Chapter 16: The Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell

Several evening drum beats sounded, announcing that the day was coming to an end.

The Zhang Family.

Zhang Qian and Zhang Kang sat opposite each other in the courtyard pavilion, drinking by candlelight.

"Elder brother, is it really alright for Rang Er to be at the Prince Mansion at a time like this?"

"It is of no concern. I have already specifically instructed the people of Qingfeng Stronghold; they will not harm Rang Er. Once that Yan Wang is dead, Rang Er will be able to return," Zhang Qian said, brimming with smug satisfaction.

A few days ago, the Zhang Family had carried crates of Silver, bags of grain, and stacks of land deeds to the Prince Mansion, and his heart had ached so much he couldn't sleep for nights.

Now that these assets would soon return, there was no telling how happy he was.

Zhang Kang nodded and said, "It was truly the right move for you, elder brother, to help the Qingfeng Stronghold's Second Chieftain Pang Kun kill the First Chieftain Zhou Jie; I never expected it would come in handy today."

Zhang Qian was even more smug; in Yan Commandery, no one would have imagined that Qingfeng Stronghold would be so obedient to the Zhang Family.

He laughed, "Originally, this Qingfeng Stronghold was meant to deal with the Dong, Yang, and Lu families. Since this Yan Wang is becoming an eyesore, it is no harm to use them on him first."

He looked up at the waning moon rising in the east and said, "By midnight, the Yan Prince Mansion will vanish into smoke."

"Hahaha..." Zhang Kang laughed heartily.

That new Prince's Tutor Liu Fu, a lowly person from a humble background, actually wanting to ride above him—it was simply a pipe dream.

He raised his wine cup to toast Zhang Qian, and remembering something, he said, "I heard that a troop of the Prince's Personal Army went to the Prince Mansion today. There won't be any mistakes, will there? If we fail this time and the Prince Mansion is on guard, it will be difficult in the future."

"No need to worry. The people watching said they only went to clean the Prince Mansion and returned by dusk."

"That is good," Zhang Kang felt relieved. "Once we finish off the Prince Mansion, we will then finish off the Dong, Yang, and Lu families together. We will be able to monopolize the ice trade, and our strength will advance even further."

Hearing this, Zhang Qian's heart grew hot.

In the Great Song Dynasty, there were ranks of nobility among the Rich Clans, and those like them could basically only serve as officials within their own commandery.

But if their strength grew greater, they would be qualified to serve as officials in the provincial capital or even Jingshi.

"Yan Wang, oh Yan Wang, you really are the lucky star of our Zhang Family. As soon as you recovered from your illness, you sent us this great gift. But it is a pity; who told you to threaten our interests?" Zhang Qian shook his head, sneering repeatedly.

In the pitch-black sky, the moon climbed higher and higher.

Midnight arrived quietly.

When all was silent, many people dressed in night-traveling clothes suddenly emerged from the dark corners of Yancheng.

They met in the streets, then took up gleaming swords and blades and headed toward the Prince Mansion.

"First Chieftain, the middle courtyard is where the Prince Mansion is located; the two courtyards on the left and right are empty."

Three men in black hid under the corner of a wall to discuss.

"Hmm, you take a dozen or so brothers to the main gate to lure away the guards at the Prince Mansion's main gate," the man in black in the middle said to the one on the left.

He was the Qingfeng Stronghold leader, Pang Kun.

Then he said to the one on the right, "You, take your men to the middle courtyard and watch the money and grain. The rest of the men will follow me to the rear courtyard bedchamber to kill the Yan Wang."

The two nodded and each took their men away.

At this time, Pang Kun led the remaining three hundred or so men to vault into the empty courtyard on the right, then climbed over another wall to enter the Prince Mansion.

Arriving at the rear courtyard, Pang Kun saw the lamp shadows flickering in the bedchamber, as if three people were sitting before the lamp, and he lewdly laughed, "The Yan Wang truly has a refined taste. I heard the Yan Wang's two maidservants are very beautiful; perhaps I can have a taste tonight."

The surrounding men in black heard this and immediately let out low, wicked laughs.

"Charge in! Leave one of those two maidservants alive," Pang Kun commanded in a low voice.

Dozens of men in black behind him charged straight toward the bedchamber.

Pang Kun crossed his arms, his expression relaxed, thinking to himself: Why would such a small matter require five hundred people? The Zhang Family is being far too cautious.

But the next moment, his expression suddenly turned horrified.

He only heard the men in black who had charged into the bedchamber let out a series of screams.

"What is going on!" Pang Kun had a very bad premonition.

"Let's go take a look." A dozen or so more men in black rushed over.

This time they were very careful.

Entering the bedchamber, they looked inside.

They saw that where the light was, there was no Yan Wang at all, only bundled-up bedding that looked like a person from the outside.

And beneath their feet was a large pit over a meter deep.

The large pit was filled with sharpened wood.

The people who had just rushed in fell into the pit and were pierced through.

"It's a trap! There's an ambush!" a man in black shouted.

His voice had barely fallen when suddenly the sound of several Arrow piercing the air rang out.

Immediately, three men in black were struck by arrows and fell to the ground.

Pang Kun shuddered in fear.

