu nobles were moved. They were accustomed to a settled life and had long coveted the flowery world in the pass. Do, King Qi gave them a chance.

But the nobles needed cavalry, a large number of cavalry.

The herdsmen in the north pay tribute every year in exchange for peace. I heard that they will recruit troops to fight a war of unpredictability. Many people choose to flee, and many tribes migrate north and west.

In order to recruit enough cavalry and prevent the tribe from collapsing, the Eastern Huns spent a lot of time and energy. When the army finally assembled, the King of Qi was defeated.

The army that was finally formed could not be dispersed as soon as it was said, so after a fierce quarrel, the Huns launched an attack on the Great Chu and seized a lot of property, which satisfied the ambitions of some nobles.

When the main force of the Chu army arrived, the Huns were afraid, especially those ordinary soldiers who participated in the war and did not get much spoils, and fled in large numbers. Dong Danyu had to lead the army to retreat. Only cavalry can fight against the Chu army.

There is also a saying that the old Dong Danyu did not want to fight the Chu army at all, and he indulged the cavalry to flee, using this as an excuse to avoid fighting.

Another group of Xiongnu aristocrats firmly believed that the Great Chu had declined, and it was time for the Xiongnu to revive. What the grassland people lacked was not cavalry, but courage. As long as they achieved a few victories with less, they would be able to reawaken all the people who drew bows. The ambition of defeating the rotten hundreds of thousands of Chu troops is not a problem.

Prince Zhaheshan is the representative of this faction of nobles. His ambitions are not so far, and he even dreams of unifying the entire grassland and no longer divides the Xiongnu.

After learning about the origin of the Jin family, Zhaheshan felt that this was an opportunity.

The ancestor of the Jin family was King Youxian of the Huns, and Xidan was a close relative. Zhaheshan loved Jin Chuiduo's face, and wanted to use the identity of the Jin family to claim the position of King Youxian, so he sent someone to propose marriage the next day. .

The West Huns have long since disappeared, and King Youxian is only a name that has been interrupted for decades. Zhaheshan's move is nothing more than to raise his prestige so that he can compete for the throne after Lao Shanyu's ascension.

Jin Chuiduo refused without hesitation. Zhaheshan was in her 40s, with a group of wives and concubines, and she did not really respect the Jin family. Of course, she did not want to marry.

For any Xiongnu prince, the rejection of a marriage proposal is a very humiliating thing. As one of the most powerful sons of Dong Shanyu, Zhaheshan could not bear such a humiliation. After several attempts to persuade him to fail After that, he announced that he would marry Jin Chuiduo when the first snow fell on the grassland, regardless of life or death.

The brothers and sisters of the Jin family wanted to escape, but failed several times. Instead, they were kept under stricter supervision. Jin Chunbao was more obedient at first and gained the trust of Zhaheshan. Just a few days ago, he took his brother and sister again He fled, but was intercepted, he managed to escape, but was separated from his brother and sister.

Jin Chunbao was unfamiliar with the grasslands, and did not know who to go to. He rode his horse all the way, and finally fell off his horse because of lack of physical strength, and was rescued by a family of Huns herdsmen.

He didn't speak the Xiongnu language very well. The family thought he was a deserter from Chu, so they tied him up and planned to give it to the Xiongnu nobles to receive the reward.

"Wanhou, please save my sister. She has a strong temperament and is desperate. She would rather commit suicide than marry Zhaheshan. How many people do you have? Too few will not work..."

Han Ruzi didn't answer, turned around and walked out of the tent.

It was already dark, and dozens of soldiers were guarding half a mile away. Fang Daye held a flag and looked up at the sky, as if it was part of the flagpole.

The other noble children were still in the tent, Cui Teng walked out alone, stood side by side with Han Ruzi, looked in the same direction, and said after a while, "It seems that the little girl of the Jin family doesn't like to marry, who is begging for marriage? She refused."

Cui Teng also asked the Jin family for a kiss, but he was rejected, and he didn't even see anyone.

Han Ruzi hummed.

"I figured it out. Hu You is a broom star, and any man who has a relationship with her will be unlucky. I'm lucky, but I was sent to sit on a branch by this little brother Du for a while."

Du Chuanyun, who was standing on the other side of Wanhou, laughed twice. He didn't know who Jin Chuiduo was, and he didn't care. He lowered his head and gently poked the ground with the tip of his boot.

"Chai Yun is more unlucky. He even took his life for Hu You." Cui Teng sighed, although he had made troubles and fights, he still missed Chai Xiaohou, "You have been unlucky for a while, feel comfortable. The tired marquis can’t be, and ran to Saibei to be exposed to the wind and the sun…”

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'm advising you, stay away from Hu You, and let her bring bad luck to the Huns. Maybe we don't have to do anything, and we can just sit back and enjoy the success."

"I didn't say I was going to save people."

"What's the point? Look at your appearance: you don't speak, your eyes are slack, and your face is melancholy. Chai Yun taught me that this is the look of a woman. I don't have to tell my sister, but you have to promise not to save Hu You, Also, you will treat me a little bit more in the future..."

