Marquis Jing'an's voice rang out in alarm. He looked at the men who came to report. After a brief reaction, he pushed them away and hurried outside regardless of the clothes that had not been arranged by the concubine and the maid.
"Master Hou!" The beautiful concubine hurriedly raised her heels.
Marquis Jingan strode forward towards the place where he rested in the cold night last night. Nothing was left behind except ruts on the ground and some scattered footprints.
"Why did he just leave? You didn't stop him!" Marquis Jing'an was furious and scolded the guards around him.
A soldier bravely handed over a letter in his hand: "Master Marquis, this is what Mr. Shen left."
Marquis Jing'an snatched it away.
The beautiful concubine moved forward curiously, but before she could read the entire text, she only vaguely saw a few lines of words before she was crumpled into a ball by Marquis Jing'an in anger.
The beautiful concubine secretly said that it was not good, the Marquis was going to have another attack.
"Trash! Trash!" Marquis Jing'an raised his foot and kicked the guards beside him, "They are all trash!"
"Report!" A loud shout sounded at this time.
Marquis Jing'an turned around, and the panic-stricken captain shouted: "Master Marquis! There are deserters!"
Lieutenant Lin strode up to the team leader's side without saying a word, his expression equally ugly.
"Desert?!" Marquis Jing'an widened his eyes, "Who!"
"There are eight people in total." The team lowered their heads, no longer daring to look into Marquis Jing'an's eyes. "Four of them are alive and dead, and the remaining four have been confirmed to have escaped last night..."
"It's not bad!" Marquis Jing'an was furious and pointed his finger, "Go after them! Go! Post their portraits and names to me! I want to see where they can escape and how long they can survive. day!"
The most despised thing in the world is a deserter. No matter how much people scold and despise him, Marquis Jing'an, the contempt for deserters will only get worse.
But eight of them escaped at once. How could he explain to Zhuang Mengyao that if these soldiers committed crimes and were severely punished to death by him, or if they were sent out and died in an accident, it would be better than escaping like this.
If the troops leave, they will be defeated. Going against the intention is a big disaster, which is the crime of the general. Then the morale of the army will be shaken, rumors will spread everywhere, and the troops will not be able to control the general.
It's all over now. It's not a big deal to drag Zhuang Mengyao down, and his remaining sporadic integrity can no longer be maintained.
"We have sent people to chase him," Dui Zheng said. "As soon as we find out, we will send them away as soon as possible!"
"You go too!" Marquis Jing'an looked at Lieutenant Lin standing aside, "What are you doing standing still! You go too! Hurry up and tell everyone that I want to see people alive, and I want to see corpses dead!"
"Yes!" Lieutenant Lin took the order.
Seeing them walking away, Marquis Jing'an clenched the paper ball in his hand, shaking with anger.
On this day, two days, and three days, he was not allowed to have a good life every day!
"Who is in charge of those deserters?" Marquis Jing'an looked at the guards on the side and said angrily, "I'll arrest and beat all those teams, and also take away those who are familiar with these soldiers. Heavy punishment, no one will be spared lightly! Let's see who dares to escape in the future!"
The military advisor who came over frowned and stepped forward and said: "Master Marquis, under heavy punishment, it is difficult to be convinced, for fear of rebellion."
"How dare they!" the Marquis of Jing'an shouted, "We must be strict in the management of the army! Deserting is a serious matter, and it is impossible not to punish them. If they commit crimes and not be disciplined, is there any royal law in this army?"
After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves, turned around and left.
The beautiful concubine was as silent as a cicada, lamenting in her heart, then turned around and left together.
Not long after, another group of punished soldiers stood in front of the earth temple, many of whom had been beaten yesterday.
But today, I no longer beat him with a stick, I just took off his shirt and flogged him.
………………
The great city of Shoushi is just three miles ahead, with fishing boats chasing the water, fertile fields and green fields, mountains on both sides wide open, fertile soil in the middle, wide and flat, with few hills. From high up, you can see the towering city walls in the distance and the crowds of people rushing towards it.
Xia Zhaoyi held Qingyun's hand and stood on the edge of the cliff, looking up into the distance, but unfortunately she couldn't see the horizon.
Lao Tong wiped the grease from his mouth and came over and said, "Ah Li, what are you looking at?"
"People." Xia Zhaoyi said, "I see more people going there, but more people coming back."
"How can you see clearly?"
Xia Zhaoyi nodded: "Yes, you can't see clearly."
She raised her head and looked at the sky, squeezing it gently with her fingers.
Not a good hexagram.
Zhi Changle followed with a basket of game on his back, followed Xia Zhaoyi's gaze towards the big city over there, and asked curiously: "Ah Li, why are there more people going to see it than coming back?"
"Stupid!" Lao Tong shouted, "If there are many people going, it means someone has entered the city, and if there are many people coming back, it means the city is completely sealed off!"
"But what does this have to do with us?" Zhi Changle still asked Xia Zhaoyi, "Haven't we all made up our minds to wear the seal? It doesn't matter whether we take the longevity stone or not."
"The severe sealing of the city here shows that the situation in Peifeng is getting more and more serious." Xia Zhaoyi looked back at Zhi Changle, "If it is not to investigate spies and plagues, but just to prevent disasters and famines, the government will usually not
After sealing the city gate, they would let in a few people who looked wealthy and had brought enough food. But if they did not even let these people in, or even drove out some old, weak, sick and disabled people who already lived in the city, then
The situation is really scary.”
Lao Tong got chills when he heard this and said, "What should we do? Do we still want to go to Pei Feng?"
"Don't be afraid, Peifeng is not a dead city," Xia Zhaoyi said, looking back to the road ahead, "Just go to Peifeng."
"...Dead City?" Zhi Changle shuddered and couldn't help but tighten the bamboo basket on his back.
Under the strict orders of Marquis Jing'an, the messengers worked hard and quickly reported the deserters to various checkpoints, barracks, and government offices within a ten-mile radius.
Those who heard the news, whether they were officials or soldiers, nobles or laymen, just wanted to laugh.
Some people even wrote letters on the spot and ordered the messengers to take them back to Tao Daizhuo.
Once again and again, a whole day's work is gone.
Tao Daizhuo received letters brought back one by one while having dinner. He almost lost his breath after reading the first letter, and the second letter turned the table upside down.
The table full of delicacies smashed to pieces on the floor, and the beautiful concubine beside her was so distressed that she was bleeding as if her flesh had been cut.
The third letter was from Cao Yao. When Tao Daizhuo learned that it was from Cao Yao, he did not want to read it.
This Cao Yao, this Cao Yao...
Tao Daizhuo's eyes became fierce and he shouted angrily: "No, if I continue like this, I will be finished sooner or later! I have to think of a way, think of a way..."
He looked at the military advisor over there and shouted, "What can you do?!"
The military advisor frowned, relaxed, and shook his head.
What can he do? The Tao family has a woman like Tao Lan who is not implicated or dismissed from the title. She is still honored as a Marquis. It is already a blessing from heaven.
Tao Daizhuo clapped his hands again at this time: "Yes!"
The military advisor looked at him, wondering what he was thinking.
Tao Daizhuo shouted: "I need to make a contribution! Make a great contribution! The biggest contribution now belongs to Song Zhiyi! If he really wants to rebel, if I can find a way to surrender him, or directly lead troops to kill him, what do you think?
Who dares to despise me, look down on me, or plot against me behind my back? Maybe I can get another title! I will become a famous person in front of the Holy Emperor!"
