Chapter 163 Ruins
Seeing that Pei Rong had witnessed the situation in the city with his own eyes and refused to leave, Zheng Feng had no choice but to order people to close the city gates.

He personally accompanied the group inside. Although he was not infected with the plague, he still kept a distance from everyone. "I received an order half a month ago to temporarily take over Hexin City. After I arrived, I led people to isolate those infected with the plague and divided the South City from the North City. Those infected with the plague lived in the South City, and those who were not infected with the plague lived in the North City. Fortunately, although the smell of the plague is unpleasant, it will not be infected unless you come into direct contact with it."

He sighed, "But when I arrived, it was too late. Half of the people had already been infected. When the Pei family was in trouble, the people in the city were said to be very sad. They were grateful for the kindness of City Lord Pei and his wife. Although they could not find their bones, many people still spontaneously sent them off during the funeral. This led to the widespread outbreak of the plague, which spread rapidly in just a dozen days."

Pei Rong pursed his lips, speechless with grief.

Zheng Feng said, "In fact, the nearly 10,000 people in the city who were quarantined by me have not been infected with the plague. I reported to the court and asked them to move these people out of Hexin City and resettle them elsewhere. However, the court was afraid and rejected all three of my petitions. Two days ago, the imperial envoy arrived and issued an imperial decree to burn the city."

Pei Rong looked at Zheng Feng. "Your Majesty is a benevolent ruler who loves his people. How could he allow tens of thousands of people who were not infected with the plague to be burned down and killed?"

Zheng Feng sighed, "At the beginning of this year, His Majesty began to believe in Taoism and invited a Heavenly Master to the court. You should know that the Heavenly Master has the ability to call the wind and rain, and His Majesty is very convinced of him. This is what the Heavenly Master said, saying that the heaven will bring a great disaster to the mortal world, and the demons will cause chaos. If the demons are not destroyed, the country may not be saved. One city is compared to one country. His Majesty naturally believed the words of the Heavenly Master and issued such a sacred order. The prince tried to stop it several times, but not only failed to stop it, but was also reprimanded by His Majesty. Now he has been ordered to reflect on his mistakes in the East Palace."

Pei Rong was furious. "I have heard of this Heavenly Master, but I never thought that he would not care about human life. In his eyes, tens of thousands of people are just such a dehumanizing sentence? Apart from the Crown Prince and the important officials in the court, no one stopped him?"

"Why didn't they stop it?" Zheng Feng said, "The prince's faction was fiercely opposed at first. The court officials who supported the prince also felt that burning the city was inappropriate. How could they easily kill tens of thousands of people? But the Heavenly Master sneered, saying that the prince and the court officials were pedantic and too soft-hearted. How could the people of one city be worth the safety of tens of millions of people in a country? His Majesty also thought it was reasonable. He was angered by the repeated opposition and beheaded more than a dozen opposing court officials in court. The Golden Throne Hall was a river of blood that day. They also cursed the prince for wanting to bring disaster to the country and destroy the foundation left by his ancestors, and to be an unfilial and unkind descendant who did not respect the emperor? The prince was still young and naturally could not do anything. He was heartbroken that good officials in the court were killed and tens of thousands of people in Hexin City who were not infected with the plague died, but what could he do? It is said that his majesty sent people to take him back to the East Palace."

Lou Qianyi couldn't help whispering to Jiang Lisheng, "This prince of the mortal world is too cowardly."

Jiang Lisheng said: "Shouldn't it be that Heavenly Master who treats human life as worthless?"

Lou Qianyi nodded heavily, "Yes, how can such a person be called a Heavenly Master? He is simply a cold-blooded devil. He can even call the wind and rain. I wonder what kind of evil he is? He is definitely not a righteous person."

If it is the right path, human life will not be treated as worthless.

Jiang Lisheng felt the same way. She couldn't bear to see tens of thousands of people being killed without a word. There were tyrants like that in picture books, but I had never heard of them burning down a city and killing their own subjects without blinking an eye. Especially, it was said that he was a benevolent king who loved his people like his own children. Now, he killed more than ten loyal subjects just to burn down a city. It was incredible.

Zheng Feng added: "Now no one in the court dares to oppose it. His Majesty has issued an order to burn the city within three days, and everyone in Hexin City will die for their country."

Pei Rong was silent for a moment, then asked, "Where is Pei Mansion?"

Zheng Feng looked apologetic, "Brother Pei, I'm sorry, I had the place where the plague originated burned down the day I came here."

Pei Rong paused for a moment, then shook his head, "Master Zheng, you don't have to apologize. This is what you should do. I would do the same if it were me."

Zheng Feng sighed, "Yes, I have to do it. These days, I have burned down the residences of countless civilians and officials. The rotten liquid is very powerful. Once a person touches it, his whole body will fester. Even if I force control, you can smell the corrosive smell. It is still strong. That's because there are too many people who are infected with the poison and are still alive, about four or five thousand. This place is close to the South City, so you can smell it more." Pei Rong nodded.

At this time, a soldier came running over and said, "Sir, I heard that the court ordered the city to be burned. The North City is in turmoil and wants to break out of the city."

Zheng Feng was helpless, "Didn't you tell them that even if they get out, there are 250,000 soldiers waiting to strangle them outside?"

The soldier said, "It doesn't work."

Zheng Feng asked, "Brother Pei, would you like to go to North City with me?"

Pei Rong hesitated for a moment, then said, "Master Zheng, you go first. I want to go to Pei's house and then go to Beicheng to look for you. How about that?"

He had not forgotten that he came back to collect the souls of his grandmother and parents. Now that Pei Mansion was burned down, where were their souls? Are they still there?

Zheng Feng nodded, "Okay."

So Zheng Feng followed the soldiers and hurried to the north city.

Pei Rong led a group of people to Pei Mansion.

Many shops and stores on both sides of the street were burned down, and now the shops that were not burned down are closed and uninhabited. It can be seen that as Mr. Zheng said, people have been divided by him.

Jiang Lisheng almost didn't recognize the road leading to Pei Mansion, but Pei Rong grew up in Hexin City since he was a child. No matter how ruined this place was, he recognized it. He led his people to Pei Mansion in silence and grief.

The Pei Mansion is now in ruins, with almost nothing left. In the entire street adjacent to the Pei Mansion, only one or two isolated mansions have not been burned down and are still standing.

Pei Rong stood in the open space, looking at the ruined Pei Mansion. He wanted to cry, wanted to cry loudly, but found that when people are extremely sad, they can't cry. He just stood there, recalling the scenes of growing up, regretting that he joined the army since he was a child, and had too little time to be filial to his parents. Now even his memories are of him rushing home every time, sometimes staying for one night, sometimes taking a rest, at most one or two days.

Because the Pei family has been a single-line line for generations, his father was not strict with him. He just hoped that he would be safe and sound. Even his decision to join the army and to make achievements instead of living a mediocre life was his own idea. His mother and grandmother were kind and always disliked his thinness. After returning home, his mother would always cook for him herself, add two dishes for him, and then order a table of food to be prepared for him.

How come everything was destroyed overnight!

(End of this chapter)