It was late at night in Yicheng, and the chaos around the city wall finally stopped.
It was like a screaming duck that was suddenly choked and stopped.
Because in the city, especially in the streets and alleys where the dignitaries lived together, there were countless soldiers with sharp swords and cold blood. They broke into the houses of some noble families. Go, don't listen, don't say anything, just close your visor and kill everyone you see!
The wind is fierce and cruel, colder than the late autumn wind.
For the entire second half of the night, screams, begging for mercy, and curses were heard endlessly. All the nobles from the aristocratic families who had tried their best to secretly send their children out of the city in the first half of the night could only hide under the quilts deep in the house. I trembled and prayed to all the gods whose names I could think of.
But praying cannot make the disaster that should come disappear. The people who should disappear in this night have disappeared forever, while the rest of the people who are frightened spent the night in fear.
Don't dare to make any more changes.
The next morning, what woke people in these neighborhoods was the chirping of scavenging birds and the strong smell of blood.
No one dares to open the door of their house at such a time, as it seems that the world outside the house is already full of monsters, or something even more terrifying.
The garrison troops leaving the city entered the streets and alleys and declared martial law throughout the city.
So on this day, there was no court meeting, no official business, no market, no merchants and travelers. The city was completely bare, except for the garrison and the steel giant-like Mountain Shaking Army. It seemed to fall into silence.
Clean and tidy.
But it happened that on this day, Lijun Qingqi, who had been weighing on everyone's mind for who knows how long, arrived very early to set up camp outside Yicheng. After noon, smoke and dust in the west could be seen in the distance. All over the sky, the army marched, together with a large amount of labor and transportation supplies, so vast and dense that the soldiers on the city wall were shaken.
By the time the sun turned west, Lijun's army had already set up camp west of Yicheng. Countless tents were like mushrooms growing out of thin air on the ground, shining with a heart-stopping light under the slanting sunlight.
It was at this time that the Xia Palace, which had always been silent, even too silent, came out with the decree of the three prefects.
As soon as the decree came out, the results shook the whole city.
The first order was sent to the Shanshan Army and the Yicheng garrison. The Grand Administrator stated the current situation of Yongchang. He Yucheng was lost first, and then Xingcheng was lost. The land of only two cities was unable to resist the more than 300,000 elite troops of Lijun. In addition, when the barbarians invaded, in order to avoid the civil war of the human race and to save the lives of the soldiers, the prefect decided to surrender his title and surrender to Lijun. The prefect of Lijun has promised the entire Yongchang army, from the generals to the soldiers, military-level pay. Everything remained unchanged. After accepting the reorganization, they belonged to the Yongchang New Army of Lijun. The whole army was silent before receiving the order from Hufu, the prefect of Lijun.
As a result, tens of thousands of elites inside and outside Yicheng were in huge shock, waiting at a loss for their unknown fate.
And hidden under the confusion about the unknown are complex emotions that cannot be explained or inferred at all, including anger, unwillingness, frustration, sadness, and even contradictions that cannot be explained to others. of joy.
After all, people die in war.
In the face of Lijun, how many people died in Yongchang?
If the first edict caused a shocking wave within the tens of thousands of troops, the impact of the second edict was much greater, but on the contrary, it was this second edict that had the greatest impact , but it can almost be called calm.
This final edict issued by Meng Jiaoyang, the prefect of Yongchang in the Summer Palace, to all the people of Yongchang County, was repeatedly sung in the empty streets in the Yicheng area through the drake-like voices of many palace attendants. But in Yicheng, which was under strict martial law, millions of people seemed to have no reaction.
Only the sound of the decree resounding from all sides of the city was left, like a mistake being mentioned over and over again.
In the edict, the prefect said that the Meng family of Yongchang, as the only ruler of Yongchang, has lived for fifty-two generations. After briefly describing the main achievements of the past dynasties, he claimed that his achievements were
It is hard to hope that our ancestor Xiang Bei could be as capable as his ancestors. In this era of turmoil and unrest in the world, he and the Meng family are no longer able to shoulder the responsibility of defending the land. In order to prevent more people from being displaced and to quickly restore stability to Yongchang, The prefect is willing to bind himself for the sake of the people, take all the sins upon himself, and surrender to Lijun, in order to ensure that the people are innocent and safe.
Compared with the waves and undercurrents of the first two edicts, which had a far-reaching impact on Yongchang, the third edict was like rain pouring into the river and sea, clearly and without a trace.
This edict was copied into many copies by the palace attendants and delivered directly to the houses of the nobles of the still-existing aristocratic families. After being tremblingly received by the servants of the porter, it did not cause any unnecessary disturbances.
It was as if after facing the bloodshed on the partition wall last night, all the powerful people had a enlightenment and were open-minded about anything other than survival.
A silent noise seems like a ridiculous farce, but it is real.
As for dusk, the curtain finally came to an end.
The palace attendants, whose voices were hoarse from shouting, returned to the summer palace from all over Yicheng, while the accompanying palace guards and Yicheng garrison returned to their respective camps.
In a dead silence, the 20,000 Mountain Shaking Army silently came to the square in front of the Summer Palace to assemble like a steel jungle. They remained motionless for a long time. As the sun set to the west and half of the sky turned red, they remained silent. The closed door of the summer palace slowly opened.
Meng Jiaoyang, the prefect of Yongchang County, rode a white horse and tied himself up. He wore plain white trousers on his lower body and a plain ribbon on his head. His entire upper body was naked, and his white fat flesh turned red from the cold. He was the first to take the lead. Appear in front of the Mountain Shaking Army!
Seeing all the soldiers, they felt sad in their hearts.
And behind him, everyone including Meng Wan'er, whether it was the Meng family's children or the palace attendants and guards, were all dressed in plain clothes, raising white flags, carrying coffins, and walking out of the summer palace like a funeral procession. out.
They crossed the square, passed the Shanshan Army, walked through the empty streets of Yicheng, exited the city gate, and headed west.
Lijun's army camp detected the movement in the direction of Yicheng, and the army quickly came out of the camp to form an array. Tens of thousands of elites, with various banners looked from a distance, like the mountains and forests in autumn. Under the setting sun, it seemed a bit dazzling, and Lijun Qingqi was even more so. They came out in full force and ran toward Yicheng, looking like dragons.
Meng Jiaoyang ordered the Shanshan Army to stop one mile outside the city, but he and his party continued to go west. Just like this, in pure white, under the gaze of countless soldiers above and below the city, they slowly moved towards Lijun Qingqi. !
At this moment, this picture is frozen in the hearts of many people.
But in Luochuan's eyes, he only saw Meng Jiaoyang.
Seeing that he was shivering with cold, he still managed to squeeze out a smile towards himself that he would never forget.
He seemed to be smiling.
More like crying.
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