Chapter 852

Zhang Ning handed the banner stained with Zhang Jiao's blood to Jia Dong.

Jia Dong, carrying the banner, quickly came before the generals.

Cheng Zhiyuan, Zhang Niujiao, and Guan Hai, along with a group of generals, all looked up at the banner.

That blood-colored 'Liang' character was clearly visible.

Liang?

What does this mean?

Everyone looked suspiciously in the direction of the high platform.

However, Jia Dong raised the banner high above his head and shouted loudly: "The Great Virtuous Teacher sacrificed to the Yellow Heaven with his heart's blood and received the Yellow Heaven's revelation."

"The Taiping Dao shall move westward; entering Liang will bring long-term peace and stability!"

Move westward, enter Liang?

Doesn't that mean going to Xiliang?

From Jizhou to Liangzhou?

This...

Jia Dong's small eyes swept over everyone's different expressions one by one.

Cheng Zhiyuan frowned, his gaze suspicious.

Zhang Niujiao, Chu Yan, and others were shocked and suspicious.

As for Guan Hai and others, they had already knelt on the ground with pious expressions.

"Why haven't you knelt to thank the Great Virtuous Teacher?" Jia Dong said in a stern tone: "This is the Yellow Heaven's revelation obtained by the Great Virtuous Teacher at the cost of his heart's blood."

Hearing Jia Dong's words, the people who had reacted quickly knelt on the ground.

"We will strictly follow the Great Virtuous Teacher's orders; we kowtow to the Yellow Heaven's revelation."

Jia Dong nodded with satisfaction, then raised the banner and shouted loudly: "The Yellow Heaven's revelation: the Taiping Dao shall move westward; entering Liang will bring long-term peace and stability!"

"The Great Virtuous Teacher has spoken: the Yellow Heaven's revelation: the Taiping Dao shall move westward; entering Liang will bring long-term peace and stability!"

Following Jia Dong's shout, thousands of Liangzhou soldiers disguised as Huang Jin warriors, gathered under the Heaven-Worshiping Platform, began to shout in unison according to the previous agreement.

The sound was wave after wave.

And the Taiping Dao believers kneeling around the Heaven-Worshiping Platform also followed and shouted in unison.

Everyone saw the scene of Zhang Jiao exhausting his heart's blood to sacrifice to the Yellow Heaven on the high platform.

In the distance, on the north wall of Xiaquyang city.

Duan Yu had been standing on the city wall watching from the beginning of the sacrifice until the end.

Until the countless Taiping Dao believers outside the city shouted: Move westward, enter Liang for long-term peace and stability.

Duan Yu's heart, which had been hanging, was finally more than half at ease.

It was done.

The first step, which is always the hardest, had been taken.

Although there were factors of prior planning in this, luck still accounted for a large part.

If it had followed Duan Yu's initial plan, he was prepared to request the imperial court to relocate the Huang Jin refugees to Liangzhou after defeating Zhang Jiao and others in Jizhou.

But in that way, the success or failure factors were uncertain.

But unexpectedly, Jia Dong's one infiltration actually gained Zhang Jiao's trust.

That was why the subsequent things went so smoothly.

The Liangzhou army moving north to Jizhou had almost no casualties.

Next, they just needed to follow these hundreds of thousands of Taiping Dao believers back to Liangzhou.

"Alright, tomorrow morning, according to the plan, send troops to drive the Taiping Dao through Changshan Kingdom, and then directly enter Taiyuan."

"With Li Zhao dead, there is no need to detour through Yanmen Commandery now. It is July now, but by mid-August, we must move these hundreds of thousands of Taiping Dao believers to Liangzhou," Duan Yu said.

Li Ru, Jia Xu, and Cheng Yu behind him bowed and said: "Understood!"

That night.

Inside Xiaquyang city.

After the sacrifice was completed at noon, the Taiping Dao believers outside the city also returned to the main camp according to their respective camps.

For ease of management, the composition of the Taiping Dao believers was divided by camp.

People like Zhang Niujiao were divided into the Heishan Camp.

The Taiping Dao believers brought by Cheng Zhiyuan from Youzhou were divided into the Youzhou Camp.

And the remnants of Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, led by generals like Zhou Cang and Bian Xi, were divided into the Julu Camp.

In addition, Guan Hai and Guan Cheng, who had just arrived in Xiaquyang, were divided into the Beihai Camp.

And the fifty thousand Huang Jin brought by Cheng Yu from Yanzhou were divided into the Dongjun Camp.

As for Zhang Jiao's main force, the over one hundred thousand Huang Jin gathered at Guangzong were divided into the Protector Camp.

The number of people in the Heishan Camp was about twenty thousand.

And Cheng Zhiyuan's Youzhou Camp was the largest in number besides the Julu Camp and the Protector Camp, with nearly one hundred and fifty thousand people.

Guan Hai and Guan Cheng brought forty or fifty thousand people from Beihai.

Adding the fifty thousand in the Dongjun Camp, the over one hundred thousand remnants of Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, and the over one hundred thousand in the Protector Camp, six hundred thousand Taiping Dao believers were gathered in Xiaquyang.

Although the number sounded large.

But the vast majority were refugees.

It would be good if there were fifty thousand among them who could truly form combat effectiveness.

At this time, the defense of the mansion where Zhang Jiao lived was still airtight.

After the sacrifice was completed in the afternoon, Zhang Jiao fell into a coma again.

The candlelight lit in the room illuminated the entire room brightly.

Duan Yu, Jia Dong, Li Ru, Jia Xu, and Cheng Yu stood outside the room door.

The room door was pushed open, and the bitter smell of herbs surged out from the room.

The physician, carrying a medicine chest, looked at Duan Yu after coming out and shook his head slightly.

"My Lord, this subordinate has done his best," the army physician said apologetically.

Duan Yu knew clearly that Zhang Jiao's last bit of heart's blood had been exhausted.

His time was coming to an end.

"You all wait outside."

Duan Yu glanced at the people behind him and then stepped into the room.

At this time, the only person guarding Zhang Jiao's side in the room was Zhang Ning.

Zhang Ning, whose tears seemed to have dried up over the past few days, was visibly thinner.

Looking at Zhang Ning, who was mentally exhausted and haggard, Duan Yu also felt unbearable.

Zhang Jiao, lying on the sickbed, was breathing weakly, and his chest could almost no longer be seen rising and falling.

Hearing the footsteps behind her, Zhang Ning looked at Duan Yu with tear-filled eyes: "Husband... please, save Father."

Duan Yu took two steps forward and reached out to hug Zhang Ning.

Then his palm tapped lightly on the back of Zhang Ning's neck.

Zhang Ning's body went limp, and she fell into a coma.

Duan Yu, holding Zhang Ning, walked to the side couch by the window and placed Zhang Ning on it.

"Ziyi... is that you..."

Zhang Jiao, on the sickbed, looked at the ceiling with cloudy eyes, without any focus.

"It is me, Father-in-law." Duan Yu arrived at Zhang Jiao's side in two steps.

"Ning'er..."

"Father-in-law, Ning'er is asleep," Duan Yu replied.

"Good..." Zhang Jiao said in a weak voice: "If she... if she saw this, she would definitely cry very sadly."

"Ziyi, you... tell me again, tell me about the life of those future generations."

Duan Yu nodded quietly, then took a chair and sat in front of Zhang Jiao's sickbed.

The room was brightly lit with candles.

Duan Yu was dressed in a black robe with a jade crown on his head.