Shi Lei, who had been listening seriously, suddenly changed expression. He set down his wine cup and said, suppressing his anger, “Is Duke Wang trying to stir up chaos in the Han state and throw the world into greater turmoil?”

Wang Yan said, “How does the General come to say this?”

He said, “I am truly sincere in planning for the General. In the past, when I was young, I disliked participating in government affairs and only sought to avoid calamity for myself. But now I sincerely wish to strategize for the General—otherwise, why would I offer so many suggestions?”

Shi Lei became even more furious. He too had once been a Jin subject. Though he was a Jie barbarian, he was born in Shangdang. From his grandfather to his father, everyone in his family had been minor chieftains of the tribe. Even he himself had once been the future heir of the tribe. The villagers farmed together, and though life was poor, they lived harmoniously and happily.

Because he was robust and courageous, he had been relied upon by his fellow villagers from childhood. Even the neighboring Han landlords treated him with courtesy. Later, when Bingzhou suffered famine, he became separated from his family and had no choice but to go seek out relatives and friends. But on the road, he was captured and sold by government soldiers, transformed from a free commoner into a slave!

If not for the inaction of people like Wang Yan, how would he have been reduced to slavery and forced to struggle for survival?

Officials were no longer officials, leading to the people no longer being people.

The more Shi Lei thought about it, the angrier he became, and his expression grew increasingly dark. He directly smashed the wine cup on the table and said, “Your reputation spreads throughout the world. You held important positions and were employed by the court from your youth, continuing all the way until now when your head has grown white with age, yet you say you didn’t participate in court politics! Clearly, the destruction of this world is precisely your crime!”

Shi Lei didn’t even want to drink anymore. He directly ordered people to take Wang Yan away.

Wang Yan’s expression changed. He had always been clever and possessed keen insight—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to conclude upon seeing the young Shi Lei just once that he could become a great threat to the nation.

Nor would he have believed after meeting Zhao Hanzhang that she would achieve great things in the future.

Nor would he have thought ahead, before the country completely descended into chaos, to devise a strategy of having multiple refuges to preserve himself and the Wang clan.

In this moment, he also perceived Shi Lei’s killing intent. Though his heart turned cold with fear, he knew that begging would be useless. He could only sigh and follow the soldiers away.

Returning to the house where he was imprisoned, he sighed deeply and said, “Alas, throughout this life I’ve thought only of avoiding calamity, yet never imagined that in the end, my very efforts to avoid calamity would bring about my greatest disaster.”

The Jin ministers imprisoned with him remained silent.

He said with feeling, “Even if we cannot match the ancients, if we had not simply pursued empty elegance and superficiality in normal times, but had instead worked hard to support the realm, perhaps we would not have reached today’s extremity.”

Finally, a Jin minister couldn’t help but speak: “Wasn’t this atmosphere started by the Grand Tutor himself?”

Wang Yan fell silent, then sighed and waited for death.

Someone perceived his abnormal state and couldn’t help frowning. “With the Grand Tutor’s talent, it shouldn’t be difficult to persuade Shi Lei to preserve your life. Duke Wang, why do you harbor thoughts of death?”

Wang Yan said, “It’s not that I wish to die, but that I have no choice but to die.”

He paused before continuing, his brow slightly furrowed, “My death comes from a careless word that brought calamity—a moment of inattention. But as for all of you, I don’t know if you might escape this disaster.”

Shi Lei had once considered releasing them and bringing them all to work for himself, but Wang Yan’s words just now made Shi Lei feel that employing him would bring more harm than benefit. This person would likely stir up trouble for himself and the world alike.

However, Wang Yan’s insight was indeed exceptional and his talent great. Though Shi Lei had conceived the intent to kill, he still hesitated somewhat. So he asked his strategist Sun Chang, “Should this person live?”

He said, “I’ve traveled the world for many years and have never encountered someone like this.”

Sun Chang said, “He is one of the Three Dukes of the Jin court. Even if my lord keeps him, he will certainly not serve us wholeheartedly. He treated the Jin state thus—how much more so with my lord?”

