Chapter 424 [It’s too early to take a break]
"Master, where are the young couple who were sent to the princess's mansion to be cat stewards now?"
Sheng Qingyun was deeply impressed by Jiang Lili and Xin Che. "Su Rui said they had already escaped from the Princess's Mansion. It's very chaotic outside now. I wonder how they are doing."
"I told them to run away as soon as they saw the timing was wrong."
When Master Liao heard Sheng Qingyun mention these two people, he lied calmly, "They are the smartest people in our village. If nothing unexpected happens, they are now hiding in a safe place. You don't need to worry."
"I have an agreement with them. If they hear the news of the Third Prince's great victory, we will meet at the harbor of Aoi City at 9:00 PM the next day."
"Master's arrangements are indeed thorough."
Seeing that Master Liao was sleepy and yawned several times, Sheng Qingyun stopped bothering him and sent someone to find a tent with good conditions and make a bed for Master Liao to sleep in.
In fact, he was still a little nervous. There were only a thousand troops stationed there. If his elder brother came back with the remaining troops at this time, he didn't know how to deal with it. But Master Liao asked Sheng Qingyun to relax and wake him up immediately if any accident happened.
Sheng Qingyun could only pray in his heart that his elder brother was at the critical moment of the battle and had no time to return to the camp.
It was three quarters past three in the morning and it was still dark.
The noisy night became quiet after the third prince sent people to take over the eldest prince's camp.
After Jiang Lili and Xin Che captured the eldest prince's camp and forced the remaining people in the camp to surrender, they left in a carriage and took a small path to Haikui City.
Xin Che drove the carriage while Jiang Lili took a nap in it.
*
At this time, the situation in Anemone City has undergone earth-shaking changes.
The eldest prince has already broken through the city of Haikui, and his men have occupied the city tower of Haikui.
Now they are fighting with the Second Princess's forces in Anemone City, and they seem to be taking advantage of the victory to pursue them.
The soldiers under the Second Princess suffered heavy casualties, and there were less than 3,000 people left.
The eldest prince still has four thousand men under his command.
Although the two sides were in much worse condition and momentum after a night of fighting, the eldest prince's subordinates were in much better condition than the second princess.
If this continues, the eldest prince will be able to occupy Anemone City within a day.
The eldest prince Sheng Wei was so angry that he wanted to pursue the victory.
At this time, he received news from the deputy general that the second batch of food and fodder that should have been transported from the camp had not been delivered to the rear line, and the camp was probably lost.
If they continue to fight with the Second Princess and fail to capture Sea Anemone City within a day, they will face a shortage of food and supplies.
The eldest prince was furious when he heard the bad news. He gritted his teeth and said, "Could it be that my third brother took action?"
"But according to my estimation, the number of men he could muster in such a short period of time is no more than a thousand, and his soldiers are far inferior to ours in strength. How did he manage to capture my camp?"
The Third Prince has always been unreliable in his work. He makes his soldiers take elixirs to cultivate their bodies every day. He is the type of person who is addicted to being weak and can kill himself.
The eldest prince did not regard this third brother as a threat at all. He only wanted to deal with the second princess Sheng Yin before dealing with this easy target.
But he didn't expect that this soft persimmon would suddenly explode today, catching him off guard.
The eldest prince's tone was filled with resentment: "This is the critical moment for victory. If we don't strike while the iron is hot and wipe out Sheng Yin, it will be equivalent to giving the enemy a chance to survive!"
The second princess now has no money and her soldiers are weak.
She sent people to steal so many medicinal herbs from me. After I let her go this time, she will definitely use these herbs to heal these soldiers.
Where can I find such a good opportunity next time? Isn't this just a free gift for Sheng Yin?
Faced with the eldest prince's low mood, the deputy generals around him didn't dare to breathe.
They were completely confused as to how the Third Prince, who had always been like a paper tiger, could capture their camp and cut off their supplies in such a short time.
The eldest prince now faces a difficult problem: whether to withdraw troops or not.
This was a gamble. If they failed to capture Anemone City before the next night, and the Third Prince's reinforcements arrived before theirs, they would lose everything.
If they could capture the City of Anemone, they could use it as their base to guard against the Third Prince.
However, there are so many influencing factors that the eldest prince is unable to judge the situation and make a choice!
He couldn't help but have a guess in his mind that perhaps both outcomes of this gamble were a death, it was just a matter of dying sooner or later.
In anger, the eldest prince revealed a cruel sneer: "What on earth just happened? When did my cowardly and gullible third brother become so powerful?"
The counselors under the eldest prince were not idle either. After discussion, they concluded that returning to the camp now might involve fraud, and they could not gamble on whose reinforcements would arrive first. Finally, they worked out the safest solution.
The eldest prince's military advisor advised, "Your Highness, the wisest course of action right now is to withdraw our troops, but not return to our original camp. Instead, head east, hide in the eastern rainforest, and wait for reinforcements to arrive."
The counselors analyzed the pros and cons for the eldest prince. "You are very familiar with the rainforest. Although there are no supplies, the animals and wild fruits there can be used as food to satisfy hunger, and it is also convenient for our people to set up ambushes. If the Second Princess or the Third Prince sends people to pursue us, we will be able to deal with it."
The eldest prince took a look at the soldiers fighting in front of him, clenched his fists, and veins bulged on his forehead. It seemed that they were only a few steps away from victory just now, but now they had only one choice: to withdraw and escape.
And the culprit is his good brother!
"Sheng Qingyun, I will never let you go."
The eldest prince reluctantly ordered: "Go, withdraw!"
*
In the southern part of Haikui City, the base camp of the second princess Sheng Yin.
Inside the tent, Sheng Yin rubbed her temples and tried to cheer herself up. The army under her command had been beaten to a pulp by the eldest prince. Now, they were able to hold their ground against the eldest prince thanks to their familiarity with the streets and alleys of Haikui City.
Sheng Yin was struggling over whether she should take her people and run away to Xiushui Island first.
At this moment, a piece of shocking good news hit her like a pie in the sky, and she was suddenly awakened.
——"Your Highness, the eldest prince has suddenly withdrawn his troops."
Sheng Yin stood up in an instant: "Really?"
The joy on her face was beyond words: "What happened?!"
The deputy general truthfully stated their speculation: "It's likely that something happened to the eldest prince's food supplies or rear defenses. It's very likely that the third prince took action."
Upon hearing this, Sheng Yin raised her head and laughed heartily, "There is always a way out!"
"Let the soldiers in the army have a good rest!"
Sheng Yin looked at the dawn outside and calculated the time. The ship she sent to fetch herbs and supplies from Xiushui Island should be arriving at the port soon.
In addition to the property that had been absconded, she also built a reserve warehouse on Xiushui Island a year ago and purchased medicinal materials and other war necessities from Dasheng Lingnan and Haizhou Island in order to prevent the eldest prince from monopolizing the medicinal materials.
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