In early autumn, inside and outside the city of Yangzhou, the green hills have just added a touch of autumn yellow color, but they are still a lush and lush scene.
A quiet and elegant courtyard hidden at the foot of the mountain is particularly quiet at this time.
In the dark secret passage, a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy wearing a moon-white brocade robe looked anxious and anxious: "Sister-in-law, what on earth are you going to do!"
She brought him here early in the morning, saying she wanted to show him some treasure - but as soon as he came in, his hands and feet were tied up by her maid Azhu!
Could it be that his unreliable sister-in-law was bribed by the imperial court to hand him over?
But if that's the case, why bother?
Although the boy is still young, he has experienced the destruction of his family and the death of his close relatives in just a few months, so he still has a sense of caution and the ability to distinguish situations.
Even though the woman in front of him secretly shot and killed his aunt, Empress Wu, who was hanging at the city gate a few days ago.
The young woman squatting in front of her spoke with comfort in her tone: "I asked Ah Zhu to dig this secretly two years ago. It is the most suitable place to use it for refuge. Even you, the Wu family, don't know about this secret passage... You
Just wait here with peace of mind, Ah Zhu and Divine Doctor Qiu will be with you, and you will have enough food and water to survive for two months."
And two months later, King Yan's army must have broken through Yangzhou City.
Xu Mingyi stood up.
Seeing that she was about to leave, the young boy hurriedly said: "Sister-in-law, why don't you stay here together!"
"If I stay, I'm afraid they will find this place sooner or later."
The young boy's eyes suddenly tightened.
He knows...!
"You are going out to die and lure those people away for me!"
No wonder he had to be tied up!
He wanted to break free, but couldn't, and was so anxious that he burst into tears.
Xu Mingyi looked at him with slight disgust: "You don't have a very handsome face to begin with..." Crying like this without caring about one's appearance and image only made things worse.
Wu Ran's cries grew louder.
She had no choice but to say: "You should know that I have been sick for many years and my body's foundation has been damaged, so I don't have long to live -"
I don’t know if it would be easier for the child to accept this. After all, she is not good at coaxing children.
Doctor Qiu, who was in a depressed mood, raised his eyes and glanced at her.
You really don't have much time left to live.
If there were no natural or man-made disasters, it would only last forty or fifty years.
Wu Ran was still shouting, but his voice was hoarse.
Xu Mingyi had no choice but to knock the person unconscious with one palm.
Well, it's much quieter.
Sure enough, she is better at spanking children than teasing them.
"Uncle Qiu, remember to burn some paper money for me later. Burn more. My family has a large population and there are many places to use money."
After saying this, Xu Mingyi left the secret passage without looking back.
Azhu, who was waiting at the entrance of the secret passage, knelt down towards her.
"Take good care of Wu Ran and be sure to hand him over to King Yan yourself."
"My maid obeys your command!"
Azhu's voice was trembling slightly. Xu Mingyi could tell that she was crying even without looking.
Ah Zhu has been by her side since childhood. In the past twenty years, Xu Mingyi heard her cry for the first time.
Seeing Xu Mingyi raising her feet, Ah Zhu knelt and approached her, then slammed her head on the green brick floor and said: "Madam, Ah Zhu dare not disobey your instructions. I will wait until Ah Zhu tells you what to do."
Once the errand is done, I will come find you!"
"good."
Xu Mingyi did not greet her politely. He did not stop or look back.
Just after noon, the sky turned cloudy.
A group of people quietly surrounded the other courtyard.
Xu Mingyi, who was sitting in the hall, put down his tea bowl with a cold look in his eyes.
It really came quickly enough——
Zhan Yunzhu, who was sent to trace Wu Ran's whereabouts this time, never gave up until he achieved his goal.
Although the secret passage is secretive, it cannot withstand repeated careful searches. After all, Yangzhou City is still the boundary of the imperial court.
Maybe she could be lucky enough to survive their search, but it was just a possibility. If she was the only one, even if she was a bit coward, she should live one more day if she could survive.
After all, it’s better to be alive.
King Yan's army has captured Lingbi and will reach Yangzhou in ten days——
But there is another Wu Ran in this courtyard.
She couldn't risk the only descendant of the Wu family.
The Wu family treated her well. Since they sent people to her as their daughter-in-law, she couldn't live up to this trust.
What's more, for her, this is also an opportunity she has been waiting for for a long time——
She has revenge to take.
A bloody feud.
A burst of quick and orderly footsteps approached the place, led by a man wearing an indigo robe.
He was very young, looking no more than 23 or 24 years old. His eyebrows were light and gentle, but Xu Mingyi knew that this was just a false appearance.
When he entered the hall, he saw a young woman sitting there with a cold and beautiful face. His steps faltered, and his eyes suddenly trembled, full of disbelief.
"Zhaozhao... you are actually still alive, you are really still alive!"
