Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 419 Killing a chicken with a bull’s knife
To the west of Zhending City, there is a small village on the bank of Hutuo River called Nanbai Village.

At noon that day, smoke rose from the roofs of every household in the village. Thanks to the fact that the camp judge recently paid them part of the arrears of camp commission money, the villagers were finally able to make a few pancakes.

"Wang Wang Wang."

In a farmhouse by a small bridge in the south of the village, a black puppy wagging its tail came to the stove, sniffing the aroma coming from the stove, and looked up at Deng Siniang with pitiful eyes.

"Go aside." Deng Siniang raised her foot and gently pushed it away without using any force.

The puppy lay crooked on the ground, then quickly got up again and lay flat on her feet. The children squatting at the door and playing in the mud were so amused that they felt pity and shouted: "Mom, just give it some food."

"It has only been full for a few days, but you have forgotten that it is hungry, and it will eat by itself."

Having said that, Siniang Deng picked up a small piece of chicken cartilage and threw it into the little black dog's mouth. It gnawed it happily and let out a happy whimper.

At this time, there were dense sounds of horse hooves and shouts in the distance. Several children raised their heads one after another and said happily: "Grandma is back!"

In their sight, grandpa was running towards this side, stumbled across the bridge, and shouted to them: "Let's go!"

The little black dog in the house barked ferociously, and at the same time, with a squeak, the back door was kicked open. Deng Siniang turned around and saw an officer and soldier stepping on the little black dog's head.

"I am acting under the orders of General Tian!" General Lu shouted, "General Tian ordered us to collect food. These unruly people refuse to give us food, so kill them!"

"Take it!"

A general with an upright face came forward to stop them.

The next moment, a knight on horseback rushed up and slashed him to the ground with a merciless swing of his knife.

The group of officers and soldiers who captured her laughed loudly and said, "We found some rations and brought back camp prostitutes."

~~
"What are you doing?!"

Deng Siniang saw this scene when she came out of the house, and her eyes widened. The world has been in peace for a long time. Not only her, but her parents and grandparents have never seen such a scene. It took her a while to recover from the shock.

There were several "puff" sounds, accompanied by screams, and several soldiers who wanted to protect Captain Nie were also hacked to the ground.

"Who dares to move?! Anyone who commits the crime below will be killed without mercy!"

Another officer and soldier said, walked forward, saw Deng Siniang, smiled, and raised his hand to point.

Several soldiers roared and were cut down to the ground in a moment.

Not caring about anything else, Siniang Deng hid the fifth baby in the half-empty water tank and picked up the second baby who fell.

But it was too late, the footsteps were already outside her door.

"what!"

Captain Nie was still talking when he suddenly saw more women being kidnapped. His expression changed and he immediately drew his sword.

"Come here, steam the cake!" A hoarse voice sounded, extremely ferocious.

"General... forgive me."

"The team is right!"

When Deng Siniang heard the word "children", she looked up and suddenly found her two children among them. She was about to pounce on them, but her hands and feet were tied up.

"We are following orders, how are you doing?"

"I won't take action. I join the army to protect my family and my country..."

"Ugh."

"Run."

Deng Siniang originally hoped that Captain Nie would rescue her child, but she didn't expect to see his blood spilled on the spot in the blink of an eye. Only then did she realize that there was no way to save her child.

"Anyone who disobeys my orders will be killed."

"Let me go immediately!"

"Boiled dog meat is just right."

Captain Nie was furious. He called his soldiers and ordered them to take down this group of soldiers who violated discipline. The two sides immediately clashed and confronted each other.

At the same time, without any explanation, General Lu rode forward and struck him on the neck with a knife, causing blood to spatter on the spot.

"Let them get their blood on their hands."

"Captain Nie, I'm afraid you can't control us."

"General, why did we become thieves who burned, killed, and plundered when we were ordered to hunt down thieves?!"

"General, these are children."

General Lu shouted loudly, and stopped a few soldiers under Captain Nie who did not dare to take action. He raised the long sword in his hand and pointed at it, saying: "Looking at your cowards, you have never been on the battlefield, have you?! "

"The military laws of the Tang Dynasty can control you!"

She picked up the fifth youngest child in her family and drove her children through the main room like sheep, letting them go out through the small door of the chicken pen.

