Shi Le frowned but didn’t stop Shi Hu. Instead, he glanced at Shi Hu, who then released the maid and sat down beside Wang Jun’s wife, mocking her. “Are you envious of them? Unfortunately, you’re too old, not quite to my taste. But if you want, I’m not unwilling.”
Having said this, he grabbed her and forcefully pulled her into his embrace.
Madam Wang was shocked and cried out in alarm.
Wang Jun had been waiting in the back for Shi Le to come pay his respects. Hearing the sound, he ran out to look and became furious. He couldn’t help but question Shi Le. “Shi Le, you allow your subordinate to humiliate my wife—what is your intention?”
Shi Le’s hand rested on his sword hilt. “What face do you have to question me? You were disloyal to the Jin imperial house above and failed the common people below. Youzhou suffered consecutive droughts and locust plagues, and the people are in dire straits. You clearly have large stores of grain, yet you’re unwilling to provide relief to disaster victims. Not only you—in my view, there’s not a single person in this mansion who is human. You’re all beasts.”
Zhang Bin couldn’t help but grimace. Right now they were also in this mansion, weren’t they? This included them in the insult.
He couldn’t help but cough lightly.
Shi Le thought he was urging him on, so without further ado, he drew his sword. “Today I shall take you on behalf of Heaven.”
Wang Jun’s eyes widened in disbelief. They had clearly come to negotiate surrender—how had it turned into this?
But the situation didn’t allow him to think much. As soon as Shi Le drew his sword, his Shi Family Army followed suit, drawing their weapons with a swish, and like fierce tigers descending the mountain, they began killing the soldiers, household guards, and others in this mansion.
Wang Jun was terrified and turned to flee.
Shi Le had already leaped forward with his personal guards, jumping onto the corridor and charging to kill him. He was intercepted halfway by Wang Jun’s guards. Sima Youjong, standing beside Wang Jun, kicked Wang Jun off the corridor, sending him flying into the courtyard.
Sima Youjong removed his helmet and tossed it aside, pulled out a red cloth strip tucked in his collar, and shouted loudly, “Capture the traitor Wang Jun!”
His men immediately followed suit, discarding their helmets and pulling out red neckties, turning to attack Wang Jun’s people.
They followed Sima Youjong’s instructions: for officials and generals, capture them alive if possible; kill only if capture was impossible.
Shi Le himself also wanted to use Youzhou’s talent, so he didn’t strike with lethal force. He flipped down from the corridor and kicked Wang Jun, who had just gotten up, back down again. Then he lifted him up by the collar with his sword pressed against his neck. “Wang Jun has been captured. Why don’t the rest of you surrender!”
Wang Jun was too arrogant and too trusting of Shi Le. The mansion had prepared to host him well—fine wine and delicacies, even beauties were available—but defensive forces were insufficient. And Shi Le had brought carefully selected elite troops. This was like a fierce tiger entering a sheep pen—the Youzhou army had no way to resist.
Some people, seeing Wang Jun captured, hesitated and put down their weapons. Others stubbornly resisted, planning to rush out regardless of Wang Jun’s life or death.
After all, Wang Jun was so old, and this past year he had become increasingly muddled. It would be better to rush out and find the two young masters.
There were those who resisted, but not many. Shi Le, holding the disheveled Wang Jun, didn’t take them seriously. He was just about to hand this place over to Sima Youjong while he took Wang Jun to persuade the Youzhou army at the city gates to surrender, when the sounds of fighting grew more intense, accompanied by screams.
Shi Le turned back to look and saw that Shi Hu, having gotten carried away with killing, had not only killed Madam Wang and the maids beside her but had also killed several soldiers who had laid down their weapons. This greatly provoked those who had surrendered. They immediately bent down to pick up their swords again, and the courtyard instantly descended into chaos.
Wang Jun’s men’s fighting spirit surged, and they fought fiercely with the Shi Army and Sima Youjong’s rebel forces.
Even Sima Youjong was stunned. He couldn’t help but turn and shout at Shi Le, “Shi Le! You dare betray me!”
Shi Le was also furious. He glared at Shi Hu and shouted, “You wretch, stop immediately!”
