Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 171: Capture the thief first and capture the king first

Yan Mingzhang's face was ashen, his eyes blazing as he stared intently at Governor Wang, questioning, "So, you haven't even seen the contents of the secret edict? You trust him so much, aren't you afraid he'll forge an imperial decree? You haven't even seen the secret edict, yet you want to kill me? You have some nerve! You're trying to assassinate a high-ranking official!"

Governor Wang felt ashamed and remained silent.

Seeing that his threats had worked, Yan Mingzhang decided it was time to try enticement. He softened his tone, saying, "If it weren't for the false imperial edict, I really can't think of any other reason why he would want to kill you to silence you. To put it bluntly, he wanted to kill me, but he also wanted to kill you. Because he failed to accomplish what he wanted to do, he absolutely couldn't allow this matter to be exposed! If he had succeeded in killing me back then, you would probably be next..."

Governor Wang panicked instantly, veins bulging on his forehead, his voice trembling involuntarily: "This... he shouldn't dare, right?"

Yan Mingzhang turned to look directly at Liu Mubai, his gaze firm: "Brother, we've been through thick and thin together. How about you do me a favor? Save Lord Wang's life, and I'll guarantee your safe departure."

Liu Mubai raised an eyebrow, his eyes full of curiosity, and said, "Tell me about it."

Yan Mingzhang leaned closer to Liu Mubai and whispered a few words. The two seemed to have reached an agreement, both nodding in satisfaction.

After discussing their options, the group decided to break out. As the saying goes, "To catch a thief, first catch the king," meaning that if they could capture the mastermind, their current predicament would be easily resolved.

As the sounds outside subsided, it seemed they had run out of arrows. Liu Mubai, sword in hand, burst through the door with Rong Wanying and the others, causing it to collapse. Liu Mubai leaped into the crowd, his right hand outstretched, grabbing the still-unresponsive Lord Sun, lifting him up, and tossing him to the entrance of the secret prison.

The moment Liu Mubai stepped out of the cell, three flaming arrows whizzed past and landed at his feet. Sparks flew and burned holes in his clothes. He swung his sword to deflect the oncoming rain of arrows, the blade colliding with the iron spikes and sparks flying. A stinging arrow grazed Liu Mubai's shoulder, but before he could even catch his breath, five more arrows came flying down in a fan shape.

Liu Mubai rolled to the side to avoid fatal blows, his sword sweeping across and severing three blades. The remaining two grazed his earlobes, making his ears tingle.

Under Liu Mubai's cover, Rong Wanyin rushed out as well. She drew her soft sword and cut the bowstrings of the nearest archers. Using the momentum, she flipped over and knocked one of the archers unconscious with a chop to the neck.

Li Feihu swung his pair of meteor hammers with a whooshing sound, and with a "crack," three constables in the front row were sent flying backward, bow and all.

Liu Mubai raised his foot and kicked Lord Sun in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground, his mouth full of mud.

He was lifted up by Liu Mubai with one hand, like a chick. Lord Sun's official hat was askew, and his hands were trembling like leaves, but he still stubbornly said, "You...you dare to touch an official of the imperial court!" Head Constable Zhao pretended to stop him, but when he saw that he couldn't, he gave up.

Before he could finish speaking, Chief Zhao had no choice but to lead his constables to surround him, swords drawn. Liu Mubai placed his sword against Lord Sun's neck, the sharp blade piercing his skin, blood staining his collar crimson: "Tell them to put down the arrows!"

Chief Zhao, gripping his sword hilt, was caught in a dilemma. He glanced at Lord Sun's flushed face, gritted his teeth, and waved his hand. The archers, seizing the opportunity, decisively released their bowstrings.

Mo Yun searched Lord Sun thoroughly and found a secret edict in his arms, which he then handed to Yan Mingzhang.

Yan Mingzhang opened it and, with a slight smile, said, "Just as I thought!"

Yan Mingzhang unfurled the secret edict and displayed it before everyone. The vermilion ink on the Xuan paper was clearly visible: "Minister Sun is hereby ordered to immediately conduct a thorough investigation into the events of that year, and all witnesses and evidence must be presented truthfully. As this matter involves confidentiality, discretion may be exercised. So be it."

The imperial edict made no mention of Yan Mingzhang's execution, not even a hint of it. Everyone believed that Lord Sun had forged the edict to cover up his crimes by using someone else to kill him.

However, Yan Mingzhang knew in his heart that this concerned the Emperor's lineage, and he naturally wouldn't easily reveal this secret to others. The person sitting in the high position was frighteningly cunning, probably taking advantage of his conflict with this Mr. Sun to reap the benefits. The secret edict was vague; perhaps it really did instruct him to kill him. If things were exposed, he could simply shift the blame onto this Mr. Sun who had stepped forward.

They really have a brilliant plan.

Yan Mingzhang's gamble was that the person in the high position wouldn't dare to reveal the truth, and he won!

Yan Mingzhang handed the secret edict to Lord Wang, his smile carrying a hint of deeper meaning: "Lord Wang, you are a loyal and virtuous minister; you must have been deceived just now. I will trouble you to report to the Emperor and reveal the truth. Now, Lord Sun has also been captured by bandits, his fate unknown; it is truly pitiful..."

Before he finished speaking, he gave Liu Mubai and the others a wink.

Lord Sun's face flushed red, veins bulging in his neck, as he shouted hoarsely, "What did you say! You actually colluded with these mountain bandits! I have the Emperor's oral decree, he just didn't write it down in the secret edict!"

"Hmph, we originally wanted to talk to you about the matter of being granted amnesty, but we didn't expect that not only would you not talk to us properly, but you would also try to pin these crimes on us! Although we are bandits, we are not that shameless!" Li Feihu was so angry that he wanted to kick him twice, but Liu Mubai stopped him.

Governor Wang was furious, his face flushed red. His finger trembled as he pointed at Lord Sun, and he roared uncontrollably, "Who would listen to you? You've ruined me, do you know that? If the truth hadn't come out today, I would have been accused of murdering a high-ranking official!"

Lord Sun's face was ashen, yet he continued to desperately try to defend himself, but unfortunately, he had already lost all supporters.

No one around uttered a word.

Seeing that Yan Mingzhang did not attack him, Governor Wang felt relieved. He then turned his gaze indignantly to Lord Sun, spitting as he piled all the blame on him, even adding fuel to the fire.

Chief Zhao blushed and bowed deeply to Yan Mingzhang with clasped hands: "I have offended you all just now, please forgive me."

Yan Mingzhang quickly reached out to help him up, and said loudly, "Commander Zhao is very righteous! Just now you held back your arrow and deliberately delayed your attack, giving us room to maneuver. How could we not know your good intentions?"

The people around returned the greetings, and the atmosphere eased slightly.

This reversal of fortune was hard for Lord Sun to accept. Although he was restrained, he kept cursing.

"You bandits and brutes, how dare you treat me like this? I am the imperial envoy appointed by the Emperor! Aren't you afraid that this amnesty will fall through? Once I report to the Emperor, I will wipe out your Tiger Head Gang immediately!" Lord Sun gritted his teeth in hatred, his eyes filled with resentment and threat.