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Note that extras translated will not be in the order by which they were posted by pi.

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In the tenth year of Long An, without waiting for his formal ascension to the throne, the new emperor personally saw to the battlefields of Liangjiang. Afterward, the Dong Ying turned their spear to their own ally, Jiangnan achieved great victory.

At this time, the overall situation had been determined. Even if the pope had extraordinary abilities, he could no longer turn things around.

Thus, Gu Yun finally hung his seal.

In fact, when he was in Liangjiang camp, Gu Yun thought he was still very healthy — He did not break his arm or leg, his complexion was not pale, he was still as handsome as ever. Although his entire body was fixed with steel plates, he had been accompanied by brother steel plates for many years, they have long been as close as ones own arms and legs! After the defeat of the Western army, he thought that between his condition and being able to ride out on the battlefield was only a short distance.

After handing over all tasks to Shen Yi, Gu Yun finally unloaded the steel armor in his mind and fell asleep in the marshal tent. Living his life in a state of ready from morning until night for many years, this sleep was truly a good one. There was no dream, it was as if he could sleep to death

In a haze, he first detected a faint voice, but he could not hear it clearly. Then someone placed a hand on his face, the fingers were cool, there was the familiar tranquilizer fragrance coming from the sleeve.

Chang Geng. As he thought so, the tensed strings of consciousness loosened immediately, his mind began to sink again.

Three days. Chang Geng raised his head, but his complexion was not very good, his lips were dried, he appeared even more tired than when flying to Liangjiang battlefield without resting. He asked Miss Chen in a very quiet voice, How come he still hasnt woken up yet?

Chen Qing Xu handed him a bowl of water. Chang Geng took it, but he only tasted it to test the temperature, then used a small spoon and carefully fed it to Gu Yun.

The Marquiss medicine has sleeping aid ingredients, but its probably not all about the strength of the medicine. In recent years, he has been too exhausted. Once his mind is relaxed, all his tiredness will be unleashed with it. Miss Chen said, And Your Majestys body also carries the scent of tranquilizer…

The sourc of this content is frewbovel.cm.

Chang Geng had the tranquilizer with him years round, his body had soon soaked with the scent. Hearing this, he immediately took off the sachet of tranquilizer and left it aside. He asked anxiously, it has something to do with the tranquilizer? By the way, I have been meaning to ask you this long time, he seems to be very sensitive to Miss Chens tranquilizer. He would sleep heavily after inhaling only a little bit. This medicine should be very mild, logically, there should be no reaction, or was it because…

Because his condition was already very bad?

Chen Qing Xu said, Your Majesty, its not a bad thing to sleep heavily.

I know, just…

In fact, people like the Marquis, who grew up soaking in medicine, are less sensitive than ordinary people. Ive heard that some years ago, the Marquis was attacked by assassins in the hot spring villa in the northern suburb. The assassins gave him the type of drug enough to take down two or three strong men, but he was just paralyzed for a moment. Chen Qing Xu said in a slow voice, Your Majesty, this is still the case with a strong drug, let alone a package of tranquilizing powder? The kind of medicine that can make him sleep deeply without waking up, was probably…

Probably what?

Chang Geng looked at her in confusion.

Chen Qing Xu was someone from the pugilist world, but she was still a lady that had not married yet, she felt it was not convenient for her to say the latter part, thus she smiled with a bit of embarrassment, paid courtesy to him and turned away to leave.

At the beginning, Chang Geng did not understand what she was embarrassed about. He bowed his head and continued to feed Gu Yun the water. Suddenly, an idea flashed across his heart and halted Chang Gengs hand—

Its not the medicine itself that can make him sleep deeply, then is it the scent?

It is because of the person carrying the scent… It is because of me?

Chang Geng was in a daze for a long time, then put down the water bowl lightly. He felt that there was a small pool of water in his heart, with small waves continuing to roll back and forth. He couldnt help but pick up Gu Yuns hands and gently caressed the callous on the mans fingertips. He sighed and intertwined his fingers with the others, not wanting to let go…

At this time, the whole space vibrated, followed by a loud echoing noise, as if a giant animal had sighed.

The muffled rumbling sound was so loud, causing even Gu Yun, a half deaf, to wake up. His mind was still not removed from the battlefield, his body had not fully awakened yet his heart was shocked first.

Gu Yun suddenly opened his eyes, the dazzling white light caused them to ache. He subconsciously pulled Chang Geng into his arms by instinct then searched around for his Wind Slasher at the head of the bed — but his hand only found an empty space.

Where is my Wind Slasher?

My armor?

Even if the liuli glass was not there, he could realize that this place did not seem to be the marshal tent of Liangjiang camp. It was void of the scent of cold iron and sweat brought by the generals moving in and out of the tent. There seemed to be an incense burner at the head of the bed, emitting a faint fragrance. The mattress under the body was so soft it could melt human bones, and outside the window…

A vast of white?

In the middle of spring in March, there is snow in Jiangnan?

Or had he become more blind?

At this time, the man who was protected by him gently turned his face, kissed him at the corner of his eye, and placed the liuli glass on the bridge of his nose.

Gu Yuns field of vision became clear. Then, with the buzzing noise, the room shook again. The white fog like a sea of clouds rose outside the window. It surged heavily for a moment, then slowly spread out, revealing the early spring scenery in the north.

On both sides there are two lines of iron puppets and guards, the first one seemed to be the leader of the Imperial Army.

Chang Geng: The capital is here, Zi Xi, we are home.

Gu Yun clearly remembered that he was in the marshal tent of Liangjiang camp. How come he only closed his eyes for a moment, when he next opened them, he had already arrived at the capital?

He was confused, showing the most confused expression in his life: Ah?

Half a month later, the steam rail car running through the north and south was officially put into use.

According to historical records, the earliest steam train burned Ziliujin, thus they were only for military use. Several years after the war, Ling Shu Institute had rebuilt it again and again, reducing energy consumption, and finally began to open the lines for civilian use.

But the history books did not write that the first train trip of Great Liang was used to secretly steal away Marshal to the capital.

Alas, history books always missed the important point.

Later, though Chang Geng was rid of the Bone of Impurity completely, he always prepared several packages of tranquilizer powder. People in and out of the imperial court followed the emperors step in health care practices. Cherishing life also became a new trend in the court. In their down time, people would sit together and exchange ideas on how to replenish qi, nourish blood and calm the mind. Medicinal diet became an independent cuisine and was very popular in the imperial capital during this era.

Miss Chen once accompanied General Shen back to the capital to see Chang Geng, and sensed the faint herbal scent still lingering around the emperor. Over the years, she had forgotten the talk on the steam rail car. She expressed towards the emperor in confusion, the Bone of Impurity had really been eradicated, Your Majesty no longer have to be so careful any more. It was a bit embarrassing for her.

Chang Geng laughed but did not speak.

Gu Yun no longer stationed in the border areas in his middle-age, except for routine inspection of military affairs in the four borders, he spent most of his time in the capital. After all, life in the capital was easy, there was also someone to take good care of him in his own house. After a long time, it had also given birth to a few mundane problems, such as how once in a while, when he got to a strange new place, he would be unable to sleep for a night or two.

However, as long as a pack of tranquilizer was placed at the head of the bed, he would sleep deeply regardless of what place it was.

Chapter 128

Gu Yun was at a loss for words. He wanted to open his arms to hug him, but the other did not budge even after pulling twice, he had to sit aside quietly and not say a word, waiting for Chang Geng to cry out all the grievances that accumulated for more than ten years.

However, it seemed that the new emperors luck was not so good. He couldnt even cry to his hearts content. Before he was even exhausted, there was a blast outside causing the whole tent to shake violently.

Then came the sharp cry of huge Eagle wings across the sky from far to near. Chang Geng only had time to turn his back. An Eagle Armor herald rushed in: Marshal, the iron fence is broken, and the Westerners had entered the encirclement!

Gu Yuns fingertip was still stained with Chang Gengs tears. He quietly tightened his hand and nodded calmly, I know. Hold them down as planned.

The heralds toes touched the ground only for a moment, he turned and flew away again.

Only now did Chang Geng turn to look at him. The tears on his face were still wet, appearing very pitiful. Gu Yun could not bear this expression the most. He was disarmed on the spot and softly coaxed: Chang Geng, come here, Ill wipe your tears.

Chang Geng: Where are your sweet words?

Gu Yun sighed quietly and lowered his voice a little: Darling come here, I will lick your tears clean.

Chang Geng: …

He was momentarily unable to let out a word from anger.

However, as he was stupefied for a second, Gu Yun had struggled to get up by the bedside. He could hardly bear the strength on his waist. When he got up, the steel plate between his legs hit the edge of the small bed heavily. His neck tendon raised abruptly from the bandage at the neckline. His messy hair spread across his shoulder and through the long chain of the liuli glass.

Chang Geng: What are you doing!

He stepped forward, trying to reach out and hold Gu Yun down, unexpectedly, Gu Yun took this chance and held him in his arms.

After Gu Yun made this move, cold sweat began to break out on his forehead. Most of his body weight was placed on Chang Gengs body. He was short of breath, the steel plate that pressed on him was hindering in between the two. He sighed, closing his eyes gently, stroking Chang Gengs tense back, and whispered, Let me hug you, I miss you so much. Then whether you want to scold me or fight me afterward, I wont fight back, alright?

Chang Geng had just calmed down a bit, his nose began to sting again, he grabbed Gu Yuns waist uncontrollably, feeling that the access part of the belt was not simply from missing the part in the letter: I……

As soon as he said a word, his voice was drowned in frenzied cannon fire and was interrupted again.

Gu Yun slightly turned his head, kissed his face, then actually kept to his words and followed his tears all the way down, finally stopped on the lips with a little taste of tears. Chang Gengs lips were shaking all the while, not knowing whether it was from pain or anger or excitement. Gu Yun stopped for a moment, the tip of his tongue parted his lips.

Chang Gengs hands holding his waist suddenly tightened

…Its a pity that he hadnt tasted the sweetness yet when theres another loud Eagle sound outside that even a half-deaf could hear.

Chang Geng: …

Can they cut it!

The two armies are facing off, so many elite generals and a whole new generation of generals of Great Liang are gathered in this war. Do these bastards have to come to the marshal tent to ask for instructions for every single thing?

In this situation, was there anything wrong with His Majesty not considering he was in the middle of blazing artillery, crying and acting spoiled at the commander of four sides?

The Black Eagle rushed in: Marshal, seeing that the situation is not right, the Westerners are getting ready to escape! General Shen stopped the enemys main ship with the sea cuttles. General He asked when a large number of Black Eagles could move out.

Gu Yun lightly wiped the corner of his lips: Wait a moment, wait for their main ship to release the killing move.

The Black Eagle responded hurriedly, then turned around and roared away.

The two exchanged glances at each other awkwardly. Chang Gengs heartbeat still had not calmed down. He had no choice but to let out a bitter smile.

New novel hapters are published on reewebovel.com.

He half-supported and half-held Gu Yun to place him on the bed, pulled the blanket and covered him. He took a small piece of cloth material that Gu Yun sent him from his arm along with a needle and thread from his pouch. The color of the thread matched with the blue cloth, it seemed he was well prepared before coming. He pulled Gu Yuns belt and turned it over carefully. As expected, one end of it was crudely removed, and the threads were ragged.

Chang Geng said helplessly, Does Marshal walk around in this kind of rags every day?

No, Gu Yun narrowed his eyes and carefully read his lips. He said with a low laugh, I happened to wear this one today. Our spirits are perhaps connected when I was dreaming, I knew that Your Majesty will come to sew the clothing for me personally today.

Chang Gengs hand moved, but before he looked up at Gu Yuns expression, a hand fell on his face, his fingers slid gently down his jaw toward the root of his ear: Did you suffer?

Chang Geng blinked his eyes quickly. He felt that the pain just now was too intense, the dams in his eyes might break today. The man only said three words yet his tears almost poured out again: Then, are you in pain?

He thought that Gu Yun wouldnt answer, but after a moment of silence, Gu Yun said frankly, It was so painful that I often cant sleep.

Chang Gengs hands trembled, the needle pricked his finger.

Gu Yun said again, Still not as painful as seeing you cry. Dont cry anymore in the future, yifu can have a nightmare all his life.

Chang Geng: …

Since he was a child, he could not tell which words of his were the sincere words from the heart and which were used to coax him, so he had to take them all as sincere words, his whole body was softened by just a few words.

Gu Yun: Most of the Bone of Impurity has gone away, hasn it? Miss Chen has taken good care of you there will be no accident in this battle. The enemy will move out into our ambush. Once they enter the ambush, there will be a large number of sea cuttle directed at their main ship. The main ship has a fatal weakness, that is, when it is in crisis, its maneuverability cannot keep up with it. When the pope is pushed to the extreme, it will…

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by a roar that could shake mountains. Although Gu Yun couldnt hear it clearly, he felt the vibration of his bed. Gu Yun slowly smiled. He waited for a moment, the tremor subsided gradually. He continued: He would move all the heavy guns hidden under the tortoiseshell of his main ship out and try to breakthrough. A large number of Ziliujin and ammunition are carried on the Western main ship. However, when facing the battle, they seldom show their true appearance. We have analyzed them from many angles for a long time. It is speculated that the first reason is that they cannot afford to be consumed, and the second reason is that once the main ship is put into the battle, it is incapable of taking care of the attached sea Jiao warships immediately

A Black Eagle fell down and presented the third battle report: Marshal, there really is a problem with the Western main ship. General Shen has taken advantage of the chaos to encircle it. Just then, in the chaos, the Western naval forces lost their order and nearly half of them sank! Black Eagles are ready to pursue…

Before he finished speaking, an almost deafening Eagle sound came across the sky. It was the sound of tens of thousands of aerial killers raising their wings in the wind.

Gu Yun turned to Chang Geng: Your Majesty, do you want to have a look… at how our army recovers Jiangnan?

When he made a detailed analysis of all these things, it seemed that he was no longer only a wounded man who could only lie on the bed, but the general who broke into the rebel army of Wei Wang, who fought against the bandits in the southwest, who brought peace to the northwest, and who laid out his formation to retake Jiangnan.

Chang Geng replied with a serious expression, My generals words carry great weight, ever-victorious.

There was a Red Kite with a high level of defense in Liangjiang garrison. Chang Geng supported Gu Yun to move up to it. The Red Kite rose slowly from the marshal tent, one could see the whole battlefield when pointing the Qian Li Yan downwards the blue sea with raising waves, the iron ships resembling dragons, crossing into the sea, everywhere was fire and smoke

After fighting for more than two hours, in the end, the Westerners could no longer sustain. The main ship with countless holes gathered the scattered warships and rushed to the direction of the Dong Ying Sea in a panic.

Three rows of Great Liang Navy chased after them like mad, determined not to let them escape, disregarding the rumor that Great Liang Navy cannot fight on the open sea. Tailing them for an entire night, they bravely broke into the sea area of Dong Ying.

Controlling the situation until this point, Gu Yun lifted his lips in a smile.

Dong Ying would be the Western Armys last grave.

As the Western troops retreated, they sent four signals of request for support to Dong Ying. All of them resembled rocks that sunk into the sea. After they were chased into the Dong Ying Sea by the Great Liang Navy, the Westerners were shocked to find a group of Dong Ying warships standing in front of them in ready These were the ships they had brought over and given to Dong Ying!

The two sides quickly approached each other, the Westerners madly signaled to the point of almost dropping the flag into the water. The friendly army did not react, only a hoarse and long trumpet order was sounded in response

The Dong Ying warships muzzles were aimed at the ally who they had been strongly supporting in the past.

Boom

A blood-red sunset on the sea seemed to be the period signaling the end of a turbulent era as the dust settled.

When the fireworks exploded at the far sea, Gu Yun smiled softly. He had been enduring to closely follow this journey. At this time, his body could no longer hold on, he was so exhausted that he could fall asleep as soon as his head touches a pillow.

But Chang Geng suddenly leaned down, pulled his chin towards him and asked, You said before that you have a personal wish that could not be written down in your last letter, and that you will tell me next time. What is it?

Gu Yun laughed.

What is it? Chang Geng pressed on.

Gu Yun pulled him closer, placed his lips next to his ear, and whispered: Give you…all of my life until the end.1

Chang Geng took a sharp inhale of breath, slowly calming down after a long moment: It is you who said this, the generals words carry great weight…

Gu Yun continued his words: Ever-victorious.

In the 10th year of Long An, on the fourth day of March, from the time of mutual exploration and decisive battle to when the Dong Ying turned sides at the last moment, the Western Navy, which had been occupying the entire Eastern Sea for several years, was defeated.

Gu Yun completed his mission and was forced by the new emperor to return to the capital for recuperation.

Sixteen days later, the railway line was officially connected, and the great lifeline running through the north and south was completed. A large number of steel armors, fire engines, and Ziliujin, were able to be transported to the south at the fastest time. The Liangjiang garrison quickly established a naval base. The army was dispatched by Shen Yi, sweeping the Westerners garrison occupying half the nation in the south.

Without strong naval forces and domestic support, the Western garrison resembled leaves to be swept away by the autumn wind. The fragile frontline collapsed for thousands of miles.

The battle on land lasted only two months. At the beginning of May that year, the Western allied forces formally surrendered and a large number of captives were detained in Great Liang, including the pope himself.

To preserve their dignity, the Holy Land was forced to send people to negotiate. It ended with a compensation agreement: one side released the people, one side handed over the payment.

At this point, the dark cloud that loomed over the southern half of the nation was lifted. Year after year, there would come a day when Jiangnan will bask in the scent of osmanthus fragrance.

It was said that the pope died on his way back to his home country. No one knew whether he died naturally or was assassinated but it no longer mattered.

Li Min, the former Yan Qin Wang, formally ascended the throne and was to be changed to Tai Shi* the next year.

*Ancient times refer to the era when the world was opened up and everything began to form.

At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, the new emperor immediately granted a decree that the children of the former emperor would not have to move out of the palace, nor would there be a change to the previously established crown prince, nor would he retract military power.

The Black Tiger Emblem would still be in the hands of Gu Yun, guarding the capital alongside him and could mobilize the power of the four regions at any time.

At the same time, the three factions of the former Black Iron Camp were scattered and incorporated into garrisons everywhere, a generation of brave generals who grew up in the smoke took over the instructions of the people who walked before them, standing tall guarding the four sides.

In the eighteen years of his reign, Emperor Tai Shi always regarded himself as the acting emperor and issued a series of constitution starting from the acting emperor himself down to all the officials of civil and military, a set of system to limit power and responsibility, everyone was to be treated equally, the goal was for each person to reflect on themselves at all times.

A vigorous reform pushed thousands of years of depression and thick fog casting over the nation away.

The end of one era was always the starting point of another.

11

The author has something to say:

The end of the main story.2

Thank you for your support.

Chapter 127

I hate you. Chang Geng said, I hate you to death, Gu Zi Xi.

When will the Eagle be ready? Chang Geng asked while suppressing his anxiety and anger as much as possible.

The commander of the Northern Camp, who accompanied him, said in a low voice, Your Majesty, please take a moment to calm down. It will be done soon.

Dont call Your Majesty. That title is unjustified and undeserved. Chang Geng pushed the flattery words aside, after saying this, he was also aware of his own restlessness. He took a deep breath and grabbed his sleeve as if seeking comfort.

He had a piece of cloth in his sleeve. There was no telling whether it was from tearing by hand or by cutting. It appeared as if a dog was gnawing it, Gu Yun placed it in the home letter for him. At first glance, one could not tell what it was. Gu Yun claimed in the letter that this was a part of a belt he didnt need. What he lost was a years worth of longing. Waiting until it was fulfilled in the future, he would ask him to help sew it back. He also said that he had one wish that he could not write in this letter and will let him know in the next.

The imperial edict of the former emperor has been issued, the rest are only formalities. Why should Your Majesty have to be so rigid about it? The commander interrupted his thoughts, quite different from Tan Hong Fei, the current commander of the Northern Camp was excellent in both handling affairs and socializing, he sneaked a glance at the new emperors expression and said, Your Majesty, think about it: Marshal Gu has already cut off the supply line of the Westerners, their counter-attack is only the last effort. With Marshal in charge, why should Your Majesty worry?

Chang Geng didnt answer. He knew that although Liu Zhong and Lin Yuan had sent back the false news about the success of the Foreign Affairs Mission, it must have been reviewed and acquiesced to by Gu Yun, then closed the Liangjiang camp later just to lure the enemy to invade. He calmed down to think about it carefully. This time, Gu Yun borrowed the east wind from the aristocratic familiess rebel in the capital city, and brought the Westerners down at the same time. This war was enough to be recorded in history. Theres really nothing to worry about.

