Liu Cong’s offensive was halted when it encountered Zu Ti’s army. Although the battle was fierce, they had finally managed to stop his advance, preventing him from taking another city with a single attack.

To be honest, Emperor Jin breathed a great sigh of relief.

The unfavorable situation at the front made Liu Cong very unhappy. When he returned to his residence, he was so angry that he swept the cups and dishes off the table.

The attendants were so frightened they lowered their heads, only coming forward to clean up after he had finished smashing things.

A servant made a sound while picking up broken porcelain and was so scared he immediately prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to move.

Liu Cong’s gaze fell upon him, and a flash of anger crossed his face. He stared at him for a while, then asked eerily, “Where is Emperor Jin?”

The servant hurriedly replied, “In the side courtyard.”

“Summon him here and have him clean this place up. All of you, withdraw.”

The servants did not feel happy at all; instead, their faces turned pale, and their legs trembled as they complied.

As they withdrew, their bodies shook slightly. Emperor Jin was the emperor of Jin, yet the Great General was making him do a servant’s work. If word of this got out, the Great General might be fine, but they would probably all lose their lives.

Someone went to the side courtyard to notify Emperor Jin.

Emperor Jin thought Liu Cong wanted to speak with him again and came looking dejected. But he didn’t see Liu Cong in the room; instead, the room was filled with broken cups and porcelain everywhere. He frowned in confusion, then a broom was thrust into his hands.

Emperor Jin looked blankly at the servant, who lowered his head to avoid his gaze and said quietly, “The Great General orders you to clean this room.”

When Emperor Jin heard this, his face turned pale.

The servant didn’t dare to press him and, after conveying the message, bowed and withdrew.

Emperor Jin stood holding the broom for a long while before silently beginning to sweep the floor. He imitated the servants, sweeping the broken porcelain into a pile. By the time he swept the debris out, not only did the generals and officials of Han know about it, but the officials of Jin knew as well.

Liu Cong’s subordinate generals and officials laughed heartily upon hearing this news. They immediately dropped what they were doing and ran to the main courtyard to watch the spectacle, taking the opportunity to relieve their bad mood from being blocked by Zu Ti.

Emperor Jin suffering such humiliation was unacceptable to the Jin officials. Zhao Zhongyu immediately led the Jin officials to barge into the main courtyard, pushing past the crowd of Xiongnu Han officials who were watching, walking to the emperor’s side. He snatched the broom from his hands, looked around, and said through gritted teeth, “Where is Liu Cong? Is this how he treats our Jin emperor? With such a petty heart, smaller than a chick’s, he still dreams of competing for the world? Let him keep dreaming his spring and autumn dreams!”

“You! How dare you!” A Xiongnu general drew his blade and walked toward Zhao Zhongyu. “Do you believe I’ll cut you down?”

Zhao Zhongyu stretched out his neck and said, “Come on then!”

The Xiongnu general really wanted to step forward and cut him down, but was held back by those around him. They pulled him back and said in a low voice, “He is Zhao Hanzhang’s grand-uncle. His importance is no less than Emperor Jin’s. Except for His Majesty and the Great General, no one can execute these two. Don’t act rashly.”

The general barely restrained himself and said, “Are we just going to let him slander the Great General like this?”

Of course not. Liu Cong soon emerged and, seeing the broom in Zhao Zhongyu’s hands, apologized repeatedly, “I invited Emperor Jin over to reminisce about old times. I had no idea why His Majesty of Jin suddenly started cleaning my room. Could it be that my humble dwelling was too filthy, and he couldn’t bear it, so he took it upon himself to clean?”

Emperor Jin’s expression changed. He lowered his eyes and honestly said, “It was a servant at the Great General’s side who told me to sweep, saying it was the Great General’s order.”

Liu Cong’s face changed dramatically upon hearing this. He immediately exclaimed, “Which servant dares to be so bold as to falsely convey my orders?”

He said seriously to Emperor Jin, “They must have been lazy and didn’t want to clean the room, but feared punishment, so they pushed the matter onto you, Your Majesty. Rest assured, I will severely punish them.”

