Nine 1
When Liu Qingye woke up slowly, he saw Cao Mengsheng's gloomy face in the light. He was immediately happy, knowing that Fu Chatao and Li Yunsheng must have escaped safely, but he was panicked again - Cao Mengsheng's eyes were so stern, and he thought that his false act of letting Fu Chatao go would not escape the master's eyes.
Sure enough, Cao Mengsheng shouted, "Now that you're awake, get down and kneel down!"
Liu Qingye knew that his master was always strict, but he still loved him very much. Whenever he had a headache or a fever, his master would always take care of him. At this time, he had new injuries on his body, but his master scolded him so much. It can be seen that his behavior was... wrong? Was he wrong? He hesitated for a moment, but immediately supported himself, but there was a sharp pain in his legs. He fell down before he knelt down.
Cao Mengsheng coldly watched him struggle to kneel with a grin on his face, but did not go to help him. He said, "I have always taught you to value the word 'chivalry', but you never took it to heart. What's wrong with you today? You are so loyal to the little Tartar! You would rather stab yourself to death than kill him? And you let your master go... let the traitor Li Yunsheng go?"
"Master..." Liu Qingye whispered, "Fu Cha Tao is a kind person... He is willing to risk his life to protect the innocent people of the Ale tribe... He, he does such a thing, I cannot kill him..." He then told him about the first time Fu Cha Tao threatened Mang Keshan with death.
"Asshole!" Cao Mengsheng scolded, "In the situation this afternoon, the worst you can do is fight to your death and hold on until your master comes back. With the combined strength of everyone, you don't necessarily have to be afraid of him, Mang Keshan. Fu Chatao only pretended to save your life, and such a small favor deceived you into working for him. If he dazzled you with gold, beauties, high positions and generous salaries, would you even betray your master?"
“Master, you didn’t save my life!” Liu Qingye said, “Fu Chatao saved the lives of the entire Ale tribe and the Kazakh people. I am not afraid of death. I can fight to the death with this bastard Mangkeshan. But Master also saw that Mangkeshan massacred the people. Even though you personally took action, many innocent people died tragically… If it wasn’t for Fu Chatao in the afternoon, by the time you came back, this place would have been…”
Cao Mengsheng was stunned for a moment, and said, "Okay, even if he helped the people of Ale, you won't kill him, but he is still our enemy. How can you let him go? Let Li Yunsheng go? Li Yunsheng surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and is the eternal sinner of Songqiao Academy! If you let the tiger go back to the mountain like this, the old thief Fu Chakang will come to provoke us again, and we will all be in danger, right?"
"If we didn't detain him, why would Fu Cha Kang come to provoke us?" Liu Qingye raised his voice, not knowing where he got the courage from.
"Are you really sick and confused?" Cao Mengsheng said angrily, "If Fu Chakang had not imprisoned the hero Wang and your uncle, and went to Adaler to massacre the people, and even tried to send this little Tartar to lead the troops to kill us all, how could we have captured this little Tartar?"
Liu Qingye relied on his hot head and simply shouted out everything: "Fu Cha Tao and his father were sent by the Qing Emperor to help the Uyghurs fight Galdan... If the uncles from the Chuan Deng Society hadn't gone to assassinate them, why would they be imprisoned? Why were the people of Adaler massacred? Fu Cha Tao said that he led the troops that day to intercept Galdan, not to hunt us down at all..."
With a "slap", Cao Mengsheng slapped Liu Qingye hard and said in a trembling voice: "You... you traitor, I might as well kill you! We at Songqiao Academy have an irreconcilable feud with Fu Chakang, but as long as we are alive, we must take revenge - have you forgotten how your parents died? And why your junior uncle died? You... you actually said such nonsense!"
Liu Qingye's ears buzzed, and a fishy-sweet liquid rushed into his mouth. Then, he saw his own blood dripping on the ground. Blood - all for this so-called blood feud! What a blood feud! He suddenly felt extremely disgusted with the great cause he had devoted all his efforts to for the past 18 years, and shouted desperately: "There are so many Han people in the world, why did they only kill my Songqiao Academy? Why did they only kill my parents? Isn't it because they want to restore their homeland? The homeland has been lost for so many years, and the Yangzhou Ten Days and the Jiading Massacres have also been over for so many years... How many dynasties have changed in history, do we have to restore our homeland one by one? Mr. Li said, 'The grievances of the country are not grievances when placed in the world', and Fu Chatao also said that the emperors of the Qing Dynasty were diligent in their work and loved the people... This country... I have never seen the former Ming Dynasty. What's good about us overthrowing and destroying this country?"