The commander of the Northern Camp could understand about all these things, how could Chang Geng not understand them?

But his heart was burning with anxiety.

… Of course, perhaps the burning was not simply from anxiety, but from a long period of longing.

At this time, the people of the post station came to report that Eagle Armor was ready to go. As soon as Chang Geng got up, three letters from the Liangjiang garrison were sent one after another these were not for the capital city. Once the front line started to exchange fire, they would send an order to warn the surrounding military post stations and the local garrison to prepare for reinforcements or to raise their vigilance.

The first one was enemy invasion, the second one was major campaign, the third one was directly raised to the highest alert level, the enemy is in full swing, all forces facing against the enemy all within one incense time.

The commander panicked, he immediately advised: Your Majesty, the alarm level of the front line is too high. Please take a moment to wait for the news at the post station, and for the other side to become more stable…

Before he finished, Chang Geng stood up and said, Youre right. You stay.

Commander: …

At this time, all the people present in the frontline are in a state of high tension, no one knew that the new emperor was about to arrive unexpectedly.

It had been more than a month since Gu Yun was injured at sea. When he was guarding the capital, from being dug out of the corpse heap to being fixed in steel-plate and setting out northwest again, it was only a few days. Now it has only been two or three years, but these things have become the achievements of the past.

In the meantime, he had been in and out of consciousness for more than half a month and had lost a lot of weight. Later, Shen Yi said that at that time, his breathing was weak as if he was going to pass at any time. There was no telling what he had clung onto to last until the present. In the end, the danger came to pass, but it was still very hard for him to stand up. He had to save up strength for half a day to walk around the tent reluctantly. He did not dare to remove the steel plate on his body either, and his heart ached after sitting for a long time.

Gu Yun had never been afraid of pain: because he was used to it, and he always thought that pain was a kind of self-protection of the body and was not a bad thing. This was the first time in his life that he learned the feeling of being emptied by pain.

Of course, there was also good news. The good news was that his eyes were slowly recovering. Yao Zhen sent someone to find an old folk craftsman to make a special glass mirror for him. After wearing it, he could barely see objects within one foot. For better or worse, he could communicate with others. The wound on the throat was not deep, it had healed, but his voice would become very hoarse once speaking too much.

Its a pity that he could not talk yet.

The Westerners were obviously risking their last life. The commander of the other side was the old pope who was equal to Gu Yun many times in naval battle. Although there was a group of hesitant Dong Ying people in the middle stirring the water and made vague contact with Great Liang in the early days, but if they wanted the Dong Ying people to fully take their side, Great Liangs navy must occupy an absolute advantage first and foremost otherwise, there was no telling who will be at the receiving end of Dong Yings stab.

From the time when the Dong Ying sent someone to give them a hint that the Westerners were preparing for the last fight, Gu Yun had not been able to have a whole night of sleep.

There were too many things in his heart and too much pain in his wound its mainly the pain in his wound. He often laid on the bed until dawn. Even if one soldier hadnt moved outside, he had fought hundreds of battles in his mind, wishing he could consider every possibility at once.

For this extremely dangerous endgame, Gu Yun transferred the entire three factions of Black Iron Camp to the northwest. He Rong Hui and the others intended to help the younger people, and also brought some young generals such as General Cai and the others together in order for them to gain more experience.

At this time, Shen Yi and Yao Zhen cooperated on the water, He Rong Hui and the real Black Eagles were in the air, the strongest group of armed forces honed by the entirety of Great Liang in the years of war and chaos were all in the battlefield of Jiangnan.

This time, there was more than Gu Yun in the commanders tent of the army, young General Cai and the old subordinates of the Black Iron Camp were also gathered here. The Eagles came and went, all war reports were presented and passed down at the highest speed.

The Westerners first tried to encircle the harbor with heavy artillery, trying to catch them by surprise at the time of the internal chaos in the Liangjiang Camp. Under the panic, they were indeed defeated, so they had to set up the iron fence and resist passively.

The iron fence had just been reinforced recently, its defense was incredible. A group of pioneers hid behind them to snipe whenever the enemy was careless, causing the Westerners to waste their own artillery.

The ambush was quickly arranged. Yao Zhen was already on the warship. Shen Yi and He Rong Hui were ready to stand by at any time after finishing the whole assembly. The news of the emperors death came from the orderly exchange of war reports and orders.

This white and green urgent letter stood out clearly in a pile of war reports. At first, hearing that it was the courts business, they left it unattended. After the formation had been laid out, the Westerners temporarily rested their artillery, young General Cai happily took the letter tube.

Shen Yi had gone out. Xiao Cai helped Gu Yun open it and asked curiously, Marshal, green mark indicates an important letter of the court. What does a white mark mean?

Gu Yun has been holding on for half a day, all his energy was exhausted. He pressed his forehead hard and asked at the same time: …What?

Xiao Cai glanced at his unsightly complexion and dared not disturb him anymore. He quickly pulled a blanket over Gu Yun and helped him to lie down. Take a rest first. Ill call you if there is something.

With that, the young man stepped back to one side, quietly taking apart the tube, intending to put it into the pile of to be discussed later, waiting to be dealt with after battle.

However, he was stunned after one glance. After all, the little general was only in his twenties. He had always been a vanguard running on the frontline under his fathers command. He had never faced the changes in the imperial court directly. He was momentarily dumbfounded.

He Rong Hui was washing his face while commanding the guard to prepare an Eagle Armor for him. Looking back, he saw his stupefied appearance and asked, Dont stand there Xiao Cai. Get ready to follow me. What are you waiting for?

General Cai blinked hard and murmured: Brother He, they said…His Majesty had passed away…

After Gu Yun was seriously injured, in order to take care of him, they had made the marshals tent especially warm. He Rong Hui was very hot, he had to wash his face with cold water in the doorway every other time. He was bending forward, the water on his face would drip down his beard. Hearing this, he straightened up slowly and said: What?

The emperor died… Xiao Cai licked his lips at a loss. He hesitated for a moment, then gathered his courage to kneel beside Gu Yuns bed and carefully pulled Gu Yuns robe. He whispered, Marshal, Marshal.

He cant hear you if you call like that. He Rong Hui strode forward, dragged up Gu Yun, grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him a few times, shouting loudly like a gong, Marshal! Marshal! Wake up! Something major happened! That Emperor kid is dead! 10

Young General Cai: …

Gu Yun just had a little vague consciousness, woken up by his shaking, his expression confused.

He Rong Hui suddenly thought of something, He turned around and asked Xiao Cai, No, if he died then who is going to be the emperor? The…brat about this tall?

*T/N: Li Feng is the kid and the crown prince is the brat6

As he said this, he reached out his hand and made a comparison on his waist. His big fan-like hand pushed down with disrespect. The corners of his eyes were filled with disdain.

General Cai: Before His Majesty died, he had passed the throne to His Royal Highness Yan Wang.

Although He Rong Hui was rough and crude, he was not stupid. Hearing this, he was stunned on the spot and said in surprise, Didnt pass it on to his son but passed it to Yan Wang instead? It doesnt make sense. Did he take the wrong medicine?

Gu Yun watched their lips in a hurry. He finally understood what they were talking about. He woke up completely from fright, Show me!

The news in the marshals tent was interrupted for a short time because of this unexpected accident. Shen Yi who was getting ready and Cao Chun Hua who was dressed as Gu Yun, having not received any order for a while, seeing how it was quite strange, they sent someone to ask.

No one expected that the legendary new emperor had arrived in person before everyone could digest this news!

During the war, the garrison was heavily guarded. At first, the guards thought they had heard it wrong. Until the commander of the northern battalion took out the tiger emblem in the hands of the emperor, only then did a group of guards rushed to report the news. Chang Geng didnt wait for him but brought people inside directly. Before he could get to the marshals tent, he had seen Cao Chun Hua who was preparing to go to the warship.

Cao Chun Hua, with a face the same as Gu Yuns, suddenly bumped into Chang Geng. The two stared at each other with wide eyes. Reunited after a long time, Chang Gengs heart was beating like mad. Before he could breathe easily, he saw that Gu Yun seemed to be greatly frightened. His eyes shifted, he pulled the reins of the horse strongly, without saying anything, he turned around intending to run off.1

Chang Geng: …

After this action, Chang Geng could tell who it was even if he used his eyebrows to look. He was just about to open his mouth to scold the other, but as the words came to his lips, he was afraid of destroying some kind of secret deployment of Gu Yun. He rushed to catch up with him, grabbing Gu Yuns reins, stopping his horse, and squeezed two words out of his teeth: Xiao. Cao.1

Cao Chun Hua wanted to cry but had no tears, he lowered his head and looked at Chang Gengs expression of demanding payment of debts, and frantically rolled down from the horse.

At this time, he still has not heard the big news in the capital, he cried and whispered, Your Highness.

Chang Geng glared at him fiercely: I asked you to take care of him for me, yet you just obeyed his every word? Doing a hasty job time and time again!

Cao Chun Hua used Gu Yuns face to make a pained look filled with shamelessness. Chang Gengs stomach ached as he turned another way. He really didnt understand how this kid managed to sneak into the enemys line several times without being discovered.

While in action, there could still be moments when a general cannot obey the command, Cao Chun Hua whispered in his ear while leading Chang Geng, Without Marshals permission, I…I…I could not send any news even if I wanted to…

Chang Geng huffed angrily, it seemed that he had let it go this time and asked, What are you all playing this time? True and false Marshal?

Cao Chun Huas organs were flipping upside down, he hummed in response to cover it up. While dealing with Chang Geng, he sneaked a glance at Shen Yis side. He stalled Chang Geng on this side, while Shen Yi on the other end ran off to the tent. The two were luring the tiger away from the mountain in their own camp. One was delaying the enemy situation in a panic, the other rushed back to the Marshals Tent to deliver the news.9

Seeing that Shen Yi had turned around and rushed back to the tent, Cao Chun Hua finally heave a sigh of relief. However, before he could finish sighing, he suddenly heard Chang Geng saying, Who are you looking at?

Cao Chun Hua: …

Chang Geng felt more and more that something was wrong. He left Cao Chun Hua behind. Having spent more than a month in Liangjiang camp before, he could find the location of the marshals tent at a glance and made a stride for it.

Your Highness! Your Highness! Cao Chunhua grabbed Chang Gengs sleeve and swallowed his saliva with difficulty, Your Highness, you must…stay calm later.

At this time, Shen Yi Ran to Gu Yun in panic, as if he had been chased back by the Western pope on the sea monster: Zi Zi Zi Xi! 3

He Rong Hui asked with irritation: Brother Ji Ping, why are you so dejected?

Shen Yi could not be bothered with him. He charged towards Gu Yuns bedside, his breathing uneven: Your little Highness arrived, you you…

In the tent, people were still immersed in the shock of Yan Wang actually became emperor. For a while, they didnt know who Shen Yi referred to as little Highness. He Rong Hui and Xiao Cai stared at each other. Gu Yun slowly let Shen Yis lip language run by his mind once, then asked with astonishment, Chang Geng?11

Shen Yi nodded rapidly.

Gu Yun suddenly lost all color and almost jumped up, but with no strength, he could not manage to jump. As if he was caught red-handed by his wife for fooling around, his tongue was tied in a knot: Is there a place under the bed for me to hide? Dont block the way Old He, move aside, move aside, cough, cough… 22

Under an emergency, Gu Yuns wound on his throat that has not completely healed yet caused him to cough violently. Before he could finish coughing, a faint spring breeze came from the outside of the tent and brushed the back of the deaf and blind mans pale hand. Through the special liuli glass, Gu Yun faintly saw a tall silhouette standing at the entry.10

Gu Yun: …

Its over.18

For a while, the tent was dead silent. Gu Yun was simply frightened, while the others were startled from witnessing the new emperor in the letter standing in front of them.1

Only Shen Yi broke the silence with an off the wall remark: You cannot blame me for being slow.15

He Rong Hui had met Yan Wang who escorted the military ration before in the northwest, he was the first to respond in time, he opened his mouth, Your Majesty?

Everyone seemed to have awakened from a trance, wanting to greet him with a grand courtesy. Chang Gengs eyes didnt leave Gu Yun. He waved his hand stiffly and barely held on to his calm exterior. Last time I met you gentlemen, we still referred to each other as brothers. Theres no need.1

This ontent is taken from fгeewebnovl.co.

Shen Yi was in confusion, he looked at Chang Geng slowly walking closer, even politely nodding his head to him, then going past him and towards the bed, staring at Gu Yun until his eyes hurt as if being pinned by needles. But he still had to look.

Gu Yuns body was covered with steel plates in many places, and the bandages under his robe were still stained with blood. The exposed collarbone and wrists seemed to only have a layer of fragile skin wrapped around his bones and flesh. There was not even a ray of blood on his lips. The special liuli glass on his face had several layers of lenses, almost pasted on half of his face. The other eye was dazed and couldnt focus properly, yet he could still see the tension that was not easy to detect.1

Chang Geng, in full view of the public, slowly sat down beside Gu Yuns bed, pulled the blanket for him, glanced at the opened letter tube beside him, then told the commander of the Northern Camp who followed him into the tent, Take the Black Tiger Emblem, tell the Jiaos, Armors, Eagles, and other generals: as I* am here, advancing and retreating together with you gentlemen, you will certainly be invincible and victorious.1

*T/N: Chang Geng is using the pronoun emperors use to refer to themselves ^q^9

All the soldiers in the marshals tent kept silent for a while, then no one knew who was the one who started it, they exclaimed Long live the emperor! in unison.

The voice quickly spread out from the marshals tent and flew over the whole camp as if growing wings. For the first time in hundreds of years, two Tiger Emblems appeared at the same location, as if a sea gods staff* was pinned on the military flag soaring in the air, unshakable by neither waves or artillery. Even though the new emperor had not been officially crowned, he had been accepted by the generals of the four regions.3

*reference to the sea gods staff/Jingu Bang wielded by Sun Wukong in Journey to the West. Its inscription indicates that the staff follows the commands of its owner

When the Western cannons attacked the iron fence again, Gu Yun did not dare to delay any more. The generals rushed out quickly, each performed his own duties. They took orders and left one after another. The messenger retired to the outside of the tent. At last, only Gu Yun and Chang Geng were left inside.

At the last moment when all outsiders left, Gu Yun was at a loss for what to say. Chang Geng suddenly seemed as if his spine was robbed, his whole body swayed and almost collapsed. His chest heaved violently several times, he seemed to be in extreme pain and unable to breath at the same time. He covered his chest with one hand, gritted his teeth hard, his back tensed as if about to break.2

Gu Yun was frightened. He hurriedly propped up one arm and carefully pressed it on his back: Chang Geng, whats the matter?

Chang Geng pulled down his hand and clasped it in his palm in a panic. He was holding it desperately like a life-saving straw, continued to gasp for breath and unable to let out a word, the tendons on his temples became visible.

Raising him to this age, Gu Yun was never aware that he had any heart disease or asthma. He immediately called out: Military doctor, come…

The guard waiting at the door just poke his head in.

Chang Geng squeezed a few words out of his throat: Get out! Dont come in!

The guard did not understand, but he didnt dare to disobey the imperial order and hurriedly withdrew.

Gu Yun looked at him at a loss. Chang Gengs eyes were congested. His pupils seemed to be separated, but were put together again by a needle. He turned to Gu Yun slowly. Marshal Gu tried to ready himself for a scolding.

But after waiting for a long time, Chang Geng only asked slowly, If I came a little later, would I have not been able to see you again?16

Gu Yun: …

Im far away in the capital, listening to peoples exclaims and cheers, waiting for you to come back happily. I want to show you the steam rail line that will be connected soon. I want to talk to you about many things, I want to sew the torn clothing back for you. Then what? Chang Geng asked gently, grasping Gu Yuns hand and slowly tightening it. He looked down at Gu Yuns pale hand. Can I still wait for you?7

Gu Yun felt as if he had been pierced by a steel needle, he was instantly at a loss for words.

I hate you. Chang Geng said, I hate you to death, Gu Zi Xi.6

This sentence, from the first time Gu Yun left him behind in the Marquiss Manor, secretly running to the northwest by himself, had been suppressed in his heart accompanied by frequent attacks of Bone of Impurity.

Now, after a long and torturous treatment, most of the Bone of Impurity had been cured. No longer needing to suppress it, he finally said it aloud.2

Chang Geng suddenly collapsed, temporarily straying from the path of rather shed blood than shed tears he had chosen from childhood.

In the tent, His Majesty the new emperor who just now still vigorously said he will be beside the generals, sobbed aloud in pain.

On the first day of March in the tenth year of Long An, Li Feng, Emperor of Long An had died

The little crown prince was scared out of his wits in the chaos of battle. At a complete loss for what to do, he could only hold Chang Gengs hand tightly.

When the two armies were in disorder, all the civil and military officials fled, and the emperors chariot laid on the ground in complete disorder. But when the people were scattered, the target became concentrated the assassins who had deliberately stirred the water rushed towards Chang Geng and the crown prince together.

Before coming here, Lord Fang had instructed them, Yan Wang must be killed no matter what. If you have the chance, do not let the crown prince go either.

The assassins saw two of their targets were all together in the same place, especially convenient for them!

An arrow grazed over the crown princes head. The crown prince was carried around by Chang Geng like a puppy. He couldnt even cry out. He was so scared he could only choke in silence.

All of a sudden, someone reached out and wiped away the tears on his face. The crown prince saw his Fourth Uncle wipe his tears through his hazy eyes, his raised arm exposed a black iron wrist bracelet. A xiu zhong si popped out in an instant, breaking an assassins wrist. Yan Wang snatched the assassins blade, spun the hilt, and swiftly delivered a slash.

When I was your age, I was besieged by a group of hungry wolves outside the Northern Gate. Chang Gengs voice was very stable, At that time, there were no people anywhere. I had only a small knife with me, the kind that the countryside children play with it was not the common wolf that chased me, but the ones the Barbarians raised with their own method, especially used to kill people. They were very big, higher than me when standing up.

Yan Wang had always been famous for his outstanding demeanor. Whether it was his enemy or his friends, they all had to admit this. Unlike most of the high-ranking officials precious sons who grew up in the capital, he was not flashy, but different from the poor Han Lin sons or soldiers with military background. He was neither deprived nor ferocious. He appeared very calm, but not the kind of calmness of Master Liao Ran. He resembled a stone statue of a fierce god placed in a temple awe-inspiring and intimidating, lonesome and covered in ashes. Many people had secretly mimic the calm and elegant demeanor of Yan Wang. It was difficult for others to associate him with hungry wolves outside the pass.

The little crown prince was stunned.

At this time, two assassins rushed forward one by one, one of them slashed at the little crown prince in Chang Gengs arm, intending to force him to back down, the other blocking his retreat from behind.

Chang Geng gave a low sneer.

How could a child who grew up playing swords with the iron puppets of the Marquiss Manor retreat in front of such an opponent of this caliber?

Chang Geng lifted his blade horizontally to block the assassins sword. In a moment of fright, the assassin was unable to retract his sword, the sharp weapon in his hand flew away. He carelessly guarded himself with both arms but was cut in two by Yan Wang.

Chang Geng kept on flying forward three steps, using the momentum from turning around, he turned back and threw out the blade, scared the pursuer to step back and into the point of a spear from an imperial army soldier rushing up.

The little crown prince hadnt even seen the killing of chickens, let alone the killing of people? Immediately, he closed his eyes from fright. But even then, he was still hit with the nauseating scent of blood, he weakly called, Fourth Uncle…

Theres nothing to be afraid of. Chang Geng said faintly, Those who are really capable are either on the front line or are already dead. Those who are left behind are only cowards. Without the ability to fight the enemy, they can only scare the children. Are you still a child?

The crown prince thought with grievance, I am a child.

Chang Geng seemed to know what he was thinking, his lips were slightly bent upwards.

Still a child, he thought, But that will soon change.

At this time, the imperial army who rushed over with a spear shouted: Your Highness! His Highness the Crown Prince! This way!

The little crown prince instinctively wanted to run up to him, and was dragged back by Chang Gengs scabbard.

The crown princes staggering steps had yet stabilized, his face had been splattered with blood. The shouting man was split in two, and a Heavy Armor army rushed out of nowhere

At this time, Li Feng, who was being held tightly, finally found that the direction of the people escorting him was not to go to the palace, but to run to a place where there was no one. His heart jumped, an unbelievable idea arose in his head, he immediately turned around and questioned, What is going on? Subject Fang, where are you going to take me?

