Martial Arts Crossover: It All Started with Hijacking Li Canghai

Qin Han's words spread throughout the entire North Gate area.

"Go to the prefect's mansion and drag that stupid pig out to be skinned alive."

A captain from the Tiger Guard Battalion immediately stepped forward and raised his hand behind him.

"First Battalion, keep up!"

Hundreds of black-armored cavalrymen surged through the wide-open city gate, their hooves pounding loudly on the bluestone slabs.

The garrison in Xiangyang stood on both sides of the street, speechless. They had never seen an army like this before. When they ran, they didn't even break formation. Their spirit was completely different from that of people like themselves who couldn't even get a full meal.

In front of the Prefect's Mansion.

Lu Wende's personal guards tried to stop them, but dozens of men blocked the doorway. The Tiger Guard cavalry didn't even slow down; they crashed straight into the crowd. Their blades fell cleanly, and within a few breaths, they were all down. Blood flowed down the steps, staining the bases of the stone lions at the entrance red.

The commotion coming from inside the mansion was chaotic, with cries, shouts, and pleas for mercy mixed with the muffled sounds of tables and chairs being overturned.

Less than half an incense stick's time.

Lu Wende was dragged out of the backyard of the mansion, his clothes torn to shreds, his face covered in snot and tears, and he was trembling like a leaf.

"Spare me... spare me..."

"I am an official appointed by the imperial court...you cannot kill me..."

When he was dragged onto the street, he saw Qin Han standing in front of the horse, looking like he had nothing better to do. His fear suddenly turned into something else, and his voice became shrill and distorted.

"Qin Han! You...you have such audacity!"

"I am the Xiangyang garrison commander personally appointed by the Emperor! To lay a finger on me is treason!"

"Lord Jia...Lord Jia will not let you get away with this!"

He shouted himself hoarse, using the laws of the Song Dynasty and Jia Sidao as his last fig leaf.

Qin Han looked at him without any expression.

"You won't admit you're a stupid pig. What is Jia Sidao anyway? He's being used as a pawn and he doesn't even know it."

He turned sideways and took a scroll from Jiang Yuyan's hand, unrolled it, and spoke in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the onlookers and the guards to hear clearly.

"My men have already thoroughly investigated you."

"In the third year of Jingding, Lü Wende withheld 30,000 taels of silver from the soldiers guarding the city, and 300 soldiers at the north gate froze to death that winter."

"In the fourth year of Jingding, you sold 200,000 shi of military grain to the Mongols in exchange for antiques and paintings, which you piled up in your secret room."

"In the first year of Xianchun, you leaked the defense map of Xiangyang to the Mongol envoy, and several thousand soldiers died in an ambush outside the city."

With each line read aloud, Lü Wende's face grew paler.

The city guards on the street were so thin they looked unrecognizable, their hands gripping the hilts of their swords until they turned white, their eyes red-rimmed.

After the last sentence was read, the surroundings became chaotic. Some people were cursing, some were crying, and everyone's gaze toward Lü Wende was fixed on one word—kill.

"You...you're spouting nonsense..."

Lu Wende was still shouting.

Qin Han was too lazy to pay him any more attention. It was too easy for the Luo Wang intelligence network to investigate someone. They could even find out that this guy was sleeping with his concubine last night. He threw the scroll directly at Lü Wende's face.

"Drag him to Caishikou."

"Sliced ​​alive."

It paused for a moment.

"Anyone connected with him shall be executed."

Lu Wende opened his mouth wide and made a sound that didn't sound human. The next second, his mouth was covered and he was dragged towards the vegetable market.

"Wait a minute!"

A weak but still struggling voice came from behind.

Guo Jing, supported by Huang Rong, was walking very fast. He looked extremely pale, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat. He was stunned for a moment when he saw the scene before him.

"Your Highness, this is absolutely forbidden..."

"It's true that Lü Wende is guilty, but he is still an official appointed by the imperial court. What you're doing... will bring about a huge disaster..."

He finished speaking, panting. In his mind, Qin Han's approach was no different from the opposite.

Qin Han turned his head.

Looking at Guo Jing, and then at the city guards around him who could barely stand, his patience vanished instantly, and he blurted out a sentence.

"Guo Jing, you fucking open your eyes and see clearly."

"Look at these soldiers, look at those martial arts practitioners who came with you to defend the city, and look at the Beggar Clan brothers."

He pointed to the emaciated soldiers.

"They couldn't even get enough to eat while defending the city, and their families were starving and freezing in the rear. What happened to their military pay? That guy took it and exchanged it for antiques and paintings."

"Take another look at the people in the city."

"Outside, Mongolians held knives to our throats, while inside, we were being plundered by these traitorous parasites."

Qin Han took a step forward, and Guo Jing subconsciously took half a step back, feeling the pressure making it hard for him to breathe.

"I'm asking you."

"What exactly are you, Guo Jing, guarding?"

"Is it that incompetent emperor who's holed up in Lin'an indulging in food, drink, and merrymaking, or that court that's rotten to the core?"

"Or are they the people of this city, the Han Chinese of this world?"

"If you protect that guy surnamed Lü, who will protect these soldiers who risk their lives for you? Who will protect the people who trust you?"

He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice.

"Your blind loyalty... is no different from helping a tyrannical ruler kill his own people."

Guo Jing stood there, mouth agape, unable to utter a single word.

He wanted to refute, but his mind was blank, and he couldn't find a single sentence to follow up.

He guarded it his whole life.

What are we guarding?

It was the territory of the Great Song Dynasty, but he wasn't unaware of how the Great Song court had treated him; he simply hadn't wanted to think about it.

He looked into Qin Han's eyes, then turned to look at the faces of the soldiers. Their thin faces were bloodshot and weary, and there was a long-suppressed anger in them.

Something that had sustained me for decades has broken.

"Brother Jing".

Huang Rong supported him, gently shook her head, and didn't say anything more.

She knew in her heart that Qin Han did the right thing by killing them; some things were rotten to the core and could not be eradicated by reasoning.

She glanced at Qin Han, her thoughts a complex mix of approval and apprehension. This man's strength and resources were undeniable; even if news of this reached Lin'an, the officials there might not dare to truly turn against him.

We can't go against him.

After this thought popped into Huang Rong's head, she didn't consider any other direction.

……

At the same time.

Outside Xiangyang City, the Mongol camp.

Inside the royal tent, a tall lama in a gold and red robe sat to one side. He was none other than the Golden Wheel Dharma King, with his hands on his knees and his body slightly bowed.

"Princess Qibing".

"The scouts report that King Qin Han of Shu has already led three thousand cavalry into Xiangyang."

Behind the desk sat a man in a white brocade robe, twirling a folding fan in his hand. He had extremely handsome features, but his demeanor was unlike that of an ordinary man. He was too neat and tidy, with a heroic air and an air of nobility.

After listening to the report, the corners of her mouth curved slightly, then tightened again, and she tapped her folding fan on the table.

"The Qin and Han dynasties are utterly worthless."

"He's been telling everyone that I have some kind of relationship with him, and he hasn't given us an explanation this time... so the Mongol army won't retreat, and they'll just keep fighting him in Xiangyang."