I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 208 Shen Xiduo

There were seven or eight people in one cell.

A faint ray of sunlight filtered in through the small air vent on the high wall. Perhaps because of the cold weather, the smell in the cell was not strong, just a musty smell with a slightly sour smell.

In the dim light, one could see that the people in the cell were all well dressed, and they were probably businessmen.

Not long after Chu Zhao and Xu Mu were locked up, a jailer came and called five people out with a smile, leaving only a tall and thin middle-aged man.

He looked as if he had just had a serious illness. His black hair had lost much of its luster, and his elegant face looked quite pale. But his eyes were bright and full of spirit. Although they looked sickly, he had a resolute temperament.

"My name is Chu Zhao. May I ask your name, brother?"

The middle-aged man clasped his fists and smiled: "Excuse me, my surname is Zhou and my courtesy name is Minzhi."

"Brother Zhou is also a businessman from outside the city?"

Zhou Minzhi shook his head and said with a wry smile: "He is a local."

"Did you commit a crime?"

"No, I just don't want to be blackmailed by the officials."

Chu Zhao nodded and said with a smile: "So local merchants can also be blackmailed."

Afterwards, he tried to find out about Zhou Minzhi's situation indirectly.

Zhou Minzhi was a merchant who traveled between Kaiyang and Yunlin, selling tea for a living, and had many connections with the Yan family in Kaiyang City.

To be precise, the people who were previously imprisoned in the cells had more or less had some interactions with the Yan family in Kaiyang City.

So, five days ago, after Kaiyang City opened its gates and surrendered, these people were captured.

They were not interrogated or tortured. They were just locked up and had food and drink every day, but the food and the environment were a bit bad.

The few people who were just released should have paid money from their families. The exact amount is unclear, but it is clear that they were severely cheated.

"Looking at Brother Zhou's appearance, he should be from a well-off family. Why don't you let your family pay the ransom?"

"My family does have a little wealth, but I can't afford five hundred taels of silver. Yunlin City will be conquered in a few days anyway, so why not wait a little longer?"

"Five hundred taels? The government is so cruel!" Xu Mu took a breath of cold air.

You have to know that the monthly expenses for a middle-class family of five in Yunlin City are only about one tael of silver, and five hundred taels are enough to live for thirty or forty years.

Chu Zhao's focus is not on this, but on another aspect.

"I heard that City Lord Lin has a plan to defend the city. How can you be sure that the Chu army will break through Yunlin City, Brother Zhou?"

In the dim light, Zhou Minzhi looked at Chu Zhao and Xu Mu for a while, and suddenly his eyes focused. After noticing the badge on Xu Mu's waist, he lowered his voice and said, "Brother Chu, you are not from Beili."

The tone was extremely affirmative.

Chu Zhao said with interest, "How did Brother Zhou figure that out?"

"The people of Beili would not call the Western Chu army the Chu army. More importantly, I recognize the badge of the Western Chu secret agent. Judging from Brother Chu's appearance and temperament, I think he is a noble from Western Chu."

Chu Zhao did not deny it and nodded.

Zhou Minzhi lowered his voice again: "Brother Chu, you are here to find the people of Western Chu who were arrested by the City Lord's Mansion. They are not detained in this prison, but in the military camp in front of the city gate."

Chu Zhao was a little surprised and asked with interest: "Brother Zhou won't report me?"

Zhou Minzhi shook his head and continued, "Lin Yuan captured the people of Xichu in order to threaten them with their lives to buy time and wait for the Beili army to march north."

"Why are you, a Beili person, telling me this?"

Zhou Minzhi was silent, organized his words, and said sincerely: "My brother committed a crime in the past and settled down in Yuelu City. I know some of the situation in Yuelu City. It is also because of my brother's relationship that I can get goods from the Yan family in Kaiyang and sell them. I believe in my brother. It is better to join the Western Chu than to be a Beili slave. Brother Chu should not be aware of the situation in our Yunlin City."

