Back from Liyang to Jiankang, hundreds of miles away, the counties and villages passed along the way have long lost the peace and tranquility of the past.

The actual war caused by the Tianshi Sect and Xu Bi rebellion has not spread to this place near the capital due to the obstacles of the army, but the original peaceful life of the people here has long been broken.

The fields on both sides of the road are endless, not just slack farming, but there are only scattered people working in it. At the gates of the city, in the alleys, in the fields, in the village, were all people gathered to discuss the current situation, everyone was frowning and sighing. On the road, there were even teams of people who were carrying their families and carrying their children to Jiankang everywhere. In their eyes, the city where the emperor lived should be unbreakable.

As early as when the Tianshi Sect was in chaos, there were constant rumors, saying that the Tianshi Sect had a protective body, and was invincible and was invincible. Wherever they passed, it was like a locust, and anyone with some surplus food and wealth would be cut open if they didn't follow. People were already panic, but now, Xu Mi's army was full of rumors that they would come here soon, which added fuel to the fire.

The closer you get to Jiankang, the more such rumors and the fear and turmoil that arise with it will spread.

Passers-by became extremely sensitive, and any movement could make them frightened.

Along the way, Gao Qiao had seen passers-by who were fleeing in fear because he met his group. After finally recognizing that the people in the army who were moving quickly were the court army, he finally stopped in a hurry.

His mood was extremely painful.

Geographically speaking, the Yangtze River is a natural barrier to the north of Jiankang, but when encountering such civil strife like this today, it becomes flat on three sides and has no power to defend.

Innate deficiencies determine that once a strong enemy descends along the river or attacks from the hinterland, it will completely lose its value of defense.

In terms of military strength, even if the 6th clan army that was previously included is now completely at a disadvantage.

According to local reports, the rebellious Tianshi Sect members, in Yangzhou, there were more than 200,000 riots in more than 70 counties involved in the 16 counties and 70 counties. These people were like being raped and were incited to conquer cities and territories, and they looked like crazy. When they encountered war with the imperial army sent to encircle and suppression, in terms of the degree of cruelty and life-threatening death, even Gao Qiao's several veterans who had been on the battlefield for a long time were shocked when they saw it.

The number of people is still expanding like a snowball, not to mention that there is now another rebel, Xu Bi.

Although the offensive of the Xuancheng rebels has been temporarily suppressed, giving Jiankang a chance to breathe. But this is just a chance to breathe.

Gao Qiao knew in his heart that what he had to face next was a more difficult battle.

Facing the rebels coming from Jingzhou, Wuchang County won't be able to defend for long. In this direction, the troops he could only divide the aid of defending were limited. All the defenses were deployed, which was an unrealistic fantasy.

He chose to deploy heavy defenses in the area of ​​Wangjiang County, downstream, in order to use the solid city defense and terrain to prevent the rebels from attacking Jiankang as much as possible.

Regarding Jiankang, he has also made a decision.

It was an extremely difficult process for him to make such a decision.

But he knew in his heart that under the premise that Xu Bi's rebels and the Tianshi Sect echoed each other, judging from the passive situation that Guangling Army was currently in, such an arrangement was completely necessary.

Knowing that Jiankang is completely without any danger, instead of keeping it away with the idea of ​​luck, if it is out of control in the end, it is better to plan in advance and retreat to advance, and gain more time and opportunities for this inevitable defense battle.

He is even more unlikely to place hope entirely on reinforcements.

Although he realized that Xu Mi was also taking advantage of the chaos to fight Jiankang, he realized the severity of the situation and urgently summoned Li Mu, who is still far away in Longxi.

But he was not sure whether Li Mu would respond immediately.

He knew that Li Mu had a great situation in Longxi. Once he had settled Longxi, he took advantage of the high morale and took advantage of the high morale to go out and plan Luoyang. Such temptation and call, and returned from a long-distance marching to help Jiankang, under the premise that the court's opponents had a strong power could have been negligible, for a foreign minister like Li Mu, even if it was himself, it would have to be considered.

What's more, it's him.

To be honest, Gao Qiao still feels a bit irrespectful about his son-in-law's thoughts.

Therefore, he did not dare to put his hope of guarding Jiankang on rescue.

Even if the capital of the Southern Dynasty was weak, Gao Qiao would not give up easily.

But before that, he needs to arrange everything so that he can do it without worries.

He had not closed his eyes well for several days or nights. He rode on the horse, his eyes that were so sour that they could not blink smoothly, were almost crying by the wind blowing towards him.

He was obviously extremely tired, but his whole body was controlled from inside to outside by a tense emotion, and he could no longer feel any fatigue from his body.

At noon on the third day after the Battle of Liyang, Gao Qiao and his party finally rushed back to Jiankang.

He rode his horse and passed through the gate of Jiankang's southern city.

He had not worn armor for many years. The people in Jiankang City were more accustomed to their famous men's style in white. So when they saw him riding into the city, the people nearby did not recognize him, but looked at the people in the army with a little confused and uneasy gaze.

