The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 454- 456

Chapter 454: The Capture of Mu Rongfeng

Nobody knew when the wind had started to pick up. Outside Pingtao City, stones were driven along and sand was whirling around, hitting people’s faces. Dark clouds were slowly massing on the sea’s horizon, threatening rainstorm.

Only a small number of Mu Rongfeng’s men were still standing. All of them were crack marines of the Luohai Kingdom, but on this day they were all going to die in this place, which naturally made Mu Rongfeng’s heart ache. He’d waited for a very long time, yet there was still no sign of backup from Wang Xiangxin. If he didn’t reveal his identity right away, he would have to die with his men.

“Your Highness, you must not delay any longer. The Great Wen clearly premeditated and pre-planned this attack. There’s no way Wang Xiangxin could extricate himself and come to our help, Your Highness!” admonished one of his henchmen in a terribly anxious tone. “We can’t afford to let anything happen to you. You must return home safe. There are so many people coveting your position back there. Don’t you remember?!”

Mu Rongfeng gritted his teeth. After a fierce, long, internal struggle, he finally spoke.

“Stop! All of you!”

“I’m Mu Rongfeng, the crown prince of the Luohai Kingdom! None of you are to lay a finger on me!”

Mu Rongfeng? The crown prince of the Luohai Kingdom? Common marines and port guards of Pingtao City, all of whom were unaware of Mu Rongfeng’s identity, were somewhat surprised to hear his yell.

The general directing the siege had received the order from Yuwen Tong to spare the pirate kingpin’s life and was ready to instruct his men to stop after most of the other pirates were taken care of. On hearing the pirate kingpin claim to be the crown prince of the Luohai Kingdom, he came to understand what was going on.

“Stop.” He gave the order and with that all the soldiers attacking Mu Rongfeng’s men paused. “You said you’re the crown prince of Luohai. Do you have any proof?”

“Your Highness?” one of Mu Rongfeng’s bodyguards turned to look at him.

Mu Rongfeng removed his disguise and produced his ID plate. “This is my ID plate. There are only two plates of this kind in Luohai. One of them is kept in the palace; the other is in my hand. If you don’t believe me, you may send someone to Luohai to verify it.”

“Give me the plate.”

Mu Rongfeng disagreed. “This ID plate means a lot to me. I can’t trust anybody with it. You’ll have to take me to your commander first if you want to see it.”

Wu Zhuo had come ashore. After hearing the conversation between the two men in the front, he made towards them. The crowd of soldiers parted to make way for him. Wu Zhuo walked straight up to Mu Rongfeng, looked from him to the ID plate in his hand and then said, “I’m the commander of Haizhou navy. You claimed to be Mu Rongfeng, the crown prince of Luohai, but why did you and your men attack Pingtao City posing as pirates? What does the Luohai Kingdom mean by doing this?

“On top of that, if my memory serves me well, the crown prince of Luohai was the one leading a diplomatic corps to our country to sign a ceasefire agreement. One moment you were signing the agreement; the next you were making trouble. Don’t you think you people of Luohai are too supercilious?!”

“Now that things have already come to this, it’s unnecessary for you to make any more remarks in this regard. You may restrain me, but you must not hurt me. And, I want to see your emperor,” said Mu Rongfeng.

Wu Zhuo snorted coldly, “We haven’t confirmed your identity yet, and an audience with His Majesty is not something you can have as you please. Guards, restrain him. Make sure he’s under constant watch!”

“Yes, Commander!”

…

Wu Zhuo had Mu Rongfeng restrained and escorted into a heavily guarded detention room in Pingtao City.

“Sire, Mu Rongfeng identified himself and is requesting an audience with you. What are your orders?” Wu Zhuo hastened to see Yuwen Tong after having everything handled.

Yuwen Tong replied, “There’s no hurry. Just keep a close eye on Mu Rongfeng. Don’t let him die. Someone will take care of the rest of it.”

Wu Zhuo, who was a sensible man, asked no more questions. “Yes, Sire.”

“Clean up the mess outside Pingtao City first, then go and give Hai Mu a hand,” instructed Yuwen Tong.

“Yes, Sire,” Wu Zhuo answered and quickly made arrangements for his lieutenant to enter into the clean-up, and then he himself took some men and went to help Hai Mu.

Meanwhile, Wang Xiangxin and his men were still trapped in the containment formation.

