Outside the city, bonfires in the military camps of Xifan filled the Great Wall and beyond, and people were noisy, singing and dancing, killing cattle and sheep sent by the party, eating meat, and drinking and merry.

Inside the city, the lights were silent, the peaceful life had left, and the soldiers and people of Yanzhou City fell asleep in the dark night.

Pavilion Chief Wu's house, just against the city wall, is a very ordinary four-room three-frame house, and there are a few stone pills projected by the Xifan people on the side of the road, but fortunately, it did not cause harm to the two sons of the pavilion chief.

In the evening, Wu Tingchang was in a good mood, and when he returned home, he lifted the lid of the cellar, released the two sons who were hiding in it, and then asked Nuqiong to burn some soup cakes (noodles from the Tang Dynasty), and the family gathered around the fire to eat.

"I heard from Supervisor Xu Cang, the grain reserves in the city are quite sufficient, and when Fanzi retreats, life will be better." Wu Tingchang hula hula eating soup cakes, and then touching the hairy heads of his two sons, the eldest son Wu Wuchi is nine years old, buried in the soup cakes, and the younger son Wu Qingyan is six years old, still playing with the small drum while eating, and the sound of the dong dong non-stop.

Wuchi in Yanzhou is rich in the best green salt, which can be used directly as money.

Wu Tingchang felt that his two sons would not have any rich and noble lives in the future, so he directly named these two casual names.

Nuqiong was beside him, not eating the soup cake yet, and was helping the man wipe the blood stains on his shirt, bowing his head.

"I have passed the ten exams (ten years) as the pavilion chief, and I have to be promoted after the eight exams of the regular foreign officials, or enter the stream, this time I also thought about it, if the envoy really gave me face and promoted me to the Beijing Imperial Medical Department, people always have to go to a high place, I promised to come down and take you and the child to Chang'an, the days are always stronger than Yanzhou."

"Hmm......" Nuqiong has been talking for ten years, and she still doesn't like to talk much.

The next morning, the battle of the siege of Xibo suddenly fell silent, and the camp was surprisingly quiet after the cannons they had arranged threw a few stone pellets into the city from time to time.

Only experienced veterans understood that they told those around them that Fanzi was preparing for the fiercest attack.

It's a moment of calm before the storm.

At the head of Yanzhou City, the sound of the Qiang pipe sounded, and the Tang soldiers with dusty clothes and frost looked at the mountains stretching to the south, eager to see the banner of their own reinforcements.

Wu Tingchang and Nuqiong climbed the wall of the West Gate again today, bandaging the wounds of the soldiers and providing medicinal herbs, working non-stop.

At this time, Nu Qiong looked at the ancient Great Wall in the distance opposite, and the red lanterns on Ma Chongying's banner were different from yesterday and the day before yesterday: the law was that there would be one less every day, and now there was only one left.

Suddenly, a thunderous sound exploded.

"Fanzi flying cannon hit the south gate wall!"

"The envoys have gone to the south gate, and they all go with me."

The entire city of Yanzhou was full of chaos again, and the assassin Shi Duxiquan and the main generals put on their armor and climbed to the south gate to organize defenses.

As a result, it was fought until dusk, the army of Xifan was really ruthless, and used flying cannons and goose carts to frantically "tear" the city defense of the south gate of Yanzhou City, and the south gate of the city was once collapsed more than ten zhang, and the situation was extremely critical: Du Xi's eyes were full of bloodshots, and on the one hand, he ordered most of the soldiers and people in the city to come here to repair quickly, and on the other hand, he personally held the knife, fought to the death with the soldiers, and beat the waves of Tibetan soldiers who climbed up.

"Hold on, wait, the heavenly soldiers will come to reinforce Yanzhou in less than three days!" Du Xi raised his morale with a dumb voice, and asked the military government to take out all the money and silk to reward the soldiers who defended the city.

