Chapter 559 Xu Zhaojie’s anxiety!
After listening to Qiqige's words, An Miaoyi felt a little better and said quietly:

“At this point, all we can do is make the best of it…”

Qiqige heard this and consoled him:
"Madam, you don't have to worry too much. Although the Murong family is powerful, they are thousands of miles away from Youyan. In the Fengwu Army, they only have Murong Yuliang, and you have the support of Old Master Cui. In addition, you and the Marshal are so loving, and Master Jingren is the eldest son. The old lady also loves you so much. In my opinion, your position in the mansion is as stable as Mount Tai!"

"Although the Marshal liked that bitch before, he hasn't taken her into his room for such a long time. I think the Marshal may have forgotten her a long time ago?"

Feeling Qiqige's concern, An Miaoyi felt better and asked again:
"What is Bae Ji-soo doing lately?"

Qiqige said without hesitation:

"What else can that woman from Gongdu do? She has found a place to open her Changshan Clinic. I don't know what the Marshal sees in her that makes him pamper her so much. Before she even arrives in Yijing, the Marshal has asked Ye Cheng to find a place for her to open a clinic!"

At this point, Qiqige seemed to remember something, and suddenly lowered her voice and said to An Miaoyi:
"Madam, I discovered something. Ye Cheng and Pei Zhixiu are very close. I heard that Pei Zhixiu even wrote a letter to Ye Cheng on behalf of Ye Cheng's parents. Ye Cheng is now the Marshal's attendant officer, and he is in charge of all matters inside and outside the mansion. Madam, you can't let Pei Zhixiu win over a man like him..."

Listening to what Qiqige said, a subtle strange color flashed across An Miaoyi's beautiful eyes, and then she continued very calmly:

"Any other news from the mansion?"

Qiqige thought for a moment and said:

"There's nothing wrong with the others. Bai and Jinyu are also very obedient. But it seems that the Marshal likes the Su sisters very much!"

An Miaoyi thought for a moment and said:
"You mean Su Ruyan, Su Rumeng?"

Qiqige nodded and said seriously:

"The elder sister Su Ruyan is an honest person, but the younger sister Su Rumeng is a complete vixen. I bribed Cui'er, the maidservant beside her. According to Cui'er, Su Rumeng has been holding boiled eggs in her mouth recently, as if she is practicing something!"

"Madam, please be careful of the Su sisters. The Marshal loves this kind of JM flower the most!"

At this point, Qiqige didn't know what she remembered. She looked at An Miaoyi with a blush on her cheeks...

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Huainan, Bozhou

Tens of thousands of Anqing troops were engaged in a fierce battle with the Qi army defending the city. Countless boulders and logs were thrown down from the top of the city walls, but this still could not stop the momentum of the Anqing army's charge. Under the temptation of Xu Zhaojie's generous rewards and high positions and generous salaries, every member of the Anqing army was blood-thirsty and rushed towards the top of Bozhou city without hesitation.

Although the Qi army defending the city was still fighting hard and trying their best to stop the Anqing army from breaking into the city, unfortunately their efforts did not get the due reward. Under the scorching sun at noon and amid deafening shouts and cries, the Anqing army's battering ram finally broke down the city gate!
Seeing that the long-awaited breakthrough had finally appeared, Xu Zhaojie, who was standing outside the city supervising the battle, suddenly became spirited, drew out his sword, swung it decisively, and shouted:

"All troops, charge! The first person to rush into Bozhou City will be rewarded with 1,000 taels of silver and promoted three ranks!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the morale of the Anqing army soared, and they rushed towards the city gate like a flood. Faced with this dangerous situation, the Qi army defending the city tried to block the breakthrough point of the city gate at first, but as more and more Anqing soldiers rushed in, they finally gave up resistance. Amid the shouts of the Anqing army, some put down their weapons and kneeled on the ground to save their lives, while others abandoned their helmets and armor and fled for their lives...
Half an hour later, Xu Zhaojie, who had recaptured Bozhou City, rode a tall horse and walked into Bozhou City with his head held high, surrounded by hundreds of guards.

As Xu Zhaojie entered the city, his trusted general and clan member Xu Dade came over with a disheveled middle-aged man and said excitedly:

"My Lord, he is Wang Sanchuan. I ran after him as soon as I entered the city. This bastard even tried to put on civilian clothes and escape!"

