Chapter 7 Qingxin thought of Fang Yilan's expression at that time, and it seemed that...
Zhuang Gu was a little anxious: "General, Wen Wanshu has probably guessed that we've sneaked into the city. What should we do with our plan?"
Fang Yilan frowned slightly as he gazed at the distant city wall. Compared to the previous few days, a large number of patrolling soldiers were constantly moving through the streets, causing panic among the people.
According to the original plan, Fang Yilan and his companions should have mixed in with the people at this moment, looking for an opportunity to mobilize everyone, and work together to open the city gate while the defenses in the city were lax.
But the city is currently under tight security, and several people are trapped in the Yihong Building, so they dare not act rashly.
What should I do?
"Let's wait and see. According to the itinerary, Lieutenant General Lin will arrive at the city gate tomorrow. We'll look for an opportunity then."
"yes!"
At dawn the next day, the morning light had not yet dispelled the chill of the autumn night.
Lieutenant General Lin had already led his army, setting up camp at the southern gate of Ningqiu. A resounding call for surrender continued to echo through the city: "If you will open the city gates and surrender, our army swears to refrain from harassing or plundering the people's property. Once the city gates are opened, we will open the granaries and distribute food to the people."
"Or we should surrender!" Wen Wanshu huddled in his mansion, the door tightly shut. He could already imagine his head hanging high on the city wall after the city fell, to be spitted upon by everyone, and he couldn't help but tremble all over.
"No, sir!" the lawyer said with a bitter face, "If the city gate is opened, the first person to lose his head will be you! We can save our lives by just guarding the city gate."
"Ningqiu is easy to defend but difficult to attack. They will never be able to break in! It must be like this!" Wen Wanshu could only repeat these words over and over again, constantly deceiving himself with words.
As night fell, the city was silent except for the whistling sound of the wind. From time to time, the neighing of war horses and the footsteps of patrolling soldiers could be heard from outside the city.
"It's dry, be careful with fire." The night watchman knocked the gong lightly and walked into the deep alley.
Fang Yilan sat quietly in the house with the window half-closed. Her eyes fell on the faint firelight on the street, and her eyes suddenly brightened.
*
On the third day, the night grew deeper.
A cry of surprise broke the silence: "Oh no! There's a fire in the prefectural government! Hurry and rescue!"
Upon hearing this, the small leader at the city gate rushed back and forth in a hurry, shouting to mobilize troops and waving torches to urge them on. A large number of soldiers withdrew from the city wall and rushed towards the Wen Mansion, where thick smoke was billowing.
Fang Yilan, who was mixed in the crowd, saw the opportunity and stood up, shouting: "This fire is brilliant, let's burn that bastard official and his nest to ashes!"
"Normally, that bastard official has never cared about our lives. Why not take advantage of the chaos and open the city gates? If you surrender, you can even get some food! No matter who is the emperor, for ordinary people like us, survival is the most important thing!"
Fang Yilan's words instantly ignited the long-suppressed resentment among the crowd.
"You're right!" Several burly men clenched their fists and stood up to agree.
"That's right! When Ruining was in power, life was not this difficult. In my opinion, opening the city gate is the right way!" Zhuang Gu also stood out from the crowd and responded to Fang Yilan.
"Yes, yes, who could be more of a bastard than that dog official Wen Wanshu?" Everyone's emotions were completely ignited, and they vented their emotions at once.
"Brothers, grab your weapons!" Fang Yilan leaned over, raised a hoe, and shouted, "Most of the defenders have been mobilized. They are no match for us. If we don't act now, when will we act? Let's go!"
“Kill!”
Angry roars erupted from the crowd, and the people gathered together and followed Fang Yilan towards the city gate.
The soldiers defending the city were already dazed by the blaze, and now they were caught off guard by the sudden attack. They could only hastily raise their swords to defend themselves, their steps in panic, unable to withstand the onslaught of hundreds of people, and their defenses quickly collapsed.
Fang Yilan took the lead, leading a group of passionate men, and rushed straight to the city gate. He waved the sharp blade in his hand and knocked down the soldiers in front of the city gate in a few strokes.
The chains binding the city gate suddenly broke under her crazy hacking.
"Listen to my command, one, two, three!"
Fang Yilan led a dozen strong civilians and worked together to lift the iron bolt.
The bolt was pulled up suddenly and fell heavily on the stone floor with a loud bang, and the city gate slowly opened.
