Chapter 77 Rainy Night (2)
Magistrate Meng shouted sternly, "Who goes there? I am Meng Ying, the magistrate of Biyang County. You have killed my county officials and surrounded my residence without any explanation. Are you trying to rebel?"
The man outside the door sneered, "We received a secret letter a few days ago that Meng Ying, the magistrate of Biyang County, is harboring rebels and harming the people. We have been ordered to come and suppress him. If you resist, you will be punished as a rebel. If you know what's good for you, open the door and surrender. Otherwise, your entire household will be in danger!"
Enraged, Magistrate Meng roared, "Nonsense! Whose orders are you acting on? Do you have any written proof? Whose signature is it? If you cannot produce any real evidence, you are merely using the name of the government troops to carry out a rebellion!"
There was a moment of silence outside the courtyard, followed by the sound of the door shattering. Chief Constable Shi and another constable finally couldn't hold on any longer, and the entire courtyard gate was kicked open and collapsed.
Seeing that he couldn't stop him, Chief Constable Shi immediately pulled the constable who had been kicked to the ground and quickly retreated to stand beside Magistrate Meng.
A squad of guards in black uniforms rushed in and quickly surrounded the crowd standing in front of the main house. A soldier in black armor stepped forward, with several bodyguards standing on either side to protect him. His gaze was like that of a venomous snake or a sharp sword, staring straight at Magistrate Meng, who was standing at the front, through the heavy rain.
Torches lit up one after another on the wall. Magistrate Meng and his men were startled and turned around to see that seven or eight archers were already standing on the top of the wall, holding burning arrows and pointing them at them. The tung oil and pine resin arrows were not afraid of the winter rain. The firelight illuminated the dark courtyard, making their faces clearly visible. Magistrate Meng and his men were now completely surrounded.
Suddenly, a commotion arose from the right side of the main house, and another group of guards escorted in the female relatives living in the front yard. Steward Zhao's hands were handcuffed behind his back, and Meng Guanqi helped Liu Shi, who was so frightened that she could barely walk, along with Aunt Luo, Meng Liniang, and a group of maids, who were pushed and shoved as they were brought in.
Magistrate Meng's expression changed drastically: "Madam! Qi'er!"
When Liu saw Magistrate Meng, she rushed to him, crying, "My lord!"
Magistrate Meng helped up his wife and children, whispered some words of comfort, signaled them not to cry, and firmly shielded them behind him.
The armored soldier turned his head slightly: "Is everyone here?"
A moment later, two more guards brought over Uncle Chai, who was limping, and Mama Mao: "General, we have searched carefully. Only this lame gatekeeper and the cook hiding in the kitchen are left. There is no one else in the yard."
Meng Guanqi's still-shaken eyes searched around, then his heart calmed down slightly. No, Li Xiaoxiao wasn't there.
She will definitely find a way to save us!
But looking at the soldiers filling the courtyard and walls, his heart sank again.
No matter how skilled Li Xiaoxiao was, she couldn't possibly be a match for so many people, especially since they were holding bows and arrows.
If we rashly return to rescue them, we'll likely just lose our lives in vain.
He didn't want her to come to his rescue. He told her to run away, to run away quickly, so that no one would find out that someone was missing from the house.
Magistrate Meng stood at the front: "General, I see that you are leading regular troops. I wonder who instigated you to surround my county government office and claim that I am harboring rebels. May I ask what evidence you have, General?"
The armored soldier sneered and raised his sword: "This humble general is acting under orders. If Lord Meng wants to know the whole story, he can go ask the King of Hell himself! Guards, release him—"
"Wait!" Knowing there was no room for negotiation with this man, Magistrate Meng immediately shifted his target and shouted, "Do you know who is behind me? It is His Highness the Crown Prince of the Great Wu Dynasty! You are using the pretext of suppressing bandits to assassinate the Crown Prince. Do your soldiers know this?"
Magistrate Meng spoke firmly, giving the other party no chance to interrupt: "Assassinating the Crown Prince is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family. Which of you doesn't have parents and relatives behind you? Although disobeying orders is a capital offense for soldiers, assassinating the Crown Prince will not only kill you, but will also implicate nine generations of your family and lead to their execution. Did your superiors tell you that the person you were assassinating was the Crown Prince when they brought you out?! Did they?"
The Xuanjia soldier's expression changed, and he snatched a bow and arrow from one of the men next to him, shooting an arrow at Magistrate Meng.
Pang Shi stepped forward, deflecting the arrow with a swift movement of his sword. He was robust and stood as straight as a pine tree. Gripping his sword, he roared, "I am Pang Shi, the commander of the Eastern Palace Guard! Magistrate Meng's words are all true! Do not be used by these treacherous men and plunge yourselves and your families into utter ruin! I, Pang Shi, swear to you, you are nothing but scapegoats! Even if you kill us here today, you will not escape Biyang County alive! If you don't believe me, go ahead and leave the city. If there is no ambush within twenty li, I, Pang Shi, will chop off my head and give it to you to sit on!"
The soldiers standing in the courtyard hesitated for a moment, and all turned their questioning gazes to the armored warriors.
The Xuanjia soldiers shouted, "Don't listen to these traitors spouting such outrageous lies! The Crown Prince and Pang Shi are both imposters. They are actually spies from Yue, colluding with Meng Ying to try and return to Yue through Biyang County. They have been traveling south from Yanjing to gather intelligence on our Great Wu's military deployments and have sent countless secret letters back to Yue. Now that we have finally found their trail, if we believe they are the Crown Prince based on a few words from these spies, that would be truly disastrous for the country!"
