Starting as pearl divers, they have endless jobs.

Chapter 249 Slaying Generals and Seizing Cities
The atmosphere in front of the tall and imposing city gates of Pingyang was frozen solid.

The words of the garrison commander on the city wall were clearly carried to everyone's ears by the cold wind.

Without receiving an official document from the imperial court, they dared not open the city gates without authorization.

This statement sounds reasonable and watertight, but in this context, it is nothing short of a direct provocation.

Feng Xiao, a captain in the Beijing garrison, turned a deep purplish-red. He had been ordered to escort the imperial envoy, but now he was being stopped at the gate of the first city in Nanhe County. This was an utter disgrace.

"Insolence!" he roared, his voice echoing across the empty city walls. "Open your dog eyes and see clearly! This is His Majesty's imperial envoy's entourage! Holding the Dragon-Slaying Blade, it's as if I myself am present! How dare you obstruct him? Are you plotting a rebellion?!"

The city walls were deathly silent.

The garrison commander stood behind the battlements, motionless, neither responding nor retreating, like an emotionless stone statue.

This silent confrontation is more contemptuous than any forceful words.

Hou En and Qian Yi, who were following behind Chen Ye, also had angry expressions on their faces.

"Damn it! Have these local officials lost their minds?" Hou En muttered angrily, "Brother Chen, they're clearly not taking us seriously!"

Qian Yi's face was equally grim, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword cracking. "There's definitely something fishy going on in Pingyang! Otherwise, they wouldn't dare to so openly defy the imperial court!"

Chen Ye didn't speak, but just stared quietly at the tightly closed city gate, his eyes eerily calm.

He knew this was a test and a show of force.

From the moment he stepped into the territory of Nanhe County, he had entered a giant chessboard, with countless eyes watching him every move in the dark.

If he were to back down today at the gates of Pingyang, even showing the slightest hesitation, his prestige as the imperial envoy would vanish, and every step he took in Nanhe County would be fraught with difficulty.

Local officials and lurking ghosts will swarm him like sharks smelling blood, tearing him to shreds.

Therefore, he could not retreat, nor could he retreat to any other option.

"Captain Feng." Chen Ye finally spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable chill.

"Your subordinate is here!" Feng Xiao immediately rode up to his side, awaiting orders.

Chen Ye didn't look at him, but stared coldly at the city wall and slowly said, "Do you think a local garrison commander would dare to openly defy the imperial envoy's orders?"

Feng Xiao felt a chill run down his spine and instantly understood Chen Ye's meaning.

There must be someone behind that garrison commander! And the person who can instruct him must be of a very high position; it is very likely the prefect of Pingyang City.

"My lord, you mean...?"

"I don't care who's behind him," Chen Ye interrupted him, his tone suddenly turning sharp. "All I know is that he's obstructing disaster relief and defying the imperial edict!"

As he said this, he suddenly pulled on the reins, and his warhorse reared up, letting out a loud neigh.

Then Chen Ye's voice resounded throughout the venue: "I am Chen Ye, the Imperial Envoy appointed by His Majesty to provide disaster relief in Nanhe County, and the Zhaowu Colonel of the Xuanjing Division! I have come by imperial decree to oversee all disaster relief matters in Nanhe County!"

As he spoke, Chen Ye slowly drew the Jinglong Blade from his waist. On the ancient, black scabbard, the golden dragon pattern seemed to come alive under the gloomy sky, exuding a terrifying majesty.

"This sword is named Dragon Shock, bestowed by His Majesty himself! Holding this sword is like having the Emperor himself in my presence!"

"Listen up, you on the city wall!" Chen Ye pointed the tip of his knife directly at the city tower. "I'll give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn! If the city gates aren't open after that time, you'll be charged with treason!"

"When the city falls, all the officers and soldiers who defended it will be executed without exception!"

These words were like a boulder thrown into a lake, creating ripples all around.

