In Beiting, Leizhou,

Lin Zhao led a hundred light riders to Leizhou Prefecture to meet with the Marquis of Lianqin, as a gesture of concern for Qin Zheng and Qin Shen.

She was stopped outside the city by the guarding army.

After inspecting her token and credentials, he glanced at the hundred light riders she brought with her.

Seeing that there were also several women wearing armor among them, his expression immediately became serious, and he asked, “Why are there women mixed in?”

Lin Zhao, sitting on her horse with her arms crossed, looked down from above and said, “I am a Soldier myself. What’s wrong with having women in the army?”

The general was shocked.

The daughters of Beiting’s soldier often trained in martial arts and sometimes brought female attendants with them, but female attendants and female soldiers were two different things.

One was a servant attached to someone else, while the other could receive military pay and accumulate military achievements.

Thinking that this was the army sent by the former Crown Prince of Chu to support Beiting, the soldier felt somewhat resentful.

Was there really no one left on the Crown Prince’s side? They even sent women to join the army!

Such an army would be strange if they could fight against the Northern Barbarians.

The soldier didn’t bother to conceal his contempt, and he glanced back again.

Seeing that they were accompanied by a carriage, he asked arrogantly, “Who is in the carriage?”

If it weren’t for the fact that he was here to form an alliance, Lin Zhao would have wanted to fight this arrogant guy.

She raised her chin and put on a more arrogant expression than the soldiers, saying, “A noble person.”

The soldier didn’t think much of this female leader sent by Chu, and he walked straight to the carriage, reaching out to lift the curtain, saying, “Leizhou is under martial law. No one of unknown identity can be allowed to pass!”

Before his hand could touch the curtain, a long whip wrapped around his wrist like a snake, pulling him back and making him fall on his back.

Lin Zhao put away the whip and coldly said, “I said she’s a noble person. How dare you act so rudely!”

The soldier climbed up with a grimace.

He hadn’t expected a woman to have such strength.

Feeling embarrassed and annoyed, he shouted, “They have ulterior motives, seize them!”

“Wait!”

“Hold on.”

Two voices sounded at the same time, one coming from the carriage, cold and hoarse, and the other coming from the city gate, casual.

The soldier turned around and saw Xie Chi riding a large black horse, leading more than ten Iron raider out of the city gate.

He hurriedly saluted, “Young Master.”

Lin Zhao had already sent her invitation to visit Leizhou Prefecture in advance.

Xie Chi had come to welcome her, but as soon as he arrived at the city gate, he almost saw the soldier fighting with the female leader of the Chu army.

There was a hint of impatience in his heroic brows, and he asked the soldier, “What’s going on?”

Known as the Little Wolf King in the army, just one glance from him made the soldier tremble.

Before the general could answer, Lin Zhao mocked with the whip in her hand, “Today I’ve experienced the hospitality of the Marquis of Lianqin.”

Seeing Xie Chi’s face darken, the soldier hurriedly explained, “Young Master, I was just verifying the identity of the people in the carriage.”

Xie Chi’s gaze swept over the carriage.

At this moment, the curtain of the carriage was pushed open by a slender white hand.

Inside the carriage, a woman in white clothes with black hair and a beautiful face looked at him with clear eyes.

If Qin Zheng was like a pear blossom in the rain, then the woman in front of him was like a cold plum in the snow.

Her appearance was not stunning, but her overall aura was so captivating that one couldn’t look away.

The north wind blew, and the banners on the city tower fluttered.

Xie Chi looked at the woman’s eyes and narrowed his own slightly.

Pei Wenyang lowered her eyes when her gaze met Xie Chi’s and bowed to him in the carriage, “Greetings, Young Master.”

Different from the clear voice of ordinary women, her voice was somewhat hoarse, as if her vocal cords had been injured.

But it was precisely this hoarse voice that left a deeper impression on people.

Xie Chi narrowed his eyes and asked, “Who are you?”

“I am Pei Wenyang, the third daughter of the Pei family in Liangzhou Prefecture.”

Not long after, a huge wave that overturned the world situation began with this sentence.

..

