Chapter 104 Leader
The spring breeze is rustling and the sun is setting.

Bamboo leaves are flying all over the sky, and in the swaying bamboo shadows, it seems that a peach blossom has fallen into the stove and then immersed in the tea.

The sun shines obliquely on the table and the small stove, and aroma lingers from the boiling tea water.

There are two teacups on the table.

There was only one person sitting quietly at the table.

In the desolate and quiet Tibetan Soldier Valley, the sound of flying birds seemed to be chirping in the sky, constantly echoing.

Yuan Tiangang picked up the tea stove and filled two cups with tea brewed with peach blossoms. Although there was no one opposite him, he still drank by himself happily.

A very ancient and old mask was placed in his palm, with strange spells engraved on it and a faint green light emitting from time to time.

After a long time, the crisp sound of a wooden crutch hitting the ground was heard. Then, a hunched figure slowly walked up the long steps.

"I am Shi Yao, your subordinate, here to see the commander."

"You're back." Yuan Tiangang seemed to have expected this and did not seem surprised. After finishing a cup of tea, he picked up the mask and stood up.

On the opposite side, the hunchbacked and extremely old Meng Po looked as small as an ant in front of his tall and mighty figure.

"As expected by the commander, the Xuanming Sect was started by the Dark Emperor, and it also fell apart because of him. Now, the Ghost King is imprisoned, the four corpse ancestors have fled, and the others all have their own evil intentions. The Dark Emperor thinks he is in control of the overall situation, but in fact he has been deserted by everyone."

Meng Po bent down further and crossed her arms, saying, "Now, the Xuanming Sect has become the vanguard for the commander-in-chief to seize Zhu Wen's foundation. With just one order from the commander-in-chief, the Tang Dynasty can regain its former glory."

“Glory…”

Yuan Tiangang repeated these two words indifferently, with almost no emotion in his tone: "Are you also tired of this dormant life for thirty years?"

"I have no such intention." Meng Po explained, "I just think that the Xuanming Sect is now as easy to use as your arm. After the death of the five Jiang brothers who were once loyal to the Emperor of the Underworld, four of the five Hades were replaced by me. Thirty years have passed, and the opportunity that the Marshal has been waiting for may have come..."

"The Li Er flower has not yet grown, and the dragon has not yet appeared, so how can we talk about the timing?"

This topic seemed to have been brought up many times in the past thirty years. Yuan Tiangang was not annoyed. He leaned against the railing with his hands behind his back and asked, "Have you seen Shangguan Yunque since you came back?"

Meng Po was silent for a moment, and then said, "That's true. Shangguan Yunque is just as the commander expected. He is indeed unable to stop the reckless Tian Anxing. Now, he can only take advantage of the situation and stay by Tian Anxing's side so that he can inform his subordinates of his movements at any time."

After that, she took out a portrait from her bosom and placed it on the table. After hesitating for a moment, she continued, "Will the Marshal continue to be so indulgent towards Tian Anxing? Now that his power is out of control and he can't stop, I am worried that he will disrupt the Marshal's plan..."

"Don't worry."

Yuan Tiangang said calmly without even turning his head, "The power is on Zhu Wen, it's not that easy to do. And whether the layout is messy or not is determined by me, not by what he does. I also want to see how far he can go."

"In this case, I can rest assured."

Meng Po let out a long sigh, and then revealed the final purpose of this trip: "The Dark Emperor said that he wanted Tian Anxing to die. I dare not make the decision, I hope you can teach me."

But after a long time, she still hadn't heard Yuan Tiangang's reply.

When I looked up, I heard his indifferent voice again.

"If he is loyal, he can live. If he is disloyal, he can die."

"My subordinate understands."

After getting a clear answer, Meng Po said no more and left immediately.

The Soldier Storage Valley, which had just been bustling, suddenly became extremely desolate and quiet again.

However, Yuan Tiangang did not actually say the whole thing.

He stood alone for a while, then with a flick of his hand, the unfinished cup of cold tea on the table was taken into his palm.

"Hide the truth?"

"Let's see how many times you can do it."

After saying that, he spilled the tea in his hand onto the ground, then thought for a long time, turned around and picked up the portrait on the table. If Shangguan Yunque was still serving Yuan Tiangang at this time, he would be able to recognize the person in the portrait, it should be Xiao Yan.

There are words next to the portrait, which detail Xiao Yan's actions in the officialdom of Bianliang.

When he saw the words "fortunate minister", Yuan Tiangang frowned instantly, as if he remembered an old friend who had long disappeared from his memory.

After a long time, he let out a laugh that was indistinguishable from joy or anger.

"I hope your strategy will not disappoint me like Zhang Wulang did."

------

Mount Zhongnan is to the west and the Qinling Mountains are to the north.

Feng Xiang.

In Huanyinfang, a letter and a folded piece of drawing paper were picked up by the Empress Yingying.

