Chapter 146 The Marshal Invites
It was a cold night and the sound of horse hooves could be heard on the streets, one after another, so frequent that it made people feel uneasy.

In a small house in the north of the city, the old Taoist priest Wang Ruone, wearing a fur robe, was holding a hand warmer to keep warm while soaking his feet. Hearing the noise outside the yard, he called the little boy to open the door.

During the past six months, the whole Yan area was in turmoil, but the old Taoist lived a very comfortable life. Be it the Liu family's infighting or Li Cunxu's attack on Youzhou, it seemed that they had little to do with him. He practiced alchemy at home every day and had almost nothing to do.

Apart from not being able to move around freely, life is pretty comfortable.

Why? Because he was the first person in Youzhou to surrender to Xiao Yan. On that day in the Jiedushi Mansion, he cooperated with Xiao Yan to control Liu Rengong, and had some tricks in mind, but after seeing Xiao Yan's murderous look, he decisively became a guide.

He revealed some of Liu Rengong's little-known secrets to the Bad People.

Thinking that he is over sixty years old, he dare not make trouble again after this incident. He used to be able to coax Liu Rengong to make money, but now he has no intention of doing so at all. He just hopes to live peacefully to the age of ninety, so that he will not be in vain for bragging about longevity for most of his life.

"Master, master..."

In the yard, the little boy stammered, his teeth chattering slightly, and looked back.

The old Taoist yawned, holding the hand warmer and looking over, his eyes suddenly cleared up. He didn't even have time to wipe his feet, and walked out in his slippers, saying with an apologetic smile: "General Li, what are you doing..."

At the door, Li Mang, wearing a bamboo hat, green clothes and iron armor, stood with a sword in his hand. Behind him, several bad guys were riding on horses, all wearing masks. They looked like ghosts demanding lives at night, staring at the old Taoist without saying a word.

The old Taoist didn't dare to look at these bad guys at all. In comparison, Li Mang, who had hideous scars on his face but was not wearing a mask, looked much more friendly.

Li Mang clasped his fists and said, "I heard that Taoist Wang once told Envoy Xiao that you were born in the Tianshi Mansion in Xuanwu Mountain?"

The old Taoist waved his hand and said with a wry smile: "He was expelled from the mountain gate decades ago. He is not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning..."

"It's good that you are from the Tianshi Mansion. Xuanwu Mountain is the place of orthodox Taoism. Taoist Wang must be a master with unique skills. I have neglected him during this period of time."

"Ahem... General Li, you are so polite." The old Taoist felt uneasy and became a little panicked by the compliment. He hurriedly asked, "General Li, is there anything important that Envoy Xiao wants to tell me?"

Li Mang smiled slightly and clasped his fists again: "I came here today to congratulate Taoist Wang on his promotion."

As he finished speaking, two bad guys behind him fell off their horses and took down a bundle from their horses' backs, which turned out to be an exquisite Taoist robe.

The old Taoist felt even more nervous and asked cautiously, "General Li, why do you say that?"

Li Mang held his sword and said sternly: "Envoy Xiao said that Wang Daochang knows astronomical phenomena, is proficient in divination, is diligent in learning and is well-informed. He is suitable to be the national teacher of Great Yan. From now on, you can go to Liaodong to assist the King of Yan in rebuilding his hegemony."

"National Master?" The old Taoist was stunned by the sudden surprise, and then he was stunned and said dumbfounded: "Liaodong, which King of Yan is this?"

"You'll know when Master Wang goes there." Li Mang still responded in a serious tone.

The old Taoist felt a chill in his heart, and suddenly he realized that the whole street was noisy. He looked around vaguely and saw that people had been invited out of every household. You must know that the people living on this street were all former officials of Hebei, most of whom had previously secretly communicated with Li Cunxu, and had been under unified custody here ever since.

"Don't worry, Master Wang. You are different from them." Li Mang patted his shoulder and said casually, "The military envoy asked me to take care of you. He asked me to help Master Wang set up a Liaodong Tianshi Mansion, which means to set up your own school."

“……” The old Taoist opened his mouth and collapsed.

