Chapter 101: Old Stories Revisited
The chaos in the city continued all night.

As the sky gradually brightened on the second day, Li Yuanhui ordered each unit to select elite soldiers and hand them over to Liu Tong, a captain of the Xiaoguo Army, to patrol the city and maintain order. However, those who raped, looted, or harmed the people would be executed on the spot, regardless of whether they were rebels or Yan soldiers. He also took in the surrendered soldiers and restored order. Only then did the city gradually calm down.

"The saint is truly as deep as the abyss."

It had been planned to take several months or even longer to capture Shouchun, but the trenches had just been filled and the catapults had been built, but the city was breached before a single stone was thrown.

Murong Anguo and his trusted men were either captured or killed. In less than a month, they had dealt with the restless King Chen and King Qiao one after another.

Unlike Prince Qiao Murong Jian, Murong Anguo was the one who actually showed signs of rebellion, so there was no way for him to survive.

The difference is whether it is clan extermination or death penalty.

With the assistance of brothers Xiao Wangzhi and Xiao Shizhi, Li Yuanhui took control of Shouchun City, cleaned up the prefectural government, and waited for the arrival of the saint.

Three days later, Murong Ying moved from Xiacai to Shouchun.

Li Yuanhui entered the city via the north gate, and together with General Duan Yihong and many other colleagues, he welcomed the emperor.

As soon as Murong Ying got off the boat, he shouted, "Where is Xiao Qing?"

Xiao Wangzhi, who was in the crowd, stepped out and knelt down, saying with tears in his eyes, "Your servant Xiao Wangzhi pays respects to the Saint and wishes you good health for thousands of years."

Murong Ying stepped forward and personally helped Xiao Wangzhi up: "Xiao Qing...Xiao Qing was able to turn back from his mistakes and help the court defeat the bandits. This is a great kindness."

Li Yuanhui, who was among the ranks of military generals, was a little confused at first when he heard the conversation between the two.

How did this become a return to the right path? Wasn't it a long time ago? Ah, I see.

Although Xiao Wangzhi was a secret agent arranged long ago to collect intelligence for the emperor, and he pretended to be a snake in the eyes of Chen Wang Murong Anguo and pretended to surrender to him to help him succeed.

But this matter cannot be made public, we can only say that Xiao Wangzhi has come to his senses and returned to the right path.

Otherwise, wouldn't the local officials below be worried and uneasy? They might even suspect that the sage deliberately let Xiao Wangzhi incite Murong Anguo to rebel.

Is there any hidden saint around me?

Therefore, this kind of thing must be out in the open, and Xiao Wangzhi became the one who "returned to the right path" and "rectified the chaos."

The only thing is that it couldn't have been premeditated.

After realizing this, Li Yuanhui could not help but feel a little more wary of Murong Ying. No wonder Feng Jin let him guess on the Mid-Autumn Festival and refused to reveal a word.

After encouraging the key figures of the "rebellion", it was natural to reward Li Yuanhui, who had made the first contribution by entering the city.

Although there was an insider who opened the door, a strategy for capturing the city was formulated in a very short period of time and implemented almost perfectly, and then order in the city was quickly restored.

Li Yuanhui was undoubtedly the first to achieve this, and many of his lieutenants and captains were also quite impressive. The losses in the battle were also kept to a very low level.

"Li Silang."

"The minister is here."

Li Yuanhui stepped forward and saluted.

"During this Mid-Autumn Night Assault, you acted carefully and deployed your troops properly. After capturing the city, you also enforced military discipline and stabilized the area. You are just like your father. In this battle, you are the first to achieve merit. Tell me, what do you want?"

Murong Ying is very satisfied with this son-in-law now. He usually behaves steadily, not like a teenager at all, but he can act with thunder at critical moments. It is absolutely no exaggeration to say that he is a young talent. In time, he will definitely be a pillar of Dayan.

When Li Yuanhui heard about the reward, he naturally had to be polite: "The achievement of Zhongqiu is firstly due to the blessing of the saint, secondly due to the rebellion of Xiao Juncheng, and thirdly due to the dedication of the soldiers. I request to reward the meritorious soldiers. As for me, my contribution is only insignificant and not worth mentioning."

Murong Ying laughed and said jokingly, "I just said that you have the style of your father. Now you are just as flawless as your father, without any youthful vigor." Li Yuanhui could only reply, "Rewards and punishments for merits and demerits should be discussed by the officials and decided by the sage. If I have made a small contribution, I dare not ask for a reward."

