The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 226 The Four Great Heroes

What came into view was a face that was exquisite beyond words. Any words of praise paled before this type of beauty. It was not only because of its allure, but also because it had a kind of indefinably ethereal, quiet quality. It was as beautiful as the clouds at sunset, and as gossamer as the white clouds in the skies.

Seeing this face would give one a feeling of tranquility and peace.

After taking off the veil, the Junior Priestess felt shy and blushed deeply. She glanced at Li Ye uneasily. Li Ye’s mind was wandering, and obviously, he was dazzled by her beauty. Feeling overjoyed, she smiled slightly, and two charming dimples appeared. She was lovely and coquettish.

Fortunately, she stopped smiling, so Li Ye’s mind was brought back to the present. In his current state of mind, he was feeling exceedingly stunned, not only because the Junior Priestess was extraordinarily beautiful, but also because they had developed feelings for each other, after living together for such a long time.

The Junior Priestess stopped smiling, but she still felt shy. She looked Li Ye directly in the eyes. She was bold, and at the same time, there seemed to be some kind of indication in her eyes.

In order to cover up his embarrassment, Li Ye blurted out, “You’re so beautiful. Why were you always wearing a veil before?”

After asking that question, Li Ye suddenly thought it was improper. But before he could say anything, the Junior Priestess’ gaze at him became brighter, as if there was a meaning behind it.

Li Ye was forced to scratch his head. He was not used to this kind of silent stare. Maybe, people were used to using words to dissolve the awkwardness of any situation, in order to lighten the atmosphere. Right now, the Junior Priestess was not speaking, so the atmosphere became so mysterious and awkward that he could not stand it anymore.

Li Ye was silent for a moment. He asked, “What does Pinglu mean to you?”

The Junior Priestess did not speak, and instead stared blankly at him. It seemed that she was wondering why Li Ye would ask this question.

Li Ye felt helpless. Actually, what he meant to say was that, if Pinglu was not so important to her, it would not be worth risking her life for him, in the future. Now, it seemed that the Junior Priestess did not understand what he meant, so he stood up and said, “I’m leaving now. You should go to bed early.”

He turned around, but he suddenly felt his hand being held by something soft and smooth. Junior Priestess was grasping his hand.

Li Ye turned around, and saw her raising her face slightly. Her face was delicate and smooth, filled with infinite vitality and youth. When people looked at her, they could feel that her face was like alabaster, and had the elasticity of youth. Her eyes were clear and bright, as if they could speak. She opened her mouth slightly, and her voice, which was as clear as the mountain stream, came out between her white teeth. “Home.”

Li Ye was stunned for a moment. He was surprised that the Junior Priestess was finally willing to talk, and that she had a beautiful voice. He was even more surprised at her warm words.

If Li Ye still did not understand what was going on in the Junior Priestess’ mind, he would have lived two lives in vain.

He sat down on the bed and held the Junior Priestess’s cold and soft hand. At this moment, Li Ye did not know whether the Junior Priestess’s heart skipped a beat or not, but he himself was far from being calm.

Looking at the beautiful face that was so close and the bright, charming eyes, Li Ye slowly approached and gently kissed the Junior Priestess, without hesitation.

She stiffened as if she had been struck by lightning. Then, suddenly she relaxed. Her body became limp as if the bones had melted, and it was surprisingly hot.

Putting his hand around the Junior Priestess’ waist and holding her shoulder with the other hand, Li Ye held her in his arms.

...

When Tian Lingzi arrived in Chengdu, he took the Xichuan military and political power in hand, by quick and decisive means. The first important thing he did, was to reorganize the Regal Guards.

When Huang Chao occupied Tongguan and attacked Chang’an, Tian Lingzi had to urgently escort Li Yan out, so he did not take many of the Regal Guards with him. This army was made up of rich childes, and most of them had been killed in the battle. The backbone, consisting of about 10,000 people who had combat powers, caught up with Tian Lingzi and Li Yan afterward, and escorted them to Chengdu.

Tian Lingzi knew that a eunuch could hold power, not because of the emperor’s favor, but because he had an army that could control the capital. Therefore, during these days in Chengdu, Tian Lingzi kept recruiting troops in order to restore the Regal Guards to their prime strength.

After unremitting efforts, Tian Lingzi managed to restore the Regal Guards to the scale of 100,000 people. Moreover, he intended to send part of them out, to hone their skills on the battlefield.

He knew nothing about training soldiers, but at least, he had common sense. He knew that no matter how well the army was trained, it had to go through the battlefield, before it could be considered an elite one.

Under these circumstances, the report of Li Ye’s recapture of Chang’an, arrived in Chengdu.

“Following Huang Chao’s defeat, the battle will soon stop. I’m afraid that there is no chance for the Regal Guards to sharpen their skills on the battlefield.” The eunuch, Yang Fugong said worriedly, bowing in front of Tian Lingzi.

Tian Lingzi sat gloomily on the wooden armchair, and did not speak.

