Qi Qingru was anxious when she heard this, she was a monk in the late stage of foundation building, and she was quite profound in cultivation, and she knew that what Taishou Cheng Fu said was true, not an exaggeration.

Then he asked, "My father is so seriously injured, how do you think it should be arranged?"

"County Lord, according to the lower officials, the prince is no longer suitable to act with the army, and he must recuperate quietly. Why don't you let the prince recuperate in my state capital, and you can also live in my state capital temporarily, and wait for the prince to recover before moving forward?"

"Lord Taishou, we understand what you mean, but the matter of harmony is very urgent, and I am afraid that the trip cannot be delayed. It is better to let my father heal in the state capital, and we will rest here for two days, replenish the provisions, and then set off first, it is expected that it will be a few months before we arrive in Wei, and then we will meet us when my father is well injured. ”

Cheng Fu listened to Qi Qingru's words, was silent in thought, turned his head to look at Yi Jiuxiao, and asked, "Lord Deputy Envoy, what do you think?"

For this matter, Yi Jiuxiao is also difficult to decide, although it is much safer to stay in Shazhou City, but time is not wasted, and the matter of harmony is very small, and it will change later.

At the same time, this trip is also to show the strength of Qi State, if this matter cannot be completed smoothly, how to fight against Zhou State in the future?

Yi Jiuxiao understands better than anyone that harmony is just a form, and cooperation is mutual strength.

However, moving forward is undoubtedly full of dangers, with many unpredictable consequences.

Yi Jiuxiao had thought of asking the emperor for help and asking him to send more masters to reinforce him, but if the tide rises, if the masters of the Qi country are exhausted, will the enemy country also send more masters?

There are still two thousand miles to enter the border of Wei, and at that time it was not controlled by the Qi State, and now the difficulty is in the last two thousand miles of Shazhou.

"Lord Taishou, Xia Guan is a scholar and does not understand military affairs, but as far as the current situation is concerned, I agree with the county lord's opinion, there are still two thousand miles to enter the Wei State, and we will insist on walking two thousand miles in this Shazhou. ”

Yi Jiuxiao emphasized that this two thousand miles of Shazhou is also to give Taishou Cheng Fu some reminders and pressures, in your territory in Shazhou, you have to find a way to ensure our safety.

Cheng Fu is also selfish in keeping everyone, if he doesn't leave the state city, the princess's safety must be easily guaranteed, as for the delay, it is not his business.

But if the team has an accident in Shazhou, he will definitely not escape the blame, and the emperor will be held responsible, and he will have to move his head if he doesn't do it. If Qi Qingru and Yi Jiuxiao insisted on leaving, he had no choice but to arrange as much as possible.

The team replenished supplies in Shazhou City, and set off after resting for two days, and Cheng Fu was sent ten miles away from the city.

In the past two days, Cheng Fu, Yi Jiuxiao, Qi Qingru, Qi Bin, and Zheng Yuanhu analyzed the march route of the next 2,000 miles, and also introduced the situation in Shazhou.

According to Cheng Fu, Shazhou is different from other states in Qi State, the population density is only 20% of that of inland states and counties, and it can definitely be called vast and sparsely populated, and the situation in the territory is very chaotic.

The area east of the city of Shazhou, that is, the area close to the mainland of Qi, is home to the main residents of Shazhou, and the situation is not very different from that of the inland prefectures and counties.

After leaving Shazhou City, five hundred miles to the west, there are almost no people living there. It is a large desert, and there are many bandits living in the desert.

These bandits are not from any country, they have been wandering on the border all year round, and when one country attacks them, they flee to another country, which is a great headache for those in power.

Nine years ago, not long after Cheng Fu became the Taishou of Shazhou, Cheng Fu personally led troops to encircle and suppress because bandits robbed traders and killed border residents. As a state, Shazhou City also has more than 20,000 defenders, and there are tens of thousands of people in the whole state.

But these defenders and catchers were all rabble, and many of them were early stage Qi refining cultivators. Fighting alone, it is not much stronger than a mortal with a kitchen knife, and there is no combat effectiveness at all.

If there is a confrontation, I am afraid that the 10,000 sergeants of the defenders of the state city may not be able to defeat the 500 forbidden army sergeants carefully selected by the Heqin team.

Cheng Fu personally led 10,000 people to suppress the bandits at that time, and he was full of confidence in the early days of Jindan, thinking that if he went out, the bandits would definitely flee from the wind, who knew that what was waiting for him was a nightmare.

The 10,000-strong defenders of the state city encountered a thousand bandits, and the two sides launched a fierce battle, among the thousand bandits, there were more than 100 foundation building monks, and the leading bandit leader was actually in the early stage of the festival.

As a result of the battle, Cheng Fu escaped with his own injuries, and the 10,000 defenders lost 8,000, which can be described as a great defeat. In the end, it was the Wuwei general Song Ding who led the border troops to rescue and drove this group of bandits out of the territory.

There are 50,000 people on the border of Shazhou, and there are many masters, although they are not as powerful as the royal forbidden army, but they are also strong.

It's just that the border army does not guard the moderation of the local state capital, but is directly under the jurisdiction of the military department. Their main task is to prevent the invasion of Wei, and they have always turned a blind eye to those bandits on the border, and they do not want to provoke them and cause unnecessary damage, so bandits have been rampant for many years.

