Shipin Dalizheng

Chapter 303: Death and Life

Rong Zhan was still a little confused. Rong Tang had already walked out, and Wu Ji also changed his clothes and followed him out of the city.

Ever since Feng Ling was captured, Lingyun Temple had been occupied by refugees. Rong Tang spent some manpower and resources to finally relocate the refugees to an unseen location.

The worst thing about anything is having no clue. When he determined that the Feng family treasure house was in Lingyun Temple, it was only a matter of time before it was found.

There is a secret compartment under Feng Ling's bed in the dormitory. When it is opened, there is a secret passage leading downwards. Walking straight down along the secret passage, there is a large cellar.

In the light of the torches, box after box of gold, silver and treasures sparkled, and countless gold ingots, gold beads, jade and jadeite made people dizzy.

Rong Zhan's eyes widened, "Master, I've made a fortune."

Rong Tang's eyes darkened. "What kind of fortune did you make? This is all the blood and sweat of the people in Jiangnan. Call all your people over here, and move this stuff as soon as possible."

The torches at Lingyun Temple were lit all night, and no one knew what had happened.

When Tianming returned to the Feng family, something incredible happened: the body of Feng Ling, who was dead, was gone.

The people who were looking after the mourning hall were woken up, and each one was more confused than the other. It was obvious that they had been tricked.

Rong Tang was confused. Who would steal a corpse? Was he planning to use it to threaten them?

If people don’t care when they are alive, how can they care when they are dead?

It's ridiculous.

However, he did not have time to think about it. Feng Qingqing received a letter via carrier pigeon, saying that the army crossing the river from the east had already set foot on the land of Jiangnan, and the army crossing the river from the west would soon be there too.

Rong Tang chuckled. "It's much slower than I thought. Come on, send three hundred people to warn the people along the way in advance to reduce unnecessary casualties."

Two armies marched out from the north city gate, with 300 soldiers on each side. The sound of horse hooves woke up two people in the mass grave.

Feng Pingping coughed suddenly, and then gasped for breath with a wheezing sound.

She opened her eyes and looked around, at the large and small mounds of earth, the exposed bones, and the crows pecking at the carrion.

"what……"

After screaming, she found that she was not dead, she was still alive.

"Pingping, Pingping."

Sun's hoarse voice sounded behind her, and Feng Pingping suddenly hugged her, "Mom, we are not dead, not dead, we are still alive."

Sun also cried, "Yes, we are still alive."

No matter how stupid they were, they knew who saved them and their daughter, made them drink the poison that was said to be fatal, deceived the prison officers and then led them out, which was a good trick to cover up the truth.

Sun cried especially hard. She thought of her husband, son, and other Feng family members who were still in prison. She wondered if they knew that they had missed their only chance to live.

Feng Pingping cried, "What should I do with Dad and Big Brother? They refuse to eat. They don't know that Sixth Sister is trying to save them."

Sun calmed down, but then she figured it out, "No, Xiaoliu didn't want to save them. She only wanted to give a chance to you and me."

Feng Pingping said, "How is that possible? The cake is right there, anyone who wants to eat it can eat it!"

Sun's lips trembled. "That's because she knows that apart from you and me, no one in the Feng family would take the pancakes. She has long seen through the Feng family. The more you fear death, the more you will die in the end. We, mother and daughter, still have a little sense of shame, which is why we have this little chance of survival."

She covered her mouth and could hardly speak in the end. Shame and humiliation alternately passed through her heart. Her daughter would never be able to compare to Xiaoliu like this.

"Let's go, let's leave quickly and don't get discovered by people leaving the city."

Feng Pingping and her mother supported each other as they came out of the pit. They felt something strange in their chest and took out a few ingots of silver and a new household registration book. From now on, they really had to change their names and had nothing to do with the Feng family anymore.

Sun also had a small package with her, which contained two ordinary people's clothes, an embroidered booklet, and a few hard coarse grain cakes. There were not many things, but enough for them to travel far to make a living.

