All cut down

Zhang Shi did not hold back. When he said he was going to beat Shitou, he beat him without mercy, leaving the man with a swollen, bruised face.

This sort of self-inflicted hardship was something Zhang Shi was willing to endure, and Shitou’s loyalty certainly deserved the same treatment.

Sure enough, despite taking such a beating, Shitou showed no anger whatsoever. Instead, his face was filled with delight. Zhang Shi was even more pleased with him and immediately pulled a banknote from inside his robe.

It was one of the banknotes Ning Wanqin had given him when she persuaded him to switch sides. Lord Duke had expressly authorized him to use it for this operation.

He stuffed it into Shitou’s hands.

Although Shitou could not read, he certainly recognized a banknote. He took one look at it and nearly fell over.

“Te—ten thousand taels?” he cried out in disbelief.

“G-General Zhang Shi, this… this is far too much!”

Zhang Shi said calmly, “If it’s too much, then work hard.”

His face remained as serene as still water, but inwardly he knew that such a sum was completely unnecessary. A hundred taels would have been enough. Even a thousand would have been more than enough to make Shitou utterly devoted to him.

But the problem was…

The smallest-denomination banknotes in his possession were worth ten thousand taels.

So, after steeling himself, he simply took one out.

It was extravagant, to be sure, but the results were undeniable.

Shitou’s eyes were already brimming with tears.

“Go. Make sure you carry out the task I’ve given you. Oh, and notify everyone who accompanied Madam as well. Have them report to my camp in the time it takes an incense stick to burn.”

“This commander…”

“I need to have a little talk with them about life!”

This was a task Zhou Mengyan had assigned him, and one Zhang Shi intended to carry out himself. Naturally, he would not be taking it lightly.

After sending Shitou to deliver the notice, he waited in the camp.

The guards Zhou Mengyan had assigned him stood on either side, swords in hand, ready for action.

The time it took an incense stick to burn passed quickly.

Yet even after the appointed time had arrived, not a single person showed up.

This was nothing short of contempt for military discipline!

The guards below were all men assigned by Zhou Mengyan, and they could no longer stand by and watch.

“Deputy Commander, these men are being utterly outrageous. They dare to disregard your military orders completely. I believe we should report this to the Grand Commander at once and have them punished according to military law!”

“Exactly! Deputy Commander, you were personally appointed by the Grand Commander. The decree confirming your appointment has already been sent to Yunjing. Yet these commanders, relying on Madam’s support, actually dare to ignore you. This is absolutely intolerable. We must have the Grand Commander deal with them!”

“Deputy Commander, let the Grand Commander punish them!”

The guards were furious.

From their expressions, Zhang Shi could easily tell that the two factions within the military camp had never been on good terms. Those men were probably relying on Madam’s support and had never truly taken the Grand Commander, Zhou Mengyan, seriously—or, more accurately, they paid lip service to him while doing as they pleased.

Their true master was Madam!

But Zhang Shi was in no hurry. He said calmly, “What’s the rush? Perhaps those commanders were delayed by some matter.”

“What’s the harm in waiting a little longer?”

“Just wait.”

He sat in the tiger-backed chair in good humor, holding a book on military strategy in his hands. Tucked between its pages was a cheat sheet containing his recent insights into the minds of the romance-addled. Whenever he had a spare moment, and whenever the circumstances were right, he would take it out and study the profound truths within.

Thanks to his efforts, and to his increasingly deep understanding of the romance-addled mind, Zhang Shi was now perfectly capable of settling down and studying the subject. In fact, he was rather engrossed.

The guards, however, were the ones who suffered. Each of them was so furious that they could hardly wait to go kill someone, yet all they could do was stand there and wait.

Fortunately, their waiting eventually bore fruit.

After some more time had passed, a commander finally entered the tent.

He lifted the flap, glanced at Zhang Shi, then casually cupped his hands and said indifferently, “General Hou Ying pays his respects to the Deputy Commander.”

“Mm.”

Zhang Shi did not even raise his head. He merely responded with a faint hum.

Hou Ying was immediately displeased. He gave a cold snort and stood to one side.

After he arrived, the other commanders gradually followed. Their behavior was much the same as Hou Ying’s. Each gave Zhang Shi a perfunctory salute, waited for Zhang Shi’s equally perfunctory response, then moved to one side with displeasure written all over his face.

In this manner, another full incense stick of time passed before everyone had finally arrived. By then, the commanders were already growing impatient.

“Deputy Commander, why exactly did you summon us? We still have military duties to attend to. You’d better get to the point, or we’ll be leaving.”

“Deputy Commander, we’re all very busy. We don’t have time to sit around here with you. If you have something to say, then say it. If not, we’re leaving. My time is valuable.”

“What book are you reading? Can’t you see that we’re standing here? Are you blind?”

