Chapter 480 Riot (Part 1)

Luo Dongdong sent Zhiluo back to Huo's house, and then rode back at full speed.

Now the designations of the Lion Army and the Tiger Army have been cancelled, and the 400,000 troops have been dispersed and sent to the border.

There were less than 100,000 people left in Kyoto. Together with the Beijing troops that had been stationed there all year round, they were reorganized in Fengdu Mountain. After changing their name to "Tianwei Army", they were dispersed into six garrisons.

Fu Lin and Duan Jie were assigned to the poorest and most remote area.

Luo Dongdong and Rong Yi were luckier, as they were assigned to the suburban base closest to Kyoto City.

The advantage is that the journey to and from the city is short, only half a day is enough.

The downside is that Luo Dongdong and Rong Yi were assigned to the most difficult and tiring infantry transport battalion.

The daily training is hard and boring, and everyone has their own assigned transportation tasks to complete.

Luo Dongdong went back and forth and spent the night dawdling. Three days had passed, and Rong Yi had completed three full days' worth of tasks for him. He was so tired that he felt dizzy and dizzy.

Seeing Luo Dongdong's glowing face coming back, Rong Yi couldn't help but scold him:

"You damn well still remembered to come back? Feeling good, huh? Happy, huh? My hands and shoulders are covered in blisters! Hurry up and get me a bath, or I'll never let you go!"

There was no reason for Luo Dongdong to disobey. He laughed twice ingratiatingly, then immediately swung one arm and picked up the bucket to fetch water.

Rong Yi was so tired that he slumped over beside him. When he saw Luo Dongdong fetch six buckets of water, he couldn't stand it anymore. He snatched the buckets while cursing and kicked Luo Dongdong.

"What a damn long time! By the time you were done, the tub was frozen solid!"

Luo Dongdong knew that Rong Yi had a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and he couldn't bear to see him strain his arm, so he didn't hesitate. After Rong Yi had grunted and carried more than ten buckets of water and the bathtub was almost full, he simply pulled the curtain of the bathroom, took off all his clothes, jumped into the bathtub, and started to wash happily.

Rong Yi joined in while cursing, but still had to help Luo Dongdong wipe his back.

"I owed you in my past life!"

"Hehe, it's so comfortable to have the young master rub my back. I'm enjoying it!"

"If you say any more, I'll rub your back to pieces, believe it or not?!"

"Then rub it to pieces, or you apply medicine to me, and I'll leave tomorrow's training to you!"

"Fuck..."

Rong Yi wrung out the linen cloth and began to wipe the back of Luo Dongdong's neck.

Noticing the red bruises on the side, Rong Yi couldn't help but make a dirty joke, which made Luo Dongdong blush and he started fighting with Rong Yi with his only remaining arm.

The two grown men jumped into the bathtub, making a loud splashing sound. They both drank several mouthfuls of bath water before stopping.

Rong Yi spat out the salty taste in his mouth and said:

"Play is play, jokes are jokes, but don't joke about your whole life. Dongdong, I'm seriously reminding you, play enough. Once the novelty wears off, I'll find you a good girl who's far away from Nazhiluo."

"Go to hell!" Luo Dongdong frowned. "What nonsense are you talking about? Who's playing? I've already sent a letter to my dad. I want to marry her!"

"What?" Rong Yi was shocked. "Marry Zhiluo? Are you crazy? Not to mention that she is now 'Mrs. Huo', even if she wasn't, you can't marry her! She is no longer the Zhiluo of Dongzhao Kingdom. She is a fucking pervert who kills people for fun!"

Hearing this, Luo Dongdong's face instantly fell and he said seriously:

"I treat you as a brother and know you're doing this for my own good. But Luo is a good girl. Living in this world is pitiful and difficult. The person who spread the rumors about her must have ulterior motives. She's not that kind of person! She must have her own difficulties!"

Rong Yi was so angry that he laughed. He directly hugged Luo Dongdong's head with both hands, shook it vigorously, and cursed:

"I really want to see how much water has gotten into this—Silly boy, my good brother, I really admire you! But Luo's smell of evil is overwhelming, and you can't smell it? Someone said she was perverted and sick, you can ignore it, but do you know how many lawsuits the Kyoto government has filed, all from the victims' families, accusing Luo of taking human life—"

Hundreds of cases! They were all suppressed by Zhi Luo using her power as a female official! If you don’t believe me, go and verify it! This world is not easy, it’s not easy for the whole world. The world is unfair, and life is bitter and aggrieved. This is the case for most ordinary people! Isn’t Boss Yun miserable enough? Has she suffered enough? Why doesn’t she just kill innocent people? Wake up, idiot!

Luo Dongdong frowned, wanting to defend himself but having nothing to say.

On one side are his comrades and brothers who have been through life and death together for many years, and on the other side is the woman he has loved for so many years.

Luo Dongdong didn't know how to make a decision and didn't know who to trust.

He decided not to listen to anyone and go and see for himself.

He lowered his head and remained silent for a long time. Then he stood up from the water with a splash, put on his clothes in a hurry and ran out without saying a word.

No matter how Ren Rongyi shouted from behind, it was useless. He could only quickly get up and wipe the water.

As a result, when Rong Yi got dressed and came out of the bathroom, Luo Dongdong and his horse had disappeared. He had even left the camp without asking for leave.

Fortunately, no one can care about Luo Dongdong at this moment.

Rong Yi stood at the door of the bathroom and saw that the camp was in a mess. People were coming and going everywhere, all talking and laughing loudly, and heading in the same direction.

