Outside the city, the cheers were also loud, but not as loud as those inside the imperial city. They were noisy and noisy, mixed with strange shouts and whistles.

The students and scribes had already stood in front of the front line of soldiers.

"you…"

One of them pointed at the soldier standing on his horse and shouted at him to get off his horse.

Before he could finish his words, the soldier looked at him blankly.

Unlike the retreating soldiers, there was not the slightest fear or anxiety in his eyes.

It's like a wooden man without any emotions.

Only those who have experienced countless lives and deaths can have such a look of indifference towards life and death.

There was no anger and no crossbow in hand, but it made the student shudder and his hands stiffen.

Zhao Hanqing also looked at the people rushing towards him without any fear, but rather with a bit of boredom.

She didn't feel like a sinner or had any merit, nor did she feel angry, sad or panic. She just followed orders.

There were no orders for her to deal with this situation, so she just had to wait.

The generals in the army had gloomy expressions and a hint of sadness in their eyes. Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves was heard. It turned out to be Duke Cheng urging his horses to come.

"Let me meet them," he said.

The meeting at this time seemed to be somewhat helpless.

But this is the only way. We cannot be trapped here. If we really cannot even enter the imperial city, then the reputation of Duke Cheng and the face of the Northern Army will be completely gone.

From now on, they will become a laughing stock of the Zhou Dynasty.

It took ten years of fighting to gain fame, but it disappeared in a day. This makes people sad and helpless.

In fact, even if we entered the imperial city, these two interruptions would have wiped out the joy and pride of the reward.

They separated to make way and followed on horseback, but at this moment, Duke Cheng suddenly reined in his horse.

"Listen," he said, tilting his ear.

Listen? Listen to what?

The generals were stunned for a moment, and subconsciously listened.

There seemed to be a faint sound of footsteps coming from far away. To be precise, I couldn't hear it, but I could feel it.

Feel the vibrations from the ground.

The ground was really shaking, even though it was very slight, but I could still tell that a lot of people were coming this way.

This vibration is not caused by the stamping of horses' hooves, but by the footsteps of people.

To create this kind of vibration with human footsteps, at least tens of thousands of them are needed.

Tens of thousands of people are coming this way?

Do you want to see the lively crowd?

Isn't this a bit late and too crowded?

The generals could not help but look back, and the soldiers in the army also noticed it and looked back as well.

One by one, everyone turned their heads at the same time, and the noisy people around them also stopped talking.

"What?"

"What are you looking at?"

They talked and looked back.

Chen Qi, who was standing on top of the carriage, staggered and fell down.

"What's going on?" he said angrily, and scolded the driver, "Keep the carriage steady, don't shake it."

The driver held the carriage nervously.

"Seventh Master, it's the ground that's shaking," he said.

What ground... Chen Qi was about to ask when the shopkeeper Liu, who was still standing on the roof of the car, suddenly reached out and poked him.

Because Chen Qi sat down, Manager Liu didn't know and put his hand directly on his head.

"Hey, hey, head, head." Chen Qi shouted while protecting his head.

Shopkeeper Liu didn't stop or look at him.

"Look, look, there are so many people coming over there," he said.

A lot of people? How many people can there be? Everyone in the capital is here.

Chen Qi turned his head while sitting on the roof of the car and looked, his eyes suddenly widened.

Oh my god, he cried in his heart, there are so many people.

It is so dense that it looks like a line pouring in from the horizon.

Chen Qi and Fang Jinxiu went to watch the tide this year and were shocked by the sight of the Qiantang River tide surging.

Looking at the person who appeared in his sight at this moment, it was as if he saw the Qiantang River tide again.

Why are there so many people?

Who is this?

Shopkeeper Liu stood high up and looked far away, with a dazed look on his face.

"Looks like... refugees." he said.

Refugees?

Chen Qi narrowed his eyes. The crowd in his field of vision was getting closer and closer. He could clearly see that the people walking in the front included men, women, young and old.

Their clothes were tattered, they were covered in dust, and they looked haggard.

The woman was holding her child, the old man was leaning on a wooden stick, and the man was supporting the woman. They supported each other and walked unsteadily.

It seems like it is crossing mountains and wading through water, running towards us across thousands of miles.

Like lightning flashing thousands of miles away and thunder rolling in tens of thousands of miles, covering the clouds and blocking the sun.

…

The noise gradually died down.

The people who were making a fuss put their hands to their mouths and looked at the oncoming crowd in some astonishment.

The scholar pointed at the soldier in front of him, but he and the soldier did not look at each other, but looked at the crowd that was coming.

As the crowd got closer, I could see that these people had different identities, but they were indeed ordinary people.

Neither a scholar nor a soldier.

They are here to see the lively crowds.

The news that Duke Chengguo was summoned by the Emperor to be paraded through the streets to boast of his achievements had been announced long ago, and people from many places came to watch. The wealthy had already booked a place to stay in the capital and came in carriages, while many more who could not afford carriages came on foot.

Those who are coming now are from farther away and have just arrived at this moment.

It's good to come and watch the excitement. Whether Duke Cheng kills in a rage or dismounts and takes off his armor to apologize, everyone will see and spread the story.

And their reputation for integrity and righteousness will also become famous throughout the world. With the experience of confronting high-ranking officials like Duke Cheng, this will be an outstanding qualification whether they become officials or go to school in the future.

Come and see it, the more the better.

The scholars and students were more inspired.

"But, aren't there too many of them?" suddenly a student murmured.

The front crowd was already in front of me, but in the distance there were still dense crowds, seemingly endless from the horizon. "There must be tens of thousands of people here."

…

The sound of drums and music outside the imperial city had stopped. The emperor sat upright with a gentle expression and a smile. Beside him were seven or eight important ministers who had been summoned to accompany him.

Without the sound of drums and music, the cheers of the people outside the street were clearer, which made the emperor very happy.

When my eyes swept past the city gate, I saw that all the officials had already stood in line according to their ranks, but there seemed to be some disorder in the line, probably because many people were talking in low voices.

This scene is not pretty.

However, the emperor was always in a good mood and did not scold him. Instead, he turned around and asked him the question that concerned him most.

"Where is Duke Cheng?"

But when the ministers who were originally smiling heard this question, their expressions suddenly became a little strange, and they seemed a little uneasy. For a moment, no one took the initiative to answer.

This is somewhat disrespectful in front of you.

But the emperor was still not angry, not even a bit unhappy. If someone looked carefully, they could see that the smile in his eyes became even deeper.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Is everything going well?"

After being asked in this way, he couldn't just not answer. After a moment of hesitation, a minister stood up.

Go ahead, go ahead.

The emperor looked at him gently.

The sound of footsteps interrupted the conversation.

Lu Yunqi ignored the conversation between the emperor and his ministers, and did not ask for permission. He walked straight past the minister and approached the emperor, whispering a few words in his ear.

The minister saw the emperor's expression suddenly change, he seemed surprised and angry.