"Yes, the Fifth Highness is still ...... in the end"

In the evening three hours after the Battle of Xiangyang began, Xie An finally came to the official residence of the city guard mansion that had been burned to ruins, and looked at the charred and black wreckage that looked like ruins, Xie An sighed secretly.

The premonition came true, and yesterday's meeting in the north camp of the Zhou army really became his last meeting with Li Cheng, the king of Anling.

The man who once had the opportunity to hold the throne in his hands and also had the ability to become the martial arts of the Great Zhou Tianzi finally chose this path.

"Relieved, huh?"

Just when Xie An was secretly sighing, a slightly mocking chuckle came from beside him, but this laughter didn't sound a little lighthearted.

Turning his head to look at the person who came, Xie An immediately arched his hand and called respectfully.

"His Highness Yan'......"

"......" The actual young leader of the Imperial Tomb Dragon Slave Guard glanced at Xie An, his complicated eyes seemed to want to express more meaning.

"......" Xie An opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he still didn't say anything.

After losing Li Cheng, the king of Anling, Xie An finally understood the coldness of the Imperial Tomb Dragon Nuwei, just like Li Yan in front of him. I remember that when Li Chengshang, the king of Anling, was still there a while ago, Li Yan's impression of Xie An was really good, and he felt kind and angry when he spoke, but now, Xie An suddenly noticed the estrangement between him and Li Yan that could not be eliminated.

On one side is the powerful people close to and trusted by Li Shou, the current emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, that is, the imperial party; On the other hand, they are the children of the Li clan who are immortally suppressed in the tomb of the Li family of the Great Zhou, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are slaves who will not be able to get free for a lifetime. If it weren't for Li Cheng, the king of Anling, as a bridge of communication, there would be no common topic between the two.

"Shouldn't you be glad?" Glancing at Xie An, Li Yan said coldly, "Cheng, you have the strength and talent to become a king!" ”

As if sensing the deep meaning of Li Yan's words, Xie An bowed his hand and said respectfully. His Royal Highness Yan said seriously, although the actions of the Fifth Highness were a little strange and unkind, but putting these aside, Xie still had great respect for the Fifth Highness! -- Not everyone has the courage to give up the throne at their fingertips! - As His Highness Yan said, a hero like His Royal Highness the Fifth should not die here......"

"......" Li Yan stared at Xie An in surprise. Seeing the latter's sincere demeanor. A slight smile of kindness appeared on Leng Bing's expression, and he nodded and agreed, "Ah, Lord Xie can say that." Li was relieved a lot! As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the ruins and muttered, "Lord Xie, I'm afraid I don't know, and I'm not without selfishness when I wait for the Dragon Nuwei to be attached to it...... It doesn't hurt to tell Master Xie bluntly, I remember that when I was in Yuzhou, I persuaded Ah Cheng several times and asked him to take the opportunity to establish himself as the king. Take the current situation in the big week. Ah Cheng did not have a chance to make a comeback...... Cheng, he is a natural king, and maybe he can change the fate of our dragon slave guards, I think so......"

"......" Xie An subconsciously wiped the cold sweat from his head, in his opinion. If Li Cheng, the king of Anling, really did that, it would be the most fatal blow to Da Zhou.

Perhaps noticing Xie An's abnormal behavior, Li Yan seemed to feel a little funny and chuckled, but then, the smile on his face gradually faded, and he muttered a sigh and said, "It's a pity, that kid is not interested in the throne at all......" I could hear that Li Yan's words obviously had a following, but he was not in the mood to continue.

The two fell silent.

After a short half of the tea, Xie An hesitated and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness Yan, I don't know what your next plan is ......?"

He gently tested Li Yan, a big man whose identity was not inferior to Li Cheng and Li Xian, after all, he still held nearly four thousand Imperial Tomb Dragon Slave Guards in his hands, which was an extremely powerful force, and Xie An could not be allowed to relax in the slightest.

"Back to the Imperial Tomb!" Li Yan said lightly.

Xie An frowned, thought for a moment and said softly, "Although the rebellion of the Three Kings has subsided, there is still Wu Heng in Jiangdong with 100,000 Taiping troops to cause trouble, His Royal Highness Yan ......"

