Chapter 103 Swearing

Zheng Boye didn't participate in the final mop-up operation at Xishan Fort. Instead, he returned to the central army camp early with A Ming and the personal soldiers provided by Li Fusheng.

San'er didn't follow; he had to gather the craftsmen he brought to assist in the next battle, and Li Fusheng's craftsmen would also be taken along.

Fan Li's "funeral tour" began at Xishan Fort and ended at Xishan Fort.

This was because Shi Yuantang's body was casually discarded on the ground when Fan Li charged the city gate. Subsequent large-scale Yan army attacks and cavalry charges meant that the Great Chu pillar of state's corpse could no longer be found.

Well, a deeper, more profound "horse hoof burial" was a good ending for a soldier's fate.

Fan Li himself had to return to Dongshan Fort to recover from his injuries. This iron-tower-like man truly played a role in siege warfare and battle formations that other Demon Kings found difficult to match, but he also paid a heavy price.

On the way back, Zheng Boye was in good spirits, probably because he had a good afternoon nap.

However, A Ming, riding his horse behind Zheng Boye's Pixiu, seemed to see a student who had scored high marks and couldn't wait to go home and tell his parents the good news.

In fact, that was indeed the case.

Although the capture of Xishan Fort was somewhat muddled, it was, after all, captured, and it was indeed captured on his first day of formal command. Fan Li's "Yangko dance" was even recognized as a preemptive move he had arranged in advance.

Moreover, Zheng Boye was already used to this muddled rhythm of being "as good as a god in using troops."

However, Zheng Boye never thought he was "ordained by heaven" or that he had "good luck." His meteoric rise and repeated victories were, in the final analysis, because he had seven Demon Kings to carry the weight forward for him.

Perhaps, having their company was his greatest fortune.

With this thought, Zheng Boye subconsciously turned to look at A Ming behind him.

A Ming wore a restrained and gentle smile on his face.

Zheng Boye nodded to him.

A Ming, not understanding what was going on, smiled even more gently.

Then, Zheng Boye turned back and looked ahead.

The smile on A Ming's face disappeared immediately; he still preferred his cold and indifferent expression.

In this regard, A Ming and Liang Cheng were very similar, perhaps because they were both "cold-blooded creatures."

Any extra expression on their faces was a burden to them.

But when facing their master, they couldn't put on airs and had to force themselves to become more "docile."

Otherwise, the more comfortable they were putting on airs today, the more embarrassing it would be to lick up to him next time.

As they entered the outer perimeter of the central army camp, teams of sentries came one after another to inquire, salute, and report.

Old Tian's military management was always strict.

However, after entering the camp, Zheng Boye smelled alcohol.

"The Earl of Pingye has returned to camp after a great victory at Xishan Fort!"

"The Earl of Pingye has returned to camp after a great victory at Xishan Fort!"

The messenger was very proper and gave him a lot of face, riding his horse through the army and shouting.

This wasn't considered acting on his own initiative, because today, the Prince had lifted the alcohol ban to celebrate Zheng Boye's new achievement, right?

Although the soldiers in the central army didn't yet know the process of capturing Xishan Fort, even fools could see the clues: first, the Earl of Pingye had captured Dongshan Fort in just a few days; second, Li Fusheng's troops had besieged Xishan Fort for a long time without success, but as soon as the Earl of Pingye took over, the city was breached the next day.

If this wasn't the Earl of Pingye's credit, then whose was it?

The fall of the two forts, Dongshan and Xishan, foreshadowed the removal of the two most difficult nails in the Yan army's cleanup of the outer defenses of Zhennan Pass. Wasn't it natural for the Prince to celebrate this?

Could there be other reasons?

Drunken Immortal also believed it was because of this; otherwise, if the Prince was lifting the alcohol ban because he learned that His Majesty's health was failing... well... how could that be!

Zheng Boye, in his golden armor, rode his Pixiu into the camp, and the soldiers spontaneously raised their weapons and cheered:

"Lord Earl is mighty!"

"Lord Earl is mighty!"

Zheng Boye, in good spirits, drew his barbarian saber and raised it high:

"The Yan army is mighty!"

The surrounding armored soldiers shouted in unison:

"The Yan army is mighty!"

"The Yan army is mighty!"

Zheng Boye shouted again:

"His Highness is mighty!"

The soldiers' enthusiasm was ignited:

"His Highness is mighty!"

