Chapter 25: Outside Changting Pass, Waiting for an Opportunity
In the evening of the next day, Ye Qi led the delegation to a forest five miles outside Changting Pass to rest for a while.

Further ahead is Changting Pass, which is under the command of General Jianwei Zheng Zhuo.

Changting Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and is one of the important roads from Nanqing to Northern Qi.

If you want to bypass Changting Pass and enter Northern Qi, you have to pass through mountains and hills, which makes it difficult for carriages to pass.

Behind Changting Pass is Liaozhou, which was the land lost by Northern Qi after its defeat.

Liaozhou was originally the territory of Northern Qi, but now it has been assigned to Southern Qing.

Qin Heng chased for a whole day and night but failed to catch up with Ye Qi's troops. Instead, he was fooled by the 1,000 cavalry led by Wang Jian.

He couldn't rest well and his progress was blocked at every moment. Qin Heng already had dark circles under his eyes.

He now hated the thousand cavalrymen to the core, but he couldn't do anything about them. At this rate, when would he be able to catch up with Ye Qi? This made Qin Heng very anxious.

Ye Qi was not worried about the pursuers behind him at all. With Wang Jian's talent, he could easily hide from them for a few days.

The question now is how to pass Changting Pass.

At Changting Pass, General Zheng Zhuo received a message from Emperor Qing, asking him to capture Ye Qi at Changting Pass at all costs.

Hearing that Ye Qi only had 2000 cavalrymen, Zheng Zhuo was eagerly looking forward to it, hoping that the military achievement would be delivered to him as soon as possible.

Suddenly, a messenger came running over.

"Something bad has happened, General!"

Zheng Zhuo glared at the soldier: "Is Ye Qi here? What's the big deal!"

"General, it's not Ye Qi, it's Northern Qi's general Shang Shanhu. Shang Shanhu was spotted leading 20,000 soldiers in the direction of Guanshan, Liaozhou. Liaozhou is about to be in danger!"

"What!?" Zheng Zhuo sat up in shock. "That's not right. Northern Qi and Qing have just concluded a peace talk and signed a one-year non-aggression treaty. Do they want to break the agreement? Did they attack Liaozhou?"

"They have not yet attacked Liaozhou and are lingering near Guanshan. But judging from their appearance, they are thinking of attacking Liaozhou. I dare not conclude."

At this moment, another messenger came running over: "General, the new Liaozhou governor Li Shouye hopes that the general will send reinforcements!"

"Did they attack Liaozhou City?"

"We haven't attacked yet, we're just approaching Liaozhou City."

Upon hearing this, General Zhao Zhuo began to pace back and forth, thinking about how to respond.

There are currently 10,000 defenders at Changting Pass and 10,000 defenders at Liaozhou.

However, Liaozhou is not as easy to defend as Changting Pass, and the new governor Li Shouye may not be able to defend against the 20,000 troops led by Shangshanhu.

If Liaozhou was lost, Emperor Qing would be furious.

But at Changting Pass, Emperor Qing asked him to stop Ye Qi at all costs. What should he do now?

Should we send troops to support Liaozhou or not?

After thinking about it, Zheng Zhuo decided to send 5000 soldiers to Liaozhou for support.

If 15,000 soldiers cannot defend against 20,000, he is definitely a good-for-nothing. Even if Emperor Qing blames him, it has nothing to do with me.

As for Changting Pass, leaving 5,000 people behind was more than enough to guard Ye Qi's 2,000 cavalry.

Ye Qi took a short rest in the woods, waiting for it to darken.

At this moment, a pretty figure appeared beside Ye Qi. It was none other than the Saintess of Northern Qi, Haitang Duoduo.

As soon as they met, they hugged and kissed passionately.

Zhan Yueyue on the side coughed and said, "You two should pay attention!"

The two of them separated.

"Greetings, Princess!" Haitang said.

"How are the arrangements going?" Ye Qi asked.

"According to your instructions, Shangshanhu led 20,000 troops to approach Liaozhou." Haitang said.

"Only 20,000?" Ye Qi was surprised. It was almost impossible to take Liaozhou with 20,000 soldiers.

Haitang said speechlessly, "The Queen Mother doesn't want to fight. She said that she will let Shangshanhu lead his troops to wander around Liaozhou City as you wish. If you are really capable of breaking through Changting Pass and cutting off their retreat, then Your Majesty will personally lead 30,000 troops to attack Liaozhou together with Shangshanhu."

Ye Qi slapped his head and said, "Okay, I'm looked down upon."

Haitang looked worried: "When I came here, I took a look at Changting Pass. I'm telling you, your two thousand men can't get in at all. If you don't think of a solution, the pursuers from Nanqing will be surrounded."

Ye Qi smiled slightly and took out a note and handed it to Haitang.

Haitang opened the note and it said, "I will arrange for someone to help you open Changting Pass tomorrow night."

"Who gave this to you?"

Ye Qi shrugged: "It could be Li Yunrui, or it could be Chen Pingping."

Haitang looked extremely surprised: "You've only been in Nanqing for a few months, and you've already made so many friends!"

"Then how do you think I could have won over the Saint of Northern Qi?"

Ye Qi looked at Haitang with a slight smile, which made her blush and become extremely shy.

Zhan Yueyue coughed twice again: "You two, let's talk business."

Haitang suddenly thought of something: "What if something goes wrong and they didn't help you?!"

Ye Qi blew a whistle, and ten people came over pushing a cannon.

The muzzle is dark and thick, several times thicker than that of an ordinary cannon.

"What's this!?"

Haitang and Zhan Yueyue were both very curious.

Ye Qi chuckled: "Black Cannon, just a few shells will blast open the city gate!"

"Cannon? I don't understand." Haitang and Zhan Yueyue felt it was impressive.

"So are you planning to join us now?" Ye Qi looked at Haitang.

"I will stay to protect the princess. If there is any danger, I will take the princess away. You are on your own."

"Hey, I'm your future husband."

"Hehe~" Haitang rolled her eyes at Ye Qi.

It was getting dark.

It is pitch dark here at night, and the only light here is the moonlight from the sky.

Ye Qi led his troops gradually approaching Changting Pass, which was brightly lit and had a large number of soldiers on guard and patrolling.

Ye Qi placed the cannon in a suitable place and waited quietly for the opportunity to come.

As time passed, everyone felt a little uneasy.

Suddenly, there was a commotion inside Changting Pass.

Haitang said, "I'll go see what's going on."

Haitang Duoduo's figure flickered, and soon she brought news from the city.

"Ten people in the city risked their lives to open the gate, but were discovered by Zheng Zhuo, who personally killed them! Your friends tried to help, but they were of little use, so now you have to use your black cannon."

Sure enough, it is better to believe in yourself than to believe in others.

Ye Qi sent people to pull out the black cannon and aim it at the city gate.

Just at this time, Zheng Zhuo appeared on the top of the city wall: "Ye Qi, I know you are nearby. Don't even think about opening the city gate from the inside. I'm watching closely. Qin Heng's troops will arrive tomorrow, and I will also open the city gate to attack. Then you can expect to be surrounded by them! Hahahaha!"

"He is so arrogant~" Haitang Duoduo pulled out two axes.

Ye Qi ignored him and pointed the muzzle of the black cannon at Zheng Zhuo on the top of the city wall.

(End of this chapter)