Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 307 Don't Reach Out, or You'll Be Slaughtered

“When a snake dies, its head is severed, but the venom in its belly remains, and its body is still writhing. Only by cutting it open, removing its heart and lungs, and exposing it to the scorching sun can it be completely stiffened and killed.”

Tian Ergen sat in the main seat of the study, silently recalling the emperor's pronouncement to him a few days ago, before the imperial procession.

Cutting off Yang Yipeng's snake head was just the beginning.

He was sitting in the very same armchair that Yang Yipeng loved most during his lifetime. It was made of the finest rosewood and had a warm and comfortable feel.

But now, the body of Yang Yipeng, the former owner of the chair, is like an empty bag of rice bran, carelessly discarded in a corner.

His three-peaked hat rolled to the side, covered in dust, even more wretched than a beggar's broken bowl on the street.

Warm blood slowly seeped from beneath Yang Yipeng's body, soaking the wool carpet. The edges of the bloodstains were jagged and winding, spreading out on the carpet's intricate and beautiful patterns, creating a bizarre and ugly map, as if foreshadowing a bloody geographical event that would sweep across Jiangnan.

Tian Ergeng seemed oblivious to this.

Like a butcher who is extremely calm, after slaughtering the fattest animal, he does not rush to gut it, but sits down calmly and enjoys the moment of tranquility before the slaughter.

There were no ordinary documents on the desk, only three scrolls of different colors and a detailed map of Huai'an Prefecture.

These three files are the register of life and death in Huai'an City tonight.

[Scroll A - Beheading], with a bright yellow silk cover, bearing only a few names, each one a vital point of this "great snake".

【Scroll B - Clear】, covered in black cloth, with more names recorded on it, all of them the hardest scales and joints of a snake, those grain merchants and leaders of the canal gangs who thought they could navigate between officials and merchants with ease.

The "Category C: Slaughter" scroll was the most ordinary white hemp paper scroll, with two characters hastily written on the cover. Inside, hundreds of names were densely packed in tiny, fly-like characters.

Beside Tian Ergeng, a commander of the Imperial Guard stood motionless like an iron statue, his breath so long it was almost imperceptible.

Finally, without raising his head, Tian Ergeng asked softly, as if talking to himself:

"Is the time right?"

The commander gave a dry, brief response.

"arrive."

……

The instant the word "了" was uttered, it was as if an invisible giant hand suddenly turned the knob of the enormous prison that was Huai'an City.

There was no warning cannon fire, no drumbeats urging battle.

The city, which was still immersed in silence a moment ago, was torn apart by countless heart-wrenching sounds from all directions at the same time!
The largest grain market in the eastern part of the city was first filled with a deafening clamor, which was then replaced by screams of people falling in droves, as if being harvested like wheat.

People couldn't even tell whether it was a dying wail or the terror of impending death.

From the direction of the "Juyi Hall," where the headquarters of the Western City Canal Gang was located, a huge ball of fire suddenly shot into the sky, turning half of the city into an ominous orange-red.

The firelight was interspersed with a dense, crisp sound of metal clashing against metal; the sound was rapid and frequent, as if a thousand iron cicadas were chirping at the same time.

The southern part of the city has always been a gathering place for wealthy families, with carved beams and painted rafters, and deep courtyards.

At this moment, those high walls could no longer block out the mournful sounds.

The woman's shrill screams, the children's terrified cries, and the sound of the door being violently smashed open all rose and fell in waves.

Near the government offices in the north of the city, although the noise was not as loud as elsewhere, it added a touch of solemnity.

Occasionally, the sharp whistling of a crossbow bolt piercing the night sky, or the dull thud of a heavy object falling from a height, could be heard. Each thud signified the quiet end of a life.

In that instant, the entire city of Huai'an seemed to become a pot of boiling oil that had been doused with cold water, instantly boiling and exploding!

Screams, cries, pleas, curses, the dull thud of weapons piercing flesh, the cracking of bones breaking... all the sounds representing life fading away in extreme pain converged into an unstoppable wave of sound, threatening to completely engulf the sky and the earth.

Tian Ergeng, who was in the study, slowly stood up amidst the hellish symphony.

His movements were unhurried, like a spectator in a Peking Opera troupe, enjoying a play he knew by heart.

He walked slowly to the window, reached out, and pushed open the carved wooden window with a creak.

A hot wind, mixed with the smell of blood and burnt flesh, immediately rushed towards him, filling his mouth and nose.

What smells like the stench of hell to ordinary people is the sweet nectar of success to him!
A genuine and satisfied smile finally appeared on Tian Ergeng's face.

He knew that the purge had long since gone beyond those three lists from the very beginning.

Qin Liangyu's panicked soldiers, taking to the battlefield for the first time, and the bloodthirsty Imperial Guards. The line between the innocent and the guilty will become blurred today.

Tian Ergeng recalled the emperor's words again, his voice seemingly echoing in his ears:

"Those who scheme against their superiors deserve to be executed! The problems with the canal transport are not a reason for your scheming. Anyone who dares to interfere will die! Don't talk about the law not punishing the masses, and don't mention the deep-rooted malpractices!"

Tian Ergeng smoothed out a wrinkle on the hem of his clothes, his tone as relaxed as if he were going to a gathering of friends, "Let's go, let's see how these scum of the empire are reduced to ashes under the thunder of the Holy Dynasty."

……

The flies' doom came faster and more thoroughly than expected.

