When the vanguard of the army led by Liu Yi arrived near Bashui, which was only about 20 miles away from Chang'an City, they received reports from people from several directions, asking them to camp outside Chang'an City and stand by.

When Liu Yi received the report, it was still noon, and he had crossed the Bahe River, so he would speed up and catch up again, and he could enter Chang'an City before it fell.

However, Liu Yi also knew that after such a large-scale war, our army had achieved a major victory, and the imperial court would definitely hold a ceremony, and before the expedition, Emperor Li Zhi also promised the commander Pei Xingjian that he would personally go out of the city to greet him, Liu Yi thought that this triumphal ceremony would be very grand.

Pei Xingjian also sent someone to order Liu Yi, asking him to order the soldiers to dress up, and the emperor would go out of the city early the next morning to meet the triumphant army.

Liu Yi also carried out the order, and ordered the soldiers to wash their bodies in the Bahe River, and even the horses were bathed together, so that when the people and horses were stinky, they smoked Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, as well as other delicate people. However, the worn clothes and armor on the body are still not changed, which can show the hardships of the battle and the difficulty of the soldiers.

All the soldiers' clothes have not been replaced, and most of the armor on their bodies are already worn, and even the set of Mingguang armor with good texture on Liu Yi's body is also damaged in many places.

Early the next morning, before the sun rose, Liu Yi was summoned by Pei Xingjian to prepare to welcome the envoy sent by the imperial court.

After Pei Xingjian gathered all the high-ranking generals in the generals, he marched to the front of the army and waited for the envoys sent by the imperial court.

Pei Xingjian, who was dressed in military uniform, had a stern complexion, and rode in the lead, standing in the front, followed by neatly arranged senior and middle-level generals, and behind the generals, tens of thousands of sergeants in a strict queue.

In the ranks of sergeants, flags are like forests, and drums are shaking the sky.

As soon as the sun rose above the horizon, Liu Yi saw a group of people on horseback running from afar, stopping in front of the army, and only a few horses continued to run forward. When I got closer, I saw that the person in the front was the crown prince Li Xian, and there were also the left servants of Shangshu who had white hair, Liu Renliang, Zhongshu Ling Li Yiyan, and Zhang Daan, the left concubine.

Seeing that the envoy sent by the imperial court was coming, Pei Xingjian hurriedly led the generals to meet him.

Li Xian and the others jumped off their horses about a few dozen steps away from the generals, and the other courtiers who greeted them also dismounted and greeted the generals.

Pei Xingjian also immediately ordered all the generals to dismount and follow him forward.

"Pei Xingjian, the general of the march of Dingxiangdao, led the generals under his command to see His Royal Highness the Prince, Li Zhongshuling, Liu Servant Shooting..."Pei Xingjian led the generals to salute, "I dare not be His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and all the ministers to greet him..."

Li Xian returned the salute very elegantly, "Chief Pei led my Tang Dynasty soldiers to quell the Turkic rebellion in a few battles, His Majesty the Emperor and the Queen of Heaven are very happy, and today they also personally went out of the city to meet the triumphant army, and sent Lone to take the lead, and all the ministers went out of the city to meet the triumphant soldiers, His Majesty the Emperor, the Queen of Heaven and the ministers are already waiting in front to welcome the soldiers!"

"Thank you to His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress Niangniang for giving such courtesy to the last general and the generals under his command, and the ministers are grateful!" Pei Xingjian saluted respectfully again, and the other generals also saluted.

The emperor and empress personally went out of the city to greet them, and sent the crown prince and several important ministers in the prime minister's position to greet them, such courtesy, at least in the past few decades, Pei Xingjian was the first time to encounter it, and he felt a little flattered.

Liu Renliang, Li Yiyan, Zhang Da'an and others also came forward to salute, "General Pei Daguan wiped out hundreds of thousands of Turks in a few months, easily quelled the rebellion in Anbei, and it is our honor to be able to come to greet the triumphant army!"

After a few people praised a few words, Li Xian spoke again, "Chief Pei, generals, His Majesty the Emperor and the Queen of Heaven are already waiting outside the Mingde Gate in front, let's go over together, everyone, please..." Li Xian said, bowed sideways, and took the lead in getting on the horse.

Pei Xingjian and the generals also got on the horse.

Li Xian, Liu Renliang, and Li Yiyan accompanied Pei Xingjian in front, talking all the way, followed by several general-level generals, and then behind were some general-level generals like Liu Yi, and the army behind them also moved forward slowly.

Liu Yi was also attentively watching the situation ahead, but unfortunately, there were too many people, and he couldn't see who was coming to greet him.

After walking for half an hour, the tall walls of Chang'an City were already in sight.

On the gates of Chang'an City today, there are countless colorful flags fluttering in the morning breeze, and the band on the city tower is also playing a cheerful welcome song.

Except for grand festivals or major celebrations, there will be no such scene in Chang'an City.

Liu Yi didn't know that before the triumph of the army, the governments of Chang'an and Wannian counties had already issued a notice that a grand ceremony of victory of the army would be held outside Chang'an.

The day before, the night was strict in the morning, and the vigilance scale of Chang'an City was greatly improved, and the time to close the city gate was also advanced; In the early morning of the day when the army arrived in Chang'an, all the gates of Chang'an City were not opened, and people outside the city could not enter the city, and the Mingde Gate where the ceremony was held had been closed to pedestrians a day before.

