Chapter 855

First Volume, Chapter 855: Qin Feng's Might, Not Disgraced

Fancy pants?!

Zhou Yunhai couldn't believe his ears; he had expected Qin Tianhu to come with ill intent, but not this bluntly.

Zhou Yunhai's face darkened instantly: "Zhao Yuxiong, what do you mean by that? How am I supposed to understand it?"

Zhao Yuxiong, as a military officer, despised the courtier's games—he preferred directness.

He glanced at the Imperial Party soldiers surrounding him, utterly fearless.

"The Imperial Party aids Zhu Zhou Wei E and plots rebellion, having lost His Majesty's trust. Now, the Imperial Party is a criminal army. Again and again, you send minor thugs to block Qin Grand Commandant—aren't you trying to display your party's authority?"

"Hmph, the sun is setting—stop pretending you're still blazing high!"

Faced with Zhao Yuxiong's scorn and rebuttal, Zhou Yunhai gnashed his teeth in rage—throughout Heaven and Earth, who dared slander the Imperial Party like this? He must be tired of living.

"You bold ruffian! You've come here and still dare to boast!"

"If you don't kneel and apologize, I'll order your head cut off and hung above the Camp Gate!"

Every Imperial Party soldier present glared like demons—ready to pounce the moment Zhou Yunhai gave the order.

Yet they didn't realize such threats couldn't shake Zhao Yuxiong's unyielding heart.

"Then why not act now?"

Seeing Zhao Yuxiong's calmness, Zhou Yunhai grew even angrier, his eyes blazing: "You think I won't?"

Zhao Yuxiong roared: "Enough talk! If you dare, come! If not, get out of my way!"

This roar left Zhou Yunhai momentarily stunned.

He racked his brain but couldn't fathom it—Zhao Yuxiong had brought fewer than two thousand men. Where did he get such confidence? Even if he was Qin Feng's brother, Qin Feng was far away in the Northern Border—could he fly here to save him?

At that moment, Zhao Yuxiong let out another cold snort.

"Rebel general, how dare you bluster? You seek death!"

"I know you're a Fourth-Rank Loyal and Martial General. Even if you were First Rank, you'd still kneel and beg for execution! From the moment you betrayed His Majesty, you lost his protection."

Feeling the pressure radiating from Zhao Yuxiong, Zhou Yunhai froze again—he couldn't tell anymore whose territory this was.

Only when his Deputy General roared did he snap back to reality.

The Deputy General drew his sword and pointed it at Zhao Yuxiong: "You Zhao brat, stop your insolence! No matter your status in Jingdu or the Northern Border, on Imperial Party ground, you keep your tail between your legs—or we'll bury you here!"

As the saying goes: when under someone's eaves, you must bow your head.

For officials, this held true too—even if the Liang Emperor himself arrived, he'd have to treat the Imperial Party with courtesy; even if he intended to punish them, he'd wait until returning to Jingdu.

The reason was simple: forcing an opponent into a corner often came at a terrible cost.

Especially when facing the military!

But this only applied to civil officials. Zhao Yuxiong, also military, felt no fear—he met force with greater force.

The empire has always been seized by force, never granted by Shan Rang. Seizing military power? Even more so!

The gentler you are, the less they respect you. Only overwhelming force can control the entire army.

As the Deputy General ordered soldiers to close in on Zhao Yuxiong, a heavy thunder of hooves echoed—over a hundred black cavalry surged from the main force.

Boom—boom—boom…

After the deafening trampling, dozens of soldiers were instantly crushed into meat paste.

The Deputy General turned pale: "Y-you dare?!"

Zhao Yuxiong's gaze was ice-cold: "You betrayed His Majesty and refuse to repent. You dare plot to kill an Imperial Censor—your crime is unforgivable!"

As he spoke, the black cavalry shoved aside the surrounding soldiers, charged forward, and stabbed the Deputy General to death before Zhou Yunhai's eyes.

Two black cavalrymen hoisted the Deputy General's corpse into the air and carried it back to Zhao Yuxiong.

This shocking scene plunged the field into deathly silence.

Before Zhou Yunhai could speak, Zhao Yuxiong cut in with his final ultimatum: "Make Li Zheng come out to face punishment—or I'll massacre you all!"

Li Zheng, an Imperial Cousin, was a distant relative of the founding emperor; though his blood still flowed from the imperial clan, it was far less pure than the Liang Emperor's line.

In kinship, Li Zheng was the Liang Emperor's own younger brother, sharing the same clan genealogy, and held the title Prince of a Commandery.

Zhao Yuxiong naming Li Zheng by name to face punishment struck the Imperial Party's most sacred nerve—Zhou Yunhai, though stunned, now had murder in his heart.

"A joke! With just these men of yours?"

"My Imperial Party has fifty thousand troops stationed here. All of the Central Plains obeys our orders. Even raising a hundred thousand is feasible."

"Two thousand men want to massacre us? Even if every one of you were black cavalry, it's a fool's dream!"

Zhou Yunhai sneered because all soldiers knew: cavalry held only relative advantage over infantry, never absolute.

Claims that cavalry could crush infantry alone were the talk of outsiders.

Any cavalry foolish enough to charge a solid infantry formation was an idiot—suicidal.

Besides, the Imperial Party wasn't just infantry—they had substantial cavalry of their own.

Looked at any way, Zhao Yuxiong's tiny force challenging the Imperial Party was like Beidi War Tactics.

Yet Zhao Yuxiong's eyes held only confidence: "Two thousand against fifty thousand? So what?"

"Long ago, Lord Qin led only two or three hundred men to hold Daqingshan, repelling ten thousand Di invaders—how heroic, how resolute!"

"Since I joined Lord Qin's side, I swore never to disgrace his glory!"

"Zhou Yunhai, I ask you one last time: surrender your arms, or fight to the last!"

Facing Zhao Yuxiong's icy gaze, Zhou Yunhai—who held overwhelming advantage—felt a sudden unease.

Zhao Yuxiong…

Qin Feng's foremost warrior; in personal martial prowess, even Xu Mo and Ning Hu couldn't match him.

Only he could command the black cavalry.

But Zhou Yunhai couldn't retreat—if he yielded, the Liang Emperor's endless fury awaited the Imperial Party.

Zhou Yunhai had to take a gamble, but just as he was about to give the order, his eyes had already betrayed him. The instant he raised his hand, the cavalry lance in Zhao Yuxiong's hand shot forth like a fierce dragon leaving its lair, charging straight at Zhou Yunhai.

Clang!

Accompanied by a sharp crack, a blinding spark flared across Zhou Yunhai's chest. Had his armor not blocked it, Zhou Yunhai would already be dead.

Zhao Yuxiong had used his full strength, but unfortunately, without the Warhorse's augmentation, and compounded by how sturdy the armor on Zhou Yunhai's body was, this lance failed to take Zhou Yunhai's life.