Rong Yi grabbed a random stranger from the Beijing Army passing by and said:

"What's wrong? What good thing happened? Why are you all smiling like flowers? Where are you going?"

The strange soldier looked Rong Yi up and down, and seeing that Rong Yi had just taken a bath, he smiled and said:

"You're so quick! The girls just entered the camp and you've already finished washing? What? Are you going to be the first one to go? Hahahaha——"

Rong Yi only understood half of what he heard and became even more anxious. He asked again and found out that the emperor wanted to appease the Lion and Tiger Armies, which had been cancelled and reorganized, and specially sent a large number of military prostitutes for the soldiers to enjoy as a token of comfort.

"There is such a good thing?" Rong Yi's eyes lit up when he heard it, and he grinned and ran towards the camp gate, instantly forgetting everything behind him.

Rong Yi ran through the dense crowd and came to the front. From afar, he saw several rows of yamen runners escorting hundreds of horse-drawn carriages and cages slowly approaching. There were more than a dozen women in each cage.

Rong Yi was originally laughing and joking like the people around him, but as the convoy got closer, he could tell from the prostitutes' clothing, temperament, and their weak state due to lack of water and food that they were all good women from the people.

With red eyes and panicked looks, they looked fearfully at the dark, surging tide of strange, tall men in front of them.

Rong Yi couldn't laugh anymore, and the smiles of the other soldiers around him also froze on their faces.

Desire is instinct, morality is human nature.

The soldiers could not help but discuss in surprise:

"What's going on? They're not girls from the building. They all look like decent women. What crime have they committed?"

"Why are there still children? Are you crazy?"

"Holy crap, why is there someone breastfeeding a baby? Don't look, don't look!"

As they were talking, the convoy entered the camp gate and the leading yamen runner took out a list and took inventory.

As the military supervisor of the Tianwei Army, Su Zhengyang came out to greet them in person.

He stepped forward, took the list and looked through it. Behind each prostitute's name was the crime for which she was punished as a military prostitute.

After flipping through a few pages, Su Zhengyang's expression changed and he got goose bumps all over his body, as if he had a premonition of what was going to happen next.

Unfortunately, before he could say anything, he saw a group of soldiers surrounding the carriage cage.

Seeing such a group of big men surrounding them, the military prostitutes were so scared that they shrank back and huddled together tightly in the cage.

Rong Yi passed a water bag through the fence:

"Have some water? Why is your mouth so thirsty that it's cracked? Didn't you have anything to eat or drink all the way? What crime did you commit to treat people like this?"

The other mighty and powerful soldiers around immediately followed suit and passed fruits and steamed buns in through the fence.

"Give the child some steamed buns. If it's not enough, I'll go get more from the kitchen. Come on, have more!"

"Who has some clean clothes? Bring them over to cover yourself!"

"Don't be afraid, little girl. Tell your brother what you want to eat."

The soldiers' sudden concern stunned the prostitutes. They looked at each other hesitantly, grabbed the food and shared it with each other.

Rong Yi looked at the woman with the little girl with reluctance:

"Sister, what did you get arrested for? What crime did you commit that caused you to come to this?"

The woman gave most of the steamed bun to her daughter, and took the remaining half and gobbled it up, shaking her head without saying a word.

However, a girl next to him drank enough water and was also asked by the soldiers next to him. She answered in a low voice:

"My father passed away last month. I only have my mother and two sisters at home. We don't have any male children to allow us to go out. When I went out to buy medicine for my mother, I ran into the sheriff. I couldn't produce a 'warrant to go out', so I was arrested for violating the new law."

The soldiers were stunned for a moment, and before they could recover, they heard other women say one after another:

"My mother-in-law was disgusted with my inability to bear a son, so she told my husband to marry a new wife and sold me off."

"I was secretly teaching my daughter to read, and my husband found out and spanked her. I slapped him back, saying it was against the rules."

"My husband allowed me to go out to buy meat, but the wind blew my hat and veil off. The sheriff saw it and said it was 'showing off in public', so he arrested me."

"And me, I am..."

The women's voices were soft and gentle, but to the soldiers' ears they sounded sharper than the sound of bayonets.

The new law that deprived women of all human rights and treated them as less than human beings had aroused the indignation of men.

But sometimes, it is difficult to empathize with the pain unless the knife is stabbed into your own body and blood is dripping.

Now, looking at these carts of women who were severely punished for minor crimes and could even be called innocent, the soldiers seemed to finally face the cruelty of the "new law" and truly feel the absurdity of this world.

Rong Yi listened to the women's stories and was already so angry that veins on his forehead were throbbing.

He couldn't bear to see women suffer, and especially couldn't bear to see the people he fought to protect being treated harshly.

He wanted to scold Nan Lijun, but when he turned around and saw many Beijing troops standing around, he swallowed his words.

He again asked the woman who shared the steamed buns with the little girl:

"Sister, what crime have you committed? Tell me and I will seek justice for you!"

The woman stared at Rong Yi for a while, then looked at the military uniform on Rong Yi in a daze, and finally spoke hoarsely:

"I violated the new law by selling fruit on the street with my children without my husband's permission."

"That's just a piece of shit?" Rong Yi finally couldn't help but curse, "What about your husband? Damn it, why didn't he give you a warrant?! Call him over here, I'll teach him a lesson!"

The woman showed no emotion and said in a calm tone:

"During the decisive battle of Youzhou, he served as a militiaman and died."