No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 781: All cannon fodder?

Li Xian's family, Xie Lingjiang, and Lu Ya;
Zhen Shuyuan, Ye Weilai, Pei Shisanniang...all left.

The yard is empty after people left.

The only figures left in the courtyard were the young man in scholar's robes and the captain of the police in blue clothes.

The red signature paper in his hand had been opened. Ouyang Rong lowered his head and his expression could not be seen clearly.

Yan Liulang saw Ming Fu silently fold the red signature paper and put it into his sleeve.

The blue-clothed captain walked forward a few steps and sat down on the last step at the gate of the courtyard. He held his sword in his arms, sat upright, faced Ouyang Rong, and waited quietly.

Ouyang Rong suddenly asked:
"Don't want to be promoted?"

Yan Liulang thought for a moment and answered truthfully:
"I do, but I'm not happy about it, Mr. Ming. It's not happy to leave Xunyang and go to the capital. It's not happy at all."

"What's wrong?"

Yan Liulang bravely said, "I feel uncomfortable everywhere! It's like I'm running away in a panic. It's really uncomfortable to walk, and I feel like I'm holding back my anger."

He reached out and touched his waist, but there was no wine. He didn't have time to slack off and drink today, so he had to give up. But he couldn't hold back his words any longer, and they came out all at once:

"Mingfu, I am different from a tenacious person like you. I don't have any lofty ambitions. I just love face very much and I tend to act on impulse. I insist on saying nice things and bragging about myself. That's a bit chivalrous. My father said this to me before, and I'm very dissatisfied.

"He said that if a kid like me went out to explore the world, I would most likely be cannon fodder. I would have to work in a small county government office for a few years until I got bruised and battered. Then I would just get married and have kids, live a life of idleness in the government office, and pass on this lucrative county government job that was passed down from my ancestors to my family.

"But everything has changed since I met you, Mr. Ming, in Longcheng."

Yan Liulang pinched the cloth on the chest of the officer's uniform with two fingers and grinned, revealing a row of big white teeth:

"I am now a military officer in the judicial department of Jiangzhou. In that small neighborhood of Longcheng, I am a very high-ranking official. With the bonus given to the provincial official, I am on par with the Longcheng magistrate. A few days ago, when I went back home wearing this official uniform, my neighbors all praised me for my promising future. My sisters also said that I was blessed with good fortune. My father took a few puffs of his pipe and squatted at the door, staring at me. After a long while, he said something, asking me to follow the noble man and work hard in Jiangzhou.

“But Mr. Ming, I might feel secretly proud of other people’s praise, but when I heard what my father said and saw the white hair on his temples, even though I was a much higher official than him, I didn’t feel any pleasure in being slapped in the face. On the contrary, at that moment, I suddenly realized that what my father said was indeed right. It was damn right!
"I'm just a brat, destined to be cannon fodder. The difference between being a big cannon fodder or a small cannon fodder is just a matter of time. Dad is right, but I don't plan to change. I'm not too sad or depressed.

"Fuck the sadness and depression!"

Yan Liulang patted the dust off his official uniform and pointed outside the yard:
"Mingsir, I, Yan Liulang, am the military officer of the Jiangzhou Judicial Department. Today, I watched helplessly as those fake pirates seized the ferry, drove away the people, burned down the government offices, and disregarded the law! They whipped my brothers like lambs! They destroyed the prosperous and bustling streets! They made the area under my jurisdiction a mess, and the people were in panic!
"I, Yan Liulang, have little education. I don't have the talent and knowledge of the literary star like the Ming Mansion, nor do I have the forbearance and tolerance of the royal family like the prince. I don't understand the overall situation of the court, the Liwei faction struggle, and the unpredictable mind of the emperor!"

The blue-robed captain wiped his face fiercely, raised his neck high and said:
"All I know is that there is a bunch of sons of bitches running around in my territory, with no regard for the law and at large! All I know is that there is a group of people from the capital of the gods, and a group of people who claim to be from the Tiannan Jianghu, who are treating our Jiangzhou Hall as a stinking brothel, and they can enter if they want, and leave if they want, and they don't care what happens to the people in the city! All I know is that they are all a bunch of sons of bitches, and they are all bitches, and they are all bad guys, and they all deserve to be fucked!"