As though providence was doing Ling Zhang a favor, the dark clouds in the sky above the sea were thickening and edging towards the shore. The sun had been concealed, and the whole Pingtao City was overshadowed by the clouds, the wind freshening, sand and dust filling the air. The favourable weather doubled the effectiveness of the containment formation Ling Zhang was using to keep Wang Xiangxin at bay, which was why Wang Xiangxin and his men still hadn’t cracked the formation after such a long time.

When Yuwen Tong arrived with some men, Ling Zhang was considering whether or not he should have Wang Dashan and some others go into the formation and kill Wang Xiangxin. The reason why he hadn’t sent anybody into the formation yet was because Wang Dashan and some others needed to stay outside to keep the formation in working order, and the rest of his bodyguards were unfamiliar with the formation and could easily get trapped like Wang Xiangxin and his men if they entered it.

“You’ve come. How’s Mu Rongfeng?” Ling Zhang immediately asked as he saw Yuwen Tong coming.

“In custody. I need him alive to make a deal with Luohai,” replied Yuwen Tong.

The capture of Mu Rongfeng indicated that the fighting at the port was probably over. Feeling somewhat relieved, Ling Zhang suggested, “Wang Xiangxin is still in there. This is a very good opportunity. I think we should take it and kill him.”

Yuwen Tong gave a bob of the head and then had Yao Yi lead some others into the containment formation.

Before deploying the formation, Ling Zhang had briefed Yao Yi and the others on it, so they all had some acquaintance with this formation, and Ling Zhang didn’t have to worry about any of them being trapped in it. However, the killers working for Wang Xiangxin were pretty good at kung fu and also adept at dirty tricks, so Ling Zhang informed Yao Yi and the others of the characteristics of those killers’ fighting styles that his father had disclosed to him, and cautioned them to take them seriously.

“Don’t worry, Childe Ling. We’ll be cautious,” Yao Yi said and then led his men towards the formation.

…

Wang Xiangxin had been stranded in the containment formation for quite some time, unable to figure out a way to crack it. The look on his face was getting uglier and uglier, anxiety building up in him.

Seeing this, the man beside him, who was wearing a black skintight outfit and had some totemic markings on his face, observed, “We can’t afford to be trapped in this place for long. If we get out of here too late, we’ll end up like fish in a barrel. Lord Commander, I suggest you use your men to clear the path. Just adopt the clumsiest method – have them close their eyes and walk straight forward. We may just follow in their wake. This is just a stony area outside Pingtao City. Someone deployed a formation here with the mere advantage of the favourable terrain, but they couldn’t have made it large, which means we’ll be able to walk out of it if we keep going in one direction.”

Wang Xiangxin hesitated. All the men he’d brought with him this time were crack soldiers, an elite group that he heavily relied on. If he treated them as cannon fodder…

“Stop dithering, Lord Commander. Otherwise it’ll be us rather than them who’ll end up dead, and we won’t even be able to make it back to Jiangzhou, let alone get to Pingtao City!” snapped the man in black.

Wang Xiangxin gave a shudder, the look in his eyes instantly becoming sepulchral. “Let’s do it your way.”

If these crack soldiers died, he could groom more men to take their place, but if he died, he’d lose everything.

…

When Yao Yi and some others entered the formation, Wang Xiangxin had just made up his mind to use his elite soldiers as human shields to force his way out of the containment formation.

With the advantage of their familiarity with the formation, Yao Yi and his men made one kill after another, appearing and disappearing mysteriously.

“Ah!”

“Assass–AARGH!”

“Who’s there?!”

“Assassins! Everybody stay alert!”

Wang Xiangxin hadn’t got his men into proper marching formation yet when the situation changed. Originally they’d merely been trapped, but now his men was going down one after another, the smell of blood spreading.

To make things worse, Wang Xiangxin found that many of the crack soldiers behind him were gone. Most of them had dropped out and got lost in the weird, enigmatic formation!

“We’re running out of time. Forget about those men. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. Some others have entered this formation,” remarked the man in black beside Wang Xiangxin.

Wang Xiangxin immediately gave the order for his surviving elite soldiers to gather around him. Then he commanded some of them to blindfold themselves and progress non-stop.

At first some of them were scared, but after the man in black killed a couple of those too frightened to follow the order, all the rest blindfolded themselves and began to proceed tremulously, not daring raise any objections.

“Why are you going so slowly? Start running! Or else I’ll kill you where you stand!”

