Pretend to die

"You—" the inspector knocked Su Zheng's head with a hard whip handle, and was just about to speak, when there was a sudden commotion outside, and a fully armed guard rushed in, shouting loudly:

"Pick out the strong men, and bring the others into the mine!"

The inspectors and inspectors looked at each other, hurriedly picked the man out of the crowd, and pushed him outside the shed. Immediately, the screams of women and children were heard, followed by the sound of whips beating flesh. Zheng's daughter was taken away by a pair of unknown hands, and he was also pushed out of the hut.

People lying on the ground were trampled on by the panicked crowd, and some old people also fell to the ground, unable to get up.

No one knew what happened. The heavily armed guards pulled the iron chains like picking vegetables, one by one, and quickly carve up the strong men. The strong men were brought to the towering gate. Give them the long knife, tasseled spear, and iron ax in your hands.

Before they could react, the majestic gate was opened a crack, and they were pushed out.

The sun at noon rose very high.

The wind and sand blinded the eyes, but the sound of the sand boat galloping was clear and loud.

Hungry people, barely able to hold weapons, huddled spontaneously in an attempt to prolong their dying lives.

The chief of the guards shouted on the city wall: "Come on! If you don't kill the enemy, you will die. If you come back alive, you will be exempted from slavery!"

Exemption from slavery is a more attractive condition than returning alive.

Several young men who still had energy left looked at each other, unable to make up their minds. In just a few minutes, sand boats and camel caravans appeared at the far end of their line of sight, and the guards on the city wall raised their crossbows and stood ready.

This is the fourth time this month.

The rebel army led by the former General Zhaoyun was stationed in the Tatuo Desert, attacking the quicksand cave repeatedly at a grinding frequency, in an attempt to seize the first mine of the Daxi Dynasty.

After a few months, it was almost a success.

Emperor Yong was addicted to |yin|music all day long, and after learning about this incident, he didn't feel the catastrophe at all. Instead, he laughed at Zhao Yun's arrogance, and ordered the governor to smelt weapons and show Zhao Yun some color.

Emperor Yong didn't know that the national treasury had already run out of tens of thousands of taels of silver, the House of Internal Affairs was full of private pockets, and the ministers never dared to speak out because of his father-in-law's power. The entire Daxi Kingdom had long been an empty shell.

There is no silver compensation, and no one wants to lose their subordinates in this desert. Although the teams did not say it clearly, the guards below know that it is not necessary to kill the enemy by themselves. If the enemy army hits the door, who will go? Meet the enemy?

Naturally a slave.

Arrows rained down on the top of the head, and some of the people who rushed forward were injured, and some had already been trampled into the sand.

Su Zheng couldn't move and didn't want to charge. At this time, the soldiers outside the sandboat squatted down, raised their shields, and bayonets protruded from the gap, like a giant hedgehog with steel and iron bones. The soldiers inside stood up and raised their bows and arrows. The shot went out, and in the confusion, Su Zheng was shot in the right arm. His weak body made him unable to bear a little pain, and he passed out instantly.

In a whirlwind, he suddenly thought of that little daughter, and closed his eyes unwillingly.

……so bitter.

Su Zheng frowned, opened his eyes, and just about to vomit, he poured a spoonful of concoction into his mouth.

"You're awake." Seeing him open his eyes, the instigator shouted happily: "Great, this prescription really has a miraculous effect."

"vomit--"

"Oh, why did you throw up?"

The door curtain was lifted, and a big man with a knife broke in, holding the knife vigilantly, and asked, "What happened?"

"It's okay, he's awake, go and report to Master Fu."

After a while, dense footsteps sounded outside the door, and the next second the curtain was lifted, it was indeed Fu Bingying who came. He stood at the door, stared at it for a while, slowed down his pace, and walked in step by step.

Su Zheng stretched out his hand, wanting to reach him.

Fu Bingying hugged him gently, and a trace of blood finally poured into his heart that had been dry these days, and said weakly, "You finally woke up."

