Chapter 84. Spring and Autumn, Warring States Period (23) When the Emperor is Angry, Millions of People Will Die

     On the 25th day after the survivors entered the dungeon, another major event happened in Yandu. After the death of King Dao of Chu, Chu finally welcomed a new monarch, King Su of Chu officially ascended the throne.

     The day before he ascended the throne, he was still entertaining the old nobles and feeding them with magic potions. On the day he ascended the throne, he also made promises to the old nobles with a smile.

     But on the morning of the second day after he ascended the throne, King Su of Chu couldn’t wait to summon a group of ministers of Chu.

     The first thing he did after taking office was to prepare to clean up the old nobles of Chu, and ordered the capture and killing of all the 70 or so rebellious old noble fiefdom monarchs who were chasing Wu Qi, and also implicated their clans, and then sent troops to take back the fiefdom.

     Because he was too excited, he ignored several trusted ministers who were hesitant to speak since they entered the door.

     One of the counselors suggested: “You can kill more than 70 rebellious ministers, but you cannot punish their clansmen. Most of their clansmen are of the same clan as you, and they grow from the same tree. You cannot destroy your own branches.”

     King Su of Chu was very tough. If the old nobles could shoot and wound the corpse of King Dao of Chu in order to shoot and kill Wu Qi today, these old nobles of the same clan as him could unite to overthrow his throne tomorrow. If this goes on, how can he keep his throne?

     He brought out the laws of his country that he had prepared in the plan, and said loudly: “There are laws in Chu. Destroying the corpse of the king is a serious crime, and the crime will be linked to three clans, and the Mi clan is no exception.”

     As soon as the words came out, the order was set.

     However, the reactions of the counselors were beyond King Su of Chu’s expectations. Their faces were pale and blue, which was very strange.

     “Do you have any objections?”

     The chief strategist on the left knelt half a step forward and said, “Your Majesty, I dare not voice any dissent, but at seven quarter past midnight today, in the Silkworm Street, two monarchs happened to pass by in their carriages. A man shouted, ‘According to the laws of Chu, destroying a royal corpse is a grave crime, punishable by the execution of three generations.'”

     “The two monarchs had their guards search the area but failed to find the person spreading the rumors. They then left in a hurry. The other monarchs must be aware of this incident by now, but it is uncertain whether they believe the rumor.”

     Bang!

     The sound of a tripod falling heavily to the ground.

     Crack!

     The sound of a table breaking.

     Crack!

     The sound of a series of things falling to the ground.

     The King of Chu Su was furious. He threw the bronze tripod in front of him, but he was still not satisfied. He was afraid that the whole case would break. He said, “Who betrayed me? Kill all nine clans!”

     “Please calm down, King Chu.”

     All the counselors present knelt on the ground and kowtowed. Some of them stood on the side of the old nobles and wanted to persuade the king to stop. Seeing that he was so angry, they dared not say another word, and even feared that the anger would affect themselves.

     The chief strategist on the left was obviously the confidant of King Su of Chu. He stepped forward and knelt half a step again. “King of Chu, calm down. The most urgent task is to seal off Yandu and arrest more than 70 feudal lords to prevent them from escaping and disturbing our country. Then investigate the person who leaked the news and punish them severely.”

     King Su of Chu’s face was ashen. He was furious for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, “Zhao Lie? Shi Gu?”

     “I am here.” ×2

     “Immediately seal off Yandu and arrest the criminals who hurt the body of the former king. If there is resistance, kill one if one, and kill two if two!”

     “I obey your order.”

     After the two generals left, King Su of Chu glanced at the ministers in the hall, especially the several important ministers who knew his plan. His eyes were as fierce as tigers and leopards, and one or two officials were so scared that they couldn’t kneel steadily.

     “Prime Minister Su, please check who leaked the information.”

     “I obey your order.” The first counselor on the left kneeled down to answer. This handsome middle-aged man was the current prime minister of Chu State and the counselor that King Su of Chu trusted the most.

     Su Xiang knelt down to answer with his eyebrows furrowed.

     He participated in the whole process of this plan, and even had a part in the idea of this plan. Because it was a major event affecting the throne, not many people participated, all of them were confidants, and no one knew who leaked the news.

     And it was not leaked earlier or later, but it happened that King Su just got the throne and leaked it. He also knew about it after entering the palace of King Chu.

     If they were spies from other countries, they wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble and should have leaked the information before the King of Chu took the throne; if they were spies from more than 70 counties, they should have at least fled first, right?

     Su Xiang racked his brains, but he couldn’t figure it out no matter how he thought.

……

     Yandu (Yancheng) was a secondary capital of the Chu state. The term ‘secondary capital’ is used in comparison to the quickly declining Eastern Zhou. In reality, this was Chu’s most prosperous city, with a large area, a large population, and thriving commerce

     Special forces He Shisi and Yuan Shui have lived in Yandu for more than a week since they received the spy mission. With the help of the connections from the merchant team of Chuyang City and the money given by Ye Mo, they each found a job as a peddler in Yandu.

     He Shisi became a tailor and Yuan Shui became a coppersmith.

     Only a legitimate job can help them cover up their identities, and even with a little trick, they can establish a little trading relationship with the retainers or wives of some ministers, so that the locals dare not bully them. If they encounter something, they will not let them take the blame first.

     In short, from the various handicraft workshops in the folk to the literary academies of the famous ministers, they have gained a lot.

     For example, some explosive information, such as the old city site of Xia Jie, the last emperor of the Xia Dynasty. Regardless of whether this copy is true or not, when returning to the real world, the Investigation Bureau plans to gather a group of archaeologists and history experts to study these strange things.