He said, “Killing him is no loss.”

Shi Lei was silent for a moment before sighing deeply. “But we cannot use blade or sword. Forget it, let him keep his whole corpse.”

So he had the Jin ministers in the same room with Wang Yan all brought out, then had the walls pushed down, directly burying him and the Prince of Xiangyang inside, crushing them to death alive.

As for the other Jin ministers and Jin imperial family members, they weren’t so “fortunate.” Thinking that Zhao Hanzhang’s great army would arrive soon and Shi Lei was truly too lazy to fight her—

Fighting also required benefits to make it worthwhile.

What meaning did fighting now have?

For these Jin ministers? They weren’t worth it. But he was unwilling to release them, and equally unwilling to fight Zhao Hanzhang over them. He might as well just kill them all. When Zhao Hanzhang arrived and saw the corpses, she would naturally withdraw her troops.

So with a single order from Shi Lei, the imperial family members, officials, and aristocratic scholar-gentry who had been imprisoned by Shi Lei were slaughtered to the last person. The next morning, he broke camp and departed, leaving behind only a field strewn with corpses.

Xun Xiu, who had been observing from the side, sensed something was wrong and immediately led his men in pursuit. Looking at the scene, his eyes nearly popped from their sockets.

“This, this—how did he kill them all?”

Wasn’t he only supposed to kill Wang Yan?

Zhao Hanzhang and Zhao Erlang arrived to find that Xun Xiu had already collected the bodies. Without coffins, he could only find a few empty houses, lay down reed mats on the floor, and arrange them there. The corpses of Wang Yan and the Prince of Xiangyang had also been recovered and placed separately.

Zhao Hanzhang had anticipated this—in fact, this was partially a result she had pushed along herself—but seeing so many corpses, she still fell silent.

She examined them one by one before finally sighing. “Bury them on the spot. We can’t let them lie exposed in the wilderness.”

“Yes.”

Xun Xiu asked, “General, shall we return now?”

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him. “Return for what? You go pursue Shi Lei.”

Xun Xiu’s eyes widened. “Why pursue him at this point?”

He said, “There are no more Jin ministers in Shi Lei’s army now. Moreover, if we engage him in battle at this time, won’t we both suffer losses?”

“I’m telling you to follow him, not to fight him immediately,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “Follow from a distance—close enough that he knows you’re there, but not close enough that he can attack you. Be careful along the way not to fall into an ambush.”

“What does the General mean?”

“Luoyang is too poor. I want to take a trip through southern Bingzhou. Wang Mi has accumulated quite a bit of wealth over these years. Shi Lei’s money is hard to seize, but with Wang Mi dead, we can still try to grab some of his.”

Not only that—Zhao Hanzhang also sent people to find the Qihuo Army that had already withdrawn, calling them back to serve as her backup in case the Xianbei took advantage of the void to attack.

Learning of this afterward, Xun Xiu felt somewhat guilty. “Will they agree?”

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him. “I’ve promised to pay.”

Xun Xiu gave an embarrassed smile and acknowledged the order. He tallied his soldiers and provisions before setting out to pursue Shi Lei.

However, he was a full day and a half behind after all. Even with forced marches, it would take considerable time to catch up. Who knew that the very next day he would overtake them?

It turned out that Shi Lei had encountered Jin troops returning on the road. This was a force led by He Lun, troops that had broken out of Luoyang when Wang Mi surrounded it. He was a general left in Luoyang by the Prince of Donghai. Following him was the Prince of Donghai’s consort, along with forty-eight princes of the imperial family!

Unfortunately, Xun Xiu arrived one step too late. Shi Lei had killed them all, plundered all their wealth, and continued toward Shangdang.

Shi Lei wanted to seize Shangdang—it was the place where he had lived since childhood. Now that Wang Mi was dead, he very much wanted to take it.

Zhao Hanzhang was also heading toward Shangdang. She took a different route, and at the same time, Liu Cong was also heading for Shangdang.