Queen Mother stops the horse
Zhenzhou fell and Weizhou fell.
Of the three towns in Heshuo, only Youzhou remained in an instant.
The three towns of Heshuo, that barrier built by heavy troops for so many years? Now, it was so vulnerable under the iron hoof of the Western Qiang, in just over a month!
"God damn it, Western Qiang barbarians! Are the soldiers in Heshuo all made of mud?"
"Where is the imperial court? What is the imperial court doing? Send troops! Fight back!"
"Fight back? That's easy to say! Zhenzhou and Weizhou have been lost, how many days can Youzhou hold out? I'm afraid it's more dangerous than good, and our borders are in danger!"
"Someone must be collaborating with the enemy, it must be! Otherwise, how could they have broken through so quickly?"
"Collaborating with the enemy? Who is collaborating with the enemy? Who has the ability to take down two fortified cities in just over a month?"
The public is outraged and the people are angry?
The fire burned towards the capital, towards all the civil and military officials, and towards the emperor who was high above. However, as the sun rose and the moon set, countless pairs of eyes looked anxiously towards the north, but there was no movement in the court, as if the fall of Heshuo had never happened.
The land of Heshuo was lost like this?
The first year of Guangqi was a time of humiliation for the Southern Dynasty!
Mingzhou.
In the warm room, charcoal fire burned quietly in the fine copper beast furnace, making a slight crackling sound.
Ning Lingyi put down the briefing in her hand. She raised her eyes, and her gaze passed over the jumping charcoal fire and fell on the face of Shen Qingyan who was sitting opposite her.
"While the Western Qiang are strong, the troops of Heshuo are certainly not made of paper. Zhenzhou and Weizhou fell in just over a month. Mr. Chen, don't you find this very strange?"
Shen Qingyan put down the warm teacup in his hand, and the porcelain touched the rosewood table, making a very light crisp sound.
He nodded slowly, the furrows between his brows deepening. "Your Highness is very perceptive. The loss of two towns is no ordinary battle. The connections involved are probably unfathomable."
"Bottomless? I think someone is looking for death."
She stood up suddenly, and her wide sleeves brought up a slightly cold breeze, which fanned the flames in the stove.
"I cannot sit idly by and watch as our country is lost."
Shen Qingyan's eyes narrowed: "Your Highness, what are you planning?"
"Go to Beishuo, go to Youzhou."
The only sound in the warm room was the faint sound of burning charcoal.
Shen Qingyan was silent for a moment. He knew her too well.
Saving refugees and building personal guards, everything she did was far beyond the boundaries of an ordinary royal noble lady. The territory in her heart was never within the boudoir.
He took a deep breath, suppressed all words of exhortation, and simply asked, "How many troops would you like to bring, Your Highness?"
"The three thousand guards."
Shen Qingyan frowned.
The three thousand personal guards who came to rescue the people were good enough to fight the pirates, but facing the Western Qiang cavalry, they were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
But in the end he just nodded: "I understand. Your Highness must take care of yourself."
Ning Lingyi walked to the window and looked at the several green pines in the courtyard standing tall in the cold wind. After a while, she spoke again: "Before I leave, there is something I need to do."
"Your Highness has ordered."
"Zhou Wenyuan is still in Mingzhou, I'm worried."
Shen Qingyan was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice had returned to its usual calmness: "Your Highness, just go north and cut through the thorns and brambles. I will clean up the dead branches and fallen leaves in Mingzhou."
With just a few words, the plan to go north was finalized.
If the imperial court sits idly by, then Ning Lingyi will lead her troops north.
On a cold night, the wind beats against the thin window paper.
In a low earthen house outside the city, under the dim oil lamp, a figure was swaying. It was Wang Dayong's home.
Wang Dayong sat on the edge of the kang, his rough hands stroking the lining of the thick cotton-padded jacket he had just received. It was very warm. This was the winter coat he received as the personal guard of His Highness.
His eyes fell on his wife Cuihua.
She was lowering her head, and in the dim light, she was mending his old winter clothes carefully, stitch by stitch.
On the small kang next to them, two half-grown children were huddled together, wrapped in a thin quilt full of patches, sleeping soundly with their little faces flushed.
The flame of the oil lamp jumped, illuminating Cuihua's focused profile.
Wang Dayong opened his mouth and said, "Cuihua, let me tell you something."
"Hmm?" Cuihua didn't look up. The needle and thread passed through the thick cloth, making a slight "swish" sound.
"Your Highness, we are going to leave." Wang Dayong lowered his voice, as if he was afraid of waking the child. "We are going to Heshuo in the north."
The needle and thread paused.
Cuihua raised her head. Under the dim light, her face looked a little pale. She looked at him steadily.
"Your Highness did the right thing."
After a long while, Cuihua spoke softly, "It's time to go."
Wang Dayong was stunned.
He had imagined his wife's worry, reluctance, and even crying, but he had never expected her to be so calm.
"Dayong," Cuihua put down her needle and thread.
