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

Chapter 180 He Prefers "General"

Qi Xiao returned to the camp in the last rays of sunset. Some soldiers saw him and immediately stood up and saluted, calling him "General". Qi Xiao was the commander-in-chief, so of course he should be called General. Everyone was used to calling him "Prince". Those two soldiers had somehow started calling him "General", and later everyone did the same.

Qi Xiao stepped on the soft snow one step at a time as he passed by those people without much expression on his face, and not much expression could be seen in the dim twilight.

When he left Yongcheng, he imagined what Yuanjing City would look like. When he left Yuanjing City, he imagined what Fenglin Mountain would look like. But now the road he was walking seemed to be the same as what he had expected, and yet different.

Danger and accidents, gain and loss... every step he takes will eventually lead him to where he wants to go.

When he was young, he'd dreamed of becoming a great general like Bai Liu, standing atop Fenglin Mountain, single-handedly holding up the entire Dachen Empire. He preferred "General" to "Your Highness," "Prince," or even "Your Majesty." Each of those words carried passion and pride, the valor and fearlessness of a heart beating in his chest.

Qi Xiao raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and his steps seemed to become lighter.

When I met Lu Xiulin and Bai Xiqiao, they were eating flatbreads made from melted snow and boiled in water. Everyone ate the same way these days. They didn't have much food, but they had vegetables, enough to eat a pot of porridge every three days.

"General Lu, Senior Brother. Do you have any more cakes?"

Bai Xiqiao handed Qi Xiao a hot pancake, asked him to sit next to him, and asked, "Why don't you take a rest?"

"These little bumps and bruises on my body are nothing," Qi Xiao said with a smile after taking a bite of his biscuit. "Even a beating from you, Senior Brother, would hurt more than this."

"Go away, what are you talking about? You are a commander after all, don't try to provoke me with your boastful attitude."

Qi Xiao smiled and nodded, continuing to eat his cake. Lu Xiulin had gotten used to being with Qi Xiao during this time. The two brothers often joked around with each other, just like any other brother in the camp, like some soldier who had always been in the barracks. It was quite nice.

"...It was a close call this time." Lu Xiulin couldn't help but sigh as he looked at Qi Xiao. He had said this many times, but he himself didn't realize it. Not only him, but everyone thought so, including those who came back alive.

On their battlefield, life and death were commonplace. The men Lu Xiulin had chosen had served in the Dingyuan Army for at least three years, none of them unseen death. They had all entered Fenglin Mountain with the unwavering conviction that they would die. They knew better than Qi Xiao how to confine the dead to a corner, perhaps offering a chance for reunion when their souls fell into the River of Oblivion.

Lu Xiulin originally thought that Qi Xiao would be upset for a while, but she didn't expect that he would joke with Bai Xiqiao so quickly, so she sighed.

Qi Xiao nodded slightly and said, "How much food do we have left? All the food that should have been transported back was lost in this accident. I'm afraid we'll have to go again in the next few days."

Bai Xiqiao said, "We've re-counted, and there's still enough for ten days."

"If it's sunny tomorrow, let's go again."

Bai Xiqiao nodded: "Bring more people with you, I will go with you."

Lu Xiulin didn't say anything. They would have to stay in the mountains for more than a month, so they naturally needed food, otherwise they would starve to death.

Qi Xiao ate half a cake, reached out for the bowl of water in Bai Xiqiao's hand, drank two sips to moisten his throat, and said, "Next time we encounter a snowstorm, we must not run around recklessly. Dig a hole against the mountain wall and hide there. Don't come out of the camp and wait until the snow stops to pick us up."

After learning from their mistakes, they transported food many more times and encountered two more snowstorms, but no one lost their lives again.

In addition to food, Qi Xiao has one more thing.

"General Lu, Fenglin Mountain is vast, but Chen and Qi have been trading for many years. Besides the official road, there should be other trails, right?"

Not to mention the countless battles, both large and small, fought between Chen and Qi. During the Eight Kingdoms War, Fenglin Mountain was a strategic military base, and it's said that numerous secret passages were dug there. However, Fenglin Mountain is so vast that the grass grows thick every spring, and any secret passages are buried well, making them impossible to find unless you've been walking around.

