The first ray of cold wind blew through the dragon pillars in front of the palace, making the old eunuch adhering to the throne tremble a little.
"Here! General Po Di Zhao Qingyun enters the palace!"
"Zhao Qingyun enters the palace——"
"By God's blessing, the emperor issued an edict: Zhao Qingyun, the general who broke the Di Di, has a majestic strategy and has made great achievements in guarding the frontier. He was immediately conferred the title of General of the Third Rank of Wu to the Northern Expedition. I admire this."
Kneeling in front of the hall, Zhao Qingyun looked happy. After thanking him, he took the imperial edict with trembling hands.
"By God's blessing, the emperor issued an edict: Zhao Qingyun, the general of the northern expedition, has made extraordinary contributions in protecting Hezhou. He will be rewarded with two pairs of night pearls, a thousand taels of gold, and a thousand pieces of silk and satin. The Xiaofeng Camp under his command is planned to be a first-class national defense camp. Recruit soldiers on your own and admire this."
"Thank you Lord for your grace, long live long live long live."
Zhao Qingyun raised his head, felt proud, and took the imperial edict for the second time.
"Your Majesty still needs to go to the imperial study room to review the memorial. General Zhengbei, please come back."
"Thank you, father-in-law."
Zhao Qingyun hurriedly reached into his sleeve, took out a bulging silver bag, and stuffed it into Eunuch Xuanli's hand.
After that, he clasped his fists and turned around, his face full of indescribable ecstasy.
"General Zhengbei, you must remember Zaifu's words."
"The general will definitely remember it."
Eunuch Xuan Li smiled faintly, turned around and entered the hall.
Zhao Qingyun let out a deep breath.
He remembered very clearly that the title of General Zhengbei belonged to the previously unparalleled famous general Li Poshan. Doesn't this mean that he, Zhao Qingyun, is now a famous general of the Epoch Times?
After walking out of the palace, Zhao Qingyun originally wanted to rush back to Hezhou, but stopped for a moment, turned his head, and looked in the direction of Weicheng.
…
In front of Horseshoe Lake, these two or three days are the days for collecting wine. The shopkeepers who come and go, braving the cold wind, rub their palms and wait anxiously.
If it were a different liquor store, they would have to rush for it. But how can I dare to urge him now? I heard that not long ago, this small boss from Ma Ti Lake killed someone directly in Weicheng with a knife in his hand.
In the end, nothing happened. How powerful.
"Fengcheng Wangxi Restaurant, three hundred altars."
"Don't rob what belongs to me!" A short shopkeeper hurriedly asked people to rush the carriage. After paying the balance, he hurriedly loaded Zui Tianxian's wine jar onto the carriage.
No wonder he was anxious. You know, Xujiazhuang's Zui Tianxian this month was said to be a lot less, and he was slow and careless.
"Ba'er Restaurant in Dangyang Town, two hundred altars."
"It's my turn!" The other thin shopkeeper looked overjoyed. As soon as he rushed to the middle of the road, he was suddenly picked up and thrown aside coldly.
"How brave! How brave!" The thin shopkeeper was so angry that he touched the broken bricks and prepared to fight for his dignity, but unexpectedly he only looked up, stuffed the bricks into his sleeves dejectedly, and stumbled away.
On the dirt road in front of Horseshoe Lake, hundreds of officers and soldiers came, all wearing tiger armor and holding bright long swords.
A general who was dismounted and walking looked around coldly. With only two glances, the shopkeepers who were fetching wine were so frightened that they retreated half a mile away.
At the counter under the wooden shed, Jiang Caiwei was silent for a while and frowned for a moment.
…
Not far from Horseshoe Lake, Xu Mu was wiping his forehead while cutting wood and building houses with Wei Feng and others. This was not just idle time, but exercise.
"Master, come back quickly." Chen Sheng ran over with a serious look on his face.
Not only Xu Mu, but also Chen Jiaqiao, Wei Feng and others hurriedly gathered around.
"Why."
"That greedy dog is coming to Zhuangzi!"
"Zhao Qingyun?"
"That's him!"
Xu Mu's face suddenly turned cold, and he tied his robe without saying a word. More than 400 heroes from the Qinglong Camp followed coldly.
Chen Jiaqiao took off his umbrella sword, took one step at a time, and in the blink of an eye, he jumped onto the village wall more than ten feet high.
"Master, I'll go get the horse later." Wei Feng said solemnly.
Xu Mu didn't stop him. To be honest, he couldn't figure out what Zhao Qingyun meant. Of course, he had heard that in the next few days, Zhao Qingyun would return to the capital to report on his work and accept the reward.
