In the Xiangning Uncle Mansion, Shen Zhou personally rushed to the yard of the eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law.
Although it was daytime, there were still blazing fires burning in the western sky, and the shouts of killing were like waves, rushing towards the city, shaking the hearts of everyone in the city, spreading fear and despair.
The incident happened suddenly, the food and grass were burned, and the city gate was about to be breached. The imperial capital, which already lacked confidence in defending the city, unless reinforcements appeared immediately at this moment, the city would only be breached within a few hours... Even now there is a fierce battle at the west gate. The people included were mostly the dead soldiers set aside by various families to break out of the siege, as well as the common people in the city who hoped that when the royal family and nobles retreated, they would take their wives and children with them as promised...
As for the only regular army in the imperial capital, the Royal Forest Army mutinied as early as after the food and grass were burned! They attempted to abandon the city and break out of the siege, and some naive people even thought of surrendering. It’s not that the coach Deng Kui didn’t try his best to restrain him, but the result was that in the chaos, Deng Kui was hit in the left eye and through the back of the head by a cold arrow flying from nowhere!
The coach was assassinated, and the Royal Guards were legitimately in trouble. If the governor had not ordered the private soldiers to kill hundreds of people in one go and show off their heads to the public, which shocked this group of soldiers who came from well-off backgrounds and had intricate backgrounds, some people would have tried to open other city gates and immediately fled for their lives! But even if they didn't dare to do this, they were just like birds and beasts flying away, waiting for the moment to open the city gate and escape. They would not go to the west gate to resist, let alone expect them to break up...
This is also retribution—
More than ten years ago, these people relied on their kinship with various families in the gentry, and with the tacit approval of each family, they forced their commander Gu Xiaode to be unable to do anything even as the brother of the queen, so he had to start a new one and establish the Xuanjia Guard. .
And even though Gu Xiaode relied on the Xuanjia Guards to have a group of subordinates who could command, so that he was not a leader of the Forbidden Army in name only, he was still unable to make these people obedient until he was sentenced to death by Shen Bo. But now, it is precisely because of their incompetence that the Rong people have destroyed 80% of the food and grass after sneaking into the city, and the imperial capital is about to collapse.
If not for this, Gu Xiaode could train one hundred thousand common people into the most elite Xuanjia Guards besides the border troops. If not for the people behind these soldiers, wouldn't he be able to train the entire Royal Forest Army into a capable warrior? person? !
But now is not the time to hold people responsible. The most important thing at this time is to retreat - those idiots in the Royal Forest Army who hope to surrender and be pardoned by the Rong people have simply lost their brains in eight lifetimes!
The soldiers were cruel by nature. In the years of war with the Donghu, burning, killing, looting and looting were nothing. Slaughtering the city and building the capital were commonplace!
Especially the prosperous imperial capital has long been deeply jealous of them!
What's more, the Rong people don't recognize the nobility or the nobility, the famous people or the famous people! In their eyes, the enemies are all the same. Women grab whatever they can use. If a man kills one, he will lose one enemy.
Anyway, they still don't dare to hope to replace Wei Dynasty. What do they want to do with the people's support? The Rong people are not stupid. There is a saying in the Central Plains that "those who are not our race will have different hearts." Even if the people of the Wei Dynasty are in trouble, if they want to accept the rule of a foreign race, they will definitely attack them in groups!
If it hadn't been for the fatuousness of the three consecutive generations of Wei emperors, which completely angered the whole country, coupled with the many internal conflicts and intrigues among the gentry, the nearby civil unrest would have been eliminated long ago, and instead they rushed to the imperial capital to visit the king!
Therefore, after the Rong people captured the imperial capital, it was impossible to expect them to show mercy just because this was the imperial capital.
Besides, from the perspective of a noble family, even the Gu family, known as the "Gu family of the Imperial Capital", is not worthless without the Imperial Capital! For example, the Shen family and the Su family, whose foundations are nearby and are still stable, will not surrender even if they are killed! That would be tantamount to handing over the status of our sect to other tribesmen, and would also be burdened with eternal infamy, and would make the descendants who were lucky enough to live abroad unable to hold their heads high!