Screams came from the farmhouse and soon filled the entire village. Deng Siniang was so heartbroken in pain that she turned her head to look at the yard. Through her tearful eyes, she saw two children being arrested...

The soldiers then pulled a group of crying prisoners forward.

At this time, another large group of soldiers returned to camp, and the soldiers shouted: "General Lu is back!"

She was still in severe pain, but Deng Siniang was numb from the pain. She was tied to the military camp. It was not until she heard an angry shout that she came to her senses and found herself among dozens of disheveled women.

"puff."

"No! The rebellious one is..."

"puff."

Several more soldiers were cut down to the ground.

The remaining soldiers were so frightened that their faces turned pale, and they had no choice but to pick up their swords.

"No!" Deng Siniang shouted: "Don't kill my child!"

It was useless to scream at the top of her lungs. One body after another fell down, and soon it was her child's turn.

"Don't!"

"Pang Xiaoer, do it!"

"No! Please, please!"

Deng Siniang stared at the soldier holding the sword and begged desperately.

Pang Xiaoer was still very young, about eighteen years old, about the same age as her younger brother. He was trembling all over, his eyes were dull, and his lips were white. He held the knife at the child in front of him for a long time, then turned his head and said: "General ,Please……"

General Lu didn't say anything. He turned his cold eyes and saw that a soldier was already holding a knife and was about to strike at Pang Xiaoer.

"what!"

With a roar, Pang Xiaoer moved his hand.

Deng Siniang will always remember this moment. She saw her two children fall down and saw the murderer's young, frightened, struggling face with incomparable clarity.

"vomit."

Pang Xiaoer killed someone, threw away the knife, lay on the ground and vomited.

Deng Siniang roared like a she-wolf and was immediately hit hard on the head.

"Bitch bitches, there's no end to the quarrel."

A soldier came over and slammed down the knife handle in his hand. Deng Siniang, with a death wish, bit his calf hard, trying desperately to chew off a piece of meat.

"Ah! Ah! Kill her! Kill her!"

There was another loud noise, and Deng Siniang was knocked aside with her body and teeth. She was about to pounce on her and beg for death, but suddenly there was a "boom" and the sound of drums came.

~~
Lu Ziqi listened to the sound of the drums, looked in the direction of the tent, then turned to look at Zhending City, and saw that the flag at the city gate was slowly lowering.

"Sure enough, it dropped."

He sneered, knowing what he was doing, and strode towards the tent. As expected, he saw a group of officials from Changshan County lining up in front of the tent.

Tian Chengsi came out of the tent with a big smile.

"Hahaha, Yuan Changshi, long time no see. How are you?"

Yuan Luqian was a little distracted and did not answer. He looked at the blood on Lu Ziqi's body, and a look of sorrow appeared on his haggard face.

"Yuan Changshi?" Tian Chengsi asked again, a little unhappy.

Only then did Yuan Luqian come to his senses, feeling bitter in his mouth, and responded: "General Tian is becoming more and more powerful. I wonder why you are here this time?"

"I was ordered to punish thieves." Seeing that he was still speaking in an official tone, Tian Chengsi's tone turned cold and said, "Yuan Changshi shot my soldier, didn't you hear him declare the order?"

Yuan Luqian's heart trembled, and he realized that the rebels were domineering, and the old officialdom tactics no longer worked, so he braced himself to deal with it.

The sorrowful look in his eyes did not disappear, and he deliberately put on a look of fear on his face, saying: "I don't have the courage to do this. It was Xue Bai who shot the noble envoy with his own hands."

"Where are the others?"

Yuan Luqian quickly looked serious and said: "When the official heard that the general was passing by Zhending, he ordered the city gate to be opened. Xue Bai blocked it several times, so the official put him in prison."

Nowadays, there are two types of people who are attached to the rebels. One is those who "believe" that An Lushan is ordered to fight against rebellion, and the other is those who directly admit the rebellion and support Prince Dongping. Of course, the latter is more secure than the former.

Tian Chengsi saw that Yuan Luqian was still pretending to "fight rebellion" and was obviously holding back, so he snorted coldly and said, "Yang Guozhong is a traitor who has held the saint hostage and brought chaos to the country. Xue Bai is also an accomplice. If we take him down, Yuan Changshi will have done a great deed."

