Xiaoheling can only be regarded as an earthen beam connecting the West Branch Lake to the north bank of the Hanshui River estuary. It is about a thousand paces long and only seven or eight feet high. Because the river mouth in front of the ridge is full of mudflats, where cranes inhabit, it is named Xiaoheling.
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The terrain to the north of Xiaohe Ridge is slightly higher, where people have lived and thrived for hundreds of years, and there are countless villages of various sizes. Among them, Shuangliu Village, where Wang Zhen and Wang Fan were born, located at the foot of the north mountain of Xiaohe Ridge, is the most famous.
Wang Zhen lived in poverty all his life and never thought of himself; although Wang Fan held a high position on Jinghu North Road and was extremely powerful, he was busy with military affairs in the past two years and had no time to organize his family business.
However, because of the relationship between Wang Zhen and Wang Fan and his son, the Wang family still received unimaginable preferential treatment from ordinary gentry families in Hanchuan.
As early as when Wang Zhen was born as censor Zhongcheng, the Hanchuan County government funded the recruitment of laborers to build the road from Hanchuan City to Xiaoheling. To the west of Shuangliuzhuang, there were only a dozen fishing boats on the bank of the Han River in the early years.
Yedu, where the Sandu ferry docks, has developed into one of the most prosperous ferries in the southwest of Hanchuan County for more than ten years.
Precisely for this reason, this place became the best landing and gathering place for Dongting Lake bandits to attack Hanchuan City.
Of course, the area near Xiaoheling is criss-crossed by rivers, branches, and lakes. It used to be called Thousand Branches Pu. In addition to the three to four hundred bandit ships that gathered at the ferry to the west of Shuangliu River and landed one after another, there were also bandit ships of various sizes.
, from the river branch and river lane east of Xiaoqueling, heading towards Hanchuan City.
Lu Xiong climbed onto the wall of the village and couldn't help but feel despair when he saw this situation. He whispered to an old soldier beside him and said:
"Bring a few absolutely reliable people, don't use too many people, put on ordinary robes, and escort Miss Xuan to Dongzhuang to find an inconspicuous courtyard to hide in. Remember not to alert other people; everything will wait until the end of the day.
Let’s talk after it gets dark!”
He had never expected that there would be so many bandits lurking in the lakes of Qianchapu. When he woke up, a small group of bandits had taken control of the ferry at the northwest corner of Shuangliuzhuang.
To the west of Shuangliuzhuang is the mighty Han River, to the south is the intricate lakes and swamps of Qianchapu, and to the east is separated from Hanchuan City by several river tributaries - under the current situation, Lu Xiong suspected that Qianchapu was
The fishermen in the water village had already surrendered to the bandits, and they had no chance of breaking out from the waterway during the day.
And if they protect Wang Xuan and go north to fight at this time, they will also attract bandit troops to besiege them. They can only hide in Shuangliu Village until dark and then think of a way.
Seeing more and more bandit troops disembarking from the ferry, Lu Xiong walked towards the Wang family's old residence.
The bandits planned so carefully, so they must have known the situation in Shuangliu Village in detail, and Shuangliu Village was stuck at the key point of the bandits' attack on Hanchuan City after they landed. It is difficult to imagine that the bandits would bypass Shuangliu Village without attacking.
Most people in the Shuangliuzhuang tribe knew that Wang Xuan returned to their old home for summer vacation. Lu Xiong was worried. He knew that in order to avoid being hunted by the bandit army and hide until dark, some additional arrangements would be needed. Hiding the person alone would not be possible.
of.
Lu Xiong was planning in his mind and walked into the Wang family's old house, only to see a mess in the yard:
The ordinary servants and maids were in a mess, packing their bags and leaving. Wang Xuan stood in the courtyard with a pale face. Seeing him walk in, she asked anxiously: "Grandpa Lu, what's the situation outside the palace?"
Lu Xiong glared at Zhao Heng and shouted angrily: "I asked you to take someone to escort the lady to find a place to hide first, why haven't you done anything yet?"
"It's because I don't want to hide, and it has nothing to do with Zhao Heng," Wang Xuan said. "The bandit army came well prepared and will never let Shuangliu Village go easily. Maybe they already knew that I was in Shuangliu Village and wanted to catch them."