Li Mang asked his men to carry him on horseback, and also asked them to arrange for the little boy to stay behind. Finally, he led a group of "Yan State civil and military officials" out of the north city in a mighty manner.

------

North of the city.

The continuous torches looked like a long dragon, all heading north.

Even though they were marching on a snowy night, these people from Mobei, wrapped in fur coats and wearing felt hats, were still in high spirits. After staying in the interior of the country for more than half a year, they were finally able to set off back to the grassland today, so everyone was naturally happy.

Apart from that, the 'Prince of Yan' Liu Rengong and others who were included in the team were in a bit of a state of exhaustion. They seemed to be about to fall off their horses, and it was obvious that they really did not want to go to the grassland.

On a gentle slope beside the road, a group of figures stood facing the snow, and two riders were standing side by side, just looking at the fire dragon on the road.

"General Xiao, you have done a great job."

Shuliduo held the reins in one hand, and remained calm despite the wind and snow. Instead, she looked at Xiao Yan, covering her beautiful eyes with a faint smile on her face, and bewitched him, "From what I see, General Xiao could have just occupied Hebei directly. Why did he have to put on this show?"

She didn't lower her voice on purpose, so everyone behind her could hear it clearly, but everyone just looked calm.

Yuan Xingqin said nothing, as if he hadn't heard anything, and just slowly stroked his mount's mane.

Wang Yanzhang was just pretending to be stupid, staring with his eyes wide open, as still as a mountain. As for some of the Longxiang Army's generals, they were either looking around or staring at their toes in a daze.

The two scholars, Feng Dao and Han Yanhui, gathered their sleeves together and huddled together with their backs to the wind. It was not known whether they heard clearly or not.

As for the Mobei side, only Shili Qixiang and his younger brother Yaoyan were there to protect them, and it was even less likely that the two would say anything about it.

On horseback, Xiao Yan shook his head first, then laughed and said, "The Queen has probably never been to the Central Plains, right?"

Shuliduo pushed aside the ribbon of her felt hat, thought for a moment, and nodded slightly: "As for the Central Plains, I have only seen it in books, and I really don't know how it is different from Hebei."

"If the queen has the opportunity to see the Central Plains with her own eyes, she will understand." Xiao Yan paused, then pointed to the fire dragons heading north below and said, "However, if the queen still wants to lead the army south, it should be difficult."

Not far behind, Shili Qixiang was furious. How could she not hear the hidden meaning of Xiao Yan's words? But besides getting angry again and again, what else could she do in the current situation? She could only hold it in secretly.

Shulido didn't take it seriously and just laughed it off.

After a while, a rider came up from the hillside. It was a Mobei cavalryman.

"Your Majesty, General Zhao Siwen has sent a messenger saying that the front troops have advanced ten miles. Your Majesty, please set off now."

"Give the order, the entire army is on the march."

Shuliduo responded solemnly, then hesitantly waved his hand at Shili Qixiang and the others, "You can leave. I still have some important matters to discuss with General Xiao alone."

Brother Yaoyan was still a little worried about Shuliduo's safety, but Shili Qixiang responded immediately and then retreated.

At the same time, Feng Dao suddenly became alert and twirled his beard. Without Xiao Yan's order, he and Han Yanhui dragged Wang Yanzhang and several burly warriors back several feet away.

Xiao Yan stared at the fire dragon and said slowly: "The queen has anything else to say, just say it. I have isolated this place with my inner strength, and outsiders cannot hear the conversation."

Shuliduo thought for a moment, then asked, "After parting today, when will I meet General Xiao again?"

"It could be as short as one month or as late as the beginning of next spring."

"It's been too long." Shuliduo frowned and said, "By then, the overall situation on the grassland will have been decided. What's the point of General Xiao sending troops? And how can I know that General Xiao will not have other accidents?"

Xiao Yan pondered for a moment and promised, "As long as the queen can lead Liu Rengong to make trouble as planned, I will send troops next month."

"I hope Jiulang won't break his promise."

Shuliduo hesitated for a moment, gritted her teeth, and made a last submissive gesture: "Everything I have is in Jiulang's hands. According to your Central Plains saying, I will not let Jiulang down, and I hope Jiulang will not let me down either."

