Shen Tang woke up by smelling the aroma of food.
I opened my eyes and saw a large leaf covering my head.
What is this
Shen Tang was stunned for a moment, then raised her hand to brush it away. Without the obstruction of the leaves, the brilliant golden light hanging high above her head shone on her, blinding her. Shen Tang stood up with one arm, and then she realized that her arms were weak and her stomach was rumbling.
At this time, a familiar male voice came from above, with a hint of joy and relief: "Young Master Shen is finally awake."
Zhai Le laughed and joked: "I'm right, right? Cook a pot of fragrant minced meat, and Brother Shen will wake up naturally because he is so hungry."
Shen Tang: “…”
When I heard this name, I knew who it was without even looking up.
Half sitting up, he asked, "Where are we now?"
She had just woken up and her mind was still a little confused.
"Still outside Xiaocheng."
Shen Tang asked: "Is there any news about Wu Hui and the others
"Not yet." Qi Shan shook his head regretfully, and then comforted him, "However, Chu Wuhui and Gong Shubanbu are both veterans on the battlefield. If they join forces, even the brave warrior from last night can't be stopped. Young Master Shen doesn't have to worry about their safety."
Shen Tang had to suppress his worries for the time being.
"Are you hungry?"
Shen Tang's face was pale, and he looked listless. He pursed his lips weakly and said, "I'm hungry. I'm starving. I don't have much strength."
Qi Shan turned around and filled a bowl of meat porridge in a rough wooden bowl.
I took the bowl of meat porridge and was about to drink it up when the scene of the rebel camp yesterday suddenly appeared in my mind. What I saw was a chaotic scene. The cattle and sheep wrapped in flames were running around in the rear camp, and the rebel soldiers tried their best to put out the fire but lost their lives.
Sharp screams rose into the sky amid the flickering flames, and the air was filled with a strange mixture of the smell of burning wood and fat.
When he thought of the smell, Shen Tang instantly lost his appetite. He held the warm meat porridge in his hands without saying a word.
Qishan asked, "But it's not to your taste?"
If the food doesn't suit your taste, you have to make do with it. His cooking skills are just at this level. If you want to eat what you like, you can only wait for Chu Yao to come back.
Shen Tang replied: "I suddenly lost my appetite."
Qi Shan saw her put the wooden bowl aside and did not force her to drink it, but he could not help complaining in his heart - of course not complaining about Shen Tang, but complaining about Chu Yao. In the past, Young Master Shen could eat anything, but after Chu Yao came, he became picky about food!
so what
This is all Chu Yao’s fault!
Although Shen Tang didn't know what he was thinking, he didn't want to cause any misunderstanding: "I suddenly remembered last night and don't want to touch meat for the time being."
After saying that, he felt a little hypocritical. Under the current conditions, having a meal is a luxury that ordinary people cannot ask for, let alone a full bowl of meat porridge. The temperature was just right, most likely Qi Shan specially warmed it up to ensure that she could taste it when she woke up.
"I see. I was careless."
The meat porridge was not wasted and finally went into Zhai Le's stomach.
Only then did Shen Tang have time to observe the surrounding situation.
The group was in a secluded valley, surrounded by cliffs on three sides, and a stream across the only exit, which was a good hiding place. Not far away, they could see busy soldiers, who were dressed very familiarly...
Shen Tang suddenly remembered something.
At this time, Captain Yang's loud voice rang in my ears.
"The hero finally woke up."
Shen Tang suppressed the twitching of his lips.
He said a little unnaturally: "Hello, soldier..."
She finally remembered.
I had exhausted all my energy last night, and coupled with the injuries from the battle, I was extremely tired. As soon as I got to a safe place, I fell asleep and slept till dawn. The person who met them was none other than the unlucky guy whose tax silver she had robbed—Captain Yang of the Xiaocheng garrison!
"I don't dare to be called a soldier, just call me 'Old Yang'. I have heard about the heroic deeds of the heroes from Mr. Zhai, and I admire them very much. It is true that heroes emerge from young people."
Captain Yang had a square face, a beard, thick eyebrows, majestic black eyes, and pupils that were set high, which made him look a bit arrogant and unapproachable. Outsiders would think that he was stubborn and fierce, but at this moment, he managed to look a bit kind.
Who wouldn’t feel uncomfortable after seeing this
Shen Tang: “…”
Ask her to comment, this smile can scare a whole class of children to tears. Scary or scary, but Shen Tang still gets the kindness that he shows. Putting on a humble and obedient expression, she said, "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it."
Captain Yang's impression of Shen Tang has improved significantly!
