Thief Emperor

Chapter 137: The Grace of Rescue
After Li Yun led his men out of the city, they walked east for just over ten miles when they saw some people fleeing to the west from time to time. Some of these people were carrying packages and walking in a hurry, while others were traveling with their families, and everyone was carrying a bag.

However, carriages and horses are rarely seen now.

These people were able to escape at this moment, so they must have some skills, but their family backgrounds must not be very wealthy.

In Qiantang County, the truly wealthy and powerful families had fled with their families long before Qiantang City was besieged.

They are people who are very well-informed.

In fact, the county magistrate Liu Xiang could have escaped from Qiantang County early. After all, he should have been the most informed. However, no matter how bad the times are, there will always be a few officials with integrity and conscience.

This is the case with Magistrate Liu.

Normally, he never missed a paycheck when it was due, but when the time came, since he had become the county magistrate, he never thought of leaving.

In fact, it was precisely because he, the chief officer, did not run away, but remained in Qiantang County to unify and coordinate all parties that Qiantang County was able to hold out for two months. Otherwise, the rebels would have entered the city early.

The powerful and wealthy fled early, and the rest were those who escaped in the chaos when the city defenses collapsed. Most of them were middle class people in the city.

Li Yun stopped a young man who looked like a scholar. The young man was carrying a package and was on his way in a hurry. After being stopped by Li Yun and his men, he was frightened out of his wits and bowed to Li Yun repeatedly.

"Sir, Sir, I really have no money left."

He begged for mercy and cried, "I really have no money..."

Li Yun didn't ask a single question, but he was already crying like a pear blossom in the rain. It was obvious that he was on the verge of a breakdown and was a little out of control.

Mr. Li looked at him for a while, then looked at Li Zheng.

"Get him some water."

Li Zheng nodded and handed him a water bag. After the scholar drank a sip of water, his emotions finally stabilized a little. Li Yun then said, "We won't rob you of your money. I want to ask you something about Qiantang County."

The scholar was frightened and it took him a long time to calm down and wipe his tears with his sleeves.

A mocking voice came from behind Li Yun: "Woman chirp!"

Li Yun turned around and glared at the man who was laughing. The man immediately shrank his neck and dared not speak.

The scholar cried for a while before looking up at Li Yun pitifully: "Sir, you... ask."

Seeing his weak appearance, some of the bandits burst into laughter again. Li Yun glanced at Li Zheng, who immediately turned around and shouted, "Everyone step back!"

After they retreated, Li Yun asked, "When was Qiantang City captured?"

"yesterday…"

He scratched his head and looked outside, a little dazed: "No, I've been walking for a day and a night. It should be...it should be the day before yesterday."

"The rebels have been besieging the city for two months. These days, they suddenly concentrated all their forces in the east and attacked like crazy. County Magistrate Liu called all the people in the city to the city wall, but there were too few people in the city. After guarding for a day and a night, they still couldn't hold it."

"Before the city was about to be breached, County Magistrate Liu ordered the west gate to be opened, and we were able to escape."

He choked a few times and gritted his teeth and said, "However, most people still didn't escape."

Li Yun thought for a moment and asked, "Where is Magistrate Liu?"

"do not know."

The scholar shook his head and said, "I didn't see him. I heard... I heard that he died in the line of duty..."

Li Yun frowned again and asked, "Do you have any family?"

"Get lost."

The scholar gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, my last name is Feng, and my name is Feng Han. Can you help me find my family?"

Li Yun rubbed his brows and replied, "How about this, you go west from here and settle down in Qingyang County. If I see your family, I will ask them to go to Qingyang to look for you."

Feng Han was overjoyed when he heard this, and he stood up and bowed repeatedly to Li Yun.

"Thank you, Master, thank you, Master!"

Li Yun coughed and continued, "Let me ask you again, how many rebels are there in Qiantang?"

"do not know."

Feng Han shook his head and said, "When we were trapped in the city, I heard that there were 10,000 to 20,000 people. When we were fleeing along the road, I heard that there were several thousand rebels who rushed into the city. They robbed anything they saw and killed people at will..."

“Many people were frightened by them and fled in a hurry.”

At this point, Master Feng spat on the ground and cursed: "That so-called King of Yue, who talks about equalizing the rich and the poor for the people, is no different from a bandit!"

"Not even as good as the government troops!"

Hearing this, Li Yun looked up to the east and said slowly: "Okay, I roughly know what's going on. You can go by yourself."

Feng Han stood up, bowed to Li Yun, asked for the direction of Qingyang, and then left with a staggering gait.

After the scholar surnamed Feng left, Li Yun led his men to continue eastward. Along the way, he saw more and more people fleeing. Every once in a while, he would stop people to ask about the situation in Qiantang City. By the time he reached thirty miles, he had a general idea of ​​the situation in Qiantang.

