peror had laid out.

Inside Dingzhou in Xiliang Road, no one knew what kind of tangle was happening between Li Hongcheng and Gong Dian, who had come to take over his position. On the Qing Kingdom road toward Dongyi, the armies of the two sides were currently in confrontation. No one was willing to retreat a single step. The 3,000 soldiers of the Yanjing Camp’s winter training were forcefully blocked at the border of the Kingdom, not daring to take a single step in. This stalemate had gone on for three days.

“The Emperor has issued an edict for us to enter Dongyi to support the Great Prince in quelling the rebellion. In the end, the Great Prince had come back with a military order and said that his 10,000 elite troops were enough.” The commander of the Yanjing Camp, Wang Zhikun, looked at his trusted aides in the camp and smiled coldly. “Since that 10,000 elite troops are in the Liang Kingdom quelling a rebellion, who can stop our troops entering Dongyi?”

When he said this, Wang Zhikun’s anger finally exploded outward. This was originally a test from the court toward Dongyi. At first, everything progressed as planned. If the Great Prince did not send troops to stop them, these 3,000 elite troops would have been the vanguard and 20,000 people prepared by Yanjing Camp would have followed the road in. Who knew that these 3,00 elite troops would be stopped on the border, unable to take even one step in?

He pointed at the generals beneath and scolded them fiercely, “One thousand! One thousand people have broken your courage? They are also soldiers of the Qing Kingdom. Do you think they’ll actually dare to act against troops sent by the court?”

“Those are Black Knights,” a general said in a trembling voice. “With Chen Pingping dead and Sir Fan junior under house arrest in Jingdou, who knows if these cold-blooded Black Knights will actually draw their swords.”

The corners of Wang Zhikun’s eyes twitched slightly, but he did not shout in anger. Concerning the secret military action this time, he had nominally accepted the Bureau of Military Affairs’ order to lead a winter training exercise. In reality, he had accepted a secret edict the Emperor sent from the Palace.

Just as it was said earlier, this was a test. This was a test by the Emperor on the Throne toward his eldest son far away in Dongyi.

News of what happened in Jingdou had long reached Yanjing. Only now did Wang Zhikun know that the little Duke had led the Black Knights straight to Jingdou to rescue Director Chen. This Commander of Yanjing did not know why the old Director had suddenly been purged by the Emperor. Although he sighed in his heart, as a military man of the Qing Kingdom, he had to follow the Emperor’s orders.

Not long after the incident in Jingdou, the Great Prince suddenly sent an extra urgent military report saying that the volunteer armies within Dongyi had suddenly risen and battles were widespread. He was unable to leave to return to the capital, completely stopping Jingdou summoning him back to the capital in any way.

Wang Zhikun knew very well that it was because the Great Prince did not want to return to the capital. It was the so-called general being away and unable to receive his ruler’s orders. It was clear that this Great Prince, who successfully controlled 10,000 elite troops, had grown distanced from the Emperor because of that matter in Jingdou.

Once the Great Prince’s attitude was made clear, the Emperor did not get angry. Instead, he calmly sent an edict toward Dongyi saying that he wanted to send the Yanjing Army into Dongyi to help the Great Prince quell the rebellions. Just as Wang Zhikun expected, the Great Prince forcefully rejected the request. Furthermore, the troops used to block the Yanjing Army were indeed not that of the Great Princes. The court couldn’t even find an excuse.

“The Black Knights...” Wang Zhikun furrowed his brows slightly. Thinking of these riders whose numbers were sparse but were particularly powerful in battle, he naturally thought of that man of leisure in Jingdou.