It is rare to find such a capable and principled young man who works for the people rather than for his own benefit, who is young but not proud, and who is humble and polite!
Especially when Shen Tang asked him about the situation in Xiaocheng and the rebels, and whether the rebels would withdraw their troops after their food and supplies were burned, Captain Yang admired Shen Tang even more.
He tried to force out a friendly smile and stroked his beard: "I have sent people to investigate. If they have the intention to withdraw, they will immediately send a message to the garrison in the city, and then we will attack from both inside and outside!"
In fact, Captain Yang wanted to send troops for a night attack last night.
Considering that their number was too small, the situation in the rebel camp was unclear, and the risk of a sneak attack was too great, they gave up after being persuaded by Zhai Huan.
Shen Tang: "Attack from both inside and outside? But I think the most urgent task should be to evacuate the people as soon as possible, and treat them like rebels. Wait until they recover, and then the people may be waiting for thunderous revenge."
Captain Yang was also worried about this. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the sound of horse hooves approaching quickly. It turned out that the scouts he had sent out had returned. Seeing the scouts' pale faces, he rarely relaxed his expression: "No hurry, take your time."
In Captain Yang's opinion, even if it was not good news, it would not be bad news, and there was always a relaxed smile on the corners of his lips.
Who knows—
The scout's intelligence was like a bolt from the blue.
His mind went blank.
More than two hours ago, the rebels added 20,000 troops!
Captain Yang stood up suddenly, shouting in panic.
"Twenty thousand more troops? Where do these twenty thousand troops come from?"
However, the scout was afraid of exposing his identity and did not dare to ask too much. At this time, he was also clueless and sweat was pouring down his forehead, fearing that Captain Yang would suddenly attack and kill people. Qi Shan, Shen Tang, Zhai Le and Zhai Huan, who had just approached, all turned pale in the face.
I thought that burning the rebels' baggage and food supplies at night would buy me a chance to catch my breath, or at least a few days to evacuate the people of Xiaocheng. But at this critical moment, 20,000 reinforcements appeared. Did these 20,000 soldiers fall from the sky? ?
Captain Yang knew better than anyone the weight of these 20,000 soldiers and horses. He was so nervous that his hands and feet were cold. He muttered, "There has been no movement before..."
Zhai Huan: "The war situation changes rapidly. If we had all the information under control, the rebels would not be in the situation they are in now."
Shen Tang is worried about the people in the city.
"What... should we do now?"
Even a blind man could see that the rebels' current formation could not be defended. If we were optimistic, we could break the city tomorrow; if we were pessimistic, we could break the city in the afternoon. Anyway, we only had two days left.
Now we can only hope that the commander is not a bloodthirsty person.
but-
Sometimes, whether to massacre a city or not, the will of the commander is not important, what is important is the will of the commander's immediate superior. If someone wants to "kill the chicken to scare the monkey", the commander has to give the order no matter how kind he is. Think about Zheng Qiao's family of psychopaths... There is little hope.
Back then, Zheng Qiao used extremely bloody means to capture Sibao County, and now it was the turn of the two ruthless brothers who had been tortured by him for many years - alas, there was a generation gap between the brain circuits of normal people and psychopaths, and it was extremely difficult for the former to predict what shameless things the latter would do.
For a moment, a sad and solemn atmosphere enveloped everyone.
Can the people really only wish for good fortune on their own
Captain Yang clenched his fists and gritted his teeth: "If Xiaocheng is doomed, I swear to fight the rebels to the last drop of blood!"
He was determined to die.
Zhai Le's expression changed slightly, and he wanted to persuade Captain Yang to think again, but Captain Yang's relatives and family members were all in the city, and it would be useless to say anything at this moment, so he simply kept silent.
Shen Tang hinted: "Why not sneak into the city to rescue people?"
Captain Yang knew what she meant.
With his strength as a tenth-rank Zuo Shuzhang, whether he chooses to surrender to save his family or sneak into the city to rescue people, theoretically there is a great chance that he can save the bloodline of his relatives. At worst, he can save a few people, so that the whole family will not be left to die...
but-
He glanced at the tired and desperate faces of the soldiers around him, with a hint of hesitation in his grief, but still shook his head firmly.
Captain Yang said: "This is not feasible."
Shen Tang asked: "Why?"
Captain Yang smiled bitterly: "One person's strength is limited. I can save three or five people, but I can't save three or five thousand people. The soldiers chose me and did not choose to desert the battlefield despite all the hardships. They were not only worried about their families, but also trusted me. They trusted me, how could I abandon them?"
Shen Tang was stunned.
