The guards at the city gate saw Zhang Zhaoci and quickly called out "Madam." Zhang Zhaoci frowned and looked at the people gathered at the city gate, saying, "What are you all doing so late at night? Why aren't you guarding your homes? What are you doing here surrounding the city gate?"
An elderly man stepped forward and said, "We want to take advantage of the late hour and go to our relatives' house outside the city to hide for a while."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaoci sneered and said, "Hide away? This Hexi is your home. What will happen to your home if you go out to hide? For the sake of your home, our whole family came here from the capital to help you build your home and protect your home. And you're thinking of leaving?"
Everyone, carrying their bundles, listened to Zhang Zhaoci's words and looked at each other.
A young man said, "Madam, your family lives in the county government office, which is the best house in the county."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Zhaoci said, "Once this city falls, all the houses will be the same, whether they are tiled houses or thatched houses. They will all be trampled by the Northern Di people. Let me tell you the truth, even if you were allowed to open the city gates now, do you guarantee that you won't be killed by the Northern Di people?"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Zhang Zhaoci said, "This very morning, we discovered traces of the Northern Di people in the north of the city, and they even clashed head-on with our garrison. Do you think you can escape just because you are familiar with the terrain outside the city? Can you guarantee that you won't become easy targets for the Northern Di people once you get out?"
Someone whispered, "This can't be done, can it?"
Zhang Zhaoci said, "Why not? This is war, not child's play. It's a real war where people die. The reason why the Northern Di people aren't acting now is because they're still plotting something. Maybe after they capture you, they'll use you as human shields to launch their attack. If you do that, aren't you just handing your lives to the Northern Di people?"
Some of those carrying bundles began to back down, whispering among themselves, "What the lady said makes sense. If we stay in the city, we might actually be able to defend it and have a chance to survive. But if we go out and are captured by the Northern Di, we'll really be doomed."
Seeing that they were already showing signs of retreating, Zhang Zhaoci said, "The Wei family has been guarding Yanmen Pass for generations. Their mission is to protect our country and prevent the Northern Di people from coming through Yanmen Pass. With the Wei family here, what do you have to be afraid of? If we go out, we will die. We should guard our homeland well. If we guard it, we will live. Why don't we guard it well?"
Finally, someone shouted, "I told you we should stay here and defend the city. Even if I die, I want to die in my own home. Anyway, I'm not leaving. I'm going home now and preparing myself. Whenever I'm needed to go up to the city wall, I'll go up and guard it."
Once one person takes action, several others will follow suit. Everyone, carrying their bags and dragging their children along, headed home.
Zhang Zhaoci finally breathed a sigh of relief after most of the people had left. Supporting her back and with her large pregnant belly, she started to walk home. Qinghui and Li Yanxia quickly stepped forward to help her. Li Yanxia was now Zhang Zhaoci's bodyguard and followed her everywhere. Zhang Zhaoci was getting old, and her due date was less than a month away. It wasn't her first pregnancy, so she didn't know when labor would start.
Several elderly people came over to apologize to Zhang Zhaoci. Li Yanxia's eyes darted around, watching the people who approached. Xu Di had repeatedly emphasized to his family that, especially at times like this, they should keep an eye on the people around them and act quickly if anyone seemed suspicious. They should arrest them first, and maybe they could actually catch one or two spies. Some of the enemy's spies weren't planted recently; they might have been planted for many years.
Not long after arriving, she encountered war. Li Yanxia was very excited. Many of her ancestors had been on the battlefield. They all grew up listening to their elders' war stories. After learning their skills, they wanted to make a name for themselves on the battlefield. Even though Hexi County was besieged, Li Yanxia was not afraid at all.
Zhang Zhaoci looked at the people surrounding her. An elderly man said, "Madam, we have no other choice. We have no food left at home."
Qing Sui asked somewhat strangely, "Old man, aren't you the owner of the sesame seed cake shop in the south of the city? Your sesame seed cake shop makes so many sesame seed cakes every day, how come you don't have enough food?"
As soon as Qinghui spoke, Zhang Zhaoci stepped back. The soldiers guarding the north gate were from Yanmen Pass. Upon hearing Qinghui's words, they immediately drew their swords.
The owner of the sesame seed cake shop rubbed his body and stepped forward to grab Zhang Zhaoci's arm, but Li Yanxia suddenly kicked him from the side, sending the owner's thin body, weighing about 100 pounds, flying more than three meters away.
There were a few others around the boss, and when they saw him make a move, they followed suit, but unfortunately, they had already lost the initiative and were taken down one by one by the dozen or so guards.
Qinghui supported Zhang Zhaoci, who was trembling all over. Zhang Zhaoci patted her arm and said, "It's alright now. Luckily you recognized this boss, otherwise I really don't know what would have happened to me."
Qing Sui shook her head and said, "Grandma, it's all thanks to our young master's good teaching. He said that the more we are at this stage, the more we should doubt everyone who seems normal to us."
The garrison commander was a seasoned veteran. He quickly subdued the men, dislocated their jaws, and tied them up. He then hurried over to pay his respects. Zhang Zhaoci said, "If there's nothing else, I'll head home now. Thank you for your hard work."
Back home, Qing Sui hugged Qing Miao for a while before calming down, saying, "I was so scared, Sister Qing Miao. You said the owner of that pancake shop was a good person, and that he would give you extra pancakes whenever you bought too many. Who knew he was actually a spy for the Northern Di?"
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