Who says the prince is weak and can't take care of himself?

"Sister, didn't the Second Young Master, my brothers, and I all escape from Xingtian Pass?"

Hongxia pulled up her sleeve to wipe away her tears and looked intently at Chi Yue. Four months of hard-pressed marching had worn him down and made him thin and dark. By the time he arrived at the Meng residence, he was so disheveled that he barely looked human. But Chi Yue was naturally handsome, with eyes so beautiful that it was impossible to doubt him.

"But..." Hongxia choked and tears fell.

"Sister, why don't you ask the Madam to send someone to look for it?"

Hongxia shook her head: "If something happens to the Second Young Master, the First Madam... the First Madam will never bother to care about me and my elder brother..."

"Didn't the Madam order someone to look for Master Hong? Why not have them look for my sister's eldest brother as well? Since my eldest brother is the Second Young Master's attendant, shouldn't he know more about why the Second Young Master was so seriously injured? The Madam will definitely want to get to the bottom of it."

Hongxia was stunned for a moment, muttering carefully: "Yes, yes, yes, the eldest lady will want to know. I will go and tell her now..."

"Sister, please don't think I'm nosy. It's better not to tell the Madam about this for now."

"Huh? Why?"

"The Second Young Master is in trouble, and his attendants are nowhere to be found. They were unable to protect their master. The First Madam is afraid that she will vent her anger on my eldest brother, and maybe even my sister. It would be better to find them first, find out what happened, and then come up with an explanation before apologizing to the First Madam."

"Yes, that's good." Hongxia wiped her tears, not daring to show any joy on her face, but her eyes were already shining, "Thank you..."

"Sister, call me Xiaowu."

"Okay, Xiaowu. I'll remember this favor."

Chi Yue smiled and said, "As for Sister, I didn't do anything. But I do have something I want to ask Sister."

"What?" Hongxia asked, and immediately thought of it, "Want to stay in the Meng Mansion?"

Chi Yue nodded: "There is chaos and disorder outside, I hope my sister can help me."

Chi Yue was about to kneel down to Hongxia when she stopped him: "Don't worry, Xiaowu. You have done a favor to the Meng family by escorting the Second Young Master back home, so naturally we must make good arrangements for him."

Just now, Hongxia said that she would remember his favor, but he said that he had done nothing and did not acknowledge the favor. If she did, Hongxia would be willing to help him and let him stay in the mansion, which would be repayment. At first, he called Hongxia "sister", which raised her status. Now he was kneeling and begging Hongxia, so that he owed her a great favor. Such cunning flattery, Hongxia naturally understood.

"Thank you sister."

Normally, out of consideration for the eldest lady, many people would flatter Hongxia, and she would not even look at most of them. But at this critical moment, Hongxia had been upset for many days, and Chi Yue's "right medicine" made it easy to win her over.

After nightfall, the second steward came personally to bring dinner to Qi Xiao and the others. He was polite to them and said that the situation was turbulent and there were many people coming in and out of the mansion due to rituals. Thinking that the four of them were good at fighting, he wanted to keep them as guards for a while.

Qi Xiao and the other three happily agreed and thanked the second manager profusely. The second manager didn't even mention Hongxia. He was happy to receive their thanks and take credit for their contribution, as he thought he might have the opportunity to use them in the future.

Yu Ran sent the second steward away, looked around to see if there was anyone in the courtyard, closed the door and came back: "I didn't expect it to be so smooth." Not only did they stay, but they also served as guards, making it much easier to move around the mansion. Chi Yue also had a say in Hongxia, so things would be much easier later on.

The food that the second steward brought was obviously better than the previous few days. There were meat, vegetables and soup. Qi Xiao glanced at Chi Yue, picked up his chopsticks first, and said with a smile, "Let's eat."

Chi Yue smiled at Qi Xiao and said, "It's been a while since I had a good meal. I won't be polite."

Yu Ran wasn't used to Chi Yue and Qi Xiao being so disrespectful. He put down his chopsticks again and again, wanting to wait for Qi Xiao to finish eating first, but not wanting to show it too obviously. So he took a sip of tea and asked, "What are we going to do next?"

Qi Xiao said: "Don't be anxious yet, we have to wait until Master Hong starts making a fuss."

Mr. Hong was not a fabricated story by Chi Yue just to deceive the first lady, but a real person who really existed and committed murder and robbery.

After the Chen army broke through Jialin Pass and Xingtian Pass, Qi Xiao led his men to launch a surprise attack on several cities and states, causing a situation of war and chaos in the northern border. There were hundreds of thousands of refugees, and the provincial governments were busy taking care of themselves, closing the cities and locking the passes. The Qi court had no time to care about providing relief to the refugees. Soon, many people gathered together and turned from refugees into bandits. Hong Ye was just one of them.

Those bandits were just ordinary people and could not amount to anything. Not to mention the regular army of Qi or the local garrison troops, the government officials were enough to deal with them.

