Recently, a depressing atmosphere has been spreading in the Sea King’s camp.
The Sea King's army initially won the battle, and then they captured one-third of the cities in Western Chu.
Although Chu Feiyang and Jiang Muchen had been constantly seizing cities for more than three months, the four powerful generals under Hai Quan were indestructible and always defended the four most important cities. In addition, Bai Wuhen, who was far away in Tongzhou, killed a general under Jiang Muchen, which further boosted the morale of the Sea King's army. This should have been a cause for celebration, but the atmosphere in the Sea King's tent was very depressing and heavy.
"Qi Jingyuan..." When mentioning this name, Hai Quan almost gritted his teeth, wishing he could tear Qi Jingyuan into pieces.
A few days ago, Qi Jingyuan ordered someone to send a gift urgently from the outskirts of Xichu, eight hundred miles away.
The Sea King originally thought it was the head of Emperor Yugan, but after opening it, he found that it was Hai Yue's helmet. For a moment, Hai Quan was furious.
Although Hai Yue couldn't lead a single force, he was one of the main commanders of the Sea King's army during this campaign. However, he had lost his helmet, effectively being captured by Qi Jingyuan. This not only humiliated Hai Quan, but also made him feel that Hai Yue hadn't acted thoughtfully, easily allowing himself to become a hostage.
However, Hai Quan's anger had not yet subsided, and he had not yet discussed a plan to rescue Hai Yue with the generals, when Qi Jingyuan unexpectedly sent him a generous gift three days ago.
Hai Quan suppressed his anger and opened the gorgeously wrapped brocade box. At first glance, the blood drained from his face. He didn't expect that the luxurious brocade box contained Hai Yue's left hand.
Seeing his son's hand being chopped off by Qi Jingyuan and sent back, Hai Quan was furious. Only then did he realize that he had been blocked by Qi Jingyuan.
Qi Jingyuan, ah Qi Jingyuan, you are really amazing. You endured for more than three months and joined forces with me, but stabbed me in the back at the most critical moment. You are worthy of being the prince of Northern Qi, cold-blooded, heartless and ruthless.
Qi Jingyuan had likely already laid the groundwork for today's situation, and Hai Tian, far away in the Northern Qi Crown Prince's residence, was now in grave danger. Qi Jingyuan, truly unscrupulous, would do anything to achieve his goals.
Hai Quan stood at the door of the tent with a sullen face, his hands behind his back, looking up slightly towards the direction of the capital, his mind racing as his folded left and right hands gradually clenched into fists, with a faint white light emanating from the joints.
"Your Highness, the wind is blowing, please take care of yourself. The climate in the northwest is really bad. It's only October and it's already as cold as winter." Yuan Yao saw that the King of the Sea had been standing outside the tent in deep thought for the past few days since he received the severed hand from the prince. He knew that Qi Jingyuan's actions must have disturbed the King of the Sea's mind.
Yuan Yao is also one of the four powerful generals under the Sea King. This time he followed the Sea King to the west to capture cities and plunder lands, but he did not expect such a thing to happen.
Taking advantage of the fact that all the generals had finished discussing things early today, Yuan Yao waved his hand to let the others leave and came to Hai Quan's side.
Hearing this, Hai Quan slowly withdrew his gaze, and when he turned to look at Yuan Yao, he had regained his usual calmness and caution.
Realizing Yuan Yao's intention, Hai Quan glanced at the soldiers standing guard around him. Seeing that the generals had been acting cautiously in front of him these days and did not dare to make any noise, he knew that his silence had caused the soldiers to speculate and feel uneasy. If this continued, it would only do more harm than good to the Sea King Army.
Patting Yuan Yao on the shoulder, Hai Quan's face under the military uniform showed his usual elegance and composure, and it was obvious that he understood Yuan Yao's intention.
When Yuan Yao saw this, his heart finally settled down. He also knew that the prince could show such a smile, which meant that he must have a plan in mind, so he stopped trying to dissuade him, so as not to make Hai Quan feel that he was overstepping his bounds and being rude.
"Let's go back to the tent." Hai Quan lowered his right hand and led Yuan Yao, who understood what he meant, back into the tent.
The two men quickly stepped into the tent and stood in front of the blueprint at the same time. Hai Quan stared at the location of the capital. His mind had finally calmed down, but when he remembered that Qi Jingyuan had captured Hai Yue in the suburbs of Beijing, he couldn't help but get angry again.
"Your Highness, if we delay any longer, I'm afraid the prince's life will be in danger." He could only remain calm in front of the soldiers, but Yuan Yao carefully observed the direction where Hai Quan's eyes fell on the map, and he already knew in his heart that the King of the Sea wanted to rescue Hai Yue.
