Jinghong Tower

Chapter 360 I'll be waiting for you in Tongcheng
At this time, He Xiulong was less than ten miles away from Yangzhou City.

Duke Dingguo's heart sank once again, but this time, he did it for himself.

With his experience, he should have been able to predict that He Xiulong would launch a counterattack in a short period of time, and he should have taken precautions.

However, he didn't.

This kind of mistake should not have happened!
There's something wrong with his condition!
He was still affected.

Is it that bloody ear, or that shameless article by Zhou Cangyue?
Maybe all of them, or maybe more.

In short, he made a mistake when he could least afford to make a mistake.

Duke Dingguo knew very well what consequences would arise if he made such a mistake as a commander.

Millions of corpses were buried and blood flowed for thousands of miles!
Duke Dingguo's heart was beating like a drum and his fingers were trembling slightly. There were still ten miles left, so he still had time.

Duke Dingguo stood up suddenly, but the next moment, the world was spinning in front of his eyes, and his attendants hurriedly supported him to prevent him from falling.

By the time Duke Dingguo rode out of the city, the people of Yangzhou City had already learned the news that He Xiulong had called.

There was no need for any call at all. Pedestrians on the street ran home one after another. Shops were closed and people who had returned home had already closed their doors and were counting their rice bags. They didn't know how long the war would last and whether they had enough rice at home.

Although Yangzhou City has not yet experienced war, the people of Yangzhou City are already very experienced.

Don’t ask where this experience comes from, the answer is comic books!
Those who prepared for a rainy day had already stockpiled grain, oil, rice, flour, dried vegetables and bacon.

Mrs. Zhang took out two pieces of cloth that she had prepared long ago, and took advantage of the fact that she didn't have to go out to work these few days to sew two new clothes for the two children at home. They have grown taller this year and can no longer fit into last year's clothes.

Zhang hugged his wife's waist from behind and said, "Why don't we take advantage of the free time these few days to have another little one?"

Aunt Zhang spat at him and said angrily, "You are such a frivolous person. Aren't you afraid of the children seeing you?"

The battle lasted until sunset. Both sides called off the battle and Duke Dingguo returned to the city. When he dismounted from his horse, he could not lift his right leg. Several personal soldiers helped and carried him to the ground safely.

The military doctor examined the patient and found that he did not have any serious illness, but was just overworked.

Duke Dingguo couldn't eat anymore after having only a bowl of rice porridge for dinner. He had no appetite for anything these days.

His personal soldiers helped him to go to bed early. Although his body was obviously very tired, he still couldn't fall asleep. As long as he closed his eyes, the scene of Jing Lao San's suffering kept appearing in his mind.

Helplessly, he had to open his eyes, staring at the dark rooftop, and whispered silently: "Hui'er, don't worry, I will definitely bring San'er back, for sure!"

In the darkness, there seemed to be a pair of eyes looking at him tenderly.
It was unknown how long it had passed, but Duke Dingguo gradually lost consciousness. In his dream, there were mountains of corpses and seas of blood. A woman as delicate as a dodder was crying and pulling at his sleeve, asking for a child.

Duke Dingguo felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife. He suddenly woke up with a start. It was pitch black in front of him and it was still dark.

He sighed and was about to go back to sleep when he heard the voice of his personal guard outside the door: "Duke, the Ran army is challenging us!"

Duke Dingguo cursed, "Why are these guys from the Ran Army starting to jump around so early?"
Just as he was about to sit up, another soldier's breathless voice came: "Duke, the Ran army has begun to attack the city!"

Duke Dingguo felt as if his head was as heavy as a thousand pounds and he was dizzy. He forced himself to get out of bed and started attacking the city before dawn. Doesn't He Xiulong need to sleep?
Yes, how old is He Xiulong? She is in her early twenties. Thinking back to the past, he was also like this when he was in his early twenties, as if he had endless energy.

The ensuing battle lasted from before dawn to dusk, with casualties on both sides.

The difference is that He Xiulong started a meeting as soon as she returned to the big tent. She had a meal with the tactical team and her generals while having the meeting. After the meeting, everyone went back and fell asleep, and after a while, they were snoring loudly.

But Duke Dingguo had another sleepless night.

The next day, before dawn, the Ran army came to attack the city again. Duke Dingguo could only force himself to fight again despite his increasingly severe illness.

The troops were called back in the evening. Before Duke Dingguo had time to take off his armor, he received a letter from Zhou Cangyue, which was placed at the gate of the government office.

There were only a few words in the letter: I'm waiting for you in Tongcheng.

There was also a finger in the envelope.

That's the thumb, of the right hand.

Duke Dingguo recognized the finger at a glance. There was a burn scar at the joint, which was left a few years ago.

This finger belongs to Jing Laosan.

The thumb of the right hand.