Yang Fugong glanced at Tian Lingzi. He was Tian Lingzi’s adopted son and also his trusted fellow, so he continued, “Prince An recaptured the capital and has more than 100,000 troops, so he is now firmly in control of Chang’an. When His Majesty returns to the capital, what status will the Regal Guards have? Will it be replaced by the Pinglu Army?”

Yang Fugong knew that Tian Lingzi feared Prince An. It was inevitable. Whether dealing with Wei Baoheng or Liu Xingshen, what Prince An had done in Chang’an, was to bring down the corrupt and treacherous officials. Since Tian Lingzi was the Lieutenant of the Regal Guards and trod the same path as Liu Xingshen, he was already in opposition with Prince An.

Tian Lingzi was afraid that Prince An would come after him at some time, so he was trying to constrain Prince An, and let him make fewer achievements, but things went contrary to his wishes.

Tian Lingzi turned a deaf ear to Yang Fugong’s words. It was as if he had heard nothing. He was lost in his own thoughts.

A long while later, he looked up and suddenly asked, “How is Yang Fuguang now?”

Yang Fugong was stunned for a while. Before they entered the Imperial Palace, Yang Fuguang was still his cousin. He did not understand what Tian Lingzi meant, but answered honestly, “Yang Fuguang is in Chang’an as well.”

Tian Lingzi suddenly looked murderous. “Send a master to find a chance to kill him, before we go back to Chang’an.”

Yang Fugong was horrified, but quickly reacted.

Since Huang Chao started the uprising, the Imperial Army had been fighting against him all over the country. Yang Fuguang was the only eunuch who fought with the army, and he had achieved a lot. Now, his reputation completely exceeded Tian Lingzi’s, and Li Yan praised him excessively.

As one could imagine, when Li Yan returned to Chang’an, he would definitely put Yang Fuguang in an important position. Then, Tian Lingzi’s position was at stake.

Tian Lingzi would not allow anyone to endanger his position, even if it was just a possibility.

Yang Fugong said, “Yes”, respectfully. Although Yang Fuguang was his cousin, only power and profits mattered in the Imperial Palace. People there were ruthless, and no one cared about family ties. Besides, they were never in the same boat.

Yang Fugong asked tentatively, “Then, the Pinglu Army...”

Tian Lingzi waved his hand. “We don’t need to fear the Pinglu Army. It’s a Vassal State Army, so it can’t garrison the capital. They have to go back to Pinglu afterward. Chang’an will still be controlled by the Regal Guards.”

Yang Fugong blinked, “What would His Majesty think? With His Majesty’s trust in Prince An...”

Tian Lingzi sneered. “It makes no difference. Pinglu soldiers have families. They have to go home after the battle. If they need to garrison Chang’an for a long time, they will be homesick, because they are just ordinary people. The root of the Pinglu Army is in Pinglu, and they are destined to go back.”

Yang Fugong immediately agreed.

As the sun shone through the window, Li Ye opened his eyes and gently lifted the Junior Priestess’ white arm away from his chest. She was still asleep. Her hair fell on her white neck, covering her flushed cheeks. She was sleeping as soundly as a baby.

Li Ye got up and got out of bed. The maids waiting outside, heard the noise. They immediately came in and prepared the items for his ablutions.

Time flew, and soon it would be winter. The battles on all sides of Guanzhong had basically stopped. In this process, the Pinglu Army had been garrisoning Chang’an, and did not fight outside, while the other Vassal State Armies had been clearing out the rebels everywhere.

The Yanmen Army was extremely ferocious, beheading more than 200,000 people.

Li Keyong recaptured a large number of states and counties for the imperial court. In addition, Li Changyan sent Wang Jian and Li Maozhen, to lead the Fengxiang Army to fight on all sides. Wang Chongrong from the Hezhong Army and Zhu Wen, also led their own troops and achieved a number of conquests as well.

It was worth mentioning that Shang Rang and Huang Chao’s son led the remaining of the rebels to attack Caizhou. Caizhou Inspector General, Qin Zongquan was defeated. He surrendered to the rebels, and went on to attack Chenzhou with Shang Rang.

After a period of depression, a newly energized Gao Pian, who was in Huainan, led his troops to fight again, and went thousands of meters, to assist Chenzhou.

When Li Ye finished dressing and had a simple breakfast, he went to the study to deal with military affairs. Although he was occupying Chang’an, Wang Duo took charge of the important military and political affairs of the capital, with his men. In the beginning, after the Pinglu Army conquered the city, Li Zhen took part in the pacification of the people. After that, Wang Duo wielded control of great power.

Li Ye had no opinions and he did not want to contend for authority with Wang Duo. He had made enough achievements. At this time, if he was still intent on grasping power everywhere, it was possible that those with ulterior motives, would report him to the emperor, that he had evil intents and monstrous ambitions.

Nevertheless, Li Ye was still the only Grand Prince in Chang’an. After all, the other Grand Princes were either in Chengdu or killed by the rebels. Moreover, he had the Pinglu Army, so there were many visitors every day.