Meng Ying was so angry that the veins on his neck bulged: "I, Meng Ying, come from the Meng family of Tai'an. Before I was demoted to the magistrate of Biyang County, I was an official of the Six Ministries. I could see His Highness the Crown Prince twice a month at the grand court assembly. Do you think I can't tell if he is real or fake? On the contrary, you are just a local military officer. You may have never been to the capital in your life. How dare you so confidently assert that the Crown Prince is an imposter? If you don't believe me, just wait until dawn. The troops of the Qingzhou Guard Command are already on their way. You will know whether the Crown Prince is real or fake at a glance."
The Crown Prince pushed aside the people blocking his way and stepped out. Pang Shi was startled and quickly shielded him behind him, saying, "Your Highness, please go back."
The crown prince shook his head: "Under such circumstances, how can I continue to hide behind you?"
Apart from Pang Shi, those present were either scholars, women and children, or the elderly. If a fight broke out, they would be nothing more than targets, unable to withstand these fierce and brutal soldiers. If he couldn't seize the situation that Magistrate Meng had worked so hard to secure for him, he might very well die here tonight.
The Crown Prince insisted on walking to Magistrate Meng's side. Pang Shi had no choice but to use most of his body to block him. Fortunately, the Crown Prince's face was finally revealed.
The Crown Prince said, "I am Crown Prince Li Chengming. What evidence do you have that I am an imposter?"
He was still wearing his nightgown, and his hair was not tied up but was loosely draped over his shoulders. However, he stood upright with a proud and solemn expression, exuding an aura of royalty.
The black-armored soldiers' eyes flickered, and their breathing became slightly erratic.
The Crown Prince stared intently at him: "You call me a traitor one minute and a spy the next, your words don't make sense. How can you convince these soldiers who have served our Great Wu with their lives to be used by you?"
His tone gradually hardened, each question like a thunderclap in my ears: "Speak! Who sent you to assassinate me? And who told you I was an imposter? I think the one who wants to be a traitor isn't me, but the person behind you!"
The armored soldiers shuddered and involuntarily took a step back.
Suddenly, a man in black appeared behind him and blocked his path. Amidst the pattering rain, his voice pierced his ears like a venomous snake: "Don't waste any more time. You have nowhere to retreat."
They're all doomed unless we kill everyone here tonight.
A resolute glint flashed in the eyes of the armored soldier, and he raised his hand: "Fire!"
The archer on the wall nocked his bow, about to shoot an arrow, when suddenly the head on his neck rolled off like a watermelon.
Five heads rolled off in succession, and the remaining three were completely stunned. Before they could even fire their arrows, several round, heavy objects suddenly flew through the air, striking them in the face in three quick strikes before exploding. The three arrows were hit head-on, causing them to lose their footing and fall straight down from the three- or four-meter-high wall.
Almost instantly, all eight people on the wall lost their fighting ability, and two of the five headless corpses were still stuck on the wall without falling down, a very strange situation.
"Ah! A ghost!" No one noticed how the five men's heads were severed. The soldier standing closest to the wall saw the heads on the ground and was so terrified that he wet himself: "A ghost! A ghost!"
Fear is contagious. The soldiers in the courtyard were already shaken and at a loss by what Magistrate Meng and the Crown Prince had said. Now that such a strange thing had happened, they naturally started to think about ghosts and gods.
"Is this a manifestation of the Bodhisattva or the protection of the Buddha? How could a person's head fall off for no reason? Could he really be the Crown Prince?" A voice trembled as it spoke from the crowd. The voice was loud enough for everyone in the courtyard to hear.
The soldiers, whose resolve was already wavering, became even more disheartened.
"Are you talking nonsense? How could that be?" someone immediately retorted.
"Then how do you explain why these people's heads are gone? I've heard that true emperors are protected by gods. Didn't your mother tell you that when you were a child?" the loud-voiced soldier retorted.
"I, I..." The soldier couldn't speak.
More people began to whisper: "I've heard that too."
"I think I've heard of it before."
"Could he really be the Crown Prince? We only came here because we trusted General Wu's words..."
"What if he really is the crown prince? Will his entire family be executed? Has anyone seen the official document issued by the officer?" the loud-voiced soldier continued to ask in a panic.
"I...I've never seen it before..."
"None of us can read, have we ever seen one before?"
"I don't think so. They just called us over directly after gathering us..."
Once the seeds of doubt are sown, they are not so easy to eradicate. The rocket launcher mysteriously decapitated five people, and three more fell against the wall, unable to move. Coupled with the loud-voiced soldier's questioning remarks, the suspicion that the other party was the real prince spread wider and wider. If it were true, it would be a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of his family!
The soldiers were illiterate, but their loyalty to the emperor and their country was ingrained in their bones. The crime of killing the crown prince was too serious, and even though they were acting on military orders, they couldn't help but hesitate.
The crowd gradually stirred. The armored soldiers never expected that their soldiers, who obeyed them without question, would dare to question their orders. The loud-voiced soldier's questions were like daggers to their hearts. He roared and raised his broadsword: "Anyone who disturbs the morale of the army shall be executed!"
He slashed at the loud-voiced soldier with his sword!
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