Kill the officials

  Zheng Yanfu swung the butcher knife, one slash after another, hacking wildly at Fang Xuan's face. He didn't have any fancy swordsmanship or techniques, just a pure and reckless fighting style. This impulsive and brutal man should be easy to deal with in front of a skilled martial artist like Fang Xuan, but no matter how many moves Fang Xuan used, he couldn't knock Zheng Yanfu down.

  It turned out that Zheng Yanfu's knife speed was very fast, and his strength was great. He wielded the butcher knife with a completely reckless attitude, making up for his shortcomings in knife skills. Fang Xuan had three chances to chop him down, but he didn't care about Fang Xuan's attack at all. He just kept waving the butcher knife at Fang Xuan's body, clearly intending to fight to the death.

  Some friends have read too many martial arts novels, especially those by Jin Yong. They think that when two people are fighting, as long as you stab the other person before they stab you, it's fine... The tip of their sword will stop just short of your throat and they'll collapse to the ground with bulging eyes... This view is incorrect.

  When it really comes down to it, if you and your enemy swing your swords at the same time, even if you manage to hit your opponent a fraction of a second earlier, their sword will still come swinging forward, slashing heavily onto your body, absolutely not stopping mid-air in such a fantastical manner.

  Fang Xuan didn't want to die with a mud-legged man, so he had to give up the opportunity to hit Zheng Yanfu. He dodged and weaved, shouting loudly: "What are you waiting for? Come and help!" ?? Late Ming Zhu Chongba 45

  He yelled at Zhang Douyao's two house slaves. Although those two house slaves were not of much use, as long as they joined the fight, three knives against one knife would make things a lot easier. The desperate fighting method could only be effective in a one-on-one situation; what about one against three? That was just asking for death!

  Fang Xuan shouted twice, but didn't feel anyone coming to help him. He couldn't help but feel anxious and shouted: "What are you doing?" In the midst of his busyness, he still turned around to take a glance... This one glance made his heart and gall bladder shatter.

  Only two family members were seen on the ground, Zhu Yuanzhang was pulling out a wooden knife from one of the family member's chest, fresh blood dripping down the blood groove on his knife, drip, drip.

  At that time, when Zheng Yanfu and Fang Xuan were fighting, the two house slaves began to hesitate, should they go up to help? Or first capture that guy who looked a bit smaller. They were too low-level, couldn't feel the killing aura on Zhu Yuanzhang's body, so they didn't think Zhu Yuanzhang was scary at all. After hesitating for a while, they decided to ignore that guy who didn't look very fierce, anyway he just stood there motionless, not showing any sign of making a move.

  The two tightened their grips on the wooden swords and walked towards Fang Xuan and Zheng Yanfu's battle circle, planning to make a move... However, just as their attention left Zhu Yuanzhang and turned towards Zheng Yanfu for an instant, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly moved. He took several big strides forward and in an instant, he leapt to the front of the two house guards.

  The two family servants were shocked. This guy's upper body didn't move at all, looking completely like he wasn't going to make a move, so how come his feet moved so fast? Had he been planning to strike out all along?

  The two men hastily raised their knives, but their attention was not on Zhu Yuanzhang to begin with, and they were not fully prepared. This sudden movement was too hasty, and they were flustered. How could Zhu Yuanzhang, who had crawled out of the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, let go of such a good opportunity? The wooden knife in his hand flashed, cutting horizontally across the neck of one of the family guards... Fresh blood spurted out like a fountain, spraying onto the face of another guard, staining his eyes bright red.

  Taking advantage of his momentary blindness, Zhu Yuanzhang's dagger easily pierced his chest and reached his heart...

  He just pretended to be reluctant, but in fact he had been preparing for a long time. As soon as he made his move, he struck cleanly and swiftly, killing the two families' servants together with lightning speed, without any hesitation.

  Fang Xuan was shocked, his feet slowing down, and Zheng Yanfu's knife had already arrived in front of him. He hastily dodged to the side, but saw Zhu Yuanzhang kill two bodyguards after taking a step to the side, his movements unceasing, and with a swing of his knife, sealed off the direction Fang Xuan was about to dodge. At this point, Fang Xuan had no way out, nowhere to hide... He roared: "I'll fight you to the death!" No longer paying attention to Zheng Yanfu's killing intent, he fiercely swung his knife down at Zhu Yuanzhang.

  "Who would risk their life with someone like you?" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly took two steps back, revealing that his move to draw his sword was entirely fake. From start to finish, he had no intention of fighting Fang Xuan. He had a very clear understanding of his own abilities, which were merely those of an ordinary elite soldier, and would never attempt to engage in combat with a professional bodyguard like Fang Xuan, nor would he try to fight it out with the likes of Wang Er or Zheng Yanfu.

  Fang Xuan struggled desperately, but his weakness was exploited by Zheng Yanfu. The butcher knife fell without hesitation, cutting deeply into Fang Xuan's back. This blow was extremely severe, and Fang Xuan didn't even have time to cry out before he collapsed and died.

