Chapter Sixty: Generous Song of Yan City

  It's a quiet and somewhat stifling afternoon.

  Tang Guan was lying on the bed sleeping in the afternoon, but Xiao Qi didn't have this leisurely mind, sitting alone on the threshold, looking up at the cloudless sky.

  He sat quietly in a daze, spring sleepiness crept up on him unnoticed, and he actually leaned against the door frame and slowly closed his eyes.

  Yangzhou.

  The same cloudless sky, the spring breeze blows green on both banks, and it's undoubtedly a very comfortable weather, but something unusual is happening in the grass.

  Several teams of feathered warriors wearing scale armor are ambushing here, each with long arms, and at a glance, they are familiar with shooting skills.

  "Archers, prepare!" A low, husky voice rang out. The owner of the voice was a general, who gazed quietly at the nearby city walls, where armored soldiers patrolled back and forth.

  "Let go!"

  "Whoosh!" In an instant, the sound of arrow feathers tore through the silence, and arrows filled the sky, attacking that city.

  "Enemy attack!" The armored warrior on the city wall shouted loudly.

  "When the big gongs and drums sounded, the whole city was on high alert in an instant. The armored soldiers held up their large shields to form a circle, waiting for the arrows to pour down from the sky."

  But they waited for a long time behind the shield without feeling any impact, and those who were bolder couldn't help but slightly move their shields and take a look.

  "Whoosh!"

  "Ah!" The armored warrior let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground, an arrow having struck him right in the cheek. A wave of intense pain followed, and he thought for sure his face would be a bloody mess. Trembling, he reached up to touch his face, but astonishingly, there wasn't even a single thread of fresh blood.

  "Unintentionally gazing down at the arrow on the ground, 'What is this!?'"

  "No arrows!?" Instantly the soldiers were in an uproar, because when these arrows were right before their eyes they suddenly discovered that there were no arrowheads, only a paper wrapping.

  The leader hastily opened one and saw that it read "Capture the bandit and recover the document".

  "Bad!" The general shouted loudly, the arrow rain shot extremely high, at this time it had all passed over their heads and shot into the city.

  Since Xu Jingye's rebellion, the city has been under martial law. The citizens have long felt unbearable hardships. Now seeing the arrow rain coming, they hastily scattered and fled to avoid it.

  A woman carrying a child failed to dodge in time, fell to the ground, and was shot by an arrow on her calf. The child wailed, the woman closed her eyes waiting for death, but suddenly felt that it didn't hurt as much as she thought. She turned around to look, only to see that there was no arrowhead on the arrow, but a paper wrapped around it. Curious, she picked it up.

  The same scene spread throughout the city, and although there were few literate people, when they saw that these strange arrows could not hurt anyone, they came out one after another to pick them up.

  "The imperial court has come to save us!"

  It was unclear who shouted, but the whole city erupted. Outside, there were heavily armed troops pressing in. These native residents had long been on edge, and at first they saw robust men rushing in from all directions because of Mr. Luo's article in the city, which also stirred up public emotions.

  But at this moment, the excitement had passed, and he realized what he had done. He had actually dared to resist the imperial court. The large army outside also witnessed it. If these were real arrows, I'm afraid that just now, half of the city's population would have been gone.

  An old Confucian scholar's whole body trembled as he looked at the article in his hand, and for a moment, the atmosphere in the city became somewhat eerie.

  Yangzhou City, in a government office compound.

  "Master! Master! Something's wrong!" An old servant, holding a somewhat crumpled piece of paper, hastily ran towards the figure standing in the pavilion not far away.

  The figure turned its head upon hearing the sound, but it was a scholar who looked to be around forty years old, wearing a black robe, with a slender face and long whiskers.

  "Old Master!"

  "Tai Da Ge, what's the hurry?" The man known as Mr. asked, seeing the old servant rushing by.

  "Master, it's...it's terrible. Take a look at this." The old servant gasped for breath as he handed the notice he had picked up on the street to the scholar.

  The young scholar took it over, lightly shook it out, smoothed out the wrinkles, and only then smiled as he looked at it.

  But as I looked at him, his smile gradually disappeared, replaced by a heavy face.

  After a long time, he actually held up the notice and retreated several steps.

  He slowly put down the notice, his eyes filled with shock and a hint of confusion.

  "Tan gone illness! Where did Tan's illness come from?!"

  The old servant was anxious on the side, now the streets and alleys were excited, soldiers had been sent to suppress, fearing that the heavy troops outside would not enter, the city was already in chaos.

  "What's to be done now, sir?!"

  The scholar heard this and suddenly looked up at the sky and burst out laughing "Hahaha!"

  "Old master!" The old servant was shocked at the sight and hastily came forward, but was gently pushed away by the scholar.

  "Tai Ge, how long have you been following me?"

  The old servant was taken aback and said: "For over a decade..."

  "Taibo, I still have some savings in my house. You can take them and leave by yourself. We've been master and servant for a long time, I don't want you to be implicated because of me."

  "Ah?!" Tai Bo exclaimed, he had served Luo Guanzhong for many years and knew that although he was very talented, he had always been frustrated and unable to achieve his ambitions. It wasn't until Xu Zizang valued him that he wrote a sensational article that shocked the world, but now he actually said something so discouraging.

  "Master! Absolutely not!"

  "The rise and fall of the dynasty, the people suffer. I, Luo Guanzhong, have indeed lived a carefree life for several decades." Luo Guanzhong ignored Tai Bo, knowing that his heart was no longer in it.

