Do you know: I’m Xu Jiazi

Yin Shi Zheng (4 a.m.)

Bianjing,

East of the palace city,

Chai Family, Qiu Sheng Yuan.

In the past, it was still early at this moment, and the courtyard would have been dark and silent.

But today there was candlelight reflected from inside the house.

The bedroom in the main house is very quiet.

There is a faint fragrance wafting in the air.

"cough."

A slight cough sounded from behind the closed bed curtains,

"Yunmu~"

"Girl, here we come."

The female servant Yun Mu walked over from the side wearing clothes.

After pouring a glass of warm water on the table, he opened the bed curtain and handed the water over.

After taking a sip of water,

"What time is it?"

"It seems that it's past Yin time."

"Father, he hasn't come back yet?"

"My slave has told the woman on night watch at the second gate that the master will come to the courtyard to spread the word when he returns, but no one has come yet."

"Yeah. I don't know what's causing the people in the palace to be so anxious! Is there any new news from the shops north of Changyuan?"

By the candlelight, Yunmu shook his head: "Girl, no!"

"Alas! In the afternoon, there were many stagecoaches running wildly in the city. I don't know what happened."

"Girl, when daybreak comes, I'll ask the stewards in the house to inquire about it. Besides, as long as the Zhang family and the Gu family have news, they will tell it to us."

"Um."

I took another sip of water and was about to lie down when I heard a voice outside the house.

Yunmu took the water cup and said softly: "But the master has returned to his home?"

"Miss Hui Yunmu, yes, the master has just entered."

The bed curtains shook for a while, and Chai Zhengzheng, wearing pajamas, lifted the bed curtains: "Let's go over and take a look."

"Fuyi, prepare the lantern!" Yunmu shouted outside.

"Why!"

The mother house of the Chai family,

The lights are bright,

The side room of the main house,

The leader of the Chai family, who seemed to have stayed up late, sat on a chair, closing his eyes and drinking the soup that nourished the body and relieved fatigue.

Mrs. Chai sat aside, frowning thoughtfully.

"The girl is here!"

The voice of the female envoy outside came.

The head of the Chai family opened his eyes, and Mrs. Chai looked up towards the side door.

Chai Zhengzheng, who was carrying the chill of the morning, opened the curtain and walked in. He bowed and said:

"Daddy!"

"You have been in the palace for so long, what happened?"

The head of the Chai family forced out a smile: "Zheng'er, why are you here so early? Sit down!"

As they spoke, the head of the Chai family and Mrs. Chai looked at each other.

Chai Zhengzheng untied his cloak and handed it to Yun Mu. He sat behind Mrs. Chai's head and looked at his father.

Seeing Mrs. Chai's slight nod, the head of the Chai family took a deep breath and said, "Zheng'er, something happened in Bozhou, Caozhou and other counties north of Bianjing."

Chai Zhengzheng nodded.

"Moreover, at noon yesterday, a steward from our family returned to Bianjing from Nanle County and said..."

Chai Zhengzheng blinked, with some confusion in his eyes: "Nangle County? Yesterday at noon? Why didn't my daughter know?"

The leader of the Chai family put down the porcelain bowl and said, "What the steward said was too sensational, so your mother and I decided not to tell you."

"But, last night, an urgent military report from 800 miles away reached the palace. Only then was it confirmed that what the steward said was true!"

Looking at Chai Zhengzheng who wanted to ask a question, the leader of the Chai family waved his hand to listen to him and said: "The day before yesterday, someone in Beizhou gathered troops to rebel. They have occupied Beizhou City and closed the surrounding city gates."

Hearing this,

Chai Zhengzheng frowned and said with some disbelief: "Rebellion?"

The head of the Chai family nodded affirmatively.

Yun Mu, who was standing aside and waiting, opened his mouth slightly, obviously shocked by the news.

The side room was quiet.

Chai Zhengzheng's eyes moved around, blinking rapidly several times, obviously thinking about something.

After estimating someone's itinerary, Chai Zhengzheng was about to breathe a sigh of relief. When he looked up, he saw his father and mother looking back and forth.

Seeing his daughter looking over, the head of the Chai family smiled.

But facing Chai Zhengzheng's very concerned and questioning eyes,

The head of the Chai family lowered his head and began to carefully examine the tea cup in his hand.

After Mrs. Chai rolled her eyes at her official in disgust, she turned sideways and said, "Zhengzheng, after hearing the news, Brother Xu Jiajing is said to have rushed to Beizhou."

Chai Zhengzheng's hands trembled: "He, why is he like this!"

Mrs. Chai stood up and walked over, held her daughter's hand and said, "Zhengzheng, don't worry too much! When your father and I came to Bianjing from Cangzhou, we passed by Beizhou on the way and saw the towering walls of Beizhou. No matter how capable Brother Jing is, It’s also hard to get in!”

