"What's going on?" "The little emperor Gangfei was awakened by the noise coming from outside, and stood at the gate wearing a thick fox cloak, he looked at the sky with immature eyes, and his face showed unconcealable worry, stepping on "There was a sound of small footsteps below, and Marcos, the deputy head of the military affairs department of Gangfei who was in charge of commanding the Praetorian Guard, was hurrying past the front with a dozen Praetorian Guard officers with a look, Marcos was dressed all over, and his long cloak was dragged to the ground, and the corridor fire shone on the armor of these officers, like a flame jumping" Is it a turmoil?" The little emperor of Gang Fei held the wooden barricade in his hand, tried his best to suppress the vibration in his heart, and stood in the high palace and asked loudly, "Someone has been sent to investigate!" Marcos quickly turned around and replied with a respectful expression, "It is said that the officers of the Ninth Legion in the city clashed with the ministers, in order to avoid danger, the subordinates have ordered the four guards to close the gate to the outside, without the order of His Majesty, no one is allowed to open the door, the whole army is on alert, and those who attack the four guards will be punished as rebellion!"

"Do you want to close all the roads?" the little emperor's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he continued to ask, "Doesn't that mean that my uncle, His Royal Highness Prince Dunade is also in danger?" "Your Majesty don't worry, Your Highness has a fourteen-hundred-strong bear army, even if there is a small fluctuation, there will be no danger!" Marcos's eyes flashed with a complicated gleam, and quickly annihilated, "Do you think I'm worried about that traitor? I would rather he be dead!" The corners of the little emperor's mouth pursed disdainfully, his fingers flicked the gray and white fox fur on his body, and his eyes were fierce, "Don't think that I don't know anything when I'm young, that traitor is wearing a human skin, but he is actually a villain who wants to grab the crown on my head all the time"

"Your Majesty's eyes are like a torch!" Marcos responded

The little emperor's voice paused, glanced at Marcos, who lowered his head and didn't dare to look at each other, and asked childishly, "Marcos, my deputy minister of military affairs, commander of the Praetorian Guard." You sue me, if you kill all these hateful ministers, will there be a problem with the operation of the empire!"

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, because of these ministers, the operation of the empire is already full of problems!But without these ministers, the empire will collapse immediately!" Marcos's eyes were as sharp as a sword, he hesitated for a moment, and said word by word, he didn't expect the little emperor to be so direct.

It's like a child who has been robbed of a toy, and he says that I won't play with you anymore, but Marcos also felt a little funny, the emperor is only seven years old, isn't he just a child? But this only child carries the hope of the rise of an empire on his shoulders

"So, you're going to let them all die!" a hint of disappointment flashed in the little emperor's eyes

"Will they kill this thief?" the little emperor finally withdrew his gaze from a distance, and turned his head, his immature and slightly majestic face flushed in the distant firelight. Seeing this, the young emperor did not show the fear of his peers, but was excited...... Is it killing, or is it the courage to show at a critical moment, or both, Marcos' body shuddered slightly. That's already the case at a young age...... Sure enough, it is worthy of the blood of a century-old king."

Should I reward them, or should I punish them?" the little emperor blinked, and continued to ask, dissatisfied with Marcos's hesitation, "They are the sword in the hand of His Majesty, and they are the defenders of the Empire. Naturally, I will eradicate the traitors for His Majesty!"

Marcos took a deep breath and suddenly fell to one knee first, and the dozen or so officers behind him knelt neatly on one knee. Lang Sheng said, "As a soldier of the empire with one hand, but attacking Shangguan, causing turmoil, relying on unbridled force to achieve the goal, although it is beneficial to the country is also a rebellious act, so there is only one result!" Marcos did not continue, but the meaning was very clear, and those officers who participated had only one way to die, "What does this mean? Marcos, since it is beneficial to the country, why should you be punished?" The little emperor was stunned for a moment,

Marcos raised his head and said in a slightly trembling voice, "Can Your Majesty listen to the minister's words in private?"

"Forget it, I don't want to hear it" The little emperor hesitated, shook his head, and said with a daunting solemnity on the little face of the seven-year-old, "Can you accompany me until dawn?"

"Of course, Your Majesty!" Marcos waved his hand to the Praetorian Guard behind him, the Praetorian Guard officers left, Marcos stepped on the steps of the palace alone, in the hall, the attendants hurriedly lit the whole row of candles, like a starry sky lit up like day, "What is Your Majesty afraid of?" Marcos looked left and right, so many candles, just for lighting is unreasonable,

"Ghosts!" the little emperor leaned on the bench wrapped in a blanket and looked around with an embarrassed expression, "Although it is a luxury to know that there are so many candles to light at a time when the country is in danger, I am just a little afraid, my maid said that there are ghosts here, coming from Kyoto! Following us, all the way to the south! Only the light of the candles can give them rest! And it seems that many people will die tonight, right?"

