In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 858 Expectation

"Does that mean even the nobles of the Lu family can't leave the manor to seek pleasure in the prefectural city?"

Xu Sanyang said subconsciously.

"Of course!"

Li Ming said with a smile, "These days, no nobleman from the Lu family would dare to go out! Yang Zheng's knife is no joke either."

After saying this, Li Ming sat up straight and said in a deep voice, "San Yang, do you think if Yang Zheng's army comes in, they might kill us too?"

This was the thing that almost all the serfs who knew the news were most worried about, even though they lived worse than cattle and horses in the Lu family manor.

But as the old saying goes, it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. Even serfs, whose lives were worse than those of livestock, still feared death.

"Probably not?"

Xu Sanyang said uncertainly that inside the Lu family manor, because the Lu family held absolute control over public opinion, the serfs' understanding of Yang Zheng came almost entirely from the Lu family!

The Lu family obviously could not objectively describe Yang Zheng. Therefore, in the eyes of the serfs, Yang Zheng was no different from a ruthless executioner and a cannibalistic demon who ate children's hearts.

Under these circumstances, Xu Sanyang really couldn't be sure whether Yang Zheng would commit the act of massacring the entire city.

"My child isn't even born yet. If Yang Zheng comes crashing in, I'm afraid my wife and child and I won't survive!"

Li Ming said with a worried look on his face.

Unlike Xu Sanyang, Li Ming had applied for a marriage match, and his wife was now pregnant. If Yang Zheng were to break in, he, his wife, and their unborn child would likely all perish.

"Yang Zheng shouldn't be that cruel!"

Xu Sanyang shook his head and said that although the Lu family described Yang Zheng as very evil, Xu Sanyang did not completely believe the Lu family's smear against Yang Zheng.

In his view, no matter how bad a person is, they would not kill a pregnant woman at will, much less the fetus in her womb.

"That's fine, that's fine!"

Li Ming seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Xu Sanyang continued, "Don't be too happy yet! With the army besieging the city, if nothing unexpected happens, the Lu family will soon order us to defend it!"

Using serfs to assist in defending the city was not uncommon within the Lu family manor. In fact, many of the Lu family manor's retainers were selected from among the serfs. Xu Sanyang, who had lived in the Lu family manor for twenty-five years, was naturally aware of these things.

"Defend the city?"

Li Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Are we supposed to go into battle and fight the enemy?"

"Ah."

Xu Sanyang nodded. Given the shortage of manpower, the Lu family would definitely send the serfs to fight the enemy; this was unavoidable.

Upon receiving a positive answer, Li Ming felt even more panicked. The thought of going into battle and possibly dying on the city wall at any moment sent chills down his spine.

His wife was pregnant, and the baby in her womb had not yet been born. If he died on the battlefield, what would happen to his wife and child?

"San Yang, I don't want to go to war. I just want to stay with my wife and children."

Li Ming grabbed Xu Sanyang's arm, looking completely lost, and asked, "Is there any way to stop me from going?"

"no!"

Xu Sanyang shook his head.

Seeing this, Li Ming couldn't help but feel despair.

Xu Sanyang gazed at the sky outside the manor, as if he could see the massive army of people below.

Xu Sanyang didn't really feel much about the army surrounding the manor. Over the years, he had been all alone, spending his days buried in the fields. His heart had become numb, and he didn't have much fear of death. Instead, his resentment towards the Lu family filled his heart.

He even somewhat hoped that the army outside the city would storm in soon, bringing some changes to his life, which had been uneventful for more than twenty years and had never changed.

He also hoped that the army outside the city would kill all those arrogant "noblemen" of the Lu family who treated them like cattle and horses, thus relieving his hatred.

…………

…………

The gears of time turned slowly, and three days passed quietly.

Just as Yang Zheng had predicted, the Lu Family Manor had ample food supplies, so his siege did not cause too much chaos, and the manor quickly returned to normal.

Of course, things weren't completely quiet inside the Lu family manor. As Yang Zheng's army approached the city, the Lu family began to summon the male serfs within the manor, distributing weapons and armor to them, arming them to guard against any possible offensive by the army outside the city.

At this time, Chang Yong's 100,000 Great Wall Army also arrived outside the Lu Family Manor and successfully joined forces with Yang Zheng. The number of troops outside the city suddenly reached a staggering 180,000!

"The Great Wall Army has arrived? Excellent!"

Yang Zheng was overjoyed to learn of the arrival of the Great Wall Army and exclaimed "Good!" three times!

It's important to understand that the Great Wall Army was not the same as those weak and feeble imperial armies that lacked any fighting spirit; they were truly battle-hardened elite troops!

With the arrival of the Great Wall Army, Yang Zheng's confidence in conquering the Lu Family Manor grew stronger!

He rushed out of the military camp, intending to personally greet Chang Yong, the commander, but unexpectedly...

The moment Yang Zheng stepped out of the military camp, he was stunned!

Because the commander of the Great Wall Army was not Chang Yong at all, but... Tian Yu!

"What? Does Heavenly King Yang not want to see me?"

Seeing Yang Zheng standing there in a daze, Tian Yu asked with a smile.

"Of course you're welcome!"

Coming to his senses, Yang Zheng nodded repeatedly: "I just didn't expect General Tian to come in person!"

Yang Zheng was speaking from the heart. He really didn't expect Tian Yu to come in person. After all, as the soul of the Great Wall Army, Tian Yu would mostly be stationed at the Great Wall to guard against the barbarian army that might invade at any time.

"I didn't want to come either, but for your safety, I have no choice!"

Tian Yu sighed and said that the reason he came in person was not because he did not trust Chang Yong's ability to lead troops, but because he was concerned about Yang Zheng's safety!

Back then, Tian Yu and Yang Zheng did indeed discuss sending 100,000 troops to help Yang Zheng take Youzhou, and Chang Yong was chosen as the commander.

But after Chang Yong sent out his troops, Tian Yu remembered something extremely important: Yang Zheng's safety!

Although Yang Zheng never minded his background and often referred to himself as a cowherd, he was no longer an insignificant cowherd. He was now the King Yang, who ruled over two states and whose every move would shake the entire nation.

He was also a figure on whom Tian Yu, Li Mingyuan, and others placed high hopes.

It was precisely because of his high hopes for Yang Zheng that Tian Yu, after realizing what was happening, quickly set off to catch up with Chang Yong, who had already sent out troops, and personally led his army to join forces with Yang Zheng, all in order to ensure Yang Zheng's safety!