Chapter 92: A Strong Dragon Deliberately Crushes the Local Snake

"Smack!" A slap landed on the left cheek of the short, fat young lord. It wasn't hard — one could even say it was very light — but being slapped by a lowly miner was, for the short fat man, an enormous insult.

A few barely suppressed glints of savagery flashed in his eyes. The moment Zhang Zhao left, he would make sure this damned mining slave died in torment!

"Not enough! Too light! Put the strength you use for digging coal into it! Did you see the look in his eyes? The moment I leave, he'll absolutely work you to death!"

Zhang Zhao shook his head, indicating that this amount of force still didn't meet the requirement for a meal.

The miner glanced at the short fat man, who was gnashing his teeth. Perhaps knowing he had already reached a dead end, this time he didn't hesitate, and he certainly didn't flinch!

"Smack! Smack!" One forehand, one backhand — the miner slapped the short fat man's face with all his strength, striking him so hard that blood gushed from his nose, and several finger marks instantly began to swell on both cheeks.

The short fat man was stunned for a second or two, then a violent rage rapidly spread across his fat face. He had just started to rise when Zhang Zhao heavily slapped the hengdao saber in his hand.

Glancing at Zhang Zhao and the armored soldiers behind him, the savagery on the short fat man's face instantly withered. He lowered his head and didn't dare get up!

"I'll beat you to death!" Seeing the short fat man cower, an incomparable thrill suddenly erupted in the miner's heart. He couldn't even be bothered with eating anymore!

The scenes of being bullied by the short fat man over these past months flashed ceaselessly through his mind. With a howl, the miner lunged forward to beat the short fat man savagely.

Zhang Zhao waved a hand, and an armored soldier of the Hanshan Battalion hauled the miner back as easily as picking up a chicken.

"All right! You can eat now!" Zhang Zhao said flatly. He still needed to recruit a hundred and fifty men; he couldn't let this one miner beat the short fat man to death.

"Fragrant! So fragrant! So fragrant!" The miner fiercely shoveled a mouthful of millet rice, then immediately stopped.

He tilted his head toward the sky, murmuring to himself. The silky, fat-fragrant cheese, rich with salt, burst open in his mouth. The miner, who had almost never eaten his fill in his entire life, suddenly felt like crying.

He sobbed a few times, then began shoveling the millet rice in his bowl with extreme care, as though afraid it might suddenly vanish.

The miners in the crowd grew restless. Years of constant hunger made it impossible for them to control their bodies' craving for food.

"Master! I want to eat too!"

A second man stepped forward, and immediately after, a third stepped forward as well.

Zhang Zhao signaled for a Hanshan Battalion soldier to take over from Fan Shun, then had Fan Shun come before him.

"Pick a hundred men! Choose the stronger ones, those without illness, those with a bit of spirit in their eyes. As long as they have the guts to slap this short fat man and the other overseers, that's enough!"

Hearing this, the short fat man covered his face in terror. After thinking for a second or two, he tried to throw himself toward Zhang Zhao to beg for mercy. He had figured it out — forget the other masters in the royal city; first save his own life!

But Zhang Zhao no longer needed him. A Hanshan Battalion soldier rushed over, scooped up a mixture of coal dust and mud from the ground, and stuffed it into the short fat man's mouth, then crammed in a large wad of cloth so he couldn't spit it out.

On the other side, the lame horse's neighing had already gone hoarse. Dunzhu had shaved all his hair off, though under this fool's brutish handling, the shaving looked more like beheading.

The lame horse's head looked as if he had patchy baldness — hair in some places, none in others. The cuts opened by the rough shaving were still bleeding steadily, and his whole scalp was a bloody mess!

Behind Zhang Zhao, the squad leader of the soldiers from East River Prefecture watched Zhang Zhao with cold sweat streaming down his face. He hadn't expected this son of the Fengtian Princess to be so ruthless — actually intending, right in front of him, to have the lame horse's scalp peeled off.

"Squad Leader Suoduo, would Prefect Zhai think me somewhat too reckless? I didn't want this either! But who told them to keep stalling and covering up when I hold the Son of Heaven's decree?"

Zhang Zhao asked the East River Prefecture squad leader with a meaningful look. This coal factory lay within East River Prefecture and was under its jurisdiction. That always-smiling Prefect Zhai was probably one of the biggest shareholders of this coal factory!

"The Prefect most detests those who disobey the Son of Heaven's decrees. A mere country bumpkin acting with reckless audacity — how could a Commandant's light chastisement be called reckless?"

Squad Leader Suoduo sucked in a breath as though he had a toothache, then spoke with a righteous expression.

Heh!

As expected, this coal factory was deeply entangled with Prefect Zhai. Could a mere squad leader, a rough soldier, have come up with those words just now?

