072.National mourning
There were few hot meals on the boat, but Qingling was willing to pay, so at night he had a bowl of shrimp wontons in salty and spicy hot soup.
He leaned against a small room in the cabin and could still hear the noisy laughter and conversation on the deck. The room smelled of raw fish and shrimp, and the window of the cabin could not be opened, so Qingling leaned against Shang Changheng's arms. This evil spirit always had a cold and faint fragrance on him. Qingling had never seen the scenery of red plum blossoms covered with snow, but he always felt that Shang Changheng should smell like that.
Qingling, who used to eat quickly, felt dizzy and could only eat half a wonton in one bite. However, it tasted surprisingly good, with the shrimps being very chewy and not fishy at all.
Shang Changheng also found it interesting.
He eats like a sparrow pecking at food. His lips are also beautiful, a light pink color. He pays great attention to his eating manners. Although he eats fast, he will swallow up the soup on his lips and eat very cleanly.
After Qingling finished eating, Shang Changheng waved his hand, put the empty bowl and spoon on the simple wooden table, and asked in a low voice: "Are you feeling better?"
Qing Ling leaned on his shoulder, nodded and said, "It's quite delicious."
"It has already entered the muddy water. It should stop at the dock to rest in two days. Then we can go for a walk on the shore." Shang Changheng reached out and touched Qingling's belly, and whispered, "Rest for a while."
Qingling looked up and just happened to see Shang Changheng's profile in the dim candlelight. To be honest, Qingling would tolerate Shang Changheng doing these things to him...mostly because of this face. He was indeed handsome, the most handsome man Qingling had ever seen in his life.
"You're not going to scare me anymore?" Qing Ling was bored and started to bring up old things. He couldn't read books now, and his eyes went dark when he saw those words.
Shang Changheng burst out laughing and cried out that he was wronged: "Except for those few days at the foot of Zhanlong Mountain when I was unconscious, I never scared you afterwards. You are just too timid."
Qing Ling thought about it and found that Shang Changheng seemed to have indeed restrained himself towards him, otherwise... the entire Qing family would have been wiped out by him silently. Along the way, Shang Changheng killed people without bloodshed.
But after making sure that Shang Changheng favored him, Qingling had to argue even if he was wrong, "You just want to scare me. You know I'm scared, but you still want to bully me."
"Okay." Shang Changheng said in a relaxed tone, pinching his jaw and lightly kissing his lips, "I see you also like being bullied."
Qingling reflected on himself and found that it was true.
Shang Changheng is good-looking and gentle in that matter. When Shang Changheng is around, no evil spirit can hurt him. Qing Ling is afraid of him, but has to rely on him. But now think about it, Shang Changheng seems to be nothing wrong, but he happens to be an evil ghost.
Bad luck to both of them.
Qing Ling thought about it in his heart, and then he closed his eyes in Shang Changheng's arms and said softly: "That depends on the time. I don't like being bullied now, so sing a song for me."
It was quite new. It was the first time someone said such words to him. Shang Changheng pinched Qing Ling's nose and whispered, "You are quite courageous. You dare to ask me to sing a song?"
Qing Ling brushed his hand away without opening his eyes, "I just thought about it."
Shang Changheng said nothing.
Qingling, who hadn't had a good rest for a long time, felt dizzy. He didn't know how long it had been before he heard a low chanting sound.
"The moon is bright, and the people are beautiful."
"Shu Yao Jiu Xi, Lao Xin Qi Xi."
That was a song that Shang Changheng heard the soldiers sing when he was fighting. The lyrics were "Beauty Under the Moon". They each sang about the girl he missed, although Qingling was not a girl... but it didn't matter. The ancient melody has lasted for thousands of years. The lovesickness in ancient times was soaked in blood, the wind blew across the water, and the dream was full of green mountains.
Shang Changheng was standing on the mountain wearing armor, and next to him was Hou Su, the young general.
"It's been a month, a whole month." Hou Su's lips were cracked and the smile on his face had disappeared. He bent down and grabbed a handful of grass leaves and stuffed them into his mouth. He chewed them twice and swallowed them whole. There was still mud on the corners of his mouth. "They have been besieging the city for a month. The food supply has been cut off for at least twenty days. If we can't get in, General Zuo..."
"There's no point in being anxious, just calm down."
Shang Changheng's eyes were fixed on the outline of the city in the distance. He was steady and calm, the commander-in-chief of the three armies, no longer the young general in Yangcheng who was crying and shouting to be carried away by Zuo Baichuan.
"They besieged the city because they have food and confidence." Shang Changheng frowned. "Jiecheng is too close to Dongyi. It is not easy for Zuo Baichuan to defend here. Dongyi people have a continuous supply of food and grass. Their horses will not starve. But our people are different. It is difficult to save Jiecheng and repel Dongyi. We cannot attack Jiecheng. We must continue to advance eastward and attack the Dongyi people's lair."
Hou Su was stunned and raised his head in disbelief: "Fight...Fight across the Lingshui River?"
"Wei Qingxia's troops cannot be withdrawn." Shang Changheng seemed to have tasted blood, so he pursed his lips. His lips were already cracked and bleeding, and he looked dusty and disheveled. The dust and blood on his armor became stains. After a pause, he continued, "If she withdraws from the southern line, she will be defeated. Our dream of repelling the Dongyi people will be completely shattered. We can give up the city of Ji and leave people to support them. As long as the Dongyi people retreat, order Zuo Baichuan to lead the army and take the people to retreat. In addition... find soldiers who are good at swimming and sneak in by water. It would be better if they can bring some dry food in, so that the people in the city know... they have a way out."
