Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

Four of his confidants had suddenly turned into corpses. Wang Shuang’s eyes were filled with horror; he couldn’t figure out what had happened at all.

In contrast, several of Zhang Gui’s trusted subordinates walked out from the small partitioned spaces on both sides. Each held a blade, their faces looking particularly vicious in the candlelight.

Zhang Gui, whose hands and feet had been bound just moments ago, actually undid the rope and stood up, sneering.

“Wang Shuang, your doomsday has arrived.”

He had never been truly tied up! The knot behind the chair was a slipknot!

“Th-this… what exactly is going on!”

Still in shock, Wang Shuang looked at Luo Yu. Luo Yu casually broke free of the hemp rope and chuckled lightly.

“Commander Wang treats everyone else like a fool; didn’t expect you were the fool yourself, right? Actually, I knew long ago that the secret letter wasn’t written by Zhang Gui. It was all your conspiracy!”

“Impossible! I did it flawlessly; how could you see through it!”

“Very simple.”

Luo Yu kindly answered his doubts, “Because Zhang Gui told me himself that he can’t read a single character. How could he possibly write a secret letter communicating with the enemy that spans hundreds of words so eloquently?

“You gave yourself away from the very start!”

Wang Shuang was dumbstruck. He never expected to be exposed because of such a tiny detail.

Luo Yu spoke nonchalantly:

“From the moment I saw that letter, I knew you wanted to use me. But I couldn’t figure out your true intentions. Did you just want to borrow my hand to eliminate a rival, or did you have other plans? I thought about it and felt you had a deeper conspiracy.

“So I found Vice Commander Zhang, and we put on this show together to lure you into telling the truth.

“I didn’t expect it. You really plan to rebel!”

“Then what about the wound on Zhang Gui! He clearly took a knife!”

“Hehe, just a light cut. If you didn’t see a little blood, how would you believe it?”

Luo Yu’s explanation drove Wang Shuang into deeper despair and even a surge of fear. Under that seemingly immature young face lay such a meticulous mind! He had been played in the palm of this boy’s hand.

“Why waste words with him!”

Zhang Gui laughed hideously and took a scimitar handed to him. “Collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country is a capital crime! Killing him is enough!”

Wang Shuang’s face turned pale with fright. He ran out of the room without looking back, shouting in alarm:

“Help! Someone help! Zhang Gui and Luo Yu have rebelled! They’ve rebelled!

“Kill them for me!”

Jiming Fortress wasn’t big. The terrified roars quickly alerted everyone. The garrison soldiers rushing over from all directions were a bit dazed when they saw the four corpses in the room. They looked at each other, unable to understand the situation.

“Commander, what happened? These corpses are…?”

The one asking was Dong Chuan, the most senior corporal in Jiming Fortress, about thirty years old.

“Zhang Gui conspired with Luo Yu to rebel! Kill him! Kill them quickly!”

Seeing more and more people pouring out, Wang Shuang finally gained a bit of confidence. After all, he was the standard commander; did Zhang Gui dare kill him in broad daylight?

Actually, he and Zhang Gui only had a few true confidants each. The other soldiers mostly just followed orders.

“Don’t listen to his farting!”

Zhang Gui raised his blade and pointed at Wang Shuang. “Just now, he personally admitted to secretly communicating with the Qiang thieves. Tomorrow at midnight, he will open the fortress gates and help the Qiang army breach Jiming Fortress!

“I have not only his handwritten letter, but also witnesses who heard it with their own ears!”

“That’s right! It is Wang Shuang who wants to collaborate with the enemy! He wants to sell out our brothers!”

“This traitor who eats from the inside!”

Zhang Gui’s confidants cursed angrily, but the others were skeptical. Everyone knew the two commanders were at odds; whose words could be trusted?

Dong Chuan frowned and looked at Luo Yu.

“Brother Luo, what exactly is going on?”

Although Luo Yu was a new recruit, his weight was significant. The battle at the fortress gate had boosted morale and added considerably to his prestige.

“Vice Commander Zhang speaks the truth. It is indeed Wang Shuang who is collaborating with the enemy.”

Luo Yu sneered. “Not only did he communicate with the Qiang soldiers, but he also tried to borrow my hand to murder Vice Commander Zhang. If we hadn’t been prepared, I’m afraid we would be corpses by now.”

All the garrison soldiers fell silent. Luo Yu and Zhang Gui had a grudge to begin with. If even Luo Yu said so, it meant Wang Shuang really was collaborating with the enemy!