Not only did the guards on the city wall stir, but even the three thousand elite soldiers of the Beijing garrison behind him showed expressions of horror.

Siege?

This is the Great Chen Dynasty's own city!

Feng Xiao's expression also changed, and he hurriedly advised, "My lord, please think it over! Pingyang City is an important town in Nanhe County. If we forcibly attack the city, once this matter is reported back to the capital, I'm afraid... I'm afraid it will attract impeachment from the censors, which will be detrimental to you!"

"Disadvantages?" Chen Ye sneered, turning to look at him with eyes sharp as knives. "Captain Feng, tell me, what are the advantages and what are the disadvantages?"

"Why did His Majesty send me to Nanhe County? It was to save the lives of those people who are starving to death! Now the people in this city have closed their gates and blocked our way to deliver food! They are killing people! They are openly defying His Majesty's decree!"

"I wield the Dragon-Slaying Blade and am granted the authority to act expediently! His Majesty has given me the power to slay all the demons and monsters who dare to obstruct disaster relief! And now you tell me you're afraid of being impeached by the censors?"

Chen Ye's voice grew louder and louder, until it almost turned into a roar: "If I don't even have this much sense of responsibility, what kind of imperial envoy am I! I might as well go back to Yunzhou City right now and be a spoiled brat!"

These words made Feng Xiao blush and break out in a cold sweat.

Looking into Chen Ye's eyes, burning with rage, and at the Dragon-Slaying Blade in his hand, which represented supreme imperial power, the last trace of hesitation in his heart vanished.

This imperial envoy is here to risk his life!
He was not the frivolous nobleman who only knew romance and poetry as rumored, but a real tiger that dared to choose its prey!
Feng Xiao dismounted, knelt on one knee, and said in a booming voice, "This humble general knows his crime! Please give the order, sir!"

Chen Ye shifted his gaze from him and looked back at the city tower, his voice icy and chilling.

"Give me the order!"

"All soldiers, prepare to attack the city!"

"Take out the battering ram from the convoy! If the city gate doesn't open after an incense stick has burned... then break it open for me!"

When Chen Ye uttered these words, an eerie silence fell over the entire area outside Pingyang City.

Everyone was stunned by Chen Ye's madness and determination.

For the first time, intense emotional fluctuations appeared in the previously numb and empty eyes of the refugees following behind the group.

They stared in disbelief at the young imperial envoy on horseback, draped in a cloak.

In their minds, government officials and soldiers were always high and mighty, there to oppress them. They had never seen a high-ranking official in the imperial court turn his sword against his own people for the sake of them, who were as lowly as weeds.

After the initial shock, a burning flame ignited in the hearts of the three thousand elite soldiers of the Beijing Garrison.

They were the emperor's personal guards, and they had an inherent sense of superiority and pride.

The horrific scenes they had witnessed along the way had already fueled their anger, and the local garrison's neglect only added fuel to the fire.

Upon hearing Chen Ye's command, which was filled with a murderous aura, they felt not fear, but rather a strange excitement.

"Roar!"

Someone roared first, and then three thousand soldiers roared in unison, their voices shaking the surrounding area. The soaring murderous aura seemed to tear the clouds in the sky apart.

The soldiers sprang into action, nocking their bows and drawing their swords. A makeshift battering ram, hastily constructed from several massive logs bound together, was pushed to the front of the column by dozens of strong soldiers, its dark wooden stakes pointing directly at the tightly closed city gate.

The defenders on the city wall, who had initially remained relatively calm, finally panicked when they saw this apocalyptic scene.

They were just local garrison soldiers, good at bullying ordinary people, but they had never seen the Beijing garrison, a battle-hardened elite force, displaying such a siege posture.
The palpable killing intent pressed down on them, making it almost impossible for them to breathe.

Many soldiers' hands, gripping their weapons, were trembling slightly, and their faces were deathly pale.

