For safety's sake, Zheng Boye ultimately chose to stab the Pixiu's mouth with both the blade and its sheath.

The Pixiu appeared to be in pain and resistant. As a Pixiu, it didn't seem to know it possessed the ability to "swallow objects."

However, Zheng Boye had always wanted to achieve that dashing battlefield swordsmanship like the Marquis of Jingnan, so he could only force it to perform its duty.

Initially, it was extremely narrow;

no matter how he stabbed, it wouldn't go in.

Tears welled up in the Pixiu's eyes,

but slowly, a blue halo began to appear on the Pixiu's belly, and then the blue halo began to move upwards, finally transferring to the knife in Zheng Boye's hand.

"Buzz!"

The knife,

was sent in.

The Pixiu lay on the ground, panting heavily. At this moment, it had none of the majesty of a fierce beast, as if its body had been completely emptied.

Zheng Boye was initially a little surprised, but after looking at his empty hands, a smile appeared on his face.

It seemed,

the effect was quite good.

Most of the demon beasts in this world are just a little strange in appearance. A step higher is possessing spiritual awareness, which means they have sentience.

The princess's green python belongs to this category;

after that are the black cat that Zheng Boye often pets and the fox that follows Xue San. They actually possess their own special abilities.

Of course, it's not to say that the princess's green python is inferior to the black cat and the fox. These things can never be simply ranked for comparison, just like how Xue San directly assassinated the "Sixth-Rank martial artist" Prince Fu.

If the black cat and the fox were thrown in front of the green python, the green python would definitely be able to swallow them both, because the two demons' abilities are not in combat.

And "swallowing objects" is the Pixiu's ability.

Swallowing a warehouse is impossible, but swallowing a knife is no problem at all.

Moreover, knives and swords, like humans, need to be nurtured. The spiritual energy on a precious blade can help the Pixiu stabilize its physique, and at the same time, the Pixiu can also help warm and nourish the precious weapon.

He squatted down, patted the Pixiu's head, and then placed all the jerky that Si Niang had brought in front of the Pixiu,

saying:

"You must be tired. Rest well and eat some more when you're rested."

After that,

Zheng Boye stood up, straightened his clothes, and took Si Niang's hand, slowly leaving under the Pixiu's gaze.

It was simply like a heartless scumbag who pulls up his pants and leaves with his wife after having his fun.

In the evening, according to his old habits, Zheng Boye took a bath. When he was about to go to bed, he saw Si Niang sitting behind the table by the bed, writing a list of gifts.

In any case, human relations couldn't be broken. It wasn't to deliberately brown-nose someone. Relationships gained through brown-nosing are useless at critical moments, but there was no need to act like a white lotus to show off one's own nobility.

What gifts to bring this time to the capital, which item should be given to whom, and which item would have the best effect, these were all things Si Niang needed to consider.

Zheng Boye lay on the bed,

turned to his side,

looking at Si Niang's graceful and full figure from the side, and her slightly furrowed brows,

he felt like a husband lying in bed while his wife was calculating the human relations expenses for this month.

Perhaps,

this was the atmosphere of home.

Zheng Boye yawned,

and fell asleep.

After the imperial decree arrived, Zheng Boye still didn't set off immediately. First, because Feng Guan and Zhang Yuanshan had arrived in a timely manner, they had left Zheng Boye with ample time to return to the capital. At the same time, they needed to rest after traveling all the way. Second, Zheng Boye also needed to handle some matters.

Of course, the second reason was just a reason. After all, the specific affairs of Xuehai Pass were actually being handled by the Demon Kings. Zheng Boye was more of a mascot.

But a mascot also needs to be brought out from time to time to show its face, right?

Therefore,

the military parade, originally scheduled for three days later,

was held as scheduled.

The site of the military parade was not south of Xuehai Pass, but north of Xuehai Pass, even a little far north, on the snowy plains. At the same time, some tribal chiefs and elders of the wild men tribes were invited to participate in the parade.

On the morning of this day,

Zheng Boye put on his armor with Si Niang's help. It was the set of gold armor bestowed by the Emperor.

While dressing him, Si Niang smiled and said:

"Master, this set of armor is fine to wear when attending events, but don't wear it out."

"I'm not stupid. Wearing this out will attract too much aggro."

"Well, wait until A'Ming wakes up, and then let A'Ming wear it in the future."

"A'Cheng said the same thing."

