Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Listen up, ship ahead! By order of General Helian Qianjun, all passing merchant ships must make a routine stop for inspection and immediately drop anchor and lower sails."

On the beacon tower responsible for patrolling along the river, Ye Hui solemnly ordered the grain transport ships sailing on the Han River to dock.

As the eldest son of the Ye family, who had served as a prefect, he perfectly captured the aura of a beacon tower officer, without revealing the slightest flaw.

The captain of the leading merchant ship immediately stood at the bow and saluted Ye Hui on the beacon tower: "Sir, this is the Shangguan family's fleet."

"We are here to transport grain for the garrison of Luoyang. We have a personal warrant from the Emperor, and no one may obstruct us along the way. Please allow us to pass, sir."

Ye Hui replied, "General Helian personally ordered that there have been too many enemy spies infiltrating Luoyang recently, and they have even poisoned our soup."

For the safety of our Great Xia warriors, we must strengthen our defenses. Please do not put me in a difficult position; once the inspection is complete, I will allow them to pass.

"This……"

"Please, ship owner, bring the ship ashore so we can inspect it. This will allow us to report back to General Helian."

If something goes wrong, it will be difficult for anyone to explain to their superiors, wouldn't you say?

The boat owner frowned, but seeing that it was less than twenty miles from Luoyang Port, he agreed after a moment's thought.

"Please check quickly, General. If the delivery of the grain is delayed, we may not be able to return to our family to report back."

"Don't worry, it won't take long. As long as the ship owner cooperates, things will be over soon."

Without giving it much thought, the boat owner waved his hand and shouted, "Lower the sails halfway and turn the rudder to dock!"

Soon, the three merchant ships lowered their sails halfway, changed course, and moved closer to the shore.

"Woo~wu~"

At this moment, a group of Western Xia soldiers, stripped naked and bound hand and foot, were being held under the beacon tower.

When he heard Ye Hui order the fleet to dock, and the fleet actually did so, he was so anxious that he almost banged his head against the wall and shouted to remind them.

Unfortunately, their mouths were completely stuffed with foot-binding cloths that they had somehow gotten their hands on, so they could only let out unwilling whimpers.

"I don't understand, why not just kill them? What's the use of keeping these barbarians alive?"

Zhang Dingbian couldn't understand Lü Meng's actions at all.

Lu Meng calmly replied, "It's always good to be on guard. We might need to rely on these barbarians to enter Luoyang tonight. It's always better to have a backup plan."

As they spoke, the merchant ship slowly approached the shore.

Lu Meng's eyes suddenly turned cold: "Success or failure hinges on this."

"Ok!"

Zhang Dingbian nodded vigorously, and then walked with Lü Meng toward the fleet that had docked.

The moment the boarding ramp of the grain transport ship was lowered from the ship, Lü Meng immediately stepped forward and gave the ship's captain a military salute.

"You must be Captain Shangguan Ming, right?"

"You are……"

boom--

A gunshot rang out, sending a chill down the spines of everyone on board.

Looking over, Shangguan Ming saw Zhang Dingbian executing a Qiang soldier with a rifle not far away.

Just then, Lü Meng spoke calmly.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Lü Meng, the adjutant of the third battalion of the Great Chu Imperial Guard. I have come here to recapture Luoyang on the orders of Instructor Shen."

"What? You're... the Chu army?"

"We are the personal guards appointed by Her Majesty the Empress. Captain Shangguan, we had no choice but to trick you into coming here. Please cooperate."

Shangguan Mingren was dumbfounded, thinking he had misheard.

"What exactly do you want?"

"nothing."

As soon as Lü Meng finished speaking, hundreds of rifles were pointed at Shangguan Ming and the people on the boat.

A bead of cold sweat involuntarily rolled down Shangguan Ming's forehead.

"Captain Shangguan, these three ships, along with their sailors and helmsmen, have now been requisitioned by my Imperial Guard. Please cooperate with my soldiers to unload all the food from the ships."

"This……"

"Ship owner, please don't put me in a difficult position."

"Okay, okay, I promise, I'll agree to anything you say!"

Shangguan Naruto's answer was very straightforward, not because he was moved by Lu Meng's words, but because...

His head was being held to the head by Lü Meng with a Browning pistol.

"Thank you for your cooperation, ship owner. The Royal Guard will remember your contribution. Now, ship owner and anyone else who is not required to do this, please do one more thing: tie your hands and stay here for now."

After saying that, Lü Meng turned around and roared.

"Unload the grain!"

At the command, the Imperial Guard soldiers quickly got to work.

……

Late at night, the port of Luoyang was brightly lit.

A group of Xia soldiers, holding torches, kept looking at the dark river surface.

"Damn it, why isn't the fleet here yet? It's been delayed for hours!"

The Western Xia general in charge, named Li Sigong, was very dissatisfied with this.

When the Xia army entered Luoyang, they had almost no experience in governing the city, except for burning, killing, and looting.

