son-in-law

Chapter 236 The Siege ([-])

The setting sun is like blood.

The dog was already tired, and it limped around on the blood-stained dirt slope, then went to lie down in the small yard below the dirt slope that had collapsed halfway, and licked its limped hind legs .The owner was lying next to it, and when it turned its head, it looked at the long wooden pole inserted into the owner's body, arched its nose forward, and then shrank back with a "woo".

Dogs, yards, corpses, arrow shafts, and blood, the noise came from not too far away.

It is an old dog, so old that I don't think it has many years to live. It has been living with its old master in the small yard near the big wall, and occasionally goes out for a walk. Slowly coming back, what it likes most right now is lying on the bluestone slab under the tree by the threshold and basking in the sun, squinting its eyes and taking a nap in the sun and the chirping of cicadas. When talking babblingly, it will occasionally make a comfortable "woo" sound.

Until a few days ago, it saw the birds fly away, and then the earth shook, shaking the big wall down.Then people came and went, all things it couldn't understand, and the place where the big wall collapsed was filled with the screams of those people for several days.On that day, dense crowds of people swarmed in through the opening, and countless people came out from one place and another. Those crowds collided with each other. The old master stood at the opening of the yard and watched the faint There was no movement, and when it was rambling about something it didn't understand, it just fell down without warning.

It saw the wooden pole propped up by the old master, smelled the ominous smell of blood, and the blood gushed out.It ran over quickly, sniffing and dragging at the old master, trying to make the old master move again, but the old man just opened his eyes and glanced at it, and then his eyes froze forever.

The blood was still pouring out, and it ran to the street and climbed to the dirt slope behind it, screaming.Some blood-stained people rushed over, it screamed and rushed to bite, but it was already old, its leg was broken by the handle of the knife, and it whimpered to the side.Some rushed into the yard and then out again.After a long time, a large number of people were driven out from the breach again, and the hustle and bustle was boiling over there. Only the small yard on this side became cold, and only the old dog walked back and forth slowly here.

After that, people rushed in from time to time at the gap in the big wall, and many people fell down there.It has not eaten for several days, and occasionally looks out on the mound, dragging its crippled leg, and when it can bark, it barks a few times, and when it gets tired, it goes back to the ground. In the yard, watching the flies born on the body of the old master.

The weather was hot, and the blood-like setting sun finally submerged between the billowing clouds and the mountains. A red maple tree outside the courtyard had half-wrinkled leaves, whirling in the heat waves and stench of the evening. When it was getting dark, the old dog Climbing up the soil slope again, the figure and the soil slope merged into a lonely silhouette in the orange color.

At a certain moment, the dog straightened its limbs on the dirt slope, and looked out into the distance with its head.Countless arrow shadows rose into the sky like locusts.

One of the arrows shot through the old dog's body, and the body rolled down, and the scattered arrows landed on the slope, and then, outside the city, someone shouted Get up: "Holy Duke—"

Someone shouted again: "The law is equal! There is no superiority or inferiority! The Holy Duke has arrived—"

"Holy Duke! It's here—

Countless voices merged into one piece, rumbling towards this side!
*********************
It was another dull evening, and riots inside and outside Hangzhou had almost become part of the daily routine.In Taiping Lane, Ning Yi sat on the roof of an uncollapsed wooden building, looking towards the sunset and the city not far away.The water vein near Taiping Lane is a small tributary of the Grand Canal. Due to the blockage of the upstream and the fierce war these days, the river water has also become turbid.

The many days of chaos since the earthquake, internal and external troubles, and poor circulation in the city, at this time there is a faint smell of decay.

Ning Yi went downstairs when several people rode over from outside Taiping Lane.Among the few people who came over, the leader was Qian Haiping, a nephew of Qian Xiwen, but he was about 40 years old at this time. He held a civil position in the Hangzhou government and had considerable power. Fang La attacked the city, and he was responsible for many things in the city. He had a certain intersection with Ning Yi a few days ago.

He has been to Taiping Lane several times in the past two days, and the people guarding the entrance of the alley basically know him and let him in.When he saw Ning Yi, the middle-aged man, who seemed to be busy in the world, was not too polite. He cupped his hands and took out a note from his body: "Nephew Ning Xian, there is no need to be polite. The bandits made a sneak attack, caught fire, and killed more than ten people. We got the news later..." He lowered his voice, "Now we can preliminarily determine the mastermind of the other party..."