At this point, Zhou Minzhi sighed, "The people of Yunlin City don't have an easy life. In addition to the taxes and labor service from the court, there are also taxes on the city lord, taxes on entering the city, and taxes on festivals, etc. Unless you have connections in the government, ordinary people can't even get enough to eat. We merchants are better off, but we can't make much profit from a business trip, as most of it goes to the city lord's mansion."

Chu Zhao nodded: "Who is my brother?"

"Zhou Mu, courtesy name Anzhi, works as a clerk in the Yuelu City Lord's Mansion."

Chu Zhao was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "He is not small at all."

"Brother Chu knows him?" Zhou Minzhi's tone was full of surprise.

Not only does he know him, he is also very familiar with him. He is a talented person who is both civil and military.

In his early years, he killed a second-generation official in Beili and fled to Yuelu City. Later, Yuelu City was occupied by them, so he defected to Li Junxin.

He is now Li Junxin's right-hand man, mainly responsible for developing spies in the southwest road.

"I know him." Chu Zhao smiled and said, "By the way, Brother Zhou, do you know how many people in Yunlin are willing to surrender to Western Chu?"

Although Yunlin is only a small city in Beili, it has a large population. How could he know how many people are willing to join Xichu?

Zhou Minzhi thought so in his heart, but said respectfully: "I don't know the details, but most people in the city are definitely unwilling. First of all, the people in the city are living a good life, and secondly, most of them are soldiers who participated in the war between the two countries... to destroy the West."

Suddenly, there was a noise outside.

The sound of keys jingling together was heard, and several jailers holding torches walked in, leading an official.

Chu Zhao turned his head and saw the situation in several other cells in the light of the torch.

The cell he was in was at the back of the west side of the corridor. Most of the cells in the east in front held about a dozen people, and there were fewer and fewer people as you went further back.

This means that the treatment in the cell where the three of them were located was relatively good.

Seeing the jailers leading the officers in, all the prisoners were still lying there weakly. No one stood up and shouted that they were innocent, which seemed quite well-mannered.

The officer walked slowly down the corridor in his black boots, and only when he got inside did he glance around at the cells on both sides.

Finally, the group stopped in front of Chu Zhao's cell.

He was about twenty years old, with a stern expression and sharp eyes. He looked quite capable and had a strong aura, as if he was a high-ranking official. However, judging from his clothes, he was only slightly better than a jailer.

The jailer who led the way held a torch to illuminate the cell and said respectfully, "Sir, this man is the criminal spy that Captain Chen just captured."

The officer took a quick look and instantly felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy, as if he had encountered a man-eating beast. He was so frightened that he took several steps back.

"you you you……"

"know me?"

Chu Zhao smiled faintly, glanced at the official's attire, and saw a beheading knife hanging on his waist. He said with understanding: "So he is from the Dali Temple. Why did he come to Yunlin City instead of staying in Tianqi City?"

At this moment, the official wanted to turn around and run, but he knew very well that he couldn't run away, so he simply bowed and said, "I am Shen Xiduo, the former chief judge of the Dali Temple, and I greet the Emperor of Chu."

"Shen Xiduo, sounds familiar." Chu Zhao smacked his lips and asked, "Why was he demoted?"

Damn it, what else could it be? It’s all because of you and Ye Dingzhi.

Shen Xiduo cursed in his heart, but said: "The Dali Temple failed to handle the case effectively, someone has to take the blame."

"What are you doing in Yunlin?"

"Track down on Ye Dingzhi."

Chu Zhao said, "You are late. Yesterday, he and Yu Shengmo left Yunlin and went to Nanjue."

He tried to persuade Yu Shengmo to go to Nanjue to duel with Yan Ningxia, but unfortunately he failed.

Fortunately, he helped Yu Shengmo heal his hidden injuries, so he should not die like in the original plot.

"Thank you, Emperor Chu, for telling me."

