Autumn was just beginning, and the remnants of summer still lingered in Bianliang City. Dark clouds gathered, and rain poured down in torrents. Search: \(Complete Book God Station\) to read high-quality literature for free.

For the people of Bianliang at this moment, the sudden downpour couldn't dampen the city's fervent and excited mood. The most exciting and joyful news to shake the Wu Dynasty during this time came from the north.

The Northern Expedition was victorious. Tong Guan's two hundred thousand troops had captured Yanjing, recovering most of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and the Liao Kingdom was on the verge of collapse.

When the news arrived, two centuries of humiliation and dreams finally revealed a glimmer of hope. For the people of Bianliang, especially the Confucian scholars, it was a moment of universal celebration. In this atmosphere, the defeat of the Liangshan bandits in the east was a trivial matter. With the nation flourishing and the heavens and earth working together, the imperial army's advance would naturally cause such bandits to crumble, making it insignificant.

Since the importance of defeating Liangshan was far less than capturing Yanjing, the news was not widely publicized. In fact, the news of Liangshan arrived even before the Yanjing situation, but due to certain key issues, its processing was temporarily delayed. Later... there was little need for promotion. The victory at Yanjing made everything else a mere icing on the cake, fading into insignificance.

It was in this atmosphere that Su Tan'er led the Su family, bringing her nearly three-month-old child, to Bianliang.

The group settled into the courtyard that Ning Yi had purchased. After a brief settling in, their first visit was to the family of Right Chancellor Qin Si Yuan. Although she wasn't as familiar with the Qin family as Yun Zhu was, Qin Si Yuan, Madam Qin, and others already held Ning Yi in high regard. The child she brought successfully opened a "diplomatic" breakthrough. Little Ning Xi, nearly three months old, was healthy and adorable. Madam Qin was overjoyed to see him, praised his intelligence, and wanted to take him as her god-grandson, inviting Su Tan'er to bring him over often.

The Qin family's affection for Ning Xi naturally stemmed, in part, from Ning Yi, which went without saying. But the child's glory was inherently linked to his mother. As Ning's family's eldest son, he would inherit Ning Yi's legacy, carrying the burdens of both the Ning and Su families. Every compliment to him was a joy to Su Tan'er's heart. After these pleasantries, Yun Niang spoke to Su Tan'er privately about Ning Yi's news, further explaining why the Qin family held him in such high esteem.

Within a month, he had decisively crushed Liangshan, causing tens of thousands of bandits to be beheaded or surrender. For anyone, this was a dreamlike feat. Ning Yi's revenge was swift and ruthless, as if he had extended a gigantic hand and smashed Liangshan to the ground. For a woman, this was the aura of a truly reliable head of household, but as a pragmatic person, Su Tan'er understood the dangers involved. Outside, the rain poured down, and in the room's warm lamplight, she listened to Yun Niang's words, the information that had come in, and covered her mouth while her eyes reddened.

"He... he wasn't injured, was he?"

"Don't worry, I heard he wasn't injured. This time, it was all due to his planning and strategy behind the scenes. It's just that many of the Liangshan bandit leaders are still on the run. I don't know how long it will take to capture them all, but I imagine with Li Heng's abilities, good news will come soon..."

"His methods are sharp and he will be seen as a thorn in the side of the bandits. Song Jiang and the others... they will target him sooner or later. I just hope he is safe..." Tan'er sat there, smiling and crying.

Yun Niang laughed and said a few words, then added, "Recently, the most exciting thing in the manor has been the Liangshan affair. Our master has praised it every time. If it weren't for the tense situation in Yanjing and many pressing matters, this would have been publicized..."

"Ultimately, the Yanjing matter is more important, isn't it..."

"Yanjing..." Yun Niang smiled at Tan'er. After a moment, she shook her head and whispered, "The news may seem joyful to outsiders, but our master said that it was just a bunch of bastards doing a bunch of bastard things, not even comparable to half of Li Heng's achievements. But this matter is still confidential. Tan'er is not an outsider, but don't mention it to others..."

Amidst the universally celebratory atmosphere in Bianliang City, Yun Niang casually mentioned the matter to Tan'er, somewhat helplessly. And at this time, in the Qin residence or throughout the capital, the very few people who knew the inside story didn't necessarily have the same ecstatic emotions as others. Like in the back study of the Qin residence, within the Secret Intelligence Division.

Cheng Zhouhai had already left. Those handling affairs here were Yao Zunian, Ji Kun, Monk Jueming, Wenren Bu'er, and others. Occasionally, if someone sent Yao Zunian and Monk Jueming, two people with considerable fame and status in Bianliang's literary and social circles, invitations to poetry gatherings to celebrate Yanjing's recovery, these two mostly seemed uninterested. In fact, when they talked about it, they all said that if Cheng Zhouhai was still here, he might curse and smash half of the tea sets in the room.

