Chapter 189 The Xuan Kingdom's army approaches the border walls of the Yu Kingdom
Just as the two were deeply in love, a sound came from outside the door again.
"Your Majesty, Fairy, the fruits and vegetables of Linxian City this autumn are ripe. The people picked out the best of the first batch of harvested fruits and vegetables and sent them over early this morning."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qidi immediately released Ning Jinli and stood up excitedly, "Bring it in quickly!"
Ning Jinli was still immersed in a passionate kiss a second ago, but the next second she almost fell out of his arms.
Then a dozen or so soldiers, all smiles, carried large baskets into the house.
Each basket was filled with all kinds of fruits and vegetables, big and plump, with dewdrops still clinging to them, and the house was instantly filled with the fresh fragrance of fruits and vegetables.
Xiao Qidi picked up a plump white radish with his left hand and a bright yellow pumpkin with his right. His eyes were fixed on the other fruits and vegetables in the basket, and he was so happy that his mouth almost stretched to his ears.
The soldiers then told him that the city had a bumper harvest, with extremely high yields of grain crops, and that harvesting would begin in a few days.
Judging from the estimated production, the people of Linxian City can now achieve self-sufficiency in basic food and no longer have to go hungry as often as before!
"Great! That's wonderful!" Xiao Qidi was beaming with joy.
Food is the most important thing for people. Enabling people to have enough to eat is a great thing!
"Jinli, try it!" Xiao Qidi wiped the white radish clean with his sleeve, broke it in two, handed one piece to Ning Jinli, and looked at her expectantly.
The dozen or so soldiers present were also filled with anticipation.
This radish was the first vegetable to grow on this land after Linxian City suffered from a drought for several months, and it was only with the help of Fairy Jinli that it was able to grow.
Therefore, the first bite must be tasted by the fairy.
It may look like just a radish, but it has extraordinary significance.
Ning Jinli held the radish and smelled it. The fresh and rich aroma filled her nostrils, with a sweet scent.
She opened her mouth and took a big bite.
Crunchy and juicy.
The incredibly fresh radish flavor exploded in my mouth.
Ning Jinli's eyes widened involuntarily.
"How is it? Is it delicious?" Xiao Qidi swallowed.
The soldiers were also swallowing hard.
Ning Jinli's eyes sparkled. "The radish flavor is so strong! So sweet! And with just the right amount of spiciness, it's so delicious! I've never eaten such delicious raw radishes before! They taste much better than the ones grown where I live!"
Xiao Qidi quickly took a bite as well, and his eyes lit up immediately. He said incredulously, "The radishes we grow here are also made from your seeds, so why are they even tastier than the ones you sent over?"
Ning Jinli said with great enthusiasm, "The fertilizer I provided was all organic, and the land here has never been polluted by industry. Even with the same seeds, the quality of the produce will naturally be different."
"Come on, you guys have some too!"
Ning Jinli addressed the dozen or so soldiers present.
The leading general wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and said cheerfully, "These are all gifts from the people to the fairy and the emperor. We can eat them later. The people are still picking in the fields, and we need to go help them."
The soldiers then took their leave.
Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi each finished half a radish, and were still not satisfied.
"How about this," Ning Jinli said with a smile, looking at the several large baskets of vegetables, "we'll use these vegetables for hot pot at noon."
Xiao Qidi licked his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing. "The chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep raised in Linxian City have all grown up. We can give it a try."
Ning Jinli nodded vigorously, "Fish raised here will definitely taste better. Oh, and I'll go catch a few more fish from Eagle Falling Gorge. Oh, and remember the wild berries we used when we cooked wild boar meat? Let's pick some wild berries to add flavor... My goodness, just thinking about it makes my mouth water!"
Hearing her say that, Xiao Qidi's mouth almost watered.
The two hit it off immediately and decided to start preparing hot pot for lunch after breakfast.
at the same time--
Inside Huangsha Pass.
The commander, who had been appointed General Zhengxuan by the King of Yu, was discussing battle plans with his deputies.
The Yu Kingdom's 300,000-strong army had been assembled several days ago, and several vanguard teams and scouts had also been dispatched to Xitun Pass well in advance.
However, as of now, no scouts have returned to report on the situation.
Therefore, General Zheng Xuan did not dare to launch an attack on Xitun Pass rashly.
After all, several months ago, both the barbarian army of the Sha Yue Kingdom and the elite troops of the Yu Kingdom, totaling hundreds of thousands, were wiped out at Xitun Pass.