At first he didn't dare to believe it when he heard about it!
There was unconcealed sarcasm and hatred in Xu Mingyi's eyes: "Zhan Yunzhu, you were the one who killed my entire Xu family back then——"
"No, Zhaozhao, that's not me." A bitter smile escaped from Zhan Yunzhu's lips, "That was what my father did. By the time I found out, it was already too late... But he had already received the retribution he deserved. Three years ago,
He is already dead, the capital is only two hundred miles away from Yangzhou, you should have heard about it."
Xu Mingyi felt a chill in his heart.
He made everything clear about what he had done, even his father's death was said so lightly.
"Zhaozhao, I know you won't believe me at this time, and my Zhan family does owe your Xu family a lot... Don't worry, I will compensate you well in the future and never let you be wronged again."
Zhan Yunzhu looked at her, his tone was gentle and gentle, his eyes were full of sincerity and guilt, and his words were full of persuasion: "Zhaozhao, give Wu Ran to me, and I will take you back to the capital."
"Wu Ran? I've never seen him before."
"Zhaozhao, since I've come here to find you, you can't deceive me. The Wu family is all dead. Wu Ran, a weak young man, where else can he go but to join you."
Only then did Zhan Yunzhu step into the hall and ordered his followers to close the door from the outside.
Before that, two young women disguised as followers had already searched for the dagger hidden in Xu Mingyi's sleeve.
Zhan Yunzhu stood in front of her and just smiled.
"It turns out that Zhao Zhao really wants to kill me."
But her thoughts were pure and simple, and she never hid them deeply enough. Ever since she was a child, he could see through her thoughts at a glance.
You can still guess that he came here today, which is already very sharp. Or maybe his men alerted Wu Ran's guards when they came to inquire last night.
Xu Mingyi straightened the corner of his mouth slightly: "If you keep me with you, sooner or later I will find an opportunity to kill you."
Zhan Yunzhu just pretended not to hear these words.
He was obviously confident of winning, so he was not in a hurry to ask anything at this time. Instead, he bent slightly, reached out to hold her shoulders, stared at her greedily, and whispered: "Zhaozhao, I haven't seen you in five years... I take it seriously.
I miss you so much. You know, even though I have everything now, I can’t fit anyone else in my heart.”
Xu Mingyi suddenly broke away from his hand and raised her hand to attack his neck while standing up.
The bracelet on his wrist concealed a sharp thorn from a machine. While Yunzhu was dodging, a wound was still cut on his neck.
"Zhaozhao, we can't make any more trouble. With your skills, it's impossible to kill me. Since you know that I will come today, this move is just to delay Wu Ran's escape. But he can't escape from Yangzhou City.
Don't waste your efforts. You are a remnant of the Xu and Wu families. Only I can save you, so you should be more obedient."
He restrained one of Xu Mingyi's arms, his tone was slightly cold, and his patience was waning.
"yes."
Xu Mingyi suddenly smiled.
Of course she was trying to delay time. Otherwise, was it because she was just listening to him talking nonsense just to make herself sick?——
Zhan Yunzhu wanted to say something more, but his expression suddenly changed.
He touched the wound on his neck as if to investigate, and saw that the blood stained on his fingers was actually jet black!
"Zhaozhao, you——"
He was no longer able to restrain Xu Mingyi, so he took a few steps back in fear, trying to call someone in, but was surprised to find that he could hardly make a sound.
He fell to the ground and looked keenly at the bracelet on Xu Mingyi's wrist, which was walking towards him, and then at the incense burner burning unknown spices in the corner.
But it's too late.
The moment he found the dagger from Xu Mingyi's sleeve, he realized that the woman in front of him was as innocent as ever, and he unconsciously lowered most of his guard.
"You only know that I have known some boxing and kicking skills since I was a child, so I am always on guard. But you don't know that I have also learned some other skills that can be used to kill people over the years, right?"
Wu Ran thought she was trying to lure Zhan Yunzhu away with her own life.
wrong.
She wanted to kill him.
"Sir? Do you need your subordinates to come in?" A probing voice came from outside the door.
Zhan Yunzhu grabbed his throat with both hands and tried desperately to make a sound while moving with difficulty towards the door.
Xu Mingyi raised her foot and stepped on his heart, took out the knife from his waist, and raised the knife with his hand.
Just when the soldiers were about to break in, the door was kicked open from the inside.
A woman with unparalleled appearance and a snow-green dress stained with blood appeared in everyone's sight, and she was holding something in her hand——
That's their lord's head!
The soldiers were horrified and furious. Seeing the head being thrown down the stone steps unceremoniously by the woman, they immediately drew their swords and stepped forward.
The soldiers guarding outside the courtyard also poured in.
Xu Mingyi raised his foot and kicked down the wooden barrel beside him, and the pine oil prepared inside immediately spread out under his feet.
