“Tie up this unfilial wretch!” Shang Wensheng was so furious his temples throbbed violently. He ordered his household troops and retainers to bind his second son Shang Zhongjie.
“Master, what are you doing?”
At this moment, a middle-aged woman came stumbling out from inside. From her panicked appearance, she had clearly just received news and rushed back to Shang Family Fort. However, she didn’t reproach Shang Zhongjie but instead rushed forward to grab the riding crop in Shang Wensheng’s hand that he was about to strike down again, demanding sternly.
“Are you going to hand Zhongjie over to the authorities? To preserve your official position, you’re willing to righteously exterminate your own kin? Do you really think that if you hand Zhongjie over, your position will truly be secure? Though Zhongjie was somewhat excessive, when you weren’t in the fort, these base commoners killed until Shang Family Fort ran with rivers of blood and corpses lay everywhere. My old father at his advanced age, my two nephews who had just been married—their skulls were split open by these base commoners. We don’t even know where these base commoners tossed their corpses. Which one showed any mercy? Which one doesn’t deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces?”
The middle-aged woman mentioned the old matter of Shang Family Fort’s fall, also gritting her teeth, wishing she could stomp a few more times on the mangled corpses lying in pools of blood everywhere to vent the resentment that had accumulated so long in her heart, like venomous snakes gnawing at it.
She shielded her son Shang Zhongjie behind her, staring like a lioness at the several household troops on either side approaching with ropes. She snatched the sharp sword with dried bloodstains from her son Shang Zhongjie’s hand and waved it furiously, shouting the question: “Who among you dares approach?”
“The matter of the fort’s breach is past history and must not be mentioned again,” Shang Wensheng said. Seeing that his wife had not appeared in the fort to stop their second son from this confused act and had even deliberately condoned it, he trembled with even greater rage.
“How can it not be mentioned? Could it be that because that dog thief Han Qian helped His Majesty seize the realm, he should be held up high, while my Liu family’s deaths were all deserved? You bunch of cowards—so many people died, and you don’t even dare mention it now,” the middle-aged woman’s stern questioning showed no weakness in her manner. Holding the sword, she stared at Shang Wensheng and said, “Shang Wensheng, don’t forget that your daughter-in-law was also violated by those base commoners. Your Shang family’s fields and properties painstakingly built over generations are left with only these ruins before your eyes. Your Shang clan also had over a hundred descendants killed, their heads rolling…”
Shang Wensheng sat down dejectedly.
“If you ask me, not only is Zhongjie blameless, he killed well. Aren’t these base commoners tough? If their bones are tough, then their bones should be smashed. If their skulls are hard, then their skulls should be chopped off. Only then will they truly recognize that they were born as base breeds, born as servants, born as livestock meant to be driven!” The middle-aged woman stood with arms akimbo, spittle flying, completely ignoring the awkward expressions of the household troops and retainers around her, venting her full measure of hatred without restraint. “Now that you control Guangde Prefecture, you should dig out and find every single wicked base breed who attacked our Shang Family Fort, and let them taste what blood debt paid in blood means.”
“You’re a woman of the household—what do you know? Do you think I was pushed to this position because the court ministers truly feel I, Shang Wensheng, have merit to reward and talent to occupy it? If this matter gets out, do you really think all the court ministers think like you do, feeling this unfilial son did well and did right? You understand nothing and are just adding to the chaos here,” Shang Wensheng said bitterly.
“I am a woman of the household and understand nothing,” the middle-aged woman said. “But if Zhongjie wants to reclaim our Shang family’s fields and properties, yet these base commoners occupy them and won’t give them up, is there anything wrong with us using force to expel them? If these base commoners refuse to leave to the death and pick up swords and spears wanting to resist, what’s wrong with Zhongjie killing them all?”
“Perhaps we can only arrange it this way…” Shang Wensheng sighed deeply, knowing in his heart that if he truly handed Zhongjie over, his official career would essentially be finished.
After pondering for quite a while, Shang Wensheng first gathered together the household troops who had witnessed his second son’s torture and murder of the refugees and the retainers he had brought back this time to unify their testimony.