General Zhengxuan and his lieutenants all felt that the king and the crown prince must have underestimated their enemy, which led to their repeated defeats.
This time, the soldiers bear the heavy responsibility of destroying the Xuan Kingdom, and the entire Great Yu Kingdom is mobilized to fight against it. They must not repeat the mistakes of the past.
"General, intelligence has arrived," a soldier reported.
General Zheng Xuan hurriedly asked, "Has the scout from the front returned?"
"No, it was sent by the imperial court." After the soldier finished speaking, he took out a bundle of bamboo slips and handed it to the general.
The general quickly flipped through the pages, a look of delight spreading across his face. "Great news! Great news indeed!"
The lieutenants cast questioning glances at them.
The general laughed and said, "The spies sent by the imperial court said that the Xuan Kingdom only transferred 100,000 troops to Xitun Pass. This confirms my prediction!"
One of the lieutenants immediately said, "Shouldn't the Xuan Kingdom also have spies investigating the situation in our Great Yu? Don't they know we've mobilized 300,000 troops? Why have they only deployed so few?"
The general stroked his beard and analyzed with absolute certainty:
“Xuan Kingdom currently has a total of about 500,000 troops, but its northwestern border needs to guard against invasions by nomadic tribes. To the north, northeast, and from east to south, it borders several other vassal states. All these places require troops to be stationed. If too many troops are spared to deal with our expedition, it will definitely be attacked from both sides and unable to defend one area at a time! Deploying 100,000 troops to Xitun Pass is probably the limit for Xuan Kingdom!”
“Our Great Yu borders only Xuan Kingdom; apart from Sha Yue Kingdom, there are no other threats on our borders.”
"The entire military force of the Sha Yue Kingdom was exhausted several months ago and is no longer a threat. These traitors who betrayed my Great Yu elite troops deserve to be wiped out! After I conquer the Xuan Kingdom, I will also slaughter their royal family to serve as a warning to others!"
When General Zhengxuan got excited, he slammed his fist on the table in front of him.
One of the lieutenants asked, "General, our vanguard and scouts haven't sent back any news yet. Are we just going to keep waiting?"
The general waved his hand and said, "Of course we won't wait any longer. The intelligence that the court just sent has put my mind at ease. If the scouts haven't returned by noon today, we will launch an attack on Xitun Pass."
The words had barely left his mouth.
Suddenly, a rapid bugle call sounded outside the tent.
General Zhengxuan and his deputies' expressions suddenly changed, and they stood up abruptly.
"What's going on?!" the general roared. "Why did the alarm sound for no reason?!"
"General! It's terrible, General!" A soldier tumbled in and collapsed to the ground. "A large force of Xuan Kingdom troops... has attacked! They're already outside our city walls... less than five li away!"
The generals were greatly shocked.
How is that possible?
Several vanguard teams were sent out before, each with at least four or five thousand people, and the largest one had nearly ten thousand soldiers!
In addition, there were hundreds of scouts working with him.
Even if something went wrong with them, surely there should be someone who comes back in advance to report the situation, right?
Were they all killed by the Xuan Kingdom's army? Not a single one escaped?
Even so, scouts and sentries were stationed outside Huangsha Pass.
Even if the Xuan Kingdom mobilized its troops to fight their way through, there was absolutely no way they could eliminate all these scouts and sentries silently!
Why did we only discover this when the Xuan Kingdom's army was at our gates?!
So that's absolutely impossible!
Even a god couldn't do it!
General Zhengxuan grabbed the soldier who came to report, pulled him up by the collar, and angrily shouted, "Who is giving false military intelligence! Aren't you afraid I'll have you all executed?!"
The soldiers were terrified, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. "General... no one lied about the situation... it's true... the Xuan Kingdom's troops have really arrived! If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself!"
The general was furious, but seeing that the soldier didn't seem to be lying, he felt that such an outrageous situation was impossible, but he had no choice but to go and see for himself.
"Let's go!" He put on his helmet and led his lieutenants out of the camp.
On his way to the city wall, he encountered soldiers who kept coming to report on the situation.
It wasn't until his soldiers brought him the bodies of the scouts and sentries outside Huangsha Pass that he realized the seriousness of the situation.
The bodies lay peacefully dead, all killed by a single arrow piercing their throats.
They were clearly killed without their knowledge.
Even these people near Huangsha Pass died so quickly, which shows that the vanguard and scouts sent out earlier must have been wiped out long ago.
This is precisely why the people inside Huangsha Pass only discovered the situation when the Xuan Kingdom's army was at the city gates.
