With a "smack," he was hit on the head. He began to sniff carefully and found the smell strange, making him feel dizzy and a little smelly. But voices came from near the tent: "This smells so good, it's a smell that no amount of mutton can match."
"This longevity cake was worth buying. I feel listless if I don't smoke it every day."
"Would you like another box?"
"I'll have it! Even if I pass out today, I'm still having it!"
Xie Ying knew some things within the clan. She and Xie Fengling were close friends, and she heard from Xie Fengqing about Xie Fengqing being infected with Xiaoyao Pills, but she didn't pay much attention to it at the time.
She only realized how serious the situation was after Xie Fengqing died.
The reason the marshal went to such lengths to destroy opium was because it was a slow-acting poison that could erode a person's will, and once addicted, it was impossible to quit. The story of the dozen or so Xie clan members in Weidu who broke their addiction in the street, terrifying everyone, had already spread like wildfire. Moreover, the marshal had just destroyed the Xiaoyao Pill, and the Hu Xiongnu might have already changed it to a different name, Fushou Cake, to wreak havoc again.
It even caused trouble for Xie Jun, who was stationed there!
"Silly boy, we might be in big trouble," Xie Ying suddenly said.
Before the two could even react, with a loud "bang," Xie Shangguang felt a large foot kick him hard in the buttocks. He collided with Gou Ying, and the two of them flew out of the tent together.
"Someone's stealing!" a burly man from the northern region shouted immediately.
Xie Shangguang felt his buttocks go numb, so he quickly got up from the ground and was about to shout to run away when Xie Ying grabbed a handful of mud from the ground, smeared it on her face, and rushed up to fight the big man.
After two or three rounds, the wild dog seemed to have knocked the big man down before she was willing to leave.
Unfortunately, there was more than one Northern Guard; over fifty men immediately surrounded Xie Ying, shouting viciously, "She's a little wench!"
"How come there's a young woman in our tent?! She looks like she's from the Central Plains!"
"Could it be from the Xie family...?"
"Never mind, we must not let this get out. If it does, His Highness the Crown Prince will definitely not forgive us!"
"It won't be easy to explain to the envoy either!"
So the fifty-odd guards planned to kill Xie Ying on the spot. Xie Shangguang grabbed a handful of mud from the ground and smeared it on his face. Just as he was about to rush in, he suddenly smelled a foul odor on his face. Before rushing in, he touched the mud again and sniffed it. Then he looked at the mud-colored lump on the ground and saw a dog next to him that had just finished defecating and was dragging its tail as it disappeared into the bushes.
Dog, dog poop?!
He smeared dog poop on his face!
Ugh, oh my god, it stinks!!
Never mind! Xie Shangguang kicked a guard in the butt, an eye for an eye, then rushed into the crowd, grabbed Xie Ying, and tried to squeeze into the crowd.
As a result, Xie Ying stuck out her tongue and gagged in a moment of tension.
A conditioned reflex that was beyond their physiological control caused them to miss their chance to escape, leaving them completely surrounded by the Northern Guards.
Looking at the iron-clad encirclement.
Xie Shangguang said angrily, "It's all your fault."
Xie Ying looked disgusted, shook off his hand, and turned her head away: "Sorry. I'm the one who dragged you down this time."
"Where did this piece of trash come from!"
"It stinks! Who cares what kind of dog poop it is, just grab it all."
"What kind of stinky dog poop is this?! What did it eat?! Could it be its own?!"
The burly men from the Northern Regions usually tolerated the stench, but one of them covered his nose with one hand, looking at the two little devils of the Xie family in this strange posture.
Xie Shangguang's face immediately turned red with shame, but because his face was covered in dog excrement, no one could see it.
These people have gone too far!!
Xie Ying was furious and shouted, "Shut up, all of you! What do you mean by 'dog shit'? I think you either have dirty mouths or you've eaten dog shit before, that's why you think it's dog shit!"
"It's clearly mud!!"
Xie Shangguang: "..."
Her explanation is just a blatant attempt to cover up the truth!
Some of the guards in the Northern Region had already prepared their blades. Many people in the five tents were alerted and wanted to come out to see what was happening, but they were all turned away by the guards, especially those from the Xie clan. They were afraid that people would know that they had captured members of the Xie clan, but they couldn't see their faces clearly—a mud-covered girl and a boy covered in dog excrement.
"Hurry up and arrest him. The Xie family won't do anything even if they find out; they're all in danger themselves right now, so they can only turn a blind eye." One of the guards winked at the others, and the group immediately began to push and grab the man.
Neither Xie Shangguang nor Xie Ying had any weapons. One was skilled with a halberd, and the other with a spear. Their fist and foot skills were also quite good. However, two fists could not defeat four legs, not to mention that they were surrounded by giants who were two meters tall.
"We're fucked."
Xie Ying and Xie Shangguang stood back to back, surrounded by a group of guards, and it looked like someone was about to rush up first.
At the critical moment.
A hundred-pound millstone, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, came crashing down from behind like an iron ball, instantly knocking the guards down one by one like bowling pins.
Then came the large box containing longevity cakes, weighing a full 300 pounds, which suddenly slammed into the guards. Before they could react, someone inside the tent was throwing heavy objects around. The tall figure, elongated by the firelight, looked like a massive, dark mountain, pressing down on them.
"Who...who is it?!"
Without any hesitation, the other side smashed a box through the tent. With a thud, another group of people fell to the ground. The guards were caught off guard, and those who fell to the ground clutched their chests and vomited blood.
The guards were terrified when they saw the tall, dark figure lifting things weighing hundreds of pounds as easily as an empty basket!
Strange, monstrous! This is something a human could lift!
