Chapter 559

Li Ergouzi led a band of old comrades—the very heroes who had once served in the Dazezhou Army—marching with clashing flags and drums, swaggering through the streets, they set out from the main gate of the Imperial City's Military Command, kept to the broad road along the city wall, and exited AnYang through its north gate.

In Anyang City, there were no shortage of meddlesome commoners and extremely bored aristocratic youths.

Although Li Ergouzi only had a few hundred followers, the carts and horses they escorted were numerous—a line of over a hundred carriages, each packed full with volumes of documents and records.

The carriages slowly left the city, then Li Ergouzi activated the acceleration sigils on the wagons; the carriages rose off the ground, the camel beasts pulling them broke into a frantic gallop, and after traveling the whole morning they finally arrived outside the North Garden gate of Anyang City.

Compared with the largest East Garden, Anyang's royal North Garden is less than half its size; here the scenery is clear and beautiful, with a dozen or so temporary palaces built among the mountains and waters, four medium-sized military forts hidden in the forests, and a low wall about a zhang high encircling the area—that's all.

All along, the North Garden had merely been a playground for the Sima clan's royal relatives, and its garrison was the lowest of the four garden garrisons; in other words, the North Garden troops were the softest persimmon among the twelve guards of the four gardens.

Li Ergouzi and his men arrived outside the South Gate of the North Garden, with over a hundred carriages lined up in a row; the carriage covers were lifted, revealing the documents and records packed inside.

More than three hundred zhang behind the convoy, on a small mound, stood a crowd of Anyang commoners and aristocratic youths who had come to watch the spectacle.

Those sturdy fellows had run all the way, sweating profusely, and simply lay bare-chested on the mound, clapping and shouting.

As for those aristocratic youths, they called friends, had plenty of servants to attend them, quickly erected a canopy on top of the mound, and the young men and women brought out food, drink, fruits, snacks, etc., laughing and carousing, treating Li Ergouzi's actions as a fine show.

Many well-informed young masters knew that yesterday afternoon the new commander of the Imperial City Military Bureau, the recently famed Duke of Yuzhou 'Huo Xiong', had issued an order ordering the commanders of the Three Gardens and Twelve Guards to rush over and pay homage.

They further learned through their families' secret channels that none of the commanders of the Three Gardens and Twelve Guards had moved; some simply threw Huo Xiong's order into the latrine, and others shouted loudly, refusing to recognize Sima Fa's appointment, claiming that naming Huo Xiong as chief of the Imperial City Military Bureau was a 'chaotic order'.

They also knew that the Duke of Yuzhou, having been played for a fool by his subordinate commanders, sat dazed in the main hall of the Imperial City Military Bureau all night.

Poor Duke of Yuzhou even filed a memorial to the imperial palace overnight, essentially a complaint against Sima Fa.

However, the newly enthroned Divine Emperor of Great Jin, Sima Fa, was said to have spent last night posing in the rear garden of the imperial city, letting dozens of eminent scholars of the Great Wei draw his superb physique in meticulous brushwork, preparing to publish it worldwide for the common folk to admire.

Thus, Sima Fa ignored the Duke of Yuzhou's memorial and let him handle all affairs of the Imperial City Military Bureau on his own.

"Gentlemen, today there's a good show to watch." A young man in a light purple robe, wearing a purple jade cap, with several gleaming ornaments at his waist, handsome and dignified, chuckled while playing with his folding fan.

"The Duke of Yuzhou earned his title through bloody exploits in Daze State; I hear his temper isn't great either." This young master, Jiang Xin, came from a military family, indeed a top-tier Jiang clan, so his information was naturally well-informed.

"But I don't understand this situation at all. If the Duke of Yuzhou had brought four spirit warships and a large army to besiege the North Garden, I'd think him a true hero. Why bring a few hundred petty scoundrels here?"

Jiang Xin, from the Jiang military clan, had strong familial intelligence; Li Ergouzi, as a close aide of Wu Tie, had his background thoroughly exposed. Not only him, but even the tough fellows of the Daze State army could not hide their origins.

Li Ergouzi set out early this morning with three hundred lowly, low-born street ruffians, leaving Jiang Xin and the others baffled as to what Wu Tie intended.

"Just watch, just watch… anyway, whatever wind and rain in Anyang City has little to do with us." Another young man from the top-tier Lu military clan, his right hand deftly playing with a small knife, said lightly: "He's just a low‑ranked duke with no foundation; even if he kicks up a fuss to heaven, what disturbance could he cause?"

"Just treat it as walking the dog and fighting cocks, watching a bit of entertainment." Lu Bu, a Lu clan youth, laughed just as brightly.