At this moment, Feng Pingping truly understood Lingjizi's fortune-telling comments for her, "Very good, with plenty of food and drink."

She once thought that was the lowest level of life, but now she understands that it was the most stable life.

Two days later, the Pingnan army arrived at the foot of the imperial city. Tens of thousands of troops formed neat square formations and surrounded the Nanyue imperial city tightly.

The people in the city became even more confused, with worry written all over their faces.

Many officials gloated over the situation, hoping to see how the Earl of Annan would respond. Even if he didn't usurp the throne, what would happen? As the de facto ruler of the imperial city, he would ultimately face certain death.

Many people took advantage of the chaos to contact each other and gathered together to discuss surrendering quickly so as not to be buried with the Southern Emperor after the city was broken.

Among the participants this time was Xiao Poyun. He watched coldly as this group of people talked and excitedly discussed how to put all the blame on Rong Tang, while they would immediately switch to Emperor Xuanning of the Northern Dynasty and become wise ministers again.

It's really ironic that Annanbo wanted to save their lives with all his heart, but once they had a chance to survive, the first thing they thought of was how to kill Annanbo.

He recalled the conversation he had with Rong Tang last night.

"Eighty percent of the officials left in the Imperial City are incompetent and unworthy of office. When the Northern Dynasty's army unites tomorrow, those who want to surrender will come to you without your instigation. Not only will they surrender, they will also try to kill me."

Xiao Poyun was astonished. "You knew everything, and you still spared their lives?"

"The reason why I have always adopted a conciliatory policy, giving them a certain degree of freedom and promising them safety is because the imperial city cannot withstand turmoil. Once they find out that I am going to kill people, they will be desperate and will counterattack with all their strength, which will bring great security risks to the imperial city. Most of the troops under my command are still engaged in food supply, and I cannot use them to deal with them. It doesn't matter whether they live or die, but it is inevitable that innocent people will be hurt. I have already found him the biggest scapegoat, Sun Xianbin. As long as they behave themselves, they can become ordinary wealthy men if they cannot become officials in the future. If they don't behave themselves, they can't even be ordinary wealthy men."

Xiao Poyun couldn't understand, "Why would they do this?"

"Because I've seen them at their worst. When I get into government later, I'll feel suffocated every time I think of their flattery and cowardice during this period. They'll definitely mess with me, and I'll definitely mess with them. It just depends on who's more capable."

Xiao Poyun looked at them, counting them one by one in his mind, one by one...

When they fall from the clouds, will they regret what they did today?

On the city gate tower, Rong Tang used a telescope to look at the people coming. Damn, it was Wang Biao's men from the west.

The young general who came to challenge the enemy was wearing a silver helmet and silver armor, wielding a silver spear, and his posture was straight and agile. "Who is on the city wall? Open the gate and surrender quickly, otherwise the blood will flow a hundred feet when the city is broken, and the whole city will be destroyed."

Rong Tang cursed him inwardly, what a joke, it was like telling a story.

He pinched his throat and said, "No, I'm afraid of death, so I can't open the city gate. Why don't you go around and attack the south first? Give me some time so I can take the money and run away."

There was a loud buzzing sound on the city wall, and Zheng Changning under the city wall was also at a loss. What the hell was that up there? Was this even human language?

"You haven't told me who you are yet?"

"You didn't say who you were."

"I am Zheng Changning, a thousand-man commander of the Northern Dynasty Rong Family Army."

"Ah... I am the Earl of Annan, Nanyue, the first commander of the imperial city, the most handsome man, the most powerful minister, the first..."

He threw out a long list of titles, but never mentioned the name.

Zheng Changning soon realized that he was deliberately dragging his feet and stalling for time, and he immediately became angry. "I don't care who you are. If you don't open the city gates and surrender, we will attack the city immediately."

"Oh, you're trying to scare me! I'm not afraid of being scared. Someone, get my zither."