"General... how... how did the enemy forces of Xuan Kingdom manage to do this?" A lieutenant general looked at the corpses at his feet and felt a chill run down his spine.
It should be noted that the sentries stationed outside Huangsha Pass were extremely well-hidden.
Including those scouts who roamed nimbly near Huangsha Pass, always on guard against any disturbance, they were all masters of concealing themselves according to the environment.
How exactly did the Xuan Kingdom's army manage to find them in such a short time and eliminate them without them noticing?
General Zhengxuan racked his brains but couldn't come up with a solution.
Even with his decades of experience on the battlefield, he could not provide a reasonable explanation.
Seeing the general's grim expression, he remained silent.
Another lieutenant squatted down to carefully examine the sentry's injuries, and analyzed, "In my humble opinion, unless the Xuan Kingdom's army has a group of experts who can be described as immortals, able to fly high into the sky and overlook the earth to find the hidden sentry..."
"A master comparable to an immortal?" General Zhengxuan scoffed. "That's even more impossible! There's no one in the world today whose martial arts are high enough to fly in the sky all the time! Let alone a group of them! Your opinion is truly foolish!"
The reprimanded lieutenant dared not utter another word.
Even he himself thought this speculation was pure nonsense.
"Huh? This arrow... it's quite unique!" A soldier pulled the murder weapon from the corpse's throat. "General, look at this shape, this material... we've never seen anything like it before!"
General Zhengxuan took the arrow, his brows furrowing instantly.
This arrow was only a few inches long, making it appear particularly small. It felt heavy in the hand, with a substantial weight, and its quality far surpassed that of the finest ironware that Dayu could forge.
The arrowheads were extremely sharp, gleaming with a cold, silvery-white light.
The arrow's tail fin wasn't inlaid with feathers; it was impossible to tell what material it was made of, and it felt even tougher than feathers.
The lieutenants began to discuss among themselves, "How can such a short arrow be launched with a bow?"
"Could it be that there really is a master comparable to an immortal, who can fly through the clouds to find our hidden sentries and then simply throw arrows with his hand..."
"Hiss... That makes sense! Even the best craftsmen in our Great Yu couldn't make such a short arrow, regardless of the material or the craftsmanship. Perhaps it's either a master comparable to an immortal or a true god! That's why such a divine weapon would appear!"
The more exaggerated the words of the lieutenants became, the more unknown fears welled up in the general's heart.
"Shut up! Stop talking about this!" The general threw the arrow to the ground and roared, his eyes bulging. "If you dare to spread alarmist rumors and disrupt morale again, I will chop off your heads!"
"General! The enemy has reached the city gate, but they haven't attacked. They say they want to talk to you!" a soldier rushed in to report.
Without saying a word, General Zheng Xuan headed straight for the city wall tower.
Then, slowly peeking out from the watchtower and looking down, they saw several thousand Xuan Kingdom soldiers dressed in black armor and riding warhorses a few hundred meters away.
A thousand meters behind these Xuan Kingdom soldiers was a vast army that stretched as far as the eye could see.
"General Yu, stop hiding, I can see you!" A loud shout suddenly rang out from outside the city wall.
General Zheng Xuan was stunned for a moment, looking left and right in surprise.
I was clearly on the high platform, and I only peeked through the hole in the watchtower. Why was I discovered by the other party?
"Stop looking around," the voice rang out again, "I really want to have a serious talk with you!"
General Zheng Xuan had no choice but to straighten his back and walk up to the city wall.
The guards stood guard nearby, shields in hand, watching the situation below warily.
"You know me?" General Zhengxuan stared intently at the soldier from the Xuan Kingdom who had just spoken. "And who are you?"
"General Yu is the most trusted general of the Yu Kingdom's king. How could I not know him? My name is Duan Wu, and I am the commander of the troops at the Great Xuan West Garrison."
"Duan Wu? Never heard of him."
When General Yu saw that this so-called General of Xitun Pass was only in his early twenties, he showed a look of contempt.
"Does your Xuan Kingdom lack reliable veteran generals? You actually sent a greenhorn like you to lead troops, attempting to obstruct my Great Yu's campaign. How laughable!"
Duan Wu wasn't angry at all; he smiled and responded loudly:
"General Yu, you've got it wrong. I'm not here to stop your so-called campaign. I'm here to give you a chance. You and your soldiers don't need to die in a war you can't win. So why don't you just surrender and submit to the Great Xuan? That way I can report back to my sovereign as soon as possible. It'll save everyone trouble. What do you think?"
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