Mingyu heard from Baihao that the northwest garrison was basically stationed in Longxi, and the garrison in Tianshui only had two battalions of soldiers. The garrison officer of Longxi killed the guards while the soldiers were asleep, opened the city gates and let the Tartars in. The soldiers who were awakened from their sleep were panicked, and they were no match for the well-prepared Tartars. They were confused and most likely died under the swords of the Tartars.
By the time Sima Qing received the urgent report in the middle of the night, Longxi had already been occupied by the Tartars, and the Tartar cavalry was marching towards Tianshui in a mighty manner.
Unlike the previous style of the Tartars who would run away after robbing things, this time the Tartars were clearly invading on a large scale. Mingyu recalled the dynasty that was forced to the sea in her memory, and the barbarian Tartars who massacred cities at will. Everything that happened suddenly made her feel like she was about to collapse, as if she had also become a weak black spot in history, and could be killed by the invading barbarians at any time and die miserably.
All the way to the gate of Sima Hou Mansion, Mingyu tugged at Master Bao's sleeve and refused to let go. Seeing Mingyu's panicked expression, Master Bao approached Mingyu and said softly, "Don't be afraid. You go first. I'll catch up soon."
Mingyu's heart was pounding and she was at a loss. She was not a fool. Master Bao was ready to risk his life to stop the Tartars so that they would have time to escape. She wanted to dissuade him, but in Mingyu's eyes, he was just a young master who should enjoy a life of fine clothes, delicious food and riding horses on the streets, instead of dying on the city wall of Tianshui.
"You follow your wife to the capital to live with your grandparents. If I... can't go to the capital, you tell your wife that it was me who said so. Go back to your mother's home in Jiangnan." Master Bao continued, his tone calm, his bloodstained face expressionless, only a pair of black and white eyes staring at Mingyu steadily.
"Don't talk nonsense!" Mingyu's teeth were trembling. She thought that in the future, Master Bao might die like Master Sima, with his body torn into pieces. After his death, the Tartars would cut off his head and hang it on the tent. When she thought of the incomplete body under the white cloth in the front hall, Mingyu was trembling with fear. That was a living person, the young man who was standing in front of her and talking to her gently! She couldn't imagine what he looked like with his head and body torn apart!
Master Bao smiled, revealing a row of white teeth, then turned around and ran out the door. However, after taking only two steps, he turned back and said, "I changed my mind."
Mingyu thought he didn't want to go to the city gate. Before she could say anything, she heard Master Bao laugh. However, his tone was very fierce. "You are not allowed to go back to your mother's house, and you are not allowed to remarry. You are Sima Hong's wife. You are my person in life and my ghost in death! Do you hear me?"
Mingyu never expected that he would say these words when he came back. She looked at him blankly. Master Bao looked at Mingyu's stunned expression, a bitter smile appeared on his lips. He looked at Mingyu deeply, turned around and walked away with the knife in hand, muttering, "What's the point of saying these? I'll be dead by then, how can I care so much?"
Master Bao mounted his horse and quickly disappeared around the corner like a gust of wind.
At this moment, the sun had just risen, and the blood-red early morning sun covered the earth with a layer of scarlet light. Mingyu wiped the water from the corners of his eyes, gritted his teeth, and ran to the front yard.
The few remaining servants in the marquis's mansion had already placed their master in the carriage. Luo Lingxiu shamelessly squeezed into Miao's carriage, clamoring that she wanted to take care of the madam. In fact, she was just afraid that everyone would rush to escape and leave her alone. Mingyu was too lazy to argue with her.
Although Mingyu hated this woman and wished she died as miserably as possible, she could not do anything like throwing her into a city that was about to fall and leaving her to fend for herself.
Miao poked her head out of the carriage, her expression a little dazed. She looked around and called out anxiously, "Where's Bao Ge'er? Where's Bao Ge'er?"
Mingyu looked at Miao's haggard and dazed look, and felt a little sorry for her. She stepped forward and gently pushed Miao into the carriage, saying, "Madam, the second master has left on horseback and is waiting for us outside the city."
Nanny Wei and Sima Lian in the carriage nodded in understanding. Nanny Wei wiped the tears from her face and hugged Miao into her arms, saying with a smile, "Madam, let's set off quickly. The Second Master is still waiting outside!"
Miao nodded obediently, leaned her head on Wei Ma's shoulder, and said, "Then let's go quickly, don't let Bao Ge'er and A Qing wait anxiously."
Nanny Wei burst into tears and then covered her mouth tightly with a handkerchief. Mingyu felt sad when she saw this, so she closed the door and hurriedly got on the carriage behind Miao's carriage.
Only Nanny Tan was in the carriage. Mingyu asked suspiciously, "Where's Lixiang?"
Nanny Tan pointed to the carriage behind and said, "She said that the old lady gave you a pair of beautiful bracelets, and it would be a pity to throw them away, so she went to Yiqing Courtyard to get them. I just saw her coming, and she must have gotten on the carriage behind."
As they were talking, the carriage had already started moving, and in the blink of an eye it had rushed out of the gate of the Marquis' Mansion. Mingyu pulled open the curtain of the carriage, only to see the tall vermilion lacquered gate of the Marquis' Mansion moving farther and farther away from her at a rapid speed.
