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

Chapter 862 Breaking a promise

The crowd clearly found Lu Yingjie's conclusion hard to accept. In their view, with the five patriarchs attacking together, Yang Zheng should have been doomed and there was no reason for him to fail!

"Failed?"

Lu Shengyan's heart sank, and he said in a deep voice, "Why did we fail? Could it be that there are other powerful figures in the Yang family army?"

Lu Yingjie was silent for a moment before speaking: "Yang Zheng had already anticipated that we would assassinate him, so he was prepared. There was not only Yang Zheng in the tent, but also Tian Yu!"

"Tian Yu!"

Upon hearing this name, Lu Shengyan gritted his teeth. His hatred for Tian Yu was at its peak. Without Tian Yu, the Lu family's business with the barbarians would not have encountered any unexpected problems.

Without Tian Yu, Yang Zheng's army could not have surrounded the Lu family so easily;

Without Tian Yu, the Lu family would never have reached the point of being besieged by a large army.

In Lu Shengyan's mind, Tian Yu was the Lu family's greatest enemy. From top to bottom, the Lu family wished they could tear Tian Yu to pieces.

Especially after hearing that Lu Shengjie and the others' operation failed because of Tian Yu, Lu Shengyan's hatred almost materialized, and he wished he could devour Tian Yu's flesh and blood.

"How did Tian Yu end up in the military camp outside the city?"

"Isn't Tian Yu supposed to be guarding the Great Wall? Why is he outside the city?"

"That despicable Tian Yu, I will tear him to pieces sooner or later!"

"..."

The elders of the Lu family were equally filled with hatred and murderous intent upon hearing the name Tian Yu.

Lu Yingjie then continued speaking, slowly recounting the entire process of assassinating Yang Zheng.

"What?! Ancestor Mingyu is dead?"

Upon hearing Lu Yingjie reveal that Lu Mingyu had died at Tian Yu's hands, both Lu Shengyan and the other elders trembled, their faces filled with sorrow.

It wasn't that they had any deep feelings for Lu Mingyu. The ancestors like Lu Yingjie and Lu Mingyu spent most of their time in seclusion in the underground chamber and rarely appeared in front of their clansmen. Many members of the Lu clan didn't even know of the existence of these ancestors.

Therefore, although they share the same blood, there is no real kinship between them.

The reason they looked so sad was that with the city under siege, a first-rank martial artist like Lu Mingyu was a crucial fighting force. Losing such a fighter would be a devastating blow to the Lu family.

After a long while, the people present finally accepted the devastating news that Lu Mingyu had died and Lu Yingjie was seriously injured.

Lu Shengyan forced himself to calm down, glanced at Lu Yingjie's almost ruined hand, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Ancestors. Ancestor Yingjie is injured, so please go find a doctor to treat him!"

"Ok!"

Lu Yingjie nodded and turned to leave the hall with the other three.

Lu Shengyan then turned around and sat back down in the main seat, asking, "Elders, now that the assassination attempt on Yang Zheng has failed, do you have any other ideas for a solution?"

After he finished speaking, the clan elders present looked at each other and fell silent.

They're experts at talking about how to enjoy themselves, but asking them for solutions to a predicament is clearly putting them in a difficult position.

The Lu family's home state of Youzhou had enjoyed peace for many years, and the clansmen had long been indulging in pleasure. From the elders to the ordinary members, while not all of them were good-for-nothings, most of them were incompetent.

Seeing that no one spoke for a long time, Lu Shengyan felt extremely helpless. In fact, he had no good solutions. At present, the Youzhou army had been defeated by the Great Wall army, and the only forces that the Lu family had left were the retainers and serfs in the manor.

While the Lu family's troops were elite, their numbers were small and insufficient to defeat the nearly 200,000-strong army outside the city. Even if all the serfs in the manor were armed, they would still be outnumbered. Therefore...

The only solution Lu Shengyan could think of was to rely on his retainers and armed serfs to defend the Lu family manor to the death!

"The only course of action now is to hold our ground to the death!"

After a moment, Lu Shengyan said resolutely, "Send orders to the tribe's retainers, instructing them to train the serfs in the manor as soon as possible, and to provide them with weapons and armor so that they can assist in defending the city!"

"Yes!"

Soon, the entire Lu family mobilized. One by one, the serfs were forcibly summoned, then put on heavy armor, took the weapons issued by the Lu family, and threw themselves into training.

…………

…………

It's getting light.

Standing in the morning light, Yang Zheng gazed at the bodies of his personal guards being slowly buried by the sand, and scenes of his time with them flashed through his mind.

Most of Yang Zheng's personal guards came from humble backgrounds; some were former vagrants, some were former tenant farmers, and some were former peasants...

The reason they joined Yang's army was simple: they were starving and believed that Yang Zheng could lead them and their families to a better life.

Yang Zheng did not disappoint them. He successfully overthrew the imperial court's rule in Liangzhou, shattering the mountain that had once weighed on their heads. This allowed their families to no longer suffer from hunger and cold, and they were able to barely have a full meal. This also made them trust Yang Zheng even more and be willing to give their lives for him!

Yang Zheng had thought he could lead them to a future of peace and prosperity for the people, but unfortunately...

They died last night and will never see them again.

A tear slowly slid down Yang Zheng's cheek as countless images of his time with his soldiers flashed through his mind.

"Yang Shuai, will you even get enough to eat if I follow you?"

"can!"

"Will my parents, younger brother, and younger sister also be able to have enough to eat?"

"Of course! Once I drive out the imperial court, you and your family will be able to eat your fill and wear warm clothes! You might even be able to eat meat every day!"

"That's great! Yang Shuai, I'm willing to follow you."

This is a conversation between Yang Zheng and a 18-year-old bodyguard. Because he wanted his family to live a life free from hunger, because he wanted his family to be well-fed and clothed, and because he trusted Yang Zheng, the tall and strong young man chose to become Yang Zheng's bodyguard, and for this he paid with his life...

"You must be feeling bad, right?"

A large hand landed on Yang Zheng's shoulder. Tian Yu looked at the corpse slowly being covered by sand and asked.

"Yes!"

Yang Zheng tilted his head back as much as possible to stop the tears from falling: "General Tian has commanded the Great Wall Army for many years. He must have experienced many similar things, right?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Yu fell silent. Of course, he had experienced many similar things. In the battles against the barbarians, countless soldiers of the Great Wall Army had died in front of him. His feelings at that time were probably no better than Yang Zheng's now.

As the backbone of the Great Wall Army, Tian Yu rarely showed his emotions!

“I promised them that I would bring them a better life, that I would let them see a peaceful world, and that there would be no more war or hunger!”

Yang Zheng looked up at the sky, tears streaming down his face: "But I broke my promise."