Chapter 117: The Sacred Ground Protector, Yang Xin
Chapter 117: The Sacred Ground Protector, Yang Xin
“Who told you to assassinate me?”
Yang Xin gripped Zhang Dongbai’s neck, pinning him against a stone slab, ignoring the panicked scattering Incense-Smelling Sect followers as he asked.
The latter struggled with difficulty.
But Yang Xin’s hand immediately tightened.
“I, Yang, have no feud with you. I originally had no interest in your mess. You were the ones who provoked me first. Everything is caused by this person. Since you are to die, why not drag him down with you?”
He said.
Then his hand loosened slightly.
Zhang Dongbai greedily took a deep breath of the long-missed air.
“It was the former Ministry of Justice official, Wang Zhizai. You made his son a eunuch. His hatred for you is as deep as the sea. We had dealings with him in the past. He commissioned us to kill you. Spare my life, and I can testify before the Imperial Guard. Also, I can reveal who else conspired with us in rebellion, those who haven’t acted yet. The Imperial Guard can catch them all in one sweep!”
He said immediately after.
However, Yang Xin’s hand tightened again, and Zhang Dongbai struggled desperately to break free, but gradually weakened in the end.
“Not needed!”
Yang Xin sneered coldly.
He had no interest in such trouble. Since it was Wang Zhizai, he would just go kill his entire family later. As for the remaining Incense-Smelling Sect members, they were nothing more than Wang’s family and Yu Hongzhi in Jingzhou. In truth, once Shifokou was pacified, the Incense-Smelling Sect would basically be finished. Then he lifted Zhang Dongbai’s corpse and threw it outward directly. The Incense-Smelling Sect followers, who were still hesitating to advance, all watched in terror as their leader’s corpse landed.
“He is dead, strangled by me. Clearly, he was no immortal!”
Yang Xin spread his hands and said.
Immediately after, he scooped up the heavy 120-jin great blade with one hand, suddenly flinging it forward as if swinging a rolling pin. The Green Dragon Crescent Blade whistled through the air, its blade-head crashing downward onto the bluestone paving slabs in an instant. The immense weight struck sparks flying from the stone, and then, like piercing a wooden board, it directly plunged into the cracked bluestone, standing slanted in everyone’s view, trembling continuously and faintly emitting a strange sound…
“But I am!”
Yang Xin suddenly let out a roar.
Those Incense-Smelling Sect followers scattered in a panic like collapsing sand.
“A bunch of trash!”
Yang Xin said with disdain.
Then he pulled out the Green Dragon Crescent Blade again.
“Brother Kong, I, Yang, have protected the Kuiwen Pavilion, protected the Dacheng Gate, protected the Dacheng Hall. I, Yang, have not failed His Majesty’s trust, nor the spirit of Confucius in heaven. I, Yang, have protected Confucius’s resting place!”
He looked up and said.
On the Kuiwen Pavilion, Kong Yinzhi looked at him gloomily.
Clearly, this guy’s shamelessness still exceeded the imagination of the future Duke Yansheng. Looking at his current appearance, Kong Yinzhi recalled his face when he was shouting about needing blood replenishment, wishing he could spit directly on his face. However, due to the disparity in combat prowess and the Incense-Smelling Sect followers who hadn’t fully retreated yet, Kong Yinzhi replaced his expression with a stiff smile, clasping his hands in salute to this guy who had extorted a full forty thousand taels of silver from him…
“This humble one’s family will never forget the righteous warrior’s kindness in this lifetime. Yinzhi will submit a memorial to His Majesty to request honors for the righteous warrior!”
He said.
“Brothers like us need no such formalities!”
Yang Xin said magnanimously.
“I, Yang, have always held great respect for Confucius. Being able to fight to protect the Dacheng Hall this time is also my honor. Therefore, I ask Brother Kong, when submitting the memorial, to request a merit plaque for me, preferably a golden one, inscribed with the details of this event. That way, I can keep it as a family heirloom for future generations to remember this matter.”
