Chapter 245: Yuanping Rebellion 2
It was only a few days, but it seemed like they hadn't seen each other for years. The two of them hugged each other tightly. The older boy had broad shoulders and long legs, blocking the whistling cold wind.
Su Ruojin hugged his waist tightly, burying her head in his warm chest, "Brother Jin——"
Zhao Lan lowered his head and looked at the young lady: "Ajin."
She raised her eyes: "I heard you are going to Pengcheng?"
"Yeah." Zhao Lan was infinitely worried: "If I leave, what will you do?"
"Do we have to go?" This is not about resisting foreign enemies, but about suppressing rebellion and civil war.
"Yeah." Zhao Lan said worriedly, "Ajin, I'll send you to Prince Jin's Mansion, so that I can leave with peace of mind." After saying that, he was about to take the person out.
Su Ruojin had never met the parents during the dating period. She suddenly woke up from her sadness and quickly took Zhao Lan's hand. "Brother Jin, my uncle just said that he wanted to take me to the princess's mansion."
Yes, it’s the same if you live with your aunt. Why didn’t he think of it?
Zhao Lan, who had been worried just now, instantly perked up and said, "I'll hand you over to your aunt personally." He took her hand and was about to go.
Su Ruojin didn't want to go to anyone's house and was anxious to find an excuse.
Santai reminded, "Master, there is still half an hour before leaving the city gate. You still have to go back to the palace to say goodbye to the prince and princess."
Su Ruojin: ...He actually came to see her first.
Excited, the little girl threw herself into the man's arms and hugged the young man's waist tightly, "Brother Jin, don't worry, my uncle will come to pick me up soon, you should go back home quickly."
Zhao Lan also hugged the young lady tightly, worried but also full of confidence, "Ajin, wait for me."
"Okay." Su Ruojin raised her little face, "I'll wait for Brother Jin's triumphant return in the capital."
The two of them didn't even enter the house, but hugged each other tightly for a moment at the second door. At the urging of Santai and others, Zhao Lan returned to the Prince Jin's Mansion, and then ran directly to Pengcheng from the Prince Jin's Mansion.
Zhao Lan was worried, so before leaving, he arranged for Princess Yuehua to send someone to pick up Su Ruojin.
Su Ruojin didn't want to go, at least it wasn't time to seek refuge yet, but no matter it was Zhao Lan's request or Princess Yuehua's kindness, she had to thank them in person, "Your Highness, my brother is still in the Imperial College. If it really comes to that, I will come to the Princess's Mansion without you calling me."
Yuehua glanced at Su Yanzu who was standing aside. He had already invited his little niece last night, but Su Erniang refused to come.
She smiled slightly, "In that case, I'll send a few guards to the Su family. If you encounter any problems, come to me and your uncle."
"Thank you, Princess."
Su Ruojin thanked Princess Yuehua and quickly took Mao Ya and others home.
After returning home, she thought about it, took a cart of food and quietly moved to the yard where she used to live. If there was any danger, she could help each other with the Feng brothers and others. The most important thing was that her neighbor on the left was Lord Xue.
On a dark and windy night, Su Ruojin and Master Xue were talking in the study, "Master, can you get us some swords, guns, bows and arrows?"
Xue Changcheng was shocked by what the second lady of the Su family said, "Why don't we leave the city now?"
"If my father wasn't the magistrate of Weizhou County, I would have asked him to come to Beijing to seek refuge."
"The King of Wei is about to attack the capital. The capital is the most dangerous now."
"But there is an old saying that goes, the most dangerous place is the safest."
Xue Changcheng: ...Why do I feel that whatever Madam Su Er says always makes sense no matter what time it is?
Well, now that he was convinced by the young lady, Xue Changcheng used his identity as a former member of the Ministry of Works to secretly find his former craftsmen and ask them to make some handy weapons.
There was no grain to sell in Beijing, Su's shop was closed, and the Feng brothers and others were like headless flies when the young boss came back and they immediately felt reassured.
Su Ruojin said, "We don't know when this war will end, and we don't know whether the general can quell the rebellion. What we need to do now is to store food and stay at home, try not to go out, guard our food reserves, and patiently wait for the chaos to pass."
"We all listen to our boss."
Su Ruojin nodded, "Aunt Gui and her family are also moving in. Uncle Dashi and Uncle Ershi, please follow me to the study. I have something to tell you."
"good."
The two Feng brothers followed Su Ruojin to the study. The three of them lowered their heads and whispered for half an hour.
The arrangements in the capital were almost complete, and Su Ruojin thought of his parents in Weizhou. After staying at home for three days, his eyes suddenly lit up. He quickly wrote a letter of more than ten pages and asked the secret guard left by Zhao Lan to deliver it to his father in Weizhou County.
The north wind blew stronger and stronger every day. On the day of the winter solstice, the King of Wei secretly crossed Chencang and abandoned Pengcheng, where he had been fighting for half a month, and bypassed Pengcheng and headed straight for Bianjing.
The 100,000-strong army had somehow become 200,000 and was marching straight towards Bianliang.