"His Highness is mighty!"

Then, some people began to shout, "Long live His Highness!"

Immediately afterward, the wind changed, and everyone shouted together:

"Long live His Highness!"

"Long live His Highness!"

Looking at the enthusiastic cheers around him, Zheng Boye couldn't help but remember what Tian Wujing had taught him.

He said that eating and sleeping with the soldiers was a trick for scholars to win over servants. The real way to win over the hearts of the army was to lead them from one victory to the next.

A victorious general was inherently a totem in the army.

The Drunken Immortal in the distance noticed that the cheers in the army didn't include "Long live His Majesty."

For a long time, His Majesty's delegation of power in the armies of the North and South had been the most extreme in history. While this had laid a good foundation for the Great Yan's current annexation of Jin and deterrence of Qian and conquest of Chu, it had also gradually caused the Great Yan's troops to begin to detach themselves from the court's influence.

The Drunken Immortal knew that His Majesty's body was now being propped up.

And the Prince of Jingnan was in the prime of his life.

There was no need to pry into any heavenly secrets or ponder any astrology. When the Yan Emperor's body began to decline, like a flickering candle, a "celestial crush" was destined to descend.

Zheng Boye greeted the surrounding soldiers as he rode his Pixiu toward the Prince's tent. The soldiers were allocated very little wine, but many of them, even after their wine bowls were empty, still held the bowls and licked the bottom from time to time, seeking out the last trace of spiciness.

Drinking wine represented a kind of hedonism, and this was human nature.

The soldiers in the army were usually subjected to extremely strict training, and they lived a life of licking blood from the edge of a knife. That fierce energy was actually deeply buried in their bones.

Not to mention that the Great Yan army was currently on a distant expedition, facing the Chu people's copper walls and iron defenses.

Logically speaking, the accumulated violence in the soldiers' hearts must have reached a peak.

Therefore, it was necessary to reward the army with good wine and meat.

Otherwise, the army's morale would inevitably decline, which was the better scenario. If it was slightly careless, there might even be mutiny and camp riots.

Therefore, whenever a large army went on an expedition, it would disturb the local people. If it was in another country's territory, they would plunder and loot. If it was in their own country's territory, they would threaten local officials to offer tributes.

It wasn't that they didn't know this was wrong, but it was truly a last resort.

However, under Tian Wujing's rule, this wasn't a problem, or at least, not a common problem.

If you couldn't personally enter this military camp and truly touch the core of this army, you couldn't perceive Tian Wujing's effect on this Chu expeditionary army, which was mainly composed of the Jingnan Army.

He was a sea-stabilizing needle, a true sea-stabilizing needle.

To allow hundreds of thousands of grown men who would absolutely be a disaster and lawless if released to the outside world to set up camp here in an orderly manner was truly not easy.

Reining in his horse, dismounting his Pixiu, Zheng Boye walked forward on foot.

The Prince's tent was the foundation of the central army camp, as if an invisible boundary surrounded it, blocking all the noise from the outside.

"This old man greets the Earl of Pingye."

Drunken Immortal finally waited for the Earl of Pingye.

Zheng Boye still remembered this old man. This old man held an official position in the Secret Intelligence Division and was sometimes in Yanjing and sometimes in Beifeng County. Now, he was actually here again.

He was the best embodiment of someone who had sold himself to the imperial family. He got what he wanted but didn't lose his leisure and freedom.

Many things in the world were difficult to have both. It all depended on one's ability to control and grasp the right degree.

"Greetings, Immortal."

"Long time no see, long time no see."

Drunken Immortal couldn't say anything more, after all, he only had a superficial acquaintance with Zheng Fan back then.

"Immortal is still energetic, which is truly enviable."

"Hahaha, the Earl is still young and vigorous, like the rising sun. Why would you care about this old man's sunset years?"

"Is the Prince inside?"

Zheng Boye asked.

He really had nothing to talk about with the person in front of him.

Moreover, the Huba Mei that Xue San brought back some time ago had made Zheng Boye somewhat wary of these truly Taoist warlocks.

Although when Zang Fuzi cut the dragon vein in Yanjing City, the Yan Emperor was magnanimous and didn't care, that was because he was the Yan Emperor, and he had the two Marquises of the North and South and hundreds of thousands of Yan iron cavalry as his backing.

What about himself?

