Prime Minister

Chapter 204, Section 203: [Determining Life and Death]

The Shadow Garden is located in the western part of Yangzhou, while the East Gate Wharf is located on the banks of the canal outside the East Gate. The journey from the Shadow Garden to the wharf almost spans the entire city of Yangzhou from east to west.

Xue Huai led more than twenty guards on horseback and soon passed Tianning Temple and Renfengli. Next, they crossed the Xiao Qinhuai River via the North Gate Bridge and then drove straight along the main street of the East City to Dongguan Wharf.

Although the road from Renfengli to Beimen Bridge is not very long, Xue Huai can only slightly control Fuxiao's speed because the road is relatively narrow.

Ahead lies a long embankment along the river, and the North Gate Bridge is already faintly visible.

"drive!"

Xue Huai spurred his horse forward, with Jiang Sheng and the others following closely behind, the reeds on both sides of the long embankment rushing past.

"Drive! Drive!"

Suddenly, a deep male voice came from afar. Xue Huai subconsciously looked up and saw that several carriages had appeared on the North Gate Bridge, completely blocking the already narrow bridge.

This long embankment is a dead end; the Xiaoqinhuai River separates the east and west parts of Yangzhou, with only the North Gate Bridge connecting them.

As Xue Huai pulled on the reins, Jiang Sheng raised his right arm and shouted, "Stop!"

More than twenty riders stopped one after another. The carriages were blocking the North Gate Bridge, so they couldn't possibly force their way through from below. Moreover, the carriages appeared so timely and strangely that it was only natural to be cautious.

Just then, the sound of wheels rolling on the ground came from behind.

Five or six more large vehicles appeared, blocking Xue Huai and his group's retreat.

In a short time, Xue Huai and his subordinates were trapped on the long dike.

Two groups of people appeared one after the other, each numbering more than ten, with two or three of them carrying torches.

"Young Master, these people should be the assassins that the Liu family has been raising for many years."

Jiang Sheng spoke in a low voice with a cold expression, but there was no fear in his eyes. The other guards were the same, especially Bai Cong and Yue Zhenshan, who even showed a ferocious look.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

One monotonous, stiff clapping sound after another rang out beside the large truck behind, and then a man in his thirties appeared, surrounded by more than twenty people.

It was Liu Yi, the second young master of the Liu family, who had been on the run.

He took a deep breath and stared intently at Xue Huai's figure in front of him, as if he had finally seen the old friend he had longed for day and night.

At this moment, Xue Huai and his guards were trapped at the southern end of the long dike. The carriages on the North Gate Bridge and the large carts behind them formed a temporary enclosed area, which greatly compressed the space and gave them no distance to accelerate their horses.

In other words, facing Liu's elite guards who outnumbered them by almost twice, Xue Huai and his men were unable to utilize the advantages of their mounts in such a confined space.

"Xue Tongzhi, Xue Qinchai, Xue Tanhua."

Liu Yi spoke slowly, his voice shrill and venomous: "It's so hard to see you."

Xue Huai turned his horse around and looked at Liu Yi with a calm expression, saying, "You've racked your brains to come up with so many tricks just to ambush me here?"

"There's nothing I can do; it's your fault for being so cautious."

Liu Yi took a long sword from his subordinate and said in a low voice, "These past few months you've been hiding in your shell almost the whole time. When you do go out, it's always a huge undertaking, with hundreds of soldiers accompanying you. If you weren't so cautious, and I had a chance to assassinate you, why would you have caused such chaos in the city and dragged so many people along with us?"

Jiang Sheng and the others tacitly protected Xue Huai in the middle. The current situation was somewhat dangerous. The Liu family's assassins did not seem to be good people, but the most important reason was that Xue Huai had never seriously practiced martial arts.

Although he learned a set of boxing techniques from Jiang Sheng, it could only be used for health preservation, and the practice time was short, so it was of no use in this kind of situation where life and death were inevitable.

The guards' duty was to protect Xue Huai, which made them hesitant and timid.

Xue Huai seemed oblivious to these questions. He looked past Liu Yi at the large carts and said calmly, "Since that's the case, why haven't you made a move yet? Do you want to hear me beg for mercy?"

