My wife has a secret

Chapter 243 Helping Hand
A long dragon soon gathered behind Xu Qing. Many remnants of the Huangling Army gathered here, with tragic expressions written all over their faces.

Most of the soldiers from the other troops looked at each other and watched the situation of this unit.

Many officials and generals at the city gate did not quite believe that Xu Qing would dare to send troops to rescue. Not to mention whether the assembled defeated troops could fight against the regular army of Liao, just going out of the city to fight required actively reporting to the palace.

At this critical juncture, no one will tolerate greater losses.

"Anyone else joining?"

Seeing that most of the Qi army had lost their fighting spirit, Xu Qing did not force them any more. Instead, he simply reorganized the ranks he was leading and marched towards the escape route.

This group of guerrillas can be called an army, but it is more like two or three hundred people gathered together because of a call, and they do not have much fighting power.

Xu Qing, who was leading the team, began to think of countermeasures on the way up the mountain.

After thinking about many tactics from his previous life, he was still unable to make up his mind.

Because there are too few soldiers available, all kinds of tactics will be at a disadvantage and passive. What can be done now is to find the commanding heights in the Qinling Mountains and confirm whether the war below is over.

"It's a little different from what I thought. It seems that the troops stationed in Qinling Mountains suffered heavy losses in this battle, and their fighting spirit has been worn out."

When Xu Qing was counting the number of people just now, he discovered something unusual.

It was originally thought that the Liao army's surprise attack caused chaos in the Qi army's command system because all generals above the sixth rank had died, making it difficult to organize an effective resistance.

But from the time he left the city until now, he had not seen a single captain, which was enough to show that something unimaginable had happened last night.

Xu Qing was heading towards a high point when he suddenly discovered that a group of Qi soldiers were blocking his way.

Just when he wanted to ask about the origins of these people and which army they belonged to, he suddenly heard a familiar name.

"Brother-in-law!"

The person who spoke was three parts happy and two parts surprised, because he really didn't expect to meet Xu Qing here.

The transfer order was issued two days ago, and the emperor ordered Marquis Guangping to return to the capital to report on his work. Everyone knew that Xu Qing was recalled to the capital and was ready to rise to prominence.

Logically speaking, Xu Qing should rest and recuperate in his own house and enjoy the life of a king.

"Why are you here..."

"Miss Three!"

"Miss! It's me!"

"..."

Yang Caiyun had just asked the question when she was interrupted by the soldiers behind Xu Qing.

Everyone rushed forward excitedly and introduced their affiliation and situation to Yang Caiyun.

Although the scene looked chaotic, the general situation was similar to what Xu Qing had imagined. Because there was no one in command, each unit was broken up by the Liao army that rushed into the camp and was forced to retreat.

By the time everyone gathered in front of the capital city gate and lined up to retreat into the capital, they knew that they had understood the general situation from each other and that there was only one cavalry unit led by Yang Xianning left on the field, which was responsible for the rearguard attack.

Yang Caiyun has skin as white as jade, beautiful eyebrows, and a pair of bright eyes like autumn water, exuding a hint of ancient charm.

The original happiness and joy in his eyes had disappeared, leaving only anxiety and uneasiness.

As a last resort, she had to let her personal guards take the remaining soldiers to rest aside, while she led Xu Qing to the top of the slope and talked about the battle.

"The situation is similar to the news that reached the capital. Except for the army led by my sister, most of the officers in the army have died. They were caught off guard by the sudden attack of the Liao army..."

"How could this happen?"

Faced with this extremely strange and bizarre incident, Yang Caiyun expressed her own guess.

"It should be a problem with the water source... There is a shortage of water in the Qinling Mountains. The army basically drinks water from the excavated Changhe River. However, this water is mixed with mud and sand, which is very difficult to filter. It tastes like yellow mud when you drink it."

Yang Caiyun continued, "At noon, I found the baggage convoy in charge of logistics and asked about some things... I learned that the logistics department had sent a batch of clean water, and because the quantity was limited, it was specially provided to officers above the rank of lieutenant for drinking."

When Xu Qing heard this, he suddenly realized that there was a problem with the water source that the officers and generals were drinking.

"Then how come your sister is safe and sound?"

Yang Caiyun replied: "My sister has never been a pretentious person. She ate and lived with the soldiers in the army, so she didn't show these symptoms."

"I see."

After hearing this, Xu Qing's admiration for Yang Xianning increased even more.

