Chapter 1013: Internal Strife and Bloody Purge (700 Votes Bonus Chapter)

"Who is Xie Mingxuan?" Over there, Xie Mingxuan raised his hand. "Who is Wen Tiejun?" Wen Tiejun froze. This surrender had been led and brokered by Xie Mingxuan; he himself had only just now formed his own unit. How had his name been called out? But at a moment like this, he could do nothing. He simply raised his arm.

Zhao Jin smiled, looking from one side to the other, then spoke: "Xie Mingxuan, step forward a few paces."

Over there, a path opened for Xie Mingxuan. He hurried forward a few steps, then knelt and kowtowed before Zhao Jin, saying, "Defeated and worthless soldier Xie Mingxuan begs Lord Jin for his great mercy and kindness to take us in. We are willing to go through fire and water for Lord Jin, and would rather die than refuse!"

After he said this, everyone behind him, including Wen Tiejun's unit, knelt as well. Zhao Jin nodded from horseback but did not acknowledge those words. He simply said, "Didn't you have something to say? Get up and say it!"

Xie Mingxuan froze. Seeing Zhao Jin nod, he kowtowed again in salute, then rose to his feet. The estate had long been prepared; they immediately brought over a square table and set it before the surrendered troops. Xie Mingxuan climbed onto that square table. The archers on the arrow towers on both sides instantly fixed their gaze on him, but Xie Mingxuan did not face Zhao Jin. Instead, he took a deep breath, turned around, and said, "Wen Tiejun, you originally intended to surrender to the government troops, didn't you?"

No one expected him to ask such a question. Wen Tiejun froze, then erupted in a furious roar, only to be immediately forced back by the blades of the household troops. He retreated two steps and shouted from there, "Xie, don't you slander an honest man here! I followed you the whole way; how does that make me someone who was going to surrender to the government troops? Lord Jin, see clearly — this lowly one simply admires Xuzhou and wanted to come serve Lord Jin. Lord Jin, this Xie is a diehard, ironclad loyalist of Xu Hongru! Him coming to surrender is most likely a plot to murder Lord Jin, to bring disaster upon this great Xuzhou!"

Among those who had accompanied Zhao Jin, some knew today's arrangement, but others found it baffling and strange. Only when they saw the faint smile on Zhao Jin's face did they refrain from shouting to stop it.

Over there, Xie Mingxuan did not rush to argue. He waited until Wen Tiejun had finished his raging shouts, then spoke again: "Originally, you were going to open the city gates, but Shen Zhi beat you to it. The government troops surged in, and even surrender became impossible. You had no choice but to flee with me, isn't that right?"

"I, Xie, have hands drenched in blood, but I have never engaged in wanton slaughter or massacre. I made sure my brothers were fed, clothed, and warm, and I restrained them from following along in indulgence and reckless evil. The things Xu Hongru's trusted aides and Xu Hongju's subordinates did — they were no longer human but beasts. Having become like that, they were no longer human. Even in years of peace, they would still be madmen who only loved to kill. Haven't we seen plenty of men like that in Liaozhen?"

Listening to Xie Mingxuan's account, his own unit all wore expressions of heartfelt sorrow, while on Wen Tiejun's side, some were dismissive, others uneasy and anxious.

"But you, Wen Tiejun, you led everyone down this road to death. From the great chaos to the uprising, how much evil have you done, how much blood is on your hands, how many people have you ruined? You yourself are a beast — aren't you afraid everyone will suffer retribution along with you?" Xie Mingxuan spoke with righteous conviction.

But below, Wen Tiejun was jumping and cursing furiously: "Xie Mingxuan, what merciful heart are you putting on here? You gave the orders from above, and the brothers did the work below. You may not have blood on your hands, but do you dare say all this killing has nothing to do with you?"

"It has to do with me. I am also steeped in sin, but I had no choice. If we hadn't done this, how could anyone have survived? I could only manage everyone to commit as little killing as possible!" Xie Mingxuan did not flinch in the slightest.

Zhao Jin and his group watched from horseback. The household troops dividing the surrendered soldiers and the archers on the surrounding arrow towers and watchtowers were all on high alert as if facing a great enemy. But the men of Zhao Camp were starting to find this a bit tedious. Your own karma, tangled up endlessly here — what does it have to do with us? And yet we still have to act on your behalf.

"Wen Tiejun, how much gold did you and your men carry out of the city? How is it that by the time you got here, only a few hundred taels of silver were found on you? You hid it all in that well outside the estate, didn't you?" Xie Mingxuan spoke without pause.

The moment this was brought up, Wen Tiejun's expression changed. On Xie Mingxuan's face now there was no righteous indignation, only a cold sneer. He continued, "The government cavalry came to that estate several times. On the surface, it looked like they were fooled. The first time, they were just passing through. The second and third times, they were communicating with you, weren't they?"

Wen Tiejun, standing over there, instinctively tried to charge forward. He took two steps and nearly collided with the blades and spear-tips of Zhao Camp's household troops. He hastily pulled back and stood there cursing furiously: "Xie Mingxuan, you bastard, you're slandering an honest man! On what grounds do you say this?"

