Chapter 221: Meet the Empress Again (End)

After Zhu Wen said three good words in one breath on the top of the city wall, his satisfaction with Xiao Yan had reached the highest level.

Not to mention Xiao Yan himself, just looking at the tens of thousands of people divided into dozens of square formations and taking their positions in the Imperial Street, all of them lowered their spears and flags to salute, and even the generals and generals in front of them all knelt on one knee there with Xiao Yan, motionless and sincere. He already felt that the whole world was bowing down at the feet of him, the 'true emperor', and a sense of heroism and ambition that he had never felt before and might be extremely rare in the future naturally arose.

In this world, the word "military force" is already highly respected, not to mention Zhu Wen himself, the greatest military leader in the world. He has suffered all the hardships in the first half of his life, and what he needs now is this unparalleled sense of accomplishment, this sense of vanity that far exceeds all others.

For a real man in this world, apart from the word power, what else is worth pursuing with one's life?

And what people risked their lives for in pursuit of power was precisely the word "achievement", especially for a man like Zhu Wen who came to power illegitimately and was labeled a "traitor to the country" by the one-eyed Li Keyong every time he went into battle. He could not refuse these two words at all, especially when he could do so in front of the entire people of Bianliang and in front of his fellow citizens of Daliang. He was extremely eager for these two words.

Therefore, he would mobilize a large number of troops and spend hundreds of thousands of strings of cash to hold this grand ceremony, in order to publicize the legitimacy of his throne, and even to make his Zhu family win the hearts of the people and establish a 400-year dynasty in the future.

Before this, he couldn't imagine what kind of scene could fill the lack of his sense of accomplishment, and he actually had no feelings for this so-called grand ceremony. What he valued more were the two rituals of comforting the Taimiao and offering sacrifices in the suburbs.

But right now, right before his eyes, at this very moment, there was such a minister who was labeled as disloyal by the Ghost King, who gave him a big surprise and a fresh feeling he had never had before.

The ridiculously neat formations, the goose-stepping that had never been seen before, and especially the straightforward declaration of allegiance at the end, all of these things seemed to make Zhu Wen, this wild boar, feel like he had eaten some fine bran. He would then recall the elite imperial guards he had seen before. What were those things?
So at that moment, Zhu Wen looked at Xiao Yan kneeling on one knee in front of the queue, and he finally seemed to have a change of heart and vaguely remembered something.

This former Tang surrendered minister, who seemed to be particularly elegant, seemed to have just come to Liang and offered a good plan to conquer Yan. Then, despite the pressure of everyone's pessimism, he rushed into Hebei to fight. With only 800 cavalry, he captured cities along the way and defeated Li Cunxu who wanted to take advantage of the situation. In order not to weaken the prestige of his Liang, he even fought outside the border for more than two months and fought for thousands of miles, making the royal family of Mobei recognize his reputation as the emperor of the Central Plains.

Even thinking back, this young man had almost no support and backing in the court. Even Zhu Youzhen, who was rumored to be his backer, did not say a few words at the critical moment. All these achievements were solely won by him relying on 800 cavalrymen. Yet, he had to endure endless attacks from the court. If Jing Xiang had not privately protected this boy, he, the emperor, would have planned to deal with this talented general coldly. If Xiao Yan showed any sign of disloyalty, he would immediately make him a victim of the party struggles in the court.

The word "loyal minister" was truly tailor-made for Xiao Yan. Thinking about it at this moment, Zhu Wen even felt ashamed for a moment as if his conscience had awakened.

Obviously, he was such a talented general, but in order to offset the criticism from the court, he could only go to great lengths to show his loyalty to him in order to protect himself. Looking at his haggard appearance, it was obvious that he was worried all the way back to the capital...

For such a talent with a shallow foundation, even if he really has any selfish motives, it is probably nothing more than to please the king in order to gain wealth and honor. Besides, even if he is really valued, it will take at least ten years for him to build up a power under his nose.
Moreover, Xiao Yan had offended many people in the court, and he had taken too much credit alone, and he had blocked too many people from ascending to power. He was naturally in opposition to the other generals. Apart from his emperor and father, who else could he serve?
Unless you go to Li Keyong, the one-eyed man!
When Zhu Wen thought of this, he couldn't help but glare at the Ghost King with disgust, but he was the superior after all, and at this time he reacted. Even if he really wanted to suppress the Ghost King and promote Xiao Yan, he couldn't act as he pleased, otherwise the balance in the court would be broken and Xiao Yan would easily become complacent.

I need to go down and have a good discussion with Jing Xiang and other think tanks before I can make a decision.

