Lu Zifeng glanced at Situ Hao. Although he still had some doubts about Situ Hao, he thought about it and felt that Situ Hao had no reason to return the favor to him and the others. Besides, he had saved his life, so he would not harm the Lu family.
After walking about five miles forward, they saw an abandoned ferry not far away. The surrounding area was very desolate. Lu Zifeng rode his horse forward without saying a word. After getting off the horse, he looked carefully and then said to Situ Hao who was approaching.
"Is this the ferry you were talking about? I see it's been abandoned for a long time."
Situ Hao was also confused. It still existed two years ago. Many passenger ships stopped here at that time. He still remembered the scene of huge crowds of people, but why has it become so dilapidated now?
"I'm sorry, Brother Feng, I've been negligent. I'm afraid this place is deserted now. I'm not familiar with it. How about we go a little further and see if there are any houses here?"
Lu Zifeng nodded noncommittally, "Okay, I'll go back and discuss it with Grandpa and the others first!"
Situ Hao watched Lu Zifeng walk away, looked at the ferry helplessly, and felt a little depressed. A few years ago, this was indeed a bustling ferry. Why is it deserted now?
After discussing with several grandfathers, Lu Zifeng decided to move forward to find a place where he could take a ferry. However, after walking for more than ten miles, he still didn't see the ferry. He had no choice but to camp temporarily and continue looking for a ferry early the next morning.
Just a hundred miles away from Mingjiang, a large number of refugees flocked here. It turned out that the troops sent by the court to Kunzhou had suffered a defeat in Kunzhou not long ago. Not only did they withdraw from the Kunzhou battlefield, but even Suzhou was not spared. Now the Suzhou prefect, Lord Tian, was leading the troops who retreated back to Suzhou and fighting desperately against the Tatar attack under the Suzhou city.
The refugees who originally stayed in Kunzhou have now all retreated back to Suzhou. However, Suzhou is now very unstable and no one knows when Suzhou will fall. So now the refugees are running towards Luzhou in order to find a way to survive.
Qianyang Hall of the Beijing Imperial Palace
Situ Yong stared at the ministers in the hall with a grim expression. His sharp eyes swept across the faces of each minister and finally stopped at Prince Qing. He raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said something that frightened Prince Qing.
"Prince Qing, tell me. The general leading the army to Bingzhou is your uncle, and you strongly recommended him as a good candidate at the time. Now what should we do with this general who deserted the battlefield? He has decimated 100,000 soldiers of our Dayu Dynasty!"
Prince Qing was truly being roasted on the fire. Thinking back to how he had strongly recommended him, he now wished he could find a hole to crawl into. His father-in-law was killing him, but at this point he had no choice but to express his opinion, and he bent down and walked out of the team.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty. Please give me a chance to atone for my sins. I will take people to the Marquis of Xichang's mansion to arrest them and wait for him to return to punish them together."
Situ Yong narrowed his eyes and glanced calmly at Prince Rui who was standing behind Prince Qing. Seeing that he lowered his head and did not say anything, he sneered in his heart. He thought that he had such courage and still wanted to rebel. He shook his head in his heart and looked at Prince Qing again.
"I won't bother Prince Qing at this time. Is the Minister of War here?"
Minister of War Lu Minghan made an exception and said, "I am here."
Situ Yong glanced at his brother-in-law and said, "Issue an order: Xichang Marquis Chen Laiqing neglected his duties when he arrived in Bingzhou. He ignored the people of Kunzhou and secretly withdrew his troops, resulting in heavy casualties among the soldiers and civilians, and the displacement of their homes. All members of Xichang Marquis's mansion are now imprisoned and await further action."
Lu Minghan heard this and said, "I obey your order."
After saying that, he turned around and left the court.
Situ Yong glanced at the ministers again, and saw out of the corner of his eye that some of them wanted to make an exception to plead for Shen Laiqing, but in the end they did not have the courage to step out of the team. Situ Yong sneered in his heart.
The night was as cool as water. Lu Zifeng lay on the ground and looked at the stars in the sky. After several months of fleeing famine, he was slowly getting used to this kind of life. Now he was about to arrive at Luzhou Prefecture. He didn't know if he could find a good place to settle down, but he thought it wouldn't be too bad. Jiangnan has always been a relatively prosperous place. After arranging his family, he could go out and travel around.
Studying is really not my strong point, so I'd better let the third son do this important task. However, the second son can go to the battlefield to earn military merits, and maybe even become a general.
A slight rustling sound could be heard all around, and Lu Zifeng, who had been lost in thought, frowned. "Nah, we're already here, and there are still bandits?" Lu Zifeng sat up, his mental power immediately expanding. He saw about a hundred people approaching the Lu family camp. He shook his head and kicked Lu Ziyan, who was sleeping soundly, awake.
Lu Ziyan was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly woken up by his elder brother. He almost jumped up, but he didn't dare to. He looked at Lu Zifeng depressedly.
"Brother, I was sleeping soundly, why did you kick me?"
Lu Zifeng glanced at him and said, "We're going to fight. Do you like it?"
Lu Ziyan was stunned when he heard this, then he reacted quickly and stood up and shouted, "Hurry up and fight, there are robbers."
Lu Ziyan's roar immediately woke up all the sleeping members of the Lu family. The young and strong men immediately picked up the knives beside them and took up their weapons. After three months of fleeing famine, the Lu family members had been trained. They knew that this was not the time to hesitate. Only by quickly getting up and taking up weapons could they protect their families.
Before the hundred or so robbers could get close to the Lu family, they suddenly realized that they had been discovered. They stopped moving slowly and rushed towards them with a loud roar.
The Lu family was not afraid. Seeing the robbers rushing over, they surrounded the elderly, the weak, women, children and the kids. The men took up their swords and started fighting with the robbers.
Situ Hao was also fighting back to back with Lu Ziyan. Lu Zifeng did not attack immediately, but watched everyone from a big tree nearby, with stones in his hand popping out from time to time. Whenever a robber was about to kill a member of the Lu family, he would be hit by a small stone and lose his aim. The Lu family also noticed Lu Zifeng roaming nearby, and they felt much more at ease, so they had more energy and killed the robbers even faster. This made it difficult for many robbers to resist for a while, and they could only retreat step by step.
How could Lu Zifeng let them leave? Since they were here, they should leave their lives behind. He kept throwing stones in his hands, and soon all the hundred or so robbers were hacked to death. However, under Lu Zifeng's instruction, the leading robber was still left behind.
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