Actually, after the initial news about Yanjing arrived, the normally composed Monk Jueming had punched the tea set in front of him, almost shattering the entire Zisha tea set. The fragments embedded themselves in his hand, and blood flowed continuously. His former imperial family temperament rose up along with his anger. Whether one had renounced the world or remained in it, for such people, there were always some things, some emotions, that they couldn't escape. And as various news continued to arrive, everyone was able to stabilize their emotions, only occasionally sighing, "It's always a good thing."

As the heavy rain fell, a thousand miles away in the north, there was also someone reliving the events of Yanjing in a nightmare...

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In the darkness, what lit up before his eyes was a light like purgatory. In the dark of night, the ancient and dark city, the sounds of killing were boiling and spreading...

When he suddenly sat up in bed in alarm, Guo Yaoshi's forehead was covered in cold sweat. The light was dim, and outside it was raining heavily. He got out of bed, put on his clothes, gritted his teeth, and relived everything from that day in his heart.

In mid-May, Guo Yaoshi finally obtained the approval of Tong Guan and Liu Yanqing, leading six thousand elite troops from the Resentment Army to launch a surprise attack on Yanjing in coordination with Liu Yanqing's direct subordinates. Based on his understanding of the Liao Kingdom, the entire plan was meticulous and rigorous. The advance troops successfully infiltrated the city, broke open the city gates, and engaged in chaotic fighting in the ancient capital of Yanjing.

The Liao people had been fighting the Jin Kingdom to this point, and the army no longer had the will to fight fiercely. Especially when the Wu Dynasty army suddenly stormed into the Liao capital, descending like heavenly soldiers, the signal to everyone was that the Liao Kingdom's fate had arrived. In the initial success, Guo Yaoshi was overjoyed and sent someone to order Empress Dowager Xiao to surrender quickly. Liu Yanqing was also delighted and announced that once the army entered the city, there would be no restrictions. For Tong Guan, Liu Yanqing, and others, the repeated failures in the war against Liao required a major victory, and the soldiers in the army needed more encouragement. Such an order came from Liu Yanqing's mouth, and also from Tong Guan's boldness.

"When Tong leads troops, there are no other rules. Soldiers give their lives for me, and I will never mistreat them!"

Under such orders, the Wu Dynasty army's order gradually broke down, and they began to burn and kill in the city. Guo Yaoshi was horrified and negotiated with them, but was immediately rebuked: "The Liao people have killed how many people of my Wu Dynasty over the centuries, Yaoshi, you have only just returned to my Wu Dynasty, and you don't understand the deep hatred in between. You shouldn't say too much about this matter, be careful of saying too much. In short, the situation is set, what does it matter if the soldiers vent a little. Hahahaha..."

Although the Liao people were at the end of their rope, the men in the north still had a martial spirit to some extent. The next day, resistance within Yanjing gradually strengthened. Empress Dowager Xiao, although a woman, was also strong-willed. She took this opportunity to send a blood letter to the city's wealthy families, crying out for help, and then retook the city gate. Instead of driving the Wu Dynasty army out of the city, she closed the city gate, intending to die together with the Wu Dynasty army. In such a battle situation, Guo Yaoshi and others were still in a favorable position, but the troops of Liu Guangshi, who were supposed to lead the main force, had not arrived.

On the third day of the battle, Xiao Gan, the King of the Northern Court, led a large army back to Yanjing, carrying the city's resentment, and drove Guo Yaoshi and others out of the city with the momentum of a grieving army. At this time, the Resentment Army still had the strength to fight. Guo Yaoshi was originally a famous general and had been waiting for the main force of Liu Guangshi to arrive. He knew that once the momentum of defeat formed, it would be irreversible. He persuaded the thousands of men directly under Liu Yanqing to resist Xiao Gan with him, even if they fought and retreated, they could still fight once the main force arrived.

They nodded in agreement, and then the entire army collapsed at the first contact with Xiao Gan's troops. Guo Yaoshi could only watch in astonishment as these Wu Dynasty elites fled in a hurry, and this escape also dragged down the morale of the Resentment Army. Xiao Gan's troops were indeed very powerful at the time, and the Resentment Army in front was like a sandcastle under a giant wave, and after only a moment of resistance, they were completely defeated. Guo Yaoshi was still trying to organize an orderly retreat, thinking to preserve his strength, but the sporadic resistance only bought the Wu Dynasty army a little time to collapse. And on the battlefield, when he faced that terrible King of the Northern Court again, he was almost cut down by the opponent's sword. Many old brothers protected him all the way to escape, and he was lucky enough not to be captured.

Liu Guangshi's main force of tens of thousands of people arrived late at this time. Seeing that the friendly army had already collapsed, these tens of thousands of people were also scattered by Xiao Gan, who was chasing after them all the way. Tong Guan, who was further behind, knew that the defeat had been presented and cleanly did not choose to resist stubbornly, but turned his army around and retreated all the way, preserving the entire Northern Expeditionary Army.

