The Empress remarried, and I retaliated by wiping out the court.

The next morning.

"Your Majesty, this is a cause for great joy!"

Cao Ji quickly approached Ye Wudao.

"In this battle, our army achieved a great victory, killing nearly six hundred bandits!"

"Han Tieshan of Black Wind Stronghold, Wei Wanjin of Flying Eagle Stronghold, Wang Lie of Bear Sky Stronghold, and Lu Sandao of Fierce Tiger Stronghold have all been executed!"

"As per His Majesty's orders—all bandits of Black Wind Stronghold, leave no one alive, slaughter them all!"

"Furthermore, all 200,000 shi of grain that were looted have been recovered unharmed!"

Ye Wudao nodded.

"very good."

This battle was within his expectations.

Kill the bandits and intimidate those lackeys in the capital.

From now on, who will dare say that Ye Wudao is incapable of leading troops into battle?!

Zhao Min, her face deathly pale, asked in a daze, "Has Xie Bingyu been found?"

Cao Ji glanced at Ye Wudao and said in a low voice, "We have not found Empress Xie's remains."

Zhao Min bit her lip tightly, her eyes reddening.

"It's my fault, it's all my fault! I didn't keep a close eye on her..."

Ye Wudao gently pulled her into his arms: "It's not your fault. You've done very well. Bingyu... has her own path to walk."

Zhao Min said sadly, "She's clearly defenseless, yet you brought her to such a dangerous place!"

Ye Wudao nodded: "Yes, it's all my fault..."

Cao Ji, standing to the side, kept his head down, but couldn't help muttering to himself.

Xie Bingyu is dead?

Are you kidding me!

That's a grandmaster!

There are very few Grandmasters in the entire world!

It would be the biggest joke in the world if a grandmaster could be burned to death.

However, since His Majesty has chosen to keep it from Empress Zhao, there must be a reason.

As a eunuch, it's best for him to speak as little as possible.

After a long while, Ye Wudao looked at Li Yanran:

"I'll allocate another thousand Imperial Guards to you. Can you deliver the grain safely to Shandong?"

Li Yanran lowered her head in shame and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I will certainly not fail in my mission!"

"Fu Lilin, you're in charge. If there's any problem with the grain, I'll have you executed!"

Fu Lilin was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground: "This subordinate obeys!"

Then, Ye Wudao looked at Cao Ji.

"Order that all the bandits' heads be cut off, hung on either side of the warhorses, and brought back to Yujing!"

"I want to show the world the consequences of opposing me!"

Cao Ji immediately bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

All the Imperial Guards immediately raised their swords and fell, turning Yanlang Mountain into a river of blood!

Bloody human heads were hung on either side of the warhorse.

The vast army marched towards the capital city...

…………

On the city gate tower of Yujing City.

A group of officials dressed in civilian clothes stood in twos and threes on the city wall, gazing into the distance.

These people are the current Ministers of the Six Ministries and the Vice Ministers of the various ministries of the Great Yan Dynasty.

Since they resigned from their posts five days ago, their lives have suddenly become incredibly boring.

Zhang Shouzhi took a sip of tea and stretched comfortably: "These past few days have been quite peaceful."

Wu Qingxun, standing to the side, laughed and said, "More than just leisurely, I've been sleeping better these past few days than I have in the past ten years. There are no messy memorials to deal with, and I don't have to rack my brains every day to raise money and grain for the court."

As he spoke, a gloating smile appeared on his face: "I wonder if His Majesty can sleep now?"

Zhang Shouzhi sneered, "I'm afraid His Majesty won't even dare to sleep these next few days!"

"The six ministries are all vacant, and there is no one in the court to govern. Shandong is also suffering from a severe drought, and the disaster relief grain has been stolen by mountain bandits. Now His Majesty is personally leading three thousand imperial guards to suppress the bandits. I want to see what he can do."

Wu Qingxun shook his head slightly: "What else can we do? Ye Wudao will definitely have no choice but to obediently come back and beg us. At that time, we won't have to make things too difficult for His Majesty."

Zhang Shouzhi raised an eyebrow: "Oh? What does Lord Wu intend to do?"

Wu Qingxun stroked his beard and said smugly, "As long as His Majesty sincerely admits his mistake, acknowledges his youthful impetuosity, and admits that dismissing the officials was an impulsive act, and personally apologizes to us, we might be willing to give His Majesty a chance."

Zuo Zongming, the Minister of Justice, sneered from the side.

"Impulsive? In my opinion, he is completely ignorant of his own limitations! Does he really think he's invincible just because he killed a few people? Does he really think he can sweep across the world with three thousand imperial guards?"