He didn’t believe these household troops and retainers dared defy their orders. He could promise them some benefits later. He also had them untie the bound hands of the fifty or sixty corpses. While the people had just died, they worked to ease as much as possible the bruises on their wrists. Where marks were truly severe, they used wounds to destroy and conceal them, then fabricated wounds of resistance on their bodies.
Fortunately, when Shang Zhongjie had tortured these refugees to death, he had vented his violent rage by randomly stabbing and thrusting with his sword, so fabricating fatal wounds was relatively easy. If it really didn’t work, they just made the fatal wounds on their bodies even more chaotic.
There were eight or nine young children who couldn’t possibly have taken up blades to resist. They gathered their corpses into a thatched hut and set it ablaze to burn them into mangled remains, claiming the bandit commoners would rather burn their families to death than give up resistance.
At this point, Shang Wensheng also felt secretly fortunate, thinking that it was lucky Zhongjie had temporarily left most of the household troops’ and retainers’ families in Lishui, planning to bring them over only after driving out all the refugees occupying Shang Family Fort. The household troops who had followed Zhongjie to first capture these refugees at Shang Family Fort were all old hands who had followed him for many years and were relatively easier to control.
After arranging all this, Shang Wensheng sent someone to report to Wei Zhen and other county officials in Lishui.
He also didn’t dare return to Langxi just yet.
He knew Wei Zhen had a sharp eye. He stayed hoping to rely on his old friendship with Wei Zhen to have Wei Zhen turn a blind eye. Only after Lishui County officially determined this matter as refugee rebellion would this matter be considered covered up.
Having handled all this, Shang Wensheng also felt exhausted in heart and mind. At this time, the sky darkened. Not knowing when Wei Zhen would arrive with county officials and bailiffs, he first withdrew to the still relatively intact inner quarters with the support of his wife Lady Liu to rest.
Also mentally and physically exhausted, Shang Wensheng dozed off in a daze leaning against a soft couch. Hearing sounds of fighting coming from outside, he still thought he was dreaming. Only when he heard his wife Lady Liu’s scream did he suddenly awaken. Opening his eyes, he saw his wife Lady Liu suddenly fall into the room, but she then made no further sound, her life or death unknown. Her entire left shoulder had been split open, with only a layer of flesh and skin remaining so the whole arm hadn’t completely fallen off, but it dragged gruesomely on the ground, blood gushing out like a spring.
“There’s an assassin! He Jin! Chen Xiang!” Before Shang Wensheng could finish shouting and jump up to retrieve the sword hanging on the wall, he heard a loud “crack.” The side window was smashed through from outside. His personal bodyguard He Jin, whom he had thought highly skilled in martial arts, tumbled through the broken window into the room. Though no wounds were visible on his body, he coughed up blood in great mouthfuls, as if his chest and abdomen had suffered severe injury. Looking more carefully, Shang Wensheng saw his chest had caved in—apparently someone had punched it in with sheer force.
At this moment, through the window broken into a large hole, Shang Wensheng could see a robust figure standing in the corridor like a killing god. Both hands gripped a horse-cleaving saber rarely seen even in the military, with two short blades also thrust in his waist. He was splitting open the head of a personal bodyguard stationed in the courtyard, blood spattering forth.
Though the assassin’s chest and abdomen had also been torn open with several wounds from the earlier struggle, he gripped his blade with both hands, his aura not weakened in the slightest. Turning, he slashed with blade light like lightning toward another Shang household troop trying to charge up the corridor from behind.
This household troop was fairly loyal, knowing that if the assassin entered the room, even one or two breaths would spell certain doom for the household head. Not daring to retreat, he gritted his teeth and raised his blade to block. With a clanging sound, the simple blade broke in two. At this point, wanting to retreat was too late. He could only watch helplessly as the blade tip swept across his face.
Shang Wensheng saw more clearly—the household troop’s face was split open with a gash. For an instant, white bone was exposed, then blood filled the wound and dripped down. Truly by a hair’s breadth—his skull had nearly been split open.
This was no assassin—clearly a killing star. Looking again at the eyes that turned toward him, they seemed filled with towering rage, not satisfied until he was chopped to pieces!
