Chapter 24: Sorry for bothering me
The soldiers were just following orders, so why would he care why they did so?
So he waved his hand impatiently, ready to ask someone to drag all the family members out.
At this moment, Xiguan Hou, who was still sitting on his mount at the gate, spoke up: "I told you to tear down the roof, not to do anything extra. Whoever breaks the gate will be responsible for repairing it before leaving!"
The soldier was startled when he heard this and looked at Pan Yi for help.
Pan Yi waved his hand and told him to do as Xiguan Hou said.
The soldier clasped his hands and said yes to Xiguan Hou, then he politely asked the frightened family to leave the house.
After finishing all this, several private guards of the Marquis of Xiguan's mansion and the craftsmen brought by Liu Ziye came in. Holding a mysterious object, they climbed to a high place in the house, gestured back and forth in the room, and quickly made a blueprint. They took it out and reported to the Marquis of Xiguan.
After discussing for a while, these people listened to the young Marquis of Xiguan talking, went in and out of the house repeatedly, and revised the drawings several times.
Finally, Marquis Xiguan nodded.
These people took a full set of tools from the vehicle frame they brought, climbed onto the roof with clear division of labor, and started to demolish the house.
The dozen or so people who witnessed this scene cried out in grief again.
However, they were firmly guarded by the soldiers in armor and carrying swords. How could they have any room for resistance?
Liu Ziye had already dismounted. Someone brought him a chair and a wooden table, and they went to the kitchen to boil some water. He sat quietly, only occasionally listening to the demolition workers' reports. He never once glanced at the wailing family.
The structure of this family's house is very simple, and the rammed earth walls are quite strong.
But just as Liu Ziye observed outside the door, the roof made of a mixture of straw, mud and tree bark had become fluffy, and after a few hammer blows, it cracked completely.
It was effortless to dismantle and was completed quickly.
Pan Yi took a quick look and knew that the matter was probably not over yet.
After all, the young marquis of Xiguan said that he came to sell goods. At this time, the goods have not been sold yet, right?
Sure enough, after the roof was removed, the craftsmen returned to the carriage outside the door and took out a pile of various types of wood. According to the size and structure of the house and the previously determined drawings, after several cuts and adjustments, a three-sided supported wooden beam was gradually formed.
Pan Yi understood. It seemed that this was the stuff that Xiguan Hou had mentioned!
He remained calm on the surface, but sneered in his heart.
Pan Yi was also surprised by the shape of the so-called beams. This young Marquis of Xiguan was truly a shrewd person. Not only was he forcing people to buy and sell, but even his so-called goods were so out of place. I'm afraid that the entire Xiguan County is in for a disaster!
But what does this have to do with him, Pan Yi?
Re-erecting the wooden beams was naturally much more complicated than dismantling the simple mud and bark roof. Several craftsmen worked together, plus the help of Pan Yi's soldiers and the private guards of the Marquis' Mansion, and they were busy for nearly an hour before they finished.
The rammed earth walls and the single-sided sloped roof have now been transformed into double-sided inclined wooden beams.
The wood used is very solid, and the joints of the structure have not only tightly fitted mortise and tenon structures, but also reinforced iron rivets.
If it weren't for the bare tile roof with only beams and no cover, one would really want to praise the craftsmanship.
Pan Yi was also somewhat surprised when he looked at the finished product.
But when he looked carefully at the young marquis of Xiguan, he found that he did not bring any masons or bricks with him.
No matter how stable the beams of your house look, without a single tile to cover the roof, isn't it still an unexpected disaster for this family?
Liu Ziye had almost finished his rest, so he walked into the room and looked around, then walked out with a satisfied nod.
It was not until this moment that she finally turned her attention to the family of more than a dozen people.
He smiled slightly and said, "I apologize for disturbing you by coming here today. I hope you will forgive me."
Pan Yi couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of hot water.
