More than a week has passed since the battle of Rixuancheng, and the forward battalion led by Xuanyi Institute repaired the city wall and rectified military discipline in accordance with the military order of the Inner Government and stationed in Rixuancheng. put on a posture of postponing the attack and waiting for reinforcements, and the Great Liang Imperial Court's commendation decree was finally delivered to the front line after several turns.

On a sunny afternoon, a team of mighty royal guards wearing gold armor escorted several officials from the south gate of Rixuan City with their heads held high.

Gonggong An changed into a purple eunuch robe, stood at the head of the team with a solemn expression, and Yang Wudi, who was in Xuanyi, Bo Cunxu, and even severely burned, and the officers of the forward battalion were all present.

After scanning the circle with a majestic gaze, the official cleared his throat and began to read aloud: "In the autumn and August of the ninth year of Tianxing, Emperor Daliang issued an edict saying: I heard that the security of the prison army was well coordinated, and the soldiers of the forward battalion fought bravely. The second-class eunuch of the Inner Mansion was specially promoted to serve as the ambassador of the Ningdu Mansion, and all the military affairs of the Ningdu Mansion were promoted, and the generals and non-commissioned officers above the head of the forward battalion were promoted to one level, and the whole battalion was rewarded with 30,000 taels of silver.

"God bless the Great Liang, thank you Lord Longen!" Gonggong An shouted and fell to the ground, full of joy to receive the holy decree.

The official handed the golden decree to Gonggong An with a smile on his face: "Gonggong An, congratulations!

Gonggong An waved his hand again and again, his eyes full of unconcealed eagerness and pretended to be modest: "Where, thanks to Your Majesty's love, our family will be content if you can solve problems for Your Majesty!"

The man smiled and didn't answer when he heard this, grabbed Gonggong An's sleeve and whispered, "Gonggong An, please take a step to speak!"

Gonggong An was stunned for a moment, and then turned back to Xuanyi and the others and said: "The holy decree has been announced, and the generals can return to their own team to train their soldiers!"

"Obey!" all the officers slowly withdrew from the house with the clanging sound of the nail leaves.

Seeing that the people were almost gone, Gonggong An took out a red brocade bag from his arms and handed it to the herald: "Lord Qingsong, a little light salute is not a respect." ”

Qingsong took the brocade bag and quietly put it into his arms, arched his hand towards Gonggong An, and said with envy on his face: "Gonggong An, you really got a good errand this time!"

An Gongbao smiled, thinking that he was talking about the promotion of Ningdu this time, he touched his smooth and bearded chin and did not speak.

Seeing this, Qing Song knew that he would be wrong, so he took a few steps closer and whispered: "In addition to Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also has important matters to entrust. ”

"Oh, His Royal Highness the Prince!" Gonggong An's body trembled, and his body couldn't help but bow down a little, and he asked in a hurry: "What does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince command?" Emperor Jinglong has been on the throne for more than twenty-five years, and as a palace official, Gonggong An has heard more than once that there are rumors in the palace that His Majesty the Emperor's dragon body is not safe and emaciated.

Father-in-law An's eyes lit up, if His Majesty died, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would inevitably succeed to the throne, and it was definitely an excellent opportunity to make friends with the future Son of Heaven. He bowed gratefully to Qingsong: "Brother Qing, if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has any orders, the slave and maid will do it wholeheartedly!"

Qing Song stroked his palm and praised: "Gong An is really quick to talk! I can't hide it, this time His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked me to come to Ningdu to find a sword." ”

"A sword?"

"That's right, it's said to be a blue sword, here's the image. Qing Song handed the drawing with a long sword to Grandpa An, who took it and immediately looked at it carefully.

Aomatsu continued, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very fond of this long sword, but it is currently said to have fallen into the hands of a certain traitor leader. After speaking, he was looking at Grandpa An.

An Gonggong nodded and patted his chest and promised: "Brother Qing, don't worry, this matter is on me, I will use all my strength to search for this, uh... Blue sword. ”

Qing Song shook his head: "Gong An, this matter should not be too public, just search secretly, once you have eyebrows, you can send someone to the Privy Council in Kyoto to inform me." That night, Qingmatsu and his entourage quietly left to return to Kyoto after night.

In the days that followed, Gonggong An frequently ordered troops to be stationed in various parts of Ningdu Prefecture, and messengers traveled back and forth between the major towns and Rixuan City. At present, among the six cities of Ningdu Prefecture, only the three cities of Zhaoyun, Leigu, and Rixuan are actually under the control of the Liang Dynasty army, and the other three cities are more or less under the control of the Fairness Party. In addition to the forward battalion of Xuanyi, the army of the Liang Dynasty originally had a Ningdu guard of more than 10,000 people, but many fairness party members within the guard raised the anti-flag, which caused the most important military force in Ningdu to be divided.

On the day of Zhang Zhu's brazen rebellion, the camp of the Ningdu Mansion Guard Corps was attacked by the rebels at night. When Cao Zheng, the supreme commander of the legion, hurried to the camp with a group of personal guards, the entire garrison was already in a sea of fire, and the loss of heavy grain and grass was extremely heavy.

After this battle, in addition to the thousands of soldiers who died in battle, only about 5,000 guards returned to the building. The rest of the rebels formed an army of their own, and under the leadership of the original officers, they entrenched in the two cities of Dongping and Dongchang, relying on the sharp weapons of the fortified city to resist the Qing Dynasty army.

Three days later, Xuanyi had just finished washing up when he heard a piercing whistle coming from the direction of the city wall in the distance.

"Early warning post, enemy attack!" Xuanyi felt a pang in his heart, and hurriedly rode to the city gate without putting on his armor.

The guards on the city gate are like facing a great enemy, dozens of bed crossbows and trebuchets are already full of control soldiers, responsible for patrolling the city wall is the commander of the guard Sun Jun, after the last day of the declaration of war, although he was promoted to the deputy commander of the battalion because of his merits, but in fact he still commands more than 1,000 people in the rear guard, and even the reward mentioned in the holy decree has not been allocated.

"My lord!" Sun Jun bowed to the Xuanyi who came and said, "I'm afraid there are four or five thousand people coming, and the friends and enemies are unknown!"

Xuanyi looked out, a large crowd appeared on the horizon in the distance, there was a momentum of black clouds crushing the city, most of this army was infantry, they lined up in a relatively strict formation, raised shields and held guns and slowly approached the Rixuan City Gate.

"If it's a traitor, I'm afraid it's going to be a tough battle!" Sun Jun whispered softly beside his ear.

Xuanyi's eyesight is excellent, and at a glance, he locked on the number of people in the front row of this team who looked like the main generals, and after a "scan", Xuanyi's heart suddenly became clear.

The remnants of the Ningdu Mansion Guard, who were easily crushed by the rebels, also dared to do this, is this to give me a dismount?

Xuanyi sneered and ordered left and right: "Beat the drums! Raise the handsome flag! Open the city gate immediately, and the personal guards will follow me out of the city to meet the enemy!"

"My lord, I can't help it! I don't know who I am, so it's better not to rush out of the city!" Sun Jun on the side hurriedly grabbed the sleeve of Xuan's coat and persuaded him.

Xuanyi smiled slightly: "Old Sun, you can help me sweep the formation here, whether it is a dragon or a worm will be known after I go down for a while!"