I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

Liu Liangzuo was overjoyed and shouted, "Our reinforcements have arrived! Everyone, follow me and charge!"

On the enemy's side, Liu Fangliang was overjoyed and shouted, "Reinforcements have arrived! Charge with me!"

Both sides erupted into a frenzy, fighting fiercely and locked in a close battle.

"Kill them!"

The battle cries shook the heavens as Gao Jie personally led his army into the enemy ranks.

On the city wall, Ma Chongxi was the first to realize that something was wrong and quickly ordered his men to use flags to signal Liu Fangliang to retreat.

However, Liu Fangliang was so engrossed in the battle that he didn't even glance at the flag signals on the city wall.

The Shun army, thinking the approaching troops were reinforcements, was caught completely off guard and suffered a severe attack, resulting in heavy casualties and widespread destruction.

"My lord, this isn't reinforcements! Retreat immediately!"

Reminded, Liu Fangliang turned to look at the rear and saw chaos. His own troops were being beaten and were fleeing in all directions, crying out for their mothers.

He quickly looked towards the city wall, and sure enough, the flag bearer's arm was almost broken from shaking, and he was desperately waving the flag to signal a retreat.

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

Liu Fangliang had no time to think and hurriedly ordered a retreat.

Seeing that the Shun army had begun to retreat, the Ming army's morale rose even higher, and they pursued them all the way until the city gates were closed before turning back.

Liu Fangliang, clad in armor, stormed onto the city wall and demanded, "What exactly is going on? Why are Ming troops here?"

Ma Chongxi said helplessly, "This humble official doesn't know either. Just now, looking from the city wall, this army belongs to Gao Jie's troops from Zezhou."

"Gao Jie?"

Liu Fangliang was even more furious. Another traitor!

This man was even worse than Liu Liangzuo; while defecting, he also abducted Li Zicheng's wife, Xing.

Li Zicheng's first wife had an affair, and now his second wife has also run off with someone else. Because of this, Li Zicheng is almost traumatized. Whenever anyone mentions the words "woman" or "cuckold," he immediately becomes extremely irritable.

Ma Chongxi said, "My lord, based on my estimation, Zijing Pass has most likely already fallen!"

Liu Fangliang, his face dark, said, "If Zijing Pass falls, doesn't that mean we'll never receive reinforcements?"

"Given the current situation, we can only rely on ourselves!"

"Sun mother!"

Liu Fangliang slammed his fist on the city wall and roared, "What do we do now? Are we just going to wait here to die?"

Ma Chongxi said, "We can only hold our ground. If we can hold out until His Majesty's reinforcements arrive, then we will have a chance to turn the tide."

"With the loss of Zijing Pass, our intelligence cannot be sent out. How will His Majesty find out?"

"His Majesty has set up scouts at each pass, and they will conduct routine checks every ten days. If he learns of the fall of Zijing Pass, he will definitely send reinforcements. Please be patient, my lord. We will only defend and not attack. Holding out for ten days or half a month should not be a problem."

Liu Fangliang thought for a moment and then said, "The food supplies are exhausted. Let alone ten or fifteen days, we can hardly sustain ourselves for even three or five days."

"In times of crisis, extraordinary measures are needed. To overcome this difficulty, we have no choice but to borrow grain from the wealthy families in the city!"

Liu Fangliang looked troubled and said, "Have you forgotten that the wealthy families in the city have already looted everything?"

"Then let's scrape it again."

"Can you still scrape off the oil?"

Ma Chongxi smiled slightly and said, "My lord, you may not know this, but those landlords and wealthy families are masters at hiding money and grain. If I go door to door to extort... no, to borrow, I'm sure I'll get something!"

South of the city, the Wang family residence.

"Master Wang, it's been a long time!"

"Oh, it's Mr. Ma! Please come in!"

"No need!"

Ma Chongxi waved his hand and said, "The situation is rather serious, so I won't stand on ceremony. I've come here today to ask you for a favor."

