"Your subject Ma Zongliang greets Your Majesty."
"Brother Ma, how are the preparations going? Are all the troops ready to return to reinforce the capital?"
"Li Sheng of Youzhou was defeated and committed suicide, and the city of Youzhou fell." Ma Zongliang's voice was heavy. "Han Zhong has completely taken control of Youzhou and is sending troops south. It seems that he is going to attack Li Bao's forces together with Xiong Dayong."
Li Jingang gripped the armrest tightly, but instead of erupting in rage, he let out a strange, hoarse laugh: "Dead... all dead... Li Sheng is dead too... it's my turn next, isn't it?"
"Your Majesty!" Ma Zongliang looked up, "Although the situation is critical, it is not hopeless! We still have a chance to turn things around!"
Li Jingang stared at him for a long time, then suddenly asked, "Brother Ma, when you rebelled with me in Xia Prefecture, did you ever imagine that we would be in such a desperate situation today?"
"Your Majesty, two years ago, we fought a more dangerous battle against Yang Dingguo and Li Chenghua in Xijing, but we still survived, didn't we?"
Ma Zongliang looked at Li Jingang with a determined expression, "And last year, when we fought against Yinxi, didn't we turn defeat into victory? Now, we still have more than 200,000 troops. Are we afraid of Zhao Muyun?"
"Even if we lose, so what? At least Your Majesty led us to build an empire."
"Hahaha!" Upon hearing Ma Zongliang's words, Li Jingang trembled, his eyes regaining their sparkle, as if he had returned to his former glory two years ago.
"Brother Ma, you're right. We can be considered to have succeeded in our rebellion. Besides, whether we've won or lost is still undecided!"
"I shouldn't be so depressed! I need to pull myself together and give this Zhao Muyun a good showdown."
When Ma Zongliang saw that Li Jingang had recovered, his eyes turned red with excitement.
This is the same big brother who dared to bring down the emperor!
"As long as Your Majesty trusts me, I will fight with all my might, even at the cost of my life!" Ma Zongliang's voice trembled.
"Good! I will issue an edict immediately, ordering Li Biao and Li Bao to obey your command! And you may take the 50,000 Imperial Guards in the capital as well!"
"Your Majesty, I will never let you down."
......
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