Chapter 78 – Sick and Unsettled

It really rained heavily in the afternoon, and outside the tightly closed window, the sound of the raging wind and rain became the best lullaby, and Su Yan slept fitfully on the bed hugging a large towel.

Jing Hong chased a small altar of Huang Gui thick wine hanging from his waist, and was buying food for Su Yan at the market. The shopkeeper saw that the lead clouds were like ink and the rain was about to pour down, so he rushed to close the stall. He spent three times the price to buy the shopkeeper, made the last of the mutton steamed buns, served them hot in a tile jar, and said, “Is it for the public trial?”

Jing Hong chased after him, “He can solve this matter by himself, there is no need to come and trouble Your Excellency.”

“What was the final disposition of that Qi Mang?”

“According to the law, he should be executed in the fall. However, Governor Zhou is worried about the long night and has set the execution date for tomorrow at three minutes past noon.”

Su Yan mumbled and slowly finished the congee. Xiao Bei wanted to help him lie down, but Su Yan said, “No more lying down. It’s been four days, and my bones are all broken. I want to go out for a walk to get some fresh air.”

This time the three people in the room all objected, believing that he was not yet healed and should not go out. Su Yan had no choice but to retreat to the second best, so he slipped around the outer corridor on the second floor.

At this moment the sky is getting dark, the city lights up one by one on earth, Su Yan looked away from the railings, because of the great injury to the vital energy, there is still some dizziness, the right eyelid is beating wildly.

“Left eye jumps to wealth, right eye jumps to disaster.” He muttered, “Shouldn’t something happen again ……”

–

Wang Wu and Wang Chen led thousands of men and approached the outskirts of Yan’an at nightfall.

Two days ago, the disciples who reported the mourning arrived at the bandit village and delivered the box of heads to the two leaders.

After learning that their parents and sister-in-law and nephew had been killed, the two brothers wept over the bodies and went berserk with rage and hatred.

Wang Chen drew his sword and chopped off the tables and chairs, roaring, “If I don’t take this revenge, I will not be a human being! Let’s gather our men and attack Yan’an City, kill all the officials, and take that Lu to light the lanterns of heaven, to sacrifice the souls of my parents in heaven!”

Wang Wu’s eyes were red and bloodshot, and his expression was hideous, but he still had some sense, gritting his teeth and saying, “This manpower of ours, we can play guerrilla, but we can’t fight a siege. We must recruit soldiers and horses, and develop and grow the team before we can take Yan’an.”

He asked the bandit who reported the funeral, “Are you sure it was Qi Mang who was captured?”

The man replied: ”Definitely. I heard that he was tied up with hemp ropes and still managed to break the ropes, rising up and injuring people, nearly killing the two royal inspectors present. If it wasn’t for Big Brother Qi, how could he have such divine power? It’s a pity that he didn’t kill them and was imprisoned.”

“Two imperial magistrates? Who else was at the execution ground besides the one surnamed Lu?”

“There is also a newcomer, I don’t know his name, I only heard from the people who watched the execution that he was very young and handsome, not like an official.”

Wang Chen was stunned with his hand on the hilt of his sword and muttered, “It’s him? Impossible …… He said he would govern the horse government and return Shaanxi to a clear and peaceful, how could he be in cahoots with that Lu?”

“There is no such thing as a good official, it’s all just officials protecting each other!” Wang Wu scolded his younger brother, “The heads of my parents are right in front of me, do you still want to make excuses for your enemies? That kid gave you some kind of magic soup, so you don’t even care about the grace of your birth and upbringing! Do you want to be a beast that is worse than a dog or pig?”

Wang Chen glared at his brother, “I didn’t! If this really has anything to do with him, then he’s a despicable liar! I will personally cut off his head and use it to worship my parents!”

Wang Wu face anger slightly convergence, hate said: “This blood debt you and my brother to keep in mind, wait until the time is ripe, and then in one fell swoop to break through Yan’an, kill the official revenge! So we have to save Qi Mang out, he is a fierce general, in the future if you want to raise the matter, less without him.”

Wang Chen nodded, “He is also our brother, so of course we can’t just sit back and watch. We have to hurry up and form a team to set off, I’m afraid we won’t be able to save him if we’re late.”

The two agreed, immediately called all the men and horses, armed and armored, day and night to Yan’an City.

As the two brothers are generous and righteous, quite chivalrous in this area, many stragglers and changelings heard that it is the team of Wang Wu and Wang Liu, they have defected to join, which absorbed new blood along the way, the team expanded to thousands of people in a blink of an eye.

