Chapter 807
The Han King's Delegation
Lan Yu finally managed to persuade Mu Ying to stay. They agreed that two days later, they would take Xu Da's tiger tally and, the day before the Han Prince's delegation arrived, lead their troops out of Jinling City, head directly to the sea, and head north to Japan.
Mu Ying returned to his residence with a heart full of trepidation, while Lan Yu returned to the military camp and immediately summoned the five generals and twenty commanders who had discussed and prepared to go to Fusang with him to make a difference.
These were all low-ranking officers who were not qualified to participate in high-level meetings in Jinling City. When they saw Lan Yu return, they immediately clasped their hands in greeting: "General."
Lan Yu waved for everyone to sit down, and then a group of people looked at Lan Yu and said, "General, how is it? What have the Madam and the other commanders thought? Are we going to fight Chen Jiu Si?"
"spell?"
Lan Yu sneered and said, "We're not going to fight anymore. The people above have said they want to surrender and negotiate with Chen Jiu Si."
"talk?"
The generals all looked puzzled: How can we negotiate? What can we talk about? So many brothers died at Chen Jiu Si's hands, and the King of Wu also fell into his hands. We have a blood feud that must be fought to the death. How can we surrender to the traitor Chen!
"Yes, yes, Xu Shuai also agreed to surrender?"
The commanders still refused to believe it, and looked at Lan Yu and asked, "It was Commander Xu who proposed surrendering to the traitor Chen!"
"what!"
The commanders were all taken aback by these words. Seeing their reaction, Lan Yu couldn't help but sigh and say, "Alas... this is actually my fault!"
"Ah, what does this have to do with the general!"
Lan Yu couldn't help but sigh and said, "It's my fault for being so insignificant and not being Commander Xu. If I were Commander Xu, I would never compromise with that traitor Chen. We would fight them to the death. At worst, we would just die. Don't you agree?"
"Yes, yes!"
Those who could be gathered by Lan Yu were all hardliners, and the crowd was in an uproar.
Seeing that everyone's emotions had been stirred up, Lan Yu said, "Very good, but now that things have come to this, there's not much more to say. Since everyone trusts me, Lan Yu, then I will lead you to a different way of life!"
As they spoke, everyone nodded and looked at Lan Yu. At this moment, Lan Yu said, "However, our actions need to be brought forward. Chen Jiu Si's delegation will arrive in Jinling in three days. We need to leave here before they arrive in Jinling."
"General!"
As soon as Lan Yu finished speaking, a man clasped his hands in greeting. This man used to be a centurion named Song Yan. Later, because of his good performance, he was promoted to a chiliarch by Lan Yu. Therefore, he was considered one of Lan Yu's protégés.
"what happened?"
At this moment, the guy said, "Since Chen's delegation is coming to Jinling, why don't we just kill the delegation and leave? I heard that Chen Jiu Si's wife is the chief representative of this delegation. If we can kill her, wouldn't that be avenging the King of Wu!"
Upon hearing Song Yan's words, everyone else present was astonished. Good heavens, this guy really dares to think that he even wants to kill Su Yunjin.
Are you really that arrogant? Do you even know the status of this delegation or who's leading it? How dare you boast that you want to kill Su Yunjin? Do you think you can do that, or do you think we can?
You should know that the person in charge of the mission's security this time is Yuan Sanjia, who is ranked third on the Heavenly Ranking. Do you think I can defeat Yuan Sanjia?
Lan Yu was also taken aback by Song Yan. Goodness, everyone says I, Lan Yu, am radical, but I didn't expect to see someone even more radical today. Thinking this, Lan Yu said to Song Yan, "Okay, Song Yan, you have guts, but we haven't reached that point with Chen Jiu Si yet. Everything can still be discussed. There's no need for this, no need for this!"
Song Yan said, "General!"
At this moment, the other commanders also reacted and immediately said, "Hey, Old Song, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about attacking Fusang. I heard that the women in Fusang are quite slutty. How about we arrange a few for you, brother?"
"Yes, yes, talk about women, but don't mention the mission, don't mention the mission!"
After saying this, Lan Yu also chimed in, "Yes, yes, let's talk about Japan. Let's not talk about the mission. Let them talk their business, and we'll fight ours!"
It's true that the people Lan Yu gathered are hawks, but they're not fools either. Attacking the Han King's delegation—how audacious! No, this isn't just a matter of courage; it's a matter of brains.
They are hawks, but they are not die-hards; they are not heading towards their deaths.
Attacking the Han King's delegation is a losing proposition; they'll most likely be wiped out by Yuan Sanjia in one fell swoop.
Even if you were incredibly lucky and managed to inexplicably succeed in the attack and kill Su Yunjin, did you know what you would face?
You will be pursued by the former third strongest person in the world, the only one to reach the fifth level of the Fusion God Realm, a ruthless man who even killed the King of Wu.
That scene was enough to bring a clear-headed look to everyone's eyes, an extremely clear-headed look.
Therefore, Song Yan can no longer be considered a hawk; he should be considered part of the suicide squad.
