A lowly soldier becomes king, I slaughter my way through the late Tang Dynasty!

"What are you yelling about? Chop him up!"

Li Shouzhen was furious when he saw Zhang Fu.

This guy was originally just someone who chopped wood for him, yet he dared to rob him of the ballistae he was reselling, almost killing him!

Zhang Fu glared at Li Shouzhen and cursed loudly.

"Li the Rogue! You're as stupid as a pig or a dog! I don't believe you could find this path. Who found it then?"

Li Shouzhen was called a hooligan and immediately flew into a rage!

In this era, "hooligan" refers to vagrants, homeless and unstable individuals, and has little to do with bullying women.

However, Li Shouzhen was a refugee in his early years and came from an extremely humble background.

When he was scolded to the point of hurt, Li Shouzhen drew his knife.

puff!

With a single slash, Zhang Fu was disemboweled!

Zhang Fu's eyes were wide open in anger, showing no sign of begging for mercy, his face filled with nothing but resentment.

Li Rui watched silently, not wanting to get involved.

These bandits deserved to die; before they intercepted and killed the Empress's guards, they had harmed countless innocent people.

At this moment, Zhao Kuangyin, covered in blood, crawled out of the passageway.

Seeing Zhang Fu's unwilling expression, he sneered.

"You think you're so smart? Eight days ago, my General Li knew you were hiding in this valley."

Later, after checking the case files in Fengqiu County for five or six days, without leaving the house, they found the tunnel used for illegal mining.

You idiot, you really think you can rest easy just by hiding in there?

Zhang Fu was instantly dumbfounded.

He looked in the direction Zhao Kuangyin was reporting back and his eyes met Li Rui's.

It's him! ?

Zhang Fu's whole body stiffened.

Li Rui's tall and straight figure is so distinctive!

Besides, how could Zhang Fu possibly forget that heroic spirit between his brows?

This is exactly what happened that day.

Is he a valiant general who, accompanied by two women, single-handedly entered an uninhabited territory?

Zhang Fu even had a wild hope.

If this valiant general were under my command, I could probably even take down Baima City, the stronghold of Huazhou!

The result is now.

As it turns out, they were not only brave but also shrewd strategists.

The retaliation came too quickly!

Zhang Fu closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

The gap between people can sometimes be as vast as an insurmountable chasm.

……

After a long while, outside the mountains and forests.

"The bandits have all been wiped out, and it's time for me to return to Huazhou."

Li Shouzhen mounted his horse and was about to leave.

Li Rui smiled faintly.

"General, don't forget what you promised me."

Li Shouzhen's lips twitched as he gritted his teeth.

"Don't worry, you'll get your share!"

The price he finally agreed on with Li Rui was 3,000 sets of armor, 20,000 strings of cash, 3,000 hard bows, and 5 arrows for each bow.

This price was actually beyond Li Rui's expectations.

Furthermore, Li Rui also made a request.

Before he returned to Dingzhou, this batch of armor and copper coins had to be sent to Dingzhou.

To avoid Li Shouzhen delaying.

Having been given leverage, Li Shouzhen had no choice but to comply.

Tian Wu watched as the soldiers of the Yicheng Army departed to the north.

He himself was completely bewildered.

Is that... the end?

Tian Wu stroked his exhausted face, feeling utterly bewildered.

He led 20,000 imperial guards, searching tirelessly in the deep mountains and forests like wild men.

More than ten people died as a result!

Some fell and tumbled, some accidentally ate poisonous plants, and some were killed by wild animals.

In the end?

We found nothing!

On the contrary, Li Rui was sitting in the Fengqiu County government office, leisurely flipping through the case files.

But they found the bandits first!

Later, the astute Li Shouzhen preemptively wiped out all the bandits.

in the end.

He was the only one who held the largest and highest rank among the Imperial Guard infantry commanders.

We got nothing!

Pure clown!

Tian Wu was speechless, unsure how to report back.

Li Rui didn't care what he thought.

He led Zhao Kuangyin all the way to the capital.

One day later.

News of the complete annihilation of Black Wind Stronghold reached Bianliang.

The people of Bianliang did not cheer, but simply breathed a sigh of relief.

but.

When they heard that the 20,000 Imperial Guards had done nothing but wander around in the mountains and forests.

Ultimately, it was only through the rumored intervention of Li Rui and Li Yulong that the problem was resolved.

The people were unsure whether to remain silent or rejoice.

Speechless, the Imperial Guards who were protecting them were so incompetent!