"He has repeatedly made meritorious deeds in the northwest. He must be smart and know how to advance and retreat. He will not put himself in danger! Don't worry! Ah!"

With that said, Mrs. Chai patted her daughter's hand.

The head of the Chai family raised his eyes from the teacup and looked at his flowery little daughter who was lost in thought. He sighed slightly and changed the subject:

"Zheng'er, your mother is right!"

"Furthermore, there is good news. His Majesty wanted to see if the soldiers of several military states in the north could maintain their fighting strength in the winter. By chance, three armies were heading towards Beizhou."

When Chai Zhengzheng heard this, he woke up and nodded repeatedly.

"I hope they can enter the city in time to quell the chaos, otherwise the thieves will jump over the wall and burn the millions of dollars' worth of cloth and silk military supplies stored in Beizhou, and something big will happen!"

In Beizhou City,

Zhizhoufu Yamen,

The door is wide open,

There are several braziers in the yard and fires burning on the spot.

Many people gathered around the fire, and the iron pot on top was steaming with white steam.

From time to time, someone throws a few pieces of wood into the brazier or fire, causing a stream of sparks to float into the air.

In the innermost part of the government office, there were also sounds of laughter, music, and women’s screams.

Not far from the fire, in a dark corner, in a wooden cage where prisoners were held in the past, a man wearing only white clothes was locked inside.

At this time,

Deep in the government office,

Someone came out with a leg of lamb in one hand and a wine jar in the other.

Seeing this person, the people beside the fire stood up quickly, put their hands together and saluted.

After the man nodded, he walked towards the wooden cage on the side, squatted down and looked at the man inside, and said: "Du Qianha, the patience of the Buddha has its limit! If you don't surrender, your wife and children will die."

"Clang~"

The man in the wooden cage struggled and moved the wooden cage. The man said: "Bu Xiang, if you do this, how can you have the dignity to call yourself a Maitreya believer?"

The man named Bu Xiang raised the leg of lamb in his hand and continued: "Qianjia, if you surrender, you can have the leg of lamb to eat and drink, and you can still save your family!"

"No surrender. Now we still need your guidance on the Beizhou city defense. If the people who wait for the Buddha figure out the situation, you will have nothing to do."

"That's when."

Seeing that the people in the wooden cage were silent, Bu Xiang stood up, shook his head and sighed: "Okay! How old is my niece? Oh, what a pity!"

"I, I, am willing to surrender!"

"Someone, come here and open the cage!" Bu Xiang smiled and shouted to the side.

Soon, Du Qianha was put on clothes and led into the depths of the government office.

Du Qianha, who had been hungry for an unknown amount of time, entered the room where the earth dragon was burning. He shivered from the cold and heat.

There were a lot of people in the room, some of whom Du Qianha knew, and some of whom were strangers.

Looking at the strong bearded man sitting in the middle of the hall, wearing an armor coat and a purple cassock, Du Qianha tremblingly cupped his hands and said, "I've seen Pan Fuzi!"

"Hahaha! Brother Du has the backbone to persist for so long! Come on, please take a seat!"

The strong man sat on the chair, smiled and stretched out his hand.

After pushing cups and changing cups, the strong man said: "Brother Du, what do you think of the city's defense layout as Bu Xiang said? The walls are high and the water is deep. No matter how many soldiers the Great Zhou sends, they can't even think of breaking into my place." The land of bliss!”

Du Qianha, who had warmed up after eating and drinking, shook his head: "Buddha, there is one thing you should be careful about!"

"Huh? Where?"

"Minato on the east and west sides!"

"Water Gate? Haha, Brother Du is right! Bu Xiang has already ordered people to press the bars in the wall for Water Gate!"

Listening to the conversation between the two, Bu Xiang, who had just let Du Qianxia out, nodded proudly and said: "Qianxia, ​​in this weather, it will be too cold to exert any force when entering the water."

Du Qianha shook his head and interrupted, saying: "What I mean is to completely block the water gate! Otherwise, if someone dares to risk his life to saw through the fence, or tie a cable and use horses to drag it, it will be a loophole in the city defense!"

Others sitting in the room listened to this, some nodded in agreement, and some said: "Who dares to go into the water at this time, he will not freeze to death!"

Du Qianha glanced at the person who made the noise: "When the army gathers, whoever can advance to Beizhou will be the first to get there! It's not a big deal to make your wife a shadow, so why don't you dare?"

"Hiss~" The former deputy commander of the Xuanyi Army at the top appeared next to Maitreya Buddha and took a breath of cold air:

"Go, quickly send someone to block the water gate!"

"Fortunately, no one has arrived yet, otherwise there would be endless trouble!"

Someone in the house hurriedly walked out.

At the door, I bumped into someone entering the house.