On the other hand, as long as they break out, the Xiliang Army or the Qingzhou Army alone will be enough to drive the Rong people out of the Central Plains. Even if the imperial capital is difficult to defeat and they cannot find opportunities like the Rong people did this time, they will be trapped to death on the land of the Wei Dynasty. Are they not there yet
By that time, regardless of whether the Wei family is around or not, the gentry will still be a superior gentry.
So the most important thing right now is to break through.
At this critical moment - especially at this moment when Shen Xuan went into the palace to discuss how to move and left both Taifu's Mansion and Xiangning Bo's Mansion to Shen Zhou, he had a lot to do at this time. But considering the way his eldest daughter-in-law Pei Meiniang has always behaved, he really can't rest assured if she doesn't come over in person to keep an eye on her!
Tonight's incident was too unexpected.
Even the most pessimistic people estimate that the imperial capital can survive until at least the beginning of summer.
Therefore, each retreating company at this moment also prepared for the worst.
Before Shen Xuan entered the palace, he sent someone to tell him clearly: he would not bring any female relatives with him this time.
Regardless of whether it is his first wife, his first daughter, his first daughter-in-law or his first granddaughter... all those who might delay the team or become a burden, except for a few grandchildren, do not take any of them!
Even Wei Zhangying, the third daughter-in-law who is good at martial arts, was dismissed by Shen Xuan as "Wei's only good at close-quarters stalking and killing, but her riding skills are mediocre, and she is weak in strength. I'm afraid she will become a burden in the process, so I will abandon her." "Died by the rebels will ultimately harm the dignity of the Shen and Wei families. It is better to stay in the mansion and be entrusted to the wife's knees" as the reason for being excluded from the breakout list!
The daughters-in-law of the Taifu Mansion all have a reputation for being virtuous, and with Mrs. Su watching over them, the elders believe that they can clearly distinguish the current situation - there is no point in making a fuss, as they will not get confused in public.
But Shen Zhou can't trust Pei Meiniang, mainly because he can't trust Shen Zanghui!
At about the same time, there was no flower garden in Taifu's Mansion.
Duanmu Yanyu looked at her husband, who was only wearing a middle coat and hurriedly putting on his outer robe, and said blankly: "Packing things for Yi'er?"
"That's right! Hurry up!" Shen Lianshi, his face livid, ordered hurriedly, "We can't hold the Ximen side any longer! We have to leave immediately!"
"Mother Fei, hurry up and clean up Yi'er." Duanmu Yanyu was urged by him and subconsciously raised her voice to call her confidant Fei to give her instructions. Then she turned her head and looked at her husband with piercing eyes, "Then why do you only clean up Yi'er?" s things?"
Shen Lengshi was startled for a moment, stopped his tied hands, and looked at her strangely: "Although most of the soldiers are attacking the city at the west gate now, there must be men left outside the other gates... Our dead soldiers are not at all Maybe escort everyone away! Especially you women can’t even ride a horse, how can you go together?”
"I'm not asking for myself. After all, I am also a daughter of a noble family. How can I still be greedy for life and afraid of death at this level?" Duanmu Yanyu stood up, walked to the clothes rack, picked up her robe, and quickly Wearing it, he murmured, "But Rou'er is still young and not heavy, so you can ride with her. She is our eldest daughter... She is usually the most filial, and she treats Yi'er well." , she has hugged Yi'er the most among her peers in these years, and she doesn't compete with her brother for anything... In the future... I can help you take care of Yi'er in the future!"
"I have to take Yi'er with me!" Shen Lianshi frowned. Seeing his wife's movements suddenly stop, he suppressed his anxiety and slowed down his tone, "Besides, isn't Yan'er in Xiliang? We still have a daughter after all. of."
Duanmu Yanyu paused for a few breaths until Shen Lianshui's clothes were put on. Waiting for Fei to send Shen Shuyi and Shen Shuyi's luggage, she hurriedly tied up her clothes and whispered : "But Rou'er is also our child!"
