Chapter 167 The Eve of the Journey to Xiliang
Shen Yuexi and Xiao Zhuo returned to Xiaogang Village, and Meng Yue and Song Zhen, who stayed in the village, came out to greet them.
When it comes to the agreement between Xiao Beiheng and Xiao Zhuo, everyone has different reactions.
Meng Yue jumped out and clearly objected. His reasoning was that it was wishful thinking for him, Xiao Beiheng, to sit back and watch the fight while letting them deal with the Xiliang Army and the Jingwang Army.
Song Zhen was the one who thought the most clearly among the few people, and said to Xiao Zhuo:
"My lord, Xiao Beiheng's move is very wise. He saw that we have no troops or cities, so he told us to attack Xiliang. We have no choice but to go. The only place we can fight for right now is Xiliang."
Xiao Zhuo nodded and said, "Yes, he wants to borrow my power."
Qiu Liming asked, "My lord, I've been thinking this through. Xiao Beiheng wants us to attack Xiliang, but we don't have any soldiers. He hasn't sent any troops to help us either. Isn't that making things difficult for us? At least give us 10,000 soldiers."
Xiao Zhuo smiled but did not answer. Song Zhen waved his feather fan and said:
"General Qiu, you're worrying too much. Even if we have 10,000 soldiers, we can't attack Xiliang directly. Although Xiliang was badly defeated by the Western Rong, its troops are still there. And my lord is an old friend of the prince of Xiliang. If we attack them, we will only bring disaster upon ourselves and put my lord in an unkind and unjust position."
Meng Yue stepped forward and said to Qiu Liming, "Let's not worry about this. Our Lord is always resourceful and he must have a plan. We just need to follow it."
Shen Yuexi yawned as she listened.
She was not interested in the discussion of these military strategies at all, but she was reluctant to get up and leave.
Just as she was feeling sleepy, Yang Cong came to visit her. She greeted Xiao Zhuo and immediately got up and followed Yang Cong out.
"Madam, please follow me," Yang Cong excitedly pulled Shen Yuexi out, "The city has been built!"
She had previously drawn up a blueprint for the city and given it to Yang Cong, who oversaw its construction. Craftsmen from the villagers who had experience in city construction were assigned to the specific tasks.
Shen Yuexi laughed and said, "Don't be ridiculous. The city has been built in less than half a month?"
"Go and have a look."
The two of them got on the carriage parked at the door and made their way to Langya Pass.
Only when she got there did Shen Yuexi understand what Yang Cong meant by building it up. The outermost city wall had already taken shape, and a small part of the wall had reached the height of a three-story building.
She actually saw Feng Zhang on the city wall. He and Yang Cong quarreled as soon as they met. Why did he come here when he knew that Yang Cong was building a city here?
Feng Zhang saw Shen Yuexi and Yang Cong coming and immediately climbed down the ladder, walked around the craftsmen carrying the stones, and came up to the two of them and said with a smile: "Madam, Sister Cong."
Yang Cong glared: "What are you yelling about?"
Feng Zhang rubbed the back of his head and said, "I didn't call you wrong."
Shen Yuexi knew that the two of them always quarreled when they met, and was afraid that they would start again, so she asked, "Brother Feng, why are you here too?"
"Sister Cong told me... Ouch!" Feng Zhang, receiving a slap on the head from Yang Cong, immediately changed his tone. "I think... once this city is built, the Western Rong won't be able to invade. My mother said that we'll live in Xiaogang Village in the future, and we should contribute to the city's construction."
Shen Yuexi smiled and said:
"In that case, Brother Feng will build the city here with your sister Cong. My husband and I will be going to Yongwei later, and we may be away for a long time."
Not only did she have to take over Xiliang, but she also had to deal with Prince Jing, which was obviously not something that could be done in a day or two. She had already made preparations to leave this place for a long time.
"You've been away for a long time?" Yang Cong jumped up and said, "Then I'll go with you and not build a city."
"No," Shen Yuexi said, "This is my and my husband's base. You two should stay here and build it well. Maybe one day we'll have to come back."
"What is a base?" Feng Zhang asked naively.
"You don't even know the base, it's the root." Yang Cong rolled his eyes at him, "This is the root of the master princess' mother."
