Chapter 204: Get the News
The army marched like this for two days, and found no trace of pursuers along the way. Bai Yu sent out a sentry and came back without any warning.
Xie Tingzhou touched Baiyu's fur, fed it some food and let it play by itself.
"We are already three hundred miles away from the capital. We can't keep running like this. Both people and horses need to rest. Otherwise, if the pursuers catch up with us, we won't be able to fight. Let's set up camp here and rest today."
Xifeng went down to make arrangements.
Chen Yu's body had recovered, and she rode on a horse and rode side by side with Xie Tingzhou.
"Xiao Chuan hasn't come back yet." Shen Yu was a little worried.
Xiao Chuan used to be a scout in the Xiao family army, responsible for investigating the enemy situation. Yesterday he divided a group of people into three teams to investigate the pursuers, and they have not returned yet tonight.
Xiao Chuan was very vigilant. Chen Yu was not worried about anything else but was worried that he would be ambushed on the road.
The army set up camp, dug stoves, and made fires to cook.
Today, I passed by a city and sent people in disguise to enter the city to purchase a lot of things. I also learned the news that Emperor Tongxu had passed away and that Crown Prince Li Zhaonian would hold a succession ceremony in half a month.
Finally, we don’t have to eat dry food tonight and can all have a hot meal.
Chang Liu squatted by the fire, chewing chicken legs until his mouth was full of oil. As he chewed, he said, "It's great that we escaped. We still have chicken legs to eat. It's all thanks to Shi Yu. No, it's all thanks to our future prince's wife who is rich and has shops everywhere."
Xifeng brought the beef soup and asked, "Do you think everyone has chicken legs to eat?"
Chang Liu chuckled, "That's because I'm still growing. Our future Crown Prince's Consort felt sorry for me because I was still growing, so she gave me her share."
Xi Feng snorted, "She's not much older than you, isn't she growing taller?"
Chang Liu was stunned when he thought about it, "It seems so."
Xifeng ignored him. After Changliu finished eating the chicken leg, he crossed his arms and muttered about his little turtle. He wondered if Zhongbo had taken good care of it along the way. He was very worried.
"Brother Feng, please accompany me to the toilet. I feel like squatting."
Xifeng hadn't finished the soup in his bowl yet, but he had lost his appetite after hearing what he said. "Go away."
"But I'm scared." Chang Liu pulled his arm and rubbed his clothes until they were covered with grease.
Xifeng shook his hand away in disdain, finished his soup and stood up, "Are you not leaving yet?"
Changliu hurriedly followed
Follow the trend.
The forest was very quiet. Xifeng didn't get too close to Changliu. He found a tree and leaned against it with his sword in his arms. Changliu called him from time to time, fearing that Xifeng would leave him.
"Do you think there are ghosts in this forest?"
"Can you hurry up?" Xifeng urged impatiently.
"Brother Feng, listen." Chang Liu pricked up his ears, not daring to fart, "It seems like there is someone."
Xifeng listened for a while and said, "Who can be in this barren forest? Why should I be afraid? What if it's not a human?"
What else could it be if not a human? Chang Liu thought about it and immediately shuddered, becoming even more frightened.
He listened for a moment and found that besides the sound of the wind, there were some subtle sounds.
"There really is someone approaching this way." Chang Liu said again: "No, I have to go up and take a look."
Chang Liu pulled up his trousers and quickly jumped up the tallest tree. Sure enough, he saw a group of people approaching the camp in the dark.
"Brother Feng, someone is coming." He said in a low voice.
Xifeng was alert instantly, and just as he was about to warn, he heard Changliu say, "Wait."
"Prince, Princess." Chang Liu ran quickly towards the camp, shouting, "Xiao Chuan and the others are back."
Chen Yu focused all her attention on the latter sentence, "Xiao Chuan is back", and didn't pay any attention to the former sentence, "The Crown Prince's Consort", and walked out of the tent quickly.
Xie Tingzhou glanced at Chang Liu, and as he passed by him, he said, "The chicken leg in the tent is a reward for you."
Changliu was very happy, thinking that it was really worth it to be called the Crown Prince's Consort.
Xiao Chuan and his companions looked in a mess. They came back and wolfed down the hot soup.
Chen Yu sat by the campfire and looked at him, "Did you encounter pursuers?"
"No." Xiao Chuan said in a hurry: "I met some refugees, and they almost took off my pants."
After he finished speaking, he saw Xie Tingzhou looking at him, so he quickly put away his soldierly look and said seriously, "Sir, I have been investigating along the way and found traces of the pursuers. The place where they camped was full of corpses of the imperial guards, and Jiang An was beheaded and hung on a tree, and wild dogs had gnawed his lower body until only bones were left."
Xiao Chuan swallowed the last mouthful of soup and said, "There were no other bodies at the scene except the imperial guards. I suspect that Jiang An and Marquis Xuanping had an internal conflict, and Marquis Xuanping designed to kill all of Jiang An's men."
Shen Yu stared at the fire, "It's a pity that I couldn't kill him myself."
Xie Tingzhou stood beside her. He knew that she was thinking about Pei Chunli's death, so he put his fingers on the back of her neck and pinched it gently to comfort her.
"Go on." He gestured to Xiao Chuan.
"Yeah." Xiao Chuan was not under the jurisdiction of Xie Tingzhou, but he felt that this man was so imposing that he always made people feel inferior to him.
"Later, we followed their retreating tracks and investigated. The 60,000 men under Marquis Xuanping collided with the men from the Southern Camp and started fighting. However, the fight was not intense. Marquis Xuanping fought and retreated at the same time, fleeing towards Luzhou."
"Luzhou is the fief of Prince Duanqing." Xie Tingzhou said.
Chen Yu raised her head and looked at him, "This just buys us some time."
"Yeah." Xie Tingzhou also lowered his eyes to look at her, but his hand did not move away. "Marquis Xuanping fought and retreated at the same time to preserve his strength. The South Camp has no backup supplies, so they want a quick victory. Marquis Xuanping only needs to delay time."
The two of them were acting very intimately, and the others dared only listen but not watch, either with their heads down or staring at the fire.
Except for Changliu who was staring at him, Xifeng pressed his head down.
"How many troops are there in Prince Duanqing's fiefdom?" Chen Yu asked.
Xie Tingzhou said: "Thirty thousand, maybe more."
"Does the Marquis of Xuanping want to take over the fief of Prince Duanqing and establish himself as king?"
Shen Zhao also came over after hearing the news.
"I don't think so." Xie Tingzhou took back his hand and sat down beside her. "He dared to retreat to Luzhou and was not afraid of being attacked from both sides. This shows that he was sure that Luzhou was safe. It seems that he and Prince Duanqing had colluded for a long time. Maybe Prince Duanqing also helped train his private soldiers."
Chen Yu also stared at the fire, wishing she could roast the two of them over it, "Those 60,000 soldiers were raised with the taxes of the common people and the granaries of the Great Zhou."
Xie Tingzhou said: "The current situation is not entirely bad for us. No matter which side we are on, we are facing enemies on two sides. Xuanping Hou has to deal with the imperial court's troops and also has to be wary of Beilin. The imperial court and we are also facing a double-sided attack and are restraining each other."
"The Great Zhou has run out of money." Chen Yu said, "The Ministry of Revenue has no money to support the war."
Xiao Chuan nodded, "Then we can live a peaceful life for a while."
After he said this, he saw that the three men's brows were still furrowed.
"What are you worried about, sir?" Xiao Chuan asked.
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