Chapter 236 Rushing to camp
The bright moonlight shone on the small white silk in Shen Yuexi's palm, and her eyes suddenly lit up.
This was the white silk in Xiao Zhuo's jade pendant. Unexpectedly, Mei Dai had the envoy deliver it to them without waiting for their help to fight Yong Wei.
She held the white silk in one hand and the letter in the other, and said to Geng Hong, "Thank you, General Geng and this messenger. This is very important to us."
Geng Hong bowed and said, "I also know the importance of this letter, so I escorted the envoy here. Now that the letter has been delivered, I must hurry back to the grain transport team overnight. Farewell."
The Qi King's army camp was in the south of the city. He was afraid that the envoy didn't know about it, so he specially accompanied the envoy and came around from the Xirong settlement in the north of the city.
Shen Yuexi said to Yang Cong, "Give fifty taels of silver to General Geng and ten taels of silver to the messenger. You and Feng Zhang will escort General Geng and his men out of the city for me."
Geng Hongxun thanked him and left with Yang Cong.
Shen Yuexi turned around, jumped and ran into the house holding the white silk, and shouted as soon as she entered the door:
"My dear, Sister Mei brought the letter left by our mother."
Xiao Zhuo stood by the table, his expression tense, staring at the white silk she held up: "Is this it?"
Shen Yuexi couldn't help but smile at Xiao Zhuo's expression. This man had always said he didn't care about Bai Ling, acting as if it didn't matter. Now that Bai Ling was in front of him, anyone could see his nervousness.
"Here, for you," she handed the white silk to Xiao Zhuo, "The words are very small, you have to get close to the light to read carefully."
Xiao Zhuo didn't reach out to take it. Instead, he closed his eyes and took two deep breaths. Then he opened his eyes and carefully took the white silk with both hands. He sat down at the table, moved the candle closer, and unfolded the white silk to examine it.
"It's my mother's handwriting." Xiao Zhuo's hands trembled slightly, and two tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes.
Seeing Xiao Zhuo sad, Shen Yuexi also felt a little distressed.
On the day Xiao Zhuo was exiled, Empress Pei was still alive. However, one night later, they were separated forever, and Xiao Zhuo didn't even get to see his mother for the last time.
She wanted to go up and comfort Xiao Zhuo, but Xiao Zhuo was concentrating on reading the words on the white silk. Shen Yuexi didn't want to interrupt Xiao Zhuo, so she lowered her head and played with the envelope in her hand.
After picking it up, she felt that there seemed to be more paper inside the envelope. Shen Yuexi picked up the envelope again and shook it, and a folded piece of letter paper fell out.
Shen Yuexi placed the envelope on the table and unfolded the letter paper.
The letter was written to her by Mei Dai. As if she was afraid that she might not understand it, she used the simplest and clearest words.
The more Shen Yuexi read, the more surprised she became. Halfway through, her mouth was open so wide that a walnut could fit in it. She was completely dumbfounded.
It turns out that Mei Dai had seen Bai Ling a long time ago, but she had been hiding it from Shen Yuexi and Xiao Zhuo. Mei Dai was afraid that once Xiao Zhuo knew the truth, he would no longer help her attack Yongwei.
The reason was simple: Xiao Zhuo's biological father was Prince Qi, Xiao Ming, and it was the Prince Qi's army that was occupying Yongwei. Mei Dai believed that if Xiao Zhuo knew his biological father was the Prince Qi, he might even help Yongwei's Lin Kui fight Zhang Wu.
Mei Dai just wanted to preserve the Mei family's foundation, so she had to lie to Shen Yuexi and Xiao Zhuo.
"...Sister, I've already lost my father and brother, and I know the pain of losing a loved one deeply. Now that the young master has raised an army to confront my father and brother, I'm terrified. With the young master's unparalleled strategy, the King of Qi will surely be defeated. He once said before you and me that he wanted to avenge Emperor Yongde, and he must kill the King of Qi. If he truly kills his biological father and brother with his own hands, everything will be irreversible. I hope this letter isn't too late..."
Shen Yuexi took the letter and turned to look at Xiao Zhuo.
