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

Qi Xiao's sword remained unsheathed, using only its scabbard to block Zhao Chengyou's spear tip. Those watching from a distance could only see the sheath's powerful thrust. Qi Xiao, in his haste, didn't even have the chance to draw his sword, so he could only use the sheath to block. But Zhao Chengyou knew perfectly well that the moment the spear tip touched the sheath, it felt like it had pierced a thick steel plate. The spear shaft trembled violently, unable to advance even an inch. If he pushed any further, the spear would likely break under the combined force.

Zhao Chengyou released his strength, withdrew his spear, turned his horse's head and attacked Qi Xiao again at the speed of a charge.

He was born and raised in the imperial city. He once thought that his enemy was the eldest prince. He studied hard so that he could one day ascend the throne, hold imperial power, inherit the will of heaven, and continue his ancestral business. All his means and plans were for that day. It was not until the Chen army marched south with unstoppable force and the country was about to fall, until the city of Shuoliang was closed, the ministers petitioned to move the capital, and his father was indecisive and simply ignored the affairs of state, simply turning a blind eye to the matter, that he realized how ridiculous he was, and everything was ridiculous!

Serving the country and the king is ridiculous, serving the people and the masses is also ridiculous. Zhao Chengyou has always been only for himself! He just doesn't want to be a coward!

Qi Xiao could clearly see the anger and hatred burning in Zhao Chengyou's eyes. It was the result of national hatred and family feuds, and a desperate act.

The long spear came towards him, Qi Xiao dodged sideways, suddenly reached out and grabbed the spear shaft, and almost at the same moment drew the sword out of its sheath, swung the long sword, and directly cut off Zhao Chengyou's arm holding the gun.

"Ahhhhh!!"

The heart-wrenching howls of pain shook the earth. Thousands of people on and outside the city walls watched this scene. Qi Xiao's knife was too fast, and only a few people saw it clearly. The others only saw a flash of light, a shadow, and a person who fell from his horse and lay shouting in a pool of blood.

Just two moves... too fast...

"Help him quickly!" Xu Zheng hurried forward and shouted for help to save Zhao Chengyou.

Qi Xiao sat firmly on his horse, blocking Xu Zheng's way, pointing Zhao Chengyou's spear at his chest, and said to Xu Zheng: "General Xu, the battle between me and the Second Prince has not yet been decided."

"You!!" Xu Zheng glared at Qi Xiao angrily, but did not dare to easily say the fact that the winner had been decided and the second prince Zhao Chengyou was defeated.

"General Xu, what is your decision?"

Zhao Chengyou struggled to get up, but blood was gushing out from the wound on his arm. In addition to the severe pain, he also felt dizzy and weak all over. He wanted to curse Qi Xiao, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of hot blood, making him even more embarrassed.

Qi Xiao looked at Xu Zheng and said, "How about this, General Xu, I'll give you one more chance. If you can defeat either me or General Bai of Baixiqiao, I'll order a withdrawal. How do you do that?"

Qi Xiao turned around and gave Bai Xiqiao a look, calling him forward.

Bai Xiqiao rode forward and was only ten feet away from Xu Zheng. He finally stood in his father Bai Liu's position and faced Xu Zheng.

Xu Zheng looked at Bai Xiqiao and sighed: "Bai Xiqiao? He must be Bai Liu's son." He had already verified this clearly. A tiger father will have a dog son. He was even a little happy for Bai Liu. The death of that old thief Bai Liu was really boring. Fortunately, his son looked like Bai Liu back then, so there was someone to succeed him.

"General Xu, I want to say hello to you on behalf of my father."

Xu Zheng curled up the corner of his mouth and sneered: "Come on, you little brat are worthy?!"

Bai Xiqiao also smiled: "Then I would like to ask General Xu for your guidance."

