MLMD -Chapter 280 Murder!

“Stop!”

Just as two Jinyiwei officers came charging over, full of menace, intending to seize Yue Laifu, the soldiers guarding the gate refused to stand by. Who was Yue Laifu? He was the old steward of Yue Family Manor, an elderly man who had devoted the better part of his life to serving the Yue family with utmost care. With Yue Yang absent, Wuli Village was effectively under Yue Laifu’s charge. If he were taken away right in front of them, then these soldiers might as well stop being men altogether—each of them could just find a rope and hang himself.

The squad leader at the front immediately cast aside the restraint he had shown earlier. He swiftly took the Minié rifle off his shoulder, rushed forward, drew the bayonet from his waist, and fixed it onto the muzzle. The gleaming blade pointed straight at the two Jinyiwei as he said sternly, his face grim, “Let me see who dares touch him!”

The cold light of the bayonet was almost poking the two Jinyiwei in the face. They could practically feel a chill running from the tip of their noses straight into their hearts. Frightened out of their wits, they hurriedly retreated several steps, nearly losing their footing and falling to the ground in their panic.

“Impudent!” Seeing the sudden turn of events, the official was both shocked and enraged. He could not understand it at all—just moments ago these soldiers had still been hesitant, so why had they become so agitated at the sight of this old man? He shouted urgently, “What are you doing? Are you trying to rebel?”

“Bullshit!”

At this moment, Yue Laifu, supported upright by two junior clerks at his side, was both anxious and furious. He had never imagined that in the place where he had lived for most of his life, he would nearly be arrested. His beard trembled with rage as he pointed at the official and cursed, “You little bastard, how dare you run wild here and arrest people! This old man won’t let this go. Men, arrest them all! If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility!”

“Yes!”

Hearing Yue Laifu’s words, the four soldiers at the gate immediately perked up. They had already been seething with anger at this petty official who had come out of nowhere. Now, upon hearing the order, they instantly closed in, their long bayonets trained on the official and the Jinyiwei. Although the Jinyiwei outnumbered them by more than ten to one, they were not worried at all. After all, this was Wuli Village—if these Jinyiwei dared to act recklessly, they wouldn’t mind teaching them why the flowers were so red!

“This is rebellion—rebellion! Are you all rebelling?”

The official was nearly driven mad with fury. He had to know that the men he brought this time were no ordinary riffraff—they were Jinyiwei, the so-called imperial guard of the Emperor himself! Had these people eaten bear’s gall and leopard’s heart to dare lay hands on the Jinyiwei?

The Jinyiwei themselves were used to throwing their weight around. Seeing these common soldiers they normally looked down upon daring to attack them, they immediately bristled. One by one, they drew their embroidered spring sabers from their waists, and in an instant the sharp clang clang of metal rang out without end.

“Alert!”

As the Jinyiwei drew their blades, the atmosphere instantly became tense. The squad leader immediately pulled out the whistle hanging from his neck and blew it hard.

“Tweet—tweet—tweet—tweet—”

The shrill whistle pierced the air above them.

“What is this bastard doing?” The moment he saw the whistle blown, a sense of foreboding surged up in the official’s heart.

Sure enough, after sounding the whistle, the squad leader and the remaining three soldiers formed a triangular formation with him as the spearhead. From the very first day of training, these Yingzhou soldiers had been told that once they entered combat, they were to kill the enemy before them at all costs. Any mercy toward the enemy was cruelty toward oneself.

Although there were only four Yingzhou soldiers facing nearly thirty Jinyiwei, they showed not the slightest fear. Led by their squad leader, they formed their assassination triangle and advanced straight toward the Jinyiwei.

As for the Jinyiwei, who had long lived pampered lives in the capital, where did they get any real experience of life-and-death combat? Carrying the title of the Emperor’s personal troops, wherever they went officials would have their legs go soft at the mere sight of them. Especially during confiscations, most of those once arrogant officials would collapse into trembling heaps, helplessly at their mercy. Today, encountering people who actually dared to fight them head-on for the first time, it was they who became afraid.

“Kill!”

The squad leader’s eyes bulged with fury as he lunged forward, driving his bayonet in a textbook thrust at the Jinyiwei in front!

“Pfft!”

The sharp blade quickly pierced the man’s throat.

“Gurgle… gurgle…”

The first reaction of the Jinyiwei, who hadn’t even had time to respond, was to drop his embroidered saber and clutch desperately at his neck with both hands. Yet a hot liquid kept pouring out between his fingers. Soon, his throat emitted sounds like a rooster whose windpipe had been cut, and he collapsed heavily to the ground like a sodden sack of grain.