Shen Lianshi was worried at the moment and didn't hear clearly. He said, "What did you say... Have Yi'er's things not been packed yet? The Rong people may invade the city at any time. Although our home is not close to Ximen, we are all in the same city." Come on, we can’t delay any longer! Why are you still dawdling? Ask two more people to help... If it doesn’t work, just bring some more fur clothes!”
Duanmu Yanyu squeezed the hands hidden in her sleeves, stood up and said, "Don't worry, the children's things are trivial, I'll go take a look right away."
"Hurry up!" Shen Lengshi ordered with a frown.
Duanmu Yanyu hummed and quickly went out to the concubine's room.
Shen Lianshi waited for his wife to go out before he remembered that he should bring some soft things for later use. It's just that he usually doesn't care about anything in the backyard. Apart from the place where he usually puts some trivial money, he doesn't know where the large banknotes are. He called the ambassador who was staying overnight to come in and ask. She was panicked because of the sudden change. But all the ambassadors said they couldn't remember for a while - he frowned and went to Duanmu Yanyu to urge him to pack for his son, and asked where the money was.
But who would have thought that when he walked to the door of his son's house, he heard a child's scream that was so sharp that it changed the tone - even if the soldiers were attacking the city and shouting to kill, it could not be covered up!
Shen Lianshi's heart suddenly jumped! The whole person suddenly felt like falling into an ice cellar!
Almost immediately after, Fei's horrified cry: "Madam!"
Shen Lianshi staggered and pushed the door in, turned around the screen, and immediately saw a scene that made his eyes split open - his only male heir, who was nominally six years old, but was actually only five years old, limp. Lying in the arms of his legitimate mother Duanmu Yanyu, her young face was full of pain and shock - it could be seen that Fei was following Duanmu Yanyu's instructions to wake him up and dress him neatly.
Duanmu Yanyu personally spent more than a month making the brand-new robe with four-in-one Ruyi patterns on the ground. In the second half of last year, Duanmu Yanyu personally spent more than a month making it for him. When it was just finished, Shen Lianshi complained about why the child should wear such a dark color. At that time, Duanmu Yanyu explained that Shen Shuyi held the piece of clothing and said he liked it... But last night on New Year's Eve, Shen Shuyi wore it anyway. A bright red brocade robe made by my grandmother Aunt Guo.
Fei Shi is wearing this outfit for him now, probably because he should not wear too bright clothes when breaking out.
But it doesn't matter now... In the position where Shen Shuyi's little hand, tightly held by Duanmu Yanyu, tried to reach his heart, a long red gold hairpin was inserted almost completely, leaving only a carved and carved hairpin. The hairpin tail of the phoenix eye was embedded with a ruby as red as blood. As Shen Shuyi twitched in pain, it shone with a cold and dazzling light!
Although there wasn't much blood seeping out, just looking at the depth of the hairpin insertion, one knew that Shen Shuyi was hopeless!
But this child, who was confused until his death as to why his aunt, who always loved him more than his two sisters, would suddenly commit such a murderous act, was still struggling instinctively. He caught a glimpse of his father in the corner of his eye, and Shen Shuyi opened and closed his pale lips weakly: "Father...save! Save...save...the child..."
He was not able to finish the last word "son" because he also noticed that Duanmu Yanyu, who had entered Shen Lianshi, had a cold face and calm eyes. The adult woman's hands easily strangled Shen Shuyi's arms, and the freed ones With one hand, with lightning speed, he grabbed the tail of the phoenix eye hairpin and pulled it out hard!
The blood blocked by the hairpin spurted out instantly!
Duanmu Yanyu leaned back, but she didn't escape all of it. The hot blood from her childish heart spilled all over her face - the cheeks that were carefully maintained and as fair and delicate as a girl's, dripping blood dripping with steam on her cheeks. She just wore the purple eagle holding flowers and brocade clothes on her body yesterday, looking at her like a ghost looking for her life!
She didn't wipe it off, she just pressed Shen Shuyi with one hand and grabbed the hairpin dripping with blood with the other. She raised her blood-stained face, her eyes were as calm as the surface of a lake when there is no wind, and she looked at her cold hands and feet and her pale face. Shen Lianshi, whose whole body was trembling like death, said in a very calm tone: "Now, are you free to take Rou'er with you?" (To be continued)