“Come on, let’s go. If I’d known we were coming here just to serve as decorations—or stand around as background props—I wouldn’t have bothered. I don’t have time for this nonsense!”

The confrontations in a military camp had always been different from the subtle opposition found in the imperial court. If they were displeased, they showed it. If they refused to submit, they made it clear. It was written on their faces and displayed in their actions.

Thus, the naval commanders, who had only just assembled, were already turning around and preparing to leave.

The guards standing on either side were practically ready to explode.

These naval commanders were being outrageously insolent!

They usually relied on Madam’s influence and paid little heed to the Grand Commander’s orders. Now they even dared to show such disrespect to the Deputy Commander appointed by the Grand Commander?

What arrogance!

One by one, the guards’ hands moved to the hilts of their swords.

It seemed that the moment Zhang Shi gave the order, they would seize every one of these men.

Only then did Zhang Shi reluctantly set aside his book.

To be fair, the more he read about these romance-addled fools, the deeper his understanding became—and the more interested he grew. Sometimes, he genuinely wanted to continue studying them.

Unfortunately, this was not the time. The matter at hand came first.

With a smile, he said, “Everyone’s here, are you? Good, good. Perfect timing. I happen to have an important military matter to discuss with all of you…”

His gentle, spring-breeze-like demeanor only made the naval commanders even more brazen. They did not even bother to stand in an orderly line anymore. Some stood to the east, others to the west, arranging themselves however they pleased. One had his hands on his hips, another wore an impatient scowl.

They looked as though they had mistaken this military camp for their own home.

Just then, Zhang Shi suddenly changed direction.

“Wait. If I remember correctly, I ordered you to arrive within the time it took an incense stick to burn. How long did it actually take you to get here?”

His tone remained gentle, even meek.

But the guards Zhou Mengyan had assigned to him could no longer contain themselves. One of them shouted loudly, “Deputy Commander, you ordered them to arrive within the time it took an incense stick to burn so that you could discuss an important military matter, but they—”

“They took two incense sticks’ worth of time to get here!”

Zhang Shi smiled and asked, “Did all of them take that long?”

“Yes, Deputy Commander. Every one of them took longer than a single incense stick. The last of them arrived after nearly two.”

The smile disappeared from Zhang Shi’s face. He shook his head and said, “In a military camp, the first and foremost rule is obedience to orders. How could all of you dare to disobey a military command?”

“You’re making things very difficult for me.”

The naval commanders did not take his words seriously in the slightest. Every one of them remained arrogant and defiant.

“If you’re having a hard time, what does that have to do with us?”

“Tell us why you called us here already. We’ve given you enough face, so don’t push your luck.”

“Zhang Shi, you just surrendered and already think you can put on airs? I’ve spent twenty years building my position in this army. Who do you think you are to give me orders?”

…

A smile returned to Zhang Shi’s face. He said, “So this was deliberate, was it? All of you planned this together?”

“Then according to military law, how should this be handled?”

The moment he finished speaking, Zhang Shi rose abruptly. His voice turned cold.

“Men! Bind all twenty-seven of these men standing before me!”

His words struck like a thunderclap. The naval commanders had never imagined that Zhang Shi would dare offend them—the army’s senior officers—on his very first day after surrendering. They immediately began shouting and protesting.

But there were only twenty-seven of them, while Zhou Mengyan had assigned Zhang Shi several hundred personal guards. The guards had also been holding in their resentment for quite some time, so they charged forward without hesitation.

In less than a moment, all twenty-seven naval commanders had been bound hand and foot. Yet every one of them wore an expression of fury and defiance, shouting even louder than before.

“Zhang Shi, you bastard! How dare you lay hands on us?”

“Zhang Shi, you really think you’re somebody now?”

“Let me go! Let me go! Fuck your mother, Zhang Shi! You damn bastard, let me go! I’ll fight you one-on-one!”

…

Amid the shouting, one of the guards reported, “Deputy Commander, all of them have been restrained. Shall we report this to the Grand Commander and let him decide how to deal with them?”

As he said this, the guard felt an immense sense of satisfaction.

Back when they served under the Grand Commander, things had never been handled with such decisiveness.

Zhang Shi shook his head. “Why trouble the Grand Commander over something so trivial? I’ll deal with it myself.”

He looked toward the twenty-seven men, who had been forced to their knees with their hands bound. His eyelids did not even twitch.

In a flat voice, he said, “These men were slow to obey orders, showed disrespect toward their superiors, deliberately disobeyed military commands, and gathered a mob to cause trouble… According to military law…”

“They are to be executed.”

“Then execute them all.”

The moment the words left his mouth, it was as though thunder had exploded above everyone’s heads.

The guards were stunned on the spot.

“Executed? Execute them? Deputy Commander, surely this is…”

The guards were terrified. These twenty-seven commanders were the backbone of the army, with deep-rooted connections and the Madam’s support behind them. Even disciplining them would provoke fierce resistance. But executing them…

The consequences were unimaginable.