Chu Zhao smiled faintly: "Do you think you can still walk?"

Shen Xiduo gave a bitter smile and drew out the sword to execute the sin.

However, before the blade was fully drawn out, Chu Zhao, who had appeared, pressed it back with one hand: "I'm not going to kill you, why are you drawing the blade?"

"What does the Emperor Chu mean?"

"I'm attracted to you." Chu Zhao also remembered at this time. Shen Xiduo was the Minister of Dali Temple in Shaoge. Needless to say, his abilities were natural. None of those who could reach the position of Nine Ministers were simple people.

More importantly, Shen Xiduo was later killed by Lei Wujie.

In other words, he is also a villain standing opposite to the protagonists.

Why do you say that?
Because Chu Zhao is the villain standing opposite to the protagonists.

Since we are all villains, we should naturally be together.

Shen Xiduo didn't know what Chu Zhao was thinking. She only felt her anus tighten and asked in doubt, "Is the Emperor Chu into men?"

Chu Zhao immediately spat and said, "Who the hell is into men? I just like your talent. Follow me from now on."

Hearing this, Shen Xiduo breathed a sigh of relief, "What if I don't want to?"

"Have you ever heard of the punishment of mercury pouring on the head and peeling off the skin?"

Chu Zhao smiled faintly, and without waiting for Shen Xiduo to speak, he continued, "The so-called punishment of pouring mercury on the head and peeling off the skin is to bury the person deep in the soil so that he cannot move, and then use a sharp knife to cut a large cross-shaped hole on the top of his head and pour a large amount of mercury into it.

Because mercury has a very high specific gravity, it will pull the skin and flesh apart. The person being tortured will feel so painful that they will keep twisting their bodies, but they will be unable to break free. In the end, their bodies will crawl out from the top of their heads, leaving only a piece of skin in the soil. "

Everyone who heard about this punishment was horrified, except Shen Xiduo who looked excited.

"Good, this punishment is good and powerful. I didn't expect that Emperor Chu is also an expert in torture." Shen Xiduo laughed, and then said with some regret: "It's a pity that Beili doesn't seem to have mercury."

Chu Zhao: "..."

Should he say now that he is worthy of being the future Chief Justice of the Dali Temple who will be in charge of the most terrifying prison in the world - the Heavenly Prison?

"How about it, do you want to follow me?"

"If I don't want to, the Emperor Chu will kill me."

Chu Zhao hummed and said with a smile: "Follow me, your future will not be worse than your life in Beili, and you don't have to worry about your family in Tianqi. I will have people take them away safely. Now give your choice, do you want to die, or follow me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Shen Xiduo gave a bitter smile, let go of the beheading knife in his hand, and saluted, "Your Majesty, Shen Xiduo greets you."

Chu Zhao could see that Shen Xiduo was not sincere now, but he didn't care. It was only a matter of time before he could conquer Shen Xiduo.

Half an hour later.

The sour and stinking smell that was originally wafting through the prison was suppressed by the strong smell of blood.

Except for the thirty selected prisoners and two jailers, everyone else became a corpse.

Shen Xiduo stood behind Chu Zhao holding the bloody beheading knife and asked respectfully, "Your Majesty, where are we going next?"

Chu Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Xu Mu, go and arrange for someone to rescue the captured people of Western Chu. Lord Shen and I will go to the City Lord's Mansion."

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Minzhi bowed carefully and asked, "Your Majesty, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Um...you decide. If possible, contact the people in the city who are willing to join us, Xi Chu."

City Lord's Mansion.

City Lord Lin Yuan listened to his subordinates' reports with a worried look on his face.

The situation was not optimistic. The army of Western Chu would arrive in three days at most, while the army sent by the imperial court to support would take ten days to arrive.

In other words, he needs to hold off the Western Chu army for at least seven days.

Now, he has about a thousand men under his command, and with the conscription in the last two days, there are at most five thousand men.

