I go to the ancient imperial examinations

Chapter 318
Chapter 318

In the dark night, all the people in Xiangwu County are frantically busy. The old and weak, women and children are either helping to treat those injured because of their defense, or they are busy in the kitchen in full swing.

All the dishes prepared for the Chinese New Year were used to ensure that people on the tower would not be hungry and would have hot water to drink.

"Miss, drink some water." He Nuan handed over the gaped bowl filled with hot water, and didn't care about it at this time.

After drinking half a bowl of hot water, the whole body was warmed up. Zhan Feiyu handed the bowl back, "Ah Nuan, hurry up and rest, don't worry about me."

He Nuan smiled and nodded, but after drinking the water, she still rubbed Zhan Feiyu's sore right wrist. The lady's hand was supposed to hold a pen, but tonight she picked up a knife. She swung the knife too many times. If you knead it a little more, you probably won't be able to lift it up for a while.

Qiu Zongxi and Old Man Tie were on the marching formation, while He Sheng and other masters were scattered on the tower to watch and help each other. Whenever there was a gap, they would come to help immediately.

"Whether the city will be attacked in a while, you go and see that girl first." Qiu Zongxi waved his hand, he had told Zhan Feiyu to leave before, she was a little girl, and she was still a scholar, even if she stayed on the tower, it would not be of much use.

Qiu Zongxi also had some selfishness in mind, if the city was broken, He Nuan would protect her, at least to ensure that the little girl could escape safely.

But Zhan Feiyu stubbornly stayed, and her role as an "example" also stimulated the people in Xiangwu County. A little girl can stand on the tower with a knife, and the elders of every household Are you qualified to be greedy for life and afraid of death?
Once the barbarians break into the city, their parents, wives and children will be killed. Therefore, except for a few selfish people who hide at home, the rest of the people rush to the city tower. Others help boil water and cook, and help take care of the injured.

He Sheng glanced at the barbarians below the tower, strode towards Zhan Feiyu and He Nuan who were in the corner, and made sure that Zhan Feiyu was not injured, so he said, "Miss, it's almost dawn, and the barbarians will definitely return." A second wave of siege will be launched."

Compared with the previous siege, this time the siege will definitely be even crazier.

Because once the day dawned and the reinforcements from the Weizhou camp arrived, these barbarians would be vulnerable and had no way out, so He Sheng dared to say that they would attack the city recklessly, slaughtering the city before the reinforcements arrived and then evacuated.

Zhan Feiyu looked down the tower by the light of the torch. Although the flour explosion just injured a few barbarians, many people were frightened and fled in all directions, which greatly damaged the morale of the barbarians.

As the saying goes, the morale of the barbarians plummeted, and the morale of the soldiers and the people in Xiangwu County, which had been established, were naturally high and their fighting spirit was high.

"I'm afraid the news won't be sent out." Zhan Feiyu's blood-stained and dirty little face was unprecedentedly dignified and serious, without any ease or smile. "The barbarians can bypass the Weizhou camp, it must be the army There are people in the middle who cooperate with each other inside and outside, opening the door for them to be convenient."

Zhan Feiyu only had time to think at this time, what is the purpose of the secret enemy?Could it be to let the barbarians come in and slaughter the people of Xiangwu County?

He Sheng and He Nuan glanced at each other. In terms of skill, they were far superior to Zhan Feiyu, but in terms of strategic layout, the two combined could not compare with Zhan Feiyu.

After half an hour.

"Let Mr. Qiu and Uncle Tie come over." Zhan Feiyu spoke again, but there was an ominous premonition in his heart.

The morale on the tower was high, all the injured were carried away, and many people went up to the tower again, although the five people sent by Old Man Tie to ask for help have not sent a signal.

But when he thought that there were forbidden dragon guards in Xiangwu County, Qiu Zongxi was not worried that the news would not spread.

Qiu Zongxi, who came with big strides, spoke loudly, and patted Zhan Feiyu on the shoulder, "Little girl, don't let men pass by."

Normally, this girl was very delicate, but she always held the stove with her hand when she went out, but this time she stayed on the city tower in the biting cold wind for more than an hour, and even killed several barbarians who climbed up.

This kind of courage, this kind of spirit, really doesn't look like a little girl from the countryside at all, and the heir carefully cultivated by a wealthy family is nothing more than that.

Old Man Tie also looked at Zhan Feiyu with admiration. He is a general and never liked those sour scholars who have no power to restrain a chicken. But at this moment, Old Man Tie finally understood why Yang Shoucheng valued Zhan Feiyu so much, even with the attitude of his peers. Intersect, this little girl deserves it.

"Uncle Tie, where is Yang Xu now?" Zhan Feiyu asked, she was always worried about the missing Yang Xu.