Bai Xiqiao said this, but he wasn't in a rush to fight Xu Zheng. Qi Xiao wasn't in a rush, and Xu Zheng had no intention of attacking him, not even a hint of murderous intent. A veteran like Xu Zheng, with his reserved edge and steady as a rock, was not to be underestimated, even in his old age. If Bai Xiqiao acted rashly, he might fall into Xu Zheng's trap.

Seeing Bai Xiqiao's cautious look, Xu Zheng laughed again. He is just as much of a thief as his father!

Xu Zheng didn't fall for Qi Xiao's trick and simply said, "If the King of Chu isn't satisfied with the fight, I, Xu Zheng, will accompany you. However, I can't do that right now. The Second Prince's injuries require urgent medical attention."

Qi Xiao smiled, raised his hand and thrust the spear directly into Zhao Chengyou's chest: "There's no need to rush now."

Even Xu Zheng was dumbfounded. He thought Qi Xiao was threatening Zhao Chengyou's life to force him to open the Huaiyan Pass gate, but Qi Xiao killed him without any warning! If he had been determined to kill Zhao Chengyou, he wouldn't have needed to cut off his arm just now. It would have been easy to just slash his neck with a knife!

Xu Zheng drew his sword and pointed it at Qi Xiao, shouting loudly: "Beat the drum!" This meant he was going to start a war.

"Boom, boom, boom!" The dense sound of war drums sounded at the city gate of Huaiyan Pass. Shields and spears were arrayed in front of the city gate, and bows and crossbows were set up on the city gate, all pointing at Qi Xiao.

When Bai Xiqiao saw this scene, his scalp went numb and he was thinking about how to pull Qi Xiao away to escape.

Qi Xiao suddenly threw his head back and laughed out loud: "General Xu, killing one person is killing, killing ten thousand is also killing. When the Second Prince came out of seclusion, he should have understood that he would die today, and his death might buy the chance of ten thousand people's life. Didn't General Xu also want to help him?"

Xu Zheng stared at Qi Xiao without saying anything.

"General Xu, please carry the Second Prince's body back."

Xu Zheng remained frozen for a long moment, motionless. The war drums continued to beat, each rapid beat like summer thunder, causing the sky to change dramatically. Xu Zheng slowly raised his hand, summoned men to gather the Second Prince's body, and without another word, retreated back to Huaiyan Pass.

Bai Xiqiao didn't breathe a sigh of relief until the city gates were closed. "...Fuck, I was so scared! We were within crossbow range just now, and Xu Zheng just waved his arm and turned us into hedgehogs! What's wrong with you?!"

Qi Xiao reined in his horse, turned around, and slowly returned to the camp, explaining to Bai Xiqiao, "Xu Zheng will not give the order to shoot."

"Oh! You killed their second prince, and the people on the city wall are in an uproar. Maybe some reckless man will shoot an arrow? Besides, do you think Xu Zheng won't shoot an arrow? So he won't shoot?"

"It's not a guess. Qi wants to negotiate peace, but if you kill me, the negotiations will be impossible, and the prince's death will be in vain."

Bai Xiqiao shook his head repeatedly: "The enemy is at the gate, and we're still negotiating bullshit. It's ridiculous."

Qi Xiao smiled: "Who said it wasn't?"

***

When the news of the murder of the second prince of Qi reached Shuoliang, it was already summer, and the entire Shuoliang capital seemed to have fallen into a freezing death zone. The people walking around in the palace were all zombies, and even breathing was trembling with fear.

The ministers no longer mentioned moving the capital, but instead submitted memorials to the emperor, interfering in the peace talks. Some suggested ceding land, some suggested a marriage of marriage. But no matter what they said, the Emperor of Qi did not give any response. An imperial edict was sent to Huaiyan Pass, ordering Zou Sheng to stabilize Qi Xiao, reach an agreement with Chen, and force Chen to withdraw his troops.

Zou Sheng took the imperial edict tremblingly, turned around and went back to his room to sit in boredom for half a day. He almost pulled his belt and hanged himself in the room. Fortunately, Xu Zheng came to find him and saved him who was still half alive.