Duke Dingguo felt a blackness in front of his eyes. San'er was a scholar. Without his thumb, how could he hold a pen?
After receiving a bloody ear last time, Duke Dingguo vomited blood for the second time.

The last time he vomited blood, he was worried about affecting morale and did not call a doctor. Recently, his health has been problematic and the military doctor has been by his side. When he saw him vomiting blood, he hurriedly took his pulse and after taking his pulse, the military doctor sighed in his heart. When Duke Dingguo asked about it, he just said that it was caused by anger and did not dare to tell Duke Dingguo that this time his pulse actually showed signs of a dying flame.

That shouldn't be the case. Duke Dingguo is only in his forties.

Of course, there were many people who died in their forties or fifties in this era, but the people in Duke Dingguo’s Mansion were famous for their longevity. Duke Dingguo’s grandmother, Old Lady Meng, was still alive.

The military doctor did not dare to tell the truth, but Duke Dingguo's health could not be concealed.

The next day, as in the past, the Ran army began to attack the city before dawn, but this time, Duke Dingguo did not lead the troops himself as he fell ill.

For three consecutive days, Duke Dingguo did not appear in the central military tent. He Xiulong picked up the clairvoyance and looked for a long time, feeling a little regretful. Not to mention, she and Duke Dingguo had developed feelings for each other during the battles. She was so excited that she wanted to swing her sword when she saw Duke Dingguo. Now that Duke Dingguo was not here, she felt that fighting was not satisfying enough.

Undoubtedly, Duke Dingguo is a very strong opponent.

The last time He Xiulong met such an opponent was Fu Yansheng.

Such an opponent is hard to come by. Either you beat him until he surrenders, or you beat him to hell.

Thinking of this, He Xiulong became excited again. The battle lasted for ten days. On the tenth day, when she had just returned to the tent after withdrawing her troops, she heard a shocking news.

The imperial army evacuated the seven counties of Anqing. The magistrates of these seven counties left with their families overnight. It is said that they took a lot of silver with them when they left.

He Xiulong is well-informed and was also surprised to hear the news.

It was not uncommon for the county magistrate to abandon the city and flee. It was a common occurrence in Jin at that time.

But the withdrawal of the garrison is interesting.

Military orders are as heavy as mountains. Unless they want to rebel, no garrison dares to withdraw easily without military orders.

Looking at the entire court, the only one who can order a withdrawal now is Duke Dingguo.

So this order to withdraw troops was issued by Duke Dingguo!

Although there was a war going on, He Xiulong had also heard that Zhou Cangyue wanted the six counties of Anqing. She did not think too much about it at the time, but when she heard about it just now, her first reaction was different from that of everyone else. She was wondering if Zhou Cangyue was drunk?

After the continuous siege for many days, He Xiulong no longer paid attention to this matter. Today, she suddenly heard that the imperial army withdrew from the six counties of Anqing. He Xiulong suddenly realized that Zhou Cangyue was not drunk. He just pinched the weak spot of Duke Dingguo and was fearless. Duke Dingguo also wanted to save face. He just withdrew the military and political power of the six counties of Anqing, turning the six counties of Anqing into a no-man's land.

When Zhou Cangyue received this good news, he was fighting with Wang Hao.

At this time, Wang Hao was defeated by Nong Liuniang and only had two cities and sixteen counties left in his hands!
Zhou Cangyue loved to kick a man who was down and out. When he heard that Wang Hao was in a miserable state, he led his troops westward and started fighting with Wang Hao.

Therefore, when he learned that the six counties of Anqing that he had been thinking about had become a no-man's land, he was so sad that he almost cried.

How he wanted to take over immediately, but unfortunately, he was too busy and didn't have the time.

He wanted to offer the six counties of Anqing to his sister Ran, but when he inquired, he found out that the pretty boy Lu Zhen was in Fengyang Mansion, and there was a high probability that Sister Ran would let Lu Zhen take over on her behalf.

Thinking of this, Zhou Cangyue became unhappy. No, if he had to give them away, he had to give the six counties to Sister Ran personally. It would not be good to let someone else handle it.

Zhou Cangyue waved his hand and threw Wang Hao to Qi Yan. He traveled day and night and rushed to Tongcheng.

However, Zhou Cangyue was a good boy. Despite his busy schedule, he still remembered to bring Jing Laosan with him.

These days, Jing Laosan has been living in the stable. When Zhou Cangyue saw him, he almost didn't recognize him.

As soon as Zhou Cangyue arrived in Tongcheng, he had Jing Laosan thrown outside the city of Yangzhou.

There was a war going on outside Yangzhou city. The people from the Beggar Gang found a place that looked relatively safe, threw Jing Lao San there and left.

But they did not go far. Instead, they left a letter outside the Yangzhou government office, telling Duke Dingguo that Jing Lao San was somewhere outside the city and asked them to pick him up themselves.