He said immediately after.
“Such an object should be bestowed by His Majesty!”
Kong Yinzhi said with a darkened face.
“Brother Kong, it seems I need to visit your room one night for a heartfelt talk, knee to knee!”
Yang Xin said menacingly.
“Haha, Righteous Yang, there’s no need for that! The righteous warrior fought a bloody battle to defend the Dacheng Hall this time, protecting our ancestor from being disturbed by thieves. It is only fitting for the Kong family to request a commemorative merit plaque for Righteous Yang!”
Kong Yinzhi immediately changed his tune and said.
He truly feared that Yang Xin might sneak into his room one midnight and cause some trouble. With this guy’s skills, the Kong Mansion could not stop him, especially rumors about what he did to Wang Zhizai’s son on the city tower made Kong Yinzhi somewhat regretful. This guy was clearly a desperado who treated imperial law as scrap paper, and a fiendish one at that. No one could guarantee what he might do in a fit of anger. This was just a trivial matter anyway, and originally, the Kong family requesting honors for him was necessary. There was no need to invite unnecessary danger for this. Kong Yinzhi, who could write about the ‘whole world singing of prosperity,’ possessed the great advantage of being able to bend and yield, knowing when to lower his head.
Of course, if he knew Yang Xin’s true purpose for wanting this ghostly thing, he probably wouldn’t think this way!
“Reinforcements, the reinforcements have arrived!”
Suddenly, County Magistrate Kong ran in through the gate beside the Kuiwen Pavilion, shouting excitedly.
However, he was old and his eyesight was poor. He didn’t see the piled corpses outside the gate clearly, stepped on the corpse of an Incense-Smelling Sect follower, then slipped underfoot, crying out in alarm as he fell backward. Tragically, the place where he fell happened to be a sharp stone corner. The unfortunate County Magistrate Kong lost consciousness instantly…
“Huh?”
Yang Xin and Kong Yinzhi stared at him in astonishment.
The poor County Magistrate Kong, already over seventy, thus sacrificed his life in defense of the Confucian Temple.
At his age, such a fall basically couldn’t have any other outcome.
“He died a worthy death, nonetheless!”
Wang Zaijin, the grand coordinator of Shandong who led troops to rescue Qufu, said with a solemn and dignified expression as he watched County Magistrate Kong’s corpse being carried away.
“Righteous Yang fought a bloody battle to protect the Confucian Temple, sparing the Dacheng Hall from disturbance by thieves. His merit is immense. This official will memorialize His Majesty to request honors for Righteous Yang. Additionally, the remaining rebels have all fled back to Zou County. To annihilate the bandits next, we must rely on Righteous Yang. To the south, General Qi’s troops have also routed the bandits in Tengxian. The bandits in Tengxian retreated into the city. According to Regional Military Commander Tong’s suggestion, next, our Shandong troops will attack Zou County, while the Sichuan-Zhejiang Army attacks Tengxian, advancing from both north and south to surround and annihilate them in one move.”
He then said to Yang Xin.
Clearly, he didn’t know yet how much trauma Yang Xin had caused Kong Yinzhi.
According to his words, the Sichuan-Zhejiang Army marching north from the south would attack Tengxian, while the Garrison Soldiers and local militia from Shandong in the north would attack Zou County, which certainly included the Yi Mountain camp. Up to this point in the war, the Shandong Army hadn’t won a decent victory, even defeating Xu Hongru in the Juye area, which actually relied on Yang Xin. So, if Wang Zaijin didn’t want all the credit snatched away by the Sichuan-Zhejiang Army, he could only win over Yang Xin. He couldn’t let all the credit be taken by the Sichuan-Zhejiang Army. After all, this was Shandong, and he was the grand coordinator of Shandong. If victory belonged entirely to the Sichuan-Zhejiang Army, where would his face as the Shandong grand coordinator be?
