Angry Banana

Chapter 767: My Heart is Separated by Mountains and Seas, but the Seas Cannot be Leveled (Part Two)

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(To correct a setting error, the father of Wanyan Qingjue, originally written as Wanyan Sagai, should be Wanyan Zhamu, the one who was enfeoffed as King of Wu. Search: \(、Complete、Book、God、Station、) to read high-quality literature for free.)

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The evening breeze carried the warmth of a summer night, the lights shone brightly, and the stars twinkled. Heden County, in the southwest, was entering a warm, moonlit night.

Looking down from halfway up the mountain, scattered lights spread along the foothills. In the square below, crowds of people milled about. The theater on one side of the square was showing a new play called "Autumn Wind Rolls". Soldiers of the Chinese Army from Blay County, merchants, workers and farmers from Jishan gathered here with their families, waiting to enter. Above the theater, a complex windmill dragged a huge rotating carousel.

Although the Bamboo Encampment initially promoted its intelligence network through storytelling, singing, acrobatics and other skills, the Chinese Army actually had rich cultural and recreational activities compared to the outside world, but this theater in Heden was still the most formal entertainment option.

The theater was open to everyone within the Chinese Army, and tickets weren't expensive. The main issue was quotas. Each person could only get a ticket once or twice a year, which was already very good. People who once lived in poverty regarded this as a big day, traveling over mountains and rivers, making the square lively every night. Recently, it had not been interrupted by the tension in the outside world. People in the square laughed and talked, while soldiers, joking with their companions, kept an eye out for suspicious circumstances.

An attempted arson attack happened two days ago, but it now seemed as if it had never happened.

Perhaps people who had experienced the baptism of war had already found a way to live in such a situation.

The family area on the mountain was much quieter, the scattered lights gentle, and occasional footsteps passed through the streets. On the second floor of a newly built two-story building, a window was open, illuminating the room. From here, one could easily see the square and the theater in the distance. Although the new play was popular, the woman who participated in the training and was responsible for this play had never gone to the backstage to check the audience's reaction. In the swaying lamplight, the woman, whose face was still a little haggard, sat on the bed, sewing a small piece of clothing with her head down. She had already pricked her hand twice with the needle and thread.

Footsteps sounded softly, and someone pushed open the door. The woman looked up and saw a woman with a gentle smile on her face, wearing simple black clothes, her hair tied up behind her head, looking a bit like a man, but also showing a heroic spirit: "Hongti-jie." It was Lu Hongti. Although she was highly skilled in martial arts at home, her temperament was the gentlest. She belonged to the type that you could tease occasionally without any consequences. Jin'er could get close to her.

"How is your health? I passed by and came to see you."

"I've been fine for a long time."

"That's good." Hongti sat sideways on the edge of the bed, her legs together, looking at the fabric in her hand. "Making clothes?"

"My craftsmanship is ugly." Jin'er's face turned red, and she hid the clothes in her arms. Hongti smiled, knowing the meaning of the clothes. She didn't open her mouth to joke. Jin'er then took out the clothes again. "That child disappeared silently. When I think about it, I didn't even make anything for him..."

"Mm." Hongti was silent for a moment. "Anyway... you were only just pregnant, and he didn't know anything. Just have another one with Liheng."

"I want a boy."

"Uh..."

Hongti pursed her lips slightly, probably wanting to say that you can't just choose that. Jin'er chuckled: "Okay, Hongti-jie, I'm not sad anymore."

Hongti showed a helpless expression at being teased. Jin'er leaned forward slightly and hugged her arm: "Hongti-jie, you look so handsome dressed like this today. Why don't you get pregnant with one for me?" As she spoke, her hand reached into the other's clothes, and another hand landed on her waistband, trying to reach in behind. Hongti smiled and shrank her legs to dodge a little. After all, Jin'er had been lacking energy recently, so this kind of boudoir joke did not continue.