"You..." Cao Meng was so angry that his face turned blue, and his finger pointed at Liu Qingye and kept shaking, "You - you beast, are you saying that you want to be a running dog for the Qing Tartars? Are you saying that as long as that dog Tartar is a decent emperor, you will be at ease letting them occupy my land?"
Liu Qingye did not answer, but thought to himself: That's probably it. Even the Qing dynasty knew how to help the Uyghurs and save them from the massacre of Galdan, but the anti-Qing patriots of the Chuan Deng Society only cared about their own revenge... The Qing dynasty had the cruel and brutal Mang Keshan, but it was Li Yunsheng and Fu Chatao who protected the civilians in the face of Mang Keshan, while the people of the Chuan Deng Society were only after their own revenge... In comparison, it really should be like what Fu Chatao said, "As long as the people in the world live well, who cares who is the emperor?"
"What do you mean by not answering?" Cao Mengsheng shouted, "Do you take the words of that traitor Li Yunsheng as the truth? Humph, you keep saying it's for the people, do you think it's really for the people? What about 'protecting the people first', 'protecting the country second', and 'the people are more important than the king'? Who can't say these nonsense? But let me ask you, without the country, what are the people? Without the skin, where will the hair be attached?"
Liu Qingye was stunned and couldn't say anything.
Cao Mengsheng said, "The country is gone, how can you protect the people? You said you don't care about the Ten Days of Yangzhou and the Three Massacres of Jiading. You said those were all many years ago. Then let me ask you, do you care about the Ale tribe being massacred and Dan Ying being insulted? If you really don't care, then don't help Dan Ying fight against the Dzungars. Just surrender and welcome Galdan to be their emperor. After a few decades, I guarantee that Galdan will be like the current emperor of the Qing Dynasty, full of benevolence, morality, diligence and love for the people... If you don't care, then go and tell Dan Ying to surrender now, and see if she cares or not!"
Liu Qingye was speechless after hearing this: Yes, how come he had never thought of this! He had not seen the Ten Days of Yangzhou and the Three Massacres of Jiading, but millions of civilians turned into bones overnight, the heaven and earth were saddened, and the ghosts and gods changed color. How could their appearance not be worse than the massacre of the Ale tribe that day? How many Han women were insulted and died? Although he did not know them, which one of them was not a lively creature like Dan Ying? The son lost his father, the mother lost her daughter, the husband and wife were separated, and the brothers said goodbye forever. Isn’t it just like Cao Mengsheng lost Ye Bailian and Liu Qingye’s regret for Dan Ying? That’s why Wang Chunshan wanted to rise up, and Cheng Anren also wanted to fight for his life - Dan Ying wanted to be the patriarch of the thirteen tribes, and Moler, Zai, Wutan and Asu, as long as they were alive, they would fight to the end with Galdan... This is exactly the same! It’s exactly the same!
"Master...Master..." He turned to look for Cao Mengsheng, but Cao Mengsheng had already left in a rage.
This was Liu Qingye's fault! He thought, he was totally wrong this time!
He immediately endured the pain and stood up, holding on to the wall and walking out of the door step by step, calling out as he walked: "Master... Master... I know I was wrong... Master..."
Liu Qingye staggered along, going to Cao Mengsheng's house to apologize. But before he took a few steps, there was a thunder in the sky, and raindrops as big as soybeans fell down, hitting the house with a swish sound, and the eaves were like a waterfall. Liu Qingye walked with difficulty, holding on to the wall, and all the rain poured into his collar, and his back was cold.
He finally reached Cao Mengsheng's room and saw that the light inside was dim. He knelt down at the door and said, "Master... I know I was wrong... Please punish me..." But Cao Mengsheng inside just didn't respond.
