Zhang Mingqi lowered his head and smiled a little bitterly, and young faces began to appear in his mind, some of those faces were fat and some were thin, some had to smile boldly, and some smiled shyly, but no matter which one they were, they were so kind and real, as if with a reassuring temperature.

Two years ago, he thought he had lost his home and had nothing, but now he found that he had a home, a wife, and a partner who genuinely connected him.

In that case, how could he turn his back on them, on the Jing Wu who had given him a place to return to?

"Nope. He said slowly.

It is not easy for everyone to make a major decision, especially when this decision is a matter of life and death, even people who are free and easy on weekdays will become hesitant, but Zhang Mingqi answered very firmly, and his eyes did not even tremble.

"Why?" Sun Qing frowned and looked at Zhang Mingqi carefully, as if he was observing a person he was completely unfamiliar with.

He didn't understand, could it be that just because he had lost his family property and his title, a man would have fallen so completely, and that the pride in his heart had not been left at all?

Zhang Mingqi didn't care what Sun Qing thought of him at this time, he just laughed at himself, poured himself a glass of wine by the way, and drank it all: "I won't drag the entire Jingwu into the quagmire for my own selfish desires." Sun Tong's stupid pig thinks that he can take advantage of the Tang Kingdom, but can a hungry wolf with a smell of meat be coaxed away by just a few words? After the big war, there is no peaceful place in the land of Jingwu, and how many people will turn into dry bones in the fields?"

Sun Qing raised his eyebrows, and said with some disapproval of Zhang Mingqi's statement: "When does the meritorious deeds in this world not need to be dead? The great general swept through the territory of the Tang Kingdom with 8,000 Qingzhou ghost horsemen, and also buried 4,000 corpses, and how many people died in that battle of the Tang people? Nearly 30,000 people! Since the founding of Jingwu and Wu, it has only been more than seven years, and it can add up to nearly 300,000 dead and wounded, which is enough to cut off the flow when thrown into the river. But even so, who remembers the dead soldiers?"

It was precisely because of the mention of this popular battle that Sun Qing's eyes seemed to shine: "Of course, they will only remember the scene of the general riding the Red Fire Divine Horse through the streets, and the crowd cheered. But this world is like this, the strong can stand on the top of everyone with a knife and enjoy all the good things, while the weak are trampled under their feet, and can only obediently give everything in the face of knives and guns, and will find reasons to explain their incompetence afterwards, so as to seek a false comfort...... Oh, don't you feel sorry for these cowards who have to give up your own way of life?"

Speaking of this, Sun Qing looked at Zhang Mingqi, whose eyes were lowered, restrained some of his voice, and said calmly: "As for the affairs of the Tang Kingdom, there is no need to worry too much, we have received a promise from one person, the people of the Tang Kingdom will not stay for long, as long as we control Jingwu, they will soon withdraw their troops, at most it is just to cede some land, and then take it back in the future, it is nothing." ”

"Cessing some land, nothing?" Zhang Mingqi repeated Sun Qing's words in a low voice, but the corners of his mouth showed a bit of banter, "Yes, for you, the future phoenix of the Sun family, 10,000 dead is just a number, and 100,000 dead is just a number." Maybe you're used to it, a lot of people are used to it, and even in the early years I didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but ......"

After a pause, he grasped the edge of the table with one hand, and said in a heavy tone: "I have personally seen those people displaced by the case of destroying the embankment and flooding the fields, obviously they have done nothing wrong, and they are even very diligent every day, and never dare to slack off, but their families are ruined only because of the selfish desires of some people. Do you think that's normal?"

"Don't forget that these people are like this because of your father. Sun Qing sneered.

"yes. It's all because of my father. Zhang Mingqi replied softly, "So I feel that I am not qualified to accuse anything." On that day two years ago, when I looked at them, I kept saying to myself that these were all sins created by my father, debts owed by the Zhang family, and I had to pay them back one day. ”

"But I'm not saying this to convince you, because I know you're not someone who can be persuaded in a few words. Zhang Mingqi smiled faintly, obviously still talking, but he had already reached out and began to tear the roast chicken.

The skin of the roast chicken is very crispy, and it is covered with a thin layer of sugar, which seems to be not hot, but in fact it is still warm inside, and when it is torn open, the tender white chicken immediately sprays a strong aroma of pepper, and it is obvious that the person who made this roast chicken is a chef with good skills.

Zhang Mingqi had already tasted a few bites just now, but only now did he really let go of all the shelves, put half a chicken to his mouth and feast on it, until the half chicken was all down, and then continued: "I just want to tell you that in the past two years, I have learned many things that I never knew before, such as the first time I lived in that leaky and old small dilapidated house, and I only knew for the first time that there is such a dirty place in this world." For the first time, I went down to the field to plant seedlings and felt the scorching sun, and I knew the daily hardships of the people. But even if it was so hard, they did not complain, but worked day after day to feed their family. If they are cowards, where else in the world are there braver than them?"

Sun Qing was silent, his eyes were indifferent, and his waist was still straight.

"So I don't think you're going to win, and even if I lose at your hands, someone will stand up and be your opponent. Because from the very beginning, the will of the people was not on your side. Don't forget, it was the prime minister who laid this Jing Wu, and although I did have an enmity with him, it didn't affect my worship of him. A scholar, who entered the rivers and lakes alone, established today's Jingwu with great wisdom and strategy, how many people in the world have such courage?"

Next, the two didn't say more, and Sun Qing stopped persuading, probably seeing that Zhang Mingqi's mind had been decided, so he just watched him swallow all the roast chicken and elbows on the plate into his stomach little by little.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Mingqi wiped his greasy hands on his clothes, then stood up and said with a smile: "Say, what have you prepared for me? guillotine? Or five horses?"

But all this was just what he thought was the way to die, when Zhang Mingqi was led to the bottom of the city, he didn't see any guillotine, no executioners, and no ropes around his hands and feet, but when he looked up, he could see a row of archers who were silent on the battlements, like wooden people.

"Much more merciful than I thought, at least the whole corpse was left for me. Zhang Mingqi smiled and asked, "When I die, where will you bury me?"

"If you want, I can send you back to Jianye, which can be regarded as the end of our relationship. Sun Qing still said indifferently.

Zhang Mingqi nodded: "Very good, none of the people lying on the ground of your Sun family are fellow travelers, I can't get used to sleeping." It's better for me to go back to Jianye, and I can still be buried with my father. ”

As he spoke, he raised his head again, glanced at the midday sun hanging in the sky, and narrowed his eyes.

The outer walls of the city were too high, and of course he couldn't see the inner side, but at this moment he suddenly had a strange feeling, and he felt that there seemed to be a pair of familiar eyes on the city, looking at him.

In fact, his feeling was not wrong, because there was not only a pair of familiar eyes looking at him at the city at this time, but Li Zhu, the commander of the Qingzhou ghost ride, was standing beside Gao Changgong, who had not been seen for many days, his face was very pale, and his right hand was tightly gripping the hilt of the knife at his waist.

"General, although Zhang Mingqi rebelled, it was also out of loyalty, just remembering the safety of the general, the crime is not to death, and please take back the general's life and spare his life. ”

However, no matter how Li Zhu pleaded, Gao Changgong, who had not seen him for many days, remained indifferent, and even raised a hand, which was light and fluttering, but carrying the weight of a human life.

Then he swung down, and with the sound of the bowstring clattering, a cloud obscured the day, and the sky darkened......