Phi-Fic Chapter 133: Swearing Allegiance to General Mu
Chapter 133: Swearing Allegiance to General Mu
The four horses that Ye Ze and his companions rode back were harnessed to the carriages. The luggage was packed simply and only occupied one carriage. The other three carriages were occupied by people. Ye Ze was driving the carriage that was occupied by Old Lady Ye, Zhao Li, Ye Qiulan and her daughter, and Mrs. Meng. The other three carriages were driven by Shouhou, Goudan, and Zhao Youliang.
This time he was going to take Hu Zi and her two sons to the border town. They could wander around in the mountains and forests during the day and return home to guard the house at night.
When the family was leaving, Village Chief Ye led the entire Ye family to see them off. The Ye family appreciated the kindness, but all the things they brought were confiscated because the carriage was too crowded and there was no place to put the things.
The speed of the carriage was much slower than when they came. It was early spring now. The trees on both sides of the road were sprouting new leaves, and the grass on the ground was sparse. The sight of fresh green was very pleasing to the eyes.
Except for Mu Tou, several children in the family were traveling far away for the first time. They were all very excited. They lifted the curtains and stuck their heads out to look out. Then they were pulled into the carriage by their mother. The noise of children and the scolding of adults could be heard from time to time.
Zhao Li got out of the carriage and sat on the other side of the shaft, looking at the scenery outside and talking to Ye Ze. Her sad mood eased a lot.
Ye Ze was worried that Old Lady Ye and the others couldn't bear the hardship of the journey, so he picked out some blood-replenishing and energy-boosting pills in the mall for them to nourish their bodies, especially his eldest sister-in-law. It was not easy to get pregnant, so she had to take good care of herself.
When the children at home were growing up, Ye Ze mixed children's nutritional liquid in water for them to drink.
After a bumpy journey, the Ye family finally arrived at the border town on the afternoon of the fourth day. The family was in high spirits, showing no signs of fatigue from the continuous journey for several days.
Mu Xingchen and his team have already helped find a house in the border town, which is a large house with three courtyards in the south of the city.
The border town had just been recaptured, and most of the houses in the city were vacant. Ordinary houses would be used to house civilians, while those large mansions that had not been claimed by anyone for the time being would be sealed up by the government. They could also be rented out by the government to obtain certain financial expenses.
The house was cleaned up and the Ye family could move in directly.
The two animal rings on the vermilion gate are solemn and majestic. After entering the gate, passing the carved screen wall and passing through the hanging flower gate, you will arrive at the main courtyard. The left and right corridors surround the courtyard. The vermilion pillars and the corridors with carved beams and painted buildings complement each other...
Walking along the corridor, Old Lady Ye and her companions were like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden. They looked around here and there, sighing from time to time.
"Hey, this is the courtyard where the rich family lives, it's really exquisite everywhere..."
"Yeah, what a beautiful house."
"Grandma, are we going to live here from now on?"
Old Lady Ye touched her grandson's head lovingly and said with a smile, "Yes, I'll pick a bigger house for our Li Ge'er to live in later."
"Grandma, I want to live in a big house too!"
"Oh? You don't live in the same room with your parents anymore?"
Ye Wenhong was startled, and immediately hugged his mother's thighs, "Live in the big house with my parents!"
"Ha ha ha ha......"
The family happily chose a room. Seeing that it was getting late, Ye Ze suggested going out for dinner and cooking at home after everything was arranged tomorrow.
When they came, they brought some rice and flour on the carriage. The rest of the food that could not be taken away was left to Village Chief Ye, who was asked to distribute it.
It’s not too late to buy vegetables, meat, eggs, etc. after you have arranged accommodation. I don’t have time to buy dinner today, so I might as well go out to eat.
Ye Ze stayed at home for one night and rushed back to the military camp to report early the next morning.
......
Deep in the forest near the military camp, several people were plotting something. The leader was Mu Heng, and the others were all subordinates who were previously loyal to Mu Heng. Xu Wu's father Xu Feng was also among them.
"General, my sister-in-law and the others are already on their way to the border town. What should we do next?"
The sister-in-law is Mu Heng's wife. They are closely guarded by the emperor's men in the capital in order to control Mu Heng to serve the court obediently.
During the months when Mu Heng was away at the battle, the Mu family stayed at home and rarely contacted outsiders. The emperor just thought that the Mu family knew how to handle things, but they didn't know that they had secretly dug a tunnel in their house leading to the outside of the city. With the secret help of the Xu family, the tunnel was finally dug after several months.
When the news of the great victory at the border town and the Yu army's recapture of the border town reached the capital, the emperor was so happy that he relaxed his vigilance against the Mu family, which allowed them to escape by chance, and the Xu family also escaped with them.
The only military generals loyal to Mu Heng who could stay in the capital were the Xu family; the others were either exiled for some reason or demoted and sent back home.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, brothers!" Mu Heng saluted to them, "Raising an army to start an uprising is no small matter. If we don't succeed, we will die. I am grateful to you for your trust!"
"General, the current emperor is cruel and suspicious by nature. He only cares about immediate interests, trusts villains and keeps away loyal ministers. The court is full of corrupt officials, officials protect each other, and officials and businessmen collude. Our uprising is to enforce justice on behalf of heaven!"
"Yes, this imperial examination is an example. Poor students studied hard for ten years, but in the end they were not as good as those rich kids who were good for nothing and could only play with cats and dogs. The Great Yu Dynasty is rotten to the core, and it is only a matter of time before it is destroyed!"
Mu Heng closed his eyes helplessly. This was the Dayu that they had fought desperately to protect. Loyal ministers and generals were either suppressed or exiled, while those corrupt officials who were full of flattery and had no regard for the lives of the people were promoted step by step. Such a court should have been destroyed long ago!
"Have all the disaster victims who escaped from the border town been resettled?" Mu Heng asked.
"General, rest assured. The victims are temporarily housed outside Fengyang City. They are looking forward to returning home every day, General!"
"Yeah, it's almost done." Mu Heng nodded.
In theory, the border town had been recaptured long ago, and even if the emperor did not want to resettle the victims elsewhere, he could have let them return to the border town. However, the emperor was poor, and he was even reluctant to take out relief grain to distribute to the victims so that they could get through the difficult times.
Officials in the court have always acted according to the emperor's mood. Since the emperor does not want to worry about the victims, memorials concerning the victims will naturally not appear in front of the emperor.
As for the victims, they can only be left to fend for themselves.
Not to mention that the victims were having a hard time surviving, there had been battles at the border for several months in a row, the imperial court had been constantly collecting food and fodder from the people, and unscrupulous businessmen had taken the opportunity to raise food prices. Under such circumstances, who could have an easier life?
The people were all starving and had to live frugally. Some could only eat a bowl of porridge a day. They were so hungry that their faces turned pale and their bodies became thin...
"Let's take action tonight and first control the border generals. The more than 200,000 troops stationed in the border town are the first step of our uprising! Once we control the border town, the victims can go home." Mu Heng sighed.
"Yes, we will follow General Mu's orders!"
"We are willing to swear allegiance to General Mu until death!"
"Swear allegiance to General Mu until death!"
......