Shen Yuexi was quite satisfied with Yang Cong's explanation. "That's right. Xiaogang Village is our home, and this city is our roots. We'll go to Xiliang, and we'll come back sooner or later. Besides, the truce with the Xirong is only for a year, and they'll definitely attack again. You two are the people I trust the most, and I feel most at ease leaving you here to build the city."
Yang Cong was a little reluctant at first, but when he heard Shen Yuexi say that she and Feng Zhang were the most trustworthy subordinates, he immediately rolled up his sleeves and said:
"Mistress, I understand. Leave this place to me. I promise to give you a large and beautiful city."
Feng Zhang also puffed out his chest and said, "Yes, I'll help Congmei."
The two were working hard with great confidence when Xiao Zhuo arrived on horseback.
After reviewing the entire city's design and the current construction progress, Xiao Zhuo said to Shen Yuexi, "I once thought that only men could do this kind of thing. I didn't expect that you, Yuexi, even understand this."
"I'm very good." Shen Yuexi put her hands on her hips, like a proud peacock.
From the perspective of Yang Cong and Feng Zhang, she didn't possess any aura, but rather a cuteness. She was completely unlike Xiao Zhuo, who, even when standing there calmly, still possessed a powerful aura.
"Meipu has already taken the Xiliang cavalry away. Now we only have 500 Iron-faced Soldiers," Xiao Zhuo said to Shen Yuexi, "We won't be taking them with us this time. We'll stay here to prevent harassment from the Xirong."
"It's all up to my husband."
Shen Yuexi no longer knows how to fight, and he knows that with just these 500 people, they can't make any waves, so it's better for them to stay here.
"I've already made an agreement with everyone. General Meng Yue will also stay and lead these 500 soldiers. At the same time, we'll recruit strong men from the villagers to join the training." Xiao Zhuo looked towards the city. "Although there aren't many soldiers, they may be of use one day."
To confirm, Shen Yuexi asked, "So, this time we're going to Xiliang, it's just you, me, Military Advisor Song, and General Qiu?"
"Yes, plus a group of secret guards led by Qiang Lin. There are about fifty people."
Yang Cong looked at Xiao Zhuo with suspicion and said, "My Lord, there are only fifty of you. What can you do?"
Feng Zhang also nodded and said, "That's right."
Xiao Zhuo smiled slightly and said nothing more.
Shen Yuexi also felt that fifty men couldn't accomplish much, but this was the right way to go. If they really took tens of thousands of troops to Xiliang, wouldn't that be a clear sign of an attack? While Xiliang King Mei Cheng wasn't a good fighter, he wasn't so blind to this.
Everyone accompanied Xiao Zhuo up the city wall. Shen Yuexi leaned against the battlements and smiled at Xiao Zhuo:
"My dear, this city is quite large. Once it's built, if the enemy has siege weapons, they won't be able to cross the mountain ridge and will have to attack from the front. If they send troops around the mountain to attack Xiaogang Village, the villagers can take shelter in this city in advance. There's also an iron mine inside the city, so there's no need to worry about a shortage of weapons. It's truly safe here."
Xiao Zhuo nodded and said, "With this scale, it looks like it will take several years to complete."
"First, build the outer city walls, and then we can gradually construct the buildings inside the city," Shen Yuexi asked Yang Cong to open the blueprints and show them to Xiao Zhuo. "We suffered losses from rockets before, so this time when we build the city, we will use stones to build the houses. We don't have to worry about the enemy's fire attack."
As everyone was discussing, a soldier ran up the city wall and said to Xiao Zhuo, "My lord, here is an invitation from Prince Mei of Xiliang."
When Shen Yuexi heard the word "invitation", she thought to herself that she had just come back from dinner with Xiao Beiheng, and already Meipu had sent an invitation to dinner again?
Xiao Zhuo opened the invitation and read it, then handed it to her and said, "This is why your husband doesn't allow you to get close to him."
Shen Yuexi was a little puzzled and said, "What are you talking about?"
She took the invitation and opened it, and saw that it said Mei Pu was about to marry Li Wan, the daughter of Pingyang Hou, and specially invited Xiao Zhuo to bring his wife to Yongwei.
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