At this time, Su Sheng finally caught up on horseback. Sitting on his horse, he shouted to Li Yun, "Captain Li, the news has been reported to the general. We are only 20 to 30 miles away from Qiantang. Let's retreat back to Linshui!"

Li Yun shook his head. He looked at Su Sheng and said, "General Su, there are very few enemies chasing us at this time. It is unlikely that they will leave Qiantang on a large scale. You see..."

Li Yun pointed to the east, and Su Sheng looked over and saw a group of "soldiers" in red clothes, chasing a group of civilians, rushing towards this side. Among this group of civilians, there was only one carriage, and the rebels chasing them had five or six horses, and most of the others were walking. Everyone had their weapons drawn, and most of their knives were stained with blood.

It seems that although there are not many rebels chasing out of Qiantang City, there are some. After all, although Qiantang is big, there are only a limited number of rich families.

There are thousands of them, and if they can't get some of the fat meat, some people will come out to hunt down these fleeing refugees, but their number is not large.

"We are here, firstly to practice, and secondly..."

Mr. Li said calmly: "If you can help one person, that's one person!"

Having said that, he looked at the enemy in the distance again. This time the enemy was closer, and Li Yun could see clearly that some of the fleeing "civilians" were wearing the uniforms of the government army.

They should be the scattered defenders who escaped from Qiantang.

Mr. Li no longer hesitated. He gripped his spear tightly and shouted.

"Follow me, no prisoners will be taken!"

Su Sheng looked at Li Yun with some surprise in his eyes, but he quickly reacted and shouted, "Charge!"

"Kill the rebels!"

Li Yun and others hurried forward. They walked very fast and caught up in just a moment. There were only 20 to 30 rebels. When they saw Li Yun and a hundred others coming towards them, they were naturally a little scared.

In addition, Su Sheng brought dozens of cavalrymen with him, so these mounted rebels became frightened and turned their horses around to prepare to retreat.

"They are the henchmen of the imperial court. There are many of them!"

Someone shouted, "Retreat first and inform General Zhao!"

These horsemen turned around and left. Su Sheng sneered and chased after them, waving his whip.

Li Yun and his companions, on the other hand, met the rebels on foot. These rebels must have been chasing for a long time and were already exhausted. Not long after, they were caught up by Li Yun who was running in the front. Li Yun kicked one of them down, then looked at the rebels waving long swords and came up with them. He sneered and rushed forward with the spear in his hand. The two men's weapons collided and the long sword was knocked away by Li Yun!
Li's spear continued to move forward with great force, and with one graceful swipe, he cut the man's throat.

At this time, the third person also plucked up the courage to rush towards Li Yun, but was stabbed in the heart by Li Yun's gun.

At this time, the others were so frightened by Li Yun, the killer, that they turned and ran away without fighting. Li took out his bow and arrow from his back, shot down another one with one arrow, then waved his hand and shouted, "Charge forward and kill them all!"

A group of "bandits" responded like wolves and tigers, rushing up with howls.

Li Yun put away his gun, came to the carriages, and looked at the wounded soldiers guarding the carriages.

Just now, because they were far away, he thought that this group of people were civilians. Now that they were closer, he realized that although they were civilians, they were not considered civilians.

For example, the people in this carriage guarded by government troops are unlikely to be civilians.

The windows of the carriage had been open all the time, and were hurriedly closed when Li Yun approached.

Li Yun approached, took a quick look, and asked, "Are you the government troops from Qiantang?"

Someone stepped forward, but did not answer. Instead, he looked at Li Yun fiercely and asked through gritted teeth, "Are you Su Jing's subordinates?"

Hearing his tone, Li frowned and nodded, "Yes."

"You still have the nerve to ask who we are!"

"Qiantang has been under siege for more than two months. You are so close, why don't you come to rescue us?"

"Why don't you save him!"

"Now that Qiantang City has been destroyed, you are here to pretend to be good people!"

Li Yun was a little annoyed and said angrily: "I came here without following military orders. If I had known your behavior, who would have saved you?"

Just as the soldiers were about to speak, a woman's voice came from the carriage, soft and sad.

"Brother Wang, it's not up to them to decide whether they come or not."

"speak nicely…"

The curtain of the carriage was opened, and a pretty woman with blood-stained clothes and tear marks on her face got off the carriage and bowed to Li Yunyingying.

"I would like to thank the general for saving me..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she collapsed to the ground and fainted.

Li Yun quickly stepped forward, supported her, turned his head and asked, "What happened?"

"The girl was slightly injured..."

The sergeant at the side also hurried forward and said, "I haven't slept for a day and a night..."

Li Yun put her back into the carriage, pointed ahead, and said, "That's Linshui County. You guys go to Linshui first."

"Remember this before entering the city."

Mr. Li spoke in a bad tone.

"Disarm and take off your armor."

(End of this chapter)