"What's the matter with me?" Li Yan interrupted Xie An's words with an expressionless face.

"......" Xie An opened his mouth and was speechless.

In all fairness, Xie An did have the heart to ask Li Yan and the four thousand Imperial Tomb Dragon Nu Guards to help in the upcoming battle of Jiangdong, you must know that the Imperial Tomb Dragon Nu Wei is not an ordinary soldier, they are all the children of the Li royal family who are both civil and military, even if they temporarily join the Jizhou soldiers, they can also become the backbone of the Jizhou soldiers in a short period of time, making the strength of the Jizhou soldiers more than double, but unfortunately, Li Yan refused without hesitation.

"The reward of the imperial court and the reward of the Son of Heaven have no meaning to us......" Glancing up at the sky, Li Yan said lightly, "Now that Cheng is dead, there is no need for us to stay......

While the two of them were chatting, in the ruins in the distance, hundreds of dragon slave guards were busy looking for the body of Li Cheng, the king of Anling, but after searching for more than half an hour, they still found nothing.

"Find ...... Found it, found it! ”

Suddenly, the exclamation of a dragon slave guard startled the expressionless Li Yan, making him tremble unconsciously.

"Really?!" Li Yan trembled with excitement, left Xie An, and walked in front of the soldier in a few steps, but after taking a look, the expectation on his face turned into disappointment.

"Only this ...... found" The dragon slave guard raised his hands and presented the sword in his hand, which had been blackened by smoke and fire, in front of Li Yan.

Xie An also stepped forward to take a few looks, and it was not difficult to see from the line of inscription on the sword body near the hilt of the sword, "Brother Wei gave his brother to inherit on a certain year, a certain month, and a certain day", and it was not difficult to see that this was the sword that Li Cheng, the king of Anling, regarded as a treasure.

"Only...... Is this the only one? Li Yan's voice sounded extremely bitter.

The dragon slave guards who gathered nearby lowered their heads in unison.

"His Royal Highness Yan," walking a few steps into Li Yan, Xie An said in a low voice, "Why don't you call the Jizhou soldiers to come over and help find them?" ”

Li Yan smiled bitterly when he heard this, nodded and said, "Lord Xie's kindness, I will appreciate it...... There are more important things for the Jizhou soldiers and the Daliang army, so there is no need to accompany me to do this...... Such a foolish thing......"

In fact, whether it was Li Yan or Xie An, they all knew very well that it would be a fool's dream to find the remains of Li Cheng, the king of Anling, in such a complete ruin as this burning ground. It's not hard to imagine. His Royal Highness, the heroic Fifth Son of the Emperor, had already turned to ashes in this fire with his brother-killing enemy, Li Shen, the king of Qin, so how could he be looking for the relationship between more and less manpower?

Sure enough, until night fell, Li Yan and his subordinate Long Nuwei had no gain, and the only thing to talk about was to be gratified. I'm afraid it's just to find the sword of Li Cheng, the king of Anling.

Li Yan finally gave up. An order was given to withdraw troops back to the Imperial Mausoleum. As he said, they did not come so much for the Li clan of the Great Zhou as they were persuaded by Li Cheng, the king of Anling, to come for him alone. And now that Li Cheng is gone, there is no reason or need for them to stay here anymore.

As for Wu Heng in Jiangdong...... What's the matter with them?!

Those who are still resentful and secretly looking forward to the collapse of the Li clan in the Great Zhou are not a few among the Dragon Nuwei.

"When does His Highness Yan plan to leave......

While the Dragon Nu guards were preparing to withdraw their troops, Xie An and Li Yan silently looked at the ruins. During this period, Xie An asked about the exact date of Long Nuwei's return.

Glancing up at the sky, Li Yan muttered, "Tonight...... After dinner, we will return to the Imperial Mausoleum......"

[So fast?] ]

Xie An was slightly startled.

There's no denying it. When he heard that Li Yan had no intention of helping him quell the rebellion of Wu Heng of the Jiangdong Taiping Army. Xie An was also somewhat jealous and suspicious of Li Yan and the Imperial Tomb Dragon Nuwei, after all, the Dragon Nuwei were all Li disciples who had a grudge against the Li royal family of the Great Zhou, and if they were not restrained, it might cause another civil strife that was not inferior to the Three Kings Rebellion.