Listening to Xu Dade's words, Xu Zhaojie also became interested in the middle-aged man with disheveled hair in front of him. He looked at him and said lightly:

"Keep your head up!"

After these words came out, Wang Sanchuan, who was being escorted, hesitated for a moment, but still slowly raised his head according to Xu Zhaojie's order. Seeing Wang Sanchuan's familiar face, Xu Zhaojie nodded slightly and said:

"Is there anything you want to say?"

After he finished speaking, Wang Sanchuan hesitated for a moment, but in the end he gritted his teeth and knelt down at Xu Zhaojie's feet, begging for mercy with tears in his eyes:
“My Lord, it’s not that I didn’t want to surrender, it’s that Cao Changping detained my wife and children in Licheng, and I had no choice. I hope you will consider our past as comrades in Luoan and just let me go…”

Although Wang Sanchuan looked very pitiful, Xu Zhaojie showed no sympathy and continued to speak calmly;

"What does it have to do with me that Cao Changping has detained your wife and children in Licheng?"

"I gave you a chance, but you were useless. You can't blame me!" "Since you mentioned Luoan, I remember that when you were in Luoan, you were always very excited whenever you mentioned the punishment of being torn apart by a chariot. So, dying by being torn apart by a chariot, Wang Sanchuan, is a worthy death for you!"

After that, Xu Zhaojie turned his gaze to Xu Dade and ordered:

"Gather all the surrendered Qi soldiers and let them see how their general Wang was torn to pieces by a chariot!"

"Yes! My Lord! I'll do it right away!"

Seeing that Xu Zhaojie was not giving him any chance to survive, Wang Sanchuan was completely furious. He struggled to stand up from the ground and cursed:

“Xu Zhaojie, you are a beast worse than pigs and dogs. Even if I become a ghost, I will not let you go…”

After Xu Zhaojie had just said a few words, the guard beside him kicked him to the ground, stuffed a piece of rag into his mouth and took him away.

This little episode did not affect Xu Zhaojie's mood, and he was in a very good mood after retaking Bozhou!
A month ago, Wang Kangxin was full of ambition and wanted to capture Kangyin, and then capture Shouchun, completely defeat Feng Keqin and take the wealthy land of Huainan for himself. But unfortunately, just when he was about to take Kangyin, Qilu General Cao Changping, with the support of Ye Mingsheng, led an army of 50,000 to stab Xu Zhaojie from the back, and soon captured Bozhou and even wanted to capture Zhucheng.

Zhucheng and Bozhou were Xu Zhaojie's rear bases. If Cao Changping captured these two places, it would be equivalent to cutting off Xu Zhaojie's retreat. For the Battle of Kangyin, Xu Zhaojie concentrated most of his troops and only left a small number of troops in Zhucheng and Kangyin, which were unable to stop Cao Changping's attack at all. So in order to ensure the safety of his retreat, Xu Zhaojie could only give up Kangyin, which was about to be obtained, with endless anger and regret, and personally led his army to rescue Zhucheng.

On Cao Changping's side, thanks to the second-hand firearms supported by Ye Mingsheng, he took Bozhou very smoothly. In addition, he thought that Xu Zhaojie's main force was still in Kangyin, so he was a little arrogant for a while, and failed to capture Zhucheng for several days. However, when he was about to capture Zhucheng, Xu Zhaojie, who led the main force of the Anqing army on a rapid march of hundreds of miles, suddenly appeared in front of him. Cao Changping was caught off guard and was defeated by Xu Zhaojie. Fortunately, with the firearms supported by Ye Mingsheng, he barely avoided annihilation and fought his way out...
After the heavy losses in this battle, Cao Changping could no longer attack Zhucheng. He could only leave Wang Sanchuan and more than 10,000 Qi soldiers to guard Bozhou, hoping to keep this bridgehead for the march into Huainan. He himself led more than 10,000 remnant troops and returned to Licheng to lick his wounds in silence!

Although Cao Changping was defeated successfully, the Anqing army under Xu Zhaojie also suffered heavy losses and could only watch Cao Changping lead his troops away helplessly. After more than ten days of reorganization, Xu Zhaojie set out to attack Bozhou and pull out the nail that Cao Changping had planted in Huainan!