However, Lan Yu liked him very much. This kid was definitely brainless, and this kind of person was easier to control. Moreover, he was indeed brave in battle, which Lan Yu liked.
Lan Yu said, "Alright, let's put the mission aside for now. I'll make a plan. We'll integrate the army in the next couple of days, and then the day after tomorrow, before the mission arrives, we'll all leave Jinling. During this time, we'll prepare our food and supplies, and General Mu Ying will give us the Tiger Tally. Even if we're intercepted, we can still mobilize normally."
"Everything is ready. Does anyone have anything else to say?"
Hearing this, the commanders fell silent. It was Song Yan who spoke up, saying, "General, isn't it a bit too easy for that traitor Chen to leave like this?"
Lan Yu looked at Song Yan and said, "What else do you want to do? Didn't I already say? We can't attack the delegation!"
Song Yan said, "General, I'm not talking about attacking the mission this time."
"So what do you want to do?"
"General, I think we can't go empty-handed. We don't know much about the situation in Japan yet, so I think we need to bring more things with us!"
Song Yan spoke.
Hearing this, the commanders said, "Take more! It's already difficult enough for us to gather enough rations and pay for the expedition. How can we take more? Even if we wanted to, we don't have enough!"
Upon hearing this, Song Yan replied, "We don't have any, but those rich dogs do!"
A big dog owner?
Everyone was stunned and looked at Song Yan. Song Yan said, "Cui, Gao, Jiang, and Zhang are all wealthy in one region. Of the ten provinces in Jiangnan, seven belong to Jiang. Of the ten provinces in Jiangnan, Cui and Gao share the spoils. As for cotton and iron, the Zhang family is the king!"
"Besides these four great families in Jiangnan, there are also twenty or thirty other middle-class families who are all very wealthy. When the King of Wu was alive, he was afraid of disrupting the people's livelihood, so he didn't dare to touch them. But now that we're about to run away, are we still going to indulge them?"
Song Yan spoke up.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room frowned slightly, but their eyes were filled with greed. This was indeed a good opportunity!
Lan Yu was persuaded at this point. He had originally planned to do this, but after being warned by Xu Da today, he was a little timid and had put it aside. He did not expect Song Yan to bring it up directly at this time.
After thinking for a moment, everyone said, "Won't this cause trouble? If Commander Xu investigates, we'll be in a very passive position!"
"Afraid of Xu Shuai, so you won't rob him?"
"If you're afraid of Commander Xu, then why are you discussing important matters here, hesitating and looking back? It's laughable."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, exchanged glances, and then all looked at Lan Yu.
Lan Yu then began to weigh the risks and benefits. The benefits were enormous, but so were the risks. So, how to proceed and whether to proceed at all were questions.
Lan Yu thought it over and made a plan in her mind. Finally, she gritted her teeth and said, "Let's do it!"
"The bold get rich, the timid starve. Damn it, let's go big this time!"
Lan Yu thought to herself, then said, "In that case, tonight we'll organize the information on the wealthy families in the city, find out their backgrounds, and investigate their assets. We don't need the land, but we need cash, grain, salt, iron, cloth, medicine, and other related items. Make sure you know their locations!"
"On the eve of our departure, let's take them all down in one fell swoop!"
"it is good!"
Everyone quickly agreed. At this moment, Song Yan said, "Brothers, we must do things cleanly. We must kill all the direct and collateral branches of the four major families. We should also try our best to ensure that no one from the other families escapes. We should either not do it at all, or we should do it thoroughly. We can't leave any victims alive so that they can come back to take revenge on us in the future!"
After hearing Song Yan's words, someone said, "Haha, Song the Madman, I'll definitely do a cleaner job than you."
"Yes, I'm definitely cleaner than you guys!"
Lan Yu said, "Alright, enough of that. I'll personally lead the four major families to do it. As for the other twenty-odd families, you go ahead. Whatever you plunder, 30% is yours, 20% is for the soldiers, and the last 50% goes to the central treasury. Do you have any objections?"
"No, no!" Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard that they could get 30%. Usually, they were lucky to get 10%, so this was a really big deal!
Thinking this, everyone was incredibly excited.
Lan Yu said, "Alright, that's settled then. Everyone listen up, go back and keep your mouths shut. Don't make a sound. This is a secret. If anyone leaks it out, I'll chop off your heads."
"promise!"
Everyone followed the group and left. Lan Yu sat in the main seat, looking out with icy eyes.
This Nanjing is about to be thrown into chaos. Song Yan is right; we can't leave Chen Jiu Si a peaceful Nanjing.
Song Yan slowly walked out of the command tent, greeted the group of commanders, and then headed towards his own commander's post. His eyes grew even brighter; these idiots really do get angry at the slightest provocation.
That's good now; I've fulfilled my lord's instructions to me.
Soon Song Yan returned to his military camp. Once inside, he dismissed his attendants and immediately sent out a message by carrier pigeon.
The fish have taken the bait; Zhenfeng will empty the pond the night before!
The intelligence was quickly sent out and soon reached the Han King's secret intelligence center in Nanjing.