Ouyang Rong looked at him.

Yan Liulang paused for a moment and asked seriously:
"Does Mr. Ming feel the same way today? I heard from Chen You that you came back from the Xunyang Grottoes... Are you extremely disappointed there?"

Ouyang Rong did not answer, but looked at the empty yard. In the southeast corner there was a lonely swing, swaying in the wind.

Yan Liulang's voice came:

"Mingfu, I wanted to say these words when I went to gather at Pei Shisan Niang's courtyard. I didn't want to leave at that time, and I knew that you definitely didn't want to leave either. I know your character well, and you will only get more angry, not less. The matter of Miss Xiu Niang was just a prelude. I came back to calmly arrange for Prince Xunyang and his family to leave, just out of my sense of responsibility. I was just forcing myself to hold back."

Ouyang Rong suddenly stood up and walked out of Yinbingzhai. When he passed by Yan Liulang, he said:

"Take the sword case and follow me."

Yan Liulang immediately perked up, slung his sword over his waist, picked up the sword case, and immediately followed, staring at Ouyang Rong's slender back with sharp eyes.

It's like a traveler drifting on the sea late at night seeing a lighthouse.

The two of them walked along a quiet corridor. Yan Liulang hugged the sword case tightly. He looked around and saw the deserted courtyard. He murmured with emotion:
"Mingfu, there are only two of us left."

Ouyang Rong suddenly turned around:
"Aren't two people too many?"

The tone was very serious.

Yan Liulang was stunned for a moment, then he raised his hand to wipe his face, nodded heavily, and smiled brightly:

"many!"

After a pause, he didn't know what he was thinking about, he sniffed and turned his face away:
"It's just that I thought of the day when I was in Longcheng and destroyed the bully Liu family. The elders and villagers were all there. It was so passionate and generous. There were people all around us... Brother Ashan was there too, but... he rushed in too fast and left first."

The blue-robed captain muttered something he had repeated countless times: "If only Brother Ashan were still here."

The young man in Confucian robes paused and continued walking.

Yan Liulang saw Ming Fu reach into his sleeve, take out a bronze mask, and then slowly put it back. He looked forward and said softly:
"He's here."

The two arrived at the gate of the Huaiye Lane mansion and saw a familiar chestnut horse parked outside, pulling a carriage.

This is the car that Dongmei and Ouyang Rong often ride in in Xunyang City in the past two years.

The coachman Ali was gone. Ouyang Rong had ordered him to leave with Zhen Shuyuan, Ye Weilai and other female relatives, but he considerately left the carriage and Dongmei behind.

Just like countless times before, Ouyang Rong boarded the carriage in three steps and two steps, and sat down in his original seat in the carriage. He took the Mohist sword box from Liu Lang and placed it horizontally on his knees.

The only change was that this time Yan Liulang acted as the coachman and drove the horse himself.

"Mingfu, where are we going?"

"Jiangzhou Lobby."

The blue-robed constable whipped his whip, and with a "whoosh" the carriage moved forward and drove into the deserted long street outside.

Yan Liulang whipped his horse whip, turned around and said to himself cheerfully:
"Ming Fu, I really want to tell my father that being able to stay by your side, even if I continue to be cannon fodder, is really fucking satisfying and worth it!"

Ouyang Rong's calm voice came from behind the curtain:

"Remember, you are not cannon fodder, and neither am I. No one is cannon fodder. The people who invented the term cannon fodder to stigmatize us are the same kind of people as the group of scoundrels who set up the scheme in Xunyang today."

"color!"

Yan Liulang was stunned for a moment, nodded his head heavily, and whipped his horse and left.

The carriage drove along the main road of Xunyang City towards Jiangzhou Hall.