"Ghosts are just a sign of cowardice in the heart," Marcos whispered

The little emperor blinked, as if he understood what Marcos meant, took a deep breath, and asked, "Have you ever had a ghost?"

Marcos's face was very calm, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Yes, her name is Lineth. ”

"Your wife?"

"My second wife. Speaking of her, Marcos's face was very sad, and the little emperor could see that he wanted to know the truth, "That's all?" The blanket slipped off one of his shoulders, and he reached out to pull it up, "Is she pretty?" I heard others say that Marcos's wife doesn't seem to be ......."

"It's beautiful. Marcos' eyes flickered, "The first time I saw her, I really thought it was a goddess, and my background at that time was far from what it is now." And she is the youngest daughter of the Earl of the Dominion, and the family has a long history, a lot of wealth, and is very proud. Borasco, the former deputy commander of the Imperial Praetorian Guard, is her nephew."

"Borasco" said the little emperor, "I remember, Borasco is the Praetorian Guard general who was executed because of the death of my father"

"That's right, it's him, in terms of loyalty and status, the Bora family is an imperial tycoon, and I was just a petty logistics officer at the time," Marcos agreed.

"Ling Zun asked for a marriage for you?"

"No," he said, "our marriage...... 陛xià. It's a long story, and it's boring, so I'd better not talk about it. ”

"Anyway, I have nothing to do, just talk about it, being able to hear the past of Marcos Qing back then can also make me pick up the sword called courage," the little emperor said coquettishly,

"Yes, my majesty. Marcos frowned helplessly, "My hometown...... You have to know this before you can understand the rest. Malu Island is beautiful, but it's remote. Imagine that scene. Entwined old oaks and towering pines, flowering hawthorn forests, mossy gray stones, small rivers running through steep hills, and clear waters. Even the halls of aristocratic families are made of simple garden wood, surrounded by earthen hedges. With the exception of a few sharecroppers, my people all lived by the sea and made a living from fishing. How harsh the winters are there. It's not what you can imagine. ”

"Still, I grew up there, and I was never short of women, and I was in a relationship with many fisherwomen and peasant girls. Both before and after marriage. I got married very early, and the bride was chosen by my father, and she was a girl from a small aristocratic family in the deep forest. We got married...... For about ten years, she had a mediocre face. But the personality is not bad. That is, my wife, although our relationship is more like a duty than a true relationship. But she still has no regrets!"

The corner of the little emperor's mouth smiled slightly, "I feel sorry for you." It's true. ”

Marcos nodded, "Not long after, I inherited my father's position, joined the Praetorian Guard, and my status increased. There are a lot of people who come to propose, I haven't made a final decision yet, the battle with the south thirty years ago, the final decisive battle was fought under the capital of the Pikes, "More than 100,000 troops, the siege of the city for eleven days, the dead are piled on the ground like cloth bags"

"When the trebuchet smashed a crack in the Pike's wall, a Praetorian Guard went in first, and I didn't fall behind, in the chaos, a sword cut off the head of the Pike crown prince, the Pike army was in chaos, and I was promoted to general because of this battle, your grandfather, that is, the emperor at that time, he called me a guy of good luck!"

To celebrate the victory, the emperor issued an edict to hold a jousting tournament in Kyoto. That's where I met Lineth. She was only half my age at the time, and she and her father had traveled from out of town to watch their brother fight. I couldn't take my eyes off her. On impulse, I begged her to give me a token to fight for her. I never dreamed that she would say yes, but she agreed. ”

"Although I am old, I was also a warrior who took the head of the enemy in the army of 10,000 people"

Marcos's eyes flashed with memories, and I won one game after another, and Master Jester was picked off by me, and Enroyce, the 'Cyan Bronze Spear', was no match for me. Lord Lai and his younger brother Sir Ding, the chief of staff of the Imperial Twin Walls, Lord Chang'an, the 'strong pig' Rubinsark, and even the Marquis of Bosn, the captain of the Emperor's personal guard at that time, were all defeated by me. In the last competition, I fought with your father, the former emperor, who was only an unappreciated prince at the time, brave and fierce, and always in trouble in Kyoto, and I fought him nine times, without winning or losing, and finally the emperor thought that the prince had naturally taken advantage of the competition, so he awarded me the winning crown. I put a crown of love and beauty on Lyneth and were completely immersed in wine and glory. "I was drunk that night"

Marcos's eyes were misty, the corners of his eyes like wrinkled skin spread, and he said cheerfully, "I went to propose to her father that night." I was worried that I would be rejected mercilessly, but I didn't expect Lord Layton to agree to the marriage. So we got married in Kyoto, and for the first two weeks of our marriage, I was the happiest man in the world. ”

"Only two weeks?"

