Thick blood mixed with hair and seeped into the muddy loess ground.
Meng Suige suddenly stopped and lifted up the man who was still breathing and moaning softly. He took a torch and shined a light on it. He saw that he was a young man. Half of his face was covered with blood. One ear was cut off along with the flesh. A little bit of skin hanging off.
He felt pain in his heart and asked in a low voice: "Don't panic, who is it?"
The young man's eyes were covered with blood. He barely opened a crack and saw that Meng Sui was dressed as a Han. He breathed a sigh of relief and panted: "Yes, yes, he is a Turk. Hurry, run."
Before he could finish his sentence, the man passed out.
Meng Suige stretched out his hand to test his breathing, shook his head sadly, and put the man on the ground.
I saw that his eyes were still trying to open them slightly, but they were not closed.
Wang Xian sighed, reached out and brushed his eyes, turned to Meng Sui and said, "Let's go and have a look ahead."
This place is a village under the jurisdiction of Changle County. The village is not big, with only a dozen households in total. After walking around the village, I only saw blood on the ground and no living people.
The horse hoof prints left by the Turks spread from the village to the far west, and finally crossed the river.
Han Changmu's face was extremely gloomy and his voice was stern: "It seems that they attacked at night when all the villagers were asleep. No one can escape."
Helian Wenyuan had a sinister look on his face. The scene in front of him made him see the tragedy of that year. He and his brother also crawled out from such a mountain of corpses and sea of blood, and survived until now.
He struggled painfully, his voice trembling with pain: "Master, let's bury them."
Han Changmu heard the strangeness in Helian Wenyuan's voice, glanced at him lightly, and said, "How far is this place from the county?"
Helian Wenyuan didn't know what was going on and looked to the east in the distance: "This village is very close to the county. It only takes half an hour to urge the horse."
There was a faint glow of fire there, like blood spilled to the sky.
Several people's hearts sank, and they all felt a little ominous.
Han Changmu was silent, called Meng Suige and Gu Chen, handed them a seal, and said in a low voice: "It's not convenient for me to come forward in this matter. You two take the spare fish charm and go to the county government office to call someone. Explain the situation here clearly and ask them to come over to handle it. I will retreat to the outside of the village and wait for you."
Meng Suige and Gu Chen suddenly understood and rode away.
When Turks attack a village, they must notify the county government office. How to bury the victims, how to resettle the place, and whether the garrison needs to be mobilized all require the county magistrate to make an idea. Even though Han Changmu is a senior official of the fourth rank, he is not a local official, and he has no The sage's will cannot go beyond the county and handle matters arbitrarily, let alone conceal the matter. If someone is aware of it in the future, they will inevitably be impeached.
After giving these instructions, Han Changmu said hello, turned his horse's head, exited the village, and waited outside the village.
Helian Wenyuan didn't hear what Han Changmu said to Meng Suige, but he saw something he handed over, which was vaguely a seal.
If there is a seal, then he is a member of the government. If he is a member of the government, he still acts in such a sneaky manner, so he must not be pretending.
Helian Wenyuan didn't know much about the imperial court. He thought about it but couldn't figure it out.
Meng Suige came and went in a hurry and came back very quickly.
The horses neighed and sprayed pale mist in the cold night.
Meng Sui was covered in cold, and the fine beads of sweat on his forehead shimmered.
As soon as he opened his mouth, white mist swirled out, and his voice was very panicked: "Sir, the county, the county has also been attacked, the government office has been burned, the fire has not been extinguished yet, and my subordinates have not found the county. Order, I only saw the county magistrate organizing people to put out the fire. His subordinates told what happened here, and the county magistrate said that he couldn't spare any time to take care of it, so Gu Chen stayed to help put out the fire and save people."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this.
Han Changmu asked in a deep voice: "What is the situation now?"
Meng Suige shook his head: "On the way there, there was a village with nine empty houses, but my subordinates didn't bother to take a closer look. The situation in the county couldn't be explained clearly for a while, so I didn't ask in detail. I rushed back to report the news to the young master, but the Turks still robbed things, killed people and left without stopping as before."
Han Changmu breathed a sigh of relief. Being able to reach Changle County in one fell swoop was not something a group of Turks could do.
He swung his horsewhip. There was such a big situation in Changle County, and he could never leave it alone. He ordered behind him: "Quickly go to the government office."
Everyone rushed away without any delay.
Along the way, as Meng Suigai said, the village was very quiet, without any human speech.
The dew breeze at night was cool, blowing the thick bloody smell into the bone marrow, making people feel chilly all over.
The situation in the county was indeed as Han Changmu expected. It was a terrible situation after being looted.
There are collapsed ruins and broken walls everywhere. The traces of charcoal burnt by the fire are shocking, and the sounds of wailing and groaning can be heard endlessly.
When they saw the Turks robbing things and killing people, they withdrew. The people who survived trembled and came out, suppressing their panic and coming out to clean up the mess.