Under duress, the blindfolded soldiers began to run, Wang Xiangxin and the killers following in their wake. Most of those at the front bumped into obstacles and broke their heads. Some even fell into pits that suddenly appeared out of thin air, but there were also some things that seemed to be traps but were actually deceptive tricks. Just like this, at the cost of many soldiers’ lives, Wang Xiangxin and those killers actually found a way out.

Ling Zhang, who was outside the formation and saw the whole thing clearly, knitted his brows in the knowledge that at this rate, Wang Xiangxin would make good his escape. With some prompt adjustments to the containment formation, he would be able to trap Wang Xiangxin and the killers in there longer, but Yao Yi and some others were also in the formation and would very likely be trapped as well if he altered the formation at this point in time.

“Don’t worry. Let them flee. Wang Xiangxin is doing this at the cost of his own men’s lives. Even if he manages to get out, he wouldn’t have many soldiers left. Wu Zhuo is already on his way to this area with his marines,” Yuwen Tong consoled Ling Zhang.

Unsurprisingly, before long, Wu Zhuo arrived with the main force of the navy, who, by order of Yuwen Tong, got into an array and blocked all the paths Wang Xiangxin might take after exiting the containment formation.

Wang Xiangxin believed that he had finally found a way out of the predicament, that he would be able to extricate himself from the cursed place. However, he was unaware of what was waiting for him outside. His crack soldiers were going down constantly, either wounded or killed. Those who dared disobey had all been disposed of already.

After a Joss-stick (a unit of time used in feudal China; how long it takes for a joss stick to burn itself out), Wang Xiangxin was very close to the edge of the containment formation.

“The fog ahead is lifting. We’ll soon be rid of this formation,” said the man in black delightedly.

They were good at hiding and some underhand tricks, but this containment formation was something they’d never seen before. The man in black, along with his underlings, had sworn allegiance to Wang Xiangxin, but he’d done that only because he wanted to indulge in a gay life and debauchery. He had no intention to die for Wang Xiangxin. He was fully aware that during the long period of time when Wang Xiangxin had been trapped in this place, the situation outside had undoubtedly changed dramatically. What was happening on this day was too weird, and Wang Xiangxin’s day had gone. The man in black decided to take his men and leave immediately after they got out of this containment formation, lest they die with Wang Xiangxin.

However, the good mood of the man in black didn’t last long. What they’d seen a moment before was indeed an exit, and they finally got out, but the sight of the large army ahead, who were in battle array and waiting for them, told them explicitly that they wouldn’t be able to escape even if they were provided with wings.

“Wu Zhuo?! It’s you?!” exclaimed Wang Xiangxin through gritted teeth, his face instantaneously blanching, his eyes reddening with fury as they fell on Wu Zhuo who was leading the army. Every one of his elite soldiers who had just fled out of the formation with him was a sorry sight, their faces registering despair as they saw the scene in front of them.

Thunderous beating of battle drums and battle cry filled the air once again. Behind Wang Xiangxin was the main force of his army intercepted by the Haizhou garrison; ahead of him were the main force of the navy in battle array, who had been waiting for them to get out of the containment formation and then walk straight into another trap. A sudden twitch of fury gave Wang Xiangxin a throbbing pain in the heart and he was nearly reduced to spitting out a mouthful of blood!

Chapter 455: I Want to See Yuwen Tong

“You got nowhere to go, Wang Xiangxin.”

“Boys, bring me Wang Xiangxin and all his minions, dead or alive!”

Looking at Wang Xiangxin masquerading as a common soldier, Wu Zhuo smiled wryly and then gave the order to restrain him. Originally he’d been uncertain about which one of those men was Wang Xiangxin, because Wang Xiangxin had disguised himself very well, but Wang Xiangxin feared death and had had all his elite soldiers and the killers cluster around him to protect him, which made him an obvious target. On top of that, a moment before Wang Xiangxin had called Wu Zhuo’s name out of resentment, blowing his cover thoroughly.

Wang Xiangxin had brought only a small number of crack troops with him, and one third of them had been killed in the containment formation. Faced with the large army of marines of the Great Wen who vastly outnumbered them, they didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. Though the killers working for him were kung fu experts, they were no match for an army. Besides, Yao Yi and some others had joined the fight and were targeting those killers.

Actually Ling Zhang wanted very much to join the fight as well. He and his men had invested so much time and energy in locating Wang Xiangxin to kill him. If he could personally cut Wang Xiangxin’s head off, all their previous efforts would be worthwhile. However…

Yuwen Tong gripped the back of his collar and told him to calm down. “That’s a dangerous fight, and those killers are all masters of dirty tricks, so I’m not letting you go down there. In addition, your arm is wounded. Don’t you remember? Surely you don’t think your body’s invulnerable to all attacks?”