"Thank you, General."

"Enter the city."

"Here."

As a senior official, Yuan Luqian received the order respectfully, but after a moment he pondered: "The army is going south to fight against rebellion. Changshan County will provide food and grass. Can those people be let go?"

Lu Ziqi listened at the side, took two steps forward, leaned into Tian Chengsi's ear, and whispered: "The morale has not been fully lifted yet."

"There's no rush, let's take Luoyang first."

~~
The bodies on the ground have been removed, and the blood has seeped into the loess.

The damage that has been done will not be erased.

Yuan Luqian sighed and looked at the captives he had rescued. The women were disheveled and their legs were exposed, but there was no ripple in his heart and he let out a long sigh.

"Which village are you from?"

Deng Siniang was lying in a pool of blood in a daze, looking at the old official in front of her with empty eyes, no longer fearful as before.

In the past, the officials had a high dignity in her eyes, but today it has been completely shattered.

"Do you still have any relatives?" Yuan Luqian asked again.

Deng Siniang then thought of the fifth baby hidden in the water tank, and she subconsciously wanted to ask the officials in front of her to save her baby.

At this time, Lu Ziqi came over, picking his teeth and smiling: "Yuan Changshi, let's go."

"General Lu please."

Deng Siniang then saw the way Yuan Luqian smiled apologetically at Lu Ziqi, and swallowed the words on her lips, but she had the will to survive in her heart.

She had to live and go back to find Wu Wa. ~~
The team enters the city.

Lu Ziqi's gaze swept across the streets and alleys of Zhending City with a cruel look.

In fact, he did not want Yuan Luqian to surrender so soon. It was best to resist for one more day. He was confident that he could break the city and then he could lead his troops to rape and plunder. He can quickly get a fortune that he can enjoy for a lifetime, and it also allows him to win the hearts of the soldiers, so he can easily gain greater power in the army.

Unfortunately, with Yuan Luqian's surrender, Changshan County had become a place under the rule of the new dynasty. If he wanted to plunder again, he would probably have to cross the Yellow River... He didn't think anyone would dare to lead the city to resist before crossing the Yellow River.

"You control the city gate."

Lu Ziqi handed over his soldiers, called Yuan Luqian, and asked, "Do you know what the first thing I do when I enter the city is?"

"Now take General Lu to the granary."

"Wrong." Lu Ziqi smiled and said, "Take me to see Xue Bai."

Yuan Luqian was stunned.

"What?" Lu Ziqi asked, "You want to protect him?"

"I don't dare." Yuan Luqian said: "I just don't understand what kind of virtue and ability that Shuzi has that makes the general care so much?"

"He is very bold." Lu Ziqi said with murderous intent in his tone: "We are fighting against rebellion. We say we are fighting against Yang Guozhong, but in fact we are fighting against Xue Bai. It can be said that he forced us to raise troops. ”

"That Zhuzi is indeed daring. Even the officials of Changshan County are not convinced by this prefect. How many abilities can this prefect have to hold on to his skirt?"

"He is really capable. When my army went south, someone set off smoke in the Taihang Mountains. I guess the location is Tumen Pass, right?"

"Yes."

Lu Ziqi said: "The general saw it and concluded that it must be Xue Bai who came from Taipei to Changshan, via Jingxing, and bribed the guard when he passed Tumen Pass. The general has sent Wu Xiguang to lead his troops there, and the result will be there soon."

Yuan Luqian frowned, knowing that Jingxing would be blocked.

He remained calm and personally led Lu Ziqi to Zhending County Prison.

Although the doors of the houses along the way were closed, there were still many people looking out of the windows curiously. They didn't know what the military disaster was and thought it was just officers and soldiers passing by.

When they arrived at the county jail, it was dark and smelly. When Lu Ziqi saw it, he shook his head in disgust and was too lazy to go in. He ordered: "Bring Xue Bai out."

Yuan Luqian was a little embarrassed and said: "When Xue Bai took office, he brought many good people with him. However, these people were not able to capture them all. Now they are still hiding in the city. I am afraid that they will come to rescue Xue Bai."

"The army is just outside the city. It's best if you dare to come. Go and escort the people here!"