“Kill—!”

After killing that Jinyiwei, the squad leader did not stop. With the three soldiers behind him, he pressed forward again, bellowing in unison. Though there were only four of them, a fierce, murderous aura still surged toward the enemy.

Facing the four soldiers charging at them, the remaining thirty-odd Jinyiwei panicked. They had never seen anything like this. Besides, the Jinyiwei were best at gathering intelligence and conducting interrogations; forming formations and fighting pitched battles like regular troops was not their strength at all. Thus, when faced with Yingzhou soldiers who were far fewer in number yet dared to fight them to the death, they were completely dumbfounded.

“What are you standing around for? Get up there—get up there! These people are rebels, kill them all!” Though his legs were shaking after seeing one of the Jinyiwei killed, the official still shouted at the top of his lungs.

“O-okay… brothers, charge!”

Under the official’s orders, the Jinyiwei summoned their courage and pressed forward. The two sides collided with clanging blows, fighting fiercely.

Once the fighting started, the surrounding civilians erupted into chaos.

“Oh no, someone’s been killed!”

“Run, run!”

Such was the nature of the people: watching excitement was a favorite pastime, but once that excitement threatened their lives, it instantly turned into panic. The onlookers scattered and fled in all directions, while Yue Laifu, supported by several junior clerks, withdrew to the side.

Facing the encirclement of dozens of Jinyiwei, the four soldiers did not panic. Instead, they calmly maintained their assassination formation and fought back fiercely.

“Kill!”

“Pfft!”

As one soldier drove his bayonet into a Jinyiwei’s chest, another Jinyiwei slashed at his right flank. However, when the originally sharp embroidered saber struck the soldier’s armor, it failed to cut through. Instead, it rang out with a crisp metallic clang and slid off. Before that Jinyiwei could even show surprise, he was stabbed in the belly by another soldier’s thrust. Clutching his abdomen, he howled and quickly collapsed to the ground.

“What’s going on? How can this be happening?” Watching the Jinyiwei he had brought fall one after another, while the Yingzhou soldiers opposite seemed impervious to blades and spears, the official was driven nearly insane. The Jinyiwei’s sabers striking their armor were like scratching an itch—such a stark contrast was unbearable.

At that moment, a neat sound of marching footsteps came from the other side of the street. Very soon, a fully armed unit of Yingzhou troops appeared at the far end of the street.

They quickly ran to the gate of Yue Family Manor. Seeing the Jinyiwei fighting their comrades, the centurion at the front waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to close in, and shouted, “Those in front, surrender your weapons immediately, or be killed without mercy!”

“Surrender your weapons immediately, or be killed without mercy!” The soldiers closing in echoed loudly.

“Surrender your weapons!” The surrounding troops shouted in unison.

Seeing the soldiers closing in from all sides, and with several of their own already killed, the once arrogant Jinyiwei finally collapsed. With a clear clang, the embroidered saber in the hand of the leading Jinyiwei fell onto the stone pavement at his feet. Once the first did so, the rest followed—soon, more than twenty Jinyiwei threw down their weapons and raised their hands high.

“How could this happen?” Looking at the soldiers surrounding him and the Jinyiwei squatting on the ground beside him, despair filled the official’s eyes. He had thought this was the simplest of errands: bring the Jinyiwei, inspect the accounts under the prefectural office’s authority, probe around Yue Family Manor, and then pocket a little benefit on the way out. Task complete. He never imagined he would run into such a hard nut—one that not only refused to cooperate, but fought back.

As the soldiers continued to close in, the official felt his legs shaking like sieves. Then, he felt a warmth in his crotch as a hot liquid flowed out from somewhere. Muttering to himself, he said, “How dare you… how dare you… we represent the government…”

“Government my ass!” A low, cold voice suddenly sounded nearby. It was Shunbao, who had rushed over after receiving the news. Earlier that day, Shunbao had been drilling troops outside Yingzhou City when he received word that someone was forcibly trying to search Yue Family Manor. Furious, he immediately led a troop of cavalry here.

At this moment, Shunbao looked like a ferocious demon. After dismounting, he strode up to the official, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him into the middle of the street like a dead dog. Without another word, he slapped him twice across the face.

Smack! Smack!

“Speak! Who sent you to cause trouble at Yue Family Manor?”

Shunbao’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He had just returned from a meeting in Hunyuan Prefecture, and his young master’s words were still ringing in his ears. The place where his master had grown up had nearly been torn apart—if word of this got out, how could he ever hold his head up again?