The people in the capital were so frightened that they stayed indoors. For a moment, the huge capital city seemed like a deserted city, which was very frightening.
Lord Xue went into Su Yanli's study and said, "Ajin, while the city gates are still open for a while every day, should we go to your father's Weizhou County?"
Su Ruojin shook her head. She looked at the battle map she had drawn and stared at Peng Cheng. "Uncle Xue, General Zhenguo Ning has been guarding the Northwest, right?"
"Yes."
"Then he should be able to fight."
Mr. Xue, a dismissed official from the Ministry of Works, was forced by the young lady to become an expert on military affairs these days. "I asked around and heard that the general is very capable. He has been guarding the border for so many years. He didn't fight a big battle, but he won eight out of ten small battles and firmly defended our Great Yin Dynasty."
Men, young and old, would get excited when they heard about war, and Lord Xue was no exception. But no matter how to put it, war was something out of reach for ordinary people. Except for the last time he seized the palace, Xue Changcheng didn't even dare to think about it, as that would have cost him his life.
"Why is it that the battle of Pengcheng has been fought for half a month and still no one has decided the winner?"
Lord Xue was stumped by the question, thinking to himself, "How would I know?" But he still said it out loud, "Perhaps Pengcheng is different from the border. After all, it is my Dayin city, and General Ning may be reluctant to destroy the city.
Su Ruojin felt that it was not the case, "Then let's wait."
"What are you waiting for?" Xue Changcheng asked puzzledly, "Did Prince Zhao write to you about the war?"
Su Ruojin said, "Master Xue, that is a military secret."
Xue Changcheng smiled guiltily, and his expression suddenly became serious, "Ajin, someone came to the alley to steal food. Fortunately, there are guards around our two families, otherwise, we would be the ones in trouble."
When the city gate was knocked down by the Wei army, Su Ruojin was asleep and was awakened by the sound of gongs and drums.
Everyone jumped out of bed nervously, opened their doors, went to the corridor, and looked towards the source of the sound.
The torches on the tall battlements made the night as bright as day.
"The rebels are coming?"
Hua Ping didn't know when he went out. He came back from outside with a cold look on his face. He walked to Su Ruojin and said, "The general sent by the King of Wei has arrived and is knocking on the city gate. If we don't stop them, the capital will be breached tomorrow."
Su Ruojin gasped, "So fast?" The city gate is so fragile?
The two were whispering when they suddenly felt as if the ground was shaking.
Su Ruojin was so frightened that she thought it was an earthquake, but Hua Ping told her, "These are the imperial guards in the city. They have already climbed up the battlements and are fighting."
So...it really happened?
The last time there was a riot in the palace, Su Ruojin and her family hid in a cave outside and were not in the capital, so they had no idea what was going on in the capital.
"I remember that during the last palace riot, there were only 20,000 to 30,000 troops. How could the King of Wei have summoned so many soldiers so quickly?"
Lord Xue's sense of smell in these aspects was not as keen as the young lady's, so he did not respond.
Su Ruojin thought for a moment and said, "These people may have been attracted to join the team because of the food."
Xue Changcheng: …
Hua Ping confirmed Su Ruojin's thoughts, "Second Madam is right. In the year of great disaster, anyone with a stutter would join the rebels, even if it meant enlisting in the army or even losing their lives."
This night is destined to be like a storm.
The entire city of Bianjing was brightly lit. Anyone who could go into battle and kill the enemy did so, from the imperial guards to the Imperial City Officers, yamen runners, etc. All who could be summoned climbed onto the battlements and fought bloody battles.
The first battle after the King of Wei attacked back to the capital lasted for three days and two nights, and the city of Bianjing was barely held.
"If there is no reinforcement, this city gate..." Even though his home was right next door, Xue Changcheng still stayed in Su Yanli's study. At night, he would sleep on the couch with his clothes on and a warm blanket. As soon as the sun rose, he would go to Su Ruojin to analyze the battle situation.
Speaking of reinforcements, Su Ruojin looked at Hua Ping and Mangzhong.
"I'll go and find out right away." Early in the morning, Hua Ping didn't even have breakfast. He rubbed his hands and went to the street to inquire about the war.
It would be better to say that he avoided Xue Changcheng and met with the secret guards rather than inquiring. After a while, he really got the information sent by the secret spy. He took a look at it, then crumpled it into a small ball and swallowed it.
The King of Wei has already fought at the city gate. The Su family can basically have one meal now, but the weather is too cold and people need to replenish calories. Su Ruojin asked Mao Ya and the others to cook porridge in the morning. Even if it's just rice soup with a handful of rice, at least they can fill their stomachs.
Just when everyone was about to drink the rice soup, Hua Ping came back and said, "I found someone I knew before, and they said that reinforcements might arrive today."
possible?
Why does it feel like the city is about to be breached? If the city is breached, will the King of Wei's subordinates kill people and burn things? Su Ruojin clasped her hands together nervously and prayed quietly, hoping that God would bless her to be safe like last time.
The common people hiding in their homes waited for a whole day but received no support from General Ning, and the generals in the city had already begun to conscript all the men in the city.
