Chapter 152

Chapter 152: How Could That Be Possible

Plenty of eyes turned their way. The young Palace Eunuch felt a little awkward and said, “The commoner team still left red fox marks everywhere – but right now they had hunted something, and they were grilling it for lunch.”

“As expected…”

“We never should have expected much from a few dandies.”

“Honestly, it was already impressive that they could keep themselves alive.”

“How stupid. Before they entered the mountain, didn’t we give them dry rations? Grilling meat in the woods – weren’t they afraid it would draw Northern Di soldiers?” Liu Yan said with obvious glee.

Sheng Zhi Wan did not speak.

Maybe… Shang Xing Yu had meant for this to happen.

“What about Northern Di?” someone urged.

The Palace Eunuch calmed everyone down and told them not to rush. Soon, scouts following Northern Di’s two groups sent back news.

When the Palace Eunuch read the first report, he did not react much. It was nothing more than hunting fierce beasts. There were quite a few, but because Northern Di’s two groups had split up, each group had fewer men, so what they caught were not large beasts.

But when the Palace Eunuch read the other report, he froze. He looked disbelieving, and his gaze almost instinctively went to Sheng Zhi Wan.

“Th-this… Northern Di’s General Hu Shu Xie ordered the soldiers in his group to rest in place, and he himself followed the red fox paw prints south…”

“Ah?”

“Ah!” Everyone stared at each other, unwilling to believe it. “It couldn’t be that bad, right? They’re all his men. Even if he brought them with him, the biggest share of the spoils would still be his. How could he leave the soldiers behind and go alone?”

Was he not afraid of an ambush by enemy troops?

Sheng Zhi Wan shook her head. “Don’t forget, this isn’t a real battlefield. The people General Hu Shu Xie led weren’t all his own soldiers.”

“And General Hu Shu Xie must be very confident in his personal strength.”

So confident that, in General Hu Shu Xie’s mind, even if he ran into Sheng Kingdom’s main force alone, a whole group of pampered young masters still would not be able to do anything to him.

At that, everyone’s faces looked worse, especially Minister Ye and Pei Ling Yuan.

After all, those Northern Di men were all vigorous and fierce, with muscles like twisted rope. They looked like they could smash half a cow with one punch.

As for the young masters from their households, they had never suffered. Even their daily training needed sparring partners who held back for them. If they all rushed together, could they really catch General Hu Shu Xie?

It would already be lucky if General Hu Shu Xie did not kill them instead.

“Those little bastards won’t really be so clueless that they charge in and die, will they?” Censor Chen asked, deeply worried.

The Family Matriarch adored Bao Jing the most. Otherwise, she would never have raised Bao Jing into a fat boy. If she found out Bao Jing had anything happen to him… even if Censor Chen died with him, it still would not be enough.

“Serves them right!” The happiest person was probably First Madam Liu. If she was not afraid of angering everyone, she would have shouted it out loud.

“Hey, hey! More news!” While everyone was still guessing, two more carrier pigeons flew in.

The Palace Eunuch also wanted to know what was happening in the forest. He whistled quickly, took the letters down, and tore them open.

“Ah?” he cried out, and then surprise flashed in his eyes.

“What are you yelling for? Was it good news?”

“Good news, good news! General Hu Shu Xie kept going south, ha! He was about to run into Second Prince and Qi Shi-zi’s group!”

“Really?!”

General Hu Shu Xie was truly unlucky. If General Hu Shu Xie ran into the commoner team’s dandies, there was nothing to say.

But now, General Hu Shu Xie was running into Qi Shi-zi and the others.

There were more than twenty young masters. The skilled ones were like Qi Shi-zi. Even the less skilled ones still had something to show. This time, General Hu Shu Xie was doomed.

The Palace Eunuch hurriedly opened the other letter.

“As expected. Second Prince and Qi Shi-zi also spotted General Hu Shu Xie, and they planned to surround and wipe him out!”

“Good!”

Cheers rose inside and outside the tent at the same time.

Emperor Chong Sheng slapped the table. “This Qi Shu Xian was not bad. He had strategy and ability, and his Qi circulation was this good too. He even happened to head in General Hu Shu Xie’s direction.”

Sheng Yuan Hao nodded when he heard that. “Someone Imperial Father chose was naturally good in every way.”

Not only was Qi Shu Xian chosen by Imperial Father – Qi Shu Xian was also chosen by Sheng Yuan Hao.

Sheng Yuan Hao was happy to see Imperial Father appreciate Qi Shu Xian.

“It’s just a pity he is only a sixth-rank minor official right now…” the Crown Prince added.

Sheng Yuan Hao said nothing.

Sheng Yuan Hao raised his brows. The Crown Prince had said what Sheng Yuan Hao had been about to say first.

What, did the Crown Prince also want to draw Qi Shu Xian to his side?

This time, Emperor Chong Sheng was not displeased by the Crown Prince’s words. Emperor Chong Sheng nodded slightly. “When we return to the palace, I really should think about what position would suit him.”

“What happened?” More than half an hour had already passed. Why had no scout brought back news yet?

They could not let General Hu Shu Xie escape like this, could they?

Everyone was anxious, especially Duke Qi.

Because Madam Cui had suffered a stroke, Qi Shu Xian and Duke Qi had been cold with each other for days. It was only after they reached the traveling palace that Qi Shu Xian told Duke Qi about His Majesty’s earlier arrangement. If Qi Shu Xian truly intimidated Northern Di during this hunt, His Majesty would definitely reward him heavily.

Qi Shu Xian might even have his post restored, and he might be promoted again.

This chance was rare.

“Here!” As everyone waited, two carrier pigeons flew in.

“Two again. Hurry and read them.”

Everyone almost wanted to tear the letters open for the Palace Eunuch.

The Palace Eunuch was also eager. He opened them and frowned.

“How was it?”

“Did they catch General Hu Shu Xie?”

The Palace Eunuch shook his head. “No. Other people also discovered red fox paw prints and came looking.”

“What?!” Everyone was shocked. “Those dandies really should die! If it weren’t for them, it wouldn’t have come to this! What do we do now?”

If they met head-on, a group of young masters probably could not beat the other side.

“But it’s not too bad,” the Palace Eunuch said. His face did not look as grim. He held up one finger. “There was only one person. The red fox paw prints that person found seemed to differ a little from General Hu Shu Xie’s trail.”

“Thank goodness!”

The Palace Eunuch opened the other letter and nearly burst with joy. “Qi Shi-zi already took down this Northern Di soldier!”

The Palace Eunuch had barely finished speaking when another pigeon arrived.

Same Northern Di soldiers, same lone approach. The Northern Di soldiers seemed cursed, as if another man had walked straight into Sheng Kingdom’s main team.

“This…” Even the dullest people sensed something was wrong.

“Was this… Encircle the Point and Ambush Reinforcements?”

But who had drawn these Northern Di soldiers over one by one?

General Hu Shu Xie was tricked because those dandies created red fox paw prints, but these other two men could not be because of that, could they?

How could that be possible?

The two men’s routes were close to General Hu Shu Xie’s, but they were not the same. If they followed the same route, they would have met up, and the situation would not have formed into Encircle the Point and Ambush Reinforcements like it did now.

Even if those men really were led over by the dandies, how could the dandies guarantee that Qi Shu Xian and the others would just happen to run into a lone General Hu Shu Xie?

Pei Ling Yuan was a general, so Pei Ling Yuan could see the shape of the situation, but since Pei Ling Yuan was not inside it, Pei Ling Yuan still could not see what had caused it.

Pei Ling Yuan had a guess.

But that guess was far too bold, and far too unbelievable.