He Yan smiled and looked at her: "Is it because I saved those captives that I'm a true hero?"
"A true hero will see things that others can't. There are many men who speak up for men, and there are many women who speak up for women. "Yi Luo said:" But there aren't many men who will speak up for women. "
He Yan looked at her serious expression and couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. But she wasn't a real man, so she couldn't really give Yi Luo what she wanted.
This was the way of the world. It wasn't something that could be changed in a short period of time.
Seeing that He Yan was silent, Yi Luo took the opportunity to say: "Lord Xiao He, after you left last night, many aunties in the city came to ask me about you. The county magistrate's wife also asked about you. They all said that if you could come back alive, they would like to tell you about their daughter. She doesn't have to marry you. She can be your concubine. "
He Yan couldn't react in time. Facing Yi Luo's hopeful gaze, He Yan could only use his usual excuse: "Thank you for your love, but I already have a sweetheart."
"You already have a sweetheart?" Yi Luo was a little disappointed, but soon became curious: "Who is Lord Xiao He's sweetheart? Is she beautiful? What kind of person is she? "
He Yan's mouth curved into a smile: "Yes, she is very beautiful. Her temperament seems very cold, but she is a very gentle person."
This young man had always looked calm and gentle, but at this moment, he really showed the shyness and nervousness of a young man his age.
Yi Luo was even more curious: "From what you said, this girl should be very outstanding. Then does she like you? "
He Yan was stunned and shook his head.
"She doesn't like me?" Yi Luo was shocked. "Xiao He is skilled, handsome, and kind-hearted. Furthermore, he was personally conferred the title of Mu An Lang by His Majesty. Why is he not fond of such a person?"
He Yan shrugged, "Because he's good, and there are people better than me around him. And I have my own things to do, so I don't want to implicate others."
Beautiful Silk looked at him and giggled. "Lord Xiao He, you're good at everything, but this is the only bad thing about you. As long as your sweetheart isn't married yet, it means that things aren't set in stone yet. Then, snatch. Back then, when Master wanted to pick a concubine, there were dozens of sisters in our courtyard. Every day, I would appear in front of Master, and every day, I would dress up meticulously. This concubine was the one who fought for the position of Master's favorite concubine. If Lord Xiao He really likes that lady, then don't bother about anything else. Someone better than you might have a higher status than you, but she just had to lose to you. Honest women are afraid of pestering men. If you pester her day and night, who knows when that lady might fall in love with you. "
He Yan didn't expect to hear the phrase "honest women are afraid of pestering men" here. He thought of Jiyang's anxiousness at that time and secretly laughed. Yi Luo seemed to be very enthusiastic about helping her to win her sweetheart's favor and wanted to talk endlessly. He Yan could only stop her. "Miss Yi Luo, thank you for your good intentions, but right now, we can't even protect ourselves. If the Rundu can be defended and the Uto chased back, I will definitely do as you say. But right now … let's forget about it. "
Hearing this, Yi Luo also sighed and said, "That's true."
She suddenly fell silent and looked gloomy. He Yan felt a little apologetic. This lady was still in high spirits when she came, but after hearing his words, she became so sad. When he thought of this, he took out an apricot from his bag and handed it over. "Don't worry, we will definitely defend this place."
When Yi Luo saw the apricot in He Yan's hand, she was startled at first, but then she happily took it. "Lord Xiao He, why do you still have candies?"
"I casually grabbed them when we set off from the Liang Province Guards." He Yan scratched his head.
When they left Jiyang, Cui Yuezhi grabbed a lot of Jiyang's specialty candied fruits for her. Xiao Jue didn't like to eat these, so she moved all of them to He Yan's room. When they left, they mostly brought dry biscuits and dry rations. They didn't bring many snacks like these, but He Yan still picked some up, thinking that they wouldn't take up much space anyway.
