Chapter 135: Killing Zheng Yun
Zheng Yun shouted frantically at Imperial Commissioner Liu, “Sir, I am wronged! You must uphold justice for me!”
Imperial Commissioner Liu was so frightened, fearing that Li King would use this matter to drag him into the conflict of the Yandi gentry, he quickly said to Gu Changxiao:
“This subordinate was deceived by this person! Quickly, cut out his tongue, and see if he dares to speak nonsense again!”
Zheng Yun then realized that officials from Chang’an, even if timid, were a hundred times more ruthless than officials from Yandi!
Even if Li Heng later refused to cooperate with him, he never intended to kill him. Before, he had repeatedly offended Li Heng by relying on the Zheng family’s influence.
And then there was this Imperial Commissioner Liu, whom he had treated well with good food and silver, but when the matter was exposed, he immediately distanced himself and was the first to want him dead.
Zheng Yun quickly thought of another person and shouted to Imperial Commissioner Liu, “Huo Imperial Guards, where is Huo Imperial Guards? Sir, ask him, everything I said is true, this Li King is indeed fake!”
Imperial Commissioner Liu was so anxious he slapped his thighs, “Quick, slap his mouth!”
He then said to Gu Changxiao, “Huo Imperial Guards is missing, this subordinate was truly deceived by this person!”
Gu Changxiao held his shoulder and turned him to face Jinsui, “You should report to Li King.”
Jinsui walked onto the platform and asked Imperial Commissioner Liu loudly, “Sir, what is the purpose of your visit?”
Imperial Commissioner Liu quickly replied, “I am here to ask the Prince for good medicine to treat the plague.”
Jinsui asked sternly, “Zheng Yun repeatedly claims I am an imposter. Sir, in front of the young masters of Yanzhou and the soldiers of the border city, tell them, who am I?”
Imperial Commissioner Liu did not dare to look at Gu Changxiao and directly shouted as he bowed, “Greetings, Lord Li!”
Jinsui said to the unresigned Zheng Yun, “Now that the Imperial Commissioner has personally delivered you, the leader of these bandits, to the border city, what else do you have to say?”
Imperial Commissioner Liu: … I didn’t! I didn’t! I was just genuinely deceived!
Zheng Yun was convinced that Imperial Commissioner Liu was also part of the scheme, including Huo Imperial Guards. This matter was a trap set for him from the beginning. He turned to look at Imperial Commissioner Liu, his eyes filled with malice, and said in a hateful and venomous tone:
“Even if Zheng Yun dies, I will not let you go as a ghost!”
Imperial Commissioner Liu finally understood what Li Heng had said: Li King was a ‘sticky sesame’ – once you got involved with him, you couldn’t escape.
This fake Li King was determined to drag him down! Even if Zheng Yun died, once this matter spread, the Yandi gentry would feel empathy for a fellow creature and believe he was also one of the culprits.
Alas, in the future, I must never come to Yandi again.
Jinsui ordered Han Xing to bring all the horse bandits and mountain bandits onto the platform and said to the thousands of onlookers:
“Fellow elders and friends of the border city, distinguished guests from Yanzhou, please look carefully. Zheng Yun of the Zheng family is the leader of the horse bandits.”
“He secretly sent horse bandits to kill the citizens of our border city, burning, killing, and plundering without restraint! Today, I, on behalf of heaven, will use the blood of these wicked bandits to mourn our unjustly deceased citizens!”
“Remember this: when you hold a knife, pointing it at the weak makes you a coward! Only by pointing your knife at the external enemies beyond the border, and at the wicked who plague the land, can you be truly strong!”
Zheng Yun intended to gain the sympathy of the gentry’s sons and shouted:
“I only killed some refugees, I didn’t kill any citizens of the border city. Li King is merely using a borrowed knife to kill, intending to shake the foundation of my Yandi gentry. Everyone, don’t be fooled by him!”
Jinsui suddenly turned, drew the dagger from Han Xing’s waist, and before anyone could react, used all her strength to chop off Zheng Yun’s head with one stroke.
In that instant, all thousands of people in the audience were silent, including Gu Changxiao, who was shocked.
He never expected Daoist Ji to be so decisive!
As a doctor, Jinsui was not afraid of corpses. She stepped forward, picked up Zheng Yun’s head by his hair, and held the bloody head high, sternly declaring:
“In the Sixteen Prefectures of Yandi, anyone who has my Han Chinese blood flowing, speaks my Han Chinese language, or follows my Han Chinese customs, is a Han citizen!”
“All Han citizens are subjects of my Jun Yanqing!”
“Whether they are good citizens or refugees, I have the responsibility to protect them all!”
“Zheng Yun, as a member of the gentry, did not think of loyalty to the sovereign and love for the country, nor of developing the region. Instead, he secretly harbored mountain bandits and horse bandits, harming the people of Great Xia.”
“Today, his blood will be used to mourn our unjustly deceased citizens!”
After speaking, she looked at Han Xing. Han Xing understood and, along with Hei Hu, Cheng Yu, and other soldiers, raised their swords and beheaded all the mountain bandits and horse bandits.
