The Rise of the Marquis

Chapter 79
A line of men in prison uniforms was pushed against the wall, anxiously waiting for officers in moccasins to walk up and down behind them, awaiting an unknown fate.

This is an army garrison near the southern border. Many houses are where soldiers have been stationed all year round. They smell of sweat and feet. They don't know why the Duke takes time and effort to transport the prisoners to the south.

Many prisoners on the road also discussed with each other during the arduous trek. Most of them are the defeated soldiers on the front line. I also heard that the Heyang people have captured Heyin. Now that they are sent to the south, do you want to send them back? Continue to fight the Heyang people?
This speculation was agreed by most people, and they also discussed what would happen to them if they met the Heyang Army again.
They survived the massacre of the Heyang people and ran wildly without looking back.

The son Mu Zhiyong who took the lead in escaping was not punished, and all the blame was put on Shi Zuoqiu Fufeng, the chief of the army, but they were all caught, accused by the duke of being unfavorable in fighting, not fighting hard, etc. prison.

The deserters were not convinced by such a ruling, because it was Mu Sheng's son who took the lead in running, but they accused them of not fighting hard to the end?Do they want them to die for a leader who takes the lead in escaping?

But their anger has nowhere to appeal.

Soon, the officer selected the tallest prisoner and said, "Take him out!"

The prisoner, with his hands tied behind his back, was driven away from the wall by two soldiers armed with spears, and left the yard under the escort of the officers.

The prisoner stared at the surrounding environment anxiously. At this time, the sun was setting to the west and March was in the sky. The sky gradually dimmed but did not completely darken, and the light in the sky did not completely disappear.

As soon as he came out of the yard, he heard the splashing of the river. After walking for a while, the path merged into the avenue. The avenue was wide enough for two carriages to pass in parallel. He immediately guessed that this might be the avenue leading to Maling in the south.

Because only the south side of Maling Territory has such a road.

He was a little flustered, is the Duke really planning to let them go to fight the Heyang people in Heyin?

"Master, where are we going?" He asked anxiously.

"Shut up, leave as soon as I tell you!" The officer behind him cursed and kicked him on the buttocks.

The prisoner didn't dare to say anything, so he could only continue walking. Soon he saw a big river sparkling in the setting sun at the end of the road. There was a stone tower beside the river covered with moss, surrounded by old broad-leaved trees casting shadows. Make the surrounding environment very dark.

That ancient stone building with only two floors and a width of more than four feet should be the barracks that my father and grandfather said they used when they conquered Heyin decades ago, and it is now deserted.

However, as Heyin was occupied by Heqinhou, it should be reopened here, right?
Heyin Avenue leads directly to Maling. Only the bridgehead here can stop the enemy, but the moss-covered stone tower in front does not look like it has been reactivated. The outer stone wall has not been repaired, and the surrounding tall trees have not been cut down. The tree jumped into the fence.
While the prisoner was thinking wildly, there was a group of people standing in the shade outside the fortress and waving to them.

After getting closer, he was surprised to find that the person surrounded by the crowd was none other than Duke Mu Sheng of Maling!He didn't come here in Maling City.

Surrounded by more than a dozen soldiers, there is also a crooked old man with yellow teeth, a scruffy beard, and a smell of rot and blood. He looks not young, and he is different from everyone present. The strange thing is The Duke stood in front of him. Although he tried his best to avoid the smell on the other person and keep a distance, he still tried his best to show his intimacy, and even spoke with a pleasant face.

The prisoner was a little puzzled, what kind of big man is this?Mu Sheng doesn't even look down on the king, but he wants to curry favor with such a sloppy old man
He vaguely heard Mu Gong say respectfully to the old man, "He brought it."

He was a little puzzled, could it be that the old man is some kind of big man, more powerful than Mu Gong, he rushed forward and knelt down in front of the old man, ignoring the scolding from the soldiers behind him, kowtowed and cried: "We are wronged, we are wronged! The young master took the lead in running away, we are willing to continue to fight with the people of Heyang, please make the decision for us and avenge our grievances!"

After he finished speaking, he continued to kowtow until he felt a little dizzy, his head hurt, and the gravel on the ground was stained with blood. He looked up to see everyone's reaction.

He found that Mu Sheng was expressionless, looking at him with eyes like looking at a fool. Most of the soldiers around him were like this, and some people had hidden sympathy in their eyes.

"Idiot, do you know who is in front of you!" Mu Sheng was about to get angry, but the sloppy old man beside him stretched out his hand to stop him, and then stepped forward to look at the prisoner on the ground, with an indescribable peace in his muddy eyes, It even calmed down the nervous and frightened prisoner in front of him. If it wasn't for the smell of blood on his body, everyone would think he was just a kind-hearted old man.

He reached out and touched the face of the man on the ground: "You are a good person, but you have been treated unfairly, right?"

The prisoner nodded.

"You are not the only one who suffers like this, and you are not the only one who suffers. There are many injustices in the world." The old man said kindly, his voice was very attractive, and the people around him were a little fascinated.
"I have seen and experienced these things as early as a hundred years ago. I tried my best to save the world, but I found that the helplessness is just a drop in the bucket. It is not one or two people who are bad, but the world." The old man said slowly, and the people around him gradually He listened more seriously, his words seemed to have a magical power.

"Stupid mortals always overestimate their abilities. Some people think how wise and correct they are to perceive the world, but in fact they are foolish, arrogant and arrogant fallacies. Therefore, the world is often chaotic and depraved under the rule of mortals, full of injustice and ignorance. , this world shouldn't be like this!
To govern mortals must surpass mortals, only in this way can we gain insight into the laws of heaven and discern every detail. Only the Lord who is higher than mortals rules us, so there will be no such injustice! "The old man kept saying these words, and gradually some of them became incomprehensible, but some of them could still be heard clearly, "The people of Yin and Shang are right, they are at the expense of themselves.
They seek the help of the Lord, so they are invincible in all battles. What they do is the right way. Sacrifice and sacrifice are the foundation of a country, not Zhou people's arrogance."

After chattering a lot, he stretched out his hand to pick up the prisoner on the ground, and led him to the old building beside the bridge in the distance.

The prisoner obeyed subconsciously, and the others stayed where they were, and watched them walk towards the dark tower in front of the bridge under the shade of the tree.

He only felt that the bloody smell around him was getting more and more serious, and the surrounding area was colder than the outside. Although it was dusk, it was getting darker and darker, so that he could hardly see anything. The surroundings gradually became noisy, and the scene in front of him began to change. He walked As he walked, he found that he didn't know when he would return to the Liangtingyi River Valley battlefield that made him flee in fear. The overwhelming Heyang army came here with green faces, fangs and claws. Terrible Heyang soldiers drowned
The people in the distance did not see the Heyang Army, nor did they see the battlefield. They just watched the prisoners walk into the moss-covered bridgehead as if they were unconscious, and then never came out again.

(End of this chapter)