Just as Ping'er was about to fall off the city wall, Ruyi drew her soft whip from her waist and jumped down as well. The whip wrapped around Ping'er's waist like a green snake. The Huns who died still held spears in their hands. In the instant Ruyi stopped the little girl from falling, all the spears were pulled out by the inertia.
--puff
A mouthful of blood gushed from his mouth, wetting half of Ping'er's face. Ruyi frowned at the sight and tightened his grip on the nine-section whip.
The enemy commander, who was just his deputy, immediately waved his command flag and shouted upon seeing this scene.
"Release the arrows!"
"As one wishes!"
The two were outside the wall, in a place where the iron shield could not protect them.
Just then, the sound of bugles could be heard in the distance.
—woo
The voice was deep and resonant, and the people on the city wall breathed a sigh of relief.
Reinforcements have arrived.
In the distance, the banner bearing the character "Xiao" fluttered proudly, and the sound of hooves from the border army's horses echoed, like a dark cloud pressing down on the enemy's rear.
The enemy commander, having assessed the situation, smiled and continued waving his flag.
I know that going to war is a one-way trip, but... looking at the two people hanging on the city wall, he thought that it would be good to take a few more with him.
At the very least, it's hard to tell whose family member it is, but it will make people in the Central Plains feel uncomfortable.
A hail of arrows rained down on the two. Before they could react, the people of Fengyue Tower tried to pull Ruyi and Ping'er up, but the arrows were plentiful. Ruyi tilted her head, and one of them severed her hair. Her long, black hair cascaded down, making her look even more ruthless against the blood-stained face.
"woman?"
The enemy commander smiled and nodded. It turned out that the person who had held them off for a day and a night was a woman. It's often said that women of the grasslands are fierce, while women of the Central Plains are gentle; it seems that's not the case now.
He didn't quite understand why, if women from the Central Plains were so formidable, they couldn't even leave their homes after marriage. He had traveled to Jiangnan with a merchant caravan before, where women weren't allowed to show their faces when they went out.
Cen Ang took off his cloak, channeling his inner strength into his palm, and used the cloak to shield the two from the rain of arrows that had been raining down on them.
She herself was also hit by an arrow, but fortunately it was in her shoulder.
The woman, carrying two young girls, struggled to climb the city wall, her own back trembling with fear. Her last gamble was for her daughter from the brothel. Zhao Kai, supporting her, watched as Ping'er was surrounded by the girls, and his own eyes reddened.
If Cen Ang is the mother of these girls at the brothel, then Zhao Kai is like a father to them, teaching them to read, write, and how to be a person.
Seeing the girl he'd known for years lying on the ground like a withered flower, her fate unknown, who wouldn't feel heartache? Huo Xiaolong was on the verge of collapse; the little girl was deathly pale and covered in cold sweat.
The Huo family father and sons had more acute senses than ordinary people, and they saw the Fengyuelou group standing on the city wall from afar. The three of them waited for Xiao Lanyi's order and rode their horses at the forefront of the group.
One man held a long spear, another a sharp sword, and a burly, dark-skinned youth smashed open a patch of ground with a hammer.
"I've never seen him this fierce before... He can... He could probably just charge right through like this, right?" Fan Er said to Xiao Lanyi.
As he spoke, Huo Shuwen threw his spear, which struck the enemy general in the heart. The young man with the sword rode past and swung his sword, beheading him.
He drew his father's weapon, picked up the severed head from the ground, and threw it to Huo Shuwen.
“You’re tough even with your family in there,” Xiao Lanyi said to the leader of the night watchmen.
The border army advanced with unstoppable momentum, and cries of despair echoed from the city walls.
"Ping'er, it's alright, it's alright... Here, take your medicine..."
These maids were known for their thrift and resourcefulness. Before the expedition, Huo Xiaolong put five pills in each of their small porcelain bottles. The girls and the little dumpling had all eaten them, but each of the maids had one or two left, just in case someone couldn't hold on and needed to use them to save their lives.
"Stop feeding them, take them away."
Cen Ang spoke with some difficulty, and with Zhao Kai's help, he addressed the girls.
Chunying and the others carried the bottle downstairs, followed closely by the Fengyuelou group. They had fought so fiercely on the city wall that they could barely see what was below. It wasn't until Huo Xiaolong came down and stood before the wide-open city gate that she could finally see him.
Outside the city walls, corpses littered the hillsides, some piled high in heaps. She turned back to look inside the city, a scene of utter devastation. Some wounded soldiers had nowhere to live and were simply laid out outside. Some homes had already hung mourning banners, white carpeting the entire street.
Huo Xiaolong's mind was buzzing as he looked towards the direction of Beijing.
She heard that the ruler of the Great Yan Dynasty was over there. Power. She looked down at her small, still-growing hands, stained with blood. If power could stop wars, if power could ensure that people had enough to eat and wear.
I want to too.
To pluck the stars from the sky with bare hands.
"The enemy's two commanders are dead! Pingyang County has been held! Wang Zheng thanks you all again!"
The prefect bowed deeply to the people who had worked hard for a day and a night in front of the city gate. This bow was not only for those who fought bloody battles on the city walls, but also for all the people of Pingyang County, and all those who did not abandon the city and flee.
Where is your mother?
The little dumpling was picked up and carried onto the horse. Only then did Huo Xiaolong notice that his own father was also covered in dust and his armor was sticky.
"Long'er!"
Her daughter stayed on the city wall for a day and a night, while He Yi waited below for the same time. When the woman appeared at the clinic's entrance, seeing her tall, imposing husband holding their daughter, she felt relieved.
"mother."
Huo Xiaolong wanted to go down to find her mother and hug her and cry her heart out, but her father lifted her high up on his shoulders and pulled her back up.
"I'm back, Yi."
The woman nodded without speaking, and brushed a few stray hairs from the man's forehead behind her.
"Don't cry now, cry when you get back."
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