"Ye Wudao has never even led troops before; he's likely to suffer a crushing defeat this time!"

Upon hearing this, Minister of War Sun Bofu slowly spoke up: "War is not something that can be done with mere words. If our Emperor rashly launches a campaign to suppress bandits, we don't know how many of these three thousand Imperial Guards will return alive."

Zuo Zongming raised an eyebrow: "What insightful opinion does Lord Sun have? I would like to hear it in detail."

Sun Bofu stroked his beard and said in a pretentious manner:

"Yanlang Mountain has a complex terrain and dense forests. Mountain bandits have been entrenched there for many years and are already familiar with the terrain. Even if 30,000 imperial guards or 30,000 troops went in, they might not be able to completely wipe them out."

Duan Pengju, the Vice Minister of War, also nodded.

He came from the Xiliang Army and had served in the border army for many years, so he naturally had some real skills in marching and fighting.

"I have seen the map of Yanlang Mountain before. The roads in the mountain are narrow and the forests are dense. When the imperial soldiers come, they hide in the forest and cannot be found."

"Those three thousand imperial guards are fine for guarding the capital on ordinary days, but if they are actually sent out to fight... I'm afraid they might not fare well against those ruthless bandits."

Wu Qingxun shook the folding fan in his hand: "I think His Majesty will never attack the mountain. Perhaps when he gets to the foot of the mountain, he will be so frightened by the name of those mountain bandits that he will retreat."

"That makes sense!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

A burst of cheerful laughter immediately erupted from the city gate tower.

The voice just fell.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from afar.

"Report!"

A scout rode up at breakneck speed.

After dismounting, he immediately knelt down in front of everyone.

"Your Excellencies, His Majesty led his army to Yanlang Mountain last night!"

The people on the city gate tower immediately perked up.

Wu Qingxun laughed and said, "We've only reached the foot of the mountain. What's next?"

The scout swallowed hard.

"Your Majesty... launched an attack under cover of night."

"What?"

The smiles on everyone's faces on the city gate tower froze at the same time.

next moment.

Minister of War Sun Bofu frowned sharply: "Attack the mountain at night? Has His Majesty gone mad?"

Duan Pengju shook his head directly.

"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

"At night in the mountains and forests, visibility is obstructed, the terrain is unclear, and it is difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Our army is completely unfamiliar with Yanlang Mountain, while the bandits have been entrenched there for many years."

"This is tantamount to sending three thousand imperial guards into the enemy's most familiar battlefield—a cardinal sin in military strategy!"

Zhang Shouzhi couldn't help but spit out his anger, saying, "I originally thought His Majesty was just impulsive and reckless, but I never expected... he doesn't even understand the most basic common sense of military strategy! It seems I overestimated him before!"

Sun Bofu looked deeply worried: "I'm afraid those three thousand imperial guards are in grave danger!"

Li Juzheng, however, remained silent, a rare occurrence.

His intuition told him that Ye Wudao wouldn't fight a battle he wasn't confident of winning.

The other party is definitely not the ignorant emperor that the court officials described, and would never make such a rash move.

Attacking the mountain at night in the dark makes it easy to be ambushed. The bandits can attack or retreat at will, and he really can't understand Ye Wudao's reason for doing so.

Just then.

Another rapid sound of horses' hooves came from afar.

"Report!"

A scout came galloping over.

"Your Excellencies, His Majesty has returned!"

Everyone was taken aback.

Zhang Shouzhi immediately laughed and said, "His Majesty must have been defeated and, knowing it was hopeless, slunk back in disgrace."

"Absolutely! Absolutely!"

soon.

On the distant horizon, an army of steel slowly appeared.

The people at the front held high the Great Yan Dragon Banner, and the entire army was filled with a chilling atmosphere!

Warhorses galloped across the official road, raising clouds of dust, and the crowd on the city gate tower stood up.

Zhang Shouzhi squinted: "They've arrived. Everyone, remember this: later we must teach our arrogant and ignorant Emperor a lesson!"

Wu Qingxun said, "His Majesty is young and will not grow without experiencing setbacks. This defeat will temper his character!"

The officials on the city wall were immersed in a joyful atmosphere.

They could almost picture Ye Wudao, disheartened and desperate, begging them to return to the capital.

But as the army approached, everyone's expressions suddenly froze.

Because they saw that on either side of those warhorses hung bloody human heads.

The blood beneath the heads had long since congealed, and as the warhorses moved forward, the heads swayed continuously, as if silently watching the people on the city gate tower...