Many of these soldiers were locals from Xiangyang City, where their parents and relatives lived. Those whose families were here were naturally happy to be back, but most of them had relatives in Xifeng or elsewhere. If they surrendered, given Duke's brutal nature, he would probably kill all their relatives.
Ye Moxun had anticipated this, so he didn't expect these soldiers to fight for him. What he needed to do next was to eliminate Duke.
"You can't even get through the city gates, how are you going to assassinate Duke? Do you have an astral projection ability, or do you have a spy over there?" Song Tantan asked half-jokingly.
"Don't rush to kill him yet, the time isn't right." Ye Moxun said mysteriously, refusing to say more.
Xiangyang City did not send troops, and Duke's side remained quiet for about ten days. Everyone was very patient. Although there were many captured soldiers, they were listless because the toxins in their bodies had not been completely eliminated. They wanted to cause trouble but were too weak to do so, so they could only stay put.
During this period, Song Tantan pretended to be calm and met with Song Zhuiyan once a day in the space, but soon she couldn't keep it up anymore because Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi came out to find them.
Without taking Liu Cheng and the others, Liu Cheng really wanted to leave, but his injuries had not yet healed. If he insisted on leaving Songlin Village, he would inevitably become a burden to Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi again. Why do I say again? Because when he returned to Songlin Village last year, he was a complete burden.
At that time, lives were at stake, so naturally she couldn't abandon him and had to take him along no matter how difficult it was. But now Song Zhuiyan was in a hurry. Although Song Tantan hadn't told the truth, she knew her niece too well, so she could see something was off from her every word and action, even a micro-expression.
She wasn't so sure what exactly had happened, but she felt that Song Tantan and Ye Moxun had encountered some difficulties. However, she didn't say anything. The more she didn't say anything, the more worried Song Zhuiyan became, and she had to go out and find her as soon as possible.
She shared her worries with Zhong Qingyi, who was already worried about Ye Moxun, and immediately agreed to go down the mountain to find him as soon as possible.
So the original plan was to set off after the spring, but it was moved up a month. Liu Cheng's injury had not fully healed, and the weather was bad, so he was left behind to recuperate. However, Zhong Qingyi promised that she would definitely send him out next time she came back, and he trusted Zhong Qingyi, so he did not insist.
"Brother Zhong, have you noticed? Those women don't seem to be Liu Cheng's female relatives. Their relationship isn't good, it's even rather distant. Liu Cheng is eager to return to Xifeng, but these women clearly don't want to leave Songlin Village and seem quite satisfied with their current life." They had been traveling for half a month and were now resting under a tree.
The journey was quite peaceful for the past two weeks. I didn't encounter any wild animals, and because I had traveled this route twice before, I was quite familiar with the terrain of the deep mountains, which made my pace much faster.
While in the village, Song Zhuiyan noticed that Liu Cheng's relationship with the women was strange, and the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. Now she couldn't help but bring it up with Zhong Qingyi.
"Yes, you're right. I felt that too. It seems like they just know each other. Liu Cheng is taking care of them more out of a sense of responsibility, but only to ensure their safety. He doesn't care whether they eat well or are warm enough."
Look, it's so obvious, even a rough guy like Zhong Qingyi could see it.
The two chatted casually, not paying much attention to the true identities of Liu Cheng and the others. They didn't investigate them in particular, as it wasn't easy to investigate in Songlin Village. They could only start with those people.
If Liu Cheng and his guards didn't want them to know, they definitely wouldn't be able to get a single word out of them. The only way to get information was to try and get some clues from the women. However, neither Song Zhuiyan nor Zhong Qingyi did that.
I felt it was unnecessary. As long as they had no ill intentions towards Songlin Village, nothing else mattered. After observing them for several months, I felt that these people were honest and relatively reassuring.
However, one should always be wary of others. This time, the two best martial artists in Songlin Village had left. Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi discussed the matter with Lin Fuhai and asked him to keep an eye on Liu Cheng and his group.
Zhao Zhongnian, Azhu, Shuisheng, Musheng, and other strong martial artists were assigned to take turns monitoring Songlin Village. The village had finally achieved its current good life, and they couldn't let anyone ruin it. Better safe than sorry.
Back to Song Tantan, Song Zhuiyan immediately confronted her after entering the space that day, "Tell me honestly what you've been busy with lately. I always see you with shifty eyes, looking guilty. You try your best to hide it every time we meet, but you can't fool my eyes. Tell me what happened."
"It's not that exaggerated, Auntie. Don't think I can't see through your trickery." Song Tantan wasn't fooled and immediately saw through her intentions.
"Stop talking nonsense. Zhong Qingyi and I will be in Xifeng soon. You'd better explain now, or something unexpected might happen and we won't be able to find you." Song Zhuiyan grabbed her collar, preventing her from suddenly slipping out of the space if she didn't want to talk.
Song Tantan was quite helpless. Her aunt didn't trust her at all. She wasn't really only ten years old. She didn't tell her before because she was afraid her aunt would worry. Now that she and Uncle Zhong were out, they were helpers and good assistants. How could she not tell the truth?
"...Now we just wait for Duke's reaction. If he doesn't move, we won't move either." Song Tantan told her what had happened at the gate of Xiangyang City, and then observed her expression.
Thankfully, I wasn't angry.
"The Gu poison is so potent that it can take down thousands of troops. If that's the case, we can just start a war and win without firing a single shot. Duke is so evil, why think so much? Just use the poison to defeat him." Song Zhuiyan's thinking was simple: the people were being harmed by Duke. Such a person doesn't deserve to be emperor, he doesn't even deserve to live. Just kill him.
"Duke deserved to die, but those soldiers were also pitiful. They were just following orders. They were all children of parents, fathers and brothers of others. Should they also be poisoned to death?"
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