"General... what do we do? They... they're serious!" a young sergeant said to the commander beside him, his voice trembling with tears.

The garrison commander, who had been silent all along, now had beads of cold sweat on his forehead. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn't make a sound.

His orders were to delay, to give the imperial envoy a warning, not to lose his life for it!
Just then, a soldier hurriedly lit an incense stick and placed it in front of the battle line.

The wisps of smoke curled and swayed in the cold wind, like a death warrant, slowly burning away the psychological defenses of everyone on the city wall.

Time passed slowly in a suffocating silence.

The incense stick was about half burned.

"crunch-"

A heavy, grating scraping sound suddenly rang out.

The massive city gate of Pingyang, which had been tightly closed for several days, finally opened slowly, leaving a crack.

Immediately afterwards, a middle-aged fat man dressed in the robes of a fourth-rank official, with a bloated figure, led a group of officials of all ranks to tumble and scramble out of the door.

The fat man at the head of the group was none other than Liu Chang, the prefect of Pingyang.

As soon as he stepped out of the city gate and saw the tense and murderous atmosphere outside, his legs went weak, and he knelt down with a thud, his fat body trembling like a sieve.

"This humble official... this humble official, Liu Chang, the prefect of Pingyang, is late in welcoming Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy. I deserve to die! I deserve to die!"

He shouted as he banged his head against the ground repeatedly, and soon his forehead was covered in blood and gore.

The officials behind him followed suit, kneeling down in unison, their cries and pleas for mercy rising and falling, staging a magnificent display of sudden repentance.

"It's a misunderstanding, sir! It's all a misunderstanding!" Liu Chang cried out as he explained, "It's all the fault of that city gate captain, Zhang Mang. He's as stupid as a pig, ignorant of the laws of the court, and offended you, sir! I... I only just received the news and rushed here. Please forgive me, sir!"

He shifted all the blame onto the commander guarding the city wall.

Seeing this, Feng Xiao snorted coldly and was about to step forward to reprimand him, but was stopped by a look from Chen Ye.

Chen Ye remained seated on his horse, looking down at the group of actors kneeling on the ground with no expression on his face, his gaze fixed on the city wall.

The moment the garrison commander named Zhang Mang saw Liu Chang leave the city, his face turned ashen.

Because he knew he had become a pawn to be discarded.

"Your name is Zhang Mang?" Chen Ye's voice was calm.

Zhang Mang's body trembled, and he swallowed hard, squeezing out two words through gritted teeth: "Yes...yes."

"Come down."

Chen Ye's order was simple and direct.

Zhang Mang swayed, almost losing his balance, and looked down at Liu Chang below the city wall for help, but Liu Chang didn't even dare to raise his head.

Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of people, Zhang Mang finally walked down the city wall in a daze, came to Chen Ye's horse, and knelt down.

"My lord, I... I was just following orders! Please spare my life!" he begged incoherently.

Liu Chang hurriedly scrambled over, grabbed Chen Ye's horse leg, and cried out, "My lord, Zhang Mang is guilty, but he doesn't deserve to die! Please, my lord, spare him this time for my sake! I'm willing to take the blame for him!"

He's still putting on an act, trying to protect his trusted confidants.

Chen Ye lowered his head, looking at the two people at his feet making a fool of themselves, a cold smile curving his lips. Then he slowly drew his Dragon-Slaying Blade.

"Qiang!"

With a clear, resonant dragon's roar, the blade left its sheath.

The moment the jet-black blade was drawn from its sheath, it seemed to absorb all the light around it, and a chilling aura of killing intent swept over, causing the surrounding temperature to drop several degrees.

The whole world suddenly became quiet.

All the cries and pleas for mercy came to an abrupt halt.

Chen Ye's voice rang out in the deathly silence, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"To obstruct the imperial envoy is to obstruct disaster relief."

"To obstruct disaster relief is to make an enemy of the millions of starving disaster victims in Nanhe County."

