Chapter 106 Vassal
As an important city in the north, and having been run for hundreds of years by several generations of military governors, Youzhou is indeed quite imposing. From afar, one can see a huge gray-black city rising from the ground, with neat city walls that wind along the moat. I don't know how far it is exactly.

But the situation near this huge city was quite different from what Xiao Yan had expected.

Coming all the way from the village, it seemed that the closer we got to Youzhou, the more dilapidated the scenery became.

There were also residential buildings nearby, all the way to the foot of the thick city walls. Outside the city, there were shacks built by refugees everywhere. It was difficult to see clearly from a distance, but when you got closer, you could see that the city walls were densely packed with human figures, moving around like ants in the rain.

It is obvious that Liu Shouguang wanted to expand Youzhou City.

Xiao Yan had a blank expression on his face. He rode his horse and looked around. He could see that the people in these shacks were dressed in rags and had pale faces.

On the side of the road, soldiers on horseback passed by at full speed, splashing mud and water into the shacks and onto their bodies and faces, but they just looked numb, as if they felt nothing at all.

"Ouch……"

Shangguan Yunque rode closer, holding down his bamboo hat as he sighed, "I originally thought that Hebei was a prosperous place, but I didn't expect the people here to live such a hard life. Why is it that the closer we get to Youzhou, the worse it gets?"

"It's all the fault of the two military governors." Ji Ruxue was dazed as she looked at the miserable scene outside the city, as if she remembered the memory of living on the streets when she was a child.

She pondered for a moment and whispered, "The last governor, Liu Rengong, was quite ambitious when he was young, but he became more and more extravagant and lustful as he aged. From the information collected, he has built a palace in Da'an Mountain to imitate the emperor's residence since the first year of Tianyou, for his own enjoyment. In addition, he also sought immortality and wanted to refine elixirs to seek immortality..."

This time, Shangguan Yunque rarely refuted her. He pinched his fingers and sighed, "Those in power are the most fanciful. They have to let the people below bear the consequences."

Ji Ruxue shook her head and said, "These are not enough to accuse him of his crimes. After he became complacent, he made coins out of clay to satisfy his own selfish desires and asked the people in his jurisdiction to use them. He hid the copper coins he had looted in Da'an Mountain. He also banned tea merchants from the south of the Central Plains from entering the country to sell tea, so that he could take the grass leaves from Da'an Mountain and sell them as tea. Over time, how could the people not be poor?"

Shangguan Yunque was stunned, and then he looked at Xiao Yan while biting his fingers.

The latter showed no sign of reaction, obviously having known about it for a long time.

“Damn it, why are we still going to save him?” Shangguan Yunque muttered, but when he looked at the slaves inside and outside the city wall, he shook his head and whispered, “Neither of these father and son are good people.”

At this time, they were close to the city gate.

However, their voices were very low, and as the rain was heavy, the Youzhou soldiers did not hear them.

Fortunately, after paying a heavy entrance fee at the city gate, the three of them were able to enter the city smoothly, and ultimately did not encounter the trouble of being "taken away for hard labor" as the chief had said.

……

The city looks much better, with neat streets and alleys and houses neatly planned between the neighborhoods.

However, due to the expansion of the Jiedushi Mansion, the main street was filled with laborers carrying wood and huge rock rockeries walking in the rain, so that the street was full of mud and water, revealing a sense of disorder and chaos.

Shangguan Yunque stood in front of the window of the inn, sighing constantly.

Later, Ji Ruxue took out the still dry map from her arms and spread it on the table.

"Go change your clothes first, there's no rush for the plan."

Behind him, Xiao Yan took off his wet shirt, revealing his strong muscles, and strode towards him naked.

Shangguan Yunque turned around, his eyes lit up, and he subconsciously moved closer, smiling and trying to touch Xiao Yan's chest: "Oh my, so healthy..."

But before he could touch it, his arm was grabbed, and without any explanation, he and his bag were kicked out of the room.

"Ouch, could you be gentler next time?"

Rubbing his aching butt, Shangguan Yunque climbed up tremblingly, trying to maintain an elegant posture.

But when he looked up, he saw a man in a cross-collared, narrow-sleeved martial arts robe walking up to him.