After saying that, Lu Ziqi couldn't help but smile. He beckoned Yuan Luqian to come forward and said, "I know that Xue Bai has some power. I've sent people to check Fenghui Xingfei Money Shop."

"General Lu is wise."

After a while, the soldiers escorted one person out.

This is a young man, tall, wearing a red official robe, his hands and feet are handcuffed, his face is bruised and swollen, and he can only see a pair of sword eyebrows that look quite chivalrous.

"Is this Xue Bai?" Lu Ziqi asked since he had never seen Xue Bai.

Changshan officials nodded one after another.

"Yes, he was the one who took Prefect Xue from the top of the city, oh, Xue Bai."

"That's all." Lu Ziqi shook his head, stepped forward and grabbed Xue Bai's hair, and called out sarcastically: "Little uncle."

After calling him, he felt that it was funny, laughed out loud, waved his hand and said, "Take it away!"

~~
Tian Chengsi did not enter the city and remained in the camp.

Maybe it was because Xue Bai was in the city that he was afraid, or maybe it was simply unnecessary. In short, after he assigned generals to open warehouses to collect grain, escort Xue Bai, and deal with some minor matters, he would soon have to march urgently to capture Luoyang.

I have stayed in Changshan for too long.

"General." A scout rushed into the tent and reported, "I found out that Changshan County sent several fast horses southward half a day ago."

When Tian Chengsi heard this, he knew that it must be Xue Bai who sent people to Luoyang to report the news. He immediately ordered a general: "I intercept them! If there is a man or a horse who arrives in Luoyang first, come and see him."

"Here!"

Tian Tinglin saw it and said, "Brother, I'm afraid something is not right."

"Yes." Tian Chengsi said calmly: "Since Xue Bai was able to make arrangements at Tumen Pass in advance and send messengers to Luoyang to report the news, how could he be captured so easily?"

"The Lord is also very concerned about Xue Bai and has repeatedly told him not to underestimate him."

"Having said that, with the army pressing down on the territory, what can he do no matter how cunning and cunning he is?"

In the distance, there was a "rumbling" of thunder.

"Is it raining?" Tian Tinglin said, "I'm afraid it will be inconvenient to march in the rain."

But at the next moment, Tian Chengsi realized something was wrong. He walked out of the tent and looked in the direction of Zhending City in the night, and saw firelights shining on the plains.

"Go and see what's going on!"

Tian Tinglin frowned, and couldn't wait to send the general next to her, so she personally led a group of knights out of the camp.

After running for a while, I saw soldiers escaping in front of me. I quickly stopped them and asked, "What's going on?!"

"General Lu was struck by lightning!"

Obviously, Lu Ziqi's behavior of burning, killing and looting still made some soldiers with unyielding consciences worried, thinking that the situation just now was caused by heaven.

Tian Tinglin scolded: "What's going on?!"

"On the way General Lu was escorting Xue Bai back to camp, he was struck by lightning. With a 'boom' sound, a thunder exploded and he was shattered."

I asked several soldiers one after another, some said it was thunder from the sky, and some said it was fire from the earth. When they went further and encountered the wounded soldiers lying on the ground, someone said that a group of knights came out of the darkness to rob Xue Bai.

Tian Tinglin was furious and looked around. The wilderness was dark, and there was nowhere to see Xue Bai.
"Where is Yuan Luqian?!"

"Yuan Changshi is also injured..."

At the beginning of the disaster, Yuan Luqian was hit by an arrow in his leg and fell to the ground unable to move. At that time, Lu Ziqi saw an enemy approaching and led his men to kill him. After running a few steps, he was blown away with a "bang". Yuan Luqian failed to step forward, and his arm was also injured and bloody.

"Where's Xue Bai?"

"It was too dark and chaotic at the time, so I couldn't see clearly." Yuan Luqian said: "Maybe he was killed by the bomb, or he was robbed."

Tian Tinglin asked several soldiers one after another. It was probably true what happened, but no one noticed what happened to Xue Bai at that time. As soon as the thunder and fire exploded in the darkness that day, who would care about others?

"Spread out and chase!"

~~
The sky was getting brighter, and Zhending City spent another turbulent night.

