Chapter 201: Inside the Lonely City

Chen Zhiwei, the guardian of Duanliu City, looked at the last mouthful of rice in the bowl and struggled with his will. With a persevering expression, he brought the bowl to his mouth with difficulty and swallowed the mouthful of rice with determination and determination. His neck squirmed like a snake, and he finally swallowed.

He took a deep breath, put down the bowl and chopsticks, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and showed a happy smile. He won. In this battle with food, he won and insisted on his principles—— Never waste a grain of food, this is also his way of being an official. Starting from the small town garrison, wherever he went as an official, he would vigorously promote economy and emphasize farming. Therefore, he was appreciated by his superiors and was promoted to the city guard. Location.

With the help of two servants, Chen Zhiwei stood up and became more and more proud as he watched the other two servants put away the empty three bowls and five plates.

The city guard has thin hands and feet, except for his bulging belly, which looks like an overturned turtle shell. Chen Zhiwei is quite proud of this, "Food is the most important thing for the people, and I pretend to be the heaven here."

In the lobby, a group of officials were waiting for the city guard who was holding the sky. No one dared to disturb him while he was eating. Even if the sky fell, it would still be in his belly.

Chen Zhiwei slowly sat on the chair in the middle without raising his head or turning his eyes. His second rule for being an official was to remain unfazed by surprises. There were too many officials who liked to be surprised, for no other reason than to be surprised. Disrupt your boss's judgment so that you can fish in troubled waters.

He flipped through several official documents and suddenly felt that something was not right about the atmosphere. There seemed to be more officials standing in front of him than before. They were breathing heavily and walking unsteadily. Everyone looked like they were eager to speak but did not dare to speak.

This was also a contest. Chen Zhiwei raised his head, and his thin face could not contain his majesty. Instead, he responded with ridicule and disdain, first giving a silent warning to his subordinate officials: No one should try to deceive him, let alone control him.

"What's going on? It's just that the ground shook yesterday, and no one died." Chen Zhiwei set the tone so that no one would dare to ask for things.

The officials looked at each other. He actually didn't rush to be the first, but let the captain of Duanliu City speak first. Before the captain could speak, Chen Zhiwei waved his hand to interrupt. "In order, the rules are rules, they are for execution, not for fun."

The captain retreated and asked the civil, financial, prison and other officials to report the situation.

Chen Zhiwei listened carefully, rushed through a bunch of daily chores, and accurately pointed out several errors in dates and numbers, which made the officials involved so embarrassed that they did not dare to look up.

The captain is the leader of the Duanliu City garrison. He is the seventh in the order to speak. He usually has nothing to report. Today, he was in a hurry, "Sir, a group of refugees came from the west this morning, claiming that a demonic army broke into Xijie Kingdom and fought all the way to the capital. It is very likely that the troops will be divided..."

"etc,

refugee? How many people are there? "

Adults are very sensitive to numbers. The captain swallowed his saliva and said anxiously: "About eighty or ninety people."

Chen Zhiwei was not very satisfied with the word "probably", but he was not so harsh on the military attache and continued to ask: "Are they short of food and clothing? But they have no money to rent a house?"

"Uh...fortunately, they rented at the Chengxi Inn. They paid in cash."

Chen Zhiwei's face darkened, "What kind of refugee are these? In all likelihood, they are trying to deceive the public with lies and plan to sell commercial goods at high prices. I know all about such people and monitor them. They will definitely transport goods into the city within three days." . Catch them all when the time comes.”

"Yes, sir." The captain had a lot to say, but now he couldn't say a word.

"The monster soldiers invaded the Xijie Kingdom." Chen Zhiwei repeated disdainfully, "They are at most some stragglers, and the Xuanfu Army on the border is enough to kill them all. It is really stupid for profiteers to scare the people with such a thing."

No one among the dozen or so officials in the lobby dared to say anything. They had all heard some rumors from their own channels, but at this time they could only nod their heads, praising the Lord for his sharp vision and insight.

"The demon soldiers are indeed coming." A voice sounded from the door of the lobby.

The officials turned around and looked at the two young men at the door in shock, realizing that they were not officials from the city at all, but obvious foreigners.

The captain was also responsible for guarding the yamen, but two strangers barged in without warning. This made him look shameless. He strode forward and shouted sternly: "Bold maniacs, who let you in?" have no idea……"

A person unexpectedly flew up from behind, knocking the captain off his feet. He spun around in a circle before barely stopping. Then he saw a completely different city guard.

Chen Zhiwei ran to the door with agility and speed that officials had never seen before, knelt down to a young man, shouted "Your Highness" overjoyed, kowtowed several times, and when he spoke again, his voice became trembling, as if there was something wrong. It was hard to express the emotions in my heart, "His Royal Highness the Prince is here to visit, I am..."

Xin Youtao winked at Mu Xingqiu proudly, reminding him that this was another world, a wider world, where the royal family was the supreme figure and Pangshan Taoist priests were just illusory legends.

"I didn't expect you to recognize me." Xin Youtao's tone was a little unnatural. He was already used to being a Taoist priest, and it would take some time to get used to it if he wanted to regain his former princely demeanor.

"Of course I recognize it." Chen Zhiwei raised his head with tears in his eyes, "I remember when His Royal Highness the Prince blessed the divine seal, and I was watching from the audience. The holy light above His Highness's head reached into the sky, and the ministers shook the mountains and shouted that they would live a thousand years later. The scene at that time Guan vividly remembers it. Later, His Highness joined the army at a weak age, and Xianguan also went out of the city gate to see him off. Later, he heard that His Highness became a disciple of the immortal. Xianguan prayed every day, hoping that His Highness would be able to return to the capital soon. , I didn’t expect to see you today, His Highness’s appearance has not changed, I think he has become an immortal…”

The disappointed person was Xin Youtao. He found that he could not feel the joy of being flattered, just like a person who has not eaten meat for a long time and tastes meat again and feels sick and wants to vomit. "Okay, okay." He waved his hand to signal the city guard to stand up, " I have already left Pangshan, and this time I came out for a private visit."

