My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 278 Valiant Guard

On the official road, the army marched in a mighty procession.

Chen Leng ordered his men to escort the prisoners and supplies towards Jiangdu, in accordance with the imperial edict.

Chen Leng rode a large horse at the front, with Zhang Zhenzhou following beside him; neither of them wore armor.

Chen Leng was somewhat puzzled. He looked at Zhang Zhenzhou beside him and asked, "Logically, after a great victory, the Yingyang Prefecture should return to their respective posts, with only the generals going to report back. Why does His Majesty want us all to go to Jiangdu this time?"

"He probably wanted to reward the meritorious soldiers in person."

"The cost of this trip and the round trip is enormous."

Chen Leng shook his head, but didn't seem very happy. Zhang Zhenzhou reminded him, "General, you shouldn't tell anyone about what you said."

"I know."

"I'm just worried."

"What is the general worried about?"

"nothing."

Chen Leng didn't say anything more, but just gazed into the distance. When he was in the palace, he had repeatedly heard that the emperor intended to form a new army and launch an expedition. Many people said that the target of the expedition was the Hu people in Liaodong.

Chen Leng knew about that godforsaken place. During the reign of Emperor Wen, when the emperor was sent to fight against the Liaodong barbarians, a great many people died in that battle. Of the 300,000 troops, very few returned alive. Most of them died on the road without even seeing the enemy. The climate there was simply terrifying, and the waves were incredibly large.

This became a shadow in the hearts of many generals.

Chen Leng was overjoyed at his achievements, but at the same time, he was also worried about the future. If the emperor decided to launch an expedition to Liaodong and needed to find people familiar with naval warfare to send troops by water, wouldn't he be in trouble?

Chen Leng didn't tell anyone about her worries, and instead pretended to be quite happy.

Li Xuanba was also in the group at this moment.

After this battle, he became famous. All the soldiers who participated in the battle knew him as a formidable figure, and no one dared to underestimate him. Wherever he went, people paid their respects.

Wang Zhengzhang, Feng San, and the others followed behind Li Xuanba. Feng San asked, "Squad leader, in the past we only fought, and we were never asked to go to report back and collect rewards. Why are we being asked to go with you this time?"

Li Xuanba said seriously, "I can't say for sure. Either His Majesty is very satisfied with this battle and wants to reward the army and reward the many meritorious soldiers, or His Majesty does not want to easily disband the army and has other things to do."

Feng San nodded. "Which situation does the team think it is?"

"do not know."

Feng San wanted to ask more questions, but Wang Zhengzhang cursed, "Alright, you bastard, you never stop asking. Watch out, or the squad leader will give you a good whack!"

Feng San chuckled awkwardly, not daring to say a word.

The army continued its advance, but many groups appeared along the way. Li Xuanba had seen these groups before when he was in Xingyang. They were all laborers, escorted by officials. At first, there weren't many of them, but the closer they got to Jiangdu, the more laborers they saw. Eventually, they blocked the road.

This was the third major corvée labor service.

The soldiers watched this scene indifferently, with few feeling pity, after all, these soldiers of Eagle Banner Prefecture were not required to perform corvée labor.

Chen Leng received orders to halt his advance and rest in the area.

On the second day of their rest, a large convoy arrived.

A sage has arrived.

The army was deployed throughout the camp, all clad in armor, and they welcomed the sage with great fanfare.

Yang Guang, unusually, stepped out of his carriage and, surrounded by numerous guards, passed majestically through the army. The soldiers were incredibly excited, bowing and shouting "Long live the Emperor!"

Chen Leng led Zhang Zhenzhou and others forward to greet them.

Yang Guang strode up to the generals, who knelt down to pay their respects.

"We were unaware of His Majesty's arrival and failed to greet him. We deserve death! We deserve death!"

"Hey!"

Yang Guang helped them up one by one, his face kind, "Why bother?"

"General Chen, I am very pleased with your great achievements!"

"I was right about you; you are a truly capable general!"

Yang Guang praised him several times, and Chen Leng thanked him repeatedly.

Yang Guang then met with Zhang Zhenzhou and others. After seeing them, Yang Guang peeked out, looked around, and asked in confusion, "Where is my Marquis of Bocheng?" Chen Leng was greatly alarmed and hurriedly replied, "He is in the camp. We will send someone to fetch him immediately!"

