The Ming Dynasty began in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

A group of people suddenly broke down the door and entered.

The family of three was immediately terrified. The wife quickly shielded her son in her arms, while Wang Sheng's legs went weak and he almost collapsed to the ground...

"The rebel leader has ordered that every four households supporting one soldier must hand over their stored silver and grain!"

The leader glared angrily and shouted.

Seeing the family of three trembling, looking at them as if they were the King of Hell, this guy puffed out his chest, displaying arrogance...

"Sir, I am merely a tenant farmer, barely making ends meet with two meals a day. How could I possibly have any extra money or food?"

The foreman's eyes widened, and he shouted sharply:

"Enough nonsense. Many high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty were tortured to death. Do you want to follow their example and risk your life for money?"

"No, we'll open the city gates to welcome the rebel leader, and he won't collect taxes..."

In Wang Sheng's mind, the rebel leader represented the working class. He had said he would not pay taxes, so how could he possibly send troops to forcibly collect them?

The phrase "When the rebel leader comes, we won't have to pay taxes" left the soldier completely bewildered, unsure how to refute it...

But then I thought, wait a minute, I have a knife in my hand, why should I reason with a peasant?

An ordinary citizen, a peasant from the lowest rungs of society, dared to talk back to them. In the past, such a person would have been killed on the spot.

"Bang..."

"You're asking for it! Search me!"

With a kick, Wang Sheng was knocked to the ground, and a dozen people began searching everywhere...

It's not hard to imagine what kind of information a family that struggles to even get enough to eat could possibly find.

After searching for a long time, they found a dozen or so copper coins and five catties of mixed grains...

"A penniless wretch, so stubborn! Take it all!"

The leader cursed and muttered, then collected a dozen or so copper coins and had someone take five catties of mixed grains and leave.

"Sir, you can take the copper coins, but please leave the grains behind, or we'll starve to death..."

"Get out of my way! One more word and you're dead!"

Wang Sheng was kicked away again and given death threats.

For food, for his family to have something to eat, Wang Sheng disregarded his own life and rushed forward to cling tightly to a soldier's leg.

Looking at the muddy-legged man clinging to him, and then at the few pounds of grain in his hand, the soldier was in a dilemma and hurriedly looked at their squad leader.

The squad leader snorted coldly and drew his sword, placing it against Wang Sheng's neck.

"Let go, or you'll die!"

"We won't release it unless you release the food!"

Wang Sheng was also a bit stubborn, closing his eyes and refusing to let go no matter what.

"If you really want to die, I'll grant your wish..."

The squad leader raised his sword, ready to kill Wang Sheng...

Sensing something was wrong, Wang Sheng's wife rushed forward with her child, trying to stop her husband from being killed.

"No, sir, please don't kill the child's father! We don't need the food..."

The squad leader kicked Wang Sheng's wife, causing the child to fall to the ground and cry loudly...

But he seemed heartless, and without hesitation, he raised his knife and slashed at Wang Sheng...

"Whoosh..."

Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from the air, and an arrow pierced the squad leader's wrist.

"what……"

The squad leader screamed in pain as his waist knife fell to the ground.

"Who dares to ambush me? Brothers, kill him!"

He turned around angrily and hurriedly ordered his men to avenge him.

When the squad leader saw who it was, he was terrified, and the dozen or so soldiers hurriedly put down their weapons.

Two men and one woman arrived, and the three of them entered the thatched hut.

The woman, dressed in red, looked heroic and valiant, her beautiful eyes coldly fixed on the squad leader, a bow in her hand.

This person is none other than the famous female general, Hong Niangzi, and the arrow just now was shot by her.

The other two were Li Yan, a general under the Shunzhi Emperor, and Zhu Cilang, the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, who was also known as the Prince of Song by Li Zicheng.

Li Yan was in a bad mood recently, so after court, he went back to have tea and chat with Zhu Cilang.

After Li Yan was appointed general, Hong Niangzi basically stopped attending court. It was Li Yan who told her about the torture.

