“Marshal Yue!”
“Lord Yue!”
Among the assembled factions, many had seen Yue Fei before, and Shang Gong Jian Nan had even fought alongside Niu Gao and others.
Upon clearly recognizing the newcomer as Yue Fei, they all clasped their fists in greeting.
As the leader of the Iron Palm Gang, Shang Gong Jian Nan was being flanked alongside Lord Hong Qi, so Yue Fei spotted him immediately and asked,
“Why are you here? Tell me what has happened!”
Seeing that he was recognized, Shang Gong Jian Nan felt a surge of pride and quickly parted the crowd to walk out.
After hearing his account, Yue Fei scanned his surroundings but saw no trace of the Jurchen.
“Where are the Jurchen?”
Shang Gong Jian Nan turned to look at the site of the recent battle, also seeing no Jurchen. He then shouted to his subordinates, “Where are those Jurchen dogs? Quickly find them for Marshal Yue to deal with!”
Everyone quickly dispersed to search. In the end, they discovered that besides those Jurchen who had been killed, the rest had been trampled to death during the mêlée.
This was rather…
Satisfactory!
Seeing the corpses of the Jurchen, Yue Fei said nothing. They were merely scum; their deaths were inconsequential.
Although there was a saying about not arresting envoys during wartime, their own recklessness was their undoing.
“Who is the Commander of Luzhou?!” Yue Fei pushed through the crowd and approached the Song soldiers, his voice cold.
The Song soldiers remained silent, but their actions answered the question. They all looked towards Luo Bu Tuo in unison.
Seeing no way to evade it, Luo Bu Tuo trembling stepped forward.
“Your, your subordinate Luo, Bu Tuo, pays, pays his respects to Marshal Yue.”
As he spoke, he fell to his knees with a thud, crawled forward a few steps on his knees, and then, with a runny nose and tears streaming down his face, continued,
“Marshal, Marshal Yue, your, your subordinate was ordered by the Prefect of Luzhou, so I brought troops to suppress them. Your, your subordinate was also helpless~”
Yue Fei did not waste words with him. He had seen too much of this sort of thing. Whether they were truly helpless or traitors, there was no need for further verification.
“Take him away!”
“The army will rest outside the city. In three days, we will use this traitor as a sacrifice to consecrate the banner!”
“Yes!”
Xu Qing stepped out from behind him, grabbed Luo Bu Tuo by the collar, and dragged him towards the city gate.
Luo Bu Tuo panicked, but his struggles were futile. He was held by Niu Gao like a chick.
“Marshal Yue, spare me, your subordinate is wronged!”
“Marshal Yue~~~”
As resistance proved useless, he began to shout at the top of his lungs.
However, Xu Qing punched him in the mouth, after which he could only emit muffled sounds.
On the other side, after Niu Gao and his men finished searching the Jurchen corpses, they presented a blood-stained yellow silk scroll to Yue Fei.
“Brother, look at this.”
The yellow silk scroll was unfurled, its content written in Han characters.
“The Great Jin’s Emperor Tian Juan, by imperial decree, pardons the children of Jiangnan~~~”
“Presumptuous!”
Merely reading the first sentence, Yue Fei’s anger surged. He stuffed the yellow silk scroll back into Niu Gao’s arms and turned to the following generals.
“The army will rest outside the city! In three days, we attack Jin!”
“Yes!”
The army began to encamp, and Li Shi Min and others alighted from their carriages.
Shang Gong Jian Nan, seeing Han Shi Zhong in full armor, immediately’s eyes turned red.
“Marshal Han!”
He rushed excitedly to Han Shi Zhong and knelt down with a thud.
“Shang Gong Jian Nan pays his respects to Marshal Han!”
“The members of the Iron Palm Gang pay their respects to Marshal Han!”
With his kneeling, the members of the Iron Palm Gang behind him also knelt.
“Good, good, good!” Han Shi Zhong was also greatly moved seeing Shang Gong Jian Nan.
Since relinquishing his military command, his former comrades had been scattered. Now, with war imminent, he never expected to meet his battle-hardened former subordinates here.
He said to the others, “Please, everyone, rise quickly!”
Then, he pulled Shang Gong Jian Nan up and headed towards Luzhou City, saying, “Come, enter the city with me to discuss matters!”
Leaving the army to camp outside the city, they all entered Luzhou City together.
Seeing the banner with the character Yue, the city’s residents were initially disbelieving.
But as people recognized Yue Fei and Niu Gao, the situation quickly became lively.
“The Yue Family Army has entered the city!”
“Grandpa Yue is not dead, the Great Song is saved!”
“Everyone, come out quickly to welcome the Yue Family Army! Our lives have hope!”
“Grandpa Yue!”
They hurried to spread the word. The residents and merchants who had closed their doors due to the Jurchen’s potential exit from the city cautiously peered out from their door cracks.
Upon confirming it was indeed the Yue Family Army, their faces lit up with joy, and they pushed open their doors and knelt on both sides of the street.
Leaving some personal guards to handle the welcoming, Yue Fei led his men directly to the Prefect’s yamen.
Half an hour later, the Prefect of Luzhou had his official robes stripped. Although forced to kneel in the hall, he still maintained an arrogant demeanor.
“Yue Peng Ju! You were merely fortunate to survive!”
“I am a fourth-rank official of the court. What right do you have to receive this kneeling!”
“Slap!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he was struck in the face with a imperial decree.
It was Yue Yun who had acted. He unfurled the decree, revealing its contents, and then coldly shouted, “Open your dog eyes and look properly!”
“Grand Marshal of the Northern Expedition!”
“Act at your discretion!”
These nine words in the imperial decree struck the Prefect of Luzhou’s defenses like a thunderclap, shattering his resolve.
He instantly went limp, mumbling, “This is impossible! This is impossible!”
As he spoke, his expression turned manic, and his voice grew louder.
“There has never been such a precedent in our dynasty!”
“A mere military man, the court would never grant you such authority!”
What did it mean to act at discretion?
It meant that any event that occurred during the Northern Expedition could be handled with consideration based on the actual situation, without prior consultation!
To put it more plainly, Yue Fei possessed the authority to strike first and report later!
Niu Gao kicked him several meters away, then pointed at his nose and sneered,
“You dog! Let this grandfather tell you, the heavens of the Great Song have changed!”
Yue Fei was too lazy to waste words with such a turncoat. He struck the table with a loud clap of his wooden clapper.
“Throw him in prison and interrogate him thoroughly!”
“If there is any collusion with the Jurchen, execute him immediately!”
“Yes!”
Several personal guards stepped forward, escorted the Prefect of Luzhou out of the hall.
Subsequently, Wang Chong Yang and Lord Hong Qi were invited in. After a discussion, Yue Fei was moved by their resolve.
Together with Shang Gong Jian Nan’s Iron Palm Gang, they were incorporated as part of the Northern Expedition.