If you told Ma Yaozi to cut someone down, fine — but to say something like that? Absolutely impossible! This shit squad leader must be one of Prefect Cui's trusted men in disguise.

"Then Squad Leader Suoduo has it wrong. This Commandant isn't planning light chastisement — I'm planning a massacre!" Zhang Zhao sneered, then lightly patted Squad Leader Suoduo on the shoulder.

"You shouldn't have chosen this short fat man to come, because his will isn't strong. If I said right now that I could spare his life, he'd be willing to tell me anything!

The squad leader should also be a reasonable man. Wearing that lamellar armor must be tiring. Why don't we make a deal — you let me pick a hundred and fifty men from the ones you've hidden, and I'll consider this matter over."

Squad Leader Suoduo's face suddenly turned pale. He glanced very furtively at the East River Prefecture guards behind him and moved his lips with difficulty.

"Commandant Zhang jests. I am but a garrison squad leader — how could I make decisions for the masters?"

"Good! Very good!" Zhang Zhao stood and nodded to Qiong Reduo Jin. Qiong Reduo Jin then abruptly drove the short knife he had used to scrape the scalp into the lame horse's throat.

The lame horse's whole body convulsed. His hands seized Qiong Reduo Jin's hand and began struggling desperately, his eyes bulging so wide they seemed about to burst from their sockets.

He strained with every ounce of strength to breathe, but most of the air could no longer enter his lungs. The pierced windpipe blew the blood foam out in bubble after bubble.

Qiong Reduo Jin then wrenched the short knife in the throat left and right. The intense pain and lack of oxygen made it impossible for the lame horse even to keep struggling. He twitched and jerked ceaselessly as his life rapidly drained away.

Zhang Zhao watched all of this quietly. Squad Leader Suoduo also watched Zhang Zhao coldly. Trying to frighten him by killing someone — hah! Did he think he'd been scared into growing up?

The sound of flesh being cut came through. Amid the thick stench of blood and gore, the lame horse's head was already gripped in Dunzhu's hand.

Zhang Zhao suddenly yanked Squad Leader Suoduo over. The movement was so fast that even the East River Prefecture guards beside Suoduo didn't react in time.

One guard fire-team leader was just about to rush over to seize him back when Wang Tongxin behind Zhang Zhao pulled the wrought-bronze mace from the horse's back and swept it across the fire-team leader's chest. Even wearing a suit of Persian mail, the guard fire-team leader was struck so hard he let out a "wah!" and vomited a great mouthful of blood!

"Thwack!" The second fire-team leader who tried to rush over to grab the man was pierced straight through the calf by an arrow. It was Fan Shun in the distance, holding a divine-arm crossbow with a sharp gleam in his eyes.

"Nobody fucking move! Whoever moves gets an arrow through the head!"

Clatter! The Hanshan Battalion men who had come with Zhang Zhao all drew their weapons.

Since Li Shengtian succeeded to the throne of Khotan, more than ten years had passed without a major war. These town garrison troops, long accustomed to ease in the rich lands of East River Prefecture, simply couldn't compare with the Hanshan Battalion men under Zhang Zhao!

"Squad Leader Suoduo, I've changed my mind!" Zhang Zhao grabbed Squad Leader Suoduo by the neck and shoved him down in front of the lame horse's severed head.

"I don't want the miners anymore. I'm taking all these overseers with me! When you go back, tell Prefect Cui that the son of the Fengtian Princess, nephew of the Great Sage Son of Heaven, Fengtian Commandant Zhang Zhao, will surely remember today's…!"

Zhang Zhao paused heavily before uttering the final word.

"Generosity!"

"The coal factory isn't Prefect Zhai's alone to decide!" Squad Leader Suoduo said, looking at the terrified face of the lame horse right in front of him. Only now did a trace of panic rise in his heart.

This Fengtian Commandant had truly come to hate Prefect Zhai. In that instant, he felt a bit of regret too — this coal factory wasn't Prefect Cui's alone, so why should he take the brunt for others?

Besides, if the Fengtian Commandant tied up and carried off all the overseers, the mine would truly be paralyzed!

This was equivalent to later generations rounding up all the mid- and high-level managers of several large conglomerates in one sweep — the company would certainly be paralyzed, because replacements simply couldn't be found in a short time.

"I don't care!" Zhang Zhao curled his lip and sneered. "I only recognize Prefect Zhai!"

"I'll give you half a cup of tea's time. Otherwise, I'll have those miners who ate my food go looking. They'll definitely know where you've hidden the others!"

After two minutes of silence, Captain Suoduo backed down.

"I beg Lieutenant Zhang to grant me half a shichen. In half a shichen, I will give the Lieutenant an answer!"

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