Chapter 1011: Raiding the Household

Cao Rong, who had already given up and decided to activate his final move, hesitated, then sat back down.

The cost of killing the Censorial Inspector was too high, especially with the Embroidered Uniform Guard at his side;

And how he had managed to slip past the countless eyes of the Cao household to steal the treasure from the storage depot remained a mystery.

Cao Rong could not guarantee that killing Xue Shao would not leak word of it, so as long as there was the slightest chance, he was willing to pursue it.

Xue Shao, seeing him return to his seat, smiled faintly and turned to order Xi Jin to arrange dinner: "Invite Prefect Song to join us."

Prefect Song had hoped to avoid this wave of trouble, but when Xi Jin came personally to invite him, he hesitated, clenched his teeth, and went anyway.

At the banquet table, Xue Shao and Song Hao kept Cao Rong occupied, while the government office Runners surrounded the Prefect, turning away anyone from the Cao household who approached—the moment trouble broke out, they simply clamped hands over mouths and dragged them away.

Prefect Song even paid to bring musicians from Baiyi Tower to sing songs—yiyi yaya—their melodies drowned out any sudden noise from outside, making it hard for sound to reach the inner courtyard.

Cao Rong glanced at Xue Shao, who was lightly tapping his fingers, and a flicker of mockery passed through his eyes.

So Xue Shao wasn't indifferent to worldly things—he simply hadn't found the right thing to like among those people in Jiangnan?

Cao Rong's gaze swept over the musicians, and a plan formed in his mind; suddenly, he was no longer in a hurry.

Meanwhile, An Chen was leading the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Wang Cong and others to surround the Cao household, presenting their warrant and storming in to arrest them.

Pan Yun returned from outside the city to her small courtyard, found no trace of Wang Cong and the others, followed their trail, and arrived just as the chaos reached its peak.

The Cao household's steward led a group of soldiers and Retainers to resist, drawing swords and blades outright.

An Chen barked: "Inspector Xue acts by the Son of Heaven's decree—he is Heaven's envoy! To see the envoy is to see the Son of Heaven! How dare you raise weapons against him? Do you intend to rebel?"

The steward shouted back: "Don't try to deceive us! Our Commandant is absent—who dares storm into this house is no better than a bandit! Brothers, bandits have invaded! Kill them all! I'll bear all consequences!"

"Cao Rong has been apprehended and is imprisoned in the Prefect's jail! How dare you defy orders on his behalf!" An Chen drew his sword with a sharp hiss and growled: "Anyone who resists will be executed on the spot!"

As the battle erupted, Pan Yun, crouched behind the roof, broke off a shard of tile, flicked it with her fingers—the tile shot out with a hiss, striking the steward squarely on the back of his neck; his eyes rolled back and he collapsed with a thud.

An Chen froze for an instant, then immediately shouted: "The Cao household steward has surrendered! Will you still resist?"

Amid the chaos, the Embroidered Uniform Guard roared as one, Wang Cong and the others surged forward, shouting: "Surrender your weapons and live!"

Some actually dropped their swords and blades.

But others remained clear-headed, knowing that with Cao Rong's crimes, surrendering their weapons would likely mean death—they charged forward with swords and blades, yelling: "Break out! Rescue the Commandant! Overthrow this unjust world!"

An Chen kicked out, his Brocade Spring Blade slicing down in one stroke—shearing off the man's entire head.

Unjust world? What right did he have to shout that slogan?

Wang Cong also kicked aside those charging at him, striking them with the flat of his blade to knock them unconscious, occasionally shielding Wang Xiaojing and the others.

Pan Yun, on the roof, kept breaking off tiles and occasionally tossing one down.

A Cao household guard swung his blade down—just as it was about to strike, a loud bang rang out: either the blade veered off course, or his elbow suddenly ached and went numb, instantly losing strength;

Wang's men charged into the crowd with wild yells, fighting like mountain bandits—when a blade swung toward a face, the victim would shut his eyes, bracing for death, only for his leg to go numb and him to collapse with a thud; when he opened his eyes again, not only had he dodged the incoming blade, but the attacker himself had collapsed with a thud.

After the fierce battle, our side suffered zero casualties; the enemy lost five men, and all others—except those who had dropped weapons and surrendered at the start—were lightly wounded and captured.

The five dead were all killed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard—they showed no mercy.

The other light wounds were inflicted by Wang's men and the military household recruits who came from outside the city.

However, the military household recruits from outside the city mostly formed the outer perimeter.