Fang Qin kept on walking, without kneeling and bowing, he said loud and clear, Your Majesty, I have something to say.

Li Feng could not believe this: What are you saying? Stop! I tell you to stop!

No one paid attention to him. Two fake guards, one on the left and one on the right, pulled up the emperors dragon body and forced him to walk.

Yan Wang Li Min, the current Qin Wang of the court, is the person I want to accuse, said Fang Qin, one word at a time. He colluded with unscrupulous merchants, in the name of Feng Huo tickets, he sold official ranks to the point of no shame. This is his first major crime. Born as a son, yet he has no sense of filial piety towards the first emperor, instead, he often sleeps in the Marquiss manor at night in order to win over the armys heart, continuing to call yifu even after receiving his title. This is the second major crime. His heart is that of an animal, not placing either the ruler nor his own father in his eyes…

If Li Feng still couldnt understand what was going on even now, his brain must have been soaked by water. He was both surprised and frightened, he immediately shouted: Fang Qin, what are you going to do?

Fang Qin said: Your Majesty, we have set up many ambushes, only waiting for that traitor to be killed. Although us officials are incompetent, we are willing to follow the example of our renowned predecessors, if the traitor cannot be controled, we swore to use our very lives to rid the rulers side of traitorous subjects!

Before his words were finished, all the members of his party immediately agreed in unison, Sworn to rid of traitorous subjects!

Li Feng was stunned and dumbfounded. When he cast his eyes around, everywhere is full of strange faces, surrounded by the false and ferocious imperial army in armor. The familiar faces in the court were now becoming more and more strange. Each of them seemed to be a demon in human skin, ready to rush at him any time with their fangs.

These were the emperors subjects.

Was it like this when Emperor Wu was in power?

Was it like this when former Emperor Yuan He was in power?

Li Feng knew that he could not compare with Emperor Wus life that was spent opening territories, but could he not even compare to his own father who he had always been secretly dissatisfied with?

He could not accept this in any case.

However, no matter how difficult it was for him to accept, this seems to be the truth, because during the reign of Yuan He, there were no foreign enemies surrounding the capital, nor waves of traitors trying to pull him down from the throne.

At that moment, Li Feng had no time to have too much anger or fear. He only felt a slap across his face. Since he ascended the throne, it has been more than three thousand days and nights, yet he never had a single peaceful sleep, exhausted himself night long. Now, it seemed that it was all in vain. Instead, wouldnt it be better for him to be a coward spending all day in the arms of women and lamenting?

He watched his self-esteem crack and wither to dust in front of these cold rebels.

Courageous…, Li Fengs entire body shook, You are all truly…truly courageous!

Fang Qin bowed his head and avoided meeting his eyes. At this point, Fang Qin knew he was no longer able to pretend to be a loyal and good minister: Your Majesty, forgive me. That Li Min is covering the sky with one hand, does not put the laws in his eyes, disrespecting his ancestors. We, officials, are concerned about the country, there is no other way, we can only resort to this lowly strategy, our crime worth a thousand deaths. However, at present, the traitors are rampant, his party and forces are all over the country, once Yan Wang dies, his people will cause trouble. Your Majesty please make a decision early and clean them up.

Li Feng clenched his teeth, You still want to threaten me?

Fang Qin knelt down on the ground without changing his face and said: I dare not. I know that Your Majesty is currently frightened and uncertain, thus I have prepared the decree in advance. Please have a look.

With that, someone immediately put forward an imperial edict with both hands. As expected, it was written in detail and covered all aspects, the only thing left was for it to be stamped by the jade seal.

Li Feng jerked away from the two men who were holding him. He stepped forward abruptly, grabbed the collar of the man holding the imperial edict with his hands, then gave a good shove

In his rage, Li Feng completely forgot his limping leg, which had never quite healed. Not standing firmly, the man he pushed was still, yet he had already tilted towards the side first.

In broad daylight, surrounded by a group of Great Liangs citizens, yet not a single one supported him. The real aristocratic nobles and the fake imperial guards, everyone watched on as the Son of Heaven fell to the ground in anger with disdain and indifference.

At this time, a man in guard uniform trotted all the way over, he must also be a fake. He looked at Li Feng first, then turned his head to the other side and said to Fang Qin, My Lord, the traitor had been killed!

Li Fengs legs were devoid of strength. He sat on the ground and forced out a few words from his teeth:What about the crown prince?

The fake guard first glanced at Fang Qin, with permission, he cautiously said to Li Feng, The crown prince… the assassins already…Ah, Your Majesty please endure this loss.

Li Fengs mind exploded.

His chest was ice cold. When he came back to his mind, he already coughed out a mouthful of blood. Li Feng sat on the ground and watched the thick and black blood flow down his fingertips. He wondered, How could I become this miserable?

Fang Qins face flickered with hesitation. He subconsciously extended his hand, seemingly wanted to help Li Feng, but still didnt touch him. His arm hung in the air, then was retracted. His hesitation faded like the tide. He said coldly: Your Majesty does not have only the crown prince. Even if the Third Prince is young, there is still the First Prince who is diligent, studious, intelligent, and kind. Please take care of your body and prioritize the important matters at present!

With that, he pulled the imperial edict in his underlings hands and brought it to Li Feng: Please have a look at it!

Li Feng slapped Fang Qins fake imperial edict aside: In your dreams!

Fang Qin silently wiped the part of his face hit by the fake imperial edict, kept the kneeling posture, leaned forward slightly, sighed softly, and said in a very gentle tone: Your Majesty, your dragon body is in our hands, even if there are hundreds outside…Even if the Northern Camp comes, no one will dare to make a move. Today, this imperial edict, you must sign it whether or not you are willing to. Whats wrong with the First Prince? I heard that he is gentle and introverted, and has a royal demeanor. He is different from the bastard child Yan Wang, whose origin is unknown. That is what the royal family of Great Liang should have, dont you think?

Li Feng felt a sharp pain in his chest. His whole body felt as if it had fallen into an ice cave. His heart and organs aching. He took a few breaths and said with a sneer: And then? Of course, you will not wait for me to settle this debt afterward. What are you going to do with me? House arrest? Or simply kill me? The empresss body is delicate and is unable to manage anything. The eldest princes mothers family had their possessions confiscated and beheaded. He possessed all the qualities to become an excellent puppet…such great calculation!

Fang Qin shook his head irrefutably: Your Majesty, the crown prince met his demise. That traitor Li Min has also been killed. Oh, of course, if you like, you can also issue an imperial edict to pass the throne to the Third Prince. But His Third Highness is still too small to go to school, isnt this making light of the ancestors nation?

There may be tens of thousands of ethical restrictions on a person. They seemed to be firmly bound, but in fact, they were not so strong. As long as one pulled down their integrity once, they could be as shameless as they wished in the future, without any restraint.

At least Fang Qin himself did not expect that one day, he would say such words with his expression unchanged.

Just as he was slightly distracted, the ground suddenly vibrated, all the people presented were momentarily tensed such neat footsteps could only come from a well-trained team, and judging from the tremor, there was at least a Heavy Armor in it!

Was it the Northern Camp?

Fang Qins heart thumped. This was not part of their plan. It seemed that something had happened! He immediately waved his hand, a few underlings rushed up to capture Li Feng: Troubling Your Majesty to please escort us for a while.

A group of fake guards surrounded Li Feng on all sides and took him toward another direction. Unexpectedly, just after turning a corner, the people leading the way suddenly stopped there was a team of imperial guards that had been waiting for some time in front!

How on earth did they manage to get away?

No… getting out of the commotion was nothing. Although it was a little faster than planned, once they caught wind of what was going on in the palace, the guards will instantly mobilize their full forces, it would be very easy to suppress the situation.

The question was, how did they find this place?

Fang Qin was confused for a moment. He looked back and saw that the spy who came to report that Yan Wang and the crown prince are dead had disappeared.

There were traitors!

est nvel

The footsteps behind them were approaching gradually. After looking again, the Heavy Armors that caused them to panic was just a bunch of iron puppets pulled out of someones house!

Fang Qin broke out in a cold sweat and suddenly returned to his mind, knowing that they had been trapped by someone.

However, it was already too late for him to think deeply. He grabbed Li Feng and held his sword against the emperors fragile neck and shouted, Who dares to move!

The emperor was a precious object, no one wanted to bear the reputation of indirect regicide. The steps of the guards stopped for a while.

Fang Qin never dreamed that he would do something this rebellious and immoral. For a moment, he was scared to death. His throat was dry, gasping for a few sharp breaths. His brain resembled a mass of glue and was unable to think of a solution. The disordered imperial army finally arrived. At the same time, there was the sound of Eagle outside the gates: they were the Eagles of the Northern Camp seeking permission to pass the anti-air net.

There was a sound next to them, one of the underlings unexpectedly knelt down from fright.

Fang Qin gritted his teeth hard and said to Emperor Long An, Your Majesty, please order them to withdraw.

Li Feng was in a very miserable state yet he still sneered: In your dreams.

At this time, an arrow suddenly came from behind and grazed past Fang Qins shoulder. Although it did not cause any substantial damage, the burning pain at the moment of skin tearing and flesh breaking broke the string in Fang Qins brain.

The delicate balance had been broken.

Li Feng saw the chance, pushing him hard, intended to rush out at once.

However, the limping leg once again held him back. Li Feng was just about to take a step, but his feet were soft, he stumbled out uncontrollably. At the same time, Fang Qin raised his sword and chased him, instinctively thrusting his sword forward

Li Feng convulsed violently, like a dying fish making its last struggle. Fang Qins face paled. He unconsciously released his hand holding the sword and stepped back three steps, staring at the sword embedded into Li Fengs back with wide eyes as if seeing a demon.

The imperial guards rushed up in an instant.

All of a sudden, Li Feng heard a childs crying voice piercing his ears through countless disorderly subjects and traitors. He raised his head with difficulty and saw the little crown prince running towards him as he called Royal Father. Not far behind him, Yan Wang, his Fourth Brother, was standing there unharmed. Meeting his gaze, Yan Wang stopped his step, placing both hands behind his back, with his special kind of calm eyes, looking down from above at the incredibly miserable emperor.

The imperial guards and the imperial army rushed up in a frenzy, and soon cleaned up the dumbfounded disorderly officials and thieves. Li Feng was carried out. The leader of the imperial guards rushed to find an imperial doctor, but they already knew in their hearts it was useless.

The little crown prince fell on him and sobbed helplessly.

Li Feng wanted to touch his delicate little son very much, but before he could gather his strength, a hand fell on the crown princes shoulder. Yan Wang silently stood aside and gently stroked the princes shoulder and neck as a comforting gesture. Everyone would think that this was a pair of both sad and warming uncle and nephew. Only Li Feng felt that he understood the threat implied in Yan Wangs gesture.

Li Feng stared at Yan Wangs placid eyes, remembered his mothers bitter and hateful words before she died many years ago those barbarian women are all evildoers, and the little wild seeds that are born from them are also ominous things that will harm the country and the people.

The ominous thing that was Yan Wang knelt down on one knee, but his hand still stopped between the crown princes shoulder and neck, and asked Li Feng in a low voice, Is there anything else Royal Brother wishes to command?

Li Feng: You… You…

Yan Wang pressed his voice lower, and said in his ear, Please rest assured, your brother will take good care of the crown prince.

Li Fengs lips trembled violently, a fire seemed to be in his eyes, then went out slowly with the passage of his life. He reached out a hand tremblingly, Yan Wang held it in midair.

…It turned out that such an ice-cold hand could also create such false respect and affection between brothers.

At this time, the ministers who had just been scattered by the rebellion army rushed in succession, charging like sheep and cattle. At an angle where no one could see, Chang Geng faintly smiled at Li Feng, his tone of voice sounding very sad and sincere: Royal Brother, what do you wish to say?

The little prince cried so much that he couldnt stand up. Li Feng looked at him then closed his eyes gently.

He had never compromised with anyone in his life, and had always been hard-headed to the end. Who knew that the last course fell into this desperate situation, traitors were on all sides, with layers or schemes, yet his young and inexperienced son still had no place to be entrusted to after his death.

I… was mediocre for all my life, he murmured in an inaudible voice. The scholars of the two chambers and the attendants in his daily life knew what he was going to say, for a moment, they had no mind to cry and mourn. They all rushed to listen attentively while holding their breath, for fear of missing just one word from the emperor.

Li Fengs eyes seemed to be glistening with tears, he continued: I am ashamed facing the heavens, embarrassed towards the people. For more than ten years, my heart…had been in a state of unrest. After I pass away…the crown prince…is still too young, it is difficult for him to shoulder this heavy task…

Chang Geng turned his face gently and looked at the iron puppets far away from the crowd. One of the lifeless iron monsters was watching him tenderly. It once practiced swordplay with him, carried snacks for him, and followed him to knock at that mans door countless times.

At this time, its eyes slightly flickered with purple light, as if there was a person in the far front, watching him quietly through this lifeless big puppet.

…Passing the position to Yan Wang, to succeed the throne after me. Do not disappoint our ancestors.

On the first day of March in the tenth year of Long An, Li Feng, Emperor of Long An had died, dying in the hands of disorderly officials and traitors. In his final moment, he himself had skipped the crown prince and passed the throne to Yan Wang. It was indeed quite strange.

Yan Wang decisively cleaned up the rebellious family and uprooted several nobles in the capital that were involved.

Rightfully cleansing the imperial court with blood. The Grand Council pushed three laws and decrees overnight, strongly stabilizing the situation in the capital.

But before Jiang Chong and the others finished performing three refusal and three requests, Yan Wang the emperor to be, left the capital without warning.

If not for his trusted men at the Grand Council, who have experienced all kinds of chaos and were able to carry the sky even if it collapsed, things would have been chaotic again.

Chang Geng summoned Jiang Chong and instructed him a lot of things in detail, putting in a box the orders and decrees written in advance for him. He appeared to be very eager to leave, wishing he could fly off right away. Jiang Chong only thought it was due to the war situation in Liangjiang, thus he might have to go in the near future, but he still didnt expect to be so caught off guard about his departure, he was in shock when hearing the news the next day.

Chang Geng borrowed a team of Eagle armor guards from the Northern Camp overnight, intending to fly directly to the south.

He was certain that the front lines of Liangjiang could not be peaceful whether it was the two Lin Yuan spies in the foreign affairs group, Cao Chun Hua who he sent to Gu Yuns side, or even Gu Yun himself their letters all seemed to state that the front line was alright, and the day to recover thousands miles of land was upon them. This was not normal.

Gu Yun who only spoke of the good and not the bad was one thing, but the reason Lin Yuan bore this name was because they must possess the clarity and caution when facing the abyss, walking on thin ice. Even if the front line had really achieved overwhelming victory, they would find out all the possible risks in it, and remind it to both Gu Yun and the owner of the Lin Yuan wooden emblem in the capital city respectively.

But no, they did not mention a word. This was not right.

Chang Geng slowly carried out his plan in the capital, it all seemed to be easy, but in fact, he had soon been in a state of unrest.

But he could not visit Gu Yun in this life and death situation. There were too many variables in the capital. Until the last moment, he did not know whether he could achieve his goal smoothly or not once a small accident occurs, he might have to pick up the sword himself and bear the reputation of disorderly subjects and traitors and murderer of brother and nephew, that was why he could not have even a little involvement with Gu Yun in this whole process.

He could only hold the man on the front line in a place where he could not see.

Its impossible for the Eagle to fly north and south without rest. Just when Chang Geng was anxiously waiting for the Eagle armor to replenish fuel in a military post station, a red-label report rushed by and was stopped by the commander of the Northern Camp and was sent to Chang Geng.

The Western troops from the Dong Ying sea were mobilized, launching a counter attack

Volume 4 Chapter 125

If it wasnt for the commanders grave injury, it would have been a perfect victory to be written in history books.

Jiangbei.

Before the wooden bird could fly into the commanders tent, it was caught by a guard. He held the little thing in his hands, turning it over and over several times, but was not able to figure it out. Just as he had seen it as a threat and wanted to take it to the armys Ling Shu, someone said in a low voice: Give it to me.

The guard looked up and saw Shen Yi coming in from the outside. He quickly handed over the wooden bird.

Shen Yi received it and touched the wooden birds smooth head. He felt as if he had just heard General Shen sighing.

The wooden bird was attracted by the magnet left by General Zhong Chan. Shen Yi held it lightly and walked into the tent. Inside, the light was dim. Several military doctors came in and out quietly. The smell of medicine was suffocating, combined with the scent of fresh blood that was unable to wash off.

Yao Zhen was standing on one side, turning his head to Shen Yi, his expression grim.

In the naval battle that day, in order to delay time, Gu Yuns main ship was hit by the enemy. The ship disintegrated on the spot, the gold box exploded on the water surface. Fortunately, although Gu Yun was deaf and blind, his reaction was still quick. Feeling that something was not right, he ordered people to abandon the ship and jumped into the sea.

Because he jumped in time, when an Eagle fished him out of the water, for better or worse, he was not yet completely baked.

The supply line of the Western army was cut off, and the upper reaches of the Neijiang River was controlled by Gu Yuns increased troops in the southwest. With two of their supply lines all cut off, they had to retreat from the Dongying Sea.

If it wasnt for the commanders grave injury, it would have been a perfect victory to be written in history books.

Gu Yun prepared the war report, home letters, and other props properly in advance, keeping his injuries hidden from outsiders and the insiders altogether. Even within the Liangjiang camp, the news was also blocked, except for several high ranking generals, private guards, military doctors, and several Eagles who brought him back, no one was aware of it.

One could imagine how much pressure Shen Yi and Yao Zhen bear this time.

Shen Yi: How is it?

You came just in time. Hes awake, Yao Zhen whispered. Marshal Gu had made a great prediction bringing you here. Brother Ji Ping, if you werent here, I think the sky would collapse.

Shen Yi said with a wry smile: Its nothing, we will get used to it… You go rest first, Ill have a word with him.

Yao Zhen nodded, taking leave with the doctors. Shen Yi walked over lightly, holding Gu Yuns hands hanging limply over the bed.

As soon as the beds curtain was down, Gu Yun could not feel people going in and out of the tent at all. Until now, only when he could sense the callous caused by handling the Wind Slasher did he realize it was Shen Yi who came.

Gu Yuns body did not have many places unscathed. He was covered with steel plates. The whole body was fixed in place, he could not even turn his head. Sometimes unconscious and sometimes awake from pain, as soon as he opened his eyes, cold sweat on his forehead began to flow down. Even if he opened them, they could not find focus. The military doctor said that people could easily hurt their ears and eyes in a huge explosion. Now, he could only feel a hint of light when opening his eyes, not to mention liuli glass, even the Qian Li Yan would not be of use.

Dont know if it could still get better. Gu Yun thought in silence, Will I truly be blind in the future?

As soon as Shen Yi saw his blank eyes, his nose stung. On Gu Yuns palm, he wrote, There is a letter from Lin Yuan Pavilion.

Gu Yun blinked.

Shen Yi took apart the wooden bird and prepared to write to him. However, when he glanced at the contents of the note, his face first tightened.

Gu Yun waited for a long time, but he didnt say a word. His fingers questioningly tapped on the back of Shen Yis hand.

Shen Yi was a good-natured person. In addition to shouting half-truthfully and half-falsely when fighting with Gu Yun, he seldom got angry. At this time, he sat on the edge of the bed, holding the wooden birds hand and suddenly trembled. His chest fluctuated violently several times, then there was a crack the wooden birds head was broken off by him.

What is this? He thought to himself, What is this! For whom do we die, and for whom do we devote ourselves? Does any of it mean any goddamn thing?

Gu Yun was tense, fearing that there would be new problems arising, he stopped worry about his blind eyes, trying to open his mouth and said: What…cough…

There was a wound on his throat caused by a bullet shell, it overlapped with an old scar, almost injuring the artery. Although he did not become another Liao Ran, it was very difficult to speak, sounding like a broken pipe.

The court is still insisting on a truce? the broken pipe asked.

Shen Yis eyes were full of bloodshot. In Gu Yuns hand, he wrote: Lin Yuan Pavilion sent a special person to monitor the Foreign Affairs Mission, and found that some of them were secretly communicating with Western envoys. A group of people with unknown identities were mixing in with the Foreign Affairs Mission.

Gu Yun breathed a sigh of relief and moved his fixed neck. I thought it was something important…Isnt the list of the Foreign Affairs Mission already delivered? Theres no reason to add more people suddenly. If it is true, stop them outside the camp. It doesnt matter.

