The city walls of Bayjiang County were not high, on the low city walls, some cracks had already appeared on the rammed earth, sections of the city walls were overgrown with weeds, able-bodied men armed with spears and bamboo arrows were running around on top of the city walls, their expressions extremely nervous.
Right now the sky was completely dark, as far as the eye could see, there were torches all over the mountains and plains outside the city, like a sky full of stars. Several large bonfires were burning below the city walls, and there were people constantly dragging over whole chopped trees to be used as firewood to throw into the bonfires, the fire sprouts almost leapt up to the top of the city walls, the heat so hot that a large area of the city walls could not be stood.
Above and below the city walls, it was brightly lit.
The Miao people of the two caves, three streams and nineteen stockaded villages completely believed in Yang Fan. The Miao people were straightforward, once they believed in a friend, they would never easily doubt their friend's intentions. They believed in the Ke Man tribe leader, so towards this tribe leader who gifted the wolf fang necklace to Yang Fan, they also believed without a doubt.
That necklace could not become a keepsake in anyone's hands, before the Ke Man tribe leader gave it away, he had long engraved some secret markings on it that outsiders could not understand, these markings were interlinked with some of the Xieman tribe's markings, only their shaman or tribe leader who was proficient in their tribe's language would be able to understand those markings, and from there confirm if the bearer was the recipient.
Yang Fan was indeed the recipient, so his character was worthy of trust.
But ever since the shouts from the top of the city walls, telling them to stop attacking the city, that they would definitely give them an explanation, it had been a long time, there was no other indication from the city walls, and they still did not see Yang Fan appear, the people below the city walls started to lose their patience.
Their original plan with Yang Fan was to attack the city, take advantage of the chaos to attack, create enough momentum and then retreat before daybreak, leaving the rest to Yang Fan. Today's unforeseen event was not what Yang Fan had agreed with them beforehand, Yang Fan still did not appear, the leaders could not help but be suspicious, "Is this really Yang Fan's idea or is it the Song family's scheme, are they intending to delay until daybreak?"
The Cave Masters, Stream Masters, and Stronghold Masters gathered together to discuss it. Most of them decided not to wait any longer. If there was no further indication from the city walls, then they would continue attacking the city.
Among them, Hu Fei's father's attitude was the most intense. He had four sons in his family, but only one girl. When a family had more sons, their daughter would become the most precious treasure. His daughter had been captured into the city and had fallen into the hands of those beast soldiers. If she wasn't rescued in time, only God knew what kind of unimaginable tragic fate she would encounter. As her father, he was more anxious than anyone else.
The two sons he brought with him, who were also Miss Hu Fei's two elder brothers, were also holding miaodao in their hands. They were full of murderous aura, incessantly tempting the leaders to agree with their father's opinion.
The two cave masters who were in charge of the meeting could no longer keep their composure. He snapped a wooden stick that was used to stir the fire in half and said sternly, "Ignore them. Attack the city!"
As soon as the order was given, the shouts and fighting sounds below the city walls rose and fell, and it was especially clear under the quiet night sky.
In the oppressive darkness of the night, simple scaling ladders were carried out. When they reached the city walls, they were already clearly illuminated by the bonfire. They deliberately used the billowing heat waves produced by the huge bonfire to make it impossible for people to stand on top of the city walls. They chose these places to climb up, but their movements were also easily seen by others.
Below the city walls, bamboo arrows flew towards the city walls. The people on top of the city walls also retreated a certain distance, avoiding the surging heat waves and throwing bamboo arrows down.
When the rain of arrows poured down, the warriors attacking the city walls had already raised their vine shields. This kind of bamboo arrow was light as a feather, but its penetrative power was not strong. It relied entirely on the poison refined on it to injure people, so the vine shields could completely block it.
Song Chumeng was wearing rattan armour, nervously guarding the city. Once the city was breached, the loss would be the property and safety of his Song Clan. There were several elders of the Song Clan who lived in the city, especially the Song Clan's ancestor, who had moved here to cure his illness. Although Xie Man had said that he would only kill the dog Imperial Envoys, but who knew if they would lose control once they entered the city.
Ever since he conveyed Yang Fan's message, the siege had stopped, and Song Chumeng was relieved. But after waiting for a long time and seeing that Yang Fan still hadn't arrived, and seeing that Xie Man was about to attack the city again, Song Chumeng's heart tightened.
At this moment, a group of people rushed to the top of the city wall from the transport road. Without saying a word, they threw the things in their hands down the city wall.
"Hahaha!"
Dozens of round things fell to the bottom of the city wall, rolling far away. The Xie Man warriors at the bottom of the city only thought that some powerful secret weapon had been thrown down from the top of the city wall. They hurriedly raised their shields in defense, but nothing happened even after a long time. They slightly moved their vine shields away and looked down. Under the blazing flames, they could see that the things thrown down from the top of the city wall were human heads.
The Xie Man warriors were somewhat stunned. They hadn't attacked the city wall yet. In other words, they hadn't been captured, and there were no corpses left on the city wall. Then where did these human heads come from?
"My daughter! Fei Fei! My Fei Fei! "
Old Hu was the first to react. With tears streaming down his face, he threw away his shield and rushed forward to pick up a human head. Old Hu held the head in his hand and looked at it under the light of the fire. It was a man with a face full of acne. Old Hu casually threw the head away and picked up another one. This man had a mouth full of yellow teeth, and there was even a vegetable leaf stuck in his teeth. No!
