The small building was crumbling under the impact of the night wind, but in the end it stood firm.
In comparison, some parts of Yuan Xi's body were more dangerous than Xiaolou, but he still persisted, just like Yuan Xi's wings were not broken.
When the two hugged each other in the cold night and felt each other's body temperature, different joys and sorrows still happened on the earth under the night sky.
Just like Yijing hundreds of miles away, hundreds of watchtowers are like stars over the moon, surrounding the tallest one in the middle.
On the high-rise building, Gongsun Zan was still sitting in front of the window. He looked towards the direction of Yecheng in Jizhou, thinking that the army had begun to mobilize from all directions to attack Yi Jing, right?
Most of his subordinates, including Tian Kai, suggested that he abandon Yijing and return to Youzhou to quell the rebellious Yan Rou, Xian Yufu and others in order to make a comeback.
But Gongsun Zan refused, and people kept betraying him, so that he couldn't tell whether the people around him were friends or foes.
He is now like a scarred bear. If he returns to Youzhou, he will definitely be torn to pieces by hungry wolves who covet him.
If you're tired, let's destroy it together.
But before he died, he wanted to bite off a piece of meat from Yuan Shao's body no matter what.
Behind him, Mrs. Hou knelt silently, holding her young son who was already sleeping soundly, with a trace of exhaustion and helplessness on her brows.
She always wanted Gongsun Zan to send the child away, but Gongsun Zan was determined to let the whole family live and die with Yi Jing and did not listen to her at all.
Beside her was a windlass, with a long rope attached to it, hanging down through the holes in the floor to the bottom of the watchtower, with a wooden barrel tied to the end of the rope.
There was a noise downstairs, as if something was put into the bucket, and then the rope swayed a few times.
Mrs. Hou quickly put the child down, shook the windlass, and the rope rose up with the barrel.
She struggled to take out a tube of bamboo slips from the bucket, stood up and handed it to Gongsun Zan.
Gongsun Zan opened the bamboo slip and found that it was written in Tian Kai.
It says that the current situation in Youzhou is not good. The soldiers loyal to Gongsun Zan in Yuyang and other counties were attacked by Xian Yufu Yan Rou and others. They lost their troops and generals, and it was difficult to assemble to support Yi Jing.
Tian Kai suggested that instead of sitting back and waiting for death, it would be better to find another way, so he made two suggestions.
The first is to send someone to contact the Black Mountain Army Zhang Yan and ask for help, so that Zhang Yan can send troops to attack Zhuo County and Changshan County in the Taihang Mountains, threaten Yuan Shao's hinterland, and thus relieve the siege of Yijing.
Second, Tian Kai led the White Horse Yi Cong to leave Yijing, harass Yuan Shao's army along the way, and wait for opportunities to attack the Jizhou grain road, while cooperating with the Black Mountain Army.
This second strategy seemed feasible, but Gongsun Zan didn't want to adopt it.
Apart from anything else, Tian Yu took people out of the city a few days ago and never returned, and there has been no news from him since.
When Tian Yu left, he said that he was going to attack and kill important figures of the Yuan family and wanted to take Bai Ma Yi away to cooperate, but Gongsun Zan did not agree.
At that time, it was already difficult for him to trust others. Who knew what Tian Yu was thinking? What if he ran away with someone like Zhao Yun?
In the end, Tian Yu had a look of injustice on his face and left the city with only two personal guards. Since then, there has been no news. Gongsun Zan thought that he had really surrendered to the enemy, right?
Now that Tian Yu has disappeared, although Tian Kai can still be trusted, if he and Tian Yu are of the same clan, how can Yi Jing still defend Yi Jing if he defectes with all the white horse loyalists?
As for the first strategy, will Zhang Yan really come to rescue her?
Gongsun Zan threw the bamboo slips aside and stared at the night sky in silence. Hou Shi behind him did not dare to speak. The two of them just spent the long and difficult night with their own thoughts.
Taihang Mountain spans more than 800 miles from north to south. In the dense jungle mountains is where the Black Mountain Army is located. At its peak, it was said to have a population of one million.
Changshan Zhending, at the intersection of Hebei and Jilin, is close to the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain. This was originally the base camp of the Black Mountain Army.
After several battles with Yuan Shao's army, Zhending City had been almost destroyed for a long time. Now that Zhang Yan retreated into the Taihang Mountains, Zhending City became the place where the generals of the Black Mountain Army camped.
I saw this area of ground houses, with thatched huts and caves everywhere, and many people lived in them. Surrounded by thatched huts was a huge wooden camp, where Montenegrin Army soldiers were stationed.
At this time, screams could be heard from time to time in the camp, and the people in the huts looked uneasily through the cracks in the doors.
Inside the camp, several naked men were hanging, and several soldiers were whipping them with whips. Blood marks were struck with the whips, and lines of different thicknesses burst out on the twisted and struggling human bodies.
On the side were a group of old, young, women and children. Seeing several people being beaten, they all knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
There were several generals standing next to them, and the leader in the middle was Bai Rao, the general of the Black Mountain Army.
He once joined forces with Yu Du and Sui Gu to attack Wei County, but was defeated by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. He returned to Heishan and became a general under Zhang Yan.
Seeing that the men were beaten to death, he shouted coldly: "I will give you a chance to tell who is the mastermind, and I will spare his life!"
The men who were hanged were all his soldiers. They followed him to plunder Beixin City. Unexpectedly, they were defeated by the opponent. The two generals sent were killed and thousands of soldiers were captured.