The latter looked to be no more than twenty years old, with a fairly fair face. However, there was a scar running down from his left eye, which gave him a kind of gentleness yet revealed a fierceness.

Seeing someone, Shangguan Yunque was afraid that his embarrassed appearance would be seen, so he immediately turned over and said in annoyance: "Who are you, kid!?"

"Cough cough..."

The gentleman was a little embarrassed. He glanced left and right and secretly took out a token from his pocket to show it.

"I am Li Mang, the ninth generation of the Bad People from the Cangzhou branch."

Seeing Shangguan Yunque's stunned look, he explained carefully: "A month ago, I was ordered by Tian Anxing to go to Youzhou for investigation."

But the former just wanted to cry but had no tears.

It was so sad that he, the eighth generation Tianqiao Star, was seen in such an embarrassing state by such a junior.

"Senior, is this Tianqiaoxing?" Li Mang saluted with his arms crossed. "Tian'anxing, he..."

"Ugh……"

Shangguan Yunque covered his face and left silently, "He's inside, but I advise you to wait a while, otherwise you will be beaten."

Li Mang was stunned for a moment, then followed him: "Senior, I actually didn't see anything."

"go away."

------

In the room, Xiao Yan turned his back to the bed and kept sliding his fingers on the map.

Although their relationship had become much closer, there was only a screen between them. Ji Ruxue's cheeks felt a little hot, and she didn't dare to make bigger movements when changing clothes.

After changing her clothes, she raised her hand to hang up the cloak. During this time, a faint whip mark appeared on her wrist.

The girl stroked it gently, her beautiful eyes fixed.

Finally, she collected her thoughts, took a dry piece of clothing, went out and put it on Xiao Yan.

The latter reached back and pressed on his collar, but it happened to be on the back of Ji Ruxue's hand, and they were both stunned.

After all, Xiao Yan was much more thick-skinned, so he took the girl's hand and asked her to sit down next to him.

Ji Ruxue's face still showed a little blush due to panic, so she turned her head and focused her eyes on the map on the table to make herself appear less nervous.

Fortunately, this scoundrel did not go any further. Instead, he circled a place on the map with his finger while putting on his clothes.

"Liu Shouguang is here now."

"Yuyang..." Ji Ruxue calmed her mind and recited softly.

"There are Lulong troops stationed here, so they should be able to protect themselves." Xiao Yan put on his clothes and said, "With him there to hold back the Mobei people, we have enough time."

"But with our thousand-plus people, it's already a stretch for us to take over Youzhou, and we can't defeat the tens of thousands of Mobei troops for now, right?"

"Who said there are only a thousand of us?"

Xiao Yan smiled, stood up and opened the door.

Outside the door, Shangguan Yunque was still enjoying Li Mang's boasting with a happy face. At this moment, when he heard the creaking sound of the door opening, his face immediately changed. He approached with his orchid fingers pinched, asking for credit: "Xiao Lang, who do you think I found?"

Xiao Yan pinched his brows and said helplessly: "I'll give you one credit."

Then, he looked at Li Mang, who was scratching his head and laughing, and extended his hand to invite him: "Brother Li Mang, thank you for your hard work these days."

The latter, however, was very polite, and said with a fist: "Compared to the great things that Tian Anxing has done, I have only spent some effort, so I dare not complain."

They knew the door was not a good place to talk, so they went inside.

But when Li Mang passed by Shangguan Yunque, he whispered: "Tianqiaoxing, I gave that Saker Falcon to Tian'anxing. I was able to find it today because of the information delivered by the Saker Falcon..."

The latter's face froze, and he suddenly understood why Xiao Yan looked helpless when he asked for credit just now.

Thinking of this, Shangguan Yunque felt so uneasy that he looked miserable and didn't even dare to compete with Ji Ruxue for the seat.

"Liu Shouguang went to war with almost all the Youzhou troops."

As soon as Li Mang entered the room, he began to introduce the news he had gathered, whispering, "In the foreign expeditionary army, the commander-in-chief is Liu Shouguang, and the chief general is his most powerful general Yuan Xingqin. The reason why Liu Shouwen was defeated so miserably is that Yuan Xingqin is indeed a good fighter. Whether in terms of personal strength or commanding ability, he is already first-rate in Hebei."