Ling Zhang, “…”

He tried to struggle free but failed and with that he appeared somewhat crestfallen.

“Wang Xiangxin is right there. It sucks I have to stand here instead of going down there to capture him.”

Yuwen Tong said, “There’s no hurry. Wang Xiangxin is nothing. In the future you’ll meet people whom you’ll be even more eager to catch, and you can’t be so impulsive every time you see someone like that, can you?”

Ling Zhang knew in his heart of hearts that Yuwen Tong had a point, but at this moment he was in an extremely excited state, and being forced to stay put really got on his nerves.

But there was no way he could do what he wanted to do unless Yuwen Tong let go of him.

Wang Dashan and the others undid the containment formation. Aware of what their master was thinking, they joined the fight on their own initiative. The Trap-and-Kill Formation of Twelve was what they were best at. After Yang Liuzi and the other eleven men mastered the formation, it had become a unique skill of the twenty-four of them. They could even trap a kung fu master with it, let alone Wang Xiangxin.

Wang Xiangxin was in the middle of those kung fu masters who were protecting him, and his elite soldiers were trying to breach the surrounding circle to make their escape back to the checkpoint in Jiangzhou. However, their escape route had now been cut off, and Wu Zhuo’s men had ringed them. Wang Xiangxin was now in the midmost of the battlefield, like a turtle in a pot.

Ever since Wang Dashan and the others had joined the fight, they’d been moving so nimbly that none of the enemies could touch them, as if they were as slippery as loaches. When Wang Xiangxin’s men caught on to what was going on, Wang Xiangxin had been trapped.

“You average musclemen must have death wishes to get in my way!” snapped the man in black beside Wang Xiangxin. He was the first to make an attempt to break out of the surrounding circle of the twenty-four men. However, not only were all his attacks deflected, but he even felt a great force weighing him down. It was as though a small mound in front of him had suddenly turned into a lofty mountain, one that he was unable to climb over!

“Today none of you are leaving this formation,” said Wang Dashan.

“Who are you people?!” railed the man in black.

“Humph, you’re just a filthy, disreputable killer. You’re in no position to ask us any questions. It’s Wang Xiangxin that we want. If you’re sensible enough to surrender yourself, maybe I’ll spare your life!” replied Qiu Bing aloud in a contemptuous tone.

Distantly, Ling Zhang quietly stroked his face as he heard these words. It struck him that there was something wrong with these remarks of Qiu Bing’s, that Qiu Bing sounded like a kingpin of some kind of gang. He felt that Qiu Bing needed to work on his way of speaking, seeing as he was now an imperial guard.

“Which gang are you from? Why are you interfering with the imperial court’s business?!” the man in black questioned loudly.

Ling Zhang, “…”

Qiu Bing’s whip was making a whistling sound as it swishing through the air. It had been poisoned and took on a blackish blue color, looking menacingly horrifying and even weirder and more evil than the weapons of those killers in black. He even grinned ghoulishly at the man in black, “I’ll tell you if you get on your knees and beg for your life.”

Ling Zhang was rendered speechless. Qiu Bing was archly by nature; after he received harsh training from Xie Shi, his personality had become somewhat unpredictable, and even the way he did things had changed considerably. He seemed to have an urge to subject these killers to the same sufferings that Xie Shi had inflicted on him, which was why he was acting so unrestrainedly.

“You–!” The man in black went berserk. “You were just a cipher when I entered Jianghu! You’re a dead man!”

“Oh, bring it on. Come here if you want to die,” said Qiu Bing.

On the side, Yang Liuzi and some others rolled their eyes upwards, but faced with the suicidally fierce attacks from the killers leading by the man in black, they didn’t dare take it lightly. They were moving so fast that their feet were rapid blurs of movement. The whole trap-and-kill formation was so flexible as though it could devour people. Not only were all those killers’ attacks parried, but they were also forced into backing off one pace after another.

Wang Xiangxin, who was at the center of the surrounding circle and also the most anxious one, bitterly regretted having left the checkpoint to rescue Mu Rongfeng. As things stood, he not only didn’t stand a chance of saving Mu Rongfeng but also would probably be captured!

He had lost a lot of men but got neither the gold from the Wan Kingdom nor the soldiers from the Luohai Kingdom, and now even he himself was about to be taken prisoner. His deal with the two countries, instead of bringing benefits to him, was sending him to his doom.

