Chapter 272 Moon Viewing
The King of Qi and his son were hugging each other and crying bitterly when a deputy general rushed over, removed the wet cloth covering his mouth, and pointed to the east, saying, "King Qi, there is a place in the east where there is no fire!"
Xiao Beiheng heard this, let go of the King of Qi, turned around and grabbed the deputy general's chest with both hands: "Where, where is it?"
The deputy general was already having difficulty breathing due to the smoke, and after being grabbed by Xiao Beiheng, he was unable to speak and could only point to the east.
Xiao Beiheng looked past the burning trees and saw what looked like a huge cave in a dark place. Overjoyed, he pushed his deputy aside, stood up and rushed over, slashing the burning trees in his way with his sword and running eastward.
"Beiheng, wait." King Xiao Ming of Qi stood up and gave chase, chasing Xiao Beiheng. Halfway through, a small tree that had been chopped down by Xiao Beiheng and had been burned to charcoal fell down on him. Xiao Ming was unable to dodge, and the trunk of the tree hit his leg.
The tree trunk had just burned out, and there was still a red glow in the black charcoal. It pressed on Xiao Ming's legs and immediately burned his pants.
"Bei Heng, Bei Heng!"
Xiao Ming felt unbearable pain in his thigh, and his nose was filled with the smell of burning flesh. He couldn't reach out to push, so he hurriedly called out to Xiao Beiheng.
The deputy general who had just reported the news was following nearby. Seeing this, he quickly grabbed one end of the tree trunk with both hands and lifted it up. Several soldiers stepped forward to drag the King of Qi out and put out the fire on his pants.
The tree trunk hit him quite hard, and the fire burned his legs. Xiao Ming supported himself on the ground with his hands and was unable to get up for a while.
The deputy general put down the tree trunk, swatted the sparks from his sleeves, and came to Xiao Ming. He squatted with his back to Xiao Ming and shouted to the sergeant, "Help the King of Qi on me."
The soldiers hurriedly helped Xiao Ming onto the deputy general's back, and the deputy general carried Xiao Ming on his back and ran eastward.
There was a big, pitch-black hole on the eastern hillside. Burning weeds kept rolling down from the top of the hole, but it still couldn't illuminate the inside. It seemed to be very deep.
Xiao Ming crouched on the deputy general's back and turned to shout to the soldiers who followed him, "Quick, everyone, get into the cave and take shelter."
When everyone saw the cave, they were overjoyed and rushed into it.
When they got inside the cave, the heat subsided a little. Xiao Ming finally calmed down and called out, "Bei Heng, has Bei Heng come in? Has anyone seen the prince?"
"King Qi, I saw the Crown Prince," a voice called out from the darkness, "He went into the cave."
Knowing that Xiao Beiheng was alright, Xiao Ming finally felt relieved. He patted the shoulder of his deputy general and said, "If it weren't for you, I would have died right there."
"Your Majesty, you are too kind. You still think of us humble soldiers in such a critical moment," the deputy general said as they walked away. "I will never abandon you."
"What's your name? What's your current position?" Xiao Ming asked.
The deputy general said, "My surname is Qi, and my given name is Sheng Jue. I am currently the deputy general of the Dingbei Army."
"Qi Shengjue?" Xiao Ming asked, "If I remember correctly, you served under Marshal Zhao and later served under Xiao Zhuo, right?"
I remember Xiao Beiheng mentioned before that Xiao Zhuo had an army that surrendered to Xiao Kai. Later, Xiao Beiheng destroyed Xiao Kai, and Xiao Kai's army was all returned to the Dingbei Army.
The deputy general stopped in his tracks. His expression could not be seen in the darkness. He paused for a moment before saying, "King Qi is right. I used to serve under King Zhao."
Xiao Ming nodded. No wonder Xiao Beiheng only appointed Qi Shengjue as a deputy general. It turned out that he was a general who had defected from Xiao Zhuo, and Xiao Beiheng didn't trust him. But Qi Shengjue had saved his life today, so to make him a deputy general again would be too much of an injustice.
Thinking of this, Xiao Ming patted Qi Shengjue on the shoulder and said, "General Qi, you have made great contributions today. I will promote you to General Xinwu."
General Xinwu jumped three levels compared to the deputy general.
Qi Shengjue raised his foot and continued to walk forward, saying, "I thank King Qi." There was no joy in his tone.
Xiao Ming thought that everyone had just escaped death and was in a panic. He did not pay much attention to Qi Shengjue's reaction and said with emotion: "I didn't expect there would be such a cave in this valley. It really is God's will."