It was obvious that Xiao Zhuo also knew the truth of the matter. He frowned and seemed to be lost in thought.
The room was silent for a moment, with only the occasional crackling sparks from the candles.
"Husband, you..." Shen Yuexi didn't know what to say.
The King of Qi was his biological father, and Xiao Beiheng was his half-brother. Now, the incendiary bombs ambushed in the Lower Round Valley were about to burn his father or brother to ashes.
"I don't know what to do," Xiao Zhuo held onto the white silk and stood up with a pale face. "He forced my father, who raised me for twenty years, to death. He's actually my biological father..."
This change came too suddenly, and Shen Yuexi could see that Xiao Zhuo was unable to accept it for a while.
Xiao Zhuo had previously said that if the Qi Wang army wanted to launch a surprise attack on Xia Yuan Valley, it could only be tonight. If the Qi Wang really went, he would be dead.
"My dear husband, will the King of Qi go to Xiayuan Valley tonight?" She nervously grabbed Xiao Zhuo's arm, "Will he go tonight?"
Xiao Zhuo held his head in his hands: "My mind is in a mess right now, I..."
Shen Yuexi knew Xiao Zhuo was in a trance and temporarily unable to communicate. But the King of Qi, who had launched a surprise attack, wouldn't wait for him to recover. She had to act decisively.
She let go of Xiao Zhuo, turned around and ran out the door. When she rushed to the gate of the courtyard, she almost bumped into Yang Cong who was walking towards her.
"Madam, what's wrong with you?" Yang Cong had just sent Geng Hong out of the north gate of the city. Seeing Shen Yuexi so panicked, rushing out of the gate in only casual clothes, he thought there were enemies in the yard and quickly drew the sword at his waist, "Is there an assassin?"
"No...horse, horse," Shen Yuexi looked up and saw the soldier leading the horse behind her. She grabbed the reins and jumped on the horse. "You keep an eye on my husband."
At this time, Qiang Lin also rushed out with several secret guards. Before he could ask what was going on, Shen Yuexi's mount had already spread its four hooves and galloped away.
Lower Round Valley was south of the Langya Pass Mountains. If she chose to leave from the north of the city, her horse would be unable to cross the mountain, forcing her to dismount and walk. Fearing she would run out of time, she decided to take the risk and go south.
If you go south of the city, you must break through the Qi King’s army camp.
As Shen Yuexi galloped along, she wondered how she could have made such a foolish decision, imitating Xiao Zhuo and riding alone into the enemy camp. How brave would one have to be to do such a thing?
There was an army of 40,000 on the opposite side, and it was simply a fantasy for her to break through alone.
She felt that she was being really stupid and was about to rein in her mount when she heard someone shouting loudly from the watchtower of the Qi King's army camp ahead.
The Qi King's soldier in charge of lookout had already discovered her.
"It seems it's too late to regret this." She was about to hold on to her mount, but then she let go. "We must not let the fire start. Big Bear, protect me well. Don't let me die."
Slow down and you'll have a smooth journey. First, save the King of Qi. As long as he's safe, everything else will be easy.
Big Bear's cheerful voice rang out in her mind: "Dear Master, Big Bear has heard the call. What will you make?"
What were they making? The chevaux de frise in front of the enemy camp was made of wood, the stockade, also known as the parapet, was also made of wood, and the soldiers' guns and bows were all made of metal...
She quickly made a plan in her mind, crouched down, and rode her horse towards the northwest corner of the King of Qi's camp.
It was late at night and most of the Qi Wang soldiers had fallen asleep. The Qi Wang soldiers who were changing shifts had nothing to do, so they were chatting in groups of three or five in front of the campfire, holding their spears.
Given that there were only a few thousand defenders in Langya Pass and they had 40,000 troops on their side, no one was worried about a sneak attack.
A soldier on the watchtower shouted, "A horseman is galloping out of the city and heading straight for the camp."
"Ah, you saw that right?" a captain beside the fire looked up and shouted, "He came charging over here alone?"
The sergeant on the watchtower exclaimed, "It's true! That man is charging towards the parapet... He's about to hit us!"
As soon as he finished speaking, all the soldiers below the watchtower heard the sound of hurried horse hooves approaching.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com