Zheng Qiushan's face turned white, he quickly got dressed and got out of bed, and before he had time to fix his hair bun, he was dragged out of the room by Zheng Chongzhi's cloak. There was also a mess outside, Zheng Kaizhi and his former concubine sister also appeared at the gate of the courtyard, and dozens of guards were busy with the whole team, and they were in a hurry.

"What's going on now?" Zheng Qiushan asked at a general who ran in.

The general's face turned pale and he gasped: "Run, run, the streets of Dongcheng are full of cavalry." Our people were still sleeping, so they served them. They are all cavalry of the Shence Army, and all of them are cavalry of the Shence Army. It's all over the streets. It's going to be here soon. ”

Zheng Qiushan scolded angrily: "Dog thief Wang Yuan, it is really not trustworthy. Quickly send the order down, gather the troops and horses and break through to the west city. Hurry, hurry! ”

An hour later, on the hillside outside the west city of Dengzhou, the Zheng family's father and son and dozens of guards were besieged by thousands of cavalry regiments, where could they escape the pursuit of the cavalry? The traces of their escape from the West Gate had already been reported to the Shence Army by the enthusiastic people of Dengzhou. So their escape route is not a secret at all.

Zheng Qiushan stood on the ground with gray hair scattered and disheveled, holding a blade in his hand and constantly scolding the cavalry of the Shence Army who were riding war horses around him.

"What are you going to do? I am Zheng Qiushan, the Lingnan Provincial Jiedu envoy who went to Lingnan Province to take up his post, and the Jiedu envoy of the imperial court, what are you going to do? Rebellion? Don't come closer, don't come closer. ”

A white horse rushed briskly in front of Zheng Qiushan more than ten steps away, and immediately a burly young man with a slight beard on his lips and a slightly immature face looked coldly at Zheng Qiushan who was wielding a blade with a silver spear in his hand.

"Zheng Qiushan, don't shout, your time of death has arrived." Immediately, the boy said coldly.

"Who are you? What about Wang Yuan? I want to see him. How can he not keep his promise, and will he not teach the world to laugh at him? ”

"My name is Liu Jun, the general of the cavalry commander of the Shence Army. My stepfather doesn't have the strength to chase you. But my stepfather has something to bring to you. Listen up. My stepfather said that he did not like people who betrayed their Lords for glory, and that such people did not know when they would betray others, so it was a curse to remain in the world. My stepfather also said that he didn't like people who bargained with him. I could have spared your life, but you had to bargain with someone to get the most out of it, so you got the promise, but ...... Lost a chance to live. Liu Jun said coldly.

"This dog thief, how can he do this? How could he be so insidious? This dog thief ......," Zheng Qiushan gasped and scolded.

"Zheng Qiushan, are you still embarrassed to scold others? What are you personally? By the way, my stepfather also said that he actually wants to spare your life, but he is afraid that my godmother will be unhappy, and he doesn't want my godmother to be unhappy, so this is also the reason why you have to die. ”

"Who is your godmother? What does it have to do with me? Zheng Qiushan shouted.

"My godmother Cui, it's inconvenient to say her name, but you must know who she is. Her family was originally a Jiangnan clan, but she was later framed. Zheng Qiushan, I don't need to say more. ”

Zheng Qiushan's face was like ashes, of course he knew that Cui Ruoyu was married to Wang Yuan, but he was already frightened just now, so he asked.

"Come, send them on their way." Liu Jun shouted.

The cavalrymen surrounded them with shiny swords, and the Zheng family father and son knew that they were unlucky, and they were already scared to the point that their legs and feet were sore.

"I'm fighting with you." Several guards rushed forward with shouts, the Mo knife flashed, and several people had different heads, under the Mo knife of the cavalry, they didn't even touch each other.

"That's it, there's no need to resist, it's useless." Zheng Qiushan threw down his blade in a dejected manner, brushed his messy hair, and tidied up his scattered clothes.

"Daddy, we don't want to die, we don't want to die." Zheng Kaizhi and Zheng Chongzhi cried with tears in their eyes.

"Son, accept your fate, everything is fate." Zheng Qiushan sighed.

