Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 342 Before Dawn
Pengcheng, the capital of the Western Chu Kingdom, has a prison in the city.

Originally, there was only one county-level prison in Pengcheng City, and there was no such place as Tingli Prison. Even after Xiang Liang led Chu Wenwu to support Xiong Xin as king, he still used Pengcheng County Prison to detain all kinds of prisoners. The establishment of a new prison directly under the Chu court was only when Xiang Yu proclaimed himself the king of Western Chu and built a palace in Pengcheng. Tingli Prison is specially used to detain important prisoners, and the first Western Chu Tingli is none other than the former Pengcheng County Magistrate Wang Yong who led the county soldiers to surrender to the Young Marshal Army.

Wang Yong's character is quite good. At the beginning, because he was greedy for the gold, jade and jewelry that Xiang Kang sent people to bribe, he resolutely betrayed his old boss, Zhao Zhuang, the former Qin Sishui prefect. When Zhao Zhuang was defeated and fled for his life, he refused to open the city gate. In exchange for the dream of sticking to it, even if Xiang Kang didn't like his personality very much, he still held his nose and appointed him as Pengcheng Ling.After Xiang Kang made a fool of himself and handed over the land and military power to Xiang Liang, Wang Yong decisively broke up with Xiang Kang, turned around and fell into the warm embrace of Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu, and often murmured good things about Xiang Kang behind his back. After becoming king, he won the throne of Tingli, the highest judicial official in Western Chu.

With such a good court official sitting in the prison, the prison directly under the Western Chu court is of course strictly disciplined and as dark as night. It has not been a year since Xiang Yu became king, and there are already no less than two hundred Western officials who have offended King Xiang. Chu Wenwu and their family members died unexplainably in Tingli Prison. It is common for prisoners to be beaten and abused. From time to time, rumors of young female prisoners being bullied and humiliated by guards spread, just because Wang Tingli held her thighs firmly. Accurate and ruthless, those who have the ability to intervene turn a deaf ear, those who are incompetent have no guts to intervene.

In the deepest part of this big prison, there is a group of special prisoners who are guarded the most strictly and are bullied the most pitifully. Since everyone stepped into this prison, they have never seen the sun again. The food was moldy, the water was dirty and smelly, the smell was so bad in the cell, the sewage was flowing, all the prisoners were disheveled, sallow and emaciated, and they would be insulted and beaten by the guards at any time. Wash my face with tears.

"Shangli! Shangli! Shangli, please come quickly, please come quickly!"

The woman's cries echoed in the depths of the prison, accompanied by the sound of ping-pong-pong, which woke up other dying prisoners in several nearby cells. The woman asked: "Mother Hu'er, what happened? Tell us something, stop barking, or those beasts will come to beat people again."

"Hu'er has a high fever!" The woman cried and said, "It's as if his body is on fire. He's talking nonsense. Leopard is gone. If Hu'er can't keep him alive, how can I explain to him in the future? !"

After crying, the woman knocked on the cell door desperately and shouted again, and after a long time, a guard came over cursing and yelling angrily, "Why are you howling? You are dead!" Is it? I will wait for you if you die, but the father is not in the mood to collect the corpse for you and your wife today!"

"Shangli! Shangli!" The woman cried and begged: "My son has a high fever and is very sick. Please do me a favor and invite a medical worker to take a look at him, or get him a The antipyretic medicine is also available."

"It's a good idea, you think this is still your general's mansion, what do you want?" The guard sneered, and said: "If you have a high fever, bear with it and hire a medical worker for him. Father is not in the mood today!"

"Sir, please!" The woman burst into tears, knelt down in the prison and kowtowed desperately to the guard, begging: "My youngest son has died of illness, if anything happens to my eldest son, I will not I have explained the method to his old man, and I can't live anymore! Shangli, I beg you!"

The woman's pleading still had some effect, the guard twirled the mustache on his chin, and changed his words: "Well, for your pity's sake, Father can call the medical worker in the prison for you." , but well, Father can’t run in vain, can he? If there is anything valuable, take it out quickly.”

"Shangli, it's gone, the little girl really has nothing." The woman cried desperately and said: "After you came in, all the things of the little girl, including jewelry and earrings, were taken away by you. You really have nothing. gone."

"It's gone and I still have the face to beg your father?!" The guard was furious, picked up the spear in his hand, and stabbed the woman's face with the handle of the spear, leaving a bloodstain on the woman's thin face immediately. Cursed: "I don't have anything, how dare you beg your elder father to run errands for you?"