  Zheng Yanfu's heart was filled with a burst of excitement, he had finally gotten rid of Zhang Douyao's guard and could now deal with the corrupt official. He took one step into the woodshed, kicked open the pile of firewood, and to his surprise, there were two people inside. One was a middle-aged man, fat-headed and big-eared, wearing an official robe - this was indeed Zhang Douyao. Next to him was a young man, about 18 or 19 years old, dressed in silk clothes, with a face that looked similar to Zhang Douyao's... This person must be Zhang Douyao's son... the one who was going to marry the third Miss Ma of the Ma family.

  Zheng Yanfu lifted Zhang Douyao with one hand, angrily saying: "You corrupt official, you have your day today, haha... You've brought so much suffering to the people of our city..." He was filled with indignation and planned to loudly proclaim Zhang Douyao's crimes before killing him.

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "What's the point of talking so much nonsense?" The wooden knife in his hand flashed, stabbing into Zhang Dashi's chest, and when he pulled it out, it was covered in a burst of blood. Then, with a twist of his body, another knife plunged into Zhang Douyao's belly.

  "Corrupt officials! Killing them all is enough, no need to say more!"

  Zheng Yanfu's eyes gleamed: "I was thinking of dragging him to the front square of the government office and putting him on trial in front of everyone."

  "What's the use of investigating?" asked Zhu Yuanzhang.

  "After we judge the corrupt officials, let's spread the word and teach a lesson to other corrupt officials, scare them." Zheng Yanfu said with a silly smile. ?? Late Ming Zhu Chongba 45

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head, such a naive idea. In his previous life, he had decreed the punishment of flaying and stuffing with straw for corrupt officials who embezzled more than sixty taels of silver, and after killing them, they would be made into "straw men" to intimidate other officials. However, under such severe laws and punishments, corrupt officials continued to emerge one after another, what use was there in just meting out punishment? These principles Zhu Yuanzhang wouldn't bother telling Zheng Yanfu, because even if he said them, the latter wouldn't understand.

  "You don't have time to try him!" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low voice: "Hurry back and divide the silver, money, and grain, disperse your men and escape from the city. We've made quite a commotion at Zhang's mansion this time, and the officials and soldiers from several nearby garrisons should have received the news by now. They'll be arriving soon to quell the disturbance. If you leave too slowly, I'm afraid you won't make it."

  "This is it!" Zheng Yanfu swung up the butcher knife and chopped Zhang Douyao's corpse again, venting his anger. Blood splattered all over him before he raised his head and said: "Now I'll call my brothers back to the county government office, to divide the goods in the warehouse. After dividing them, as you said, we'll disperse first, gather at Tiger Head Mountain tomorrow, then scatter again. Five days later, we'll gather at the mountain where Baishui and Chengcheng meet...then head to Huanglong Mountain. I understand what you're saying now. There are indeed some people in our troop who must be cleaned out, they can't stay by my side, especially those few scoundrels of women."

  Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, Zhang Douyao and his son were already dead, he no longer had any reason to stay here, so he decided to return to the inn.

  Zheng Yanzhou said: "Come with me, I'm too stupid to lead the team and can't build Liangshan. I want you to be our leader..."

  "This is your team, not mine! I won't go with you." Zhu Yuanzhang was absolutely impossible to join Zheng Yanfu at this time. The peasant uprising had not yet begun, and joining the rebel army so early would make him a target for the government's pursuit and interception, putting him in great danger. He said calmly: "Remember what I say, after entering Huanglong Mountain, find a cave to settle down, relying on the silver and grain looted from the county warehouse, hide in the mountains as long as possible, let the government forget about you, remember to practice martial arts every day, train your subordinates, want to build Liangshan, without perseverance it's impossible."

  Zheng Yanfu was deeply disappointed in his heart, he really hoped that Zhu Yuanzhang would be his leader. In the brief encounters, Zhu Yuanzhang left an indelible impression on him, every word he said was correct and flawless, simply the most formidable person he had ever seen in his life...

  This guy must be the reincarnation of Wu Yong, the clever star... Oh no, Wu Yong wasn't as skilled in martial arts as him! Zheng Yanfu couldn't help but think.

  "He's gone!" Zhu Yuanzhang turned around, saw Fang Xuan's body on the ground, and with a sudden thought, he easily shouldered the corpse and headed towards the inn where Miss Ma San was temporarily staying.

  Zheng Yanfu waved his hand at him, then beheaded Zhang Douyao with one knife, holding the head and running out, shouting: "Brothers, I killed Zhang Douyao, let's go back to the government office..."

  "Wait a minute, I think I'll move this vase..."

  "This copper mirror is quite good, my wife has been wanting one for a long time."

  "Silver, so much silver... Find a cloth bag, and take it all away."

  "There's still a gold necklace on this woman's corpse, hurry up and take it off... that guy missed it when he searched her body just now..."

  "Don't rush, there's a maid hiding under the bed. I want to drag her out and have some fun before leaving..."

  The courtyard was filled with a gloomy and depressing atmosphere, a complete mess... Zheng Yanfu looked around, the joy of killing Zhang Douyao had once again flown to the distant clouds. He really wished that Zhu Yuanzhang could teach him how to discipline himself properly.