How could this be? How could the Yan Prince Mansion have set an ambush?

While he was stunned, several more sharp arrows broke through the air, and more people fell.

Only then did Pang Kun notice that on the roof of the bedchamber under the moonlight, there were six Archer constantly nocking and firing arrows.

"Retreat!" Pang Kun ordered.

Without a doubt, since the Yan Prince Mansion had set an ambush, the Yan Wang was certainly not here.

Staying would only increase casualties in vain.

The followers of Qingfeng Stronghold received the order and fled one after another along the old path, vaulting over the Prince Mansion walls to escape through the empty left and right courtyards.

But as soon as they landed, they suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet give way, and then they were pierced by sharp objects.

"Ah..." several screams rang out.

At this very moment, the rooms in the empty courtyard suddenly swung wide open.

Several dark shadows rushed out; they held bamboo spears, huddled together, and stabbed at the men in black who had fallen into the pits or were still on the walls.

As the saying goes, one inch longer is one inch stronger.

Moreover, the men in black were currently stuck, neither able to advance nor retreat.

Amidst screams, they could only endure being poked by the bamboo spears.

At the same time.

A fierce battle was also raging in the front and middle courtyards.

Leading the remaining guards, Chang Wei moved among the men in black like a god of slaughter, as if entering an empty land.

They were originally from the Imperial Guard, handpicked from the army.

Under Chang Wei's command, they had undergone rigorous training, and their Battle Formation coordination was extremely proficient.

In groups of three, backs against each other, they relied on one another like hedgehogs.

The men in black circled them but found no way to strike, instead being killed one after another.

Before long, the hundred or so men in black were scattered by them.

"Follow me to the back courtyard!" Looking at the men in black dying in the pits of the storehouse, Chang Wei sneered.

This time, the strategy of the Yan Wang had succeeded.

In the afternoon, according to the plan of the Yan Wang, he had gone to the Personal Army to summon five hundred men to the Yan Prince Mansion.

Nominally to transport grain and fodder from the mansion's storehouse to the main camp, in reality, they were using local materials to dig traps on the necessary route.

Meanwhile, the Yan Wang, Feng'er, and Luan'er had changed into the clothes of the Prince's Personal Army in the afternoon, disguised themselves, and mixed into the Personal Army's transport team to go to the main camp.

The men of the Personal Army did not all return; over two hundred remained to coordinate with the mansion's servants to subdue the enemy.

According to the orders of the Yan Wang, they were to fight if they could win, and retreat if they could not.

However, after a round of fighting, the men in black seemed to be in chaos due to falling into the ambush, and they had a chance of victory.

"Kill!"

With a loud roar, he led his troops to charge into the back courtyard.

They engaged the men in black in a fierce battle once more.

Attacked from all four sides, the men in black were in complete disarray.

But every one of them was a vicious character.

They were not easily taken down, and with their numerical advantage, the two sides reached a stalemate.

"Break out from the front!" Pang Kun shouted.

The courtyard walls on both sides hindered their movements.

In his view, concentrating their strength to break out from the main gate might still offer a chance.

Upon receiving the order, the men in black immediately gathered in front of him and charged toward Chang Wei in waves.

A hero is no match for four hands.

Attacked by nearly three times as many enemies, Chang Wei suddenly felt the strain and had to fight while retreating.

He was forced back from the back courtyard into the middle courtyard, and guards were constantly being injured.

At this moment, he regretted his recklessness and felt he should have listened to the Yan Wang: take the advantage and run.

Just as he was feeling anxious, he suddenly heard a burst of footsteps.

A group of men in black rushed in from the main gate of the mansion, trapping him between them from front and back.

Seeing this, Chang Wei's heart turned cold, thinking he would die here tonight.

Pang Kun, however, was overjoyed, thinking they were his own men.

But before he could rejoice, he saw those men in black not entangling with the mansion's guards, but rushing toward his own side, waving their blades to kill.

His own side was caught off guard, and over ten men were killed or injured on the spot.

Chang Wei was stunned; he then noticed that the newly arrived men in black all had a red cloth tied around their arms.

He secretly thought that this group of men in black was not in league with the assassins.

He immediately shouted: "Do not kill those with red cloth, kill the rest, charge for me!"

With the help of the men in black, the battle situation in the mansion immediately reversed.

As his companions kept falling, Pang Kun secretly cried out that it was bad.

This time, they had no wings to escape.

"Charge, carve out a bloody path!" Pang Kun yelled.

He knew very well that if he fell into the hands of the Yan Wang, he would likely not have a good death.

"Swish!"

Just as his voice fell, a sharp arrow pierced his thigh, and his clamoring turned into a scream.

On the roof, Xu Lie took out another arrow and aimed at Pang Kun.

"Kill!" Seeing the opportunity, Chang Wei led his troops to charge over again.

With Pang Kun down, morale plummeted, and the men in black could no longer resist, falling one by one under the blades.

Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the mansion fell silent.

Among the men in black wearing red cloth, one stepped out and said, "During the day, we informed the Yan Wang of the night raid, and the Yan Prince Mansion has helped us take down the Qingfeng Stronghold leader Pang Kun; we are even, farewell!"

Having said this, the men in black hoisted Pang Kun up and left, disappearing into the night.