The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

"Dangdangdang~"

As the retreat horn sounded, the White Lotus rebels retreated like a tide. The officers and soldiers, who had long been exhausted, fell down one after another, gasping for breath. There was no relief that they had survived the calamity. Instead, they all had a wooden look on their faces, looking extremely discouraged.

Everyone knows that Anlu City cannot be defended, and perhaps the city will be breached during the next siege!

At this time, Wang Ziteng's face was bloody and his head was disheveled. He leaned against the pillar of the city wall, holding a bloody sword in his right hand, and sat there slumped, motionless.

The sounds of people shouting and horses neighing could be heard from below the city, but here the only sound was the occasional crackling of burning torches.

The captain of the guard came over with a bowl of hot water and said softly, "Master, drink some hot water to warm yourself up."

Wang Ziteng came back to his senses and said, "Hmm." He took it and drank it slowly, while asking, "How is Sun Shaozu?"

The captain of the escort said: "The military doctor has taken care of it. It's no big deal."

Wang Ziteng nodded. Sun Shaozu was targeted by the White Lotus Sect. Several waves of skilled fighters came up one after another, all wearing two layers of cotton armor. They surrounded and killed Sun Shaozu together. They chopped off the iron armor and the cotton armor inside Sun Shaozu's body, and almost chopped off Sun Shaozu's head. Fortunately, the blade was bent.

The captain of the guard hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Master, my nephew is preparing the horses."

Wang Ziteng frowned and was about to get angry.

The captain of the guard looked around and lowered his voice: "Anlu City will be breached tonight, and we won't be able to wait for reinforcements."

Wang Ziteng said nothing.

The captain of the guard said, "As long as there is green, there will be no shortage of firewood. The second master of Rongguo Mansion has paid twice to atone for his crimes, and he is still the governor of Henan. Besides, the one who came up with the idea was a general under the loyal and brave marquis, and the one who commanded the Jiangxi troops was the deputy general of Jiangxi Guard. What does this have to do with you, sir?"

Wang Ziteng looked at him, still without saying a word.

Guard Captain: "If the master doesn't consider himself, he should also consider the wife, the young master and the young lady."

Wang Ziteng was stunned for a long time before he sighed.

The captain of the guard was delighted: "I have carefully observed these two days. There are many small paths outside the city gate that lead directly to the mountains and forests. When the city is broken, we will protect the master and fight our way out, hide in the mountains and forests, and wait for the imperial court's reinforcements."

Wang Ziteng: "Okay."

Guard Captain: "I'll get ready now."

Wang Ziteng: "Don't tell Ren Ge'er yet, lest the news leak out."

The captain of the guard said, “Yes.” and left in a hurry.

Wang Ziteng slowly raised his head. The moon was covered by dark clouds, with only a few twinkling stars. It was truly a dark and windy night.

Suddenly, there was a loud "boom" from the south gate, followed by a sound of collapse, and the city wall under their feet began to shake.

Wang Ziteng stood up suddenly, turned around and looked, and saw a blazing fire bursting out from a section of the south gate city wall!

Someone shouted, "The city has been broken!"

The soldiers defending the city were already exhausted. Seeing the city wall blown down, their morale dropped greatly. How could they have the will to continue fighting? They immediately dispersed and fled for their lives.

Wang Ziteng sighed deeply and disappeared into the night under the escort of several guards.
It was already dawn, and the morning light penetrated the clouds and illuminated the city and the outside world of Anlu.

Yang Qilong sat on a mound outside the city, watching another group of government army prisoners being brought over.

The leader of the White Lotus Sect came over excitedly.

Walking up to him, the leader reported, "Manager Yang, good news, we've captured an official, a guerrilla general from the Sharp Warriors Battalion!"

Yang Qilong stood up suddenly: "Where are the people!"

"It's right behind." The leader pointed.

Yang Qilong looked and saw more than a dozen White Lotus Sect members escorting a soldier who was tied up like a dumpling towards them.

Yang Qilong: "What's going on?"

The leader said: "This bastard is so strong that more than a dozen of our brothers died before we could tie him up with a rope."

Yang Qilong's eyes flashed and he strode over.

The leader followed closely and said, "According to the captives, his name is Sun Shaozu, from Datong. He is a son of a general and entered the Ruishi Camp through the relationship of the Jia family."

Yang Qilong: "Jia family?"

The leader: "Yes, it seems that the ancestors of the Sun family were disciples of the Jia family."

As they got closer, Yang Qilong saw Sun Shaozu's face clearly. He was the general from the Ruishi Battalion who had defeated them time and time again.

Seeing Yang Qilong coming over, Sun Shaozu stopped and stared at him fiercely.

"What are you looking at!" The leader slapped Sun Shaozu in the face, causing blood to flow from the corner of his mouth.