Deng Siniang slept huddled in the hut under the city wall all night. She heard shouts at the city gate almost constantly at night, as if they were searching for someone.

"Report! General, we found out that Xue Bai brought several female relatives to the prefect's residence."

"What about people?"

"Gone..."

Sometimes Deng Siniang listened, sometimes she didn't. She just wanted to return to the village as soon as possible and find Wu Wa.

After these people were brought to Zhending City, it was no longer like they were treated as prisoners in the barracks, but no one escaped. In this time of war, no one had the courage to go outside the city for fear of encountering those thieves again. Bing, the end will definitely not be good.

Deng Siniang was not afraid of death. Seeing that the thieves became confused due to the search, she walked into the woods on the pretext of going to the toilet, looked around, and ran to the west.

She did not dare to take the official road, so she had to walk through bushes and thorns, and her body was soon bloody and bloody. But what she cared more about was whether the five babies were bored or hungry in the water tank.

After walking for half a day, fast horses kept running past the road next to them. Suddenly someone shouted: "Who is it?!"

There were a few "swish" sounds, and arrows were shot into the woods. It was a group of thieves riding horses, shouting: "Quickly report to the general, Xue Bai has been found."

Deng Siniang squatted on the ground and secretly cursed these thieves for being stupid, but they still came towards her chopping bushes.

"At this!"

Two soldiers rushed in and held her down.

"It can't be this bitch. His female relatives are as fair as gods, not to mention how fair they are."

"Kill the dog for eating its intestines."

One of them roughly pinched Deng Siniang's face, looked at her teeth, and then became furious.

"puff."

A sharp arrow shot through the man's neck.

At the same time, a big man rushed over, swung his knife, and beheaded another person. His movements were swift, and before Deng Siniang could react, her blood was already sprinkled all over her body.

She immediately retreated into the bushes and crawled further on her hands and feet. Finally, she regained her breath. When she looked out, she saw a scene of fighting. But this time it was the thieves who suffered the loss. They were surrounded by a group of people and were killed one by one. The remaining few began to beg for mercy.

"Prefect Xue, we didn't want to rebel. We were forced to do so."

"You also know that you are rebelling."

"Puff puff……"

There were more bodies on the ground.

Deng Siniang looked around and saw that the man called "Prefect Xue" was a young man, very handsome and eye-catching. Compared to Yuan Changshi's compromise, Governor Xue was the one who killed the traitors.

This impression was left in a hurry. She didn't dare to stop and continued running into the mountains and forests towards Nanbai Village.

A whistle sounded in the distance, and at the same time there were more and more shouts.

"over there!"

"Surround him!"

~~
noon.

Tian Chengsi's flag was still flying high in the rebel vanguard camp. Rifts of smoke rose from the camp.

Originally, Tian Chengsi had ordered to make food at the third watch and set off at the fifth watch, but due to Xue Bai's escape, he was delayed for another day.

Before this, it would have been difficult for him to imagine that ten thousand soldiers and horses would be stranded because of one person. But last night's thunder and fire caused him to lose one of his generals. In addition, Xue Bai brought psychological pressure to him. If Xue Bai was not found, he would feel like he had a lump in his throat and would not dare to go directly to Luoyang.

Then let's wait one day. This mouse will be caught within today.

Lunch was brought up, which was a bowl of dog meat, and was placed on Tian Chengsi's desk, but he did not enjoy it, and his eyes were already fixed on the map.

It has been confirmed that Xue Bai must have fled westward, intending to return to Taiyuan through Jingxing. There are many reasons, such as the Hutuo River has been blocked, Taiyuan is the top priority, and Xue Bai has already made arrangements at Tumen Pass.

Fortunately, one thing Xue Bai didn't expect was that Tian Chengsi had sent Wu Xiguang to Tumen Pass first, which happened to block Xue Bai's westward path.

At this time, it was impossible for Xue Bai to cross the Hutuo River.

really.

"Report, General, Xue Bai has been found, near Nanbai Village."

"Lead two more teams to encircle him. Don't be impatient. Remember not to let him break through."

"Here!"

Tian Chengsi relied on his rich battlefield experience to contain Xue Bai. He was using a bull's-eye to kill a chicken. How could he miss?

Then he felt relieved, picked up the dog meat, and chewed it...

(End of this chapter)