"Sir, please be merciful!" The woman cried louder and her voice hoarsely hoarse: "No matter what, my husband is also a person who has made meritorious service to the state of Chu. It is this Pengcheng where my husband followed Xiang Shao. Shuai fought it down with his own hands! If you don’t believe me, ask, is there any name of my husband Zhujishi among the Chu generals who took down this Pengcheng?”

"It's none of my business?" The guard cursed again, and said with a sneer, "that man Zhujishi is so majestic, why don't you go beg him, what do you beg me for? His son is dying of illness, it's his son's luck, otherwise In a few days, our king will issue an order that your whole family will be sent to the execution ground to be chopped up, and then your little beast will only hate him for not dying early!"

Zhujishi's wife cried out in despair, kowtowed and begged endlessly. A young man in the next cell couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "Sister-in-law Qiu, don't beg these bastards! It's useless to beg these bastards! Wait until Brother Zhu and My elder brother led the soldiers to fight back, and we will find these bastards to settle the score again, and the whole family will not let it go!"

"Little beast, what did you say?"

The guard was furious when he heard that, he rushed to the cell, and poked at the young man with the handle of his spear. The young man was very vigilant, and quickly hid where the guard couldn't poke him, and cursed: "You man!" , you wait for Nai Weng, when my elder brother Ding Ji comes back with his troops, I will definitely ask him to kill your whole family, not a single one will be spared!"

"I'll kill you first!" The guard jumped into a rage and shouted to the outside, "Hua Ying, Hua Ying, you all come in to help, there is a little evil animal who wants to rebel, I want to let him take a look today, at the age of Tai Sui What's the end of breaking ground!"

Hearing the guard's yell, several guards rushed in from the outer prison. After asking about the situation, the guards immediately opened the cell door and pointed their weapons at the other prisoners. The guard grabbed a whip and rushed to the prison. In front of Ding Ji's younger brother, he lashed out with a whip. Although Ding Ji's younger brother was only twelve or thirteen years old, he had the same backbone as his elder brother Ding Ji. Ding Ji's father, who was in the same cell, felt sorry for his son and knelt beside the guard and begged, but the guard ignored him and continued to beat Ding Ji's younger brother. constantly.

When the commotion was in full swing, the warden of Tingli Prison suddenly brought in a team of guards, and first stopped the guard who was beating Ding Ji's brother, and after asking the reason, the prison did not blame the indiscriminate violence The guard just ordered: "Okay, just get out of your breath, close the prison door, and keep these family members of the traitors under strict supervision. There are orders from above, from now on, no outsiders are allowed to contact these family members of the traitors. If they want to run away , shoot to kill!"

After all, the prison also ordered the guards he brought to take over the cells where the family members of the Han army were held, and arranged for a pair of two to guard a cell, and made it clear that if any family members of the Han army were found to have escaped from prison, they would be killed.During this period, Zhujishi's wife also begged again, hoping that the warden would show kindness and arrange a medical worker to treat Zhujishi's son, but the warden flatly refused, saying: "No, from now on. At first, you are not allowed to see any outsiders."

After saying that, the warden turned his head and left, leaving many guards in the prison to closely guard the family members of the Han army, and Zhujishi's wife was crying in the cell, "Sir, please be merciful!"

"Hu'er's mother, it's useless to beg them, quickly unscrew it with clothes soaked in water, and put it on Hu'er's forehead to reduce his fever."

"Yeah, Hu'er's mother, don't waste your time, first try to help Hu'er's fever."

The family members of the Han army who were sick and sympathetic to each other persuaded them one after another. Several female family members wiped away tears, but some of them were shrewd and couldn't help hiding in the cell and muttering in a low voice, "What's the matter? Why are so many people suddenly sent to watch?" Stop us? Are you planning to kill us, or something happened suddenly?"

…………

Unlike the family members of the Han army who were imprisoned innocently, Xiang Kang's wife, Yu Miaoge, and Xiang Kang's son, whose nickname is Zhi'er, were undoubtedly much luckier. Anyone who dares to beat and insult them at will is for no other reason than Xiang Kang has a strong and kind second aunt, and it is not unusual to have this second aunt with the highest seniority in the Xiang family. The officials of Western Chu, even Xiang Yu himself, and Xiang Kang's noble uncle Ji Xiangbo, Master Xiang, did not dare to touch a hair of Xiang Kang's wife and son.

Even Xiang Kang's beautiful sister-in-law Yu Concubine followed suit. She was very popular with Xiang Kang's second aunt, and with Yu Miaoge's help to intercede, Yu Concubine also lived in under the hateful eyes of Xiang Bo and Xiang You's son. She moved to the residence of her second aunt and helped her elder sister take care of her nephew and second aunt. Although she lost her freedom like her elder sister, her personal safety was guaranteed.