In just one month, farmland in the Heluo region was completely abandoned, and the once prosperous city of Luoyang was plunged into a severe food crisis due to the drastic overexploitation by these beasts.

In the end, they could only rely on the powerful clans in the Guanzhong region to transport grain over long distances.

Fortunately, there was the Han River, a waterway that had been dug and managed since the time of Emperor Xuan; otherwise, the Xia army would have starved to death.

Just as Li Sigong was continuing his tirade, the Guanzhong fleet finally came into view.

"Damn it, they're finally here! I want to ask these bastards why they took so long!"

A guard standing nearby asked, "General, shall we question him?"

"Of course we'll interrogate them!" Li Sigong roared with resentment. "Not only will I interrogate them, I'll skin them alive!"

Three large ships slowly entered the harbor and docked in front of the sluice gate, awaiting final questioning.

Li Sigong, leading a squad of soldiers, yelled at the other side, "Stop right there! Why are you so late?"

"Woooooo~~"

On the bow of the ship, a Western Xia officer with his jaw dislocated and his hands tied behind his back was whimpering.

But soon, Ye Hui behind him forcefully pulled on the leather belt that bound his back and said calmly, "We encountered a group of river pirates on the way here, which delayed us a bit. Please forgive us, General!"

Li Sigong immediately raised his torch and swept it towards the ship that was about to drop anchor. When he saw Ye Hui, who was wearing a white trench coat, he was stunned.

"Who are you? Why isn't it Shangguan Ming who came?"

"The ship captain, Shangguan, was attacked and injured by river pirates. He has returned to Chang'an by small boat to recuperate and has been specially ordered by me to ensure that the grain supplies are delivered to Luoyang. This General Zhe Luo can testify to this."

As he spoke, Ye Hui gave the Hu man's crotch a hard pinch.

"Uuuuuu——"

The barbarian nodded repeatedly in pain, whimpering incessantly.

"It's a pity that General Zhe Luo was wounded in the throat by the river bandits while saving our lives. Alas, it's truly heartbreaking."

Because it was so dark and there was still some distance between them, Li Sigong could only make out the general appearance of the Xia man.

At this moment, a squad of heavily armed guards officers crouched below the ship's deck, holding their breath and gripping their rifles tightly, waiting for the order to rush out of the ship.

Most of them were new recruits who had not yet experienced the baptism of war and had barely fired a gun. It was inevitable that they would be a little nervous as they participated in such a real battle for the first time.

Fortunately, the veterans among them remained calm and composed, which gave them immense courage.

After a brief silence, Li Sigong completely lowered his guard: "These despicable river pirates actually dared to intercept the provisions of my Great Xia warriors!"

If we can catch them, we'll drink their blood and use their hearts as snacks!

After speaking, he waved his hand, signaling to open the sluice gate.

With the combined efforts of dozens of soldiers turning the rotary dials, the heavy sluice gates finally opened slowly towards the three merchant ships.

Lu Meng's eyes instantly turned extremely cold as he crouched under the ship's railing. He tried to suppress his inner turmoil and waved to the guards behind him, signaling them not to be nervous.

The merchant ship encountered no further obstacles and slowly sailed into Luoyang Port.

Only after the anchor was dropped and the rope was accurately secured to the pier in the harbor did Li Sigong begin to curse impatiently.

"Alright, you bunch of lackeys, hurry up and unload the grain! We're starving! Get to work!"

"You'd be more like a zombie!"

Suddenly, Ye Hui kicked Zhe Luo off the boat.

The next moment, he pushed a Gatling gun directly to the pier of the boat.

"Hungry? Then I'll treat you bunch of animals to some peanuts."

Accompanied by Ye Hui's ferocious laughter, he slowly turned the handle on the Gatling gun.

Da da da da——

Before Li Sigong on the shore could react, a dense hail of bullets rained down like locusts.

Puff puff puff——

In an instant, the Hu people on the shore were turned into a hornet's nest amidst cheers and laughter.

"Hahaha, that's awesome, so awesome!"

Ye Hui kept cranking the handle, watching the enemies on the shore fall one by one under the hail of bullets, his madness growing stronger.

"No, enemy attack!"

Finally realizing what was happening, Li Sigong roared and sidestepped, trying to avoid the Gatling gun bullets.

But the next second...

"Throw!"

With a roar from Lü Meng, more than twenty grenades were thrown from the ship's side, forming a perfect parabola in the night sky before landing accurately on the shore.

boom--

After a series of explosions, the Xia Kingdom army guarding the shore, including Li Sigong, was completely wiped out.

"Disembark, immediately take control of the port's main thoroughfares, and set up defensive fortifications on the spot!"

At a command, a total of two thousand guardsmen on the three ships immediately jumped off the deck, quickly took control of all the key passages in the port, and used all available resources to set up combat fortifications.

With such a commotion, they all knew that the first battle against the Western Xia army would definitely break out at the port.