After reading the letter, Duke Dingguo, who was lying on his sickbed, immediately sent his confidant to pick up the people. At this time, the troops were called back and both armies were cleaning up the battlefield. The corpses were pulled back in carts and the prisoners were tied into long strings with ropes.

The confidant did not find Jing Laosan and was worried that he would be taken prisoner by the Ran army, so he took off his military uniform and disguised himself as a laborer hired by the Ran army to search among the endless group of prisoners.

The prisoners included soldiers as well as civilians conscripted by the army.

The soldiers were all in military uniforms, while the civilians were in casual clothes.

The confidant thought that since Jing Laosan was sent by Zhou Cangyue's men, he must be in plain clothes, so he went to look for him among the civilians.

Both prisoners and civilians were in good spirits.

These days, unless the officer is mentally ill, no one will kill prisoners. Prisoners are directly incorporated into the army. Today they are the imperial army, tomorrow they are the Ran army, and the day after tomorrow they may become the imperial army again. As long as they are not dead or disabled, they can continue to eat military rations.

The laborers had even less to worry about, as they were conscripted to work.

So now the captives are waiting for organization, and the civilians are discussing whether they will be provided with meals at night. They bring their own dry food when working for the imperial army, and during the battle, the dry food bags are gone. If the Ran army does not provide them with meals, they will starve. This matter must be discussed carefully.

The confidant's mouth twitched when he heard this. He had always been following the Duke, and today he had broadened his horizons.

His eyes searched among the group of laborers. They were either sitting or standing, except for one who was lying down.

The henchman frowned and asked, "Is that man dead?"

A civilian took a look and said: "Most likely he is hungry."

The confidant walked over and smelled the odor of horse manure before he got close. He suppressed his nausea and looked at the man's face. Seeing that the man's face was mostly covered by hair, he reached out to brush the man's hair away, but as soon as his hand reached out, he saw white nits (lice eggs) in the man's hair.

The confidant quickly retracted his hand, and then looked at the half of the man's face that was exposed. He saw that his beard was scraggly, and there was actually a lice on his beard!
It was the first time that the confidant saw someone with lice in his beard. He felt itchy all over his body and hurriedly took a few steps back.

There is no need to look, this person is definitely not the handsome Third Young Master.

The third young master was the one who loved cleanliness the most. He would only wear his clothes once and would not wear them again after washing.

And he smells like horse manure, which makes it even more impossible for him to be the Third Young Master.

People outside didn't know, but he, as a close confidant of Duke Dingguo, knew that the Third Young Master fell off his horse when he was a child, and he had a trauma ever since. Even the Duke's mount could not appear within ten feet of him.

Look at this person in front of me, he looks like he was picked up from a horse manure pile, how could he be the Third Young Master.

The confidant did not find Jing Laosan among this group of laborers, so he had to go to the laborers hired by the Ran army. This group of laborers were also making a fuss. They heard that a group of laborers were captured from the imperial army today. These guys would not replace them to do the work, right? That would not be possible!

So they clamored for the Dharma.

The confidant looked at the faces of these people one by one and confirmed that Jing Lao San was not there.

That’s right, how could the Third Young Master, who is as noble as the bright moon, quarrel over a few cents? He is looking in the wrong direction.

He Xiulong was holding a combat meeting while eating as usual. At this time, a female soldier came in, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "We found a spy."

He Xiulong asked: "What actions?"

The female soldier said, "It seems like she is looking for someone."

He Xiulong nodded: "Keep an eye on him, don't alarm him, let him go if he wants to leave."

The confidant of Duke Dingguo looked around but couldn't find Jing Lao San.

Helpless, he had to go back and report.

Although he did not find Jing Laosan, he was still somewhat proud. He looked around the Ran army as if he was in an empty place. It turned out that the security within the Ran army was so lax.

Upon learning that Jing Lao San had not been found, Duke Dingguo opened his mouth to say something, but before he could finish his words, he spat out another mouthful of blood.

This is the third time I've vomited blood.

The first time, it was when Jing Lao San lost an ear;

The second time, Jing Lao San was missing a finger;
The third time, Jing Laosan disappeared completely!
"It must be Zhou Cangyue's evil plan. He didn't send the Third Young Master back at all. He broke his promise!"

"Yes, otherwise why is there no trace of the Third Young Master? Zhou Cangyue must be lying!"

Duke Dingguo listened to his staff talking to each other without saying a word.

He's sloppy!

At this moment, another confidant stumbled in and said, "Duke, I found a body."

Duke Dingguo suddenly sat up from his sickbed.
"What kind of body?"

At this moment, he actually hoped that he had been fooled.

San'er was still in Zhou Cangyue's hands. He was not lost, nor had he turned into a corpse.