Logically speaking, with five thousand against one thousand and the advantage of the city's defense, there shouldn't be much of a problem.

But Lin Yuan knew very well what kind of soldiers he had.

More than ten years of peaceful life have already dulled their bloodiness.

It's okay to bully civilians on a daily basis, but when you meet a real army, you'd be lucky if you don't get scared to the point of peeing your pants or running away in the face of the enemy.

It can be said that the real soldiers are not as good as the retired soldiers he temporarily recruited.

Or... run first?
This thought suddenly came to my mind and I couldn't suppress it no matter how hard I tried.

Lin Yuan waved his hand to interrupt his subordinates' report, and was about to go find the housekeeper to pack his luggage and prepare to let his family run away first.

Unexpectedly, the housekeeper came running over in a hurry: "Sir, Master Shen is here."

"Please come in, please come in."

"No need, I'm here already." Shen Xiduo led Chu Zhao into the house as if no one was around.

"I've met Mr. Shen."

Logically speaking, as the lord of a city, Lin Yuan's rank is higher than that of the sixth-rank Dali Temple official, not to mention that Shen Xiduo was held accountable and demoted, and is now just a low-ranking official in the Dali Temple.

But in fact, even if Shen Xiduo was not up to par, he was not someone that a mere lord of Yunlin City could offend. After all, the Shen family was a wealthy family in Kyoto Tianqi, and Shen Xiduo was a direct descendant of the Shen family.

Therefore, Lin Yuan bowed first, and his attitude was quite humble.

"I've met Mr. Shen."

Shen Xiduo casually cupped his hands: "City Lord Lin."

Lin Yuan didn't dare to care about his attitude. He turned his head slightly to look at Chu Zhao, and his attitude became more respectful.

"I wonder who this gentleman is?"

Chu Zhao had no intention of answering, and said calmly: "I heard that City Lord Lin is arresting the people of West Chu. I wonder why City Lord Lin is arresting them?"

Lin Yuan was stunned for a moment, and replied: "I heard that the Western Chu criminal army cares a lot about the lives of the Western Chu criminals, so I thought of using their lives to force the Western Chu criminal army to retreat."

"What if they don't retreat?"

"Then let the criminals of Western Chu be buried together with him."

"It seems that City Lord Lin doesn't have the confidence to resist the army of Western Chu."

Lin Yuan was startled and looked at Chu Zhao again.

Whether from the aura he exudes or his dress, he is far superior to the young master of the Shen family.

Could it be that……

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan hurriedly said: "I will stop the criminal army of Western Chu outside the city gate, and I will live and die with Yunlin."

Chu Zhao hummed and said calmly: "City Lord Lin, your choice makes me admire you, but also makes me disappointed."

I?
At this moment, no matter how stupid Lin Yuan was, he understood that Chu Zhao was not the prince of Beili as he had guessed, but the new emperor of Xichu.

"Are you the Western Chu Emperor Chu Zhao?!" Lin Yuan said in shock.

"You threatened the lives of my people. This was the most wrong decision you ever made."

After saying this, Chu Zhao jumped up, stood proudly in the air, and shouted loudly: "I, the Emperor of Western Chu, Chu Zhao, hereby announce to the people in the city that I will give you three days to leave Yunlin City. After three days, anyone who does not evacuate will be regarded as a rebel, and will be killed without mercy, regardless of gender, age or status. No one in the city will be spared!"

The words that were spoken with inner strength resounded in all directions like thunder, and like the echo in a valley, lingering over Yunlin City.

Everyone in the city heard it clearly, and everyone's face changed drastically.

Although their expressions were different, two words came to mind.

——Massacre the city!
"Your Majesty, the people are innocent!" Shen Xiduo shouted with his head raised.

Chu Zhao fell from midair, nodded in agreement, and said with a smile: "Yes, the people are innocent, so didn't I give them three days? If it was Xiao Chongjing, would he be like me?"

Shen Xiduo was speechless...

(End of this chapter)