The little emperor was slightly stunned, what a beautiful era, it was the golden age of the empire, the empire's double walls, the cyan bronze spear, known as the chief of staff of the imperial planner, Lord Chang'an, even Rubin Sark, a figure like the pillar of the empire, was only called "Zhuang Pig" at that time with a reckless nickname full of joy,

If the empire still had these famous generals, it would not have fallen into such a situation!

"It took exactly two weeks to return by boat from Kyoto's outer port. Lynnice was disillusioned with my hometown, feeling that the island was too cold, wet, and remote, and that my home was nothing more than a wooden hall. We don't have masquerade, no mime, no lavish dinners. It would take years for a singer to come and sing, and there wasn't even a goldsmith on the island. Every meal was a torment for her, for my chef knew very little anything other than roast meat and soup, and Lynnice soon got tired of the taste of fish and venison. ”

"I only want to be happy with her, so I hired a new chef from Kyoto. And a harpist was found from the port. Goldsmith, jeweler, costumer, I can do everything she wants, but I can't do enough!, although I was promoted to the general of the Imperial Guard, but I am not a front-line army, just a name, so I am not rich, except for wild bears and timber, other resources on the island are quite scarce. I ended up not being able to pay so many servants, cooks, and harpists. As soon as Lyneth heard that I was interested in pawning her jewelry, she was furious. ”

"If I were to say, I even did a lot of things I was ashamed to talk about, all for money, to keep Lyneth's jewelry, harpist, and cook. Finally, I lost a qiē, a sense of honor, the courage of a soldier, and my bad reputation even spread to Imperial Kyoto. Directly ordered by the angry emperor to be removed from the list of the Praetorian Guard!

"I almost went on to become a mercenary, and if it weren't for the letter from your father, the former king who was then a district sheriff, who had recruited me as an officer, I would have fought a bloody battle on the banks of the Leo River. When I was besieged by thousands of bandits, and lying in the mud with six stabs in the drizzle, your father brought me the news, "Lynnice has moved into the mansion of a wealthy family in Kyoto"

"How can she be like this......" The little emperor's eyes bulged when he heard this. "It's a bolt from the blue, isn't it?" Marcos smiled wryly, "It is said that she is his most favored lover, and even his main room is afraid of three points." Marcos's tone was inexplicably sad,

"You must be very sad!" the little emperor really didn't want to force him to continue. But he wanted to know the final result. The little emperor asked, "Where did she die?"

"For me yes"

Marcos shrugged his shoulders and said with an impassioned expression, "That wealthy family was involved in the battle for the throne half a year later, and in the end, it dissipated like the wind! And I followed the horse's hooves of the former emperor and entered Kyoto again as the six heroes of the rebellion! The scenery is dazzling, and the status is much more noble than that wealthy family."

"As for the ghosts, your majesty has fought for many years, and has killed thousands of people, and has never seen what the ghosts look like, and if there are any candles, they will not be able to dispel them,

"Only His Majesty's courage can bring those ghosts to rest. Just like those ministers who seek to protect themselves, if His Majesty can be resolute in the face of their alarmism, Kyoto will not give up! Now the morale of the army and the people is as loose as scattered sand, and the southern army is stagnant and angry, "This turmoil can just correct these mistakes, and Your Majesty can also use this to reshape the people's confidence in you, so that the injustice in the army can be turned into a sharp weapon to fight the enemy, and the thousands of unjust souls in Imperial Kyoto will no longer cry!" Marcos stood up, gave a military salute to the pensive little emperor, silently walked outside the hall, raised his head, the city was already in flames, the red light illuminated half of the city, the Ninth Legion had six thousand people in the city, as long as the Praetorian Guards did not make a move, it was enough to control the whole city, in the wind, there were constantly cries from the minister's mansion, as terrible as the soul in the wind

"My lord, the Ninth Legion has begun to attack the mansion of His Royal Highness Prince Dunad!" a Praetorian Guard officer hurriedly ran over and reported,

"Are the death squads ready" Marcos nodded slightly, "Yes, the bravest and most loyal soldiers of the three hundred Praetorian Guards" the officer said, "That's good!" Marcos said coldly, "Pay attention to the movement over there, and find the right opportunity!"

The early morning light slightly revealed a white line on the eastern horizon, after successively killing the Minister of the Interior of the Empire, the Minister of Finance and some important ministers of various ministries, the soldiers of the Ninth Legion began to converge in front of the Bailu Courtyard where Prince Dunade was located, the Prince of 1,500 people Royal Bear Army had already lined up, Prince Dunad, who was dressed in white armor, looked at the opponent in front of him with slightly narrowed eyes, and the corners of his mouth sneered, the Ninth Legion? After successive weakenings, but a rabble, do you still think that you are the elite division that defended Kyoto in the first place? At that time, you had Kyoto behind you, the best armor of the empire, and the sharpest sword equipped with it, now, what do you have?

