Wei Shuye's face turned ashen, and the thick phlegm hung disgustingly on the hem of his robe, but he did not wipe it off. Instead, he pursed his lips tightly and looked at the messy corpses on the ground and the countless pairs of eyes filled with hatred.
"Major General," Jiang He sighed, stepped forward, and said in a deep voice, "The empire does not have the spare money to support these people, and the Council of Elders will not fund the construction of housing for them. You are a descendant of the Wei family, you must respect the wishes of the family and safeguard the interests of the family."
A heat like lava was rushing through Wei Shuye's chest. His eyes were bloodshot and he remained silent. Jiang He frowned, waved to the soldiers and nodded slightly. The soldiers took the order and immediately raised their swords to continue killing.
"Bad guy!" A clear voice suddenly rang out. At the end of the crowd, a small face suddenly lifted up from the mother's arms. There were no traces of tears on the face, but a pair of red eyes. It shouted loudly, "Liar, you said you would bring us to the capital to live in a house that is not leaky. You said you would make sure everyone has enough food and clothes. You said..."
The sharp arrow was shot out instantly. General Jiang He's archery skills were precise. In the blink of an eye, he ended the words that the child was about to say. The arrow entered the mouth and came out from the back of the head with blood!
"Do it!" Jiang He drew his sword and shouted angrily.
"stop!"
The young major general suddenly collapsed at the child's heart-piercing words. He rushed forward desperately and pushed the two soldiers away.
Jiang He shouted angrily: "Catch the major general!" Several soldiers immediately rushed forward and used fighting techniques to hold Wei Shuye down tightly.
The inhumane massacre began immediately, blood flowed everywhere, mixed with blood and mud, and the shrill screams of eagles and poisonous birds came from the sky, adding the breath of death to this horrific massacre. A huge pit was dug and hundreds of lifeless bodies were thrown into it. The pit was quickly filled with sand. Soldiers rode their horses back and forth and trampled on it. Heavy snow fell like goose feathers, covering the ground with blood-red in an instant, burying all the shameful crimes and the ugliness of dehumanization.
A young, handsome, distinguished and high-ranking nobleman in the capital of Zhenhuang lost his composure in front of his subordinates and lost his mind for a group of lowly people.
"Major General," Jiang He walked forward, looked at the man staring at the snow, and said in a deep voice, "You shouldn't do this. They are all lowly races with lowly blood in their bodies. You shouldn't disobey Lord Wei for them. Your uncle has high expectations of you. Without you, the Wei clan's children in Dianjiang Hall are leaderless. We are all waiting for you to come back."
Seeing that Wei Shuye did not react, Jiang He sighed lightly, led the team to retreat, and the horses immediately galloped.
After a while, their shadows could no longer be seen in the wilderness.
The young man stood there for a long time. Snow was falling all over the sky. It was so cold on this Lantern Festival.
The two children hiding behind the snow slope were surprised to see that the noble Major General of the Wei clan suddenly knelt down facing the vast earth, kowtowed heavily to the dead creatures, then jumped on his horse and galloped away neatly.
For a long time, the heavy snow still showed no sign of stopping. The child moved his frozen hands and feet and staggered forward.
"What are you doing?" Yan Xun was startled and stood up in astonishment.
The child turned around, his face calm, but his eyes flashed with a sharp cold light, "I am of a lowly race, and I have lowly blood in my body. You and I should not be standing together. Since we are on different paths, it is better for us to part ways as soon as possible."
The cold moon was desolate, and the child's figure was so young, but Yan Xun, who was watching from afar, suddenly felt that her back was so straight that it could support this rotten world. The snow was heavy like cotton, and a line of footprints on the snow gradually moved farther away, heading straight towards the heart of the Great Xia Empire.
The rich have wine and meat, but the poor freeze to death on the streets. While the Great Xia Dynasty was claiming that it had no money to support the foreign refugees and was killing them, the Shihua Wine Market in the inner city was bustling with singing and dancing, fragrant air, and an atmosphere of decadence and debauchery. The beauties had willow-like waists, jade-like skin, charming voices and seductive smiles, jade arms and plump breasts. After a "hard" day of work, the elders of the Great Xia took off their elegant clothes during the day and let loose here.
Outside the door, the trees are covered with snow, silk ribbons are fluttering, and colorful lanterns are lit. It is the Lantern Festival, and the whole country is celebrating, including these wandering women. At this moment, the hurried sound of horse hooves suddenly shattered the rouge dream of Wei Guang, the patriarch of the Wei clan. The octogenarian with a long white beard but still handsome face narrowed his narrow eyes and waved his hand to dismiss the dozen or so heavily made-up women surrounding him. Upon hearing what he said, the women straightened their clothes, half-knelt on the ground, and knelt down as they retreated without daring to raise their heads.
Wei Guang picked up the teacup, took a deep breath, and slowly leaned back on the couch.
There was a waft of aroma from the incense burner, and clouds of incense were floating gently above, shaped like thin dragons, rising vertically. Looking through them, everything seemed a little blurry.
A subordinate's respectful voice sounded outside the door, "Sir, Master Shu Ye is here."
It's time to come, the old man raised his eyebrows slightly. It was earlier than he expected, and Yu Niang's efforts to please him were wasted. The old man said slowly in a low voice: "Let him in."