The bodyguards around Shang Wensheng were all carefully selected individuals skilled in martial arts. Yet unexpectedly, from the moment he awakened, in just three or four breaths, besides his elderly wife Lady Liu, this assassin had killed one and wounded two.
Where were the other household troops and retainers!
Besides the household troops Zhongjie had brought to Donglu Mountain and the personal bodyguards he had brought back, there should be over thirty elite fighters in the residence. How had this assassin slipped in silently to reach the room where he was resting?
Shang Wensheng grabbed his sword in hand. As he hesitated, he saw six or seven household troops rush into the courtyard, shouting loudly: “Seize this assassin—the second young master has been killed by him!”
Hearing these words, Shang Wensheng’s vision went black and he nearly fainted. Zhongjie had already been killed by this assassin?
The assassin’s first target had actually been Zhongjie, and only after killing Zhongjie did he break into the inner quarters to kill him?
The assassin had his face covered with black cloth, his tiger eyes glaring furiously with overwhelming hatred. Shang Wensheng thought to himself that in half a lifetime of official career he had been careful and cautious, not making enemies with people. He couldn’t understand who would hate him this much.
The assassin saw that the reinforcing household troops rushing from behind had four strong bows. Not entangling with these household troops in the corridor, his body lowered, and like a tiger or wolf he dove through the broken window. Seeing Shang Wensheng dodge behind a pillar, he raised his blade and thrust it toward his chest, quick as lightning.
Shang Wensheng drew his sword to deflect the blade. When blade and sword met, he truly recognized how powerful the assassin’s strength was. Using every ounce of his strength, he could only deflect the blade edge slightly. He watched helplessly as the blade tip pierced in from under his left armpit, stabbing him through with a bone-chilling cold.
“Whoosh, whoosh”—four sharp arrows shot simultaneously. The assassin couldn’t dodge in time and was struck by an arrow in his back. Not daring to linger in the room, he dragged back the horse-cleaving saber with his reverse hand, hacked open the north wall window, and fled toward the back courtyard.
Shang Wensheng sat down abruptly. In just moments, he felt his robes soaked through with blood gushing from his body. He watched those around him clumsily trying to stop the bleeding and bandage his wound, but still felt his strength draining away. His head tilted to the side and he lost consciousness.
When he awoke again, his vision was blurred for quite a while before he could clearly see that among the several people before him were Lishui County Magistrate Wei Zhen and Jinyun Bureau Left Commander Chen Ruyi. Several others in the room wore robes of the Ministry of Justice or Jinyun Bureau officials. He weakly opened his mouth to ask: “Zhongjie and my unfortunate wife…”
“Magistrate Shang, accept this grief!” Wei Zhen said, seeing Shang Wensheng had awakened and walking over. “You’re also fortunate to have a strong fate, Magistrate Shang. Imperial Physician Chen happened to be returning to Lishui to visit relatives. Otherwise, with this injury of yours, ordinary physicians in the county really would have had no way to treat it. However, your wife was quite unfortunate—by the time Imperial Physician Chen arrived, she had already stopped breathing…”
“What about Zhongjie?” Shang Wensheng asked, unwilling to give up hope.
Wei Zhen couldn’t bear to tell him the tragic state of Shang Zhongjie having his head and shoulder split in half. He only said: “Magistrate Shang, you should focus on recovering from your injuries. Don’t concern yourself with other matters for now.”
Though Wei Zhen spoke thus, Chen Ruyi had no intention of letting Shang Wensheng focus on recovering. He displayed his waist token and asked: “I currently serve in the Jinyun Bureau. Does Magistrate Shang still recognize me? Magistrate Shang was appointed by His Majesty as Magistrate of Guangde Prefecture. To be assassinated at Shang Family Fort, severely wounded with wife and son dead—His Majesty was greatly enraged upon learning of this and ordered the Jinyun Bureau to jointly investigate this case with the Ministry of Justice.”
“When His Majesty summoned me, Director Chen was at his side. How would this humble official dare forget? I beg Director Chen to bring justice for this humble official, quickly apprehend the true culprit, and avenge my wife and son!” Shang Wensheng said through gritted teeth.