"Hehe." Si Niang herself also smiled, but, as if thinking of something, she said: "Master, the head of the academy came to see you last night and told you something."

"What is it?"

"He said that the imperial examination that the imperial court is holding in Yingdu originally had quotas for us here, according to the imperial court's decree. After all, Jin is now in a state of disrepair after the war, and the difficulty of this imperial examination is actually not great. Even the xiucai (talented scholars) are actually directly recognized by the various local governments.

So many teachers in our academy were tempted. They were originally from Jin and wanted to try their luck in Yingdu. If they passed the imperial examination, they might have the opportunity to become officials.

Blind man knows about this, and Blind man agreed to let them go."

"And then?"

"Those teachers went after the spring, but a while ago, they wrote a letter and asked someone to bring it back, saying that they were holding the documents and travel permits issued by our Pingye Marquis Manor, but they were not qualified to enter the examination hall at the Yingdu Education Bureau."

"I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, I have to pass through Yingdu this time when I enter the capital, so I can ask about it."

"Blind man means that the imperial court wants to select officials from Jin through the imperial examination system, and in order to appease the local areas, many Jin officials were arranged to return to their original places of origin.

If these teachers in our Xuehai Pass can pass the exam and be arranged to come back to their original places of origin, we will also save trouble, and it will also be an explanation to the imperial court. After all, the imperial court doesn't want the pattern of a general managing both military and local affairs at the same time to continue now that the situation in Jin is stable, even though that kind of setup was used to temporarily appease the local areas and stabilize them in response to the war."

"Well, I understand."

After putting on his armor, Zheng Boye walked out of the hall.

Outside, Zhang Yuanshan and Feng Guan were already waiting there. This military parade also needed them to participate.

Actually, Feng Guan was fine. He was very well-behaved in Xuehai Pass. He was served good food and drinks every day, and he also accepted the gift list. Anyway, he had made up his mind that he had come all the way to announce the imperial decree just to gain some experience and benefits. People like this were instead more reassuring and steadfast.

On the other hand, Zhang Yuanshan, according to Xiao Yibo's feedback, was basically always outside, either looking at the lives of the soldiers and civilians or wandering around on the city wall. He was never idle.

You could say that he was curious, but it was unknown whether this curiosity also contained something deeper.

In addition, with the imperial court's continuous promotion of officials governing the local areas and its desire to take back the power of local governance from the hands of the various generals, Zhang Yuanshan's actions became even more intriguing.

"Greetings, Lord Marquis."

"Greetings, Lord Marquis."

After these two announced the imperial decree, they naturally had to lower their status a bit in front of Zheng Boye.

"Please, both of you."

"Please, Lord Marquis."

The three of them left the Marquis's Mansion. A delicate carriage was already parked at the door. Sitting in the carriage was Xiong Liqing.

A military parade,

naturally had to be accompanied by the latest "spoils of war" to consolidate one's influence in the hearts of the soldiers.

What Zheng Boye wanted was the feeling of waving his hand after landing on the shore and having the army defect to his side;

this was a kind of cultivation of personal worship in the army;

moreover, this was essential. If the soldiers didn't worship you, then they would have to worship others, such as... the imperial decree, such as... the Yan Emperor.

And this was something that Zheng Boye absolutely wouldn't allow to happen. How could the soldiers he had worked so hard to gather follow someone else?

In fact, even the princess herself knew that she would inevitably become Zheng Boye's boastful capital in the past two years, but this was her value. Since she had chosen to follow him to the Yan Kingdom, this process was inevitable.

She didn't feel sorry for herself. She was very open-minded.

Si Niang had talked to Zheng Boye about the difference between Xiong Liqing and Blind man's wife, Yue Xin.

Both women were actually very intelligent,

but Yue Xin came from the Wen family and inherited Wen Sutong's style of "managing the household," knowing how to settle down and make the best of things;

and Xiong Liqing came from the royal family. Although her personal experience was not rich, she was born with an understanding of how to look at things from a superior perspective, so she naturally wouldn't get caught up in the details.

The opposite was Liu Ruqing. This woman didn't have many of her own ideas. She was more like duckweed floating on the river, but this was precisely where her charm lay.

Sometimes, purely being a pretty face was also a skill, and it was something that couldn't be learned later in life. You could only blame your parents.

