The night disappeared on the earth, and the morning light lit up the dense forest, shining on a group of officers and soldiers.
They were busy, extinguishing the torches, throwing the flags in their hands on the ground, and taking off their armor.
"Hurry up, hurry up."
"Change!"
"Throw away the armor?"
"Silly, don't throw away the armor, keep it for self-defense."
"Hurry and meet the old man and the others."
There were noisy voices, people and horses were walking around randomly, stepping on the flags scattered on the ground, on which the words Taiyuan Fu Hedong Road and other words gradually became blurred.
.....
...
At the other end of the dense forest, a group of carriages and horses walked from the night into the morning light.
There were more than a dozen vehicles, followed by hundreds of people on horseback. They were wrapped in cloaks and covered their heads and faces. Taiyuan Prefecture road flags were planted in the vehicles. Rice and grain bags were exposed under the oilcloth. The seven or eight people leading them were still wearing official uniforms.
Or military uniform.
Seeing a few fireworks rising over the dense forest, the soldiers shouted with joy, then turned back and waved to everyone.
"Stop, stop."
"Our bodyguard has arrived."
Hearing these words, the marching team stopped and shouted. Everyone took off their cloaks and lifted their hats. There were men and women, old and young. The rice and grain bags on the car covered with oilcloth were also pushed away, and there was unexpectedly something inside.
People also came out, mostly women, old people and children.
Many people took off their cloaks and coats, revealing their bodies full of jewelry, and seemed to carry all their belongings with them. Some called mother, some called wet nurse, and some called father, "Is it safe?" "I'm hungry and want to eat roasted pigeon." Chaos.
into one piece.
Several people who took off their official robes and military uniforms ran to a car and called the driver "Grandpa."
The driver is very old and has gray hair and beard. Of course, this is not the reason why he is called grandpa.
In the dense forest, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves, and groups of people rushed towards them. They had no flags, some were wearing armor, and some were wearing casual clothes. Their armors and weapons were all hunched on the back of the horse. They were menacing, like mountain bandits. But the people here saw it.
Not afraid at all, waving happily.
"Old Master." The leading guards immediately stepped forward and saluted, "We have already explored the road. There are no rebels here. We passed through two mountains and exited Hedong Road."
The old man nodded.
A young man reached out and counted the number of people and said, "Why are there dozens of people missing?"
The leader of the guard said: "In order to avoid being suspected, we divided a team of 100 people to explore the road to Fangming Valley. However, we encountered the rebels and were defeated..."
The young man sighed and said: "Grandpa, since we are leaving, we shouldn't send the guards to the government to be dispatched..."
The old man glared at him: "What do you know? If we don't take the lead, how can we coax others to defend the city? If everyone doesn't defend the city, how can we move so conveniently? Can we escape with the whole clan by escorting food and grass?
Come out?"
Several elders scolded the young man, "If everyone hadn't rushed to defend the city and live or die with Taiyuan Mansion, the government and the two ladies would have closed the city gate long ago, and no one would be able to escape." "You young people can't do it either.
If you go to the government to help, it won't be so convenient." So.
The young man expressed that he was educated, but he was still worried: "It's so chaotic outside now, and we have a lot less manpower. I don't know if we can get to the capital safely."
The leader of the guard straightened his chest and said loudly: "Don't worry, sir, there are only mountain bandits and horse bandits in these mountains. We have killed rebels before, so dealing with mountain bandits and horse bandits is no problem."
"Sir, even if we encounter rebels, as long as the number is not too large, we can still fight." The other guards shouted, "We will not retreat until we die."
Even without armor, they were still powerful. The old man laughed and said, "Don't worry, they were trained by soldiers and horses from Southeast Road and Jiannan Road. They are also brave warriors."
Of course, brave warriors must protect their families. With these brave warriors, their family members, young and old, can escape from danger and go to a safer place.
Talk about a safer place...
"Grandpa, do we really want to go to the capital?" The young people have another worry, "Will Ankang Mountain not attack the capital again?"
The old man smiled: "It depends on who dies first, Wu Ya'er or Ankang Shan. If you can't kill Wu Ya'er, Ankang Shan will definitely not be able to defeat the capital."
