Chapter 114: Open Murder on the Street

Before Cui Chengxiu could send anyone to summon him, the man outside had already arrived on his own. The moment the visitor pushed open the door and entered, Yuan Chonghuan's earlier suspicion was confirmed.

The visitor was none other than Yuan Chonghuan's own teacher, Sun Chengzong — who had also been the teacher of the late Tianqi Emperor. In a sense, Yuan Chonghuan and the Tianqi Emperor could even be considered fellow disciples.

Following close behind Sun Chengzong was Xiong Sen, the very man who had come rushing to Dongjiang not long ago.

Before Yuan Chonghuan could open his mouth, Sun Chengzong barked first: "What a fine Supreme Commander Yuan you are! This old Sun would very much like to see just how Ningyuan and Jinzhou cannot do without you, Supreme Commander Yuan!"

Yuan Chonghuan knew full well by now that he was finished. They had even prepared his replacement already — clearly this had been plotted long in advance.

Ridiculous, to think he had planned to use his troops at Ningyuan and Jinzhou as leverage, fattening the barbarians to make himself indispensable.

Yuan Chonghuan gave a bitter laugh. Unable to face Sun Chengzong, he turned to Cui Chengxiu and said, "This Yuan wishes to go to the capital and appear before His Sacred Majesty, to beg the Emperor's sacred judgment."

Ignoring Cui Chengxiu's presence entirely, Sun Chengzong seized the reply first and said to Yuan Chonghuan with a cold sneer, "Of course you shall go to the capital and appear before His Sacred Majesty.

After all, you are a high-ranking border official commanding Ningyuan and Jinzhou. Neither I, nor Lord Cui, nor Grand General Mao, can dispose of you here.

The only one who can dispose of you is His Sacred Majesty, the reigning Emperor."

But before Yuan Chonghuan could speak, Adviser Tu could contain himself no longer. He threw himself to his knees and cried out, "This Tu was coerced by Yuan Chonghuan! This student knows of all his unlawful deeds and is willing to confess everything. I beg Your Excellencies to show leniency!"

Yuan Chonghuan knew there was no hope for him and made no move to stop the man. He merely watched Adviser Tu with a cold sneer and said, "Begging for mercy now? Where were you earlier? If you had any brains, you'd do yourself a clean end — that would be better."

Zhu Gang, who had remained silent all this while, smiled at these words. He stepped forward, drove a fist into Yuan Chonghuan's face, and as the man's head snapped sideways, he grabbed a handful of Yuan Chonghuan's hair with one hand while gripping his jaw with the other.

A soft click — crack — and Yuan Chonghuan's jaw was dislocated. Then, applying the same method, he dislocated Adviser Tu's jaw as well.

Only then did Zhu Gang chuckle softly and say, "You really think I don't exist? Damn it all, when an Embroidered Uniform Guard grandpa doesn't want you dead, dying is not an option!"

Mao Wenlong, somewhat bewildered by all these people, finally asked, "Grand Secretary Sun, Minister Cui, what exactly is going on here?"

At this, Sun Chengzong's old face flushed red. After all, it was his own student who had done such despicable, shit-stinking deeds — he had truly lost face. Feeling thoroughly humiliated, Sun Chengzong did not speak, but merely signaled Cui Chengxiu with his eyes to answer.

Cui Chengxiu, seeing this, said, "Does Grand General Mao imagine that this official came to Liaodong solely to escort Consort Wan?"

Mao Wenlong asked curiously, "Could it be connected to Governor-General Yuan?"

Cui Chengxiu said, "Governor-General Yuan, my foot. Did you think the Son of Heaven could possibly be ignorant of the rotten things he's been up to?

The only reason he was sent to Liaodong was that he still had some small use. We simply never imagined that this dog of a wretch would collude with the Jianzhou barbarians and even try to do you harm.

That is why His Sacred Majesty dispatched this Cui and Grand Secretary Sun to Liaodong."

Hearing this, Mao Wenlong asked no further. Since Minister Cui of the Ministry of War said the Son of Heaven had sent him to Liaodong for other purposes, then other purposes there surely were.

He was merely the Grand General of Dongjiang; he had no authority over so many affairs in Liaodong, and many matters were better left unasked.

Seeing that Mao Wenlong would ask no more, Cui Chengxiu said to Zhu Gang, "Take them all into custody. Later, have your Lord Xiong escort Consort Wan back to the capital first.

You will bring this dog of a wretch with you when you accompany this official back to the capital. Just one thing — do not let him die on the road.

His Sacred Majesty wants him alive."

Zhu Gang bared his teeth in a grin. "Done. Rest easy on that."

