Chapter 148: For the Prosperous Tang Dynasty
The situation suddenly became more and more strange. Of course, for Shi Yao, she was almost isolated and helpless.

Looking at Shangguan Yunque who looked conflicted, she didn't want to hold out any hope. Especially the expected but unexpected appearance of the surrendered minister made her angry and frightened, and her face darkened slightly.

"Of course, I am not as good as the corpse ancestor who surrendered, but the corpse ancestor's ability to speak sharply is still the same as it was decades ago. Moreover, the corpse ancestor was tired of the secular world and lived in seclusion. Why is he getting involved in such trivial matters now?"

Jiang Chen stopped when he saw that things were going well, and did not argue with her too much. He just glanced at Xiao Yan subconsciously, then frowned and said, "Young people have their own plans, why do you have to entangle them too much?"

Shi Yao was so angry that she laughed and said, "When will it be the turn of the corpse ancestor of Xuanming Sect to discipline me for my bad deeds? I advise the corpse ancestor not to meddle in other people's business. I am not here on my own initiative."

Jiang Chen's coquettish face suddenly changed slightly, and then his peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly.

"Don't use the bad guy to pressure me."

"Of course I know that the friendship between Jiang Chen's corpse ancestor and the commander is very close," Shi Yao first glanced at Xiao Yan, who was almost calm, and then looked at Jiang Chen, saying calmly: "But can this friendship make the commander tolerate the corpse ancestor's insolence?"

Jiang Chen was a little annoyed and wanted to speak, but Xiao Yan had already grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

The royal sister scratched his palm with her cardamom-painted nails and said dissatisfiedly, "What are you doing!"

Xiao Yan ignored her, and after a moment's hesitation, he bowed deeply to Shi Yao.

"Tianyouxing is the senior, and I am the junior. I really shouldn't be so rude to Tianyouxing. But I still think that 'loyalty to the Tang Dynasty' and 'loyalty to the Marshal' are not contradictory. Does Tianyouxing have to prioritize this matter before he will let it go?"

Shi Yao frowned deeply.

At that time in Cangbing Valley, Yuan Tiangang's instructions were: "If Xiao Yan is loyal, he can live. If he is disloyal, he can die."

Since she became a bad person, she has been loyal to Yuan Tiangang for decades. In her simple view, this word "loyalty" should be loyalty to the commander-in-chief. For her, it doesn't matter whether the Tang Dynasty is destroyed or not, or which Li gets the throne.

In her eyes, there are only the Bad Guys and Yuan Tiangang, so there is no question of being loyal to the Tang Dynasty.

For the bad people of three hundred years and several generations, Yuan Tiangang's order was like an imperial decree.

But, the Marshal is also loyal to the Tang Dynasty...

Shi Yao frowned and said nothing, but Shangguan Yunque at the side rushed to speak: "That's right, that's right! Xiao Lang is right, it doesn't matter if you are loyal to the Tang Dynasty, right? Am I not loyal to the Tang Dynasty too?"

While wiping his sweat, he tried his best to ease the atmosphere, smiled dryly, pinched his orchid fingers, and suggested to Shi Yao: "How about we go back and see the Marshal first?"

"Stop being picky." Behind Xiao Yan, the surrendered minister rolled his eyes and looked down on him.

But when she thought of Xiao Yan's action to protect her just now, she snorted again and was too lazy to go forward to argue with Shi Yao. At this time, she just looked at the boy's back carefully. She hadn't noticed it before, but this time when she got so close, she realized that Xiao Yan's shoulders were really broad and strong.

"cut."

The royal sister was disdainful again. Of course, she didn't need anyone to protect her, but since it was this thief Xiao, she could reluctantly accept it.

On the opposite side, Shi Yao glared at Shangguan Yunque angrily, but just thought in silence.

Xiao Yan was still calm, but because of Shi Yao's threat to the surrendered minister, he lowered his posture a lot, and said: "If Tianyouxing can't make the decision, why not report Xiao's words to the commander-in-chief first and ask the commander-in-chief to make the decision, how about that?"

"Yes, yes." Shangguan Yunque hurriedly agreed.

"Shut up." Shi Yao scolded him, then hesitated for a moment.

She glanced at the people from the Yanzhou branch in the hall, as well as the surrendered ministers who were unable to express their attitudes behind Xiao Yan, and knew that there was nothing she could do today. She was not afraid of being trapped here. Even if she was defeated by Xiao Yan and others, she had a way to protect herself and escape. Besides, Fu An and others probably didn't have the courage to attack her, right?

Of course, Shi Yao was skeptical about the last point. She could see that these young bad guys were very convinced of Xiao Yan, and even to the extent of being loyal to their master, and were willing to follow Xiao Yan all the way even if they had to bear the stigma of being a "traitor to the bad guys".

She couldn't help but wonder if Xiao Yan had some brainwashing tricks to make Fu An and others follow him wholeheartedly.

"..."

