Traveling through an ancient military camp: Bao'er's survival song

Two days before Li Bao'er went to the capital, Peng Zizheng, who had left the palace to meet the emperor, went alone to the Luo family's old residence, the General's Mansion.

The capital city remained as bustling as ever, yet Peng Zizheng felt it was quite different from the city he remembered from his childhood. Every inch of the road leading from the palace to the General's Mansion seemed etched with memories of Peng Zizheng. The moment he stepped onto that road again, a voice within Peng Zizheng cried out, trying to stop him: Don't go! Don't go!

This was his own voice.

This is his subconscious self trying to protect himself from the memory of that night when he was ten years old; this is his cowardly escape under the influence of fear as he embarks on this path once again.

The shops along the road were still bustling with activity, and the customers coming and going were all well-dressed. The bluestone slabs that had been laid for fifty or sixty years were still intact and smooth, as if they had been blessed by the officials, big and small, who went to court here. Not a single one was broken or dirty.

This road, which once led to a safe home, this road that once led him to his mother's soft embrace, ultimately led him to despair.

Peng Zizheng walked the road almost to his own despair, until he reached the gate of the General's Mansion.

Broken walls and ruins.

The tall, imposing stone beasts guarding the entrance, no longer attended by their daily dust-sweeping servants, were now old and worn. The heavy, tightly closed gate was also peeling red paint, and the door knocker was covered in rust. Below the steps, there were dark, ugly, damp stains of urine, perhaps from stray dogs, or perhaps from someone who didn't want to live.

Peng Zizheng clenched his fists, leaped onto the wall, and stepped across the roof tiles of each room to reach the roof of the main hall in the inner courtyard. He sat on the ridge, with a panoramic view of the entire dilapidated General's Mansion.

"Mother, Mother, look how amazing I am!" Xiao Luo Binghe drew his bow and shot an arrow, hitting the fruit on the table.

The gentle and serene mother bent down, wiping his little hands holding the bow with a handkerchief as she instructed, "You're very good, but remember, you can't run away while holding the bow and arrow!"

"Grandma, Grandma, look how good I am!" Little Luo Binghe asked for praise before he could even catch his breath after finishing his little wooden sword dance.

The white-haired grandmother happily stood up from the armchair, pulled him into her arms, stroked his hair, and laughed, "Amazing, amazing, just like your father!"

"Third sister, third sister, look how amazing I am!" Xiao Luo Binghe quickly climbed up the osmanthus tree, broke off the most vibrant branch, and threw it down.

The maids and servants surrounded the tree, coaxing the young master not to move around too much or he would fall. Meanwhile, the enthusiastic and daring third sister, enjoying the spectacle, clapped and cheered, "My little brother is the best! No one's little brother can compare to mine!"

……

Everyone is gone.

There were also his aunts from each branch of the family, his brothers who were still minors, and his own third uncle, who, despite his frail health, always praised him for being strong and healthy.

It's all gone.

My family, the Luo family, has been loyal and virtuous for generations! We should die on the battlefield! We do not deserve this end! If Heaven has eyes, it will surely make that traitor who harmed my entire family suffer a thousand cuts and never be reincarnated!

Luo Binghe, standing on the rooftop with bloodshot eyes, looked up at the sky and let out a mournful cry that seemed to pierce the heavens.

"Brother Luo." The person who had appeared on the ground at some point called out to him in a calm and peaceful tone after Peng Zizheng finished his angry roar.

Peng Zizheng instantly calmed down and looked down. Standing in the courtyard was the monarch he had sworn to protect—the current emperor, Liu Xu.