"Open the door!"

"Let us in!"

The soldiers retreated into the city, and the gates closed. The people who were driven out by the soldiers rushed back like a black tide, beating against the gates. The soldiers on the tower shouted, "Retreat! Retreat! Those who have received the money can set off, go east, don't stay!"

However, these Yong'an people left their hometown and fled to the nearest imperial city. The gate of the imperial city was closed to them. If they wanted to survive, they had to bypass the imperial city and go a longer way to the city further east.

But the journey to this point was full of dangers and dangers, with countless casualties. How could they have the energy to continue? Even if everyone was given some money, water and dry food, how many days could they survive on the road?

They were all covered in dust, some dragging pots and pans, some carrying babies, some carrying stretchers, some were supported, some were lying down, unable to move anymore, sitting in groups on the ground in front of the city wall. The young men still had the energy to get angry, pounding on the city gates and shouting: "You can't do this! You want us to die!"

"We are all Xianle people, why are you trying to kill us all?"

A man shouted until his voice became hoarse: "Just kick us out, I won't go in, but let my wife and children stay, okay?!"

Like an ant trying to shake a tree, the city gate did not move at all.

Xie Lian stood on the top of the city wall. His white clothes fluttering, he crossed the parapet and looked down. Outside the imperial city, all he could see were slowly moving heads, densely packed and black, just like the swarm of ants he saw when he was a child playing in the imperial garden.

At that time, out of curiosity, he looked at it a few more times and stretched out a finger, wanting to poke it secretly. Immediately, a palace servant shouted, "Your Highness, this thing is terribly dirty, you cannot touch it, you cannot touch it!" She hurried over holding up her skirt and crushed all the ants to death with a few kicks.

When ants are alive, there is nothing to see except that they are densely packed together. When they are stepped on to death and turn into a puddle of mud, there is nothing to see even more.

Inside the imperial city, thousands of houses were brightly lit and filled with music and singing. A wall separated two completely different worlds.

It was fine that the people from Yong'an who came later were not allowed to enter, but the people who were originally inside were also driven out. Although he was cold and hard, Xie Lian probably knew that this was because there had been more and more friction and trouble between the people of the Imperial City and the people of Yong'an over the past few months, and leaving a group of men like this in the city was a fear that they might cause trouble if they joined forces with the outside world.

However, he felt that there was one point that could be discussed, and he said absentmindedly: "Why should women and children be evacuated as well? Some people inside can't walk far."

Feng Xin and Mu Qing stood behind him. Mu Qing said, "If we want to withdraw, we have to withdraw together. We should not treat them differently, otherwise it will inevitably irritate people. Why can they stay but I can't?"

Feng Xin said: "You think too much."

Mu Qing said calmly, "Some people will think so. Besides, if their wives and children are not gone, those men will not be willing to leave too far, and will come back sooner or later. Leaving people in the city will leave trouble for the future."

The Yong'an people refused to leave, and the soldiers in the tower were unable to leave either. They all said, "Hmph, let's just wait like this!"

Since His Majesty has issued the order, do you think that just sitting here and wasting time will be enough? If it can take a day or two, can it take a month or two, or even a year or two?

The soldiers and civilians in the imperial city all thought so. Some Yong'an people accepted their fate in despair and decided to take a gamble and continue their journey eastward, but there were not many of them. Most of them still sat at the city gate, hoping that the imperial city would open the gate and let them in, at least to give them a place to stay and rest before continuing on their journey. More new Yong'an people came, and although they were very disappointed to see the city gates closed, they also joined the large army with a waiting and expectant heart when they saw so many people guarding.

So, after three or four days, more and more people gathered at the city gate, and tens of thousands of people almost set up camp here, forming a spectacular spectacle. They relied on the water and dry food distributed by the king to barely support themselves, but they were almost at their limit.

This limit is on the fifth day.

For the past five days, Xie Lian had divided his time into three parts: one for the followers of the Prince's Palace, one for arranging water transportation and rainfall, and one for looking after the people of Yong'an outside the city. Even with the help of Feng Xin and Mu Qing, he sometimes felt overwhelmed and unable to do his best. On this day, when he was not guarding outside the city, under the scorching sun, a scream suddenly sounded in front of the city gate.

The screaming ones were a couple holding a child. Everyone gathered around and asked, "What's wrong with the child?" "Is he hungry or thirsty?" After a moment, someone exclaimed, "Everyone, bring some water over, the child looks terrible!"

The woman cried and gave the child water, but the child vomited all the water. His father said, "I don't know what's wrong. He is sick. Doctor, we need a doctor!"

He rushed to the city gate holding his son, banging on it and shouting, "Open the door, open the door, help! Someone is dying, my son is dying!"

The soldiers inside the gate naturally did not dare to open the door. No matter if someone was really dying or not, there were tens of thousands of people outside the gate. Once the door was opened, there was no way to close it again. They only dared to inform their superiors. The weather was hot, and the soldiers who had been guarding for many days were a little impatient. They said perfunctorily: "Give him water and food." So they used a rope to hang some water and food down. The man said: "Thank you, thank you brothers and sisters, but we don't want water and food. Can you help us find a doctor?"

This was a dilemma. They could neither let him in to see a doctor nor hang a doctor down for him. Who knew what these hungry people who had been hungry for four or five days would do when they got outside? So, several generals said, "Forget it, don't worry about it, just ignore it, it won't kill anyone. If they ask again, just say we have informed the king and asked for his instructions."

The king had been very upset about Yong'an's affairs for several days and was frequently angry, so naturally no one dared to really disturb him for such a small matter. Several soldiers answered accordingly, and the man, feeling relieved, thanked the king repeatedly, knelt down and kowtowed. However, hour after hour passed, the shadow under the scorching sun moved from one side to the other, the doctor did not appear, and the child in his arms became hotter and hotter.

