"Hurry up and open the city gates! Are you blind? Can't you see that the county lord is also going to flee the city for his life? Why don't you quickly open the city gates..."
The voices of people urging the city gates to be opened were as deafening as a tsunami, shaking the city gates.
Amid the roar of the mountains and the sea, Liu Dadao stood as solid as a rock, unmoved, standing in front of the crowd without moving an inch.
However, the yamen runners behind him did not have such determination. They looked at Zhu Ping'an, who was walking quickly towards the city gate with a quilt on his back, and listened to the people's cheers. They couldn't help but hesitate. After hesitating for a while, someone stepped forward and whispered to Liu Dadao, "Brother Liu, look, the county lord is going to flee the city. Why don't we open the city gate?"
"Bullshit!" Hearing this, Liu Dadao turned his head and glared at Niu Yiyan with his big eyes, shouting angrily, "Stop slandering my master. How could my master be so cowardly? How could he abandon the city and flee!"
"Oh! A boiled duck still has a tough mouth. The county magistrate has come here with his bedding roll, but he still refuses to acknowledge you. If you are sensible, you should open the city gate quickly. Why are you waiting for the county magistrate to ask you to open the city gate? That would be very embarrassing for the county magistrate. You should at least give the county magistrate a way out."
"Haha, right, right, the county lord is not fleeing from the city, the county lord is going out of the city to ask for help, okay? As long as you open the city gate quickly, you can say whatever you want, even if you say that the county lord is going out to fight the thieves with his bedding on his back..."
After hearing what Liu Dadao said, the people crowded in front of the city gate couldn't help but sneer and mocked Liu Dadao.
"It's not open yet, right? Look, the county lord is here."
"Hurry up, make way for the county lord, and let him go to the city gate."
Seeing that Liu Dadao was so stubborn and refused to open the door no matter what, people could not help but make sarcastic remarks. Zhu Ping'an happened to come over, and the quick-witted people shouted and directed everyone to leave a path for Zhu Ping'an to reach the city gate directly through the city gate tunnel, so that it would be convenient for Zhu Ping'an, the county magistrate, to get to the city gate.
"Why should we give way to him? He is a county magistrate. He abandoned the city and fled for his life instead of defending it."
"That's right. Why should we give way to such a shitty official?"
Many people were puzzled. They felt that a corrupt official like Zhu Ping'an who abandoned the city and fled was not worthy of them giving way.
"You are stupid, do you still want to leave the city? He is the county magistrate. That big idiot is stubborn and won't open the city gate without the county magistrate's order. Now the county magistrate is here, why don't you quickly make way for him to pass and order the big idiot to open the city gate?"
Those who were quick-witted couldn't help but curse anxiously, fearing that they would waste time and delay the opening of the city gate.
"Oh, oh, so that's how it is. I'll give way, I'll give way. I have to give way on this road."
Those who didn't understand suddenly understood what was going on and actively made way.
The city gate, which was originally blocked by water, instantly formed a small path leading directly to the city gate that was wide enough for one person to walk through.
"My Lord, please, please."
People looked at Zhu Ping'an who was walking quickly with shining eyes, as if they had seen a walking key, and they were extremely enthusiastic.
Here it comes.
Here it comes.
He is here.
Under the expectant and enthusiastic gazes of the people, Zhu Ping'an walked over quickly with a quilt on his back...
Three meters
Two meters
One meter
Finally, Zhu Ping'an came under people's expectant gaze. He walked up to the people and nodded to them.
Then
Then, he walked straight over...
"ah?"
"ha?"
"ah?"
"Huh?"
Shouts of surprise rang out among the crowd, one after another, continuously.
At this moment, the people who were fleeing in front of the city gate were all dumbfounded, stunned, standing there like a group of wooden logs, staring blankly at Zhu Pingan...
They watched Zhu Ping'an walk straight past them, but instead of walking straight through the path they had made for the city gate, he nodded at them and turned 90 degrees past them. He didn't enter the city gate at all, but walked up the steps leading to the city wall and walked all the way to the city wall.
In full view of everyone, Zhu Ping'an walked up to the city wall, untied the quilt tied in front of his chest, shook it, spread it on the city wall, placed the sword in his hand on the front of the quilt as a pillow, stretched lazily as if nothing had happened, and then... ...just lay down, ignoring the Japanese pirates outside the city, as if he was taking a short rest after a spring outing.
The magistrate is here!
The magistrate has climbed up the city wall!
The magistrate fell asleep on the city wall!
At this moment, the hearts of the people fleeing in front of the city gate were hit by wave after wave of shock, each wave more shocking than the last.
The truth is exactly the opposite of what they imagined.
It turns out that the county magistrate was not fleeing the city with his quilt on his back, but sleeping on the ground on the city wall, vowing to live and die with the city wall! !
The magistrate!
People couldn't help but blush, ashamed of their own petty judgment of others and ashamed of their cowardly escape.
Zhu Ping'an lay down on the city wall, but his image stood up in people's hearts, standing tall and proud!
"Well, this is it."
Zhu Ping'an moved a few times while lying down, found a comfortable position, and settled the position of the bedding with satisfaction. Then he sat up from the bedding, stepped on the battlements, looked at the people under the city wall, smiled slightly, bowed to everyone, and said loudly, "Fellow villagers of Jingnan County, from now on, I will settle down here. As long as the Japanese pirates do not retreat, I, Zhu Ping'an, will not leave the city wall, and I swear to live and die with the county. If I break my promise and leave the city, all of you, the elders and villagers, can kill me, Zhu Ping'an."
Zhu Ping'an's words exploded like thunder above people's heads, shocking everyone once again. People looked up at Zhu Ping'an in disbelief.
"Catch the big knife and post it on the city wall."
Zhu Ping'an took out a roll of official documents with the county magistrate's seal from his arms and threw it from the city wall to Liu Dadao below the city.
"As you command, sir."
Liu Dadao took the document and unfolded it and posted it on the city wall. The content of the document was Zhu Ping'an's oath, which stated that anyone who broke his promise could be killed, and it was stamped with the bright red seal of the county magistrate.
The magistrate is serious! !
After everyone saw the contents of the document, they were even more shocked. This was simply a suicide document. If the county magistrate broke his promise, people could really use this document to kill the county magistrate. This was called killing an official by imperial order, and it would not cause any trouble and there would be no worries.
The magistrate is truly living and dying with the county! He leaves no room for retreat!
People looked up at the magistrate Zhu Ping'an who was sitting on the ground on the city wall, and the fear in their hearts unconsciously disappeared a lot.
At this moment, Zhu Ping'an was like a magic needle that stabilized the surging sea of fear in people's hearts.