The main road is close to the river. Today the sky is clear and the river breeze is refreshing. In this kind of weather, the long street must have been extremely prosperous and full of business.

But today, the place is in a mess and desolate, with no common people to be seen. Only the occasional horse-drawn carriage of a wealthy family fleeing passes by, and most of these carriages come from Xiushuifang.

At this moment, those who are able to leave Xunyang City are all powerful and wealthy. They are well-informed and know that the situation today is not good. Even the Xunyang Palace was burned down by a fire. Most of the powerful and influential people are smart people who know the times. They will not all bet on the court power in Jiangzhou Hall or Xunyang Grottoes. If they can, they will slip away and run out of the city first to observe the situation.

As for the city lockdown order from the young governor?

If it rains, it will rain; if my mother wants to get married, no one can stop her.

The city is sealed off and martial law is imposed for the purpose of maintaining stability. At the same time, the danger outside the city is indeed unpredictable, and this is in the collective interest.

However, some wealthy and powerful people are indifferent to these things in their hearts.

They have special ways to sneak out, and they believe they can escape after leaving the city.

The Jiangzhou Hall certainly knew about these people's movements, and Yan Liulang was also gritting his teeth, but he couldn't stop them, and now was not the time to deal with them.

For now, we have done our best to defend the city gate and Xunyang Ferry, and we have no time to care about these "rats digging holes and escaping everywhere".

Anyway, life and death are at your own risk, and you also have to bear the consequences of violating martial law when the young governor and the Jiangzhou hall investigate you in the future.

Most ordinary people in Xunyang City have no such channels to escape, so they can only stay at home quietly, abide by martial law, and safeguard the collective interests of the entire city.

I can only pray that the local government is reliable, and that the imperial power at the Xunyang Grottoes can come back and stabilize the situation as soon as possible... My wishes are simple.

From time to time, carriages of the rich and powerful passed by the long street, heading towards Xunyang Ferry or Kuanglu Mountain, which was the opposite direction of Ouyang Rong's way to Jiangzhou Hall.

Ouyang Rong's carriage was very conspicuous in the stream of cars fleeing out of the city. Going upstream.

In fact, many people recognized Ouyang Rong's carriage.

I knew that this was the carriage of the young governor of Jiangzhou.

The main reason was that Yan Liulang brought a team of constables to surround the car. More people knew Yan Liulang, the judicial officer, and naturally they could guess the identity of the person in the car.

The young governor has not left and is still in the city. It seems that he is going to... the Jiangzhou lobby?
Someone saw it, pretended not to know, and continued to run away.

Some people watched silently.

For example, the pairs of eyes behind the doors of every household on both sides of the long street.

They were all watching the young governor's carriage coming upstream...

Inside the carriage, Ouyang Rong's mind was completely on the Pagoda of Merit at the moment, and he didn't pay attention to the human thoughts and the "noise" outside.

In fact, ever since the people from the palace and the women from the Huaiye Lane residence evacuated, he had heard a series of crisp wooden fish sounds.

The merit value is increasing.

【Merit: 6,319】

Inside the Pagoda of Merit, Ouyang Rong stood in front of the small wooden fish and lowered his head to inspect it.

If I remember correctly, before returning to Xunyang City, my merits were still over 5,500.

This time, he arranged a backup plan to rescue the palace and the women from the city, which increased his merits by more than 800 in a short period of time, which was quite a lot, and directly helped him break through the 6,000 merit mark.

Ouyang Rong looked neither surprised nor happy. Before leaving the Merit Tower, he looked back at the silent and motionless Blessing Bell.

The ancient bronze bell made no sound.

Ouyang Rong had no expectations in the first place, so he turned his head without any hesitation and left the Merit Tower.

In the carriage, he opened his eyes and saw Miao Si's little face for the first time.

He couldn't help but frown.

"What are you doing?"

The little ink spirit ran out of the sleeve at some point, climbed onto Ouyang Rong's shoulder, and tilted its head to look curiously at Ouyang Rong who had just "closed his eyes to rest".