Outside the Mingde Gate today, there are already a sea of people, everywhere is to see the lively Chang'an City and the surrounding people, many people are up overnight, outside the Chang'an City until dawn, just to see the triumphant ceremony of the army, appreciate the demeanor of those victorious returning soldiers.

A large open area on both sides of the Mingde Gate is guarded by a large group of palace guards, and there are several layers of guards guarding them. Behind the forbidden army, there are soldiers from the left and right leading guards guarding the guards, and behind several layers of leading the guards, it is the people who are watching the excitement. The people were standing hundreds of paces away from the gates.

At the right time, the drum music was cheerful, outside the Mingde Gate, there was a guard of honor of the Son of Heaven, under the bright yellow canopy, there were the emperor and queen of the Tang Dynasty, and several princes, and the courtiers were lined up on both sides.

Under the gaze of the welcoming crowd, as the sand and dust filled, the faint shadows of people and horses in the distance outside the city gate began to appear, and the earth-shattering gongs, drums and trumpets became louder and louder.

In the dusty sky, there were countless banners fluttering in the wind, slowly moving towards the city gate.

A group of soldiers rushed out of the dust, and the mounts under them stepped on the dust of the ground, galloping towards the Mingde Gate, and the soldiers' robes fluttered in the wind, which was very beautiful. This group of soldiers stopped about a few hundred paces away from the honor guard of the Son of Heaven, rushed out of this group of soldiers, and rushed to the place where the royal car stopped.

It was the crown prince Li Xian, who went to greet the triumphant army, and several other important ministers, who turned around to report the reason.

After a while, Emperor Li Zhi and Empress Wu Zetian both got down from the chariot and led the ministers behind them, ready to meet them.

Pei Xingjian, who had already ordered the generals to stop, saw the emperor and the empress coming over, and hurriedly ordered the generals to dismount.

After Pei Xingjian dismounted, he strode forward, and the generals behind him were arranged according to their ranks, following behind.

"Minister... Pei Xingjian, the general manager of the Dingxiang Road March, led the generals under his command to meet His Majesty the Emperor and the Queen of Heaven, and did not dare to go out of the city to greet His Majesty the Emperor and the Queen of Heaven!" Pei Xingjian touched the ground on one knee and saluted with the generals.

"All the generals are exempt," Li Zhi, who was full of joy, stepped forward to pick up Pei Xingjian, and then ordered all the generals to get up, looking at Pei Xingjian and said, "General Manager Pei and all the soldiers under his command will live up to their mission, bravely kill the enemy, and in a very short period of time, put down the rebellion of the Turks, and bless me with the peace of the northern border of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Zhi had some arrogance on his face that was not commensurate with his age, looked at Wu Zetian who was standing behind him, and the generals in front of him, and shouted in an aggravated voice: "This battle of the Xiangdao army led by General Manager Pei has brought the military might of my Tang Dynasty into full play, and in a very short period of time, the rebellion of the Turks has been quelled, and hundreds of thousands of Turks have been annihilated. ”

Li Zhi said and took Pei Xingjian's hand, swept over the crowd watching the excitement, and then looked at the generals behind Pei Xingjian, and shouted loudly, "Soldiers, you have worked hard!" ”

"Your Majesty, going out for the country and driving the enemy to kill the captives is the duty of the ministers of the soldiers, and the ministers dare not speak out," Pei Xingjian raised his head, raised his arms, and shouted loudly, "Greetings to His Majesty the Emperor and the Queen of Heaven, the Tang Dynasty is victorious..."

The generals behind him also shouted, "Datang Wansheng..."

Li Zhi was very proud when he saw the soldiers looking so excited, and waited for the soldiers to shout for a while, before pressing his hand to signal to stop, "All the merits of the soldiers who went out, I and Niangniang have kept it in mind, and they have their own heavy rewards, and all the generals have entered the city with me and Niangniang..."

Li Zhi said, took Pei Xingjian's hand, and walked towards the city gate.

Liu Yi, who was standing behind the queue of generals, had been paying attention to the scene where the emperor and the empress came out to greet him in person, and he also found that Wu Zetian, who was standing behind Li Zhi, looked a little unnatural.

may be such a masculine scene, Wu Zetian is really not suitable for a woman, and it is natural for Li Zhi to support the scene.

When Liu Yi wanted to take a closer look, Wu Zetian had already turned around and walked in the direction of the city gate, Liu Yi felt that the person who was standing behind Wu Zetian cast a strange look at him, and saw that it was Shangguan Wan'er who had just hidden behind the others.

Shangguan Wan'er, who was dressed as a female official, had been standing beside Wu Zetian, and she didn't dare to be rude on such a big occasion, and when the emperor and empress turned around and walked back, she glanced at Liu Yi a few times, and her eyes made Liu Yi read a lot of flavors.

Liu Yi also smiled meaningfully at Shangguan Wan'er, and deliberately crooked his mouth, and after Shangguan Wan'er showed a bright smile, he turned around and followed Wu Zetian.

Liu Yi moved, followed the generals who were about to move forward, rushed out of the place where they had just been placed, and ran straight to the place where he was standing, "Liu Yi, Yi An, you are finally back!"

Liu Yi had already seen who those people were, and when he heard the familiar female voice, his head was big...

(To be continued)