POW camp

Lan Wei ran home as fast as he could, and casually threw the unopened wooden box to the old butler who came up: "Please put it in the storage room." The old butler was stunned, and looked down to see the engraved words , which belongs to the royal pattern imprint.He glanced at Lan Wei helplessly, went to the storage room, opened the innermost golden lacquer cabinet, and carefully put the wooden box in—there were already three identical ones lying quietly there, still keeping their original appearance, let alone opened, It is estimated that Lan Wei will never remember.

Lan Wei didn't have time to pay attention to these things, his whole heart was filled with the joy of getting Lan Ting's news, he strode up the stairs and went directly to Mrs Enri's room.Mrs. Enli is Lan Zhen's wife, Lan Ting's biological mother, and Lan Wei's aunt.But ever since Lan Wei's father died in battle, his staunch mother died of poison, and the 15-year-old Lan Wei was brought back to the imperial capital by Lan Zhen to raise him, he has always called Enli his wife.

He stood outside the door, calmed down his excitement, and then raised his hand to knock on the door lightly.This is Mrs. Lien's study, no one can enter without her permission.For a long time, Mrs. Lien's deep voice came out: "Come in."

Lan Wei opened the door and walked in. Mrs. Lien was sitting at the desk, as if she had just read some documents, with an upside-down photo frame in her hand.She just passed her 46th birthday last year. She is tall, with fair and delicate skin, and looks quite young.But since the old duke passed away, she has been insisting on wearing a long black dress, and with her cold and serious face, she looks a bit indifferent and harsh, unreasonable.

Lan Wei bowed: "Ma'am."

"What's the matter, Captain Lan?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, I have some good news to tell you." Lan Wei's tone was still very polite, but the intimacy and joy were clearly written on his face, which was definitely different from that in the court.

"Tell me." Mrs. Lean said lightly.

"It's Lan Ting, ma'am, I have news about Lan Ting, he is not dead yet."

Mrs. Lien raised her head abruptly, and when she got the amazing good news, she didn't show any excitement on her face, but looked directly into Lan Wei's eyes with a cautious and dignified expression: "Who told you this? Is it accurate?" ?”

"It should be the exact madam, the crown prince told me personally."

"Really?" Mrs. Lien's eyes flashed, and she asked, "Where is he now?"

"In the fancheng prisoner-of-war camp."

"Prisoner-of-war camp." Mrs. Lean murmured and repeated, and said in a low voice, "So he was a prisoner of war, did he... did he..."

"No, ma'am." Lan Wei replied affirmatively, "We all know him, and Lan Ting will never give in to the enemy."

"Yes..." Mrs. Lien murmured imperceptibly, pondered for a while, and said slowly: "Lieutenant Lan, you promise me that you will never threaten the national interests of the enemy just because of Lan Ting's life." compromise."

"I promise you, ma'am." Lan Wei said seriously, "But please rest assured, the enemy doesn't know Lan Ting's true identity yet, we will definitely rescue him as soon as possible."

Mrs. Lien closed her eyes, and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: "That's good." Suddenly opened her eyes again, and looked at Lan Wei, "This matter must not be let other families know, we must strictly seal the news until Lan Wei Until Ting is rescued."

"Yes, ma'am."

Mrs. Lien leaned forward, put her arm on the table, and pressed her forehead with her fingers. The tiredness on her face gradually surfaced, and she whispered, "Go down first, I'm a little tired."

Lan Wei nodded slightly, and said with concern: "Please rest early, and call me anytime you need anything."

When Lan Wei walked out and closed the door, the study suddenly became quiet.Mrs. Lean maintained a posture without moving for a long time, like a black shadow under the pale light.

A window was not closed tightly, and was blown open by the wind, with a soft "pop".Mrs. Lien seemed to wake up suddenly from a dream, she looked up and looked around blankly, she let out a long breath, and slowly picked up the upside-down photo frame on the table.On the front of the photo frame, there is a photo inlaid. The 20-year-old Lan Ting has just graduated from the military academy and joined the army.Dressed in military uniform, he is tall and straight, full of vigor, with a confident and proud smile on his lips.