Liu Qingye cried out twice, feeling ashamed and hurt, and threw away the saying "Men don't cry easily" and started crying bitterly, "It's just that I haven't been sad yet". At that time, the cold rain hit his face, and lightning and thunder struck one after another. Who could hear him? No one persuaded him, no one interceded for him, which made him feel lonely and helpless. He thought: Ah, I was so wrong. I am afraid that from now on, all uncles and aunts will know that I am a bastard who doesn't know right from wrong and confuses black and white. Even Dan Ying will look down on me... How can I, Liu Qingye, live in this world with dignity?
He thought about it with such sorrow and regret that he really wanted to commit suicide. He stood up shakily, intending to go back and get the sword to kill himself. But before he could stand up, his eyes went dark, his knees weakened and he fell to his knees again. He was shivering all over and had no strength left.
He knelt in the rain for a long time in a daze, and suddenly thought: Yes, I should rush over and kill Fu Chatao and Li Yunsheng immediately to make up for my mistake. Maybe Master can forgive me, who knows...
He was injured and sick, and was suffering from cold and heat, which made him mentally confused. He no longer cared whether he was a match for Li Yunsheng, or whether he could catch up with Li Yunsheng and Fu Chatao. He just made a vague decision that he must make up for his sins with merit. He staggered and crawled to the stable, led the black general out, struggled to climb onto the horse's back, and walked out of the village in the heavy rain.
At that time, the sky was as dark as ink, and the bone-chilling rain seemed black, blocking people's eyes. The sandy land of the grassland was soaked with water and turned into a muddy ocean. Even though the black general was very brave, he hesitated to move forward.
Liu Qingye hit the horse randomly, saying in a daze, "Quick...quickly catch up..." However, his arms were so limp that he could not hit with any strength. Even the falling raindrops were stronger than him. He had no idea where he was.
At this moment, he suddenly heard someone behind him calling out, "Liu Qingye! Liu Qingye! What are you doing!" It was vaguely Moller's voice.
It was dark and no one was visible. Liu Qingye didn't have the energy to look back. When the man caught up with him, it turned out to be Moller.
Moller rode his horse to Liu Qingye, blocked his way, and said, "Liu Qingye, where are you going? Come back with me! Miss Dan Ying, Asu and the others are looking for you everywhere."
Liu Qingye turned his horse to go around, not knowing which direction he turned. He continued to mutter, "I'm going to catch up... I'm going to kill Fu Chatao... Kill Mr. Li..."
Moller chased after him closely: "What nonsense are you talking about? Come back with me quickly - why did you go to kill those two people?"
Liu Qingye said: "I... I want to kill them... They... Enemies... The Manchus and the Han people are sworn enemies... Enemies..."
Moler said, "Are you sick or confused? Those two saved our tribe and are our benefactors. I, Moler, want to be their brother... Why did you kill them?"
Liu Qingye seemed to hear the argument between himself and his master just now, and laughed wildly. "Benefactor... Benefactor..." He wanted to say something to refute Moller, but suddenly he couldn't find the words, so he could only continue to laugh wildly like crazy.
Moler was frightened by his action and jumped off his horse to hold the Black General back, but at that moment, there was a thunderbolt in the sky, and after the snow-white light came a blood-red color, as if someone's chest had been split open. The Black General was frightened, screamed in grief, and ran away.
Liu Qingye lay on the horse's back, feeling the pain of the wound on his chest like a knife cutting and a needle pricking him. He vaguely saw the scene of the battle at the Ajizi River that day - the flying arrows were like locusts, the rocks were like rain, the calm surface of the Ajizi River... He was blocking the flying arrows with both hands... Whose arrow was it, piercing his chest... He fell, fell... Cao Mengsheng flew up and pulled him out of the mud... In a trance, the Junggar soldiers became Mangkeshan's soldiers again, Fu Chatao turned his sword and looked at him deeply... He took the sword, without the slightest hesitation, and stabbed Fu Chatao's chest with one sword... Blood splattered, it hurt... But Fu Chatao still looked at him deeply: "The grievances of the country are not grievances when it comes to the people of the world." No... no... how can you kill Fu Chatao? No… no… He rushed forward to hug the bloody body, only to find that the body had turned into a sobbing Dan Ying, with shocking red marks all over its snow-white skin… He wanted to hug Dan Ying, but Dan Ying knelt down in front of Cao Mengsheng: “Master, please help Dan Ying to avenge the entire Ale tribe!” Revenge… Some kind of reincarnation, like a revolving lantern, it went around in a circle, and it was the Battle of Ajizi River again…