For a moment, heads rolled on the platform, and blood flowed like a pillar. It should have been a terrifying and eerie scene, but the crowd below did not feel that way.
Someone was the first to shout, “Well killed!”
Then, the cheers of thousands of people followed, “The Prince killed well!”
Finally, the gentry’s sons, who had been swayed by Zheng Yun’s words, under the leadership of Yan Shiyi, who shouted first, also cried out, “Well killed!”
Jinsui raised her hand to signal everyone to be quiet. This time, she was no longer stern but smiled:
“Today is the opening day of our border city’s polo match. Let’s use the blood of these villains to liven things up for the warriors!”
“True warriors should shed sweat on the field and blood on the battlefield! Not bully the weak and oppress their compatriots!”
The cheers from the crowd below grew even louder. They even felt that the Prince had been too merciful in killing these bandits so decisively.
Jinsui knew that although Zheng Yun deserved to die, no one had ever directly killed a deputy head of a gentry family like this before.
She also did not want to completely offend the Yandi gentry. If they united against her, it would be troublesome for the border city’s development.
So she said again in public, “Although Zheng Yun deserves death, the deceased should be respected. Send his corpse back to the Zheng family.”
“Oh, and the Head of the Zheng Family has been unwell recently. Send him a portion of this Prince’s good medicine.”
She said this for the gentry’s sons present to hear: I only killed Zheng Yun, I did not implicate the Zheng family, and I have an excellent relationship with the Head of the Zheng Family.
So you don’t need to worry at all that Li King is using a borrowed knife to attack the gentry. Moreover, Li King does not engage in collective punishment; one person’s actions are their own, and a family will not be exterminated because of one person’s crime.
Soon, Han Xing led people to take away the corpse, and the scene was cleaned up.
Cheng Yu presented a large scarlet red box. Jinsui opened it and showed it to everyone. It contained three trophies, pure gold, pure silver, and refined iron:
“These are the trophies this Prince has prepared for the top three in the polo match. Welcome all warriors to participate in the border city ball game!”
“For honor, for victory, for the sweat shed on the training ground, give it your all!”
The excitement at the scene intensified. The gentry’s sons did not care much for gold and silver, but trophies won at such a grand ball game were more exciting than winning the Yanzhou Treasure Appraisal Fair.
After all, the Treasure Appraisal Fair was just a game for their small circle, while the border city ball game had so many people watching.
Jinsui gave them another piece of significant news:
“This year, our border city will compile a historical record for the ball game. The first polo match and cuju match, all participating teams will be recorded in history.”
“All members of the top three teams will have their names etched in history!”
Having their names etched in history was more valuable than having a separate page in the family genealogy!
If before, elders considered playing polo a pastime for young masters and would even scold them for being unlearned,
then now they would definitely support it wholeheartedly and spend even more money on polo teams! After all, being recorded in history, even if it was in Li King’s compiled history of border city ball games, they would flock to it!
When the news of Zheng Yun being personally executed by Li King reached Yanzhou City, Li Heng was so scared that he fell onto his chair, breaking out in a cold sweat.
At the same time, he secretly rejoiced that he had not gotten involved this time. Even though Imperial Commissioner Liu personally invited him, he feigned illness and declined.
It wasn’t that he didn’t suspect Li King was fake; he had clashed with Li King too many times and was confident that with just an Imperial Commissioner and Zheng Yun, whether Li King was real or fake, he couldn’t do anything to him.
Fortunately, he had bet correctly this time!
However, he estimated that even if he hadn’t participated, Li King would not be grateful to him; at most, he wouldn’t be blamed.
Alas, he had boarded Li King’s ship, whether he liked it or not. Not to mention trying to please him, at the very least, he should do something to make Li King happy and stop holding his past mistakes against him.
Right, road construction. He had promised Li King to build a road from Yanzhou to the border city, but he had been procrastinating and hadn’t started. He would start tomorrow! He must build the road wide and smooth enough to satisfy Li King!
When Zheng Yun’s corpse was delivered to the Zheng family, Zheng Pengpeng was only pleased and did not blame Li King at all.
If the fall of the Zheng family was triggered by his arrangement for Chen Yunniang to be buried alive, then Zheng Yun was the one who dragged the Zheng family into eternal damnation!
The first preliminary match was between the Tuntian Camp team and the Yanzhou Army, which Jinsui had specifically arranged.
This was to allow the Yanzhou teams to see the capabilities of the border city team. She did not let the stronger Black Feather Camp team compete, intending to give them a bit of deterrence tomorrow.
This was to facilitate the future sale of sports equipment. The Black Feather team led by Han Xing was completely a ‘bring goods’ team.
To participate in the first border city competition, Captain Liu specially rushed back from the East Sea Base. He wasn’t there to bet on games or train the Tuntian team; he had never played polo before.
He was there to sell salt! This was a rare opportunity. Almost all the people near the border city had come, and many merchants had also set up stalls.
However, without a salt permit, selling salt directly was illegal. The Imperial Commissioner’s people were still present, and Jinsui did not want to give him any grounds for criticism.