This cave is very spacious and the ground underfoot is very flat. It feels like walking on flat ground. It does not feel like it was formed naturally. It seems to be a grain storage place built by the garrison of the previous dynasty.
After calming down, Xiao Ming felt the pain in his legs become more severe. He estimated that he would not be able to ride a horse to the battlefield until his injury healed.
After walking for a while, cheers suddenly came from the front.
"Prince Qi, there's an exit ahead," a voice rang out from the darkness ahead. "His Royal Highness has already left, and there are no enemy troops ambushing outside."
"Okay, okay!" Xiao Ming said yes repeatedly.
Everyone was overjoyed, cheered loudly, and rushed to the exit.
Qi Shengjue carried Xiao Ming out of the cave. Xiao Ming took a deep breath and looked back at the red light rising behind him.
Just now, in the valley, with crossbows blocking the way and flames all around, I thought I was doomed. Now that I've escaped and seen the light of day again, it feels like a lifetime ago.
"King Qi, look, our siege camp." A general shouted, pointing to the northeast.
Without anyone's warning, Xiao Ming also heard the shouts and cries of killing coming from the wind. From afar, he could see the Qi Wang army camp at Langya Pass in chaos, with flames rising everywhere.
"Xiao Zhuo knew my father and I were coming to steal food and supplies, so while he was ambushing us here, he also led his troops to attack our siege camp," Xiao Ming said with a wry smile. "We've suffered a great loss this time. We'll return to our base camp for now and regroup to fight again another day."
Qi Shengjue asked, "King Qi, what should we do with the siege camp?"
"My Dingbei Army is stationed there. If the two armies clash head-on, Xiao Zhuo's soldiers cannot win without trickery." Xiao Ming said, "My leg is injured and needs medical attention. Let's return to our camp first."
Over a thousand soldiers escaped the valley, nearly all of them injured by the smoke and fire, but luckily they managed to survive. They escorted Prince Xiao Ming of Qi to the main camp of the Prince of Qi's army east of Xiaogang Village.
A round moon like a silver plate slowly emerged from behind the clouds, casting its bright light all over the ground.
On the slope near the cave entrance, Shen Yuexi sat on a large bluestone, hugging her knees with her hands, watching the troops march away in a chaotic manner.
She let the cave made by Big Bear penetrate into the valley and saved the King of Qi and his son.
If Xiao Ming and his son were burned to death, everything would be over, and all opposition forces would be completely eliminated. Perhaps Su Mo's father, Su Han, the prefect of Anzhou, would be a small obstacle, but his ability would definitely not be comparable to that of Xiao Ming and his son.
Now she has given up this great opportunity with her own hands and let Xiao Ming and his son escape. In the future, she and Xiao Zhuo will definitely face more hardships.
But she doesn't regret her decision at all.
Spending every day and night with Xiao Zhuo, she knew full well that he would never harm anyone close to him. Although he had acted cruelly during the Northern Di campaign, he had not utterly slain Xiao Kai, the man wielding the Yanque Sword, nor his teacher, who had come to kill him. When she and Xiao Zhuo were at their wit's end, trapped by King Duoma of the Western Rong, even when King Duoma offered such tempting conditions, Xiao Zhuo had not betrayed her for his own benefit.
Being with such a principled man, she felt extremely safe.
Now that Xiao Zhuo knew that the King of Qi was his biological father and that Xiao Beiheng was his half-brother, he would never agree to kill them. Even without asking, she knew Xiao Zhuo's final decision.
She was lost in thought when two large hands gently rested on her shoulders.
"Thank you, Yuexi." Xiao Zhuo's calm voice sounded from behind her, "When I was confused, you made the right decision for me."
Shen Yuexi smiled slightly, and pressed her cheek against Xiao Zhuo's warm palm: "Husband, I already know what kind of person you are, and I also know your decision. No matter how difficult the future is, we must go on together."
Xiao Zhuo didn't answer, but tightened his arms and held her in his arms.
"Husband, the moon is so round tonight, and a beautiful rosy color... like a strawberry."
"strawberry?"
"It's the name of a fruit. It's red in color with many small pits on the surface. It's round on top and pointed at the bottom." Shen Yuexi leaned against Xiao Zhuo's chest, raised her hands and drew the shape of a strawberry in the air. "It tastes sour and sweet."
"Can Big Bear build it... Can't? It turns out Big Bear isn't omnipotent."
"Hey, we're obviously admiring the moon, why are we talking about food?"
"You suggested it, haha."
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