Xiao Yan nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"Now, the Jiedushi Mansion in Youzhou City is guarded by another favorite general of Liu Shouguang, Li Xiaoxi. This man was once a junior officer in Hedong. I don't know when he defected to Liu Shouguang. His specific capabilities are still unknown."

Li Mang had obviously gained a lot this month, and continued: "In addition, the chief secretary of the Jiedushi Mansion, Ma Yu, and the Jiedushi Deputy Envoy Xiahou Jing, were both old men who served Liu Rengong. Now they are also valued by Liu Shouguang and stay in Youzhou."

"Liu Rengong has been living a life of luxury these years. His old subordinates have long been dissatisfied with him. It is unknown how much prestige he still has."

His throat was a little dry from speaking, so Xiao Yan poured him a glass of water.

Then, Xiao Yan smiled and said, "I'm not afraid of not having prestige. All I want is a declaration." "Declaration?"

Ji Ruxue was surprised and didn't understand what the word meant.

Xiao Yan did not explain specifically, but continued to ask: "Have you found out where Liu Rengong is being held?"

Li Mang took a big gulp of water and laughed, "There is no one in this world that I can't find. Liu Rengong is now imprisoned in a side room of the Jiedushi Mansion, but the surroundings are very strictly guarded. If we rescue him rashly, not only will it cause a big commotion, it may also backfire..."

But he immediately changed the subject and said, "However, Tian Anxing, do you know that Liu Rengong had sought immortality before, hoping to cultivate immortality?"

"Have heard a little bit."

"The Taoist priest who made elixirs for him before was named Wang Ruone. Liu Rengong once worshipped him as his master in Da'an Mountain. Now that Liu Shouguang is in power, he is also very interested in the matter of immortality. Not only did he not punish this Taoist priest Wang, but he also kept him in Youzhou City. Now, he often goes in and out of the governor's mansion..."

"I understand."

Xiao Yan nodded slightly, and then called out, "Shangguan."

Shangguan Yunque was secretly feeling sad, but at this moment he suddenly came to his senses and stood up immediately.

"Got a mission?"

"Go and ask this Taoist priest to come to you for me."

Shangguan Yunque was indeed full of energy again, pinching his orchid fingers and throwing a seductive glance: "Just watch!"

Xiao Yan looked indifferent and turned away.

Ji Ruxue secretly clenched her fists, but ultimately suppressed the impulse in her heart.

------

Jiedushi Mansion.

In the lobby of the government office, Li Xiaoxi, who was then the military commander of Youzhou, had a look of worry on his face and kept pacing back and forth.

Outside the hall, two figures hurried in.

"General Li..."

The chief secretary Ma Yu and the deputy governor Xiahou Jing both saluted respectfully with their hands crossed.

In fact, the two men were much more honorable than the young man Li Xiaoxi in terms of their official positions, but the latter was Liu Shouguang's favorite general, so the two men did not dare to be careless in etiquette for fear of offending him.

Moreover, the two of them had sharp eyes and could clearly notice that a lot of guards had been added inside and outside the yamen, so they both felt a little frightened.

Unexpectedly, Li Xiaoxi hurriedly lifted up the hands of the two, then glanced at the outside and led the two inside.

Before he even sat down, he said in a deep voice: "My two superiors, disaster has occurred!"

Ma Yu and Xiahou Jing were both stunned and looked at each other subconsciously.

But both of them were old men who had experienced many hardships, and they remained calm, just waiting for the next words.

Li Xiaoxi sighed heavily, took out a blood-stained military newspaper and handed it to the two men.

"Mobei, heading south..."

But even so, his eyes were actually fixed on the expressions of the two men, with a fierce look in his eyes.

Fortunately, after reading the military report, Ma Yu and the other two were shocked but showed no other strange expressions.

Li Xiaoxi hid his murderous intent and said in a deep voice, "Half a month ago, the commander defeated Liu Shouwen in Yutian and was about to chase him down, but unexpectedly, the Mobei Army attacked from behind and attacked Liu Shouwen from both sides, defeating the commander in Jisu (west of Yuyang). Now the commander has retreated to Yuyang and is trapped, and sent a messenger to fight his way out of the siege and ask for help."