     In addition, Yuan Shui plans to become a general in the future as a civilian swordsman, and He Shisi, who is dressed as a woman and is not suitable for being a general, can find a job as a doorman of a small strategist.

     But before that, they have to complete their tasks, and what they did in the early morning was so exciting that they almost flipped over.

     Fortunately, the two county lords acted according to plan. Because the news made them too panicked, they did not have time to investigate the matter further, but were busy asking other county lords to find out whether the news was true or not

     After He Shisi and Yuan Shui finished their tasks, in order not to expose themselves, they dared not go out to inquire about other things. They honestly became two ordinary workers and worked for their bosses.

     At 10 o’clock in the morning, they had begun to receive some information that seemed true or false.

     The gates of Yandu were sealed, and no one could enter; an official was killed at the gate, and blood was all over the ground; soldiers were searching for criminals in the city, many soldiers entered Yandu…

     He Shisi & Yuan Shui: “Too fast!”

     King Chu Su was crowned king yesterday, and they thought he would have to wait at least a day or two, but they didn’t expect it to be so fast.

     I don’t know how many of the more than 70 monarchs ran away!

     Now the situation is tight, He Shisi and Yuan Shui don’t have to consider whether to escape from Yandu, and they can’t even pass the news to Chuyang City, but Li Jing has local people who can pass it on.

     Li Jing and the boss are so smart, they should be able to guess what happened in Yandu, right?

…

     When He Shisi and Yuan Shui were communicating, one of the lords passing by was Xuchengjun, the only one who escaped successfully in the history book, and the other happened to be Mingchengjun, whose city was not far from Chuyang City.

     The former had long felt something was amiss and did not trust Chu Su Wang as deeply. These days, he was often awakened by dreams, especially yesterday after Chu Su Wang ascended the throne and had the diviners calculate the omens several times. Upon hearing the news, he immediately believed it.

     Meanwhile, the latter had only recently received a lavish reward from Chu Su Wang, including fine wine, beautiful women, silk, gold, silver, and jade, as a token of appreciation for killing the traitor Wu Qi. Though he was somewhat skeptical about the whole affair, the matter of life and death still filled him with a certain degree of dread, and naturally, he sought out a companion.

     The two of them could not come to a consensus on their discussion, and Xuchengjun was very anxious, so they had to act separately.

     Mingcheng Jun summoned more than 40 monarchs to discuss the matter. They felt that someone was deliberately making trouble. Chu Su Wang stood on the side of the nobles from beginning to end and hated Wu Qi. It was impossible for him to do such a thing. Moreover, the power of dozens of their county lords was not small. If they really united, the King of Chu Su would be afraid!

     “It must be a villain trying to disturb people’s hearts.”

     “Lord Xucheng is too suspicious. He doesn’t believe the King of Chu. Maybe this villain’s plan is to fight against them.”

     “That makes sense. The King of Chu invited us to his mansion for a banquet the day before yesterday and rewarded many female musicians. Yesterday, the King Deng also praised us with courtesy. The villain’s words are simply nonsense.”

     Lord Mingcheng saw that everyone had the same idea. He stroked his beard and was satisfied. He volunteered to report the matter to the King of Chu’s palace. One is to catch this villain, and the other is to see the attitude of King Su of Chu.

     The Lords agreed again and again.

     And the result that awaited them was that soon after Lord Mingcheng left home, he was surrounded by a hundred soldiers led by General Zhaolie in a four-horse carriage.

     Mingcheng Jun dared to say something bad:

     “Zhao Lie, do you know who I am?”

     Zhao Lie snorted coldly: “There is a law in Chu that destroying the king’s corpse is a serious crime, and the crime will be committed by three clans. Mingcheng Jun, you shot and injured the king’s corpse, and you are a criminal minister of Chu. The King of Chu has ordered us to arrest you and bring you to justice. Why don’t you surrender!”

     “Haha, he ascended the throne thanks to us. Such a treacherous person, I trusted such a despicable villain. How could he be a king!” Mingcheng Jun looked up to the sky and howled.

     “Don’t talk nonsense!” Zhao Lie drew his saber, and the thousands of guards he led followed the general to show their weapons.

     Mingcheng Jun’s hundreds of guards also drew their weapons. They were Mingcheng Jun’s guards. If he died, they would die too. In their eyes, Mingcheng Jun was the master, not King Su of Chu.

     The battle was about to break out. The hundred guards of Lord Mingcheng were of course the elites among the elites in Chu Mingcheng. They fought to the death to protect their master, and they did hold off for a while, and even killed a few of Zhaolie’s soldiers.

      But the difference in numbers between the two sides was too great, and Zhaolie also had elite soldiers.

     Moreover, Mingcheng Jun, as a member of the old nobility, was born into privilege. He rarely practiced martial arts in his daily life, and was indeed the only weak link in the team. One guard would die for him,and ten guard would follow suit.

     While the guards died or were injured, Lord Mingcheng’s head was also chopped off by Zhaolie.

     The blood stained the whole street.

     The more than forty monarchs who were waiting for the return of the Lord of Mingcheng and had not yet disbanded also faced the encirclement of Shigu and his tens of thousands of soldiers. They fought for two hours until no one was left alive in Mingcheng Mansion except for the soldiers of King Chu Su.

     Not only that, but all their family members and servants, whether in their fiefdoms or in Yandu, were all killed. Even the people in their fiefdoms would either die or live a life worse than death.