Wu Ya'er is as ferocious as Ankang Mountain, so it seems that no one can die in a short time.
But some people are still worried: "That Chu lady is said to be greedy and violent. She once massacred more than a hundred people from the Huang family in Guangzhou Prefecture... If we go, will we be bullied and robbed by her?"
The old man had obviously thought about this a long time ago and said with a smile: "The capital is not Huainan Road. The capital is the land of the emperor. She has regained the capital and your majesty will be back soon. Mrs. Chu cannot be the master of the capital."
Your Majesty is a benevolent and kind-hearted man. He has the world in his heart, so how could he bully these poor people?
Everyone wakes up, the troubled times have been going on for too long, and they have forgotten that there is an emperor.
As long as the emperor is here, it will not be the turn of Mrs. Chu, a vicious person, to become king and dominate the capital.
The last trace of doubt was eliminated, and the young people regained their composure, and began to joke with each other, "Then Mrs. Chu is greedy, violent, and lustful. Why don't you say this?" "You are so good-looking, aren't you afraid of being snatched away by Mrs. Chu?"
Laughter and joy.
The old man ignored the worries of the young people. Compared with the family's survival, if Mrs. Chu really liked the young people in the family, he would personally send them to her.
"Have you hidden all the food, gold and silver at home?" He asked his nephews to confirm again, "Is the gold, silver and food enough for you?"
The family property cannot be taken away, but it cannot be thrown away, and of course it cannot be given to the people to be ruined. They will still have to return to their homeland when there is peace in the future.
The nephews and nephews all nodded, "We have them all hidden in the mountains at home." "This journey is short, so you don't need to bring too much food and grass."
The future was well arranged, and the family had no worries. The old man stroked his gray beard and looked back in the direction of Taiyuan Mansion, with tears in his eyes: "I'm old now, and it's hard to leave my homeland..."
The nephews and nephews hurriedly tried to persuade each other with tears in their eyes, "The Wei family can't live without the old lady", "Without the old lady, we can't move forward" and so on.
Just as he was mourning, a guard came galloping towards him.
"No, Fangming Valley has been occupied by rebels." He shouted, and the more terrifying news was, "Ankang Mountain has entered the valley pass! It's the imperial flag, the imperial flag of Ankang Mountain!"
Ankang Mountain is really coming to attack Taiyuan Prefecture!
The old man's tears disappeared, and he turned around and got into the car: "Go quickly! Go quickly!"
People shouted, horses neighed, and the carriages and horses galloped forward.
...
...
People in Taiyuan Fucheng were on their backs, and there were people running and crying everywhere. The city guards and officers tried to stop everyone, but their efforts were in vain amidst the huge crowd.
"How could this happen?" The prefect stood in the porridge shed on the street, looking at the piles of sand and soil under his feet in despair, and then at the scattered sacks, "How did the donated rice turn into soil?"
"Sir, all I was given were rice grains."
"We don't know when it will be replaced with soil."
"We, we didn't expect them to do this."
"Donating rice is a good deed. No one wants to check whether it is true."
"These people, why are these people so bad!"
"Sir, what is going on?"
"Sir, do we have anything to eat?"
"Sir, Ankangshan is calling? Have they all run away?"
The officials pushed each other and shouted injustice and curses. The people crowding around also shouted and asked questions.
The prefect looked at the chaos at his feet and wanted to turn around and say something, but he opened his mouth and felt that nothing could come out. A general squeezed over and caught him.
"Sir." He whispered in a low voice with a hoarse voice, "There are no guards from any family to support Fang Minggu, Taishan, or Wucheng. There is no food and grass delivered. Also, those guards who said they were patrolling the surrounding areas have also disappeared. Also, in the city
Many members of aristocratic families have disappeared..."
The prefect could hear it at first, but then he couldn't hear clearly what the general said. He looked around, crying, shouting, and cursing. Everyone's expressions and movements were wonderful, but his body and mind were quiet, as if he was watching a show.
A silent farce, it's quite nice to watch a flower-filled painting...
The prefect couldn't help but laugh.
He grabbed the general with his backhand and asked, "Is Ankang Mountain coming?"
...
...
Li Fengjing kicked open Li Mingqi's courtyard door.
