Chapter 19 Sadness and Joy
We ran fast on the rugged mountain path in the middle of the night and arrived at the edge of the mountain at midnight.
The night was pitch black, and from this point, one could already see the east gate of Suzhou city wall from afar.
Long Shouren raised his hand and ordered the soldiers to hide behind the meadow.
In the second half of the night in early winter, the cold in the mountains penetrated the bones. Gu Guan tightened the thick cloak that Xie Ci had just taken off and put on her.
But it seemed that except for her, no one else felt cold. Long Shouren said to them, "Tonight, General Chen Mantian is on duty to guard the city. He will change guards before dawn and then open the city gates."
It was only half an hour earlier than the normal opening time of the city gate.
It was cold in winter, and no one would be waiting so early, so they quietly entered the city under the cover of night.
"The recruitment ended the day before yesterday, and after a day of preparation, Xun Xun will go to the main camp early this morning to inspect and discipline them."
From today on, you are the soldiers of Suzhou, the troops under my command - this was originally the job of the governor-general, but now it has all been replaced by Xun Xun.
"He will leave the palace at dawn. Let's go to the Governor's Mansion first."
The time of departure and arrival is just wrong.
"We have to rescue the Governor first!"
On this freezing night, the bound warhorse was feeling unwell and was constantly sniffing. Gu Guan held the reins and stroked its mane while listening. At this point, Long Shouren's face darkened with worry. He took two anxious steps and asked, "I wonder how the lord is doing?"
As he waited anxiously, time passed by minute by minute. While he kept looking up at the moon, he saw a scout coming running from a distance. The horse's hooves were tied with wheat straw, making a dull clatter. He stared at it for a moment, and then the scout was quickly led to Long Shouren to report.
"good!"
Long Shouren raised his sword and jumped on his horse: "Everyone, listen up! March in the dark, full speed ahead——"
With the dull clatter of hooves and boots, Long Shouren led his elite troops in a stealthy, calm march through the night to the East City Gate. The gate opened silently, and Long Shouren led his troops in. Guard General Chen Mantian quietly met them and said bitterly, "Just guard the city gate. You must not let Xun Xun go today!"
Long Shouren rushed to the Governor's Mansion as quickly as possible, moving silently through the alleys. He dispatched all the curfew patrolmen he could, and tied up and laid down all those he couldn't. Finally, at 2:15 AM, he arrived at the Governor's Mansion and surrounded the entire area surrounding it, including the back alleys.
The gate opened, and Long Shouren rode away at full speed, alarming the entire Governor's Mansion. Captain Wang Fan was filled with shock and anger, "Long Shouren? What are you doing?!"
"You are so rebellious——"
Long Shouren's eyes widened in anger. After more than ten rounds of fighting, he beheaded him with one blow. "You thief who aided and abetted the tyrant!!"
Blood gushed out of the neck cavity, splattering five steps away.
The resistance of the palace guards was quickly suppressed by the angry Long Shouren, who charged into the Hongsong courtyard and successfully broke in.
The cold terrazzo room was like a snow cave, with no fire or charcoal. The slamming of the door knocked over the cold rice and leftovers on the floor, and the stench of feces and urine mixed with the stale air was nauseating.
When Long Shouren saw the dirty old man lying on the bare couch, he fell to his knees and cried out, "General! General——"
He knelt and rushed over, hugged the dying old man, choked with sobs and tears. Xun Rongbi woke up from his coma and was also very excited. He grabbed Long Shouren with trembling hands and pointed: "... Go! Go and kill that rebellious son for me -"
Long Shouren ran out holding Xun Rongbi, hurriedly called a doctor, and put Xun Rongbi on a rattan chair. He wiped away his tears, picked up his sword, jumped on his horse and rushed straight to the Suzhou camp!
Xie Ci and Gu Guan followed him throughout the whole process.
The two looked at each other and immediately followed.
…
Long Shouren led his trusted subordinates to rush straight to the Suzhou camp. Today was the first training day for the new recruits and all the new and old soldiers and officers were present on the training ground. It was a perfect opportunity to capture Xun Xun.