To my delight, this General Yulong truly lived up to his reputation as a great general!

Inside the palace.

After reading the report sent by Tian Wu, Shi Chonggui's face was so gloomy that it seemed as if water was about to drip from it.

"It's Li Rui again."

He muttered something to himself.

He then flew into a rage!

boom!

Shi Chonggui kicked the table away, then grabbed a wine bottle and angrily smashed it away!

"It's Li Rui again!!"

He roared angrily.

The eunuch outside the door trembled and hurriedly crawled to the ground.

The geisha Qingluan, who was pouring wine for Shi Chonggui, was also terrified by this scene.

Seeing the emperor's fury, Qingluan instinctively tried to calm him down.

"Why is Your Majesty angry? Isn't it a good thing that the bandits were successfully suppressed?"

Shi Zhonggui suddenly turned his head!

The murderous glare in her eyes terrified Qingluan, turning her lips deathly pale.

"A good thing? You're saying this is a good thing?"

Qingluan knew nothing of court affairs and dared not utter a word.

Shi Chonggui gritted his teeth and roared hoarsely.

"My 20,000 Imperial Guards have been out in force for eight days! Yet they haven't even found a trace of the bandits!"

As a result, Li Rui accomplished something that even my 20,000 Imperial Guards couldn't do without leaving his house!

"This is a good thing!? My entire army is not as good as Li Rui alone!! This is a good thing!?"

Qingluan was so frightened that she burst into tears and knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.

"This lowly concubine is ignorant of state affairs and has spoken nonsense. I have already admitted my crime and beg Your Majesty to punish me."

Shi Chonggui was furious, but he also knew that he had no way to deal with Li Rui at the moment.

I used to admire this person quite a bit and wanted to place him in front of the palace and train him well.

But at this moment.

After defying the imperial decree, he spent another night alone with the Empress.

Now they're even claiming that the achievements of 20,000 imperial guards are inferior to his own.

Shi Zhonggui had long since lost all appreciation for Li Rui.

Only deep-seated fear!

But unfortunately, he couldn't touch Li Rui.

All the officials and nobles are watching, the people of Bianliang are watching, and the people of the whole country are watching!

Li Rui has repeatedly made meritorious contributions, but he should not be punished without cause.

It will only make everyone think that he is an unreasonable emperor.

Shi Chonggui had nowhere to vent his anger.

He had no choice but to turn his furious gaze toward Qingluan.

"Take it off."

Qingluan was stunned and didn't react.

Shi Chonggui stepped on her head and said angrily.

"I told you to take it off!"

Qingluan trembled and bent over to take off her clothes.

Shi Chonggui stared at the body he loved so much, yet a sense of powerlessness welled up inside him.

Gradually, a sickly look flashed in his eyes.

"Someone, bring me a willow branch."

The blue phoenix looked up in alarm, as if it had anticipated something.

Outside the hall, a young eunuch bowed his head and handed over a freshly picked willow branch.

Shi Chonggui took it, his sickly gaze falling on Qingluan.

The blue phoenix's eyes showed despair as it pleaded incessantly.

"Your Majesty, no..."

But Shi Zhonggui wouldn't listen.

Qingluan is not the empress.

It's not Li Rui either.

She was just a lowly geisha.

Shi Chonggui could humiliate him at will.

An incompetent man only vents his anger on the weak.

……

at the same time.

Feng Yao has left the palace.

She deliberately changed into a plain-colored gauze dress, not dressing up like an empress.

This makes people feel closer to you and less distant.

Three miles outside the city.

Under a willow tree by the Bian River.

Li Rui glanced around, somewhat surprised.

Is Feng Yao outside the city?

Is she waiting for me?

It's rather inappropriate for a queen to do this.

After a moment's thought, Li Rui immediately spoke to Zhao Kuangyin.

"Give me your clothes from yesterday."

Zhao Kuangyin was stunned, not understanding why.

He killed the enemy yesterday, and his clothes were covered in the enemy's blood, filthy.

After it was handed over to Li Rui, Li Rui changed into it on the spot.

Then, still feeling it wasn't enough, he messed up his hair a bit more and smeared some ash on his face.

Looking at him like this, you'd think he was the one who fought a bloody battle!

Li Rui spurred his horse and galloped to Feng Yao's carriage.

Covered in blood, he dismounted and knelt on one knee.

"Your subject, Li Rui, has personally killed the bandit leader, avenging the Empress's death."