Looking at the imperial edict in Li Ruolian's hand, Zhang Rong quickly knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I bow to you. Long live the emperor."

Li Ruo Lian nodded and reminded: "Zhang Rong, what I have in my hand is the imperial decree, not the imperial edict."

Zhang Rong was a little confused.

For ordinary ministers, they must obey the imperial edict.

As for the central purpose...

You can obey the order or not.

But for him, the governor of the East Factory.

He would obey it no matter it was an imperial decree or an imperial decree.

Li Ruo Lian opened the imperial edict and read slowly: "Eunuch Zhang Rong, who is the Imperial Commissioner and Governor of the East Factory, was originally a servant in the palace. I promoted him to the East Factory as an exception. During the suppression of the rebellion, he killed the gentry and the people of Jiangnan in order to raise money and food. The court and the people were shocked and resentful. I order him to be executed immediately to set the record straight. This is my decree!"

Zhang Rong was shocked.

He looked up at Li Ruolian in disbelief: "This...this..."

He didn't believe that Chongzhen would kill him.

He thought he could still be useful to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen never killed useful people, what happened today?

Could it be that Li Ruolian falsely conveyed the imperial order?

Seeing Zhang Rong's puzzled look, Li Ruolian simply handed the order to him.

After reading the contents of the decree, Zhang Rong felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave.

The will is true, without any falsehood.

Since Chongzhen wanted him to die, he would definitely die.

He didn't even think of resisting.

During the Ming Dynasty, the emperor had absolute control over eunuchs.

If he is to die, he must die; if he is to live, he can live.

Right now.

As the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, Zhang Rong witnessed the power of thunder.

Seeing Zhang Rong was a little dazed, Li Ruolian asked in a deep voice: "Zhang Rong, have you seen the content of the decree?"

Zhang Rong kowtowed heavily: "I see clearly."

"Well," Li Ruo Lian nodded gently: "So... do you want to live or die?"

This sentence stunned Zhang Rongwen.

However, he reacted quickly and immediately asked in a low voice: "Excuse me, did this sentence come from your Majesty or from you, Commander Li?"

"Haha," Li Ruo Lian said with a serious expression, "Don't ask so many questions, just answer."

Zhang Rong answered without hesitation: "I want to live."

"If you want to live, follow the instructions here." As Li Ruolian spoke, he took out an envelope sealed with wax from his arms.

Zhang Rong took the envelope and looked at Li Ruo Lian before opening it: "What is this?"

Li Ruo Lian's tone became even colder: "I don't know."

Zhang Rong was angry.

After all, he was the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, and he had always been above the Jinyiwei.

But now he was being ordered around by Li Ruolian, and he felt very unhappy.

But Li Ruolian was the imperial envoy after all, and he could not be disrespectful.

Zhang Rong suppressed his anger, checked the seal and opened the envelope.

The content of the letter was very short, and Zhang Rong read it from beginning to end in one glance.

After reading the contents of the letter, Zhang Rong was even more shocked than when he learned that Chongzhen wanted to kill him.

"This..." Zhang Rong was a little incoherent, trying to verify the authenticity of the contents of the letter by asking questions.

"Don't talk!" Li Ruolian stretched out her hand to stop Zhang Rong from taking the next step.

He asked, "Did you write down the content? If you did, nod your head. If you didn't, shake your head."

Zhang Rong raised his head, his face a little pale.

He had just witnessed the power of thunder.

Now I have witnessed the grace of rain and dew.

Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all blessings from heaven, and they are fully demonstrated at this moment.

He lowered his head and read the contents of the letter again, then raised his head again and nodded slightly to Li Ruolian.

"Okay," Li Ruo Lian reached out and took the oil lamp that had already been lit on the table, pointing at the letter in Zhang Rong's hand: "Burn it after reading."

Zhang Rong confirmed the contents of the letter again and burned the letter paper and envelope together as instructed by Li Ruolian.

Li Ruo Lian picked up the kettle and dispersed the ashes.

It was as if the letter had never appeared.

Finish this.

Li Ruo Lian came to Zhang Rong and gently patted his shoulder: "The order has been conveyed, Admiral Zhang, get up quickly. As long as you act according to the contents of the letter, you may be able to survive."

At this time, Zhang Rong had not yet fully recovered from the shock.

He stood up uncontrollably and sat on the stool in a daze.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally woke up.

His first reaction was not to be grateful for the chance to survive, but to be terrified.

Deep fear.

After a while, he took a deep breath and asked, "The imperial edict has been delivered. Will Commander Li return to the capital next? If he does, can you kowtow to His Majesty on my behalf to express your gratitude?"

Li Ruo Lian nodded: "Okay! But I have other things to do, so I won't be returning to Beijing for the time being."

Zhang Rong subconsciously asked: "Is he going to the front line?"

Li Ruo Lian looked at Zhang Rong with a smile: "It's almost the same idea!"

"What do you mean almost?"

Li Ruo Lian kept smiling: "The court has ordered the prince to arrest Zhang Rong immediately. I will go to the front line to convey the order to the prince."

Zhang Rong was very surprised: "Who are you arresting?"

"Zhang Rong."

"Which Zhang Rong?"

"Zhang Rong, the commander of the East Factory."

Zhang Rong pointed at his chest and said, "Arrest me?"

"right."

"I am here right now, why don't you arrest me?"

Li Ruo Lian replied: "The court asked His Royal Highness Prince Ding to arrest you, but they didn't tell me to arrest you. You should take care of what you should take care of, and don't take care of what you shouldn't take care of."

Zhang Rong made a brief analysis and came to the conclusion that Li Ruolian would not only not arrest him, but would deliberately let him go.

The reason is also related to the content of the letter.

Zhang Rong stood up and asked, "When did you arrive at the front line?"

"Three days at the fastest and five days at the slowest."

Zhang Rong clasped his hands together and said, "Li Ruolian, it is fate that we met. I will give you my mansion in the capital."

This time it was Li Ruo Lian's turn to be stunned: "You are..."

As Zhang Rong walked out, he replied, "Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask."

"No," Li Ruo Lian raised her voice slightly, "Where's the property deed?"

Zhang Rong's mouth twitched, and he replied unhappily: "The title deed is on the beam, find it yourself."

Before Li Ruolian could say anything else, Zhang Rong had already arrived at the door.

He turned around and looked at Li Ruolian again: "Commander Li, we will never meet again!"

After saying that, he turned and disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

Zhang Rong returned to his residence and began to pack his luggage.

Except for a few pieces of underwear, the rest were all gold and silver jewelry and banknotes from the Ming Dynasty Money House.

By the time he finished cleaning up, it was already night.

He left the city overnight with a few close followers and took a detour to Nanjing.

Li Ruolian stayed in Baoying County for a day and a night before setting off for the next stop.

On November 12, Li Ruolian arrived at the Yangzhou front.

Zhu Guobi had already evacuated in advance.

The defenders in the city surrendered without a fight.

Zhu Cijiong ordered the army to camp outside the city and ordered Zhang Huangyan to enter the city to appease the people.

As smoke rose from the army, Li Ruolian stepped into Zhu Cijiong's central military tent.

Looking at Li Ruolian's tall figure, Zhu Cijiong couldn't help but sigh: "My father once said that Commander Li always shows up at mealtimes. Seeing him today, it really lives up to his reputation!"