Shen Yi: Because of this battle, there was no reason for the Foreign Affairs Mission to come to the front line anymore. They were on standby in Pengcheng and awaited the imperial court for advice. Li Feng said that it was fine for them to go back without success, so he ordered them to have a rest in Pengcheng for a while. When the imperial court allocated the reward materials, they would be sent to the front line of Liangjiang together to

Gu Yun slightly raises one long eyebrow, Shen Yi pauses with difficulty, then wrote on his palm: Reward the army.

These two words were too sensitive for all the old subordinates of Black Iron Camp. Gu Yun obviously twitched, but his body was forcibly bound back to its original position by the steel plates, cold sweat flowed down his temples.

Shen Yi hurriedly held him down: Zi Xi!

With this action, blood started to soak through Gu Yuns bandage on his chest, the smell of blood overpowered the medicinal scent, making his face even paler.

1

Shen Yi had the illusion that Gu Yuns whole body was slowly evaporating.

Yet he refused to pass out.

He had to muster up the illusion that he still had plenty of strength to spare for both insiders and outsiders to see.

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A man casting aside life and death both when he was still alive and in the afterlife wasting his efforts, to exchange for what in return?

Even if there was a long history of fame, there would only be a memorial tablet left in the future.

1

When the future nobles remember him, they would arrange one or two idle allusions, or deliberately criticize him to show that they were more knowledgeable and different than others.

When the common people remember him, they most likely would fabricate a romance story a hundred and eighty times over, arrange him with an unknown woman in the midst of his hurried life, and they would elope together, all blessings could only be enjoyed after death.

1

Shen Yi: Ill write to Miss Chen right away. I…I… Ill accompany you to resign from our positions and go home. You can abduct His Highness together. You can heal your wounds, cure your diseases, whatever you want… Forget about the Li family or Zhang family bullshit! I…

10

Gu Yun sighed and held his hand gently.

Shen Yis breath was so disordered that he couldnt speak. He made an expression of being ready to wail and cry in an angle that Gu Yun couldnt see, but he didnt dare to tremble and sob too much for fear that Gu Yun would be aware of it. He didnt dare to cry out, breathing in silently through his mouth. His tears were caught by his own steel armor.

Gu Yun could still sense it, but he didnt expose him. He clapped his hand and said softly: Its not a big deal, no need to explode. Do you have any news from Chang Geng?

Yes. Shen Yi wrote, His Highness said, let you not worry about anything else. If any villain intends to make a mess, just kill them. Even if the sky collapses in the capital, he can shoulder it.

2

Gu Yun smiled weakly.

Blood loss would make peoples minds unclear. It took him several times more energy and an all-out effort to concentrate on what was going on: What can I say… Before the war is over, someone already wants to get rid of me first. Its true that the capital is changing. Some people are using their last resort. Theres bound to be another battle between us and the foreigners. At present, I cant walk… and can not help him very much. You can let the Foreign Affairs Mission in, then immediately stop them, strictly guard them, and cut off their contact with the capital. If the Westerners are among them, cough… what kind of role would they play…we should turn their plan against them.

Shen Yi didnt speak.

Gu Yun: Ji Ping?

Shen Yi suddenly asked, Do you think its worth it?

1

Gu Yun was stunned.

Shen Yis eyes flitted across the bloodstain on his chest, coming next to Gu Yuns ears, he forced his words to the deaf mans ears one by one: What you think in your heart is that there is bound to be another battle between us and the foreigners. What others think is how to pull you, the general, off the horse. Do you think its worth it?

3

Of course, Gu Yuns mind could not be completely free of dilemmas. Unfortunately, having Shen Yi beside him, someone who had the tendency to explode, no matter what they think, one of them should be in charge of exploding, while the other should be in charge of calming. Shen Yi had taken the lead in the role of the former. Gu Yun had no choice but to play the latter peacefully.

Gu Yun: You spent five liang of silver to buy that hideous hairpin for Miss Chen. Is it worth it, or is it a waste of money?

Shen Yi: I did humiliating things for the woman I love, it is my responsibility. Who are you humiliating yourself for?

Gu Yun slowly replied, As expected, there is no filial son in front of the bed. You unfilial child, you even learned to scold me already.

Shen Yi: …

Through half of his lifetime engaged in warfare, for how many times Gu Yun had the thought of running off, that was how many times Shen Yi had the thought of I no longer care about this bastard. He shook off Gu Yuns hand, turning around and left, thinking to himself, If you love to die that much.

Gu Yun: Ji Ping!

His hand in the air aimlessly grabbed into emptiness, his fingers wrapped with the bandaged medicine were nearly deformed, five fingers could not close, his pale skin full of scars was exposed under the bandages, causing Shen Yi to feel uncomfortable in an instant and could no longer have any attitude.

Shen Yi: Dont move!

Gu Yun said softly, These two days, there must be an emissary from Dong Ying to contact us secretly. Chong Ze, after all, is still a civil officer. It depends on you…

Shen Yi was very pained, Alright, stop talking, I know.

Gu Yun was interrupted by him, but was not angry either. No one knew what he thought of, he suddenly laughed and gasped for a while. Try to defend the country and become a famous general. In a hundred years, people will build a temple for you. Isnt it very good to eat incense for a living.

Shen Yi sneered, Which god would you be? A Gate God already exists, are you going to be a Window God? A Bed God?

5

Its all the same, Gu Yun said with a low laugh. Either way, no matter which temple people worship at… The things they ask for are all the same… For fortune, promotion, marriage…and children as well.

Shen Yi listened and thought, Isnt this a scammer, a matchmaker and a Guanyin Bestower of Children* all at once?

*, Songzi Guanyin, Bodshittava from which people prayed to for children

His heart suddenly became even more frustrated, he didnt want to be friends with such a person at all.

Gu Yun whispered, God Shen, bring me the flute in the box at the head of the bed.

Shen Yi sighed and took out a small box that he had treasured beside the pillow. There was a brilliant white jade flute, a stack of thick, unknown seagrain paper, and several Wind Slasher hilts with different names engraved on them.

This small box seemed to contain all of Gu Yuns feelings.

I will not die. Gu Yun held the cold jade flute at his fingertips and thought firmly, If they dont blow me up on the spot, I will not die. Chang Gengs Bone of Impurity hasnt been cured yet. There are so many people in the capital who want to trouble him. How can I…

10

What could he do? Before he could think of it, he was once again in a coma of exhaustion.

Thousands of miles away, at midnight in the Fang Manor.

1

Fang Qin sat in the room with his expression heavy, after being silent for a long time, he raised his head slowly, and asked, Is it true? You heard it with your own ears?

Kneeling in front of him, the servant shivered uncontrollably and nodded quickly.

The heir of this generation of the Fang family suddenly laughed. A moment later, he covered his face with one hand as his shoulders shook. He did not know whether he was crying or laughing. Fang Qin once advised Lu Chang to go on this road. He once thought that Yan Wang was ambitious, perhaps one day he would go on this road as well. What he never expected was that his own father would be the first one to go on this road.

2

Every scholar, at a young age, has all learned Teacher Heng Qus four sentences: To build a heart for heaven and earth, to build a life for the people, to continue learning for the monarch, and to open peace for all ages. Everyone had had the passion that they would one day become a man of unparalleled power and be able to carry the nation for thousands of years.

However, this point of painstaking effort will gradually be ground away by fame and wealth, by time, by the helpless flow of life, grinding and grinding, ones life would end up returning to the same old road.

From ancient times to the present, how many talented people were there, but how many true nations scholar exist?

*, a nations scholar, is someone with the talent of a scholar and the virtue of building a country

That night, Fang Qin spent the whole time sitting in a daze in his study. The next morning, he ordered his wife and children to be sent away secretly.

When the first cock crowed in the morning, Fang Qin thought he would rush out and drag Yan Wang up to inform him of the impending premeditated rebellion.

Its a pity, although this process had been imagined hundreds of times over in his mind, it did not turn into action.

Loyalty and filial piety, it was difficult to fulfill both. He knew that he was doomed to be unable to become a nations scholar, he could only charge forward the path ahead.

1

Five days later, an ambiguous message flew into the capital and was heard by ambitious people of all kinds a few days later, the Foreign Affairs Ministry went to reward the army arrived at Jiangbei camp, but all of a sudden, the camp was in a completely closed off state for unknown reasons.

Fangs family received more detailed information. Grand Scholar Fang received a note from his students, on which was simply written the word Success.

At this point, Grand Scholar Fang let out a long sigh of relief. Of course, he himself did not expect that it would go so smoothly. The Westerners who were covetous had helped him in the end. His heart was full of unexplained excitement: because half of the nation had already been under control, and his ambition was within reach.

1

At the same time, Li Fengs birthday affairs were indeed put forward by the Ministry of Rites. Fang Qin took the lead and joined in. Even the Yan Wang Party did not come out to object. They unanimously agreed to this rarely seen extravagant activity.

Back then, Former Emperor Yuan He hosted one once a year. In the years of Long An, they gradually became more frugal. Therefore, the procedures were all ready-made. In order to ensure that the boot-licking didnt reach the legs, the Ministry of Rites had already started to make preparations secretly. Once the emperor approved of it, they immediately started to operate in an orderly manner. On that day, northwest envoys began to offer gifts one after another, the nine gates were full of fireworks, all regulations were lifted, the bells and drums roared in unison.

The emperor must depart from the palace to worship the heavens, to tell his ancestors what he had achieved during this year. This time, he had learned his lesson. He was closely followed by thirteen imperial guards, not taking with him a single one of the unreliable civil and military officials, only the crown prince. Under the altar, Yan Wang led the Grand Council and a number of officials.

Sacrificing for heaven and earth, worshiping ancestors, a string of activities were carried out in order. With nothing happening this time, Li Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief, casting aside the haunting fear left from last time and ordered to return to the palace.

When the emperor took up his chariot and was about to return, and the imperial army outside the city was handing over the duty to the imperial guards, something happened.

There was no telling who suddenly shouted, Assassins!

1

Before the words were heard, several Dong Ying boomerangs broke through the air and pierce straight through the crowd officials, gazing the sleeves of a Han Lin, the old Han Lin did not manage to let out a sound, directly fainting. The internal and external guard troops responded at the same time. Some called protect the emperor and some called catch the assassins.

Unexpectedly, an imperial army member suddenly turned mad and slashed his sword at the crown prince. Chang Geng was nearest to him, he stepped forward and grabbed the crown princes belt to drag him back in the blink of an eye.

In the confusion, someone shouted, The imperial army is rebelling!

The commander of the imperial army, who was carrying out the task of being the main guard, was still in confusion, he blurted out, My ass!

3

At this time, someone dressed in the clothes of an imperial guard took out a small crossbow in his arms and aimed at Li Fengs chariot. Li Feng almost rolled down from it. The commander of the imperial army thought: The imperial guards rebelled, yet theyre still trying to pour the mud on us! What is this!

Slow down! There are traitors in the imperial guards trying to assassinate the emperor, capture them!

After the imperial army was changed into two departments working in parallel, in order to restrain each other, the two sides had no communication and were in a competitive relationship. One side carried out the main guarding duty, the other side cooperated in assisting and supervision. Of course, the cooperating side suffered losses. Their job was the same, but they could not show their faces in front of the emperor. How could they not feel dissatisfied?

The main guard thought that there were assassins in the imperial guards, and the coordinated guard thinks that the main guard had ill intentions. The imperial guards thought that the imperial army definitely rebelled. Under the deliberate instigation of the plotting people, the three parties were in chaos.

And almost all the generals that could be of use to the imperial court were already transferred by Gu Yun to garrisons all over the country. At present, those who were staying behind in the capital were either cowards, or malicious conspirators. All of a sudden, this place was plunged into commotion.

Fang Qin and the others saw the opportunity, deliberately rushed to Li Feng in a panic, saying altogether, This place is dangerous, Your Majesty please leave as soon as possible.

A group of strange-looking escorts came along. Fang Qin said, Your Majesty, please come down! We will defend Your Majesty to death!

Li Feng didnt pay attention to many details in the panic. He grabbed Fang Qins arm and said, Where is the crown prince?

Fang Qin made a signal to the imperial bodyguard and said to Li Feng, The crown prince is under protection. Just now I saw that Yan Wang is also over at that side, Im afraid we were separated. Go first, and Ill send someone to look for him.

Li Feng shouted angrily, Summon the Northern Camp! These lawless…

Fang Qin immediately ordered his own men to pretend to run off and send the summoning order. This was what they had thought of in advance: they must not leave room for the imperial guards to react, isolate the emperor early on and cut off his contact with the imperial guards and the Northern Camp.

Fang Qin half coaxed and half lied for Li Feng to leave. At this time, all the men surrounding him had changed into the imperial guards uniform, rushing towards him in unison, Li Feng was unable to pay attention, waiting until he could, it was already too late.

At this time, a strange occurrence also happened on the front line.

The pope received the news from his spies that had mixed in the Foreign Affairs Mission. A coup had happened in Great Liang, the envoys sent from the capital to reward the army was in fact, going to carry out an assassination. They planned to recreate the scene of the Black Iron Camp in the northwest twenty years ago. Gu Yun was seriously injured and perhaps already dead. The garrison was forcibly blocking the news, but the internal situation was already chaotic, it was a good opportunity to fight back.

As usual, the pope did not believe such news, at the very least, he would send people to verify it repeatedly from other angles, but he no longer had the luxury to do so.

The Great Liang Navy cut off two most important lines of contact between them and their country, on one hand, the struggle between the Holy Land parties had been close to its climax, and on the other, their obedient colonies started a rebellion upsurge from Nanyang Islands. They truly had no other options but to go far east through Dong Ying.

The pope had never trusted the Dong Ying people. He always felt that these jackals could bite back at them any time, thus he was eager to break this deadlock.

No one knew better than him that the prestige of the Western Navy on the water was supported by abundant energy, without a large number of Ziliujin as the backing, it was nothing but a pile of scrap metal.

Master Ja made a rigorous strategic deployment and sent people to the Dong Ying shogunate for cooperation.

The Dong Ying people nodded and welcomed them pleasantly, after politely sent them away, they turned back to their resident and closed the door.

A weatherbeaten Dong Ying warrior came in from the back door and took off his bamboo hat. In a low voice, he said, I have seen General Gu.

Then Gu Yun was not seriously injured or dead, was he?

I cannot say for certain. I just saw Gu Yun passing by in a hurry. My rank was not enough to start a conversation with him. But the garrison was in good order, full of artillery, without any confusion, as if ready to attack at any time. I havent seen the so-called assassin group either, if there is any, it may have been secretly taken care of.

I see. You have worked hard.

Chapter 124: Finale

T/N: Finale has 3 parts.

P.S. Happy birthday yifu ^^

With such favorable time and place, do you not remember what happened twenty years ago?

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This was the first time that Emperor Long An, who always had an ambiguous attitude, expressed his stand clearly at the great court meeting. He didnt disclose half a word with anyone in advance. Not only the Fang Qin Party, but the Grand Councils members were also in confusion.

Jiang Chong glanced at Yan Wang vaguely and said to himself, Did the emperor take the wrong medicine?

Chang Gengs face did not show any difference. He stepped forward and plainly flattered him. Although he played politics, he was naturally born with a kind of immortal spirit of someone living in a remote forest. Even the posture of flattering seemed to be very indifferent, not taking winning or losing to heart, as if he had completely agreed with Li Feng in advance.

At that time, someones face changed.

Li Feng knew in his heart that Yan Wang intended to borrow his influence, the civil and martial of the court all have their own plans, but it didnt matter, if he could build a ladder for Yan Wang, he could build a ladder for anyone.

This time, Li Feng used two political orders to push the Grand Council to the top of the storm. He wanted to see what those people who always brought up the Red Imperial Edict and Iron Plaque could do to Yan Wang, who had become a monk and only called Royal Father once in all his life.

This day, the capital was doomed to a sleepless night.

In the Grand Council, Jiang Chong whispered to Chang Geng, Your Highness, what should we do? Do we continue according to the original plan?

Chang Geng said without hesitation, Strike while the iron is hot.

Jiang Chong took a deep look at Chang Geng and asked, Your Highness, if we were too forceful, what if they use their last resort?

Chang Geng turned to look at him and said meaningfully, What Im afraid of is that they dont do it. Brother Han Shi, do you know what the most useful sentence Ive learned in my life is?

Jiang Chong suddenly felt incredibly frightened.

Chang Geng said, On the battlefield, whoever doesnt want to die, will die first.

On his way home from the Grand Council, Chang Geng happened to run into Fang Qins carriage. He told Huo Dan, Let Master Fang go first.

After a while, Huo Dan ran back to report: Your Highness, Lord Fang said he didnt dare to be impolite. He has already made way.

Chang Geng brushed aside the curtain and bowed to Fang Qin politely. They passed each other peacefully, as if they didnt want the other to perish.

Chang Geng leaned on the carriage and thought that if he and Fang Qin were to change places, he would endure this storm. When the new nobles in the imperial court occupied the transportation finance, then pushed it when their foundation was not stable and their expansion was too fast, at that time, he would simply wait silently for Li Feng to act the nobles like cobwebs in the imperial court have forces everywhere. If they were willing to pursue it slowly, there would be opportunities to restore the old system after the war.

Chang Geng also knew that with Fang Qins nature, he must have also thought the same.

That was why even if he dragged everyone to walk on this string, he must not let him calmly wait for this opportunity.

Fang Qin watched until Yan Wangs carriage was already far away, then ordered his family servant to continue moving. The twilight around him slowly slipped into the long night. He seemed to see the general trend of the thread, running like flowing water in front of him, and he was helpless to stop it. The ten thousand mile-long dike he stepped on was made of sand and dust. It seemed to be mighty and magnificent, but in fact, it was of no use, the boundless world was countering to him.

Back at Fangs residence, as usual, there were already guests waiting for him. Grand Scholar Fang was no longer interested in cultivating towards immortality and seeking Tao. He was entertaining the guests in the front hall in person. As soon as Fang Qin entered, all the people present stood up and looked at him with various expressions.

Fang Qin also had an ominous premonition in his heart: Father, whats the matter?

Grand Scholar Fangs face sank like water and said, Your yimei* was convicted of offending the queen today. She was just grounded and forbidden visits from relatives.

*, adoptive younger sister

Madame Fang had a good relationship with the emperors Nanny Zhao. She jokingly asked Fang Qins third younger brother to accept Madame Zhao as his adoptive mother. There was nothing involving Fang Qin here, but to show intimacy as a courtesy, he also called Madame Zhaos daughter on duty in the palace yimei in front of outsiders.

Fang Qin said in surprise: Why?

Why? There is no need for any reason, Grand Scholar Fang said slowly.Remember that year, His Majesty also called Gu Yun uncle, having deep affection since young, but still sent him to prison simply from one word of disagreement. Let alone those of us the present emperor is cruel and ungrateful, truly makes people bitterly disappointed.

Fang Qin turned his head and told his family servant, Send a letter to Imperial Duke Zhao at once, tell him to stop playing such a childish trick, he should know better.

As soon as he said this, everyone was in an uproar in the hall. Suddenly someone stood up and objected: Master Fang, why are you extending your arm outside again?

Fang Qin ignored the others, only stared at Grand Scholar Fang and said: Father, cant you see? His Majesty is not the former emperor, everything could only go with his will. If you let him feel that he is being persecuted, he will inevitably rebound. We are only going to eradicate the Yan Wang Party. Whats the use of picking a fight with the emperor?

Without waiting for Grand Scholar Fang to speak, Fang Qin said sharply: I also want to protect my third brother, but if you want to go on like this, the ones involved will not only be third brother. All of you here are all from our side, let me say a few unpleasant words: do you really think Imperial Duke Zhao had wiped his own bottom clean? If Yan Wang catches his weak point and makes use of it, then we will be even more passive!

Its just a railway line, he did not allow it to be built, besides adding a little hindrance to Li Min, is there any real use? Gu Yun still mobilized the troops as usual, while your Foreign Affairs Mission cant even get to the front line! What else can you do now? Will you simply cut off supplies to the frontline and sell the country?

He was already irritated for a long time, letting it all out in these words, not even saving face for his father. The surrounding was quiet for a moment, one of them spoke up, Then Master Fang intends to endure it?

Fang Qin: …

He found that he could hardly communicate with these people, especially after Grand Scholar Fang came out of retirement again.

When fate was at its end, its not because of the rapid development of the outside world that everything will be exhausted. In a big country with countless noble families, if each family could have one person who could serve as a pillar didnt have to be many, and did not necessarily be exceptionally talented, or a master of literary and martial arts, as long as their brain was clear, self-conscious, and knew what to do and what not to do then with the accumulation of generations, the Yan Wang Party, even with extraordinary abilities, would not be able to climb to their heads.