Yi Luo carefully licked the apricot and happily said to He Yan, "Thank you, Lord Xiao He. Ever since the Uto came, this concubine has been starving and full. I don't even have rice to eat, let alone candies, I don't even dare to think about it. Now that I have received Lord Xiao He's blessing, I'm really happy. "
He Yan said, "You don't even have rice to eat? It can't be, right? The Uto besieged the Rundu for only a little over a month. How can the city be in such a state? "
Ever since she came to the Rundu, she and Wang Ba had been eating the dry rations that they brought from the Liang Province Guards. She knew that the Rundu's rations were tight, but that was because they had to be used by the soldiers guarding the city. These few days, she was so busy that she didn't even have time to stroll around the city. If Yi Luo hadn't said it herself, He Yan wouldn't have known that the Rundu was so tense.
One had to know that even Yi Luo didn't have enough to eat, let alone the common people.
Yi Luo bit the apricot and looked at her with wide eyes. "Lord Xiao He, you don't know. The Uto soldiers besieged the Rundu for more than a month, but last year, there was a snowstorm in the Rundu. After the snowstorm, there was a famine. Even if the Uto didn't come, the common people in the Rundu would have had a hard time. Not to mention that the roads out of the city are blocked. There wasn't much food in the city to begin with, and all of it was given to the soldiers. The common people have long been starving to the point of eating grass and tree roots. A few days ago, there were already people who died of starvation. "
"What!" He Yan suddenly sat up. "Is this true?"
"I wouldn't dare to lie to Lord Xiao He." Yi Luo said. "Otherwise, our Rundu is rich in grapes. Why would Lord Xiao He only give Lord Xiao He a bowl of grapes on the first day you came? It's really … That was the last bowl of grapes in the Rundu."
The famine in the city was a big deal, but Li Kuang didn't even tell her about such a serious matter!
If that was the case, there was no point in defending the city. Li Kuang was waiting for He Rufei, who wouldn't come. On the other hand, the common people of the Rundu were waiting for endless despair and hunger. They were waiting for death.
He Yan lowered his eyebrows and put on his shoes without saying a word. Yi Luo asked, "Lord Xiao He, what do you want to do?"
"I want to see Li Kuang."
Li Kuang was checking yesterday's battle report in his room when he suddenly saw He Yan striding in from outside. He was a little surprised and asked, "Didn't you go back to your room to rest? Why did you come out again? "
He Yan sat down on a chair at the side. She was indeed very tired and would feel better if she sat down. She looked at Li Kuang and said, "I'm here to ask, what are Lord Li's plans after we burned the Uto's provisions last night?"
Li Kuang looked at He Yan and cupped his hands. He said sincerely, "Yesterday's victory was all thanks to Lord Xiao He. Now that the Uto has run out of provisions, I plan to continue waiting for reinforcements. The Uto will definitely be more anxious than us. If they attack the city by force … We can set a trap. What do you think, Lord Xiao He? "
He Yan said, "I don't think it's appropriate."
Li Kuang frowned. "Why?"
He Yan stared into his eyes. "Lord Li intends to enter a stalemate with the Uto. This is not wrong, but how long can the people in the city last? I'm afraid that they will starve to death before reinforcements arrive. There is not much food left in the city due to this year's snow disaster. Why did Lord Li hide this from me? "
Li Kuang heard this and did not answer He Yan. Instead, he asked, "Who told you this?"
"There are so many people in the Rundu. Does Lord Li think he can hide it?" He Yan's eyes were sharp. "Even if he can hide it from one person, how can he not know when more and more people starve to death?"
Last night, when she led the 500 elite soldiers of the Rundu out of the city, she felt that the soldiers of the Rundu were thin and weak. But at that time, she only thought that it was the result of defending the city for days. She only understood when Yi Luo told her the reason.
If the army was already like this, it was a big taboo in war. Defending the city until the people in the city starved to death was not something that had never been written in history books. That was hell on earth. She did not even dare to think about it.
Li Kuang was silent for a while. Then, he asked He Yan, "What do you mean?"
"We can't continue to defend the city. My lord and I will lead the Rundu soldiers and fight to the death with the Uto outside the city."