"Master Xu should be able to return to Xiangwu County tomorrow." As Yang Shoucheng's most trusted subordinate, Zhang Yiyi was kidnapped from the county government prison that day, and it was arranged by Old Man Tie, so he knew Yang Xu's itinerary.

Zhan Feiyu's face darkened, which made Qiu Zongxi startled, "Little girl, are you worried that someone will attack Yang Xu?"

As Yang Xucheng's only son and the future heir of the General's Mansion, Yang Xu naturally has protective people around him. If there are too many enemies, these people will naturally send out a signal, and the old Yang family will go to support immediately after receiving the news.

"If the barbarians slaughter Xiangwu County, it will only make the Holy One furious. It is estimated that an imperial decree will be issued to restore the Yang family in less than a year." Zhan Feiyu had received a letter from Gu Qingzhou before.

Although the letter was very cryptic, it also revealed the time when the Yang family would recover. According to the Holy Majesty's plan, it is estimated to be around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and the Holy Majesty still has some places that have not been properly arranged.

For the barbarians to appear outside Xiangwu County, there must be traitors in the army. With their cover, the barbarians could sneak out of Xiangwu County without anyone noticing, but what is the purpose of this man in the army?

Looking at the pensive Qiu Zongxi and Old Man Tie, Zhan Feiyu hurriedly said, "It's definitely not for me."

Behind Zhan Feiyu is a cabinet scholar, not to mention the high position and authority, and he is still a civil servant. The various forces in Longyou Dao are fighting for military power, so no one dares to attack Zhan Feiyu.

Then only Yang Xu is worthwhile. As for Old General Yang and Yang Shoucheng, the people behind the scenes want to do something, but they don't have the ability.

"The old general is fine." Old Man Tie replied with an ugly expression.

Old General Yang was in Shitou Village. After the news of the recovery spread, a team was stationed in the mountain behind Shitou Village. These were the Yang family's personal guards. Now they gathered together after receiving the news from Yang Shoucheng.

Although there are only more than 100 people, they are all the elite among the elite. In the future, there will be at least a hundred households in the army. With them, there is no need to worry about the safety of General Yang.

"Shoucheng left Xiangwu County." Qiu Zongxi was kind to the Yang family for protecting him. Although he and General Yang were life-and-death friends, Qiu Zongxi never interfered with the military power of the Yang family.

It was Yang Shoucheng who came to bid farewell before, and Qiu Zongxi knew a little bit about it.

As for where Yang Shoucheng went, Old Man Tie didn't know, nor did the hidden enemy, but what was certain was that there were as many people around Yang Shoucheng as Old General Yang.

Therefore, Yang Xu was in the most dangerous situation. He had gone to Linzhou Mansion and left Mrs. Zhang with Zhang Minxian. Yang Xu had only 20 people around him.

In normal times, these 20 people can definitely guarantee that Yang Xu will escape unscathed when he encounters danger.

But if the people in the dark are determined to kill Yang Xu, and even let the barbarians into Xiangwu County just to hold back Old Man Tie and the former members of the Yang family, then Yang Xu is really in danger.

In the darkness, Zhan Feiyu clenched his hands tightly, and said word by word: "So if someone spreads the news on purpose, once Yang Xu knows that Xiangwu County is besieged by the barbarian army, he will definitely come to the rescue desperately. .”

If Yang Xu continued to hide, he would be safe, but once he rushed over to save someone, he would definitely fall into the enemy's trap.

"I'm afraid Xiao Xu is already on his way here." Qiu Zongxi knew Yang Xu's character best. Although he usually called Yang Xu elm-headed and didn't know how to change it, Qiu Zongxi knew that Yang Xu valued love and righteousness in his bones.

Anxious and worried, Old Man Tie slammed his fist hard on the wall. If he led someone to fight out of the city at this time, he might be able to save Yang Xu.

But without the more than 200 elites like Old Man Tie, the tower cannot be defended. When the barbarians massacre the city, Old Man Tie will not be able to bear the charge even if he apologizes with death. In the end, not only Yang Xu but also the Yang family will be implicated.

But if Old Man Tie continues to defend the city with his people, he can only watch Yang Xu have an accident, not to mention whether the old General Yang can accept it, even Yang Shoucheng can't bear the pain of losing his son .

The most troublesome thing is that if Yang Xu is captured alive, the hidden enemy will definitely use Yang Xu to blackmail Old General Yang and Yang Shoucheng in the future.

No matter what the result is, it is a dilemma for Old Man Tie.

He Nuan, who was standing quietly by the side, understood roughly when he heard this, so even if the Forbidden Dragon Guard spread the news and brought reinforcements from the Weizhou Battalion, it would not help. The real target of the enemy was Yang Xu.

