Chapter 184 Silent Oath
Seeing an army of such size, Shen Yuexi's first thought was that Xiao Zhuo's dream was about to be shattered.
Xiao Zhuo's plan was to take Xiliang as her base. Unexpectedly, she and her husband had just arrived in Xiliang and hadn't done anything when Jingzhou sent troops to attack.
At the moment, Xiao Zhuo didn't even have a single soldier under his command. Meanwhile, Mei Cheng, the King of Xiliang in Yongwei, sent his son to attack the cities in the north that were occupied by the Xirong people, completely unaware that a fire had broken out behind the scenes.
"Master, this army deliberately avoided the main roads and chose to take this desolate and deserted mountain road." Qiang Lin, a member of the Western Rong army, immediately saw the problem. "Such a secret march would be extremely costly and time-consuming. This can't be a small-scale attack; it must be a surprise attack on Yongwei."
"Then what should we do?" Shen Yuexi looked nervously at the army at the foot of the mountain.
She couldn't make a decision for a moment, so she simply asked Qiang Lin.
If we notify the Xiliang garrison and let Xiliang prepare in advance, we will be helping Mei Cheng and his son.
Xiao Zhuo had said that the culprit who framed him might be the virtuous concubine Mei Dai. Although it was not certain at the moment, as Xiao Zhuo's wife, how could she possibly help the Mei family, who had framed her husband and killed his mother?
If Mei Dai was really the one who framed Xiao Zhuo, then it would not be an exaggeration to say that she was filled with immense hatred.
But if the Xiliang defenders were not informed, how could the remnants of Xiliang's army possibly withstand the attack of the Jingzhou army? If the Xiliang army was defeated, Xiao Zhuo himself would also be unable to turn the situation around.
She had seen the Western Rong army of ten thousand men, the army of twenty thousand men, and even accompanied Xiao Zhuo to Xiao Beiheng's banquet and watched the Dingbei Army's fifty-thousand-man camp. No matter which army, it could not compare to the one before her.
An army of this size far exceeded any army she had seen before. It was probably no less than 100,000 soldiers, not counting those that appeared at the end of the horizon.
Qiang Lin pondered for a moment, then looked at her and asked solemnly, "What is the Crown Prince's attitude towards Xiliang?"
Before Shen Yuexi could answer, Li Wan tugged at her hand and said fearfully, "Madam Shen, we need to leave quickly. If so many troops come, they'll capture us."
Hearing Li Wan's words, Shen Yuexi just did what she wanted and sent secret guards to escort her down the mountain, leaving only her and Qiang Lin at the top of the mountain.
What follows is very important.
Xiao Zhuo had only told her his true feelings about Xiliang, and she knew it was no joke. Now that Qiang Lin had asked, she wondered whether she should tell him the truth.
If he chooses not to tell, Qiang Lin will be an outsider, just a follower. If he chooses to tell, Qiang Lin will be his confidant, knowing the real secret.
Thinking about how Qiang Lin would rather die than attack the city on the battlefield, swore allegiance to her to the gods, blocked Xiu Muye's hidden arrow for her, and single-handedly stopped the pursuers for her, she thought that these were enough to prove Qiang Lin's loyalty.
Such a loyal subordinate will definitely not betray her and will become Xiao Zhuo's helper in the future.
"My husband's goal is to seize Xiliang."
Now that she had thought it through, she no longer hesitated.
Xiao Zhuo was currently in Yongwei. Her words were a way of telling Qiang Lin that she considered him her confidant.
A flicker of emotion flashed across Qiang Lin's eyes, and he knelt on one knee and bowed deeply. This was his response to Shen Yuexi. It was also a silent oath.
"My master asked for my opinion, and I suggested notifying the Xiliang garrison."
"Can you explain it?" Shen Yuexi asked.
If she informed the Xiliang garrison, it would be tantamount to helping Xiliang. If Xiao Zhuo later discovered that she was helping Xiliang, it would cause misunderstandings and would be bad. She couldn't turn her elbow outward; her original intention was to help Xiao Zhuo, not hinder him.
You have to figure it out before you can draw a conclusion.
Qiang Lin stood up, held the hilt of his knife, looked down the mountain, and said:
"The Jingzhou army currently numbers no fewer than 100,000 men, and they're determined to win. Emperor Yongde's army and the Prince of Qi's army are both stationed at Xiaogang Village, with no intention of advancing westward. Xiliang has no support, so they'll have to face the Jingzhou army alone. If defeated, His Royal Highness will be left without troops and will have no choice but to rely on others once again. But His Royal Highness is currently in Yongwei, receiving rewards from the King of Xiliang and with the prospect of intermarriage. This effectively declares his solidarity with the King of Xiliang. To avoid harm, Prince Jing will certainly not tolerate him."