The other party casually picked up a candle and tossed it into the outer tent. With a "whoosh," the five tents were instantly engulfed in flames.
The tent manager ran out screaming, "The longevity cake is on fire!!"
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 19:02:30 on December 30, 2021 and 11:27:59 on December 31, 2021!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: Asi (1);
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Asi, Bad Words Everywhere (5 bottles); Ahe (3 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 111 Xie Lanzhi's Military Orders and Punishments
In an instant, all five tents were engulfed in flames, burning out those who were smoking inside; some were even still covered in fire. Anyone wearing Xie Jun's uniform who rushed out was met with the force of his iron fist.
The terrifying shadow finally emerged from the tent, and the firelight enveloped Xie Lanzhi's figure. The interplay of light and shadow made it seem as if half of her face was plunged into an abyss of endless darkness.
The head servant who had received Xie Lanzhi during the day immediately recognized her: It's Marshal Xie! What's she doing here?
The guards on the ground were so stunned by the impact that they questioned their existence. When they saw that it was a tall woman in white, who was gentle and refined during the day but now stood before them like a vicious beast.
Every single Xie Bing who escaped from the tent was lifted up and slammed to the ground. Screams, groans, and cries of pain mingled together.
Upon recognizing her, Xie Bing's knees buckled. Instead of being softened by the longevity cake, he was so frightened that his bones seemed to go limp, and he knelt on the ground, too afraid to get up.
"Marshal!" The soldier had barely finished shouting when Xie Lanzhi put her hands behind her back, raised her right leg vertically, and gently tapped the soldier on the head. The soldier slammed his face into the ground and immediately fainted.
The people in the Northern Region saw a woman nearly beat Xie Bing to death, and they even heard the word "Marshal" coming from her mouth.
The people from the Northern Region fled in panic, but they hadn't gone far when soldiers from the Northern Region and Xie's army rushed out from the nearby grass piles, which were ten feet high, shouting, "Drop your weapons!!"
"I heard someone reported a murder here!"
"Get down!"
Upon recognizing Xie Lanzhi and the dozen or so unconscious Xie soldiers on the ground, the captain immediately knelt down and said, "Greetings, Marshal!"
Xie Lanzhi berated the Xie soldiers on the ground, as well as the guards, "Arrest them all! Send a batch to His Highness the Crown Prince for him to deal with, and take the rest back to the military camp to be doused with cold water to wake me up!"
"yes!"
After Xie Shangguang was rescued, he immediately ran behind Xie Lanzhi and asked, "Marshal, are they... are they taking that thing called Xiaoyao Pill?"
"What are you doing here?" Xie Lanzhi asked coldly. "Why are you all here?"
For some reason, Xie Shangguang sensed that the marshal's mood was off. Just as he was about to speak, Xie Ying covered his mouth from behind.
Xie Ying immediately said, "Marshal, it was we who took it upon ourselves to come here."
"We beg the Marshal to punish us!"
Xie Lanzhi glanced at Xie Ying and realized that she wasn't as impulsive as she had imagined, and that she could read people's expressions. She silently waved her hand, signaling them to leave.
Xie Ying then dragged Xie Shangguang toward the haystack.
After everyone disappeared, some Northern Region people and Hu Xiongnu people who hadn't managed to escape were still inside the tent, burned. These were all people who had fainted from smoking the longevity cake; most of the others were running away, so no one paid any attention to them.
The following day, Xie Jun, the captain, and the Northern Army, working together, captured all the people in the five tents and seized a thousand catties of longevity cakes.
Outside Xie's military camp, a wooden frame was erected, binding fifteen Xie soldiers. All of them had their shirts removed, and whips were constantly lashing their upper bodies. The sound of whips cracking and lashing was deafening, and the screams and howls of the men were silenced after twenty lashes. However, the Xie soldiers enforcing military law did not stop and continued to whip them until all fifteen men were motionless. They continued to whip them until half an hour had passed.
Fifteen people were dropped onto the drill ground and displayed like sausages.
The passing soldiers all wore somber expressions and dared not meet his gaze.
When Xie Xia arrived, he was shocked to learn that there were still remnants of the Fushou Cake case that had been uncovered half a month earlier.
He's usually very strict with people, so how come some of them still get addicted to drugs?
The marshal detests these things the most, and now someone is rushing to defy the taboo; they are simply courting death.
Xie Xia knew he had failed in his duty, causing some of Xie Jun's men in Shangdu to become addicted to drugs. He immediately took off his shirt, leaving only his white undershirt, and knelt outside the tent under the scorching sun, pleading for forgiveness: "This humble general, Xie Ji, has come here to apologize with a bundle of thorns on his back!"
At the tea table, Xie Lanzhi sat drinking tea, glancing at Xie Shangguang from time to time. He was standing inside the tent, having not slept all night, with dried dog feces still on his face. Beside him was Xie Ying, whose face was covered in mud.
Both of them were very obedient, like soldiers.
Xie Lanzhi put down her teacup, tapping her fingertips on the table. She listened to Xie Xia apologizing outside, but ignored him.
Instead, she asked Xie Shangguang first, "Did you discover it first?"
Xie Shangguang was about to say no.
Xie Ying spoke first: "It was the young general who discovered that harmful thing!"
Xie Shangguang was full of doubt. Had Xie Gouying taken the wrong medicine today? Why was she trying to pin the credit on him?
“Oh, so Shangguang has grown up. He’s become more opinionated.” Xie Lanzhi said cryptically, “In that case, he can stand on his own.”
I believe that boys feel a sense of pride when they hear others say that they have grown up, and Xie Shangguang is such a boy.
He touched his head shyly and said, "No, no, I was just doing my duty."