Just as the three patriarchs and elders were racking their brains to come up with a countermeasure, the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside.
A tall and sturdy young man rushed in, panting as he held onto the door frame. He didn't even bother to salute as he anxiously pointed in the direction of the outskirts of the city.
"Oh, no! The army, there's, there's an army coming! "
"What!?" The three patriarchs turned pale with fright.
"Are you saying that there's an army coming towards us?"
The young man nodded and said with a pale face, "It's an army. There are at least a thousand of them, and all of them are cavalrymen. I saw them from afar in front of the city gates just now. It was a large group of people! These people are coming straight for our Danfu County. Could, could it be … "
Quelling civil unrest and punishing rebels.
These words flashed through everyone's minds, causing the three patriarchs and elders to turn pale with fright.
"It's over, it's over. We accidentally injured Wang Ye, and we can't find out which bastard did it. Yesterday, we even besieged the yamen. Now that things have gotten out of hand, I'm afraid there's no way for us to explain ourselves. The imperial court has sent troops to suppress us!"
"Send troops to suppress? Suppress? How?" the young man stuttered in fright.
"How else can they suppress us? What does the imperial court do to rebels?"
Everyone was so scared that their faces drained of color.
From the looks of it, the imperial court had sent troops so quickly because they were here to exterminate them!
"Every injustice has its perpetrator, and every debt has its debtor. We weren't the ones who did this. We weren't the ones who stabbed Wang Ye!" The young man couldn't hold it in any longer. "We've already agreed from the start that we're here to ask His Highness to write a letter of guarantee for us. We're not here to assassinate His Highness. Which bastard did such a thing? Isn't he trying to kill everyone in our town?"
"Shouting and wrangling won't solve all the problems. The key is how to quell Wang Ye's anger. "
"But we don't even know how Wang Ye is doing right now."
…
Everyone was in a mess. Even the family heads and elders were just ordinary citizens. Since ancient times, citizens had never fought with officials. This time, they were forced into a corner and had no other choice. That was why they came up with the idea of writing a letter of guarantee. They also thought that if everyone in the county gathered together, they would not believe that Wang Ye would not agree.
However, while there were advantages to having more people, there were also disadvantages. Gathering people to petition and gathering people to rebel were two completely different things.
Everyone panicked and arranged for the younger generation of each family to scout the situation outside the city.
After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, another junior ran back breathlessly.
"Clan Leader, those soldiers have been stopped by the people in Wang Ye's tent. At this moment, those people have stopped outside the city and have no intention of approaching for the time being. "
"Could it be that these people are discussing attacking our county?"
"It's hard to say. Magistrate Cheng is still kneeling outside Wang Ye's campsite. Maybe that's true. "
"Then what should we do? If they really attack us, how can we be a match for the soldiers? I heard that the people who came this time are from the Five Barracks. These people are usually guarding the capital and are Your Majesty's most capable subordinates. This time, it's really … "
The few of them could not finish their words.
However, the citizens could not get close to the city even if they wanted to hear the news. Therefore, they did not know the details of what was happening outside the camp.
The Eastern Army Commander who led the Eastern Army of the Five Barracks here was once Pang Xiao's subordinate. He was thirty-two years old and his surname was Ma Cheng. He had an exceptionally fiery and forthright personality.
Ma Cheng led the Eastern Army's three thousand cavalrymen to the outskirts of Danfu County. They immediately wanted to take down Danfu County with an overwhelming advantage. However, they were stopped by Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi in time.
Xu Weizhi and Xie Yue were Pang Xiao's strategists. Ma Cheng had worked with Pang Xiao before and had naturally met him many times. Now that he saw the two of them, Ma Cheng naturally would not neglect them. They smiled and greeted each other.
"Mr. Xu, Mr. Xie, as soon as this general heard the Prince's request for help, I immediately selected three thousand soldiers and horses and traveled day and night to quell the rebellion. I also left a letter asking someone to report the matter to His Majesty on my behalf." Ma Cheng pointed in the direction of Danfu County's city gate. With a heavy voice he asked, "Is there a rebellion in this city?"
Xie Yue secretly cursed Tao Hanshan for causing trouble, but he could not show it on his face. He said solemnly, "Thank you for coming here in time. Brothers, you have worked hard."
"I don't dare, I don't dare. What's the situation in the city now? Where is Wang Ye? "
Ma Cheng admired and respected Pang Xiao very much. At this time, he did not see Pang Xiao come out, so he was somewhat worried.
Xu Weizhi smiled bitterly and said, "You may not know, Commander, but the matter in the city is not a rebellion. It is not simple and cannot be explained in a few words. Wang Ye is seriously injured. He has taken the medicine prescribed by the doctor and is sleeping soundly. "
"Wang Ye is injured?" Ma Cheng was shocked. "Wang Ye is such a powerful person, yet he is injured. What kind of powerful person dares to do this?! I want to meet him! "
"No, no, Commander, you misunderstand." Xie Yue sighed. "This matter is really complicated. To put it simply, when Huichuan County was building the Imperial Mausoleum, the people of Danfu County were recruited. However, after these people left, less than one in ten were left. Countless people died of exhaustion and starvation."
Xu Weizhi also sighed with pity and continued, "Because of what happened in the past, the families in Danfu County were extremely afraid of the construction of the Imperial Mausoleum. They did not dare to send able-bodied men, so the people did not go to Huichuan County to report. In order to investigate the matter, Wang Ye rushed here. When the people knew that there was a way to redress the injustice, they immediately surrounded Wang Ye's residence. "
"Yes, the people petitioned and begged Wang Ye to write a letter of guarantee that he would not recruit the people of Danfu County to build the Imperial Mausoleum in the future. However, Wang Ye was ordered to supervise the construction of the Imperial Mausoleum. It was difficult for him to make such a decision in such a short time. When he was surrounded and arguing, he was stabbed by a sickle. "
Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi complemented each other and explained the whole story clearly. The helplessness of the people was also expressed incisively and vividly. They did not want to give others the chance to misunderstand that the people of Danfu County wanted to rebel.
When Ma Cheng heard this, his brows furrowed into knots. "But that's not what His Highness said when he asked for help. This general has brought three thousand cavalrymen here in order to end the battle quickly and resolve the rebellion here."
"It's not like that." Xie Yue waved her hand and said helplessly and apologetically, "At that time, the situation was urgent and we were surrounded. We did not know what to do for a moment, so we asked our subordinates to find some time to write a letter asking for help. The words in the letter were not clear and caused such a big misunderstanding. It's really a sin!"
Although Ma Cheng looked like a boorish man, he naturally had his own meticulous way of doing things. He would not believe that someone wrote a wrong letter asking for help and did not express it clearly.
There must be a secret behind this.
However, Ma Cheng was a smart person. He knew that there were some things that he should not know, so he should not ask too much. If he asked too much, he would easily get into trouble.
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