Master Wang quickly chimed in, "If you need anything, just let me know. Don't be so formal with all this talk of begging..."

"Alright, the army is short of food supplies right now, so I'd like to borrow three thousand shi of grain from you."

"Ah, this..."

"What, you don't want to lend it?"

"No, no... it's not that I'm unwilling, it's just that I've already donated all the grain stored in my home to your army, and now I only have some rations left, I'm afraid..."

"The Wang family is the largest grain merchant in Zhen Ding City, can't they even come up with three thousand shi (a unit of dry measure)?"

"With all this war and chaos, business is bad. My old shop hasn't been open for a long time, so I haven't gone to the countryside to collect grain."

Ma Chongxi suddenly frowned and said, "Asking you for grain is giving you face. Your shop always buys low and sells high, and in years of famine, you raise the price more than tenfold. If you lend me this grain today, you can still open your shop and do business in Zhengding. If you don't lend it to me, do you know the consequences?"

Master Wang's face was extremely ugly. After a long while, he forced a smile that looked more like a grimace and said, "Mr. Ma, let's talk this out. My shop really doesn't have much grain left. Why don't you go and take a look at the Sun family's shop next door?"

Ma Chongxi suddenly felt that he had something in his hand.

Upon picking it up, he discovered it contained two silver notes worth one hundred taels each.

"Master Wang, what is the meaning of this?"

"Please don't misunderstand, this is for you all to have tea..."

"joke!"

Ma Chongxi suddenly slapped the silver note on Wang Yuanwai's face and said, "The entire Zhengding belongs to my Great Shun. Do you think I can't withdraw the silver from those banks without these silver notes?"

Master Wang's face turned pale. These words clearly meant that they were going to rob him outright!

A thief is still a thief; this is preparing to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs... no, it's preparing to kill the goose and eat it!

He quickly picked up the silver notes and said, "I was ignorant today. I have several antiques at home, all of them are valuable..."

"I'll say it again, what we need now is military rations. Can you eat antiques?"

"These...these antiques are a gift to you. If you don't like antiques, my newly acquired concubine, a young woman of sixteen, is proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. If you don't mind..."

Ma Chongxi suddenly smiled and said, "I see now, you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin. Men, confiscate the Wang family's property!"

"No, no..."

Just as Master Wang was about to stop them, he was kicked to the ground by a Shun soldier. What followed was chaos in the Wang family. The servants and guards who tried to resist were killed on the spot. The rest of them dared not resist anymore and knelt obediently, wishing they could bury their heads in the ground.

"Report! Only thirty bushels of grain were found in the cellar!"

Upon hearing the report, Ma Chongxi approached Wang Yuanwai again, a chilling smile on his face, and asked, "Tell me, where is the grain hidden?"

"It's...it's really all gone..."

"Two men, come and give Master Wang a proper talking-to, and find out where the grain is!"

"yes!"

Immediately following, a series of eerie wails and howls filled the air, sending chills down everyone's spines.

Ma Chongxi sat in the living room, leisurely sipping tea. His gaze swept across the room and he saw a young woman, who must be the concubine that Master Wang had just taken.

"What's your name?"

"This servant...this servant's name is...Little Lianxiang..."

"From a brothel?"

Xiao Lianxiang nodded, looking frightened.

"Sigh, he's still a person with a hard life."

Ma Chongxi sighed and said, "From today onwards, you will follow me, and I will definitely not let you down."

Xiao Lianxiang looked at the others and asked, "Master and everyone, what... what should we do?"

You mean them...?

Ma Chongxi smiled and said, "They will soon be dead. From today onwards, the Wang family will completely disappear from Zhen Ding City."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lianxiang felt a sudden darkness before her eyes and fainted.

At this moment, someone came forward to report: "We found out that the Wang family has a granary in the south corner of the city, which they use specifically to store grain!"

Ma Chongxi nodded in satisfaction: "Let's go get the food. Oh, and bring that woman back with me. As for the rest, get rid of them all!"

"yes!"