Therefore, Xie An secretly hoped that this undignified army would return to its original place as soon as possible. But unexpectedly, Li Yan didn't plan to stay for a day, and planned to leave for the Great Zhou Li Imperial Mausoleum in Anping Kingdom in Jizhou today.

After thinking about it, Xie An arched his hand and said, "This time, His Royal Highness Yan and His Royal Highness the Fifth Highness will help him, and the lower official will definitely be the ...... of the emperor and the court in the future."

"Huh!" Li Yan smiled noncommittally, his eyes didn't care about the rewards Xie An said, and after shaking his head slightly, he chuckled and said, "Speaking of which, Cheng also mentioned Master Xie......

"Xiaguan?" Xie An was slightly surprised.

"Ahh Nodding, Li Yan recalled, "The world is hot and cold...... During the few nights when Cheng was imprisoned in the Great Prison Temple, only Master Xie accompanied him to get drunk to relieve his depression despite the disparity in their identities at the moment, and that guy didn't know how many times he said it to me...... He's still grateful to you, Xie Shangshu! ”

[Fifth Master ......]

Xie An only felt a slight blockage in his heart, who said that Li Cheng, the king of Anling, was a ruthless and unrighteous man?

At this time, several dragon slave guards came in the distance, nodding towards Li Yan, perhaps indicating that they were ready to pack on the road.

"That's it......" Turning his head and glancing at Xie An deeply, Li Yan arched his hand and said, "Ah Cheng's sword, Li will take it away, and go back to the imperial tomb to build a tomb for him, if it is...... If Lord Xie is lucky enough to find Ah Cheng's remains......"

"Your Highness Yan rest assured!" Xie An arched his hand and said, "If the lower officials are lucky enough to find it, they will definitely send someone to escort them to the imperial mausoleum ......."

"Huh!" Li Yan nodded and smiled, although both he and Xie An knew that since they had been looking for so long and could not find the body of Li Cheng, the king of Anling, they would definitely be gone, and they would turn into ashes in that fire. It's just that neither of them wants to point out this matter.

"I wish Xie Shangshu Jiangdong and his entourage success! - Farewell, Mr. Xie! With a deep bow, Li Yan turned around and left.

"I don't send it! - Your Highness Yan has a good trip! ”

Looking at the back of Li Yan leaving, Xie An clenched his fists and sent him off.

I don't know how long it took, Ma Dan, the deputy marshal of the Jizhou soldiers, walked over, walked to Xie An, who was still looking at the ruins with a complicated expression, and whispered, "My lord, the Imperial Tomb Dragon Slave Guard has withdrawn ......."

"Yes......" Xie An let out a long sigh, and after taking a deep look at the ruins, he turned and walked towards a relatively spacious mansion, which he had temporarily borrowed from a wealthy man in Xiangyang.

When he came to the mansion, in the study, Xie An saw Qin Ke'er, who was writing a good news for him, and Liu Qing, who was reading the records of the casualties in this battle.

Probably noticing Qin Ke'er's thoughtful appearance, Xie An asked curiously, "What's wrong, Ke'er?" ”

"Husband is back?" Qin Ke'er raised her head when she heard this, and replied happily, but when she saw Xie An still following Ma Dan behind her, a trace of blush flashed on her pretty face. hurriedly said seriously, "That's the case, the concubine is writing good news for the master...... According to the master's words, four copies were to be written, two of which were sent to the Liangqiu clan and the eldest grandson clan as family letters, and the other one, one was submitted to the Son of Heaven. One was reported to the imperial court ......"

"That's right! ――Is there any problem? Xie An nodded.

Qin Ke'er hesitated. said in a low voice, "The concubine is stupid, and the concubine doesn't know how to write the ...... of Li Shen, the king of Qin."

Xie An suddenly realized when he heard this.

Because Qin Keer's handwriting is neat and beautiful, and his writing is extraordinary. Therefore, Xie An asked her to write the good news instead of the battle, and wrote the battle in detail in the good news, and because of this, Qin Ke'er made a difficulty. After all, Li Shen, the king of Qin, had a chance to use that flood to wipe out 100,000 Zhou soldiers. But if he really wrote like this, Qin Ke'er was a little worried that Xie An's prestige would be damaged because of this, so he hesitated.