"Master Zou...you..."

Zou Sheng injured his throat and couldn't speak. He looked at Xu Zheng and silently shed two tears. He was powerless and unable to save the situation!

When Qi Xiao killed the second prince, Zou Sheng saw everything clearly at the city gate. The King of Chu had no intention of negotiating peace, and the State of Chen had no intention of withdrawing its troops, otherwise they would have left room for maneuver and spared the second prince's life. After all, the second prince had already been defeated, and the outcome was clear. The soldiers at Huaiyan Pass all knew how powerful the enemy under the Qinglang banner was. Qi Xiao didn't need to do this at all and had to kill the second prince.

Yet Qi Xiao still killed him, the Second Prince in front of Xu Zheng. The reasons were obvious. First, to tell everyone that he had come to destroy Qi, leaving no room for negotiation. Second, to test Xu Zheng's reaction. If Xu Zheng fought to the death, he would be trapped, and a Qi army determined to fight to the death would be difficult to deal with. But after witnessing the Second Prince's tragic death, Xu Zheng, in his grief and anger, still refused to fight. This told Qi Xiao that Qi had no desire or ability to fight again.

"Lord Zou..." Xu Zheng sighed deeply, "Death won't solve the problem. Instead, it will only anger the emperor and implicate the family."

Zou Sheng looked at Xu Zheng, curled his lips slightly, and said slowly: "The country is destroyed... the family is ruined..."

Zou Sheng's voice sounded like a rusty saw cutting wood, which was creepy.

"Master Zou, please have a good rest."

Xu Zheng couldn't say a word of comfort. He had been on the front line for the past few months since the Chen army marched south to fight the enemy. He knew the current situation of Qi better than anyone else.

If the whole country was united and fought to the death, it would not be impossible, and there might be a glimmer of hope. However, everyone in the imperial capital of Shuoliang was afraid of Qi Xiao and had no intention of fighting. Ever since the emperor ceded the three states and five counties east of Liujiang River to the Zhou State, the Qi State was like a lamb that had given up struggling and was waiting to be slaughtered.

Finally, the second prince still had the loyalty and courage to give it a try, but the result was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

"Report."

As soon as Xu Zheng walked out of Zou Sheng's room, the soldiers came to report the news.

"What's the matter?"

"There's news from Chen Jun's army."

Xu Zheng returned to the study and asked carefully, "Tell me, what's the news?"

"General, the King of Chu has ordered the Yaoshan Army to reclaim wasteland and engage in agriculture. The Fenglin Mountain Pass has been opened. In addition to supplies for the Chen Army, a large amount of grain and seeds have been transported and distributed to the Yaoshan Army."

The Yaoshan Army was mostly composed of farmers. They were not good at fighting, but farming was no problem for them. Moreover, compared to fighting and killing, growing food was what made them excited.

Xu Zheng slumped in his armchair, lost in a long silence. Qi Xiao had gathered the Yaoshan Army at Huaiyan Pass, never intending to have them fight to the death. No wonder the Yaoshan Army surrendered to the State of Chen, no wonder they came to Huaiyan, no wonder more and more refugees were joining the Yaoshan Army. If he, Xu Zheng, were just an ordinary citizen, he would have chosen a path to a peaceful life.

"Report!"

Before Xu Zheng could recover from the shock, a soldier rushed in from outside.

"What's the matter?"

"General! There are deserters among the garrison."

There have been no shortage of deserters since the war began, and every battalion would have a disturbance from time to time. However, there were military disciplines, and deserters would be punished collectively. Those caught would be beaten to death. There were always one or two who were not afraid of death, but there wouldn't be much trouble.

Xu Zheng frowned. The deserters from Huaiyan Pass reported so urgently that he was afraid something unusual was going on. "Tell me in detail."

"They ran away... Both teams headed towards Chen Jun's camp."

Two teams, a total of two hundred people, going to surrender to the enemy?!

