"Alas, the wind is whistling and the Yi River is cold. My nephew will never come back once he leaves..."
One stick of incense ago, when Zhu Ping'an walked out of the general's tent, the Duke of Wei watched Zhu Ping'an's back disappearing outside the door of the tent. Listening to the angry shouts of the soldiers outside, he couldn't help but think of Jing Ke who sang a sad song while setting out to assassinate Qin Shi Huang by the Yishui River a thousand years ago. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"Puh, puh, puh, what's that? My dear nephew will never come back. Don't say such unlucky words..." Linhuai Hou spat three times, interrupting Duke Wei's sigh. He threw a pile of cut rice paper to Duke Wei and said unhappily, "Instead of sighing, you might as well write two more death-free scrolls."
"Alas, I always feel that writing is in vain..." Duke Wei picked up the brush and said weakly.
"We have to write it even if it's free. Nephew has stepped forward, and we can't let him down." Linhuai Hou glared.
"Stop talking and write quickly. Three thousand copies is not a small number. I see that Lord Zhu is taking it very seriously, maybe it will be useful..." Eunuch He wrote very quickly, urging the two of them as he wrote.
"well... ... "
Duke Wei sighed and wrote with resignation, the words "save life" sounded weak.
For a moment, the general's tent was filled with the rustling sound of brushes hitting paper and the occasional clatter of stamps.
Just when the Duke of Wei and the other three were busy writing the death exemption papers, suddenly there was a hurried sound of footsteps at the door of the general's tent. With a swish, the door of the tent was opened and a soldier walked in quickly.
"who?!"
"Zihou was killed so quickly, is it our turn now?!"
"Don't kill me!"
Duke Wei and his men were so frightened that they jumped up and dropped their brushes. They thought that the rebel soldiers had killed Zhu Ping'an, broken through the defense line, and broke into the general's tent to kill them, so they screamed subconsciously.
"Master, it's me, Xu San..." The personal soldier who entered the room knelt on one knee and hurriedly explained.
"Ah?! Xu San is your boy, you scared me to death... ... Ahem, what are you doing here?!" Duke Wei came to his senses after hearing Xu San's voice. He shook his sleeves and tried hard to maintain his image.
The same thing happened to Marquis Linhuai and Eunuch He. After they discovered that the person coming was Xu San, a personal soldier of Duke Wei, they coughed, shook their sleeves, put their hands behind their backs, and straightened their chests, trying hard to restore their image of being as frightened as rabbits.
"Master, there is no time to explain. The situation outside is extremely urgent. Master Zhu asked me to get the exemption certificate."
Xu San did not have time to explain anything to Duke Wei and the others, and anxiously told them the purpose of his visit.
"Exemption from death certificates... We only wrote 580 exemption from death certificates..." Duke Wei and his men counted them hurriedly and handed the exemption from death certificates to Xu San.
"I'll give it to Lord Zhu first." Xu San took the exemption certificate, confessed his crime, turned around and hurried out.
Looking at Xu San's back as he hurried out as if in a hurry, Duke Wei and the others looked at each other and all had a bad premonition.
Xu San just said that the situation outside was extremely urgent and there was no time to explain, which shows how bad the situation outside is.
Is the knife on Zhu Ping'an's neck? ! Duke Wei and the others couldn't help but imagine a picture in their minds...
"Oh, write quickly..." Eunuch He stamped his feet, squatted down again, and began to write the exemption paper.
Marquis Linhuai followed closely behind, and Duke Wei sighed, then squatted down and continued to write the death-free paper.
They had only started writing a few pages when they heard waves of shouting and cursing from outside. Voices like "dog officials are deceiving people" and "Kill dog officials" were heard one after another.
Duke Wei and the others looked at each other, and then they took out the death exemption certificate, and it was like this outside. It seems that the death exemption certificate is useless...
"It seems that the death exemption certificate is useless..." Duke Wei couldn't even hold the pen in his hand and had no strength to write anymore.
Linhuai Hou also stopped writing.
Eunuch He looked at the two of them and couldn't say any words to urge them. To be honest, he couldn't write anymore.