However, no matter how remorseful Wang Xiangxin was, it was already too late.

…

The deafening beating of battle drums and battle cries were making the welkin ring. Wang Xiangxin was trapped in the trap-and-kill formation. The killers beside him were going down one after another, but they still couldn’t break the enemies’ formation. What with his average kung fu skills, there was hardly anything he could do to help. It was only a matter of time before he was captured.

Yuwen Tong loosened his grip on Ling Zhang’s collar, for the fighting was coming to an end.

Before long…

PUFF!

Wang Xiangxin’s most powerful protector, the man who was wearing a skintight black outfit and had some eerie totemic markings on his face, was killed in the trap-and-kill formation. He had nobody to protect him now and was completely trapped at the center of the enemies’ trap-and-kill formation. He was at the end of his rope.

Wang Xiangxin was ashen-faced, knife in hand. After his resentful eyes sinisterly swept across Wang Dashan and the others encircling him, he said, “Who are you exactly? If you’re cooperating with the imperial court for money, I can pay you more. Large houses, beautiful women – I’ll give you anything you want. All you need to do is protect me and help me break out of the surrounding circle of the imperial court’s troops.”

“Humph,” Wang Dashan snorted coldly. “We’re not struck on any of those things. Drop your weapon if you value your life. Resist and you’ll die here.”

“A hundred thousand taels of silver!” offered Wang Xiangxin aloud. “You may take the money and leave this country and spend the rest of your lives in comfort and pleasure, and you’ll never have to take orders from the imperial court ever again!”

Wang Xiangxin had been maintaining a group of killers, providing them with money and women, and he firmly believed that Wang Dashan and the others were outlaws rather than soldiers serving the imperial court, so he offered to give them a hundred thousand taels of silver, intending to tempt them to spare him and escort him back to the checkpoint in Jiangzhou.

“You’re wasting your time. We won’t let you go even if you give each of us a hundred thousand taels of gold, not to mention a hundred thousand taels of silver. Indeed, we’re not marines, but we’re imperial guards,” said Wang Dashan, producing an ID plate.

What? Wang Xiangxin incredulously glanced from the ID plate in Wang Dashan’s hand to Qiu Bing. “Yo–You people are actually Yuwen Tong’s men!”

“Well, sort of. Just surrender yourself,” replied Wang Dashan.

“Humph. Now that imperial guards came here, Yuwen Tong must be here as well. I want to see him!” Wang Xiangxin suddenly demanded an audience with Yuwen Tong.

Frowning, Wang Dashan said, “Drop your weapon.”

Wang Xiangxin gave a sneer, knowing that the battle had been lost. He was trapped in this formation with nobody to protect him, and there was no way he could make any difference with the knife in his hand. Given that he had worked against Yuwen Tong, the latter might not spare his life, but as long as there was still a glimmer of hope, however faint it was, he would go for it, because he didn’t want to die in this place!

CLANK!

Wang Xiangxin dropped his knife.

“Tie him up,” instructed Wang Dashan.

Qiu Bing gave a snort and swung his whip, which quickly coiled around Wang Xiangxin. Then he warned, “You’d better behave yourself. My whip is covered with poison which inflicts instant death on anybody whose blood it comes into contact with. If you dare struggle, I’ll take your life.”

“You’re bluffing. Only Yuwen Tong gets to decide whether I shall live or die,” remarked Wang Xiangxin.

Qiu Bing exchanged glances with the others before he said, “That might not be the case.”

Wang Xiangxin’s countenance changed slightly. “Aren’t you imperial guards?” he asked.

“We are, but who said we’re His Majesty’s guards? Imperial guards serve more than one master. Understand?” responded Qiu Bing.

“What do you mean?” An ugly look appeared on Wang Xiangxin’s face.

Qiu Bing ignored him and jerked his whip, dragging Wang Xiangxin out, then called out to Wu Zhuo, “Commander Wu, we got Wang Xiangxin!”

Wu Zhuo was delighted to hear the good news. “Well done!”

Yao Yi, after finishing off the last killer who intended to escape by hiding among the crowd, leaped over, glanced at Wang Xiangxin who was bound, and then asked, “Why does he look as if he wants to eat you alive?”

Qiu Bing curled his lip. “Who knows? Maybe he’s soft in the head.”

Yao Yi cast a speculative look at him and said, “Take him away.”

“All right.”

Wang Xiangxin couldn’t help but demur, “I dropped my weapon because you promised me you’d bring me to see Yuwen Tong! You’re supposed to perform your duty as imperial guards! Are you going to act without your master’s authorization?!”