Han Changmu and his entourage passed by with their horses. These people had all seen the scene, but such bloody killings were rare. They suddenly felt heavy in their hearts and remained silent.
The fire in the government office has been extinguished, and a burning smell is coming out, and gray-white smoke is spreading.
The county magistrate was directing the government officials to grab useful things from the burned ruins.
The people were also busy saving themselves or others.
The only strange thing is that from beginning to end, I didn't see anyone who looked like a garrison.
Han Changmu was confused.
Either the garrison was transferred out early, or it was the first to bear the brunt of the attack and was so badly injured that it was no longer useful.
When Gu Chen saw Han Changmu and his entourage, he hurriedly whispered to the county magistrate.
The county magistrate turned his head, put down what he was doing, came over and saluted, and looked at Han Changmu: "This must be Mr. Chang Shi of Prince Han's Mansion. I have met Mr. Liu Guang, the county magistrate of Changle County."
After such a big thing happened and he had been busy working for half a night, the county magistrate's voice was hoarse, and his voice was shrill and hissing, like a broken drum leaking wind.
Hearing this, Yao Yao and others looked at Han Changmu in surprise. They didn't know how he got the seal of Prince Han's Mansion. He was really brave. The imposter dared to show off like this.
Han Changmu's expression remained unchanged, he nodded slightly and said gently: "It's a private matter to come out this time. You don't have to be polite. I have some people here who can help you deal with the aftermath. If it's convenient for you, could you move over and tell me what happened? ."
The county magistrate hurriedly smiled, nodded and said: "That's right, I'd like to thank you sir."
Han Changmu smiled and gave Meng Suige a few instructions, and then the people dispersed to help the government servants and the people clean up the mess.
He raised his eyes and saw Yao Yao turning to leave, so he quickly stopped her and said, "A Yao, come with me to hear what the county magistrate has to say."
Yao Yao paused and turned back with a wry smile.
She didn't know what went wrong. The more Han Changmu wanted her to follow, the more she wanted to avoid him.
Han Changmu smiled and followed the county magistrate into the distance.
Before Han Changmu could ask, the county magistrate made a grimace and poured out tonight's incident like beans from a bamboo tube: "Our Changle County has always been stable. Even when the imperial court used troops against the Turks in those years, we were not implicated. I passed. Who would have expected that something like this would happen today."
"But do you still remember when the fight started and how many people came?" Han Changmu pursed his lips and asked calmly with no expression on his face.
The county magistrate said: "About after passing Haizheng, there was movement outside. When the official came out to see, the Turks had already rushed in. In the chaos, it was hard to tell where they came from, but there were so many people. There are about two hundred people, all in Turkic armor."
Han Changmu's face turned cold. The Turkic armor of more than 200 people was definitely not targeting the small Changle County.
He thought for a while and asked again: "Why haven't you seen the magistrate?"
The county magistrate's expression became even more difficult: "Your Majesty the County Magistrate left for the state capital the day before yesterday." He looked sad: "This official is also unlucky. Your Majesty the County Magistrate walked in front of you, but behind you, such a big thing happened in the county. , how can I explain this to the magistrate?"
Han Changmu didn't want to get involved in these things, so he just listened to the whole story. He asked again: "Why didn't I see the garrison along the way?"
The county magistrate's face suddenly turned pale, as if he had seen a ghost, and he was trembling all over: "Sir, as soon as the Turks withdrew, I ordered people to go to the garrison. Who knows, who knows, there are two hundred people. , the garrison of 200 people was all hung headfirst from the tree."
"What." Han Changmu was shocked, his expression changed, and he and Yao Yao looked at each other.
The county magistrate's voice trembled: "Yes, sir, I went to see it. It's too scary."
Han Changmuqiang suppressed the ups and downs of his heart and asked, "Is it time to report it?"
The county magistrate nodded: "I have ordered the postmen to go to the state capital immediately."
Han Changmu didn't want to continue asking any more. He looked tired and said, "I wonder if there is any suitable place to stay in the county."
The county magistrate was stunned for a moment, then quickly recovered and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, the fire in the government office has been put out. I will take you to the inn to rest."
Han Changmu nodded, leaving Meng Suige and others to clean up the aftermath at the government office. He and Yao Yao followed the county magistrate to the post station to clean up.
It wasn't until the sky was dimming that Meng Sui returned to the inn exhausted after a few days, bringing back the smell of blood.
Yao Yao hurriedly brought over the mutton soup that had been simmering on the stove, filled a few bowls, and said with a smile: "This is cooked in the inn, and I ate it pretty well."
After Meng Sui was separated, Wang Xian and Chen Gui took it and said thank you.
Instead, Gu Chen took a big sip and narrowed his eyes properly: "It feels so good to drink something warm."
Yao Yao smiled: "Then eat quickly and go to bed after eating. Master said, let's rest here for the night and leave tomorrow."
Several people drank soup and meat, and their bodies warmed up after a few mouthfuls of hot soup.
