Chapter 26 Massacred

"It's not good, the Tartars are here! The Tartars are here! Run, run!" A sharp exclamation came into his ears. Mao Xiang felt uneasy for a moment: "What? Tartar?" He straightened up suspiciously, looked around, and was immediately stunned.I saw the family members who were just sitting casually just now, like a group of chickens and dogs who were suddenly attacked, screaming and running wildly all over the hillside.Under the sun, several sharp arrows were shining and flying over their heads.Then, there was a thrilling sound of horseshoes.Mao Xiang saw with great fear: in the blink of an eye, several people had already been shot and fell down.He suddenly tensed up, turned around and ran towards his parents, wife and children, shouting at the same time——

"Don't panic! Come here! Come here!" However, it didn't work.People who were terrified by death and blood still ran like mad.In this way, they became the targets of pursuit and killing as usual.I saw a group of strangely dressed Qing army cavalry, about seven or eight people, immediately dispersed, and began to surround them leisurely like hunting, shooting arrows from far away, and slashing those close by with knives.Their movements are so skilled and neat.The horseshoes were everywhere, only the screams of dying were heard, and no one was able to stand up anymore.Seeing this situation, the people behind gave a "coax" in fright, turned around and ran back, and obviously lost the courage to escape again.When they found that the host's family was still gathered under the bamboo bushes, they all moved towards this side one after another.Soon, the surrounding bamboo bushes were densely crowded.

In this moment of extreme confusion, Mao Xiang's heart was also extremely confused.Because all of this happened so unexpectedly, so suddenly, that without any preparation in advance, he fell into a desperate situation all of a sudden. "Yes, it seems that it is destined to pass this test in the end! Even if I shave my head and become a obedient citizen according to what my father just said, I am afraid it will be too late! Maybe it would be better to end it like this!" Trembling, he said in his heart; at the same time, he suddenly thought of Zhang Weichi, "It's just that Lao Zhang didn't have to accompany us to suffer this disaster, but he found it by himself. It's really..." Thinking so, he I felt extremely uneasy, and couldn't help turning my eyes to search, but I couldn't find it, and I don't know where this warm-hearted friend hid, or died in the chaos just now. "Hey, he is familiar with the terrain in this area. I hope God blesses him to escape!" After praying silently, Maoxiang heard the mixed and violent sound of horseshoes, like a gust of wind and rain, rolling straight from a distance. come over.

This is naturally the group of Qing soldiers just now.I saw them galloping arrogantly and happily like wolves facing a flock of sheep. When they approached, they suddenly raised their hands and threw a few black things straight towards them, falling down with a "slap, slap" In front of the crowd.Mao Xiang took a closer look, his heart suddenly clenched like a twitch, but the hairs all over his body stood on end—it turned out that those bloody things turned out to be the heads that had just been chopped off! "Hey, who are you guys? What are you doing here?" Before the commotion and panic caused by those heads subsided, a sharp shout rang out.Unexpectedly, the words were clear and plain, and they were in a Jiangnan accent.

Seeing that the momentum was dangerous, Mao Xiang had already called everyone to kneel on the ground, expressing that he would not run away again.Hearing such a question suddenly, he couldn't help but startled. Looking around, he found seven or eight Qing soldiers who had surrounded them, all of them had dark faces and fierce expressions. They wore conical summer hats of the same color on their heads, and wore white uniforms with a waistband. Bow and arrow, holding a steel knife that is still dripping blood, looking murderous.Only the person who asked the question, although half of his head was shaved, with braids behind his back, but he was wearing a black gauze cap on his head, and a Ming Dynasty official robe with wide sleeves and round neck, and was thin and thin. The fair face has the delicate texture unique to Jiangnan people. "Well, so, he is a local, he became an obedient citizen, and in turn led the way for the Tartars." Mao Xiang thought to himself, and at the same time remembered the idea he had a little while ago, and was stunned for a while.

"Hey, are you deaf? Ask who you are and what are you doing here? Tell me!" the man shouted again. "Oh...we are all good citizens, and we are fleeing here." Realizing that the Qing soldiers were staring at him, Mao Xiang hurriedly calmed down, moved two steps forward on his knees, and answered with hands clasped. "Good people? If they are good people, why don't you shave your hair and run away? It is clearly intended to evade! Didn't you inform you yesterday? The benevolence and virtue of our Qing Dynasty were widely spread, and the people of the four directions do not need to disturb. Just post the yellow paper and stay on the ground." At home, where the soldiers passed by, Qiu did not commit any crimes! Why did you not obey the order and want to flee?"

"This... Xiao, Xiaomin really doesn't know." The man turned his head, and murmured a few words to the tall and strong Qing soldier with the appearance of an officer beside him, like an interpreter, and then turned back and asked: "Hmph, when you saw the soldiers just now, instead of kneeling down to greet them, you scattered and fled in all directions. Do you have evil intentions, and you are afraid that you will be exposed? Tell me quickly!" "My lord, my lord... We are definitely not harboring evil intentions, it is because the common people are ignorant and afraid of the might of soldiers, so..."

