Chapter 163: A Great Favor

When the Blind Man said something was simple then it truly was simple.

Studying human nature.

Dividing people.

Winning some over.

Borrowing strength to strike strength.

Redirecting disaster.

Dragging others into the mud.

These were all part of the Blind Man's old profession.

First he selected one prominent family inside Chuzhou City.

They would be the first household cut open.

Why that particular family?

Zheng Fan did not ask.

The Blind Man did not explain.

Perhaps their gate arch simply looked more pleasing to the eye?

Then, from among the surrendered Qian soldiers they selected one Assistant General.

Naturally, neither of these men was some lucky winner.

They were intelligence sources.

The Fourth Lady asked Zheng Fan to leave the room.

She would be helping the Blind Man with the interrogation.

And she worried that letting their Master see what her interrogation methods looked like might leave him with unnecessary psychological trauma.

Zheng Fan agreed immediately.

So under the Blind Man's mental pressure and hypnotic guidance, combined with the Fourth Lady's methods of torture and forced confession by midnight, the pair had extracted a rough picture of the major factions inside Chuzhou City and the relationships connecting them.

It was like finally getting a messy first draft down on paper.

There were inevitably errors.

There would certainly be omissions.

But none of that affected the overall plan.

Chuzhou City was the capital of Chu Commandery.

Naturally, it contained large numbers of officials, nobles, powerful households, and wealthy families.

Now the Blind Man placed labels on all of them.

Which households needed to disappear.

Which could survive.

Which families needed to be forcibly chained to Yan's war chariot and turned into collaborators.

Which families should be allowed to keep at least some face.

A problem that should have been tangled beyond belief full of countless threads and competing interests was cut apart by the Blind Man with the decisiveness of a sharp saber through hemp.

Throughout the second half of the night, A'Ming, Fan Li, Xue San, and Liang Cheng each led detachments to provide muscle.

Meanwhile, the Qian military officer selected as their "fortunate" collaborator led surrendered city troops on a tour of exterminating households.

That night—

Chuzhou City never truly became quiet.

Screams.

Doors being smashed open.

Fighting.

The sounds rose and fell across the city without pause.

But the work moved forward.

At the same time unit after unit of Zhenbei Army troops borrowed from Sun Guyi left the city.

They headed toward estates in the surrounding countryside belonging to families already marked for action.

And began "harvesting."

Zheng Fan was the man officially responsible for the task.

Yet throughout the entire night he seemed more like an observer.

The relationship between invader and "colonized territory" should have been immensely complicated.

Instead the whole operation unfolded almost like a predetermined procedure.

One step.

Then another.

Bit by bit.

Neither hurried nor slow.

At that same time after receiving reports from his subordinates about the situation inside the city—

Li Fusheng took a bite from the stewed meat in his hand.

Several Mobile Generals sat below and to one side of him, eating meat just as heartily.

Li Fusheng said, "This Zheng Fan really does handle matters methodically."

Some men nodded silently.

Some remained expressionless.

Others showed faint disdain.

Li Fusheng said bluntly, "He's smarter than us."

That made things awkward.

Even Sun Guyi's expression stiffened for a moment.

Without intending to Li Fusheng had just pulled an enormous amount of hatred onto Zheng Fan during this dinner gathering whose theme was effectively:

Everyone eats meat tonight.

Looking at the expressions of the commanders beneath him, Li Fusheng naturally understood what they were thinking.

He said slowly, "A general may be mad.

"May be obsessed.

"May be eccentric.

"But he must never be narrow-minded.

"Once the heart becomes narrow, the world in his eyes becomes small too.

"Those are words the Marquis once told me."

Every commander present immediately set aside his food.

They dropped to one knee and cupped their fists.

"This General receives the teaching!"

"Our ancestors and grandfathers have fought in the north for a hundred years.

"We've spent so long fighting that our heads contain nothing except war.

"Let me say something somewhat taboo.

"I know some of you will report what I say tonight to the Marquis.

"But I, Guo Fusheng, truly do not fear that.

"Even standing before the Marquis himself—

"I would dare say the same words.

"If you don't want your sons—and your sons' sons—to keep being thrown into the desert to eat sand, then besides war and killing enemies, try putting a few other things inside your heads.

"If you can't fit those things in right away—then accept people who already have those kinds of brains.