The North Garden's walls were low, with no place to station troops on top; Li Ergouzi and his men spread out the wagons, the South Gate of the North Garden swung open, and a force of three thousand troops burst forth, shouting 'Hu Lie Lie' as they swiftly galloped around Li Ergouzi's group.

When Princess Jingheng was tormenting the Twelve Guards of the Three Gardens, the newly formed garrison forces had not yet taken shape.

Princess Jingheng was imprisoned in the Taiye Pond on charges of treason; after King Ye Sima Du became the chief commander of the Imperial City Military Bureau, the Twelve Guards of the Three Gardens underwent a tremendous transformation in just a few months.

The three thousand troops before us had several squad leaders whose cultivation was at the Fetal Storage Realm, while each soldier possessed high‑level Chonglou Realm strength; their mounts were all red‑eyed great azure wolves, demonic beasts whose power rivaled the Chonglou Realm.

Especially, the armor and weapons of these three thousand soldiers were all entry‑grade spiritual arms, and their forging craftsmanship could be called exquisite.

As they raced around Li Ergouzi's group, the three thousand soldiers' breaths merged as one; a hazy veil of blood qi rose above their heads, within which a faint one‑horned flood dragon could be seen looming.

The battle formation took shape, condensing the army soul.

These three thousand soldiers hardly look like a newly formed garrison of a few years; at the very least they have trained and fought together for over a decade, becoming elite troops with superb cohesion!

Such elite forces should never appear in the North Garden garrison, no matter what.

Li Ergouzi and his three hundred old brothers were surrounded by ten times their number; the enemy, having formed an army soul, unleashed wave after wave of crushing pressure, draining the color from Li Ergouzi and his brothers' faces and weakening their knees.

After following Wu Tie for years, Li Ergouzi and his old brothers had reaped many benefits, especially when they looted and exterminated the Yuzhou clan, gaining vast top‑grade cultivation resources. With Wu Tie's superior techniques imparted and those resources forcibly driving them, Li Ergouzi and his fellows now possess Life Pool Realm cultivation, and their foundations are far from weak.

Even so, they are only at the Life Pool Realm.

Three hundred and one untested Life Pool Realm cultivators facing three thousand soldiers who have forged an army soul and survived countless battles— the outcome needs no asking.

Moreover, the commanders leading these three thousand garrison troops are all at the Fetal Storage Realm.

"Hey, hey, we're from the Imperial City Military Bureau." Unable to match them in strength, Li Ergouzi relied on status, raising a pure gold token and shouting: "We are the Commander of the Imperial City Military Bureau—do you dare defy orders, dare to rebel?"

Wu Tie had made good arrangements for these old companions; based on Li Ergouzi's Life Pool Realm cultivation, he directly granted him the rank of second‑general in the Imperial City Military Bureau, giving him the substantive post of Commander.

The Commander of the Imperial City Military Bureau is a proper second‑rank military officer; under Great Jin law, the Commander has authority to restrain the various garrison units. In other words, regardless of how high the rank of the Four Gardens and Twelve Guards commanders, once they go to battle and Li Ergouzi appears, if he holds an official order, those troops must obey.

Controlling military affairs, restraining the armies, coordinating operations, supervising military law—these are the Commander's prerogatives.

The Imperial City Military Bureau's Commander has no fixed number—it can be three or five, eleven or twelve, thirty or fifty, adjusted as needed. Yet there is no doubt that the Commander is the absolute confidant of the Bureau's chief commander.

The token in Li Ergouzi's hand shone with brilliant light, a faint military aura and killing intent continually emanating from it.

The three thousand elite soldiers halted their mounts, forming five abreast before Li Ergouzi's group into a long rectangular array. The three thousand red‑eyed great azure wolves growled low, restless, flicking their tongues and drooling, glaring ferociously at Li Ergouzi and his comrades, eager to pounce and devour them.

"So it is, Commander." Three battalion commanders rode out on their great azure wolves, expressionless, looking at Li Ergouzi and saying coldly: "You're quite unfamiliar—are you not an impostor?"

Before Li Ergouzi could speak, a clang rang out as a commander drew a bright silver spear; its tip flicked to his throat in a swish. The commander's face darkened, he sneered: "You're surely an impostor; we know the Commander's aides beside Prince Ye well—old army friends—and we've never seen someone as low‑class as you."

"Heh heh, impersonating the Commander of the Imperial City Military Bureau on my North Garden's turf—tsk tsk, that's a capital offense!"

The commander tapped Li Ergouzi's chin lightly with the spear tip, then said coldly: "Lads, seize these impostors masquerading as divine nation officers, bring them back for harsh interrogation to see if they are… spies of the Great Wu!"

The North Garden troops answered in unison, each with a cold smile, urging their mounts forward inch by inch toward Li Ergouzi and his companions.

"Great Wu spy!"

