I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 278 A loving mother and a filial son
That night, dark clouds covered the sky, and it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Dressed in black, Wan Shi led dozens of Flying Dragon Guards to sneak into the Duke of Wei's mansion, evading the patrolling soldiers.

"His Majesty has decreed that the entire Duke of Wei's mansion be exterminated!"

"Yes!"

Under the cover of darkness, the Flying Dragon Guards quickly dispersed in all directions.

Wan Shi went to the front yard himself, climbed through the window into the room where Tang Zheng was recuperating, and lifted the bed curtains to find the bed empty.

Wan Shi frowned, carefully searched the house, and only went to the backyard after confirming that no one was hiding inside.

Ignoring the corpses and blood scattered everywhere, Wan Shi summoned the deputy commander and asked, "Have you found the Duke of Wei?"

The deputy commander shook his head. "My men searched the entire backyard, but we couldn't find any trace of the Duke of Wei. Even the old lady of the Duke of Wei has disappeared."

"Damn it!" Wan Shi exclaimed in frustration. "They must have gotten away!"

"Clean up your positions and retreat immediately!"

The deputy commander agreed and led his men to gather the corpses together, pour oil on them, and burn them to ashes.

In the imperial study, Emperor Pingyuan flew into a rage.

"Useless! You can't even handle such a small matter. Do you even want your head as commander anymore?!"

Wan Shi kowtowed, "Your Majesty, I deserve to die! Please punish me!"

"I'll spare your head for now, so you can atone for your crimes," Emperor Pingyuan said in a deep voice. "No matter what, you must kill the Duke of Wei!"

"I accept the decree!"

Wan Shi checked the records of the Five Cities Military Command and found that a group of people from the Duke of Wei's mansion had left Luoyang two days ago.

The official in charge of keeping records racked his brains, “It was the old lady of the Duke of Wei, who said she wanted to go back to her hometown to pay respects to her ancestors.”

The ancestral worship was a pretense; the real purpose was to escape.

Wan Shi immediately led his men south in pursuit, and finally caught up with the Wei State Duke's convoy in Yuzhou.

"Take them all!"

The Flying Dragon Guards drew their swords, and blood splattered wherever they went.

The deputy commander led his men to check each carriage, but they found no trace of the Duke of Wei and his mother.

"Where have people gone?"

Manager Tang knelt on the ground, trembling all over, "I didn't know!"

The blade pierced his neck, and Wan Shi's expression turned sinister. "Don't you know yet?"

"I really didn't know," Steward Tang said, tears streaming down his face. "After entering Yuzhou, the Duke said that the old lady was too weak to travel, so he arranged for her to travel by water."

Why didn't you follow?

"Waterways are convenient, but they involve a long detour. You have to go down the canal to Suzhou, then by sea to Minzhou, and then by land to Ganzhou. It's not as convenient or fast as taking the land route."

"My lord, I really don't know where the Duke is right now. Please be merciful and spare me."

Before he could finish begging for mercy, Steward Tang's head fell to the ground.

The deputy commander said, "Sir, I will go and hire a boat right away."

"Why hire a boat? Didn't you realize this is Tang Zheng's trap to lure the enemy?" Wan Shi mounted his horse. "With both Jiangnan and Zhejiang in His Majesty's hands, Tang Zheng will certainly not dare to return to his hometown of Ganzhou."

"Does Your Excellency mean," the deputy commander guessed, "that Tang Zheng went to the southwest?"

"Very likely!" Wan Shi mounted his horse. "Let's take a shortcut and try to stop Tang Zheng before he enters Dianzhou."

Wan Shi and his men traveled day and night, finally catching up with the old lady of the Duke of Wei and her entourage at the border of Xiangzhou and Guizhou. The old lady, dragged off the carriage, was disheveled and trembling as she sat on the ground.

Wan Shi led his men to search the entire convoy, but they couldn't find Tang Zheng. Frustrated, he kicked Old Madam An, demanding, "Where's Tang Zheng?"

The old lady was kicked so hard that her vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood and coughing incessantly.

