I don't want to return

At that time, Mu Chongyu had been a prisoner in Beiyu for two years.The weather in Beiyu is very cold, and every late autumn, there will be a cold wind blowing straight in, making the imperial capital shiver.

But at this time, Mu Chongyu still had illusions about the Beiyu court.Although it was cold, he saw that Xue Jinghong would sympathize with the people's livelihood in the memorial. Although the winter was long, he knew that Xue Jinghong would distribute the relief money to the Ministry of Industry to reduce the price of black charcoal used by the people for heating.

He thought that the people of Nanyan, at least under the governance of Beiyu, would have warm clothes, enough food, and a stable life.If that was the case, even if he was a prisoner, he would not be unwilling.

With the end of the war and the years of prosperity, everyone's life will pass by peacefully but peacefully like running water, except for himself, in this cold foreign country, it is enough to chant his own sorrow carefully.

The world belongs to the people of this world. Without him, the old Nanyan lord, there will be other regimes, and other better monarchs will take his place.He's just a loser and deserves to be left in the corner.

However, in the eyes of Mu Chongyu today, this kind of thinking is extremely stupid.The beast will not feel pity because of the forbearance of the prey, it will only be aroused with a greater desire to kill.He didn't understand this until he saw with his own eyes the people of Nanyan who were displaced and begged all the way to the imperial capital of Beiyu, and the survivors of Nanyan who were tortured and horrific.

"The household department said to open warehouses to release grain and help the victims, but what happened? If the people of Nanyan hadn't told me about the abuse they suffered in the Jiangdong area, I would still be kept in the dark." Mu Mu Chongyu's face was still cold, but the slight redness in the corners of his eyes betrayed him, "opening warehouses to release grain, the result is to sit on the ground to raise prices, lightly pay and pay less, and the result is excessive taxation. The drought in the east of the Yangtze River was originally a natural disaster. You, Beiyu, took it as a good opportunity to get rich, and turned a natural disaster into a man-made disaster. It can be seen that the danger of the human heart is worse than the sky."

"And this is not just a matter of a few corrupt officials who have acted recklessly." Mu Chongyu's voice was tinged with cold indignation: "It is because you, Beiyu, have been unable to tolerate the existence of Nanyan people from the very beginning. We Defeated, all civil and military officials were taken to Beiyu as prisoners, and you still have to torture these prisoners in every possible way; the severe drought in the east of the Yangtze River, the people of Nanyan have no way to survive, and you have to step on it again, and there will be no way out. The poor and poor people who pay taxes are all used as sin slaves of your official family, and you will kill them at will."

"I would like to ask General Zou. In your eyes, have you ever treated the people of Nanyan as human beings? Or are they just livestock that you can take as you please, and you can spoil them at will?"

Mu Chongyu's voice was not loud, but in this quiet camp, the light and fluttering ending sound was like a heavy hammer wrapped in solid ice, which made people feel numb all over and chilled.

Shen Qing, Li Yuanshan, and Chen Kang all sat silently, but their livid faces and slightly trembling backs showed their mutual anger.

What Mu Chongyu said, they felt the same way.

Zou Chun's face darkened with embarrassment, he didn't expect to hear such an accusation from the other party.Subconsciously, he wanted to refute sharply and reprimand Mu Chongyu for talking nonsense.However, as soon as he raised his head, he met the gaze of the person behind Mu Chongyu, and shut his mouth shyly.

Their Majesty, at this moment, was looking at the old swallow lord with a look of grief a hundred times greater than his.

Zou Chun gritted his teeth, and couldn't help defending his master: "But my Majesty Dayu did indeed order the Ministry of Households to distribute disaster relief food and reduce taxes... and I never asked you Nanyan people to do anything wrong." slave……"

Mu Chongyu sneered, but said nothing.Beiyu people should have their own set of rhetoric to cover up, otherwise how can they appear to be "just and awe-inspiring"?

Zou Chun coughed twice in embarrassment, fell silent for a while, and suddenly became acutely aware of a problem, and hurriedly said, "Okay, let's not debate the truth or falsehood of what the Mushe people said. But... if even our sage can't be sure Knowing the people's sentiments in the Jiangdong area, how did the Mushe people know that they were in the deep palace?"

He was in the imperial city at that time and did not preside over the disaster relief.I just heard that the prefect of Wujun wrote a letter to play, saying that there were riots in the Jiangdong area, openly robbing the relief food, bold and demanding severe punishment.At that time, he also felt that this should be suppressed and punished, but he didn't think deeply about whether there were other secrets in it.

If it is true that the prefect of Wujun concealed the feelings of the people and described the refugees as mobs, one can imagine how deeply the capital was deceived.

But if so, where did Mu Chongyu learn the truth?

Mu Chongyu took a deep look at Zou Chun, and said simply: "A person with a heart can clearly see the facts even if there are thousands of obstacles in front of him; Pretending not to know."