"You two, what can we do about this!?"

Ma Yu and Xiahou Jing hesitated for a moment, unable to believe that the disaster came so quickly after the good news.

Fortunately, they were still calm. At this time, the latter stroked his beard and asked, "Where did Mobei go south? Why did you attack the commander?"

"Why are you asking these questions?" Li Xiaoxi seemed extremely impatient and shouted, "Just tell me what to do now!?"

It's no wonder that he was so angry, because it was his idea for Liu Shouguang to gather all the troops to march out of Liaodong.

As he thought, even if Mobei wanted to go south, they should rush to support Liu Shouwen from Liaodong. And it didn't make sense for them to gather troops so quickly and enter Gubeikou in such a short time. It was clearly raining heavily a few days ago...

Moreover, he also advised at that time that if Mobei moved south, the Youzhou army could take advantage of the victory and give the Mobei army a good beating.

Who would have thought that this would happen...

Seeing that he was furious, Ma Yu immediately spoke to comfort him: "Don't worry, General Li. There are still 8,000 Lulong troops in Yuyang. The commander should be safe."

"Of course I know!"

Li Xiaoxi said impatiently: "But now Liu Shouwen is still alive, and Cangzhou still has his subordinates Sun He and Lu Yan's army. Who can guarantee how long the general can hold out? If we don't send troops to rescue, when Yuyang City is broken, Sun He will lead his army north, and you and I will both die!?"

At this point, he even cursed, "Damn Liu Shouwen, you shameless fellow, how dare you lead the barbarians into the pass!"

"This……"

Ma Yu pondered for a moment and said, "In the camp outside the city, there are still more than 10,000 people from Dingbadu, the army founded by the old General Jie. Why doesn't General Li lead Dingbadu to help General Jie?"

Li Xiaoxi's eyes flashed, actually he was waiting for this sentence.

Dingba was founded last year. It was an elite force created by Liu Rengong to relieve Zhu Wen's siege of Cangzhou. All the officers and soldiers in it had words carved on their arms, which meant "serving the master wholeheartedly".

Now that Liu Shouguang has taken power by imprisoning his father, keeping Ma Yu and Xiahou Jing, it is the two of them who can stabilize Dingba Capital. If they can be allowed to go to war with him, perhaps the siege of Yuyang can be lifted.

And one more thing, if we can use this group of people for our own use...

Li Xiaoxi remained calm, stood up and bowed: "My two superiors, you are truly loyal to your master!"

------

At the same time, two figures walked into the Jiedushi's mansion.

The first person was an old Taoist with gray hair and beard. He was holding a whisk in his hand and wearing a Taoist robe. He looked like an immortal.

The man behind him was a young man, also in a Taoist robe. He lowered his head and carried a peach wood sword on the old Taoist's back.

With the old Taoist leading the way, they had a smooth journey all the way to the alchemy room in the back mansion.

But after a short while, they suddenly turned around where the guards could not see them.

In front of the courtyard, two yamen soldiers were taking shelter from the rain under the eaves.

"Master Wang?"

"puff."

The young man pushed open the door of the courtyard calmly, and there were two bloodstains on the peach wood sword in his hand.

"You, drag the body in."

The old Taoist was trembling all over, and dared not to disobey.

Inside, Liu Rengong got up in a daze, and then shrank back in fear.

In the courtyard, Xiao Yan walked into the main room with a sword in hand.

Liu Rengong didn't even have time to put on his coat and went straight under the bed, "Don't kill me, don't kill me..."

But immediately, Xiao Yan grabbed his hair and pulled it out.

"There is a cooperation, I don't know if the commander is interested."

"I agree to any cooperation."

The severe pain on his scalp almost made Liu Rengong cry. In fact, he was almost about to cry. His legs were trembling and there were some wet marks on his crotch.

"very good."

Xiao Yan squatted down, patted his face with the blood-stained peach wood sword, and praised him.

"Now, Marshal Jie can go out and take charge of the situation."

(End of this chapter)