"Huh!" Xie An smiled and said half-jokingly. "Out of the way. Report it truthfully! - If it is not written like this, Li Shen, the king of Qin, will not be blind to death, and the palace is afraid that he will not be able to sleep peacefully at night in the future! ”

"......" From the side, Liu Qing, who was estimating the casualties of this battle, glanced at Xie An when he heard this.

Will Xie An be afraid of ghosts and gods? Liu Qing scoffed.

In her opinion, it was nothing more than Xie An's gratitude to Li Shen, the king of Qin, for showing mercy to his subordinates in the end. Therefore, in order to repay the favor, he planned to forgive Li Shen, the king of Qin, by truthfully reporting.

Although in terms of the treason and treason committed by Li Shen, the king of Qin, the Jijing court said that it would not forgive anything, but at least, the third son of the emperor, who was superior in the city and the power and scheming, could be buried in the imperial tomb with his biological mother, wife and children after his death, and would not be removed from the genealogy of the Li clan of Yu Dazhou.

"Li Cheng, and Li Shen's body...... Did you find it? Liu Qing asked indifferently.

Shaking his head, Xie An sighed slightly, and said, "It took about five hundred and six people to turn that city guard mansion upside down, and I didn't find the remains of the fifth master and the third son of the emperor......

"Humph!" Liu Qing snorted lightly when she heard this, and said lightly, "It seems that there are two royal highnesses who have to build clothes and mounds......

"It's good that you didn't say this in front of Long Nuwei...... Xie An rolled his eyes helplessly, in his opinion, if Liu Qing dared to speak like that in front of Li Yan, the latter would probably turn his face on the spot. After all, Li Yan's attitude towards Li Cheng seems that although the two of them are cousins, their relationship is far deeper than that of Li Shen and Li Cheng, two brothers.

"Dragon Nuwei...... What about people? ”

"Gone...... The fifth master is dead, and Long Nuwei no longer helps me to pacify Jiangdong, it's a pity that this combat power is ...... If we can get the help of the Dragon Nuwei, our army will have a better chance of winning in Jiangdong! ”

"What do you mean by that?" Glancing at Xie An with some displeasure, Liu Qing frowned and said, "Just Wu Heng, I can design it alone!" ”

"Yes, yes, yes! -- How are the casualties estimated? How many troops do we have in our army at the moment? Xie An responded perfunctorily, after all, he also understood Liu Qing's temperament somewhat, once it was about Wu Heng in Jiangdong, this little girl's temper would become quite irritable, and Xie An didn't bother to quarrel with her about this kind of thing.

"More than 103,000!" Handing a stack of papers recording casualties in his hand to Xie An, Liu Qing said, "Among them, there are more than 60,000 Jizhou soldiers and more than 40,000 Liang troops......

[……]

The muscles in the corners of Xie An's eyes tugged.

It's not that they were frightened by the casualties of the siege battle, to be honest, the Zhou soldiers in the siege of Xiangyang did not suffer any serious losses, and there were only six or seven thousand people in the full battle, although this number is still so huge, for the historically difficult siege war, this casualty figure seems quite insignificant.

What really shocked Xie An was the loss suffered by the Zhou soldiers in the entire Three Kings Rebellion.

I remember that in May last year, when Xie An led his troops to recruit the Taiping army led by Liu Qing, at that time, Li Xian, the king of the Eight Sages in Jiangling, had 100,000 Jizhou soldiers, and he Xie An had 80,000 Liang troops, with a total strength of 180,000. But now? The two armies together had only about 100,000 left, and they lost a full 80,000.

What a heavy casualty figure this is?!

Perhaps noticing the surprise in Xie An's eyes, Liu Qing said in a solemn tone, "Don't be in a hurry to lament the casualties, compared to the troops, our army has one of the most headaches at the moment!" ”

"Grain and grass?"

"Yes!" Nodding, Liu Qing said in a condensed voice, "I told you a while ago that the grain and grass are running out!" -- Since Jiangdong fell into the hands of Wu Heng, the transportation of grain and grass from Xuzhou has become even more difficult...... A few days ago, our army relied almost entirely on the aid of the rich and ordinary people near Gangneung......"