Shi Yao thought for a long time before speaking slowly: "Tian Anxing's words make sense. I will report them to the commander-in-chief without any refutation. I was also wrong in what happened just now... However, I hope Tian Anxing can obey the commander-in-chief's orders regarding the Mobei matter and not interfere without authorization."

This time, Xiao Yan was beyond her expectations. He did not refute immediately, nor did he pretend to agree. Instead, after thinking for a long time, he responded: "Please ask Tianyouxing to convey a message to the Marshal on my behalf..."

Shi Yao frowned slightly, "Tian Anxing, please speak."

"Once the great cause of restoring the Tang Dynasty is set in motion, it will be like a rolling wave that cannot be stopped. The world is in constant war and the people of the Tang Dynasty are no longer reconciled. This cannot be saved by one person or one force. What the millions of people in the world yearn for is not the Li family, but the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty that can end the chaos.

If we do nothing, the "Li Tang" will soon be abandoned by the world, and people will trample on these two words and pursue the real "Great Tang". Today, under Zhu Wen's rule, the people know "Liang" but not "Tang".

Shi Yao frowned and took these words to heart.

"Any more?"

Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment, then spoke again with certainty: "Whether it is Hebei, Mobei, or Bianliang——

What Xiao did was for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, not the decay of the Tang Dynasty. "

"..."

Fu An and the others were stunned, as if they were confused. Shangguan Yunque bit his nails, feeling dizzy.

Jiang Chen's peach blossom eyes lit up. She felt that this thief Xiao always spoke in a set way, but his last sentence was so powerful that it gave her the illusion of something new.

Shi Yao looked at Xiao Yan deeply, raised her hand and took the gilded token that was inserted on the stone wall in the lobby back into her palm.

She covered her eyes and said:
"There is one more thing. The Marshal wants to see you."

"Please ask Tianyouxing to report to the commander-in-chief. Once the matter here is settled, I will go to Cangbing Valley in person to meet the commander-in-chief." Xiao Yan bowed again.

The surrendered minister snorted and stepped forward with his hands behind his back: "And I, too, have not seen the commander-in-chief for many years. I also need to go to the mountain to ask for a cup of tea and reminisce about our old friendship."

Shi Yao glanced at the surrendered minister with fear and said no more to Xiao Yan. She turned around and took a less charming step, hiding in the snow.

"Ok?"

Shangguan Yunque was still biting his nails and was a little slow to react.

"This, this, this..." He was extremely embarrassed, secretly annoyed that Shi Yao had abandoned him. He also knew that he had no face to face Xiao Yan, so he planned to leave in dismay.

At this time, Xiao Yan seemed to see through his thoughts, smiled and said, "Brother Shangguan, you don't have to be like this. I was really annoyed just now. But I also know that Brother Shangguan will be unable to disobey the order of Cangbing Valley. Since I was willing to tell Brother Shangguan the truth in Luoyang at that time, I am not afraid of this scene today. It's late at night, Brother Shangguan, go back and rest early."

Shangguan Yunque, who was about to return to the Cangbing Valley in frustration, was suddenly startled and looked up at Xiao Yan in astonishment.

Xiao Yan waved his hands as usual, signaling him to stop talking nonsense.

Shangguan Yunque's eyes turned red, and he wanted to say something shyly, but Xiao Yan ignored him and finished discussing the Youzhou branch with Fu An and others. He didn't need to make any promises to Fu An and others, everything was said without words.

From Caozhou to the Central Plains, and then to Hebei, the Yanzhou branch knew how much trust Xiao Yan had in them. Without any promises, they had the confidence to follow Xiao Yan all the way.

Speaking of which, this is also because Fu An and the others are relatively young. In just one year, they have become accustomed to following Xiao Yan in killing people everywhere. They have already developed a tacit understanding with each other, so how could they easily betray it?
However, if it was the eighth generation of the Bad People in the helm, maybe their attitude tonight would not be so tough. After all, the gap between the old and new generations is very large. The eighth generation of the Bad People happened to be in the last afterglow of the Tang Dynasty, and they had seen how powerful the real Bad People were.

As for the new generation of bad people, even Fu An did not catch the last train to the end of the road. Not to mention that some people have met Yuan Tiangang, they don't even know where the Cangbing Valley is.

To put it bluntly, the new generation of bad people have a much stronger desire than the old generation of bad people, and they may not have noticed it before. But once it was ignited by Xiao Yan, it was like a raging fire, deliberately moving forward, eager to revive the great reputation of the bad people...

……

It was already dawn, and Fu An and the others strode away with their swords in hand, in high spirits. It was hard not to be excited by the news they heard tonight. It was strange to say that the more dangerous the situation, the more adrenaline would surge and the more excited one would be.

"Let's go." Xiao Yan was very calm, as if nothing had happened that night. He simply saw Shuliduo off, agreed on the matter of keeping the enemy at bay, and finally met with Shi Yao, just like usual.

Jiang Chen was sitting cross-legged in boredom, and yawned with his hands covering his mouth. "I stayed up with you for half the night. Do you know that girls can't stay up late?"

"Why not just not sleep?" Xiao Yan said as a matter of course.

"?"

