"You were born in times of chaos, and you died in times of prosperity. The general wields the sword to write about the mountains and rivers, and writes about peace. I wish you a good journey."

Xie Jinhua held the painting tightly, watching the gradually disappearing figure, tears as big as beans fell from his eyes, but a smile appeared on his pale lips...

Xiao Yuanbo's funeral was very grand.

The coffins of the deceased members of the Xiao family were sent back to the Xiao family one by one. The Xiao family's gate, which had been deserted for ten years, now had hundreds of coffins overnight.

Lying inside were Xiao Yuanbai's grandfather, grandmother, parents, uncles, brothers, and the women and children of the Xiao family.

One of the coffins was a mother and child coffin. When Xiao Yuanbo's eldest sister-in-law died, there were two lives in one body, as she died of complications during childbirth.

The unjust accusations they suffered were made public by a scroll seven or eight meters long. The bright yellow edict was made of cloth woven overnight by eunuchs and written by a group of civil officials.

The notice above tells the epitome of the life of every loyal general of the Xiao family, and their grievances that were met with no response from heaven or earth.

Someone stood in front of the notice, reading it while shedding tears:

【I am Xiao Zhong, the Marquis of Zhenguo. I have been a soldier all my life. At the age of sixteen, I broke into the northern Di camp alone and defeated eight thousand Di people with seven hundred cavalrymen. I became famous in one battle. Since then, I have fought in many battles in the south and the north. I conquered the Nanling Qinshang Corridor on horseback and cut off the head of the Queen of Chen in Xijing. On my sixtieth birthday, the Battle of Xiguan broke out. I led five thousand troops out of the border to intercept the nearly two hundred thousand soldiers of Chen. There were only enemies in front of me and no reinforcements behind me, only the people of my Yan State. My five thousand soldiers and I never thought of going back alive. I told my five thousand soldiers... General, we cannot destroy the 200,000-man army and return victorious, but we can hold them back, giving the people in the city more time to leave Xiguan City. They are all good soldiers and good men. They are fearless and accompany me to a deadly battle. I watched these children fall under the enemy's cavalry, and my head was cut off by the enemy and hung on their flag. My blood was spilled in the land I love most. I never thought of betraying my country, but after I died, why did everyone curse me. 】

[My name is Xiao Wangxu, the eldest son in the family. When my father died in battle outside Xiguan, I was in southern Xinjiang. Before I had time to grieve over my father's death, I received an order from my superiors, the emperor's decree, that I would quickly inherit the title of marquis of Zhenguo, and the power of the 100,000-strong Xiao family army was handed over to me, but I only had 5,000 soldiers. I did not have 100,000 Xiao family troops, and my soldiers were also trapped on all sides outside Xiguan, separated by traitors, and only 5,000 soldiers were given to me. I sent my child Xiao Yuanbai away, and took 5,000 soldiers to guard Xiguan City. The enemy attacked our city walls wantonly, and someone shouted at me, 'As long as you surrender, you can let the Xiao family army go.' Not a single person from the 5,000 Xiao family soldiers stood up to surrender. They stood on the city wall, staring at the enemy opposite with firm and sharp eyes. In fact, they had been starving for five days. During these five days, the enemy attacked us day and night, consuming my energy. Our physical strength, and there was no food support in my rear. The people in the city had already left, and the military rations in the barracks had already been seen through the bottom. There was no food to eat in the city. We had already reached the point where we had run out of food and ammunition, but we had no way to retreat. My soldiers did not die in battle but starved to death on the city wall. The enemy easily broke through our Xiguan City. I watched the enemy circling around me. They were clearly in front of me, but I didn’t even have the strength to pick up the sword. I could only watch them laughing arrogantly in front of me. I felt ashamed and committed suicide on the Xiguan Watchtower. After my death, my body was exposed on the city wall. When my body was put into the coffin, it was already unrecognizable. On the way back to Beijing, someone opened the coffin and poured a bucket of leftover food on my body, scolding me that "a hundred thousand troops died tragically in my hands", but I really didn’t have a hundred thousand troops or food. I just want to ask the emperor, where is our military pay? 】

【My name is Xiao Wangfei. I am the seventh child in the Xiao family. I grew up with my father in Xiguan. So I learned horseback archery at the age of six, and I was very good at it. In the year of the Xiguan War, I was twelve years old. My father only gave me 10,000 infantry and asked me to attract the enemy's main force. I was very happy and excited, but my father looked at me with melancholy. Later I learned that the enemy's main force was five times the size of my 10,000 soldiers. One against five, my soldiers and I killed nearly 30,000 enemies. This was a record my father had never imagined. I ran back to the city with the remaining 3,000 soldiers. I narrowly won that battle, but I also completely angered the enemy. On the last day of the Xiguan War, I was killed alive. They captured me and forced me to surrender. I swallowed a stone and committed suicide. The enemy was furious and cut me open and stuffed my stomach full of stones. They also cut off my limbs and insulted my body. I lay on the loess slope in the west and north for a long time before my people came to collect my body. But when my coffin was transported back to Yanjing, I was not greeted by the weeping and regret of the common people, but by the scolding of the world. Many people pushed my coffin. I only felt a "clang" sound, and my head fell off, my limbs scattered, and my mother threw herself in front of my body and cried in pain. I wanted to cry too, but I couldn't. I could only watch the world spit on me and curse me, Xiao Wangfei, with the most vicious words. But I don't blame them, their eyes were also blinded. 】

"Stop reading, stop reading..." Someone suddenly cried and tried to stop the scholar from reading the imperial edict loudly.

The scholar who read the notice was Song Zheyan, the grandson of Marquis Yongning.

With red eyes, he read aloud to the crowd below, "I, Xiao Wenbai, watched with a smile the rise of the Xiao Clan, and also saw its fall. In the Battle of Xiguan, 90% of the Xiao family's soldiers were buried in the loess. I dragged my broken body back and lay in the carriage prepared for me by the court. I lay in front of the window and watched the fickleness of the world. The people smiled and sent my Xiao army to the battlefield. I thought it was the greatest honor for the entire Xiao family to die in battle, but I didn't expect it to be a sin. My carriage was overturned and my legs were trampled. I heard them say in my ear, 'Why am I the only one who came back alive? Why didn't you die there?' I thought about dying. I lay quietly on the ground waiting for them to step on me to death, but I couldn't die because my sister rushed out of the crowd and blocked several kicks for me. I looked back and it's not that I don't have people I want to protect, so I can't die yet. Now that my younger sister is married, I will do as you wish and go to the underworld with the dead Xiao army..."

Song Zheyan's voice was already choked with sobs.

More and more people gathered around the notice board, and as Song Zheyan read, more and more people knelt on the ground.

The cry was loud.

The world's regret and belated mourning finally came...

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