So immediately, he waved his hand and rewarded Xiao Yan with a large amount of gold and silver, and then rewarded all the members of the Guide Army with two strings of copper coins and five kilograms of imperial wine. In addition, he also ordered on the spot that since all the members of the Guide Army were men from the north, they would be given a half-month leave to stroll around the city of Bianjing. After the expansion of the camp outside the city was completed, they would officially move into the Forbidden Army camp and become part of the Forbidden Army.

Regardless of what the arrangement was, it marked that Xiao Yan had officially become a general of the imperial guards, a senior general who could be at the forefront of the entire Daliang, and the Guide Army had also initially gained a foothold in Bianliang.

At least, he wouldn't have to fear any tricks used by the Ghost King and the Hades, and he would be able to slowly fend off their frame-ups, or even fight back, in the future.

So of course Xiao Yan just expressed his gratitude with tears in his eyes. It was obvious that his great injustice had been redressed and his loyalty and bravery had met a wise and enlightened king.

Not to mention that the Guide Army immediately turned to leave the Imperial Street, the court officials on the Drum and Horn Gate had all kinds of thoughts in their minds. This mighty aura still lingered in the hearts of everyone present, especially after seeing the appearance of the Guide Army with their own eyes, how could they not know that Xiao Yan would definitely be reused?
Wars are frequent in the world, and a warrior's promotion is achieved through continuous military merit. Xiao Yan's ability, as long as it is not a flash in the pan, will inevitably be active on various battlefields in the future. The military merits he can obtain are unimaginable. He is bound to be a "quasi-county prince"...

And after such a grand scene, with the Guide Army arriving at the Gujiao Gate, the victory tribute event seemed to have come to an end. Although the Longhu Army and the Shenwu Army came into the city to pay tribute one after another, the expectations of the people and officials at this time had been exhausted by the momentum of the Guide Army, and they no longer wanted to watch the subsequent victory tribute scene.

Most of them naturally knew what the real Bianliang Imperial Guards looked like. After all, every time the army went out to fight and returned, they would not avoid the people in the city, so as to show off their power. It can be said that the Imperial Guards were also a strong army, but their aura was definitely far inferior to that of the Guide Army, and it was even more impossible for them to have that neat and unified military appearance.

However, despite this, there were still some people who continued to stay and wait, but as expected, the situation was much worse than that of the Guide Army in front, so under the huge gap, the people waiting behind finally couldn't stand the heat and almost dispersed.

So the Ghost King tried his best to suppress Xiao Yan, but in the end, he shot himself in the foot. Not to mention other things, just the military supplies and equipment he spent on the Dragon and Tiger Army and the Shenwu Army would be difficult to take back by force without spending some effort.

Not to mention, he also had to face the wrath of the Hades. The gains and losses were nothing but blood loss...

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The truly significant aspects of this grand ceremony should have been the two things of comforting the Imperial Ancestral Temple and offering sacrifices in the suburbs, but the only thing that aroused the enthusiasm was the scene of the Guide Army's victory. Even though several days had passed, the topic of discussion in the market would probably not change easily, and even after half a month or a month, this topic would still be relevant.

However, for those who are interested, the importance of the Guide Army's victory is far less than that of Xiao Yan.

For example, a serious middle-aged man who traveled all the way from Shu.

He was dressed in a simple robe, with a faint smell of herbs on his body. It was not obvious, but it added a sense of steadiness to his temperament.

As a person who came from afar, especially a middle-aged man who looked very poor, he did not have enough money to go to the high-end street-side taverns where the price for an entry was dozens of strings of coins, not to mention the Anle Pavilion where the price had been getting higher and higher recently.

But even so, he was kneeling openly at the street-facing dining table on the second floor of Anle Pavilion, and there was an ordinary sunshade hat and a bag next to the table.

A few days ago, during the victory ceremony, he was here drinking tea while silently watching the young man who attracted the attention of 10,000 people. But today, of course, there was no victory ceremony, and it was obvious that he was waiting for someone.

"You really don't mind the heat. You drink hot tea in this hot weather. Come, drink this. It will make you feel refreshed." A hand that was whiter than his head reached out from the side, first patted the middle-aged man's shoulder, and then brought a bowl of light brown cold drink and placed it steadily on the table.

As Shangguan Yunque heard the voice, he lifted his hair and sat casually opposite the middle-aged man. He pointed at the cup of cold drink and said, "You haven't tried the new style of herbal tea, right? Actually, it has something to do with those herbs of yours."

The latter did not accept the good intention, but just quietly watched the lingering tea aroma and said: "As the saying goes, a calm mind naturally cools down. Brother Shangguan is a martial artist, so he should not be afraid of heat."