Sun Shaozu stared at him viciously.

The leader: "Still looking? Do you want to be beaten again?" He raised his hand to slap Sun Shaozu in the face.

"All right."

Yang Qilong stopped him, looked at Sun Shaozu carefully, and said with a smile: "It's really a flood that has washed away the Dragon King Temple, and family members are fighting against each other." Sun Shaozu looked at him.

Yang Qilong: "You are a member of the Jia family. My young master is on good terms with the Jia family, and the two families have been friends for generations."

Sun Shaozu snorted, "Do you think I'm a three-year-old child? You can kill me or chop me up as you please."

Yang Qilong smiled and said, "You don't want to die."

Without waiting for Sun Shaozu to speak, Yang Qilong continued, "All those who want to die are lying there." He pointed to the bottom of the city gate and said, "Over there lie the deputy general of Jiangxi Guard, two lieutenant generals, five guerrilla generals, and a dozen thousand-man commanders of Jiangxi Guard and Rui Shi Battalion." After saying that, he looked at Sun Shaozu and smiled.

Sun Shaozu's face turned blue and yellow, and he opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.

Yang Qilong: "My young master is in need of a brave general. As long as you abandon evil and join the good and follow my young master, you will be rich and prosperous from now on. In the future, you will definitely be made a marquis, a general, or even a hereditary king. Don't refuse it yet. Go down and think about it carefully." Then he said to the leader: "Please ask General Sun to go down and rest."

The leader said: "Yes. General Sun, please go in." He then extended his hand and led the White Lotus Sect members, pushing Sun Shaozu, into the city.

Looking at Sun Shaozu's receding back, Yang Qilong laughed.

Another group of White Lotus Sect members came over, escorting captured government troops.

The White Lotus leader reported to Yang Qilong: "Manager Yang, we didn't catch Wang Ziteng and let him escape deep into the forest."

Yang Qilong nodded.

Just then, the sound of horse hooves came.

Yang Qilong looked over and saw a group of more than thirty riders galloping towards them.

The leader looked sharp: "It's the leader!"

Yang Qilong was slightly stunned and hurriedly went to meet him.

Shui Rong pulled the reins.

The whole group stopped.

Yang Qilong walked over, looked at Shui Rong's disheveled look, knew something was wrong, and stared at him.

Shui Rong dismounted, walked to his side with a gloomy face, and uttered two words through his teeth: "Defeated!"

Yang Qilong trembled slightly: "Defeat, defeat. Is this all the people we have?"

Shui Rong: "The right army is still behind, and will arrive here in the afternoon."

Yang Qilong felt relieved when he heard that, and looked at Shui Rong with relief in his eyes, finally he was not escaping back alone.

Shui Rong coughed and recounted what had happened in general.

Yang Qilong was stunned for a moment, feeling disappointed and relieved at the same time. He didn't know what to say, so he could only sigh silently.

Shui Rong changed the subject: "What happened?"

Yang Qilong immediately adjusted his mood and told Shui Rong what happened here.

Shui Rong became interested: "Will he join us?"

Yang Qilong smiled: "As long as he doesn't want to die, it's easy. Money, beautiful women, official positions and titles."

Shui Rong smiled and nodded.

Yang Qilong went on to say: "We can't stay in Anlu any longer. Once the right army arrives, we will immediately head south and tell all the captives that we have captured. There are no more government troops in the south."

Shui Rong: "Okay. Let's go and take a look at this Sun Shaozu."

In the vast mountains, the grass was dense and thick. Wang Ziteng leaned against a big tree, breathing heavily.

The captain of the guard came over and reported to him: "Master, the condition of my nephew is not very good."

Wang Ziteng: "What's wrong?"

Guard Captain: "The wound is infected."

Wang Ziteng frowned. There were pursuers everywhere along the way. They almost fled into the mountains naked and had no medicine at all.

The captain of the guard hesitated for a moment and said, "Cut off the injured left hand. Saving your life is the most important thing."

Wang Ziteng pondered for a moment, then nodded.

The captain of the guard took out a fire starter from his bosom, blew it up, drew out his sword and burned it on the fire, then walked to the unconscious Wang Ren and signaled the guards to pull up his left hand.

Everyone saw a flash of white light before their eyes, and Wang Ren's left hand fell to the ground at arm height!
Wang Ren howled miserably, woke up, and then fainted again.

The captain of the guard extended the fire lighter to Wang Ren's broken arm, and wisps of burnt smoke rose.

Wang Ren woke up again, let out a heart-wrenching scream, and then fainted from the pain again.

Wang Ziteng frowned. The fire from the tinderbox was too weak. If Wang Ren continued to be roasted like this, he would either die from blood loss or die in pain.

Thinking of this, he ordered his guards to collect the dead grass and fallen leaves that were not wetted by the snow. (End of this chapter)