"Hmm......" Xie An frowned and nodded.

"Speaking of which, Li Shen, the king of Qin, left a batch of grain and grass for me and others......"

"Huh?" Xie An was stunned, and after thinking about it, he suddenly realized that the actions of Li Shen, the king of Qin, were nothing more than thinking about his posthumous affairs.

That man is extremely cautious and thoughtful in everything he thinks about, even after his death.

Perhaps noticing the expression on Xie An's face that gradually became relaxed, Liu Qing said in a deep voice, "Don't be in a hurry to be happy first, King Li Shen of Qin did leave some grain and grass for me and others, but it was not enough to supply 100,000 people...... Moreover, Hanzhong, Liangchuan, Yuzhou, Yanzhou, the feudal kings of various places died in this battle, leaving aside the six feudal states that were destroyed by Li Cheng, the king of Anling, there are thirteen feudal kings who still have heirs and heirs who can inherit the throne, therefore, it is necessary to leave an army in Jingzhou to deter the vassal kings of all roads, lest our army leave for Jiangdong, and Xiaoxiao takes the opportunity to seize the territory and make it bigger! ”

"Leave the Great Liang Army behind for the time being...... Is it? ”

"No, it's a wounded soldier! -- In this battle, the Jizhou army and the Great Liang army were both greatly injured, and this tired army was difficult to defeat the 100,000 Tai ...... under the command of Wu Heng The Taiping Army, therefore, I suggest that the elite of the Great Liang Army be reorganized for half a month, and the elite of the Great Liang Army should be selected to fill the Jizhou soldiers, and the rest should stay in Xiangyang to deter the vassal kings from all walks of life! ”

"Hmm......"

Xie An nodded thoughtfully.

In December of the Great Zhou Jingzhi, Xie An, the commander of the Zhou army, listened to the advice of the military advisor Liu Qing, reorganized the army under his command, and selected the elite of the Great Liang Army to fill the Jizhou soldiers, and obtained 60,000 elite divisions.

Among them, Liang Cheng, the commander of the Great Liang Army, was temporarily promoted to the city guard of Xiangyang, and was appointed by Xie An to sit in Jingzhou.

Several generals of the Great Liang Army, such as Chengyang, Qi Zhi, E Yi, and Dian Ying, were transferred to the Jizhou Army and became the backbone of Xie An's expedition to Wu Heng of the Jiangdong Taiping Army.

In addition, three months later, when Xie An's good news was sent to the Jijing court, the government and the opposition rejoiced, and Li Shou, the son of heaven, immediately issued an edict to reward the heroes of this war.

Among them, Li Xian, the king of Xian, was crowned as the king of Qi, and Linzi of Qingzhou was given as a fiefdom; He crowned Xie An as the Marquis of Anping, respected the eldest Sun Xiangyu as the military teacher of Ji, pardoned the crimes of Liu Qing, the former princess of the Southern Tang Dynasty and the former master of the Taiping Army, and granted the national status of the Great Zhou.

In addition, Fei Guo, Ma Dan, Tang Hao, Liang Cheng, Liao Li and other meritorious generals were all awarded, and even the soldiers of the Jizhou Army and the Great Liang Army were also rewarded with gold and silver, but because the imperial court allocated a large amount of military expenses at this time, the treasury was empty, so the rewards such as gold and silver were postponed.

In the end, the Jijing court posthumously exhorted Li Cheng, the king of Anling, as the king of Zhou, Li Shen, the king of Qin, as the king of Zhou, Li Yan, the king of Chu, as the king of Zhou, and Li Xiao, the king of Han, as the king of Zhou. And deprived Li Shen, Li Yan, and Li Xiao of the three kings of their titles and fiefdoms during their lifetimes, but they were still buried in the imperial tomb, or those who had children, were raised in Xiangliu Temple in Jijing.

At this point, the rebellion of the Three Kings subsided. Although there are still disgruntled vassal kings in various places, it is no longer enough to affect the general trend of the world, and the eyes of the whole world have returned to Jiangdong and Northern Xinjiang again.

PS: Thank you [Furukawa-kun] for your two large rewards. Thank you to all the readers who have supported this book and still support this book today~

Fatigue from the war, there will be a short section of the heroine next, briefly describing the current situation of each heroine.