Chapter 66: Slaughter at the County Government

  As the knife-wielding imperial guards approached step by step, Lü Wei remained motionless for a moment.

  However, at this moment, several black shadows suddenly jumped out from the west and north walls. Immediately afterwards, there were a few loud twangs of bowstrings, and before people could react, "swish swish swish" arrows cut through the air, unexpectedly shooting down all the guards on the platform who were about to capture Lü Wei.

  A sudden change occurred, and everyone was shocked beyond measure.

  In the hall, Liu Taishou's face turned pale, and all the guests and officials changed color. Only the county lieutenant and Ping Gang County lieutenant rushed forward with swords to protect Liu Taishou and others. The crowd looked up and saw that more than a dozen black-clad men had climbed onto the two sections of courtyard walls not far away, some holding bows and some carrying knives, jumping into the courtyard one after another. The black-clad men with knives chopped at people indiscriminately, and several servants who failed to dodge were unfortunately killed. They rushed towards the hall, killing all the way.

  The several black-clad men who were still on the wall of the courtyard also shot arrows into the courtyard from time to time, almost without distinguishing any target, and anyone in sight became a living target.

  "Hurry, hurry, come and protect Governor Taishou!" Sun Zhangshi shouted loudly.

  "Sir, go south, quickly." County Lieutenant Zhou Zhi was still calm and made a distinction from the chaotic scene, hurriedly pulling Liu Taishou's arm to run towards the south gate corridor.

  The remaining guests and officials in the rear were all flustered and lost their composure, they didn't think twice about anything, and simply followed behind Zhou Zhi and others.

  On the platform, Lü Wei saw Liu Taishou and others wanting to escape, raised his long sword in hand, took three steps and made two steps forward.

  Ping Gang County's county lieutenant swung his sword to welcome, expecting that he wouldn't be Lu Wei's opponent at all. After exchanging blows for only three or four rounds, he was stabbed in the wrist by Lu Wei and fell to the ground, unable to escape in disarray. Lu Wei didn't care about anyone else, his eyes filled with murderous intent staring straight at those guests and Liu Taishou, continuing to chase forward with swift steps. A lagging wise old man was caught up, without saying a word, one sword pierced the opponent's back, just like killing Han Xi, penetrating the whole body.

  The old man didn't even have time to let out a miserable cry, and fell headfirst into the pool of blood, convulsing uncontrollably.

  At the same time, in the guest seat below the hall, many people who participated in this year's inspection and selection of the county were also shocked earlier. They did not expect that the originally solemn dinner would have such a big accident, let alone that Lv Wei, who had been sitting and drinking together with them every day, suddenly became a killer. However, as more and more black-clad men jumped into the courtyard, wielding knives and killing people, they had to take countermeasures immediately.

  Tian Kai first picked up a copper ladle for pouring wine and rushed towards a lone black-clad man, and the two sides quickly clashed.

  Li Xinnian first lifted up the bronze cauldron, wine stove, and other objects, fiercely throwing them at the black-clad men. Several of the black-clad men had just jumped down from the wall and didn't have time to dodge, so they were hit by the heavy objects on the spot. Afterwards, he directly picked up his own table seat, as if it was a wooden stick, and swung it to charge forward.

  The rest of the people, each came forward to respond to the battle, or retreated to the platform to pick up the weapons of the arrow-wounded guards, or relied on their personal skills to come forward with bare hands and empty fists. Those who really couldn't fight were also throwing objects at the black-clothed assassins from a distance.

  At this time, Zu Chao did not rush to act. He kept himself calm and first observed the situation around him. He had discovered a strange phenomenon early on - these black-clad men were all dressed in uniform, but none of them wore masks. In other words, these black-clad assassins were extremely bold, either being fugitives or having a death wish. It's not hard to imagine that this incident must have been premeditated and was very frightening. Someone had been planted among the examinees for this year's imperial examination, which was incredibly difficult to achieve. Behind the scenes, there must be a formidable mastermind manipulating everything.

  Moreover, he also observed that these black-clothed assassins were quite skilled and extremely ruthless, as if this time there was no specific assassination purpose, the only purpose was to slaughter the governor's mansion!

  The black-clothed assassin's actions were extremely meticulous, and in addition to jumping over the west and north walls of the courtyard, even the corridor leading from the west wing to the north wing quickly produced a third wave of assassins. Meanwhile, at the northern gate porch and a side door, in just an instant, a large fire suddenly broke out, with flames soaring into the sky, blocking off all escape routes.

  From the start of the fire until now, in less than a moment's work, three batches totaling over twenty black-clad assassins have been killed.

  "Rebel, accept your death!"

  "Hurry, protect Governor Taishou, hurry!"

  "Ah, help... save me... ah!"

  The hall was still a scene of blood and carnage. Lü Wei pursued Liu Taishou and the others, killing many guests along the way.