"Impossible!" Li Kuang answered without thinking. "Taking the initiative to attack is the worst plan."
"We already took the initiative to attack last night."
"Last night, we had 500 elite soldiers. But the Rundu has 30,000 soldiers. This is the last hope of the Rundu. If we do as you said and fight to the death with the Uto, the city will fall and all the people in the city will fall into the hands of the Uto! Brother He and the Uto have fought twice. It's impossible that you don't know how cruel and vicious the Uto are. These people will suffer a fate worse than death if they fall into their hands. I'm the commander of the Rundu. Even if all the people in the Rundu starve to death, it's still better than dying under the torture of the Uto! "
"Who said that we will definitely lose?" He Yan frowned. "The war hasn't started yet. Anything can happen. We can also be the victorious side. "
"30,000 against 100,000, how can we win?"
He Yan said, "In the Battle of Jiyang, didn't we also win with fewer people?"
Li Kuang turned around and said coldly, "I'm not the commander-in-chief of the Right Army. You're also not General Feihong. We can't win this kind of battle with fewer people."
"But I can win!"
Li Kuang turned around and looked at her as if he was looking at a child who didn't know how high the sky was. He shook his head and said, "Brother He, I admit that you're somewhat powerful. You also have a way to deal with the Uto. But war is very cruel. It's a matter of the lives of the people in the city. I can't use the lives of the people in the city to earn your military merits. It's fine if we die. After all, we only have one life. But the city gate cannot be broken. I won't take the initiative to fight the Uto. If they want to attack the city, we will defend. If they are in a stalemate, we will wait for reinforcements to arrive. "
Li Kuang was like this in the past. He was very conservative when he fought. He Yan also knew this very well. But at that time, she was only a deputy general who led tens of thousands of Fuyue Army. Now …
"This is the Rundu. Even if Sir He is Mu An Lang, without my permission, you can't order the Rundu's troops. So, don't waste your energy! "Li Kuang said coldly.
He Yan took a deep breath. This Shi Tou's temper was bad and stubborn. Even after so many years, it still hasn't changed. She asked, "Fine. If we do as Lord Li said and don't attack but retreat to defend, but there is no food in the city, sooner or later everyone will starve to death. You and I both know the situation of the Rundu's troops. If this continues, even if the people don't starve to death, the troops will starve to death. For the Uto, if so many Rundu's troops die without sacrificing a single soldier, won't it be too easy for them? "
"The troops won't starve to death." Li Kuang's face darkened, "I have my own way."
He Yan asked, "What's your way?"
Li Kuang looked at her and said, "You don't need to know." After that, he ignored He Yan and walked into the inner room.
He Yan looked at his back and felt uneasy. Food was not a problem that could be easily solved, but Li Kuang seemed to have a plan. Could it be that there was a secret granary in the Rundu city? But if there was such a granary, how could the Rundu's troops and the Rundu's people suffer from hunger?
He Yan shook her head and planned to discuss with Jiang Jiao and his men. As soon as she walked out of the door, she bumped into someone. It was the Rundu's county magistrate, Zhao Shiming.
Zhao Shiming awkwardly wiped the sweat off his forehead. He looked into the room and said, "I, I wanted to go in. But when I reached the door, I heard you and Lord Li quarreling, so I couldn't go in." He looked at He Yan's face and comforted her, "Xiao He, Lord Xiao He, please don't take Lord Li's words to heart. He has such a temper. He is as stubborn as a Shi Tou. He has a good heart, but he doesn't dare to gamble with the lives of the Rundu's people. Lord Xiao He, you came from Liangzhou, so you might not know. We people in the Rundu … really don't dare to take this risk. "
"I'm not angry." He Yan sighed and said, "I just think it's inappropriate."
She looked at Zhao Shiming again. Zhao Shiming was the one who hired craftsmen to make the scarecrows and masks. Zhao Shiming, the county magistrate, seemed to be very popular in the Rundu. Now that Li Kuang was dissatisfied with her, He Yan couldn't ask Li Kuang for help. Jiang Jiao and his men had always been by her side, so they couldn't be separated. This Zhao Shiming … should have people around him who could be useful, although there weren't many.