It has to be said that although she is a woman, her ability to lead troops in battle is unparalleled. Just looking at the loyalty of the Huangling Army and the Royal Cavalry to her, you can tell that she is by no means mediocre.

"At dawn today, the Liao army launched an attack, but the core strongholds controlled by the Yang family army quickly drove the Liao army out. However, my sister realized that the situation around her was not good, so she took the initiative to order the Yang family cavalry to cover the rear and launch an attack to buy time for the army to retreat."

Yang Caiyun said: "Caiyun also received orders from the two elder sisters. They asked me to return to Beijing as soon as possible... But I couldn't leave my elder sisters behind, so I camped here with my personal guards to observe the situation on the field."

Yang Caiyun had learned systematic tactics and military formations, and knew how to judge the situation on the field.

With her around, Xu Qing saved time observing the battlefield.

"My sister's cavalry is still fighting hard in front of the Qi army's tent, but there are no friendly troops that can be found and put to use in the entire Qinling Mountains."

When Yang Caiyun said this, tears welled up in her eyes and she could hardly control her emotions.

Although she knew that her sister leading the cavalry to attract the attention of the Liao army and preserve a large number of Qi's fresh troops was the best way to stop the loss.

But faced with this difficult-to-solve deadlock, she didn't know what to do.

Does she have to wait here and watch her two sisters die?
Thinking back to those days, all those uncles, aunts, father and cousins ​​died in the battlefield like this.

“It’s not a complete dead end.”

After carefully observing the battlefield situation, Xu Qing frightened the sobbing little girl from the Yang family and said to her, "Look, in order to capture the Qinling Mountains, the Liao army has moved forward and planted flags on the hills at the forefront... But the Qinling Mountains are not just one or two peaks, but a continuous mountain range. We can disperse our troops and seize these occupied hills."

Xu Qing’s idea was very simple. As the attacking party, the Liao army also paid a huge sacrifice.

As long as we recapture these strongholds that the Liao army has been attacking hard, and at the same time wave flags and shout slogans to put pressure on the Liao army down the mountain, we will definitely be able to interfere with their commander's judgment of the battlefield situation.

If the Liao army commander was a calm conservative, he might have misjudged the Qi army's recovery and ordered his troops to retreat, leaving the Yang cavalry a way to retreat.

“It seems to work.”

Yang Caiyun didn't expect that Xu Qing actually had the empty city plan.

Judging from the previous situation, in order to defeat the Yang family cavalry, the Liao army did not let any of them escape. They did not even pursue the fleeing Qi army, but mobilized all their men to return to defend, trying to wipe out the Yang family cavalry in one fell swoop.

There shouldn't be too many people deployed on the mountain peaks right now.

The only question was whether the cunning Xiao Chong would be fooled. If Xiao Chong ordered his scouts to find out the situation on the mountain before making adjustments, then this empty city plan would be in vain.

After finalizing the plan, Xu Qing and Yang Caiyun began to organize the personnel on site, including all the personal guards, hoping that the plan could proceed smoothly.

But an unexpected incident disrupted the progress of this plan.

"My Lord, there is a woman in a black robe who wants to meet you. She is an old acquaintance of yours."

"Black robe? Woman?"

Xu Qing was confused after hearing the report from his personal guards.

He is now in the wilderness of the Qinling Mountains, where there is no village or shop nearby, and a war is about to break out.

How could a woman come here and want to meet me?

Seeing the strange look in Yang Caiyun's eyes, Xu Qing still felt that he needed to meet her to prove his innocence.

"Let her come."

"Yes."

The guards guarding the slope searched the woman from behind and brought her in front of Xu Qing.

The strange man was covered in a black gauze veil. He stopped and seemed to be staring at Xu Qing.

The latter felt uneasy when he looked at her. Just when she was about to say something, she suddenly saw her lift up one side of the black veil, revealing one side of her face.

Inside is a very cold, pure and refined face.

Xu Qing felt familiar at first, but after seeing the spreading scar on the tip of his nose, he was shocked and opened his eyes wide unconsciously.

"Tianxuan Star Lord?"

Xu Qing never imagined that Tianxuan Star Lord, whom he had met several times in the Liao Kingdom, would travel thousands of miles and appear in the Qinling Mountains.

Moreover, she, who was Xiao Chong's partner, did not go looking for Xiao Chong but came to see him instead.

"How will you be here?"