Fang Qin looked around and sneered. Having nothing else he could say, he left.

Grand Scholar Fang sat up with his eyes lowered, reached out his hand and stroked his beard. My son is incompetent, how embarrassing.

1

Next to him, an official no longer able to lift his eyelids from old age said in a low voice: Second Master is brilliant, but he is still too young and vigorous in the end.

At Fang Qins age, he could hardly be called young and vigorous. However, Grand Scholar Fang shook his head meaningfully: Its true, when Emperor Wu was in power, he was still young, had not gone through these things, and had less experience. I feel that it is not a bad thing to conceal some things from the younger generations, avoid making them worry too much.

The old brothers who pushed the former emperor to the throne are still here, go back and gather your children and grandchildren. Maybe we will still be able to carry this out… But my unfilial son is also right. Tell Imperial Duke Zhao to restrain his recent childish endeavor. If he cannot kill in one move, then why waste the effort? He would only get laughed at.

However, Yan Wang did not give Imperial Duke Zhao the chance to restrain.

The next day, the Ling Shu Institute announced that the steam train had passed various rigorous testing and everything was ready. They sincerely asked Emperor Long An to come see it with his own eyes. Li Feng happily took the crown prince with him and rode the train for a while in person. However, before returning to the palace and waiting for the fresh excitement to pass, he received the letter urging for the railway completion from Yao Zhen, which successfully piled up the anxiety in the heart of Emperor Long An.

Piling up until the evening, when the Imperial Censorate brought the last grass to ignite the emperors anger.

The Imperial Censorate accused that Imperial Duke Zhao was unjust, conniving his family members to embezzle and plunder the lands from farmers at a low price.

The Canal Office and Ling Shu Institute, jointly in charge of the steam rail line, immediately followed along with a large number of people who deliberately contributed to the situation, and quickly pushed the case to the point of explosion.

The forces Yan Wang had built up through all these years exposed a corner of the iceberg, the road for career ascension that had been blocked since the later years of Emperor Wus rule was unclogged by him.

The reports of illegal land occupation in various places have been revealed in succession in a premeditated way, and finally implicated the problem of illegal land occupation going on in Great Liang for a long time.

At once, several bystanders watching the fun came out and asked for the whole country to be investigated

Of course, this absurd proposal was rejected by Li Feng. Even if Li Feng wanted to display his authority to the noble families, he must untangle it one by one with each step, he could not have such a big appetite at one time.

However, Imperial Duke Zhao, the early bird, was unable to run away. He was arrested in a few days. Later implicated a large number of his family members and disciples who were riding on his coat tail. At his arrest, the onlookers even climbed up the wall to see inside. The storytellers at the Wang Nan Tower compiled a new book in two days, which was very popular.

3

In his first time listening to politics, the crown prince was met with such a big case. The little boy had earned a lot more knowledge. He was stunned and watched on with wide eyes, his mind had also opened a lot more.

When the court was about to be dismissed, Yan Wang, who had not been very vocal, suddenly asked, What does Your Highness think?

The little crown prince was well protected by Li Feng, he was innocent and did not have a calculating mind. He once consulted his fourth uncle under Li Fengs order. When he heard Chang Gengs question, he blurted out without hesitation what he had been taught by others: Han Fei* has said, a ruler with no skills will be fooled by their subjects, subjects bound by no rules will run rampant. The stability of the country depends on the law. For people, there are four kinds: virtuous, foolish, loyal and traitorous. For matters, there are right and wrong. If the law system is unclear, it will make the party and the masses run rampant, the villains run rampant, then…the person in charge will not be able to control anymore.

4

*a philosopher

His voice was still childish, he was like a schoolboy who was picked in class to answer his teachers questions. He looked at Chang Geng with eyes filled with great expectations.

Chang Geng only smiled but didnt speak. Li Feng scolded him with a straight face: Only repeating what was in the book, what is there to be proud of. Go back and work hard. Dont slack off.

2

The crown prince did not dare to say anything, he had to answer with his head down, but his childish words had a different meaning in the ears of the others.

For those who used themselves to measure others, even if they saw a young child, they would still feel that the boy was as full of schemes, with every word laced with deep meaning such as themselves.

2

That night, the 11-year-old crown princes words spread out of the forbidden palace like wildfire. Concealing this matter from Fang Qin, Scholar Fang gathered together all the old jackals who had once helped the former emperor, splitting every little bit of the crown princes saliva to analyze, and understood Li Fengs meaning.

1

Its been three generations, Grand Scholar Fang sneered, Its hard to reach the grace of heaven. The gentlemen must have seen, the emperor let the crown prince listen to politics, he was determined to claim the lives of us old men.

Another person said: If it wasnt for Wang Guo causing trouble, our plan would have gone properly, Yan Wang should have had his title stripped by mixing up the royal blood and be sent to a remote place by now. This bastard child who came out of nowhere dares to ride on our heads. Brother Fang, if we are not decisive, we will suffer.

2

Grand Scholar Fangs tensed features turned sharp. He looked around slowly and said in a low voice, Would you mind writing the words in your heart into your palm.

Many years ago, this group of ambitious conspirators once came together, showing their hands, the name of the former emperor Yuan He was written on them. At this time, they were already on their last legs, some were old and some were dead. They reunited once more to show their old hands

Clean up the emperors side*.

Clean up the emperors side.

Clean up the emperors side, the First Prince no longer has a mother.

…

*the characters written on their hands were Qing Jun Ce, meaning to rid the rulers side of traitorous subjects

That year, when Su Wang* pretended to be ill on his way, it was thanks to you all who learned about it in advance that he wanted to go to the capital secretly and asked the First Princess for an order, capturing him in the name of rebelling and pushed the former emperor to the throne. Grand Scholar Fang said in a low voice, Now you have seen this situation in the capital. How to start first and who can be of use, you gentlemen came here today, Im sure you all have your plans.

*Yuan Hes brother, his competition to the throne back then

Grand Scholar Fang was not hot-headed. He knew that it was impossible to move the Northern Camp without the Gu family members on their side this time. Since Liu Chong Shans rebellion last time, the establishment of the imperial army also underwent major adjustments. For positions above Company Commander, it must be strictly checked to confirm that their families were innocent and their military achievements were real. It put an end to some peoples loopholes. At the same time, it was divided into two parts of two-way management. They would restrain each other but do not interfere with each other. It was also necessary to strictly prevent someone in the imperial army from covering the sky and breaking the law.

However, there were advantages and disadvantages to everything. The noble families of Great Liang were divided into civil and military, there were also generals that belong to the nobility, however, most of these families have declined. Otherwise, there would not be such a scene of not having anyone of use in Yuan He years, having no choice but to let Gu Yun, a young child, to take control of the army.

The descendants of these renowned generals, born under the great shade of their ancestors, if they were incompetent in both literary and martial arts, they would enter the imperial army through the back door like Liu Chong Shan, spending years accumulating service time, then find a way to forge military merits to raise up through the ranks.

After years of co-existing, there had been a special ecology between these young soldiers and real soldiers. Both sides save face for each other, which could not only ensure combat effectiveness but also give consideration to relationship and dignity.

Unfortunately, this balance was destroyed by Li Feng after the mutiny of the imperial army.

The person in charge may think that a law they established in anger was thorough and clear. At that time, no one reminded Li Feng, who was delirious from fury, that he had blocked all the young mens dream of promotion in the capital.

Which young master was not spoiled? Who would be willing to be a small soldier for all his life?

Its not terrible to offend the young master. Whats important was that in the early years of the Great Liang Dynasty, military officers were more important than civil ones. The ancestors left behind one privilege military generals were allowed to have their own family soldiers, keep some of their arms, and shelter the later generations. When in danger, they could be the last fighting force of the country. When Liu Chong Shan, Lu Chang, and others rebelled, Fang Qin had used these forces to restrain the rebels and hold them back until the Northern Camp arrived.

Grand Scholar Fang looked around and said, Gu Yun has increased his troops to the southwest, and is also fighting in the East Sea. He does not have many troops to mobilize, at present, all his people are guarding the four regions. The Northern Camp is not allowed to enter unless called. Li Min is a man who is fishing for fame, he does not like having too many people at his side, only taking an old man or two with him wherever he goes. I heard that he has good skills in riding and archery, but he had only flailed around on the city tower several times, perhaps he would not be able to crush many nails. Its not hard to get rid of him I just dont know whether you gentlemen want to carry it out in the dark or in the open.

7

Nearby, someone asked, Dare to ask Master Fang, what is in the dark and what is in the open?

The scholar who trained more than half of the talented officials in the court said with his face unchanged: If you want to be in the dark, just ask twenty or thirty of suicide soldiers to ambush on the night Li Min is on his way back from the court, stop and kill him, and erase all evidence, letting it passed by, the emperor will not be able to do anything either… If you want to be in the open, then let the emperor know who is the good general and loyal officials, who are the ones responsible for his country, how the disorderly subjects and thieves are taken down and who can bear the responsibility of the crown prince.

This… Master Fang, Im afraid it wont be easy. It was the son of the Marquis of Peace, one of the three Marquises in the capital in the old days. The old Marquis had already passed away, this person had a body full of fat and had a hard time walking. He did not go out too many times a year. His appearance was far different from the descendants of a famous general, but his mind was unexpectedly clear. At this time, he said, Without discussing how to avoid the imperial army and the imperial guards when carrying it out, lets say we succeed, with the emperors character of rather breaking than leaving things whole, will he not investigate it to the end? The hard-headed ones in Northern Camp are all dead, now they are all obedient, and will not enter without being summoned. What if in the fit of anger, the emperor really summons them? They are far away, then what about the guards inside the palace and the imperial army outside the palace? The aftereffect of Liu Chong Shan and Lu Changs rebellion has not passed yet, Im afraid its not so easy.

1

It isnt like there are no places in the palace that do not have imperial guards, and there are places the imperial army can not enter. The emperors birthday will be in the next half a month. This year, there is good news on the front lines of Jiangnan in the East Sea. The flatterers of the Ministry of Rites will take this opportunity to propose hosting a large party, to boost morale and to pray for the country, there will be many chances, Grand Scholar Fang replied lightly, As for the emperors anger afterward…

When he said this, his voice stopped. He laughed low and raised his narrow and slightly drooping eyelids: Then we have to make him unable to get angry. What, do you think that if Li Min no longer exists, the emperor will let us go easily? You have heard what the crown prince said today in the morning. As a little child, what does the crown prince know about national affairs? Who taught him those words? He is only eleven years old, but whenever he opens his mouth it is always no emotions involved in laws and eliminate party and factions. Scolding in the middle of the court, he might as well pointed to our noses and said that we are all villains. Being indecisive at this moment, do you want to wait for the crown prince to ascend the throne and give us three meters of white silk*?

*, white silk, often used in ancient times when the Emperor bestow on the guilty minister to commit suicide.

His statement was not at all ambiguous, its outrageous and immoral.

Grand Scholar Fang was worthy of being an old minister who had entrusted Emperor Yuan He to the throne. He was bold, his guts was large, wanting to go big as soon as he makes a move, speaking straightforwardly, If the Emperor acts out of place, then get rid of the Emperor, if the crown prince does not obey, then use his elder brother who had lost his mother as a puppet.

The Marquis of Peace was stunned for a long time, then stuttered to ask another fatal question: Then…would Gu Yun let this slide?

The Foreign Affairs Mission is still on its way, and it has been arranged, said Grand Scholar Fang with a low smile. The front line, the preying enemy, the envoy, why, with such favorable time and place, do you not remember what happened twenty years ago?

3

A storm was brewing in the center, but Yan Wang, the one at the center of it all still seemed to be unaware, still arrived on time every day, sparing no effort to promote his new policy.

He even happily received a letter from Gu Yun.

Gu Yun sent the letter directly to his home. It was entirely a private letter. When Huo Dan handed it to him, Chang Gengs eyes suddenly lit up, making Commander Huo blush as red as a tomato.

Does he have extraordinary abilities? As Chang Geng lifted up the envelope and aimed it at the light, he carefully observed the contents of the envelope, while half-truthfully and half-falsely complained to Huo Dan, While dealing with foreigners, he still has this kind of leisurely hobby, what am I supposed to say to him.

There had never been a mistress in the traditional sense in the Marquiss manor. Uncle Huo, as the bodyguard serving by their side, had also known something vaguely. However, it was still difficult for him to adapt to this situation, especially unable to discuss the family letter from Marshal with the other master. Listening to Yan Wangs words, he felt that his role had changed from the commander of the family guard to a nanny eager for gossip, he had to stand aside with great shame and act as a house post blushing red.

5

Since the war began, this was the first time Gu Yun had sent such a thick home letter to Chang Geng. For a while, he was reluctant to tear it open. He took the envelope in his hands to caress and rub repeatedly, even bringing it to the tip of his nose to take a whiff, as if he could smell the scent of the man far away, his expression dazed and entranced.

The blood on Huo Dans face soon seeped out of his pores, he stammered: Your…Your Highness, you…What are you doing?

1

Chang Geng glanced at him, as if he thought Huo Dans red face was particularly interesting, He deliberately teased him and said, I dreamt of my yifu yesterday, waking up in the middle of the night and couldnt sleep again, finally knew what was called tossing and turning restlessly. Turns out, I received his letter today. Such a coincidence, wouldnt you say?

Huo Dan: …

The two words my yifu made him shiver. Huo Dan thought bitterly, What is the little Marquis doing? Why is he becoming more and more outrageous! This will cause the old marquis and the princess in the afterlife to come back to life from anger.

3

Chang Geng secretly smiled and was about to open the envelope with a knife. Suddenly, a Lin Yuan wooden bird came in. That day, when Liu Zhong came asking to join them, Chang Geng did not trust him entirely. He had sent two Lin Yuan Pavilion people, one in the open, the other in the dark, following him to Liangjiang. The person in the open pretended to be a Liu familys servant boy and contacted Liu Zhong with the capital city. The one in the dark was an expert. He followed the envoys to explore all kinds of changes and sent letters to the capital city at any time.

Chang Geng hurriedly stored Gu Yuns private letter into his arms and took

Who said that Great Liangs navy could not fight on the open sea?

The Western and Great Liang armies have been locked in battles for a very long time in the frontline, neither of them would yield. They fought countless battles both large and small. Generally speaking, they were almost equal in strength and talent, neither could do anything to the other.

On the 16th day of January, a group of Great Liangs sea jiao warships set out in the early hours of the morning, leaving the port without anyone knowing. Under the situation that the materials have begun to stretch taut, they once again divided their troops and left quietly along the river.

At that time, before dawn, Shen Yi said to Gu Yun in the dark, You are too adventurous.

Gu Yun did not pay attention to him, giving an unrelated response, Tell someone to make me a bowl of noodles in the morning, remember to drop an egg in.

Shen Yi was too dizzy from having his hands full, he could not understand for a moment, after a while, he remembered what day it was and muttered, Youre still quite free.

He whispered a few words to the soldiers next to him, then return to the topic and continued to nag: Didnt you say that we should wait for the track to be finished at least? If the Ziliujin-dedicated rail line is really open, our chance at winning will be higher. If you make a move right now, in case there will be any problems with the cooperation between the two sides, then… It will be too risky!

Seeking wealth in danger, Gu Yun said without a shift in expression, Why should I, a man in his prime condition, be as cautious as the old man on the opposite side?

Hearing that he was talking nonsense again, Shen Yi said angrily, Gu Zi Xi!

Gu Yun sighed and took a look in the north direction. At this time, his eyesight was no longer able to penetrate the mountains and rivers.

Ji Ping, Gu Yun said in a low voice, If things in the capital are going smoothly, the enemy would have already get out themselves even if we did not fight. If you think this campaign is a big risk, then do you want them to continue to drag on and wait until an even bigger risk arises in the court?

Shen Yi was speechless and unable to answer. He was the general in charge of one side. He only needed to arrange troops, not to think about the layout of the four sides, and not to worry about whether there would be wars fifty years from now.

In any case, this time, we must achieve something before the pro-peace faction had a chance to open its mouth. Once we give those traitors the chance to open their mouths, we dont know how long they will drag it out. The drum of vigor will be exhausted again and again. Even if we have a rest, it can not last more than three or five years. Otherwise, the nobles in the capital will gradually forget the pain after the wound heals. When our generation dies, later generations will think that the southern half of the country was governed by both sides from the start.

Gu Yun glanced at Shen Yi and said, Its worth taking a risk. At that point, Ill leave the Black Tiger Emblem with you, in case I… You can quickly gather up the rest of the troops, no need to panic. You can immediately transfer the Black Iron camp for temporary support. The Westerners are mostly capable on water, but not fearsome on land, we have room for maneuver.

Shen Yis brows wrinkled.

At this time, the soldiers in charge of the kitchen brought the cooked noodles, the person cooking was very attentive to this dish especially made for Marshal: the longevity noodles strands were even, the egg was done just right, broth and meat are both visible, with a few strands of bamboo shoots soaked in the broth floating inside.

Gu Yun took it, after eating two bites, he suddenly asked, How come there are no green vegetables?

Did you not eat vegetables? said Shen Yi in surprise.

When did I say I dont eat them… Gu Yun murmured and took a few bites. He still felt that there was something missing with this bowl of noodles. After thinking for a while, he realized it.

Turns out, the so-called birthday and festival were only born because of the people. There was someone who was willing to hold a small ceremony for him on such a day, it was another way to express I hold you in my heart.

In fact, the feeling was hidden in the sentence under the bowl of noodle soup rather than these few mouthfuls of tasteless food.

Five days later, Gu Yun formally received the list of the Foreign Affairs Mission. After only glancing at it, he gave it to Shen Yi and said lightly, See? We can only prepare to start.

Shen Yi had no choice but to follow his orders.

Just in case, Ji Ping, Id like to give you a few words if something goes wrong, youll be in charge of the army in my place. On the ground, you have the power to fight against those foreigners, but remember not to go into the water. You have too little experience in naval battles and will not be able to go against that old man.

Gu Yun spoke, and took out four letters he had written in advance in the Marshal tent, If there is no mistake, send the first war report to the capital city. If fate doesnt favor us and we have an accident, then send the second one, and let the Grand Council cooperate with us to remedy it. Dont forget to attach an apology letter, sealed by the Black Tiger Emblem. All faults are for me to bear alone…

The latter two are private letters. The third one is to be sent to Chang Geng first, so as to stabilize him. When things calm down, if you have the chance, give him the fourth one.

Shen Yi said angrily, Are you leaving behind your wills to me?

This Marshal need to leave behind wills because of those western monkeys? Gu Yun casually raised his eyebrows and said, This is called being thorough. When the time comes, I would not have to write them again either. Military orders must be obeyed, stop talking nonsense, get to work!

The next night, without warning, the Great Liang navy suddenly initiated an attack and invading the Western army. Both sides were almost familiar with each other, and were enraged as soon as they met head-on. Although the Western army was surprised, it still organized a counter-attack quickly. As soon as they started, they could feel that Great Liangs navy was particularly fierce this time around.

Master Ja directly put on his coat outside his nightgown. However, he couldnt figure out what made Gu Yun suddenly want to break the locked down front line situation. According to the information they got at the moment, Great Liang should not have such an opportunity.

This time, Gu Yun even skipped the routine scouting process. As if he didnt care about the enemys storage and distribution, heavy artillery was mounted directly, and sea cuttles went out like rain. The Western main ship caught several unexpected blows, and the newly repaired side sank again, becoming almost paralyzed.

The main Western ship was in chaos momentarily.

Dont panic, dont panic! Master Ja pulled a tong hou, all standing by! Short Jiaos, immediately gather to stop them… Your Majesty!

The pope walked slowly out, came to the deck and looked out from the Qian Li Yan.

Calm down. He whispered.

The elderly leader seemed to possess a magical power that could soothe peoples hearts. In one word, the crew and guards around him went quiet, awaiting his orders.

The size of the other sides vanguard ships is about a little more than half of the normal size. Such a fierce advance is not Gu Yuns style, the pope whispered. Why?

Master Ja reluctantly pressed down his mind: Great Liang people are too crazy. I dont think they are advancing, but more like making a last struggle.

Its illogical, the pope shook his head as he asked the heralds to adjust the formation of the convoy.

Master Ja frowned and thought for a long time, and suddenly said: Thats right! I remember that Your Majesty received a message a few days ago that a foreign mission from the enemy camp was about to arrive at the front line. Would it have something to do with that?