Originally, Xu Zhaojie planned to slowly take over Bozhou, but after receiving the news three days ago that the Fengwu Army had completely defeated the Yan Army and dominated Youyan, Xu Zhaojie realized that Ye Mingsheng would not give him too much time, so he immediately ordered a fierce attack on Bozhou, striving to retake this strategic location as soon as possible.

Although he and Ye Mingsheng had long been an irreconcilable mortal enemy, the trick played by Ye Mingsheng this time made Xu Zhao hate Ye Mingsheng even more!

Although he successfully defeated Cao Changping, if Ye Mingsheng had not instructed Cao Changping to invade Huainan, he could have successfully captured Kangyin and then threatened Shouchun. In this way, Feng Keqin's ruling foundation in Huainan would have completely collapsed. If things continued to develop in this way, Xu Zhaojie was confident that he could attack Shouchun and completely put an end to Feng Keqin within half a year!

By then, Xu Zhaojie would own Anqing and Huainan. Although his territory was not as large as Fengwu Army's, it was much richer than Youyan and Liaoyang. As long as he integrated the resources and military forces of these two places, he would have the ability and reputation to compete with Ye Mingsheng for the Central Plains!

However, all of this was completely turned into nothing by Ye Mingsheng's sudden and sinister move...

Xu Zhaojie had already received the news. While he was busy defeating Cao Changping, Feng Keqin had already recovered, but he frequently appeared in public to encourage people and recruit soldiers to fight him to the end. In addition, tens of thousands of Huai troops also entered Kangyin City, setting up defense lines and building fortifications in this area to prevent attacks by the Anqing Army.

All of this was not what Xu Zhaojie wanted to see. Because of Cao Changping's sudden attack, he had missed the best opportunity to kill the Huai Army regime led by Feng Keqin with one blow. Now he had to get into a tug-of-war and a war of attrition with Feng Keqin!

Although Xu Zhaojie's Anqing Army had won victory after victory and was powerful, Huainan was, after all, the territory that Feng Keqin had managed for ten years. He had deep roots here, so it was impossible for him to quickly defeat the Huai Army!
Whenever Xu Zhaojie thought of this, he would have a headache and feel extremely anxious. Although Anqing under his rule and the Fengwu Army were still separated by the Central Plains commanded by Gao Zongchang, he could feel that Ye Mingsheng's butcher knife was getting closer and closer to him, and what he could do was very limited!

He has tried his best to expand his influence, but he still cannot catch up with Ye Mingsheng. Ye Mingsheng seems to always be one step ahead of him!
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Yijing, Yan Liao Governor's Office

In the study, Gu Sansi handed a document to Ye Mingsheng and said:

"Sir, this is the text of the negotiation agreement. Please take a look!"

Ye Mingsheng took the document and started to look through it. Because there were strong calls for war within both the Fengwu Army and the Luobei people, in order to reduce internal resistance, this agreement was established in the form of a secret agreement, and both parties implemented the results of the agreement in secret.

The general content of the agreement was that first, the Luobi people would release all the people of the Great Zhou and the captured soldiers of the Fengwu Army who were abducted in this battle, and the Fengwu Army also agreed not to pursue the Luobi people when they retreated.

Second, regarding the Luo Bi soldiers captured by the Fengwu Army, Luo Bi agreed to redeem the 7,000 Luo Bi captives in the hands of the Fengwu Army at the price of one war horse per person. In addition, they would pay the Fengwu Army 3,000 war horses in exchange for 100,000 shi of grain, as well as some cold weapons such as spears and swords.

Third, both parties agreed to maintain the existing bilateral trade exchanges, jointly create peace and stability in the border areas, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of merchants from both sides in each other's territory!

Seeing Ye Mingsheng finish reading the agreement, Gu Sansi added:
"Zhamuhe said he was willing to use his warhorses in exchange for our army's firearms and armor, but I rejected his proposal!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded and said:
"Sansi, you are right. Armor and firearms are the red lines of our army. They are issues that cannot be negotiated! Although our army has a great demand for war horses, the horse farms in Liaoyang and Youyan can produce them steadily every year. There is no need to make an exchange with the Luobi people on this!"

Ye Mingsheng paused and continued:
"Regarding the agreement you have reached, I agree in principle, but it still depends on the specific implementation of the agreement..."

(End of this chapter)