"No need! I'll go see him myself! Lead the way!"

Chen Leng swallowed hard, exchanged a glance with Zhang Zhenzhou, and then followed Yang Guang, leading him to tour the military formation. As they walked, they soon saw the row of fierce warriors who served as Zhang Zhenzhou's personal guards.

When the emperor arrived, the soldiers were incredibly excited, their eyes burning with fervor.

Yang Guang spotted Li Xuanba in the crowd at a glance.

Li Xuanba's appearance changed drastically. He no longer had any childishness. He was like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, incredibly sharp. Standing among those tall and mighty soldiers, he didn't look out of place at all and blended in perfectly.

Yang Guang walked up to Li Xuanba and looked at the handsome young man in front of him.

Yuwen Shu's words came back to him again, and he grabbed Li Xuanba and helped him up.

"His Majesty!"

Yang Guang took his hand and asked Chen Leng behind him, "This is a member of my family. How did he perform this time?"

Chen Leng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Li Xuanba is incredibly brave. He led from the front, fought bravely, and was the first to charge into battle, slaying several enemy generals in succession."

Yang Guang couldn't help but laugh, "Isn't this a tiger general bestowed upon me by Heaven?"

Subsequently, Yang Guang ordered a reward for the army, but he himself returned to his own entourage with several generals, as well as Li Xuanba and others, where he held a banquet and distributed rewards.

The soldiers were thrilled by the emperor's personal visit to reward them. Feng San and others, carrying wine, went around boasting to everyone about the words the emperor had spoken to Li Xuanba.

The banquet held here by the sage was quite lively, with several high-ranking officials seated there.

Yang Guang drank with them one by one, and was truly delighted.

Of the five nobles present, only Pei Yun looked rather unhappy, sipping her wine with a sullen expression, while the others were in quite good spirits.

"General Chen, you have rendered great service this time. I hereby promote you to Right Grand Master of the Palace!"

Yang Guang spoke, and Chen Leng hurriedly stood up, trembling as he bowed to the emperor in gratitude.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your divine grace!"

The title of Guanglu Dafu was an honorary official position at that time, a way to show favor and honor. It had a corresponding rank. For example, Chen Leng's current title of You Guanglu Dafu was a second-rank official.
In other words, from this moment on, Chen Leng had the added advantage of being a second-rank official, and suddenly he had the status to send his child to the Imperial Academy.

Later, the emperor bestowed upon Zhang Zhenzhou the title of Grand Master of the Golden Purple Light, an honorary official position of the third rank.

After rewarding these generals, Yang Guang finally looked at Li Xuanba.

"Xuanba".

"Chen is here!"

"I hereby appoint you as General of the Vanguard."

"I thank you, Your Majesty."

Yang Guang looked to his left and right and said seriously, "I intend to add three Zhechong Langjiang to each of the Left and Right Beishenfu, select brave soldiers, form the Xiaoguowei, and be commanded by the Zhechong Langjiang."

The courtiers were taken aback, and Pei Shiju was the first to react.

"Your Majesty is wise!!"

"In this way, all the brave warriors in the world will surely follow Your Majesty, forming an invincible army to conquer all directions, and then great things can be accomplished!"

Su Wei wanted to say something, but seeing that the officials had already begun to offer their congratulations and the emperor was so excited, he dared not offer any advice.

Yang Guang bestowed gifts upon the emperor and then summoned musicians to play music.

The banquet became even more lively, and the officials began to drink and make merry. Li Xuanba, sitting among them, seemed somewhat out of place. Yang Guang also told everyone to be casual and not to be too reserved. The officials began to move around, and Yuwen Shu took the initiative to sit next to Li Xuanba. Those who originally wanted to drink with Li Xuanba dared not approach when they saw this.

Yuwen Shu said in a low voice, "At your age, you shouldn't drink alcohol. If you have even a sip, all the training you've done these past few months will be for nothing, understand?"

Li Xuanba nodded slightly.

Yuwen Shu laughed, his eyes bright, and patted Li Xuanba on the shoulder, "You're not bad, kid. Don't slack off in the future!"

"I've helped your family a lot this time, remember that, you'll have to repay me in the future."

(End of this chapter)