I'm threatening Daddy, how can I escape by hiding?"
"Miss Xuan, please find a place to hide for now. I'll find someone to pretend to be Miss Xuan and break out of Zhuangzi. This will draw the attention of the rebels and we should be able to hold off until nightfall!" Lu Xiong said.
Walking into the old house, Lu Xiong also made up his mind to find a maid to pretend to be Wang Xuan. After fighting out of Zhuangzi, he pushed the maid into the canal and drowned her. Even if they all died in the battle, the bandit army might not be able to see through Li Daitao for a while.
The deadlock strategy - as long as it is delayed until dark, Zhao Heng and the others will have a chance to escort Wang Xuan to escape from Shuangliu Village.
"..." Wang Xuan shook her head and said resolutely, "Zhao Heng said that the bandit army came in a hurry, with rudimentary armor and no weapons. I think the Shuangliuzhuang Wall was built on the foundation of the embankment. It is tall and strong.
, there are more than 700 to 800 people in the village, old and young, and more than 200 young and old. I have heroes like Grandpa Lu and you guys around me, so I may not be able to defend myself and come to Ezhou Prefecture to help! How can I only care about my personal safety and let Grandpa Lu and you
You were sent to die as a bait, and the Shuangliu Village was attacked and massacred by the bandit army, ruining the reputation of my grandfather and my father for a lifetime?"
"Miss Xuan, you also know that the rebels have landed here, and they must have spied on Shuangliu Village. They must know that you are in Shuangliu Village - if they catch you, in addition to threatening your father, they will also use you to threaten the Hanchuan guard."
"The city gate," Lu Xiong advised, "the seven or eight hundred people in Shuangliu Village may be doomed, but whether it is more important than Hanchuan City, Miss Xuan, you have to decide!"
Lu Xiong didn't think it was possible for Shuangliuzhuang to defend until reinforcements arrived.
Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and his son entered the imperial examination and obtained high positions, and with them as role models, Shuangliuzhuang and nearby villages had a flourishing literary style - even if those who actually took the examination were still rare, ordinary people would grit their teeth and pay tribute.
The children are studying, but there are very few martial arts practitioners.
Shuangliuzhuang seems to be able to pull 200 young men to defend the village wall, but let alone the elites of Baizhan, compared with the Xu family's village warriors in Yuhuangling, I don't know how far behind they are.
"Grandpa Lu, please lead everyone to guard the village. If Shuangliu Village is not guarded, Xuan'er knows what to do and will not let herself fall into the hands of the bandit army." Wang Xuan took the pouch knife hidden in her sleeve.
He came out, pulled out a piece, asked Lu Xiong to look at the sharp blade, and said firmly, "Or maybe Xuan'er will kill herself right now, so as not to hinder Grandpa Lu and you guys from fighting out of Shuangliu Village!"
"..."
Lu Xiong knew that after Wang Zhen's death, Wang Xuan seemed weak, but had an unusually tenacious temperament, and he could no longer persuade her to make up her mind.
"Master Lu, what should I do?" Zhao Heng looked at Lu Xiong, winked, and was about to snatch the knife from Wang Xuan's hand.
"Oh," Lu Xiong was so anxious that he stamped his feet, but he still suppressed the anxiety in his heart, shook his head slightly at Zhao Heng, and said to Wang Xuan, "If you want to defend Shuangliuzhuang, morale and people's hearts are the most important. Miss Xuan, please change your position immediately.
Put on men's armor and join us on the wall to fight, maybe it can inspire the Wang clan to fight to the death!"
Now, countless pairs of eyes of the rebel army are staring at Shuangliu Village, and they have almost blocked all the passages between Shuangliu Village and the surrounding areas. They are now directly dragging Wang Xuan to break out of the encirclement, and the possibility of success is very slim.
When the main force of the rebel army goes to Hanchuan City, and only some troops are separated to attack Shuangliuzhuang, there may not be a chance to break out of the siege.
Lu Xiong did not reveal this plan to Wang Xuan, but tricked her into disguising herself as a man and putting on armor to follow them.