Inside the eunuch's mansion, Li Dequan was still fast asleep on his luxurious sandalwood bed.

He dreamt that he was transferred back to the capital, entered the Directorate of Ceremonial, became the Grand Eunuch, wielding immense power and enjoying great prestige.

However, a sudden, sharp shaking jolted him awake from his dream.

Li Dequan opened his sleepy eyes and saw his most trusted eunuch, Xiao Fuzi, kneeling by the bed, his face ashen. "What's all the noise about!" Li Dequan snapped irritably. "Is the sky falling down?"

Xiao Fuzi's lips trembled, and he could barely utter a complete sentence. He pointed to the door and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "Godfather... Lord Tian... please be on your way."

"Get on the road?" Li Dequan was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage, "Get on what road?"

However, when his gaze passed over Xiao Fuzi and landed on the doorway, all his anger and confidence vanished in an instant.

At the entrance, Tian Ergeng stood there expressionless.

……

Inside the Huai'an Prefectural Government Office, however, the scene was quite different.

Prefect Luo Jingchang had already donned his official robes and hat and was shouting himself hoarse as he organized his yamen runners in an attempt to maintain order.

"All of you, perk up! There must be bandits causing trouble in the city. You must come with me to suppress them! Anyone who rebels must be killed without mercy! It is our duty to defend this land! It is our duty to defend this land!" He waved his arms, trying his best to show the dignity and responsibility of an official of the imperial court.

Before he finished speaking, dozens of Imperial Guards rushed into the hall like a black tide.

Luo Jingchang was utterly horrified. He pointed at the leading centurion, still trying to use his official authority as a last resort: "How dare you! This is the imperial government office, you... Ah!"

He had barely uttered the words, "I am an official appointed by the imperial court," when a White-Spear Army soldier beside him, too lazy to listen to his nonsense, thrust his spear forward.

The sharp spearhead easily pierced Luo Jingchang's chest, and the immense inertia sent him flying backward.

His eyes were wide open, and he died without understanding why his official position, which he was so proud of, was more fragile than a piece of paper in the eyes of these people.

……

In the south of the city, in an inconspicuous courtyard.

A trembling accountant from the canal gang was dragged out from under the bed by two soldiers.

He usually just fiddled with the abacus and believed that he had never stained his hands with blood.

"Sir, spare me! Spare me! I'm just an accountant! I know nothing, I've never killed anyone!" He cried and begged for mercy, kowtowing desperately.

His answer was a cold, merciless steel knife.

The one wielding the knife was a young recruit whose hands were still trembling slightly, but whose eyes were bloodshot with excitement and fear.

The accountant's head rolled to the ground, his face still frozen in shock and confusion.

Yes, he has never killed anyone with his own hands.

But every penny of illicit money he transferred was soaked in the blood and tears of boatmen oppressed by the canal gangs; every false account he kept meant that tens of thousands of people couldn't afford the canal rice during years of famine.

In the eyes of Tian Ergeng and the emperor, these people's crimes were even worse than those of the henchmen who killed people with their own hands!
A junior officer from the Imperial Guard kicked aside the accountant's corpse and quickly found several brand-new account books hidden in a wall compartment.

The records in these ledgers contained far more information and were far more shocking than what they had previously discovered.

The unfamiliar names listed above, along with clues leading to higher-ranking officials, indicate that this purge is far from over.

Similar new evidence was simultaneously discovered in dozens of corners of Huai'an City.

The massacre became the most efficient way to raid homes and investigate cases.

……

An hour later, the city's central square had become a living hell.

When Tian Ergeng escorted the distraught Li Dequan here, the square was already piled high with corpses.

Hundreds of corpses were crudely piled together.

Whether they were prominent figures in the three files (A, B, and C) or others, they had all lost their identities and become part of this terrifying mountain of corpses.

Officials, wealthy merchants, gangsters, ordinary people... their corpses were piled up in a jumbled mess, their faces unrecognizable, and they could no longer be distinguished from one another.

The city's inhabitants knelt on the ground in a dense, dark mass. They dared not raise their heads, only glancing in terror out of the corner of their eyes at the mountain of corpses made of flesh and blood.

Tian Ergeng drew his embroidered spring knife from his waist, walked up to Li Dequan, who was already limp as mud, and brought the knife down.

A fine head shot into the sky, drawing a bloody arc in the air before falling back down.

Tian Ergeng personally stepped forward and placed Li Dequan's head, which remained unseeing in death, squarely atop the mountain of corpses.

He then ordered his men to erect a massive stone tablet, which had been prepared beforehand, beside the mountain of corpses. On the tablet were four large characters, personally inscribed by the emperor, their powerful strokes penetrating the stone's back.

What will become of a traitor!

No one dared to cry, no one dared to speak, no one even dared to breathe loudly; all they could hear was the frantic, drum-like pounding of their own hearts.

They stared numbly at the terrifying mountain of corpses and the four menacing characters on the stone tablet.

At this moment, whether they were officials, gentry, merchants, or commoners, everyone had only one chilling thought in their minds:

It turns out that we could all be mistaken for that fly.

Fear at this moment is no longer because of "what you did", but because "you were close enough"!
This inescapable despair, this constant threat of being crushed at any moment—that was what the emperor and Tian Ergeng truly desired: to brand the ultimate iron law into the very soul of every person involved in the canal transport operation with the sword and blood.

Don't reach out, or you will be slaughtered!
(End of this chapter)