Shi Hu was covered in blood, his face full of the excitement of seeing blood, his eyes shining like a wild wolf’s in the night. He shouted loudly, “These weak people are useless to keep alive. Uncle, let me sweep them all away so they won’t be a burden to you anymore.”
Shi Le was enraged. Seeing more and more surrendered soldiers picking up their weapons, he immediately ordered, “Someone come! Shi Hu has violated military orders and should be executed!”
The eight personal guards behind Shi Le immediately pounced on Shi Hu like fierce tigers.
Shi Hu was stunned. Without thinking, he immediately gripped his sword and met them. He was strong, and the sword in his hand had been selected from the Zhao family weapons that Zhao Hanzhang had given him. With one strike pressing down, he forced the charging personal guard to half-kneel. The sword then quickly slashed, and a head flew up. He spun and blocked the other personal guards’ swords with his blade. The sound of weapons clashing rang out with clangs.
But at this moment, in Shi Le’s eyes, there was only that flying head and Shi Hu’s face full of brutality…
This was his personal guard who had followed him for three years, highly skilled in martial arts and greatly valued. He had blocked two sword strikes and one arrow to protect him. Everyone knew he trusted and valued him greatly—a general’s position would surely be his in the future.
But now, Shi Hu had killed him with one stroke!
Shi Le watched Shi Hu, who was fighting more and more excitedly, and his heart grew colder and colder. In his mind, Zhao Hanzhang’s prophecy began cycling again. She was right—Shi Hu would one day exterminate his entire family.
Even now while he was still weak, he dared to kill those close to him without any hesitation. What about later?
Shi Hu’s cruelty and viciousness had been present since childhood. This contradicted what Master Zhang had said. Perhaps most children in this world were good by nature, but there were certainly some who were evil by nature—like Shi Hu.
A cold light flashed in Shi Le’s eyes, and he suddenly made up his mind. He threw Wang Jun to the personal guard behind him and took a bow from a soldier, nocking an arrow aimed at Shi Hu. Without much hesitation, the arrow flew toward Shi Hu’s heart.
Shi Hu’s heart went cold. He dodged, and the arrow pierced through his shoulder. He staggered, and the personal guards surrounding him immediately took the opportunity to strike him several times.
Shi Hu couldn’t dodge in time and took two more wounds, but he still stood firm. His eyes, glaring at Shi Le, were full of viciousness. He shouted loudly, “You want to kill me—what gives you the right?”
Shi Le didn’t answer him at all. He nocked another arrow. Shi Hu was being besieged, and with his injuries, his movements were already inflexible. Shi Le’s arrow wasn’t so easy to dodge either. Shi Hu tried to avoid it, but instead seemed to rush straight toward the arrow. The arrow pierced directly into his heart. Shi Hu’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he paused for a moment. Another personal guard then stabbed from the side and rear…
Shi Hu looked down at his two severe wounds, upper and lower. Suddenly, intense hatred burst from his eyes. He swung his sword, charging toward Shi Le, seemingly wanting to kill him. But after just two steps, he couldn’t go on. He could only fall down with his eyes wide open in death.
The personal guards who had been fighting Shi Hu breathed a sigh of relief. Of the eight of them, three had died in formation, two were severely wounded and seemed unlikely to survive, and the other three had all been injured to varying degrees.
Shi Hu was truly a fierce general.
Zhang Bin also thought he was fierce, but he felt no pity for his death—only relief.
Such a vicious person who wouldn’t obey military orders—if he weren’t dealt with early, he would become a disaster in the future. And if given the chance to grow and learn to disguise himself, he would certainly become a great threat.
As soon as Shi Hu fell, Zhang Bin immediately stepped forward and shouted loudly, “Those who disobey military orders, regardless of closeness, will all be dealt with according to military law—even the general’s own nephew is no exception! If you surrender your weapons, you definitely won’t be killed. Why don’t you surrender quickly!”
Those who had picked up their weapons again now let them clatter to the ground. Even those who had been stubbornly resisting dropped their swords. If they surrendered, it seemed they could avoid death.