The pope: You mean that there are cracks in the internal affairs of the Great Liang people. There are people who want to compromise to end the war?

There is evidence to support it, Master Ja said quickly. You see, we have estimated the completion and opening time of Great Liangs train. Your Majesty also said at that time that when their whole line is completed, we will be very passive. Havent we even designed several plans to destroy the line? However, according to our calculation, the railway line should have been built before the end of last year, or the trial operation may have already begun, but they have not made any movement so far, indicating that there is indeed an internal problem!

The pope crossed his arms, a finger slightly rubbed his chin. At this time, Gu Yuns vanguard had pierced the defense line of the Western warship like a sharp knife, came charging to the sea in a murderous manner.

The Western convoy encircled the main ship into a solid ball. The stored Eagle Armor flew out of the main ship and attacked down like rain.

If it was me, Master Ja said to himself, I would back up the main ship, quickly make a circle, lead their vanguard into it, and wipe out the enemy. They could not support such a heavy fire for a long time. Once they are cut off from behind, they would die here!

The pope asked quietly, Do you think Gu Yun will make such a low-level mistake?

Master Ja: …

Before you go to war, the most important thing you need to do is to understand your opponent give my command: shrink the wings, focus on defense, move to the southeast, and call for reinforcements immediately. As the pope ordered in an organized way, he said to Master Ja, If you have seriously studied Gus cases of pacifying the rebellion in the East Sea and arresting the mountain bandits in the southwest, and carefully reflected on our several contacts with him in the north, you should have a rough understanding of Gu Yun.

Updatd frm гeewenvel.com.

When his resources are really at a disadvantage, he will not let you see it, not only that, he would even seamlessly bring the complete Black Iron Camp in front of you, frighten you to death. The Great Liang people call this false is true, true is false.

Master Ja did not agree, but he did not dare to object, so he just followed the popes words and said, Yes, Your Majesty.

Look, its just a lure, the pope said with a smile. Let us be patient, drag his hook a little further, and soon well really see the trump card in his hands.

At this time, the herald came to report: Your Majesty, the first, second, and third fleets are not in port. They are going out on a mission at sea. You see…

Mission at sea was especially to escort and receive the Holy Land supply ships.

The pope replied without turning back, They should have not gone far, transfer them back immediately. Its safe along the high seas. It doesnt need three fleets to escort those goods. Its necessary to have respect and sincerity when dealing with a dear old enemy.

Yes!

Return! Close the wings!

Escort fleet adjust southeast direction, pay attention to speed

Eagles! Retreat for the time being. Pull down all defense steel plates of the main ship, drain the water…

The whole Western fleet quickly gathered together becoming a closely linked giant, the supply escort fleets that just left the port quickly returned, watching the fierce and fearless Great Liang Navy in front of it, forming a solid defense.

Every time, it was Gu Yun who walked the Westerners. This time, the situation suddenly changed. It became the Westerners that used heavy defense to stop the advance while Great Liang navy looks for a place to land their teeth.

Two minutes later, Great Liangs mad dog-like advance finally slowed down, apparently exhausted.

The pope: Jacques, look.

With his voice, he saw a large number of reception and supply fleets coming down from three directions. At last, the trump card of Great Liang could no longer be hidden, its ferocious tusks were exposed in the night.

Master Ja was shocked if he had just surrounded and eaten Great Liangs advance immediately as he said, the two sides of his side without the three fleets would be stretched and weakened by the enemy, and would easily be pierced and torn by Great Liangs ambush!

I told you, the pope gave him a slightly reprimanding look, Only by knowing your enemy will you know where your true opportunity is all fleets ready to fight back! While they still have not stood still, hit them in the head!

As soon as he spoke, the artillery of the Westerners was pushed out like a tsunami, and the main forces of the third route of Great Liang suffered heavy losses as soon as they clashed with each other. Before they even had time to fight back, the most front-end sea Jiao warships had been sunk one after another.

At a glance, this effective supply almost seemed to have wiped out nearly a quarter of the living force of the main force of the Great Liang navy.

The Western water fleet was seething. From the day when Gu Yun took charge of Liangjiang, they had never had such a large chunk out of him!

However, Gu Yun himself was not so angry and anxious as one would imagine.

At this time, on a small to medium-sized sea Jiao in the Great Liang navy, Gu Yun just spent his spare time watching a large number of his warships being sunk. Without blinking, he said to the guard on his side, See, what did I say? Know yourself and know your enemy. That old man can prepare for more than ten years for a battle. He must have studied me very hard.

If it was daylight, the Westerners would find it easier to see the special features of the sunken ships.

The ships were all empty, their form resembled a different design of the sea cuttle.

This is the poor idea of the old-schooled bunch of Ling Shu Institute, gathering up the broken battleships in the front line, then imitate the power system of the cuttle, emptying the whole ship. This kind of warship with only the shell was very light, it could slide far on the water automatically with little power. Although its useless, its a powerful tool to frighten people.

Gu Yun had sent part of the navy elsewhere, if he directly went on the battlefield, of course, it would be doubted by the foreigners, thus he simply used this method to feign.

It would be better if they are delirious from this momentary victory, Gu Yun sat aside with his legs crossed. Spread out and remember that our task today is to hold the enemy back.

The soldier licked his lips: Marshal, can the other side keep up?

That I dare not say, if it cannot then my fate is at its end, Gu Yun laughed low, Pay attention to maneuver.

On the Western main ship, Master Ja was indeed overjoyed and lost his head. Unfortunately, there was a pope beside him. He didnt dare to forget himself too much.

And he soon found that this disadvantageous Great Liang navy was not so easy to deal with. After their horse lost their front foot, they had quickly made adjustments. Gu Yuns fighting style got the Westerners in a mess again, making the situation that was supposed to be a battle of annihilation to become a match of equal strength.

The main forces of the two armies were entangled from midnight until the next morning

When the first ray of sunlight pierced the sea, the battlefield of chaos fighting all night in the dark was suddenly exposed to the sun.

On the main ship of Great Liang, the soldiers said: Marshal, there is no news on the other side. Lets withdraw. If we go on like this, the position of the main ship will be exposed. We dont have the big iron monsters that cant be sunk no matter how it was bombed. You cant risk yourself like this!

Gu Yun reached out his hand and stroked the frame of his liuli glass: Dont be impatient.

At this time, the pope suddenly put his Qian Li Yan into Master Jas hands: The ship with the Wu Yue sign! That must be the enemys main ship. Gu Yun must be on it. Take it down!

With the popes order, the heavy artillery moved, Gu Yuns main ship was unable to avoid it.

Private: Marshal!

At the critical moment, four to five small ships rushed out without Gu Yuns order, using themselves to guard in front of the main ship, an explosion instantly sounded.

Gu Yuns side face suddenly tightened. At this time, a sailor stumbled in and said, Marshal, we cannot hold on anymore!

Gu Yun narrowed his eyes slightly.

Marshal!

Its alright, dont panic. The back team changes to the front, hold them for a while, Gu Yun whispers, From…

He didnt finish his words, suddenly, there was an Eagle sound in the air. It was so sharp that it was like an alarm post. Even Gu Yun, a half-deaf, could hear it.

Gu Yun looked back.

That was the code from Shen Yi, who was in charge as the chief dispatcher on the shore the other side had succeeded!

The soldier froze for a moment, then jumped up: Our Eagles!

Gu Yun: Give me a Qian Li Yan.

The soldier licked his chapped lips: Marshal, we…

Be careful!

Boom!

At this time, a stray bullet was passing through the gap of the guarding ships, hitting the tail of Great Liangs main ship. The whole sea Jiao warship trembled greatly, smoke and sparks arose from all directions.

In the chaos, a piece of a liuli glass flew away, broken.

On the 24th day of January, Li Feng was awakened by the urgent battle report in the middle of the night before the Foreign Affairs Mission could arrive at the front line.

Signed with the Black Tiger emblem the frontline achieved great victory!

Gu Yuns arrangement in the past half-year had begun to take shape. No one knew when he had sent his men to the south, secretly instigated a group of islands in Nanyang occupied by the Westerner troops and ambushed a large part of troops in the southwest border.

On the night of January 21st, a part of the main forces of Great Liangs navy raided the enemy directly on the battlefield, using the cautious nature of the enemys general to contain the enemys forces. At the same time, the warship group which was lying in ambush on the southwest border, both sides in and out cooperate and swept over the islands at Nanyang, annihilated the forces of the foreigners occupied here, then immediately sent troops to intercept the supply line of the enemy, choking the enemys neck!

Who said that Great Liangs navy could not fight on the open sea?

The war report was very concise, stating only the results, not much for the details and casualties.

After this battle, the Western troops retreated to the sea area of Dongying in a panic. The local militia took the opportunity to attack the enemy on the ground. The southern half of the country exploded in all directions, it was the first dawn on the frontline after a long gloomy period.

Li Feng almost jumped up, getting dressed in the middle of the night wanting to summon a grand court meeting.

Foreign Affairs Mission bullshit, if they could beat the foreigners back to their home, they would not allow them to take even a grain of sand.

The servants were running around in a circle around him. After Zhu Little Feets death, the position of serving beside Li Feng had changed several people, but none were to his liking. At this time, it was also an old man who was serving him. He was not talkative and could be seen as smart: Congratulations, Your Majesty, with Marshal Gu, the day we recover Jiangnan is upon us!

Li Feng laughed aloud, his speech was almost incoherent, I no longer have to worry about explaining to my ancestors in the afterlife, truly.

Li Feng, who had been limping for a long time, almost ran out as if there was wind at his feet. Walking halfway, being blown by the night wind, Emperor Long Ans feverish brain finally cooled down, and the happy look on his face dimmed.

Yes, this battle has been won. Then whats next?

Many of the decrees carried out by the Grand Council were under the banner of prioritize the war. In addition to bringing out their Red Imperial Edict and Iron Plaque and their old age to lecture him, every noble family only wanted to stop the war.

If Li Feng was hesitant about war and peace before, then Gu Yuns victory had added a lot of chips to one side of the scale, making the balance in his heart turn to one side.

The guts of these aristocratic families are getting bigger and bigger, even wanted to intervene such a big war, the emperor thought quietly, What are they scheming?

Li Fengs steps were halted, and he said to the servant absent-mindedly: My nanny Zhao has not been in the palace for several years, do you remember her?

The servant did not know much, so he bowed his head and answered: I heard that Madame Zhao now has only one daughter, which is still on duty in the palace. She has accepted Third Master Fang as her adopted son. A few days ago, she frequently presents her plaque, she must have come to beg for help.

Li Feng said Oh and half-lowered his eyes: Nobles who broke the law and committed crime are the same with the common people. In those days, Wei Wang was still imprisoned like anyone else, no one had come out to demand his justice. On the other hand, how come the sons of these families are all so precious?

The servant heard the light killing intent in it. He looked at Li Feng carefully and didnt dare to speak for a moment.

Li Fengs hot sweat on his forehead was blown down by the cold wind. He covered his chest and coughed a few times. The servant quickly draped a fur coat on him.

At the age of seven, the crown prince was fairly smart, but he was too meek and weak, not quite resembling himself. Instead, he was more like the former emperor Yuan He. And what were the circumstances of Yuan Hes ruling?

Li Feng could still remember the former emperor always felt that his position was unjust, having to rely on this and that, not having even military authority in his hands. Even though the Gu family had only one young child, he still allowed the deadly Black Iron Tiger Emblem to be passed down. Always asking others for opinions even for the most insignificant matters, always bringing up affection to coerce, raising a bunch of national vermin, almost ruining the rich possessions left by Emperor Wu.

It took Li Feng ten years, yet he had still not finished cleaning up the mess left by the former emperor.

Li Feng felt more and more helpless in the past two years. He did not want his son to fall into the same predicament of his father.

But in this situation, who should he believe?

Yan Wang?

Yan Wangs will not marry, will not have children and willing to die for the country were all his own words, there were plenty of easy to hear, beautiful words in the world. When the evidence of those disorderly subjects and traitors were indisputable, they were still crying and saying that they were all struggling for the country and the people. Although Li Feng could be moved by him for a while, but after a long time, he would sober up.

Li Feng was protecting Chang Geng at present because he also saw the value of this reform. Yan Wang was right in saying that the system and rules were the most important. No matter what Yan Wang wanted to change into, this scarred nation was indeed developing in a better direction.

Li Feng hoped to use Yan Wangs hands to completely clean up the previous dynastys terminal illness and leave a clear and bright life for the crown prince in the future.

At the same time, however, he could never give his weak son to the hands of his younger brother who had the resolute to kill. If one day he was going to follow the former emperor, the first person he needed to deal with was Yan Wang, and the second was Gu Yun.

No, go back to the palace. Call for the court tomorrow morning. When the day breaks, ask the prince to come over. Li Feng suddenly gave orders.

The internal servant was in confusion. They were talking about nanny Zhaos affairs, how come the emperor, after a moment of silence, had moved on to the prince?

And, Li Feng said again, What about the memorial I brought back? Bring it to me.

The memorial was written by Xu Ling. His idea of reforming the constitution of school was not very fluent, even a bit inexperienced, but it didnt matter, they can leave it to the Grand Council to coordinate and improve it. The court was making a fuss about killing and beheading people and severely punishing the imperial examination fraud. Only a few scholars could think of the future.

If he could, Li Feng, like any ordinary father, would like to give his young son more years of shelter and let him play with grass crickets in the harem. But who knew what would happen soon in this era?

The next morning, the news of the great victory on the front lines of Liangjiang came straight down, all forces have not yet had time to respond to this sudden result, but for the first time, Li Feng took a clear stand and forcefully implemented two new policies at the great court meeting:

First, he agreed with the Long An New Policy of the Grand Council on abolishing the Feng Huo tickets and changing the currency policy.

Second, on the court, he agreed with Xu Ling and the two courts requests for the reform of the constitution of the Imperial Academy, in which the imperfect parts would be led by the Grand Council, with the cooperation of the Imperial Academy, the Ministry of Rites, and the two courts to revise.

At the same time, Li Feng dragged Jiang Chong and the Ling Shu Institute out together on the court for a scolding, demanded them to speed up the investigation of fraud cases in the nine provinces at once. All the people involved, regardless of their origins, would be punished severely. He also ordered Ling Shu Institute to think of a way to expand the steam rail line from the capital to Jiangnan. They must not give the Westerners a room to breathe and waste this victory. They must continue this vigorous momentum and attain more victory.

Before the court was dismissed, Li Feng announced his final decision: the 11-year-old prince was about to attend the court.

T/N: Happy Lunar New Year Lets welcome the Year of the Rat with a hopeful chapter

With Gu Yuns music of making ghosts and gods cry at his side, even if there were all kinds of demons in front of him, he could be fearless.

In ones life, there was always a moment when one cannot contain anything in mind except for an absurd idea for no reason. A strong desire seems to devour the whole spirit, even if reason outside the brain risked its life to stretched its claws and scratch the door.

For example, many years ago, when Gu Yuns head was delirious from fever in the wild northwest, he thought of resigning from his position and wandering around the world.

For example, many years later, Chang Geng came out of the imperial palace with the breeze and snow, only wanted to see Gu Yun who was thousands of miles away.

Chang Geng ran back to the Marquiss manor without thinking. Two iron puppets at the door turned around and watched him silently. As soon as he met the purple light in the puppets eyes, his steps suddenly stopped.

Chang Geng and the two iron monsters looked at each other for a long time, he finally slowly recovered from the state of almost succumbing into madness. With a sigh, he reached out and touched the ice cold arm of the iron puppet, slowly lowered his head and bowed down, breathing out a dense white mist.

In the past, they separated then reunited, there was a time when they didnt see each other for four years, yet it did not seem to be as difficult as this moment. Chang Geng himself didnt know whether he was becoming more fragile, or whether he was becoming more and more greedy for Gu Yun. There seemed to be a string in his heart, ever since Gu Yun suddenly wrote a letter saying that he missed him, it began to tense up.

When every thrilling battle in the south reached the capital, the string would become tighter. When the situation in the court became more dangerous and complicated, it would also become a bit tighter. Until it suddenly broke at this moment without warning.

At this time, the gate opened from the inside, it was the manor guard captain Huo Dan.

Huo Dan saw Chang Gengs strange expression and was surprised: Uncle Wang is asking me to find you, Your Highness. Whats the matter?

Chang Gengs eyes were slightly red, but he adjusted a smile in the fastest time, he patted away the snowflakes on his body: Nothing, I was dizzy from running too fast. What does Uncle Wang need me for?

Huo Dan was a crude man. He didnt see anything unusual after hearing it, he helped him up and whispered in his ear: There is a guest who is inconvenient to appear. He said he has an urgent matter to report. He was unable to come to the Grand Council to meet and can only come to the Marquiss manor.

The visitor was a man of about thirty-four or thirty-five. Chang Geng didnt know him, but he must have met him somewhere, he seemed familiar. As he adjusted his disordered mental state, he tried to recall the identity of the guest.

Fortunately, the man himself came forward and said, I am Liu Zhong, deputy governor of the Foreign Affairs Mission, greeting to Your Highness.

The so-called Foreign Affairs Mission was built by a group of pro-peace factions from the Ministry of War, using a connection they have with Honglu Temple, it was built by their joint effort. For fear of touching Emperor Long Ans temper, they did not even dare call themselves peace envoy, they had to bear the half-ass name of Foreign Affairs Mission, raised the banner of one civil, one militant, finding some bullshit reason to go on the front line to make the enemy retreat through other ways, this was purely with the intention of making trouble for Gu Yun.

Chang Geng frowned. He had just met this person, but his impression of the man was already bad. He did not show it in his demeanor for fear of a lack of grace. He said with indifference, Master Liu is about to depart on your mission, visiting in the middle of the night like this, is there something important?

Liu Zhong suddenly stepped back and knelt down, raising one hand to the heavens and said, If this lowly official speak of any false statement today, I will be struck by lightning, and my parents will not be at peace in the afterlife.

Chang Geng turned aside in avoidance for half a step: What is Master Liu doing? Hurry and stand up.

Liu Zhong refused: Do you know that the supervisor of our regiment, my direct superior, used to be a student of Grand Scholar Fang that year?

Of course, Chang Geng knew, not only did he knew, but he was also disgusted for a long time. If it wasnt for the lack of skills, he wished nothing more than to capture all the traitors that supported the Foreign Affairs Mission and chop them to pieces.

Your Highness, please allow me to report. Liu Zhong quickly explained to Chang Geng what Grand Scholar Fang had secretly told the foreign affairs officer, Currently, only a few of the trusted confidants of the supervisor know about this matter, this lowly official is incompetent, I am also one of them.

Chang Gengs fingers tapped the table beside him: Visiting the manor in the middle of the night is not the action of a trusted confidant, is it now?

Liu Zhong gave a grand courtesy: This servants ancestral home is Hangzhou. My parents died early. I grew up with the elders of my family when I was a child. Later, I went to study in all directions and also worked as an adviser for the rank of nobility many times. I met with the elders of the Fangs family by fate, having affinity with them, they recommended me to be an official. Of course, it is hard to repay his kindness.

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Chang Geng raised his eyebrows lightly.

When I was a child, I had a childhood sweetheart. The two of us were young and innocent. We were already engaged and waited to be wed. Liu Zhong buried his head very low and shrunk his shoulders. I wanted to wait until I succeed in my career and to go back to my hometown to ask for her hand in marriage. But before that day could come, the ferocious enemy had suddenly attacked…

Liu Zhong bowed his head and wiped his face then kowtowed heavily to him: Although the dead are already dead, the living are always unable to let go of anger. Thank you for your mercy.

Chang Geng sighed softly: Master Liu, get up first then talk.

The two discussed in secret for a long time. When they saw Liu Zhong off, there was already a sound of night patrol on the street. Chang Geng stood at the door for a moment, pinched the center of his brows and said to Huo Dan, May I ask the commander to go see if Miss Chen had slept yet, if she hasnt, please invite her here.

Chen Qing Xu had been staying as a guest in the Marquiss manor these days, ready to try and start on the treatment for Chang Gengs Bone of Impurity. But it would be a long process, Yan Wang never had any free time, he did not return even after half a month.

When Chen Qing Xu saw Chang Geng, feeling that his complexion was already very bad, she said, Your Highness, the more serious you are thinking, the more difficult it would be to control yourself. Have you been too exhausted recently?

Chang Geng smiled bitterly. He ignited the contradiction too soon, in fact, there were many things that had not yet finished preparing. Every step was dangerous. He didnt know when he would slip on this vertical cliff.

