Chapter 26: Blood‑Stained Pact

The faint light of dawn struggled to pierce the sky shrouded in gunpowder smoke.

Listening Wind Villa was now a mess. What once were pavilions and towers had mostly turned into charred ruins, and the air reeked of a nauseating mix of burnt wood and blood.

On the manor's open ground, dozens of corpses lay scattered haphazardly; most were black-clad assassins, with a few being the Zheng family's guards.

Wang Jin (Wang Xiu) leaned on his hundred-forged steel sword, gasping heavily, as the post-battle emptiness and the fatigue after extreme mental tension surged like a tide, making him barely able to stand.

Last night's slaughter was too brutal.

Of his twenty Imperial Guard escorts, eight died in battle, leaving twelve, all wounded; Colonel Li suffered countless injuries, and without the 【Gold Sore Medicine】 sustaining him, he would likely be incapacitated now.

The Zheng family also paid a heavy price, with over thirty of its guards killed or wounded.

But their victory was glorious. Of those black-clad assassins, only a few fled when they saw the tide turn; the rest remained here forever.

Zheng Hao approached Wang Jin, his face equally pale but his gaze unprecedentedly solemn. He glanced at the few assassin leaders' corpses set apart and said in a low voice, "Wang Secretary, do you know what kind of existence we have provoked last night?"

Wang Jin (Wang Xiu) raised his head and looked at Zheng Hao.

Zheng Hao crouched, tore a waist tablet from the corpse of a black-clad leader. The tablet was neither gold nor iron, entirely black, its front bearing a ferocious demon face, its back engraved with two ancient seal characters.

"Outlaw."

"Outlaws?" Wang Jin (Wang Xiu) felt a stir, feigning ignorance.

"Correct." Zheng Hao's tone carried deep apprehension: "Ordinary people only know that outlaws are officials' lackeys tasked with catching bandits, but every true aristocrat knows that, since the previous dynasty, the outlaws have split off a faction called the 'Shadow.' They are not registered in official records, not bound by law, they are poisonous snakes hidden in the empire's shadows, specially employed by powerful figures to handle unsavory dirty work."

"Their hire fee is shockingly high. To mobilize dozens of elite outlaws at once and equip them with military-grade rockets, all just to kill you, a fifth-rank Central Secretariat Secretary… Wang Secretary, your enemies no longer deign to use courtly rules against you."

Zheng Hao's words confirmed Wang Xiu's suspicion.

The mastermind behind the scenes is none other than Zong Chuke and Wu Sansi!

"They don't just want to kill you; they also want to frame my Yingyang Zheng Clan." Zheng Hao's eyes blazed with anger: "What a brilliant move—kill two birds with one stone! If it weren't for you, Wang Secretary, acting decisively and striking back, we would all be reduced to charcoal by now, and my Zheng family would bear the enormous crime of conspiring to murder a court official, a crime we could not refute no matter how many mouths we had."

Having said this, Zheng Hao rose, faced Wang Jin, and performed a deep bow.

"Wang Secretary, last night you saved my life, and also saved the entire household of my Zheng Clan in Ru Prefecture!"

Wang Jin (Wang Xiu) quickly sidestepped to avoid him and supported him. "Brother Zheng, your words are weighty. Had you not promptly led your men to break out, we would have been annihilated long ago. You and I are sworn brothers in life and death."

"What a sworn brother in life and death!" Zheng Hao's eyes flashed upon hearing it; that was exactly what he had been waiting for.

He clasped Wang Jin's hand firmly and declared: "Wang Secretary, from today on our fates are intertwined. Your enemies are my enemies! All the strength of my Zheng Clan in Ru and Xu Prefectures is at your command."

Wang Xiu felt a surge of joy; he knew that through this bloody battle he had secured the friendship of a top-tier aristocratic clan, or rather, a blood‑stained pact!

This pact is not based on interest, but on shared hatred and shared survival needs, making it far more reliable than any mere verbal promise.

"Brother Zheng…" Wang Jin (Wang Xiu)'s face showed moved emotion.

"Say nothing more." Zheng Hao waved his hand, took a warm, lustrous jade pendant from his bosom, and pressed it into Wang Jin's hand: "This is my private seal. As you continue southward, any shop flying the banner of our Zheng Clan's Listening Wind Firm may be mobilized by this pendant, granting you their manpower and the latest intelligence."

"They won't dare to launch such a large‑scale attack on land again. Next time, the most likely venue will be when crossing the river!"

Zheng Hao lowered his voice: "When you reach Jiangling Prefecture, go to the Shared Blessing Inn in the southern city and find the proprietor surnamed Qian. Show him this jade pendant, and he will arrange for you to cross the river secretly from the safest point."

This is the foundation of great aristocratic clans!

They not only possess manor estates, but also a nationwide network of commerce and intelligence!

Wang Jin (Wang Xiu) gripped the jade pendant tightly and nodded heavily. "Brother Zheng's great kindness, Wang Jin, I will never forget it!"

"Between us, we won't speak of this." Zheng Hao patted his shoulder, then his face darkened as he pointed to the corpses littering the ground: "These must be cleaned up. I will announce that the manor unfortunately fell to mountain bandits, and the bandits were wiped out by our joint forces. As for your entourage, I will send men posthaste to the preceding prefecture to replenish your guards and carriages, fabricating the appearance of normalcy."

"Only thus can we numb your enemies, making them believe you know nothing of last night's assassination."

Wang Xiu admired Zheng Hao's meticulous thinking, convinced to the point of prostration.

He watched Zheng Hao direct the household servants in orderly fashion—processing corpses, washing away bloodstains, assigning personnel to report to the authorities… everything was arranged with meticulous precision.

This gave him another lesson: a truly powerful family needs not only wealth and manpower, but also the capability and skill to respond to sudden crises.

He silently resolved that, once the Wang family developed, he must also cultivate a group of loyal and capable backbone members.

After settling the manor's affairs, Zheng Hao personally selected ten of the Zheng clan's guards—those with the finest skills and richest experience—to reinforce Wang Jin's unit, escorting them all the way to the next prefecture.

At parting, Zheng Hao gazed at Wang Jin and said with meaningful intent: "Wang Secretary, only after this incident do I realize that the 'Middle Way' I once advised you to follow was wrong."

"Oh?" Wang Jin (Wang Xiu) was somewhat surprised.

Zheng Hao's eyes flashed with a hint of cold ruthlessness.

"Dealing with wolves, the Middle Way only makes them think you're weak and bullyable. Only by possessing fangs sharper and harder than theirs can you make them know fear!"

"Wang Secretary, as you head southwest, act freely! Should anyone dare to attack you in the court, my Yingyang Zheng Clan will certainly not stand by idly!"

This promise carries the weight of Mount Tai!

Wang Jin (Wang Xiu) bowed deeply again toward Zheng Hao.