The door opened sideways, and a man in a simple, plain moon-white robe that hardly looked like a noble's entered the No. 1 private room of the Shihua Wine Market. Major General Shu Ye looked gloomy, and asked without thinking, "Why?"
Wei Guang knew what he was referring to, of course. He narrowed his eyes, didn't even look at him, and said slowly: "You don't know how to behave when you see your elders. Is this the manners I have taught you all these years?"
Wei Shuye frowned slightly, and the candlelight in the corner crackled and a spark burst out. Time passed quietly, and the young major general finally lowered his head, "Uncle."
"Not everything in this world can be divided into right and wrong. Jing'er is younger than you, but in this regard, you should learn from him."
Wei Shuye frowned and said in a deep voice: "Then why send me? I promised them..."
"You are the next heir of the Wei family, the first of the seven major clans in Daxia. You have the golden blood of your ancestors flowing in your body. You are a noble of the empire. You don't need to make any promises to a group of lowly people. The meaning of their lives is to die at the right time and dedicate themselves to the empire. You have done nothing wrong and there is no need to feel guilty. There is no need to come here to question your uncle at this time." The old man interrupted Shu Ye and said in a low voice, his voice was sonorous and like breaking gold and stone.
Wei Shuye shook his head, frowned and said, "Uncle, this is not what you taught me before."
"Because I was once as naive as you, your father died in the internal strife of the family." Wei Guang opened his eyes, and there was a fierce edge flashing in his old eyes. He slowly turned his head, looked closely at Wei Shuye, and said word by word, "The winner is the king, the weak are preyed upon by the strong, this is how the world is. Ye'er, after so many years, don't you understand?"
"Uncle," Wei Shuye said solemnly, "The empire needs people to open up wasteland in the west. All the young and strong men of their clan went west because they believed in me. Why can't the Council of Elders take care of their families? They followed me back to the imperial capital from thousands of miles away because you promised me that you would build permanent houses for them at the foot of Hongchuan. They gave up their homes and nomadic nature because I promised them personally!" Wei Shuye excitedly picked up the small incense ball in front of Wei Guang's desk and said sternly, "You said the empire has no money to support them, but what is this? This is Huaisong's golden incense, only one ball is worth 200 gold baht! 200 gold baht is enough for their clan to live for ten years!"
Wei Guang's expression remained unchanged as he listened calmly to Wei Shuye venting his dissatisfaction. The air was tense and filled with the young man's anger. After a long while, the old man smiled and said slowly, "Ye'er, you and Major General Zhilu from the Dianjiang Hall went to supervise the civil unrest in the north, but you returned in disgrace. Major General Zhilu was stripped of his military rank and imprisoned in the Criminal Hall. His life or death is still unknown. But you can stand here and quarrel with me. What's the reason?"
Wei Shuye was stunned, an angry expression froze on his face, and he was speechless for a moment.
"The reason you can still stand here intact is because your last name is Wei. I know you sympathize with those untouchables and reject class distinctions, but no matter how much you hate this identity, you are, after all, a direct descendant of the Wei family, and my nephew, Wei Guang. Everything you have enjoyed since childhood was brought to you by the family. Your food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and status are all given by the family, and you can never change this. Those who enjoy all this in peace are not qualified to hate and curse it." Wei Guang took a deep breath and leaned back on the couch, his chest rising and falling slightly. His voice was low, with a hint of heavy vicissitudes, "Everything in this world has its reason for existence. The reason why the Wei family slaughtered the Bian Ta clan today, instead of the Bian Ta clan slaughtering the Wei people, is because the Wei family has been constantly working for the family since their ancestors. ’s interests. For three hundred years, the Wei family has protected the country, reclaimed the frontier, served in the court, and made countless contributions. When the people of Bian Ta were leisurely herding horses and sheep, the children of the Wei family had already begun to learn the art of riding and archery, the way of doing business, and how to avoid the cold arrows and plots. So many years later, the Wei family was one of the seven major clans, but Bian Ta was exiled to the frontier and the whole family was destroyed. Children , God is very fair and never favors anyone. The reason why they lose is that they have not paid enough. No one can curse the bullying of the strong just because they are weak. If they don’t want to be killed, they can only become stronger. Today you are here to sympathize with them, but have you ever thought that if all the descendants of the Wei family are like you, the ones who died outside the Zhenhuang City today are your brothers and sisters. "
Wei Shuye stood there with a frown on his face. He wanted to say something, but he felt as if his chest was being pressed down by a huge rock and he couldn't utter a single word.
Wei Guang slowly stood up and patted Wei Shuye on the shoulder. "Ye'er, uncle is old and can't protect you for much longer. Who will protect the family when uncle is gone? Who will protect my children from being killed? Who will protect my daughter from being played with? Who will protect them? You?"
The door was wide open, and the noisy sound of stringed instruments drifted in leisurely, with an intoxicating fragrance that made people dizzy. The old man's footsteps gradually faded away. Wei Shuye straightened his back, feeling a burning pain in his shoulders. Pressing down there was an invisible mountain, a burden that he tried hard to escape from but could not get rid of.
The night was pitch black, but not darker than the thick fog in his heart. Those invisible demons and monsters roamed in his thoughts, devouring his sanity. His struggle was futile and he finally let out a long sigh, speechless.