Chapter 32: The Counterattack

"Who are you people?"

The commotion of Wang Yanzhong breaking down the door immediately drew out more than ten of the Huang Family's burly servants.

"I am your grandfather, Wang Yanzhong." Without further ado, Wang Yanzhong swung his blade and hacked down.

Having decided to defect to the Prince Mansion, he no longer held back.

At the same time, this was also his pledge of allegiance to Yan Wang.

Since he, Wang Yanzhong, had killed the Huang Family's people, he would from now on stubbornly follow the Prince Mansion.

As Wang Yanzhong made his move, Xu Lie and the others immediately charged forward.

Before the Huang Family's burly servants could react, they fell one after another into pools of blood.

Wang Yanzhong stepped over the corpses and entered the room.

Seeing him, his wife and child immediately threw themselves into his arms.

Wang Yanzhong's eyes filled with hot tears; he valued his family above all else, and having rescued his wife and child, he no longer had any hidden worries.

Xu Lie wore a smile, "Let's return to the Yan Prince Mansion first; there is still a good show to watch later."

Wang Yanzhong nodded; he still needed to come forward to prove that all of this was the work of the Huang Family.

East of Yancheng.

Chang Wei tailed three spies to an ordinary farmhouse.

He ordered his subordinates to lie in ambush around the courtyard, but he did not let anyone move immediately.

Before long, an old man came out of the farmhouse and left directly.

A quarter of an hour later, a carriage and more than twenty servants arrived slowly and entered the courtyard.

"Charge in!" Chang Wei shouted an order.

The guards immediately appeared from the shadows and rushed into the courtyard.

They surrounded the people inside the courtyard so tightly not even water could trickle through.

"Audacious! I am the Head of the Family of the Huang Family, Huang Yu. Who are you people? How dare you act so wildly in Dongtu!"

Huang Yu was just about to hear the servants describe the Prince Mansion's wine-making techniques when he was suddenly surrounded; he was both shocked and furious.

In his panic, he put on his own name to intimidate them.

"Hmph, it is precisely your Huang Family that we are arresting!" Chang Wei walked up from behind.

Borrowing the moonlight, Huang Yu saw Chang Wei's appearance clearly and was instantly frightened pale.

Forcing down his guilty conscience, he said, "General Chang, breaking into a private residence in the middle of the night, is this how the Yan Prince Mansion conducts itself?"

While speaking, he signaled the people beside him to move and kill the three spies to destroy the evidence.

After all, killing them was enough; he only needed to be captured himself.

But by sending spies into the Prince Mansion, the Yan Prince Mansion could pin a charge of ulterior motives and attempted rebellion on the Huang Family.

Just as his men were about to act, Chang Wei suddenly stepped forward.

The guards behind him immediately surrounded the three of them.

"Member of the Gentry Huang is joking." Chang Wei sneered, "These three are servants sold to the Prince Mansion who fled during the fire at the Prince Mansion. This general is merely acting under orders to apprehend them. But why does Member of the Gentry Huang appear here?"

Huang Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he cursed his bad luck, forced to argue, "I also saw these three acting suspiciously, so I came to investigate."

Chang Wei scoffed, "Member of the Gentry Huang truly does not shed tears until he sees the coffin. Whether that is the case, please come back to the Yan Prince Mansion with us to find out."

Having said that, he said to the guards, "Take them all away! Kill anyone who resists!"

Huang Yu's face turned ashen.

After learning of Zhang Qian's death, he had originally hesitated about whether to continue spying on the Prince Mansion's techniques.

But after learning tonight that the spies had succeeded, he ultimately could not resist his greed.

Now that he had been caught in a trap set by the Yan Prince Mansion and saw that the Prince Mansion was going to deal with his Huang Family, he couldn't help but be fierce of face but weak of heart, shouting angrily, "So what if I go? Don't let the Yan Prince Mansion bully people too much! Do you really think my Huang Family is something you can manipulate at will?"

Hearing this, Chang Wei turned around and punched Huang Yu in the stomach.

Huang Yu was in extreme pain and curled into a ball with a miserable scream.

Since arriving in Yan Commandery, the days when the Yan Prince Mansion was bullied by the local Rich Clans of Yan Commandery were still fresh in his memory.

When the Yan Prince was insane, he had no choice but to endure it.

Now that the Yan Prince had recovered from his illness and turned the situation around, he even had the power to overturn the landscape of Yan Commandery.

How could he tolerate these wolf-hearted people acting wildly again?

"If you show any more disrespect to the Prince Mansion, this general will cut out your tongue."

