C56 (2/2)
”Big brother, please, let me out!” Xiu'er's voice had already become teary: ”Me will be back after putting down the things, I'm begging you.”
There was a trace of impatience in the soldier's voice as he said, ”It's already considered lucky for you to be able to reach this place under the curfew of the city. Now, even if I want to capture you, I'll catch you!” Don't you know the rules? And sending food? As long as you dare to leave this city gate, the guards above can beat you to death with your handheld crossbow! Are you still not leaving?! ”
”But, but my mother has been sick all day.” ”If it wasn't for someone coming in to send me a message, I wouldn't even know if my mother died.” Xiu'er lowered her head and cried softly.
”Bastard!” If you don't leave now, then don't blame me for being a law-abiding person! ” The leader of the soldiers raised his thick eyebrows, his right hand already reaching for the hilt of his saber.
Just as Xiu'er was about to make her move, a lazy voice came from the direction of the city gate: ”Zhang Cheng, what happened?”
The soldier called Zhang Cheng answered helplessly, ”Replying to Master Ma, it's a girl that wants to deliver food to her mother.”
”Then why are you blabbering so much?” ”If you don't want to leave, then go ahead.” As he spoke, a skinny man with triangular eyes and a few soldiers slowly walked over. When he clearly saw the Xiu'er's appearance under the light, his two triangular eyes suddenly lit up. Whose girl was this? Is she pretty enough? ”
”Reporting to my Lord, I, I am called Xiu'er, a girl from the medical camp, Huan Huan.” Xiu'er lowered her head and replied softly.
”Don't lower your head, don't lower it, let me see.” Elder Ma smiled as he walked in front of Xiu'er and pulled her chin. Zhang Cheng stood to the side, looking both embarrassed and furious, but he did not dare to say anything to stop them.
This person who was referred to as Master Ma was the younger brother-in-law of the city guards, Ma Sande. Because he was a trusted aide, Du Mingfa sent him to be in charge of the night watch of the city gate. It could be said that other than the City Gate Officer, he was the second in command of this entire area. Adding that to the relationship with Du Mingfa, he didn't even need to be afraid of his own direct superior.
Especially at night, Ma Sande felt like he was the emperor. After instructing the soldiers to stand guard, he hid himself in the gatehouse near the city gate. Chicken, duck, fish, and meat were all good wine and food. He treated this duty as a blessing. Due to their misgivings towards Du Mingfa, and the fact that he did not stir up any trouble, they pretended not to see it. In any case, they treated him as a fart, even if he was a little smelly, they would just let him go.
But in recent times, Ma Sande's hand had stretched out a little too long, and it was not clean either.
Previously, Du Mingfa was kind to them and set up more than ten tents outside the city gate to accommodate the refugees. Among them were a few elderly people who were waiting for their children and children to work in the city to save enough money to bring them into the city. However, the conditions for living in a tent could be imagined. Thus, the children in the city would find ways to send out some food and medicine.
The soldiers guarding the city gates were also raised by their parents. Although they didn't dare to close their eyes and let them leave, they still had to collect some money to send them something. This so-called running errands didn't have much money. Not to mention money, it didn't have much meaning to it. A bag of tobacco, a bottle of wine, even a chicken leg were all fine. It just meant, don't let the guys run away for nothing.
No one dared to do it in the daytime, as it was always at night. After nightfall, the laborers in the city sneaked out and stuffed some things into the guards' hands, and the soldiers were sent out. This was a secret that they had all agreed upon for a long time. No one felt it was wrong to do so, and no one complained about the level of the running money.
However, when Ma Sande came, the matter changed.
On the fourth day, he tied up the seven night shift soldiers who had been serving food and medicine during these three days. He whipped each of them twenty times in public, and then said that he was going to give them Castellan Mansion as punishment for the crime of colluding with the enemy!