In addition, Yuan Yao was originally a member of the Prince's party, and Hai Yue was captured alive. Now his life or death is unknown, which really put a stop to this group of old ministers.
After hearing Yuan Yao's words, Hai Quan's slightly angry mind calmed down instantly. A bloodthirsty light shot out of his sharp eyes, but it was covered by the calmness in Hai Quan's eyes, making it impossible to guess his true thoughts at this moment.
Sighing slightly, Hai Quan's gaze remained fixed on the blueprint as he spoke slowly, "I know very well that the longer we mop the floor, the worse it will be for Yue'er. But this time, I'm afraid Qi Jingyuan has set a trap for us to fall into. It's also Yue'er's fault for being so eager for quick success and instant benefits, obsessed with showing off in front of me, that Qi Jingyuan took advantage of the opportunity. If he had been as patient as Chen Xi, he wouldn't have suffered so much, and made us worry."
Seeing that the Sea King was still comparing the Crown Prince to Hai Chenxi at such a critical moment, Yuan Yao's heart sank, but he still did not give up and fought for Hai Yue, saying, "Your Highness, that being said, we can't just ignore the Crown Prince. Moreover, when something like this happened, the County Prince's army was near the outskirts of Beijing, and the County Prince ignored his brotherly love and stood by and watched without offering any help. He is also responsible for this. If the Crown Prince also had 50,000 troops at his disposal, the result would surely not be like this. After the incident, the County Prince should have been the first to receive the news and quickly sent someone to report. But after so many days, the County Prince only sent troops to keep an eye on Han Shaomian's troops that day, and the rest of the time he stayed in the camp for a truce, not caring about the Crown Prince's affairs. This is truly chilling."
Yuan Yao was really risking everything today. In order to rescue Hai Yue, he even risked offending Hai Quan and Hai Chenxi. He exposed everything to Hai Quan and made him realize Hai Chenxi's selfishness.
A cold light instantly shot towards Yuan Yao. Hai Quan withdrew his gaze from the blueprint and looked at Yuan Yao with cold eyes. He asked calmly, "Yuan Yao, do you know your current responsibilities?"
The inexplicable question from the King of the Sea made Yuan Yao's face turn pale. He knew in his heart that his repeated pleadings on behalf of the prince had aroused the King of the Sea's disgust.
Now he is still following Aquaman to conquer the world, and Aquaman is strong and good at fighting. However, he is showing his support for the prince so obviously under Aquaman's nose. In the eyes of the prince, he will definitely think that he is betraying his master. No wonder the prince asked him this question.
Yuan Yao fell silent instantly, not daring to look directly at the Sea King. He immediately lowered his head, his face pale. After a long while, he whispered back, "I am currently following the prince in battle against the King of Chu."
After hearing Yuan Yao's answer, the Sea King's face remained expressionless. He simply moved, walked towards the west side of the map, and said calmly, "As long as you understand. I will find someone to rescue Yue'er. You just need to take care of your own affairs. Do you think you are better at using military tactics than the King of Chu?"
The question, neither light nor heavy, made Yuan Yao fall to his knees with a thud, and said with a face full of shame, "I dare not have such thoughts. Your Highness is wise."
Beyond this, he dared not even utter a word in Hai Yue's defense, fearing he would anger the Sea King and be isolated from his inner circle before rescuing him. Although Hai Yue was now the Crown Prince, it was Hai Quan who truly controlled the Sea King's army. Hai Quan was in his prime, and it would likely take decades for Hai Yue to ascend the throne. Why would he be so impatient and put himself in danger?
At this moment, a big hand covered with thin calluses held Yuan Yao's arm, and Hai Quan personally helped Yuan Yao up.
Yuan Yao was moved and looked up at the Sea King. He choked up and said, "Your Highness..."
Hai Quan patted Yuan Yao's shoulder vigorously and said earnestly: "You are the most brave and skilled warrior under my command. Therefore, I specially brought you with me this time. The other three were arranged in the other three directions. It is because Chu Feiyang is not an ordinary person. He is the most outstanding general of Western Chu. It is not an exaggeration to call him the God of War. The west is close to the north and the south. Chu Feiyang's most elite 500,000 troops are stationed in the north, while the Xiahou clan of Luocheng is in the south. We can only attack from the west to make Chu Feiyang nervous, so that he can show his trump card as soon as possible and take this opportunity to wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop. Otherwise, the longer it's delayed, the harder it will be to deal with. You've calculated that this king has 1.5 million troops, and King Chen also has over a million troops, but they've all been deployed in this war. Chu Feiyang has been the only one who's used his 500,000 troops to fight both of us for over three months, proving that Chu Feiyang is truly a man of few words, a man we must be wary of. And according to my deduction, Chu Feiyang probably has another 400,000 to 500,000 troops, in addition to the 500,000 troops that have already appeared and the 500,000 troops in the north. But where these troops are hidden, I'm afraid only Chu Feiyang knows."
