Chapter 34 Unity of Mind (Third Update Seeking Recommendation)

  This person looks just like Hong Baosong.

  "Brothers!"

  As soon as he spoke, all the brothers were stunned, who was this person if not Hong Bao?

  It's really strange, I've never seen Hong dressing up like this before, what happened today?

  Hong Diao Yuan did not care about his brothers' reactions and loudly said:

  "Brothers, we can't run away anymore! We are proper soldiers and officers, if we run from pirates and red barbarians, what kind of people would we be? Would the common folk still respect us? Guī Wáng Wán has arrived, where else could we run to? If we run again, will we still have any face left? Will we still have the face to come back?"

  The brothers had no idea how Hong Diao Yuan came up with this.

  Hong Tiao Yuan shook the knife in his hand: "I don't care what you think, anyway I'm not running away! Come on, Gui Wang Wan, let's stake our lives!"

  "Hong's in charge!" Chen Dong couldn't help but speak up and say: "The Ghost King Pill people are far more numerous than us, ah!"

  "Are there many people?" Hong Duan-yuan suddenly became a different person: "If there are many people, won't we fight? We eat the salary of the imperial court and exhaust our loyalty to the great Ming. The imperial court ordered us to garrison Penghu, where is the reason for fleeing as soon as the pirates come? Are we officials of the great Ming or not?"

  As he spoke, he grasped his sword and bowed to his subordinates: "Brothers, I beg of you, let the Ghost King see the great heroes of our Great Ming! Our Great Ming has plenty of brave warriors who are not afraid to die!"

  When Hong Tiao Yuan finished saying what he wanted to say, he let out a long sigh and turned back into his own camp. Leaving behind only a group of silent brothers.

  He only heard Old Ji saying, "Our big brother is really something, it's been many years since I've seen him like this. You all go ahead, I'll be with Old Hong till death do us part."

  Hong diaoyuan laughed and fell onto his own bed, snoring loudly, no longer thinking about anything.

  Who cares if tomorrow when I open my eyes, Penghu is left with only myself, anyway I've made up my mind to live and die together with Penghu this time...

  ......

  It's daylight, and Hong Diao Yuan woke up too.

  He comfortably yawned, rubbed his eyes, stretched his waist, got out of bed, grabbed his knife, and walked out with a swagger.

  In his imagination, the military camp should be empty by now. His comrades must have left long ago.

  But who would have thought that as soon as he walked out, Hong Diao Yuan's mouth opened wide.

  All brothers are present.

  Lao Ji is here, Chen Dong is here, Xiao Yifeng is here, Bao Zonghua is here...

  Not only did they not leave, but also the ordinary people of Penghu didn't leave either.

  They're all here!

  "What are you doing...?" Hong Diao Yuan was completely at a loss.

  "Lao Hong, if you don't leave, can the brothers leave?" Lao Ji smiled and said: "Actually, we also wanted to run away, but thinking about the Great Ming law, abandoning one's superior officer and escaping is a crime punishable by beheading, so we had no choice but to stay behind and die with you."

  Hong Diao Yuan hadn't had a chance to say anything, when Chen Dong preempted him by saying: "Damn it, at this time you're pretending to be a hero, causing us old men to follow you to death."

  The brothers burst out laughing with a "boom".

  Hong Diao-yuan felt his eyes getting moist, and then he forced himself to hold back, saying to the Penghu villagers: "What about you? Are you not leaving either?"

  "Penghu is ours, why should we leave just because pirates have come?" a local resident shouted.

  "Yes, yes, why should we all go?" The people all cried out in a tumult.

  Hong Diao Yuan saw Ma Da Niang, Jin Da Shu, Lu Lao Bo...... Saw the four widows, Bang Zi Die, Zhu Zi Gu...... Also saw A Xi, A Hu Jie Di......

  Everyone is here, no one has left!

  At this time, Bangzi walked out: "Director Hong, to be honest, in the past we liked you, but looked down on you, always thinking that you were not an official, had no backbone. But now we know we were wrong about you. Director Hong, you are a good man, you, Old Ji, Inspector Ding, and all the brothers are good men. If you don't leave, nobody will leave. The pirates have many people, but we also have many people. Let's fight together with great fanfare! Everyone is willing to follow your command!"

  "We all wish to obey General Commander!"

  All military and civilians shouted in unison.

  "Alright, alright, alright!" Hong's lips were trembling with excitement: "Great, you are all good men of my Da Ming, this time we'll have a thrilling battle with the pirates together!"

  The military and civilians once again erupted in cheers... as if this time they were not going to fight to the death, but rather attend a grand banquet.

  The whole Penghu military and civilians have taken action. Pirates may be frightening, but as long as everyone is united, what can the pirates do?

  Taking advantage of everyone's busyness, Lao Ji pulled Hong Diao Yuan to one side and asked in a low voice: "Old Hong, what kind of person is that Dong Shi gentleman? How did he end up by Gui Wang Wan's side?"

  Hong Diao Yuan looked up at the border and lowered his voice, saying: "This Dong Shi Mr. had followed Gui Wang Wan to Penghu before, and I chatted with him. His real name is Wei Jide, also known as Dong Shi, originally a top scholar in the Tianqi era, later sent on a mission to Bohai, but was hijacked by Gui Wang Wan halfway, all his entourage were killed, only he was spared because Gui Wang Wan cherished his talent, and coerced him into staying by his side. Wei Jide tried to kill himself several times, but was rescued each time by Gui Wang Wan. Later, he also gave up on death and stayed by Gui Wang Wan's side."

  "It's not a loyal minister either." Old Ji sighed: "If it were a truly loyal and virtuous scholar, would there be no way to die?"

  "It's not right to say that." Hong Diao Yuan shook his head and said, "Maybe he had his own difficulties. Loyalty doesn't necessarily have to be proven by death, maybe if it were you or me at the time, we wouldn't have been able to make up our minds to die either. Besides, this time we owe it to him for risking his life to send his disciple Xie Tian to deliver the message, otherwise we still wouldn't know that Gui Wang Wan had killed his way to Penghu."

  Lao Ji thought about it and felt that this made sense, dazed for a while, suddenly another sigh: "I don't know when Ding Xun will be back, Old Hong, to say something unpleasant, with Ding Xun not here, everyone feels a bit empty."

  "Yes, yes." Hong Diao Yuan didn't show any dissatisfaction, but instead showed a sense of resonance: "Not to mention you guys, even I feel uncertain in my heart."

  The eyes of two people fell on the sea at the same time, as if they were both looking forward to something.

  Ding Yunyi, Ding Yunyi, where are you? Do you know that Penghu is about to be struck by a great calamity?

  Penghu, no one knows when Ding Yunyi will be back.