"beg for mercy?"

Liu Yi gave a bitter laugh, then shook his head and said, "I just want to see you pretending to be calm a few more times."

"Is it?"

Xue Huai's tone became more relaxed as he said leisurely, "Liu Yi, this is Yangzhou City. Someone will definitely discover what's going on here. You don't have much time to waste."

Stop putting on airs!

Liu Yi suddenly erupted, gritting his teeth and saying, "You've dispatched the patrol officers to various places, transferred the canal soldiers to the salt depot and the docks outside the city, and sent the spies from the Jing'an Division to guard the Shadow Garden. As for those runners in the government office... they're nothing but a bunch of cowardly good-for-nothings. You expect them to come and save you? Besides, by the time they receive the news and arrive, you'll already be a mutilated corpse!"

Xue Huai, with both hands on the reins, asked with interest, "Then aren't you worried that I might have a backup plan, such as having a team of elite troops following behind, in case things don't go smoothly?"

"so what!"

Liu Yi practically squeezed each word out of his chest as he roared, "Xue Huai, I never thought I'd leave here alive today, but before I die, I'll torture you until you wish you were dead!"

Upon hearing his words, the surrounding assassins showed no obvious emotional change, which made the guards' expressions even more solemn.

With the Liu family's nearly century-old network of connections and wealth, it's not impossible for them to train so many assassins, but this is certainly not good news for Xue Huai.

Liu Yi has already risked everything; the men he brought here must be carefully selected, fearless and skilled in martial arts.

However, Liu Yi still didn't see any panic on Xue Huai's face. He only heard Xue Huai say, "Since you're here, Liu Yi at the dock outside the city must be the double you prepared for yourself before?"

Liu Yi sneered, "That's right. I've been studying you for the past few months, and I've discovered that very few people in this world care more about their reputation than you do. So I'm certain you'll use this opportunity to continue cultivating your image as someone who loves the people like his own children. As for whether those people survive in the end, that became insignificant the moment you decided to go to the dock, isn't that right, Xue Tongzhi?" Xue Huai didn't answer, but instead asked, "Do you know what Liu Fu said before he died?"

A simple sentence caused Liu Yi's expression to change drastically. Almost instantly, his eyes turned red and his face became increasingly ferocious.

"He said……"

Xue Huai deliberately paused for a moment until Liu Yi could no longer bear it, then slowly said, "He asked me to tell you that the Liu family has brought this upon itself. I hope you will not be stubborn. Since you have escaped, you should live a quiet life and try to have more sons to carry on the Liu family line."

Liu Yi shouted sternly, "Shut up!"

Xue Huai, unperturbed, continued, “You defied the government and harmed officials, which is disloyalty; you disobeyed your father’s orders and remained obstinate, which is unfilial piety; you set up a kidnapping plot and harmed the innocent, which is inhumanity; you drove people to their deaths and cut off their path to survival, which is injustice! A beast like you, who is disloyal, unfilial, inhuman, and injustice, is not even as good as a maggot in a latrine!”

"what!"

Liu Yi's body trembled uncontrollably. He raised the knife in his hand, pointed it at Xue Huai, and roared, "I'm going to kill you! I'll skin you alive, tear your bones apart, and shred you to pieces!"

"so……"

Xue Huai remained unhurried, raising an eyebrow slightly as he said, "Your only thought in this life is to kill me, so why would you go to the docks to kidnap those innocent civilians?"

Liu Yi's expression froze.

Xue Huai smiled faintly at him, then said, "You should know that I never tolerate threats. Even if you kidnap those people, I will not submit to being killed. If you do that, you will only expose your whereabouts and will not achieve your goal of killing me. So why do you think I would believe that you are really at Dongguan Wharf?"

Liu Yi's heart sank lower and lower.

Although many people used to fear him, he knew he was not a man of great wisdom. He was simply the second master of the Liu family, and no one else had the courage to confront him.

He racked his brains for the past few months, and only after learning that Xue Huai was going to hold this grand banquet did he come up with this strategy with Guo Hui and others.

