Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 285: Torture
Chongqing, on the first day of May, the city should be very lively with people from all villages going to market, but at this time, the city is in chaos.

The streets of the city were full of Tartar soldiers with pigtails and braids, running rampant in the streets, breaking into courtyards and houses, and constantly searching the people out and dragging them out onto the streets. There were panicked pleas for mercy and cries everywhere.

In the kitchen at the side of the courtyard, Fu Di was covered with straw, lying on the ground, not daring to make a sound. From the wing outside came the sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets. Not long after, a curse was heard from outside the room.
"Damn it, there's not even a hair left, wasting my time"

The footsteps outside the room gradually faded away, and soon the room became quiet again. When the footsteps outside the room completely disappeared, Fu Di felt relieved.

Fu Di was breathing heavily, but he made no sound. The room was still silent.

Fu Di lay on the thatched grass, tears streaming down his eyes unconsciously.
Two months ago, the Western bandits seized Chongqing. All the food and money in the vicinity of Chongqing were looted by the Western bandits. The Fu family relied on the little food they had hidden to survive until May. Finally, the rice in the house ran out.
Fu Di rushed to Chongqing with two pieces of Shu brocade stored in his family, stayed overnight at his aunt's house, and sold the cloth in the city early the next morning, and then bought rice at the rice market.

But Fu Di had just bought some rice when he heard someone shouting that the Western bandits had entered the city.
Chongqing was looted by Western bandits two months ago. Now the people in the city are terrified of bandits. The streets are in chaos and everyone is running out of the city.
Fu Di was so frightened that he had to hide the rice in an abandoned courtyard, and then hurried back to his aunt's house to inform his aunt and her family to leave the city as soon as possible.

When he was not far from his aunt's house, Fu Di heard rumors that the people who entered the city were not the Western bandits or the Yellow bandits, but the Tartar soldiers. Then someone in the distance shouted in panic that the Tartar soldiers had locked the city gates.

Fu Di originally wanted to find out the situation on the street, but at this moment, several Jurchen soldiers with rat-tail braids on their heads suddenly rode over on horses with knives in hand.
The crowd on the street immediately dispersed, and Fu Di was also panicked and fled back to his aunt's house.
But it was too late. If you saw rebels in the countryside, you could flee to the mountains, but in the city, there was nowhere to escape.

The Qing army soon began to break into houses and plunder. The streets were filled with shouting and cursing. When Fu Di returned to his aunt's house, he found that his aunt and her family had disappeared.

The screams outside the room were getting closer and closer. Fu Di didn't care about much and wanted to hide under the bed. But when he opened the door, he found that his aunt and her family had already hidden inside.
Fu Di had no choice but to leave the room. After searching for a while, he could not find a place to hide. He had to hide in the kitchen in the side room and covered himself with straw in the corner, hoping to avoid the search of the chaotic soldiers.
Not long after Fu Di hid, soldiers broke into the yard. Although Fu Di did not go out, he clearly heard the cries of his aunt's family outside the room. After crying for a while, they were dragged out and no sound was heard from them again.
My aunt and her family hid in the most secure place in the house, but they were captured by the soldiers in the first round. On the contrary, the shabby kitchen where Fu Di was was not searched carefully by the soldiers.

The soldiers just took away the iron pot and salt on the stove, knocked over the broken tables and chairs in the room, and then left in a hurry.

Fu Di knew that his aunt's family had been found, but he did not dare to say anything, nor did he dare to think about where they would be taken and what would happen to them.
After my aunt and her family were captured, several waves of soldiers came. The last time, a long-faced soldier even stood in front of the straw pile in the corner.

But for some reason, the soldier suddenly stopped and cursed at the soldier who broke in from behind.

"Damn it, there's not a hair left. You're wasting my time. There's no need to search anymore. Let's just find a new place."

The long-faced soldier turned around, pushed the soldiers behind him, and quickly walked out of the kitchen door.

Fu Di was soaked to the skin at that time, but fortunately, the gods blessed him and the two soldiers never came back.
The soldiers who came from behind searched the main house and the side rooms first, but no one paid attention to the dilapidated kitchen, which eventually allowed Fu Di to escape successfully.

Two hours later, it was getting dark and the cries on the street gradually faded away.

It was quiet outside the room. Fu Di saw that no soldiers had come in for a long time, so he bravely climbed out of the thatched pile.

Fu Di originally thought that the rebels had finished looting and left, and planned to flee the city immediately. However, as soon as he left the room, a vicious soldier with a knife in hand broke into the courtyard.
The Tartar soldier had dark yellow skin, and when he looked at Fu Di, who was pale, a smile suddenly appeared on his face.
"Ama is right. These Han people are indeed the most cunning."

