Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 229 Brother-in-law, I miss you so much (2)

They were soldiers from Dingzhou Prefecture.

Upon seeing these guards, the maids, servants, and bodyguards who had escaped from the Fan family felt as if they had found their backbone, and the fear that had been weighing on their hearts dissipated in that instant.

Among the soldiers was a tall and robust figure, the prefect of Dingzhou Prefecture.

Jiao Junze.

He was in his early thirties, clad in armor, and exceptionally valiant.

He was probably the youngest governor in the history of Ningguo.

When the Jurchens invaded, it was Jiao Junze who led the troops of Dingzhou Prefecture to stop the Jurchen cavalry at the border of Dingzhou. No matter how rampant the Jurchen cavalry were in Pingyang Prefecture, they could never set foot in Dingzhou. It is said that he once fought with Jurchen masters on the battlefield, single-handedly taking down seven Jurchen warriors with his spear, demonstrating extremely high martial arts skills.

From this perspective, Jiao Junze should be considered one of the people most hated by the Jurchens.

However, in the eyes of the people of Dingzhou, Jiao Junze was practically a savior. There were even rumors that the people of Dingzhou only knew the governor and not the emperor.

Upon seeing Jiao Junze, the servants of the Fan family were overjoyed, feeling that their lives were saved. Immediately, a group of people rushed towards Jiao Junze, including even the old steward of the Fan family.

"Prefect Jiao... An assassin broke into the Fan family and my young master was killed! Why don't you hurry into the manor and capture the assassin?" The old steward seemed to have failed to see the situation clearly, or perhaps he was used to acting as an accomplice to evil because of the Fan family's wealth. Even when facing the Prefect of Dingzhou, he still had an arrogant and domineering attitude.

Governor.

He sounds like a high-ranking official, someone very powerful.

But the Fan family didn't really care. It was a bit troublesome for the Fan family to make someone a prefect, but it was much easier to pull someone down from the position of prefect.

In the imperial court, there are countless civil officials who have received favors from the Fan family. The old steward knows very well how sharp their tongues are. So what if you are a general guarding the frontier against the Jurchens? A few words can turn you from a hero into a beast that everyone hates.

Normally, Jiao Junze would probably not refuse.

But today, things seemed a little off. Upon hearing this, Jiao Junze's face showed only a slight surprise: "Fan Dabiao's grandson and granddaughter have all been killed?"

The old steward instinctively sensed something was wrong, but still answered without thinking, "That's right, the young master has been killed by assassins. Governor Jiao, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and catch the murderers! If anything happens to the master, you'll be in for the wrath of the Fan family."

Jiao Junze chuckled. "Those little beasts from the Fan family are all dead? That's wonderful."

He waved his hand, and in the next instant, thousands of archers on both sides of Jiao Junze raised their arms at the same time, aiming their crossbow bolts at the most densely packed area of ​​the Fan family's servants.

The servants were stunned for a moment, staring blankly at the scene, seemingly not understanding what was going on.

The old butler, however, blushed instantly: "Jiao Junze, how dare you..."

"put."

Give an order.

Boo hoo hoo hoo…

With a piercing sound of arrows cutting through the air, a dense barrage of arrows rained down on the front.

A scream immediately erupted from the crowd.

The screams subsided in just a few breaths.

Jiao Junze led a group of guards forward, and upon seeing anyone who was not yet completely dead, he added a final blow. He even saw the old steward's corpse, whose eyes were still wide open, as if he could not believe even in death that Jiao Junze would actually dare to lay a hand on the Fan family.

Jiao Junze then kicked the old butler's corpse and yelled, "Damn it, who do you think you are, daring to boss me around like that?"
Taking a deep breath, Jiao Junze waved his hand, ordering his soldiers to disperse around the Fan family residence. Tonight, not a single member of the Fan family could be allowed to live.

However, only a crack was left at the main gate, and apart from Jiao Junze and his deputy, no one else was left to guard it.

Looking up at the gilded signboard of the Fan family, Jiao Junze's lips curled into a bitter smile: "Now, for about two or three years, we won't have to worry about military pay." After all, this was the Fan family. Although not the main force, they could easily amass hundreds of thousands of taels of silver within the Fan residence.