Xiao Yan laughed and waved his hand: "Since Madam Shu is willing to play this scene with me, I will not let Madam Shu down. I have said that in my eyes, Madam Shu will always be the queen."

The queen heaved a sigh of relief after receiving a positive answer. Although the dangers of her return to the grassland were unknown, the risks were certainly great. According to rumors in Mobei, she and Yelu Abaoji had both been publicized as the culprits who had killed Mobei's elite troops.

Without Xiao Yan's support, she would really lose everything.

Thinking of this, she also promised: "As long as you can help me regain Mobei this time, if Jiulang wants to dominate the Central Plains in the future, I will do my best to help him!" Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and smiled, said no more, and rode down the gentle slope.

At the bottom of the gentle slope, Yuan Xingqin calmly saluted him with his arms crossed.

"Thank you very much, General Yuan, for your help this time." Xiao Yan got off the horse, held Yuan Xingqin's hand, and said seriously.

The latter did not say much, but said in a deep voice: "Serve the army and die."

With that being his personality, Xiao Yan didn't need to encourage him much. He had already discussed everything that could be said in detail, so he just nodded.

"Goodbye."

Yuan Xingqin had a solemn look on his face. He clasped his fists towards Feng Dao and Han Yanhui, then hesitated for a moment and also saluted towards Wang Yanzhang and his group.

Feng and Han naturally politely said, "Take care, General Yuan."

Wang Yanzhang just said "Hey" and muttered, "Just don't die in Mobei."

Yuan Xingqin didn't bother to pay attention to him. He jumped on his horse, bowed to Xiao Yan again, and rode north.

Soon, teams of Dingbadu cavalrymen followed closely behind and joined the fire dragon heading north. A large flag with the inscription "General Yuan of the State of Yan" also fluttered in the night wind.

Surrounded by Shili Qixiang and her younger brother Yaoyan, Shulido boarded a carriage without looking back.

Xiao Yan stood with his hands behind his back, just watching the tens of thousands of people sweeping northward.

Finally, the curtain beside the carriage was lifted, and in the dim firelight, Yelu Zhiwu's face was revealed. She stared at Xiao Yan without blinking, as if she wanted to remember his appearance.

But no matter what, people headed north, and the voices of people and horses all disappeared in the snow and fog.

------

Feng Dao and Han Yanhui had been tossed around for half the night and couldn't stand it any longer, especially the latter, who was already thin and weak and kept coughing with his handkerchief. It was such a big event that the two of them had to go along to plan it, and since they had already stayed up until midnight, they were not in a hurry to rest, but continued to discuss in the hall.

"In this way, Hebei will be in chaos again, and Liu Rengong will use Mobei to raise the reputation of Yan State. The time for the military envoy to return to Bianliang can be delayed further."

Feng Dao smiled and said, "At that time, apart from the military envoys stationed in Hebei, I'm afraid that His Majesty (Zhu Wen) would not trust anyone else. He can also use this opportunity to send troops to Mobei, which can be said to kill three birds with one stone."

Han Yanhui coughed and covered his handkerchief, saying, "If it weren't for your majesty sending Li Zhen and Kang Huaiying to Hebei to review the troops, the military envoy wouldn't have bothered so much. I've heard of the bad reputation of the former, and the latter is a veteran general. The military envoy can't fool him."

Xiao Yan took off his cape that was frozen by the cold wind, leaned back on the main seat, closed his eyes and said, "Zhu Hanbin has basically made no achievements in Cangzhou, so it is understandable that Bianliang sent two people who can represent the court. But Dingba are all elite troops, and even if they are not split up, they will not fall into my hands. I am really unwilling to do so."

Feng Dao was silent for a moment, then stroked his beard and said, "Dingbadu is a strong army, and the court will not tolerate the army being annexed as a private army. But in terms of nurturing the enemy to protect ourselves, we still have too many loopholes, and we need to plan carefully..."

Han Yanhui coughed and laughed, "What else is there to plan? As long as there is enough chaos, are you afraid that Li Zhen will not trust the military envoy?"