Both Captain Yang's eyes and his expression clearly showed that he was ready to give up his life.
Seeing that everyone was unhappy, Zhai Le said, "Don't be so pessimistic! Maybe, maybe there won't be a massacre? Such bloody and brutal things don't happen often..."
When two sides are at war, if the victorious side attacks powerless civilians, it will be despised and cause public outrage.
As long as the winner has some dignity, he generally won't do this.
at the same time-
The rebel camp's main tent has a new owner.
The bearded man who had been so arrogant before sat obediently at the lower left, and opposite him at the lower right sat the barbarian whom he disliked.
Sitting at the head of the main tent was the person he referred to as “the old guy”.
That is, his biological father.
However, this father had a gloomy face since he arrived. He ignored him and scolded him for half an hour in front of all the generals. The scolding included but was not limited to the fire attack last night...
Oh, and digging up old grudges.
Just as the bearded man guessed, all the blame was put on him, while the real culprit was fine and was still playing with a few round and shiny pearls in his hands.
Seeing his son's face full of indignation, the old general threw a string of Buddhist beads at the bearded man: "Do you understand?"
The bearded man said perfunctorily, "I understand."
As for what the old guy cursed about
He didn't remember it at all.
It must be the same old story in a different form.
He agreed, and saw a strange, cold and sarcastic smile on the face of the barbarian opposite him, which instantly made him angry.
"why are you laughing?"
"Nothing, it's just a pity for my brother's beautiful wife."
The bearded man almost exploded when he heard this.
He scolded, "You beast, you actually covet my brother's wife?"
The other generals in the main tent showed strange expressions. The old general was so angry that he grabbed something and threw it at the bearded man: "You are a beast! How can you, an unfilial and unfraternal thing, talk to your brother? Ah Nian has always respected himself. How could he be interested in your girls?"
The bearded man was unhappy when he heard this.
What does it mean that that barbarian has self-respect and self-love
In other words, is he dissolute and frivolous
What happened to his lovebirds
Which man doesn’t have three or five women in his backyard
Young man: "Godfather."
There was a hint of pleading in his eyes.
Although the people present were either the old general's personal followers or subordinates, or his trusted confidants, they were all his own people, but exposing one's own dirty laundry was not something to be praised.
When the old general saw the young man, his anger immediately subsided.
He waved his hand tiredly: "Okay, considering Ah Nian's plea, I won't argue with you, an unfilial son. Take him away!"
Looking at his father's confidant walking towards him, the bearded man's face turned pale: "Don't catch me, this general can walk by himself!"
He thought he was being grounded and warned by the old man.
Unexpectedly, he was taken to an open space.
There were still black marks of burning left over from last night on the open ground. The soldiers built a pile of firewood and placed a super large pottery jar on it.
He didn't understand what was going on.
"What is this for?"
After a while, he knew it.
His concubine was dragged over by two soldiers like a chicken. She had never seen such a scene before and was so frightened that her face turned pale. She kept calling for help. The bearded man was anxious and angry, and he scolded: "Let her go! Do you want to die?"
Dare to touch his woman
But no one paid any attention to him.
He wanted to step forward and kick the soldier away, but the old man's confidants on both sides grabbed his shoulders first and he was immediately unable to move.
The match lit up and the pottery jar was filled with clean water.
The bearded man was stunned, his mind went blank.
Vaguely, he realized something, and suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of the main tent, shouting loudly. His voice was successfully transmitted to the main tent, but no one responded. After a while, he heard the woman's high-pitched and sharp cry for mercy, and the sound of floundering in the water.
As time went by, the sound became more and more shrill and creepy.
I don't know how much time passed before the sound gradually became quieter and disappeared.
The young man always sat upright at the lower right.
But no one noticed that his hands hanging on his knees slowly, slowly clenched into fists, the veins on the back of his hands bulged, and his nails dug into the soft flesh of the palms, causing beads of blood to form.
The others also listened quietly.
Not long after, the bearded man was brought in.
His face was pale and sweat was breaking out on his forehead.
It was as if all the bones in his body had been pulled out. He sat limply on the ground with his head hung, not knowing what he was thinking.
After a while, he murmured to his father: "Why?"
From the outside, the old general was a kind-looking middle-aged man. Although he was very old, he was still strong and sturdy, without the stooped and thin figure that an old man of his age should have: "Because he was sent by the thieves in Xiaocheng, lurking around you."
The bearded man retorted subconsciously.
"She is not!"
That concubine was obviously his brother's eldest daughter!
My family background couldn’t be more clean, I’m from Geng Country!
It has nothing to do with Xiaocheng!
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