She opened the letter first, read it carefully, then smiled faintly and said, "This Xiao Yan is indeed quite capable. He actually led the Liang army to the north. He is a man of his word. I did not trust him in vain."

Below, Fanyintian’s figure was looming behind heavy curtains, but he was giggling.

"Why don't you take another look at that portrait, Empress?"

"Oh?"

The empress then noticed the drawing paper that she had covered with the memorial, and picked it up to take a look.

But it is a portrait with comments on it.

The comment said that "there is no match for it in the whole world, and it is unique after thousands of years", and then further praised it as "the best color in the world".

The empress read it softly with an expression of interest on her face, but when her gaze moved to the portrait that was painted with only a few strokes, her eyes suddenly froze.

This portrait was sketched with only a few strokes, revealing only the eyebrows and eyes of a beautiful woman, without any other strokes, but it is extremely tempting to imagine.

Looking more closely, they are clearly a pair of phoenix eyes.

"What a jerk!"

The empress instantly put the portrait on top of her and subconsciously gave a soft scold.

Down below, Fanyintian couldn't help laughing, "According to Miaochengtian's letter, this painting was drawn by Xiao Xiao himself..."

"roll roll roll."

The empress was angry at first, and then became a little flustered.

That idiot had clearly only seen her male form, so how could he draw something that resembled her so well...

But she didn't want to listen to Fanyintian's laughter, which sounded more like a joke, and she was about to crush the paper.
"Nonsense!"

…………

Hexi, somewhere in Lingzhou.

Xuanduwu.

A piece of drawing paper was also crushed.

"Wild list!"

The surrendered minister held the scraps of paper tightly in his hand, but he couldn't help himself and kicked open the small bamboo door.

Then, the sound came out from between her teeth.

"Xiao! Why am I not at the top of the list?"

The oasis is full of life, but there is only deathly silence.

The only echo coming back was from her.

------

The echo of the horn continued to spread across the wilderness, but was immediately covered by the biting wind and snow and disappeared into the wilderness.

Several figures on horseback slowly emerged from the snow and fog.

Shi Jingtang was wrapped tightly in the bulky sheepskin coat, which made him lose his former elegance. Instead, he seemed to follow the local customs and looked somewhat heroic.

"We will enter the Mobei camp later. I hope the captain will not keep such a stern face."

He turned around and said with a smile: "The people of Mobei are not as easy to talk to as Liu Shouguang."

Sanqianyuan followed behind him and nodded perfunctorily, but his eyes swept across the camp in front of him, which was so large that it was hard to tell its size. There was a wall outside the camp, and there were shadowy figures on it. It could be seen that they were some Mobei people with braided hair, bows and knives, and wearing fur coats. From a distance, they gave off some hostile intentions.

Behind him, the attendant who came from Taiyuan sneered: "You are just a dog, what are you pretending to be? You have been scared by the King of Jin..."

"shut up!"

Unexpectedly, before he could finish his words, Shi Jingtang in the front suddenly turned around with a vicious expression on his face.

The follower was frightened and subconsciously looked at "Bal", their master, but dared not say a word.

Sanqianyuan just grinned and comforted him, "Don't panic, Captain Shi, I'll take care of everything."

The ferocious expression on Shi Jingtang's face disappeared instantly, and then he nodded and smiled at him elegantly, then turned back and said nothing.

……

There were more than ten people in their group. Their weapons were taken off at the camp gate and then they were led into the camp.

The camp was filled with fires, including torches used to patrol the camp and bonfires for warmth. In this snowy night, there was a hint of warmth.

This place is different from the south. In the camps of the various princes in the Central Plains, it is always very quiet at night like this, and few soldiers dare to make a noise.

But in this Mobei camp, whenever there was a bonfire, there would be bareheaded, pigtailed Mobei men surrounding it. There were noisy voices of people and horses everywhere, with occasional roars, but no one knew what the specific reason was.

These are all very similar to my previous impressions of Sanqianyuan, and there is no way to tell the difference.

These loose tribes in Mobei have never been able to control their subordinates.

However, the tents in the entire camp are very neatly arranged, highlighting a particularly strange feeling.

Sanqianyuan silently kept these in mind.

It is not difficult to see that a leader has indeed emerged in Mobei, intending to start making changes...

They were led into the big tent by Mobei's hospitality.

The tent was very spacious, with a bonfire in the middle. Both sides were surrounded by people, all of them were a group of shirtless giants, each tearing into roasted beef or mutton.

Shi Jingtang in front has begun to introduce himself.

"I am Shi Jingtang from Daizhou. I greet all the Khans and generals..."

Sanqianyuan followed behind him, but did not do as Shi Jingtang said. He just stood with a stern face and his chest folded.

He quickly glanced around the tent, and then frowned secretly.

There was not even a maid in the entire tent, let alone a queen.