But he had ran out of time.

He was afraid that his enemies would not give him time, that Gu Yun would only report the good news but not the bad, that he would steel himself to suffer from what he did not know in a place where he could not see.

Chang Geng: If its convenient for Miss Chen, you can start applying needles from today.

Chen Qing Xu was stunned: The process may be very painful. Your Highness is busy with the court during the day. Will you be able to bear it?

Chang Geng shook his head: I dont know, but I always have a bad feeling. In recent days, its more and more difficult to suppress. Lets just say we wont be able to rebuild if we dont break it down first.

One hour later, Chang Geng realized that he had underestimated the word pain that Chen Qing Xu mentioned.

Chen Qing Xu brought a bowl of medicine soup to him and prepared the silver needles.

Chang Geng reached for it and asked, What is this?

I will make a copy of the prescription for your highness when you are no longer trapped by Bone of Impurity, said Chen Qing Xu, But it is better for you not to ask before drinking.

Chang Geng: …

He didnt know why, but in his impression, all the things related to the barbarians voodoo were full of the gloomy smell of corpse oil. After hearing this, Chang Geng suddenly had countless of terrible thoughts. He immediately stopped asking questions, curled up his tongue as much as possible, and drank with his nose pinched.

Chen Qing Xu bent over to light a tranquilizer, the quiet cold fragrance spread in the room. She sat cross-legged three steps away from him, and said in a serious manner, Your Highness, after I start to apply needles, you must keep your mental state clear all the time, otherwise no one will be able to wake you up. Do you understand?

Chang Geng nodded.

Chen Qing Xu: I will start when this tranquilizing incense is burnt out. Please use this incense to clear your mind and eliminate all distractions.

At first, there was no sensation. Chen Qing Xus needles were steady and accurate. Her hands were very fast. Chang Geng only closed his eyes. Suddenly, a chill of fear rose from behind him the type of fear when seeing someone raised a weapon yet he could not avoid and could only await his death. The muscles in his back contracted involuntarily. Although he could not move, he made a subconscious action of avoidance.

Chen Qing Xus needles could not go through at once, she appeared much more serious: Your Highness.

Chang Geng felt an invisible whip lashing on his back, there was a murmur in his ears, the shouting and cursing of the woman who was gone for more than ten years exploded in his ears.

Amidst the long years of nightmares, Chen Qing Xus voice mingled with tranquilizer stabbed into his ear: Your Highness, this is the Marquiss manor. Can you hear me?

Chang Geng, with all his strength, gave a little nod.

Chen Qing Xu sent the next silver needle in, the second tranquilizing incense was burnt out. She looked at the Western clock on the table, This is just the beginning, Your Highness, do you need time to adapt to it?

Chang Geng bit the tip of his tongue: No, go on.

Chen Qing Xu no longer talked nonsense, her movement swift. The illusion that had just faded was coming back again. All kinds of injuries imposed on him by Xiu Niang in his childhood reappeared one by one.

Chen Qing Xu s face was filled with tension. She saw an old scar on Chang Geng s clavicle suddenly reddened and swell without any reason. A thin row of blood oozed out. The blood vessels resembling cobwebs underneath his skin split on both sides, appearing very ferocious.

Your Highness, Your Highness Yan Wang! Chen Qing Xu called him.

Chang Geng did not react.

Chen Qing Xu did not dare to continue. Suddenly, she saw a pair of iron shoulder armor hanging on the foot of the bed. It looked like it was from a long time ago. Now, the steel armor in the army had changed its style. Chen Qing Xu suddenly remembered when talking with Chang Geng about the symptom of Bone of Impurity in his early years, he seemed to mention by chance that when he broke away from his nightmare for the first time, it was thanks to the piece of armor Gu Yun hung at the head of the bed.

Chen Qing Xu swept her long sleeves, the iron shoulder made a sound with a clear impact, the sound of metal swept through the quiet room. Chang Gengs increasingly rapid breathing suddenly came to a halt.

There were many obstacles in front of him. First, he was trapped in his own younger body sharp hairpins, burning red sticks, dirty horsewhip, the womans hands as sharp as pliers. At the end of everything, there was Gu Yun, half-clad in steel armor, watching him silently, pierce through many years.

Chang Geng stared at him like a life-saving straw, struggling to maintain his own line of clarity. He did not know how long it took for the demonic illusions to gradually get away from him. Chang Geng came back to his senses exhausted, and saw that the tranquilizer fragrance on the table had burned out, Chen Qing Xu was gathering the silver needles.

Only then did he realize that he could move again.

Chen Qing Xu: How do you feel?

Chang Geng moved his hand for a while, and saw that there were many small bruises on his arms he did not know where they came from. They had already scabbed and itched a little. He tried to clench his fist. Its like climbing out once more.

After Chen Qing Xu left, Chang Geng immediately fell asleep. Over the years, his sleep seemed to be a lake surface which could be broken even by a stone. Aside from the loss of blood and being in a coma, he rarely had this feeling of deep sleep, having no nightmares for the first time.

He dreamt of a lofty watchtower. There was a fire in the distance. The camp was heavily guarded, with a sense of ready to battle. A group of soldiers who came back from the camp patrol were tightening their reins. Suddenly, the leader looked back at him: it turned out to be Gu Yun. He wore a liuli glass that was flashier than a mask, the silver lining and the dark armor complimented each other, he looked at him and smiled teasingly.

In the dream, Chang Geng said with a laugh, What on earth are you wearing?

Gu Yun stretched out a hand on horseback, the metal arm burning Ziliujn with the firepower easily pulled him up on the horse, Gu Yun hugged him from behind, laughing and said to his ear, The military camp is too lonesome, trying to coerce a few little beauties.

People could not cover up their subtle thoughts in their dreams. Knowing what he said was only a joke, Chang Gengs heart was still full of unspeakable grievances: Ive been troubled all night in the capital, for fear of going wrong step by step. I only hoped to hear a few words from you every day, but nothing came.

Gu Yun said helplessly: Your Highness, you come all the way here to this remote place to act spoiled?

Chang Geng thought that he was very right. He truly wanted to sulk and pick a fight with Gu Yun, just like what was written in the folk storybook. However, only when one wanted to make use of a knowledge did one find they did not have enough, his skill was very lackluster. At this time, he was a little stuck and didnt know where to start.

Gu Yun raised his hand and took off the liuli glass on his face, tilted his head and kissed him on the face: If you dont like it, I wont wear it anymore.

In the early morning, Chang Geng woke up in Gu Yuns horrifying flute sound. He climbed up and rubbed his eyes. He always felt that the demonic sound seemed to still linger around his ears. He rubbed his sore ears painfully, but the corners of his mouth could not help but curl up.

This was really the best dream of his life.

With Gu Yuns music of making ghosts and gods cry at his side, even if there were all kinds of demons in front of him, he could be fearless.

What Chang Geng didnt know was that the night before, on the front line, when Gu Yun came back from his patrol, he suddenly felt that there was someone behind watching at him. He could not help but turn back his head and dropped the liuli glass on his face. This time, the lens didnt break, but it was the delicate pattern that knocked on his shoulder plate and chipped a corner, he had to admit that this thing is pretty but useless, and replaced it with a regular one.

The next day, Shen Yi had a good laugh at him when he heard it: Perhaps it was some god that had their eyes sored by your flirtatious attitude.

Then that god must be a busybody, Gu Yun said without shame, Maybe she saw that I am handsome and want to become my wife in a hurry.

Shen Yi: …

Before General Shen could vomit out all his dinner the night before, a general came to report: Marshal, your emissary sent to Dong Ying has replied.

Gu Yun: Bring it in.

Some of the supplies of the Western army were sent from the open sea with the cooperation of Dong Ying people. In this war, they seemed to have been involved in every aspect, but they were cunningly unwilling to show themselves on the table. Even when Liao Chi was attempting to kidnap Emperor Long An with ten Dong Ying warriors disguised as monks, it was also for his personal resentment. The Dong Ying people did not step out and demand justice for him either.

Shen Yi: What does it say?

Gu Yun shook his head: Its said they are polite and tentative, but their attitude was ambiguous. As soon as the messengers wanted to talk about business, the person in charge would avoid meeting, finding a group of white-faced dancers to accompany them. Dong Ying people have their own calculation in mind. If the foreigners can take root in our country, they will be able to eat a piece of rotten meat. But if the Western warships are defeated, they will still be our neighbor in the future. Therefore, they are not willing to offend us completely.

Shen Yi frowned and said, Trying to please both sides. What kind of character is this.

The good kind. Gu Yun said with a smile, As long as they are indecisive, I can rest assured. Its of great use, just wait and see.

Shen Yi shook his head. We cant wait anymore. The front line of the south is too long. Ziliujin is too tight. Even if you deploy it, there will come a time when it will no longer be able to keep up. Im afraid that if we fight like this, there will be talks in the court.

Gu Yuns face faded.

Shen Yi also reminded: I heard the court thought that fighting head-on is moronic, we should hit once with a stick then reward with an apple. Recently, a new group of foreign affairs envoys are being set up. If these people are really coming with a stick to reward the apple then its fine, I only fear they come to cause trouble.

Gu Yun pondered for a moment: When will they arrive?

They must be ready to depart soon, Shen Yi replied. No more than ten days Zi Xi, what do you want to do?

This chapter is generally about fighting dont buy if youre not interested

-priest

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Gu Yun secretly sent envoys to visit the Dongying and Nanyang islands. So far, the front line had been on a stalemate for more than three months. Some fronts had been expanded under the constant struggle of both sides, the flame of war had spread from Jiangbei to the thirteen counties in Jiangnan, even to Guangdong and Guangxi.

A large number of people who refused to abandon their ancestors land and cross the river began to form their own militia. Although the common folk mechanics did not have Ziliujin, they tried every way to replace it with coal and explosive powder as fuel, and forged a number of less fancy military equipment in various ways.

These equipment did not have much variety, hence Ling Shu Institute announced the establishment of many branches all over the country to exchange and teach technologies outside of the highly confidential military type.

The far-reaching impact of the war also gradually emerged.

Fang Qin never thought that it wasnt the Yan Wang Party that would break the peace in the court, but the pure officials of the two courts

Great Liangs Autumn Examination hosted once every three years happened this year. Because of the war, it was interrupted in the middle, then continued to be delayed for some time, only until January did the names of the people who passed were released, gathered into a Plum List, which was nicknamed Moldy List by scholars all over the country.

*Plum and Mold are homophones, both pronounced as mi

Less than three days after the announcement, a scholar in Shaanxi Province committed suicide. The officials dared not let troubles happen at this key moment, trying their best not to report it to the superiors. However, suppressing it for a few days, when the grand meeting of the imperial court was dismissed, someone stopped at the gate of the imperial platform wanting to report it to the emperor.

This was a long story.

Yan Wang went to Jiangnan twice, cut off countless heads, and issued the most severe administrative governance* to date, which made the serious and ever-growing problem of corruption in Great Liang from the Yuan He Dynasty to decline for a while. In these few years of war, even the Imperial Palace was tightening the spending, the official salaries had to be reduced again and again, plus the Feng Huo tickets had made it worse, being closely linked with the assessment of the administrative governance, it was no different than closing the source but opening the outlet. The life of officials had never been so difficult in the past hundreds of years.

*in an administrative governance, the ministers and other members of the court are merely civil servants who can only implement policy, but not make them

There was a saying: it was easy to go from poverty to extravagance, but difficult the other way around. When it involves the large possessions of gold and silver, no one would care about everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the country.

But even if life was difficult, theres no other way. No one dared to receive gifts. Everyone knew that Yan Wang was behind the rich merchants, receiving something incorrectly would perhaps turn the gift into a life-claiming token. No one dared to dip their hands in the military expenses. The taxes after the reform was also impossible to touch, and there was no need to mention the relief funds for natural disasters, the heads of Yang Rong Gui and his party had yet to become bones.

Fortunately, this years Autumn Examination was not at the point of attention. The whole country was busy fighting the war and earning money, no one cared about these useless scholars, thus someone immediately came up with a vile scheme.

As a result, pulling out the radish dragging the mud with it, implicating a big fraud case involving nine provinces, shocking the whole country.

Fang Qin managed to press down many shit-stirring sticks around him with difficulty, he had yet to enjoy a few days of peace, but was already covered with papers from the two courts falling like snow.

Those pure officials were different from the Yan Wang Party: the Yan Wang party had always been pragmatic and had a purpose for all their activities, they fought for power in an orderly manner, many of their actions could be predictable, but these clean people, who have eyes higher than the top of their heads, regarded fame and wealth as garbage, were all revealing crimes simply for the sake of revealing crimes this was something they did. Their personal fame was closely related to the number of people they personally dragged down.

The young masters and nobles rarely ever entered these two courts, thus a majority of these monsters came from poor students, and what the fraud in this imperial examination touched was also the interest of poor students.

The mad dogs in the two courts who havent bitten anyone in a long time seemed to have their tails stepped on, barking loudly. They screamed and scolded in a variety of ways every day, forcing Li Feng to investigate strictly, it seemed as if they were not satisfied with the investigation, they would line up and knock their heads on the column in the middle of the court to die altogether for the emperor to see.

The brief and false peace was broken.

Nine provincial officials, there was no telling how many intricate relationships were involved in it, even including Fang Qins good for nothing younger brother.

The youngest child and the eldest grandson were the raison dtre of an old man. Even Grand Scholar Fang, who no longer care about the world for a long time, was shocked. Fang Qin could turn faces with anyone, but not with his own father, his mind was in an entangled mess.

But without waiting for Fang Qin to think of a solution, this time, not knowing whether it was intentional or not, the emperor directly jumped over Da Li temple and the inspectors office and sent this case to the Grand Council instead, letting Jiang Chong lead the investigation, the others could only cooperate.

Paper could no longer contain fire.

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Although Fang Qin was born into a rich family, before, he always harbored the hope of being able to shine bright for generations and therefore refused to throw away his dignity and commit dirty deeds with his party. For this reason, he first abandoned Lu Chang, who dared to intimidate him, then abandoned the old fool, Wang Guo. At present, he was finally at the point where he could no longer abandon any one his mother was still bedridden in the next door.

After appeasing this person and explaining to the other, when Lord Fang left the door, there was still a group of people waiting for him to make a decision. He was in a state of anxiety. Just after one night, there were two bleeding blisters on the corner of his mouth. After accompanying his old crying mother, Fang Qin heard that another was coming. He rubbed between his brows and coldly said, Just say Im not at home, send them away.

The servant retreated quietly, just then, an adviser came up and whispered, Is something troubling Master Fang?

Fang Qin sent him an angry look. Fortunately, with his excellent self-control, he soon hid his gloomy expression and said slowly: The scholar rebelled unsuccessfully for three years. This time, from when the accident occurred to reporting to the imperial state of the capital, it all happened too fast. It was almost as if someone was assisting… that Li Mins outward appearance was all clear and bright, only daring to stab people under the table. This kind of person with a kind face but a dark heart could only deceive the emperor.

The adviser asked again, Does Master have a plan in mind?

Fang Qin was currently very irritated if he knew ahead of time, even if its only one day ahead, theres still a little room for maneuver. But the speed of the outbreak was too fast. The emperor knew earlier than him, which directly put Fang Qin into a very difficult situation.

Fang Qin sighed: It is very tricky, Yan Wangs type is of tigers and wolves. Once he catches the preys neck, he wont let it go again.

I heard that His Highness Yan Wangs reform has not been completely finished, and there are hundreds of disputes in the court. I think he is too hasty. This step is how his intelligence backfired at him.

Fang Qin stopped his steps, he could see that the man next to him was beating around the bush with the intention of baiting him. Fangs Manor raised a lot of advisers, but most of them could only accompany the old scholar Fang in playing chess. There were few who had the intellect to open their mouths in front of Fang Qin. Its rare to be able to seize a chance, of course, the adviser would want to let himself be known.

Fang Qin reached out and stroked his beard: Why did you say so?

Seeing the opportunity came, the adviser quickly poured out the previously prepared words: Now that it has come to this, Im afraid theres no chance to rebuttal the case. Why dont we dig to the root and directly try to abolish the new official law of Yan Wang?

Fang Qin originally assumed he had wise ideas. Hearing this, he cut off the flickering hope in his heart and coldly said, Cheating in the imperial examination is a serious crime of beheading and losing position no matter the dynasty. What does it have to do with old and new official laws?

The adviser smiled calmly and said: My Lord, a greedy person is a greedy person, a cheater is a cheater, but now, its involved nine provinces and countless important ministers, could this still be a coincidence? The emperor will also think that there must be some reasons behind it. How could these officials be so vicious? Because these two years are really not easy to live, the refugees must be settled, the taxes must be paid, the military expenditure must be spent, and the quota of the Feng Huo tickets must be completed.

Fang Qins brow slightly moved: The circulation of Feng Huo tickets can be equated with gold and silver, the regulations had been set after the Jiangnan accident. What are you planning to say?

It can be equated with gold and silver in circulation, but it doesnt mean it can be equated with gold and silver when handing over to the imperial court, said the adviser, shaking his head. Moreover, there are many rich businessmen who migrated from the south to Jiangbei, the peoples civilization there is relatively premature, but the Central Plains to the northwest are not the same. If they dont accept it, they wont accept it. If the government used force, they will have a chance of running into the commoners who cry and threaten to hang themselves. If something goes wrong, the imperial court has to ask who is responsible? Who is prone to blame and who are the ones that walk on ice? Master, think about it. If you really dare to make this bet, there may be room for salvage. Even if the Third Master is punished and dismissed of his position, as long as the power of the Fang family is still there, who can say he wont be able to rise again in the future?

Fang Qin listened and was silent.

The adviser said in a low voice, My Lord, its hard to know what will happen in the future. Were looking forward to the end of the war to turn over the old debt. Of course, Yan Wangs side would also predict this. Dont say not fighting is fighting. If you dont take the initiative to move, you can only be forced to die by them this follower had said too much today, Master, please pardon me, I will take my leave.

On the sixteenth of the twelfth lunar month, when the governor of Shaanxi government, one of the masterminds involved in the case, was tried, he was really crying out in court that his jurisdiction was poor and weak, thus it was difficult to promote the Feng Huo tickets, so the local government could only buy by it themselves. The court also sent down three decrees of quota in succession, unable to fulfill them, they could only borrow from everywhere, yet there was no real income, they had to make such a lowly decision.

As soon as these words came out, it was a stone that stirred up a thousand waves. All the guilty ministers all spoke of the same and pulled down Yan Wangs party that was originally watching from the sideline. Some even spilled nonsense: Cheating in the imperial examination was equal to selling and buying position, then linking the official reform with the Feng Huo tickets, was that any different from selling position?

This new year has passed by in a scuffle, no one had the peace of mind to eat dumplings.

At the end of the day, the Grand Council had to write an apology letter, officially announced the abolition of the laws that involved the Feng Huo tickets in the new official reform, and suspended the sale of the Feng Huo tickets for the time being.

However, with the war going on, to prevent the imperial court to once again falling in a situation of having no money available, the Grand Council took the opportunity to put forward the idea of stopping the official casting of silver, following the Westerners policy of jiaozi* in the occupied land and the previous dynasty, let the Bank of Long An issue a special type of temporary silver to use in place of gold and silver coins, and drew up a series of new regulations, sending together with the apology letter.

As long as the new regulations were feasible, everyone had no opinion on whether it was iron jiaozi or paper tongbao**, but it could never be controlled by the Grand Council.

*A type of paper money issued in Sichuan in the Song dynasty.

**tongbao: A way to call coin money.

So at this time, the steam rail that was about to be formed had unexpected problems.

The north and south sections have been basically connected, only the middle section was left. If they were connected, the work will be completed. However, the last section had been delayed for more than a month and dared not start construction. The problem laid on the land.

Most of the land along the line had been reserved, but it was impossible for such a long area of land to be all without an owner. If it was private property, it will be bought at market price by the Canal Office. At the same time, it would give some other subsidies, such as tax relief and so on. There were also people not willing to sell their ancestral property, thus the court will rent it instead and write down the lease and pay the rent every year.

Since the year of Yuan He dynasty, the government of Great Liang had paid attention to being a benevolent government, strict with civil and military officials, but very polite to common villagers. Because of this politeness, there was a fatal omission in this lease it only stated the lease term, not what would happen if the original owner no longer wanted to rent.

They didnt expect that someone would destroy the imperial courts agreement.

And the last part of the road happened to be a large piece of rented land. The original owner was a major landlord, doing other businesses in his family. They had already come to an agreement, although the construction had not reached this place, the rent has been paid.