Yao Yi paused and looked at Wang Xiangxin. “You’re not in a position to request an audience with His Majesty.”

…

In the distance, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong saw the whole thing. When Qiu Bing made that remark, Ling Zhang tossed Yuwen Tong a fairly apprehensive glance. Finding that there was no displeasure on Yuwen Tong’s face, he said, “I’ll punish Qiu Bing for saying that after he returns.”

Yuwen Tong observed, “Qiu Bing is your man and serves you. His allegiance lies with you only, and that’s enough. There’s nothing wrong with what he said just now.”

Astonished, Ling Zhang gazed at him. It was a few moments before he came to himself. “You’re placing excessive trust in me. Qiu Bing serves me, but he should be loyal to you as well. Otherwise I would rather dismiss him.”

It was true that Qiu Bing was his bodyguard, but now that he and Yuwen Tong had got married, they were supposed to be at one with each other, and some things must be made very clear. He knew what Qiu Bing meant, and he also knew what Yuwen Tong meant, which was the very reason why he needed to do something about it.

Chapter 456: Recapture of Jiangzhou

After the apprehension of Wang Xiangxin, the rebel army were terribly demoralized and soon routed utterly. Some started fleeing towards the checkpoint in confusion, and some were captured on the spot.

Hai Mu, taking advantage of the victory, led the Haizhou garrison into Jiangzhou and at the same time had copies of the latest battlefield report quickly delivered to Xiao Jiangyue, the General Zhongwu (AKA the General of Loyalty and Valor), as well as the generals in charge of other checkpoints, telling them to join hands to attack Jiangzhou from all sides.

As regards Haizhou, the Haizhou governor and the commander of the Haizhou navy were responsible for the clean-up. Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang moved into Pingtao City. Wang Xiangxin had been marched into Pingtao City for interrogation.

Tied with Qiu Bing’s whip, he didn’t dare move for fear of the poison on the whip, but his eyes were staring at Qiu Bing resentfully. During the journey, Qiu Bing had said a lot of provocative words to Wang Xiangxin, because he’d enjoyed very much the sight of Wang Xiangxin being consumed with fury but powerless to do anything about it.

“That’s enough. Take him there right away. Our masters will be there soon,” said Yao Yi, walking over.

“It’s your lucky day,” observed Qiu Bing, marching Wang Xiangxin into a room.

“Kneel!” Qiu Bing gave the hollows of Wang Xiangxin’s knees a kick, which instantly sent Wang Xiangxin slumping to his knees.

Wang Xiangxin’s face twisted in anger. “You–!”

Qiu Bing snorted flintily, “Be a peach and stay on your knees. If you dare play any tricks, I’ll kill you.”

The moment Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong arrived, they caught sight of Wang Xiangxin obediently kneeling on the ground, Qiu Bing standing guard on the side, looking as ferocious as a warden.

“I’m honored to kneel before you, Your Majesty, Your Highness,” said Qiu Bing at the sight of them, replacing his fierce look with a deferential one, paying his respects to them with due formality.

“You may rise,” said Ling Zhang, looking at him. “There’s no need to stand guard here for the moment. Go and check if Dashan or any of the others is hurt.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Qiu Bing rose to his feet, withdraw the whip coiling around Wang Xiangxin and gave him a dirty look before leaving.

…

It’d never crossed Wang Xiangxin’s mind that Yuwen Tong would really grant him an audience. His face grew quite sullen at the sight of Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang entering, but he had to hold back all his bitter words despite the fact that he was quite unreconciled to the current situation.

He’d demanded an audience with Yuwen Tong solely because he wanted to live. He knew very well that it was impossible for him to save his hide by ratting on his subordinates in Jiangzhou and Zhu You and some others, so what he was going to betray was the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom, both of which had offered to assist him.

The Wan Kingdom had been the first to contact Wang Xiangxin, and Wang Xiangxin still had a letter from the Wan Kingdom in hand, which was a key piece of evidence. It was these letters that Wang Xiangxin intended to offer in exchange for his life.

Unfortunately for him, in Yuwen Tong’s eyes, he was the kingpin of the rebel army and must die, for Yuwen Tong didn’t want there to be any loose ends. A key letter from the Wan Kingdom was of little significance, because the Wan Kingdom, after paying large amounts of war reparations twice in a row, was now terribly impoverished and unable to pay any more compensation. If pushed too hard, they might well put up a desperate fight. Currently, both the Wan Kingdom and the Great Wen were in dire need of a period of peace to recover and rebuild, and neither of them would wage a war in the next few years. After the two countries’ armies returned to full strength, there would definitely be another war, even if none of these things had ever happened.