Inside the carriage, Xiong Liqing was wearing gorgeous clothes. The clothes were embroidered by Si Niang herself, imitating the phoenix robe in Si Niang's memory. Of course, there were naturally many transgressive and forbidden aspects to the clothes, such as the gold trim and the phoenix embroidery, but Xiong Liqing herself was a princess, and Great Chu was a great power recognized by Great Yan. No one would say anything about her wearing this.

On the contrary, even if the Yan Emperor himself were here and witnessed this dress with his own eyes, he wouldn't be unhappy, because only a princess dressed like this was a true princess, and only then could the Yan people's sense of pride reach its peak.

When she was altering this phoenix robe the other day, Xiong Liqing had specially smiled and asked Si Niang:

"Did Sister make this dress a long time ago?"

Si Niang replied:

"Yes, I've made three dragon robes."

"Your Highness, have some water. The sun is strong outside."

Zhao Cheng came over with water.

Xiong Liqing shook her head and said, "I don't want to drink it. By the way, hasn't Lord Marquis come out yet?"

"He should be coming soon, Princess."

"Sigh."

Xiong Liqing sighed. She had already dressed up and waited for a long time, but Zheng Boye was still dawdling, making her wait for him here.

Fortunately,

Xiong Liqing was used to this kind of thing. She had been in contact with him a lot these days, and she slowly realized that in some of his living habits, her husband was even more particular than her.

Finally,

Zheng Boye and the others came out. Zheng Boye was riding the Pixiu, walking at the front of the team.

Feng Guan and Zhang Yuanshan were riding horses behind him. The team proceeded directly out of the north gate and entered the snowy plains.

The reviewing stand was built with wooden frames and rammed with mud. It was filled with the Great Yan Black Dragon Flag and the Zheng character flag.

When Zheng Boye's team arrived, the waiting tribal chiefs and elders of the wild men immediately knelt down and shouted:

"May the Lord Marquis have good fortune!"

"May the Lord Marquis have good fortune!"

Under the gaze of all eyes, Zheng Boye reached out and patted the head of the Pixiu under his crotch.

The Pixiu understood,

opened its mouth,

raised its front hooves,

and the next moment,

a barbarian knife was spat out directly from its mouth.

Zheng Boye was a Sixth-Rank martial artist after all. His left hand grabbed the scabbard, and his right hand drew the knife, raising it high forward.

The Pixiu also immediately pushed off the ground with its hind legs, trying its best to make its body taller to highlight Zheng Boye on its back and make him more majestic. At the same time, it let out a long hiss.

The surrounding Xuehai cavalrymen simultaneously drew their knives, neatly tapping on their armor, creating a sound of killing.

Zheng Boye shouted:

"Great Yan is mighty!"

A group of Xuehai Pass knights shouted:

"Lord Marquis is mighty!"

"Lord Marquis is mighty!"

Zheng Boye shouted again:

"Great Yan is victorious!"

"Lord Marquis is victorious!"

"Lord Marquis is victorious!"

For a time, the roars soared into the sky, and the surrounding wild men nobles only felt sweat on their foreheads.

Although the number of Xuehai Pass cavalrymen was not large, they were all well-armored, and their horsemanship and archery skills were top-notch. They could be said to be no less than the elite iron cavalry of the Jingnan Army.

This kind of iron cavalry could often be used as one against five on the snowy plains.

In the past, the Marquis of Jingnan had led an army of 30,000 into the snowy plains, destroying tribes and pulling out strongholds all the way, unstoppable. Now, the wild men tribes of the snowy plains had no king to lead them and were already a mess of loose sand, even worse than they were back then.

At this time,

a swordsman in white, wearing a bamboo hat, slowly walked out from the rear of the team.

For a time, he attracted everyone's attention.

Even the two imperial envoys, Feng Guan and Zhang Yuanshan, who were following Zheng Boye to observe, didn't know that there was actually this person in the team when they left the city.

The princess slightly opened the car curtain, watching the swordsman in white walk past her car.

Zhao Cheng, who was serving beside her, asked curiously:

"Who is this person?"

Immediately,

Zhao Cheng suddenly understood,

and covered his mouth.

When this swordsman in white walked over, many people had actually guessed his identity.

There used to be four great swordsmen in the jianghu (martial world),

but now,

few people say it that way anymore,

the four great swordsmen have become a thing of the past, because one person has already transcended the original three who stood side by side.

That is,

the Sword Saint of Jin.

In front of Xuehai Pass,

he killed the barbarian general,

and even broke through a thousand cavalry with one sword.

