Chapter 239: Smoke Rising and War Drums Beating

Bang bang bang, bang bang bang...

A burst of sharp and intensive gong sounds suddenly rang out in the deathly silent Fengzhou City, waking up all the soldiers and civilians in the city.

People in various parts of the city woke up one after another. In the slums, an old woman pulled the sleeve of a man on the kang and pushed him, "Old man, old man, listen, what are those gongs and shouts outside saying?"

The hungry old man glanced at the old woman beside him and said weakly, "What are you listening to? Old woman, are you starving?"

"No! Old man, I'm not kidding you. Listen carefully, there really are people beating gongs and shouting in the street."

The old man wanted to make fun of his wife, but at this moment there was a faint sound of gongs and shouts. The old man was startled, then he gathered all his strength, straightened his skinny body with only a layer of skin left, and listened attentively.

"Listen up, everyone in the city. General Shen has not abandoned Fengzhou. He has sent people to secretly deliver food into the city at the risk of their lives. Now there are big pots at every street corner. Soldiers and civilians in the city can line up to receive the porridge. If everyone is full, they will be able to wait for the army to arrive..."

Listening to the shouts coming from far and near, the old man realized something and burst into tears. He excitedly grabbed his wife's hand and said excitedly.

"Old lady, old lady, we are not starving and have misheard. It is true, it is true! People say that General Shen sent people to deliver food at the risk of their lives. We have porridge to drink, we have porridge to drink!"

When the old woman heard this, tears suddenly fell. She clasped her hands together, her face full of joy, "Amitabha, Amitabha, may the Bodhisattva bless you, General Shen is benevolent, long live the general!"

"Hush, old woman, don't talk nonsense. The emperor is in the south and doesn't care about our lives. May our great General Shen live forever, live forever!"

"Yes, yes, you are right, old man. May General Shen live forever and ever."

"Come on, old woman, stop nagging. There will be too many people soon and our old bones can't stand the shoving. Hurry up and get your bowls and get in line."

"Hey, I'll go right away. I'll go right away."

The old couple groped around in their poor home, each holding a large, chipped earthenware bowl. They supported each other, leaned on crutches, and tremblingly groped their way out of the house. They opened the door, went out of the yard, and gathered with the neighbors and pedestrians on the street as they walked towards the street. From afar, they saw a fire shining ahead, and there was a big pot on top. Thick hot steam was coming out of the pot, and the unique fragrance of food was wafting through the air. The eyes of these people, who looked like skulls, were filled with excitement and joy.

This is the hope of life, the hope of life!
The yamen runners who had transformed themselves into cooks rolled up their sleeves, knocked on the edge of the pot with large ladles in their hands, and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Come on, come on, General Shen has sent enough food, everyone will have a share, don't worry, everyone line up..."

The old couple waited in line obediently, and finally it was their turn at the pot. The yamen runner holding a large ladle was stirring the porridge in the pot. When he saw it was the old man, he scooped out several spoonfuls of porridge from the bottom and gave it to him vigorously until the bowls in the old couple's hands were full of food.

"It's delicious, old man. If it's not enough, there's more."

It was rare for the old couple to see the yamen runners looking so friendly, so they responded with "ah hey" and bowed repeatedly, tears streaming down their dim eyes. Holding the bowls of porridge, they could no longer hold back and thanked this and that. When they saw the yamen runners who were serving food pointed at Li Yaoguang, who had just come out of the warehouse after putting food away, and said that she was their benefactor, the old couple prostrated themselves, put down their bowls of porridge and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Thank you, little general, for risking your life to deliver food to you common people. Thank you, little general..."

As soon as he stood up, everyone around him was inspired and followed suit, bowing down to Li Yaoguang.

"Thank you, young general. Thank you, young general." This was the scene Li Yaoguang faced when he came out and he was unable to react at all.

Not knowing what was going on, she subconsciously jumped away in the face of everyone kneeling down. However, more and more people knelt down, and as time went on, she became unavoidable.

In a panic, Li Yaoguang could only step forward to help up the nearest old man and explain.

"My fellow countrymen, I am not a soldier, and I am not a general. I am just an ordinary person like you. Please don't thank me. The food issue was ordered by General Shen. I just followed his orders and did my best. It's not a big deal. Everyone, get up, get up."

The soldiers and civilians around were all unmoved. After hearing what she said, they stopped calling her the little general and kept thanking her benefactor. Everyone was more grateful to Shen Yue. I don't know who started it, but they shouted, "General Shen is benevolent and safe, General Shen is benevolent and safe..."

Immediately following the roar of the surrounding mountains and seas, wave after wave of Ren De Wan An spread out, rushing towards other streets like a tide, echoing each other everywhere, and the Wan An everywhere merged into a torrent, floating throughout the entire Fengzhou city, and there was no way it could stop for a moment.

The voices of the people rang in his ears. Looking at these grateful people in front of him, Li Yaoguang felt an inexplicable bad feeling in his heart.

She was actually an impulsive person. In this situation, her mind was somewhat out of control. Her heart softened and she ignored Ji Mo's warning. She impulsively released most of the food that she had stolen in Kyoto. She didn't even bother to explain to Shen Yue's bodyguards who came with her where the extra food came from.

Right now, Li Yaoguang has only one idea in his mind, which is to hope that these can allow these tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians to have an extra bowl of porridge and water, so that they can hold on a little longer.

With food, people had smiles on their faces. The lifeless Fengzhou City also became lively because of the food sent by Li Yaoguang. Everyone's eyes were full of vitality. However, at this critical juncture, the evening drum on the city wall, which had not sounded for a long time, suddenly rang with thunder, which ruined the view.

"Oh no! Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Hu Di is attacking the city again!"

As soon as the porridge fell, their bodies were already stained with dirty blood, with layer upon layer of blood scabs. The soldiers, who were smelling sour and tired, had gleams of light in their eyes. They didn't care that the hot porridge was burning their mouths, and drank it in one gulp. They grabbed the bloodstained weapons beside them and quickly entered combat status.

The people around looked at the heroic figures who quickly climbed up the city wall. Their eyes turned red and tears dripped into their bowls unconsciously. There was a passionate man who wiped his face, raised his head and drank the hot porridge in the bowl, raised a handful of porridge and threw it to the ground, raising his arms and shouting.

"Fuck it, Hu Di is too much. He won't even let me eat a hot meal in peace. He even won't let me live. I'm going to fight him to death. Even if I die, I'll take two people with me!"

The people who were forced into a desperate situation responded one after another.

"Yes, it's either you die or I live. I'm going to fight this bastard too. Killing one will pay off, and killing two will be a profit!"

"Hey brothers, what are you saying? General Shen is a very smart man. He can make the army send us life-saving food even when we are in a blockade. He is so powerful, why should we be afraid of him? Besides, the young brothers who deliver food are not afraid even though they are so young, so why should we, the grown men, be afraid?"

"That's right. General Shen hasn't forgotten us. Now that we have rice and grain, the army may arrive soon. What are you afraid of? Damn it!"

"Let's go up to the tower."

"Let's go together. I'm willing to sacrifice my life. If you dare to step on Hu Di, kill him!"

I don't know if it was the confidence brought by a bowl of porridge, or because they knew that General Shen Yue did not abandon them, but one by one, they finished the porridge in their hands and wiped their mouths. Even though their stomachs were still empty and their bodies were still weak, they were full of energy, and each of them was like someone who had been injected with chicken blood. Every man rushed to the four-sided city wall with a roar.