Zou Chun gasped, his face turned blue and red.

He couldn't refute this sentence, and he couldn't press Mu Chongyu again.The old Yan lord and several of his subordinates have been willing to die since they stepped into this camp. What they don't want to say now, they probably can't ask anyway.

The tent became quiet again, only the hourglass on the table made intermittent sounds.

In the current situation, Zou Chun was a little hesitant whether to continue asking.He looked unobtrusively at their sage standing in the corner, disguised as a young general, secretly seeking a hint.

But the Holy One was staring at Mu Chongyu's side face motionlessly, as if his eyes had never left.

Zou Chun sighed lowly, and finally said helplessly: "I have written down what Musheren said. When I go back and report to the Holy Majesty, I will definitely conduct a close investigation to find out the whole matter so that I can give it to you." The people of Nanyan have an explanation."

"As for the few, please go back. Don't worry, my army in Beiyu will withdraw early tomorrow morning, and I will never break my promise."

Seeing Mu Chongyu and the others with surprise in their eyes, as if he didn't expect him to agree to withdraw the troops so easily, he couldn't help but smile wryly.What can he say?When His Majesty made such a decision before, he was no less shocked than them.

Sometimes he really felt that His Majesty seemed to be a different person. Half a year ago, he hated Mu Chongyu who ran away suddenly and vowed to bring him back and keep him in custody forever, but now he suddenly changed.

Although he always kept an eye on the traces of the old swallow master, he no longer saw the kind of anger that could be ignited at any time.On the contrary, it was another emotion that he could not understand.

He shook his head and reluctantly explained to Mu Chongyu: "Although the Mushe people may not believe it, I still have to say that I, Da Yu, had never asked Xu Lihui to pay tribute to grain and grass, especially by searching for the rations of the Nanyan people." The grain and grass obtained. This time the Holy One sent me to Heiyun Mountain, but it was just to perfunctory Xu Lihui on the surface, but secretly asked me to find out where the grain and grass came from."

"In the past few days, I have found out from Xu Lihui's subordinates that the grain and grass were indeed collected from the people of Nanyan. This is consistent with what you people in Yingtou Village say, and it can be confirmed by each other. If so, you Nanyan people It is only natural to snatch this food and grass, how can I, Da Yu, not distinguish between right and wrong, and help the evildoers?"

Hearing this, Mu Chongyu was skeptical: "But we..."

Zou Chun knew what the other party was worried about, so he said, "You are true fugitives, but it is true that the Holy Majesty personally wrote a secret order to let me release you. Now you all go out of this tent, we will never stop you."

He spoke resolutely and earnestly, which made Mu Chongyu and the others unconsciously believe it.Several people looked at each other, stood up quite tacitly, and prepared to leave.

It is of course a good thing for them to walk out of this camp unscathed.

Just at this moment, I suddenly heard the young general wearing a mask say from behind: "It's very windy at night outside, I implore Third Master Mu to ask the general to give him a ride."

Hearing this sudden request, Mu Chongyu turned around and gave him a strange look, without saying a word.

Zou Chun hurriedly said: "That's right. It's almost late at night and the road is difficult, so you can go see off the third master."

Mu Chongyu had no choice but to agree, but felt a little weird, when he was about to lift the curtain, there was already a hand in front of him to do it for him.

This is the young general's hand.It was completely different from the rough hands of ordinary soldiers he had seen. Although it could not be called as smooth as jade, it also looked slender and strong with well-defined joints. Although there were thin calluses on the palm, there was no rough scar.This is more like the hand of a child of a pampered family.

Mu Chongyu raised his eyes to look at the young general, and unexpectedly fell into the dark pool again.With a thump in his heart, he quickly looked away and stepped out of the tent.

The young general followed closely behind, and under the moonlight, Mu Chongyu could see the tall and slender shadow of this man.

Shen Qing and the others quickly followed, and the few of them ran all the way, and they did not encounter any obstacles. There were only soldiers chatting after the battle and the exhausted panting of horses everywhere.

Xu Lihui's troops in the Yazui Stream had already retreated completely, and most of the people in Yingtou Village returned as if they had been pardoned, but there were still many people who stayed where they were and waited for Mu Chongyu's return.

The life-and-death struggle a few hours ago dissipated like a dream, only the mess all over the floor told the scars of the war.

Mu Chongyu felt complicated in every way.It is not clear whether they won or lost this battle, but one thing is clear, that is, if they do not fight, there will be no way of life, and everything will repeat the same mistakes.

He looked up at the bright moon hanging slantingly in the sky. At this moment, there was a faint light coming, passing through the dark clouds beside the moon and sprinkled on the earth.

However, he didn't know that at the same time, there was another gaze, just like the moonlight, silently lingering on his face.

The author has something to say: the day shift starts, see you at [-] o'clock tomorrow afternoon~