Yuan Yao broke out in a thin layer of sweat as he listened to Hai Quan's words. He couldn't help but feel ashamed. These generals had gradually lost their composure due to the victories they had achieved in recent months. Although they had only captured a third of Western Chu's cities, everyone had already considered Western Chu a sure thing.
But now, after listening to the prince's analysis, the sense of crisis that had faded away suddenly hit Yuan Yao's heart. He was so overwhelmed by victory that he forgot how powerful the King of Chu was.
Such a cheerful and talkative but extremely resourceful man, at this moment, was imprinted in Yuan Yao's mind like a ghost, and could not be shaken off.
Hai Quan looked at Yuan Yao's reaction, knowing that he had taken his words to heart, and then he continued, "What's more, Chu Feiyang has Chu Nanshan by his side. Chu Nanshan has been retired for many years, but his sword is still sharp. I'm afraid that once he draws his sword, no one can resist him. The Chu family is full of capable warriors, and we must not let them down in the slightest. This is why I personally led the army to the imperial city."
Chu Feiyang alone was enough to make Yuan Yao break out in a cold sweat, and now with the addition of Chu Nanshan, an unprecedented sense of crisis suddenly rose in Yuan Yao's eyes.
Although Chu Feiyang, as a rising star, has never dealt with Yuan Yao, Yuan Yao has been with Neptune for many years, so how could he not know Chu Nanshan's strength?
"Your Highness, what should we do? Are we going to concentrate 1.5 million people in the imperial city?" For a moment, Yuan Yao was filled with anxiety and was obviously panicking.
Seeing Yuan Yao's sense of crisis fully aroused, Hai Quan raised his hand and patted Yuan Yao's shoulder again with great calmness, comforting him: "Don't panic. Don't forget, Chu Feiyang's enemy is not only us but also Jiang Muchen. The hostility between these two is even more obvious than with us. After all, there is the Princess of Chu caught between them. They will never be able to sit down and negotiate calmly in their lifetime. What's more, Chu Feiyang's cousin and Yun Qianmeng's cousin are both in our hands, so Chu Feiyang will naturally have some concerns. It's just..."
"Your Highness, is there something wrong?" Seeing a hint of hesitation in Neptune's words, Yuan Yao frowned immediately, his heart rising again, and asked anxiously.
Hai Quan just shook his head, sighed slightly, and slowly said, "These two people are not strong enough. If we can capture Yun Qianmeng, I'm afraid all of Chu Feiyang's men will be at our disposal. Unfortunately, Chu Feiyang has hidden Yun Qianmeng very well."
Hai Quan's words were filled with regret. With Yun Qianmeng in his hands, not to mention Chu Feiyang, even Jiang Muchen would surrender.
Hearing this, Yuan Yao's brows darkened. Everyone knew that the King of Chu loved the Princess of Chu very much, and many people wanted to use her to force the King of Chu to surrender. However, the King of Chu had hidden her away, and no one could find her. Even after searching all over the land of Western Chu, they still couldn't find her.
The west wind rolled up the curtains, and the colder it got the further north they went. During the past few days of walking, Yun Qianmeng and his group rested in the villa that Qu Ruoli brought as a dowry, and they were safe and sound.
However, the quieter and more peaceful it is, the more uneasy people feel.
Especially along the way, there were very few fleeing civilians even on the road, which was really unsettling.
"Princess, it seems that this area has been controlled by someone, and our whereabouts have long been known to them." Qiao Ying lowered the curtain, with a hint of murderous intent hidden in her calm face. She sat upright in the carriage, her whole body tense, always paying attention to everything around her.
Yun Qianmeng noticed that Qiao Ying had become increasingly cautious and careful these past few days. She admired her approach, but also felt that she was being too serious. She couldn't help but smile and said, "I've already informed the prince about this matter. I believe we can handle this with our abilities. I'll just have to trouble you when the time comes."
"I will not hesitate to serve the princess even if it means death." How could Qiao Ying dare to accept Yun Qianmeng's words? He immediately replied humbly, then took the package beside him and lowered his head to carefully organize the luggage inside.
Seeing this, Yun Qianmeng's beautiful eyes radiated a hint of smile. She gently stroked her slightly protruding belly with both hands and secretly calculated the time. It should be these few days...
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