It seems that you, Lord Xiguan, brought hundreds of soldiers and horses and forcibly tore down other people's roofs and replaced them with your pile of bare waste wood. Now you are still talking about "disturbance"?
As a warrior, he felt out of place.
He glanced sideways at Jin Jie, the captain of the Marquis's private guard.
However, Jin Jie remained calm and silent throughout the whole process, and did not seem to be embarrassed for their young marquis at all.
I thought to myself, it seems that I have only been with the young Marquis of Xiguan for too short a time, and I haven’t seen enough of the world!
Liu Ziye ignored Captain Pan and continued speaking to the family, "When this Lord sells goods, I always clearly mark the prices. You get what you pay for. My craftsmen just replaced the wooden triangular support beams for your house with more stable and stronger ones. Including the materials, labor, and transportation costs, the total cost was 890 coins. Of course, I just took it from your money box. It was exactly 890 five-zhu coins, not one more, not one less!"
After hearing what Liu Ziye said, the family didn't know how to react and were left in a mess.
Liu Ziye continued to himself, "It's just that it's inconvenient for me to carry fragile bricks and tiles with me this time. You can find a bricklayer later to re-lay the roof with mud tiles. Hurry up, it's not too late before winter!"
She tried to speak in a gentle tone, but to the family's ears, it sounded even colder than the cold wind of early winter.
A six-year-old child in the woman's arms answered loudly, "But we didn't invite you!"
The woman was startled and quickly whispered, "Xiao Liu, shut up!"
After saying that, he covered his mouth with one hand.
The women, men and old people all looked at the evil marquis in front of them with trepidation, not daring to breathe for a moment.
God knows how this evil spirit can stand such direct disobedience!
Right now, he has taken off your roof. If you really piss him off, he might kill some people. It would be like chopping melons and vegetables!
Pan Yi also looked at him coldly and stood up unconsciously.
This young Marquis of Xiguan had already told his soldiers before he came that he would kill anyone who disobeyed him.
Isn't it time?
However, in the silence, the young Marquis of Xiguan, who was so daunting to look at, had an unclear expression and said nothing.
After a moment, the young marquis of Xiguan took a step forward.
Under the trembling gazes of the whole family, young and old, he walked forward and snatched the wooden pony that was tightly held in the speaking child's hand.
The workmanship of the wooden horse was extremely crude. If Liu Ziye did not have good eyesight, he would have found it difficult to recognize what it was carved on!
But this was the child's only toy. When he saw the pony being taken away, the child cried out in anger and extreme grievance.
Seeing this, Liu Ziye smiled in a very good mood.
His gaze swept from the young child to the dozen or so people. "Even if you really wanted to invite me, do you think you could get me to come?"
After saying this, Liu Ziye took the child's toy, walked out of the courtyard gate, and rode away.
Under the command of Liu Ziye, the group stopped at several houses in turn.
They copied the same trick, replaced the roofs of other people's houses, collected enough silver, and set off on horseback. Wherever they went, there was no shortage of discussion and wailing.
Liu Ziye was busy until sunset, and then he waved his hand, indicating that it was time to stop for today.
It was not easy to find accommodation for hundreds of people, so the officials of Qingcheng vacated several houses for them, and the remaining soldiers set up marching tents on the street and settled down there.
Liu Ziye naturally chose the best place to live in, and she also arranged Jin Jie and several craftsmen to live in the secondary room of her residence.
Pan Yi was also someone that the Qingcheng officials dared not neglect, so the second best residence was given to him.
At night, Jin Jie and several others stayed at Liu Ziye's residence and took turns on duty.
Liu Ziye did not bring any maid with her this time, and she also left her personal guard Xiying at the Xiguan Marquis Mansion to help the old housekeeper take care of Fu Zhener's daily life.
However, the private guards of the Marquis' Mansion also knew the basic care, and Liu Ziye did not need them to get close to him. He washed off the dust of the whole day peacefully, and with a refreshed body, he began today's inventory in the room guarded by the private guards of his own Marquis' Mansion.