Lu Xiong then ordered Zhao Hengdao: "Gather all the servants together, and I will go see Wang Wenchong!"
With Wang Fan's power, a word in Shuangliu Village is more effective than an imperial edict, but it is impossible for Wang Fan to stay in Shuangliu Village at ordinary times. Wang Xuan will often go back to Shuangliu Village to live, but she is a girl waiting to be married, and she does not usually do so.
He will inquire about the affairs of Shuangliu Village and the clan.
At present, Shuangliu Village and the Wang clan are headed by Wang Wenchong, the clan leader who once served as an official in Ezhou Prefecture.
Lu Xiong had just seen Wang Wenchong on the wall of the village looking like a headless fly, but he had previously been focused on escorting Wang Xuan to escape Shuangliu Village and did not talk to Wang Wenchong about guarding Shuangliu Village.
"Grandpa Lu, what you are saying is that there is no reason why women in the world cannot touch swords and guns! Just wait for me for a while, and I will go with you to see your third uncle!" Wang Xuan made up her mind to live or die with Shuangliu Village.
He had put on light clothes before, now he called Lu Xiong, took the leather armor from the servant, put on his combat boots, put on his iron armor, tied a leather belt around his waist, and tied the horizontal sword to
On the leather belt, he suddenly became heroic.
She ordered two personal maids to stay in the house, took a dozen servants with her, and then walked with Lu Xiong to the North Wall leading to the ferry.
Zhao Heng and other servants were mostly veterans of the Imperial Guards in the capital. After Wang Zhen died of illness, they felt Wang Zhen's kindness and accompanied Lu Xiong thousands of miles to escort Wang Xuan and Wang Zhen's coffin back home. After that, they stayed behind to take care of Wang Xuan.
He has a complete set of weapons, bows and crossbows, which are beyond the comparison of ordinary servants.
It's a pity that the number of people is too small, less than twenty people, and less than half of them are still disabled.
"Master Lu, Xuan'er, why did you come up to the wall?" Wang Wenchong saw Lu Xiong escorting Wang Xuan to the wall and kept winking at Lu Xiong.
"Third uncle, Xuan'er and Master Lu are here to help you kill the rebel army and defend Shuangliu Village!" Wang Xuan said loudly.
"..." Wang Wenchong almost fainted.
If he wasn't worried about disturbing the morale of the army, he would have wanted to pull Lu Xiong off the wall and angrily yell: I just pretended not to see you and ignored you, why don't you understand what I mean?
Wang Fan was appointed as the military commander of Jinghu North Road. Although he was inferior to the military envoy, he was the third envoy to handle criminal and prison matters after the Jinghu North Road was abolished.
Number one.
Wang Fan is not as selfless as Wang Zhen. In the past two years, he has brought many Wang family members to work around him. Many members of the Wang family have also come to Ezhou Fucheng to buy houses and run industries, and they are also well taken care of by Wang Fan.
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Wang Wenchong knew very well in his heart that if Shuangliu Village was unfortunately massacred by the bandits, or even he himself was killed by the bandits, as long as Wang Xuan was safe and sound, Wang Fan would definitely take care of the children of his house; if Wang Xuan alone fell into the hands of thieves, Wang Wenchong would
I really can’t imagine how much Wang Fan would resent them for their inability to protect them?
Wang Xuan ignored Lu Xiong and Wang Wenchong's thoughts. Seeing that two to three thousand bandit troops had landed, hundreds of bandit soldiers holding swords and shields were swarming directly towards Shuangliuzhuang. The green walls on the wall were
Zhuang's faces were all pale and full of fear.
She tried hard to think about how Xu Huai would inspire morale if he were here. She took off her iron armor, let her hair fly, took off her saber, waved it and said:
"I think that my grandfather was a scholar, but he was able to prevent hundreds of thousands of captive soldiers from entering Bianliang; I think that my father was just a scholar, but he led 20,000 tigers from Jingbei to fight in the north and south. Although I, Wang Xuan, am a female,
I have just passed my twenties, but today I want to imitate my father and ancestors and fight to the death against the bandits to defend their homeland. Uncles and brothers, do you dare to fight side by side with me, Wang Xuan?"