Hu Fei's two brothers also went crazy. They threw away their weapons and rushed forward to identify the human heads one by one. After a while, Old Hu suddenly realized something and shouted: "That's not right. The people who were taken away from our stronghold were either Aya or Degou (children). These human heads are all adult men, and … I don't recognize any of them."
Old Hu's second brother slapped his head hard and echoed: "That's right! Father, there must be something fishy about this! "
Old Hu came back to his senses and raised his head to look at the city wall.
At this time, countless lanterns and torches were lit up on top of the city wall. Originally, the top of the city wall was brightly lit by the huge bonfire, but the place where the bonfire was burning was too hot for people to stand. The people on top of the city wall could only appear in places where the heat was not as bright. Now that the torches were lit, it was as bright as day.
"Xie Man brothers below the city wall, this official is the imperial envoy Yang Fan!"
A clear and melodious voice sounded from the top of the city wall. The Xie Man warriors below the city wall all looked up and saw a person standing on top of the city wall, illuminated by several torches. Without waiting for the commotion below the city wall to start again, the voice hurriedly said: "I am the imperial envoy, not the one you want to kill. The one you want to kill is here!"
After all, only a few leaders knew that he was a trusted friend of Ke Man, and that he had a secret agreement with Xie Man. The ordinary Xie Man did not know his identity. If he did not quickly explain himself, he was afraid that he would be cursed countless times on behalf of Liu Guangye, accompanied by a torrential rain of arrows.
Yang Fan pointed with his finger and Liu Guangye was brought up to the top of the city wall, tied up with his hands and legs. Fortunately, he was tied up. When the archers saw this scene, they knew that something must have happened, so they did not fire.
But those who had women raped by Liu Guangye's native soldiers, who had property taken from them, whose houses were burned by them, who refused to hand over the exiles who were like family to them, or who had their relatives killed because they resisted the rape, had bloodshot eyes. They wanted nothing more than to rush to the top of the city wall and bite Liu Guangye to death.
Finally, when the various division leaders saw this situation, they knew that this unforeseen event was caused by Yang Fan, so they hastily restrained their subordinates. Only then did the spectacular scene of people advancing wave after wave like ants, all for the sake of a single man.
Yang Fan also knew that at this moment, he could not speak in a bureaucratic manner. Special cases had to be dealt with in a special way, and the specific details had to be discussed after Xie Man had calmed down. Therefore, he immediately raised his voice and said, "The imperial court already knows of Liu Guangye's actions in the Barbarian Province. This person came under the Son of Heaven's decree and acted against the Son of Heaven's decree. He has committed a heinous crime and should be executed! "
Liu Guangye's hands were tied behind his back, and his mouth was stuffed with two walnuts. He was so full that he could not close his mouth and could not speak. He could only glare at Yang Fan with infinite hatred.
Yang Fan turned to look at Liu Guangye, pointed his finger at him and shouted, "Liu Guangye, based on what you have done, you must be executed immediately! This imperial envoy is under the Son of Heaven's decree to execute the sinner Liu Guangye. Do it! "
Liu Guangye's pupils suddenly widened. His mouth could not speak, but his eyes clearly asked the words he wanted to say the most, "You dare? You really dare! "
What answered him was a shiny steel blade. With a swing of the blade, a mouthful of hot blood sprayed into the air, and a head fell to the muddy ground below the city wall.
A bold Xie Man warrior ran to the bottom of the city wall and picked up the head, then quickly ran to a bonfire. Many people gathered around to take a look, and in just a moment, they identified Liu Guangye's body.
When Liu Guangye went to various strongholds to tyrannize, burn, kill, and plunder, he would personally lead the troops. But who could forget this great enemy who had seen him before?
On top of the city wall, the soldiers who were holding Liu Guangye's headless corpse were covered in the blood that sprayed out from his mouth. Yang Fan slightly waved his hand, and the two of them pushed hard. The headless corpse fell down the city wall and landed heavily on the ground with a thud.
On top of the city wall, Song Chumeng was dumbstruck.
When Yang Fan had just come up to the top of the city wall, Song Chumeng had been sincerely happy because he had helped them out, but now he was truly scared stiff.
It was not that he felt sorry for Liu Guangye. If he could have killed him, he would have done so long ago. It was just that a high-ranking official of the court, an imperial envoy of a region, had been killed by Yang Fan without the slightest hesitation. This really scared Song Chumeng. If he knew that Yang Fan had killed an imperial envoy in Yao Province, and that he was a professional at killing imperial envoys, he would probably be scared out of his wits.
Yes, the imperial edict did indeed grant Yang Fan the power to act arbitrarily, but since ancient times, there were many imperial envoys who enjoyed this privilege. But unless the Emperor had already instructed him to kill someone in advance, imperial envoys would rarely kill officials on their own.
The symbolic meaning of the Emperor granting you this privilege was far greater than the actual meaning. If you used this privilege to kill an official today, then there would be no problem. If the wind in the court changed, then this might become the basis for others to accuse you of abusing your power. But Yang Fan … he really did it without hesitation.
Song Chumeng was still in a daze when Song Wanyou timidly moved in front of him and said in a low voice, "Uncle, our people … are also being escorted to the city wall."
"Huh?"
Song Chumeng seemed to have woken up from a dream. He turned his head and saw that every two imperial soldiers were escorting a tied up soldier and pushing nearly a hundred Song clan soldiers onto the city wall. They were densely packed on one side of the city wall, as if the city wall had suddenly become a layer higher.
For a moment, the tens of thousands of Xie Man warriors couldn't help but hold their breath …
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