Chapter 19: Conspiring with the Military Master
Before Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng went to the square, they first went to the residence of the military commander in the east. Wei Lin followed them with the arsonist. Before leaving, Gu Xiyue gave Meixiang some instructions and asked her, Zhao Yancheng and others to wait for him for half an hour.
After the shop caught fire, the next day, Wang Junye came back from outside and saw the burned shop and half of his room was burned. After listening to the description of his two brothers, he felt scared.
The three of them were disheartened and immediately submitted a letter to their superiors. The letter they received said that if they wanted their families to be well in the capital, they should stay where they were and there was no other news.
These days, Mr. Wang and Mr. Xu live in the same room. The three of them take turns guarding the east entrance every day, and sleep in their rooms the rest of the time.
This Heavenly King Army Master was taking a nap in the small room at the east entrance. When he opened his eyes, he found Miss Gu and Xiao Heng walking towards them from afar and going to their residence. To his surprise, Wei Lin was behind them, pulling a young man with his hands tied and his mouth stuffed with cloth.
In the past few days, the three of them couldn't bear to go to the village to see everyone. They knew that everyone was doomed, but they had no way to help them, so they simply turned a blind eye and ignored it. Now that Miss Gu brought people to the door, something must have happened.
Just then, Mr. Xu came out and waved to him, so he quickly walked back.
The people in the Southern Wilderness have long been numb. Even if there is no one guarding this entrance and exit, they dare not go out.
Everyone arrived in the yard. Gu Xiyue looked at the burnt house and felt a chill in his heart.
Seeing that the three generals had all arrived, Xiao Heng bowed and said to them, "I apologize for disturbing you all so early in the morning. However, this matter is of great importance, and I feel that I should tell you all about it."
After saying that, he looked behind him, pushed the man with his hands tied behind his back, pulled the rough cloth out of his mouth, and the man knelt on the ground, coughed twice, and his eyes were full of fear.
The three generals knew this man. He was Hu Mazi, who lived near the west end. He had just arrived here and had some money. He usually kept to himself and had a somewhat eccentric personality. Because he had pockmarks on his face, everyone called him Hu Mazi.
"Hu Mazi? What happened to him?"
Xu Junye said calmly.
Xiao Heng turned to look at Hu Mazi and said, "You decide, or..."
Hu Mazi said quickly, "I said it myself, I said it myself, General, the fire...I was the one who set the fire."
After saying that, Hu Mazi lowered his head and never said another word. This was what he did when Wei Lin caught him. He admitted that he set the fire, but refused to say another word.
The three military masters looked shocked.
Xu Junye stepped forward, squatted down, and asked in a deep voice, "Were you sent by the higher-ups?"
Hu Mazi lowered his head and said nothing.
Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng looked at each other and realized that this Bu Hu Mazi was an undercover agent from above, and if they guessed correctly, he was coming for Xiao Heng.
The higher-ups won't save the people of Nanhuang. Burning down the shops will completely cut off Nanhuang's livelihood. Once they're all dead, there's nothing they can do. Even if the emperor knows about it, there's nothing he can do.
That day, Gu Xiyue asked Wei Lin and Meixiang to go to the store to buy things. They walked along the road to the sea and it was at night, so no one in the village noticed them. Otherwise, this man would have set their house on fire.
Xiao Heng snorted, squatted down and said to Hu Mazi, "Don't you want to be reunited with your family?"
Hu Mazi raised his head, looked at Xiao Heng, and murmured, "No matter what, I'm going to die. I have no choice!"
Xu Junye sighed and didn't mean to pursue the matter. "I knew it would be like this. It turns out they already arranged people here. Who has a choice?"
Gu Xiyue found that the three soldiers all had disappointment on their faces, as if they had lost hope in life. Their expressions and attitudes were almost exactly the same as those of the villagers.
"To be honest, we don't want to guard you in this damn place, but our families are in their hands. If we don't obey, they will be in danger."
After Wang Junye finished speaking, he sat dejectedly on a chair beside him, his face lifeless.
When Master Xu heard Master Wang speak out, he also spread his hands and said, "We didn't know before, we only found out in the past few days. We knew you were going to starve to death here, but we couldn't let you go. If you go out, your family will not survive. If I let you out, our family will not survive either."
Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng were extremely shocked.
Unexpectedly, the three generals were similar to them.
Hu Mazi was left aside at this time. He looked left and right, and finally sighed and confessed.
His family was indeed under the surveillance of those people. As long as he successfully completed the task and waited for a month until all the people in the Southern Wilderness starved to death, he would not be able to leave until he was sure that no one was alive.
As for the three generals, the man said that he had no intention of letting them return to Beijing alive. They had been guarding here for several years and knew all the situations. Letting the three generals go back would only ruin their plans.
These words surprised everyone!
