Chapter 116 You're Useless

Beside him, the hooves of the knights' warhorses pawed at the ground, breaths and snorts of white vapor constantly emerging from the men and beasts.

Zheng Fan held the reins in his left hand and gripped his long saber in his right, his eyes slightly closed as if he were resting.

No one knew what was happening in the surrounded area to the southwest, but everyone was on high alert, perhaps in the next moment, they would have to spur their warhorses and charge into the most brutal battle with the enemy.

Finally, there was movement from the Jin army.

Zheng Fan opened his eyes, ready to wave his saber and order the charge, but found that the Jin army in front of them was actually beginning to retreat, and at the same time, the Jin army further away was also beginning to withdraw.

And in front,

Marquis Jingnan rode his Pixiu, leading two flag-bearing knights, slowly advancing, and nearly ten thousand Jin soldiers around him dared not block their path!

When the distance between the two sides shortened, Zheng Fan did not dismount, but saluted from horseback:

"This humble general greets Marquis Jingnan!"

The knights under his command also shouted in unison:

"Greetings, Marquis Jingnan!"

Marquis Jingnan nodded and continued to urge his Pixiu forward. Zheng Fan immediately turned his horse and, after the knights behind him voluntarily made way, accompanied Marquis Jingnan into the Wubao (fortified village).

Immediately afterward, the knights arrayed outside the Wubao also followed behind and returned.

Outside, the Jin army camp immediately began disassembling and moving out, working quickly and only taking away easily transportable supplies, military equipment, tents, and other items.

Zheng Fan accompanied Marquis Jingnan, who dismounted from his Pixiu. Zheng Fan also dismounted.

"He's exhausted. Get him some human food, and if there's wine, get him some wine too."

Marquis Jingnan pointed at his mount and said.

"This humble general obeys. Please rest assured, Marquis."

The Pixiu was a mythical beast. Compared to warhorses, even ordinary captains were far inferior. Special treatment for special cases was only natural.

Tian Wujing rubbed his wrist and said:

"Take me to see the Jin Emperor."

"This way, Marquis."

Fortunately, when Zheng Fan led Tian Wujing to the house, he didn't hear the sounds of "conquest" from before.

When they entered, they found that the Jin Emperor seemed to have received the news in advance and was already waiting.

This immediately made Zheng Fan feel a chill in his heart. It seemed that when he returned, he would have to have Blindman and Liang Cheng hurry up and isolate and assimilate all the cavalry who had escorted the Jin Emperor in earlier.

Now that the Jin Emperor had become a mere figurehead, and a figurehead that had been appointed by the previous ruler.

This little bit of meat, these cavalrymen, he would accept.

Zheng Fan also believed that, except for a few die-hard loyalists, the rest would no longer be determined to follow an emperor who had lost even the capital and had no territory.

"The ruler of the Lower Kingdom, Yu Ciming, greets Marquis Jingnan!"

The Jin Emperor knelt down and saluted respectfully, his posture very low.

The excitement brought about by taking Five Stone Powder recently seemed to have completely dissipated, and the two granddaughters from the Wubao were not here either.

Tian Wujing did not help the kneeling Jin Emperor up, but stood quietly in place.

After a while, Tian Wujing spoke:

"You're useless."

The Jin Emperor's body immediately went limp, kneeling and now almost collapsing.

Hearing this sentence from the side, Zheng Fan could only sigh at Marquis Jingnan's "shrimp-heart-pig-lung" (a saying that means someone is secretly malicious).

These words were as direct as they could be. However, Zheng Fan felt that since Marquis Jingnan had come, he must have his own views on this rebellion.

As a veteran general, the Jin Emperor's tricks must not have been able to escape his notice.

"I will send someone to take you back to Yanjing. Just live there honestly. If you have any other thoughts, white silk or poison, choose one yourself."

This was equivalent to arranging the Jin Emperor's fate on behalf of the Yan Emperor.

Yu Ciming swayed slightly, silent, not knowing if he was completely despondent or had long been prepared.

Without saying anything more, Tian Wujing turned and left the room.

Zheng Fan immediately followed out and said:

"Marquis, are you hungry?"

"A little."

"Eat something?"

"Good."

Zheng Fan wasn't sure what kind of relationship he had with Tian Wujing, but to be fair, Tian Wujing had saved him more than once or twice.

Tian Wujing's reputation was not good now. In the history books of later generations, even if Great Yan truly unified the world, it would be difficult for him to leave behind a good name.

But as the saying goes,

Even if ten thousand people say he's bad, if he's good to you, you can't say he's bad.

There was no feast, and there was no time to prepare one. There were freshly steamed buns, white and fluffy, emitting heat.

Each person had a large bowl of egg drop soup with a little vinegar, plus two small plates of side dishes pickled by Si Niang (Fourth Sister) herself at Cuiliu Fort.

"Marquis, the bun with one red dot is filled with shredded radish, the one with two dots is filled with red bean paste, and the one with three dots is filled with pickled vegetables."

Before the buns were steamed, people would use a red pen to mark them, distinguishing the different kinds of buns to suit individual tastes.

After all, once they were steamed, it would be difficult to find the filling you liked. Even if you opened a bun and it wasn't what you wanted, you couldn't waste food and had to bite the bullet and eat it.

Tian Wujing asked:

"Are there no purely meat-filled buns?"

Clearly, Marquis Jingnan was also not used to the buns of Cuiliu Fort.

"Purely meat-filled ones are easy to get greasy," Zheng Fan explained.

"Heh."

Tian Wujing smiled and said:

"I've long heard that your family used to run a restaurant and do business, considered a small wealthy family, but I didn't expect your palate to have become so picky. To think purely meat-filled ones are greasy. If Li Liangting heard that, he'd pick up a stick and break your leg."