"I understand," Shen Yuexi walked down the mountain, "but I don't know where the Xiliang defenders are."
Both she and Qiang Lin were in this place for the first time. They were unfamiliar with the place and had no idea about the local geography.
Qiang Lin followed her and said, "Master, although I have temporarily stopped the Jingzhou troops in the village, they will definitely not give up and will continue searching everywhere. We should move away from here and find a village to settle down. I can send a capable soldier to report the news."
The two were discussing when they heard crying from the bottom of the mountain.
It’s Li Wan.
Shen Yuexi thought she couldn't stand the cold outdoors and was throwing a tantrum. Just as she was about to ask, a secret guard hurried up the mountain and said to her:
"Master, Madam Li and the others were captured by the Jingzhou Army."
Shen Yuexi and Qiang Lin were both surprised. Qiang Lin asked, "Who brought this news?"
Everyone hurried down the mountain and came to a sheltered place.
A secret guard lay on the ground, half his body stained red with blood. Several people gathered around him. Seeing Shen Yuexi and Qiang Lin rushing over, one of them stood up and said, "He was shot in the back by three arrows. They weren't vital, but the blood..."
Qiang Lin waved his hand to stop him from continuing, then knelt on one knee beside the injured secret guard, shook his hand, and said, "What happened? Weren't you guarding the carriage?"
The injured secret guard said with a dying breath: "Chief, we are incompetent and failed to protect Doctor Hua and Madam Li..."
After Shen Yuexi and Li Wan left, Madam Li, who had taken a nap in the carriage, suddenly became concerned for her daughter's safety. She clamored to go to the village to look for Li Wan. The guards dared not disobey and drove the carriage to the village to search for her.
As luck would have it, as soon as I entered the village, I ran into the Jingzhou cavalry who had failed to pursue Shen Yuexi and were returning to the village.
The secret guards were outnumbered, the carriage moved slowly and they were unable to escape, so they were detained by the Jingzhou army. Only this secret guard managed to escape and came here to seek help.
Shen Yuexi said: "Let me treat him."
Qiang Lin shook his head and said, "Master, don't worry. He has already bled out all his blood. He only managed to hold on here by willpower."
After saying this, Qiang Lin let go of the guard's hand, closed the corpse's eyes, stood up, and said to the guard beside him, "Our brother has gone to see the gods."
Everyone lowered their eyes and stood in awe, including Shen Yuexi.
Li Wan cried for a long time. Seeing that no one paid any attention to her, she rushed over and grabbed Shen Yuexi's arm and said, "What are you doing here? My mother has been captured. Go and save her!"
Qiang Lin glanced at Li Wan, then looked at Shen Yuexi, without saying anything.
Shen Yuexi walked out of the crowd, pulled Li Wan to a secluded place, and said to her: "Miss Li, the guard is dead. Everyone is mourning..."
"He's dead, so what? He's just a servant," Li Wan angrily shook her hand away. "How can a servant compare to my mother's life?"
Shen Yuexi shook her head and said, "Miss Li, we are the same as them now, not even a bit more noble than them."
Li Wan always forgets her own identity from time to time and still thinks of herself as the eldest daughter of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion.
Although Shen Yuexi's words weren't a scolding, they sounded like one to Li Wan. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Walking back to the crowd, Shen Yuexi said to Qiang Lin, "Let's bury this warrior, and then go rescue Doctor Hua and Madam Li."
Doctor Hua saved Xiao Zhuo's life, and Madam Li was Xiao Zhuo's aunt, so they had to save her.
Qiang Lin asked, "That matter...should I send someone to report it?"
"No, we are already short of manpower, and we can't afford to lose even one person." Shen Yuexi glanced at everyone, "Are you willing to come with me to rescue people?"
Seeing that she did not treat the deceased with the same contempt as Li Wan, everyone looked at her differently.
Before, everyone followed Shen Yuexi because of the oath they had made. Now, seeing her respect for the dead, they felt even more respect in their hearts. They all knelt on one knee and bowed their heads to express their determination to follow her until death.
Li Wan looked in surprise at Shen Yuexi who was being knelt down by a group of guards, and couldn't understand the reason.
Shen Yuexi took the lead in picking up stones, and everyone used the stones to bury the bodies of the deceased.
After finishing everything, Shen Yuexi looked up into the distance.
There were hundreds of Jingzhou soldiers in that village, but she only had thirteen soldiers here.
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