Speaking of Wuwei General Song Ding, Yi Jiuxiao and the others remembered that they had sent someone to Song Ding for help, but so far there has been no reply or result.

In fact, they didn't know that the four people they sent had all fallen into the hands of the bandits, and they didn't see General Wuwei at all.

After saying goodbye to Shazhou Taishou Chengfu, a group of people began to march. Before leaving, Cheng Fu wanted to send 10,000 horses to follow the escort, but Qi Qingru refused.

This group of rabble, with it, is just to strengthen the momentum, and there is no other use. In her heart, she was still convinced that there was a master who protected Yi Jiuxiao secretly following, and this person was much stronger than the defenders of Ten Thousand Prefecture City.

After eight days of walking, we reached the edge of the desert. The pitiful amount of green has almost disappeared, and the sky in the distance is full of yellow sand, and there is an ancient road in the yellow sand that the merchants have stepped on, and this is the way they are going.

At this time, it was just after noon, and it stands to reason that he could walk for two hours, but Qi Bin ordered to set up camp.

This barren and populated desert is more than thousands of miles away, and it is difficult to come out for half a month after entering, so it is better to be cautious, and before entering, it is necessary to discuss it carefully, in case you can't deal with the situation.

Yi Jiuxiao, Qi Qingru, and Qi Bin were still sitting in the tent, discussing the next march plan before stepping into the desert.

Zheng Yuanhu usually doesn't attend meetings, but it is conveyed by Qi Bin that he needs to lead the defense outside, which is very important.

The seventh princess did not participate in the deliberations along the way, one was inconvenient for her identity, and the other she did not know about marching and fighting. If she participated, it would not be conducive to everyone's decision-making, but she shared a car with Qi Qingru, and Qi Qingru would tell her many things.

Qi Qingru and Qi Bin both looked at Yi Jiuxiao, as if they were waiting for Yi Jiuxiao to speak, I don't know when Yi Jiuxiao became the backbone of the three.

Yi Jiuxiao was furious by the two of them, and asked: "You two always watch me do something, I am a scholar, I can only recite poetry, and I can't fight." ”

Rubbing the ground, Qi Qingru jumped up, she felt very annoyed, Yi Jiuxiao actually turned out what she said some time ago.

"Yi Jiuxiao, what are you selling, you keep saying that you are the deputy envoy, and now you are waiting for your deputy envoy to make a decision, but instead say something useless, the emperor asked you to follow the deputy envoy, is it all the way to watch the excitement?"

Seeing the excitement, Yi Jiuxiao heard it and suddenly had an understanding. I should have watched the excitement, but now these five hundred forbidden troops are all cultivators, and they have no experience in the combat methods of cultivators, and Qi Bin and Qi Qingru are much more suitable for commanding than themselves.

In addition, Qi Qingru and Qi Bin always thought that there were masters secretly following and helping each other, so that there was a kind of dependence invisibly, which would affect their correct decision-making and judgment.

So you have to watch the excitement, stay out of the way, and be a sober bystander.

"I'm a powerless scholar, what can I do if I don't watch the excitement? Let me go and fight with Brother Jindan? Another thing I want to make clear, the master who has always protected me went back after we arrived in Shazhou City, saying that there is an urgent matter that must be dealt with. ”

"Why didn't you tell us earlier!" Qi Qingru stomped her feet angrily, she didn't stop and wait in Shazhou City, a big reason was because there was an invisible master to follow, and now she knew that the master had already left, she was really helpless and angry.

"You don't have anyone who hasn't asked me, where do I remember to say? Yi Jiuxiao spread his hands with an indifferent attitude.

Qi Qingru pointed to the door of the camp tent and said to Yi Jiuxiao: "You go out, it has nothing to do with you when you march and fight in the future, you just need to eat and sleep well." ”

Yi Jiuxiao got out of the camp tent, and in the remote corner of the camp, he began to practice the Open Heaven Fist and Dredging Palm, which were compulsory courses every day, and they did not fall behind no matter what.

In the car, on the ground, as long as there is time, you can practice, and those forbidden soldiers can't understand what he's doing, only to see him dancing with his hands, jumping up and down, and at first he glanced at it curiously, and he didn't bother to look at it later.

After resting for the night, set off the next day, the biggest problem of the desert march is water, there is a great demand for water for more than ten days, the monks have to drink water during the Qi refining period, and the horses also need to drink water.

In order to solve the problem of drinking water, Qi Qingru asked Cheng Fu to prepare two storage rings, which were full of water, which was for the horses to drink, and the sergeant's water bags were put into their respective storage bags.

Yi Jiuxiao treated him specially, and put a few water bags prepared for him in the carriage, at this time he lay in the carriage, occasionally drank a few sips of water, and was at ease.

In order to cross the desert as soon as possible, Qi Bin and Qi Qingru seemed to have adjusted their marching strategy, unlike the previous Xiaoxing overnight stay, but day and night. The convoy walked for two hours and rested for one hour, and this hour was actually a rest time for the war horses.

Except for Yi Jiuxiao in the team, they are all cultivators, and it is not a problem for cultivators not to sleep for more than ten days in a row, but the war horse can't bear to walk for a long time, so he chooses to rest intermittently and feed the war horse some forage and water.