After hearing this, Murong Ying was even more pleased. He had made great contributions but was not arrogant. He knew when to advance and when to retreat, kept his duties, and was smart and capable. How could the emperor not like such a minister, especially his son-in-law.

"Okay, Lord Tang is a good parent. I will record your contribution for now and we will discuss this later. Where is Liu Xuanji?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xuanji stepped out of the line and said, "General, I am here to pay my respects to the Saint. May the Saint live in peace and health forever."

"I remember you. You and Li Silang killed Yang Xun together. In the battle of Mount Tai, you drove away thousands of bandits and beheaded more than a hundred. I read the military report at that time and thought it was a lie. But considering that the King of Wu, Li Silang and Duan Dalang were both my nephews and always acted prudently, I was skeptical. Later, I went to Licheng and sent eunuchs to investigate. Only then did I dare to believe it. You attacked at night on the Mid-Autumn Festival and captured the rebel leader. You have made many outstanding achievements. Yes, you are really a powerful minister of the time."

Murong Ying also praised Liu Xuanji. He thought he remembered the military report he received on the road, so he threw the military report signed by Murong Yang, Li Yuanhui and Duan Wuchen on the ground on the spot.

He also cursed the three people for being so bold as to deceive him with these things.

It was the Minister of the Court Murong Hui who picked up the military report and read it through. Although he also found it unbelievable, he still advised that Wu Wang Murong Yang had always been respectful, and Li Duan and others were both cautious in their actions. They were young talents from famous families and would not be unfamiliar with the court system. If it was not true, they would not dare to deceive the emperor in such a way.

After listening to him, Murong Ying also felt that what he said made sense, so when he arrived in Licheng, he immediately sent people to conduct a secret investigation among the Xiaoguo Army. There were thousands of people who witnessed the incident with their own eyes, and all of them spoke basically the same story. Minor discrepancies had little impact on the whole incident, and with such a result, he had no choice but to accept it.

When Liu Xuanji heard Murong Ying's praise, he expressed his loyalty even more passionately.

He was regarded as a great minister of the time, and this was an evaluation given to him by the emperor in person, which was quite high.

Murong Ying was not stingy with rewards and directly skipped the title of Lang Jiang and appointed him General Huwei. However, he had not yet arranged how many troops he would lead and where they would be stationed. He was still in charge of his own troops.

The rest, including Chen Zhen, He Gui, Guo Xiaoke, Dou Jian, etc., were also awarded honorary titles and other rewards, but their current positions were not touched and they were still colonels.

In fact, Liu Xuanji's reward was due to his outstanding performance in the Battle of Mount Tai, which led to his promotion above his level.

After Murong Ying entered the city, Li Yuanhui's troops continued to be responsible for the defense of the four city gates, while Murong Ying's personal defense was still the responsibility of the Jinwu Guards as usual.

Li Si finally didn't have to stay in the camp and could rest for a few days. As for the defense of the city, it was naturally the responsibility of the captains below.

As for other things, such as the many signs after the rebellion was suppressed, he didn't have to worry about them.

Liu Xuanji's troops were all heavy cavalry and did not need to participate in the defense of the city. When they had nothing to do, they would bring wine and food to him for a drink.

For the past two days, Old Liu seemed to be hesitant to speak, while Li Yuanhui saw through it but did not say anything.

Finally on the third day, Lao Liu couldn't help himself and asked, "Silang, do you still remember that incident?"

"That thing? What is it?"

"It's what we talked about in Jinyang."

"Oh, I forgot."

Seeing that Lao Liu still had an expression of wanting to speak but not knowing what to say, Li Yuanhui said with a smile: "You look useless, but a man should have no problem finding a wife. Don't worry, how can I forget about your affairs?"

Liu Xuanji then smiled with relief and said, "I knew that you, Silang, are reliable."

Li Yuanhui continued, "My uncle, General Li Gong, has a cousin on his side who is a few years younger than you. She is very beautiful, but she has been married. My cousin's husband followed the army to conquer Goguryeo two years ago and died in the army. He was from the Wang family of Taiyuan. You see..."

When Liu Xuanji heard this, he was overjoyed. Wow, a noble lady from the Longxi Li family? A second marriage?

What can I do? Is it important? It's not important at all.

(End of this chapter)