As a general in the rebel army, Hong Niangzi had experienced torture many times and had personally robbed gentry, officials and landlords. She knew that torture was aimed at the upper class.

At this point, neither of them wanted to go shopping.

But Zhu Cilang was different; he had his own ulterior motives.

He was familiar with history and knew how chaotic the capital was at that time, so he wanted to show Hong Niangzi Li Zicheng's torture policy.

This changed Li Zicheng's great image in Hong Niangzi's mind, so it can be said that Zhu Cilang succeeded.

Soldiers were robbing people everywhere along the way, mostly targeting gentry and wealthy merchants, but many ordinary people also suffered.

Actually, this was not what Li Zicheng wanted to see either. At the beginning, the Shun army was very disciplined and did not harm the people in the slightest, thanks to Li Yan's suggestion.

Li Yan grew increasingly disheartened as he looked at the scene, while Hong Niangzi grew increasingly angry. Their initial purpose in following Li Zicheng was to change this cannibalistic world.

but……

Enraged, Hong Niangzi ordered her guards to kill the soldiers who were harassing the people.

No matter whose soldiers they were, even if they were Liu Zongmin's confidants, as long as they harmed the people, they were all executed.

She entered the city today with a thousand elite troops for Zhu Cilang's safety.

The tortured soldiers were divided into squads, but their numbers were limited and they were no match for Hong Niangzi's personal guards.

Along the way, they killed more than a thousand soldiers who had harmed the people.

Wang Sheng was lucky; Li Yan and others were passing by their house when they heard a child crying. Sensing something was wrong, they rushed over to check.

Seeing her go berserk, the soldiers even tried to kill civilians.

Enraged, Hong Niangzi snatched a bow and arrow from her guards and shot the assailant through the wrist before rushing toward the thatched hut.

She glanced around the room, then bent down and picked up the waist knife from the floor.

Sensing that the matchmaker was going to kill him, the squad leader was terrified. Just as he was about to beg for mercy, a flash of light appeared, and the squad leader's head fell to the ground!

"General, spare my life!"

When the other soldiers saw their squad leader killed, they were so frightened that they wet themselves and all knelt down to beg for mercy.

Despite their earlier swagger, they're nothing compared to Li Yan and his wife.

With a wave of her hand:

"They all deserve to die! Drag them out and chop them up!"

At her command, more than a dozen people were all taken out and beheaded. Hong Niangzi did not believe that any of them were innocent.

She would not hesitate to kill anyone who dared to harm the common people; while some rebels forgot the past, she remained true to her original aspirations.

Seeing that Hong Niangzi was decisive and ruthless, Zhu Cilang secretly gave her a thumbs up and was also glad that he had tricked Li Yan and his wife into going to the streets.

Having been brought back to life, it took Wang Sheng and his family a while to react. They hurriedly kowtowed to Hong Niangzi:

"Thank you so much, heroine! May I ask your name, my benefactor? I will certainly repay your life-saving grace if I have the chance!"

"Get up quickly, don't be shy."

Hong Niangzi personally helped Wang Sheng and his wife up, and then had her guards give them ten taels of silver. Amidst Wang Sheng and his wife's profuse thanks, she left!

She did not tell Wang Sheng and his wife who she was.

I felt ashamed to mention my own name at this moment, because if the rebel leader came, I wouldn't have to pay taxes!

After leaving Wang Sheng's house, Li Yan decided to avoid seeing it and getting annoyed. They couldn't possibly manage all these kinds of things, and they would only allow unscrupulous people to take advantage of them.

If Li Zicheng were still as lenient with him as before, he could have kept a close watch on him. But things are different now; he might end up getting himself into trouble.

Seeing that Hong Niangzi was still sullen, Li Yan said:

"Madam, let's return to camp. There are too many such matters; we can't manage them all. We've killed too many soldiers, Niu Jinxing has more to say, and Liu Zongmin and the rebel leader are also unhappy!"

Hong Niangzi nodded and gave the order to return to the West Mountain camp.

After Zhu Cilang and his men returned to the Xishan camp, another major event occurred in the capital: a group of soldiers stormed into Wu Xiang's residence...