The royal sister rolled her eyes at him: "Hey, can you stop saying those crooked ideas?"

Xiao Yan didn't answer. He stretched lazily, walked to the steps, and looked at the dimly lit skyline in the distance.

Jiang Chen's peach blossom eyes flashed cunningly, he stepped forward, pinched his chin and lifted it up.

"Just now, were you afraid that I, your sister, would suffer a loss?"

"Not really."

"Huh? Why not?"

Xiao Yan thought for a moment and replied, "Because you talk too much nonsense."

"?"

Jiang Chen blinked, wondering if he had heard it wrongly.

But after a moment, she was abnormally not angry. Instead, there was a smug smile on her pretty face. She hummed an ancient ballad that she had learned from somewhere, gently wiped the rouge on Xiao Yan's lips with her fingers, and left with her hands behind her back.

"I'm in a good mood, so I won't bother with you."

Xiao Yan was stunned.

Then, he couldn't help laughing, stepped forward, and picked up the surrendered official by the waist.

------

"Captain."

In the far suburbs of Cangzhou, two ghost soldiers from the Xuanming Sect came riding on their horses, dismounted from their horses from a distance, and knelt on one knee.

Shi Yao, who was dressed in purple, stood with her hands behind her back and said calmly, "Send a message to Cangbing Valley, and be quick."

A ghost soldier caught the envelope thrown to him and bowed his head in response to the order.

"Also, tell the Underworld Emperor that Xiao Yan is quite powerful and now holds a high position of power, so I have no chance to attack him." Shi Yao pondered and said, "If he gets angry, tell him that I have found the corpse ancestor's surrendered minister."

The two ghost soldiers took orders one by one and then rode away on their horses.

Shi Yao stood there, silent for a long time.

"..."

After a long time, an old woman with a crutch walked slowly in the snow and disappeared in the snow fog.

……

Qinling Mountains, Zhongnan Mountains, and Cangbing Valley.

Another year has passed, and the green bamboos of the thousands of peaks are covered with snow again. The snow continues to fall, dyeing the entire building complex pure white.

"Li Cunxu was indeed defeated miserably..."

In the hall, Jing Xin Mo bent down and whispered softly, "At that time at Gaoliang River, the Jin army was defeated and even my subordinates were almost captured by the Dark Star."

Yuan Tiangang was dressed in a blue shirt, with his hands in leather gloves behind his back, tapping the keys again and again.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Jing Xin Mo coughed dryly and continued, "And just as the commander expected, Tian Anxing was able to win because he borrowed the troops from Mobei. Li Cunxu fell into their trap and was attacked from both sides. He was unable to stop the collapse and was defeated. And the most strange thing is that the army that fought Li Cunxu head-on was the Mobei army...

At that time, the Mobei army also suffered heavy losses, with more casualties than the Jin army. I think that if the Mobei queen is not stupid, she will definitely not be willing to hand over her own generals to Tian Anxing to fight against Li Cunxu. If nothing unexpected happens, Tian Anxing should have reached an unknown deal with the Mobei queen..."

"What do you think the deal is?" Yuan Tiangang asked hoarsely without turning his head.

Mirror Heart Demon hesitated for a moment, then said cautiously, "The King of Mobei, Yelu Abaoji, was defeated by Tian Anxing, and a letter came from outside the Great Wall saying that there was chaos in Mobei... I think Tian Anxing wants to help the Queen of Mobei regain power."

Yuan Tiangang continued to ask without any emotion: "Mobei is in chaos, should it be unified?"

"Of course not." Mirror Heart Demon responded first, then thought for a moment and guessed, "But I heard a rumor in Taiyuan that Mobei wants to make peace with Jin. Maybe Tian Anxing doesn't want to facilitate this?"

"Ah."

Yuan Tiangang let out an indifferent laugh.

Jing Xinmo was a little nervous, not knowing whether his answer was appropriate. He also felt that today's commander-in-chief seemed to make him even more frightened and scared.

He was not as afraid of the Marshal as Shangguan Yunque was in the past, but today, perhaps because Shangguan was not around, or for some other reason, he inexplicably understood Shangguan Yunque's feelings.

After a moment, Yuan Tiangang turned around.

"Marshal." Jing Xin Mo bent his waist lower and lower, only daring to glance at the tall figure with the corner of his eyes.

The former walked to the entrance of the hall, put his hands behind his back and looked out at the vast snowy scene.

a long time.

"Mirror Heart Demon."

"My subordinate is here."

"Go to Yanzhou and find someone for me."

Jing Xin Mo was somewhat stunned, and subconsciously said: "Yanzhou, isn't it dark..."

But he immediately stopped talking and bowed his head.

"I will definitely make this happen."

……

It was snowing heavily and Yuan Tiangang was standing alone in the corridor.

"The Great Tang Dynasty, the Bad Tang Dynasty...

If you are not a dragon, you will die."

A gentle breeze blew away a piece of letter on the desk, and it floated in the flying snow.

After a while, the letter paper spontaneously combusted without any fire and turned into ashes in the snow.

(End of this chapter)