Two hours later, the killings in the Sunset Valley gradually subsided. The Ruoluo River was dyed red with blood, and corpses were scattered all over the north bank of the river. The men and elderly people of the He Dahe tribe were almost killed. Groups of women and children were driven by Turkic cavalry towards hundreds of camps.
There were thirty to forty thousand people gathered together, and their cries were loud.
The cruel killing made Qin Qiong a little intolerable. He stepped forward and said to Yang Yuanqing: "General, why do you want to kill them all and not leave a way for the Khitans to survive?"
Yang Yuanqing shook his head, took out Yang Guang's secret decree and handed it to Qin Qiong, "This is the Holy Majesty's decree. The Khitans invaded our territory of the Sui Dynasty, killed our people of the Sui Dynasty, and treated them as annihilations. This is just the beginning!"
He turned the horse's head and ran towards another camp. Qin Qiong read the imperial edict by the light of the fire and secretly sighed in his heart. He really couldn't accept this kind of massacre of ordinary people.
In front of the big tent in the north, thousands of plundered Yingzhou women gathered. The biggest difference in appearance between them and Khitan women was that they did not have braided hair and wore Sui Dynasty cloth skirts. Yang Yuanqing had given an order in advance not to violate the women.
The captured Sui people and Turkic cavalry will be temporarily placed here with these women.
Thousands of Sui Dynasty women hiding in dozens of large tents were terrified. In their eyes, there was no difference between the Turks and the Khitans. They were both tiger dens and fire pits.
Yang Yuanqing had already put on the Sui army armor. He flew to the big tent and shouted loudly: "I am the general manager of Fengzhou in the Sui Dynasty. I am here to rescue all the sisters on the order of His Majesty the Emperor. You don't have to be afraid!"
Yang Yuanqing rode up in front of the camp and shouted more than a dozen times. Thousands of weak women slowly came out of the camp to support each other. They all heard it. It was the language of their compatriots. They also saw it. It was the general of the Sui army.
These poor women finally knew that they had been rescued by their compatriots. Suddenly, the fear and sadness that had been stored in their hearts for months burst out. They fell to their knees and cried loudly. They thought of their murdered relatives.
Many people even fainted from crying.
Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin and others all looked at this sad scene in silence, with tears in each of their eyes.
...The killing in the Sunset Valley was just the first step. Yang Yuanqing immediately sent his troops northward the next day. Three days later, he defeated the Siwandan tribe in a battle and massacred more than 30,000 Khitan men. Then he marched eastward and destroyed the Songli tribe and the
Tuwanhou Tribe, more than 100,000 Khitan people were killed in just ten days. Nearly 60% of the Khitan people perished. The remaining Khitan people were so frightened that they fled north to Shiwei or south to the Xi tribe.
Blood filled this once peaceful land.
The Khitan aristocrats invaded the Sui Dynasty arrogantly, but brought disaster to the Khitan people. More than 100,000 young and strong men were killed, more than 200,000 Khitan women and children were taken into slavery by the Turks, and millions of cattle and sheep were stolen by the Turks and the Sui Dynasty.
The partition, this war that took place at the end of the second year of Daye, ended in a bloody storm.
...Yang Yuanqing said goodbye to Utu Yiyi, and he led his men and hundreds of Turkic cavalry to return the rescued Sui women and millions of cattle and sheep back to Yingzhou.
In the midst of a heavy first snowfall, Yang Yuanqing arrived at Yingzhou City. Yingzhou City was abuzz with excitement and the whole city was mobilized. Tens of thousands of people beat gongs and drums to welcome Yang Yuanqing and his entourage who wanted to avenge them. Together with hundreds of Turkic cavalry, they also received a grand courtesy.
, everyone wears red and colorful clothes, rides on horseback and parades through the streets, accepting the cheers and praises of the people in Yingzhou.
Thousands of women and millions of cattle and sheep were resettled by the government. Yang Yuanqing took pity on these unfortunate women and specially took out 300,000 cattle and sheep and 100,000 hanging coins from the loot to compensate them, and divided the remaining loot into 100,000 yuan.
One of the cattle and sheep will be sent outside the capital, and the remaining cattle and sheep will be distributed by the government to families who suffered misfortune during the Khitan invasion.
At the same time, Wei Yunqi, the governor of Yingzhou, ordered the Sui army to go deep into the Khitan territory, collect tens of thousands of Khitan corpses, and build a large Jingguan tomb in Ji'an Tun, the junction of the Khitan and the Sui Dynasties, to shock all ethnic groups in the Northeast.
.
There were many things to do, and after nearly a month of busy work, Yang Yuanqing gradually settled down. At this time, another heavy snowfall hit, and the land in Liaodong became a vast expanse of white. Thick snow covered the earth. The auspicious snow heralded a good year. Time has passed.
At the end of the year, Yang Yuanqing was shocked to realize that in two days, it would be the New Year for the third year of Daye.
Although he was eager to return home, Yang Yuanqing wished he could fly back to Wuyuan County, but he had to stay patiently in Yingzhou City. On the one hand, the road was blocked by heavy snow and he could not go west. On the other hand, there was a more important reason.
He must stay in Yingzhou City to wait for the imperial court's reward.
The residence of Yang Yuanqing and others is located in the south of Yingzhou City. It is an official residence covering an area of five acres. It is also the welcome post of Yingzhou City. It is specially used for officials who come to Yingzhou for official business from other places to live. There is a special postmaster to take care of it.
There are many courtyards in the museum and the living space is very spacious. At this time, there were no officials from other places arriving in Yingzhou City, so the museum became the exclusive residence of Yang Yuanqing and others.
Yang Yuanqing and Green Tea lived in a courtyard on the easternmost side. For a month, Yang Yuanqing went out early and came back late. He had been busy with the aftermath of the Battle of Khitan and had no time to take care of Green Tea. This morning, Yang Yuanqing came out of the snow and wind.
