When Guanqiu Xing approached Dingtao City again, the city was still silent. He called to the city twice before someone finally responded to him. The voice was so mute that he couldn't hear it at all. He had no choice but to report his name and inform him of the arrival of reinforcements outside the city. After saying that, he would hang his name certificate on an arrow and shoot it to the top of the city.
Unexpectedly, after a while, the city gate slowly opened. Just as Guan Qiu Xing was about to lead his soldiers in, he saw a dozen ragged people walking out first. They looked at him carefully and asked in a hoarse voice. He asked, "Is there anything to eat?"
Guanqiu Xing was a little surprised at first, but then he suddenly thought: After guarding for so many days without any foreign aid, they must have been drinking gruel for a long time! He immediately called his subordinates to come over, took the dry food and bacon placed on the horse, and handed them to these people.
There was not much food, and it was too dry and hard to swallow. Unexpectedly, the guards looked at it as if they were delicacies. After thanking them repeatedly, they ate it in just a few mouthfuls. Then he waved to his colleagues from behind the door. Soon, almost four hundred people were crowded at the city gate, scrambling to share the dry food. When they were chewing, Guanqiu Xing discovered that these people had lost some of their teeth, and some even had only four or five left. But even so, they still chewed the dry food hard, and some of them had their mouths full of blood. Not a cry of pain.
And when he entered the city, he realized what a hellish scene it was. As far as the eye could see, all the houses in the city had been demolished, and all they could see were the foundations of previous houses and the dug-out loess. All the trees that could be seen had been stripped of their bark, and there was very little green grass on the ground. They turned and walked up to the tower, only to find that the corners of the city were filled with corpses lying on the ground. They were all skinny, leaning on each other, and they were densely packed like withered grass in autumn, as if they would all float away if the wind moved. Only then did Guan Qiu Xing realize that there was no longer a bird, a mouse or even a grasshopper in this silent city. He looked at the blood-stained city head and almost groaned in his heart: What kind of person can hold on to this level?
When Chen Chong arrived at the city, it was already dusk, and in front of him, nearly five thousand Han troops were entering the city one after another, either hauling corpses outside the city one by one, or digging and filling corpses outside the city. The sky was getting a little dark in the big pit, so people raised fires everywhere, but the light of the fire intensified the gloomy color and brought a lot of confusion to people.
Knowing that Chen Chong had arrived in front of the city, Yang Mi, who was in charge of the city's affairs, walked quickly and reported to him the details of the city.
Chen Chong asked straight to the point: "How many casualties are there in the city?"
Yang Mi replied: "The household registration in the city was originally 26,032, and the number of soldiers was 8,119." He glanced at Chen Chong's face, and then whispered: "The current population is 3,260. Five, two thousand and thirty-seven soldiers, almost all of them wounded."
Chen Chong was silent, taking the eucalyptus slip in Yang Mi's hand with both hands, and looking through it like a dead tree.
At this time, someone suddenly reported to Yang Mi that there were guards in the city who had been looking for food from them. They didn't give it, so those people made trouble in front of the fire camp and blocked the door, hoping that Yang Mi could come to the rescue. Yang Mi was afraid that Chen Chong would be angry, so he immediately pointed at the man and cursed: "Isn't it just some grain and rice? Giving more will kill people? Ah? They are all national heroes, so you can't compare a little grain and rice?!"...
Unexpectedly, the man said aggrievedly: "Sima, we also know! But today they ate too much. Some people even ate sixteen bowls of soup cakes and died from exhaustion! There are seventeen more people like this. If we continue Come on, hundreds of people will die!"
[To be honest, I have been using @ recently.
And they gradually dispersed.
Only then did Chen Chong realize that Zang Hong was not seen here. He turned to ask Yang Mi, and then found out that he was recuperating in the tower. When Chen Chong thought about the last time the two met, nine years ago, a warm current silently surged out of his heart, and he immediately set off on his horse.
But when he stepped into the tower and met Zang Hong again, he was surprised to find that he did not recognize Zang Hong at all.
In the past, Zang Hong was slightly taller than Chen Chong, but his voice was extremely loud. When he heard it, it was like pouring a basin of water, which immediately made people sober. Moreover, his steps were huge, and his arms and legs moved like a lion, and every move was extremely powerful. But when Chen Chong saw Zang Hong on the couch again, he found that he was sitting leaning against the wall, facing the west with his eyes slightly closed. He was as thin as a withered bamboo, and the cheekbones on his face were also protruding, looking very decadent. And on his left eye, a scar extended from his eyelid to the corner of his mouth. It looked very scary, and he no longer had the heroic spirit of the past.
Cang Tou, who was serving on the side, said that Zang Hong only drank a bowl of porridge today and couldn't drink it anymore. He kept asking when the dragon head would arrive. When Chen Chong heard this, the warmth in his heart couldn't help but turn into desolation. He thought sadly: How could the heroic man who could intimidate the servants in Beijing back then become like this?
He asked Cang Tou to bring another bowl of porridge, while he sat beside the couch, only to find that there was a sheathed dagger beside the pillow. He turned the dagger on the eucalyptus, and then asked Zang Hong softly: " Ziyuan? Can you still bend the bow? How about going to Jinyang to kill the northern captives?"