Although Fu had a large number of craftsmen, they had only recently started working on his drawings, so the number of finished goods she brought with her on this trip was very limited.
Moreover, if the Fu family produces anything in the future, it will need to be handed over to Du Hui, who will follow suit and replace all these things in Yucheng.
Therefore, it would be difficult for her to receive sufficient supplies from Yucheng in the future.
In the next few days, she will be in Qingcheng and collect materials locally.
According to Qingcheng's actual needs, enough triangular beam support frames were made for her again.
Fortunately, this time, with Pan Yi and his hundreds of soldiers in charge, she didn't have to resort to any tactics of winning over others to form an alliance.
Using force as a blatant threat actually saved her a lot of time and effort!
Liu Ziye, immersed in the satisfaction of her own progress, did not notice that a conversation was taking place outside her house.
Jin Ji had finished arranging the night watch duty for tonight. As the first group on duty, he was guarding the door of the young marquis in Xiguan.
Several craftsmen brought from Yucheng who lived together with them poked their heads out in the darkness.
The craftsmen who had been running around and busy all day could not hide their fatigue, but they came to Jin Jie at this time, not to chat.
One of the leading craftsmen, who was also a household manager with some influence in the Fu clan, came out and sincerely asked Jin Ji to take a few steps closer, a little further away from the young marquis' bedroom, and then he knelt on the ground with a thud.
"Captain Jin, Fu Qi wants to ask you something."
Jin Jie heard what Fu Qi said, but he was not surprised at their sudden behavior.
She just asked him expressionlessly, "What do you want from me?"
Fu Qi's voice was miserable, but he did not dare to disturb Liu Ziye who was in the room.
He whispered, "We, the craftsmen, originally came to work for the Young Marquis of Xiguan, following the orders of Clan Leader Fu and Clan Leader Fu. Because of the sworn brotherhood between the Young Marquis of Xiguan and our Clan Leader, we came willingly! But..."
He hesitated and said, "But, I never imagined that the young marquis would bring us here to forcibly demolish their houses! Although the Fuyu clan of Qingcheng and our Yucheng Fu clan have never been on good terms, we have been old neighbors in Xiguan for many years. We absolutely cannot do such a thing as demolishing other people's houses and destroying their lives..."
Jin Jie clearly understood what Fu Qi meant. He interrupted Fu Qi's complaint and asked, "So, what do you want to do?"
"I beg Captain Jin to show some mercy and let us go back to Yucheng at night!"
Fu Qi and his companions wanted to find an opportunity to escape overnight, but since they arrived at this residence, they saw the arrangements made by the young marquis and Jin Ji, and knew that it was impossible to escape secretly, so they had to take the opportunity to ask Jin Ji for a try.
He was three steps away from Jin Jie, looking up at the captain of the private guard of the Xiguan Marquis's Mansion.
In the hazy night, I suddenly discovered that Captain Jin Jie, who was a man of few words but seemed to have a good temper, was actually so tall and straight.
The dim moonlight stretched Jin Jie's figure infinitely on the ground, as if it could completely cover and swallow Fu Qi.
An inexplicable pressure filled Fu Qi's whole body.
Fu Qi also discovered at this time that Jin Ji didn't even look at him the whole time. His attention seemed to be always focused on the residence of Marquis Xiguan behind him.
However, Jin Jie clearly heard every word he said.
The moment he made his request, he received a firm "No".
"W-why?"
Fu Qi mustered up the courage to ask this question, but his teeth couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Jin Jie seemed to finally turn his eyes slightly and look over, but he only said coldly: "The young marquis brought you here, and you must do whatever he tells you to do seriously. He never said he would allow you to leave, so of course you can't leave."
"this……"
Fu Qi hesitated. He wanted to say something in his defense, but as the words were about to come out of his mouth, he swallowed them back subconsciously.
He didn't expect that Jin Jie would be so cold and heartless in private.