"But Qian Shishu is not sure yet." Ning Yi looked at the note, frowned slightly, and then stretched out his hand to invite the other party to enter the room.Su Tan'er bowed under the eaves not far away, but did not come over.

A few days ago, Ning Yi used his desperate strength for the first time, merging the forces that can be persuaded and used by several nearby blocks. This is an activity for himself.When he saw Qian Xiwen again, he casually said some ideas. The other party had obviously been active in Hangzhou for a while, and at this time, he was obviously a master of planning and planning, and wanted to defend the city while attacking outside the city. The idea of ​​picking people out in a formal way is not reliable.

But since the other party has come to the city and has an understanding, he will definitely confirm some places that are really suitable for attack.The most feared thing in the world is the kind of lunatic who comes without warning. For example, when Ning Yi was kidnapped by Gu Yanzhen, it was really simple, and there was no clue before.But if the other party also has a lot of information, the range of choices they can make is often much smaller. When you can't find it all at once, you can invite you into the jar instead.

Where to do it can make the current Hangzhou city more chaotic, so you might as well show the enemy's weakness.For this matter, all Ning Yi can know is the port in the south. As for more detailed things, people who are familiar with Hangzhou should do it.Let them sabotage, or even lure them to sabotage, first prepare enough aftermath measures, and grasp the other party's rules of conduct in the process.After Ning Yi said these, he cited a few simple plans. Deliberately messing up the south of the city pier was one of them. He said that it was already the third day of the war, and in the afternoon of that day, the pier in the south of the city was indeed destroyed. Chaos was provoked, and an official wanted to run away. The bandits hiding in the crowd took the opportunity to attack, and the spies hiding in the crowd also grabbed the other party's tail for the first time.

This thread was cut off after an hour, but the aftermath was handled properly, and no major disturbance was caused after all.Then Qian Haiping also came to look for Ning Yi under Qian Xiwen's urging, and handed over some ideas and information to Ning Yi for a while.Ning Yi only has experience in the overall situation at the moment, but he is extremely cautious about plans that need to be combined with local folk customs and understanding, and does not speak indiscriminately. Many times, he will discuss it with Su Tan'er.Qian Haiping and his subordinates couldn't help feeling admiration for this couple after experiencing it several times.

After reading the news on the note, Ning Yi also called his wife over to have a look.Su Tan'er just nodded silently, and returned Qian Haiping after reading it.In the past few days, Qian Haiping's subordinates have set up a large net in the city, and now it has shrunk to a certain extent, and it is possible to determine the information of several masterminds.

"...These people are almost all well-known green forest masters in the past. That Shi Bao is extremely powerful with a big sword. It is now certain that he was the one who killed Vice General Yuan in the fire in the north of the city. Two days earlier In the city, I saw that tall, thin, long-haired, shawl-shaved man dancing with a big spear should be Wang Yin. This man is ruthless, and his martial arts skills are high, not inferior to Shi Bao. Moreover, Wang Yin has outstanding strategies. Now we suspect that the leader in the city at this time may be It is him. But there is another possibility. The Seven Buddhas under Fang La's hand, known as the Buddha Commander, is the person who ranks next to Fang La in the rebellious army. Some people even say that he is knowledgeable, can understand the past and the present, and is a Zhuge Liang-like figure. It's a pity that we haven't been able to confirm whether he is in the city or not, otherwise, if we can catch him and catch them all, we will have Fang La's arm broken."

As Qian Haiping said so, he entered the room and sat down. When Su Tan'er brought the tea himself, he also nodded his thanks: "It's Liu Dabiao who makes people feel a little strange. This person was quite famous in the southwest green forest. People claim to dominate the sword. But I have a piece of news here, saying that Liu Dabiao died a few years ago. It said that Liu Dabiao had a rough and bold personality, with a beard on his face, but he had a strange temper. No matter winter or summer, he wears a short jacket. Although Lihengxian nephew saw him that day, the man in his 40s did not have a beard. Moreover, he joined the rebellion army with a young girl as his Lord, is this girl Fang La's daughter? If so, it would be a great achievement to capture and kill her."

At this time, there was already a lot of information on the table in the room, and Ning Yi had basically read it many times, and added the note to it at this time: "I'm afraid it will take a day or two, the three caves of the cunning rabbit, the city is too chaotic at this time, they We can only determine one gathering point, and if we act rashly, we are afraid that most of them will return in vain.”