Of course, if the reinforcements didn't come in time, Xiangwu County would be massacred, and Old Man Tie and the old members of the Yang family would suffer countless casualties, which would also be a heavy blow to the Yang family.

"There are nearly 800 barbarians outside the city." Old Man Tie propped his hands on the city wall, and looked sharply at the barbarian army below. Although the barbarians were severely injured in the previous attack on the city, at most [-] people were killed and seriously injured.

Those slightly injured barbarians could still continue to fight. If they stayed in the county town, Old Man Tie and the others could persist until dawn. This was the advantage of the terrain.

But if Old Man Tie led people out to confront the barbarians head-on, he would have less than 300 people on his side, and he would definitely lose in the face of two thousand barbarian enemy troops, so it would be impossible to go out and defeat the barbarians before rescuing Yang Xu possible.

When Qiu Zongxi thought that Yang Xu was in danger, even his life was in danger, he couldn't calm down at the moment, his wrinkled face was full of grief, frustration and anxiety.

"There is another way." When Zhan Feiyu opened her mouth and swiped, everyone's eyes turned to her.

Previously, Qiu Zongxi and Old Man Tie only thought about defending the city, and no one thought of Yang Xu, so when Zhan Feiyu spoke, no one would treat her like an insignificant little girl.

Looking down the tower, half of Zhan Feiyu's body was in the light of the fire, and the other half was plunged into darkness, "Old Man Tie and I led people to fight out, and sir continued to guard the tower with the soldiers and people of the county government." , In two quarters of an hour, we can kill as many people as we can."

"Two quarters of an hour later, Old Man Tie took the rest of the people back to the city tower to continue defending the city. I will take people to rescue Yang Xu." This is the only way Zhan Feiyu can think of at the moment.

Kill some of the barbarians first to reduce the burden on the guarding soldiers and the people. In this way, even if more than a dozen masters like He Sheng are missing here, Xiangwu County will not be destroyed.

On Yang Xu's side, Zhan Feiyu and the others passed by. Although there were only a dozen or so of them, they were all masters. They didn't want to rescue Yang Xu, but just waited for the reinforcements to arrive.

"No!" Almost at the same time, He Sheng and He Nuan spoke at the same time, and the two siblings looked at Zhan Feiyu disapprovingly. It was absolutely impossible for them to let Zhan Feiyu take risks to save Yang Xu.

Qiu Zongxi didn't expect Zhan Feiyu to be able to do this, so he said in a deep voice, "You stay here!"

It's too dangerous to fight out. Although Zhan Feiyu has some self-defense skills, she is still a little girl after all. Facing an army of two thousand barbarians, if something happens, the consequences will be disastrous.

Old Man Tie also disagreed with Zhan Feiyu taking risks. He Sheng and the others were able to save Yang Xu. Old Man Tie was already very grateful. Besides, Zhan Feiyu was just a little girl. To save Yang Xu and let her take risks, it was no less than a Life for life.

Facing everyone's disapproving gazes, Zhan Feiyu grinned, "Actually, as long as I can break out and not die under the swords of the barbarians, no one else will dare to kill me."

The barbarians don't care about Gu Qingzhou or cabinet scholars. Once they are on the battlefield, let alone a little girl, even a baby in a swaddle, the bloodthirsty barbarians will not soften their hearts.

But those people who secretly ambushed and wanted to attack Yang Xu were different. No matter they were Longyou Dao or any force in the court, as long as they were afraid of Bachelor Gu, as long as they were afraid of Forbidden Dragon Guards, no one would dare to attack Zhan Fei. The fish attacked, so she went to have a slight chance of winning.

Zhan Feiyu can be said to be Yang Xu's life-saving talisman. As long as she protects Yang Xu and delays the time as much as possible, she might be able to wait for reinforcements.

Of course, this is only a possibility. If the hidden enemy didn't care about Zhan Feiyu's life or death, then she would have given away her head in the past.

Seeing that He Nuan wanted to stop him, Zhan Feiyu shook his head, determined, "If I die, I will just die as a scholar; if Yang Xu dies, the Longyou Dao will be in turmoil, and the foundation of the Daqing Dynasty will be unstable. I don't know how many innocent people will be killed or injured."

"Miss!" He Nuan's voice was sharper than ever before, and his always gentle eyes immediately became extremely angry.

A quarter of an hour later, the barbarians hadn't repaired it yet. Suddenly, the closed city gate was opened. He Sheng and others rode horses and galloped towards the barbarians. Old Man Tie led two hundred old troops of the Yang family followed closely behind.

The opened city gate was closed again. On the city tower, Qiu Zongxi looked at Zhan Feiyu and others who were instantly swallowed up by the barbarians like a sheep entering the tiger's mouth. He clenched the drumstick tightly in one hand and thumped the war drum.

The wind is rustling, the water is cold, and the strong man will never return...

(End of this chapter)