Unexpectedly, the man suddenly repented and returned all the money without missing a coin. Although this person had no official position, the force behind him was powerful and large, closely related to family of Imperial Duke Zhao. As soon as he retreated, no one dared to slap his face. He completely avoided the Canal Offices people coming to see him, hence it was too late for the steam rail to change its course, they had to make a big circle to go around it.

Due to the stagnation of the steam rail, Gu Yun wrote several letters asking for the completion date. At last, he sent it straight to Li Feng and said that the materials on the front line could not keep up, if this continued, he would be forced to shrink the front line.

Fang Qins youngest brother hadnt cleaned himself up yet. At this time, Grand Scholar Fang finally expressed his clear dissatisfaction with his sons excessive worry and lack of skill, and began to make his move.

The man who was once the examination teacher of half the court did two things at the same time.

First of all, he secretly met with the foreign affairs official of the imperial court who made contact with the Western envoys. He suggested that the national strength of Great Liang might not be enough to support the long-term war with the Westerners at this time. If they fought on like this, it would only be a waste of resources, hurting both sides. The great achievement did not fall on the butcher in battle, but the one who could eventually promote peace treaty, the one who could return peace to the nation.

The foreign affairs officer, once a student of Grand Scholar Fang, asked cautiously, Teacher, if the emperor is determined to fight, how can we, as subjects, be able to push him?

It depends on how you talk to the Westerners. Grand Scholar Fangs appearance bore the aura of someone who practiced cultivation, speaking with deep meaning, What they want is nothing more than benefits. Do you think they are willing to continue to fight with Gu Yun to the death, or are they willing to step back and cooperate with our courts pro-peace faction to achieve an early armistice and mutual friendship? The emperor and the court want dignity. If the foreigners really are sincere and will save them faces, we wont be stingy, is that not right? Without the frontline battle as an excuse, I dont believe the emperor will let Yan Wang continue to do as he pleases.

Sending away the foreign affairs officer who seem to had just woke up from his dream, he then asked his wife to invite someone it was Emperor Long Ans nanny, who was once very well looked after by his wife after she left the palace to retire.

Li Feng loved his nanny very much. He was originally talking to Chang Geng about business, hearing that the nanny delivered the plaque asking to enter the palace to visit the sick queen, he hurriedly instructed Chang Geng and rushed to the back palace.

Chang Geng left the palace slowly. The whole palace was shrouded in the sunset. The gold glint on thousands of glazed tiles disappeared in the hue. There was a little ice slag on the edge, which was not easy to detect, appearing very cold and distant.

The weather was so cold, yet the capital was so hot.

In recent days, the front line had become more and more tense, Gu Yuns letters have also been reduced. The rambling chatter was almost gone. There were only a few private letters occasionally, containing only a few words.

Chang Geng slowly breathed out and stood under the red wall for a while, thinking, The day after tomorrow is the sixteenth day of January.

However, the mist that engulfed the country still has not seen signs of being dispelled.

Although that result was getting closer and closer in his step-by-step planning, he was still in a state of panic every once in a while.

At this time, a team of guards passed by, saw him, and hurriedly came forward to greet: Your Highness.

Chang Geng did not say a word, staring at the guards for a moment, then as if struck by a spell, he immediately walked away.

I want to see Gu Zi Xi, he thought, Right now.

The old man on the opposite side thinks hes very good at fighting along the sea? Ill show him the difference between a general and a marshal.

Cao Chun Hua did not dare to delay after receiving the Lin Yuan wooden bird, he handed over the unfinished matters at hand, and soon left for Liangjiang station.

As soon as he approached the station, Cao Chun Hua felt a kind of murderous aura coming from the humid and cold air, with a faint scent of gunsmoke. He couldnt help but straighten his back, no longer humming his song or sending flirtatious looks, trying to appear proper. Only strict guarding could be seen in this area, all the officers and soldiers on duty did not talk to one another, all sides engulfed in silence, only the sounds of shouting coming from the place where the soldiers were training regularly nearby could be heard.

Cao Chun Hua rubbed his eyes and thought he saw another Black Iron Camp.

As soon as he was near the station, a guard on duty stopped him. Cao Chun Hua did not dare to play around under Gu Yuns military authority. He hurriedly took out the passing order issued by the Grand Council. The average age of the guard in that row was no more than 18 or 19 years old. After checking and confirming there was nothing out of order with the pass, he neither flattered nor shown disrespect, another stepped out from the line, leading him to the Marshals tent. Cao Chun Hua looked back and saw that in the blink of an eye, the team filled up the vacancy for one person, there was no gap at all.

The guard who led the way was a little shy at first. Later, hearing that Cao Chun Hua once followed Gu Yun to clean up the Northern Barbarians, he finally opened the chatterbox: The Westerners cant get any scrap from Marshal, they couldnt win in direct battlefield either, these days, they have been lingering around several ports of Liangjiang and come to harass us. I heard from the captain, maybe they want to measure their strength with us. Master, dont they all say that our Great Liang has a large amount of land and wealth? Why do foreigners also have so much money?

Dont call me master, Im also a servant running errands, Cao Chun Hua waved and said again. I actually dont understand much about these things either, but Ive heard a few words from Master Du. You can see that their warships were specially designed for going out to sea and fighting naval battles. Did our Jiangnan Port and Dagu port not get destroyed in one move that year? Even our army is like this, let alone those small countries on the sea. Whenever they razed down one place, they will completely devour that place, plunder local materials, open factories that cannot be opened within their country, and force the prisoners to work for them, wring out their blood. Over time, there will be money.

The guard was silent for a moment and led Cao Chun Hua all the way to Gu Yuns tent.

The guard at the gate went in to report back. The young guard took the time to tell Cao Chun Hua, Sir, before, I heard the old soldiers talk about the Liangjiang garrison of the past, saying that when they were under General Zhao, salaries were high and work was little, the daily training was also lighter than garrisons of other areas, and when there is no mission, they can even cross the strait and enjoy the apricot blossoms and the misty rain. At that time, I felt that I was born in the wrong era, if it was peacetime, perhaps I can even climb onto the military master position.

Cao Chun Hua looked back at him, and the little guard smiled a little sheepishly. Today, hearing this from you, I felt that I was short-sighted. Those who can hold swords are still luckier than those who can only wait to be driven away by others.

Just then, a personal guard of the Marshal tent came out and said, Master Cao, please, Marshal invited you to come in.

Cao Chun Hua came back to his senses and walked into the Marshal tent. At a glance, he saw Gu Yun wearing a particularly coquettish liuli glass on the bridge of his nose. The carved patterns behind the mirror outshone the wearer, almost covering his face from the bridge of his nose all the way to his temple. It did not appear like a liuli glass, but more like a mask.

Cao Chun Hua was stunned, and the first reaction in his mind was What happened to Marshals eyes?.

But there was official business being discussed in the Marshal tent, Cao Chun Hua did not dare to disturb.

Shen Yi and Yao Zhen were both here. Yao Zhen was reading a letter from the Westerners: Those foreigners said that they came to inquire in good faith in the spirit of friendship and harmony, asking if they could divide the four counties in Jiangnan into trading areas, allowing the garrison to exercise self-government, protect the interests of foreign businessmen, and in the future, this place can become the link of shipping and commerce between the two sides…Oh, they also say that they love this land deeply and dont want to let the good fertile land be poisoned by war any longer.

Shen Yi: Yesterday, there were three counties. How come there is another one added today?

Yao Zhen sent him a helpless look: Maybe its because of their deep love.

Fuck them. Gu Yuns face was wearing an elegant liuli glass, but his words did not resemble those of a good-natured person, Love my ass, is it their turn to love?

Shen Yi: …

No one was able to answer.

Cao Chun Hua couldnt help it for a moment, laughing aloud.

Shen Yi hurriedly waved at him and said, Xiao Cao is here! Weve been waiting for you for a long time. Come here and tell us, when will our iron snake be built?

Ah, Master Shen, that name is a bit hard to hear… It will be soon, Cao Chun Hua replied briskly, The thing we have in abundance is the workers. The northern part has been basically completed, and the southern part is even better. In winter, there is no need to stop the construction either. When the parts are connected, the steam car can run from the capital to the riverside. Ive heard from Master Du that if it goes well, it will be finished before the end of the year as soon as possible by the way, how come Marshal is wearing liuli glass?

Is it pretty? Gu Yun smiled at him, the corners of his peach blossom eye was as if they were about to fly. He said shamelessly, I dropped one the other day. This time I found someone to change the frame, asking a famous artisan of Yangzhou to carve it in person. I really dont have the heart to hide something this beautiful, thus I must wear it every day for everyone to see.

Shen Yi felt his stomach ache, Oh my Marshal, youd better put it away. The eyes of us mortals are not worthy of such beauty.

Gu Yun ignored him and turned to let Cao Chun Hua have a full look at it, spilling nonsense: If it does not work out, I will go out and play a beauty trick myself. Im afraid it wont be able to deal with a million soldiers, but thirty or twenty thousand are easy, isnt that right, Xiao Cao?

Cao Chun Huas face blushed red in an instant.

Shen Yi and Yao Zhen each turned their face in a different direction, unable to look straight at him.

You came just in time, Gu Yun jumped up, wrapping his arm around Cao Chun Huas shoulders, who was blushing all the way to his ears, and pushed him to the sand table. I have something that cannot be done by anyone but you, I wanted to ask you to run somewhere for me, help me?

There was no telling if Marshal Gus ingenious beauty trick was effective towards the Westerners or not, but it is very effective to Cao Chun Hua. His face suddenly turned red again, his neck was burning hot, sweating excessively. He felt that no matter what Gu Yun said to him, he could reply yes yes yes to everything.

When Cao Chun Hua came out of the Marshal tent in a daze, he finally startled. Wait a minute, didnt Yan Wang send him here to take care of Marshal?

How come as he just settled down, he was immediately tricked to the southwest border by Marshal in just a few words?

Just now, Gu Yun even told him that this was a top-class secret, as he exits the tent, he must digest it in his stomach, it could not be reported even to the Grand Council.+

How was he supposed to explain this after returning!

Shen Yi personally arranged for Cao Chun Hua who had lost his soul, then turned back to find Gu Yun. Yao Zhen has already left. The light in the tent was very dim. Gu Yun put his two long legs on a bench next to him and folded his arms in front of his chest. He didnt know what he was thinking. Since he could no longer hear, he was rid of the many disturbances of being able to see and hear all four sides and could easily focus on his own thoughts.

The cold wind that surged in when Shen Yi opened the door startled him, Gu Yun looked up at him: Is the preparation done?

Shen Yi nodded and asked, Do you actually want to make use Xiao Cao, or are you afraid that he will inform His Royal Highness Yan Wang?

Am I one to mix up private and official affairs? Gu Yun lifted his eyebrows, but without waiting for Shen Yi to apologize, he said again, Both.

Shen Yi: …

He had never seen a person who was so divided between public and private.

When we start the war, there will be changes in the court. Chang Geng should not overly exert himself mentally, this situation is also inevitable. Let him not be distracted by my little mistake here. In addition, Xiao Caos matter needs someone flexible and trustworthy to deal with, said Gu Yun. The old man on the opposite side thinks hes very good at fighting along the sea? Ill show him the difference between a general and a marshal.

Shen Yi was divided into two parts by his words: the left half was the old soldier of the Black Iron Camp, wishing that he could follow his commander with all heart and soul, the right half was nauseous from Gu Yuns sincere boasting, his goosebumps rising. Once again, he was speechless and had to beg: Zi Xi, even if youre blind, can you at least change to a normal liuli glass?

Gu Yun dressed in armor and readied to go out for camp patrol the Marshal making daily patrolling in person without missing a day was also a distinguishing feature of Liangjiang camp, even if he was blind.

No, he replied solemnly with an utmost serious expression, I want to follow the example of Lan Ling Wang*.

Shen Yi thought that this bastard might not have transferred him here to share his worries, but to be his entertainment!

*Lan Ling Wang, Gao Chang Gong, was a Northern Qi general and a renowned beautiful man with feminine physical appearance thus always wore a horrifying mask when fighting in battles.

Cao Chun Hua only had time to write one letter to Chang Geng since arriving in Jiangnan, saying that Marshal Gu was busy with military affairs and bullying Teacher Shen every day, everything is alright. After that, there was no news. He didnt know whether Gu Yun had put him to work or whether he was simply forgetting the country due to entertainment. Its impossible for Chang Geng to not be envious when remembering his obsession for men, but he also felt relieved at the same time no news was good news. If Cao Chun Hua could obsess over men all day, then perhaps it was as Liao Ran had said, Gu Yun had plenty of strength to handle this situation.

At the same time, Chen Qing Xu also arrived at the capital around Chongyang* Festival.

*September Ninth in lunar calendar.

Chang Geng spent more than a month in the Grand Council, finally asking for a rare leave of half a day to return home and welcome her.

The first time Gu Yun sent a message to him informing that he had found a copy of the secret art of the goddess with Jia Lai Ying Huo, Chang Geng was very much looking forward to it for a while, like an old demon who had been hiding from the world finally hearing that he could become a regular human. However, after returning to the capital, he made preparations like a storm, dealt with all kinds of political enemies like walking on a tightrope, he truly did not have the mind to worry about anything else. Only until he met Chen Qing Xu here did he pick up this old thought.

Chen Qing Xu never liked to conceal anything or stalling. When she met Chang Geng, before any greetings, she instantly said, It can be cured.

In these words, Chang Geng was nailed to the spot for a long time, until the breath held in his chest was used to the bottom, he slowly breathed out, and calmly prodded, Can the deep-rooted disease contracted not long after being born be cured?

Chen Qing Xu nodded: Yes.

Chang Gengs hand in the broad sleeve of his side imperial uniform jerked violently, but his voice was still calm and pressing: People say that the evil god is the combination of two peoples flesh and blood, I am two people since birth, how could… Miss Chen be able to separate it?

Chen Qing Xu rarely showed a smile: It will take time, Im afraid Your Highness will have to suffer a bit.

Chang Gengs heart hung in his throat: Then Zi Xi…

Chen Qing Xu: There are related records in the secret arts of the goddess, but the medication system is not the same as ours. I still have a lot of things to confirm on my side, you need to wait until I have sorted them out properly.

Chang Geng took a deep breath. His heart beat so fast that it almost broke out of his chest. For a moment, he forgot what day it is, turning around and wanted to go out, wishing he could let Gu Yun know immediately. After two steps, he stopped abruptly. He slapped himself on his forehead and thought to himself, Am I confused, I cant let him know. The sword in the battlefield has no eyes, the moment he let his guard down, what are we to do if something happens?

But with no place to share, His Highness Yan Wang secretly did something that could make people blush. After helping Miss Chen settled down, he walked back to the Marquis Manor at night, wrote a letter in Gu Yuns room, after drying the ink, he did not send it out but placed it under Gu Yuns pillow.

But this was not enough to satiate his craving, he brought out all the letters that Gu Yun had written for him that he had secretly stored like a treasure. Lying in bed, he recalled all kinds of words that person had said before in his mind, entertaining himself and put together a reply letter from Gu Yun, finding joy in playing his role.

For the next few days, Chang Geng was able to feel more comfortable meeting Fang Qin in the daytime.

Unfortunately, Fang Qins life was not very easy.

These days, the plea for Yan Wangs impeachment stacked up to about two feet high on Li Fengs desk. If one read through carefully, they would feel that Yan Wang was very easy to blame. Even if he coughed on the road, someone would accuse him of how his coughing posture deceived the ruler. However, in sharp contrast, starting from the Grand Council, no one could tell whether all the new officials were drowning by the mountain of affairs, or simply dormant, they began to change their aggressiveness in rebuttal from before, each individual began to concede.

Li Fengs attitude was that he had no attitude, especially when he came across some characters that relied on their old age to always mention the former emperor or even Emperor Wu.

In this case, the one who was most anxious was not the Grand Council, but Fang Qin.

In fact, Fang Qin was extremely opposed to this kind of banding together behavior: The emperors mind is like a mirror. Aggressively oppressing the other side like this, are you gentlemen not afraid of losing the emperors favor?

As he said this, someone instantly replied: Lord Fang, you always brought up the emperors favor and this and that, your vision has become somewhat shallow. Remember that year, the former emperor was only the son of a Jun Wang belonging to a sub-branch of the Li that does not stand out at all, what did he rely on to easily become the owner of the Forbidden Palace? In support of the former emperor that year, our ancestors had cast aside the opinion of the majority, becoming the spearhead, their merits were incredibly grand. The Red Imperial Edict and Iron Plaque* are still in my familys altar, what, now that their children had a steady seat on this nation, are you going to put away the bow as there is no more bird?

*A type of certificate to display exclusive rights that emperors granted for very important officials.

Another one cut in: If we are truly forced to the absolute limit, why dont we just ask for the memorial tablet of the first emperor? Can the Son of Heaven dare to commit this great crime and ignore the ancestral legislation?

Fang Qin took a deep breath and shouted, Gentlemen, please be careful of your words!

Out of respect for him, they no longer said anything more, but their expressions were neither pleased or convinced.

Great Liangs aristocrats and ministers, regardless of the official position of the head of the family, could all dazzle one another when bringing out their family tree. There were many connected in-laws in the family. Each generation had close involvement with the royal familys many fights for power. If the family could flourish to this day, at least the previous generations had chosen the right person to support. Over time, they all had the illusion that it was thanks to the support of my family that the emperor was able to ascend the throne.

On regular days, due to the Fang familys honor, people were willing to listen to him, but when it came to large argument, although Fangs family could be seen to be the head of all noble families, its difficult to really and effectively suppress or control anyone everyone here was related, and no one was nobler than the other. What did the Fangs family have to rely on to take charge of things involving everyone heads and vital interests?

Fang Qin had no choice but to use logic to reason and advice: His Majesty favors grand merits, the thing he despised the most was others challenging his authority. This time, the Westerners invasion reminds him of the siege of the capital that year. If he hesitated before, then he must be determined to fight this war now. Why should we charge into this mess and bear the reputation of disaster to the country and the people at this time? I ask you all to think about it at a different angle!

He sighed, then slowed down his voice: If we can endure through this period, when the war is over, with no battle, the Grand Council will inevitably face reorganization or abolition. Those people may not be willing to accept it, they will certainly do something. At that time, the emperor would see that their arms are reaching too far. When you think about the Drumming Order and the Rong Jin Law in those days, you will know what is the real intention of His Majesty. At this time, making use of those lowly merchants was only a temporary solution. When they have nothing left to be used, would His Majesty still protect them then? Im afraid when the time comes, even Gu Yun would have to return the Black Tiger Emblem, Its impossible for the Grand Council to single-handedly cover up the sky all the time.

Fang Qin thought that he had said analyzed it carefully, advising to the best of his ability.

However, among the crowd of nobles packed in this room, not everyone knew how to look forward the man who just now spilled nonsense about how his family had a Red Imperial Edict and Iron Plaque opened his mouth and asked: Lord Fangs words have its reason, but it is too ideal. You say when the war is over? I ask you, when is it going to be over? A year or two can be counted as over, and a decade or two also can be counted as over. Do we have to endure until dirt covered our heads?

In fact, Fang Qin despised these mobs very much. A large number of these people were the countrys giant rats with no achievements, each of them was pretentious, alluding that they were extraordinary. Getting their weak point caught by someone else was also very deserving of them but unfortunately, he could not express these words, because the fundamental thing that helped him bring these people together was profits. Without profits, even if he howled the great ideal of for the country and the people loudly every day, no one would care.

This chaptr is updated by freeebnovl.cm.

Let us not speak of such angry words here, if the war truly did drag on for ten or twenty years, and any national strength will be exhausted, not mentioning anyone else, the emperor wont allow it, and it can never be that long. Fang Qin had to change his view and said, Allow me to say something from the bottom of my heart: with Yan Wangs status, as long as he doesnt rebel, no one can kill him. However, the same can be said about you gentlemen, with your family background, as long as the emperor was in power for a day, as long as we dont mess things up ourselves, who can shake our foundation?

This was more pleasant than the line if you do not seek death yourself, no one can kill you. Although its the same meaning, it also scratched the itch the ministers presented. Fang Qin truly was worthy of being the head of Great Liangs noble families, he has been around with these people for decades and has excessive experience.

Sure enough, under his efforts, the imperial court had become considerably more peaceful. The two factions seemed to temporarily retract their weapons, all contradictions were swept under the table, and the internal force of Great Liang ushered in a few months of temporary peace.

For more than three months

Then an accident happened that caused all of Fang Qins previous efforts to be for naught.