Who killed the Ming Dynasty?

Chapter 118 Hao Xiaozhong Surrenders

Zhang Youyu, his beard and hair bristling, roared like thunder:

"Does General Hao really intend to be like Wu Sangui, who let wolves into the house?"

"I only want my brothers who are alive!"

Hao Xiaozhong roared, slamming his right fist into the breastplate.

"These eagles, which have endured ten years of hardship, have now had their strength drained by that imperial decree praising their 'commendable loyalty and bravery' even when they were hunting rabbits."

Wang Keli seized the opportunity and strode forward:

"General Hao, listen carefully!"

"Xiangyang Prefecture's silver vault has prepared 100,000 taels of silver, and General Li Guo's 3,000 Iron Falcons are currently at the mouth of the Hudu River."

"General, please reconsider..."

Hui Can, who had been silent to the side, stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting to Hao Xiaozhong.

"Think twice my ass!"

Hao Xiaozhong, enraged, laughed coldly and grabbed Wang Keli's folding fan with his right hand:

"Does Scholar Wang think Hao is some mangy beggar on the street?"

A fierce glint appeared in his left eye.

"Hao demands 200,000 taels of silver from the Xiangyang Silver Vault. Ten thousand iron cavalry will be under my direct command. Wherever the Great Shun Dragon Banner goes, the Jingzhou troops will be the sole guardians of the Yangtze River."

Zhu Cilang's gaze caught the naked greed in Hao Xiaozhong's eyes.

Just as tensions were about to rise, Zhang Youyu suddenly let out a cold laugh:

"A despicable scoundrel. Betraying the emperor's grace and willingly becoming a tiger's accomplice, daring to emulate the story of An Lushan?"

"Do you remember the Lan Yu case from the twenty-sixth year of the Hongwu reign?"

"The bones of his nine generations of relatives, cut into pieces 36,000 times, still weep in Longjiangpu to this day."

He stepped forward and said sternly:

"If any of you dare to take even the slightest wrong step today, you will be subjected to the skinning bench in the imperial prison in the future, where you will relive the 'skinning and stuffing with straw' of the founding emperor."

Hao Xiaozhong burst into laughter:

"Minister Zhang is so powerful!"

When Lan Yu was skinning and stuffing grass, did he ever foresee that a hundred years later there would be a Hao Xiaozhong? My entire family was long ago whipped to death by Emperor Chongzhen's tax-collecting whip.

He turned and roared at Wang Keli:

"Go and tell Liu Fangliang a message!"

"Two hundred thousand taels of silver and ten thousand elite cavalry. Blood will be drawn at the city gate drawbridge at dawn three days later."

The four words "blood was seen on the suspension bridge" were like an icicle piercing Zhu Cilang's eardrum.

He instantly understood the meaning of this bloody code—Hao Xiaozhong, this military warlord, had to use "bloodshed" as a pledge of allegiance.

This pledge of loyalty meant publicly killing the Ming generals and those who resisted, both to show loyalty to the new ruler and to cut off any escape route.

Is this a sacrifice of comrades' heads to appease the flag?

A chill ran up my spine.

He glanced at his side: Lieutenant General Wang Jing's chainmail was swallowing the last ray of sunlight; General Zhang Wu's goose-feather scabbard was gleaming with the cold light of the moon.

Wang Keli looked at Hao Xiaozhong with a cold expression:

"General Hao, are you aware that the Seven Mansions of Xuanwu are currently positioned above the Wing and Chariot constellations? Two hundred thousand taels of silver will be like Xuanwu spitting out pearls—"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly jerked the folding fan in his hand.

"At dawn three days from now, I will personally witness the transformation of the Jinshui River into the Chishui Canal."

The bloated military officer among the Da Shun envoys managed a smile through his fleshy face.

Wang Keli gently waved his folding fan and turned to leave with his colleague.

Just as they turned around—

Zhu Cilang's wide sleeves fluttered slightly, and he made a gesture with his right hand, bending two fingers, towards Wang Jing and Zhang Wu.

The moment the order was given, the murderous intent was immediately revealed!

Wang Jing's eyelids twitched suddenly, and the chainmail made a sharp "clang" sound!

The red ribbon wrapped around Zhang Wu's sword hilt tightened instantly!

"Clang—"

"Buzz—"

The sound of two weapons being drawn rang out simultaneously, echoing beneath the caisson ceiling.

When the cold light suddenly appeared, the folding fan in Wang Keli's hand was still hanging in mid-air.

Zhang Wu's goose-feather saber slashed diagonally across Zhu Cilang's robes, and the moment the blade cleaved the Twenty-Eight Mansions constellation, the fan ribs exploded, and wood chips mixed with blood splattered onto the ceiling.

The bloated military officer's expression changed drastically, his fat body suddenly shrank, and one of his rough hands instinctively grabbed the hilt of his sword at his waist.

But Wang Jing's blade was even faster!