He didn't want to really fulfill some dog-fart prophecy and be tied up and burned to death like a medieval witch.

Drunken Immortal nodded and stepped aside, clearing the way.

Zheng Boye walked forward, but his shoulder was held by Drunken Immortal.

Zheng Boye's eyes narrowed.

He didn't believe that anyone would dare to harm him within the Prince's tent and under Tian Wujing's watch.

"Lord Earl, I forgot something. This is an An Shen Talisman (a talisman for calming the mind) that this old man personally drew. Please accept it, Lord Earl, as my congratulations for your great victory."

Zheng Boye reached out and took the talisman paper, but he only held it in his hand and didn't put it in his arms.

Yao Zizhan had also given him a talisman paper, saying that it could ward off evil, but... he had no shortage of evil spirits around him.

Lifting the curtain, he walked into the Prince's tent.

Zheng Boye casually placed the talisman paper on a shelf beside him.

Tian Wujing was sitting on the commander's seat, holding a wine cup in his hand, just looking at it.

"This subordinate reports back!"

"Sit."

Zheng Boye sat down. Soon, a personal guard came in and served a cup of wine. There was no wine pot, and there was no possibility of a refill.

"Your Highness, the defending generals of Xishan Fort, Zhou Huaizong and Feng Yuanyang, were captured, and Shi Chengmou died in battle. When this subordinate left, Li Fusheng was ordering people to clear up the remnants."

Tian Wujing nodded and said:

"With the two forts, Dongshan and Xishan, taken, the progress below can be much faster."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"An imperial decree has come from the palace. His Majesty asks how long this battle will last."

Zheng Boye's eyes lit up immediately.

This expression was captured by Tian Wujing, who was still staring at the wine in his hand. He shook his head slightly and said:

"You don't even know how to restrain yourself."

"In front of Your Highness, this subordinate doesn't need to restrain himself."

"This battle must be fought faster."

If the Yan Emperor couldn't hold on until the end of the Chu campaign and passed away, it would have an immeasurable impact on the entire Chu front.

If Tian Wujing was the sea-stabilizing needle of the Yan army, then the Yan Emperor was the mountain-stabilizing talisman of the current Great Yan situation.

The balance and current unity of the Great Yan seemed prosperous, but in reality, this balance was very fragile.

Only with the Yan Emperor sitting in that position could the people of Great Yan tighten their belts, scrimp and save, and send their husbands, sons, and nephews to the front lines to fight this war for Great Yan.

The Yan Emperor was the heart and soul of the people, as well as the connection for all political forces in the court.

The reason why the Supreme One was called the Supreme One was because he carried the world and the nation on his shoulders.

Just like the First Emperor in the history of another time and space that Zheng Boye was familiar with, when he was in power, the world was at peace, and Liu Bang and Xiang Yu could only kneel on one side of the imperial carriage and shout "Long live."

After he passed away, all the demons and monsters came out.

Demons and monsters?

Zheng Boye frowned slightly. Why did he curse himself as well?

"Your Highness, who will His Majesty ultimately allow to succeed him?"

Zheng Boye asked.

He was now speaking to Tian Wujing without any scruples, after all, they were family.

Moreover, it was Tian Wujing who first told him that His Majesty's health was failing.

You started it, and I'll continue.

Most importantly, although Tian Wujing was the maternal uncle of the Second Prince, the Crown Prince Ji Cheng Lang, the relationship between the uncle and nephew was actually very subtle.

Tian Wujing didn't seem to have ever regarded the Crown Prince as his nephew.

And the Crown Prince probably wouldn't regard Tian Wujing as his uncle because of his mother.

How miserable had the Crown Prince's days been since last year?

First, his marriage with the Princess fell through; second, the imperial examination that he had worked so hard on ultimately became a wedding dress for the Sixth Prince; and his mother, the Empress, also suddenly passed away.

Under a series of blows, the Crown Prince's position and the status of the East Palace could be described as precarious.

This heir apparent was truly sitting on pins and needles.

Of course, in front of such a powerful father, it was inherently difficult to be the Crown Prince.

But if Tian Wujing was willing to speak up for the Crown Prince, even if he just said one sentence, the Crown Prince's situation would definitely undergo a huge change!

Li Liangting was far away in Beifeng County. After the Battle to Open Jin, he returned to the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion and continued to guard the desert.

The other battles in recent years were all fought by Tian Wujing.