"Those who are enemies of the people are traitors to the nation!"

"Disobeying the imperial edict is an unforgivable crime of treason!"

With each word he spoke, he pressed the knife down a little further.

Liu Chang and Zhang Mang's faces also turned a shade paler.

"I wield the Dragon-Slaying Blade, by imperial decree, to slay the traitor!"

The moment he finished speaking, Chen Ye flicked his wrist.

A black bolt of lightning ripped through the air.

"puff!"

Blood shot into the sky.

The heads of Zhang Mang, the city gate captain, and Liu Chang, the prefect of Pingyang, flew high into the air, drawing a bloody parabola before crashing heavily to the ground.

Fresh blood dripped slowly down the black blade, blooming into a bewitching blood flower on the cold ground.

Chen Ye expressionlessly flicked the blood off his sword, slowly sheathed it, and then glanced down at the two headless corpses on the ground.

"The Dragon-Slaying Blade does not kill nameless nobodies; you two can be said to have died without injustice."

After speaking, he stopped looking at the dead bodies on the ground and instead turned his gaze to the Pingyang officials who were already terrified. His voice was not loud, but it carried a chill that went deep into the bones.

"Does anyone still want to tell me that this is a misunderstanding?"

"Or perhaps you'd like to test whether His Majesty's sword is sharp enough?"

Chen Ye's icy words were like the cold wind of December, sweeping through the hearts of every Pingyang official.

They stared at the two headless corpses still twitching on the ground, and fell silent, their bodies trembling like leaves in the wind.

No one dared to utter a single word anymore.

Chen Ye's gaze swept over them one by one, finally landing on the oldest-looking official in the group, who was wearing the robes of a sixth-rank official.

"What's your name? What's your job?"

The official was terrified when Chen Ye glanced at him. He immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "This...this humble official is Sun Mao, and is...I am the Assistant Magistrate of Pingyang Prefecture."

“Very good.” Chen Ye nodded. “From now on, you will temporarily assume the duties of the prefect and be responsible for leading me into the city.”

"Ah? Yes! Yes! Your humble servant obeys!" Sun Mao was taken aback at first, then realized what was happening, and a look of joy appeared on his face. He quickly got up from the ground.

Then Chen Ye spurred his horse, and under Sun Mao's cautious guidance, led the army into Pingyang City.

As soon as you enter the city gate, an eerie atmosphere hits you.

The world outside the city is desolate, hopeless, and filled with the aura of death.

But the world inside the city was eerily silent.

The wide cobblestone streets were deserted, and all the shops on both sides were closed. The whole city resembled a giant tomb, exuding a chilling sense of oppression.

Occasionally, a few garrison soldiers patrolling the streets would avoid Chen Ye's army from a distance, their eyes filled with fear.

Chen Ye's face grew increasingly gloomy.

He certainly noticed this as well. The refugees outside the city feared the government soldiers because of despair and numbness, while the people inside the city feared them because of long-standing oppression and fear.

This suggests that Pingyang was already under the rule of a terrifying order before their arrival.

Soon the group arrived at the prefectural government office.

The magistrate, Sun Mao, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said obsequiously to Chen Ye, "Sir, you must be tired from your long journey. I have ordered some wine to be prepared for you and your soldiers to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey..."

"A welcome feast?" Chen Ye interrupted him, his voice devoid of emotion. "The people outside the city are even fighting over horse manure, and now you want to treat me to wine and meat?"

Sun Mao's smile froze on his face, and cold sweat poured down his face: "This humble official... this humble official did not mean that..."

"I have no need for any banquet." Chen Ye dismounted and tossed the reins to his guards. "Take me to the treasury and granary immediately!"

"My lord, this..." Sun Mao wanted to say something more.

Chen Ye's eyes turned cold: "What? Even the treasury and granary are off-limits to me?"

"No, no, no! This humble official wouldn't dare!" Sun Mao trembled with fright and quickly led the way.