"There is nothing shameful about that."

After saying this, Li Fusheng could not help sighing again.

"This Zheng Fan...

"No wonder the Marquis appreciates him so much.

"At first, I thought the Marquis simply found the young man interesting and valued him because he was a northerner with talent.

"Now it seems—there is far more to it."

Li Fusheng picked up a thick envelope beside him and tossed it down.

He pointed toward it.

"A few days ago, I asked Zheng Fan a question.

"Could slaughter alone force the Qian people to submit forever?

"This is Zheng Fan's answer.

"I'm an uneducated rough bastard myself.

"But this letter explains everything clearly enough that even I can understand it.

"You lot should read it too.

"You should be able to understand it as well.

"This Zheng Fan—has great talent."

...

Garrison Commander Zheng who had received his praise of "great talent" by having the Demon Kings beneath him effectively take the exam and drive the carriage on his behalf was currently wandering through Chuzhou City.

Chu Commandery was not truly deep inside Qian.

But because it stood behind the Three Frontiers, the architecture inside Chuzhou City already carried strong Qian characteristics.

Yan architecture emphasized grandeur.

Qian architecture added a layer of delicacy and graceful refinement.

Yes.

In the middle of the night, Garrison Commander Zheng had thrown the entire pile of occupation work onto the Demon Kings beneath him.

He himself transformed into a "modern tourist."

With one hundred armored Green Willow Fortress soldiers protecting him he began touring the ancient city.

In Zheng Fan's previous life, plenty of famous ancient cities still existed.

But without exception, they had all become heavily commercialized.

Walk through one and then another and eventually everything looked more or less the same.

There was even a good chance that souvenirs sold in several different ancient cities had all been manufactured in Yiwu.

Only by taking advantage of being a transmigrator could Zheng Fan see this kind of architecture in its original form.

Why bring so many guards?

The reason was simple.

True the Zhenbei Army already controlled the entire city.

True—

Chuzhou City could no longer produce any significant trouble.

But this was still a world where individual martial power exceeded normal limits.

Who knew whether some Qian expert happened to be hiding inside the city?

Someone unafraid of death.

Someone unconcerned about implicating others.

Someone who simply wanted to cause trouble under cover of night.

Zheng Fan had no desire for his name to become some villainous supporting character in future biographies.

A righteous hero might suddenly leap from the darkness and roar—

"Yan dog!

"Give me your life!"

Then, chop off Zheng Fan's head and disappear.

A wealthy heir does not sit beneath a collapsing roof.

Zheng Fan believed he was not particularly afraid of death.

But out of concern for the safety and future of the Seven Demon Kings under him he felt it was better to be careful.

After the Blind Man finished handling his work, he came out as well.

The two scheming bastards possessed exactly the same streak of affected sentimentality.

So they naturally joined up wandering together while admiring and critiquing the architectural style of Qian.

After looking around for a while, they reached another immediate agreement.

Ordinary sights could be skipped.

But if one came to a famous tourist destination the best-known landmark absolutely had to be checked off the list.

"You've worked hard," Zheng Fan said as they walked.

"Not hard at all.

"Truly not hard, Master.

"These matters look chaotic and difficult from the outside.

"But as long as the blade is in your own hand—even the hardest problems become simple.

"Just like when the Yan Emperor trampled the great clans.

"The blade was in his hand.

"A chronic disease produced by centuries of great-clan rule—and with one slash, he shaved the whole thing off."

"Is that so?"

"It truly is.

"Chuzhou City will still be abandoned.

"The main army will continue south.

"So no matter what arrangements we make here, and no matter what effects we hope they create—there are far too many variables.

"Much of it is already gambling on luck.

"The Qian collaborators who submit to Yan tonight may very well rise again for Qian the moment our army leaves.

"What this subordinate has done—and what Zhao Jiulang wrote in that booklet—is nothing more than laying groundwork for the second round.

"After what happened tonight, at the very least—the next time Yan troops arrive at Chuzhou City, the city's will to resist will be far, far weaker."

"When you handle something, I don't worry."

"I also paid attention to several locations and several families.

"Some may be worth cultivating relationships with later.

"Perhaps they could be developed into something useful.

"But nothing is certain.

"Treat it as simply placing a few pieces on the board while we happen to be here.

"Better than doing nothing."