"This is night-walking attire. I'm relieved to see you in such good spirits." Hongti straightened her clothes and stood up. "I have some things to do. I have to go out."

"Hongti-jie, please be careful." Jin'er waved her hand. "If you come back late, I will seduce your man."

"My man is dealing with things and will need some more time." Hongti smiled, and finally instructed her: "Drink more water." She went out of the room. Jin'er looked out of the window. Where Hongti's figure gradually disappeared, a small team came out of the shadows, following Hongti away. Zheng Qiming and others, who were highly skilled in martial arts, were also among them. Jin'er waved her hand gently at the window, watching their figures disappear into the distance.

Occasionally, there would be times when everyone was busy. After taking care of her mother for a few days, the enthusiastic Xiao Ningke was taken by Ning Yi to the office to pour tea and water. Yunzhu stayed in the library, organizing the books that were beginning to get damp. Tan'er was still in charge of part of the Chinese Army's internal affairs. Even Xiaochan had been quite busy recently - of course, the main reason was that Jin'er also needed to rest and recuperate during this time.

Today, not many people would disturb her.

The night passed quietly. When the little clothes were almost finished, a small argument came from outside. Then, the little devils Ning Shuang and Ning Ning pushed open the door. These four-year-old sisters were always playing together because of their similar age. At this time, they had a small quarrel and came to Jin'er to reason things out - Jin'er's personality was usually lively and cheerful, just like the older sister of several juniors, and she was always loved by the little girls. Jin'er couldn't help but mediate for the two of them again. After the atmosphere became harmonious, she let the female soldiers taking care of them take the two children to rest.

As the night deepened, the play for today had ended in the square below. People came out of the theater one after another. Jin'er picked up the finished little clothes, wrapped them in a small bundle, and went out the door. The middle-aged woman guarding outside stood up. Jin'er smiled at her: "I want to go to the back mountain. Qing-jie, please come with me."

"Yes." The female soldier named Li Qing nodded, picked up her Miao saber, musket and other items. This was a Miao girl from the Miao region. She originally followed the Overlord's Blade Camp to start an uprising. She was also a master who had received guidance from Liu Dabiao. If there were assassins, a few ordinary Jianghu people would hardly be able to get any advantage from her. Even a grandmaster like Hongti would have to spend some effort to take her down.

They walked through the streets of the family area. The people watching the play had not yet returned, and there were not many pedestrians on the street. Occasionally, a few young people walked on the street, all carrying weapons, and greeted Jin'er. Jin'er smiled and waved at them.

"Aunt Jin'er, be careful not to go too far. There have been bad people recently."

"I know."

"Don't worry, even if bad people come, we won't let them cause trouble!"

"Then I'm very grateful to you."

"Yo, Aunt Jin'er has Aunt Li Qing following her. She doesn't need you..."

They moved forward in this atmosphere. Before long, they passed the family area and went to the back of this mountain. Heden's back mountain wasn't large. It was connected to the Martyrs' Cemetery. The outer patrols were actually quite strict. There was a military restricted area further away, so there was no need to worry too much about enemies infiltrating. But compared to the front, it was much quieter. Jin'er walked through the small forest and came to the pond in the forest, placing the bundle here. The moonlight quietly sprinkled down.

Li Qing had already disappeared from view. Jin'er sat on the grass in the forest, leaning against a large tree. In fact, she hadn't clearly thought about what she was going to do here. She sat like this for a while, got up and dug a hole, took out the little clothes from the bundle, gently put them in the hole, and buried them.

Then she sat for a long time. "You... when you get there, you have to live a good life."

Tears reflecting the soft light of the moon fell from her fair cheeks.

This child didn't even have a name.

After this, Jin'er thought about the child's affairs, thinking about this and that, and didn't know how long had passed. Someone's footsteps came from the woods. Jin'er turned her head to look, and Ning Yi's figure walked through the forest, stood beside her for a moment, and then sat down beside her.

"Amitabha." He put his hands together and shook them twice at the small grave.