"Lanting..." Mrs. Li En gently stroked the handsome young man in the photo, and then pressed the frame of the photo tightly to her chest, with a sad but relieved face, calling in a low voice, "Lanting..."

Lanting is preparing breakfast.

There are only two meals in the POW camp, morning and afternoon.The jailer opened the cell door with a clatter, and brought in a dirty wooden bucket. Inside was soup that could be seen to the bottom, and there were some vegetable leaves that could not be discerned in the middle. Each person was given a small bowl, plus a hard one. bread.

Lan Ting ate the food in a few mouthfuls, and then stopped making a sound.Since the accident last time, Morton was quite angry, causing more than 72 people in Prison No. [-] where Lan Ting was located to not go out for three days. This is already a very severe punishment for them.The two most scarce things in prison are fresh air and food. Staying in the stuffy and smelly cell for [-] hours, everyone would be restless, but no prisoner complained aloud.Everyone was still joking and joking as usual, chatting with the guards guarding the gate, and screaming a few times when they were supposed to let the wind go.

Lan Ting has been very silent and rarely speaks. He always looks up at the corner of the sky outside the high window, as if thinking about something.None of the team members dared to disturb him, they huddled in the corner, and naturally divided into two camps with Duowei and the others.

Duowei threw the soup bowl to the jailer: "Can you fucking order more food? Has the granary been burned?"

"Okay, some food is good, we are not much better than you." The jailer said half-truthfully with a cigarette in his mouth.Duowei smiled and said, "You have lost the battle again. There is not enough food to eat. Surrender, buddy. I will speak good words for you in front of the officer."

"Fuck you." The jailer laughed, "If you talk nonsense again, your teeth will be broken."

"Oh, I'm so scared." Duowei put his hands on his chest, wrinkled his face and pretended to be shivering, and the prisoner behind him laughed.

The jailers packed up their things and withdrew.Duowei slowly suppressed his smile, walked among the brothers, and whispered, "Have you noticed, their cigarettes have been changed."

"What? Multidimensional."

"Cigarettes. There used to be only one kind of cigarette that this Jemin would smoke, called, uh..."

"Zi Ling."

"Ah, yes. But it was Stone Fortress that was drawn just now."

"Stone Castle? Is it the condolences donated to us by those anti-war people outside?"

Duowei nodded.

Someone nearby asked in a low voice: "Could it be that they withheld our condolences and enjoyed them?"

"It's not like." Duowei mused, "They must have done the same thing in the past, but at least they kept it a secret from us. In my opinion..." He paused and lowered his voice, "It is very likely that the materials in Fancheng , there is already a shortage, starting with cigarettes.”

The eyes of the prisoners lit up, and they rushed forward and asked, "Duowei, you mean..."

"The battle situation outside must have changed, and it's still on the positive side." Duowei smiled confidently, "I guess Pullman probably lost a big battle."

Everyone's emotions suddenly became excited, their news was too closed, as long as there was a little speculation, even if it was just a speculation, it would make them chew and ponder for a long time.They exchanged joyful glances with each other and whispered with their heads bowed.Duowei is also in a very restless mood. He believes that his judgment is correct. If this is the case, then Fancheng's victory is just around the corner.He tilted his head slightly, and met Shang Lanting's eyes.Duowei smiled friendly, and Lan Ting grinned, showing a forced smile.Duowei didn't care, shrugged, lay down leisurely, and said in a drawn-out voice: "Go to sleep, go to sleep, so as to accumulate strength. I'm waiting for my comrades to rescue me, and I must have a big meal when the time comes, haha. "

At this moment, there was another sound of leather boots stomping on the ground in the corridor outside, and then someone shouted: "Come out after eating! Squat down and put your head in your hands!"