The two separated, and the man who entered the room said anxiously: "Buddha, Buddha, someone came to the north wall just now to report that a long team with torches appeared in the northwest! It's very fast!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the room looked at each other and were speechless for a moment.

It was Du Qian who said:

"The speed is very fast, it's the cavalry! Most of them are newly trained cavalry between Beizhou and Zhending Mansion! The commander is from the Zhang family of the British Duke."

"The cavalry cannot attack the city."

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became much more relaxed.

Beizhou City,

Near the east wall of the city,

A street yard some distance from Watergate,

Candles were burning in the yard, and figures were moving on the window paper.

The light from the candle shone on the ground outside the house, and I could vaguely see someone lying on the ground.

Looking at the weak candlelight, I saw that this man was only in his twenties.

His stiff arms were stretched forward, his head and hands were covered with frost, and there was blood underneath his body. He had been dead for who knows how long.

There are a lot of medicinal materials scattered around.

inside the house,

There were vague sounds of lewd laughter and the inaudible moans of a woman.

Suddenly,

A tall and muscular figure appeared next to the dead man, approaching the house silently.

"Squeak~"

The sound of the door opening sounded in the dark night.

Then,

There is a tall shadow reflected on the window paper inside the house.

"you"

"Varied"

After two unfinished words and a few soft drinks,

The sound of running out of breath resounded in the room, and a splash of dark liquid suddenly appeared on the window paper.

Several more dark figures appeared and entered the house.

Under the candlelight outside the window,

The body that had just been frosted was moved aside.

After a while,

Several naked and steaming things were thrown here.

inside the house,

The woman with swollen cheeks and corners of her mouth pulled the quilt and huddled in the corner formed by a large wooden box and the wall far away from the earthen kang.

He looked at the few people who appeared in the house with extremely frightened eyes.

Although these people were all wearing thin clothes, only one of them was wearing chain armor.

But there were a lot of swords, guns, bows and arrows brought into the house.

"Erlang, don't cover your nose, you have to get used to the smell."

A young man who is not very old and quite tall,

While wiping the blood stains on his hands, he said to another young man.

Gao Puyu looked at the woman on the kang and said, "Madam, I will help you avenge your family's blood feud. Is there any rice and food in this courtyard? We are hungry and cold."

After saying that, Gao Puyu shook his head, sighed and walked out after seeing that the woman didn't seem to pay any attention to her, but just looked at everyone in panic.

After Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye looked at each other,

Also following Gao Puyu’s footsteps,

Out of the house.

"Sir, these thieves we killed have all five armors."

Qingyun said while holding thick armor in each hand.

Xu Zaijing hummed.

Gu Tingye said: "Brother Jing, is that woman crazy?"

Gao Yunqing on the side said softly: "It's good to be crazy. If you are crazy, you don't have to remember these tragic things."

Gu Tingye looked at the corpse in the yard with an ugly expression and nodded.

Two quarters of an hour later,

Xu Zaijing and others took matters into their own hands and roughly drank the hot rice.

Everyone else left the yard and threw the thief's body elsewhere.

Xu Zaijing stayed at the end.

Before leaving, Xu Zaijing walked into the house where the woman was holding a bowl of hot porridge and a pancake.

He glanced at the still frightened woman in the corner,

Xu Zaijing put the things on the bed and said, "I'll take away a few ginseng roots! Also, let the child in the box eat something."

Ignoring the woman's sudden tightening, her expression sober, and her eyes turning into those of a she-wolf, Xu Zaijing turned around and walked out: "It's not enough, there are more outside the house! But, don't go out of the yard!"

Xu Zaijing's figure disappeared from the door, and the woman relaxed.

After looking at the porridge and cakes, the woman's hands and feet were weak and she pulled aside the quilt beside the wall, opened the large wooden box under the quilt, and looked at the two sleeping children inside. Her eyes, which were already drained, were filled with food again. burst into tears.

When I was going to get the cooking cakes,

Footsteps sounded again outside the house, which made the woman quickly close the wooden box again and pile up the quilt.

Xu Zaijing, who was wearing a thief's armor, appeared in the house again. After forcing out a friendly smile, he placed a sheathed dagger in his hand beside the kang and said, "Ma'am, keep it for self-defense."

After saying that, Xu Zaijing was about to walk out again.

"My benefactor! May I ask your surname?"

The woman's hoarse voice sounded.

Xu Zaijing stopped, turned around and nodded slightly: "Madam, take care."

After saying that, Xu Zaijing walked out.

Outside Beizhou City,

The morning light is faint,

Nearly a thousand cavalry troops are arrayed here.

Several cavalry generals, worn out by their travels, were stationed under flags with the characters "Zhang" and "Huang". Looking at the towering Beizhou City Wall, some of them looked extremely ugly.

"Commander! Someone claiming to be He Guan, the commander of the Bianjing Palace Guards, is asking for an audience outside the formation."

"He Guan? Why is he here?"