activa-t Chapter 440: The Suzhou family respectfully escorted Madam Fang on her safe journey.
Chapter 440: The Suzhou family respectfully escorted Madam Fang on her safe journey.
Pei Yan thought about it and realized it was true. He turned around and ran quickly into the cave.
A short while later, he returned with four or five of his men and Li Wan'er and a few others.
At this moment, Fang Xiaoxiao had already begun to find stones around the cave entrance and pile them up.
The group of people first looked at the torrential rain outside the cave, and were all surprised.
Fang Xiaoxiao quickly told the others to stop looking and to hurry up and help.
These people finally snapped out of their shock and started piling up mud and stones to build up the entrance to the cave. With everyone working together, a stone wall about half a person's height was quickly built up at the entrance.
Next, Fang Xiaoxiao began to discuss with the others how to return to Suzhou.
"Judging from this heavy rain, it's going to rain for three days and three nights. We'll go back to Suzhou after the rain stops."
"Madam Fang is right. Everyone, please bear with us for the next few days and wait here."
Prefect Yang chimed in from the side.
No one else objected. Ever since Fang Xiaoxiao predicted that it would rain, it really did rain, and no one dared to have any further thoughts about Fang Xiaoxiao.
Time flies, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
By this time, the fire in Suzhou had already been extinguished by the heavy rain.
The garrison outside the city has suffered fewer than three thousand casualties.
They were like ghosts now, abandoning their armor and weapons and retreating with the main force.
In their eyes, Suzhou was a cursed and terrifying city.
They had only been here for three weeks, and from an initial force of 100,000, in just three days, only the old, weak, and disabled soldiers remained. Anyone would think that all of this was caused by Suzhou.
The general rode a tall horse, his face disheveled, and dark circles under his eyes indicated that he had been suffering from insomnia for many days.
The accompanying deputy general was in no better shape; he hadn't slept much for three days and three nights.
Because all the soldiers who died died silently in their sleep, without any warning. Even the army's medic died in his tent.
"General, we, we..."
He couldn't speak the rest of the sentence; a sob choked him up.
The general turned around and glanced at his deputy behind him without any emotion, his voice hoarse.
"Stop talking about it, let's not bring it up again this time. Let's hurry to the northern border and seek refuge with Prince Zhenbei."
The King of Zhenbei of Dayu, who commands 500,000 soldiers, is currently the most core force of the Dayu Dynasty.
This time, they were determined never to set foot in the Central Plains again, especially in the Jiangnan Province.
……
Fang Xiaoxiao and her group stood on the hilltop, looking at the location in the direction of Suzhou City where the troops had already withdrawn. Tears streamed down their faces.
They had waited so long, thinking they would die in this inhumane massacre, but now almost everyone was unharmed.
Is this something they could have come up with?
Prefect Yang, representing the people of Suzhou, bowed to Fang Xiaoxiao.
"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Lady Fang for saving the millions of people in Suzhou. Please accept my bow."
"No, no, Prefect Yang, please don't say that. I only did what I could. If we're talking about saving the people of Suzhou, it's thanks to everyone's tireless efforts that we're safe and sound."
Fang Xiaoxiao dared not claim credit for anything great. She supported Prefect Yang's arm and smiled.
Next came the reconstruction of Suzhou, which naturally had little to do with her.
So they packed their bags early in the morning, preparing to leave Suzhou quietly before anyone could react.
Because in the past few days, those staying at the Su residence have been receiving daily kowtows and gifts from the people.
Although the gifts were mostly cloth, eggs, rice, and the like, the gifts kept increasing until they dared not show their faces at all, fearing that the people's enthusiasm would leave them with nothing to eat.
Fang Xiaoxiao, dressed in coarse linen clothes and wearing a black veil, looked like a thief. She opened the back gate, peeked out and looked around to make sure no one was there, before waving to Li Wan'er behind her.
"There's no one here, let's hurry up and leave, otherwise if we get discovered, we won't be able to get away!"
Li Wan'er hummed twice, her clothes were similar to hers, and she also wore a black veil on her face.
Pei Yan, on the other hand, had already left Suzhou three days earlier, citing other business.
After all, in the eyes of the common people, he was just Fang Niangzi's husband, a man who was good-looking but not very useful.
Unlike Madam Fang, who can not only produce the life-saving Banlangen (Isatis root), but also create poisons that kill invisibly.
If it weren't for Madam Fang's poison, even if they were cured, without a home, there would be no reason for them to live.
For the people of Suzhou, leaving their hometown was a betrayal of their ancestors.
They've lived on this land for generations, and no one really wants to leave.
If not, they would have left long ago after the outbreak of the plague.
Fang Xiao, with her waist bent low, carefully led the princess along the official road.
Although it was still early, according to modern time, it should be around 4:30 a.m.
The sky was still dotted with stars, neither too dark nor too bright, but fortunately, the road was still visible.
The two walked and looked around, and only quickened their pace after confirming that no one was around.
Upon arriving at the city gate, there was no one on duty.
Fang Xiaoxiao was a little confused by this, but she was determined to leave this place, so she didn't think too much about it and pulled Li Wan'er to the city gate.
As luck would have it, the city gate wasn't closed, and even more coincidentally, the two of them were just able to pass through.
Fang Xiaoxiao passed through without the slightest hesitation.
Once she stood at the city gate, she patted her heart, which was pounding wildly.
"Phew, we're finally out of the city. If I had to stay any longer, I probably would never want to leave this place again."
"Yes, they were all so enthusiastic. Wherever I went, they would stuff me with delicious food. Even when I went to buy a gold hairpin, the shopkeeper wouldn't give me any money. If I hadn't thrown the money on the counter and run away, I probably wouldn't have been able to pay."
Li Wan'er recalled her experiences in Suzhou, feeling both deeply moved and somewhat embarrassed.
After regaining her senses, Fang Xiaoxiao put her hands on her hips and laughed.
"Haha, we can be considered people who will go down in history. We saved millions of people. In any dynasty, we would be bringing glory to our ancestors!"
As she thought about it, she felt increasingly awesome, far more awesome than what she had done in her previous life, and even if she lived several more lifetimes, she wouldn't be as awesome as what she was doing now.
After making the joke, they set off on their journey.
Fang Xiaoxiao wanted to turn back and take another look at this place that had experienced so much turmoil and was even massacred, but in the end she chose not to go and see it, because if she did, she might not be able to resist staying.
Just as they stepped onto the city bridge, a towering flame suddenly erupted behind them, followed by a deafening shout.
"The millions of people of Suzhou respectfully bid farewell to Madam Fang, may she rest in peace!"
"The millions of people of Suzhou respectfully bid farewell to Madam Fang as she departs!"
The sounds swept across the sky like waves, while the stars remained in the sky.
Tens of millions of torches transformed the entire Suzhou city wall into a golden, fiery dragon.
Common people, officials and soldiers, prefects, wealthy merchants, and local gentry.
They were expressing their deepest gratitude to Fang Xiaoxiao for saving the lives of countless people in Suzhou.
Fang Xiaoxiao couldn't help but turn around, her eyes filled with the people of Suzhou.
They continued to shout, continued to wave their torches. They were not pretentious; they knew that a sage should save the common people; they were not selfish...
I'm so moved, so very moved.
She felt her life had been worthwhile.
Fang Xiaoxiao stood still, placed her hands on her cheeks, and spoke at the loudest volume she could muster.
"Thank you all. I'll come back to see you all again. Goodbye, Suzhou City!!!"
"Goodbye!!! Madam Fang!!!! The people of Suzhou respectfully bid Madam Fang a safe journey!!!"