"Attack again, you must crush them!"

Mekaya, who launched the war, looked at the countless corpses that had fallen in front of him, his eyes were bloodshot, and the prince's bear army was worthy of being a famous elite. They were far better equipped than the weakened Ninth Legion, and they were all true professional soldiers, and the queue spread out like a fan, like a giant hedgehog, row after row of spears, stacked on top of each other. The spears staggered out from between the shields, and there were almost no gaps to follow.

The Bear Army, whose hand clutched the hilt of the iron spear, looked cold and unwavering, like a forest of spears suddenly appearing on the ground. The tip of the spear shimmered with a terrible light of metal, and in contrast to the soldiers of the Ninth Army who were somewhat helpless in front,

"Rush!"

The soldiers of the Ninth Army shouted forward, and were immediately held back by well-trained long bayonet guns, and in an instant, their bodies fell down, blood splattered, and the battle line showed a one-sided trend, attacking in four waves in a row. The ranks of the Bears were still dense, like a thick stack of absorbent paper, each one ready to absorb the blood

"Advance with all your army and crush them!"

Prince Dunard raised his hand. Glancing at the light in the east, as long as he waited until dawn, the situation would completely turn to his side and condone the soldiers. Kill the minister, and the reputation of the little emperor will completely turn into a stinky ditch, and then unite with other forces. The time to ascend to the throne of the empire is just around the corner

"What's that?"

At this moment, he heard the exclamation of the attendants beside him, turned his head to look, and suddenly his face became iron-clear. His face twisted, anger welling up in his eyes, and his fists clenched and clenched. I saw that on the side of the Royal Bear Army, at the end of the snowy long street, there were dots of bright spots,

The bright spots are rapidly increasing, converging into a shining ribbon of light,

It was clearly a heavily armored cavalry! The torches were shining brightly, the people were like tigers, the horses were like dragons, the team did not rush close, a strong aura of the elite of the long-term battle had come to his face, Prince Dunard knew what had happened to him, the most elite cavalry of the empire, just not the ironclad elite cavalry,

It is impossible for the Ninth Legion to have such a thing, the only thing that has it is the Emperor's Praetorian Guard!

"It's heavy cavalry!" The most elite Imperial Bear Army also panicked, in such an unhindered area, encountering the Imperial Iron Armored Elite Cavalry is simply no different from sending them to death,

"Advance, hold them down!" Mekaya of the Ninth Legion looked overjoyed, drew his sword and shouted, to cooperate with the cavalry to break the Bear Army in front of him in one fell swoop

"Attack!"

At the same time, the iron horsemen struck like a landslide, and the earth trembled violently under their feet, and people could stand unsteadily, and the horses' hooves rumbled in their ears

The neat ironclad cavalry pressed against the front array like a wave, and the enemy in the front row was swept away by a huge impact force before they could even shout the first exclamation, and then fell under the iron hooves of the rear row, and the second and third rows, one after another, were swept down by an unstoppable torrent of steel

"It's ......"

Mekaya was stunned, the raised saber slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, thinking that the situation had been reversed, Prince Dunard was also stunned, he looked at the target of the ironclad cavalry ruthlessly crushing, his mouth was wide open, it turned out to be a soldier of the Ninth Legion, and the ironclad cavalry shouted "Suppression!"

"Counterinsurgency...... Haha! It seems that he has thought of something, Prince Dunard laughed hysterically, that little thing, really didn't have the courage to order to kill his own uncle, what a natural king, but just a seven-year-old little child!

Sudden change!

One of the attendants standing to his left suddenly drew his sword and slashed at his neck from behind, an ordinary sword that could be said to be unassuming, and the only characteristic was that suddenly, fast, almost to the point of being unbelievable, everyone's attention was in front, watching the ironclad cavalry crush the soldiers of the Ninth Legion,

No one noticed that the attendant secretly moved forward a meter closer, and walked to a position where he could cut off the prince's head with a single sword, and what was even more terrifying was that the sword moved without warning, and he didn't see any movement, and in an instant, the shining blade had already cut through Prince Dunade's neck, "Poof!" The prince's head was rushed into the air by hot blood, and his round eyes were bulging, and he couldn't blink his eyes!

1.12 At the dawn of the war, His Royal Highness Prince Dunade personally led the Royal Bear Army to desperately block the rebels from advancing towards the Emperor, and finally won time for His Majesty the Emperor to quell the rebellion. (To be continued......)