He planted people in the Shadow Garden to interfere with the Jing'an Division's judgment, created chaos in the city to lure Xue Huai into sending people to patrol, attracted the elite of the transport army with a large-scale operation at the dock outside the city, and finally ambushed Xue Huai on this inevitable route.

He felt that even if these arrangements weren't flawless, they would at least achieve the goal of killing Xue Huai.

But upon hearing Xue Huai's calm words, Liu Yi's heart tightened, and he immediately shouted angrily, "Light the fire!"

As soon as those two words were uttered, some of Xue Huai's guards changed color slightly, because they saw several Liu family assassins extend torches behind them, and in just a moment, the carriage on the North Gate Bridge and the large cart at the other end were engulfed in flames.

In this way, the two seas of fire completely isolated the outside world, turning this long dike into an isolated island.

Liu Yi stared intently into Xue Huai's eyes and said coldly, "So what if someone comes to rescue you? I've had a large amount of oil, pine resin, and cotton cloth prepared. These two fires can burn for a long time, long enough for me to slowly torture you to death!"

This was his last resort; the two seas of fire should be able to hold off the reinforcements coming to rescue Xue Huai.

Xue Huai nodded in agreement, saying, "Not bad, you're smarter than I thought. So why haven't you made your move yet? Do you really want to see me beg for mercy?"

Liu Yi forced out a few words through gritted teeth: "If you want to die, I'll grant your wish!"

"and many more!"

Xue Huai suddenly raised his voice and pointed to the side, saying, "Don't you think this little Qinhuai River is beautiful?"

Liu Yi originally wanted to vent his anger before Xue Huai died, but he found that the other party was unmoved. At the same time, he had an ominous premonition that grew stronger and stronger. So he drew his knife and stepped forward, roaring, "Kill them!"

"kill!"

Dozens of Liu family assassins charged forward with a roar, and Jiang Sheng and the others quickly split into two groups to prepare to meet the enemy coming from the front and back, surrounding Xue Huai in the middle.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of something cutting through the air rushed in like a meteor.

"Second Master, be careful!"

One of the assassins hastily spoke, then charged forward without regard for his own safety. A long arrow swiftly arrived and pierced his waist.

Liu Yi's eyes widened in fury, and he subconsciously turned his head to look. His pupils suddenly contracted, and he saw dozens of light and fast boats cutting through the waves on the calm surface of the Xiao Qinhuai River. On the first boat, a man with a bow and arrow was Yu Chengguang, the commander of the canal transport army, and the young man standing next to him was Qi Qingshi.

The remaining fast boats were all staffed with elite soldiers of the grain transport army.

It was as if a bolt of lightning had exploded in Liu Yi's mind, leaving him pale as a ghost.

Xue Huai had just said that he did not believe Liu Huiyi was stupid enough to kidnap people at Dongguan Wharf just to force him into a verbal battle. He believed that this was a trap to lure him away from Yingyuan.

Since it was a trap, how could he not guess Liu Yi's intentions?

"You scoundrel, if you dare to harm even a hair on Lord Xue's head, I will tear you to pieces!"

Yu Chengguang’s loud and angry voice rang out, and dozens of fast boats rushed toward the riverbank. They showed no intention of slowing down. The elite canal troops would rather lose these fast boats than not reach the embankment in the shortest time and wipe out the remnants of the Liu family!
At this moment, the two seas of fire blocked Liu Yi's retreat. He saw the first look of panic on the faces of the assassins around him, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Then he looked at Xue Huai with resentment and gritted his teeth, saying, "Kill!"

The battle has begun!
Jiang Sheng and the others firmly protected Xue Huai in the middle, and even though Liu Yi was highly skilled in martial arts, he could not break through Jiang Sheng's blade in a short time.

He could only stare with bloodshot eyes at Xue Huai, who was right in front of him yet seemed so far away, and watch as the fast boats of the transport army rushed to the riverbank, and hundreds of elite transport soldiers, led by Yu Chengguang, roared and charged forward!

Amidst the flashing swords and clashing blades, Xue Huai looked at Liu Yi, who seemed to have gone mad, and said calmly, "Only when you are dead can Yangzhou truly find peace."

(End of this chapter)