All of a sudden, everyone was dumbfounded. Although twenty lashes was already enough to beat a person half to death, he was in the wrong, so he could only admit his misfortune. But what was the crime of colluding with the enemy? A death sentence! A single blow to the head was good, no one dared to say no even if it meant death. Besides, we were all born in Sith, and many relatives and friends are in the city. How are we going to survive if we accuse them of colluding with the enemy?
Thus, the two captains and the few veterans pleaded for favors one after another. Only after hearing what had happened did Ma Sande finally give up on this idea. He told everyone that in the future, he would continue to help people deliver food and medicine. However, he had to go through his own paperwork. Without his own notes, he would dare to send food and medicine to people, and that would be colluding with the enemy!
Only now did the crowd come to their senses. This fellow was either strictly abiding to the edict or trying to fill his pockets. However, there was nothing he could do about it now. He had to protect his brother first. Money was just an external asset, so having less was not a problem.
From that day onwards, Ma Sande became the overlord of the city gates at night, refusing to accept anything like chicken, duck, or fish meat. As long as it was money, even though the money was not much, it would definitely be painful for the refugees who paid for their work in the city. If anyone dared to say no, pulling them into the house would result in a flurry of punches and kicks. In the end, they would just grab the items and tell the people to scram.
And most importantly, this person was extremely lustful. Most of the women who were able to take advantage of their work in the city were between the ages of fifteen and forty-five, and most of them were in their prime. It was enough for a man or an older woman to pay, and if he met a girl he was tempted to bring her into the house and ”interrogate her.” Zhang Chengsheng had seen with his own eyes at least four or five young girls in their prime coming out of Ma Sande's room, their clothes in disarray and crying, not to mention the ones he didn't see and didn't know.
When the people mentioned this, everyone was extremely furious. But now that there was a war, the decision to live or die was only made with a single sentence from the City Guard Du Mingfa. Who would dare to provoke Ma Sande? Therefore, the soldiers came to a tacit agreement that they would take a stroll outside when there was nothing to do. When they saw that the young lady wanted to send something out, they urged her to go back early to pull it down.
Zhang Sheng was against Xiu'er. Seeing how young and beautiful Xiu'er was, he knew that he would not be let off by Ma Sande. But he didn't expect that Ma Sande would actually come out and run into the Xiu'er directly. Seeing that this girl was about to fall into the palms of Ma Sande, Zhang Cheng was extremely annoyed, but there was nothing he could do.
At this moment, a shocking scene occurred.
Xiu'er, who had her chin pinched by Ma Sande, actually raised her head and looked at him obediently. Her tone even had a hint of submission, ”As long as Master can get me to give Mother a bit of food, I — I — will agree to anything.”
Ma Sande saw that this girl was really pretty, and her words were so 'sensible', he couldn't help smiling so much that even his back teeth were exposed. ”Good, good, good. Good, good. I like a sensible girl like you.” ”Come, come and chat with this grandpa inside the house. After the conversation is over, send something over to your mother!”
With the Xiu'er half pushing and half pushing, Ma Sander walked into the gatehouse with his arm around her waist. Zhang Cheng looked at the two of them and spat on the ground.
However, before he could turn around, a groan came from the room's door. Immediately after, the door that had just been closed was pushed open and Ma Sande stumbled out. The voice he uttered even changed its tone, ”Save, save me ~ ~”
Since they knew what Ma Sande wanted to do in the house, the soldiers usually stayed far away from him. Seeing him in such a sorry state, the soldiers ran over and surrounded him, asking, ”Elder Ma, what happened to you?”
Ma Sande's face was covered in tears as he pointed to the space between his legs. He was on the verge of bursting into tears.
Just when the soldiers had gathered close to investigate what Ma Sande had done, the gatehouse's door suddenly burst open. Countless pieces of wood shavings flew out, and the soldiers who were caught unprepared were struck down by the force of the wooden shavings. In the midst of the chaos, a white shadow rushed out of the gatehouse and headed straight for the city gate.