The group soon arrived at the official granary located in the west of the city.

When the huge warehouse door was opened, a musty, stale smell wafted out.

Hou En and Qian Yi peeked inside and were both stunned.

Inside the enormous warehouse, bags of grain were piled up like mountains, almost reaching the roof beams.

"This... so much grain?" Hou En clicked his tongue. "Looking at this amount, it's enough to feed not only the disaster victims, but also the entire city of Pingyang!"

Chen Ye didn't say anything, but stepped forward and casually slit open a burlap sack.

With a splash, golden millet flowed out.

He grabbed a handful, smelled it, and rubbed it between his fingers, his eyes growing increasingly profound.

Most of this grain was last year's stock, and some of it had even started to mold.

They have so much grain, yet they'd rather let it mold in the warehouse than open it up and release it.

Instead, they kept the city gates closed and watched as the people outside starved to death.

This is not a simple case of dereliction of duty and corruption; it is a premeditated and organized murder!

“My lord,” Sun Mao explained cautiously from the side, “these grains were ordered to be sealed up by the prefect, who said they were for strategic reserves to deal with the northern barbarians, and no one was allowed to touch them.”

"Strategic reserves?" Chen Ye sneered, then said, "Captain Feng!"

"The general is here!"

"Immediately send men to seal off the treasury, granary, and government archives! No one is to enter or leave without my order!"

"Furthermore, summon all officials of the seventh rank and above in Pingyang Prefecture to the main hall of the prefectural government office and let them reflect on their actions! No one is to leave until I have ascertained the truth!"

These orders effectively stripped the Pingyang government of all its power, firmly seizing control of the entire city.

Sun Mao's face turned deathly pale instantly. He hadn't expected Chen Ye's methods to be so swift and decisive, completely disregarding the rules of officialdom.

Chen Ye ignored him completely and walked straight towards the government office.

Meanwhile, outside Pingyang City, the once lifeless refugee camp was brought to life again by Chen Ye's arrival.

In front of everyone, the imperial envoy beheaded the guards who were blocking the city gate and forcibly opened it.

The news spread like wildfire among the desperate crowd.

Although they still lacked food and clothing, a spark of hope was rekindled in their long-numbed hearts.

At least this newly arrived imperial envoy seems quite different from those officials who only knew how to exploit and oppress the local people.

In this delicate atmosphere, a slender figure mingled in the crowd, walking unhurriedly towards Pingyang City.

She was dressed in faded coarse cloth clothes, her face covered with a layer of ash, and she looked no different from the emaciated disaster victims around her.

But occasionally, a playful yet aloof light would flash in her eyes, completely out of place with this apocalyptic scene.

It was Bai Yingluo, the Holy Maiden of the Nine Nether Sect, who was disguised as Yuan Xiao'e.

She has been with Chen Ye's team for several days now.

From witnessing him use ruthless methods to intimidate the refugees, to seeing him personally lead his troops to the city gates, beheading generals and seizing control of the city.

Chen Ye's composure and decisiveness, which were beyond his years, made her find him increasingly interesting.

"Stop killing with killing, suppress violence with violence... Tsk tsk, talking about benevolence and morality, but doing the things of my demonic sect. This little guy is even more hypocritical than I imagined, and... even more to my liking."

Bai Yingluo licked her slightly chapped lips, secretly making plans in her mind.

The reason those idiots from the Wrathful Soul Sect caused such a commotion in Nanhe County was simply to refine that tattered flag.

She had no interest in those filthy souls, but she was very interested in everything that the so-called Holy Envoy of the Wrathful Soul Sect was plotting behind the scenes.

More importantly, she wanted to see firsthand how her chosen prey would struggle in this deadly game and what interesting expressions it would make.

Bai Yingluo didn't plan to show herself directly, because that wouldn't be fun.

She wanted to approach him silently, like a true hunter, and then surprise him.

(End of this chapter)