Zheng Kaizhi and Zheng Chongzhi fell to the ground and cried. In the midst of crying, Zheng Qiushan looked up at Liu Jun directly, and said in a deep voice: "General Liu, before I die, I have a question. Can you answer? ”

"Please."

"Along the way, we kept sending people to reconnoiter the rear, and it snowed so heavily in Chang'an, how did you catch up with us? And our scouts were unwarned. Zheng Qiushan said.

Liu Jun smiled and said, "Zheng Qiushan, you pay too much attention to the back of your buttocks." We didn't chase you from behind. ”

"Then did you grow wings and fly here?"

"Of course not. We've been waiting for you around this for a long time. Not...... Let's put it this way, while you were still waiting for the imperial decree, I led the cavalry south on the orders of the commander, and our task was to block you on the road. Originally, we were waiting for you in Chuzhou, but you actually took this road, and we hurried over after getting the news, and almost let you slip away. Chuzhou is only 400 miles away, and there is only some light snow in the south. We left in the afternoon the day before yesterday and arrived in the early hours of this morning, two days and one night, not too fast, not too slow. Liu Jun said lightly.

"Dog thief Wang Yuan, he didn't intend to keep me alive from the beginning, I was deceived by him. Abominable. ”

"yes, you're stupid, do you blame others? You've done so many bad things and you still want to get out of it? It's naïve. Don't say much, Zheng Qiushan, it's time to hit the road. Liu Jun crooked his neck, and several cavalry pressed forward.

Zheng Qiushan raised his hand and said, "Wait, I still have one last request." ”

Liu Jun frowned and said, "It's really troublesome, say it quickly." ”

Zheng Qiushan pointed to his trembling daughter and said, "I know that you are unwilling to spare the old man and Kai Zhichongzhi, but the little girl Rong'er is a noble concubine and is no longer my Zheng family, can you spare her." ”

Liu Jun frowned and said nothing, as if he was a little hesitant.

Zheng Qiushan hurriedly said: "Don't hide it, the little girl is pregnant, and she is pregnant with the blood of the Li family in her belly, so you can't kill her." ”

"She's pregnant with Li Mao's baby?" Liu Jun looked up in surprise and asked.

Zheng Qiushan felt that Liu Jun's eyes seemed to be shining with a strange light, and he suddenly realized that he was afraid that he had made a mistake.

Liu Jun and the others really had no intention of killing women and children, and Wang Yuan's order said that the women of the Zheng family could leave their lives and be kept in captivity in Chengdu later. After all, women and children are not in trouble, and men have done sins, and wives and daughters do not need to be implicated. But captivity is a must. But Zheng Qiushan actually said that his daughter was pregnant with Li Mao's flesh and blood, but this hurt Zheng Rong'er.

Zheng Qiushan sensed that something was wrong, but it was already too late. Liu Jun stretched out his spear and pointed it at Zheng Rong'er and commanded, "Kill." ”

A cavalryman rode up, the Mo knife was swung down, and after a scream, Zheng Rong'er's head was in a different place.

"You bunches." Zheng Qiushan roared angrily and rushed towards Liu Jun. Liu Jun's spear poked out, the tip of the spear pierced Zheng Qiushan's chest, and the barrel of the gun turned and pulled back, all in one go. Blood gushed from Zheng Qiushan's chest, and his body fell to the ground.

"Except for the old woman, all the others were killed. We had to hurry back, it was too long. Can't catch up with the attack on Luoyang, attack Taiyuan. ”

Liu Jun hung up the spear dripping with blood and rode away. In the screams behind him, Zheng Kaizhi, Zheng Chongzhi, and more than a dozen Zheng family members were all slaughtered.

……

On the afternoon of the third day of Zheng Qiushan's evacuation from Chang'an, heavy snow fell from the sky. The 100,000 troops of the Shence Army were divided into three roads in the heavy snow falling from the sky, and the three gates of Kaiyuan, Jinguang and Yanping in the west city of Chang'an opened into the city.

After the infantry entered the city, they quickly occupied all the gates, palaces, streets, barracks, etc. Prior to this, only the five thousand soldiers and horses of Gao Xianzhi, who had previously entered Chang'an, controlled these places, and it was obviously understaffed.

Before the time came, Wang Yuan and Gongsun Lan, surrounded by 5,000 personal guard cavalry, rode into the city from Jinguangmen.