"Xiao Rongzi, did you fall asleep just now? What were you mumbling?"

Ouyang Rong looked stern and held out his hand:

"Where's Mo?"

Miao Si was not in a hurry. She continued to cross her arms, tilted her head and looked at Ouyang Rong, and asked:

"Xiao Rongzi, Xie girl and the others left? Why didn't they take me with them? Did you do that on purpose?"

Ouyang Rong asked back: "Is the Fairy Lady afraid and wants to escape?"

"Afraid? I'm not afraid. Let me tell you, I've seen a lot of big battles. Some of them are so big that you've never even heard of them."

He asked politely, "Did you see it in your dream?"

"?"

Ever since accepting Ouyang Rong as her "new follower", Miao Si often had the urge to bite him to death because she felt that his face particularly deserved a beating.

"Hmph, I don't want to waste my words with you."

Miao Si crossed her arms and said angrily, "I am not afraid anyway, so stay if you want. I want to see what you can do today.
"Last time you used the Light Spirit Ink and told me that you beat up those Yunmeng women, why didn't I believe you? Then you can let me open my eyes again later. Haha, don't run away in a panic. I can't afford to lose face like this. When the time comes, I will definitely draw a clear line between us and you. Go and embarrass yourself."

Ouyang Rong asked back: "You run away first?"

Miao Si's face turned dark.

Ouyang Rong suddenly reached out and pulled out the Lingmo bamboo tube that she had hidden behind her back.

"Just one tube?"

"One tube is not enough. You are not a Confucian Qigong practitioner. Why do you ask for so much?"

Ouyang Rong stuffed the resentful little Mo Jing back.

The talisman paper and pen were prepared in advance. Ouyang Rong used the sword box as a table, put it underneath, and began to write the talisman.

On the way, perhaps because of the bumpy ride in the carriage, his hand holding the pen paused several times.

A little head of a female crown immediately popped out from Ouyang Rong's sleeve, and the little black spirit did not forget to rush to the scene and laugh at him:

"Xiao Rongzi, why are you pulling like that? Are your hands unsteady? It's because your mind is restless. I'm sure you're scared."

Ouyang Rong ignored him, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After resting for a moment, he opened his eyes again and continued to concentrate on drawing the talisman.

This time, he drew very quickly, and after a while, a brand new and intact red and black talisman fell into his palm.

Miao Si looked with some surprise at the young man in Confucian robes who was able to quickly adjust his mood.

She curled her lips, didn't praise him, and retracted her little head.

The carriage arrived at Jiangzhou Hall.

Arriving at the main hall, Ouyang Rong summoned the remaining officials.

Yuan Huaimin is not here.

Some officials still stayed at their posts, not many, about ten people, mainly organized and united by the two military officers Yan Liulang and Chen You.

There were also individual officials who arrived one after another while Ouyang Rong was holding a meeting in the main hall, as if they had just received the news... Ouyang Rong pretended not to see any of this.

It is enough for those who can "realize it later".

Seeing that everyone who could come had arrived, Ouyang Rong began to ask questions one by one and listened to their reports.

"Ming Fu, at the Xinzhou Prison, all the suspected traitors that were originally arrested were inexplicably released."

"It's the same at Chengtian Temple. The One Finger Zen Master is missing, and all the people who were imprisoned have been released. I heard from the monks in the temple that a barefoot woman in white is seen everywhere."

When Ouyang Rong heard the news, his expression remained calm, as if he had expected it.

"Where is Li Yu?" he asked.

"Not in the temple, still looking for it."

Ouyang Rong looked around at everyone and asked:
"Any sign of this barefoot woman in white?"

Chen You reported solemnly: "Half an hour ago, someone in Xingzifang saw her, but no one knows where she went."

"Mingfu!"

At this moment, Yan Liulang suddenly came over and reported with a fist;
"Our people have found traces of the Fang sisters in the Xingzi Lake courtyard! They seem to still be in the courtyard."

Ouyang Rong tilted his head slightly.

(End of this chapter)