Ding Shengjia was jolted awake from sleep. He opened his eyes, sat up sharply, and his head swam with dizziness — he guessed it must be deep in the night.

His guards outside the door were still saying something. Ding Shengjia shook his head to clear it, and gradually came back to himself.

“General — General Meng has sent someone. He wants you to go to his compound right now.”

At those words, Ding Shengjia’s expression changed sharply.

“Do you know what it’s about?”

His man answered, “We don’t know. The messenger only said it was urgent, and asked the General to go immediately.”

Ding Shengjia thought to himself: such urgency — could it be that some military intelligence had come in? If so, wouldn’t he be given command again immediately?

With that thought, a sudden surge of excitement struck him. He hastily dressed, and walked out quickly.

At the main gate of the compound he found the messenger — a man he recognized, one of Meng Kedi’s personal guards by the name of Zhang Gen.

“What’s happened? Why is the General looking for me so urgently?”

Ding Shengjia asked as he pulled on his cloak.

Zhang Gen’s expression shifted repeatedly. After a moment’s silence, he suddenly cupped his hands in salute and said, “General Ding — General Meng and General Lai have been drinking, and may intend to… they may intend to kill you.”

Ding Shengjia’s eyes went wide.

“Why?!” He couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Zhang Gen shook his head. “I risked my neck to tell you this much. Whether you go or not, General, is your own decision.”

And with that, he turned and ran.

Ding Shengjia stood rooted in the doorway like a wooden statue. In an instant, that winter grew even colder.

“Drinking too much… and so they want to kill me?”

He muttered the words to himself.

He thought of his years of absolute loyalty to Meng Kedi, serving before and behind him without hesitation, ready to lay down his life at a single word — and yet because of a single defeat in Jizhou, there was no longer any room for him.

“General!” His guards urged him. “Going to General Meng’s compound now is certain death. We should leave at once.”

Another guard said, “While the men at the gate still don’t know what’s happening — General, if you put on your armor now and say you’re going out by General Meng’s order, there should still be time.”

Ding Shengjia stared blankly at the man speaking, all other reaction gone.

One of the guards said, “There’s no time — some of you go get the General’s battle armor, the rest go get the horses.”

The guards split up: some ran back to retrieve Ding Shengjia’s armor and dressed him in it right there at the gate; Ding Shengjia stood through it all like a puppet, letting them do as they wished.

Before long, the others returned leading warhorses. Someone helped Ding Shengjia into the saddle, then slapped the horse’s rump.

The group charged all the way to the city gate, shouting for the guards to open it.

The duty officer had no idea what was happening, and seeing it was Ding Shengjia, hurriedly bowed.

Ding Shengjia’s men shouted, “By General Meng’s orders, open the gate immediately!”

The officer was uncertain, and said with a troubled look, “It’s already so late — where is the General going?”

Ding Shengjia’s men looked at him, and Ding Shengjia seemed finally to have come back to himself.

He answered, “There may be an enemy advance from the north. I go by General Meng’s orders to inspect the northern approaches.”

The officer said, “I should still go confirm with General Meng — please wait here a moment, General. I’ll send someone to General Meng’s compound at once.”

Ding Shengjia’s anger blazed. He raised his hand and swung — the riding crop cracked across the officer’s face, splitting the skin to the bone.

“What are you?” he roared. “How dare you block my path? Do you all truly think I no longer have the authority to have you killed? Do you truly think I wouldn’t dare kill you right now?!”

The officer who’d been struck dropped to his knees.

“This subordinate would not dare!”

Ding Shengjia and Xue Chunbao had long had formidable reputations in the Anyang army — these men had always been afraid of them. Now, seeing Ding Shengjia’s fury, the rest didn’t dare obstruct him either.

Ding Shengjia said loudly, “Anyone who obstructs me will be charged with delaying military operations and insubordination — death without reprieve!”

He waved his hand. “Open the gates!”

The soldiers on duty had nothing more to say. They rushed to swing the gates open.

In the dead of night, Ding Shengjia rode out with his several dozen personal guards, sweeping away.

Before long, back in Meng Kedi’s compound, when word reached him, he kicked over the table before him.

“Such a vile traitor!” Meng Kedi shouted. “I treated him like a brother, and he dares to defect!”

Lai Yihu had not expected this either — but he wasn’t worried at all. In fact, he was pleased.

Whether Ding Shengjia was dead or fled, it made little difference. The two most loyal generals at Meng Kedi’s side — one had run, one had died. For Lai Yihu, this was nothing but gain.

He spent a long time putting on a convincing show of consoling Meng Kedi, until Meng Kedi had calmed down somewhat.

“Sworn Father,” Lai Yihu said carefully, “if you think about it, it’s not all bad. He fled out the north gate — he must be going to throw himself at Li Chi in Jizhou.”

“Think about it: the fact that he fled now is far better than if he had turned against you later. It’s also proof that this man was long since bought by Li Chi — in the battle of Jizhou, it may well have been him who betrayed you, causing the defeat.”

He lowered his voice and said, “But… Ding Shengjia fled in a hurry, and many of his men in the army are still loyal to him. If we don’t deal with them now, they’ll be trouble down the road.”

Meng Kedi’s eyes went wide. He considered a moment, then nodded. “You’re right. Go at once — take my token, and bring me all of Ding Shengjia’s officers.”

“Yes, sir!” Lai Yihu’s spirits rose instantly. He bowed and said, “Your son will bring every last one of them back tonight.”

Meng Kedi watched Lai Yihu hurry out and slowly breathed out.

That night, Anyang City was anything but quiet.

Lai Yihu swept through the city with his men, making arrests wholesale.

Naturally he would treat a small mandate as a sweeping license — and use it as the most sweeping license possible.