Lu Xiulin nodded, picked up a piece of wood, and began to draw on the ground. "The most important official road between Chen and Qi passes through Qifeng Gorge. The pass between Chen and Qi is thirty miles apart, and it can be seen clearly from Qifeng Gorge. For so many years, the wars between us and Qi have always avoided Qifeng Gorge. Otherwise, both armies would be stuck in Qifeng Gorge and neither side would benefit. There are three ways to bypass Qifeng Gorge."

Lu Xiulin drew it for Qi Xiao and said, "The most common route for clashes is the farthest one. Although it goes around half a mountain, the forest is the densest and the road is relatively flat, making it easy to hide. The Qi army likes this route the most. There is also the closest one. The Qi army has tried to use this route to launch surprise attacks on our pass at Qifeng Gorge many times."

Qi Xiao nodded, raised his eyes and asked Lu Xiulin: "As far as I know, there is an inn on the official road to Fenglin Mountain for merchants to stay, right?"

Lu Xiulin nodded. "Yes, there's one behind the Chen and Qi passes. They're not far apart, and can be reached in two days by horseback. There's another one at the border between the two countries."

In fact, it only takes ten days to cross Fenglin Mountain by taking the official road. However, Qi Xiao and his men need to hide in Fenglin Mountain and cannot take the official road, let alone station troops on the official road.

Bai Xiqiao asked, "What do you have in mind?"

Qi Xiao said, "According to our original plan, we should break camp and head for the border of Qi in half a month, and then lie in wait at the border until the snow melts."

After the mountains were closed due to heavy snow, it would take at least five or six days to walk from the Hot Spring Valley to the Qifeng Gorge, and another five or six days from the Qifeng Gorge to the border of Qi State. If there was wind and snow on the way, it would take even longer.

Bai Xiqiao said, "The spies we sent out to explore the route earlier didn't find anything unusual, and the inns along the official road are long gone. The blizzard has just passed, so I'll send people out to explore the route again."

After the snowstorm, everything was covered with snow, and the original road signs might no longer be usable. If you stepped on empty air, you might end up in a ravine.

Qi Xiao said, "I'm wondering if we should break camp early, or at least move in batches. We can at least transport some food to the inn in Qifeng Gorge and store it there. The weather in the mountains is unpredictable, and the longer we delay on the road, the more dangerous it will be."

After experiencing the four-day snowstorm, Qi Xiao deeply realized that man proposes, God disposes. It would be too dangerous for 6,000 people to cross the snow-capped mountains and encounter a snowstorm. The flags could not be seen, the gongs and drums could not be heard, and if anyone was lost, they would not be found.

Lu Xiulin thought about it, nodded and said, "Let's transport the food first." As the saying goes, the food must be transported before the army moves. If the food follows the people, if something happens on the road, then everything will be over.

Bai Xiqiao also agreed. After thinking for a moment, he asked Qi Xiao, "Should we ask Young Master Tang?"

"I'll tell him tomorrow. Send someone to explore the way first. Just like we planned when we entered the mountains, we'll look for suitable places to store food along the way."

After finishing his talk, Qi Xiao finished his cake and drank the whole bowl of water from Baixi Bridge. Qi Xiao stood up and prepared to return to the valley: "I'm going to see what's going on over there in Qinglan."

Qi Xiao had excellent eyesight in the dark and didn't need any torches or lights, so he just left.

Lu Xiulin watched him quickly disappear into the darkness and couldn't help but say to Bai Xiqiao, "The general will definitely like this prince."

Bai Xiqiao was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "I know." At that time, he wanted to wait for his father to come back, let Qi Xiao meet the hero in his mind, and let his father meet his unruly Monkey King.

After meeting Lu Xiulin again in Yuanzhou, Bai Xiqiao asked him about the year he spent in the Dali Temple. Lu Xiulin himself actually didn't know what happened. He was imprisoned in the Dali Temple. At the beginning, he was interrogated and punished a lot, but later he didn't know when it stopped. He learned from the jailer that the emperor had no intention of pursuing General Bai anymore. The impeachment memorials and the so-called embezzled military pay seemed to have never happened. Someone brought him food every day in prison. His injuries healed unknowingly, and a year passed unknowingly.

Later, Lu Xiulin was released from the Dali Temple. People from Wudu Prefecture picked him up outside the Dali Temple and gave him a transfer order from the Ministry of War. He then inexplicably entered Wudu Prefecture. He later investigated several times and it seemed that the Ministry of War was protecting him, but he didn't know who it was.

Lu Xiulin patted Bai Xiqiao on the shoulder and said, "Go to bed early."

"Ah."