Chapter 229

Chapter 229: He Knew Very Well

Qi Shu Xian stared at Li Ming An and said, “Li Ming An, listen carefully.”

Qi Shu Xian shoved a dozen short arrows into Li Ming An’s hands and said, “If ambushers appear, pick a few men and ride straight into them. Stab these into the horses’ rumps and use the maddened horses to smash apart their formation.”

Li Ming An looked around and still refused to believe it.

An ambush? There was really an ambush?

The area was silent. Aside from the occasional Soldier or horse slipping, nothing looked unusual at all.

Li Ming An bared his teeth and said, “Deputy General Qi, aren’t you being too cautious? Even the rabbits around here are scrawny. Where would an ambush come from?”

Kong Song Feng also did not take it seriously. Kong Song Feng said, “Even if there is one, it’s just that small slope ahead. We charge out, and once we reach open ground, the ambushers can’t do anything.”

They had barely finished speaking when the dark low slope suddenly gave off a rustling sound, like snow being pressed down under weight.

Li Ming An’s face went stiff.

Qi Shu Xian narrowed his eyes and shot Kong Song Feng a sharp look. Qi Shu Xian said urgently, “Do not charge forward! The part of the road that was tampered with is only a small patch. If we go farther, it will definitely be a full sheet of ice.”

Qi Shu Xian continued, “If we rush ahead, men and horses will fall everywhere. The ambushers will be ready, and the army and the grain will be fish on a chopping board.”

Qi Shu Xian’s voice dropped even lower. Qi Shu Xian said, “And behind us… once the army passed, the ambushers likely used the same method to cut off our rear.”

That meant there was no road forward and no road back. The best choice was to deal with the ambushers right here.

Kong Song Feng swallowed hard and looked at Qi Shu Xian with pure admiration. In such a short time, Deputy General Qi had thought it through so completely.

Li Ming An had already called out more than ten men.

Charging straight into the enemy and provoking the horses into a frenzy was almost the same as walking to death. Yet those men showed no hesitation after receiving the order. They mounted up and raced toward the slope where the sound came from.

Qi Shu Xian clenched his fists.

Qi Shu Xian knew very well that those men were almost certainly doomed. But if the ambushers broke into the column, the Grain Convoy Army would lose far more than a dozen lives. The military grain could not be allowed to fail.

In the end, because Qi Shu Xian discovered the trap in time, forty-one Soldiers died. Twenty-nine horses were lost. A total of one hundred and ten Northern Di ambushers were killed.

More than ten carts of military grain also toppled into the snow.

As the Soldiers gathered the spilled grain, Qi Shu Xian personally collected the bodies of the fallen.

Under the torchlight, Qi Shu Xian tried to wipe the blood off their faces with snow. But for many of them, no matter how much snow Qi Shu Xian used, their faces were already smashed into a blur of blood and flesh.

Some had died under trampling hooves. Some had died by the blades of Northern Di ambushers.

Qi Shu Xian stayed silent.

He Zong Peng stepped forward, feeling even more that Qi Shu Xian was a man of loyalty and feeling. He Zong Peng said, “Deputy General Qi, don’t do this. If you hadn’t discovered the ambush early, the army would have suffered even more casualties.”

He Zong Peng continued, “They died protecting the grain. Their deaths were not in vain.”

Kong Song Feng also spoke up. Kong Song Feng said, “I already wrote down their names. When we return to the Capital, I will personally apply for their compensation silver.”

Li Ming An walked over, dropped to his knees in front of Qi Shu Xian, and said, “I am guilty! My scouting was not strict enough. I failed to discover the Northern Di ambush, and that led to our brothers dying!”

Li Ming An raised his head and said, “I am willing to accept punishment!”

As Li Ming An spoke, Li Ming An pulled the long saber from his waist.

Under Sheng Kingdom military law, if scouts neglected their duty and caused losses to the army, the punishment was decided based on the scale of the loss. If Deputy General Qi had not planned well and turned the tide, the Grain Convoy Army would have suffered terribly. Even if Li Ming An died to atone, it might not have been enough.

The more Li Ming An thought about it, the more Li Ming An regretted it. Li Ming An should not have relaxed just because the road had been peaceful so far.

Li Ming An slammed his head down in a harsh kowtow.

Qi Shu Xian stayed silent.

Li Ming An’s arrogance did deserve punishment, but what about Qi Shu Xian?

Qi Shu Xian knew this place might hide an ambush. Yet because the warning came from Sheng Zhi Wan, Qi Shu Xian resisted from the very start. If Qi Shu Xian had taken it seriously earlier, or sent more waves of scouts, it might not have ended like this.

Qi Shu Xian finally said, “Record Li Ming An’s fault for now. Let Li Ming An make merit on the battlefield and use military credit to repay it.”

Qi Shu Xian stood up.

Li Ming An’s tightly clenched hand suddenly loosened. Li Ming An said, “I will not fail Deputy General Qi’s trust!”

Soon the army reorganized and set out again.

The sacrificed Soldiers were buried where they fell. Qi Shu Xian was heading to Mo Bei and could not bring their bodies along. As for the Northern Di dead, a pit was dug and they were buried carelessly.

After this battle, Qi Shu Xian became much more cautious, and much more quiet.

Qi Shu Xian no longer handed everything to Subordinate officers. Before breaking camp each time, Qi Shu Xian personally went out to inspect the troops.

Marching was dull, and the Soldiers whispered small bits of gossip.

One Soldier murmured, “Deputy General Qi really predicted it like a god. If not for Deputy General Qi that day, we would’ve suffered terribly.”

Another whispered back, “Exactly. I used to hear the brothers transferred back from Cang Nan say Deputy General Qi was terrifying with troops, like a Little War God. I didn’t believe it then. This time, I really believed it.”

A third clicked his tongue. “If this gets back to the capital city, those Storyteller people will be busy writing a new script again.”

Someone else lowered his voice even more. “I just don’t get what that Princess Qing Ning is thinking. She left a God of War like Deputy General Qi alone and picked someone like Shang Xing Yu to be Prince Consort…”

Qi Shu Xian happened to hear those words during an inspection.

Qi Shu Xian’s hand on the reins tightened without Qi Shu Xian noticing.

Predicted it like a god… Little War God…

Qi Shu Xian could not help lowering his head. A kind of fear and emptiness flickered in Qi Shu Xian’s eyes, something even Qi Shu Xian did not fully notice.

The others did not know, but Qi Shu Xian knew very well. That night’s plan had not been Qi Shu Xian’s quick thinking at all.