"Why don't you chase after him?!"

"We chased... we chased them, but they were too close to Chen Jun's camp. Chen Jun blew the horn, and we..." didn't dare to get any closer.

The soldier didn't dare finish the second half of his sentence. The centurion who was chasing them said that if they were wearing Qi uniforms and charging into the Chen camp, they would be shot to pieces. The Chen army would take care of the traitors, so there was no need to chase them. However, rumors spread among the chasing group that they had seen the deserters abandon their weapons at the gate of the Chen camp and were allowed in unharmed.

Xu Zheng saw the soldier's hesitation and unease, so he stopped questioning and ordered his personal guards to investigate. They soon learned the truth. In his thirty years of military command, he had never felt so cold as he did now. He felt like an old man who had sniffed death, despairing yet calm. He wasn't afraid of death, but he didn't know how to die without appearing so desolate.

When Zou Sheng hanged himself, Xu Zheng was shocked and felt the tragic heroism of Zou Sheng. He was unwilling to send his country away in humiliation with his own hands. He could not do it, was unwilling to do it, and could not even bear to watch it. The only option was to die.

The same is true for Xu Zheng.

A hundred years ago, during the Eight-Nation War, many famous generals emerged. Xu Zheng was also ambitious and arrogant when he was young. He, Bai Liu, and Xun'an Hou Tang Yan were all famous generals of the time. No one could erase his achievements from the history books.

Xu Zheng became a general and a prime minister, and achieved success and fame, but his ending was tied to the fate of Qi and ultimately ended in humiliation.

***

"There are more deserters coming to us from Huaiyan Pass. Not just one or two, but two hundred people." Bai Xiqiao came back from his night duty, panting heavily.

Qi Xiao had just woken up and was having breakfast. When he saw Bai Xiqiao coming, he served him a bowl of porridge. Without him saying anything, Bai Xiqiao sat opposite him, picked up the bowl and drank half of it in one gulp.

"Phew, it's so comforting to have a mouthful of hot porridge."

"After your shift, you didn't rush back to sleep, but had to come to my place for dinner. Is there something else you want to talk about? What happened last night?"

"Last night? Nothing happened, everything was fine. But things weren't going so well at Huaiyan Pass. The Qi army that escaped last night said that an imperial edict had arrived from the Shuoliang capital, ordering Zou Sheng to negotiate peace at all costs and urging you to withdraw your troops. Zou Sheng then proceeded to hang himself after receiving the edict. Tell me, how scared were you of that old gentleman?"

"..."

Qi Xiao finished the porridge in his bowl, wiped his mouth, and said to Bai Xiqiao, "You look quite energetic. Come with me to attack the city."

"What?! Cough cough cough cough..." Bai Xiqiao almost choked to death on a mouthful of white porridge.

"Haven't you been asking me when to attack the city? It's better to do it now than to wait for another day."

"Xiao'er, are you kidding me?! Is war a joke?! You're just going to start a war? We're not prepared at all."

"What do you need to prepare? Haven't you already prepared everything?"

"Are you...serious?"

Qi Xiao looked at Baixi Bridge and replied, "War is no joke."

"...Didn't you say you didn't plan to attack the city?"

Qi Xiao shook his head and said, "Xu Zheng won't surrender, or rather, he'd rather drag it out than surrender. We need to provoke him. Besides, I received a letter from Chi Yue last night. Shuo Liang has already made all the arrangements. We can't miss this opportunity."

Bai Xiqiao sighed and said, "Alright. You're the commander-in-chief, just give the orders."

"Brother, don't panic. We won't be there right away. We'll go at midnight tonight. Let the soldiers rest for a while. We'll go when the moon is dark and the wind is strong."

Bai Xiqiao's eyes lit up: "Like when we entered Jialin Pass and Xingtian Pass?"

"No, it's like Xu Zheng taking over the mountain."

Bai Xiqiao showed a look of understanding and couldn't help laughing.