Until now, when that person spoke, he always had a straight face and a stern voice, as if he was pretending to be a tiger.However, this time, he waved his hand, as if he didn't need to speak further.Then he jumped off his horse. "Well, you still don't shave your hair. According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, you will all be rectified on the spot!" He said, and as he approached, he suddenly lowered his voice and said quickly: "But I know that you are really Good people, you must obey my orders and not disobey, so that you can save your life. Can you understand me?"

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Mao Xiang to answer, he went straight to the luggage cage that had been piled up in a concentrated place, beat it with a horsewhip, and said: "Bring out all these things and open them! Wait for the soldiers to search and see if there are any weapons!" Originally, Maoxiang was in a panic, not knowing how the day would end, but when he heard the other party saying that he could save their family's life, he was stunned.He had no time to think, and quickly turned back to tell his family: "Quick, what are you doing here? Get out! Get out!"

The servants were still dumbfounded at first, until Mao Xiang gave the order again, only a few bolder ones climbed up timidly and carried the cages to the front one by one. Those Qing soldiers were obviously waiting for this moment.They looked at each other tacitly, then sheathed their knives back into their sheaths, jumped off their horses, approached the open cages, but impatiently searched them carefully, and only picked them up one by one, Turn it over vigorously, pour out all the contents, and then use both hands and feet to throw aside the clothes, calligraphy and paintings, antiques, etc. that they think are worthless, and pick out gold and silver jewelry. Stuff handfuls into your arms and put them in your pockets.Maoxiang's family was originally the richest man in Rugao County, so they naturally had a lot of savings on weekdays.But after successive escapes, the losses were very heavy.These can be said to be all that is left, once they are taken away, it can be said that there will be no livelihood in the future.However, in this situation, who dares to stop it?Even Maoxiang and his son are only worried that there are too few things to satisfy the other party's desires, so that they will regenerate.Later, seeing the joy of the Qing soldiers, the atmosphere obviously eased, and they all secretly prayed for God's blessing, and would rather let the other party take everything away, as long as the remaining people can get through this test quickly and without incident.