"The Holy Church has ordered that the Liao army must not cross the Qinling Mountains."

Xu Qing understood that Tianxuan Star Lord was helping him because of the White Lotus Sect's orders. After all, Xiao Chonggui was Xia Chang's envoy, but he was not on the same page with the Saint Lady, and had his own plans.

Letting this guy capture the capital and annex Qi will only do harm to the White Lotus Sect, not good.

But this doesn’t seem to be the problem now.

Even though the Liao army had lost a large number of elite troops in the previous Huangling Pass and Jieting, the remaining troops still maintained an extremely exaggerated number and combat effectiveness.

Even if the White Lotus Sect issued a hundred orders and mobilized all the star gods to fight together, they would not be able to stop the trampling of thousands of troops, right?
"It's not that I don't believe you, but the current situation is serious. It's not realistic to stop the Liao army in Qinling Mountains... My current goal is to rescue the besieged Yang Xianning."

Upon hearing this, Tianxuan Xingjun slowly took down the black gauze curtain above his head and commented in a very calm tone: "The method you just used is unlikely to succeed."

Xu Qing certainly knew that Xiao Chong was not someone who could be easily fooled. Even if this tactic appeared in another world, there was an 80% chance that Xiao Chong would see through the plan and respond.

But if they don't do this, they will have to watch helplessly as the Yang family's cavalry is completely devoured by the Liao army.

"Do you have any idea?"

"Yes."

Tianxuan Star Lord raised his face slightly in response to Xu Qing's questioning.

Yang Caiyun, who was standing nearby, then realized that this seemingly stunningly beautiful woman actually had an extremely horrific scar covering her neck and half of her face, and even extending upwards to the back of her head.

What kind of disease would cause such terrible symptoms?

"People of destiny should know that every star lord has his or her own unique abilities, and I, Tianxuan, am no exception... What's different from other star lords is that my abilities are ordinary when used alone, but they will work wonders on the battlefield."

"Do you still have this ability?"

Xu Qing was full of curiosity about Tianxuan's abilities, but he did not find any information about Tianxuan in any of the intelligence and data records.

Judging from the other star gods who have appeared in the White Lotus Sect, no star god’s ability can be compared with the army. What trump card does Tianxuan hold that allows him to be so confident?
But when thinking about this, Xu Qing thought of another point.

That is, when these star gods stimulate their abilities, they are often overdrawing their own vitality.

"Aren't you dissatisfied with the White Lotus Sect? Why did you follow their instructions and use your abilities to stop the Liao army here?"

Xu Qing looked at the scar on Tianxuan Star Lord's face that was getting deeper and deeper, and asked, "You should be the one with the longest seniority among these Star Lords... All aspects of your body have reached their limits."

"Yes, dying here is the destiny arranged for me by the Holy Church."

After Tianxuan Xingjun finished answering, he suddenly smiled at Xu Qing with a meaningful expression.

The latter suddenly discovered that since some time ago, Tianxuan Star Lord's eyes were no longer cloudy and could emit a faint light.

"But the reason I obeyed this order was not for the White Lotus Sect, but for you, the man of destiny... In the last few days, which was the last time of my life, I knew that only when everything is in accordance with destiny can our fate be changed."

Xu Qing listened to these words and felt that there were some hints in Tianxuan Star Lord's words.

But before he could figure it out, a mouthful of green blood suddenly spurted out from the other person's slightly parted red lips.

Xu Qing was shocked when he saw this scene. He had never seen a living person with blood that was so bright and dazzling like gemstone amber.

At one point, Xu Qing even suspected that these star gods were no longer human.

Xu Qing subconsciously led Yang Caiyun somewhere else. Based on his understanding of the Star Lords, he knew that the time had come for these guys to die, and they would probably have to use up their last abilities in the backlash.

"Uh……"

Tianxuan Xingjun forced himself to steady his shaking vision and his body that was about to fall apart, emptied his mind and sank into his dantian.

A moment later, the entire Qinling Mountains began to change.

Suddenly, there was an earthquake between the lush forest hills, and a series of dense shouts were heard.

These voices were disorganized and chaotic, but they made Xu Qing sober up immediately. He vaguely guessed the ability of Tianxuan Star Lord and what was about to happen.

"Caiyun! Go and have your personal army notify everyone to gather here and not go anywhere else!"

To be honest, Yang Caiyun didn't understand a word of the conversation between Xu Qing and that strange woman just now.

(End of this chapter)