Chapter 1489
The Final Battle, Before the Chaos
Chapter 1489 The Final Battle, Before the Chaos
"Brother Lou, you've had too much to drink. Come on, come on, I'll take you home, as if you were never here." Old Master Tan personally pulled up his old neighbor and dragged him outside.
Master Lou glared angrily at Master Tan: "Tan, are you afraid of death, or do you really think that the Qin family bought your house and will lend a hand to your family when you are in trouble?"
"Don't even dream about it, Tan family. It's impossible. If the Qin family really wanted to help you, they would have moved you to Wuyuan Garden long ago. They wouldn't have dozens of your family members, masters and servants, crammed into this one house!"
The Tan family originated from the capital city of Dongming Prefecture. Originally, the Tan family had hundreds of servants, but due to the fight against the enemy, they had handed over most of their servants to the Wei army for command.
The houses where the Tan and Lou families live now are not their own; they are temporary residences arranged by the government for families who have not been infected.
This is how people in the capital city, even those who haven't been infected, are arranged.
"Brother Lou, the Qin family only bought my family's old house. It's a business transaction. My family has done no favors for the Qin family. How could I possibly want the Qin family to help my family?" Old Master Tan was younger and stronger than Old Master Lou, and he continued to drag Old Master Lou outside.
During the outbreak of the plague, visiting other people's homes was strictly prohibited, so the younger members of the Tan family hid in other rooms and did not come out even when they heard any noise.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
The deafening sound of flint striking flint rang out again. Master Lou gripped the doorframe tightly and roared at Master Tan, "You, Tan, did you hear that? That kind of noise could only be made by the bombardment of hundreds of flints! How long can this capital city hold out?"
"It won't last long. If you and I don't want our family line to end, we should risk our lives to force Qin and Jiang to go and marry into another family!"
"Eldest son, hurry up and come out, take your Uncle Lou to his house!" Old Master Tan couldn't pull him any further, so he had to call out to his children and grandchildren.
Upon hearing this, the Tan family members hurriedly opened the door and came out.
Looking at the descendants of the Tan family, Master Lou became anxious and roared, "You surnamed Tan, when your family moved to the capital city, my Lou family often helped your family, which enabled your Tan family to gain a foothold in the capital city. Now you repay kindness with enmity, your Tan family will not have a good end!"
As they were speaking, Old Master Lou was already pinned down and had his mouth covered by the Tan family's descendants.
Only then did Master Tan have a moment to look at Master Lou and say, word by word, "My Tan family has not forgotten our kindness, which is why we saved you tonight."
"Sending a meritorious official to a marriage alliance is called betraying the country and surrendering to the enemy. But my Tan family is stopping you. Your Lou family's ancestors should thank my Tan family."
“Carry your Uncle Lou up and take him home… I’ll go with you; I need to give some instructions to the Lou family nephews.”
"Hey." The Tan family's children and grandchildren worked together to lift Old Master Lou's arms and legs and carry him to the next room.
Master Tan continued to grumble, "Your old brain has rusted, you've lost all the shrewdness you had when you were young... The enemy has only just begun their attack on the city, and you're already clamoring to force meritorious officials to go on a marriage alliance. Will you die if we wait three or five days?"
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!" Old Master Lou protested... Wait three to five days? If you and I get infected, where will we have the energy to cause trouble?
After more than fifteen minutes of commotion, Mr. Tan and his family finally returned home.
Upon arriving home, the first thing Master Tan said was, "Hang the black cloth outside the door to inform the patrolling soldiers that there is something going on at our house."
This?
"Father, do we really have to report this?" The Tan family sons were somewhat hesitant: "When our family first came to the capital city, Uncle Lou's family did help us a lot."
"Ha," Master Tan sneered, "If it weren't for the abilities of your grandfather and me, would the Lou family even look at us with respect?"
They offered help because they recognized the Tan family's capabilities and wanted to build a good relationship.
