sbdcsierra Chapter 411 Nobody's going north anymore!
Chapter 411 Nobody's going north anymore!
Old Meng shook his head, his voice already somewhat slurred.
"We, hiding in the rear, behind the protection built by the soldiers' corpses and blood, didn't know how to fight, nor did we know if there was a problem with our tactical decisions. We only knew that until the very last moment, until the entire city of Chenzhou was submerged in rolling blood, the soldiers of the Rong family army never abandoned the people they were protecting, and never retreated a single step..."
"You can say whatever you want, but treason and collusion with the enemy?" Old Meng laughed until tears streamed down his face: "How absurd!"
Looking at the old man with gray hair and tears streaming down his face, Lu Yangyang couldn't imagine how much blood and tears were hidden in the words he was describing.
She had heard countless times about how tragic the Chenzhou case was back then. Just from those fragmentary descriptions, she could imagine what a living hell it was. But today she realized that no amount of imagination could truly capture it; it was all too vague. For those who had actually experienced it, it was every real old scar left on their bodies, the blood that had flowed, the tears that had dried up, and the images that would be etched into their minds day and night, never to be forgotten.
The room remained quiet for a long time.
Lu Yangyang quietly stayed with Old Meng, waiting for him to calm down.
After an unknown amount of time, Old Meng's cloudy eyes finally closed. He raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes and said to Lu Yangyang, "The general was a magnanimous man. He spent his entire life persisting in doing what he should and had to do. Perhaps he wasn't unaware of the obstacles and the possibility of failure, but he still pressed forward without looking back or compromising. Do you think he regretted it? I think he probably did. He was willing to sacrifice himself, but he couldn't bear to abandon his soldiers and the people he protected. His northern expedition wasn't for any glory or achievement; it was to rescue the people of Dazhao who were still suffering. When Chenzhou was recaptured, the entire..." The people of the city wept bitterly, prostrating themselves on the ground. Life as slaves was unbearable; they were not even human, not even as good as livestock. I, an old man, examined the people, and looking around, most were men, old folks. Where were the women and children? They had all been chosen to be the tools of the nobles for procreation and amusement. I've heard that some old nobles in Northern Yan enjoy human hunting, especially using children as prey. They say children's eyes are more like prey, they struggle, they run fast, making the game more exciting. As for the women, they're locked in sheepfolds and cowsheds, where anyone passing by can take advantage of them. Children are born one after another in the sheepfold, growing up alongside the livestock, only to become new slaves.”
"The general wanted to take them home. But in the end, he himself died there."
"The Chenzhou case has been exposed to the world, but what good is it? My dear girl, for the general, the most important thing is not whether his injustice can be redressed, but whether there are still people like him who remember, who still care about, those compatriots who are still suffering, and who still want to bring them home. Fifteen years, fifteen years," Old Meng sighed, "no one has gone north anymore."
"Do those who have lost their homes and their countries still remember the color of their homeland?"
A wave of sorrow surged through Lu Yangyang's heart, and her eyes welled up with tears without her realizing it. It seemed that only now did she understand why Crown Prince Chongwen, the heir apparent of the nation, was willing to go north as a hostage, and why a promising scholar like Bo Fuma was willing to follow him on a journey with no return. What he was determined to question even at the cost of his life was whether the people of this world, who had been living in peace for too long, still remembered those citizens of the Great Zhao who had lost their homeland.
Have they already been abandoned?
Before His Highness was deposed, he risked his life to bring up the Chenzhou case again before the civil and military officials. This was not only to clear the name of the Duke of Rong and thoroughly investigate the truth of the Chenzhou case, but also to plant a seed of truth and tell the world that the land lost by the Great Zhao in the thirteen northern prefectures has not yet been recovered, and the people of the Great Zhao on that land are still struggling and waiting for someone to go north to take them home.
“Yes.” Lu Yangyang suddenly spoke up, looking at Old Man Meng with certainty: “General Rong’s spirit in heaven is watching. There are still ambitious people in Dazhao. There will definitely be people who will follow in his footsteps, march north, and take back their homeland.”
"So you wait, old man, and when that day comes, when you pay your respects to General Rong, tell him this news."
Old Meng's weathered eyes suddenly trembled, and the deep wrinkles on his face shook slightly. He stared in shock at the determined young girl in front of him, wanting to ask her where she got the courage to say such a thing, but her firm gaze seemed to have already given him the answer, reminding him of General Rong when they first met.
Yes, that's exactly the look in their eyes.
General Rong has never feared life or death; what is there to fear about life or death?
He just kept going forward without hesitation.
He has fallen, but there will be many more people, many more people, who will be just as determined as him, to walk this path.
I would rather die than refuse.
Despite his frail health, Old Meng rose, lifted his robes, and knelt before Lu Yangyang.
“Young lady, I am old and frail and no longer fit for your service. My only wish in this life is to return to Chenzhou to pay respects to my deceased loved ones. Please follow me and do my best. I would gladly die for you, even with my broken body.”
Lu Yangyang bent down and helped Old Meng up. "I will definitely take you to Chenzhou. It's a deal."
Old Meng looked at her and nodded emphatically.
Luo Jing noticed that after Lu Yangyang talked with Old Meng, Old Meng, who used to be described as emaciated, seemed to have come back to life. His whole mental state was different. He picked up his medical books again, which he hadn't picked up in a long time, and patiently asked Lu Yangyang for advice on how to treat external injuries. He was busier than Luo Jing.
A few days later, Prince Rong's investigation into the case of Kang Xinwen, a salt official in Jiangnan Prefecture, finally yielded results. Kang Xinwen confessed to colluding with salt merchants and illegally issuing salt permits, as well as to molesting children. Prince Rong was furious and ordered the closure of relevant brothels in Jiangnan Prefecture, a thorough investigation, and reiterated the provisions of the Great Zhao Law, which stated that molesting children was a serious crime. Regardless of gender, no one under the age of thirteen could marry or entertain clients in any way. Those who violated the law would be punished with a three-year prison sentence or exile.
Because this case involved officials of the imperial court, Prince Rong ordered the age of 14 to be raised in Jiangnan Prefecture. All brothels and entertainment venues were prohibited from accepting customers under the age of 14, regardless of gender.
This decree, for the first time, rectified the chaos in the brothels and entertainment venues of Jiangnan.
Furthermore, Prince Rong personally oversaw the execution of Kang Xinwen and other officials and salt merchants involved in the case, in order to intimidate the salt administration in Jiangnan.
On the day of the execution, Lu Yangyang also went to watch.
She mingled in the crowd and spotted Prince Rong, whom she hadn't seen for some time, in the distance.
Speaking of which, when she first went to the capital, she went to the polo field with Yan Yue and Sheng Yunjiao to watch a polo match. The person who organized the match was none other than Prince Rong.