Chapter 443 The moon is so round tonight (2)

Author: Uncle Long Legs

Chapter 443 The moon is so round tonight (2)

After receiving Ma Kuai's assurance that "someone will have a solution tonight," the brothers gathered together temporarily.

In the following time, everyone became busy in their own way.

Not long after, bursts of deliberately suppressed laughter could be heard faintly in the courtyards where they were hiding.

It was a group of reinforcements who had long ignored their own life and death.

Before hearing that he was dying, he could still eat a bowl of 'Floating Garden'.

In fact, he is the ancestor of the modern glutinous rice dumpling. When eating this festive delicacy, he got an unexpected laugh.

But as time passed, it gradually became dark.

Then a bright moon began to rise, illuminating everything on the earth.

Unfortunately, as the scheduled time for the reinforcements to attack tonight was getting closer and closer, Ma Kuo still had no clue of how to solve the problem.

The water gate was locked, iron cables crossed the river, and a large number of archers and stone cannons prepared by the Jin soldiers on both sides of the river were added.

For reinforcements that were essentially mere traffickers and lackeys, these difficulties were almost insurmountable.

In the face of such a huge disparity in strength, all the clever strategies and action plans seemed to turn into ridiculous jokes.

So much so that during this period of time, one plan after another flashed through Ma Kuo's mind. After careful calculation, none of them seemed quite suitable.

Feeling upset for a while, he opened the originally closed window, intending to let the night breeze clear his messed up head.

At the same time, I made a decision in my heart:

If by midnight, he has not come up with some better way, then he would take the 317 reinforcements who originally left the city by boat tonight and rush into the Jinming Pond at night.

No matter what, the warships of the capital navy must be burned to ashes.

There is no way! As the so-called lesser of two evils is concerned, the Capital Navy is currently the biggest threat on Cubing Mountain.

The problem is, even if they risk their lives and burn down a battleship of the Capital Navy, allowing his unified brother to avoid land and water, they will still be under the pressure of the attack.

But without a steady stream of reinforcements, materials and other support, Hu Yitong and others could only hold on for a day or two.

Thinking of this, Ma Kuo felt extremely upset...

After opening the window, when the bright moonlight shone in, a cool night breeze blew into the room, which cheered up Ma Kuang's whole body.

He couldn't help but stick half of his body and his entire head out of the window.

It was precisely for this reason that he took a clear look at the situation among the bosses around him.

I saw a large number of houses around me, whether they were deep mansions and courtyards of big families or small shabby courtyards of small families.

All the doors were closed, and the lights in the rooms were extinguished.

In the streets and alleys, except for some soldiers and civilians patrolling the city occasionally, there was not even a single figure of the people at all, just like a huge ghost.

What if it were changed to previous years? Because of the Lantern Festival, the streets are full of people at this time.

Adult men and women with bright smiles on their faces, dressed in the most beautiful new clothes, helped the old and the young to play in the streets and alleys, and laughter echoed over the entire city.

The shops on both sides of the street were lit up with countless lights and lanterns, making it look like a city that never sleeps.

Perhaps only lost things are the most precious and cherished. After thinking of the grand scene that I had long been accustomed to in the past.

Ma Kuo's whole body couldn't help but become obsessed for a moment.

Unknowingly, Ma Kuo suddenly woke up after a sudden chill on his cheeks.

And on his face, a drop of water suddenly appeared. Not on this Lantern Festival night, it actually started to rain.

But Ma Kuo, a very old man, actually cried at such a moment.

All because he knew that he would never be able to see such a grand scene of lanterns all over the city in Kaifeng in his lifetime...

****

Ma Kuo soon discovered that he was wrong, and very wrong.

Because just when he was about to close the window, this man, one of the few outstanding foreign affairs officers in the Northern Song Dynasty, saw a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Amidst the sound of the door creaking, in a dilapidated courtyard that was leaking from all sides, he thought that no one had been there for a long time.

