After leaving Jingtian City, He Yunxiao, as agreed with Li Xiangjun, headed east from the North Gate, entered the Wei-Yan trade route, and then traveled all the way to the State of Wei. Finally, he left the Wei-Yan trade route, took a side road west, and returned to the Qi-Yan Jubeiguan trade route, passing through Jubeiguan to enter Qi.
With the prospect of returning to Yinjing soon on his mind, He Yunxiao's emotions gradually became excited.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Normally, being close to the female leads isn't as cloying as it was at the beginning, but after these ten days apart, He Yunxiao began to miss the feeling of being with the female leads in Yinjing.
However, unlike the delighted He Yunxiao, Jiang Wuyou's birth mother, Liang Yulu, was not so interested.
She was a middle-aged beauty who still retained her charm. Although the years had taken their toll on her beauty, she still possessed the allure and charm of a woman past her prime.
He Yunxiao had never seen Liang Huakui's face back then, but just by looking at her remaining beauty and her daughter Jiang Wuyou's leading lady-like appearance, he could get a glimpse of her former status in Jingtian City.
If a daughter is beautiful, her mother must also be beautiful.
Just like Nan Zhu's wife and her mother, Consort Xuan, Meng Bao and her mother, Empress Dowager Li Xuanzi, and Sister Jiang and the woman in front of me... Sister Jiang's father is at least a prince of Yan, so this mother-in-law must be a prince's wife...
With Nan Zhu's wife, Chu Chu, and Xiao Xiao present, He Yunxiao couldn't directly call her "mother-in-law," so he politely addressed her as "Aunt Liang."
"Aunt Liang, we're about to see Wuyou."
Liang Yulu's sorrow remained undiminished. "Young hero, you may not know this, but I wronged Wuyou back then."
He Yunxiao didn't ask Liang Yulu about her situation back then. It was probably another tragic story of "the family couldn't afford to eat, so they had to sell their daughter to make ends meet. If they didn't sell her, they would starve to death. If they did sell her, they would have a chance to survive."
He Yunxiao's feelings for Liang Yulu are simple. His feelings for Liang Yulu are an extension of his feelings for Sister Jiang. If he didn't like Jiang Wuyou, then Liang Yulu would be nothing more than an insignificant passerby to him. Conversely, he likes Jiang Wuyou, and Liang Yulu is, after all, Jiang Wuyou's biological mother, so He Yunxiao cannot ignore Liang Yulu.
This is somewhat similar to the relationship between Mengbao and Li Xiangjun. Li Xiangjun is, after all, Mengbao's older sister, a very close one, they even share the same DNA. In this situation, no matter how He Yunxiao treats Li Xiangjun, he still has to consider Mengbao's feelings to some extent.
However, how to explain what happened back then is up to Sister Jiang to decide; I only need to ensure my mother-in-law's safety.
Scattered Yan cavalrymen could often be seen on the trade route to Yinjing.
They were few in number, dressed in plain clothes and light armor, often in groups of two or three, and did not disturb passing vehicles or pedestrians, but simply rode their horses across the plains.
These were probably scouts, used to investigate the movements of the Qi army.
Sitting in the carriage, He Yunxiao pondered to himself. He had been away from Yinjing for nearly ten days, and judging by the Yan army's marching speed, the city was probably already surrounded. Under such a tight encirclement, he wondered what the situation in Yinjing was like now.
When they reached a point about half a day's journey from Yinjing, the frequency of Yan army scouts had become extremely high. On average, they could spot a squad every two or three hours, and five or six squads in a single day. He Yunxiao estimated that they were very close to the Yan army's encampment, so he simply told Ma De to stop the car here, leaving Xiaoxiao in the car to protect the family, while he went ahead alone to scout the situation.
He Yunxiao's lightness skill was comparable to that of a galloping horse. He moved forward by stepping on tree branches, and with the support of the Soul-Devouring Pill, he didn't need to rest much. In two hours, he reached the vicinity of Yinjing City.
It was early December, between the Lesser Snow and Greater Snow solar terms.
Although there is no snow, the bleak cold wind has already brought the chill of winter.
He Yunxiao was stationed in Yinjing, and he knew that Yinjing rarely experienced heavy snowfall, so even in winter, the Yan army could still operate normally there. However, while Yinjing itself didn't experience heavy snowfall, the areas north of Yinjing within the Yan state's borders did, with several feet of snow covering the roads. How would the Yan army transport its supplies out of Yan?
How can the Yan army hold out against the Qi army when they run out of supplies?
He Yunxiao thought about it for a moment and then stopped. These were things that Li Xiangjun, or rather Li Wanshi, should consider, not things he should be thinking about. What he needed to think about now was how to pass safely past the Yan army's garrison and make his way to Yinjing City openly and legitimately.
He Yunxiao stood on a tree, gazing into the distance, but he couldn't see the Yan army's camp. But he wasn't in a hurry. After waiting a while, a Yan army scout passed by him, and he followed the soldier. In less than half an hour, they arrived at the Yan army's main camp.
The Yan army camp was bustling with activity, as tens of thousands of Yan soldiers were cutting down trees to make siege equipment.
He Yunxiao frowned. What were these Yan soldiers doing making siege weapons? Wasn't their plan to use a siege and reinforcement tactic on the plains surrounding Yinjing City to annihilate the Qi army that was coming to reinforce Yinjing? Why had they changed their strategy and were preparing to attack the city?
After thinking about it carefully, He Yunxiao suddenly understood.
Knowing the Yan army's strategy of besieging a point to ambush reinforcements, Mengbao simply ordered the reinforcements from other parts of Qi not to arrive, or to gather into a large force before sending reinforcements. This rendered the Yan army's strategy useless. Even without reinforcements, the various Qi armies that had been stationed in Yinjing in advance could hold the city and wait it out with the Yan army.
Unable to secure reinforcements, the Yan army had no choice but to launch a forced siege of the city.
A forced siege would be advantageous for the Qi army, as the walls of Yinjing City were both high and thick, extremely difficult to climb, let alone withstand a hail of arrows and fire from the Qi army. (M.cascoo.net)
However, after walking around the Yan army's stronghold, He Yunxiao changed his mind.
Whether it was a siege to lure reinforcements or a direct assault, the Yan army's preparations were clearly very thorough. Their camp was equipped with a full array of large siege weapons, including siege engines, catapults, siege ladders, and cloud towers, in considerable numbers. The cloud towers, in particular, were impressive. Although not yet completed, He Yunxiao had seen them in television dramas and knew what they looked like.
Simply put, it was a watchtower with four wheels, taller than the city walls. During a siege, it was simply pushed down to the city walls. Yan soldiers would climb stairs from the bottom of the siege tower to the top, then jump down and land on the city walls to fight the defending soldiers. The siege efficiency was terrifying.
He Yunxiao strolled around the Yan army camp again.
The bad news was that Yinjing City was difficult to defend, but the good news was that the Yan army had diverted a large number of troops to manufacture siege equipment, making the siege of Yinjing City less tight. Large numbers of soldiers certainly couldn't get in, but it would be relatively easy for He Yunxiao to bypass the Yan army's encampment and reach Yinjing City in a single carriage.
He Yunxiao thought for a moment, then decided to go forward again. He slipped away to the city of Yinjing, took out the whistle that summoned the Red Whistle, called Mengbao's Red Whistle, wrote a letter and arranged an approximate time to enter the city, and then returned to the carriage.
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