Throughout the battle, of the more than six thousand men in the Resentment Army, only a thousand returned. Together with the more than two thousand who held the main camp, only three thousand of the original eight thousand brothers who had surrendered to the Wu Dynasty remained. There was a lot of blaming and looking for responsibility in the Wu Dynasty army. According to those civil officials, they would look for the cause of the defeat after the war so that they could win next time. Amidst such chaos, Tong Guan only comforted the Resentment Army a few words and put them aside.

Guo Yaoshi originally thought that these guys were going to use the Resentment Army to take the blame, but Tong Guan's methods were beautiful. As soon as the great battle was defeated, he immediately contacted the Jurchens and did not know what conditions he agreed to. After that, the Jin people sent troops, advanced straight in, broke Yanjing, and after burning, killing and looting, handed over a ruined city to the Wu Dynasty. When Guo Yaoshi truly reacted, Tong Guan had already sent the news of the great victory in Yanjing back to the south and began to publicize this unprecedented achievement.

As for the disposal of the Resentment Army, the imperial edict arrived on this rainy day: "...Guo Yaoshi's Changsheng Army bravely advanced in the battle to attack Yanjing and made great contributions. Now, Guo Yaoshi is specially appointed as the Military Commissioner of the Wutai Camp, and is additionally granted... honors... bestowed... This is by imperial order--"

A large number of gifts and titles were now placed in front of Guo Yaoshi. In Guo Yaoshi's dazed eyes, Liu Guangshi, who had also been promoted and made a fortune, smiled and approached, becoming close to Guo Yaoshi. That night, a banquet was held in the Changsheng Army camp, and Liu Guangshi and Guo Yaoshi got drunk before leaving. Regarding his delay in the army's northward advance, Liu Guangshi said that he had always felt guilty, but he also explained in detail that the Wu Dynasty army was just not that fast. And at this time, everyone had rewards, promotions and fortunes, so he had the face to come and see Guo Yaoshi, and to say sorry at the same time, and sincerely said that the Wu Dynasty all regarded Guo Yaoshi as a good man, good at fighting, and powerful!

For Liu Guangshi, this was perhaps the best attitude to show goodwill to Guo Yaoshi.

After Liu Guangshi was sent away, the sky was dim, and the rain was still falling. Guo Yaoshi held the imperial edict, standing outside the tent, watching the rain fall and soak his body. Two old brothers who had survived by his side knew that he had been brooding over the defeat in Yanjing recently, and came to comfort him, and said: "This is a good thing, finally put down a worry, next we can recruit troops again, right."

"Tong Secretary has a conscience, after all, he has not forgotten us..."

The two said this, and Guo Yaoshi, who was drunk, looked at them with red eyes, shaking the imperial edict in his hand, gritting his teeth, wanting to throw it into the rain, but finally did not dare. He waved his hand heavily, looked at the darkness in the rain curtain, and pointed his finger for a long time.

"Our more than five thousand brothers, I originally, I originally brought you..." he murmured in his mouth, finally shedding tears in the rain, and shouted out, suppressing his emotions, "Bastards--"

The sound echoed in the rain curtain.

This day was the thirteenth day of the seventh month of the Jinghan year of the Wu Dynasty. At the same time, thousands of miles away in the south, in Zhanjia Village, Yunzhou, more than three thousand people from Liangshan were rushing down the hillside, surging towards the camp set up by the Dulong Gang people...

Far away in Shandong, Ning Yi could not know the situation in the north immediately, and he was not interested in it for the time being. Waking up from his sleep, he felt a little tired in his heart. Some small figures had said goodbye to him forever in that dream. Even though he knew that most of the things in the dream were his wishful thinking, he was still filled with a faint, lingering emotion at this time. It was still raining heavily outside, but the sky was about to dawn. Because it was not easy to travel in such heavy rain, everyone had to rest in the post station on the way, and the two hundred people had different speeds. The first batch of more than thirty people with cars and horses were considered to be at the front, and the rest had to find a place to settle down behind.

Ning Yi left the carriage in the backyard of the post station. He slept so soundly that everyone did not even call him. A lonely lantern hung under the eaves of the heavy rain. In the darkness of the rain, the post station had actually gone to sleep. Some of the followers found a place to sleep in the simple hall or under the eaves of the post station. Ning Yi went up to the second floor to find a place to sit, watching the night rain blowing a cool wind, waiting for Zhu Biao and others to wake up and talk to him about the Jianghu masters and situation they would encounter this time...

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Um, today is the middle of the month, the editor said to seize the opportunity, so... ask for monthly tickets! Ask for likes!

Well, okay ^_^

In addition, ps again, this chapter is four hundred and thirty-eight chapters, the numbers are wrong...