"That's true." Feng Dao smiled dumbly, but he didn't expect that Han Yanhui, who always seemed to be soft-hearted, was actually much crueler than him.

Xiao Yan also laughed for a moment and said, "You two gentlemen have worked hard all night, please go down and rest for a while. If there is anything, it will not be too late to talk tomorrow."

Both of them were die-hard 'Xiao Yan' faction members who knew each other well, so they said nothing more and bowed and left.

Moreover, both of them had resigned from their official posts in Youzhou Prefecture and were considered Xiao Yan's personal staff. Because there was news from Cangzhou that the court was planning to let Xiao Yan establish a prefecture, he could open a prefecture in the future, so the two of them no longer needed to stay in Youzhou to attract attention.

After Feng and Han left, Wang Yanzhang and a group of generals of the Longxiang Army entered the hall in silence.

Xiao Yan didn't say anything either, just looked at them leisurely.

Finally, Wang Yanzhang lost his temper first and shouted, "Military Envoy, if you have something to say, just say it. I am really itching to hold it in..."

The other generals also looked at each other and looked at Xiao Yan.

"I'm sure you all know what happened today, right?" Xiao Yan stood up and said with a smile, "I'm sure you can see that I have no intention of hiding anything from you."

After a long while, a general said in a weak voice: "The military envoy treats us as his own people, and we all understand. But I still don't understand. Since the military envoy has made great contributions, why should he continue to support the enemy?"

"It's not for anything else, just to send troops to Mobei." Xiao Yan said: "Mobei is in a mess, don't you want to get some military merit?"

At this time, Wang Yanzhang did not wait for others to speak, and shouted loudly: "We are all warriors who risked our lives. Do you still complain about not having enough military merits? Military envoy, there is no need to say more. I, Wang Tieqiang, will follow you!"

After that, he looked at everyone again and said, "We fought to the death in Hebei, how could the people in Bianliang know about this? Only the military envoy saw everything. The military envoy's achievements are great, are you afraid that I don't have any credit? How can this little credit be enough? To give a wife a title and a son a fortune, that's what a real man should be!"

Having said that, what else did everyone have to say? They all knew that Xiao Yan had some ambitions, but which general in this era didn't want to raise a private army? Xiao Yan was very kind to them. Working for General Xiao was like working for the Emperor Zhu, so there was no difference.

"Let's do it! Since the military envoy is leaving the grassland, we will follow him!"

Hearing everyone shouting, Wang Yanzhang breathed a sigh of relief and quietly looked towards Xiao Yan, as if showing off his achievements.

Xiao Yan just laughed, encouraged everyone, promised them rewards, and then sent them away.

------

By the time he finished everything, it was already very late at night.

After Li Mang was sent to Mobei, Xiao Yan decided not to keep any personal guards around him anymore and let Fu An take over Li Mang's affairs in Youzhou. He then summoned several bad guys who usually served as personal guards around him, intending to have them cooperate with Fu An to build a branch in Youzhou.

"Da da da……"

At this time, a few bad guys just entered the lobby, and everyone heard the sound of high heels hitting the ground, suddenly coming from the courtyard.

Several people tensed their backs at the same time, put one hand on the hilt of the knife, and turned around suddenly to look.

"who?"

In the innermost part, Fu An, who was obeying orders, was also startled and drew his sword to block in front of Xiao Yan.

But the moment he turned around, he was stunned, with a look of surprise on his face.

But see.

In the yard, a charming and beautiful woman was walking slowly in the snow with enchanting steps.

What is particularly noticeable is that this woman is dressed almost entirely in purple, from her hair to her skirt, everything is purple, except for her ankles, which are purple-gradient white pantyhose. Even so, she looks even more evil.

Seeing that she didn't answer, several bad guys immediately drew their knives.

"Ah--"

In the yard, the beautiful woman chuckled, and before she made any movement, a golden token suddenly appeared in her palm and was displayed in front of everyone.

But she didn't look at others. Her charming eyes were just staring at Xiao Yan, who was sitting in the lobby with a cold face and no words.

“If Tian Anxing has had enough fun.

"It's time to go back to the Hidden Soldiers Valley and meet the Marshal."

(End of this chapter)