She calmly took out the fire stick and threw it to the ground. She gritted her teeth and hid the poison. With a bang, the fire spread.
She knew she couldn't escape.
She was born into a general in the Xu family, and even if she had to die, she would die with dignity.
There is nothing to be unwilling to do if you die in your own hands.
Although she was extremely afraid of fire when she was young, and also afraid of death and pain, fortunately, this poison can cause people to die unconsciously.
The fire surged high, and the snow-green figure was slowly swallowed and fell, and fine raindrops suddenly fell from the cloudy sky.
At this time, a group of men in black suddenly jumped into the other courtyard and started fighting with the soldiers who were still immersed in the tragic death of their leader Zhan Yunzhu.
Without Zhan Yunzhu's command, the enemy came again with ferocity. The soldiers lost their minds and quickly collapsed and fled the place.
A vulture flew low in front of the burning house, its cry sounding like a mourning. After hovering for a while, it actually tried to rush into the fire.
The fire burned its wings, and it fluttered a few times, but screamed again and crashed into it.
"Tianmu!"
The leading man in black frowned and scolded to stop him.
However, the vulture still refused to give up.
Xu Mingyi faintly heard a sharp scream.
Ten days ago, this lazy, ugly and noisy stupid bird suddenly disappeared. She thought she had found a new master with more generous food and would not come back again...
If the man in black at the head looked into the matter, he could faintly see the glimmer of snow in the fire, and suddenly he rushed into the fire with his feet raised.
"Master, no!"
An attendant rushed in immediately.
The man moved quickly and picked up Xu Mingyi, who was still on fire. The attendant on the side quickly took water from the water tank on the side and poured it on the two of them in time.
"……why you?!"
"Xu Mingyi, you are still alive!"
The man saw clearly the appearance of the person in his arms, and his handsome face with drops of water showed a look of shock.
Xu Mingyi tried to open her eyes, but couldn't.
"Quick, get some cold water -"
"Bring the person back to the military camp for treatment!"
The man took off his cloak, wrapped it around her burned body, and kept giving instructions to his subordinates.
Xu Mingyi's consciousness was gradually disappearing.
She really wanted to ask "Who are you?"
I also want to know whether King Yan's army will continue to attack the capital after breaking Yangzhou City. How will the emperor respond? Will he defend the capital or retreat to the south? How long will the two armies face off? In the end, can King Yan be able to fight?
win?
Secretly, she hoped that King Yan could win.
But she couldn't wait any longer.
but……
It seems like there is no need to worry.
She has always been such a kind-hearted and honest person, but today she killed another evil person. She can be considered a virtuous person, and there is a high probability that she will be able to ascend to heaven.
Just go to heaven and see...
…
Half a month later, after the Yan King's army captured Yangzhou City, they hardly stopped and surrounded the capital at night.
Due to the tragic death of all members of the Wu family, the morale of the Yan army was high and furious, and they captured the capital in just three days.
A young man in armor led a group of cavalry into the palace.
The emperor did not escape.
To be precise, there was no time to escape. King Yan's army was unstoppable along the way, and due to the unkind government of the current court, more and more followers defected along the way. How could they be so quick, and ignore the advice of the ministers sent by the court to make peace, without any scruples?
Entering the capital like this was something that the courtiers and the emperor had not expected in advance.
The young man broke into the Yangxin Hall and ignored the shouts of the officials and eunuchs to stop him. He lifted up the sick emperor who was lying on the dragon bed with one hand, dragged him out, and threw him heavily in front of the imperial steps of the outer hall.
The stubborn and loyal old minister was indignant and cursed angrily, complaining that the young man had lost his moral character and had no regard for royal decency.
"Listen, I have two things to tell you. One, prepare a crime against yourself and make the mistake of falsely accusing the Xu family and the Wu family known to the world."
Looking at the bright yellow silk and pen and ink that were thrown beside him, the emperor trembled all over and laughed maniacally: "Delusion... I can't write it! It's even less possible to prepare an abdication edict... you father and son can only be rebellious ministers and traitors!"
"Whether you write or not is not up to you."
The young man sneered, and the eunuch on the side looked at the knife lying in front of him, knelt on the ground, and tremblingly picked up the pen.
"Two, kill yourself and apologize."
The young man threw the sword in front of the emperor.
There were constant scoldings and cries everywhere, but the man standing on the imperial steps seemed not to hear them, and only looked at the turbulent sky above the vermilion palace wall.
As my father said, the price of walking down this road is already too heavy.
If I had known that I would inevitably be accused of being a treacherous traitor in the end, would my grandfather have known it? Would he regret it?
And Xu Mingyi——
He should have gone earlier that day.
She is only twenty-two years old, right?
The autumn wind rustled, the rain fell, and the yellow leaves fell into the soil carrying the flames of war and blood, and were buried together.