Although the Tartar soldiers were shouting, their accents were extremely strange. Fu Di looked at the Tartar with a thin braid hanging behind his head, and his body suddenly softened and he knelt on the ground.
"Sir, spare my life, Sir, spare my life"

Fu Di's mind was blank at this moment, he couldn't think of anything, he just kept kowtowed to the Tartar soldiers.

Fu Di kept begging for mercy, but the Tartar soldier was not moved at all. He kicked Fu Di, who was kneeling on the ground, to the ground, pointed his sword at Fu Di, and said

"Take off your socks."

Fu Di looked terrified and took off his cloth socks as ordered. The Tartar soldier took the socks and tied them into a knot around Fu Di's neck.

Then, ignoring Fu Di's cries and pleas for mercy, he led Fu Di out of the house like a cow or a sheep. The streets were still full of Tartar soldiers with thin braids and knives. Fu Di just felt that the city had become quiet, not because the Tartar soldiers had withdrawn, but because most of the people in the city had been captured.

But there weren't many dead bodies on the streets. I wonder where all the people in the city have gone.

Many soldiers on the street were like the black-clad Tartar soldiers in front of Fu Di, with civilians in groups of three or four behind them. All the civilians were tied up by the neck and followed the soldiers with their heads down.
The black-clad Tartar soldiers led Fu Di and searched several courtyards, but in the end they did not find anyone else.
The Tartar soldiers led Fu Di out of the city gate quickly. At this time, Fu Di finally knew where the people in the city had gone.
There was a thick layer of black ash on the ground in the woods near the city gate. A dozen civilians were hung on the trees. A Tartar soldier was holding a torch and kept asking questions.

“There is food but no grain”

"All the rice and grain in my house has been taken away by the military commander. I really have no more food. Military commander, please spare my life, please spare my life."

"Without food, we will be burned to death"

Fu Di recognized the young man next to the Tartar soldier. It was Peng Yufeng from the neighboring village. However, Fu Di did not dare to speak at all at this time. He just lowered his head and stood beside the black-clothed Tartar soldier.

The Tartar beside the tree directly lit the torch in his hand towards Peng Yufeng, and Peng Yufeng's clothes soon caught fire.

Peng Yufeng kept screaming and struggling, but at this time his hands were hung on the tree and he couldn't move at all. He could only twist his body and wail. The Tartar soldier next to him started to ask again

“There is food but no grain”

"I have no food, spare my life, spare my life"

Peng Yufeng's body was burning fiercely, and he kept screaming for mercy, but the Tartar soldiers beside him no longer cared about Peng Yufeng, and walked towards the next civilian with a torch.

At the edge of the woods, the air was filled with a pungent stench that made people want to vomit.
Fu Di's face was pale, and he felt his stomach churning, but soon he could no longer care about it.
Fu Di had a terrified look on his face, his hands were tied to the tree, his feet were stepping on a piece of sticky black ash, Fu Di's body was constantly struggling, like a wriggling worm

Fu Di struggled, but it was useless. He just stepped on a pool of black blood.
Fu Di looked at the black ash that covered his feet, and was stunned for a moment. Then he suddenly burst into tears, and his body lost strength and completely went limp.
The Tartar soldier at the side took a torch, looked at Fu Di who had slumped into a ball, and said softly:

“There is food but no grain”

Fu Di's face was dull, and he hung under the tree like a noodle, but tears kept flowing down his face.

The black-clad Tartar soldier saw that Fu Di had no reaction, but he did not say much and directly lit the torch in his hand towards Fu Ji.
The bright red firelight reflected in Fu Di's eyes. Fu Di finally recovered and shouted
"I have food, I have food. I have hidden a stone of food in the city. Please spare my life, sir. Please spare my life, sir."

Fu Di's face was distorted with fear, and he twisted his body madly. In Fu Di's eyes, the torch that was already close to him finally moved away from him inch by inch.
It was already dark, and the bright red firelight made the faces of the black-clad Tartar soldiers appear dim and bright.
"Lie and die"

"I will not lie, I will not lie. I have food to offer to you, sir. Please have mercy on me, sir. Please spare my life."

Fu Di burst into tears and screamed in fear, but the Tartar soldier did not say a word and directly swung his knife to cut the knot on the tree.

Fu Di fell into the black ash, and then with a look of horror, he immediately climbed up from the ground.

“Take me to get food”

The black-clad Tartar at the side pulled up one end of the rope, and Fu Di also trembled, lowered his head and followed the black-clad Tartar towards the city gate.
As Fu Di passed by the edge of the forest, Peng Yufeng was still burning with fire, but the figure under the tree lowered his head and did not move.
Tears flowed from Fu Di's eyes, but before he could take another look, the handle of the knife had already hit his back. Fu Di shed tears, staggered, and walked towards the dark city in front of him.
In the darkness, torches were lit from time to time under the trees, and then quickly extinguished.

At the city gate, the shrill howling continued to echo, spreading into the darkness in the distance, and was finally completely swallowed up by the deep night.
(End of this chapter)