"It doesn't matter if you don't leave." He sneered, holding up a lock in his hand, "I took off the lock you locked on my door for you to use, and I locked the door for you.
Let’s die together with Taiyuan Mansion here.”
As he said, he went to lock the door, but Nian'er screamed and rushed over to stop him.
Li Mingqi rolled her eyes, passed him and went straight out the door, looking at the bewildered maids and servants standing outside the door, as well as the Xiang family members who came after hearing the news.
"I have already written a letter to Mingyu and arranged for the nearest troops from Jiannan Road to pick us up on the way."
"The men rode horses and the women rode in chariots."
"Don't take any of your treasures of gold, silver or food with you and set off immediately."
"After dark, if you don't ride a horse or get into a carriage, you won't be treated as such."
Li Mingqi gave the order, and the Xiang family immediately became busy. She looked at the running people with a calm expression.
"You are quite capable of bending and stretching." Li Fengjing mocked.
Li Mingqi glanced at him: "Fourth uncle, this is called sizing up the situation and adapting to circumstances. It is the magnanimity that a young lady should have."
After saying that, he ignored Li Fengjing, put on his cloak, and walked out surrounded by soldiers.
Whether she stays or leaves, she takes the lead!
It's just not the same as before.
The carriages driving on the street were no longer the gorgeous cloud carriages that people were familiar with. In order to avoid being recognized, Li Mingqi sat in a very ordinary little carriage. The carriage was simple and the noise and chaos coming from outside could almost overwhelm the carriage at any time.
Nian'er grasped Li Mingqi's sleeve tightly, felt Li Mingqi's sleeve move, and reached out to lift a corner of the curtain.
Nian'er was so frightened that she almost screamed, but she was afraid that people outside would hear her and held her mouth tightly.
Li Mingqi looked out the window calmly, but her eyes were full of annoyance and confusion, and she bit her lip until it bled. Why?
How come the well-arranged, united people's hearts and solid walls built suddenly fell into chaos and collapsed?
Why does this happen?
...
...
Qi'acheng did not enter the city again and was persuaded by the officers and soldiers to mount his horse.
"Miss, hurry up, Ankang Mountain is coming."
"Miss, we can't delay any longer, Taiyuan Mansion can no longer be defended."
They shouted, no longer caring about the identity of the eldest lady, and pushed her onto the horse.
Qi Acheng held the reins, and the whirring horse turned around a few times. He looked at the location of Taiyuan Fucheng, angry and confused.
She shouted: "We haven't fought yet! We haven't fought yet!"
"Miss, we can't fight," the general said, getting on his horse and raising his whip, "Then the prefect and the general are going to meet Ankang Mountain!"
The morale of the people, the military, and the officials are all gone!
Even before we fight, we are defeated!
The whip whipped Qi'acheng's horse, and the horse neighed and led Qi'acheng to run forward. Qi'acheng held the reins tightly and looked up to the sky and shouted.
The flying hair covered her face, unable to block the anger on her face and the tears in her eyes.
It's obviously done well, it's obviously arranged so well, obviously!
"Why? Why is this happening?"
...
...
At Guguan, soldiers and horses formed a large camp, standing quietly and solemnly. The people and horses abided by order and guarded the gleaming golden chariots in the formation.
The chariot was placed firmly, with a curtain hanging above it, and the soldiers standing around were holding their breath and keeping silent like stone figures.
Someone hurried over, knelt down outside the car and said softly: "Your Majesty."
There was no response from the curtain.
This person did not dare to raise his voice, but called out in a soft voice, until a corner of the curtain was lifted, revealing the golden mountain lying on the golden couch.
Jinshan didn't open his eyes and made a sound of displeasure at being disturbed from his sleep, huh?
The man leaned down on the ground and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Zhao Jin, the prefect of Taiyuan Prefecture, led the civil and military officers and generals, as well as 30,000 guards, to welcome your Majesty into the city. Your Majesty, do you want to see me or not?"
Taiyuan Prefecture, Ankangshan opened his eyes and looked forward.
"Have you arrived at Taiyuan Mansion yet?" he said, lazily changing his position and lying down. "Since they are so sincere, I will go to Taiyuan Mansion."