Chapter 96: The Prince's Household

Inside the Li residence, the camp soldiers and officers had already fallen into a shouting match over whether to surrender. The camp soldiers favored surrender; the officers refused.

Picket Officer Jiang Dahai was adamant in his refusal to surrender. The man had formerly been Zhao Shiyu's personal guard and had only been released to lead troops three months ago, making him the foremost of the Green Standard's newly risen low-ranking officers.

His reason for refusing to surrender was exactly what he was bellowing: "Our hands are soaked in that much Ming army blood. Which of you brothers hasn't taken a Ming soldier's head?

And right here in Xinxing Town, how many people suspected of colluding with the rebels have we put to death? If we really surrender, will the Ming army spare us?

Will the widows and orphans in this town spare us?"

Jiang Dahai's grounds for refusing surrender won unanimous agreement from the other picket officers and squad leaders.

They understood clearly: a common soldier who surrendered might still find a way to live, but if men like them — officers who led troops — surrendered, given what they had done before, the Ming army would never let them off.

Even if the Ming army were willing to spare them, the townsfolk might not!

Don't be fooled by how those commoners acted meek and obedient around them every day, terrified of giving offense — behind their backs, which one of them wasn't gnashing their teeth, wishing they could swallow them alive!

The common folk knew perfectly well the principle of beating a drowning dog. If they truly handed over their weapons and surrendered, whether they lived or died would no longer be theirs to decide!

"We can't surrender — surrender means certain death!"

"We live as men of the Great Qing, and we'll die as ghosts of the Great Qing! Brothers, take up your weapons and fight the Ming army to the bitter end!"

"Anyone who dares mention surrender again — I'll cut him down and use his blood to consecrate the banner!"

"......"

The officers brandished their weapons one after another, each more ferocious than the last, shouting at the soldiers under their command.

Had the situation not already been dry tinder awaiting a spark — where the slightest disorder would trigger a full-blown mutiny — the officers would likely have long since made examples of the camp soldiers who were shouting loudest.

Cowed by the officers' long-standing authority, most of the camp soldiers fell silent. Yet there were still some the officers could not intimidate.

A Green Standard soldier holding a long saber was the first to burst out cursing: "You bunch of ****! If we don't surrender and the Ming army sets fire to the place, what then?

You want the brothers to die here with you?"

Another fellow with a short cloth wrapped at his waist also jumped out. With a twitch of his brow he yelled: "Goddamn it, if you want to die, don't drag me down as your cushion!

I'm through playing it safe — I'm a soldier drawing pay, and soldiering's soldiering wherever you do it. No call to hang myself here!"

With that, he pointed the blade in his hand at Jiang Dahai and the others: "Any of you who dares stop me — I'll fight him to the death!"

This camp soldier was called Song Liu. He was built big and burly, and was one of the camp's notorious troublemakers.

Had he not fought like a madman in battle and had a band of sworn brothers at his side, the officers would probably have dealt with him long ago. Seeing that it was he who had jumped out, Jiang Dahai and the others' faces could not help but darken.

"Right — fight! Fight!"

With someone taking the lead, the camp soldiers' courage swelled again at once, and one after another they began clamoring. Add to that the Ming army outside ceaselessly urging and threatening them, and the officers and men inside the residence looked on the verge of an all-out internal brawl.

The camp soldiers clamored again, louder than before. The officers all changed color at the sight, unwilling to echo the call for surrender, yet not daring to cut down the ringleaders.

Just as they were at a loss, the Company Commander Zhao Shiyu, who had been silent all along, suddenly roared: "All of you stop! No one move!"

At those words, the camp soldiers instinctively lowered their weapons. Even Song Liu and the other loudest shouters seemed to deflate, involuntarily stepping back a pace. Every gaze turned squarely to Zhao Shiyu.

"Sir!"

Seeing the Company Commander speak up, Jiang Dahai's spirits lifted — but to his disappointment, after the Commander's shout, he gave no further orders, merely standing there staring blankly at them.

"Sir?"

