Chapter 713

"Does Cousin think Old Fourth will give up Jingzhou?" That night, staying in Wing Province, Your Majesty and Wei Shen chatted casually.

Wei Shen didn't grin and joke this time...... "If the campaign against the Xiongnu and the Tufa Xianbei could shake him, then today is really unlucky, letting him see the miserable state of the people of Vast Han."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been observing him today; when your paternal cousin fell to his knees in disarray, he kept staring intently at the other party, his expression unreadable. Think about it—you both share the same grandfather." Yet the situation now is worlds apart.

Wei Shen paused and said, "Any commander who loses military authority will rebel, let alone a noble title and fief. Once the fief is gone, anyone surnamed Bai Li will find it unacceptable."

The Great King certainly knows; he lay there silent for a while. It's not that he wants to change the ancestral rules and exterminate the clan—it's that the Great Jin is now in this state. Clearly aware that the feudal lords each rule independently, being too big to fail, will only drag down the Great Jin, and he has the power—why not settle it all at once? Not taking advantage of the present turmoil to settle it together, waiting until after unification, if the feudal lords stir up trouble again and try to settle it, maybe it will cause another chaos.

As for Lao Si and Lao Er…… what's before us is to settle Lao Si first, at least to give Lao Er a warning. Who let Si Pangzi fall into his hands……

Advance one step, gain ten thousand miles of land; retreat one step, look at people's faces. I know all that, but this also depends on strength. Lao Si, following along on this trip, should have awakened……

I won't take his life either; he's young and has no descendants—where would he get the resources for such a reckless gamble? Before Secluded Prefecture was carved out, I had no designs on the realm.

That's you being stupid.

Who?

As soon as these words were spoken, they almost ignited war again; seeing Xiao Jin poke his head outside, Wei Shen immediately changed his tone: 'No descendants, but still no mother?'

His mother is my foster mother, the empress consort of the late emperor; whether contested or not, she is the empress dowager—where does this bleak old age come from?

What about his maternal clan?

The Great King jumped up from the couch: 'The Cui clan has always been on the extermination list! The old man's death isn't clean on their part; they've repeatedly reached out to Secluded Prefecture, while those in Jing Prefecture merely ran fast—I won't spare them!'

Wei Shen spread his hands: 'This is unprecedented.'

The Great King lay back down silently, thinking he needed to pressure Si Pangzi—after all this trouble, he couldn't let him waver again.

Upon reaching Wing Prefecture, the journey was almost over; the Great King left all the Xianbei captives he had brought back in Wing Prefecture—their only use for now is to reclaim land, reclaim land again, and after a round of labor reform we'll talk further.

After marching for several more days, the army finally entered Secluded Prefecture, and the Great King began to yearn for home like an arrow.

In these days, Secluded Prefecture already had a festive atmosphere; they had seen in the newspapers the defeat of the Xiongnu, and later heard that the bald-headed Xianbei had also been taken down, making the atmosphere even more fervent. The people of Secluded Prefecture ran to inform each other, arranging together to welcome the triumphant return of the great army. Although most people couldn't tell which of those few Xianbei was which, this battle was a great victory, and they felt that Secluded Prefecture should henceforth be completely peaceful.

Thus, the Great King's return this time saw the scale of the welcoming crowd outside the city extraordinarily grand.

That guy, from afar, took a look around with a telescope: 'What a grand scene~'

Si Pangzi watched helplessly as that guy's idol baggage came back to life on the spot; he actually made the troops stop to tidy their appearance! On the way back, the Great King hadn't even worn armor, but he swiftly stopped, put on his gear, fastened the face covering, and even picked up that gaudy, glittering gold bow.

And behind him, the invincible Mystic Armor Cavalry also followed suit, not knowing where they each produced a scrap of cloth to start helping each other polish their armor……

The Great King got himself ready and even assigned Xiao Jin and Bai Ze a formation, requiring them to be on his left and right, to properly enhance his awe-inspiring presence.

Bai Ze, however, couldn't be bothered with him, so the Great King had to go over to him himself, and earnestly persuaded Xiao Jin to go to the other side, not to run around.