The strong wind blew through the bamboo forest, shaking the whole world in front of me more and more distorted.
"Brothers and sisters, long time no see."
Zhao Qingyun wore bright silver tiger armor and a tiger-head silver helmet, with a smile on his face.
He walked very slowly, pausing every two or three steps. His brand-new tiger skin shoes looked extremely rich in the slight sunlight.
"I've been reporting to the capital for the past few days, so I thought I'd come and take a look. After all, we were old friends with you when we were at the border."
"Xiniang, don't hide. Earlier in Hezhou...if I knew you were among the refugees, I should have gone to help you."
"Brother Tiger, we were drinking at Zhuangzi that day, and we drank from the same jar."
"Hey, the general is talking to you! Could it be a dead person——"
Bang.
The shouting guard was punched to the ground by Si Hu.
"How brave!" The hundreds of mounted guards drew their swords angrily and tried to surround him.
Throughout Xujiazhuang, many villagers had a look of sadness on their faces, and the brave young men began to walk into the warehouse to get whistle sticks and wooden bows.
"Si Hu, step back."
In the cold wind, Xu Mu's figure walked over coldly.
Behind him, more than four hundred people on horseback began to roar and attack in a circuitous way around Zhuangzi.
The sound of horse hooves shook the area around Horseshoe Lake slightly.
Zhao Qingyun frowned and turned back, "Put away the knife! If you use the knife next time, it will scare my brother Zhao Qingyun. Don't blame me for not respecting the relationship between master and subordinate."
Baiqi's personal guard put away his sword in a hurry and took a few steps back in fear.
Xu Mu raised his hand coldly, and Wei Feng, with more than 400 riders, also slowly stopped their horses and lined up beside Zhuangzi.
"Brother Xu, this is really a misunderstanding." Zhao Qingyun sighed, "This time I return to the capital to report on my work, I just stopped by for a visit."
"Why are you visiting?" Xu Mu showed a faint smile.
"Of course we are old friends."
"Where is your old friend?"
"Old friend of Border Pass, I remember that I was still a junior captain in Tongziying——"
"The junior captain is dead." Xu Mu interrupted coldly.
"The person standing in front of me, Xu Mu, is General Zhengbei of Daji. If the general wants to get some compliments, that's fine."
"Xu Mu congratulates General Zhao on his promotion."
Zhao Qingyun's face turned red, "I told you before, I was not wrong. I, Zhao Qingyun, was born without power, and I don't want to be like this in my life. When I ran from Wangzhou to Hezhou to ask for help, Wangzhou was beaten to death by the Di people. I'm here, but is there anyone willing to come to my rescue? Does anyone care?"
"Thousands of people care." Xu Mu said in a cold voice, "What you are thinking about is your overwhelming power. Don't use such a big excuse."
"Okay! Even so, as people go up and water flows down, is it a mistake for me to climb up step by step? Or is it that princes, generals and prime ministers are born with the talent?"
"If you are upright and step up step by step, I, Xu Mu, will naturally be convinced. But you are not, you are like a dog, you crawl, climb up! Climb like a dog!"
"Shut up!" Zhao Qingyun looked furious and suddenly drew the knife, still breathing heavily from his nose.
The Baiqi guards behind him also hurriedly drew their swords and came out.
"Try moving one!" Si Hu stepped over and shouted angrily.
The figures of more than four hundred riders also raised their long swords coldly.
Zhao Qingyun put down the knife, rubbed his forehead, and slowly waved his hand back. Behind him, Baiqi's personal guards retreated silently.
"Brother Xu, you saved me back then. I, Zhao Qingyun, am not a ungrateful person. This time I was granted the title of General Zhengbei by Your Majesty, but I just wanted to share it with you."
"General Zhao, go back." Xu Mu's voice was weak, and he immediately drew out his sword and cut the corner of the robe in front of him to the ground.
"If we cut off our robes and cut off our righteousness, we will no longer be related to each other."
Zhao Qingyun silently picked up the corner of his robe, and after a long time, he uttered a sentence.
"Brother Xu, I owe you a favor. If you have any difficulties in the future, please come to Hezhou to find me. You and I have different paths. Maybe we have already destined that we will not be able to drink together in this life."
"But in my heart, Zhao Qingyun, you are equal to my adopted brother."
Xu Mu didn't answer, turned around coldly, and walked back to Zhuangzi in a few steps.
"Get the horse and return to Hezhou."
The sound of galloping horse hooves soon disappeared into the increasingly howling cold wind.