"Marquis, you're joking. In this life, I only have this little bit of ambition, just wanting to be good to myself when it comes to 'eating'."

"You're not being honest. From the first time I met you, I knew that you were ambitious, but other people keep their ambition in their hearts and don't easily reveal it, while your ambition is written on your face."

Hearing this, Zheng Fan touched his face and laughed:

"Then my acting skills are not up to par. I need to practice more in the future."

"It's not a bad thing for a man to have ambition."

"Yes, Marquis, you're right."

Tian Wujing reached out and took a radish-filled bun, took a bite. The first bite was just white bread, the second bite allowed one to taste the filling.

The filling was salted, and eating it with the white bread was like eating white bread with vegetables.

"This bun is indeed delicious."

"I still have a lot back there. These buns aren't easy to spoil after they're steamed in winter, and they can be stored for a long time. When cooking porridge in the morning, add a small steamer to the stove and heat up a few along with it, and it's very comfortable to eat with the porridge; if you're hungry at night and don't want to bother, you can heat up a few to fill your stomach."

Tian Wujing nodded and continued eating the bun.

Zheng Fan accompanied Marquis Jingnan as he ate.

After each of them had eaten three buns,

They both tacitly stopped and wiped their hands on the wet towel beside them.

"You're pretty quiet today."

"Marquis, you're joking. I already owe you too many times. If I say thank you again, it'll only seem insincere."

"You're a Yan person, and you were once under my command. Of course, I couldn't stand by and watch you die."

"That's right, we'll always be soldiers under the Marquis's command. Those Jin people still think that we Yan people are like them, liking to use these despicable tricks."

A smile appeared on the corner of Tian Wujing's mouth,

"Zhao Jiulang did arrange it that way. I also received a document from the Central Hub informing me of this matter."

"........." Zheng Fan.

Did this mean that Marquis Jingnan had defied the imperial decree by coming?

After all, the Chief Minister, most of the time, acted in accordance with the Emperor's will, especially when communicating with great marshals of Marquis Jingnan's level. Even Zhao Jiulang was not qualified to order Marquis Jingnan to do anything.

"Marquis..."

"It's not just for you. Even if it were other soldiers, I would have come to save them. After all, since the founding of Great Yan, what we have relied on is nothing more than the Yan land lads charging forward and supporting each other.

Back then, I used the matter of your assassination to take you to the capital and depose the Third Prince. It wasn't purely to vent my anger, but because I was really angry.

After a long period of peace, many people have forgotten their roots.

Great Yan is not rich, and Great Yan is not big. The imperial court can play its games, and in the past when there were aristocratic families, they could play their games;

Peddlers, common people, all have their own ways;

But the military is something that cannot be touched or moved arbitrarily. The Qian Kingdom is rich, vast, and full of talent, but as long as its military is weak, the country is destined to be weak.

This is my belief, and it is my bottom line."

"This little one will certainly remember the Marquis's teachings."

"The art of war that you小子(you kid) wrote is also not bad."

"It's difficult to reach the level of elegance, and the Marquis is laughing at me."

"A mere thousand words, naturally, cannot match the myriad changes on the battlefield, but it can be considered the seed of a famous general."

"Marquis, you flatter me."

"The current Situ family is just an empty shell. Most of their troops are stationed on the side of the Heavenly Barren Mountains.

Although I didn't bring troops this time, the Jin generals only thought that we Yan people didn't want to reach that kind of tacit understanding with them, and they knew very well that the Situ family's army was not in the west at this time. If they started a war, they would surely be defeated.

Therefore, they withdrew."

Zheng Fan was stunned for a moment, immediately understood the meaning, and also suddenly understood why Marquis Jingnan could make the Jin army withdraw directly by coming alone.

So, he could take back his Shengle City!

"It is said that the barbarian settlements north of the Heavenly Barren Mountains have been somewhat restless these days, and seem to have elected a new king. Do you know why Great Yan has stopped its conquest of the Situ family at this time?"

Zheng Fan sat up straight and replied:

"Marquis, this humble general has heard that when Great Xia was established, the ancestor of the Great Yan imperial family, the Ji clan, was enfeoffed in the north to suppress the barbarians;

The Xiong clan of the Chu Kingdom was enfeoffed in the southeast to suppress the Shan Yue; and the Yu clan of the Jin Kingdom was enfeoffed in the northeast to suppress the wildlings.

Compared with the barbarians, wildlings, and Shan Yue, the Four Kingdoms are more like brothers fighting among themselves to resist foreign insults.

A hundred years ago, Emperor Taizong of the Qian Kingdom took advantage of Great Yan's decisive battle with the barbarian tribes in the desert to launch a northern expedition. That was unrighteous of them.

Now that the wildlings have a tendency to revive, the Situ family, although a vassal of the Yu clan, has been responsible for suppressing the wildlings for hundreds of years. Now that the Situ family is dealing with the wildlings, Great Yan is not Great Qian after all, and the atmosphere of Great Yan's emperor cannot be compared to that of the officials of the Qian Kingdom.

As long as the trouble of the wildlings is not resolved, as long as the Situ family is still fighting to the death with the wildlings, Great Yan's iron cavalry will not advance eastward into Dacheng.

This fully embodies the broad mind and high-minded pattern of Great Yan's Emperor, and this humble general admires him to the point of prostrating himself on the ground, wishing to shout 'Long live my Emperor!' ten times before going to sleep and waking up every day."

After hearing these words,

Marquis Jingnan only said calmly:

"Speak human language."

Zheng Fan took a deep breath, gritted his teeth,

And said:

"Could it be that His Majesty is not feeling well?"