The couple's hands were shaking as they held the child. The man was sweating profusely and muttered, "Is anyone else coming? Will you open the door for me?"

He finally couldn't help it and shouted to the top of the tower: "Generals, I'm sorry, I want to ask... where is the doctor?"

The soldier replied: "We have gone to ask His Majesty for instructions. Please wait a little longer."

Some people below couldn't help but ask: "He said he was leaving two hours ago, why hasn't he come back yet?"

The soldiers followed their superiors' instructions and ignored the answer. The people below the wall were angry, helpless, and heartbroken. They surrounded the child and began to doubt: "Did they really inform the king? Are they lying to us?"

The child's father could not wait any longer, so he took the child and tied him on his back, and said a few words to his wife. The woman took off an amulet from her neck and put it around her husband's neck. The man ran to the wall and tried to climb up.

The outer side of the city wall was built very difficult to climb. He grabbed a few handfuls but couldn't get up. The other men said, "I'll help you!" and went over to ask him for help. Dozens of people piled up like a pyramid and sent him to a height of several feet. At this point, the man could barely grab the rope used to hang water and food and continue climbing. Tens of thousands of people below were looking at him nervously, not daring to cheer him up for fear of being discovered. The soldiers on the city wall had been guarding for a few days, and this group of Yong'an refugees didn't cause any major trouble, so they inevitably relaxed a little. When the man climbed almost halfway up, they suddenly found a person clinging to the city wall and shouted, "What are you doing! No climbing the wall! Anyone who climbs the wall will be killed! Did you hear me? Anyone who climbs the wall will be killed!"

They threatened, and the man shouted, "I have no ill intentions! I just want to take my child to see a doctor, I won't do anything!" He continued to climb while shouting. A general was eating, and when he heard this, he was extremely annoyed. If this man climbed up safely and set a precedent, wouldn't countless people in Yong'an follow suit? It must be stopped! So he strode forward and shouted down from the wall, "Are you going to die? Get down now, or I will not spare you!"

The man had already climbed to a very high place. He was halfway up and could reach the top with just a little more effort, so he naturally refused to stop. The general always had the final say in the barracks, and no one dared to disobey his orders. It was easy for anyone to disobey. He came to the wall, drew his sword and slashed, and the rope broke.

The man held the broken rope and fell from midair. Amid the screams of countless people, he landed heavily on the hard ground outside the city gate.

Xie Lian appeared at this time.

The man was lying on his back, and he was carrying a child. With a "snap", he was crushed into a ball of exploding meat paste, and a flower of blood splattered several feet away. His neck was also broken, his eyes were wide open, and an amulet slipped out of his twisted neck. The word "Xianle" was written in the middle, and there were patterns embroidered in gold thread. It was the amulet that was consecrated from the Prince's Palace.

Just before he climbed up, this man and his wife had both held amulets and silently prayed for the Crown Prince's blessing. That was why Xie Lian heard their prayers and rushed here.

However, he was not the hero in those legendary stories, who could always show up just before the knife fell and spare the life at the critical moment. The woman did not have the courage to turn over her husband's body to see what had become of her son. She covered her face and screamed, without even looking, she ran forward, hit her head against the wall, and fell down with a "bang".

Right in front of Xie Lian, three more corpses suddenly appeared under the wall of the imperial city!

He hadn't reacted yet, but the people outside the city gate could no longer bear it.

Someone started cursing: "They're all dead, a whole family of three, all dead! Look, this is the good general who worked for our king! He didn't save us, but pushed us to death!"

"If you don't let us in or send us out, what are we going to do? Three bloody lives are hanging over your heads!"

"It is said that all the people in Yong'an are going to evacuate the imperial city, but why don't the rich people evacuate together? People like us who have no money and power deserve to wait for death, right? I have seen through it!"

"I can't stand it anymore... I really can't stand it anymore. The taxes that should have been collected every year have not been reduced, but where did the taxes go during the disaster relief period?"

"He would rather use the money to feed moths and build his son's temple than to help the disaster victims. He only gives us some water and dry food. What do you think we are? A tyrant, a tyrant!"

The soldiers shouted loudly on the tower, but the general had seen all sorts of battles and didn't take it seriously. However, the situation was getting out of control. Thousands of angry hands pushed at the gate, and some even used their heads and bodies to hit it. This time, it was no longer a mantis trying to shake a tree.

The city gate moved, and even the entire city tower was shaking slightly!

Xie Lian had never seen anything like this since he was born. The people he had seen were all kind, harmonious, wealthy, and lovely. These people with distorted faces and crying and shouting made him feel like he had come to another completely unfamiliar world, and he couldn't help but feel terrified. Even when he faced the most terrifying demons and evil spirits, he had never felt this way. At this moment, a roar came from above the city wall.

He turned around suddenly and saw a tall and thin figure pinching the general who cut the rope, causing the death of three people under the city wall. With a crisp "click", he twisted his neck.

The soldiers had no idea how this person suddenly appeared. They were horrified and surrounded him with swords in hand, shouting, "Who is he?!" "How did you get up here?!"

Xie Lian quickly noticed his hands, which were already bloody. This man actually used his bare hands to grab the almost crackless wall and climb up. The figure turned around, and it was Lang Ying!

Lang Ying was surrounded by soldiers but remained calm. He climbed over the parapet, threw the general's body down the city wall, and then he stepped on the body, using it as a stepping stone to jump down.

Before he jumped, he looked straight at Xie Lian. But he was not looking at Xie Lian, but looking through him to the imperial palace located in the center of the imperial city.

From this day on, Xianle Kingdom was in complete chaos.