Su Zheng put his head on his shoulder, feeling extremely wronged in his heart. He didn't know what the relationship between Fu Bingying and him in this world was, but he really wanted to tell him, I have suffered, I have suffered a lot, and he wants to hug him. Fu Bingying cried a lot, but his mind was heavy. He suppressed the tears and couldn't cry. At this moment, he suddenly remembered something, and his heart became more urgent.

"Fu Bingying," Su Zheng raised his head from his arms, and said sadly, "My daughter is still in the quicksand cave, she is dying."

daughter?

Fu Bingying's heart skipped a beat, but soon realized that it was not Su Zheng's real daughter.

Su Zheng is a homosexual, without the help of drugs, he can't get up with women, and he can't bear children.

"..." He thought for a while, and said, "I'm afraid I'm close to death. The conditions in Quicksand Cave are harsh, and the slaves are treated inhumanely. If she was dying when you left her, she would definitely not live today."

Su Zheng was taken aback for a moment, and then let go of his hand, not knowing what it was like.

He has no relationship with that so-called daughter...but they went into the desert together, experienced life and death, and Su Zheng's care for her has already surpassed ordinary sympathy.He didn't regard her as his daughter, but the child regarded him as his father.She trusted him, even his lies.

If she is still alive, even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance of being alive... she must be looking forward to taking her out.

"Fu Bingying," Su Zheng said with difficulty, "What if she is still alive... what if..."

"You want to save her?"

Fu Bingying pushed him back to the bed, tucked him in the quilt, and there was no wave between his brows.

Su Zheng looked at him, and naturally knew what he meant.Rescuing a person alone is tantamount to dying, and asking Fu Bingying to rescue him obviously has no position.

"You have a good rest, life and death are fate, don't force it."

"..." Seeing that he was about to leave, Su Zheng grabbed his hand and asked, "What if she is still alive? Then I will abandon her."

"It's impossible for her to be alive." Fu Bingying pulled his hand away, stuffed it into the quilt, touched his face, and said, "Go to sleep."

It got dark and the temperature turned cooler.

Su Zheng couldn't fall asleep, so he sat up from the bed. The lady gave him an extra woolen blanket and brought him a bowl of hot porridge.

"Master Fu is still in the general's tent. I'm afraid he won't be back until midnight. Let's rest after eating porridge."

"Is this Fu Bingying's tent?"

"Yes."

"He... I, how was I brought back?"

The lady glanced at him and continued to do what she was doing, her voice was like a camel bell, pulling Su Zheng back to the noon of that day.

"...The general didn't want to kill innocent people indiscriminately, and he also knew that you were just slaves who were pushed out to block the arrows. After the end, he brought back the ones who were still alive as prisoners. My lord, you are weak. Jian, also unconscious for many days, was sent to the doctor for diagnosis and treatment, and ran into Lord Fu, who recognized you at a glance, said that you were his old acquaintance, and ordered us to be sent to his tent for recuperation."

Su Zheng looked at the black tattoo on his arm. That symbol represented his status as a pariah. Judging from Fu Bingying's current status, he might not be an old acquaintance with him.

The lady seemed to see through his thoughts, made a cup of milk tea for him, handed it to her hand, and said, "We don't pay attention to that here," she said, rolling up her sleeves, revealing a red tattoo—representing exiles—"this In this era, bad people are in power and good people are ruined, now you don’t have to be afraid when you come here, the general will give us justice.”

The milk tea was very hot and very fragrant, and it tasted salty in the mouth. Su Zheng had only drank sweet milk tea before, so he immediately felt the novelty and drank a few more sips.

"Go and rest," he said to the maid, "I'll wait for Fu Bingying to come back."

"Master Fu told you to take good care of you."

"I've slept for too long, I can't fall asleep now, go and rest, I'll call you again if something happens."

"But……"

"Go ahead, there are still many things to do tomorrow."

"Okay," the lady thought about rushing to make weapons tomorrow, so she stopped shirking and said, "Call if you have something to do. The soldiers outside are always on guard. My name is Ah Huo, don't forget."

Su Zheng nodded.