Chapter 384 The Only Concern

"What? My brother is in Xuehe Village. Is that true?"

Shen Yuexi withdrew her hands that were warming the fire, stood up in surprise, and looked at Shen Lan at the door of the tent.

Just after lunch, she heard such shocking news. This was something she hadn't expected. Xiao Beiheng was actually fleeing further and further west. It seemed that their army might actually encounter Xiao Beiheng.

"King Qianglin's messenger just brought news," Chen Lan walked over to the charcoal brazier, squatted down, and warmed his hands. "King Qianglin and Xiao Beiheng fought a battle there, captured over a thousand prisoners, and are bringing them here."

"What about Qiang Lin? Is he chasing his brother again?"

"Yes, Xiao Beiheng continued to flee westward," Chen Lan said, "I heard that Su Mo was with him."

Chen Lan had no good feelings towards Xiao Beiheng, but she was grateful to Su Mo. If Su Mo had not let her go, she would have died at the hands of Xiao Beiheng.

"Sister, if Qiang Lin continues to chase, Su Mo will be in danger," Chen Lan said, looking at the red charcoal in the charcoal basin. "She will either die in the chaos of the army or die of hunger and cold."

Shen Yuexi was silent for a moment, then said, "Sister, I'm also very worried about my sister-in-law. She not only saved you, but she also saved me. I've wanted her to leave my brother several times, but she refused."

Both Shen Yuexi and Shen Lan wanted to rescue Su Mo from the fire pit. But Su Mo had deep feelings for Xiao Beiheng. Even though she knew that Xiao Beiheng was a cruel and bottomless man, she was unwilling to leave him.

"Xiao Beiheng no longer has an army," Chen Lan said. "Hasn't my brother-in-law already led his army to attack the Anzhou army? Xiao Beiheng can't turn things around. Can we talk to the queen and go rescue Su Mo first?"

Shen Yuexi finally understood what her sister meant. Shen Lan, like her, was worried about Su Mo's safety and wanted her to persuade Mei Dai not to attack King Dorma first, but to go find Xiao Beiheng instead.

She also wanted to find Xiao Beiheng, but she didn't want to kill Xiao Beiheng like Qiang Lin did.

After knowing Pei Jingyun's secret, she realized that Xiao Beiheng's cruelty must have come from his mother. He was just a child who knew nothing, and became like this under his mother's wrong teachings.

"If we go to find my brother, will you kill him?" she asked Shen Lan.

Chen Lan looked at the prosthetic arm on her left arm, pondered for a moment, and said, "He killed my husband and cut off my left hand. I hated him as much as King Qianglin did."

Shen Yuexi said: "So you don't want to kill him now?"

"Sister, I think we shouldn't make the decision on this matter. Let my brother-in-law decide."

Shen Yuexi thought Shen Lan's idea was a good one. They had reached an agreement on how to deal with Xiao Beiheng, and the next step was to see if Mei Dai could pass the test.

Mei Dai's lifelong goal is to protect the Mei family's legacy. As long as it doesn't involve the four counties of Xiliang, she will readily agree to anything. But now that King Duoma's Xirong army is wreaking havoc in Xiliang, will Mei Dai agree to go find Su Mo?

The two dressed neatly and left the tent. Shen Yuexi looked up at the dark clouds in the sky, which were rimmed with a layer of gold by the sunlight, and put on the thick cotton hood with her backhand.

The soldiers were pushing a tiger squat cannon right in front of the tent. The heavy wheels sank deeply into the snow, making a "creaking" sound. Strings of icicles hung on the black barrel, shining like white fangs.

Beside the slowly advancing cannons lay the infantry, marching like a long snake. The forest of spears and halberds reflected the afternoon sun, emitting a cold, murderous aura. Dozens of Xiliang Army "plum"-shaped flags fluttered in the chill wind.

Shen Yuexi rode on Xiaobai. Coincidentally, Geng Hong led a group of black cavalrymen passing by. She quickly called out, "General Geng, have you seen my sister Mei?"

Geng Hong reined in his warhorse and said, "Alas... the Queen is at the front of the team. The doctor told her to rest more, but she refused to listen."

Shen Yuexi stuck out her tongue and said to Shen Lan, "Sister Mei's head hasn't recovered yet, why are you so anxious? Let's go find her up ahead."

The two men rode their horses along the long team, and sure enough, they saw Mei Dai at the front of the team.

Mei Dai was riding a warhorse and standing on a high slope, watching the marching soldiers. The cold wind blew up her cloak behind her, and the metal mask on her face reflected the sunlight, making Shen Yuexi feel a little dazzling.

