Chapter 44
"Bastard!" When the old man saw his daughter coming over, he raised his hand and slapped her.
This slap frightened both Lu Ling and Yang Gan.
Seeing that the old man was still going to fight, Lu Ling ran over to stop him.
"Uncle, if you have something to say, just talk it out. Why hit her? Even if Ye Rong went against your wishes, you can't hit her." Lu Ling advised kindly.
Although the old man was old, his hands were very strong. Lu Ling was originally holding his hand, but unexpectedly the old man shook Lu Ling away.
Lu Ling staggered and was about to fall backwards, but fortunately Yang Gan saw her and supported her.
The old man reached out his hand again to hit Ye Rong, but was stopped by Yang Gan this time.
"What are you doing? I'm just disciplining my daughter, how come you're interfering?" the old man said angrily.
"She is your daughter, but now she has joined the army. She is under our care in the barracks and her family has no right to control her anymore," said Yang Gan.
"What nonsense are you talking about? She is my daughter. Even if she comes to the military camp, she is still my daughter. How can I not have the right to control her?" The old man's face turned red.
"From the moment she joined the military camp, you can no longer control her. She is now a soldier, eating and drinking from the court, and the court also pays her a salary. To put it bluntly, she is now sold to the court, unless you can find someone else to take her place."
In fact, it was not as serious as Yang Gan said, but Yang Gan still said it was serious.
"This..." Ye Rong's mother spoke up and persuaded, "Old man, since Rong wants to join the army, let her go. Marrying into the Bai family doesn't guarantee a good life."
"What are you talking about! We have already received the betrothal gift from the Bai family, how can we invalidate it?"
"Dad, return the betrothal gifts. Next month..." Ye Rong's voice choked with sobs, "I'll get the money next month, and then I'll give it all to you."
Ye Rong knelt on the ground, begging his father to show mercy.
Father Ye looked at his daughter kneeling on the ground without saying a word. After a long while, he asked, "How much do you make a month?"
After Lu Ling gave a number, Ye's father nodded and left.
After Ye's father and mother left, Ye Rong knelt on the ground with her body limp.
After Lu Ling sent Ye's father and mother away, he saw Ye Rong staring at the ground with blank eyes, looking lifeless.
Lu Ling walked over and helped the man sit on a stool beside him.
"What's wrong?" Lu Ling asked softly.
Ye Rong remained silent for a long time before she finally spoke: "General, am I not as important as money in his eyes?"
"Just because I'm a woman, do I have to marry? Just because I'm a woman, do I have to eat chaff? Just because I'm a woman, can't I join the army?"
Lu Ling tucked her exposed hair behind her ears and comforted her: "It's not like that. You can choose not to get married, you can eat whatever you want, and you can also join the army. Look, aren't you a soldier now?"
Ye Rong looked up, her eyes were red and tears flowed out like water.
"Thank you, General."
Lu Ling smiled slightly, his eyes full of tenderness.
After Ye Rong left, Lu Ling sat in the tent for a long time before going out.
Lu Ling's father is an excellent father.
In the following days, no one caused trouble, and the female soldiers began to get on track and train every day.
That day, the city guards brought news that there was an epidemic in the north of the city and three people had died.
After hearing this, Yang Gan took a group of people over and asked Lu Ling to be in the army.
But Lu Ling couldn't sit still. Her home was in the north of the city, and her uncle's home was in the west, not far from the north. If the situation got serious, then her family...
Lu Ling didn't dare to think about it anymore. He just hoped that this epidemic was not serious and would heal quickly.
Lu Ling's hopes were dashed. Not only did the epidemic in the city not subside, but it became even more serious. Many people in the north and west of the city had already fallen ill.
Reports came from the city that many people had died. The court was preparing to isolate them and have people in the Beijing camp guard them, swearing to defend the safety of the capital to the death.
Almost all the people in the Beijing camp were dispatched. Lu Ling led his men to the north of the city and met Yang Gan.
"General Yang, how are things now?"
Yang Gan's eyes were dark and he looked very tired. He shook his head and said, "The situation is not good. Almost everyone here has fallen ill. The imperial physician has examined them but can't find the cause."
To prevent infection, soldiers have surrounded the north of the city. Lu Ling and Yang Gan are talking outside.
Lu Ling's heart sank. If they were all infected? Then was Shen Wangyou also...
Lu Ling calmed down and asked Yang Gan, "What about the west side of the city? How is the west side of the city?"
"The north of the city was the first place where the epidemic was discovered. The west of the city is closer to the north, so there were cases there. So the west of the city is still okay now, and not many people are infected." Yang Gan replied.
Although Yang Gan said this, Lu Ling was still a little worried.
When the imperial physician came, Lu Ling wanted to go in with him, but was stopped outside by Yang Gan.
"I know you're worried about him, but you can't go in. Go check in the west of the city first."
When Lu Ling heard this, he thought something had happened to his uncle, so he took the army to the west of the city.
Because there were not many people infected in the west of the city, only a few alleys were closed. When Lu Ling walked to the alley in front of his uncle's house, he found that it was not closed. Lu Ling felt relieved.
Lu Ling asked the others to patrol the surrounding area and walked into his uncle's house.
As soon as I walked in, Zhao Zhenzhen ran over.
Lu Ling was stunned. He didn't expect to see Zhenzhen at his uncle's house. Although his uncle knew about Zhenzhen, he had never brought Zhao Zhenzhen to his uncle's house. Now that she was here, was Shen Wangyou also...
Zhao Zhenzhen held Lu Ling in her arms. Lu Ling tilted his head back and looked inside, wondering why Shen Wangyou didn't come out.
In the past, as soon as he returned home, Shen Wangyou would immediately come to him.