"Cool it down, why do you have to suffer this when you can just cool down? Isn't internal energy used to cool down internal energy?" Shangguan Yunque rolled his eyes, and then reached out his hand, snatched the teacup in front of the middle-aged man, and said smugly, "Try it."

The middle-aged man was not annoyed, he just smiled, then took a sip of the bowl of herbal tea slowly, then closed his eyes to savor it, and then opened his eyes in surprise, as if something was strange.

"Ha, it tastes unique, right?" Shangguan Yunque covered his mouth and laughed: "I was wondering why you always had a stern face, and you took a Taoist name all these years, and you really couldn't come out to practice Taoism on Qingcheng Mountain, but you can actually come down the mountain to the Central Plains?"

The middle-aged man in front of him, with a serious temperament and integrity, must be Yang Shuzi who came all the way from Jianlu in Qingcheng Mountain to Central Plains. With Shangguan Yunque around, it is not difficult to explain why he was able to enter the Anle Pavilion with an astonishingly high price.

But at this moment, Yang Shuzi pondered for a moment, then took out a small box with a small lock from the bag beside him and said, "Any news about the matter I asked Brother Shangguan to do?"

Shangguan Yunque stared at the small box and was stunned for a moment. It was obvious that the style of this thing looked familiar to him.

After thinking for a while, he put down the fingers that had been fiddling with his hair, then leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice: "To be honest, in the past in the palace, Lin Shengshou and I had some friendship. Now that he has unfortunately passed away, it is a relief. Don't let this ..."

"That's not what I meant." Yang Shuzi waved his hand, then used his inner strength to isolate himself from the people around him, and then he said, "In the past, Emperor Xizong fled to Shuzhong, and I retired to Qingcheng Mountain. At that time, I said goodbye to Brother Lin. He was loyal to the Tang Dynasty, but I only cared about myself. I knew that we might never meet again in this life. Life and death are nothing to me."

Shangguan Yunque heaved a sigh of relief, and then continued to look around vigilantly, and then said: "Lin Shengshou did die in Caozhou, which is related to the case of the abduction and dethronement of the emperor two years ago, but the place of burial is indeed unknown. The people in the Yanzhou branch are all Xiao Lang... uh, Tian Anxing's confidants. I can't ask around, but I heard from a few eighth-generation bad people that the body of the previous generation of Tian Anxing, that is, Xiao Yan's father, was buried in Yanzhou by Xiao Yan himself."

After saying that, he thought about it again, and then frowned and said, "But the body of Lin Shengshou seems to be related to the Dark Sky Star, but if you really want to find out, I'm afraid he is the only one who knows... By the way, why are you looking for his body?"

"I came down the mountain this time to visit my old friend. But after I came down the mountain, I found out that he had passed away..." Yang Shuzi stroked his short beard, pondered for a moment, and shook his head: "I was looking for the body, but I just wanted to offer a glass of wine to comfort myself."

Shangguan Yunque couldn't help but sigh, feeling that the world is unpredictable.

But immediately, he sighed and said, "If you really want to know, you can just ask Tian Anxing directly, but then you will have to meet him in advance. But considering that you said before that you would meet Lin Shengshou first and then Tian Anxing, I didn't ask him any more questions."

"Now is not the time." Yang Shuzi was silent for a moment, but just shook his head: "If there is any more news, let me know."

"alright."

Shangguan Yunque did not doubt him, but pointed at the small box and asked, "Oh, if I remember correctly, this small box should be a standard item in the palace. What's in it that you need to carry with you?"

"I need you to deliver this item to Tian Anxing for me."

"Me?" Shangguan Yunque asked in surprise, "Why don't you give it to me yourself?"

"It's not the time." Yang Shuzi still shook his head.

"Okay." Shangguan Yunque scratched the back of his head and accepted the small box, but he was cautious and said, "This thing, shouldn't be dangerous, right?"

Yang Shuzi did not answer, but picked up the bag and hat and stood up.

"If Tian Anxing asks, just say that this item is an old item that Brother Nai Lin kept for him, and it just came into my hands by chance. Now, it is returned to its original owner."

“Hey, you should explain it clearly… You’re going back now?” Shangguan Yunque was confused and got up to chase after him: “How about you go and see Tian Anxing? He’s upstairs now.”

"Just upstairs?" Yang Shuzi frowned and turned around.

"Oh, I was afraid you wouldn't come, so I didn't tell you." Shangguan Yunque laughed, pointed to the top of his head, and whispered: "There are people from Qi Kingdom above... King Qi."

"King Qi?"

Yang Shuzi narrowed his eyes, but stood there thinking silently for a long time. It seemed that after he made up his mind, he suddenly took the small box.

"Take me up."

(End of this chapter)