Bai Raozheng was worried about how to explain to Zhang Yan. Unexpectedly, a month later, the captured soldiers of the Montenegrin Army were released one after another.
He was very happy. Does this mean that Beixin City does not dare to offend the Montenegrin Army?
However, gradually, he realized that something was wrong.
People who came back secretly spread rumors about how good Beixin City was. Not only were they not abused there, but they could also have plenty to eat!
You must know that the hundreds of thousands of people in the Black Mountain Army were driven into the Taihang Mountains by Yuan Shao. Except for a few generals, they have been living in a hurry.
And not only that, the people who came back also claimed that the current governor of Zhuojun, the second son of the Yuan family, was the real person who fulfilled the prophecy of Taiping Dao to save the world!
This greatly touched the base of the Montenegrin Army. Bai Rao had several soldiers arrested and tortured who usually talked the most enthusiastically and wanted to sneak away with their families.
One of the hanged men spit out blood foam from his mouth and hissed: "No one instigated us!"
"I was captured in Beixin City and worked hard for a month before returning. During this period, no one abused us and we had enough to eat. Our life was much better than here!"
"We're just telling the truth!"
Bai Rao sneered and said, "I think you won't shed tears until you see the coffin!"
He was still about to speak, when an alchemist in Taoist robes came out from behind and said to the hung man: "You evildoers have turned against Huang Tian's will!"
"That's all. Why do you say that Yuan Xi, the son of Yuan Shao, is a native of Huang Tianzhen?"
"You have been deceived by the other party!"
The man snorted and turned his head.
Another person who was hanging had a sarcastic look on his face: "Isn't it the Yuan family, or the general (Zhang Yan)?"
"We have been with the Montenegrin Army for more than ten years and have never had enough to eat. We worked there for a month and had enough to eat!"
"Zhonglang Jiang is really a real person like Huang Tianzhen, why don't you let us have enough food?"
The alchemist wanted to speak, but Bai Rao snatched the spear from the guard beside him and cursed: "Go to hell!"
He gripped the spear tightly, took a step forward, and threw the spear in his hand. The tip of the spear instantly pierced the man's chest.
Blood flowed down the spear, and the man shook his body a few times before picking it up.
Among the group of women and children, there was a woman who was his wife, and she fainted on the ground crying.
The other people who were hanged shouted: "Bai Rao, you killed your brothers in the same religion indiscriminately, are you still a member of Huang Tianzhong!"
The alchemist heard this and shouted: "You people have betrayed Huang Tian and turned into monsters! You still haven't repented!"
Someone sneered and said: "The monsters give us food, but what about the leaders of the religion? What are they going to do to us?"
Bai Rao didn't expect that the soldiers who had previously obeyed his advice would turn out like this. He suddenly became angry and shouted: "Kill them all!"
After hearing this, his subordinates hesitated for a moment, then drew their swords and hacked several people to death.
At this time, several family members started crying and shouting. Bai Rao became furious and shouted: "Divide the women among themselves and kill the others as a warning!"
The soldiers rushed forward, lifted the child and threw him to the ground, chopped down the old man, and carried the crying woman on his shoulders.
Inside the hut, people watched all this happen silently.
Bai Rao originally thought that this would suppress the issue of the returning soldiers, but as the days passed, he gradually discovered that people kept leaving Zhending at night and escaping in the direction of Beixin City.
He asked his generals to intercept some people, and was surprised to find that among the people who escaped, there were not only soldiers who had been released by Beixin City before, but also a large number of unrelated people!
He killed a group of people and hung their heads on the gate of the camp. There were a lot less people escaping that day, but then they started again.
The alchemist found him and sighed: "General, this can't go on like this."
"What made them run away was not only the fact that Beixin City had enough to eat, but also the rumors about Huang Tianren."
"If this momentum cannot be suppressed, I'm afraid the people here will lose their hearts. How will I explain to General Zhonglang then?"
Bai Rao frowned: "What do you think we should do?"
The alchemist thought for a while, shook his head and said, "It's difficult to suppress the Yuan family with just the general."
"I heard that Beixin City is deploying troops to attack Yijing. When the time comes, the Yuan family will definitely lead troops to attack Yijing. The interior is empty, and the march route is close to Zhending. There is also an opportunity to take advantage of it."
"Why not ask General Zhang Yan for help and send a few generals to sneak attack Beixin City and wait for an opportunity to intercept and kill the Yuan family?"
After hearing this, Bai Yao hesitated and said: "This strategy seems feasible, but I don't think General Zhonglang wants to provoke the Yuan family at the moment."
The alchemist smiled and said: "No one knows what General Zhang thinks. If General Bai doesn't mention it, how can he know what General Zhonglang thinks?"
"Furthermore, the rumors about Yuan Jiazi's real person are shaking the foundation of the Black Mountain Army. It is an extremely important matter. The general only needs to send someone to talk about it."
After hearing this, Bai Rao slapped his thigh hard, "That's right. If this continues, I will have no one left here!"
"We must kill that Yuan family member!"
Yuan Xi didn't know what happened in Zhending. At this time, he sat in front of Tian Yu and said, "Brother Guorang really doesn't want to go with me?"
Tian Yu said expressionlessly: "Sir, don't think about it, I won't take refuge in you."
Yuan Xi had a headache. Tian Yu was very stubborn after being arrested. He tried every method, including persuasion, inducement, and the method of labor reform such as farming in the fields. However, Tian Yu remained motionless.