Jiao Junze took a deep breath, his eyes looking somewhat dazed and crazed.

The imperial court has not paid military salaries for a long time.

It was issued once in May this year, but it only lasted for two months.

Last year, only three months' worth of wages were paid in total.

It seems to have been similar the year before last.

Even the weapons in his hands and the armor on his body had not been changed for many years.

Watching his brothers, dressed in leather armor made of hemp, wielding rusty weapons, fight against the Jurchens, even in death, unable to even afford to send money home, Jiao Junze felt an indescribable pain in his heart.

On payday, Jiao Junze dared not face the disappointed looks in his brothers' eyes.

Military pay, military pay, military pay... This became the most terrifying mountain weighing on him. He was only thirty-two years old, and his hair was already turning gray.

For the sake of military pay, he did not hesitate to grovel before Fan Dabiao.

For the sake of military pay, he even tolerated the Fan family smuggling right under his nose.

It was precisely for the sake of military pay that, when the spies planted in the Fan family informed him that assassins had broken into the Fan family and were carrying out a massacre, a crazy idea began to grow in Jiao Junze's mind.

There's only one assassin, so he can't take much money. That's good.

Thinking this, Jiao Junze chuckled.

Just at this moment...

Bah, bah, bah...

The sticky footsteps slowly entered Jiao Junze's ears, and his eyelids suddenly twitched as he subconsciously looked in the direction from which the sound came.

The next moment, Jiao Junze gasped sharply.

Even though he was a general who had fought on the battlefield and was known for his unparalleled bloodlust, he felt a chill run down his spine at this moment.

What kind of being is that?

It was as if he had lived in a sea of ​​blood and had just stepped onto land with the crimson waves. His entire body was covered in bright red blood, and thick beads of blood dripped slowly from his hair and the corners of his clothes.

In her hand was a longsword, seemingly forged from refined steel, yet now its blade gleamed and jagged. Perhaps from hacking at so many bones, the blade was somewhat warped. Even the nicks and shards of flesh and bone could be seen clinging to the nicks. Just how many people had she slaughtered?

Jiao Junze's throat bobbed slightly as his gaze returned to the blood-soaked figure before him. The face was obscured by too much blood and grime, but judging from the figure, it was a woman.

She seemed to have exhausted all her strength; her body was swaying and she looked like she might fall at any moment.

Her eyes still gleamed with a cold light. Even when she saw the numerous corpses shot by crossbow bolts at the entrance, her gaze remained unmoved. She didn't even notice Jiao Junze leaning against the stone lion... It was as if there was nothing in this world that she cared about or valued.

When people walk by, they leave red footprints on the ground.

Jiao Junze opened his mouth several times, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he couldn't say anything until the woman's body completely disappeared into the night.

"General, snap out of it, everyone's gone."

A teasing voice came from beside him, and he saw a deputy general with an ambiguous smile on his face. Although Jiao Junze was the prefect of Dingzhou, these soldiers preferred to call him general.

It was extremely rare for a general to value a woman so highly.

Jiao Junze remained expressionless, raised his hand and slapped the deputy general on the head: "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Write this down: The Fan family was attacked by assassins. I led my troops to their aid, but the enemy was too strong, and my troops were unable to stop them, suffering heavy casualties."

The lieutenant's lips twitched. Was it that he couldn't intercept it, or that he hadn't even tried to intercept it at all?
I was internally complaining, but I still dutifully wrote it down.

"Fortunately, we were able to see the killer's true face. He was male, an old man, about eighty years old, holding a weapon... well, a mountain-splitting axe. He was incredibly strong and his moves were fierce and unparalleled... He was suspected to be the well-known martial arts hero Zhen Liaodong."

The lieutenant's forehead creased with annoyance. Well, this assassin's features were completely the opposite of that girl's. He imagined the slender girl wielding a machete and felt an indescribable sense of incongruity. Thinking this, the lieutenant asked, "The injuries caused by a machete are quite different from those caused by a longsword, aren't they?"