When he returned, he was surprised to find Green Tea practicing his sword in the snow. He was stunned. Green Tea, a girl who only knew how to make a few biscuits, actually started practicing swordsmanship.
Moreover, she danced with swords in a graceful and skillful manner. At first, Yang Yuanqing thought it was Pei Xingyan who taught her. Among them, only Pei Xingyan was good at swordsmanship and he was the only one who knew how to use the sword.
But after looking at it for a moment, he realized that this was not a man's swordsmanship, but a Yue Nv sword skill from a woman. It should have nothing to do with Pei Xingyan. More importantly, with Pei Xingyan's high self-discipline, he would never teach a maid how to practice swordsmanship.
It's something that Cheng Yaojin can do.
This is strange, who did this girl learn swordsmanship from, and where did the sword in her hand come from?
"Oops! The snow is so heavy today, Green Tea Girl, have you made a few biscuits?"
Cheng Yaojin, wearing a bamboo hat and a raincoat, rushed in carelessly. When he looked up, he saw Yang Yuanqing, his hands behind his back, staring at him sternly. He was so frightened that he stuck out his tongue, turned around and ran away.
Cheng Yaojin's recklessness also alarmed Green Tea who was practicing swordplay. Green Tea turned around and saw Yang Yuanqing. She exclaimed, "Sir, why are you back?"
"It's almost Chinese New Year. If nothing happens, I'll be back early."
Yang Yuanqing didn't ask her why she was learning swordsmanship. He smiled, turned around and walked towards the study. Green Tea suddenly thought of something, screamed and ran towards the study. He got in front of Yang Yuanqing and crumpled a piece of paper on the table into a ball.
, stuffed into sleeves.
"What are you writing?" Yang Yuanqing asked curiously.
"nothing?"
Green Tea shook her head in panic, "I'm practicing calligraphy!"
Green Tea and Yang Yuanqing have learned a lot of words in the past two years. Yang Yuanqing stretched out his hand and said with a smile: "Show it to me!"
"If you don't write it well, the young master will laugh at you. By the way, I'll pour you a cup of hot tea."
Green Tea turned around and left in a panic, but the ball of paper rolled out of her sleeve. She didn't notice it and walked away. Yang Yuanqing stepped forward to pick up the ball of paper and slowly unfolded it. On the note was Green Tea's handwriting, which read
A line of small words, 'Master, he seems to have forgotten.'
The sentence without beginning or end made Yang Yuanqing confused. What did he forget? Who was this note written to?
Yang Yuanqing became suspicious. Green Tea's behavior has been a bit abnormal these past two days. Yesterday she said she was going to buy vegetables. She went out with an empty basket in the morning and came back with an empty basket in the evening. No trace of the vegetables was found. Today she discovered that she actually has sword skills.
Where did she learn it? And who was she secretly writing notes to?
Yang Yuanqing frowned. This little girl is already thirteen years old this year. Is she starting to have thoughts? He thinks he should ask her carefully. If it doesn't work, he should give her a dowry and let her go without delaying her.
Just as he was thinking about it, Green Tea slowly walked in with a cup of tea, but his eyes were searching everywhere. Yang Yuanqing was amused and asked: "Green Tea, what are you looking for?"
"It's nothing. I just lost a hairpin. It may have been dropped in my room. I'll look for it later."
She placed the tea cup in front of Yang Yuanqing, "Sir, drink tea!"
Yang Yuanqing picked up the tea cup and took a sip. The hot tea flowed into his intestines and stomach, making his whole body warm. Then he asked with a smile: "Green tea, who did you learn the sword from?"
"Well! I learned it in Dali City. I was taught by Miss Chuchen. Half a month ago, I saw a blacksmith shop selling swords at the gate of Beicheng, so I bought a sword and started practicing again. Master is very busy.
, I didn’t tell the young master.”
Green Tea's fluent answers made Yang Yuanqing unable to find any flaws for a while, but Green Tea's mention of Chuchen suddenly aroused Yang Yuanqing's thoughts. He thought of Niu Niu after two years of separation. It was also this snowy winter, and she was far away from him.
After leaving, I thought of the oath he made to Niu Niu again, feeling an indescribable sorrow in my heart, and my eyes couldn't help but feel sad.
"Sir, have you thought of Miss Chuchen?" Green Tea secretly looked at Yang Yuanqing's face.
"We won't mention this!"
Yang Yuanqing waved his hand, changed the subject, and said with a smile: "Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and the day after tomorrow is New Year. How are we going to spend these two days? Can you tell us?"
"I've already booked the New Year's Eve banquet for tomorrow. It's at Shanguozi Wine Shop, diagonally across from the bookstore and next door to Mr. Liu's house. I often go there."
Yang Yuanqing laughed. It was interesting for the little girl to order a meal. This was a New Year's Eve banquet, and it was actually scheduled at that small place. "Why not at Tong'an Restaurant?"
"Sir, everyone goes to Tong'an Winery every day and is tired of eating. Shanguozi Winery does very good game meat and barbecue. The wine is also fruit wine, sweet and refreshing. Everyone agrees to go there, and I have already made a reservation and paid fifty
It's a deposit, but it's gone if you don't go." Green Tea was a little anxious.
"Okay! As long as you don't have any objections, just stay there. I have something to do tomorrow, so I'll let you go first. I'll go directly there in the afternoon."
As soon as Yang Yuanqing finished speaking, Cheng Yaojin almost rolled in and ran in, "Yuanqing, general, the imperial edict from the imperial court has arrived. Go and receive it!"
"ah!"
Yang Yuanqing stood up. Has the imperial edict he has been waiting for for more than a month finally arrived?