"Well, these people are all masters. There is no perfect plan at this time. I'm afraid they will kill them if they do it." Qian Haiping also nodded, and then remembered something and laughed, "Oh, yes, I heard that immediately Heng and the members of the Lou family had some festivities, so I asked someone to knock on it when I was free today, haha, I smashed the door of his house, and let me express my gratitude for my nephew."

Ning Yi frowned, and looked at Qian Haiping, who was smiling happily: "A few trivial things, the grievances are not big. At this time, we are going to be united to the outside world. If Uncle Shi does this, I am afraid it will..."

"Hey, it's okay." Qian Haiping waved his hand, "The Lou family said they have some influence, but in the eyes of my Qian family, they are just like chickens and dogs. Uncle didn't know about Li Heng's humiliation before, but now he knows It's my business. If he has complaints, that's fine. Uncle took the opportunity to wipe him off for you! I know that Li Heng is kind, haha, but there is no need to worry about this. Right now, Li Heng's business is my Qian family's business ...Okay, I have nothing else to do today, so I will leave, and I hope to hear the good news tomorrow."

He got up with a smile, and walked out of the room accompanied by Ning Yi. At this time, the setting sun was like blood, and he could only hear the shouts near the western city, boiling up in the distant sky.

"Here we go again..." Qian Haiping shook his head, sighed, and left bored.

Ning Yi looked at the sky and frowned.

*****************
"The Holy Duke has arrived. It seems that within a few days, the city will be broken!"

Someone was talking, in the setting sun, this is a relatively complete yard, Shi Bao rushed in, laughing loudly.

Wang Yin, with long hair, was sitting by the well scrubbing the steel gun, not knowing what he was thinking earlier.At this time, I looked to the west and listened carefully to the sound of the wind, and then I didn't seem very happy: "I thought that these two days should be broken, but I didn't expect it to be delayed until today. I have been doing things in the city for the past few days. Something strange."

"What's strange? How can there be any strangeness?" Shi Bao was stunned for a moment, then sat down beside Wang Yin, and patted his shoulder, "Hey, you are always like this when you are a stone cutter. I am so happy, and the city is in chaos, I think it is reliable. Foshuai said before that you scholars just think too much, so scholars rebel, and it will not work in ten years. Oh, I didn’t mean that..."

Wang Yin smiled, swung the steel gun out in a straight line, all the water droplets on the gun burst open, and there was even a bang in the air: "Is it a mess? I think something is wrong...the mess is not enough , although there is no problem every time I act, but I feel that the result is always unclear after that. It's like being hit in a cotton ball, the force is going out, and someone will always make up the gap, which makes me feel , and someone is watching us secretly..."

"No way, the stone cutter, are you sure?"

"Oh, maybe I was thinking too much. I originally wanted to break the city from inside to outside before the arrival of the Holy Duke, but now that the Holy Duke has arrived, it will be easier to break the city. Next... By the way, Xu Fang, Gou What about Zheng, Liu Dabiao and the others?"

"Hurry over here, the news has been delivered."

While they were talking, someone opened the door and came over in a hurry. This person was named Xu Fang, and he was quite familiar with Shi Bao and Wang Yin. After entering the courtyard, he said solemnly, "I'm leaving."

"what's up?"

"Liu Dabiao was recognized and followed, and a government spy was caught. The matter... is a little serious."

Shi Bao and Wang Yin stood up at the same time, then grabbed their weapons and walked towards the door while pretending.A group of people went out of the yard, walked through the ruins, streets, and pedestrians. After turning two streets, the streets began to light lamps one after another. Some people who lost their families lived and cooked by the roadside, and children came running run away.They entered another courtyard. After the sunset, the courtyard was a little dark. On one side of the corridor under the eaves, a girl in a blue floral dress and a black gauze hat was hugging her knees, shadowing quietly over there. Sitting inside, the big man carrying a long wooden box on the other side was washing his hands by the well. His blood was soaked in the grass. An oil lamp that looked like beans was lit in the front room, and there was blood on the floor of the room.

Wang Yin walked into the room first, and saw a broken corpse. When he turned his head, the middle-aged man who had washed his hands had already come over, clapped his palms, and whispered something.Wang Yin frowned gradually, and laughed again after a long time, their voices could be vaguely heard in the night wind.

"Ning Liheng..."

"I'm married...ha..."

"There are people like this in Hangzhou..."

"I really want to meet him..."

After a while, Shi Bao threw up the precious saber in his hand and caught it again.

"Hey, how was tonight?"

(End of this chapter)