Li Liangshen lives in the military, the sword maker has not drawn his sword once, and Baili Jian once retreated without fighting in front of the Yan cavalry under the capital,

I ask the vast number of swordsmen between heaven and earth,

who can compete with him?

In the rumors,

the Sword Saint of Jin disappeared after the battle of Xuehai Pass.

Some people said that he had died in that great battle. After all, no matter how you think about it, the record of one person killing a thousand cavalry was really too frightening. How could human power do it?

Forcibly doing it was going against the heavens and was destined to end badly.

Some people said that he left Xuehai Pass after the war and was free in the jianghu. Maybe he was sitting in the corner of some teahouse with a sword and a pot of wine, listening to the storytellers telling stories about him;

some people also said that the Sword Saint might still be by the side of the Marquis of Pingye!

This statement was criticized by many people,

firstly, the Marquis of Pingye was a Yan, and the Sword Saint was a Jin,

the Yan people had a national hatred for the Jin people. The Sword Saint had helped the Marquis of Pingye because he was expelling the barbarians, which was already a great act of righteousness. How could he covet a high position and become a Yan dog after the war?

Secondly, a figure like the Sword Saint, who had transcended the four great swordsmen and formed his own pattern, would shatter the sword dreams of a group of young heroes if he held a sword for others.

However,

this scene today,

is equivalent to proving to the world,

the Sword Saint of Jin,

is still in Xuehai Pass!

When the Sword Saint appeared, all the wild men nobles present felt a chill on their necks. The Sword Saint's most famous battle was built with the blood of the wild men.

The Sword Saint walked to Zheng Boye's side,

reached out,

and lifted the reins on the Pixiu's neck.

In the astonishment of the crowd,

the Sword Saint of Jin,

led the horse for the Marquis of Pingye.

The person was invited by Zheng Boye, saying that he wanted to ask for help to support the scene.

The Sword Saint asked why?

Zheng Boye said that he was going to the capital soon, and the original plan to send troops to the snowy plains had been shelved, and he had to deter the tribes of the snowy plains before going to the capital so that they wouldn't dare to act rashly.

Using the wild men as an excuse was very reasonable.

Zheng Boye was very good at using righteousness to fool honest people.

The Sword Saint agreed,

but the Sword Saint had a condition,

you can lead the horse for me, but you have to carry water for my water tank for three days.

So, these days, after Zheng Boye finished practicing his knife every day, he didn't go straight to take a bath like before, but went to help carry water for the house next door.

Glory in front of people, suffering behind people;

the ancients were really honest and did not deceive me.

But in the eyes of the people around, all of this was completely different.

Why was the Marquis of Jingnan so terrible? Because he had the Jingnan Army iron cavalry following him, and the Marquis of Jingnan himself was a powerful existence at the peak of the Third Rank martial artists.

Zheng Boye had more than 20,000 Xuehai iron cavalry under his command, plus the Sword Saint by his side, which made people have to think, wouldn't he become another Tian Wujing in the future?

The team marched to the reviewing stand,

Zheng Boye jumped down,

walked to the carriage,

the carriage curtain was opened,

and the princess came out.

She was really dazzling and eye-catching in her gorgeous clothes. This kind of temperament as a member of the royal family could not be faked at all.

Zheng Boye took the princess's hand and helped her out of the car. Then, the marquis walked in front and the princess followed behind, and the two of them walked slowly onto the reviewing stand together.

The wild men nobles around were all from tribes near Xuehai Pass. Xuehai Pass didn't invite those from farther away.

The layout for the snowy plains would naturally not be a racial extermination. Just like the desert, the snowy plains were also extremely vast. It was only by pulling in some, attacking some, and dividing some that the benefits could be maximized.

Today's Zheng Boye, wearing a set of golden armor, although this set of armor was really unwise on the battlefield, it could create a momentum at this time.

Liang Cheng stood behind Zheng Fan,

Zheng Boye stood alone in the front.

The Great Chu princess, then took a wooden mallet from a strongman behind her and struck the drum.

The sound of the drum rang,

not majestic,

not sonorous,

even a little stuffy.

But because the reviewing stand was towering, everyone around, whether it was the wild men or the Xuehai Pass soldiers, could see clearly who was beating the drum.

Zheng Boye turned his head,

looking at Xiong Liqing, who was covered in fragrant sweat,

this was not a design in the rehearsal, but Xiong Liqing's whim.