The Ruining army outside the city had been on full alert for a long time. When Lieutenant General Lin saw that the city gate was open, he gave an order and the Ruining battle flag fluttered in the night sky.
The war horses raised their heads and neighed, the war drums thundered, and the army shouted and rushed into the city quickly.
Lieutenant General Lin was riding a horse towards the city gate, holding the reins of a white horse in his hand, which was prepared for Fang Yilan.
Fang Yilan used the wall as a kick to leap forward, landing safely on horseback. A red-tasseled spear was hurled at her, but she gripped it firmly, her fingers clenched. The two exchanged a smile, and Fang Yilan clamped her legs against the horse's belly, galloping off towards the prefect's residence.
In front of the prefect's residence, Fang Yilan came with a group of soldiers and horses. The defenders gradually became unable to resist, and Fang's army quickly wiped out the enemy soldiers.
When Wen Wanshu heard the bad news that the city gate was broken, he felt like he was struck by lightning. He staggered towards the backyard.
Fang Yilan galloped over and immediately saw Wen Wanshu, who was struggling to climb the wall with his hands and feet. She jumped off her horse and kicked Wen Wanshu hard in the lower back.
Wen Wanshu screamed and flew backward, falling to the ground. Fang Yilan's red tasseled spear flashed with a cold light, and the tip of the spear was against Wen Wanshu's throat. With just a little force, he could take his life.
Wen Wanshu fell to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down his face. "General, please spare my life! I haven't done anything against the law of nature, please let me go!" His cowardly and ugly appearance was fully exposed.
The gun was shaking wildly.
Wen Wanshu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he crawled forward on his knees, ready to hug Fang Yilan's legs: "I... I have plenty of silver, all for you!"
Fang Yilan suddenly tilted his head, clenched his five fingers and thrust forward until the tip of the gun was embedded.
When he drew his gun, a few drops of blood splashed on her face, adding to the coldness, and only her throat rolled silently.
But it happened that Zhao Huaixu, who was not far away, saw it clearly.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking of Fang Yilan's expression at the time, as if he had discovered something new.
When the news spread, people came from all directions and swarmed in. Seeing the corrupt official who usually abused his power lying dead on the spot, they all applauded.
Xunyun was wearing a black robe with burnt marks on the edges of his sleeves. He was supporting Chudie and walking towards the crowd.
Chudie's face was slightly pale. She leaned against Xunyun and coughed lightly from time to time. When her eyes fell on Wen Wanshu's body, the corners of her mouth slowly curled up, with a bit of relief, but the hatred in her heart remained unchanged.
Fang Yilan sat firmly on his horse, looked around at the cheering people, and gave the order in a clear voice: "Open the granaries and release the grain to help the people."
She turned her head to look at the generals behind her, the fatigue in her eyes could not be concealed: "I will leave the finishing touches to you." After she finished speaking, she shook the reins, and the horse under her crotch neighed and galloped away.
*
A white horse galloped through the streets of Kangrao and landed in front of the Marquis's mansion. Fang Yilan dismounted. When the manor's servant saw that it was his young lady returning, he immediately came forward and took the reins from her hand.
Fang Yilan hurried back to the room.
With her lips slightly opened, she slowly exhaled the foul air that had been accumulated in her chest. Her legs seemed to have lost their support and she involuntarily bent her knees and fell to the ground, supporting herself on the ground with one hand to maintain her shaky body.
She suddenly grabbed the spittoon beside the bed, leaned forward, felt a surge in her throat, her stomach twitched violently, and she began to vomit uncontrollably.
Tears and sweat mixed together and dripped onto the floor.
Fang Yilan leaned weakly against the wall, gasping for breath. Her hands were tightly gripping the mattress, her nails almost embedded in it.
She actually killed someone...
The dampening sensation of flesh being pierced and the image of blood splattering kept replaying before my eyes...
But Wen Wanshu deserves to die and be killed!
...
Throughout history, adult life has generally been like this.
No matter how devastated you were the night before, after waking up, you still have to calm down, pretend nothing happened, and devote yourself to what you should do, over and over again.
Fang Yilan opened the window frame, and a breeze brought a few wisps of fragrance. When she looked down, she saw several pots of Qingxincao on the windowsill.
I don't remember there being this potted plant before.
Fang Yilan stepped out of the bedroom, and Shuxue came up to her and led her to the dining room.
As she was putting food from the bowl into her mouth, she casually asked about the situation in the mansion in the past few days.
"How is Zhao Huaixu's injury? Why can't I see him?" Fang Yilan asked after swallowing the food in his mouth.