Captain Liu thought of a way. If they couldn’t sell salt directly, then they would sell pickles, salted fish, and the border city’s special product, kelp. The dried kelp was covered with a layer of white salt crystals. If you bought some home and added a little to your food, it would be both salty and delicious.
They also pickled all the vegetables the Tuntian Camp had saved. Because the price was low, many people who wanted to stock up on winter vegetables came to buy them, especially the refugees. They had never encountered such a good deal!
What they were selling was not just pickles; it was their life-saving food! Long-term lack of salt could be fatal.
Even the stewards accompanying the gentry’s sons who participated in the competition had people buy large quantities.
The competition venue was already bustling with preliminary matches, while the trade zone was crowded with people.
In the nearby inn area, Yan Jiu entered a room from the veranda on the second floor, his eyes full of admiration. He had clearly seen the scene of Li King beheading Zheng Yun.
Of course, he had also clearly seen the subtle interactions between the Imperial Commissioner, Gu Changxiao, and Jinsui on the stage.
Others either didn’t pay attention or didn’t think about it at all, but the exceptionally intelligent Yan Jiu understood many things through this ‘play.’
“Real Li King, fake Li King, interesting!”
The steward beside him didn’t hear clearly and asked with a smile, “What did the Head of the Family say?”
Yan Jiu chuckled, “I mean, our Lord Li is truly formidable! He managed to blend a bloody case of killing bandits into a lively ball game, not only avoiding panic but also bringing fame to the border city and deterring the gentry.”
“Deterring the gentry? You flatter him, Head of the Family. Although Zheng Yun was indeed from the gentry, Li King only killed him, and the Zheng family was not touched at all. Those gentry’s sons didn’t take it to heart.”
Yan Jiu glanced at him, “I’m afraid all the Yandi gentry think the same way as you, but they don’t know Li King has another deeper meaning.”
The steward was stunned and thought for a long time, still not understanding, “What deeper meaning?”
Yan Jiu directly asked him, “If refugees bumped into the gentry’s sons, would the gentry’s sons still kill the refugees without a second thought?”
In the past, refugees were as insignificant as grass. There were once cruel and sinister gentry’s sons who, when they failed to catch any prey while hunting in the mountains, would actually put up hunting flags for refugees and take pleasure in hunting them.
But after today’s events, in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yandi, no matter who wants to randomly kill refugees or commoners, they will remember Li King’s words.
Li King’s actions were not to kill Zheng Yun and deter the gentry, but to completely stand up for the refugees and commoners!
No matter who you are, whether it’s the Yandi gentry, the Tartars of the Northern Frontier, or mountain bandits and horse bandits, if you dare to kill my people, be prepared to face Li King’s butcher knife!
The gentry’s sons were entirely focused on the polo match and did not pay attention to the reactions of the common people outside.
He, however, saw it clearly. Many common people were weeping, holding their heads, and kneeling to kowtow to Li King.
Especially the refugees who were nervously huddled in the corners, their expressions were like orphans who had survived for many years finding their family, like travelers who had been displaced for a long time returning home.
That could no longer be described as simple happiness. It was as if their numb bodies had their souls reforged, and their waists, bent for decades, had been transformed and straightened again.
From now on, they would no longer call themselves masterless refugees, but rather—citizens of the border city! Subjects of Li King!
Publicly executing a Zheng Yun, the border city’s reputation among the populace would be even better than Chang’an. The border city would become a pilgrimage city for refugees!
And in this world, it’s not just Yandi that has refugees. All over the country, there are countless mountains. The number of hidden refugees is countless. What if all of them come to the border city?
Yan Jiu’s long fingers gently tapped the table, picked up the now-cold tea, and took a sip.
Li, the Boundless King, is truly unparalleled in the world!
The steward was greatly shocked. This was a level he had never considered. He had only thought about Li King’s attitude towards the gentry in this matter, but Li King was playing such a big game!
Just as he was about to say something, he saw his master drinking cold tea and quickly went to make a new pot.
Seeing his master staring blankly out the window, he murmured, “You are willing to join his ranks, but are you willing to join my Yan Jiu’s ranks?”
What I can give you is more than Jun Yanqing!
The steward did not understand his master’s words and dared not ask further. Hearing that the ball game had already begun, he quickly arranged for people to keep an eye on it and report any situation with the Eleventh Young Master promptly.
He also had to arrange for people to find Miss Yan, wondering if she was watching the Eleventh Young Master’s match or if she had gone to corner Li King somewhere else again.
Among their three masters, serving the Head of the Family was the most worry-free.
Jinsui and Gu Changxiao were both unaware that Yan Jiu had already seen the truth from this grand drama.
The two of them were entertaining the Imperial Commissioner. Jinsui deliberately played the victim, leading the Imperial Commissioner to the thatched hut where they were staying.
She said coldly, “The border city was burned down when we fought the Tartars before. The new city is still under construction, and we can only live in such humble dwellings for now. It’s not comparable to the accommodation arranged by Zheng Yun. Please do not be offended, Sir, with your noble person.”
Imperial Commissioner Liu was trembling, deeply regretting that he had lightly believed Huo Zi’an and Zheng Yun.
Was it killed well? Please vote with tickets.