No matter how much they said or how much they begged, it would not shake the captain of the Marquis's private guards in the slightest.
Helplessly, he had to get up from the ground, turned around and followed closely to stop the other craftsmen who wanted to come forward, and dragged them all back into the room.
After Jin Jie confirmed that everyone was basically safe, he returned to the position he needed to be on duty tonight.
Qingcheng and Yucheng are not far from each other, but they are located further north and the temperature at night is cooler.
Jin Jie wrapped himself in his cloak and waited until the candle in the room went out at the same time as usual before waking up the second shift.
·
The next day, when the sky was just getting light, Liu Ziye pushed open the bedroom door, stretched and walked out.
The Qingcheng officials dared not neglect her and had already ordered breakfast to be prepared and heated in the kitchen. Liu Ziye ate her fill with satisfaction. To show her gratitude to the craftsmen from the Fu family who had accompanied her to Qingcheng, she personally selected a few untouched vegetables and meats for her and brought them to the craftsmen's rooms to feed them.
Fu Qi saw Liu Ziye walk in, followed by Jin Jie.
Receiving Jin Jie's calm gaze, he hurriedly brought a few people to pay homage to the Marquis, and accepted the food brought by Liu Ziye with great trepidation without saying a word.
Liu Ziye was an extremely emotionally sensitive person in her previous life, and she saw the reactions and attitudes of Fu Qi and the others.
She glanced at the people kneeling to receive the food one by one, trying to understand why these people had become so cautious and distant overnight.
She didn't show any abnormality, and just said as usual: "No need to be so polite, everyone, continue to eat your meal, don't worry about me."
Fu Qi and his companions looked at each other, bowed their heads and kowtowed, then stood up and sat back at the dining table.
Just as they picked up the chopsticks, they heard the sound of a chair being dragged next to them. Looking up, they saw the young marquis of Xiguan sitting down, looking at them kindly.
Fu Qi and several craftsmen lowered their heads silently and put down their chopsticks again.
Seeing that Fu Qi and his companions had stopped eating again, Liu Ziye urged them sincerely, "Hurry up and eat. This steamed pork with rice flour won't taste good if it gets cold."
Fu Qi and his companions felt that it was neither right to obey nor wrong to disobey.
Before yesterday, because of the friendship between their young clan leader and the young Marquis of Xiguan, they had a very natural feeling of closeness to Liu Ziye, just like they were treating their young clan leader.
However, after seeing with his own eyes the young marquis ordering the officers and soldiers to do such a thing, all these closeness disappeared in an instant.
The kings, princes, generals and ministers were completely different from these people living in the desolate borderlands who only wanted to survive.
In the past, they were the ones who had false thoughts.
However, at this time, Fu Qi couldn't help but think of their young clan leader Fu Zhener.
How many members of the Fu clan had not seen the look with which the young patriarch of the Fu clan had looked at the young Marquis of Xiguan with such enthusiasm and seriousness?
If Chief Fu knew that the brothers he cherished and cared about so much were actually people who acted like this, the blow he would suffer would be many times heavier than his own.
When he thought of this, even though there was delicious food in front of him, Fu Qi felt unable to swallow it.
Liu Ziye found this interesting, so he asked pointedly, "You don't agree with what I've done, and you regret following me to Qingcheng, right?"
Fu Qi quickly pinched his thigh to stop himself from thinking about it, and kept denying it: "No, it's not true."
Before she did this yesterday, she had anticipated that these people would have such thoughts, so the first thing she did this morning was to visit and comfort these Fu craftsmen.
Unexpectedly, these people's reactions were both within her expectations and beyond her expectations.
At least she didn't expect that these people didn't even try to express their resistance to her in person.
She glanced again at the other people sitting around, and their attitudes were almost the same.
Liu Ziye smiled and simply stood up, holding onto the table. "That's great. In the next month, I'll need you in many places. I hope you'll all do your best to serve me well. After you return, you won't be held responsible for anything you shouldn't be."