Chang Wei said angrily.

The group returned to the Prince Mansion.

Wang Yanzhong had already arrived; at this time, the Prince Mansion was brightly lit, waiting for their return.

Chang Wei escorted Huang Yu into the main hall and ordered him to kneel at the foot of the steps, saying, "Your Highness, the spies and Huang Yu have all been brought here!"

Zhao Xu sat on the steps of the main hall, looking at Huang Yu with a cold, piercing gaze.

Thinking of the day he had just transmigrated, when these families had broken into the Prince Mansion and tried to imprison him again, he became even more determined to eliminate the Huang Family this time.

"Huang Yu, do you plead guilty?" Zhao Xu asked sternly.

Looking up and seeing Wang Yanzhong and his wife and child there, Huang Yu understood that his scheme had failed.

Instead, he had been used by the Prince Mansion to deal with the Huang Family.

He knew that he could no longer argue his case.

"Your Highness is truly brilliant. To be so calculating, it seems you have long intended to eliminate the three families of Zhang, Huang, and Du." Huang Yu laughed miserably, "Since that is the case, let us speak plainly. Does Your Highness really think that by relying on these miscellaneous troops recruited by the Yan Prince Mansion, you can destroy my three families?"

"Hehe..." Zhao Xu laughed, "I am not certain, but can you be certain that the Du Family and the Zhang Family will definitely raise an army to crusade against me for your Huang Family?"

In dealing with the Huang Family this time, he had prepared for the worst.

If the Du Family and the Zhang Family were to rise in rebellion because of this, Yan Commandery would face a bloody battle.

For this reason, he had already made comprehensive preparations.

The fortresses of the Dong, Yang, and Lu families were on full alert, ready to strike at any moment.

Inside Yancheng, the Personal Army and the County Soldiers were also lying in wait, ready for battle.

Of course, he did not hope for such a great upheaval to occur.

This would severely damage the vitality of Yan Commandery.

When the Northern Di once again conducted their Autumn Hunt, he would be powerless to respond.

The reason he acted in advance was precisely to seize the opportunity presented by the internal strife of the Zhang Family.

With Zhang Qian having died suddenly, it was impossible for the entire Zhang Family to lean toward Zhang Kang.

Zhang Kang needed time to consolidate the Zhang Family.

Coupled with the fact that Zhang Kang's attitude clearly showed he did not want an immediate conflict with the Yan Prince Mansion, he had made this decision.

"The Zhang Family, Du Family, and Huang Family are linked by marriage; the three families are one, and they will not sit idly by while my Huang Family suffers!" Huang Yu clamored, "Yan Wang, be careful you don't play with fire and get burned."

Liu Fu stood in attendance below Zhao Xu and shouted, "Then let us see exactly who this fire will burn to ashes."

Zhao Xu ignored Huang Yu and said in a clear voice, "Huang Yu planted spies in the Prince Mansion, committed insubordination, and plotted treason; seize him and raid his home immediately!"

The Yan Prince Mansion represented the Imperial Clan of Great Song.

For a local Rich Clan to plant spies in the Prince Mansion was like a minister planting spies beside the Emperor.

Once discovered, it naturally invited the disaster of having one's home raided and clan exterminated.

"You dare? Do you think the blades of my Huang Family's private soldiers are not sharp?" Huang Yu yelled.

Chang Wei drew his blade from its scabbard and pointed it directly at Huang Yu, "The blades of the Yan Prince Mansion are not for chopping vegetables either."

Zhao Xu swept a contemptuous glance at Huang Yu, ordered him to be detained, and said to Chang Wei, "Take my written order and three thousand of the Prince's Personal Army to leave the city under the cover of night, and coordinate with the three families to take the Huang Family Fortress by surprise."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Chang Wei cupped his fists heavily, his face unable to hide his excitement.

Having been stifled for so long, the Yan Prince Mansion was finally going to hold its head high.

If this matter went smoothly, the power dynamics in Yan Commandery would be completely overturned thereafter.

From this point on, the positions of the attacker and the defender would be reversed.

Leaving the Prince Mansion, he arrived at the North Camp, mustered three thousand elite soldiers, and marched through the night toward the Yang Family Fortress.

At this time, the three families had already gathered eight thousand private soldiers within the fortress.

Chang Wei arrived with his troops, joined forces, and advanced toward the Huang Family.

Before the dawn broke, they had surrounded the Huang Family Fortress completely.

Early morning.

The soldiers on duty climbed the fortress walls and, seeing the banners fluttering outside, were instantly frightened out of their wits.