"Nonsense." Han Ruzi reprimanded, "I'm thinking that Jin Chunbao's words are a bit inconsistent with Chai Yue."

"Oh, then I'm worrying for nothing. Yes, didn't Chai Yue say that Prince Xiongnu thought you broke Hu You's body and wanted to avenge you? Why didn't Jin Chunbao mention anything? I'll ask you, this kid I used to be afraid of me and never dared to lie to me."

Han Ruzi did not stop Cui Teng, got on his horse, returned to the line, and ordered the interpreter to interrogate the Huns again to find out which direction they came from.

There were several screams in the tent, and it didn't take long for Cui Teng's group to walk out of the tent, surrounded by Jin Chunbao.

Jin Chunbao cried and said, "Marquis Juan, I'm telling the truth, there are some things I can't do in front of everyone..." Cui Teng and the others stared, Jin Chunbao didn't care about anything, and hurriedly said: "My sister likes Marquis Juan. , She often said that she had been the Empress of Chu, how could she be the Queen of the Huns? Zhaheshan was very jealous because of this, claiming that he must kill Marquis Juan."

Han Ruzi stretched out his hand to stop Jin Chunbao from continuing. He was obviously threatened to "confess", which obviously couldn't be what Jin Chuiduo would say.

The interpreter also came over to report, "I think they are telling the truth, and they did come from the west. They have relatives in the Zhahe Shan Army, and they are driving their cattle and horses to go to their relatives."

Fang Daye still had an indifferent expression that had nothing to do with him. Han Ruzi had to make his own judgment and decision. After thinking a little, he issued a few orders: "Let the Huns go, don't give the horses, and take all the livestock away. , and take Jin Chunbao away as well."

Cui Teng smiled and said, "Golden bracelet, do you hear me? You and the livestock are treated the same, and you mount the horse yourself."

The golden bracelet is the nickname that Jin Chunbao had when he was a child.

The seven Huns begged, hoping to keep a few livestock. Without these cattle, horses and sheep, they would not be able to survive the winter. Han Ruzi ordered the soldiers to draw their bows, and the Huns had no choice but to leave overnight, crying and crying.

"It's better to kill them and bring seven heads back. It's not a little credit." Cui Teng regretted.

Han Ruzi watched the Huns disappear into the night, and said to all the soldiers: "The Huns must be tracking Jin Chunbao, and it's not too far from here. I let the seven Huns go to confuse the Huns, thinking that the Chu army would be in trouble. Will camp and rest on the spot. My order is to retreat immediately! Take the livestock and let it go halfway."

Everyone was shocked, and they were about to set off immediately. Cui Teng was even more shocked, "Is the Huns cavalry nearby?"

Han Ruzi looked at Jin Chunbao, "The Huns deliberately let him escape, trying to lure the Chu army into the trap. In order for us to bring him back to Broken Iron City to lure more Chu troops, the Huns may not pursue him too closely."

Cui Teng raised his foot and kicked Jin Chunbao and said angrily, "So you are still a traitor just like when you were a child!"

Jin Chunbao shook his head desperately, "Marquis Tien, I really didn't lie..."

"You may not lie, you are just being used by the Huns."

Jin Chunbao was speechless.

Cui Teng said again: "No, since the Huns deliberately let go of the golden bracelet, why did they have him arrested again?"

"It was an accident. These Huns women and children didn't know Zhaheshan's plan."

The crowd mounted their horses and drove dozens of livestock to drive the night road. Naturally, the speed could not be fast. Many people looked around frequently, fearing that the Huns cavalry would suddenly appear in the dark.

The more Han Ruzi thought about it, the more he felt that his judgment was correct: Chai Yue not only exaggerated the geographical advantage, but also exaggerated the hostility of Zhaheshan to Marquis Juan in order to persuade Marquis Juan to come to Broken Iron City. The perils of splits and goldenrods.

The Xiongnu and Chai Yue did the same thing, but the words were different, indicating that they did not collude, but Chai Yue underestimated the intelligence of the Xiongnu prince.

Han Ruzi sighed, not understanding why everyone thought he had ulterior motives for Jin Chuiduo.

An hour later, he ordered the animals to be driven away, hoping to confuse the Huns who were chasing after him, and then speed up the march, but he didn't dare to go too fast if he wanted to identify the direction in the dark and keep the formation in order.

Fang Daye, who rarely speaks out, suddenly said, "The Huns know the flag."

"What?" Han Ruzi turned his head and asked.

"The few Huns you let go, as long as you remember the shape of this long flag and describe it a little, those Huns cavalry will guess that there are generals here, and with their temper, they are reluctant to let go of the generals of the Chu army."

The long striped flag is not only a symbol of the general, but also troublesome at times. Han Ruzi smiled slightly, "So you agree with my guess?"

Fang Daye did not make a sound.

Han Ruzi ordered to speed up.