"Yes, sir!"
Hou Su said no more.
They all knew this was the only way.
Qing Ling watched silently. He stood beside Shang Changheng. No one could see him, but when he heard the word "Jiecheng", he knew what would happen next.
"Guangyouzhi" does not record why Shang Changheng died, but it does record Wei Qingxia and Zuo Baichuan. Zuo Baichuan died before Wei Qingxia, in the first year of Duanhe, which was the autumn of the year when Shang Changjun just succeeded to the throne. That battle... was called the Battle of Lingshui.
It was not written in great detail, but Qingling now knows that Zuo Baichuan defended the city of Ji but failed to defend the surroundings, and was trapped by the Dongyi people in this isolated city without supplies. This place is close to the Dongyi people, and the Dongyi people have an endless supply of supplies. Shang Changheng wants to directly attack the Dongyi people's lair, advance to retreat, force the Dongyi people to withdraw their troops and then abandon the city of Ji, and then let Zuo Baichuan lead the people in the city to retreat and escape.
They have reached a point where they can no longer retreat.
Shang Changheng also looked much more haggard than what Qingling had seen in his last dream. His deputy general had to rely on grass to fill his stomach, and the soldiers following him were naturally not much better. Qingling didn't dare to imagine how such a team would be able to fight against the strong and powerful Dongyi people.
But they had no choice.
"Chang Heng..."
Qing Ling couldn't bear it. He wanted to touch Shang Changheng's cheek to feel the warmth he had when he was still alive, but he only felt nothing.
He doesn't belong here. This is just an unchangeable dream that once really happened, a thousand years ago... Their boiling blood soaked all over this land.
Qingling followed Shang Changheng and his men in their raids day and night for three days and three nights. They ambushed outside the Dongyi people's tent and spent several more hours figuring out the other side's defense.
This was a plain, which gave Shang Changheng the opportunity to attack. The pale and skinny soldiers rushed forward carrying swords, axes and halberds. Shang Changheng's soldiers were scattered on the battlefield like beans. The vast plain made it difficult for them to encircle the enemy, so they had to infiltrate them.
His soldiers had to charge in with their flesh and blood, and Shang Changheng led his troops into the place where ordinary people and prisoners of war were held.
"If you don't want to become someone else's meal, kill them!" Shang Changheng raised his knife and shouted.
Whether they were wounded soldiers or unarmed men and women, they were all very weak. The Dongyi people stored them as sacrifices and military rations, so how could they possibly treat them well? However, despite this, they did not flee in panic. Instead, like beasts cornered, they roared and rushed into the battle.
There were many places like this where they were imprisoned. Batches of people were released and rushed into the fight. They had no weapons, so stones and teeth were their weapons. They pounced on the tall and strong Dongyi people and bit their throats fiercely.
Qing Ling finally understood how the exhausted army in his eyes had fought one battle after another.
He covered his lips, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes, and then he merged into the grassland that was already soaked in blood. He saw young children also fighting, only six or seven years old, and their chests were pierced by sharp weapons. Everything in front of him was hard for Qingling, who lived in the peaceful Daxia, to accept.
Finally, the war ended at sunset.
Shang Changheng gave the order to retreat, and the survivors followed him, and the severely injured Dongyi people did not pursue them.
"Go back to Jicheng! Go back to Jicheng!" Hou Su conveyed Shang Changheng's order at the top of his voice.
The remaining generals shouted and passed it on one by one.
"Go support General Zuo!"
Shang Changheng took the lead, his blood-stained hair blown by the wind. He was incredibly determined and was running towards the west, which was the direction of his hometown.
The outline of Jicheng was not far away. Shang Changheng rode his horse quickly. The Dongyi people had indeed withdrawn. The broken and blood-stained walls of Jicheng stood in the wind, with the flag of the Great Zhou fluttering on them. It was getting closer and closer. Shang Changheng suddenly pulled the reins and staggered off the horse.
He stood blankly at the gate of the city, his expression filled with deep sorrow.
Not far from the city gate, there was a Dongyi military flag stuck in the ground. On it was Zuo Baichuan's head. His face was blue-gray, his cheeks were sunken, and his cloudy eyes were wide open, as if he was still furious and unwilling to give up.
Shang Changheng's breathing became more and more rapid, and hot tears fell from the corners of his eyes. He opened his mouth, but in the end only a short and hoarse cry came out, and then there was no more sound.
Hou Su, who followed closely behind, also dismounted in the biting night wind. Under the city wall, the soldiers who still had helmets on their heads took off their tasseled helmets. There was a man kneeling under the military flag. He saw Shang Changheng and cried hoarsely, "They have withdrawn. Everyone in the city has withdrawn. Before the Dongyi people withdrew, they came to the city to challenge us and wanted to roast and eat the children they captured in public. There is no food in the city. General Zuo has survived until now by relying on grass leaves. He...he went out of the city to fight the enemy and never came back. The deputy general led people to snatch his body back. This...this is what the Dongyi people left behind when they left."
The man was so thin that he was just skin and bones. In the end, he couldn't even make a sound. He collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath like a dying fish, and said his last words with difficulty: "Your subordinate... Your subordinate really has no strength..."
He didn't finish.
But Qingling knew that he did not have the strength to shake the military flag and take Zuo Baichuan's head.
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