The streets are a messy scene, and although the folk squares in Xicheng and the road fortifications connected to the streets have been demolished, the traces are still there. Wang Yuan couldn't help but be slightly surprised when he looked at the places where the fortifications were connected and the horses and sandbags were piled up between the streets and people's squares. It can be seen that Li Guangbi is ready to fight to the death, and if he had not won by strategy, the outcome of this battle would be extremely unpredictable, and he did not know how many people would have died if he won.

The street extends in front of you, and you will arrive at the West Market after the Gude Square, and from the West Market, onlookers will begin to appear on both sides of the street. In the heavy snow, they crowded on the side of the road one by one, hunching their necks, and watched in confusion as the cavalry of Wang Yuan and others came from the street. There was no obvious joy or sorrow on the faces of the people, and there was numbness in their eyes. One by one, they stood on both sides of the snowflake-dancing streets, like clay sculptures and wood carvings, and only stared blankly at the soldiers and horses coming into the city.

For the people of Chang'an City, they have actually lost their ability to judge. In the past few years, the city of Chang'an has been full of fire, and it has changed hands repeatedly. Today it is the rebels of An Lushan, tomorrow it is the soldiers and horses of the imperial court who will attack, and then this imperial army and horses will be driven away by other imperial soldiers and horses. The acts of conscription and arrest, drive and build cities, and plunder of goods and food were almost continuous. Most of the people in Chang'an have no strong families, and their families are surrounded by walls and have fallen into abject poverty. It was originally the richest place in the Tang Dynasty, with a population of one million people. Today, the population of the people is less than 400,000, and most of them are homes for the elderly, weak, women and children, struggling on the verge of death.

Wang Yuan frowned and slowly rode his horse past the street, his eyes swept over the people who stood quietly in the snow like dead trees beside the street, and an indescribable sense of desolation surged in his heart. The wars in the past few years have brought great harm to the former Datang, and Chang'an is a microcosm. This situation cannot continue. We must put an end to this catastrophe immediately and restore people's livelihoods quickly.

"Why force them to come out to meet them? There's no need for that. Wang Yuan frowned and asked Zhao Qing, who was riding a horse behind him.

"Captain, we didn't force them to come out to greet them, they wanted to come out on their own. Gao Dashuai just issued a notice in the city, informing Wang Dashuai to enter the city today. Zhao Qing said in a deep voice.

Wang Yuan stopped talking, and only silently urged the horse forward.

After crossing the Yong'an Canal on the east side of Xishi, the street became wider, and there were more people on both sides of the street. The Guards had to send a part of the cavalry to maintain order in order to avoid accidents.

When he walked to the north gate of Yanshoufang in the southwest corner of the imperial city, a figure suddenly rushed out of the street, stumbling and falling on the muddy street, shouting to himself: "Is it really Wang Jiaerlang?" Is it really Wang Jiaerlang? ”

Several guards reacted quickly, and instantly galloped forward, and the two guards jumped off their horses and dragged them away to the side of the road while grabbing the bloated figure, and scolded in their mouths: "Don't block the road, otherwise you will be killed." ”

The man's hair was disheveled, and his robe was tattered, muddy, and dirty, but it was a woman's clothes. Even though she was grabbed by the arm and dragged to the side of the road, she still twisted her body and turned her head backwards, shouting in the direction where Wang Yuan was: "Is that Wang Jiaerlang?" ”

Wang Yuan was very surprised, originally there were many such things, in Chengdu, in other cities, Wang Yuan often encountered this kind of people who ran out and called their names. Most of the time, Wang Yuan chose to ignore it. But the woman in front of her was called the title of Wang Jiaerlang, which made Wang Yuan feel a little strange.

"Bring her to me." Wang Yuan shouted.

The two guards had no choice but to half-support and half-drag the man in the opposite direction and bring the man to Wang Yuan's horse.