The Chen army launched a fierce attack on Qingzhou.

After defeating Dong Cheng’s navy ambushed on the Yuan River, they besieged Qingzhou City and called out challenges outside the city gate.

Dong Cheng was injured and unable to fight again.

Song Heqing, remembering the battle plan formulated by Chu Chengji when he went to Xuzhou, did not engage in battle and hung out the flag of truce.

However, the insults from the Chen army grew fiercer day by day.

Some Soldiers in the city couldn’t stand this humiliation.

Although they were excellent warriors, they were not appreciated by the Crown Prince.

They rashly opened the city gates to fight, only to be killed by the Chen army.

After several Soldiers sacrificed their lives, no more soldiers in Qingzhou dared to come out of the city to fight.

The morale plummeted to its lowest point.

Song Heqing, a civil official, could not stop the military officers who were eager to rush to the battlefield.

At this point, the only thing he could do was to defend the city with the remaining soldiers and wait for reinforcements.

Some junior officers knew very well that after the fierce battle between Xuzhou and Huzhou, and with the Crown Prince seriously injured and his life or death unknown, there was no hope of reinforcements from Xuzhou and Huzhou.

The only hope was the Yongzhou army of An Yuanqing.

They hoped to delay for a few more days, deplete the grain and grass in the Chen camp, and wait for An Yuanqing to burn the granaries built by the Chen army in the city, then launch a rear attack.

The defeat of the Chen army was certain.

After holding on for several days, the Chu army in Qingzhou gradually showed signs of exhaustion.

The wreckage of siege towers, catapults, and ladders could be seen everywhere on the battlefield.

The walls of Qingzhou, reinforced by Qin Zheng, were covered with marks left by cannon fire and rolling stones.

The dried blood stains and fresh blood stains intersected on the battlements, and the soil under the city walls was dyed dark brown by blood.

The city was surrounded on all sides, and now the news from inside Qingzhou City could not be sent out, nor could the news from outside be received.

The food and military supplies in the city were still abundant, but the people were restless.

In order to boost morale and deter the Chen army, Song Heqing had to use the method Qin Zheng instructed before leaving, finding a soldier with a similar figure to Chu Chengji, dressing him in Chu Chengji’s armor, and spying on the enemy from the city tower.

The scouts of the Chen army soon discovered the movement of the Chu army.

They hurriedly reported to Shen Yanzhi, “Crown Prince, it seems that the former Crown Prince of Chu is not in Xuzhou. He is still spying on the battle from the city tower today!”

The blue smoke rose from the incense burner beside the chessboard, blurring Shen Yanzhi’s face.

He held a black piece between his index finger and middle finger, hesitating to put it down. “Are you sure it’s the former Crown Prince of Chu?”

The scout replied confidently, “That person is wearing black scale armor. It must be the former Crown Prince of Chu!”

Shen Yanzhi said, “Issue orders to continue the siege.”

The scout didn’t understand, but dared not ask more questions, and retreated obediently.

Standing aside, Chen Qin said, “Master, what if it’s a trick?”

Shen Yanzhi finally placed the black piece on the chessboard.

The white pieces instantly fell into a desperate situation.

He said, “If Chu Chengji is really in Qingzhou, that would be even better. I’ll skin him alive, and Qin Zheng will never look at him again.”

Chen Qin’s scalp tingled and he dared not speak.

This game of chess had come to an end.

Shen Yanzhi’s interest waned, and he threw the chess pieces back into the basket, asking, “Have you found the Crown Prince?”

Chen Qin shook his head, “I’m incompetent. I haven’t found any trace of the Crown Prince yet, but I’ve sent someone to keep an eye on the An family.

The Crown Prince’s confidant entered the An family and never came out again. Maybe the Crown Prince asked the An family to hide him.”

“An family?” Shen Yanzhi’s smile was cold, “So impatient already?”

“What’s the purpose of the Crown Prince’s aide going to the An Mansion?” Shen Yanzhi was clear about this.

They were all on the same boat for their own interests, and Shen Yanzhi didn’t mind the thoughts of the An and Chen families.

