Zheng Fan sat by the small stream, holding a handful of melon seeds he had grabbed from the dinner table earlier. Cracking them one at a time, he spat the shells into the blood-red stream.
After discovering Sister Ting was still alive, Chief Zheng’s mood improved considerably. The previous gloom, confusion, and the feverish feeling in his head seemed to have lessened significantly.
Even the sound of the Jingnan Army soldiers repeatedly stabbing corpses to ensure they were dead wasn’t as jarring to his ears anymore.
Has he adapted? Oh no, probably just become numb.
This truly is a goddamned world.
Chief Zheng suddenly felt a pang of regret.
If he hadn’t decided to leave Hutou City to stir things up, everyone would still be there now: A Ming could be brewing wine, Fanli chopping firewood; The Blind Man telling fortunes, Xue Three reciting stories. He himself could be a wealthy patriarch, with Siniang by his side every day. That wouldn’t have been so bad. At least he wouldn’t have to experience these things, nor witness them. It wasn’t that he was afraid; he just found it tiresome, with an added touch of disgust. The source of this content ɪs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢~𝔫𝔢𝔱
However, it seemed these were not choices he could make. If he had truly chosen to be an ordinary man, he probably would have died in that labor camp already. His corpse would have been trampled by barbarian cavalry, and then the Zhenbei Army’s iron cavalry would have crushed it again. If he were a bit luckier, the desert wolves scavenging for food the next morning might have found a relatively intact piece of his flesh.
The Blind Man, you said that ’those in power’ feast on human flesh. But you only meant they devour the flesh of the lower classes without batting an eye. Damn it, now they’re devouring the heads of their own kin, and they’re bloody well enjoying it too!
Rationally, Chief Zheng understood the immense weight of Lord Jingnan’s declaration: ’The fall of the great clans of Yan begins with my Tian Family.’ It was a statement brimming with initiative, even a kind of courage to forge a new path for the entire nation and its people. But honestly, Chief Zheng felt he could never reach such a state in this lifetime. If one truly had to live like that, how meaningless would life be? What would be the point? For my love of Great Yan and my loyalty to the Ji-surnamed imperial clan?
"What are you thinking?" Dujuan’s voice came from behind Chief Zheng.
Chief Zheng coughed and said, "Nothing."
"After tonight, I doubt anyone in the capital will still be talking about you crippling the Third Prince."
Heh, Lord Jingnan really went all out to keep me off the headlines.
After tomorrow, news of Lord Jingnan exterminating his own family would rapidly spread throughout the capital, then throughout Great Yan, and perhaps even across all four states of the East.
"The Lord works very hard," Dujuan stated.
"But the Lord doesn’t need pity," responded Chief Zheng.
"Hehe, it seems men understand men better."
"Sister Dujuan, you jest. I have nothing but inexpressible admiration for the Lord."
"I can tell, that wasn’t flattery."
"The Lord has a command."
Chief Zheng was momentarily taken aback, then knelt on one knee.
"This general will heed the command!"
"Order Chief Zheng to return to the capital tonight, enter the palace, and have an audience with His Majesty."
"To inform His Majesty on the Lord’s behalf: the first blow has been struck."
"This general obeys!"
After standing up, Chief Zheng, still somewhat bewildered, pointed to his own face and said, "Sister Dujuan, I believe I’ve had plenty of opportunities to distinguish myself lately. I should pass more chances to our other fellow soldiers. This way, we can all get along better in the future. It’s not right for me to keep hogging all the good assignments."
Damn it! I just turned the Emperor’s own son into Eunuch Wei’s godson earlier today, and now you’re telling me to go to the capital, enter the palace, and see His Majesty? You’re not even waiting overnight to kill the donkey after it’s done its work at the mill, are you?
"If the Lord tells you to go, you go. In the Jingnan Army, no one dares question the Lord’s military orders." Dujuan’s words were somewhat cold.
She was, after all, a female spy from the Spy Bureau. Even though she had just married into another family, she hadn’t lost her old professional touch.
"Just a joke, just a joke."
"And you don’t have to worry. You are someone the Lord values. His Majesty will not harm you."
Of course, you’re not afraid. You just married in, and your parents-in-law immediately died violent deaths. You must be ecstatic!
Of course, these were thoughts he only dared to think to himself; Chief Zheng wouldn’t dare say them out loud.
Without a seal or any official document, Chief Zheng, clad in his armor, mounted his warhorse and left the Tian Residence.
There was one more fortunate thing: Chief Zheng hadn’t killed anyone in the Elegant Garden earlier. So, unlike the other Jingnan Army soldiers, his armor wasn’t caked with layer upon layer of blood.
If it had been, the cold winter night wind would have frozen the blood on his armor, only for it to be occasionally thawed by his body heat. HISS... that smell...
Not far from the Tian Residence, Chief Zheng saw a large, dark mass of figures blocking his path.
There was actually a large army here!
Visibility was limited because it was night. However, as Chief Zheng drew closer, he became certain that the army before him numbered no fewer than three thousand men. Moreover, there were likely even more troops in the vicinity.
As he drew near, one of their scouts rode forward.
"Commander Zheng Fan of Green Willow Fortress, Yinlang County, Great Yan."
"Greetings, Lord Zheng."
The two scouts saluted Chief Zheng, and he returned the gesture.
One scout rode ahead to report while the other guided Chief Zheng. He passed through their lines with hardly any obstruction.
This was... the Jingnan Army.
Lord Jingnan hadn’t just brought a thousand men with him to the capital this time; these were clearly reinforcements that had arrived later.