Qi Xiao's men had already mixed in with the refugees and made secret arrangements to unite the bandits and form an army of rebels. The people in Luzhou and Xianzhou had been suffering from severe drought for three years and were no longer able to make ends meet. The banner of rebellion was raised high, and the people responded to it with a single call, becoming unstoppable.

Yu Ran added, "We don't have easy access to information in the Meng Mansion, and we don't know what's going on outside."

Chi Yue was chewing on a chicken leg, not being polite to Qi Xiao. He swallowed the chicken leg and replied to Yu Ran, "The Madam has already sent someone to investigate. There will be news in two or three days at most."

Yu Ran looked at Chi Yue, then cautiously at Qi Xiao. Chi Yue even dared to snatch the chicken leg. The Ninth Prince seemed very tolerant, so he thought his extra questions wouldn't upset the Prince.

"Since Master Hong is supporting Master Hong in his uprising, why did he let the Meng family believe that Master Hong had Meng Jing killed? The eldest lady is determined to avenge Meng Jing. If the Meng family sends troops to suppress them, how can Master Hong's makeshift team defeat the Xiang army?"

"We need the Meng family to send out troops. Adding fuel to the fire will only make the wood burn more vigorously." Chi Yue, who had even gnawed the chicken leg bone clean, said to Yu Ran, "Master Hong is only strong, but he may not be able to be violent or ruthless. He is just an empty figure. He is not capable of leading an uprising. If the eldest lady wants to kill him, then kill him. If the eldest lady wants revenge, killing Master Hong alone is enough. If the Meng family wants military merit, killing Master Hong alone is also enough. But if the Qin family mobilizes the wing troops, it will be like the government forcing the people to rebel. It will inevitably arouse public sentiment and real chaos will occur."

Qi Xiao laughed. Tang Ling had already thought of the slogan: Violent Qi will not live long, and heaven will punish the unjust.

***

The people sent out by the Meng Mansion came back with the news within two days. They had indeed found this "Master Hong". He had now become a bandit leader and organized an uprising army. He was entrenched in Yaoshan, Quzhou, so he was called the Yaoshan Army. He had even fought with the officers and soldiers of Quzhou Prefecture twice.

"The eldest lady is forcing Meng Boquan to send people to Quzhou to kill Mr. Hong and avenge Meng Jing." Hongxia told Chi Yue the news.

Chi Yue was guarding the corner gate, while Qi Xiao and the others sat down at the foot of the wall to rest.

Yu Ran nodded, thinking that it was just as the Ninth Prince had expected.

Qi Xiao asked, "What about the eldest son and Mr. Bo? What do you say?"

The head of the Meng family, Meng Boquan, is a man of no ideas. Most of the Meng family's affairs have been handed over to the eldest son Meng Tao. If he really wants to send someone to Quzhou, it will not be a trivial matter.

Chi Yue smiled. "The eldest son listened to Mr. Bo's words and temporarily persuaded the eldest lady to stay. Mr. Bo meant that although Quzhou is adjacent to Lu'an Prefecture, it is not the territory of the Meng family after all. If we rashly send people there, it might cause misunderstandings and create a rift between the Quzhou Prefecture and the Meng family. Moreover, the Yaoshan Army is now so powerful that it has attracted many refugees to gather in Yaoshan. If the Meng family only sends a few people, they may not be able to harm Master Hong."

Yu Ran looked at Qi Xiao. This Mr. Bo was really a bad guy. No wonder Qi Xiao had no idea of ​​taking advantage of Mr. Bo from the beginning.

Qi Xiao nodded: "Mr. Bo is really a sensible man. Not bad, not bad."

"Hmm?" Yu Ran was confused. "Didn't Master want the Meng family to send troops? Why don't you think Mr. Bo is in the way?"

"It's okay." Chi Yue waved his hand and explained for Qi Xiao, "We are outsiders after all. Even if Hongxia still trusts me now, her words in front of the eldest lady cannot influence the decision of the head of the Meng family. On the contrary, Mr. Bo is deeply trusted by Meng Tao, so he will naturally make suggestions for the Meng family, and we can just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor."

"But didn't Mr. Bo stop the Madam from sending people to Quzhou?"

"The Madam is sending troops to Quzhou to avenge a personal vendetta. This is detrimental to the Meng family, so of course we must stop them. However, Quzhou is in turmoil, and the court can't attend to it right now. If the Yaoshan army were to invade Quzhou Prefecture and rob its granaries, that would be a true rebellion. Would the prefect be dead? The Meng family is closest to Quzhou. If they receive a call for help from Quzhou Prefecture and send troops to help, suppress the riot, and kill the ringleader, it would be a great achievement, and the Second Young Master's revenge would be avenged at the same time. Killing two birds with one stone."

"Yes, that's right, that's right!" Yu Ran nodded repeatedly. Chi Yue threw the clue of "Master Hong" to the eldest lady. They didn't need to spend any effort on the subsequent matters. They could just wait and see and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

The Meng family wants military merit and the eldest lady wants to avenge her son, so they are much more anxious about sending troops than Qi Xiao. Even if Quzhou Prefecture does not send a letter asking for help, they will find a way to "help" Quzhou Prefecture, and everything will come naturally.