Upon seeing this intelligence, the head of the Han King's secret intelligence center was delighted and immediately said, "Report this to the Dragon Palace."
The information was quickly sent out through multiple encrypted and expedited channels and arrived in Chen Jie's hands the next day.
Chen Jie glanced at the secret letter and said, "Song Yan did a good job. Let him continue to lie low. We'll wake him up when we're about to reclaim Fusang. In the meantime, we won't have any contact with him!"
"promise!"
Chen Chun immediately agreed and followed him away.
When Chen Jie saw the secret letter and the words "empty the fishpond", a smile appeared on his face. Good, it's good to empty the fishpond. Only when the fishpond is empty can he change the fish fry and raise new fish species in this fishpond!
Thinking this, Chen Jie looked at Chen Chun, who had returned, and asked, "Have the madam and the others boarded the ship?"
Chen Chun said, "I left this afternoon and should arrive in Jinling in three days."
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Yes, order Zhang Dingbian to set off tonight, and the army will head to Jinling, which is no more than half a day's journey away!"
"promise!"
Chen Chun immediately agreed.
……
"kill!"
The Han King's envoy was to arrive in Jinling City on the very night of his arrival.
At 3:45 AM, Nanjing was still shrouded in the chill of late winter.
The towering vermilion gates of the Cui residence appeared as if soaked in blood under the torchlight.
Lan Yu rode on his horse, his eyes beneath his iron helmet reflecting the flickering firelight, like two frozen lakes. The guards behind him were as silent as rocks, with only the occasional clang of their armor plates against the metal.
"General, all 317 members of the Cui household have been confined to the back garden." The deputy general's voice was very low.
Lan Yu didn't answer. He gazed at the plaque above the door that read "A Family Tradition of Poetry and Etiquette," and suddenly laughed. The laughter was soft, yet it seemed to lower the surrounding temperature even further. "Poetry and etiquette... can they withstand my blade?"
"Search." He uttered only one word.
The iron cavalry surged into the mansion like a torrent.
The exquisite pavilions and towers groaned beneath the boots, and the cries of the women came from the deep courtyard, only to be abruptly cut off by a sharp shout.
Boxes of gold, silver, jewels, antiques, and calligraphy were roughly dragged to the front yard and piled up into small mountains on the bluestone ground, their light reflecting off the fire and blinding. The granary was broken open, and fine white rice flowed out like sand.
The head of the Cui family, the old patriarch who prided himself on his refined and noble character, was carried to Lan Yuma by two soldiers.
His hair was disheveled, his court robes were askew, and his eyes were bloodshot: "Lan Yu! How dare you raid my residence! Slaughter the gentry! Are you trying to rebel?!"
Lan Yu looked down at him as if he were a struggling insect.
"rebel?"
He slowly drew his sword, the "Snow Soul" sword that had accompanied him in his conquest of the Northern Yuan, its blade gleaming with a blue light under the cold moon: "I am here for the King of Wu to eliminate the parasites who secretly colluded with the traitor Chen and aided the enemy in their quest to bring disaster to the country."
"You're making baseless accusations! Where's your evidence?!"
"Evidence?" The tip of the blue jade knife turned slightly, pointing at Old Master Cui: "My words are the evidence!"
The old man trembled all over, whether from anger or fear, he couldn't tell. He suddenly realized that this was not an investigation, but a massacre that required no trial.
"I want to see Madam, I want to see Marshal Xu."
The old man realized what was happening and shouted out.
"Pfft-"
The blade flashed by.
The old man's words came to an abrupt halt as a head rolled to the ground, its eyes still wide open, filled with endless terror and disbelief.
Blood splattered on the plaque that read "Passing Down Poetry and Etiquette," and slowly trickled down.
Lan Yu flicked the blood off the blade, her face expressionless.
"Kill them! Kill them all! Leave no one alive!"
Lan Yu coldly gave the order.
The order was like the north wind blowing through the courtyard.
After a brief silence, the clamor of slaughter erupted completely.
The armored soldiers became ruthless butchers, and the sounds of swords slicing through flesh and blood, the screams of the dying, the short cries of children, and the shattering of porcelain... intertwined to create a hellish symphony.
Flames erupted from the warehouse, quickly engulfing the exquisite beams and pillars, billowing black smoke that dyed half the sky of Jinling City dark red.
Lan Yu didn't look at the slaughterhouse again. He turned his horse around, facing east. That was the Yangtze River, its estuary, the starting point of his planned defection to Japan.
"The inventory is complete. Load the goods onto the ship immediately," he said to his adjutant, his voice devoid of any emotion. "We must reach the river mouth before dawn."
"Then...the other three?" the lieutenant asked.
“Following this precedent,” Lan Yu paused, then added, “be clean. What we take away is ‘stolen goods,’ and what we leave behind can only be the scene of ‘treason and suicide out of fear of punishment.’”
The deputy general accepted the order and left.
Lan Yu took one last look at the Cui mansion, now engulfed in flames, and further away, at the still-sleeping imperial city to which he had once sworn to serve.
The firelight danced in his cold pupils, but it held no warmth whatsoever. (End of Chapter)