Zheng Yu did not lie. Qiu Yi's group moved forward step by step for more than an hour, and finally arrived at a flat area on the top of a mountain. Looking around, they found that they were already on top of the mountains. The path they had just walked on had turned into a winding and narrow goat trail, winding in the valley.
Qiu Yizi sighed and counted the soldiers to see that no one was lost. Except for the soldier who was bitten at the beginning, no one was seriously injured. He felt relieved and walked to Zheng Miao, gently patted the shoulder of his third brother, the prince, and shook his head with a wry smile.
Zheng Miao and Qiu Yizi looked at each other and smiled meaningfully, saying, "Are you all tired? I think the terrain here is quite open and flat. We won't walk today and will camp here."
Before Qiu Yizi agreed, Zheng Yu replied, "Your Highness really loves his soldiers like his own sons. Unfortunately, the heavy rain just now soaked all the firewood we brought with us, and there is no dry charcoal nearby, so it is difficult to make a fire and cook. Please walk a few more steps, there is still two hours away, there is a mountain stronghold, so that we can spend the night safely."
Qiu Yizi said, "Don't be afraid. We also brought torches, pine torches, and grease with us. We will take them out and try. If we still can't light them, we can continue our journey with the Second Prince."
Zhao Chengxiao followed the order and told his soldiers to move a bundle of torches from the baggage cart. They took out the flints beside them and struck them. Surprisingly, the torches started to burn effortlessly, emitting warm light and flames, which made the people around them who were suffering from the heavy rain feel very uncomfortable.
It turned out that Qiu Yizi had suffered a loss in the precarious Baoqing Temple in the wind and rain. From then on, when marching, he asked his soldiers to wrap the flammable objects in oilcloth and oil paper, and sprinkle gunpowder particles on the torches and pine torches, so they would ignite at once even in strong winds.
After Qiu Yizi took out something like this, Zheng Yu certainly couldn't force Zheng Miao to move forward, so he had to agree to camp there for the night.
Therefore, although Zheng Miao and his party were in the enemy's territory in Lingnan Road, they had a military advantage on this hilltop with no village in front and no shop behind. This made Zheng Miao, who was always calm and peaceful, a little excited. He pulled Qiu Yizhi over and said, "After the battle today, we will camp in the wild. It really feels like the time when we followed our father to the north to the desert!"
Qiu Yizi also said: "I remember that time when the two of us brothers and Princess Yiran played and frolicked together on the grassland. We thought that time would be fixed forever. But things change, and we can never go back to the past..." He suddenly thought of Princess Yiran, but he didn't know where she was now or how she was doing, and a trace of sadness arose in his heart.
Zheng Miao laughed and said, "My dear brother, you are really a fool. Confucius said, 'Time flies like a flowing river.' Even saints cannot see through the passage of time and can only sigh in vain. But you want time to stand still. I'm afraid you have gone one step further than saints!"
Zheng Miao's speech was full of quotations from classics, which aroused Lin Shuhan's interest in talking. He said, "Confucius said, 'The younger generation is to be feared, for who knows if the future will be inferior to the present?' The sage also knew that there would be someone who could surpass him in the future. It's a pity that we, a group of unworthy disciples, only know how to study the sage's books but dare not go beyond the boundaries."
Qiu Yizi listened to their witty conversation indifferently, but in her heart she was thinking of Princess Yiran and Wen Lingjiao, whom she had left behind in Shanyin County, and her heart was filled with mixed feelings.
Suddenly, Zheng Yu approached him and whispered in his ear, "Your Majesty, our army doesn't have enough dry food. Can you give me some? I will pay you back double in the future, okay?"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi pulled his thoughts back to the hilltop and said with a smile, "What's the big deal? The food I brought with me is enough for ten days or half a month, so it's okay to share some with you. But you need to send someone to get some firewood to dry. I have to light a fire to cook and arrange guards, so I don't have enough manpower."
Zheng Yu heard Qiu Yi's words implying that he wanted to take control of the garrison authority of this temporary camp. Although he was reluctant, he was outnumbered now, so he could only nod and agree, and turned around to go back to deploy his troops.
Qiu Yizhi stopped Zheng Yu and asked, "Second Prince, who were those people who attacked us just now? Do you recognize them?"
Zheng Yu turned around and looked into Qiu Yizi's eyes, then shook his head. "I only know that they are Shanyue barbarians in the mountains. There are at least 500 of these people, big and small, from tribes and villages, and they gather and disperse from time to time, so it's hard to tell where they came from."
"You mean these people's origins are unknown, and there's no way to find out, and there's no way to investigate?"
Zheng Yu shuddered when he heard Qiu Yizi's cold tone, and said hurriedly: "No, no... Seeing that they were able to gather more than a hundred people in a short time, it is obvious that several large tribes have joined forces to commit crimes. They probably saw that there were so many carriages and horses in your team, and thought that a large group of people were escorting some important items, so they gathered to rob. After you two meet the king, the king will naturally send people to investigate and find out who those barbarians were so bold as to scare the Third Prince..."
Qiu Yizhi added, "There is no need to trouble the King of Lingnan. Since he did not send someone to come here specially to greet us and make a joke, it will be fine. I just asked an unnecessary question just now, so please don't take it to heart, Second Prince."
Qiu Yizi was a sharp-tongued person, and these words were intentionally sarcastic, so Zheng Yu didn't know how to respond for a moment. He could only curse in his heart: "I will wait until I leave this lonely hill, and then I will teach you a lesson, you bully who is relying on the power of others." But he nodded repeatedly and retreated.