It's just that, she has been under house arrest in the second aunt's residence, unable to leave the hospital even for an inch, and even so tired that the second aunt dared not leave their side for half a step, and completely cut off contact with Xiang Kang. Of course, the sisters of the Yu family also They wouldn't be in a good mood, and they tried to put on a happy face in front of their second aunt, but behind the scenes, the sisters of the Yu family shed tears and kept thinking about their husband or brother-in-law who was thousands of miles away.

This day was no exception. After coaxing his sleepy son in the bedroom, when he returned to his second aunt and sister, Yu Miaoge's eye circles turned red again, and it was obvious that he was crying while coaxing the child. After a while.Regarding this, Yu Ji, who was actually far more sad than her sister, didn't speak, but her nose was quietly sour, and the elderly and sickly second aunt also saw that something was wrong, so she asked Yu Miaoge: "Ge Er, what's wrong? Your eyes are so red, are you crying behind my back again?"

"Then?" Yu Miaoge quickly touched his eyes.

"Don't lie to me, I'm not old-fashioned." The second aunt sighed, and comforted her: "Relax, when Yu'er comes back from the front line, even if I don't want to, I will beg him to let you go Go back and reunite with Kang'er, and I won't let you stay with me, an old woman, to suffer."

"Aunt, you must not say that." Yu Miaoge's voice became a little hoarse, and said, "If you hadn't protected us, we would have died long ago. With your great kindness, my sister and I still have ambitions." Son, it’s just that I can’t finish repaying in my whole life.”

The second aunt sighed again, beckoned Yu Miaoge to sit down next to her, stroked Yu Miaoge's hair with her skinny old hands, and said in a choked voice: "It's really hard for you, child, a man's son." Fighting, killing, what has it to do with you, why did you implicate a filial and virtuous child like you? And my poor grandnephew, he will be one year old soon, and he has never even seen what he looks like."

"Second aunt..."

The soft-spoken Yu Miaoge couldn't help herself, and finally snuggled into the arms of her second aunt and began to cry softly. Yu's nose was sore, and she was more wronged than her sister, but she didn't dare to cry even if she wanted to, so she could only cry. Bending back the tears in the corners of his eyes, he kept cursing in his heart the heartless brother-in-law who left him and his sister alone, "Deng Tuzi, you took advantage of me, so just leave me alone, when will you come back?"

At this time, there was a sudden abnormal movement outside the courtyard. It seemed that many people had come outside the courtyard. The guards of the Chu Palace surrounded the small courtyard where the second aunt lived. Before Yu Ji could analyze what happened, the guard Lang Zhong who led the team had already shouted at Yu Ji: "What are you looking at? Get down!"

With the backing of his second aunt, Yu Ji was of course not very afraid of these Chu palace guards, so he immediately asked: "Can't you see? You suddenly surrounded our yard, and we can't even take a look?"

"Usually yes, but not today." The guard Langzhong looked at Yu Ji with obvious ill intentions, and said with a ferocious expression: "Don't blame me for not warning you, our Lang Zhongling has already issued an order. From now on, except Wu Xinjun's wife, whoever dares to step out of this courtyard, take it immediately!"

"What happened?" Yu Ji was a little surprised, and asked, "Why did you send so many people to surround this place for no reason?"

"What happened has nothing to do with you!" The doctor refused to answer, and shouted again: "Get down immediately, or this general will take you down immediately when you are about to escape! This time, even Wu Xinjun's wife can't keep you!"

A good girl does not suffer from immediate disadvantages. Seeing that the doctor had spoken to such an extent, Yu Yu did not dare to contradict him, but hurriedly got off the courtyard wall, went back to the room and told the news to the second aunt and sister. The second aunt was also very surprised. , hurriedly went out with the support of the sisters of the Yu family to inquire about what happened, but the guard Lang Zhong was confident, and kept saying that he was following orders. The second aunt was furious, and shouted with a cane: "Call Xiang Ta, I want to ask you today. When I asked him, did he have the guts to treat his second eldest mother (second grandma) like this?"

"Forgive me, the old lady. The doctor asked him to explain that he is busy with business today and has no time to come to see you. If you have anything to do, he can only come to you in another day to apologize in person."

The doctor's answer surprised the second aunt and the sisters of the Yu family, and said: "Of course, if you want to meet our Lang Zhongling in person, old lady, the villain will never dare to stop you, but the family of the traitor Xiang Kang must not leave In this yard, no contact with any outsiders is allowed, otherwise, the villain can only take them all according to the order."

Since Xiang Kang raised his troops, there has never been another person in Chudi who dared to speak to the second aunt like this. Seeing the doctor's firm tone, the second aunt and the sisters of the Yu family were surprised. : "Something must have happened."