A flash of cold light, followed by a muffled "thud"—

The steel waist knife had precisely pierced through the gap in the armor plate and deeply embedded itself in his heart.

The military officer froze, his hand gripping the knife hanging in mid-air.

A large amount of blood gushed out of his mouth and wounds, instantly staining the ground red.

A strong smell of blood instantly filled the lobby.

"How dare you—"

Wang Keli's shout was cut in half by the wind of the blade.

Zhang Wu's wild goose feather saber was still in motion, its tip still holding half a tattered fragment of a star chart. A drop of blood rolled down the spine of the blade and landed on Wang Keli's twitching Adam's apple.

The dust accumulated in the caisson ceiling was shaken off, turning into a hazy golden dust in the setting sun.

The massive body of the Shun military officer collapsed to his knees with a thud, his enormous head slamming heavily against the blue bricks, blood flowing freely...

In the blink of an eye, the blood of the two envoys from Da Shun had splattered in the main hall of the deputy commander's mansion.

Hao Xiaozhong's eyes widened, a flash of astonishment crossing his face before being consumed by raging fury.

He stared at Wang Keli lying in a pool of blood, waving his hand and roaring:

"Chop them into mincemeat! Chop them up for me!"

"Splash—!"

The two rows of soldiers moved at the order.

The six white waxwood spears in the front row slammed down, instantly sealing off Zhu Cilang and his two companions' space to maneuver; the ten waist knives in the back row clanged as they were half-drawn from their sheaths, their cold light gleaming menacingly.

"General Hao!"

Zhang Youyu's long beard, stained with blood and foam, trembled slightly.

"Can you even explain away the mud that got into your pants?"

"At this moment, we should close all four gates and strengthen our defenses, so as not to fail His Majesty's trust in 'commanding the generals of Jingzhou and Xiangyang'."

Zhang Youyu's meaning was crystal clear: if someone dies here, how will you explain it to Da Shun?

"Hahaha--!"

Hao Xiaozhong's roar abruptly ceased, transforming into a maniacal laugh:

"Zhang Butang's shadow puppet show is even more difficult to understand than Xichuan's face-changing performance."

Zhu Cilang's move to publicly execute the envoy of the Great Shun Dynasty was a ruthless move that broke the deadlock in one fell swoop.

With the envoy dead, Hao Xiaozhong had no way to pledge his allegiance to Liu Fangliang. Instead, the death of the envoy would make him an enemy of Da Shun, completely cutting off his escape route.

Hao Xiaozhong's laughter abruptly stopped. He wiped away the bloodstains splattered on his cheek, his expression shifting from fury to a somber, calculating look.

"If you want me to be the pillar of Jingzhou, then with 300,000 taels of silver and the rank of general, I will lead my brothers to nail him to the city wall and teach that rebel a lesson about what the emperor's personal army is all about."

Hao Xiaozhong was aware of the current situation and immediately raised his price to Zhang Youyu, acting like a businessman haggling over a bargain.

Zhang Youyu's robes swayed slightly:

"General Hao's requests... are all within the established procedures. Why not withdraw the weapons first, and allow me to submit a memorial to the emperor?"

Hao Xiaozhong's sinister gaze swept back and forth between Zhang Youyu and Zhu Cilang. The hand that was raised to strike with the butcher's knife hesitated unwillingly in mid-air for a moment before finally swinging it sharply:

"Step back!"

The two rows of armored soldiers retreated in response, like the receding tide.

The forest of swords and spears had only retreated half a zhang—

A cold glint flashed in Zhu Cilang's eyes again!

That deadly gesture was made again!

Wang Jing and Zhang Wu, whose bodies were already tense, sprang forward in an instant; Wang Jing skimmed along the ground, his steel blade turning into a streak of black light, aiming straight for Hao Xiaozhong's knee.

Zhang Wu leaped into the air, his goose-feather saber cleaving towards Hao Xiaozhong's throat with tremendous force.

"You...how dare you—!"

The buckle on Hao Xiaozhong's lion-head belt snapped with a "crack"!

He reacted extremely quickly, barely managing to avoid a fatal wound to the throat by turning to the side.

In that split second, Wang Jing's steel blade, accompanied by a piercing sound of bones cracking, cleaved three of his ribs in two.

He roared in pain and staggered backward, crashing into a pillar behind him with a thud.

Before he could even regain his footing, Zhang Wu's second slash had already risen from below.

With a "thud," the blade pierced through the hem of the chainmail, sinking deep into the abdomen with a sudden, forceful cut—

They ripped out a bloody hole the size of a bowl.

Hao Xiaozhong made a "hoarse...hoarse..." sound in his throat, blood and foam gushed out, and his huge body swayed and slid to the ground.

He scratched five deep marks on the blue brick with his right hand.

Finally, the bloody hand pressed down on the words "Loyalty and Bravery" on the waist tag and stopped moving.