“I’m not interested in that thing,” said Yuwen Tong flatly.

Wang Xiangxin’s heart sank. This was the only thing he had in hand that he believed of some value to Yuwen Tong. Now that Yuwen Tong had become the ruler of this country, his men would sooner or later conduct an intensive search of Jiangzhou, which meant that it was only a matter of time before some of the facts came to Yuwen Tong’s knowledge, no matter whether he told Yuwen Tong about them or not. If he was to survive, he must offer something Yuwen Tong couldn’t say no to!

“What about the Luohai Kingdom?! Mu Rongfeng also played a part in this. Do you not want to–”

“I’ve captured Mu Rongfeng already. What else do you think I need to get to negotiate with the Luohai Kingdom?”

What? Wang Xiangxin’s face went ghastly white. Mu Rongfeng had been captured? Didn’t that mean his last hope was gone?

The reason why Yuwen Tong had come to see Wang Xiangxin was merely because he’d wanted to find out what Wang Xiangxin would use as a bargaining chip to save his neck, but now it turned out that none of the things Wang Xiangxin could offer was of any use, so he naturally had no reason to keep sitting in this room.

He and Ling Zhang stood up and left.

Wang Xiangxin didn’t utter another word till the end, because there was no word he could say that would do any good.

Wang Xiangxin was executed right in the interrogation room. His body was burnt with those of the other rebels. After the news of his death spread to Jiangzhou, almost all the surviving rebels’ spirits were broken. One of Wang Xiangxin’s lieutenants had died with him in Haizhou, and the rest of them were disunited, unable to do anything to save the situation, powerless to defend against the attacks from the army of the imperial court who vastly outnumbered them.

Half a month later, surviving rebels in various areas were all disposed of. The officials that had colluded with Wang Xiangxin, and who were led by Zhu You, were all apprehended. Thus, the Jiangzhou rebellion was brought to an end.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong set off to return to the capital city via Jiangzhou. They stayed in downtown Jiangzhou for two days, intending to find Zhu You’s assets which Ling Zhaowu had once mentioned to them, the large sum of unaccountable money.

As a result, Ling Zhang was very excited when the soldiers started searching Zhu You’s residence. He was eager to see how much money would be found in there.

In order to see it with his own eyes, Ling Zhang stealthily followed the soldiers into the residence. Yuwen Tong didn’t mind, but as Ling Zhang went there, he naturally went with him.

Because of this, Yao Yi didn’t let the soldiers do it. He personally took some men to conduct the search. Wang Dashan and some others came to his help.

Zhu You’s residence was located right in downtown Jiangzhou. The Zhu family had a high social status in Jiangzhou, and their residence was even larger than the prefectural yamen. Also, it was, in some sense, of much more pomp than the mansion of the former Jiangzhou governor was. Unlike his predecessor, Zhu You was a native of Jiangzhou, a member of a wealthy local family, or a local scoundrel, to put it bluntly, which was why he’d worked hand in glove with Wang Xiangxin, killed the former Jiangzhou governor and taken his place.

All members of the Zhu family had been taken into custody. Due to a particular order, Zhu You’s residence was guarded for the time being and hadn’t been ransacked yet.

“Do it.”

Ling Zhang was itching to start looking for the money, eyeing the residence like a hungry wolf eyeing a piece of juicy meat. According to his father, the amount of the money hidden in this place was huge. Right now the imperial court was strapped for funds, and this money had come as a godsend.

Yao Yi brought two teams of picked men to the residence. Wang Dashan and the other twenty-three, due to their acquaintance with concealment formations, first studied the overall layout of the residence after entering, and then began to search a couple of particular areas.

As Ling Zhang gave the order, everybody started combing the residence in their respective ways.

“It’ll take us a lot of time to find it if we do it this way. Don’t you think directly forcing Zhu You to make a confession would be much quicker?” said Yuwen Tong. Seeing how thrilled Ling Zhang was, he was worried that Ling Zhang would personally go in there to rummaged around in those chests, so he was keeping a close eye on Ling Zhang.

“That’s different. It’ll be a lot less fun,” replied Ling Zhang. “I have to see it with my own eyes how much the money that even my father described as ‘a large sum’ is exactly.”