Zheng Miao was still in high spirits, so he pulled Qiu Yi over and said, "When we were on the road just now, I saw quite a few wild beasts in the mountains. Why don't you send someone to kill a few of them so we can have a bite to eat?"
Qiu Yizhi had something on his mind, so he weighed it for a moment and said, "Okay!"
After that, he called Yuchi Jiming and his eighteen personal soldiers and said, "Go down the mountain and hunt some wild animals!"
Zheng Miao was a careful man. He looked at Yuchi Jiming and said, "You are Yuchi Lianghong's daughter, right? A good father will have a good daughter. You are really good at martial arts! I think Yuchi Lianghong is not as good as you in terms of hidden weapon skills just now. But the barbarians here are elusive and hard to guard against. Don't just go hunting and go far away. Also, the terrain here is complicated. It doesn't matter if you don't find any wild animals. Come back quickly. I'm afraid you won't be able to find the way at night."
Zheng Miao was still giving instructions, but Yuchi Jiming was already impatient: "Uncle is already long-winded, why are you even more long-winded than him? I'll be back soon, just prepare to eat with an empty stomach."
Qiu Yizhi heard this and said hurriedly: "Jiming, don't be rude..."
Zheng Miao waved his hand and said, "For people who practice martial arts and have the mentality of children, this is how it should be. Just go and come back quickly. I also want to see your skills."
Yuchi Jiming made a face and said, "These few words are quite pleasant to hear." Then he tightened his clothes and led everyone down the mountain.
Zheng Miao watched Yuchi Jiming leave and couldn't help but praise: "As expected of Yuchi Lianghong's daughter, she is as skilled in martial arts as her father. I envy you for having such a person by your side!"
"That's... Oh, no, you're welcome, Third Brother." Qiu Yizi replied.
Zheng Miao was surprised to see his usually decisive brother looking absent-minded, so he lowered his voice and asked, "Is there something strange? Why do you look a little distracted?"
Qiu Yizhi was startled when she heard this, and pulled Zheng Miao aside, whispering, "When you mentioned Yiran just now, I heard that she had difficulty adapting to the climate in Beijing, so she went back to Bohai to recuperate. But Yiran has always been in good health, and she has never been so pretentious. I wonder what's going on?"
Zheng Miao pondered for a moment and said, "My dear brother, you know that, apart from you, Princess Yiran in the Youyan Palace has the best relationship with me and your sister-in-law, Madam Xiaoqin. When she left Beijing, she came to my house to say goodbye. She said that she couldn't get used to the water and wind in Luoyang, so she wanted to go back to Bohai to recuperate. At that time, my brother and Madam saw that she was not in a good mood, and we couldn't force her to stay, so we gave her some things and said goodbye to her."
Qiu Yizhi listened and thought: Princess Yiran was actually a hostage left by King Zhongshun of Bohai by the emperor's side. If the emperor didn't agree, he would never let her leave the capital without permission. After she left, King Zhongshun Dali Khan immediately sent his eldest son, Prince Wudun, to the capital. The reason is the same...
But Zheng Miao continued, "But don't worry, my dear brother. Princess Yiran has always been in good health. I believe that she will have recovered from her illness as soon as she returns to Bohai and steps onto the vast grassland. We are still young, and we will meet again in the future."
Qiu Yizhi was filled with emotion after hearing this, and asked quietly, "Has Third Brother heard any news from Bohai?"
Zheng Miao's face suddenly tightened when he heard this. He subconsciously looked around and saw that there was nothing but a flat open space and no one was eavesdropping. He lowered his voice and said, "Things are not going well in Bohai. That Bishimi borrowed troops from the west and unified the fragmented Turkic tribes in a few years. He not only conquered all the Western Regions that had borrowed troops, but also intended to invade the Han Dynasty from the south."
What Qiu Yizi originally wanted to ask was whether Yiran had any news passed to the capital after arriving in Bohai, but she didn't expect that her third brother, the prince, would talk about state affairs again, so she had to listen to him attentively.
Zheng Miao continued, "Fortunately, our father's reputation as a warrior is still there, so Piximi dare not rush south. But we have to pity Bohai Dali Khan, who is caught in the middle. He has to submit several memorials every year, asking the Han Dynasty to send troops to help resist the Turkic advance. This is a big deal. Now that the country's politics have just improved, our father does not want to start a war, so he sent my second brother to Guangyang to secretly provide some help to Dali Khan."
After hearing what Zheng Miao said, Qiu Yizi couldn't turn the topic back to Princess Yiran, so she continued, "The Emperor once mentioned to me that he wanted to take advantage of his good spirits to personally lead the army to the north. Even if we can't completely wipe out the Turks, we must at least make it so that they can't recover for 30 or 40 years..."
The two were talking when they heard someone coughing behind them. They turned around and saw Zheng Yu coming. He was hunched over and said, "I have ordered my men to fetch firewood as requested by Your Highness Yi. I wonder where we should put it?"
Qiu Yizi rolled his eyes at Zheng Yu and cursed in his heart: Is this your first time leading the troops out? It’s bad enough that you didn’t bring enough dry food, but you don’t even dare to make a decision on such a small matter and still have to ask me for instructions
His face remained expressionless: "The Second Prince is indeed swift and decisive. I see that these firewoods are half dry and half wet. It would be better to spread them all out to the leeward of the fire and dry them first before adding them to the fire."
Zheng Yun nodded and retreated.
The two brothers Qiu Yizhi and Zheng Miao were no longer interested in talking after being disturbed by Zheng Yu. They looked at each other in silence, with only the north wind blowing in their ears. (To be continued)