Wei Shen had grown accustomed to the outrageous spectacle of watching the Great King's liveliness; only Si Pangzi stood out of place, dazed on the spot, feeling as if something inside him had shattered at that moment. If he asked the Great King, the Great King would tell him it was a filter.

The officials of Everlasting Peace who went out to welcome the army with Xie Yuan and Xue Lin'an were even more shocked than Baili Hu; they hadn't had the chance to welcome a triumphant army for many years, and this was the emperor's personal campaign.

This easily brings to mind the northern expedition of the Ningde Emperor a few years ago, right!

The main point is that before, they never organized civilians to go out and welcome; civilians would at most glance at the passing route, and if the emperor were present, controls would be stricter, generally not allowing civilians to approach freely.

But today they have gained experience; the Grand Marshal Dong Fu completely ignored the civilians on either side of the road, letting them surround the western outer city's causeway until it was watertight.

Is it that the whole city has come out?

They stopped ten li outside the city, while the people, to see the army's noble bearing clearly from the front rows, stretched the line out extraordinarily long. Following the causeway with one's gaze, the crowd of onlookers had no end……

Some wiped tears in excitement; children rode on their fathers' shoulders, waving and dancing, 'We're back, we're back!'

When the banner of the Mystic Armor Cavalry appeared at the horizon's end, the area twenty li outside the city burst with shouts like mountains and seas.

When the cavalry drew near, the earth trembled, and the horn split the air.

The people voluntarily knelt in advance; the officials from Everlasting Peace beside them were again shocked—before…… what had they been resisting all along?

When the cavalry gentlemen arrived before the welcoming officials, the entire army suddenly reined in, iron hooves falling together, and Xie Yuan led the officials to kneel in welcome.

'Your Majesty personally leads the campaign, pacifying the foes; wherever Your heavenly might reaches, all under heaven submit. We officials respectfully welcome Your holy chariot's triumphant return!'

Tens of thousands of the people followed, shouting: 'Your Majesty, boundless joy! ~'

The momentum was mighty, shaking the world.

One can see whether they were forced to kneel here to welcome the emperor, or came voluntarily with utmost sincerity.

At this glorious moment, no one could remain calm—let alone the Great King; if he had a tail, it would already be raised. Even Baili Hu beside him was boiling with passion, rightly so, rightly so! This is truly the nature of Great Jin!

Hearing the Great King's call, everyone looked up, and only then did they see the holy chariot clearly.

Just see the Great King in silver armor on a white horse standing at the very front of the sea of black cavalry; on his left is the huge divine beast Bai Ze, on his right is the golden fluffy Xiao Jin, as tall as the horse.

What a war god descending into the world, immortals coming down to earth!

Myriad feelings converge into one sentence: Heaven blesses Great Jin!

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty~

Someone started the chant, everyone followed; the scene was like… a fan meeting for the Great King!

Nearby, no one stood up; far away, one could not see necks craned; the atmosphere was fervent and uproarious.

The people of Everlasting Peace have never seen such a sight; in their eyes, the lower-class folk are merely numb, shriveled faces—these northern border people… indeed their customs are fierce?

Xie Yuan knelt at the very front, gazing at the exalted position; no one knew his heart was pounding. With the atmosphere like this, he feared that next the Great King would get too excited and say something he couldn't accept……

Soldiers giving their all, Heaven blesses Great Jin! This great victory is not my doing; it is the achievement of our northern border cavalry, of the myriad people of the northern border. I share this moment's glory with the myriad people of the northern border!

May Your Majesty enjoy boundless happiness and longevity!

May Your Majesty enjoy boundless happiness and longevity!

May Your Majesty enjoy boundless happiness and longevity!

One cry after another, showing no sign of stopping. Xie Yuan let out a heavy sigh of relief—really good, this guy still cares about saving face even when he's out there.

The King dismounted and personally helped up the leader, Xie Yuan, warmly taking Mister's hand, saying, "I am not in Youzhou, Mister, you have worked hard. Thanks to Mister, I can rest easy while I am away."

The King and Xie Yuan were on intimate terms with the ministers of Chang'an, feeling no jealousy; they were still recalling the King's words just now.

The merit of the Northern Border cavalry, the merit of the Northern Border's myriad people.

They didn't mention the south side at all!