Sitting in the main seat, there was only a giant man with a fierce look and a fat body.

His dark beard looked like weeds, covering almost his entire chin and then merging with the black hair on his chest, which was quite scary.

The giant picked up a wine glass and took a sip. Then he glanced at Sanqianyuan and said to Shi Jingtang, "Daizhou, when did it become Liu Shouguang's territory?"

Shi Jingtang did not feel embarrassed, and smiled while brushing his sleeves: "Your Majesty, just believe that I can represent General Liu Jie."

The giant sneered, placed the wine glass heavily on the table, spitting from his mouth, and pointed at Sanqianyuan.

"You represent Liu Shouguang, but what about him? Who does he represent? "

"He is..." Shi Jingtang hurriedly explained.

Sanqianyuan had already spoken first, saying indifferently: "I came to Mobei this time, and I don't want to see you. Why should I sign up if I haven't seen the real master yet?"

The atmosphere in the big tent suddenly froze, and the men who were eating barbecue on both sides raised their heads and looked over unfriendly.

Shi Jingtang frowned secretly, chuckled dryly, and tried to speak out to ease the situation.

Unexpectedly, the giant sitting in the main seat laughed loudly, and then his face became gloomy.

"I know who you are here to see. Unfortunately, someone got there before you. Liu Shouguang is dead this time. The person you want to see has already gone south. You should go away while I am in a good mood."

Someone nearby immediately shouted, "Southern Barbarians, get out of here and go back to your place!"

Shi Jingtang was startled and stepped forward quickly: "What the Khan means is that Liu Shouwen has already sent people to persuade the king to send troops?"

The giant glanced at him sideways, took a sip of wine, and looked at him with disdain, too lazy to say anything else.

People on both sides stood up and tried to drive them out.

At this time, Sanqianyuan stood at the door of the tent, and no matter how others pushed him, he did not move.

He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, "In that case, the real master has gone south. Khan, are you qualified to talk to me?"

"presumptuous!"

Someone nearby immediately shouted in broken Chinese: "This is the Tiyin (official title) of Mobei, the leader of the king's brothers, Yelu Lage! How dare you speak nonsense!?"

Yelu Lage, who was sitting at the main seat, narrowed his eyes and first ordered his attendants to leave. Then he pointed at the table with interest and asked, "Who are you?"

"Baer, ​​the Jin State Tongwenguan." Sanqianyuan said in a calm voice.

On the side, Shi Jingtang turned around in horror and made some gestures with his mouth.

"What do you want to do!?"

Yelu Lage became interested and leaned forward, "Oh? You are not Liu Shouguang's man?"

Sanqianyuan ignored Shi Jingtang, pushed him aside, and took a few steps forward, "I am here on behalf of the Holy Lord Li Siyuan to make friends with the Khan."

The latter's face turned pale and he wanted to step forward, but Yelu Lage had already seen through the clues. He waved his hand and someone grabbed Shi Jingtang's shoulder.

Sanqianyuan continued to move forward without stopping.

Yelu Lage was not afraid, but more interested: "Li Siyuan from Hedong? I have heard of this name. He should have a younger brother Li Cunxu..."

At this point, he smacked his lips and said, "This man is a ruthless person."

Sanqianyuan smiled when he heard this, and then stopped at the point where the guards on both sides could no longer tolerate it, and leaned over to listen.

"Someone asked me to ask the Khan..."

"Great Khan, are you interested in the throne?"

Yelu Lage narrowed his eyes suddenly, then looked around and lowered his voice: "Did Li Siyuan ask you to come find me?"

Sanqianyuan did not comment and nodded slightly.

Later, Shi Jingtang was held down by two giants. His neck turned red and he tried his best to raise his head, but he could not hear anything.

Seeing that everyone around him was looking at them with eager eyes, he became more and more panicked and said hurriedly: "Baal, Baal..."

But the next moment, Yelu Lage burst into laughter, then stood up and put his arm around Sanqianyuan's shoulders.

"Come here, prepare the banquet!"

"This Khan must entertain the distinguished guest from Hedong well!"

------

In Liaodong, on a gentle slope, several riders jumped up on horseback.

In the middle, Xiao Yan, wearing a Mobei shirt with a round collar and narrow sleeves, a sand-proof cape, and an old cloak, controlled the reins with one hand and half-closed his eyes because of the wind and snow.

Suddenly, an eagle's cry was heard in the sky, and everyone looked up.

Xiao Yan stretched out his left arm, and immediately, a Saker Falcon obediently landed on it.

"call……"

Slowly exhaling a puff of white mist, Xiao Yan smiled and handed the letter to Ji Ruxue, who had her mouth and nose covered.

"Close the door and beat the dog."

The latter's eyebrows curved, hiding his endless tenderness.

　I'm sorry for repeating myself later. You can refresh the chapter later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)