As he shouted wildly, Xie Mingxuan did not respond, merely showing a cold sneer. The expressions of the Zhao Camp men who had come grew solemn. At that moment, Wen Tiejun suddenly caught on. He first glanced back, then squeezed out a few tears and pleaded tearfully: "Lord Jin, Great Master, it's all this Xie Mingxuan slandering this lowly one. It's only because this lowly one seized gold and silver in Zou County and didn't share it with him, and kept a young woman for himself. He's held a grudge to this day. This lowly one also endured hardship to follow here, hoping Lord Jin would grant a path to survival. How could I have been in contact with government troops? This lowly one is a rebel — with government troops, it's kill or be killed!"

"Shen Zhi went over there and got a position as Guard Commander. They offered you Battalion Commander, but you thought the position was too low. They set terms for you: if you captured me and found Xu Hongru's hidden treasure, they'd give you a Guard Commander position too, isn't that right?" At Xie Mingxuan's words, Wen Tiejun stepped back and stood frozen.

Xie Mingxuan raised his voice further, pointed at him, and shouted: "When you heard we were going to surrender to Zhao Jin of Xuzhou, the government troops set new terms for you, didn't they? They said as long as you performed a great deed in Xuzhou, they could even give you the positions of Brigade Commander and Mobile Corps Commander, isn't that right?"

Wen Tiejun's face had turned ashen. Ignoring Xie Mingxuan, who was still speaking, he turned his head and roared: "Which ungrateful bastard spilled it? I've treated you well, and you—"

As he raged with such ferocity, the expressions of the men behind him all shifted. Many lowered their heads, none daring to face the utterly vicious Wen Tiejun. Two men could not bear it any longer and turned to flee outward. Wen Tiejun reached out to grab them, but the moment he moved, someone behind him brought a pole-blade's back-edge smashing down hard, knocking him flat to the ground.

"They also said you didn't need to kill anyone in Xuzhou — just pass along information, probe Xuzhou's secrets, and when the time came, coordinate from within and without. That would be a great deed, and Eunuch Wei himself would take notice, isn't that right?" Xie Mingxuan continued.

The unit behind Wen Tiejun had begun to stir restlessly, but they were already tightly surrounded. Outside were pole-blades and short spears; overhead were bows and firearms. The slightest disorder meant certain death, and they dared not flee. The two who had run outward, however, received a signal and ran into Xie Mingxuan's unit.

"We brothers really aren't worth much — they'd only trade a Mobile Corps Commander for us. We've beaten quite a few Regional Commanders and Vice Generals ourselves." Zhao Jin joked. His companions around him all burst into laughter.

Zhao Jin then turned to Liu Yong and said, "Xiaoyong, we can never let our guard down. The court and the officials may seem intimidated and won't send troops, but their covert operations will never stop. This is a perfect example."

Liu Yong nodded. Ma Chonghao followed up: "My lord, this scheme is most likely being run by the Eastern Depot. The Embroidered Uniform Guard wouldn't get involved in this, nor could they pull off something this big."

"Eunuch Wei directly controls the Eastern Depot — must be convenient for him to use." Zhao Jin commented with a smile, then said to Xie Mingxuan, "This pledge of allegiance, I'll take it. Now, pick out the men over there you want to keep alive."

Xie Mingxuan turned around on that square table, kowtowed right there on the table, then began loudly calling out names. Those whose names he called all walked out. The unrest in Wen Tiejun's unit grew greater and greater. A few men tried to seize the weapons of the household troops, but they were cut down and stabbed without mercy, blood flowing across the ground.

"Let's fight them to the death!" Someone shouted at the top of his lungs, but the moment he cried out, he was shot dead by arrows from the watchtower — and struck by more than one.

"Obey the arrangements obediently. After interrogation, you still have a chance to live. If you stir recklessly, you will all be slaughtered!" A company commander stabbed one man through, and without even wiping the blood from his face, shouted loudly right there.

Several hundred unarmed men, facing several hundred armored and blade-wielding household troops with archer support — what power did they have to resist? Moreover, their supposedly secret arrangements had been exposed on the spot. Hearts panicked, minds in chaos — resistance was even less possible. And the household troops of Zhao Camp showed no mercy at all. In the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred lives were gone. The ground was covered with corpses. Even the men on Xie Mingxuan's side turned pale, hearts trembling with fear.

But after this bout of slaughter, the situation immediately calmed. Wen Tiejun had tried to move just moments ago and had been directly stabbed through the thigh by a short spear. He lay on the ground howling miserably and rolling, unable to rise.

At this moment, the situation was fully under control. Everyone whose name Xie Mingxuan called left the ranks. What was surprising, however, was that the names Xie Mingxuan called were not only from the unit behind Wen Tiejun, but also from his own unit. When he called them, even the men in his own unit were greatly surprised — though their surprise quickly turned to fury, and they beat and kicked the men, shoving them out.

Just moments ago they had been shouting curses at each other, and suddenly it had come to this — blood flowing across the ground. The men shoved out from Xie Mingxuan's unit, the moment they were out, tried to run regardless of everything. But running like that was only seeking death. Those pushed out later simply knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.

"Both sides planted spies in each other's camps. But Xie Mingxuan knew Wen Tiejun had placed spies here and deliberately kept them. Wen Tiejun, on the other hand, is the type who thinks he's clever." Liu Yong spoke.

"This Xie Mingxuan is indeed reputed to be Xu Hongru's advisor and chief strategist. These Left and Right Military Advisors of the Smelling Incense Sect are rather interesting — one surrendered to us, the other to the government troops." Zhao Jin said with a smile.

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Thanks to old friends "User Cold Night" and "Qi Sanwen" for their tips. Thanks to everyone for your subscriptions and monthly votes. Thank you all.