But if the An family allowed An Yuanqing to turn against Chu and collude with attacking them, then he wouldn’t spare the lives of the An family either.

Shen Yanzhi said slowly, “I hope the An family can be smarter.”

…

In the city.

“The granary is on fire!”

“Quick, go put out the fire!”

The raging flames dyed the night sky red, thick smoke billowed, and the soldiers sent to put out the fire were choked by the thick smoke, unable to open their eyes.

The ground was littered with dead soldiers and blood-stained banners.

Amidst the chaos, a cavalry unit with the flag of Yongzhou whizzed away into the night.

The remaining soldiers who rushed over from the city saw the granary turned into a sea of fire and couldn’t catch up with the cavalry.

They gritted their teeth and said, “Go quickly to Wucheng and report to the news. An Yuanqing’s Yongzhou army burned the granary!”

Chu Chengji and his entourage rode several miles before stopping.

Looking back, the sky over the city was still glowing red from the fire.

Han Xiu, as the grain transport envoy of Xuzhou, volunteered to accompany Chu Chengji back to Qingzhou to reinforce the city.

He turned his horse’s head to look at the distant horizon and laughed heartily, “Great! It’s been a long time since I fought such a satisfying battle! Without grain, that bastard from the Li family will roll back to Bianjing and cry to his father!”

Because of his defeat, the Crown Prince feared being implicated and directly dismissed his daughter.

Han Xiu had been holding back his anger all along, but tonight’s fire burning the Chen army’s granary finally relieved some of it.

The night wind stirred the surrounding grass, carrying a faint smell of charred. However, Chu Chengji’s face showed no joy.

Instead, it became more serious. “March faster.”

As Han Xiu rode up beside him, he asked, “Your Highness, are you worried about Qingzhou falling?”

Chu Chengji said, “Qingzhou has been besieged for several days, but An Yuanqing has not come to burn the city granary yet. I’m afraid something has happened in Yongzhou.”

Han Xiu recalled the fierce battle he had fought with the city’s defenders for half a day, but Chu Chengji had gone up and knocked the defender off his horse with just one strike.

Unable to resist asking, “Perhaps… General An has led the troops to attack the city, but just couldn’t defeat the defender?”

Those guarding the granary were all great generals who could stand up to tens of thousands of enemies.

There were not many people in the world who could match Chu Chengji’s martial arts skills.

Chu Chengji asked, “If they can’t take the city, will they besiege it?”

Han Xiu suddenly realized, slapped himself on the forehead heavily, and said, “How could I forget about this? An Yuanqing, that old man, is really playing tricks!”

Chu Chengji deliberately delayed his departure from Xuzhou for two days to see if An Yuanqing would follow his original plan to attack the city.

Obviously, An Yuanqing had disappointed him.

As Han Xiu cursed angrily, he suddenly shouted, “Oh no!”

When Chu Chengji glanced sideways at him, Han Xiu said with a heavy heart, “Your Highness, if you let An Yuanqing come to attack the Chen camp granary, what if he turns the tables and attacks our granary in Meng County?”

The more Han Xiu thought about it, the more anxious he became.

If Meng County changed hands, with the amount of grain stored in the granary, burning the city granary would be of no consequence to the Chen army.

“Meng County is guarded by Lin Yao. With him, An Yuanqing won’t succeed.”

The clear light of the moon reflected in Chu Chengji’s eyes, making it difficult to tell whether it was the coldness of the moonlight or the coldness in his eyes.

Han Xiu was stunned to hear this, and after thinking about the defense layout of the various places in the battle, he suddenly realized that the Crown Prince was probably not just guarding against An Yuanqing.

After all, those who had remained in Qingzhou were all under Lin Yao’s command.

This time, they took the risk of leaving Dong Cheng and Song Heqing to defend Qingzhou and sent Lin Yao to Meng County.

It was the same in Xuzhou.

If Zhao Kui didn’t have boundless strength and Cen Daoxi didn’t come up with clever strategies repeatedly, how could they withstand the strong attack of the General of ZhenNan, under Prince Huiyang.

Wait until he goes to support.