After night fell, the fierce fighting at the south gate was still endless: there were many torches above and below the city, Ma Chongying personally came to the south gate to supervise the battle, and instructed waves of servant party and Tuyuhun soldiers to erect cloud ladders at the expense of casualties, and to storm upwards at the expense of casualties, while the warriors of Xibo pressed the formation behind them; And in the city, the soldiers and civilians of Yanzhou were also red-eyed, throwing stones down, and demolishing the wood and stone of the houses and barracks on the edge of the city to fill and renovate the city walls.

Under the city wall of the West Gate of Wuyuan, in the house of Pavilion Chief Wu You, the Pavilion Chief pulled the clothes of the two children, uncovered the cover of the cellar, and then held a candle to illuminate the several steps leading to the interior, "Wuchi, take care of my brother here, my father and my mother went to the city to help defend it." ”

Wu Wuchi nodded, put his arm around Qingyan, and stuffed a dongdong drum into his hand, and then the two children went down the steps, crouching in the darkness very obediently, looking at their father and mother with four bright eyes.

At this time, Nuqiong suddenly burst into tears.

Wu Tingchang looked at the child, and tears were rolling in his eyes.

Qingyan cried and asked his father, when will this battle end?

The elder brother Wuchi said to his brother very oldly, don't be afraid, the envoy said, soon there will be heavenly soldiers from Lingwu City and Gyeongju City here, then Fanzi will be defeated, we will be saved, and then we will be able to eat the soup cakes made by my mother.

"Well, don't be silent." Wu Tingchang said, and slowly closed the cover.

In Wu Chi's eyes, the light became narrower and narrower as the cover fell, and finally there was only a gap left, his eyes widened, desperately clinging to the gap, and the only remaining light was reflected on his dark pupils: how much he wanted to see his father and mother again!

"Nuqiong, we have to hurry, the fighting at the south gate is too fierce, and many people are injured. You go there with the medicine bag on your back first, and I will give the key to the West Gate Tower to Marquis Wang Yu, and then I will come to the south gate to meet you. Alas, there are too few doctors in the city, I can't help but throw down the West Gate ...... for the time being," Wu Yu tied his forehead, then put on his ochre robe, and took the copper belt from the wall to tie it, and then sighed, holding a certain tone of hope, "The soldiers are all attacking the South Gate, the West Gate should be safe tonight, the Buddha blesses - Nuqiong, hand me my horizontal sword." ”

After speaking, Wu Tingchang turned around from the wall.

His woman, Nuqiong, had already taken up her medicine bag and taken her husband's knife and walked towards him.

"You go out first, take care...... Yes! Before Wu Tingchang finished speaking—Nu Qiong suddenly pulled out the horizontal knife from its scabbard, grasped the hilt with both hands, and took a step forward suddenly—Wu Tingchang felt a sharp pain in his chest, and the blade passed through his chest and slammed into the wall behind him.

"Father!" In Wuchi in the cellar, his pupils contracted and trembled, and he saw with his own eyes that the dearest mother stabbed the chest of the dearest father with a horizontal knife.

Father's shoulders swayed, pressed against the wall, his face as white as paper.

"Nu Qiong, Nu Qiong ......" Wu Tingchang lowered his eyes, saw his blood flowing out along the horizontal knife, and then looked at the woman who had been with him for ten years, his face was full of painful confusion.

Ten years ago, when the army of Xifan withdrew, the people of Yanzhou found her under a tree by the white pond, when she looked at the direction of her army's departure, at a loss, and the kind people asked her why she was left behind, she said that she was a lowly mediocrity, and she was originally a soldier who came to the camp with the army to herd cattle and horses, but after staying with the dogs and cattle for a long time, she fell ill - Cao Chang, to whom her camp belonged, was afraid that her disease would spread to the whole team, so he threw her down.

It was Wu Tingchang who took her in and helped her cure her illness, and then lived with her for ten years.

"Nuqiong, it's been ten years...... Why would you? Wu You gasped in pain, and asked Nuqiong, who was crying loudly, before dying.

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