"Lord Zhao." She thought for a moment and bowed deeply to Zhao Shiming. "I have something I need your help with."
Zhao Shiming was startled and said, "Lord Xiao He, please speak your mind."
"Lord Zhao, do you have people around you who can be used? For example, bodyguards. I want to borrow two of them and do something for me." After a pause, she continued, "However, this matter needs to be hidden from Lord Li. He can't know about it."
Zhao Shiming looked at the young man in front of him. Whether it was for public or private reasons, he had spent more time with Li Kuang, so he shouldn't help He Yan hide this from Li Kuang. But on the other hand, he believed that this young man didn't have any bad intentions. In fact, he was one of the purest people in the world.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to take the risk last night to rescue those women from the enemy's camp.
Zhao Shiming didn't have to think for long before he said, "No problem."
The sky in the Rundu was gloomy, as if the sun hadn't shone for a long time. The entire city was filled with a rotten and old aura.
Two naked boys pushed a corpse out of a house. This corpse was their grandfather, who was placed on a straw mat. His entire body was so thin that every bone in his body could be seen clearly … He had been starved to death.
This kind of thing wasn't rare in the Rundu recently. Ying Xiang walked past them and looked at them with a trace of pity in her eyes.
They didn't have much food left.
"Fourth Young Master, if we stay in the Rundu forever, we will also become like this." She reminded him softly.
Chu Zhao didn't say anything and just quietly walked forward.
Prime Minister Xu's people had already left the Rundu long ago. Staying here was the same as waiting for death. No one would take the initiative to enter this city that was bound to fall. Prime Minister Xu's people couldn't be found here. Even if he was the Fourth Young Master of the Chu family, when the day came, there wouldn't be any difference.
Death was an extremely fair thing. It wouldn't be merciful for a moment just because of one's status.
"We …" Ying Xiang still wanted to say something.
"Let's wait a little longer." Chu Zhao interrupted her.
Wait? What were they waiting for? Ying Xiang was silent for a moment before she asked, "Fourth Young Master, if you are really worried about Miss He, why don't you take her with you?"
"She didn't even inform Xiao Huaijin. She traveled thousands of miles to the Rundu alone just to save the people in the Rundu. Why do you think that she would abandon the people in the city and go with me?" Chu Zhao smiled. He Yan was a person. If everything was settled, she would probably leave quietly. The more dangerous the situation was, the more impossible it was for her to leave alone.
He thought that this was stupid, but sometimes, he couldn't help but want to continue watching. He wanted to see what kind of shocking things this girl could do and how far she could go.
Ying Xiang lowered her head as she walked. Her voice was soft. "Fourth Young Master, you can't let go of her?"
Chu Zhao smiled faintly. "I just … don't want to see her die so easily."
If she was alive, there would probably be more interesting things in the world. If she was dead, there would only be one kind of woman in the world.
As they were talking, Ying Xiang suddenly said, "Fourth Young Master, Miss He …"
Chu Zhao followed her gaze and saw He Yan standing at the end of the street. She was looking at a house in a daze. There was a woman sitting at the door. She was digging in the soil, trying to dig out some edible grass and tree bark.
She just stood there quietly. Her eyebrows were furrowed, making it impossible to see her expression clearly. Chu Zhao walked over and said, "Brother He."
Only then did He Yan see the two of them. She replied, "Brother Chu, Miss Ying Xiang."
Ying Xiang bowed. They walked forward together. Chu Zhao asked, "Brother He, you just had a fierce battle with Uto last night. Why didn't you rest in your room?"
"It's nothing. I just came out for a walk." He Yan replied.
Ying Xiang asked, "Has Young Master He eaten? If not, I still have some dry food in my bag. "She sighed." The Rundu is like this now. We don't have any hot food. "
He Yan shook her head. "Thank you, but I'm not hungry."