On the distant mound, the common ruffians and aristocratic youths laughed in unison.

These days in Great Jin, the label 'Great Wu spy' is a handy all‑purpose accusation.

Slap it on anyone you dislike and you can surely make them suffer miserably. Know that the southwestern front is dire for Great Jin—frontline armies keep suffering losses, casualties are heavy, even core members of top martial clans have fallen.

Thus, accusing someone of being a Great Wu spy is extremely sensitive in today's Great Jin.

A few North Garden commanders actually slapped the 'Great Wu spy' label on the Imperial City Military Bureau Commander—what a lively spectacle!

A flash of ferocity crossed Li Ergouzi's eyes.

He is no ordinary good citizen; he is a convict exiled to the southwestern frontier, his bones imbued with a reckless spirit. For three mere commanders to meddle with a Great Jin second‑general, the Commander of the Imperial City Military Bureau, is unbearable.

Although lacking education, Li Ergouzi knows what matters most in the jianghu.

"Burn!" Li Ergouzi shouted at the top of his lungs.

His old brothers beside him simultaneously formed hand seals; the hundreds of fully loaded wagons erupted in a whoosh of flame. One could see scrolls of documents and records shimmering with threads of spiritual light, countless fine characters spurting out, then turning to ash in the gray‑white blaze.

Especially on several large wagons, box after box of tokens, command arrows, and the like all cracked open with fissures, then quickly melted in the gray-white flames.

At the waists of three Northern Garden Forbidden Army colonels, the tokens they wore hanging simultaneously cracked open; strands of spiritual light spewed from the fissures, their tokens quickly changed color and then turned into sand and gravel, scattering.

At the waists of those soldiers, similarly hung were black iron military tokens proving their Northern Garden Forbidden Army identity.

As the blazing flames consumed the official documents and records on the wagons, as countless writings turned to ash in the flames, the black iron military tokens at their waists likewise cracked open, spewing strands of spiritual light, and immediately turned into sand and gravel, scattering.

Li Ergouzi keekee laughed, then drew his waist saber with a backhand: "Are we the spies of Great Wu? Heh heh, you are the spies…… What kind of people are you? Impudent, bold, you dare to privately hoard armor, privately hoard bows and crossbows, privately hoard demonic beast mounts…… yaya, the Great Jin military code, civilian guards, strictly prohibit using standard-issue spirit weapons…… The spears and polearms in your hands are all standard-issue spirit weapons!"

Li Ergouzi shouted hoarsely: "You, do you want to rebel?"

The three colonels, the three thousand sturdy soldiers—everyone's faces changed in unison.

They instinctively reached for their waists, and their identity tokens, identity military tokens, all scattered in the wind.

They were no longer soldiers of the Northern Garden Forbidden Army.

They were no longer the Forbidden Army, yet they wielded standard-issue spirit weapons, wore prohibited armor, on their backs hung forbidden strong bows and heavy crossbows, and rode organized demonic beast mounts that civilians are absolutely forbidden to possess!

"You, you want to rebel! I can see it, you want to rebel!" Li Ergouzi strained his throat, shouting hoarsely with all his might: "Come on, rebellion, rebellion…… The brothers of the Northern Garden Forbidden Army have all been killed by these traitors…… These people are traitors, rebel factions, come on, seize the thieves, seize the thieves, seize the thieves!"

The Northern Garden was in an uproar; from top to bottom, all officers and soldiers of the Northern Garden Forbidden Army discovered that their identity tokens and military tokens had vanished.

At the Imperial City Military Command, they were struck from the rolls!

And their armor, their weapons, their very positions…… all signified that, stripped of their status, they were rebel factions, bandits……

Without military registration, yet they gathered in groups and assembled into an army at the strategic heart of Anyang City!

This is the crime of ransacking and exterminating families!

A roar like muffled thunder rose to the heavens: "Duke of Yuzhou, Huo Xiong…… you, you, you are insolent!"

The Great Jin dynasty has stood for countless years, with countless dangerous struggles in the court; people have seen and heard many storms and upheavals, but never has anyone acted like Wu Tie.

Directly stripping the Northern Garden Forbidden Army of its military registration, directly branding all its officers and soldiers with the mark of treasonous rebel faction.

This isn't just tearing apart faces; it's literally spraying aqua regia on the face, outright disfiguring!

This grudge, this hatred—cannot coexist under the same heaven, cannot coexist under the same heaven!

Thousands of streams of light shot up into the sky; among the Northern Garden Forbidden Army, many officers from military families immediately chose to flee.

The Northern Garden Forbidden Army has already been struck from the rolls; they absolutely cannot be caught alive as evidence—they absolutely cannot let people see them mingling with the former Northern Garden Forbidden Army, now the 'rebel faction bandits'.

Flee, flee at top speed!