Everyone was stunned. It's not the time to let the air go. What does the enemy want to do?While hesitating, the jailers came back and opened the cell door: "Come out, come out, hurry up!"

Duowei walked up to Jemin and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

"It's okay, it's a routine inspection." Jieming avoided Duowei's gaze and continued to drive the prisoners, "Hurry up, don't dawdle, are you fucking lame?" He walked to Lan Ting , stepped forward and kicked: "Hey..."

Lan Ting grabbed his ankle and twisted it hard."Ouch" Jemin fell down, got up with an angry face, raised his whip and was just about to whip it off, when he met Lan Ting's eyes as bright as a wild beast.It was only then that Jieming realized that this person was the one who rebelled a few days ago, and he still couldn't forget that kind of fierceness and toughness.Poor fat Eddie had his nose broken, and half of his life was frightened away. The jailer didn't want to be like that hapless guy. He withdrew his whip and licked his lips in embarrassment, and yelled viciously: "Get up, get up."

Lan Ting got up slowly, dragged his shackles and walked outside the cell.

When all the prisoners had come out, the jailer led them outside to the open space in the middle of the prisoner-of-war camp.It just rained last night, and the muddy ground was trampled into a mess.Lanting opened his hands to cover the glare of the sun, and stood in a row with the prisoners.

Prisoner-of-war camps never release all prisoners at the same time. If there are too many prisoners, they are usually divided into three batches.It seemed that another group had already undergone routine inspection just now. Tada held a whip and walked back and forth impatiently.After all the prisoners had stood up, he stopped and said loudly, "Leugeant Colonel Laut is welcome."

Several jailers laid out a "bridge" with clean planks on the muddy floor. Lieutenant Colonel Lauter came over, followed by Sergeant Koto with a serious face.Lauter stood forward and glanced at the disheveled prisoner, but unexpectedly raised his eyes and met Lan Ting who was standing opposite him.

Obviously, Lan Ting is not the kind of person who keeps a low profile and tries to hide himself in the crowd as much as possible.He stood calmly in the middle of the first row, making it difficult to ignore his existence.

Lao turned his face and looked around Lan Ting: "My friends." His gloomy and deep voice sounded from the open space, "It's a pleasure to meet you again. On behalf of the military, I want to tell you an exciting news. Just last night, our country and the Ole Empire fought again in Ningzhen, and won the victory without any surprise..." He said good news, but his face was not happy at all, and he looked at the prisoners with disgust, Like looking at a filthy pile of filthy garbage.

Prisoners have heard this kind of front-line battle report that reports good news but not bad news countless times.Ren Laut talked about the hype, and the next one would either close his eyes and meditate, or look around, or wink at each other and make faces, or quietly think about his own thoughts.

Lauter’s speech continued, dryly as if reciting a script: “…our army wiped out more than 200 enemies, my friends, and more than [-] people died. Your country is almost unable to hold on, our army’s Victory is at hand..."

Suddenly, someone among the prisoners gave a cold snort, which was especially harsh in this supposedly quiet place.Lauter paused, stopped for a while, and looked at Lan Ting maliciously: "Do you have any comments? Lieutenant Lan Ting."

"It's nothing." Lan Ting raised his head, "It's just that I haven't heard about your army's battle situation for a long time, and I'm a little uncomfortable."

Lauter smiled, and seemed to suddenly have a strong interest in Lanting: "Of course, I will tell you about this situation in the future. The Ole Empire army has not won for a long time, and you will adapt to our good news."

"Yes." Lan Ting immediately said, "It takes a while to get used to it. Our army never reports such small-scale victories. It's unnecessary. There are too many. If we do report them, I'm afraid I won't be able to remember them one by one." live."

From behind came the muffled laughter of some prisoners.The muscles on Lauter's face twitched, and he walked slowly in front of Lan Ting, stepping on the mud with his shiny leather boots.The Koto guard behind him hesitated a lot, wondering if he should quickly stretch the board over and lay it up.Lauter looked Lan Ting up and down, the young captain's clothes were still very thin, full of gray stains, his sleeves and trouser legs were rolled up high, no different from ordinary prisoners.But his eyes were too bright, as if there was a fire burning inside, and looking deeper, it was hard to ignore the coldness and sarcasm hidden in them.This mixture of cold and heat gave the young captain an indescribable magic in his gaze.