In the beginning, the two Marquises of the North and South, the North was strong and the South was weak. The Marquis of the South was more like someone who the court propped up together to balance the pressure from the North.

Now, the Marquis of the South had long surpassed the Marquis of the North.

But Tian Wujing seemed to have completely forgotten that he had a nephew.

But this was also easy to understand, because Old Tian also seemed to have deliberately forgotten that he had a son.

When he thought of Tiantian, Zheng Boye actually missed the child a little.

It would be great if his future children could be as easy to take care of and as obedient as Tiantian, and never get sick from childhood to adulthood.

Faced with Zheng Boye's question, the Prince of Jingnan still answered very calmly:

"Whatever."

"Uh..."

This answer really caught Zheng Boye off guard.

"Zheng Fan."

"Your Highness."

Tian Wujing put down the wine cup that he hadn't touched, reached out, and pointed to the black dragon flag hanging on the side of the Prince's tent and said:

"This Prince asks you, what do you think of this flag?"

"I like it very much; it's very good looking."

He had seen his emotions, really had emotions.

Since joining the army, he had charged under this flag time and time again. Even later, when he had his own "Zheng" flag, this black dragon flag, which symbolized Great Yan, always gave him a sense of belonging whenever he saw it.

This sense of belonging was very similar to how many people in another time and space would shout from time to time: "For the Horde!"

Even if you really treated this life and this world as a game and a dream, you still couldn't avoid it from permeating your entire being.

What's more, this wasn't a game; this world was incredibly real and incredibly delicate.

"Where is the armor on your body?"

Zheng Boye smiled bitterly and said: "Your Highness, if the conditions didn't prevent it, I really would want to change my armor. This armor is too conspicuous.

Moreover, even if it still needs to be a little bright, I still think this pure gold armor is too tacky."

With the design of Blind, the practicality of Liang Cheng, and the forging skills of Xue San, he could completely create a truly luxurious, low-key, and meaningful armor for himself.

"What are your plans for the future?"

The Prince of Jingnan asked.

To rebel!

This was absolutely impossible to say. Although Zheng Boye felt that there was already a tacit understanding between himself and Tian Wujing, there was an extremely clear red line in this tacit understanding.

You could desperately test, spin, and jump outside the red line, but you couldn't really court death by touching it.

"Your Highness, in fact, I have always wanted to go to Qian and see it, see its elegance, and see its scenery."

"His Majesty's biggest dream in his life is to go to Shangjing and sit on the dragon throne that is said to have been inherited from the Great Xia." Tian Wujing's eyes revealed a memory of the past. "But ironically, the first to be destroyed was Jin, and now we are conquering Chu."

"Your Highness, don't worry. Sooner or later, my Great Yan iron cavalry will flatten its flowery Qian mountains and rivers and gallop across Jiangnan."

"Earl of Pingye, go and lift that flag for this Prince."

"Yes!"

Zheng Boye left his seat, walked to the opposite side, and carried the black dragon flag on his shoulder.

The Prince of Jingnan just sat there, looking at Zheng Boye carrying the flag, his gaze fixed for a long time.

Zheng Boye also stood there, maintaining this posture.

Within the Prince's tent, the invisible pressure began to slowly increase. It was unknown when it started, but even breathing in here seemed to require all his strength.

"Swear an oath."

"Huh?"

"The flag in your hand must not change."

"I, Zheng Fan, hereby swear that I will only stand under the Great Yan dragon flag in this life. If I violate this oath, may heaven and earth destroy me!"

After a long time, Tian Wujing spoke;

"Do oaths have any use for you?"

Once, under the Yupan City, the Prince of Jingnan had made a poisonous oath to the Chu people, and after turning around, he issued the military order to "exterminate them all."

Zheng Boye hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and said:

"Your Highness, this subordinate doesn't really believe in this either."

When you have a large group of undead, vampires, zombies, and other such beings around you, it's hard to believe in some kind of providence.

Tian Wujing smiled and said:

"Then it's useless."

Zheng Boye laughed and said;

"This personality of mine, others don't know, but Your Highness should know. It's that even if the heavens tell me to do something, I have to weigh it, and calculate whether it's worthwhile for me to do it."

"Oh?"

Zheng Boye inserted the flag in his hand into the ground and said:

"But if my brother tells me to do something, I will definitely do it."

——————

It's only seven hundred votes away from the tenth! Brothers and sisters!