“Grand Coordinator Wang be at ease. Leave this matter to me, Yang!”
Yang Xin said, thumping his chest.
“However…”
He hesitated, unwilling to speak further.
“Righteous Yang be at ease. The elders of Shandong are generous.”
Wang Zaijin said with a smile.
Yang Xin’s style was known to all. The gentry of Juye and Yuncheng spent over ten thousand taels to appease him. This time, to make him exert himself, not shelling out ten thousand taels would be unreasonable.
“Grand Coordinator Wang thinks too little of me, Yang. Am I the kind who is solely profit-driven? My meaning is, we don’t necessarily have to fight. Zou County has tens of thousands of bandits, with Yi Mountain as their stronghold. If we really fight, official army losses will be unavoidable. These bandits are nothing more than being incited and coerced by Xu Hongru, but they themselves are also law-abiding good commoners. Heaven has a virtue of cherishing life, and His Majesty is also benevolent and loves the people. In that case, why not let me, Yang, sneak into the city, wait for an opportunity to kill Xu Hongru, and enlighten his followers with righteousness? Wouldn’t it be better if these people could suddenly realize their errors?”
Yang Xin said.
He really didn’t want all these Incense-Smelling Sect followers to die.
Historically, the Ming Army made a pile of heads in Yuncheng.
If these people could be controlled, they would be of great help to him in the future. After all, his biggest flaw now was not having his own power base, and this base would be enough.
“That might not be advisable, would it?”
Wang Zaijin said with a smile.
“These people killed the descendant of the Second Sage, destroyed the Meng Mansion. Their crimes are immense. Moreover, they are all Incense-Smelling Sect believers, already deluded by heretical teachings. They cannot possibly find their way back.”
He said.
If it really went as Yang Xin said, what would everyone have worked so hard for?
These tens of thousands of official troops around, plus tens of thousands of local militia, weren’t they just waiting to chop heads for rewards? Not to mention bandits, even killing innocent people to claim credit was unavoidable. If you go persuade them to surrender, then how can heads be chopped for rewards? As the grand coordinator, he didn’t care much, and the soldiers didn’t care either, since by the time rewards reached their hands, not much was left. Moreover, rewards for such bandit-suppression operations were low, not worth risking their lives for. But the officers below were all waiting! However low the reward, for them it could accumulate little by little. Besides, the encirclement was already set. Xu Hongru only had low-combat-power peasants under his command. The outcome held no suspense.
How many soldiers died was insignificant.
For those officers, what mattered was that tens of thousands of heads awaited chopping.
“Grand Coordinator Wang, regardless, I, Xin, must give it a try. These are tens of thousands of lives. Saving one life surpasses building a seven-story pagoda, let alone tens of thousands!”
Yang Xin said resolutely.
Kong Yinzhi looked at him speechlessly, clearly uncomfortable with Yang Xin’s sudden change in style. This despicable, ruthless killer who slaughtered people like flies, how did he suddenly become compassionate? The change in style was too bizarre!
“Since Righteous Yang has this intention, I, Wang, will not obstruct. Do as you please!”
Wang Zaijin said.
He had no authority over Yang Xin. The latter was neither an official nor a soldier; he remained a commoner to this day. But this commoner wore a Flying Fish Robe and even received personal, attentive decrees from Wanli. This special status, which could only be described as bizarre, made officials and officers at all levels unable to manage him. Because his identity was too ambiguous. To put it bluntly, no one even knew what he was. Theoretically, he was a commoner, but a commoner in a Flying Fish Robe? That was a truly imperially bestowed Flying Fish Robe. Wang Zaijin wasn’t even qualified to wear one; as a grand coordinator, he was a Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Right, rank 3a. The Flying Fish Robe started at rank 2.
In short, he didn’t want to manage this guy.
“However, regardless of the outcome of Righteous Yang’s persuasion, my army will begin the attack three days from now!”
He said immediately after.
“Three days is enough!”
Yang Xin said.