Fu Qi nodded vigorously: "Very good, thank you very much, young marquis."
Liu Ziye pushed the chair away and walked out of the room.
Jin Jie followed closely behind, not even spending a moment on the people in the room.
With yesterday's experience, the soldiers and craftsmen have basically understood Liu Ziye's approach.
There was no need for Liu Ziye to lead the team personally today. He only sent a team of soldiers and craftsmen to continue their task of demolishing houses and replacing roofs in Qingcheng.
Liu Ziye himself brought most of the men, followed by Pan Yi and Jin Jie respectively, to the house of the patriarch of the Fuyu clan, a prominent family in Qingcheng.
The chief of the Buyeo clan, Buyeo Changqing, is the youngest daughter of the previous chief.
At the time, her eldest brother had died in his prime, leaving behind only a young nephew. After weighing the pros and cons, her father summoned the clan members to discuss the next clan leader. Because Fuyu Changqing had long been involved in clan affairs and had accumulated considerable prestige, the responsibilities of the next clan leader were passed to her with almost no effort.
Fu Yu Changqing had already known yesterday about the actions of this evil god who suddenly appeared in Qingcheng.
For a moment, she couldn't understand what this young Marquis of Xiguan was doing.
Could it be that the royal family, unable to even provide for their basic needs, would set their sights on such places where people would demolish houses to "do business"?
But if this young marquis couldn't make a living, how could he still command hundreds of officers and soldiers to protect him from doing evil?
There are only a few hundred Fuyu families in Qingcheng.
Fu Yu Changqing's own house was just rammed earth with yellow walls, and a slightly better roof than ordinary houses, which was made of blue-gray bricks and tiles. How could it stop the Yanjing Imperial Guards and the private soldiers of the Governor's Mansion!
Liu Ziye swaggered into the house of the Fuyu clan leader with the soldiers leading the way, under the angry glare of Fuyu Changqing.
She only glanced briefly at the young female matriarch when she entered the house.
Then, without saying a word, he walked around Fu Yu Changqing's house inside and out as if he was strolling in his own backyard, and returned to the center of the front yard.
Liu Ziye commented: "The house of the Fuyu clan leader seems to be quite useful. It won't collapse under the wind or snow."
"Oh. Really?"
Fu Yu Changqing was speechless.
Should she thank this young marquis of Xiguan for praising her house?
Liu Ziye didn't care about her feelings and continued, "But this Lord Marquis sees that the roofs of the kitchen and warehouse are still made of thatch. The thatch is sparse, so ordinary rain and snow are fine, but if the wind and snow are a little stronger, I'm afraid the Fuyu tribe leader's warehouse and kitchen will be in danger!"
After that, she waved her hand.
He ordered the soldiers and craftsmen who came with him to follow his example and start lifting tools and dismantling the roof as if no one was around.
Fuyu Changqing: ...
So after you've praised it, you still want to tear it down!
However, before she could say anything more, Liu Ziye said to her, "Chief of the Fuyu clan, you have seen it too! This time, I came here to do business with the people of Qingcheng."
"However, I only have a few craftsmen with me, and the materials are incomplete. It's difficult to provide for all the people in Qingcheng one by one! I'll definitely need you, Chief of the Fuyu Clan, to gather all the craftsmen in Qingcheng together. Only when everyone works together and pulls together as one can this matter go more smoothly! What do you think?"
Fu Yu Changqing almost laughed out loud.
She said sarcastically, "The young Marquis of Xiguan commands hundreds of elite soldiers and carries immense prestige. If you wanted to 'do business' with someone, you'd be able to do it. Why would we, the humblest of people, need to get involved?"
Fu Yu Changqing's words and tone were very unfriendly, but Liu Ziye was not angry.
She denied it very seriously: "Buyu clan leader, you are wrong. The power of the masses is huge!"
However, Fu Yu Changqing ignored her nonsense and just snorted with disdain.