"It's Gao Hun! Gao Hun has returned!"

Suddenly, a voice sounded.

The people around him finally recognized him, and their emotions became excited, calling him and pouring towards him.

There was a commotion near the South City Gate.

Those concerns and fears about Jiankang's uncertain tomorrow that came from their eyes because of the terrible rumors in the sky disappeared at the moment when they saw Gao Qiao in military uniform suddenly appear in front of them.

Instead, there is excitement and excitement full of trust and dependence.

For the first time in his life, Gao Qiao did not dare to face the eyes of Jiankang people who looked at him.

He suppressed the guilt that surged in his heart, and suddenly urged the horse to abandon the crowd following him. When he reached the fork that led to the palace and his home, he hesitated for a while and then headed to the palace.

He went straight into the palace without any stop. When the palace servant saw him, he showed a very grateful look, as if he had seen a savior, and almost didn't cry: "Good Lord, you've come back! Your Majesty has been looking at you every day in the past few days-"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty is back!"

The palace servant seemed to have forgotten the rules of the palace and led Gao Qiao into the room. Before he could reach the hall, he ran into the room.

Accompanied by a burst of rapid footsteps, Gao Qiao looked up and saw a figure appearing from behind the curtain of the inner hall and running towards him.

"My husband! You're back!"

The young emperor seemed to be sick, with a pale complexion and swollen eyes.

He lost his elegant demeanor as before. He rushed to Gao Qiao, and when Gao Qiao was about to kneel down to him, he reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

"There are rumors everywhere in the city that the rebels and the Tianshi Sect are about to fight Jiankang! The ministers wrote a letter that even if Liyang is guarded, it is probably not long. They want me to leave the palace to avoid Jiankang falling!"

"Gao Xianggong, what do you think?"

Gao Qiao stared at the emperor in front of him who asked him.

In the emperor's eyes, he saw the anxious gaze filled with desire from his heart.

A feeling of powerlessness suddenly surged in his heart.

These days, fighting, running around, and the accumulated fatigue seemed to suddenly attack him.

He was silent for a moment and did not answer.

"My husband, wait, I'll show you those notes!"

The emperor's elegant and elegant hands, with his slender and slender fingers, loosened Gao Qiao's sleeves, turned around, and hurriedly went to get the memorial.

"His Majesty!"

Suddenly another sound came from the back of the palace. There seemed to be a hint of unhappiness in the sound.

The emperor turned around and saw Gao Yongrong coming. He hesitated for a while and finally stopped.

Gao Yongrong stopped the emperor's actions and hurried to Gao Qiao.

"Uncle, I just heard that in the battle of Liyang, my uncle repelled the rebels. Is it okay for uncle?"

Gao Qiao's gaze slowly fell from the emperor to his niece's face and stared at her.

"I'm fine."

After a moment, he said.

Gao Yongrong sighed relieved and said gratefully: "Everyone relies on his uncle to turn the tide and protect Jiankang. Otherwise, if the rebels in Xuancheng came here, I would not know what happened here at this moment. These days, my uncle was not here, and the ministers wrote letters every day, saying that Jiankang was not a place to be defended, and advised Your Majesty to move out temporarily. Your Majesty was intimidated by the ministers, and then he lost his composure. Whether to leave or not, let everything go."

Gao Qiao calmed down and looked at the emperor again, his expression regained his usual calmness.

"I will swear to hold on to the death in the capital of Jiankang. The ministers' concerns are not unreasonable. I am also back for this matter. To ensure the stability, Your Majesty can move to Qua first. The terrain there can be guarded and the city is strong, which is a safe place. I will send someone to escort Your Majesty, and 6 Cambodia will respond. Your Majesty will rest assured."

The emperor breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, it was so exciting that he could describe his feelings.

To him, he still seems to be dreaming when he is pampered and carefree.

Compared to being an emperor now, the enjoyment he can get is actually not much higher than when he was the King of Dongyang. On the contrary, he had to listen to Gao Qiao's words and destiny all the time, which made him feel extremely tired.

He was already scared by the fierce rebels and rumors from all sides.

I thought Gao Qiao would firmly oppose his departure from Jiankang and ask him to stay and advance and retreat with Jiankang. Unexpectedly, Gao Qiao had prepared a way out for him.

He was extremely grateful. If Gao Yongrong hadn't been standing beside him, he would have held Gao Qiao's hand and shed tears of gratitude.

Gao Yongrong said: "Uncle, for the national system, Your Majesty can leave first. If your uncle needs it, his niece and the prince can stay in Jiankang with his uncle and advance and retreat with Jiankang!"

Gao Qiao shook his head slightly: "No need. You all go, I can stay. I will arrange for evacuation to the residents in the city."

"uncle--"

Gao Yongrong seemed to want to persuade him again.

Gao Qiao waved his hand: "You and Your Majesty will prepare first. When I make arrangements, I can leave."

He left the palace and walked hurriedly towards the Gao family.
Chapter completed!