She really couldn't eat.
Chu Zhao thought for a while and said, "Brother He, are you worried about the people in the Rundu? Is it because there's no food in the city?"
He Yan looked at him. "Brother Chu, you know about it too?"
"I came to the Rundu earlier than you." Chu Zhao shook his head and smiled. "I have plenty of time. All the people in the Rundu are the same."
"If Brother Chu can persuade Prime Minister Xu …" He Yan asked tentatively.
He Yan had always been suspicious about Chu Zhao's identity. Although Chu Zhao was Prime Minister Xu's student, he didn't seem to work directly with Prime Minister Xu. Indeed, the reason why he was able to gain face in front of Chu Linfeng was because of Xu Jingfu. However, Chu Zhao often made choices that were contrary to Xu Jingfu's original intentions.
For example, in Jiyang, Chu Zhao sent the military defense map.
He was a very opinionated person. It was best not to be enemies with such a person. As long as he didn't show any hostility, she could only be careful. Just like how Chu Zhao wanted to use her, if she could use Chu Zhao to get close to He Rufei, it wouldn't be a bad idea. After all, He Rufei was now crazy to the point of inhumanity.
If He Yan wanted to be promoted under Xiao Jue in the past, she had changed her mind a long time ago. She decided not to involve Xiao Jue in this and stay away from Xiao Jue. She would try her best to do this on her own.
Chu Zhao's smile faded a little when he heard this. After a while, he shook his head and said, "Brother He, I'm not omnipotent. Prime Minister Xu … won't listen to my advice."
He sounded a little wronged when he said this.
He Yan raised his eyebrows. The relationship between Xu Jingfu and Chu Zhao seemed to be very meaningful.
"I can't help the people of the Rundu. The only thing I can do is to accompany them. However, what does Brother He plan to do? "He looked at He Yan." You know that the Rundu can't hold on for long. "
A city without food could only hold on desperately. Li Kuang didn't explain the situation to her immediately. Now that he was unwilling to confront the Uto head-on, this path seemed to be a dead end.
"Will you give up?" He asked.
The man's gaze was gentle. It was like the warm wind in the capital during the third lunar month, but it also carried the coldness of spring. He was sober, but he was secretly looking forward to it.
He Yan didn't avoid his gaze. She looked straight into his eyes. "Brother Chu, what do you want me to do?"
Chu Zhao was stunned for a moment. Instead, he smiled. "Why are you still asking me?"
He Yan slowly walked forward. "I thought that Brother Chu already had the answer in your heart."
After a while, his voice came from the side. "I've never seen anything that can stop Brother He's footsteps. I've also never seen anything that can make Brother He lose hope."
"You think that I'm omnipotent."
Chu Zhao said, "That's not true. No matter how omnipotent Brother He is, you can't solve the Rundu's current emergency, can you?"
He Yan fell silent.
Chu Zhao continued, "Brother He, do you know that in the past, when the famine was at its worst, the people in the city would even exchange children for food in order to survive? Cannibalism is an especially terrible thing. If the Rundu continues like this, that kind of situation might happen. "
He Yan lowered her head and chuckled softly. Then, she looked into the distance.
The streets were empty. The shops had already closed. Most of the edible things had already been found and eaten. It was clearly a lively summer day, but the Rundu looked barren. Even the trees on the roadside were bare. The leaves had already been plucked by the hungry people to fill their stomachs.
If it wasn't for the hot sun, it wouldn't look like summer at all. It would look more like winter. This also didn't look like the Rundu in He Yan's memory. It was small and lively, the grapes were sparkling, and the wine was mellow.
The war changed everything.
She said softly, "Do you know what's even more terrible than cannibalism?"
Chu Zhao was a little surprised. "What is it?"
He Yan didn't say anything. She just looked at the lifeless city. She felt powerless and sad.
That kind of thing … If she could, she hoped that it wouldn't happen in her life. She didn't want to see it in her life.
That was a real hell on earth.
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