A disheveled woman led a boy who was only three or four years old, holding a small lotus-shaped lantern in her hand, and walked straight to the bank of Cai River.

As the two of them muttered words, they didn't know whether they were paying homage to their dead relatives, praying for the living, or both.

Finally, the lanterns were placed on the water and allowed to float downstream with the quietly flowing Cai River.

What is very amazing is that during such a process, the two of them, one large and one small, did not even make a single loud noise during the entire process, let alone shout or scream.

But just such a simple action triggered incredible consequences.

Amidst the sounds of "creak~", the doors that had been closed for a long time were opened, and figures of various sizes came out one after another.

Without exception, they all held a lantern in their hands and walked straight towards the bank of Cai River.

Again, no one spoke loudly, only slow but firm steps kept moving forward.

Gradually, these scattered people gathered together and formed a brilliant river of lights; the city that was like a ghost before finally came to life at this moment.

They were holding lanterns in their hands, each one obviously made hastily and shoddy in workmanship.

In previous years, the lanterns, which were elaborately produced by merchants, wealthy mansions, and even officials, were completely different concepts. The gap was astonishingly large.

But Ma Kuo could solemnly swear to the gods and Buddhas in the sky that this was the most beautiful and precious lantern he had ever seen in his life.

Mainly because at such a time, he already had a vague guess in his mind about why these people would do this and what changes would follow.

Of course, Ma Kuo is not the only person who can see behind the scenes.

The Colonel of the Song Dynasty who led hundreds of imperial city troops to guard the water gate in the northeast.

Originally, she was still laughing and laughing at the excitement in front of her. She was still pointing at a certain young lady in the crowd, saying that she was really graceful and graceful, and she didn't know which girl she was from.

Or maybe it was the young lady in that tile house or wine shop.

If you have some free time, go and visit one or two.

But gradually, he felt something different from those people, something he couldn't explain clearly, but he felt strong fear.

Something even made his body tremble.

After being trembling all over, the captain, who was said to be a noble in his family, suddenly pulled out an ancestral sword from his waist.

While waving his hands, he yelled viciously:

"Go back, everyone, please go back quickly. The court has issued an order that all idlers are not allowed to go out at night. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed on the spot in serious cases."

You, all of you, don’t want to die now~"

But in the midst of his fierce roar, the people in the street refused to even look at him and continued walking towards the river bank.

In a huge panic, the captain looked around.

Only then did he realize that he was not fighting alone, he had hundreds of soldiers and horses at his disposal.

Immediately, he shouted at some of the soldiers around him: "You guys who only know how to eat for free, hurry up and drive them home."

If anyone dares to resist the mob, I will kill them."

It's a pity that all his current performances are like a poor clown.

The soldiers in front of him turned their heads to the side, as if they had not heard his order.

At first, the captain, who was furious, immediately turned the back of his sword and started beating these disobedient men.

It turned out that he had only been beaten a few times. These soldiers were usually driven by him like slaves, helping his family with various chores, just like servants.

The look in his eyes was so unfamiliar.

To be more precise, it was because he saw murderous intent in the eyes of his men.

Instinctively, this noble man stopped beating him, and did not dare to continue to take action no matter what, because he believed that if he continued to take action, these men would definitely kill him.

However, due to his long-term superiority, he could not bear such humiliation.

After he climbed onto a war horse, he cursed loudly:

"You rioters and thieves, just wait for me. I will go and report to the officials and all the gentlemen right away. You will have an easy time in the future."

After saying such harsh words, he hurriedly patted his horse and left.

I'm afraid that if it gets a little later in the evening, I won't be able to leave at all.

But what he didn't expect was that after he turned a corner, a rope loop was thrown out of an alley next to it.

He put it around his neck accurately, and in one drag he was dragged off the horse and into the alley.

After his mouth was covered, there was an inaudible scream, and then there was no movement.

Soon after, a man rushed out and led the war horses outside. This honorable nobleman lost the last trace of his existence in this world...
To be continued...