Chi Yue and Hongxia were close, so news from the Meng Mansion was effortless. The raging war outside seemed to have nothing to do with Qi Xiao and the others. Yu Ran felt horrified at the thought. The Emperor of Qi, the imperial court, Xu Zheng—who could have imagined that the Ninth Prince Qi Xiao, who had broken through three major passes in the northern border, was not at Bashan, but instead holed up in Lu'an Mansion, guarding the house? "Strategies are planned from within, and victories are won from afar"—that's what it means, right?

***

In the blink of an eye, it was already the end of February. Tang Ling's small courtyard was becoming more and more lively day by day, and it looked like she was going to live there permanently.

The soldier sent by Lu Xiulin to deliver the message looked at Tang Ling leisurely drinking tea and admiring the moon in the yard, and for a moment he almost forgot why he came.

"Sir, the creek has been cut off!"

Tang Ling held the teacup, took a sip of tea slowly, and nodded: "Got it."

The soldier stood there in a daze, and he knew it? Then what?

"Please tell me I'll treat General Bai to a late-night snack later."

“Ah?! Yes…”

Qinglan sent the messenger away and returned to the courtyard. Tang Ling had already entered the house and sat down at the desk. Qinglan had originally thought that Tang Ling was indifferent and not at all worried about the damming of the creek. It seemed that her young master's calmness was a bit of a pretense of sophistication.

"Qinglan, bring in my tea."

"Oh." Qinglan brought the teapot and teacup on the small stove in the courtyard into the house, poured a cup of hot tea and brought it to the table. "Master, the creek has been cut off. What should we do?"

"There's no need to rush about the creek."

"You're not in a hurry when the situation is urgent?"

"Did you see the swift eagle in the yard?"

Qinglan was stunned. It was dark and he didn't notice it.

"It has flown away."

"..."

"Did you see the carrier pigeons in the yard?"

Qinglan shook his head slightly. The carrier pigeons of Xingluowei came almost every day, as if they were here to eat for free, and left after eating. Seeing them too frequently, Qinglan no longer paid attention to them.

"People from Xuanji Camp just came here."

Tang Ling hadn't eaten much of dinner when she said she wanted something sweet. Qing Lan went to the kitchen to get a bowl of steamed cake. Had she missed it just like that? Tang Ling hadn't mentioned it before.

"First, Chen Heng has led an army of 200,000 across Fenglin Mountain. Second, my father has led his troops westward and has passed Ningtang."

The third thing is that everything went well for Qi Xiao in Lu'an Mansion.

Qinglan silently watched Tang Ling. He didn't understand what Tang Ling had told him, only that war had broken out between the three kingdoms of Chen, Qi, and Zhou. He couldn't help but feel a sense of alarm. A hundred years after the Eight Kingdoms Rebellion, this was the first time the allied forces of Chen and Zhou had attacked Qi. They had lived in Bashan for so long that if Xu Zheng hadn't come to harass them, Qinglan would have almost forgotten they were at war.

"Sir, the Marquis is leading his troops into Qi. Are you afraid that the State of Chen will suddenly invade Taihua River?"

Tang Ling shook her head. "No. Qi is already on its last legs and vulnerable. Chen Heng is leading an army of 200,000 south. Chen won't have the energy to fight a war on two fronts. They're not eating the roasted duck right in front of them, but are going after my father instead."

In the dead of winter, when the snow was thick and the ground was frozen, Tang Ling and Qi Xiao cut their way across Fenglin Mountain and headed south with unstoppable force, achieving something that no one had done in a hundred years. His Majesty the King of Chen would never give up this excellent opportunity to destroy Qi.

"Then... since the Marquis has led his troops into Qi, sir, when are we going to reunite with him?"

Tang Ling glanced at Qing Lan and said softly, "No rush."

Okay, no rush.

Qing Lan couldn't help but mutter, "Master, you're not anxious about this, you're not anxious about that, so what is anxious about?"

Tang Ling laughed and asked, "Qinglan, what are you so anxious about?"

"Sir, Bashan is in danger! Qi is in danger!"

In the past, Tang Ling had marched with Marquis Xun'an to fight for the Great Zhou. Now, Tang Ling and the others were trapped in Bashan, but they were preparing wedding dresses for the State of Chen. Qinglan felt that this was a losing deal. Although it was a last resort, Marquis Xun'an had already sent troops to join Qi. Tang Ling should pack her bags, be escorted by the Xingluo Guards out of Bashan, and head straight for the Marquis.

Tang Ling smiled but said nothing. Qing Lan couldn't help but say, "I know you like the King of Chu, but if it's impossible, why do you keep holding on to it?"

"I said I'd wait until he got back."

Qinglan followed Tang Ling's gaze and saw the brocade box on the desk, inside which was a seal carved by Tang Ling herself.

Qinglan sighed unconsciously...

"Qinglan, tell the kitchen to prepare a few more midnight snacks. Baixiqiao will be here soon."

"……Oh."