"If it weren't for His Highness, our family would have starved to death or frozen to death outside Mingzhou City. We must remember this kindness."
Her gaze passed over him and fell on the sleeping child: "You go. If there ever comes a day when you can't come back, and die on the battlefield, and become dirt over there..."
Her voice finally cracked slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. "I will raise the children. Tell them that their father is following His Highness to fight the enemy and defend our land! Don't worry."
Wang Dayong felt a stream of burning heat rushing up to his eyes, and his nose felt very sore.
He lowered his head, hummed heavily, and could not say anything else. He just stretched out his strong arms and hugged his wife tightly.
Cuihua hugged him even tighter.
Her husband was leaving and she might never see him again. She couldn't drag him down, because he was her husband.
Under the same cold night sky, in a small courtyard in the east of the city, the thin door could hardly block the night wind.
Wang Mengzi, the commander of the 3,000 personal guards, a tall and burly man, was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
In front of him was his elderly widowed mother, whose hair had turned completely white and whose back was slightly hunched. She was trembling as she packed a few old clothes, folded them carefully, and stuffed them into an equally tattered bundle.
"Mother," Wang Mengzi's voice choked, "His Highness is taking us to the north to fight. This time..."
The old mother didn't stop, and didn't even look up at him. She just packed her clothes slowly and leisurely. These were all her own clothes.
"Mom knows." She finally spoke.
"We should go and beat those damn Qiang dogs."
She tied the bag tightly, making a firm knot. Then she raised her head, looking at her tall and strong son with cloudy eyes. A smile appeared on her face. "Son, don't worry about me. I'm still strong. Tomorrow, I will go to the nursing home by myself."
She patted her packed bag and said, "I've packed everything. You won't starve or freeze to death over there. Just go, follow His Highness, and kill the enemy well."
"Mom!" Wang Mengzi couldn't bear it any longer. He fell to his knees with a thud, and his forehead hit the cold ground heavily.
"My son is unfilial! My son..."
"Get up!" The old mother's voice suddenly became stern.
"A man's knees are made of gold! Kneeling before heaven, earth, and parents doesn't mean you should just kneel and cry. Your Highness saved us, saved so many people back then. What was your goal? Wasn't it so that you could stand up straight and become men who stand tall and proud?"
She reached out her hand, her rough, cracked palm grasped her son's arm, and pulled him up. "Go! Kill the enemy and defend the land. Mother is in Mingzhou, waiting for you to come back!"
The cold wind swept through the courtyard, making the torn window paper rustle.
He nodded heavily, unable to stop crying. His widowed mother raised him and suffered so much. She shed more tears than he did when he was a child, and today he was leaving his mother again.
He shouldn't have cried, but he couldn't help it.
If he died, would his mother be able to bear it? He didn't dare to think about it.
The days passed slowly, and finally the day of departure arrived.
It was early in the morning, before daybreak, and the air was bitingly cold.
In the training ground west of Mingzhou City, frost flowers condensed on the withered yellow leaves, reflecting the thin skylight, a pale white.
Ning Lingyi was dressed in a dark suit with a half-worn light armor on the outside, standing in front of the reviewing platform.
Her three thousand personal guards had already lined up in an orderly formation. Most of them had been displaced, had struggled on the brink of life and death, had been refugees, and could not be considered regular soldiers now. They had only trained for a year or two and killed some thieves.
But now, they are going to the border to kill the enemy.
The cold wind swept across the training ground, ruffling Ning Lingyi's hair. She glanced at the silent faces below.
"Comrades!"
"The two towns of Heshuo have fallen, and Youzhou is in imminent danger. The Western Qiang's iron hooves have already broken through the gates of our northern border. I don't know when the flames of war will spread to the south of the Yangtze River and burn at our feet."
"I, Ning Lingyi, will take you to Heshuo today, to the most dangerous place, to kill the enemy and defend the land!"
"But I only have you! Only these three thousand people!"
The training ground was dead silent, with only the cold wind whistling past.
"The road ahead is a sea of fire and a mountain of swords, a life-or-death struggle."
"I can't promise you wealth and glory, or even that you'll return alive. All I can say is this: this journey will involve a fight to the death."
"So, if you don't want to follow me into the ranks of the dead and stay, I won't force you to do so, nor will I blame you."
It was the first time that Ning Lingyi stood in front of the reviewing platform, and for the first time as the commander-in-chief, she said to her soldiers what she had been thinking about for a long time.
She didn't know if her choice was right, but she had to do it. She needed them, but she didn't want to force them.
As soon as he finished speaking, there was only the sound of flags rustling in the cold wind, and no one responded.
No one moved.
Three thousand people, firmly pinned to the spot.
Their eyes were focused on the figure in black armor on the stage. Each of them trusted her so much.
After an unknown amount of time, the silence was broken.
Another sound came from the edge of the parade ground. At first it was sporadic footsteps, but soon the sounds gathered together, becoming more and more numerous and denser.
A figure emerged from the darkness at the edge of the training ground.