The two of them came to Mei Dai, and Shen Yuexi said, "Sister Mei, do you know the news brought by the Qianglin messenger?"

Mei Dai lifted her mask and said to Shen Yuexi with a serious expression, "I understand. The messenger told me that Xiao Beiheng massacred the villagers of Xuehe Village, fought a battle with the King of Qianglin, and is continuing to flee westward."

Shen Yuexi was shocked. She never expected Xiao Beiheng to do such a thing.

She swallowed and said carefully: "Sister Mei, we heard that Su Mo and Xiao Beiheng are together. We are all very worried and want to go find her."

Mei Dai asked, "Why, do you want to look for Xiao Beiheng?"

Chen Lan said quickly, "King Qianglin is fighting him now. I heard he only has two to three thousand men left. We are worried that something might happen to Su Mo. She has done us a favor."

Mei Dai pondered for a moment and said, "No."

Shen Yuexi wasn't surprised; she'd expected Mei Dai to respond that way. Mei Dai, still dazed from a head injury, was at the front of the march, encouraging morale. It was clear she was eager to confront King Doma and drive the enemy out of the Mei family's territory.

But Mei Dai's next words made her dumbfounded.

"Sister, you and Shen Lan are thinking too simply," Mei Dai said, looking at the marching army. "Do you think that without his army, Xiao Beiheng will no longer be a threat?"

"Yes." Shen Yuexi replied somewhat confusedly, "We have so many troops and cannons..."

Mei Dai retracted her gaze and looked at her, saying, "Sister, Xiao Beiheng's martial arts skills are not inferior to Prince An's, and he has the unparalleled Yanque Sword to protect him, as well as a thousand-mile horse. If he makes a desperate move and sneaks into the military camp to assassinate you and me, how can we, as women, resist him?"

Shen Yuexi groaned and said, "Yes."

Mei Dai's words immediately reminded her of her daring husband. Xiao Zhuo had done this before, more than once. The first time, he stormed into the enemy camp, attempting to kill the general. The second time, he captured King Doma alive and forced him to swear an oath.

If Xiao Beiheng did the same, both Mei Dai and Chen Lan would be in crisis.

In the great battle outside Leshan City, she had witnessed Xiao Beiheng using the Yanque Sword to kill nearly a hundred cavalrymen in black armor. If he had sneaked into the military camp to assassinate them... the thought was terrifying.

Xiao Zhuo is not here, the only person who can protect them is Ji Yunyan, but Ji Yunyan has been killed by Xiao Beiheng.

"Xiao Beiheng is cruel and murderous. If he can kill his own father, there's nothing he can't do," Mei Dai said. "I know you two care about Su Mo, but you can't put all of us in danger just because of Su Mo."

Chen Lan said, "Then shall we continue with our original plan and march towards King Doma?"

Mei Dai said, "Since King Qianglin is leading his army to pursue Xiao Beiheng, let him do this. Our entire army should go to fight King Duoma as soon as possible. King Duoma has 70,000 troops, and I am worried that he will attack Yongwei."

Seeing that Mei Dai disagreed to go find Xiao Beiheng, and her reasons were quite sufficient, Shen Yuexi had to stop persuading her, considering her own safety and the safety of her two sisters.

By evening, the Xiliang army was less than two days' journey away from King Doma's army.

Mei Dai ordered them to set up camp and rest. While everyone was having dinner, another messenger from Qianglin arrived in a hurry to report the latest military information.

After hearing the messenger's report, Mei Dai exclaimed, "Xiao Beiheng's remaining troops are trapped on a mountain by King Doma's army?"

Shen Yuexi was eating from her bowl. Seeing Mei Dai so nervous, she quickly swallowed her food and asked, "Sister Mei, why are you so flustered?"

She was slow to react and didn't understand what it meant for Xiao Beiheng to be trapped.

Mei Dai didn't bother to answer her. She said to the messenger, "Go quickly and tell King Qianglin to lead his army to join me. A great battle is about to begin, and I need King Qianglin's army's support."

After the messenger left, Mei Dai said, "Sister, Military Advisor, we will immediately send a cavalry to rescue Xiao Beiheng. No...we will go to rescue Su Mo."

Shen Yuexi stood up in surprise and shouted, "Okay, I'll go too."

Although she still didn't understand why Mei Dai was suddenly so anxious to save Su Mo, she had already begun to imagine the scene of reuniting with Su Mo with joy.