Chu Qianli had indeed struck Wei Qiong, not only for defying military orders but also for her insolence in insulting the Prince.
How many people had witnessed this?
Many in the army who knew Wei Qiong's temperament understood that this time, Wei Qiong had truly lost all hope in the Prince.
After being beaten, Wei Qiong was sent back to her tent to rest by Long Ziyue.
That night, they indeed retreated into the mountain ravine of Hu Qi Mountain.
Continuing further in would mean venturing deep into the mountain range.
After setting up camp for the night, Wei Qiong lay on the low couch, her face ashen.
Long Ziyue was applying medicine to her.
Wei Qiong, disheartened, said in a hoarse voice, "My poor soldiers, this time, they will all lose their lives because of my wrong decision."
Long Ziyue was slightly taken aback. She looked at Wei Qiong and said, "You think being loyal to the Prince was your wrong decision?"
Wei Qiong dared not answer this question.
Long Ziyue then smiled and said, "See, you don't even dare to say it, which proves that you still have the Prince in your heart. You must have felt bad after insulting her so much outside, right? You even called her foolish and incompetent!"
"I..." Wei Qiong actually regretted it now. No matter what, she shouldn't have insulted the Prince.
A ruler is a ruler, and a subject is a subject. There is a distinction between ruler and subject, how could she disrespect the Prince?
But at that time, she was also too anxious. No matter how she tried to persuade the Prince, she felt truly distressed.
Her temper was also something she couldn't control at the moment.
"I..." Wei Qiong lowered her eyes and sighed helplessly, "I deserve to die for shaking the morale of the army."
Long Ziyue, however, looked at the figure at the entrance of the tent and smiled, "If you were to do it again now, would you still curse the Prince?"
"Now, of course not, but at that time, it was truly..."
"If you didn't have so much resentment, so much grievance, and so much heartache, how could you have been able to say those words to me?"
A clear voice echoed, startling Wei Qiong. She immediately tried to get up to salute, "Your Highness..."
"Your backside is already like this, no need to get up."
Chu Qianli walked over, sat by the low couch, took out her specially made ointment, and took over Long Ziyue's work, applying medicine to Wei Qiong.
Wei Qiong's whole body stiffened immediately, "Your Highness, absolutely not!"
She had said long ago that a ruler is a ruler and a subject is a subject. As a subject, how could she let the Prince serve her?
The Prince would be their Empress in the future!
"Don't move around. If you move again, you won't be able to fight properly for me tomorrow."
"Your Highness..." Wei Qiong was startled. What did these words mean?
Wasn't she going to continue deeper into Hu Qi Mountain? Did she also know that there would definitely be a battle in Hu Qi Mountain?
"Are you still cursing me for being foolish in your heart?"
"Your subordinate..."
Chu Qianli did not wait for her answer. Instead, she looked at Long Ziyue and said, "What about you? How can you be so calm?"
"Because what I saw today was not the A'li I am familiar with, so I believe that what I saw must be a fake A'li."
"What?" Long Ziyue's words completely confused Wei Qiong, and the more she thought about it, the more alarmed she became!
"Could it be that the one who ordered to beat your subordinate today was someone impersonating the Prince?"
If a fake Prince infiltrated their military camp, how could this be tolerated?
Wei Qiong was about to get up again, "Your subordinate will immediately go and apprehend her..."
"I am right here, and the one today was also me. What do you want to do to me?" Chu Qianli felt like laughing.
Wei Qiong, however, felt as if she was being toyed with by them.
Why could she understand these two people less and less?
It was Long Ziyue who kindly resolved her doubts, "Although I am not clear about A'li's battle plan..."
After all, she had not fought alongside Chu Qianli.
"But from my understanding of the Prince, the Prince is definitely not such a foolish person."
"But today..."
"If the Prince had not been so headstrong and had acted as if she completely disregarded the lives of her brothers, how could General Wei have been so angered to lose control and insult the Prince?"
"If you hadn't lost control and insulted me, how could the spies in the military camp have believed that I was really going to retreat into Hu Qi Mountain?" Chu Qianli also said.
Wei Qiong immediately became anxious, "We have spies from Long Tianliu in our military camp?"
"General Wei, have you been out of battle for too long, living too comfortably?"
Long Ziyue's words were indeed quite blunt.
"Which military camp doesn't have scouts from other armies?"
Wei Qiong immediately shut her mouth, not daring to say anything more.
She had indeed been too comfortable for too long.
Perhaps it was also because she had lost her reason from being so angry today.
However, there was one thing she was still very worried about, "Your Highness, even if you let Long Tianliu know that you are so foolish, you have indeed entered the Hu Qi Mountain range."
"This mountain range is excellent for hiding. Those who arrive first will have the advantage. We are a step behind, and I'm afraid there are already many Royal Guards ambushed within."
"Your Highness, if we go in like this, we will truly be caught in an ambush and completely... completely annihilated."
Chu Qianli stared at her for a while before saying, "Just trust me, I will have a way."
... That day, they only stopped briefly, and the next morning, they continued to move forward, venturing deeper into Hu Qi Mountain.
The brothers' faces were grim. The deeper they went into the mountain range, the more disheartened they became.
But even General Wei had been beaten, and Princess Pingyue completely obeyed the Prince. Even if they had any thoughts in their hearts, they could only grit their teeth and remain loyal!
They were the daughters of their Highness Xiyue, the future Empress of Long Teng!
The soldiers had no other choice but to submit and be loyal to the Prince, with no other thoughts!
Chu Qianli led the army and finally stopped after nightfall.
At this point, they were completely in the heart of the Hu Qi Mountain range, but looking up, the mountain range stretched endlessly.
However, the atmosphere in the military camp seemed a little different tonight.
In the middle of the night, Wei Qiong and Long Ziyue each led a team of people deep into the mountain range.
When they were about five li away from the military camp's resting place, the two sides converged again.
"Your Highness."
It turned out that Chu Qianli had been waiting there all along!
She was accompanied by Fú Lóng and Fú Níng.
They had arrived ahead of time.
Wei Qiong hurried over and said anxiously, "Your Highness, tonight I have brought the elites from my entire military camp. I have over three thousand men."
"I also have over three thousand men," Long Ziyue also arrived.
The army gathered, although there were five to six thousand people, Chu Qianli had previously instructed them not to cause too much commotion.
So even with five to six thousand people, they moved quietly all the way.
The wind in the ravine was strong, which effectively masked the sound of their footsteps.
"Good."
Chu Qianli, dressed in night-vision clothing, took out two drones, handing one to Fú Lóng.
"You and Ziyue will lead one team. I will go with Wei Qiong. Tonight, we will sweep through and root out all the ambushing soldiers hidden in this mountain range!"