When Shu Xue heard the words "Zhao Huaixu," her expression softened considerably. She leaned forward and replied, "Young lady, Mr. Zhao left for Ningqiu before dawn. He knew you'd been busy lately, so he thought of giving out porridge in the city on your behalf, so he could do his bit for the people."
Fang Yilan nodded, finished his meal leisurely, tidied himself up a bit, and then rode his horse to Ningqiu.
Before we even got close to the prefectural government, we saw a crowd of people surging in front of the mansion, and the line was endless.
At the front, a young man with a refined figure and outstanding temperament poured steaming rice porridge into bowls and handed them to the people.
Zhao Huaixu, who was busy, heard the sound of horse hooves approaching. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Fang Yilan, her warm starry eyes curved into a crescent.
Zhuang Gu was carrying a bucket of freshly cooked rice porridge with great effort. When he saw Fang Yilan, he immediately opened his voice and shouted, "General!" His voice was so powerful that it attracted the attention of many people around him.
Fang Yilan dismounted, greeted everyone, exchanged a few words, then rolled up his sleeves and naturally joined the porridge distribution team.
She suddenly noticed a pair of eyes coming from the corner, and subconsciously looked sideways, and saw a familiar boy, holding on to the stone wall with his hands, staring at her straight.
Fang Yilan picked up a bowl of steaming porridge and walked towards the corner.
When the child saw her approaching, he was like an angry little beast. He raised his hand and knocked over the bowl that Fang Yilan handed over, spilling the hot porridge all over the floor.
His eyes were red and filled with tears, and he shouted at the top of his lungs: "What kind of general are you? My grandmother was beaten to death by yamen runners on the street that day, and you just watched. Why didn't you save her? Give me back my grandmother!" After that, tears burst out of his eyes and slid down his dirty little face.
Fang Yilan kept her lips tightly closed, just stood there quietly without making any excuses.
A clear voice sounded from behind her. It was Zhao Huaixu: "Your grandmother died to protect you. Why didn't you save her?"
The voice was unhurried, but each word was sharp as a needle: "To blame others for your own mistakes simply because you were powerless is immoral. The general saved your life, but you are not grateful, and instead repay kindness with hatred. This is unrighteousness."
Before he could finish his words, he said, "The general is only a few years older than you, and we are all flesh and blood. If everyone relies on her for help and rescue, who will lend a hand to her in times of crisis?"
Fang Yilan laughed in silence, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked at the crying child with raised eyebrows.
"You know what? When people are impotent and furious, they become extremely rude."
The fig leaf was removed by the two people's words, revealing the tender dignity hidden deep in their hearts.
The boy, whose sore spot was touched, collapsed to the ground in despair, bursting into tears, his face covered with tears and snot.
Zhuang Gu also trotted over, panting and echoing, "Mr. Zhao is right! You're such a heartless kid! We only had one bottle of medicine on us, and we used it all on you to bring you back from the brink of death. And yet, you're so ungrateful, and you're blaming me instead."
Fang Yilan waved her hand gently and interrupted, "Alright, don't waste any more time here, hurry back and get back to work."
After that, she casually glanced at the child crying on the ground and said slowly, "Since you are still young, I am too lazy to bother with you. Remember to queue up for food later, otherwise my medicine will be wasted."
Before leaving, Zhao Huaixu paused and looked at the child again: "If you have ulterior motives and can only beg for alms from others, you will only be laughed at."
"I always thought you were gentle, but I didn't expect you to be so intimidating when you start scolding people."
Fang Yilan followed Zhao Huaixu back to the mansion, crossing her arms and rubbing them up and down in a mischievous manner.
A smile appeared on his face again, and Zhao Huaixu turned back into his harmless and friendly appearance.
"It depends on the person. I have always been very kind to the general."
Fang Yilan's mouth twitched. Looking at Zhao Huaixu's Oscar-level face-changing performance, she felt that it was a pity that Zhao Huaixu was born in ancient times.
"But how do you know these things?"
As they were talking, a head suddenly popped up between them. Zhuang Gu blinked and eagerly claimed credit, "General, I told Young Master Zhao that!"
Fang Yilan nodded as if she suddenly understood something, and then she smiled warmly.
Zhuang Gu was ready to be praised, but the words that came out of Fang Yilan's mouth made him freeze instantly.
"So it's you who's such a big mouth. I'll deduct half of your monthly salary this month."
“No!”
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