Liu Ziye found it amusing and smiled, then offered a sincere yet gentle threat: "Besides, the Fuyu clan leader has probably seen that the men I brought with me are only enough to dismantle the house and add the beams. They are not enough to handle the tile-laying work that will follow!"
"If Chief Fuyu insists on this, in three to five days, I'm sure more than a hundred households across Qingcheng will have their roof beams torn down. Winter is only a month away. Chief Fuyu, do you want to watch your people go without tiles to shelter their heads?"
Liu Ziye sat down leisurely on the chair brought by the soldier and patiently delivered the final blow.
"I'm only asking you to spend some of your spare money to replace the beams and roof. My price is fair. Chief Fuyu should understand that this is not a bad thing. However, if Chief Fuyu continues to refuse to cooperate, any unexpected consequences will not be my responsibility. Is that right?"
It's not that she can really learn to use intimidation and inducement so quickly, but the countdown of her life value is hanging over her head every day. If she wants to earn more points for herself, she must choose the most efficient and direct path to achieve her goal.
With the original owner's memories and experiences from the past ten years, she had a wealth of material to draw on on how to be a disgusting and arrogant young marquis.
In her previous life, she had a lot of experience in acting appropriately according to the material.
Fu Yu Changqing stood a few steps in front of Liu Ziye, glaring angrily at the uninvited guest who had turned Qingcheng upside down.
No one stepped forward to control her actions.
But facing the young Marquis of Xiguan who was surrounded by soldiers in the courtyard, two imperial guards and private guards, she was not a threat at all.
In a moment, Fu Yu Changqing's expression changed several times.
In the end, he could only sigh and compromise: "Okay."
In the next few days, Qingcheng was bustling with people.
Almost all the craftsmen involved in house repairs were mobilized, and the kilns for firing bricks and tiles ran all night long.
Led by several craftsmen from the Yucheng Fu family brought by the young marquis of Xiguan, various craftsmen from Qingcheng were gathered together. They divided the work among themselves and reluctantly and with personal grudges began a city-wide "dangerous house renovation" campaign.
Pan Yi looked at the situation where the whole city was in chaos and everyone was cursing Xiguan Hou behind his back, and he couldn't help laughing out loud several times in the middle of the night.
As soon as the decree from Yanjing arrives, if I am still not satisfied with the treatment of the young Marquis of Xiguan, I will report all these incidents to the higher authorities and make sure that the Marquis of Xiguan will never be able to turn things around!
After the houses in Qingcheng were completely demolished under Liu Ziye's inspection, she left only a small number of soldiers and Yucheng craftsmen in Qingcheng, preparing to set off.
Under Pan Yi's instructions, the Qingcheng officials of the Xiguan Governor's Mansion repeatedly assured that they would mobilize the governor's mansion soldiers stationed in Qingcheng to fully supervise and cooperate with the "unfinished business" of the Marquis of Xiguan.
Hundreds of iron hooves trampled past.
Amidst the yellow earth, Liu Ziye sat back on her comfortable private guard captain's horse and galloped out of the Qingcheng city gate.
Continue north, east, then south and west.
After she has visited the two cities and thirteen towns in Xiguan County one by one, it will be time to return to Yucheng.
·
Time flies day by day in this journey.
Within a month, no one in the entire Xiguan County could surpass the fame and popularity of this young Marquis of Xiguan.
Of course, people had heard of the prince of Xiguan Palace in the past.
When it is mentioned, there is a sigh of regret that the royal family is not as good as they thought, as well as an involuntary contempt.
Now——
We will never again look down upon others!
Like a hurricane, this arrogant and dazzling royal noble swept across the entire Xiguan County within a month.
No matter who is willing or not, without any explanation, hundreds of cavalrymen will stand behind them, demolish your house, replace your roof... and then disappear like a whirlwind.
What should we say about them now?
