vrcanaries Chapter 174 Siege
Chapter 174 Siege
What happened?
How could the county town be besieged?
Lin Ziping carried the vegetable basket and ran towards the city gate, slipping and falling several times along the way because the ground was too slippery.
When we arrived at the city gate, it was already surrounded by people.
Lin Ziping struggled forward, carrying his vegetable basket.
"Excuse me, please make way." Lin Ziping kept apologizing to the people next to him.
After finally squeezing to the front, I was drenched in sweat, and my shopping basket was deformed from the heat.
Looking at the city wall, Lin Ziping couldn't help but sigh that he hadn't realized how high the city wall was when he walked on it every day before. Now, standing at its feet and looking up, he realized how tall the city gate really was.
"What happened? Why did the city gates suddenly close?"
"I don't know. There were few people coming in and out the past two days, but they closed it today."
"Who said it was a besieged city?"
"Are the bandits attacking?"
"What? Didn't we just wipe out the bandits a few days ago? How come there are more now?"
"Oh, you don't know this, but the husband of my neighbor's nephew's uncle's son's cousin's cousin works in the county government. They say the bandits are actually soldiers from the surrounding area in disguise."
"Huh? Why are the soldiers disguised as bandits?"
"You don't know this, do you? What makes money fast? Robbing money, of course!"
……
The crowd stood in front of the city gate, discussing animatedly, their lively chatter making the air seem warmer.
Lin Ziping was engrossed in their conversation, trying to extract useful information from it.
Unfortunately, aside from its initial value, it gradually deviated from the main theme.
It's either someone's house collapsed or someone's daughter was lost.
It's become completely gossip-like.
"The magistrate has arrived!"
As the sound faded, the county yamen runners rushed over, and the previously noisy crowd fell silent.
As the constables passed by, people spontaneously knelt on both sides, and the road to the city wall was instantly cleared.
Lin Ziping retreated behind the crowd, squatted down, and peeked out from the crowd.
Magistrate Wei, dressed in a purple official robe, wearing a black gauze hat and official boots, was followed by County Assistant Magistrate Feng and Inspector Chai, striding towards the city gate.
Such a big show of force?!
When Lin Ziping saw them approaching, he quickly lowered his head.
Magistrate Wei and his entourage passed in front of Lin Ziping.
Seeing that they were looking straight ahead, Lin Ziping felt slightly relieved, thinking that they probably hadn't noticed him.
Lin Ziping slowly backed away, preparing to sneak away when no one was paying attention.
"Lin Ziping, what are you doing?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from above.
Lin Ziping didn't respond, pretending that the other person had mistaken him for someone else.
"What are you doing squatting on the ground? Get up now."
Seeing that he couldn't fool them anymore, Lin Ziping stood up, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Inspector Chai."
With a dark expression, Inspector Chai turned his back and said, "Come here."
Lin Ziping stopped talking, picked up the vegetable basket from the ground, and obediently followed behind him.
"Where is your sword?" Inspector Chai asked as he walked.
Lin Ziping, carrying his vegetable basket, replied weakly, "Inspector Chai, it's not my shift today."
Inspector Chai turned around and glared at Lin Ziping, saying, "Just because you're on duty doesn't mean you're off. In this situation, why aren't you at the county office? What are you doing here watching the show? Didn't anyone tell you that being on duty means being ready to respond at any time?"
Oh, so you need to be on standby 24/7 even without a cell phone!
Lin Ziping lowered his eyes and remained silent, following quietly behind Inspector Chai.
"Look, everyone else is here, why are you the only one being treated differently?" Inspector Chai was somewhat exasperated.
Lin Ziping looked around and, sure enough, Lao Huang, Shi Yong, and others were standing guard not far away.
"Inspector Chai, shall I go back and change my clothes before coming back?" Lin Ziping asked tentatively, hiding the vegetable basket behind his back.
Inspector Chai turned around and glared at Lin Ziping: "It's too late. Magistrate Wei is still waiting. Come up to the city wall with me first."
"Oh, okay...okay..." Lin Ziping quickly replied, taking two quick steps to catch up with Inspector Chai.
"Why are you still carrying that vegetable basket?" Chai's voice carried a hint of disappointment.
Lin Ziping quickly put down the vegetable basket in his hand.
He secretly glanced at Inspector Chai twice.
To be honest, Inspector Chai is usually calm and composed; I've never seen him so furious before.
Lin Ziping silently touched his nose, lowered his head, and obediently followed behind him.
The two climbed onto the city wall, where Magistrate Wei and his men were already waiting.
"They've arrived?" Magistrate Wei said without turning his head, his hands tucked into his sleeves, looking out from the city wall.
Inspector Chai cupped his hands and said, "Sir."
Lin Ziping also bowed to Magistrate Wei, following the example of Inspector Chai.
“That guy…” Magistrate Wei said.
County Magistrate Feng leaned close to Magistrate Wei's ear and whispered, "Lin Ziping."
"Oh, Xiao Lin, I heard you're a scholar, so I came to see what you think," said Magistrate Wei.
Lin Ziping didn't realize that he was being called.
Inspector Chai glared at Lin Ziping.
Upon seeing this, Lin Ziping realized what was happening and hurriedly replied respectfully, "Yes."
County Magistrate Feng stepped aside, making room for Magistrate Wei.
Lin Ziping readily agreed and walked to stand next to Magistrate Wei, looking down at him.
So many people?!
The area outside the city gate was packed with people.
They stood there silently, their expressions blank and their faces purple, like wooden stakes.
There was a pile of things near the city gate.
Lin Ziping looked closely and was shocked to find it was a corpse!
Layer upon layer, buried in the snow, piled up like a wall, or a large burial mound.
"Shaoying, what are your thoughts upon seeing this?" Magistrate Wei called out to Lin Ziping by his courtesy name.
Lin Ziping glanced at Magistrate Wei and asked cautiously, "What are they planning to do?"
Magistrate Wei scoffed, "Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs. What do they want? They want to survive!"
Lin Ziping looked down at the city walls, then at Magistrate Wei, somewhat confused about what he meant.
Magistrate Wei offered no explanation, but turned to Inspector Chai and instructed, "Send someone to ask them what they want to do."
"Yes," said Inspector Chai, clasping his hands in a fist salute.
Inspector Chai gave a few instructions to the person next to him.
A moment later, someone stepped forward and shouted down to the city gates: "This is a restricted area. All irrelevant personnel, please disperse immediately."
Silence, a deathly silence...
The person who shouted looked at Inspector Chai.
Inspector Chai nodded slightly.
"This is a heavily guarded area at the city gate. All unauthorized personnel must disperse immediately!"
"This is a heavily guarded area at the city gates. All unauthorized personnel must disperse immediately!!"
The people below the city gate remained motionless.
Men, women, and children remained expressionless, staring blankly at the city.
"Bring me arrows!" Officer Chai ordered.
The person next to him took out a bow and arrow and handed it to Inspector Chai.
Then, Officer Chai drew his bow and nocked an arrow.
"Whoosh-"
"Whoosh-"
"Whoosh-"
Three arrows shot fiercely into the ground outside the city.
The arrow's fletching trembled, emitting a series of buzzing sounds.
Magistrate Feng waved his hand, and the constables standing on the city wall approached the wall, raising their bows and arrows to aim at the people outside the city.
A silent standoff exists between the city walls and the outside.
After a while, a voice came from outside the city: "We need grain."
We need grain!
"We need food!!"
The sound grew louder and louder, eventually merging together to create a deafening roar.