  The paper article was blown into the pond by the wind. Luo Guang didn't go to catch it, but instead said: "Taibo, Guang asks you for one last thing"

  "Sir, I'll do as you say!" Tai Bo hastily replied.

  "Go get me a pair of handcuffs"

  Lu Binwang smiled at Tai Bo and said, but Tai Bo heard him say: "Sir, what do you want?"

  Handcuffs

  "What do you want to do with handcuffs, sir?"

  "Go." Ruo Binwang slowly closed his eyes, and Tai Bo saw this and turned around to leave.

  "Tang went away..." Luobin Wang's mouth corners twitched into a strange smile.

  "Ding Dong" Tai Bo didn't know what method he used, but he really brought back two pairs of handcuffs. It's no wonder, this city is in chaos with soldiers and horses everywhere, and such things can be seen everywhere in the unguarded prison cells and armories.

  Lu Binwang took over the handcuffs and said: "Taibo, you can leave the house now"

  "Old master... you..."

  Luobin Wang didn't expect him to do that, and he directly put the two handcuffs on his wrists. He took another one in his hand and weighed it, then suddenly laughed.

  "Zhilin's observation is flourishing with a hundred schools of thought, Wu Zetian, your aura has not yet dissipated."

  At this time, Lu Binwang seemed to be smiling but not quite, he had already anticipated what was happening outside. The common people were pitiful and the easiest group to stir up in the world. He could lure them with one article, and someone else could shake them with another article. It's just that Lu Binwang didn't expect that person to appear so quickly.

  So sudden that he was caught off guard, so sudden that he had never even heard of this person's name before.

  With a "splash", he threw another pair of handcuffs into the pool.

  He immediately covered the handcuffs on his hands with his large sleeves and left the mansion under the astonished gaze of the old servant, laboriously mounting his horse.

  Lu Binwang gently urged his horse on and left the alley, rushing straight to the residence of the Governor.

  "Let us go!"

  "We're going out of town!"

  "You bunch of counter-revolutionaries!"

  Soldiers and civilians clashed on the streets, with bloodshed everywhere. Rong Baozheng galloped his horse without stopping, not daring to glance sideways, and rushed quickly to the front of the Cishi Mansion.

  "Tourist!"

  A general wearing a military uniform came forward and said, "Brother Guan, save me!"

  Lu Binwang glanced at the general and shook his head, saying: "Your Excellency, I have come to die with you."

  It turned out to be Xu Jingye, who was stunned upon hearing this and then angrily shouted: "What do you mean!"

  "I still have Runzhou!" Xu Jingye's eyes immediately changed, he knew that this Yangzhou city was probably impossible to defend, seeing Lu Binwang with a strange expression, he dropped him and turned around to order the troops to withdraw.

  "Brother Jingye, it's all over." Lu Binwang closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.

  As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier came galloping up on horseback and shouted loudly.

  "Report! Something's gone terribly wrong, sir! The city gate has been breached!"

  Xu Jingye's face suddenly turned pale and he almost fell over.

  "Where is Du Quren!? Where are the city's defending generals!?"

  "The common people have opened the city gate! The enemy army has already breached the city and will arrive here soon!"

  "Pffft!" Xu Jingye spat out a mouthful of old blood.

  "He...he...he" Then he was seen pointing at Lu Binwang with one hand, as if he had fallen into madness.

  "Your Majesty, there is someone who takes the people's heart as his own, and the King's plan to observe from a distance has fallen through."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Rong Baojin rolled up his sleeves, revealing the handcuffs. Xu Jingye saw this and suddenly retreated several steps, his eyes turned black, and he fainted to the ground.

  Lu Binwang slightly shook his head and slowly sat down beside Xu Jingye.

  "Kill! Capture Xu alive!"

  "Spare those who surrender!"

  In an instant, a killing sound shook the sky! This was a sunny noon, it should have been as quiet as Chang'an, but at this time it was a river of blood.

  There were soldiers like a tidal wave rushing in, and those who refused to surrender had their heads chopped off.

  Suddenly a loud shout: "Do not harm the lives of the civilians in the city!"

  An old man rode into the city on horseback, followed by a team of cavalrymen, each with a stern expression. They were none other than the Thousand Bulls Guards who had been attacking Hangzhou for several nights, except for Liu Xun.

  They rushed towards the direction of the Shi's mansion, and in an instant, they went from far to near. The thousand cow guards drew out their waist knives one after another, preparing for a fierce battle.

  When the scene in front of the governor's mansion entered his eyes, he involuntarily pulled back on the reins, and was stunned on the spot.

  Lu Binwang looked up and glanced at the cavalry team, saying: "Old sir, we meet again."

  The cavalry made way for him, and an old man slowly approached from behind. To their surprise, it was Pei Yan.

  Pei Yan gazed at Xue Jingye who had fainted and Lu Binwang who was wearing handcuffs, and coldly said: "Take them away"

  "Yes!"

  Lu Binwang seemed extremely generous, being lifted up by a soldier, and did not struggle or resist, but quietly looked at Pei Yan.

  Pei Yan slowly dismounted his horse and walked to the gate of the governor's mansion, pushing it open with one hand.

  He knew this crackdown was over.

  Because of a piece of paper, it ended in an astonishing way, and it can even be said that it ended under the state of no resistance. Winning or losing seems to be unimportant to him, turning his head to look at the intact and undamaged Yangzhou City, Pei Yan suddenly smiled, his smile was very strange, with self-mockery and excitement, and more surprisingly, there was a hint of melancholy.

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