"Master, that man is calling!" During the silent prayer, Mao Xiang heard Mao Cheng who was kneeling next to him say in a low voice. He was stunned for a moment, then looked up, and sure enough, he found that the Han man, whether he was a demoted official or an interpreter, was waving towards him from a distance.Mao Xiang didn't know what was going on, seeing that group of Qing soldiers still rummaging through the boxes and cages, he didn't dare to act rashly, but later he found that the man greeted him in a hurry, so he hesitated for a moment, so he had to bravely get up and get up , walked slowly. "Fortunately, this test has been passed!" The man faced him and said in a low voice, "It's just that among you people, there are quite a few female relatives, and they have already fallen into their eyes..." I just said these two words After a few sentences, Maoxiang’s face suddenly changed, and he immediately made a comforting gesture, “I also know that you are a decent family, and the most important thing is the family style. It’s just that if you don’t donate a few, it will be difficult to pass the test. How about it—— - There are eight of them in total, so you quickly pick eight girls, hand them over, and let them take them away. The rest is up to you. Remember, you must not refuse to do this, or you will anger them and spread wild things Come on, the result is even worse!" Mao Xiang originally thought that by donating all his belongings, he could buy a way of life, but he didn't expect that the other party would make such a request again, and he felt as if someone was strangling his neck, and he was speechless for a long time.It is true that for a while, he has been secretly worried about the safety of the female relatives, but he has never been able to think of a way to save them from being tortured.He even thought that if the Qing soldiers and thieves really attacked wives, concubines, concubines and others, he had to fight hard, even if he died, it would be better than being humiliated.Now the other party proposes to replace it with a maid, no matter what, it is finally an impossible solution.But these maids are human beings anyway, and have parents and brothers.If he sent them to the tiger's mouth with his own hands, he felt that he would not be able to do it no matter in terms of human feelings or heavenly principles... "Sanggong, what's the matter?" A concerned voice sounded quietly beside him. Mao Xiang was stunned for a moment, then turned around, and found that he had unknowingly walked back among the crowd, and it was Dong Xiaowan who asked him. "Hmm..." Mao Xiang hesitated in his heart, feeling that women should not get involved in this matter, but since he was still reluctant, he had no choice but to listen to the concubine's ear and tell the other party's request. Unexpectedly, Dong Xiaowan did not show any surprise, on the contrary, she was clearly relieved.She nodded and asked again: "Then Mr...." Mao Xiang didn't say a word. "The situation is urgent, so it has to be like this. We must not let the master suffer!" The concubine's voice came again. Mao Xiang looked up in astonishment, and found that Dong Xiaowan's expression was stern like a piece of ice, but the eyes staring directly at him were shining brightly. "Ah, that's right!" He suddenly realized, "If you are still indecisive, then in the end, it will be our master who will suffer!" Immediately, Mao Xiang's heart hardened, but after all, he didn't want to do this in person, so he turned Turn around and wave to Mao Cheng.After the servant followed him to the side, he relayed the request of the Qing soldiers in a low voice. Finally, he ordered: "Well, I'll leave this matter to you, you can pick and choose!" Mao Cheng didn't know what was going on at first, but after listening to the master's order, his expression suddenly changed: "Uncle, uncle, it's not a villain's prevarication, this matter, a villain, can't do it!" "What did you say—it can't be done?" Because it was the first time in Maoxiang's memory that such an answer came from Maocheng's mouth, he couldn't help being stunned. "Yes, yes, this... villain, I can't do it." Mao Cheng repeated with his head down, not daring to meet his master's eyes. For a moment, Mao Xiang became dumbfounded.However, his anger gradually rose. "Nonsense!" He gritted his teeth and scolded in a low voice, "You have to do what you are told to do! Could it be that you are going to watch the Tartar soldiers come and act wildly? Do you want the master, wife, and me Die with grandma? Huh?" Seeing that the master got angry, he became silent, but his face became paler and paler.Finally, he replied in a low voice: "Yes!" Turning around, he walked towards the crowd. Point people started. In the current situation, in order to save the lives of the family, although the other party has no choice but to obey any request, according to Mao Xiang's idea, sending out a few clumsy maids doing chores, at least to deal with the danger, is also enough.He knew that Mao Cheng was meticulous in his work, so he didn't give any special explanation beforehand.In fact, it was indeed those people who were pointed out at the beginning.But somehow, gradually, even the purple clothes in Dong Xiaowan's room, and even the Chuntao in Mrs. Ma's room were also clicked into it.Mao Xiang watched from the side, feeling both surprised and anxious.He wanted to step forward to stop it, but he was afraid of alarming the Qing soldiers and making things worse, so he could only watch helplessly.But those maids didn't know what was going on, and seeing that they were pretending to call, they all came out obediently one by one... Finally, eight maids made up.Mao Cheng walked back again, with his head down, and stood silently in front of the master, probably waiting for the next order. Mao Xiangzheng was very dissatisfied with the other party's random roll call just now. Seeing this, it was tantamount to showing everyone that the matter was on his own order.Therefore, before opening his mouth, he suddenly turned around as if being pricked by a needle, and walked away angrily. However, the group of Qing soldiers did not notice this situation at all.They had already received the advice of the demoted official in advance, and at this moment, they were all staring at the group of maids.Just as most of the people present couldn't figure out what was going on, they suddenly burst into obscene laughter and rushed towards the maids. It was only at this moment that the group of poor girls woke up as if they had just woken up from a dream, screaming in panic, and fled in all directions.However, it was too late.How could their pair of weak little feet outrun the Qing soldiers who were like wolves and tigers?In a blink of an eye, one by one fell into the hands of those rough Tartar soldiers.Although their hair was disheveled, they kicked and bitten and struggled desperately, in the end, they were dragged, hugged, and separated onto the horses.A few of them, during the struggle, their clothes were torn apart and their white and clean bodies were exposed, which greatly stimulated the animal desires of those soldiers, so that they simply started to use their hands on horseback without any restraint. Hugging them, pinching and gnawing frantically.One of them——Mao Xiang recognized it as purple clothes, probably because he resisted a little bit fiercely, the clothes on his body were stripped off by the screaming Qing soldiers three times, and then he waved his big hand like a cattail fan , left slap, right slap on her face and body.The scene of a hungry tiger eating a lamb and a storm destroying a flower was so shocking and pitiful that all the people present lowered their heads and couldn't bear to look at it again... "Well, it's finally all right!" Amid the heart-piercing cries, a voice said with relief. Mao Xiang turned his head and saw that it was the demoted official.He has also sat on the horse, and is pointing at their family with a whip: "None of you has shaved hair! Fortunately, I met me today, otherwise, I can't hope to pass this test! Remember, Hurry up and shave your head! Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't have such good luck next time!" After finishing speaking, he gave a whip, urged his mount, and chased after the flying dust thrown by the group of Qing soldiers. The people who stayed in place seemed to be imprisoned by this last spell, and they all looked at it dumbfounded.It was not until the sudden sound of hooves disappeared for a long time that everyone began to look at me and I looked at you, hesitatingly moving the hands and feet that had become sore and numb from kneeling for a long time, and finally sat up with difficulty. body.But it was only for a while, and they all fell to the ground again, tearing their clothes and hair, and crying bitterly... At this moment, only Dong Xiaowan is different from everyone else.She stood for a long time, looking at the piece of dust flying away, and did not cry.However, that expression seemed to be five years older all of a sudden.