However, just as the atmosphere of disappointment and despair was spreading in the general's tent, the shouting and screaming outside stopped.
"Listen, the shouting and killing has stopped!" Eunuch He was the first to notice it, and his eyes couldn't help but light up!
"It really stopped." Marquis Linhuai and Duke Wei also noticed this after being reminded by Eunuch He.
"Hurry up and write the exemption from death certificate." Eunuch He urged.
"Write, write..."
The Duke of Wei and the Marquis of Linhuai hurriedly began to write.
The next step was to test the psychological quality of the three. As they were writing, they heard shouts of fighting and killing coming from outside again. This wave of shouts of fighting and killing was more piercing than the previous ones. Just when the three were filled with despair and sadness, the shouts of fighting and killing stopped for some reason, and then started again, stopped again, started again, stopped again, like a tireless pendulum going back and forth... ... Some of the shouts of fighting and killing were extremely turbulent, and they were pale and heartbroken when they heard them in the general's tent... ..
God knows what kind of torment the three people suffered when they wrote the death exemption papers...
About a cup of tea later, when they had just finished writing three thousand death exemption papers, hurried footsteps were heard at the door of the general's tent. Xu San came again.
After the last experience, although they were frightened this time, they did not jump up.
Just like last time, Xu San had no time to explain. He entered the general's tent, took the death exemption certificate, confessed his crime and left.
"Three thousand death-free scrolls have been collected. Let's try it out and see if it can help at all..."
When Eunuch He saw Xu San taking the certificate of immunity from death and leaving, he swallowed his saliva, gritted his teeth and walked to the door of the general's tent. Like a frightened little animal, he parted the door curtain a little and looked out. Although reason told him that there was no hope, out of his desire to live, he still held a little hope in his heart.
"Well, let's see. If it doesn't work, we have to hurry up and write a suicide note..."
Duke Wei also walked over, bent down, and also opened a gap in the door curtain, then put his eyes close to look out.
"Then I'll bring the pen, ink, paper and inkstone... If that doesn't work, I'll write a suicide note..." Linhuai Hou took the lead and took three pieces of rice paper, three brushes and an inkstone. He also walked to the door of the commander's tent, approached Eunuch He and Duke Wei, and looked out through the gap they had opened.
The Duke of Wei and the other three happened to see Zhu Ping'an standing on the table. He stretched out his hand to pull down his collar, and stretched his head to show his neck to the chaotic soldiers. He looked like a typical righteous and heroic figure...
"I'm dying..."
"Zihou is going to be beheaded..."
"Give me a pen and paper quickly. I need to write a suicide note. It will be too late if you are late..."
When Duke Wei and his men saw this scene, they could not help but look despairing and burst into tears. Duke Wei reached out and snatched a piece of rice paper and a brush from Marquis Linhuai, and hurriedly wrote a suicide note.
Linhuai Hou also squatted down and began to prepare to write his suicide note.
Only Eunuch He was still lying there, motionless. He was a eunuch without children, so there was no need for him to write a suicide note.
Just as Duke Wei and Marquis Linhuai were about to write their wills, they suddenly heard Eunuch He's surprised voice from above their heads, "Kneel down, the chaotic soldiers outside are kneeling down..."
"What?!"
"Is this true? Eunuch He, are you seeing things?!"
Upon hearing this, Marquis Linhuai and Duke Wei looked up in disbelief and looked at Eunuch He with suspicion.
Then, they heard a deafening "Greetings, Your Excellency" voice coming from outside.
Upon hearing this, Duke Wei and Marquis Linhuai were shocked all over, jumped up from the ground and looked outside.
really
Outside the tent, the soldiers knelt on the ground facing Zhu Ping'an.
"The rebel soldiers have surrendered their weapons!"
"They dispersed, they dispersed, they really dispersed. The disorderly soldiers returned to the camp. How did Zihou do it?!"
... ...
At the entrance of the general's tent, Duke Wei, Marquis Linhuai, and Eunuch He were all stunned and overjoyed...