Such a newborn military force, has nearly exceeded the category of bandits, its members are not lacking in displaced horse households and military surplus, proficient in riding and shooting, in the Yan’an city guards and soldiers in the absence of knowledge, like sharp claws of wild beasts to take advantage of the night to approach.

Instead of attacking rashly, Wang Wu and Wang Chen ambushed a team of government guards who were catching robbers outside the city, changed into their clothes, pretended to escort human criminals, and mixed into the city. Immediately afterward, the inside and outside, kill the guards to open the city gate, and bring their own team of 500 elite people, straight to the government office prison. The rest of the bandits, led by Yang Hui, met them outside the city.

Although the guards of the government office had been instructed to be vigilant and to beware of horse thieves robbing prisons, but the officials said that they all thought that the city was safe. Who would have thought that in the middle of the night when there was no movement, the bandit team suddenly killed, caught off guard, where to resist, was beaten, had to sound the alarm.

Sharp, urgent chimes of gold resounded throughout the city, one after another, accompanied by heart-rending shouts.

According to the Yan’an Province, there are guard commanders stationed in the Division, under the five guards, a total of 5,600 troops, heard the sound of the gold alarm should be immediately mobilized.

However, after a year-long noise pollution of the Lu Imperial Palace, almost every day to catch robbers into the city to beat the drums and sound the gold, the guards from the beginning of the grass, to the present day slow and numb, heard the sound of the gold, also thought it was a thief catching the glad tidings, but did not immediately react.

Wang Wu and Wang Chen took the opportunity to cover all the way to kill, rushed into the prison, slaughtered all the officials and guards they saw, and arrived at the cell where Qi Mang was like a bamboo.

Qi Mang saw his companions coming to his rescue and laughed maniacally, “Good wow! Kill out! Kill kill kill!”

–

The second floor corridor of the inn, Su Yan distantly see the streets and alleys between a fire dragon snaking swim to the direction of the government offices, the speed is very fast, the heart of the ominous premonition. A few moments later, the sound of gold shrill, but did not see the guards and soldiers out, even the people in the city are indifferent, what to do what to do.

The brocade guards in the neighboring house heard the sound of sounding gold and reflexively leapt out the door, calling out to Su Yan, “My lord, it’s an enemy attack alert!”

Su Yan’s face was still sickly, his expression was serious: ”Yes! I have reminded Governor Zhou to be careful of the horse thieves robbing the prison, but I don’t want the guards to be so tired, I’m afraid something big is going to happen. Do you have a way to alert the nearby guards and request for troop support?”

Chu Yuan said, “My humble servant carries cloud-piercing sentinel arrows filled with kerosene, which explode when shot into the air to warn of enemy attacks and are commonly used in the army.”

“Quickly shoot! Shoot as many as you can in four directions, east, west, south, north, and south!”

The brocade guards immediately went to fetch sentry arrows to fire, and Chu Yuan said to Su Yan, “It is not safe in the city, so please leave with us as soon as possible, Your Excellency.”

Su Yan shook his head, “We can’t leave, a large number of people from the Rattlesnake Pirates have attacked Yan’an City, if no one is in command of the defenders in the city, I’m afraid that the situation will get out of hand as it develops, and then it won’t be as simple as a prison robbery.”

Chu Yuan urgently said: “Yan’an city how, have a government officials responsible for, around the guards also notified to the Lord is already benevolent to the end, why put themselves in danger? Or quickly with us to leave!”

Su Yan’s voice was calm: “Governor Zhou is weak, he must not be able to cope, I have to stay and help him. Furthermore, if I can’t even keep a city safe, how can I talk about governing a government or a department? If I abandon the city and run away tonight, I’ll be known as the ‘runaway royal historian’, and I won’t have the face to face the people and government of Shaanxi in the future. I have decided to do so, so there is no need for further persuasion.”

“The Brocade Guards do not care about the rest of the affairs, they only listen to the imperial orders.” Chu Yuan cupped his fists towards Su Yan, “The emperor has orders to make sure that Lord Su’s safety is the first priority. If your lord insists on refusing to leave, then I won’t blame my humble servant for being rough.”

Su Yan took a step back and said vigilantly, “What do you want to do?”

“My humble servant is really unwilling to take action against Your Excellency, please don’t make things difficult for us.” Chu Yuan winked at the two brocade guards beside him, signaling them to go around to the back and knock Su Yan unconscious, trying not to be too rough in their movements.

Seeing the situation, Su Yan turned violently and crashed into the hidden door of his guest room, locking the bolt with his backhand.

Jing Hongchu just relieved himself and came out, seeing Su Yan’s expression was not right, he asked, “What happened?”

Su Yan pushed the window, “You know how to do light kung fu right? First take me to the government office to find Zhou Dao, we’ll talk about the rest on the way!”