  County Lieutenant Zhou Zhi saw Lü Wei about to catch up, handed Governor Liu Gan over to Sun Zhangshi, and charged forward to fight Lü Wei.

  Just then, Zhou Zhi was already old and had drunk a few more cups of wine, so his footsteps were not steady. Lü Wei was greatly stimulated by the killing intent, and at this moment, the intention to kill was strong. The two swords intersected, and Zhou Zhi suddenly appeared to be in a disadvantageous position, retreating step by step, and the sword in his hand became more and more difficult to wield and unable to parry. Lü Wei took advantage of Zhou Zhi's slow counterattack and stabbed him in the chest with one sword. Zhou Zhi let out a painful cry and fell to the ground.

  Lü Weizheng was about to continue chasing after Liu Taishou and the others, but Zhou Zhi, who had fallen to the ground, grasped the hem of his clothes tightly, regardless of everything.

  "Hum, those who block me shall die!"

  Lü Wei burst into a furious roar and swung his sword at Zhou Zhi, cutting off his arm with a single blow.

  Fresh blood rolled down with broken arms, Zhou Zhi let out a miserable cry and soon fainted.

  Liu Taishou, who was still fleeing towards the south gate, heard Zhou Zhi's miserable cry and couldn't help but turn his head to take a look. Just in time, he saw that bloody scene, and immediately became frightened, his legs going soft, and he fell to the ground with a thud. Sun Zhangshi, who was beside him, hastily retreated back to go and support him, but was knocked over by other fleeing guests, and also fell to the ground.

  Lü Wei arrived in front of Liu Tai-shou, his eyes already red from killing and slaughter. He let out a cold laugh that seemed to tear his heart apart, pointing his sword at Liu Tai-shou. His voice was hoarse as he roared: "You corrupt official! Outside the vermilion gates, people are freezing to death on the roads, while inside the decorated walls, there is singing and dancing. It's because of officials like you that the common people are suffering in hardship. Today, I, Lü Wei, will behead you for the sake of the people!"

  Liu Taishou was frightened out of his wits and scrambled backward repeatedly.

  Lü Wei raised his long sword and chopped it down fiercely towards Liu Taigong's face.

  Just at this critical moment, an object suddenly flew from a distance and hit Lyu Wei's sword blade.

  That flying object was a bronze wine cup. Lü Wei suddenly became furious: "Who is it!" He shouted while turning around to look for the person who threw the wine cup. Suddenly, a swift figure rushed from the direction of the veranda, as fast as lightning, extremely agile and dodging through the chaotic crowd.

  Lü Wei hadn't even had time to clearly see who the figure was, when suddenly he felt a gust of wind in front of him. The figure had already appeared right before his eyes and kicked out with one foot directly at his abdomen. He stumbled backward, but his opponent took advantage of the momentum from running and retreated at a speed that was obviously much faster than Lü Wei's.

  A dull thud, Lv Wei was kicked hard and flew three to five zhangs away, crashing into a pillar under the eaves.

  Liu Taishou, who had already lost half his soul, stroked his heaving chest and opened his eyes wide to see clearly the person who kicked Lv Wei flying, it was Zu Zhao. He hastily waved his hand and said: "Ah, ah, Zu...Zu Zhao, quickly save...save me..."

  Zu Zhao glanced at Lü Wei, his previous kick was indeed not light, and the opponent himself had also collided with the stone pillar, so he would definitely be unable to move for a while. Immediately, he came to Liu Taishou's side, pulled him up with one hand, and said in a loud voice: "Don't worry, sir, I'll protect you from escaping."

  Liu Taishou saw that Zu Chao's skills were indeed impressive and couldn't help but calm down a bit, repeatedly saying: "Good, good."

  At this time, Sun Changshi also rushed over and busily supported Liu Taishou.

  Zu Zhao turned around and looked back, the black-clad assassin had already killed his way onto the balcony and was rushing towards them. Tian Kai, Li Xin and others were seriously injured, several people were either shot by hidden arrows or unable to defend themselves due to lack of weapons. He immediately said to Liu Taishou and others: "Quickly go south, I'll hold them off."

  Sun Changshi said, "Zu Yishi be careful." He pulled Liu Taishou and continued walking south.

  Liu Taishou suddenly struggled free from Sun Zhangshi's grasp and shouted at Zu Zhao, "Zu Yishi, you must save my son..." As he spoke, he pointed to the stone pavilion in the south.

  Zu Zhao took a glance at the Stone Pavilion, which was still relatively calm and had not been breached by any assassins. However, due to its connection to the corridor, people were constantly coming and going, making it impossible to determine the current whereabouts of the girl who had played the zither earlier. With his attention focused on the North Wing, he couldn't spare anyone to investigate the Stone Pavilion, and in his heart, he still resented Governor Liu for not distinguishing between important and unimportant matters.

  Just as I was about to open my mouth and casually make a sound, I suddenly heard a "whoosh" from behind my brain.

  Sun Changshi shouted loudly: "Be careful, there are arrows."