Anyone with any connection to Ding Shengjia, or who had been even slightly close to him, was arrested without exception.

By the time dawn began to approach, Lai Yihu had taken four or five hundred people into custody — a large portion of whom, in truth, had no significant connection to Ding Shengjia at all.

Just as Lai Yihu was about to bring them all to Meng Kedi’s compound, Guo Ruren blocked him.

“General — we can’t send them to Meng Kedi.”

Lai Yihu was taken aback. “These are Meng Kedi’s orders. Why do you say we can’t?”

Before Guo Ruren could reply, Lai Yihu said urgently, “If we let these old subordinates die inside Meng Kedi’s compound, the Anyang army will lose any loyalty they still have to Meng Kedi. We can’t delay this — get them there quickly, have them killed quickly, and at one stroke our resistance is cut in half.”

Guo Ruren said, “General, think — these people may be Ding Shengjia’s subordinates, or his relatives and friends, but they are also Meng Kedi’s subordinates and old acquaintances…”

He urged, “If Meng Kedi sees that many people weeping and begging for their lives, he may go soft.”

Lai Yihu’s expression shifted. He considered a moment, then nodded. “Then what do you think we should do?”

Guo Ruren said, “Bring them all to the General’s compound, then send someone to invite Meng Kedi over.”

Lai Yihu said, “He may not come — and he’ll certainly curse me, asking why I didn’t bring them to his compound.”

Guo Ruren said, “General, you simply say: killing people in General Meng’s compound would bring too much blood energy, and might disturb the spiritual fortune of the compound — and besides, you worry it might cause his other subordinates to resent General Meng.”

“Tell Meng Kedi: you want to do the killing in your own compound, as a demonstration of loyalty — let everyone know that it was you who ordered the killings, not General Meng.”

Guo Ruren continued, “We lay elite fighters in ambush inside the compound. The moment Meng Kedi arrives — one sword, and he’s dead!”

“Taking advantage of tonight’s chaos, General kills Meng Kedi and swiftly takes command of the Anyang army — this place is yours.”

Lai Yihu’s eyes lit up. He roared with laughter. “Great-uncle was right to send you with me!”

He waved his hand. “Take everyone to my compound now — don’t wait for me to return. Kill them all. I’m going to invite Meng Kedi.”

Guo Ruren immediately acknowledged the order and led men to push all the detainees toward Lai Yihu’s compound.

Before long, Lai Yihu had somehow actually managed to get Meng Kedi to come.

The two of them entered the main courtyard together — and as soon as Lai Yihu saw that all the prisoners were still in the yard alive, his expression flickered.

He looked toward Guo Ruren. Guo Ruren gave a very slight shake of his head.

As Meng Kedi walked toward the prisoners, Guo Ruren took the chance to say quietly to Lai Yihu, “I just reconsidered — if Meng Kedi walks in and finds everyone already dead, he’ll certainly grow suspicious.”

“He might turn and leave on the spot, and the opportunity would be lost. Besides, his martial skill is formidable, and he has his personal guard with him — even if he came in, he’d be hard to take down.”

“I’ve already arranged the Mohe warriors, hidden among the prisoners. Once Meng Kedi walks over, he’ll die for certain.”

Lai Yihu was elated. He laughed under his breath and said, “What’s in that head of yours? Once again you’ve thought of everything. Great-uncle made the right call sending you.”

Just then, Meng Kedi turned his head. “General Lai — what are you two discussing?”

Lai Yihu hurried over. “Only asking whether all the prisoners have been accounted for.”

“Mm.” Meng Kedi nodded and stepped forward to stand before the kneeling men, sweeping his eyes across them.

Suddenly he noticed that the person kneeling directly in front of him was someone he did not recognize and had no memory of — so he stepped a few paces closer.

He crouched down slightly. “Who are you?”

Lai Yihu immediately shouted, “Make your move now!”

The kneeling Mohe chieftain surged to his feet, lunged forward in a single step — and thrust his short blade into Lai Yihu’s chest with a thud.

Lai Yihu’s face twisted into something unrecognizable. He stared at the Mohe chieftain in disbelief.

“Why… why?”

The Mohe chieftain’s movements were blindingly fast. The short blade drove in and pulled back, in and back — six, seven times in rapid succession. Yet each and every one of those strikes precisely avoided any killing blow.

He gave a small push, and Lai Yihu toppled backward.

Guo Ruren walked over and crouched down. He looked at Lai Yihu, still gasping desperately for each breath, and simply looked at him.

After staring for a long moment, Guo Ruren erupted in laughter — raw, ragged, wrenching.

“Lai Yihu!” Guo Ruren lunged for a nearby blade, leveled it at Lai Yihu’s face, and said, “You violated and defiled my wife — did you truly think I never knew?!”

“My wife drowned herself because of it. They told me she had been caught in adultery and died of shame. I investigated in secret and discovered the truth — that while I was away from home, you were the one who ruined her!”

Guo Ruren’s hand shook violently as he rasped, his voice gone hoarse: “Did you think Lai Yong’er sent me to help you? He didn’t. I followed you here myself, deceiving you into thinking Lai Yong’er had sent me after you!”

“I came for one reason — to see you dead. And not just you — your entire family. If I hadn’t made you trust me completely, made you believe I was genuinely helping you seize Anyang, how could I have tricked you into writing those letters home, bringing your wife and children to Anyang?”

“I helped you scheme and plot — only so you would believe that Anyang was nearly in your hands, and be deceived into writing in your own hand, summoning your family here.”

Guo Ruren’s red-rimmed eyes tore out a scream: “I’ve been waiting for them here! I’ll see that they go down and reunite with you as a family!”

One stroke of the blade fell.

Lai Yihu’s head rolled free. Blood gushed and spread across the ground.

—