"The murderer was vicious; before leaving, he set fire to the Fan family home, turning the Fan mansion to ashes."

The deputy general sighed: "Who is Zhen Liaodong? Do we have such a person on our side?"

"It will be available tomorrow..."

Jiao Junze didn't want to say much. He led a group of people into the Fan family compound. When they saw the mountain of corpses in the back of the Fan family compound, their expressions were all strange. Even these elites who were used to fighting rarely saw such a bloody scene.

Gold, silver, copper coins, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, antiques...

The boxes were handled by the Fan family, one box at a time.

As dawn broke, dozens of torches were placed into the courtyard.

Before long, a raging fire shot into the sky, and thick black smoke swirled in the air like a dark cloud.

Looking at the raging fire before him, for some reason, the image of that woman reappeared in Jiao Junze's mind. Just then, his adjutant led out a warhorse: "It's heading towards the north gate... But General, I still advise you to change your target. That woman is thorny."

After glancing silently at his adjutant, Jiao Junze finally mounted his horse and headed north.

……

"Lianyue, are you sure we're heading in the right direction?"

Two figures walked side by side in a snowy field.

Both men were covered in bear skins. The man was handsome and tall. He was originally somewhat thin, but because of the bear skin, he looked much more robust.

As for the woman, she was only slightly shorter than the man, with beautiful features and a lovely figure, but this was not very noticeable under the bearskin vest. She also had a fox tail wrapped around her neck, which should have been a scarf.

It was Song Yan and Hua Lianyue.

Song Yan looked somewhat distressed. Looking around, all he could see was pure white, without any other colors. The pure white even made his eyes feel a little sore, and he wondered if he was going to get snow blindness.

Hua Lianyue puffed out her cheeks slightly: "It should be right, right? Didn't we just come out of the snow mountain?"

“We’ve made it out, but if I remember correctly, we were planning to return to Ningping…” Song Yan blinked, then pointed to the hazy city in the distance: “If I’m not mistaken, that should be Dingzhou City.”

The city of Dingzhou Prefecture is located at the northernmost part of the prefecture and is also the most magnificent city in Dingzhou. Beyond Dingzhou City lies Pingyang Prefecture.

In other words, they should have gone to the northernmost part of Pingyang Prefecture, but instead they went to the southernmost part.

With a sigh, Song Yan headed towards Dingzhou Prefecture.

Traveling for a long time through the snow had taken a heavy toll on his physical strength. Although heading in the opposite direction would lead him to Xinhou County, remembering his experience of getting lost several times in the snowy mountains over the past two days, he decided to rent a carriage and a driver in Dingzhou Prefecture.

A small figure is reflected in the snow-covered plain.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but the figure seemed to be red, and it felt strangely familiar.

The two sides are getting closer and closer.

At first, Song Yan thought it was a person wearing a red robe, but gradually Song Yan felt that something was wrong. The red on the person's body did not seem to be dyed with paint, but rather seemed to be soaked in blood.

The red figure opposite finally noticed Song Yan. At first, there was some hesitation, but in the next instant, it seemed as if they had finally confirmed something.

She started running wildly through the snow.

The snow was so thick that even normal walking was extremely difficult, let alone running.

He slipped and fell heavily into the snow, but he didn't care about anything. He didn't even notice the snowflakes sticking to his body. He got up from the snow and ran towards Song Yan again.

Finally, just as the two were almost face to face, the woman covered in bright red could no longer hold back and pounced on Song Yan.

Hua Lianyue frowned, wanting to stop her. But seeing the woman staggering and nearly exhausted, she figured she wouldn't cause Song Yan any harm, so she let her go.

boom.

That little head bumped heavily against Song Yan's chest. A pair of slender arms tightly encircled Song Yan's back, as if afraid that Song Yan would disappear from sight again.

Song Yan finally saw clearly that the woman's face, hair, and clothes were covered in blood.

Just then, a familiar voice, trembling slightly and filled with fear, quietly entered Song Yan's ears:

"Brother-in-law!"

I miss you so much!
(End of this chapter)