Ling Zhaowu, who had possessed both great wealth and enormous power in his last incarnation, was barely struck on anything. Considering even he had described the money as ‘a large sum’, there were, without doubt, quite some silver ingots hidden in Zhu You’s residence. In Ling Zhang’s sight, this search was like an adventure. This residence had piqued his interest some time before.

“Given that the Zhu family owns such a large mansion in downtown Jiangzhou, it must be one of the wealthiest families in this prefecture. How come I’ve never heard about any high-ranking officials bearing the surname ‘Zhu’ in the capital city?” Ling Zhang asked Yuwen Tong curiously.

Seeing as what the Zhu family was capable of, it was fairly inexplicable that the Zhu family was merely a distinguished family in Jiangzhou. However, during the reign of the former emperor, Ling Zhang had never heard of any high-ranking courtiers who were surnamed Zhu and from Jiangzhou.

Yuwen Tong responded, “There indeed used to be a high-ranking official from the Zhu family. He worked as the Assistant Minister of Revenue. Afterward, for some unknown reason, he suddenly resigned and returned to his hometown. Even the whole Zhu family left the capital city and moved back to Jiangzhou.”

“Is there any written information about it in the palace or the Ministry of Revenue?” inquired Ling Zhang.

“There might well be some kind of connection between that matter and the partisan wrangling at that time. Before the Zhou family pulled out, a prince of the Zhou family plotted to usurp the throne but someone blew the whistle on him, and he was suddenly apprehended when he was within an inch of success. The then Assistant Minister of Revenue probably had something to do with that prince of the Zhou family – maybe he was a trusted subordinate of the prince’s and betrayed the prince at the last moment… The complexity of that matter is known to nobody but those directly involved in it at that time. There was sure as hell some kind of deal between the Zhu family and the then emperor,” explained Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang didn’t fully understand, but he had got a general idea of what might have happened in the Zhu family. However, if the Zhu family did possess that much money, how had they accumulated it? With the help of the remaining influence of that progenitor who used to be the Assistant Minister of Revenue?

“Or maybe it also has something to do with this large sum of money hidden in this place,” added Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang looked at him. “What do you mean?”

Yuwen Tong replied, “It’s just a conjecture of mine. I’ll have to find the money first before I could decide whether it’s right or wrong.”

Ling Zhang curled his lip. “All right. Anyway, there’s no doubt we’ll know if there’s any money hidden in here by the end of the day.”

The two teams of crack soldiers Yao Yi had brought to this place were conducting an inch-by-inch search, followed by a number of men who were here to confiscate the Zhu family’s possessions. Every time the two teams finished searching a room, some of the men would go there to make an inventory of the possessions, sort them then box them up.

Wang Dashan and the other twenty-three were searching a couple of targeted areas. They were cooperating with each other and working with high efficiency.

They’d entered the Zhu family’s residence in the morning, and it was not until shortly before noon that they made a discovery.

There were many storerooms in the residence. Apart from Zhu You’s private storeroom, there was a smaller storeroom in almost every courtyard house, and then there was the public storeroom of the Zhu family. These places had been the first to be scoured, Zhu You’s personal storeroom being an important target. However, at first nobody had found any spots where large amounts of money could be hidden. So far they had found ten thousand taels of silver at the most, along with some antiques, calligraphy works and drawings by famous artists, jewelries and so on.

Afterward, Wang Dashan and his men studied the layout of the residence, searched a couple of targeted areas, combed the book chamber in Zhu You’s courtyard house intensively and found a hidden door leading to the entrance of an underground space.

“We’re still looking for the control switch of the entrance. Would you like to go there to take a look, Your Highness?”

Ling Zhang’s eyes lit up. “Of course.”

At the sight of the twinkle in Ling Zhang’s eyes, Yuwen Tong came to know that he wouldn’t be able to stop Ling Zhang, so he instructed the one who’d just reported the discovery, “Lead the way.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The two of them followed the man into Zhu You’s book chamber. The chamber was quite unconventional in terms of its design. Both its frame and the disposition of walls were customized. Seen from the outside, it was nondescript, but the moment they walked inside, they found that there were several layers of defense in it, that it’d be very difficult for a common person to intrude into this chamber.

The entrance of an underground space had been discovered at the foot of a wall on the left-hand side of the book chamber. Wang Dashan and some others, when walking past that wall, had noticed that their footsteps sounded different, and thus confirmed that it was an openable entrance, but they hadn’t found the control switch yet. It must be hidden somewhere.

Seeing this, Ling Zhang was somewhat confused.