The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 857: living hell
Chapter 857 Hell on Earth
Bai Qingyan jumped off his horse and looked back at the two children and two women who had been brought back by the cavalry and had already dismounted. They were full of uncertainty and panic.
She tried to comfort him, “Don’t worry, I’m here… No one can take a child away from Spring Dusk City! Go back!”
Upon hearing this, the young woman’s eyes immediately filled with tears. She hurriedly pulled the two children to kneel down and kowtow to Bai Qingyan: “The great kindness of the Princess Zhenguo, I will definitely remember it! I will never forget it! Hudan’er, Niuniu, quickly… quickly kowtow to the Princess Zhenguo!”
The old woman also cried and kowtowed: “Thank you, Princess Zhenguo!”
“Princess Zhenguo!” Liu Hong disagreed with Bai Qingyan letting the child go. Since the imperial edict wanted these children, they must be sent to Jiuchongtai. He believed that the emperor would exchange the throne for King Liang, but he did not believe that the emperor would use the lives of a thousand children to refine the illusory elixir of immortality.
Bai Qingyan turned a deaf ear to Liu Hong’s voice and helped the woman and the child up: “Get up! There’s no need to do this! Go back quickly!”
Seeing more yamen runners rushing over after hearing the news, each of them drawing their swords and rushing into the government office, Bai Qingyan’s eyes were cold and he ordered: “Yang Wuce, surround the government office and don’t let those yamen runners get close to the people!”
“Yes!” Yang Wuce responded, and led half of the cavalry to dismount and surround the government office.
The yamen runners who rushed to the scene after hearing the news saw fifty soldiers surrounding the gate of the yamen and actually drawing their swords against them to prevent them from entering. The yamen runners looked at each other, not understanding the situation.
In the government office, those citizens who had found their children saw that their children were locked in wooden cages. They cried and cursed, smashed the padlocks to rescue their children, and held them in their arms, kissing and caressing them.
It was the lame veteran soldier who shouted for everyone to retreat quickly, and then the people hurriedly pulled their children and ran out.
Unexpectedly, just as they were about to rush out of the government office, they saw that the gate of the government office was surrounded by soldiers. But the strange thing was that the soldiers did not draw their swords against them. Instead, they drew their swords and stopped the yamen runners outside the government office.
The lame retired man protected the people and his son behind him and looked vigilantly at the Jin army outside the door.
“General, are you… doing it the wrong way?” The bailiff who came to arrest the people who were causing the riot was puzzled. “The people who stole the children are in there!”
“Grandpa, I know!” Yang Wuce stood in the front, holding the sword at his waist, “The Princess Zhenguo has ordered that you yamen runners are not allowed to get close to the people!”
The yamen runner knew that he could not defeat these soldiers, so he turned around and whispered to his subordinates: “Go quickly! Inform the county magistrate… the Princess Zhenguo is here!”
Bai Qingyan and Liu Hong led the remaining fifty cavalrymen and walked towards the government office.
She glanced at the bailiffs and walked straight into the government office.
The common people in the government office hid their children behind their backs and looked at Bai Qingyan and his group with gritted teeth, as if they would fight to the death if anyone dared to snatch their children.
“I’m sorry to scare you all!” As soon as Liu Hong entered the room, he was afraid that Bai Qingyan would agree to let the people take the children back first and disobey the imperial decree. He quickly stepped forward and bowed to the people, “Everyone… everyone! I am General Liu Hong of the Jin State. Today, I, Liu Hong, will guarantee my life. Your Majesty will not use the lives of children to refine the elixir of immortality, but to select children with pure character to go to the Nine-Layered Platform with Your Majesty to seek the elixir!”
“Bah! You are just kidding!” A fierce woman spat at Liu Hong with red eyes, gritting her teeth and said, “If it is really that good, why doesn’t the county magistrate dare to let his youngest son go, and why do those rich families… buy children from human traffickers and send them here!”
Because of this incident, boys and girls aged five to ten have become hot commodities in the hands of human traffickers and are fetched at extremely high prices.
“That’s right! If you really just want the children to ask for the elixir, why do you have to use such a cruel method of collective punishment! If anyone’s child doesn’t hand it in…then they will be beheaded along with the neighbors. Do you think we are all fools?!”
“Princess Zhenguo!” The lame retired soldier looked at Bai Qingyan, who was standing with his hands behind his back in silver armor, with his eyes wide open. He recognized Bai Qingyan and his eyes suddenly became warm.
The man limped forward, leaning on a crutch and kneeling on one knee: “Princess Zhenguo, I am a Jin soldier who was injured and retreated from the battlefield in Southern Xinjiang in the 16th year of Xuanjia. I am honored to meet Princess Zhenguo! There are many children here who are the blood of the dead Jin soldiers! I have seen Princess Zhenguo teach Jin soldiers in the barracks, saying… the soldiers are supported by the taxes of the people, and they are the soldiers of the people! Although I haven’t read many books, Princess Zhenguo’s words have always been in my heart! I beg Princess Zhenguo to spare these children for the sake of their fathers who sacrificed their lives for the country!”
“Princess of the Nation?!”
“The eldest granddaughter of General Bai, the Duke of Zhenguo?”
“Are they really from the Bai family of the Zhenguo Mansion?”
When the people saw the man who led them to snatch the children kneel down, they started talking about it and knelt down as well, vying to tell Bai Qingyan… about how their own children, uncles, fathers, or grandfathers had fought to death for the country.
“Princess Zhenguo! Please protect us children like the late General Bai, the Duke of Zhenguo!” The elderly people who had received favors from Bai Weiting kowtowed heavily and cried.
Bai Qingyan’s hand holding the horsewhip was almost crushed, and his emotions were surging.
She spoke in a deep voice, “As long as I am here, no one can take your children away from you! Take your children home!”
Without waiting for the people to thank Bai Qingyan, Liu Hong could no longer hold back and shouted, “Princess Zhenguo! Are you going to disobey the order? These children…are what His Majesty wants! As subjects, how can we disregard the imperial power? This is disrespectful to His Majesty!”
“I want me to respect such an emperor… Is he worthy?!” Bai Qingyan gritted his teeth, turned his head to look at Liu Hong and raised his voice, “Whether it is the two children outside Chunmu City or these children here, their grandfathers, fathers, uncles died on the battlefield! They sacrificed their lives to protect the country and the people! The emperor wants to use the only bones and blood left in this world to refine elixirs, seeking immortality! General Liu… Is such an emperor worthy of respect?!”
Liu Hong clenched his fists: “Your Majesty is the king, and we are the subjects… If the king is wrong, we can advise him! But we cannot be disrespectful!”
“Advise?! Didn’t Prime Minister Lu advise? Did the emperor listen? He was imprisoned for disrespect and ordered to abolish the position of prime minister and establish a cabinet. Why?! Wasn’t it because of Prime Minister Lu’s advice?” Bai Qingyan questioned Liu Hong loudly, “This is just Chunmu City! Who knows how many Chunmu Cities in Jin are recruiting children, and who knows how many cities are in such a miserable state like hell on earth!”
First update, continue to ask for monthly tickets…