"Mm."

They were almost at Prince Fu's residence when shouting sounded ahead.

"Fuck your mother!

"Still putting on airs like this is a Prince's residence?

"Open your damned dog eyes and look around!

"This place belongs to the Great Yan now!"

Someone was shouting with a heavy tongue.

One listen was enough to know the man was drunk.

Zheng Fan, the Blind Man, and the others walked closer.

At the gate of Prince Fu's residence, Prince Fu's heir and several household servants were blocking the entrance.

Opposite them stood four or five armored Zhenbei Army soldiers.

"Move aside!

"Your father wants to go inside and look at the Princess Consort!

"I want to see what the Princess Consort actually looks like!"

The soldier kept shouting.

Several companions beside him appeared to be pulling him back.

Otherwise with every armed guard inside the Prince's residence already disarmed how could these trembling household servants possibly stop hardened Zhenbei Army soldiers?

More importantly how would they dare stop them?

Tens of thousands of Zhenbei Army troops were inside Chuzhou City right now.

Even Prince Fu's heir stood there with humiliation and anger on his face, yet dared not put on the airs of a Prince's son and rebuke them.

The phrase man is the fish and knife in another's hand had rarely been displayed more vividly.

Zheng Fan waved once.

The Green Willow Fortress soldiers beside him immediately surged forward and surrounded the entire gate area of Prince Fu's residence.

The Zhenbei Army soldiers froze.

Even the drunk man who had been shouting about wanting to see the Princess Consort shuddered.

When Zheng Fan approached, three of the four soldiers immediately dropped to one knee.

"Greetings, Garrison Commander Zheng!"

Zheng Fan might be an outsider.

But his rank still carried weight.

And Li Fusheng had openly demonstrated that he valued him.

Mobile Generals might put on airs before Zheng Fan.

Ordinary soldiers certainly did not dare show disrespect.

Especially when they already felt guilty.

At last, even the soldier who had been raving drunkenly seemed to sober somewhat.

He knelt too.

Though his body continued swaying.

"Drinking without permission after breaking camp?"

Zhenbei Army discipline was severe.

During a campaign from Commander down to ordinary soldier drinking was forbidden.

"Reporting to Garrison Commander Zheng!

"We... we didn't drink," one soldier hurriedly explained.

"You didn't drink?"

Zheng Fan bent down and looked at the drunk man's flushed red face.

"My lord, we truly didn't drink.

"Earlier, after we finished patrol duty, our Lieutenant Commander sent some meat and dishes over.

"He said we should taste Qian food."

The Zhenbei Army from top to bottom was full of gluttons.

That part, Zheng Fan believed instantly.

"And then?"

"My lord, one of the meat dishes was apparently called Drunken Goose.

"This brother of mine can't hold his liquor at all.

"He ate a few pieces of meat and somehow... somehow ended up like this."

Drunken Goose?

Zheng Fan froze.

Then he carefully looked at the faces of the other three men.

They were not flushed.

None showed signs of drunkenness.

Which meant the raving soldier in front of him truly belonged to that legendary category of people whose tolerance was so low that even a tiny amount of alcohol immediately went to the head.

"Then hurry up and drag him away.

"Find a few buckets of water and sober him up before some other superior officer sees him."

"Thank you, my lord!

"Thank you, my lord!"

The three soldiers immediately carried the drunk man away.

Facts proved if they had genuinely wanted to restrain him earlier, they absolutely could have.

They had probably only pretended to hold their comrade back while secretly wanting to see what the Princess Consort looked like too.

Zheng Fan signaled for his guards to spread out.

Then he cupped his hands toward Prince Fu's heir, who still wore mourning clothes and stood behind the household servants.

"Your Highness has been frightened."

Prince Fu's heir immediately shoved aside the servants before him.

He came down the steps.

Then bowed deeply toward Zheng Fan.

"Many thanks for the General's assistance!

"Yuannian is endlessly grateful!"

"You don't need to thank me."

"No!

"If the General had not protected us, the women of my Prince's residence today... today...

"Alas!

"General, you are the great benefactor of Prince Fu's household!"

"You really do not need to thank me."

"General, please do not refuse!

"You truly are the great benefactor of my Prince Fu's—"

"I killed your father."

"............"

Prince Fu's heir.

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(End of Chapter)