They wore ragged short jackets and carried crude homemade spears or even just sharpened wooden sticks.
Their faces were rough and dark, bearing the marks of years of labor, but their eyes were unusually bright, staring intently at the formation in the center of the parade ground.
One, two, ten... a hundred...
More and more figures gathered and stood silently behind the 3,000-strong formation of guards, blending into the silent black.
Three thousand people became four thousand, five thousand...
It turned out to be the people of Mingzhou.
This is Mingzhou, Ning Lingyi’s Mingzhou.
"March!" She drew the sword from her waist and pointed it to the north!
The heavy city gate slowly opened with the creaking sound of the winch, revealing the gray wilderness outside the city. Three thousand Mingzhou men left their hometown.
Ning Lingyi rode his horse at the front of the team. The cold wind blew in his face, making his cheeks hurt. The sky turned from dark blue to pale, and the withered and yellow grass on both sides of the official road trembled in the wind.
Sudden.
Just as the team was about to completely leave the shadow of the city gate and step onto the open official road, a thin and hunched figure staggered out from behind a few rugged rocks on the side of the road.
She was wearing an old cotton-padded jacket that had been washed so much that it looked pale. Her hair was flying in disarray in the cold wind. Her thin body looked so frail under the tall shadow of the horse that she seemed as if it could be blown down by a gust of wind.
She actually stopped Ning Lingyi's horse!
After a burst of screams, Ning Lingyi controlled the horse and prevented her from being hurt.
"Your Highness." The old woman spoke.
Wang Mengzi was at the front row of the queue at this moment. When he looked carefully, he found that it was his widowed mother.
He was so frightened that he almost died: "Mom, please go back quickly, what are you doing!"
He dismounted and went to support his mother.
The old woman shook her head and continued to support Ning Lingyi's horse, saying, "Your Highness, I have something to say."
Ning Lingyi looked at the old woman in front of her. She was old and weak, like millions of other women in Mingzhou. She didn't know what to do.
"Madam, please speak."
"Your Highness, you are a most honorable person."
"This time, Your Highness is leading my son north to fight the enemy. My son will certainly be fearless and will only seek to repay your kindness!"
"I know that my son's life was given by His Highness. It is only natural that he returns it to you today, but I am his mother."
She pointed a withered finger at the thousands of people behind her: "These thousands of people behind you were also born by their parents. Each of them has a wife, children, and elderly parents."
"Your Highness, let me be frank. If you and they all died on the battlefield, I, an old woman, would have nothing to say. I would just consider myself to have raised a good son, and my death would be a worthy death for his father."
"But, Your Highness, you are leading these men to die today. If one day you achieve success and sit in a high position, will you still remember them? Will you still remember the blood they shed today?"
The cold wind seemed to stop at this moment, and the only sound in the world was the old woman's questioning.
"Will they also treat these people like dirt? Will they also be like those people, drinking up all their blood and then trampling their wives, children and the elderly into the mud one by one?"
"Mom!" Wang Mengzi wanted to cover his mother's mouth.
"Stop, Mengzi!" Ning Lingyi stopped him.
The old woman seemed to be weeping. It was unclear whether she was crying for her son or for something else. However, she continued to mutter to herself, "This world doesn't give us a way to survive. If he dies on the battlefield, I will also lose my son. There will be no one to speak for me anymore..."
"Your Highness, my wife is begging you, begging you on behalf of their parents. Considering they are willing to risk their lives with you, please don't mistreat them. And don't wait until they die to mistreat their families..."
Thousands of eyes, thousands of young men with fathers and mothers, looked at the old woman. Someone sobbed secretly, and even Wang Mengzi turned his face away quietly.
One general's success is built on the bones of thousands of soldiers. Who remembers the bones by the Yongding River? Whose son, whose husband, whose father?
Ning Lingyi has experienced a lot in her life, but this moment alone makes her feel extremely unbearable.
She dismounted and helped the old woman up. This was the mother of the three thousand Mingzhou men behind her. She wanted an explanation for them and was reluctant to see them shed blood and tears.
"Old mother, I will remember what you said today."
“clang!”
Ning Lingyi drew out the sharp sword and cut her index finger. Bright red blood gushed out. She pressed her index finger on the sword spine, using her finger as a pen and her blood as ink.
Write out eight characters: Recover my mountains and rivers, and bring peace to my people!
Drops of blood slowly slid down the sword's spine, dripping onto the frozen soil, spreading a small patch of dark red.
Ning Lingyi raised her eyes and glanced at the hunched old woman in front of her, the pale-faced Wang Mengzi, and finally at the thousands of silent faces behind her.
"I and you will go forth, and we will never return, nor will we ever return. We shall shed our blood on the battlefield, and be buried in our horse's hide."
"If there is a future, I will treat the people like my own children! If I break my promise, I will die and my soul will be destroyed, and heaven and earth will punish me."
The cold wind swept across the wilderness, blowing her blood-stained black cloak, making it rustle.
This oath was also blended into the cold wind.
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