When Zang Hong heard the voice, he slowly opened his eyes and found that it was Chen Chong. He shook his head slightly and asked, "Ting Jian, how are you and His Majesty doing?"
Chen Chong was silent, knowing that he was a loyal minister, but he didn't expect that he cared to this extent. What should he say at this time? No matter how you say it, it doesn't sound good, but Chen Chong didn't want to deceive his friends, so he finally told all the previous experiences one by one. After hearing this, Zang Hong asked again: "So, you have made up your mind to help Liu Xuande become emperor?"
Chen Chong replied in a low voice: "The world is not at peace, and the time has not yet come."
Zang Hong sighed and said in a low voice: "What do you think about the marriage between the princess and you?"...
Chen Chong smiled bitterly and said, "What else can I do? If I marry the princess, I will only cause the two families to suffer again."
Zang Hong shook his head and said, "No, at least I can save your majesty's life."
Chen Chong did not expect Zang Hong to say these words. He shook his head slightly and said, "Since I don't kill him now, I certainly won't kill him in the future. You are worrying too much."
Hearing Chen Chong say so confidently, Zang Hong showed a hint of self-mockery on his face. He stretched out his right hand to show Chen Chong. Chen Chong saw several cuts and thought he was going to describe the pain of the fight. Unexpectedly, he heard him say: "No. Thinking like this, life is unpredictable and it is difficult for people to control themselves. If I were not in this city, I would not know that I could kill my wife and children with my own hands."
Speaking of this, Zang Hong's eyes rose slightly. Chen Chong looked over, but saw nothing. He then heard Zang Hong say leisurely: "Ting Jian, I have no other wishes in my life, and I don't have much friendship with Liu Xuande. I just want to It’s just a matter of being loyal to the country and asking for your life. I have achieved the former, but can you fulfill my wish for the latter?”
Seeing Chen Chong's silence, he suddenly opened his mouth and laughed. Only then did Chen Chong realize that his teeth were almost falling out, which made him extremely angry. Zang Hong grabbed Chen Chong's hand fiercely and said to him solemnly: "Ting Jian, your temperament is so similar to mine. It's just that you are more civilized and people can't see it. But I have known for a long time that you have a high position and power. But you are unwilling to make changes. One day, you will be like me, and sooner or later you will make yourself miserable for the rest of your life."
Chen Chong was stunned when he heard this. He had heard such assertions from Yang Biao before, and unexpectedly, his long-lost old friend also spoke like this. He couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied. He was about to refute, but Zang Hong had already continued.
He no longer sat sideways, but lay back on the couch, and said sentimentally: "Your life is too hard, and you will probably die very late. This is not a good thing. Only now do I understand Kang Ju's words, all life is suffering, and all sentient beings are suffering. It’s a sin. To live is to suffer, but perhaps you can find peace after death.”
Chen Chong smiled at him and said, "No matter how hard your life is, you can crawl out of this hell. You can't die." He then said, "I have told Xuande that you have made such great achievements. It can be said that you are the best in the court. You can be made a Taiwei, named Marquis of Dingyang, and have thousands of households in the city."
Hearing this, Zang Hong waved his hands and said, "Forget it, forget it.
I won’t talk about that today. Just let me rest first! "
Chen Chong also knew that he was tired and tired of hearing this, so he nodded, stood up and prepared to leave. Just as he was about to go out, Zang Hong suddenly sat up again and said loudly to Chen Chong: "Ting Jian, don't forget about marrying the Tian family! Think about it carefully!"
Chen Chong turned back to look at him and found that this tough man's eyes were red and his whole body was trembling slightly. He was obviously very concerned about this. Chen Chong couldn't bear to make him sad, so he nodded and said, "I will think about it carefully. Ziyuan should rest early."
When Zang Hong heard this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes became firm and his tone gradually became calmer. Finally, he smiled slowly at Chen Chong and said, "I'm sorry."
It seemed that he was in a better mood, Chen Chong thought, and called his guards to go out and go downstairs. He then put on his stirrup and mounted his horse, intending to go to the camp to find Liu Bei. Counting the time, he should arrive. But halfway through, Chen Chong's eyes suddenly flashed across Zang Hong's mind, and he remembered seeing him somewhere. Yes, that was in Lishi, in the Zhonghuang Taiyi Temple, and it was Peng Tuo's suicidal look in his eyes!
Chen Chong immediately rode back and hurried to the tower. Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived downstairs, he heard sad cries upstairs. His heart sank, and he walked quickly upstairs. He saw the soldiers outside the house kneeling together. When they saw Chen Chong, they said, "Zang Shijun committed suicide!"
Chen Chong turned his head and saw the short knife inserted into Zang Hong's neck. He leaned over and reached out to touch it. The blood had stopped flowing, but was still warm. Cang Tou, who served Zang Hong, cried and recounted Zang Hong's last words to Chen Chong. Zang Hong said: How can I exchange the lives of my wife, children, and common people for my wealth and future? Then he committed suicide with a knife.
After hearing this, Chen Chong trembled all over. He felt that he was completely old. It was also at this time that he realized that his tears had already dried up. .
Chen Ruicong