…………

At the same time, outside Pengcheng City, Feng Zhong's troops of the Western Chu Army, who hastily withdrew to the Pengcheng battlefield, had already formed a formation outside the west gate of Pengcheng City with their backs against the city moat. After quickly setting up their banner formation headquarters, Feng Zhong First, he called Tan Gu, the captain of his personal army, to the side, and whispered to Tan Gu who had sent someone to deliver the letter to Xiang Kang for a while, so that Tan Gu was fully prepared. Xu Ci, his deputy, and nine thousand commanders called to the flag formation to wait for their orders.

(Note: In the military system of the Qin and Han Dynasties, one-tenth of the army's strength is the main general's own soldiers, so although Feng Zhong has 1 troops, there are only nine thousand commanders in the army, and the remaining [-] troops are directly controlled by Feng Zhong.)
Xu Ci and the nine thousand chiefs quickly came to Feng Zhong according to the order, but Feng Zhong was not in a hurry to speak. It was still far away when Xiang Sheng personally led the Pengcheng defenders out of the city. When he saw the red flag of the Han army held high by Peng Yuejun, Feng Zhongcai said to Xu Ci and the others who had been waiting impatiently for a long time: "I called you here because there is an important event to announce to you. It is a very important event. Be prepared."

It was rare to see Feng Zhong speak in such a serious tone, Xu Ci and the others quickly pulled themselves together, and then Feng Zhong also said: "Xu Ci, Wang Fang, Wei Bugeng, the six of you were all members of our Young Marshal Army back then. Old man, you must still remember the days when we fought side by side with Young Marshal Xiang? You must also remember that we, Young Marshal Xiang, have never treated us young generals with foreign surnames badly, right? "

Xu Ci, Wang Fang and other young commander-in-chief's elders widened their eyes and immediately guessed Feng Zhong's next words. I must have understood what I mean. I have never forgotten my good brother Xiang Kang, King of Han, and I have been secretly helping him. Today I am going to change flags anyway, and help King Han’s army take Pengcheng! You just follow me , help me send the wife and son of the King of Han back to his side, the glory and wealth, the high officials and the rich salary, absolutely cannot do without you! Who is our Young Marshal Xiang, you know as well as I do!"

"How is it? Would you like to come with me?" Feng Zhong asked again, and took out a pre-written oath of alliance, and said: "Let me put the words here first, and those who are willing to come with me are here Press your fingerprints on the oath of alliance, and then go back to continue to lead the army. You will act under my banner in a while, and help Hanwang's army to attack Xiang Sheng's army! If you don't want to go with me, you can stay, and I will let you go afterwards People, never hurt your family members! But if anyone dares to play tricks, don't blame me for disregarding the brotherhood for many years!"

At this time, Tan Gu had already led Feng Zhong's personal soldiers to surround him. Seeing that Feng Zhong had prepared early, and they were all old men from the Young Commander's Army, Xu Ci and the others just hesitated for a moment, and they also cupped their hands and said: "May I Listen to the general's orders."

It was only after the six old men of the Young Marshal Army surrendered their hands and agreed, that Feng Zhongcai turned to the remaining four thousand commanders who were not from the old men of the Young Marshal Army, and said to them whose faces had already changed color: "Wang Ke, Dou You, Zhang Zhong, Fei Li Coffin, you four, although you are not from the ranks of young commanders and old men, and have not personally seen our Hanwang opponents, but I can assure you that as long as you follow me, His Royal Highness Hanwang will never treat you badly! Whether you are willing to follow me to the King of Han's side, or you are willing to continue to blindly use Xiang Yu, who only knows how to use the Xiang family's children and flatter villains, you can make a choice now!"

After finishing speaking, Feng Zhong added: "Of course, if you have any scruples, or if you don't want to go to the King of Han, you can choose to stay, and I promise I won't hurt you."

Quietly exchanged glances with each other, Wang Ke and other four thousand commanders who were not from the Young Marshal Army were forced by the situation, although their hearts were beating hard, they still clapped their hands together and said, "I would like to listen to the general's orders."

Feng Zhong breathed a sigh of relief quietly, and hurriedly handed over the oath of alliance that he had written in advance to his own soldiers, and said: "Then put your fingerprints on this oath of alliance, and we will work together to capture Xiang Sheng." , to help the army of the King of Han to rescue the family of the King of Han.”

"General Feng, look!"

There was an accident, and at a critical moment, a soldier suddenly pointed in the direction of the city gate to remind him. Xu Ci and others hurriedly turned their heads to look at it. Feng Zhong was even more surprised. shrunk...

(End of this chapter)