Lu Ling carried Zhao Zhenzhen into the house. Chu Fan and Chu Liuyun were sitting at the table, talking about something.
Lu Ling put Zhao Zhenzhen down, looked at the two of them and asked, "Uncle, cousin, what are you talking about?"
Zhao Zhenzhen called out to her just now, but it seemed like these two people didn't hear her.
Chu Liuyun looked up in astonishment and looked at Lu Ling, puzzledly saying, "A Ling, why are you here? Aren't you in the Beijing Camp?"
In the past, Lu Ling always wore casual clothes, but today he was wearing military uniform. Chu Liuyun didn't recognize the person in front of him.
"Cousin, isn't there an epidemic in the capital? I'm here to help."
"In that case, you have to be careful." Chu Liuyun said.
Lu Ling nodded and continued to ask: "What were you talking about just now?"
Chu Fan was silent for a moment and said, "We are wondering where this epidemic came from."
"Yes, this epidemic is coming with great force and it's very strange," said Chu Liuyun.
"Do you have any idea?" Lu Ling asked.
Chu Fan and Chu Liuyun shook their heads in tacit understanding.
"Auntie, this is for you." Zhao Zhenzhen was holding a peace locket in her hand.
Lu Ling recognized it. This was the one she had thrown away when she was angry with Shen Wangyou after she learned that Qingdai had passed away. She knew that Shen Wangyou had picked up the peace locket, so Lu Ling never asked Shen Wangyou for it afterwards.
This peace locket should have been in Shen Wangyou's hands all along, but now it was in Zhao Zhenzhen's hands, and she didn't see Shen Wangyou here, so Lu Ling had a bad feeling in her heart.
Lu Ling squatted down and asked Zhao Zhenzhen: "Zhenzhen, is this given to you by Uncle Shen?"
Zhao Zhenzhen nodded and said, "Uncle Shen told me to give this to you."
"What about Uncle Shen? Where is he now?"
"He's at home."
Lu Ling felt his hands and feet go weak, and his limbs felt as if they were being eaten by insects. When he stood up, he almost fell backwards.
Seeing this, Chu Liuyun hurriedly supported Lu Ling and said, "The day before the epidemic was discovered, he happened to bring Zhenzhen here to play, saying that he had something to do the next day and asked Zhenzhen to stay here for a day. He never expected that the epidemic would break out in the capital the next day, and the north of the city was immediately sealed off."
Chu Liuyun walked up to Zhao Zhenzhen and picked her up: "Zhenzhen will have to stay here forever."
"What about Shen Wangyou?"
"We don't know his current situation. We haven't heard from him since that day."
In fact, Chu Liuyun wanted to say that she might have caught a disease, but when he saw his sister looking so worried, he couldn't bear it.
Lu Ling clenched the peace locket in his hand, hoping that he would be safe.
"Zhenzhen, when did Uncle Shen give you this peace locket?" Since it was an accident, why did Shen Wangyou ask Zhao Zhenzhen to get this peace locket in his own hands? Lu Ling couldn't understand.
“Uncle Shen gave it to me when we came to Uncle Chu’s house that day.”
"Did he say anything?"
Zhao Zhenzhen shook her head.
Lu Ling chatted with the Chu father and son for a while and then left. She had something else to do and shouldn't stay long.
"Zhenzhen, you must listen to your uncle here and don't run around, okay?" Lu Ling touched Zhao Zhenzhen's hair.
Zhao Zhenzhen nodded and said, "I understand."
Lu Ling patrolled the west side of the city for a few times, and when nothing happened, he went to the north side of the city.
The north of the city was surrounded, and Lu Ling still couldn't get in, so he had to watch from outside.
Soon, Yang Gan came out. Lu Ling wanted to go over but was stopped by Yang Gan.
"Don't come over, or I'll infect you." Yang Gan stopped him.
After Yang Gan said this, Lu Ling did not move forward.
"Have you seen him? How is he?" Lu Ling asked.
Yang Gan shook his head and said nothing.
Yang Gan knew Shen Wangyou. When the emperor was still the prince, he admired him very much. At that time, Yang Gan knew about Lu Ling and Shen Wangyou.
When he just went in to see, the person on the hospital bed was already dying and couldn't utter a word.
The person who was originally full of energy and vitality has become like a walking corpse, looking lifeless.
Yang Gan asked the imperial physician Shen Wangyou about his health. The physician said that the epidemic had taken hold of his body and he would only have five days to live.
More people were carried out nearby. They were covered in white gauze, and their exposed hands were only bones, without any flesh or blood.
Lu Ling's heart sank to the bottom. With a "buzz", Lu Ling's mind went blank. He could not hear any words and his body fell straight back.
"Lu Ling!"
Before Lu Ling fell down, he only heard someone calling him.
When he woke up again, Lu Ling was already in the tent. The epidemic was rampant in the city, but some people were still stationed here, so when Lu Ling woke up, someone immediately brought him water.
"General."
Lu Ling's face was pale, and there was no blood at the corners of his lips.
"How's things in the city?"
Ye Rong shook her head and said in a deep voice, "The city is still the same. There is no antidote to the plague yet."
Lu Ling drank some water and lay down again, staring blankly outside.
The peace locket is still in her hand, and she only wishes him peace.
After a long time, Lu Ling stood up and wanted to go out.
No matter what, she was going to see him today, even if Yang Gan stopped her.
Lu Ling didn't say anything and put on his clothes silently. When he walked out of the tent, Ye Rong was startled.
"General, the imperial physician says you've been overworked and need to rest. You should go back soon."
Lu Ling was about to refuse when Yang Gan came and brought a message.
"Shen Wangyou is dead."
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