Just as this upheaval was unfolding over in Liaodong, a major event was also taking place inside Shenyang, the barbarians' false capital.

Ning Wanwo had indeed been quite pleased lately. Ever since that fellow Fan Wencheng had been cast into a kneeling statue by the barbarian Ming Emperor, his own standing in his master's heart had shot straight up.

Of course, he was far cleverer than Fan Wencheng. That fool Fan Wencheng had made a habit of cutting through little alleyways to take shortcuts, which gave the Ming Embroidered Uniform Guard hounds their chance.

He himself took no shortcuts. With a fine, crowded official road available, why take a shortcut?

Far too dangerous, wasn't it?

But as the old saying goes, if the King of Hell decrees a man dies at the third watch, who dares keep him until the fifth?

On this very day, as Ning Wanwo was traveling home from the barbarians' false palace, several street peddlers by the roadside suddenly overturned their vegetable stalls.

Without the slightest care whether the nearby crowd might be injured or killed by mistake, they simply drew their flintlock firelances and fired straight at Ning Wanwo's convoy.

Once most of Ning Wanwo's guards were dead or dying, seven or eight peddlers surged forward in a rush, drew their blades, and hacked away in a wild flurry.

Pity this generation's arch-traitor — before he could realize his grand ambition of aiding his master in conquering the Central Plains, he was chopped into a heap of mincemeat.

The hacking done, the seven or eight peddlers immediately melted into the panicked crowd and vanished without a trace. By the time a nearby patrol of Jianzhou barbarian soldiers arrived, all that remained were corpses strewn across the ground and wounded bystanders.

Upon receiving word that Ning Wanwo had been butchered in the street, Hong Taiji was driven nearly mad with rage. First Fan Wencheng had been taken and cast into a kneeling statue — that was one thing.

Then that dog Bao Chengxian had vanished without a trace, and along with him Yue Tuo had disappeared as well; they were likely lost at the hands of the barbarians' Embroidered Uniform Guard.

After Oboi came back with one hand hacked off, now it was that slave dog Ning Wanwo, chopped to death in the street, clean and neat.

Ever since the barbarians' new Emperor ascended the throne, the several slaves he was accustomed to using had died off one after another, almost to the last man. Hong Taiji even began to wonder — could it be that the barbarian Emperor was the true master ordained by Heaven?

Hong Taiji shook his head, casting this laughable notion from his mind. Impossible. He himself was clearly the one ordained by Heaven, and one day he would surely conquer the Central Plains. When that time came, he would avenge these slave dogs.

Hong Taiji was furious. After all, he had been slapped in the face, and it stung badly.

In the course of ordering a mass search of Shenyang, who knows how many people were falsely accused and put to death. Lou Cheng, serving as the Embroidered Uniform Guard Assistant Regional Commander in Shenyang, was furious as well.

In his towering rage, Lou Cheng lashed Liu Laosi with a whip while roaring curses: "You bastard! You acted on your own authority, and you still think you're in the right?"

Liu Laosi was writhing on the ground from the whipping, yet he stubbornly insisted, "This humble subordinate was wrong to ambush and kill Ning Wanwo without orders, but I didn't do it for myself! That traitorous dog knew far too much about our Great Ming's situation.

If he wasn't eliminated early, he would have become a mortal threat sooner or later!"

Lou Cheng roared back in fury: "Mortal threat, my ass! If you dog of a wretch had sent someone to assassinate him in secret, that would be one thing.

But no — you had to go and chop the man into meat paste in broad daylight on the open street! Now look — that brat Hong Taiji is tearing Shenyang apart with a mass search, and how many of our Embroidered Uniform Guard brothers have been lost in it?

You bastard! If you had just notified me beforehand, would I have let you act so recklessly?!"

Still not vented, Lou Cheng put another two ounces of force into his whip and cursed, "With four or five brothers clearly not coming back, I'll whip you to death to avenge them!" At these words, Liu Laosi's stubbornness vanished entirely.

No matter how fiercely the whip bit into his flesh, he clenched his teeth and did not make a single sound.

When Lou Cheng had exhausted himself from the whipping, he flung the whip aside and cursed, "You just wait. The merit you earned by killing Ning Wanwo — I will report it up for you.

But the fault you committed by getting several brothers captured by the Jianzhou barbarians — I will report that up for you as well. As for what comes of it, you just wait for Guard Commander Lord Xu's decision!"

Ahem, a book recommendation. It's by an author in the same group as the tyrant novel — "Glorious Han."

Haven't read the book, but the synopsis is quite… titillating. According to the author, the protagonist will traverse multiple worlds, but the main setting is the Three Kingdoms.

Friends who enjoy that period of Three Kingdoms history can go take a look.

(End of chapter)