"With foreign enemies at hand, any act that harms meritorious officials is unacceptable. Our Tan family simply reported the facts and did not harm any family. We are only loyal to the Great Wei."
"Alright, let's do it this way. Hurry up and boil the medicine, then apply it all over your body, since you're already out of the house."
"Yes." The Tan family's children and grandchildren had no choice but to comply. Boom boom boom boom boom!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The sound of flint being struck never stopped all night.
As the sounds of the siege continued, many, like Master Lou, were driven by fear to betray Qin and Jiang.
On the ninth day of the tenth month, the entire capital city was as still as a stagnant pool, and the whole city was filled with an eerie atmosphere.
On that day, the number of newly infected people was more than 13,000; the number of new deaths was just over 2,000. Just the sterilization and inactivation treatment of the corpses would consume tens of thousands of kilograms of firewood.
The only good news is that the high fever of patients who underwent puncture to drain pus and blood and took a combination of antiviral drugs has decreased. There are a number of people in both the south and north of the city who fell ill on the third day of the Lunar New Year and are still alive.
"The combined treatment of puncture and drainage of pus and blood by Master Xun and Master Qin, along with the anti-epidemic drugs, has indeed been effective and can prolong the time before the patient dies," the dead soldier reported.
Upon hearing this, the Prince of Ye and his deputy forced a smile.
The King of Ye then instructed the physicians present: "Record the techniques for puncturing to drain pus and blood, as well as the formulas and usage of the combined anti-epidemic drugs, and leave them to future generations of the Great Wei."
"Yes." The doctors and the students led by Master Qiong picked up their pens and began taking notes.
The students were surrounded by stacks of notebooks, all of which were records written by them of the various events that occurred and were created in the capital city during the war.
Some students, such as Shi Songxin, questioned: "Can these records we make really be preserved?"
Yang Zeru was equally pessimistic: "Yes, once the city falls, everything will be reduced to ashes."
The enemy could not possibly leave anything useful to the Great Wei.
Upon hearing these two sentences, students such as Xue Mingyi, Li Zhiyuan, and Jia Xiang felt a sudden pause in their writing.
Si Pei retorted, “Why do you care whether they can be passed down? You’re just laborers doing the recording. Just do your job, why think so much? Hurry up and write. Only after you’re done can I send someone to put the record book into a copper box and bury it underground for future generations to dig up.”
"Write your handwriting neatly, lest your descendants who find the chest laugh at you!"
Ah this?
Upon hearing this, the students who valued their reputation, such as Si Feng, Ning Jinghui, and Shen Yinming, hurriedly checked their written records. Seeing that the writing was elegant, graceful, and sharp, with no typos, and that the numbers and battle reports given by the government and military authorities had not been copied incorrectly, they were finally relieved.
On the ninth day, the enemy did not receive a reply of submission from the capital city, so as soon as it got dark on the ninth day, the enemy launched another fierce attack on the capital city.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
They were throwing flints like they were free, and they didn't know where the enemy got so many big stones.
At dawn, the four enemy armies surrounding the capital city began to howl and roar, their battle cries shaking the heavens and waking many Wei people.
The children and many timid adults were so frightened that they cried.
For a time, the capital city was filled with the sound of wailing, as if it were the scene of a massacre.
The garden was filled with pregnant women, new mothers, and infants, and their cries were particularly pitiful. Qin Liupo was awakened by the noise, so she stuffed cotton balls into her ears, got up, and went out to patrol along the roadside leading to Weilou Avenue.
She wasn't just wandering around aimlessly; she was catching women and children who had deliberately wandered into the area.
The city is now showing signs of impending chaos. These pregnant women also have families who can send them messages and gifts.
Who knows, there might be some cowardly family members who send a message, instructing pregnant women and new mothers to bring their babies to Aunt Qin's residence and kneel down to beg her to agree to hand over Xiaomi to a marriage alliance!
Qin Liu Po caught two of them yesterday, but since the two pregnant women hadn't done anything wrong, she didn't arrest them, but just sent them back to their residence in the front garden.