The deputy commander stepped forward and grabbed Madam An's hair, saying, "You'd better answer the commander's questions honestly, or you'll experience the severity of the Flying Dragon Guard's punishments!"

The old lady's scalp was pulled painfully, and tears involuntarily fell down her cheeks.

"I am a first-rank imperial lady, personally appointed by the imperial court. How dare you treat me like this? Aren't you afraid of me?!"

The deputy commander slapped Madam An hard across the face, saying, "You old hag, you still dare to act like an old lady even when you're about to die."

"If you dare utter another word of nonsense, I'll skin you alive!"

Madam An was so frightened that she immediately stopped putting on airs. "I really don't know where my son went. He left two days ago with most of his personal guards."

Old Madam An felt a chill run down her spine when she thought of this. How could she not know that her son thought she was a burden and had abandoned her!
Since that's the case, don't blame her for being an unkind mother.

"Tang Zheng took the western path, which leads to Dianzhou. If you go and chase after him now, you might still be able to catch up."

Wan Shi glanced at Madam An in surprise; such maternal love and filial piety was truly an eye-opener for him.

He ordered his men to escort Madam An back to the capital. Wan Shi followed the route indicated by Madam An and, sure enough, caught up with Tang Zheng in the woods less than a hundred miles from Dianzhou.

"Duke of Wei, you have dared to disregard His Majesty's decree and flee the capital!" Wan Shi angrily rebuked. "I am acting on His Majesty's orders to arrest you and bring you to justice."

"If you surrender now, I can guarantee that I will show you leniency!"

"Make an exception?" Tang Zheng scoffed. "At this point, why would Commander Wan still need to deceive the Duke of this country?"

"You and I both know perfectly well what kind of person His Majesty is. Do you expect me, the Duke, to surrender and obediently accept my death? Dream on!"

Seeing that he couldn't fool Tang Zheng, Wan Shi didn't waste any words and immediately drew his sword and attacked.

Tang Zheng sneered and led his personal guards to meet them.

The two swords clashed, sparks flying. Exhausted from their long journey, Tang Zheng's martial arts skills were also greatly diminished due to his back injury. For a time, the two fought to a standstill.

"Tang Zheng, even if you escape to the southwest, you're doomed anyway. Why struggle so hard?"

Wan Shi gritted his teeth and said, "It would be better to obediently accept death, so as to save the Tang clan from being implicated."

The Tang clan? A bunch of spineless cowards sucking blood from the Duke of Wei's mansion; he didn't care at all.

"Even if you don't think about yourself, you should think about the Imperial Concubine and the young prince in the palace," Wan Shi continued to persuade. "His Majesty has decreed that as long as you surrender, His Majesty will ensure the Imperial Concubine and the young prince live a peaceful life."

Tang Zheng leaned back to dodge Wan Shi's horizontal slash. "The Imperial Concubine is His Majesty's Imperial Concubine, and the Prince is His Majesty's Prince. His Majesty doesn't care about the lives of the Imperial Concubine and her son, so why should I care?"

Wan Shi did not believe Tang Zheng's hope and used all his strength to slash at Tang Zheng with each blow.

Tang Zheng was finding it increasingly difficult to cope, and just when he was about to give up, an arrow flew in from a distance.

Wan Shi was unable to dodge in time and was shot through the arm by a sharp arrow.

Tang Zheng seized the opportunity and slashed with his sword, forcing Wan Shi to loosen the reins and fall off his horse.

Just as the deputy commander was about to rush to the rescue, Tang Shi led his men and arrived at breakneck speed.

"Father!" Tang Shi stepped forward to protect Tang Zheng, "Your son is too late!"

Tang Zheng felt relieved and said gently, "It's not too late."

Wan Shi was pulled onto his horse by the commander. "Tang Zheng, have you gone mad? How dare you mobilize the southwestern garrison without authorization? Do you even respect His Majesty?"

"His Majesty is unrighteous, how can his subjects be loyal?" Tang Zheng sneered. "Today I will rebel against Dayu and see what Emperor Pingyuan can do to me!"