chapter 3.1 The bandit received the imperial decree

Ten days later, when the news of Anle Zhai's submission to the court reached the world, the Minister of Rites, Fan Wen Chao, came towards Anle Zhai with a decree from the Emperor Jianing and a reward full of sincerity.

Surrounded on two sides by the mountains, the terrain of Anle Zhai Village is treacherous, and on the back side is the sea where the 30,000 sailors train their troops. The only access is a sheep's intestine path and there is only a plain of 100 meters near the main gate. If it were not for this strange terrain this den of thieves would not have survived the court's siege several times a year.

Even before the imperial court's reward procession entered the territory of Anle Zhai, soldiers clad in armour with long swords could be seen from afar, with a fierce and ferocious banditry at every five or ten steps. The soldiers in formation did not stop or greet the imperial troops but merely watched them coldly as they walked into the boundaries of the fortress looking away as if they were lambs balking at the prospect of entering a wolfs den.

The Ministry of Rites, Fan Wen Chao is a real weak man who entered the civil service with the imperial examinations and is good at poetry and songs but never seen such in a battle.

If she hadn't failed in her quest for the position of crown prince consort of the Eastern Palace, a military general would have been enough to invite her to surrender and there would have been no need for the Minister of Rites to come and console her personally!

The deputy general, Zhao Zhongshi who had followed him was afraid that this fancy servant would spoil the matter, so he whispered, "Fan da Ren, Ren Anle is very strong in nature, so don't ignite her feiry temperament later. If the surrender fails, His Majesty's power will be unpredictable and we will be in trouble!"

(da Ren - an endearment for a grown up adult or a title of respect towards superior)

Thinking of the rewards that stretched for miles behind him, Fan Wen Chao's heart fluttered and he nodded, "Don't worry, General Zhao, I will not bother with a woman."

Seeing that Fan Wen Chao was not impressed, Deputy General Zhao blinked and retreated to the side in silence. In this part of Jinan, if General Ji, the commander of Zunan's battalion, was the emperor of the land, then Ren Anle was the snake at the head of the land, and the strong dragon did not dare to press it, so what used could a mere embroidered pillow be.

Near a hundred meters away, the looming Anle Village finally appeared in front of everyone. Watching the scene in front of them, Fan Wen Chao pulled the reins hard and his face turned white. Only then did he realise why the surrender of Anle Fortress was so important to Commander -in- chief Ji, who was incharge of Sounan, and that the reward given by Emperor Jianing was worth a fortune.

The majestic thing before him, encompasses a hundred miles, was not a small mountain fortress, this damning division is clearly an indestructible city!

The city wall were several feet high, the halberds were cold and hard, the soldiers were powerful and rugged and the wooden plaque hanging at the top of the city had the words 'Anle Zhai' written on it in a stern and heavy manner.

The Anle Fortress is a deep in the southeastern mountain range of Great Jing and has grown developed over the past thirty years with naval devisions sweeping across the south China Sea. He can't imagine that it would be so powerful that it is necessary to wait for the future. This city is now enough to become a major threat to the heart of Great Jing.