Jin'er wiped the corners of her eyes and smiled. "Why are you here?"

"Stealing a moment from being busy. I always have to give myself a break." Ning Yi reached out and touched her hair. "If the child is gone, then he is gone. He was less than a month old. He wasn't even as big as your fingernail. He can't remember things, and he won't feel pain."

"I know." Jin'er nodded, and was silent for a moment. "I thought of my older sister and younger brother, my father and mother."

"Mm..." Ning Yi knew about Jin'er's past. Her family was poor. When Jin'er was five years old, her parents sold her to a brothel. Later, when Jin'er went back, her parents and younger brother had already died. Her older sister had married a rich man as a concubine. Jin'er left a silver ingot and never went back. Apart from mentioning these past events to Ning Yi once or twice, she never spoke of them again.

"My father, mother, and younger brother, they died so early. I hated them in my heart, and I didn't want to think about them anymore, but just now..." She wiped her eyes. "Just now... I thought of the dead baby, and suddenly I thought of them. Husband, you say, they are so pitiful. They lived that kind of life, selling their own daughter, and no one sympathized with them. My younger brother was so young, and he died of illness. You say, why didn't he wait for me to take the silver ingot back to save him? I hate my parents for selling me, and I don't want to think about him either, but my younger brother was very sensible. He never cried or made trouble when he was young... uh uh uh, and my older sister, what do you say she is doing now? There is war and chaos, and she is stupid. Has she already died? They... they are so pitiful..."

She hugged Ning Yi's neck, opened her mouth, and cried like a child. Ning Yi originally thought she was sad about the miscarriage, but he didn't expect that she would think of her family because of the child. Listening to his wife's words at this time, his eyes were also slightly moist. After hugging her for a while, he said in a low voice: "I will have people help you find your older sister, I will have people help you find your older sister..." Her parents and younger brother had already died after all. Perhaps, like the miscarried child, they had gone to another world to live.

Under the bright moon and sparse stars, Jin'er hugged her husband and cried for a long, long time by the small lake.

Under the same moonlight, black figures moved like ghosts in the shadows of the mountains, stopping and going. Under the cliff in front, there was a small team of travelers, also hidden in the darkness. These people each carried swords and weapons, their faces fierce. Some wore gold rings in their ears and wore their hair around their heads, some had tattooed faces and strange weapons, and some had tamed gyrfalcons. Unusual people and ordinary wolfhounds were mixed in. These people had not lit a bonfire at night, obviously to hide their tracks.

At a certain moment, the wolfhound barked wildly!

The light of a knife rose on one side, and blood splattered along with a severed arm. This group of strangers pounced in the darkness. Behind them, Lu Hongti's figure broke into the group, and the message of death suddenly cleared a path. The wolfhounds rushed forward like small lions, and weapons and human figures clashed chaotically...

Bianliang.

Xue Guangcheng, covered in blood, was carried out of the prison cell and into the next room. He sat down in the chair in the center and spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm on the ground.

His gaze turned forward, where he finally saw the Jurchen leader.

"General Aligua, you are becoming more and more like a woman. Have you ever seen someone who knows it's a dead end and still comes, afraid of death?"

The Jurchen General Aligua was sixty years old and known for his martial prowess.

"Too many of your Han Chinese envoys, who think they can use their eloquence to their advantage, beg for mercy after being tortured."

"Then have you ever seen anyone like that in the Chinese Army?"

Aligua looked at him, his gaze like a steel knife. Xue Guangcheng spat out another mouthful of bloody phlegm, propped his hands on his knees, and sat up straight. "Since I came here, I have already put life and death out of my mind. However, one thing is certain, if I can't go back, Wanyan Qingjue will accompany me to the grave. This is the promise that Mr. Ning once gave me."

"Using Wanyan Qingjue alone to exchange for the lives of all the people in Bianliang, plus you. Aren't you thinking too well?"