All men over the age of fifteen had to go up to the city gate to defend it, either by pouring boiling water or throwing stones, anything they could do as long as they could repel the enemy.
Su Dalang and Xue Wulang are just fifteen years old this year and they were recruited.
Lord Xue jumped up and cursed, "I'm already gone, why are you still recruiting my son? Don't you know that I only have one child in my family?"
Xue Wulang felt very embarrassed by what his father said, and reached out to pull his father's sleeve, but Master Xue ignored him and said harshly, "Dalang, Wulang, you two should hide in the cellar quickly, I will go alone."
Su Dalang has also learned martial arts from Hua Ping in the past few years. Although he is not as good as Su Sanlang, he is still quite good at self-defense. However, Xue Wulang...
Su Ruojin understood that Lord Xue was reluctant to part with his only son and wanted to keep Su Dalang as well.
She said, "Brother, if you can hide for a while, then hide for a while."
As a scholar, how could Su Dalang be a coward who deserts the battlefield? He shook his head, "Leaving aside those in power, when the country is in trouble, every citizen has a responsibility."
Su Ruojin: ...
Every man has his responsibilities. These four words were taught by Su Ruojin to the Su brothers and sisters.
Could this be the legendary boomerang?
Su Ruojin was unable to hold Su Dalang back, so he took his own bow and arrow and went to the battlements to kill the enemy.
Xue Wulang has always been inseparable from Su Dalang. Whenever Su Dalang went, he would follow him. Xue Changcheng was so anxious that he chased after his son.
Brother... Su Ruojin clasped her hands together and prayed that God would bless you and keep you safe.
When Su Yanzu came over, Su Dalang had been gone for less than ten minutes.
"I'll go call him back." Su Yanzu was about to go and bring people back before he finished speaking.
Su Ruojin didn't stop you, but she knew that at this point, if you left, there was no way she would let you come back.
Su Ruojin cheered up and said, "The men in the family have gone to defend the city, so we can make sesame cakes to feed them."
Hua Ping is an agent of the Imperial City Bureau. As long as he doesn't show up in public, he will never be conscripted into the military. Mangzhong is almost the same as him.
So in addition to the invisible secret guards, there are Hua Ping and Mang Zhong in the house, who protect the women and children in the yard.
It was almost five days since the city was defended and both sides had suffered heavy casualties. Without reinforcements, the city of Bianjing would be in danger.
All the young and strong women in the city were organized to do logistics. Su Ruojin disguised herself as a ragged maid, mixed in the crowd, and went to the city wall to deliver sesame cakes to the Su family.
Before she even climbed onto the battlements, Su Ruojin was so frightened by the corpses lying all over the place at the foot of the wall that she covered her mouth and cried, "Brother... Brother..."
If something happened to her elder brother, how would she survive? She crawled to find Su Dalang.
Su Yanzu, who was standing at the lower city gate tower, saw this and quickly took his shield and dodged the rain of arrows. “Ajin, hurry back to the back and don’t climb up.”
"Brother, where is my brother?"
"He is injured. I have asked Dashi and Ershi to carry him to the princess's residence for treatment."
"What about Uncle Xue and Xue Wulang?"
"Same, I carried them all to the princess's mansion."
"What about you, uncle?"
"As a man, it is my duty to defend my country. Go to the princess's mansion to see your brother."
Knowing that her brother and the others were safe, Su Ruojin wiped away her tears and said, "I'm not worried because the princess is taking care of them." She reached out and handed a box of sesame cakes to Su Yanzu, "Uncle, take it up quickly and share it with everyone. It will be too late if the next battle starts."
Su Yanzu nodded, reached out and brought a box of pancakes to the city gate tower, and took turns holding shields with the soldiers to eat.
All the houses near the city wall have been burned down, which is a shocking sight. Su Ruojin looked towards the direction of the imperial palace, wondering when the war would end.
Prince Wei and Lu Shaoqing came over for patrol and saw Su Ruojin. They almost didn't recognize her because she looked like a fire-making girl. But when they saw Chunxiao and Maoya, they confirmed that this was the young lady Zhao Lan was fond of.
"Madam Su Er?"
Su Ruojin heard someone calling and turned around, "General Wei, General Lu..."
The commander-in-chief who stayed in the capital this time was General Ning's son, General Ning Xiao. Prince Wei and Lu Shaoqing were deputy generals. The three of them defended the city gate for five days and five nights, which was admirable.
Prince Wei advised: "It's dangerous here, you shouldn't stay here for long, Madam Su Er should go back quickly."
Su Ruojin wanted to ask Zhao Lan what was going on, but she knew it was a military secret, so she couldn't ask.
It's really difficult.
Seeing that the young lady was hesitant to speak, Prince Wei looked around, took a step forward, leaned in front of her, and whispered, "Jinzhi has his own important tasks." After saying that, he quickly moved three steps away from her.
She glanced at Lu Shaoqing.
Lu Shaoqing seemed not to have noticed that Prince Wei was whispering to the young lady.
Important task? What does it mean?
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