The woman looked up at Wang Yuan, her eyes flashed with a strange light, and she pointed to Wang Yuan on horseback and shouted, "Are you really the Erlang of the Wang family?" ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "Who are you?" Do we know each other? ”

The woman tore off the headscarf that wrapped her hair, revealing her gray hair that was as unkempt as withered grass, and pointed to her face and shouted, "Wang Jiaerlang, don't you know the old body?" I'm from Wing On Fang. ”

Wang Yuan suddenly recognized this face from the outline of the blurred face full of wrinkles, and exclaimed, "Aunt Wen? Is Aunt Wen buying dumplings on Cross Street? ”

The woman nodded again and again, tears welled up in her eyes, and she cried out: "Yes, yes, Wang Jiaerlang has not forgotten his old body." I'm Aunt Wen. ”

Wang Yuan jumped off the horse, stepped forward to help Aunt Wen, looked at her wrinkled old face that had long been unrecognizable, and exclaimed, "Aunt Wen, why are you here?" How did you get old like this? ”

Aunt Wen burst into tears, shook her head with a wry smile and said, "It's good to be able to live to this day." In the past few years, there have been officers and soldiers for a while, and thieves for a while, and the toss is endless. The husband is dead, the two sons are dead, and the daughter-in-law is ...... Ay. The shop can't be opened. With a ten-year-old grandson, the east family asks for a bite of rice every day, and the west family asks for a mouthful of soup. What else? It's nice to be able to survive today. If it weren't for this grandson, I would have wanted to die. ”

Wang Yuan stretched out his hand to support her arm and said in a low voice: "Aunt Wen, you have suffered, and the villagers have suffered. ”

Aunt Wen suddenly knelt on the ground, and said with her hands: "Wang Jiaerlang, you are now a big official, I heard that Your Majesty has listened to you, can you tell those people not to fight anymore, give our people a way to live." I heard yesterday that you are coming into the city today, and I have been waiting for you here early in the morning, just to say this to you. I just want to ask, are you still going to war? Still not Latina anymore? Can there still be people alive in the back? Can you still live? If I still fight, I will go home and jump the moat with my grandson, and in another year or two, he will also be dragged to serve as a soldier, and die on the battlefield like his grandfather and grandfather. Wang Jiaerlang, you give the eldest lady a good word, can our people still live? ”

Wang Yuan hurriedly stretched out his hand to help Aunt Wen up, but Aunt Wen was unwilling to get up. I don't know when, the people on the street on the side of the road also knelt on the ground, and the black pressure knelt until the end of the street. Mrs. Wen's words are what they say in their hearts, what Mrs. Wen wants to ask is what they want to ask, and what happens to Mrs. Wen's family is really common in these people's homes. So, they want to know the answer. They all knew that the Wang Yuan in front of them was the most powerful person today, and what he said would definitely work. Only from his mouth can we get authoritative answers.

The reason why all the people came here today in the wind and snow was not only because of Wang Yuan's prestige in the Tang Dynasty, but also out of fear. They feared that if they did not show respect and awe, Wang Yuan would force them to survive like the rest of the people who entered the city. But at the same time, they also want to know the answer to a question. This question has been asked by Aunt Wen for them just now.

Wang Yuan quietly looked at the situation in front of him, and the feeling in his heart was indescribable. In the face of the black people kneeling in the snow, that kind of despair permeated the surroundings. But in this despair, there is a longing for life, and there is an expectation for the future life. Just like Aunt Wen in front of her, what she hopes is to raise her grandson to grow up safely, which is her last goal in life, and the only flame of hope that supports her to live. Like her, thousands of people in the world who have suffered in the war to this day all hold the same idea. They have been suffering so far, hoping that the day will come out of this suffocation, the war will subside as soon as possible, and they will live a quiet life as soon as possible.

Wang Yuan leaned over to help Aunt Wen up, patted the snowflakes falling on her shoulders for her, and at the same time untied the cloak behind her and put it on for her. Turning around to face the people on the street, he said in a deep voice: "Fellow villagers, fathers and elders, you all get up." I know that you have suffered a great deal and have been through so much. Not only you in Chang'an City, but also the people in Luoyang, Chengdu, Yangzhou, Youzhou, and even all parts of Datang have suffered great hardships in this catastrophe, and they are all suffering in dire straits. But what I want to tell you is that from today onwards, all this will come to an end. I, Wang Yuan, hereby swear that as long as I Wang Yuan lives for one more day, I will never allow chaos in the world to regenerate. I will do everything in my power to protect you, to return you to a life of peace and contentment, and to drive away the fear from your hearts