Now is a critical moment to escape. Mingyu has been accustomed to Lixiang being by her side all the time. Suddenly, Lixiang is gone. Mingyu feels uneasy. However, there are five carriages in a row. If her carriage stops, the three behind will also have to stop. The city may be breached at any time, and there is no time to lose.
Mingyu had to suppress her unhappiness temporarily and wait until she left the city to pick up Lixiang.
The streets were full of people fleeing in panic. The screams of women and children hovered over Tianshui City like an lingering haze. Mingyu only glanced through the curtains and didn't want to look again. She had never experienced such a panic in her life. Compared to those who fled on foot, she was already very lucky, wasn't she
The East Gate was already crowded, with only a few soldiers left to maintain order. The crowds and carriages poured out of the city like a tide. After experiencing the panic and crowds when leaving the city, the five carriages of the Marquis' Mansion once again sped away quickly on the avenue outside the city.
However, Mingyu became more and more uneasy, and suddenly shouted loudly, "Stop the car, stop the car!" Lixiang was not that kind of person. She had always been honest and obedient. Mingyu arranged the second carriage for her, and she would never take another carriage on her own initiative.
The person driving the carriage was a steward whom Mingyu did not recognize. He did not take Mingyu's words seriously and continued to whip the horse with gritted teeth. Mingyu climbed to the front of the carriage and desperately grabbed the steward's arm, shouting, "I told you to stop the car! Stop the car!"
Nanny Tan didn't expect Mingyu to do this suddenly. She was afraid that the carriage behind her would not be able to brake in time and would hit her, so she hurriedly stuck her head out and shouted at the carriage behind her: "Stop! Stop quickly, Second Madam is in trouble!"
The carriage manager was scratched and scratched by Mingyu, so he had no choice but to stop the carriage. Seeing this, the carriages behind also gradually stopped. Mingyu jumped off the carriage before it stopped and ran to the third carriage, calling out, "Lixiang? Lixiang?" But no one answered him.
The several managers who were driving the carriage were all in a hurry to escape, and they all shouted, "Second Madam, please get in the carriage quickly, don't waste time for a maid!"
Mingyu suddenly opened the curtain of the third carriage, which contained the injured Fifth Steward and his family, followed by the fourth carriage, which contained only Hongxi, Hongxian and the three concubines of Master Bao. The fifth carriage was carrying the bodies of the old lady and the Marquis, and Lixiang would never be in it. When Hongxi and Hongxian saw Mingyu, they huddled together in guilt.
"Where's Lixiang? If you don't tell me, I'll throw you two down!" Mingyu said gritting her teeth.
Hongxi shouted: "It was all Grandma's order! It has nothing to do with us! Grandma said that if it wasn't for Lixiang she wouldn't have been beaten by you, so..."
"Where's Lixiang?" Mingyu asked.
Hong Xian said awkwardly, "Before we left, my aunt asked us to lock her up in the woodshed."
Mingyu's eyes were red. She was just not prepared for Luo Lingxiu, a wolf in human skin, and she succeeded. If she hadn't chased Master Bao to the front yard just now, Luo Lingxiu would have no chance. Would she be locked up in the woodshed with Lixiang now, waiting for the Tartars to attack and massacre the city
Madam Tan heard everything clearly. She grabbed the carriage door and cried, "Second Madam, please get in the carriage! Lixiang won't be able to escape with us! If we are late, the Tartars will catch up with us!"
The carriages in the Marquis' Mansion were all pulled by two horses. Mingyu swiftly untied the ropes that tied the horses in the carriage that Hong Xi and Hong Xian were riding in, and took one horse away.
Aunt Tan was terrified and kept shouting, "Second Madam, what do you want to do? You can't go back! If you go back, you will give up two lives!"
Mingyu ignored Nanny Tan. Everyone fled when disaster struck. She didn't force anyone to go back with her to find Lixiang. Mingyu gritted her teeth and mounted the horse. She turned around and sneered at Hongxi and Hongxian, "Who said she didn't have that fate? Let me tell you, my master, if I go back alive, she won't live a good life anymore. If I die, even if I become a ghost, I won't let her go!"
Mingyu spoke very harshly, staring at Hongxi and Hongxian with fierce eyes, as if she were really an evil ghost coming out of hell to collect debts, scaring the two people so much that they trembled together.
After saying that, Mingyu clamped her legs around the horse's belly, patted the horse's body, lowered her body and ran towards the city. The carriage of the Marquis Mansion that was parked on the road quickly moved forward again, and the two sides were getting farther and farther away.
The cold wind blew past Mingyu's ears. Gradually, more people came to the front. Those who were carrying loads and fleeing with their families walked slowly. They were probably the same people who left the city. Many people were surprised to see Mingyu riding into the city instead of fleeing. However, more people were just terrified and ran as hard as they could without even looking at Mingyu. At the moment of escaping, who would care about others
Suddenly, Mingyu understood Bao Erye, who was determined to get his father's head back even if he died. If she didn't come back, even if she escaped safely, she would have to live with the condemnation of her conscience for the rest of her life. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian (). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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