Lauter asked grimly: "So what can Lieutenant Lanting remember, the pain of being hung up and tortured?"

"I don't have a good memory. I can only think of the Battle of Guangning, the Battle of Yanfeng, and the Battle of Xiushui." Lan Ting squinted at Tada, "These are enough for me to survive the pain." He was talking about the Ole Empire Several extremely large-scale battles that were won a month ago, the prisoners were awakened for a long time, and they began to whisper, and there was some commotion in the air.

"What's the use?" Lauter deliberately looked Lan Ting up and down, "You are not captured, standing here with shackles." He noticed the forearm and calf of the other party, which was full of strength and graceful Smooth muscle lines.The wrists and ankles are shackled by black iron shackles, but there is a kind of untamed beauty.

"It's not certain who will win the final victory. You can eat and drink here, and it's much more comfortable than sleeping in the open during a war." Lan Ting paused, then smiled, showing his white teeth, "Don't worry, wait for me When collecting your body, you will not be shackled." The prisoners laughed unceremoniously.

Lauter narrowed his eyes. To be precise, he didn't get angry too much. He just stared at Lan Ting's rebellious appearance, and his body felt hot.Some people have this ability to easily mobilize everyone's emotions and become the focus of attention, like a kindling in a dry wood in winter, a catfish in a school of caught sardines, turning a stagnant pool upside down.Lauter seemed to understand why Hovis had to have this captain.Indeed, he was charming, and Lauter had to admit that in some respects Hovis was far sharper than he was.

Lauter felt a little regretful. Just as he was about to say something, a soldier ran over and handed in a document.Corto took a look and whispered something in Lauter's ear.Lauter raised his eyebrows and waved his hand: "That's it, shut them all back." He turned and walked to the lounge.

Several jailers hurriedly followed.Duowei rolled his eyes, picked up a piece of wet mud from the ground, and threw it at Lauter. The "bu" land hit his military uniform like a ball of dog shit.The prisoners grumbled.Lauter was furious this time. He took off his coat and threw it to the jailer. He stared at the prisoner viciously, and asked in a harsh voice, "Who did it?"

No one answered, and there was silence in the clearing.Lauter raised a finger, and the words came out from between his teeth: "I'll ask again, who did it?"

Still no one speaks.

Laut snorted out of his nose, nodded, and smiled viciously: "Okay, that's great. I like your character, tough enough. Let's see what a bastard can do to you useless bastards." Good end. From now on, they will not be given food unless the bastard is confessed!"

Before he could finish speaking, Duowei stood up, raised his face, and squinted at him.

"It's you?" Lauter raised his eyebrows and was about to say something again.Lan Ting dragged his shackles and took a step forward, standing side by side with Duowei.He didn't speak, and his expression was sneering and arrogant, and the five team members behind him also took a step forward at the same time.Then all the prisoners took a step forward.

This is Chi Guoguo's provocation. Lauter didn't speak for a long time, but he smiled angrily: "Okay, you all have kindness, I want to see if it's me or you." He whispered softly He told Tada, "This group of people are not allowed to go back to the prison, just stand here for six hours, and no one is allowed to sit down. Cancel today's dinner." Turn around and walk back.

Duowei sticks out his tongue, compares his middle finger to Lauter's back, and turns to look at Lan Ting.The two looked at each other and laughed at the same time, like two brothers reunited after a long absence, each stretched out a fist, punched each other, and then clenched tightly.Immediately, the jailer yelled nervously: "Stand up straight, don't move! No one is allowed to move!"

Lauter walked quickly to the door, turned around suddenly, and pointed at Lan Ting: "Give that prisoner to Director Hovis, and let him train him well."