Chen Zhiwei pointed at a group of officials behind him and whispered: "Are you going to lock them all up?"

The officials were shocked. They didn't expect that just hearing about the prince's arrival would lead to such a serious crime. The captain took the lead and everyone knelt down together.

"No, just tell them not to talk nonsense."

"Yes, yes." Chen Zhiwei bowed and asked the prince to go into the lobby. He sternly said to his subordinates: "If even the slightest bit of news about the prince's arrival in the city is leaked, you should raise your heads and apologize together."

Xin Youtao still remembered the rules of officialdom. After several humility, the city guard still took the lead. Chen Zhiwei personally moved a chair next to him. He was keenly aware that the prince's entourage was not an ordinary person. He immediately moved another chair and was busy twice. A thin layer of sweat broke out on his head, but his expression was Extremely joyful.

Xin Youtao and the city guard were talking in an official tone back and forth, while a group of officials kneeling below did not dare to breathe. Mu Xingqiu looked anxious and coughed lightly.

I didn't want to reveal Xin Youtao's identity as a prince right away, but I heard that a demon army was attacking the capital of Xijie Kingdom. Mu Xingqiu changed his mind. In case the reinforcements were delayed, they had to prepare to deal with a small group of demon soldiers. In order not to expose Taoist Pangshan, the main force had to be the Xuanfu Army from Duanliu City.

Xin Youtao heard Mu Xingqiu's hint. He immediately straightened his expression and said, "A large group of demon troops has indeed entered the Xijie Kingdom and is currently heading towards the capital. There may be small groups of demon troops plundering various places. Is Duanliu City prepared?"

Chen Zhiwei's expression immediately became solemn, "Your Majesty has heard about this matter for a long time, and has been secretly on guard for a long time. Soldiers, horses, food, grass, and equipment are all ready. I dare not say that we can stop the monster clan's thousands of troops and deal with dozens of people." A hundred demon soldiers are more than enough."

Even Mu Xingqiu admired the city guard for telling lies in a serious manner. He actually "had heard about it" when Pangshan was attacked by a sneak attack the night before.

Xin Youtao nodded. He seemed very satisfied. Do not reveal lies in public at any time. This is one of the rules of officialdom. Even the prince must abide by it. "Very good. This Mu Xingqiu is the general of the Purple Fu Army in the capital. He accompanied me on a private visit incognito. He said to the march He is very good at setting up formations, and the city guard can ask him to help if needed."

Chen Zhiwei's face was full of surprise, "It turns out that you are General Mu. I am honored to meet you. Please forgive me for being rude. The small Duanliu City can be commanded by the general personally, which is a great thing that I can only dream of. Huang Duwei , From now on, General Mu will be the commander-in-chief of Duanliu City. You will hand over all the troops and horses immediately and serve the general by his side from now on. "

The demon soldiers were about to kill him. Huang Duwei was eager for someone else to take on the responsibility of defending the city, so he immediately kowtowed and accepted the order.

Mu Xingqiu reluctantly socialized for a few words, and left under the pretext of checking the troops, leaving Xin Youtao to deal with Chen Zhiwei alone.

Lieutenant Huang followed General Mu staggeringly. His ability to flatter was far inferior to that of the city guard. He repeated the phrase "Heroes emerge from youth" over and over again.

Arriving at the front yard of the city guard's mansion, Mu Xingqiu stopped and asked, "How many soldiers and horses are there in Duanliu City?"

"Each city's Xuanfu army has a certain number. Duanliu City has ten Qilin, twenty Qilin generals, one hundred war horses, two hundred cavalry, and five hundred infantry."

"Where is the Fu Lu Master?" Mu Xingqiu knew that without the Fu Lu Master, the Xuan Fu Army's combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced.

"According to the regulations, it is five people."

Mu Xingqiu heard the hidden meaning behind the words, "I don't want a fixed number, I want a real number."

Captain Huang glanced in the direction of the lobby and asked in a low voice: "Will the demon soldiers really come to Duanliu City?"

"According to my estimation, the demon soldiers will arrive within three days at the earliest and ten days at the latest. This time is different from usual. The demon soldiers are not just here to plunder property. They want to occupy territory. It is hard to say whether the capital can be defended. "

There should be news about the disciples going to Wandishan Mountain soon, wnhc But even if Wandishan Mountain sends assistance, Zuo Liuying and the Patriarch Pagoda cannot move for the time being, and they still have to face the monster soldiers who will kill them at any time.

Captain Huang's expression changed, and he said in a lower voice: "To be honest, there is only one Qilin left in Duanliu City, and there are only fifty war horses, most of which are old and weak. As for the horse infantry, there are actually three hundred people in total, who can go up. There are only about 200 people on the battlefield. The five Fu Lu masters are not in the camp at the moment, and it will take two or three days to be recalled. "

The East and West countries are friendly countries, and although Duanliu City is a border city, it is very safe. It has not been attacked by foreign enemies for tens of thousands of years, and the guards have long been lax.

Mu Xingqiu thought for a while, "Immediately send someone to recall the Fu Lu Master. Now take me to check on the soldiers and equipment."

What Mu Xingqiu was thinking about at this time was not how to defeat the demon soldiers and save Duanliu City, but how to hold on for at least nine days without leaving any trace. As long as the Zushi Tower could be repaired in time, Zuo Liuying could immediately move to a safer place.

A city guard who told lies and an incomplete army, this was what allowed Mu Xingqiu to persist for at least nine days.

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