The naval commanders were stunned as well.

He was going to execute them?

Then several of them burst out laughing.

“Zhang Shi, you? You think you’re worthy of taking my head?”

“Zhang Shi, don’t get arrogant! Untie me at once, or I’ll make you pay!”

“Zhang Shi, if you’ve got the guts, cut off my head! I’d like to see whether you actually have the courage!”

…

Their voices rang loudly through the tent, but Zhang Shi’s movements were light and effortless. He simply drew the saber from one of the guards’ waists and walked over to the first naval commander.

His arm rose and fell.

“Splurt!”

The man’s head hit the ground.

The entire tent fell silent in an instant.

Zhang Shi raised his arm and brought the blade down again.

Another head rolled to the ground.

Again, the blade rose and fell. Again, another head hit the ground.

…

One after another, all twenty-seven commanders collapsed. The faces of those still alive had turned utterly horrified.

Only now did they finally remember who stood before them.

Zhang Shi.

The man who had swept across the grasslands and crushed the barbarians so completely that they would have no strength to invade southward for the next twenty years.

This man truly was…

A ruthless killer.

In an instant, cries for mercy and desperate screams erupted.

But Zhang Shi did not even blink.

The blade continued to rise and fall.

Again and again and again…

Before long, every sound in the tent had vanished, replaced by absolute silence.

Only then did Zhang Shi casually toss the saber aside and turn to face the guards Zhou Mengyan had assigned to him.

The guards’ legs had long since gone weak with fear.

They were soldiers. It was not as though they had never killed anyone.

Nor was it as though they had never seen so many corpses.

But they had never before witnessed someone slaughter more than twenty of the army’s most influential officers in a single breath.

These men had been naval commanders—the very figures they had always looked up to.

And now…

Every one of them was dead.

Not a single one remained.

Their hands trembled, and their hearts pounded.

And under such circumstances, they had to face Zhang Shi’s smile.

His expression was calm and composed, as though what he had just done were nothing more than a trivial task.

“Go and report to the Grand Commander. Tell him…”

“I’ve taken care of the Madam’s problem for him.”

After saying this, Zhang Shi returned to his chair, took out his book, and continued reading his notes on love-addled minds, completely ignoring the blood-soaked scene inside the tent.

His indifference only made the guards tremble more violently.

Just how powerful did a man have to be…

to remain this utterly unshaken?

Nevertheless, after witnessing what had happened, they developed a deeply rooted impression of him.

They might not like General Zhang Shi, but no matter what, they must never offend him.

When he struck, he showed absolutely no mercy.

“Yes, yes…”

Only after quite some time did the guards finally seem to recover. They hurried toward Grand Commander Zhou Mengyan to deliver the report.

At that moment, Zhou Mengyan was feeling anxious as well.

“I wonder whether Zhang Shi can bring the Madam’s people under control.”

That was the greatest condition Zhou Mengyan had placed on Zhang Shi’s surrender. After all, when one could not resolve a problem personally, relying on outside help was an eternal principle.

No matter how many people managed to turn a good situation into a disaster during the process, the underlying logic remained unchanged.

Standing beside Zhou Mengyan was Ruan Fei.

By now, the Madam had practically torn off all pretense and openly fallen out with Zhou Mengyan. To Ruan Fei, this was actually highly advantageous.

It meant she could approach her Brother Mengyan more openly, and her Brother Mengyan clearly enjoyed having her at his side.

Seeing how worried Zhou Mengyan was, she quickly tried to defend Zhang Shi.

“Brother Mengyan, don’t be so anxious. General Zhang Shi has been here for less than a day, and you already expect him to resolve such a huge problem. That’s asking too much of him.”

“I may not understand much about military affairs, but even I know that General Zhang Shi should be given time and authority. He needs time to handle things gradually.”

“General Zhang Shi is the man who swept across the northern frontier and crushed the barbarians. Dealing with a few people under the Madam’s command should be effortless for him.”

Ruan Fei’s reassurance pleased Zhou Mengyan greatly, and his mood improved considerably. He put an arm around her shoulders and said, “Xiaofei, fortunately I have you by my side. Otherwise, I’d be driven mad dealing with all this alone.”

“I’m willing to stay by Brother Mengyan’s side forever and serve as your military adviser, helping you make plans,” Ruan Fei said, taking the opportunity to flatter him.

The atmosphere between them instantly grew more intimate. Their faces drew closer and closer, and they were just about to kiss.

At that moment, a guard’s shout suddenly rang out from beyond the tent flap.

“G-Grand Commander! There’s urgent news to report!”

Clearly, the Grand Commander had issued orders that no one was to enter without first announcing themselves. Even the guards had to report from outside before being allowed in.

But the interruption still annoyed Zhou Mengyan, and Ruan Fei was displeased as well.

Then the guard’s next words made both of them light up with joy.

…