The young Marquis of Xiguan was truly arrogant. Wherever he went, almost everyone would curse him behind his back for his reckless behavior and forced sales.
But after the young Marquis of Xiguan left, some people began to realize——
It seemed that the young marquis had really just completed the renovation of their dilapidated house, received the valuable silver, and then turned around and disappeared.
Looking back at the newly renovated, more solid and reliable house...
Even though their wallets were a little thinner, some people couldn't help but hold back their arguments and stop swearing so harshly.
After all, looking at the attitude of the young Marquis of Xiguan, even if he did nothing and just came to rob money, it seemed that no one could resist, right?
Liu Ziye calculated the time. She carried with her one of the detailed road maps and a collection of cultural records of various towns left by the King of Xiguan. She lit a lamp every night to plan and plot the next day's route.
When the cavalry was galloping across the vast and complex world of the Western Frontier, only Jin Jie knew about it.
In fact, the route they took was all designed and directed by this young marquis of Xiguan.
Liu Ziye would rest on horseback, seemingly casually leaning against Jin Ji, but in fact she was inconspicuously observing every terrain and mountain clue as they moved forward, and then whispering to Jin Ji the direction she suggested.
The order was conveyed by Jin Jie, as if he was leading the team in command.
Pan Yi was not familiar with the roads and terrain of the Xiguan border area, so he did not intervene much.
Therefore, he did not know as clearly as Jin Jie—
They traveled through the two cities and thirteen towns of Xiguan in one month and ten days. What a feat that had never been achieved before.
·
In early November, the north wind becomes stronger.
When Liu Ziye gathered hundreds of soldiers from various places and returned to Yucheng, the imperial edict from the imperial palace in Yanjing also arrived at the same time.
The envoy from Yanjing who came to announce the imperial edict entered through the Dongwang Gate of Yucheng.
Liu Ziye's team had been running for more than a month, and their faces were covered with wind and frost. They also returned from the Dubei Gate in the north of Yucheng.
After more than a month of running around, all of which required physical effort, Pan Yi could be described at this moment as truly "face covered in dust and hair like frost."
However, he had no time to rest. As soon as he entered the north gate, he learned that the envoy from Yanjing had arrived in Yucheng. He immediately ordered all the imperial guards under his command to reorganize, and even abandoned the outward courtesy shown to Liu Ziye, the young marquis of Xiguan, and rode to the East Watch Gate to greet the imperial edict from Yanjing.
When the envoys from Yanjing and the army stretching for several miles slowly entered the city, the people of Yucheng finally saw the team that overshadowed the young marquis of Xiguan the day before.
The royal flag, made of black silk with gold-rimmed characters and embroidered with a large Chinese character "Liu", fluttered in the cold wind, exuding a dazzling royal aura.
Over a thousand guards, fully clad in light furs and iron cavalry, marched through the city gates on the hard, cold yellow earth. It took them half an hour to finally enter the city. The rammed earth and wooden beam structure of Yucheng's East Gate tower, shaken by the clatter of iron hooves and set against the backdrop of the sleekly armored army, seemed so fragile, desolate, and vulnerable.
The leader of the team was a major general wearing a dazzling blood-red cloak and a red tassel on his head.
He rode his horse with ease and dignity, driving down the street of Yucheng as if no one was around.
Yi Boli, the governor of Xiguan County, stood on the main street of Yucheng, with a pious smile on his face, bowing to greet him, while the general on horseback only nodded slightly, without even stopping his horse for a moment.
When Pan Yi led his weathered team and eagerly rushed to Dongwang Gate to meet the envoy from Yanjing.
This is the scene you see.
Pan Yi, who was exhausted from traveling, almost couldn't control his hands and feet. He was so frightened by the formation of the Central Army Guards in front of him that he fell off his horse.
Why did Yanjing send so many imperial guards?
He was personally led by Major General Chi Mu of the Yanjing Imperial Army to Yucheng, a border county in the Western Gate that had no power to resist.
What on earth is going on?
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