Zheng Boye then looked around, and from the eyes of the soldiers, he saw a kind of heat.

A beauty playing the drum,

in the eyes of literal-minded scholars, may be a truly licentious and immoral act. How can the drums in the army be a joke?

King Zhou You of the Zhou Dynasty played with the beacon fires to amuse Baosi and was considered absurd because he lost control in the end.

History judges heroes by success or failure,

and these soldiers in the army,

watching the noble figure in gorgeous clothes drumming above,

presented a kind of eager desire to burst out.

Tian Wujing relied on winning every battle, relying on the Jingnan Army skeleton he had personally created, to gain the collective allegiance of the Jingnan Army;

and this Xuehai Pass iron cavalry was also personally gathered by Zheng Boye. Although Zheng Boye was not as good as Tian Wujing in the big picture, no matter what, Zheng Boye had never lost since his debut in the army.

Give enough pay,

give enough treatment,

give enough respect,

this is the foundation of establishing an army.

In addition, the personal charm of the martial general is also an important factor in maintaining the cohesion of an army.

Rising from the grassroots, being conferred the title of nobility for military exploits as a commoner;

the Sword Saint leads the horse, letting the thousand-gold princess beat the drum for you!

From the beginning, Blind man and the others had been building Zheng Boye as an "idol" in the army. Over the years, step by step, bit by bit, layer by layer, after continuous additions, it had already been consolidated.

Zheng Boye raised his hand,

"Shua!"

"Shua!"

"Shua!"

Below, tens of thousands of knights raised their weapons together.

At this time,

Zheng Boye, who was raising his hand, felt that,

in the dark,

it seemed that he and the army below that he had personally created had a feeling of spiritual connection.

He,

was their role model, their idol, their worship, their... totem.

He believed that,

in the future, Xuehai Pass,

no matter who it was,

it was impossible to rebel against him, Zheng Fan,

even if a general was fooling an army to attack,

as long as he, Zheng Fan, stood on the city wall and waved to this army,

the rebellion would quickly disappear.

In short,

this feeling, this confidence,

was really intoxicating.

At this time, Feng Guan, who had come up with Zheng Boye, was holding the imperial decree and asked in a low voice:

"Lord Marquis, can I announce the decree?"

There were two imperial decrees.

One was for Zheng Boye, which was also the main purpose of this decree.

The other was to comfort the entire Xuehai Pass army, expressing the Emperor's concern for the Xuehai Pass soldiers, and then there was some reward of wine, food, and money.

The second imperial decree was just an extra, which was considered a formality. Generally, when the imperial court announced an imperial decree to a general outside, it would bring such a decree.

The reason why they waited until now to announce the imperial decree was because Feng Guan knew that there would be a military parade in three days, and it would be more convenient to announce the decree at this time. Secondly, they were in a hurry to travel, and it would take a long time to transport the rewards of wine and meat for the soldiers even if they were transported from Yingdu, so they opened their mouths to borrow from Zheng Boye at the Marquis's Mansion, and this part would be added in the next quarter's household department's food and salary, which was also considered a cheap way to do things.

After all, the primary task was to come over and announce the imperial decree to Zheng Boye as soon as possible so that he could enter the capital.

"Yes."

Zheng Boye nodded, signaling Feng Guan to announce the imperial decree.

Feng Guan opened the imperial decree,

walked forward,

the young eunuch's voice had a strong penetrating power:

"By the decree of the Emperor of Heaven's Mandate:..."

Feng Guan stopped,

because all the knights below were holding their knives,

according to the Great Yan tradition, when announcing the imperial decree in the army, the soldiers did not have to dismount and kneel to receive it, but could salute on horseback.

However, it was fine if you didn't dismount and kneel, but what was going on with everyone holding weapons?

Holding weapons against the imperial decree,

what did this mean?

Feng Guan panicked a little,

he resisted these emotions and shouted again:

"By the decree of the Emperor of Heaven's Mandate..."

Below, tens of thousands of armored soldiers did not sheathe their knives.

On the reviewing stand, the scene suddenly became awkward.

Feng Guan looked at the Marquis of Pingye beside him with a somewhat embarrassed and pleading expression.

Zheng Boye smiled slightly,

and put down his hand,

in an instant,

"Roar!"

Tens of thousands of armored soldiers sheathed their knives in an instant!

————

Don't wait at night, everyone can read the second chapter in the morning.

Then, please ask for a monthly ticket again.