Chapter 43 Asking for help
I don’t know who leaked the news.
The rebels are coming and will attack Changning City soon.
No one thought that the imperial court would be their opponent. This was the reputation of the rebels for winning every battle.
Rebellion is like this. It is difficult at the beginning, but once it becomes a climate, it is like a prairie fire, emerging one after another and difficult to extinguish.
After all, wherever there are people, there is oppression and exploitation.
For more than four hundred years since the founding of the Yue State, all kinds of class conflicts have long been like a powder keg, ready to explode at a moment's notice.
However, due to the intervention of extraordinary power, the resistance forces in the past were generally suppressed quickly without causing any trouble, thus creating the appearance of prosperity for the Yue Kingdom.
But the Guangnan rebels broke this strange phenomenon, so some people are willing to risk their lives to change the fate of being always at the bottom.
Someone in Changning City has already contacted the rebels and took the initiative to act as an internal response.
For this reason, the entire city defense camp led by General Di has entered the city and declared that Changning City has entered a state of military control. Several heads must be chopped off at Caishikou every day.
But killing could not suppress people's hearts, and the entire city of Changning was in chaos.
Prices of various commodities in the city have skyrocketed, and ordinary people have emptied their homes just to fill their stomachs, but they are still holding on.
They had a glimmer of hope, thinking that everything would return to how it was once the rebels were defeated.
It happened that at this time, someone saw a ship suddenly leaving the port that had been blocked for a long time.
It turned out that the rich and powerful people in the city were not optimistic about the direction of the war, so they all took the ship heading north with their families.
The network of relationships between these people was complicated, and the adults and generals in Changning City all took advantage of the situation and did not stop them. They even secretly sent their families aboard the ship.
So everyone's mentality collapsed.
In just a few days, before the rebels arrived, various violent crimes in the city skyrocketed.
Under the influence of various insiders of the rebels, ordinary people believed that they had been abandoned. Street gangsters took the opportunity to cause trouble, and black-hearted bosses made huge profits.
The city defense battalion killed several people but failed to suppress it, and many middle- and low-level officers secretly joined in the rioting carnival.
As for the victims outside the city, they said they wanted to provide relief and diversion, but they only gave them porridge for a few days, barely giving them hope.
Until chaos broke out in the city, the yamen had too much time to take care of themselves, so they didn't even give out porridge.
The palace sponsored a total of one million taels of silver, which gave the victims a few days of gruel, and all the remaining silver was missing.
Even Yu Xian, who had been mentally prepared for it, cried out.
He had already overestimated the greed of these officials, but unexpectedly he underestimated it.
No one really wants to resist, they are all planning to make a profit and run away. As for the fate of ordinary people, no one cares.
It's not like no one cares at all, such as the person in front of me.
Yu Xian rubbed his brows, looked at the middle-aged man in front of him who had added a few strands of snow-white hair to his temples at some point, and said with a bitter smile:
"Captain Zhou, you'd better go back, the princess won't see you."
It turns out that Zhou Bai, the chief arrester of the Yamen, saw that the chaos in the city was difficult to control and that his immediate boss was only interested in making money, so he wanted to ask the princess to take action and called on everyone in the name of the palace to unite and unite to resist the rebels.
Zhou Bai clasped his fists and said: "Brother Yu, Zhou is not doing this for himself. He just wants to seek a chance for millions of people in the city. I hope you will let me and the princess meet for the sake of your love for me fighting side by side." Above."
Yu Xian rolled his eyes silently.
The princess is a soft-eared and emotional woman. If her mother's heart breaks out, she will be persuaded by Zhou Bai and decide to fight to the end.
Doesn't this make things difficult for him?
It was undeniable that he had a lot of thoughts about the princess who stunned him when they first met.
In addition, the two of them had been getting close to each other under the pretext of training the young prince in the past few months. The already lonely princess had long been attracted to the man beside her who was not bad in appearance and intelligence.
After all, with her status, there are not many men around her that she can often come into contact with, including Eunuch Li.
It’s not surprising that one has been in the open for a long time, and the other has different plans.
If it weren't for the worldly outlook, Yu Xian felt that his ambition to be a thief would have been fulfilled long ago.
"Brother Zhou, I know you are a good person, but the building is about to collapse and you alone cannot save it.
The empress is just a weak woman. She cannot make the decision on such important matters for the family and the country, and she does not want to make the decision.
When you impose this responsibility on her, have you considered her wishes?
In my eyes, the mood of the whole city is not as important as hers. If you talk about this matter to her, it will inevitably make her sad, so it is better not to disturb her. "
Yu Xian's expression suddenly changed and he spoke righteously.
Zhou Bai, as the chief arrester of the Yamen, has been investigating cases for many years, so Yu Xian's words should not be too straightforward in his ears.
With a look of disbelief on his face, he pointed at Yu Xian and said solemnly:
"You, you and the princess?"
It's just a matter of saying a dog and a woman.
Yu Xian snorted coldly and said, "I have nothing but admiration for your empress's pure and pure body. Brother Zhou, don't think too much about her."
Zhou Bai's eyes were gloomy and he sighed deeply: "Brother Yu, but I really have no choice."
As he spoke, he bowed to Yu Xian and lowered his head to his waist. His voice was full of sorrow, like a hero in his late days.
"I beg you!"
He is a master of martial arts, and his reputation is far-reaching in officialdom and among the people. Even facing his immediate boss, the county governor, he has never been so humble.
At the beginning, even Chen Xiao acknowledged his character and was unwilling to kill him.
Yu Xian stretched out his hand and lifted Zhou Bai up again.
"Brother Zhou's gift, I deserve it, but I still won't let you see the princess, so be it."
Yu Xian dug his hand into his pocket, and a blue and white porcelain vase appeared.
"In order to find out the prince's assassination case, I went too far and made all the ministers in the mansion take the seven-day death pill. This bottle is the antidote.
Taking one pill will relieve their symptoms for seven days, and here is the recipe for the antidote. "
Zhou Bai was shocked by Yu Xian's strength, but his eyes were quickly attracted to the porcelain bottle in Yu Xian's hand.
He understood what Yu Xian meant.
The King's Mansion can be regarded as the essence of the city. If he holds the antidote, he can control far more power than the few policemen under him, and he can even become the decisive force in the city.
Yu Xian continued: "I don't care about the reputation they have behind their backs, and I'm not afraid of their methods.
But Brother Zhou, you have been a hero for half your life. If you accept this bottle, your future reputation will be completely ruined. You must think carefully. "
Zhou Bai shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Zhou has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and he has set his ambition to be a chivalrous and righteous person. However, with my own efforts, it is really a drop in the bucket.
Warriors rely on force to show off their evil deeds, and officials bully good people. In order to change this phenomenon, Zhou entered the public service halfway. He was scolded by his colleagues as a court hawk, but he never explained anything.
Now that the whole city is in danger, using Zhou Mou's reputation to save thousands of lives is already a huge profit. "
He took the celadon vase from Yu Xian's hand and bowed again, but he couldn't bow anymore.
He couldn't help but secretly sigh again. With Yu Xian's strength, if he was willing to take action, he would be able to greatly alleviate the crisis in the city, but he couldn't force it.
He could only hold up his hands and say thanks: "Brother Yu, after this farewell, or we may never see each other again, Zhou will withdraw. Please take care of yourself."
"Take care of yourself."
Yu Xian cupped his fists and returned the greeting.
Even if he doesn't lend a helping hand to such a good person who earns a living for everyone in the storm, he won't add insult to injury.
What's more, Mr. Zhou made him earn his first ten thousand taels after coming to the mortal world, so the two of them had a certain affection for each other.