Gu Guan asked quietly, "General Long, where is the eldest son? I've heard that he is a man of great refinement and dignity, very much like his father."
Long Shouren paused, covering his face with his hands in pain, "The eldest son was ambushed and died at Jirenpo last year."
The horses' hooves were as fast as drumbeats, and they headed straight for the West City camp at the fastest speed.
At this time in the West City Camp, as dawn drove away the last inch of darkness and the first cold morning light appeared in every corner of the camp, the veterans had already lined up and stood in silence on the training ground. Teams of new recruits marched from the camp to the flagpole and stood in neat rows and columns.
"Once you enter the Suzhou camp, from now on, you will be members of the Suzhou Army! You must abide by the military regulations and obey orders..."
Long Shouren, along with Xie Ci, Gu Guan and his trusted lieutenant general, had already silently entered the camp.
The newly recruited soldiers are the protagonists today, and on the high platform is Xun Xun, the current ruler of the Suzhou Army.
Long Shouren has contacted a group of veteran military commanders.
Since Xun Xun was using a trick to replace the status quo, it meant that it was impossible for him to replace the trusted generals under his father's command all at once.
Long Shouren said again: "In just a little over half a year, he wants to replace his father. There is absolutely no possibility of this."
Gu Guan looked up and saw that most of the newly recruited soldiers on the military exercise ground came from poor families. After being recruited, they were provided with food, shelter and wages. Under the mighty military power, their morale was extremely high for a while.
On the flagpole was a young man with an eagle nose and hawk eyes, wearing ochre armor and a scarlet handsome cloak. He was tall and sturdy, and his eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Xun Rongbi, but his facial features were deeper, his eyes were very aggressive, and he was also very young. He looked down at the people below the high platform with a look of satisfaction on his face, and he looked very proud and high-spirited.
There were some veteran generals below, who looked at each other calmly, both with anger in their eyes.
Long Shouren said in a deep voice, "Kou Weishuo's troops may have taken refuge with Xun Xun's son. Chen Ying and Fan Liang, one died in battle and the other violated military regulations and has since retired. His son is not someone who would stir up trouble."
Obviously, Xun Xun has been very busy over the past year.
But fortunately, it didn’t last long.
Now the two sides are roughly evenly matched.
But this is still the Suzhou camp after all, and the governor of Suzhou and the governor of Pinglu is Xun Rongbi!
Rather than Xun Xun.
Long Shouren stood up suddenly and waved his hand: "Do it!!"
A whistling arrow suddenly shot out! "Swoosh!" A bright blue flame flower exploded in the air!
Mutiny breaks out!
Suddenly, with a loud shout, the Suzhou soldiers, who were supposed to line up and return to the camp after the new recruits, suddenly surrounded the training ground under the leadership of the lieutenant. Archers appeared, drew their longbows to full length, and aimed at the central flagpole!
Xun Xun was extremely shocked: "What's going on?!"
The generals under his command also reacted very quickly, quickly deploying their troops, surrounding the flagpole and confronting the outsiders.
The veteran rode out and shouted angrily, "Look who's behind you?!"
Everyone on and off the flagpole immediately looked back, only to see the gate wide open and elite soldiers in black armor pouring in. Dozens of riders were riding in the front, led by none other than Long Shouren, the veteran and most trusted general who was supposed to be stationed at Feishan Pass and would not be led out of the pass without the personal order of Xun Rongbi, unless Suzhou called for emergency.
The latter was furious.
Xun Xun's expression changed drastically!
"How dare you, you bastard! How dare you imprison your father and seize power?!"
When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked and turned around to look at Xun Xun, whose face was as gloomy as rain on the flagpole!
Long Shouren shouted, "Soldiers, capture this thief immediately! Anyone who resists will be punished with the same crime!"
At this moment, a sedan chair followed closely behind the soldiers and entered from the main gate. In it sat the emaciated Xun Rongbi, covered with a soft blanket. His gray hair had not yet been tied up. Xun Rongbi propped himself up with a piece of ginseng in his mouth, took a strong breath and shouted, "Capture this rebellious son!"
"If you resist, you will be killed without mercy!!"
"The first person to achieve success will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and promoted three levels in a row!!"