The three military masters were particularly shocked.
No wonder the higher-ups told them to stay where they were and wait. It turned out they wanted to wait until everyone was dead before taking their lives.
What a vicious plan!
Gu Xiyue said: "One month. If we can find a way to rescue your family within this month..."
Halfway through her words, she turned to look at the three military masters and said, "If I can do this, can you agree to one request of mine?"
"What do you want?"
"Open the east entrance and let us come and go freely!"
The three generals looked at each other, whispered a few words together, and then General Xu said, "If Miss Gu really has a way to rescue our family, we are willing to stand with you."
When Hu Mazi heard that the higher-ups were so cruel that they didn't even let the general go, they would definitely not let him go either, so he knelt down and crawled in front of Miss Gu, begging her to save his family as well.
Madam Gu asked Wei Lin to untie his hands and pulled him up. "We must rescue him. You are the key person in whether this matter can proceed smoothly..."
"My wife."
Gu Xiyue was about to continue when Xiao Heng interrupted her. He stepped forward, bowed to the others, and said, "The relationships in the capital are complicated. Leave this matter to me."
These days, Gu Xiyue has been busy making plans and arranging things for everyone. He is so busy that he thinks about problems even during meal times. Now that he is involved in the court disputes, he can't bear to let her get involved.
Gu Xiyue didn't know what to do, but when she heard Xiao Heng say this, she breathed a sigh of relief. He was the prince before, and he must have more ways than herself. Normally, he concealed his edge and was willing to cook for her and be the man behind her, but he was better at this kind of conspiracy and intrigue.
The three military lords were not told about Xiao Heng's identity, and Hu Mazi didn't know it either. Recent signs showed that the reason why the higher-ups wanted to kill all the people in Nanhuang was obviously because there was someone here that they were afraid of. As for who this person was, the only people sent here recently were Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng. Although Xiao Heng looked gentle and dignified, his every move and gesture had the demeanor of a king.
Everyone almost knows the truth. Although no one knows Xiao Heng's true identity, he is definitely an important figure in the capital.
Otherwise, the higher-ups wouldn't have used such vicious means to kill them all and let all the people in the Southern Wilderness die here.
Gu Xiyue saw that the issue at the east entrance could be resolved within a month. For her, a month was enough time to make more preparations, so she turned around and said goodbye.
Xiao Heng and Wei Lin did not leave, but stayed to discuss the rescue plan with the three military officers and Hu Mazi.
Gu Xiyue returned to the house. Everyone was waiting anxiously, and when they saw her coming back, they all surrounded her. Gu Xiyue waved her hand and led everyone to the big field.
Wang Hu and others saw Gu Xiyue coming, followed by Zhao Yancheng, Qian Fu, Zhou Daying, Xue Jun and others. They brought their families with them, a huge group of people, and their faces were completely different from their dead look.
Their appearance makes people feel that life will be better tomorrow!
Unlike them, they won’t be able to make ends meet tomorrow and everyone is waiting to die.
As soon as Gu Xiyue arrived, the women surrounded her. The men were too embarrassed to go around and just stood on the periphery watching. Gu Xiyue's gentle smile made them feel as if they could still be saved, but they were not sure.
After all, she was just a woman, how could she possibly save their lives? But when they saw her, they all felt close to her and felt comfortable.
Gu Xiyue looked around and found that everyone was not starving. It seemed that the days of giving up everything were going pretty well.
"Fellow villagers! How much food do you have left?"
Everyone shook their heads and waved their hands.
"I still have two steamed buns at home."
"I still have a spoonful of multi-grain noodles at home."
"I still have..."
It was basically not enough for a meal. Gu Xiyue waited until everyone had finished talking, then waved his hand and asked with a smile: "Do you have any money left?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone shook their heads in disappointment.
One woman said, "Miss Gu, even if we have money, it's useless. Our shops have all been burned down, and the court doesn't care about our lives or the food supply."
"Yeah! We can only wait for death!"
"It doesn't matter if the imperial court doesn't care about our lives. We can take care of it ourselves!" Gu Xiyue knew that everyone had lost hope at this point, so he stopped suspense and continued, "I have good news for you. On the night the store burned down, I bought up all the food in the store. This food will keep us alive for more than a month."
When everyone heard that all the food in the store had been bought by Gu Xiyue, they were a little surprised.
"It would cost a lot of money to buy all of them, wouldn't it?"
"Miss Gu, are these foods free for us to eat?"
“…”
But everyone's voices soon died down. Even if Miss Gu gave them the food for free, they would only live one more month, and would still starve to death in the end.
"Are you thinking that even with all this food, you will still starve to death in a month?"
The villagers were all confused.
What's wrong with this Miss Gu?
Isn't this obvious? Why ask such a simple question?
Is it possible that there will be another solution in a month?
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