Jiang Dahai frowned, not knowing what the Company Commander meant. The fire was already singeing their eyebrows — whether to hold to the death or break out, he ought at least to make a decision!

If they kept dragging on like this, there'd be no need for the Ming army to set fires; these mutinous camp soldiers would tie them up and hand them over to claim credit.

Zhao Shiyu himself was torn at that moment. He had heard every word of his subordinates' quarrel clearly, and he both hated and raged at those camp soldiers who wanted to surrender.

But a defeated army collapses like a landslide, and when the tree falls the monkeys scatter. The Ming army had already surrounded them so tightly not a drop of water could leak through.

At a moment like this, how dared he use these surrender-minded troops to assert military discipline? How could he possibly restrain them?

If he'd known the Ming army would come this fast, he should have left a step earlier!

Zhao Shiyu was sick with regret. In the current situation, he truly had no idea how to respond.

At some point, the pot-bellied guest from Zhaoqing Prefecture had quietly stepped over to Zhao Shiyu's side and whispered in his ear: "Company Commander Zhao, the common soldiers can surrender — but can you?"

Because the fat man was standing some distance away and speaking in a low voice, the camp soldiers could not hear what he said. But seeing Company Commander Zhao's expression change after listening to him, Song Liu guessed what was going on.

Fearing that Zhao Shiyu had steeled himself not to surrender and would drag him down to die with him, he anxiously rolled up his sleeve and cursed at the fat man: "You motherfucker! You Zhaoqing bastards are no good!

Stop feeding the Commander your poison! Goddamn it, are you trying to make the brothers die here with you?"

The fat man ignored Song Liu's curses and merely said in a low voice to Zhao Shiyu: "Company Commander Zhao, so long as you protect us and fight your way out, this Xiong will present you with a splendid future!"

"A splendid future?"

Zhao Shiyu was taken aback. In the instant he hesitated, the fat man's next words — "The cap of a Garrison Commander — what does Company Commander Zhao think?" — had already drifted into his ear.

Before Zhao Shiyu could react, a middle-aged man in scholar's robes, standing at the very back of the Zhaoqing party, walked over.

"Garrison Commander is too low.

If Company Commander Zhao leads his men and sees us safely through, this Xiang can guarantee Company Commander Zhao the cap of an Assistant Regional Commander!"

"Assistant Regional Commander?!"

Zhao Shiyu was shocked again.

He was not well acquainted with these people from Zhaoqing Prefecture; he only knew that they were led by a man named Xiong Yingfu, who owned considerable property in Zhaoqing city and held great standing — a man who could even get a word in with the Regional Commander himself.

But he truly had no idea who this middle-aged scholar was, that he dared casually hand out the cap of an Assistant Regional Commander, a rank of the third grade, as if giving away a trinket. Even Xiong Yingfu probably couldn't manage such a thing — how could this man?

"You?" Zhao Shiyu was at once utterly astonished and deeply bewildered.

Seeing his expression, the middle-aged scholar gave Xiong Yingfu a slight nod and said: "Shopkeeper Xiong, you may tell Company Commander Zhao who I am."

"Yes!"

Xiong Yingfu was, unexpectedly, extremely deferential to the middle-aged scholar. Then, with a touch of pride, he introduced him to Zhao Shiyu: "This is Steward Xiang the Second, of the Prince of Jingnan's household!"

"The Prince of Jingnan's household?"

Zhao Shiyu was once again so shocked he could not close his mouth. He — a mere Company Commander — could actually have dealings with someone from the Prince of Jingnan's household?

Bones' house is in a demolition zone. These past two days the construction crew tore down the bridge near the house to build a new one, and because of pile-driving the power has been temporarily cut, so updates these few days can't be guaranteed.

PS: Seems Bones is one of those legendary holdouts, but you can't blame me for dragging down the nation and failing to consider the bigger picture — house + homestead land + interior renovations all together only got compensation of less than ninety thousand.

Buying his house would mean losing a hundred thousand out of pocket. How's a person supposed to demolish that?