Xun Xun's eyes were bloodshot: "This damn old thing——"
A battle to capture the rebels then began.
At the beginning, the battle was extremely fierce. Xun Xun had many loyal followers around him, who quickly took control of the situation and fought and retreated.
But Long Shouren shouted sternly: "You are all registered soldiers of Suzhou. Anyone who does not lay down his weapons will be treated as a mutinous traitor!"
The target of the call was ordinary soldiers.
Whether it was the former soldiers in service in the imperial court or the new soldiers recruited locally in the past two years, their hometowns and family addresses were all registered clearly.
The mutiny in Xiaoying implicated all family members.
The ordinary soldiers' movements immediately froze!
The difference between victory and defeat often comes in a split second. Once courage is lost, everything becomes fearful, and the situation in the melee suddenly tilts sharply.
The archers had already drawn their longbows and formed an arrow formation. Long Shouren waved his hand, and a rain of arrows shot towards the center flagpole.
A long arrow hit Xun Xun's chest. His personal guards rushed forward to block it, and his trusted officers pulled him back, "Second Master, let's retreat quickly—"
Xun Xun threw his hand away, his eyes bloodshot, and shouted: "Come on!!"
"Anyone who retreats will be killed on the spot!!"
After chopping off seventy or eighty people, he finally managed to stabilize the situation. But at this time, Long Shouren had already rushed to the center of the formation, "You son of a bitch, prepare to die—"
Xie Ci rode his horse forward, drew his bow and arrow, and aimed at Xun Xun's Danzhong.
Other generals were actually reluctant to take part in the first achievement, but there were two people who dared to kill Xun Xun.
Gu Guan had been staring at the flagpole. At this moment, he saw a feather arrow with extremely powerful force. With a "puff", a blood flower bloomed on Xun Xun's chest!
Xie Ci was filled with hatred, and the arrow shot out from his chest, piercing through his entire chest cavity and shooting Xun Xun off his horse!
He just fell under Long Shouren's horse. Long Shouren shouted loudly, raised his halberd and swung it. With a "crack" sound, his sternum was broken, and Xun Xun fell to the yellow earth, covered in blood, motionless.
…
This battle to eliminate the rebellion took a total of three quarters of an hour.
It didn't take long, but there was blood all over the floor.
Even after Xun Xun was executed, there were still people who resisted stubbornly. Many generals fought with great anger, and the ground was covered with blood.
But none of this mattered to Gu Guan anymore. Seeing Xun Xun fall to the ground and die, Gu Guan hurriedly shouted, "Quick, quick! Let's hurry!!"
She and Xie Ci immediately spurred their horses and rushed straight towards Xun Xun in the melee.
"Is it him?"
The two men dismounted and squatted down. Gu Guan quickly asked for their thanks.
Xie Ci moved Xun Xun's head and roughly pulled off his helmet. He held his face and looked at it repeatedly, then tilted his head and said, "Yes, he is Xun Xun."
Gu Guan hurried forward, first pressed the arrow wound on the man's chest, then checked his heartbeat and pulse, and used his fingers to check his pupils.
"His breathing, heart, and pulse had all stopped, and his pupils were dilated and unresponsive to bright light."
Gu Guan is extremely skilled in this area.
Furthermore, it is absolutely impossible for a person to survive a heart injury like this. Even today, there is no hope for rescue, let alone right now.
So she was very sure that the person in front of her was dead beyond deadness.
"He's really dead."
The two looked at each other, and their tense hearts finally relaxed.
It seems that this is true.
Xie Ci closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again.
At this moment, he seemed to be crying and laughing, and his face, which had been heavy all the time, finally revealed an expression that could be called a mixture of sadness and joy.
The author has something to say:
Haha, whether it is true or not, it will be revealed tomorrow!
It's a little short today, but it'll be getting fatter starting tomorrow!! Ah Xiu is ready to go, haha, give you guys a big kiss! See you tomorrow, babies~
Love you! ! (づ￣3￣)づ
Finally, I would also like to thank "sasa" for throwing the mine, jimmy jimmy!
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And all the babies who irrigated Wenwen with nutrient solution, love you~
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