Having said this, he called over his personal guards and ordered, “Take all the servants who served in the main courtyard today and behead them. Afterward, send their heads to His Majesty of Jin. I hope Your Majesty will forgive my discourtesy.”

Emperor Jin’s face turned slightly pale. He hurriedly tried to dissuade him, “Perhaps I really did mishear. Please, General, be lenient in your punishment.”

How could Liu Cong possibly give Emperor Jin this opportunity to bestow favor? He insisted on the executions. The personal guards received the order and arrested all the servants who had served in the main courtyard today. Without caring whether they were favored or not, they beheaded them all with a single stroke.

The heads were even brought to the courtyard to show Emperor Jin and the Jin officials.

Never mind Emperor Jin—even Jin officials like Zhao Zhongyu turned pale at the sight. One Jin official directly sat down on the ground and began wailing.

In such a situation, although the Jin Dynasty had not officially fallen in name, it had in reality.

The emperor was a monarch of a fallen state, and they were officials of a fallen state.

When the ruler is humiliated, the minister should die. What meaning was there in their continued existence?

One Jin official cried for a long time. Without waiting for his colleagues to console him, he scrambled to his feet, walked to Liu Cong, and knelt down, saying, “This Jin official, Zhang Kai, wishes to serve the Han court. Please, Great General, give Zhang a chance.”

Liu Cong laughed heartily and helped him to his feet, greatly pleased. “Good, good! Our Han emperor has a broad mind. No matter who comes, we accept them all.”

Zhou Chang, who had been sitting on the ground crying like him, also stopped his tears. He stared blankly at Zhang Kai for a moment, then scrambled to his feet and rushed over. But he didn’t kneel. Instead, he pointed at Liu Cong’s nose and cursed loudly, “You wretch! Nothing but the son of a barbarian! Your father was a hostage of our great Jin, and you—a bastard among wretches—what face do you have to order my sovereign around and enjoy the service of our Jin officials?”

“Broad-minded? Bah!” Zhou Chang cursed loudly, “Bingzhou was a land of abundance, yet you’ve governed it so nothing can grow! Good farmland you refuse to cultivate, instead forcing people to scatter grass seed for pasture, forcing civilized people to become barbarians. What kind of broad mind is this? The people know propriety, yet you make the civilized into slaves. The people are skilled at farming, yet you eat white rice and fine flour while forcing them to become nomads, to be savages.”

“You’re savages yourselves, with no thought of becoming civilized people. Instead, you want to turn all civilized people in the world into savages. What kind of broad mind is that?”

Liu Cong’s face instantly darkened. Under everyone’s gaze, his fists clenched tightly as he said, “Someone, Mister Zhou has had too much to drink. Please escort him away to sober up.”

“Bah! Stop trying to deceive people with such tricks. Do you, an outsider, get to judge whether I’m drunk or not?” Zhou Chang looked at Zhang Kai and turned to pull a sword from a Xiongnu general’s hand. With a swift motion, he cut off a piece of his own garment. “These two years of drinking with you have been wasted. From now on, we are no longer friends. Whether in life or death, don’t tell anyone, human or ghost, that we were acquainted.”

Having said this, he threw the piece of cloth to Zhang Kai, then raised the sword and cut his own throat.

Zhang Kai caught the piece of cloth and closed his eyes slightly. A spray of red splashed directly onto his face. After a long while, he opened his eyes to see a crowd surrounding Zhou Chang, shouting. Zhang Kai acted as if he heard nothing. He wiped the blood from his face, clutched the piece of cloth in his palm, tucked it into his sleeve, and silently walked behind Liu Cong.

Liu Cong didn’t notice his movements. He only felt that the Jin officials’ wailing made his heart constrict, making him very uncomfortable. He suppressed his anger, his gaze darkly fixed on Emperor Jin.

Emperor Jin couldn’t bear his gaze and quickly stepped forward to persuade everyone. Only then did they lift Zhou Chang’s corpse and, surrounding Emperor Jin, depart.