hotmtlnovel Chapter 244 As expected
Chapter 244 As expected
The sun was shining brightly on the bank of the Yangtze River.
Xia Yu and Monk Daoyan were walking along the river bank, one after the other.
On this section of the river bank, the fine sand and gravel were imprinted with two people's footprints, which were already densely packed and stacked up.
"Your Highness, the imperial court's soldiers have confiscated all the boats on the river."
Xia Yu looked at Liu Gui who came to report. The sun was glaring and he squinted his eyes, "Hmm..."
Liu Gui was urged by Shen Yuyao to rush to the outskirts of Kyoto. He searched along the river bank for a whole day but still couldn't find a boat to cross the river.
He was originally feeling a little melancholy, because when he stayed with His Highness, His Highness asked him to return to Prince Ning's Mansion and take good care of the mansion and his family members.
But he had only been in Yanjing for a few days when Shen Yuyao urged him to stay with Xia Yu.
The concern and care between the prince and princess was conveyed through the troops traveling back and forth to and from Yanjing.
However, after searching along the river bank today, Liu Gui looked at Xia Yu's furrowed brows, and a strong sense of anxiety suddenly arose in his heart.
He is very worried!
They were worried that if Xia Yu's army could not cross the river in time, the army's rations would be less than seven days. By then, the army would either have to withdraw to Yanjing quickly, or be defeated by the imperial army.
Xia Yu stood by the river, looking at the Yangtze River rolling eastward with a solemn expression.
In recent days, he has discussed with his generals several times on how to cross this natural barrier.
But there has never been a better strategy.
Including the monk Daoyan, who was full of strategies and plans in the past, was now standing behind Xia Yu, staring blankly at the end of the Yangtze River.
After receiving Shen Yuyao's secret letter last night, Xia Yu felt a little relieved.
Shen Yuyao's secret letter said that before nightfall today, someone would come with a fleet to help.
But she didn't know in her heart who would bring the fleet?
How many ships will it bring?
Are those ships enough for Xia Yu’s 100,000 troops to cross the Yangtze River?
Early in the morning, Xia Yu hurried to the riverside and looked at the end of the Yangtze River.
But it was already past noon, when the sun was at its hottest, and there was still no sign of a ship.
"Your Highness!" A soldier panted and ran to Xia Yu and shouted excitedly, "Your Highness, the fleet! The fleet is coming!"
Xia Yu was shocked.
Fleet? Is there really a fleet coming?
He hurriedly took a few steps closer to the river, shielded the glaring sunlight with his hands, and began to look into the distance.
Looking from afar, there are indeed some vague black shadows on the west side of the Yangtze River.
Could those be ships?
Xia Yu closed his eyes tightly, then opened them suddenly and looked into the distance carefully.
Sure enough, there was a huge warship in the front, and there seemed to be a few people standing on the bow, waving their hands vigorously at Xia Yu.
On the other side of the Yangtze River, a large number of ships appeared behind the warship.
"Your Highness, there is indeed a fleet coming!" Monk Daoyan also walked to a position side by side with Xia Yu, and his expression finally relaxed.
Xia Yu pointed at the flags hanging on the warships and asked Yan, "Master, can you see whose fleet this is?"
Daoyan smiled and replied, "I can see it clearly, Your Highness, do you see it clearly?"
Now that the two sides have been in a standoff for many days, Xia Chongwen has even ordered all the ships along the coast to be confiscated.
At this moment, the dark fleet in front of him was definitely not the ships coming to attack Xia Yu, but could only be the ships helping him cross the river.
As for who it was, Daoyan could probably guess about 80% of it by looking at Xia Yu's expression which looked like he knew everything.
The boat was getting closer and closer, and the people at the bow could gradually see it clearly.
"Ma Sanbao!" Liu Gui exclaimed. He didn't even notice that Ma Sanbao hadn't appeared in the military camp for quite some time.
No wonder His Highness looked so relaxed when faced with the difficulty of crossing the river.
"Your Highness, the person next to Ma Sanbao must be the princess's second brother!" Daoyan said with a smile.
"Exactly."
Xia Yu nodded, turned around and instructed Liu Guidao.
"Liu Gui, pass the order down, soldiers, get ready to board the ship and cross the river!"
"Yes!"
"Master, it's time for you and me to go to the dock to greet them."
"That's right." Monk Daoyan straightened his monk robe and followed Xia Yu on horseback to the dock.
"Your Highness!" Ma Sanbao, who had just got off the boat, knelt on both knees and saluted when he saw Xia Yu, "I am glad that I have fulfilled your mission."
A few days ago, Ma Sanbao received a letter from Shen Yuyao via carrier pigeon, ordering him to rush to Luyang overnight.
When he received the secret letter, he hurriedly reported it to Xia Yu. The princess asked him to go to Luyang immediately, but she did not explain why.
After getting Xia Yu's permission, he rushed to Luyang without stopping.
When he arrived in Luyang, Ma Sanbao learned that Shen Yuyao's second brother Shen Yixiao had secretly prepared thousands of large and small boats, just to rush to the river bank to help Xia Yu's army cross the Yangtze River when Xia Yu crossed the river.
The purpose of Shen Yuyao asking Ma Sanbao to go was to take these thousands of ships down the river and quickly reach Xia Yu’s military camp to meet up with the army.
The 10,000 soldiers and horses under Shen Yixiao's command would naturally join forces with Xia Yu's army.
"Sanbao, you've worked hard!" Xia Yu helped Ma Sanbao up, "Hurry back to the barracks and prepare to lead the army across the river!"
"Yes!"
"Hahaha, Your Highness, how is my brother-in-law doing?" Shen Yixiao said with a smile, "Remember to speak well of me in your letter to Yuyao!"
"Good! Good! Good!"
Xia Yu also had a smile on his face. He took Shen Yixiao's hand and asked Shen Yixiao to stand slightly higher than him.
"Second brother, please accept my greeting!"
Xia Yu waited for Shen Yixiao to stand still, then he took two steps back and bowed deeply to Shen Yixiao, "Thank you for your help, second brother!"
"Your Highness, you can't do this, you can't do this!" Shen Yixiao was stunned when he saw Xia Yu saluting him so respectfully.
When he woke up, he hurriedly supported Xia Yu, shouting "No!"
"Second brother, don't refuse. This gift must be performed!"
After Xia Yu finished his greetings, he said solemnly, "Do you know who the commander on the other side of the river is, second brother?"
"I know!" Shen Yixiao's voice suddenly dropped when he heard this. "It's my eldest brother Shen Yizhong!"
"My younger sister has sent me a letter by carrier pigeon."
"Second brother already knew who was on the other side, but he still helped me with all his might. Xia Yu will never forget this favor!" Ever since he met Shen Yixiao, Xia Yu has always called him second brother, and even changed his self-proclaimed name to his.
Shen Yixiao knew in his heart that Xia Yu wanted to tell him that they were family!
But when he thought of Shen Yi Zhong on the other side of the river, Shen Yi Xiao still felt a little uncomfortable, and he suddenly knelt down towards Xia Yu.
This kneeling startled Xia Yu so much that he hurriedly reached out to help him.
"Brother, if you have something to say, just say it directly. Why do you need such a big gift?"