"Because the people of Bianliang are not important. Your confrontation with me, using all means, is also a dignified move. Capturing Liu Yu, you lost to me." Xue Guangcheng stretched out his finger and pointed at him. "Killing the people of Bianliang is the venting of anger by you losers. The Chinese Army saves people out of righteousness, and also gives you a way out. General Aligua, you also have a past with King Wu Wanyan Zhamu. Saving his son is good for you."

"Don't say it as if the people of Bianliang aren't important to you at all." Aligua laughed loudly. "If that were the case, you wouldn't be here today. Your Black Flag incited people to rebel, and then left them. Those who were deceived are all hating you!"

"My Chinese Army commits treason and rebellion. If we want morality, we can leave a good reputation. If we don't want morality, it's also a grand thing to do. General Aligua, that's right, capturing Liu Yu was my decision. I left some bad reputation, so I'm risking my life to do things to the best of my ability. Your Jurchens came south to take the Central Plains, not to destroy the Central Plains. You can also slaughter in Bianliang City today, like a woman, kill me to vent a little personal anger, and then let the cruelty of your Jurchens spread even wider."

"Or," Xue Guangcheng stared at Aligua, pressing aggressively, "--or, one day in the future, I will let you know on the battlefield what it means to defeat you in a dignified manner! Of course, you are already old, and it is not honorable for me to win, but my Chinese Army will eventually recover the Han land, enter the Jin Kingdom, and defeat all your descendants--"

"You are courting death--" Aligua lifted the table in front of him and came over in big steps.

"Let you know what it means to be truly invincible with ten thousand men--"

The figure stepped forward, the steel knife swung, and the roar and talking sound were intertwined non-stop. Facing the figure who had fought out of the sea of corpses and blood, Xue Guangcheng stood up with his head held high, facing the steel knife. With a bang, the steel knife smashed on his shoulder. He had already been tortured, so his body leaned slightly, but he still stood upright.

The blade that was about to slash at his neck turned into the blade body at the last moment, only making a huge sound, the blade stopping at his neck.

Xue Guangcheng's body took another step forward, staring into Aligua's eyes, as if boiling blood was burning, the atmosphere was solemn and chilling, and two tall figures confronted each other in the room.

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When Wanyan Qingjue entered the study under the guidance of the soldiers, it was already afternoon. Ning Yi stood by the window, looking at the sunlight outside, with his hands behind his back.

"Little Prince, there's no need to be polite, please sit down wherever you like." Ning Yi didn't turn around, and didn't know what he was thinking. He said casually. Naturally, Wanyan Qingjue didn't sit down. He had been captured to the southwest for nearly a year. The Chinese Army had not abused him. Apart from occasionally letting him participate in labor to earn a living, Wanyan Qingjue's life during these days was many times better than that of ordinary prisoners.

However, after a long period of labor, he naturally no longer had the sharpness of being a little prince - of course, even if he did, after seeing Ning Yi's domineering aura, he would never dare to show it in front of Ning Yi.

"It is an unfortunate thing to be born in this era." Ning Yi was silent for a long time before turning his head to speak. "If we were born in a peaceful and prosperous world, how wonderful it would be... Of course, Little Prince, you may not think so..."

Wanyan Qingjue looked at the man in front of him who showed a hint of weakness with some vigilance. According to past experience, such a person in power was probably going to kill someone.

"I don't know... why is Mr. Ning sighing like this."

"My wife lost a child." Ning Yi turned around.

Wanyan Qingjue had also heard about this, but he was stunned for a moment. "Wives are like clothes. Mr. Ning doesn't want to say that he is sighing for this kind of thing, does he?"

"A heartless man is not necessarily a hero, and a loving father is certainly a man. You may not understand." Ning Yi looked at him with a gentle smile, and then said, "I called you here today to tell you that perhaps you have a chance to leave, Little Prince."

"Or... I hope that you can leave here safely..."

The summer sun shone in from the window, and the scholar stood in the light, slightly raising his hand. In his calm gaze, there was a mountain-like weight...