“Your Highness, Zhu Quanzhong requests to meet you,” Shangguan Qingcheng, who was responsible for the security matters of the mansion, reported.”

“Zhu Wen?” Li Ye could not help smiling. He put down the brush pen, got up, went out of the door, and went to the hall with Shangguan Qingcheng.

Zhu Wen came to meet Li Ye without wearing any armor or official robes. He wore a set of splendid clothes, and had an extraordinary bearing. When Li Ye was still in the courtyard, he heard him coming, so he stood up and cupped his hands, as a greeting to Li Ye. He smiled and said, “Your Highness Prince An.”

“General Zhu, long time no see.” Li Ye saluted back, with cupped hands. He sat down on the main seat and looked at Zhu Wen with a smile, “General Zhu, why do you have time to visit me?”

Zhu Wen smiled and said, “Whenever I’m in Chang’an, I have to visit you. You recaptured the capital and killed Huang Chao. You have made the greatest achievement in the battlefield and your fame has spread all over the world. Everyone admires you and wants to be friends with you.”

Zhu Wen’s remarks were warm and natural. He was sincere and did not flatter Li Ye. With Zhu Wen’s type of personality, he did not flatter anyone so openly.

Li Ye was slightly moved. The great achievements of recapturing the capital and killing Huang Chao were followed by world-famous fame. The infinite luck came after it. Li Ye’s cultivation had already stepped into the Spiritual Master Realm, but luck continued to constantly converge to him.

Li Ye fought a battle against Zhu Wen in Dengzhou. At that time, they worked for their own emperors and fought on the battlefield. Now, Zhu Wen was the minister of the Tang Empire, and they worked for the same emperor, now. When they met this time round, they were not enemies anymore, and they talked happily, as if they were meeting in the teahouse for the first time.

In all fairness, Zhu Wen was not a gentleman and acted like a boor. Li Ye heard that when Zhu Wen fought on the battlefield, his means of killing was extremely ferocious and cruel. But, he was a true man.

They talked about their first meeting in the tea house to the battle of Dengzhou. Then, they talked about the general trend of the world. Before they knew it, time passed quietly. Finally, Li Ye held a banquet and drank with Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen was just one of many heroes who came to visit Li Ye. Visitors came to Prince An’s Manor, in an endless stream. While he and Zhu Wen were having a hearty drink, Shangguan Qingcheng suddenly came to report, “Wang Jian and Song Wentong from the Fengxiang Army are here to meet you.”

Wang Jian and Li Maozhen were old friends of Li Ye. Wang Jian and Li Maozhen had helped previously, when there was a conspiracy against the throne. Therefore, in the following years of Li Ye’s staying in Chang’an, both sides had many contacts and were very close.

Li Ye didn’t expect that they too, were in Chang’an. It seemed that they came to visit him the instant they arrived, or Li Ye would have received notice beforehand.

Li Ye looked at Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen said, “I’ve heard of the fame of Wang Jian and Song Wentong from the Fengxiang Army. They are both true men. Thanks to you, if I am lucky enough to drink with them today, it will be a great pleasure in my life.”

Li Ye nodded and asked Shangguan Qingcheng to invite them in.

A while later, Wang Jian and Li Maozhen came in together. Li Ye stood up to meet them and Zhu Wen also went outside.

“Your Highness Prince An, long time no see.”

“Your Highness Prince An.”

Wang Jian and Li Maozhen saluted Li Ye with cupped hands. Then, they were stunned when they saw Zhu Wen standing beside Li Ye.

Actually, when Zhu Wen returned Guanzhong from Dengzhou, he led the troops to fight against the allied forces composed of the Fengxiang Army, the Binning Army, the Xiasui Army, and other Vassal State Armies. The Vassal State Armies were defeated in that battle, and Wang Jian and Li Maozhen suffered many losses, because of him. At this moment, they both looked surprised at this unexpected meeting with Zhu Wen.

“The vice-commissioner of the Hezhong camp, General Zhu. You must have known each other before.” Li Ye introduced Zhu Wen to Wang Jian and Li Maozhen. Then, he said to Zhu Wen, “General Wang and General Song from the Fengxiang Army are my old friends. They helped me a lot in killing Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue in the past.”

Wang Jian and Song Wentong looked at each other in surprise. They both knew that Zhu Wen and Li Ye had fought against each other in Dengzhou. At this moment, they both felt surprised that Li Ye was holding a banquet to entertain Zhu Wen.

However, Zhu Wen looked the same as usual, and smiled as he greeted Wang Jian and Li Maozhen, as if there had never been any bad blood between them.

“Stop standing at the door. Come and take a seat.” Li Ye smiled and asked everyone to come in. When everyone sat down, he took up the wine cup and said, “The world is in chaos, and all of you are heroes. Today, we’re lucky to have an opportunity to sit in the same room and gather together, so why not drink wine together?”