They fought the Qiang people to the death, losing so many comrades after seven or eight days of siege, yet their leading commander wanted to sell them out.

How ridiculous was that?

“I… What did I do wrong!”

Seeing the matter exposed, Wang Shuang roared hoarsely:

“The fortress is besieged, there are no reinforcements outside and no grain inside. I just wanted to find a way for our brothers to live! What did I do wrong! Brothers, if you want to survive, you can only surrender. Following me isn’t wrong!”

“Commander.”

Dong Chuan’s face was full of grief and indignation. “The people of Longxi have a blood feud with the Qiang people for generations. How can we collaborate with the enemy? The common people will poke our spines and curse us!”

“I don’t care! I just want to live! Don’t you want to live?!”

“Listen, all of you, listen up.”

Zhang Gui mocked.

“This is our standard commander, a coward through and through! Are you worthy of the brothers’ trust?”

“Are you any better?”

In his despair, Wang Shuang pointed at Zhang Gui’s nose and cursed furiously:

“In the past year, how much military merit of the brothers have you stolen? Three months ago, when the court’s pay arrived at the front line, it was you who told me to withhold half and embezzle it, and you told me to lie to the brothers that the court didn’t pay in full!

“Also, last year when a dozen brothers died in battle, the little bit of pension silver the court sent down all went into your pocket!

“Touch your own conscience and ask: are you worthy of the brothers!”

The faces of the garrison soldiers changed again. Some were so angry their eyes spat fire. Everyone came to the front line to join the army just for a few pieces of silver and a bite to eat, yet Zhang Gui was drinking their soldier’s blood!

Stealing military merit, withholding pay, embezzling pension silver, this Zhang Gui treated them all like fools! They were the ones risking their lives, but Zhang Gui took all the benefits!

Shameless to the extreme!

The scene instantly froze. It seemed neither the commander nor the vice commander was any good.

“Bastard, shut your mouth!”

Zhang Gui really panicked. It wouldn’t be good to incite public anger at a time like this. He lunged forward with an arrow-step, and the big blade in his hand stabbed ruthlessly into Wang Shuang’s chest.

Thud!

The corpse slowly fell to the ground. Everyone was shocked; Zhang Gui actually dared to kill Wang Shuang in front of everyone.

Zhang Gui shouted angrily:

“Wang Shuang collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country; his crimes deserved ten thousand deaths! I have executed him!

“As for what he said just now, it was all nonsense! He was the one withholding pay; he was the one embezzling pension silver! He was deliberately trying to stir up trouble!

“Brothers, don’t believe him!”

The whole field was silent as a crow. Everyone looked at him with an expression of anger and mockery. If he really did it, why were you in such a rush to kill him to silence him?

“From now on, everyone in Jiming Fortress listens to my orders!”

Zhang Gui gripped his blade and said fiercely:

“If anyone refuses to submit, step forward!”

Several confidants stepped forward simultaneously, looking like evil spirits.

To fight Wang Shuang for so long, Zhang Gui naturally had his own means. These veterans who had seen combat were his greatest reliance. He knew that as long as he killed Wang Shuang, no one would dare challenge his authority.

Sure enough, intimidated by Zhang Gui’s power, no one dared to move, though their faces showed dissatisfaction. Corporal Dong Chuan’s face flushed red, and he gritted his teeth several times.

Only then did Zhang Gui nod in satisfaction. He signaled his confidants with his eyes, then turned to look at Luo Yu.

“Hehe, Brother Luo, thanks to you today. Otherwise, I really would have taken a big fall!”

Although Zhang Gui was smiling, his confidants subtly shifted their positions, seemingly surrounding Luo Yu.

Luo Yu smiled faintly.

“Vice Commander is too polite. I exposed his conspiracy for the safety of the brothers. I couldn’t just watch Jiming Fortress fall, could I?”

“I have a question.”

The hand Zhang Gui held behind his back quietly gripped the hilt of his blade, though his expression remained normal.

“You and I had a grudge. Why did you help me?”

Splurt!

A cold light flashed. A sharp dagger suddenly plunged into Zhang Gui’s throat, blood jetting out.

Luo Yu leaned close to Zhang Gui’s ear and asked softly in return:

“Who said I was helping you?”

NOTES

Soldier’s blood: Slang for the pay/resources meant for soldiers. “Drinking soldier’s blood” means embezzling military funds.

Killing to silence: Idiom meaning to kill a witness to prevent them from talking.

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