July 15th, Ghost Festival.
Fine rain like cow hair fell, obscuring vision. Forty thousand anti-rebellion troops led by General Shi Bangzhe passed through northern Jiangzhou, bypassing Xu Cheng's Shuangchang, preparing to launch a surprise attack on Xuanzhou Prefecture.
After a night of guarding the city, the soldiers on the west gate of Xuanzhou Prefecture were listless, yawning, waiting for their shift to end.
Shi Bangzhe raised his right hand silently, and the army roared, "Charge!" raising their weapons and rushing toward the city gates.
The city walls immediately responded with alarm bells and shouts.
Amidst the chaos, someone shouted that the enemy was attacking and to quickly notify others. The soldiers "hurriedly" gathered their spirits to prepare for battle.
Shan Jian had not slept all night. Upon hearing the news, he pursed his lips, and his personal guards escorted the former deputy commander under Rong Hai's command up to the city gate, with a knife pressed against his back. The deputy commander hurriedly shouted down below: "They are our own people! They are our own people! General Shi, hold your fire! Our own people!"
Shi Bangze squinted in the drizzle, shading his eyes with one hand as he looked up. The deputy commander's expression flickered, and when the knife was pressed forward again, he hastily said, "The rebel prince Cui Yi and General Xu Cheng are not in the city. General Rong took advantage of this opportunity to counterattack and has already captured the traitor Shan Jian, imprisoning him in the dungeon!"
A hint of dissatisfaction flashed through Shi Bangze's eyes, and he asked suspiciously, "Is this true? Why wasn't I informed?"
The deputy commander could only recite the lines prepared by Shan Jian: "I dare not deceive you, General. Xu Cheng is less than two hundred miles away in Shuangchang from Xuanzhou Prefecture. General Rong planned meticulously, aiming to capture the King of Wu when he returns, thus achieving a surprise attack. Therefore, General specifically instructed not to leak this information, nor to notify General Shi."
Shi Bangze immediately flew into a rage: "How dare he! Such a significant matter, and he dares to do it alone without informing me! It's absurd! Open the city gates!"
The deputy commander hesitated and said, "But General Rong ordered that even if General Shi comes, we should not open the gates. If tens of thousands rush in, the citizens will panic, and the truth will be exposed."
Shi Bangze was so angry his nose twisted. He recalled how Xuanzhou Prefecture fell last year due to Rong Hai's ambition. "Cut the crap! Open the gates! I am the commander!" He pointed his steel spear upward and roared, "Open the gates! Otherwise, I will order an attack!"
Hundreds of archers aimed at the city wall, and the deputy commander broke out in cold sweat. He shouted, "Open, open, open! I'll open them right now! Quickly open the gates to welcome General Shi!"
Only then did Shi Bangze show a slight smile of satisfaction: "That's more like it."
The city gates slowly opened, and Shi Bangze proudly rode his warhorse into the city, followed by a large contingent of anti-rebellion troops. Shops were still closed, and there were few pedestrians on the streets.
A captain approached and said, "Please come to the prefectural office to rest temporarily."
Shi Bangze glanced at him, finding him broad-shouldered and muscular, with a fierce face and unfamiliar appearance. He asked, "Who are you? Where is General Rong, Deputy Commander Huang?"
The captain replied, "Deputy Commander Huang went to patrol the North Gate. As for General Rong... uh..."
"Why are you stuttering when I ask you a question?"
"I dare not! General Rong went drinking at the Hundred Flowers Tower last night and hasn't returned yet."
Shi Bangze sneered, "He's already lost his head after achieving some success. What would happen if it were King Wu or Xu Cheng who came today instead? Fool!"
The captain nodded repeatedly, and Shi Bangze no longer suspected anything. He sent his troops to rest in the barracks and followed the captain to the prefectural office.
Last year, before Xuanzhou Prefecture fell, Shan Jian exploited Rong Hai's ambition, Shi Bangze's lack of experience, and the conflict between the two major factions in the capital to devise a trap. Since Shi Bangze, as the main commander, would not personally lead the charge but would let Rong Hai test the waters first, they retreated without a fight, allowing him to reclaim cities at the rate of one per day, creating a facade of achievement.
Rong Hai quickly seized four or five cities. Seeing this, Shi Bangze panicked, remembering the emperor's warning not to let Rong Hai steal the glory. To prevent the empress dowager's family from staging a coup, he urgently recalled Rong Hai, ordering him to stay in Xuanzhou Prefecture while he continued to compete with King Wu's army for territory.
Cui Yi kept retreating, giving up the hard-won cities, sending frequent reports of victories back to Xuanzhou Prefecture. Rong Hai couldn't sit still anymore and left the deputy commander to guard the city, secretly leaving to attack Zhong Yuanshan.
However, he didn't expect that as soon as he left, Yang Qiong led troops disguised as anti-rebellion forces to occupy Xuanzhou Prefecture. When Rong Hai returned triumphantly, he was beheaded upon entering the city.
Rong Hai's death was concealed to set another trap for Shi Bangze. Knowing Shi Bangze was harder to fool than Rong Hai, Shan Jian even imprisoned himself to ensure the plan worked. Indeed, unable to see Rong Hai, Shi Bangze wanted to confirm Shan Jian's whereabouts. The captain led him to the dungeon beneath the Xie residence.
Shan Jian, filthy and ragged, was bound to a torture rack, covered in bloody whip marks. Hearing the dungeon door open, he smiled sinisterly.
"Shan Fuzhi," Shi Bangze stood arrogantly at the cell door, arms crossed, looking at him from afar, "you betrayed your country and sold yourself for glory. Now look where you've ended up!"
Shan Jian remained indifferent, saying calmly, "A gentleman dies for those who understand him. King Wu trusts and values me. Even if I have to die for him, I would not hesitate."
Shi Bangze snorted, "The emperor once favored you greatly. You left without a word, turning to his mortal enemy! Only someone as simple-minded as King Wu would trust someone as ungrateful as you."
Shan Jian raised his chin and laughed coldly, "Favored greatly? Haha~ I thought you, as the main commander of the anti-rebellion forces, would be Emperor Cui Jie's confidant. But it seems you don't even know why I left. How pitiful."
Shi Bangze's expression changed: "What do you mean?"
"Cui Jie treated me well initially, but when King Wu tried to recruit me, he labeled me a traitor without even asking my opinion. Then he killed the Third Prince, who had been kind to me. If you were in my place, would you still serve him?"
"You're twisting the facts!" Shi Bangze, startled by this news, became flustered, his gaze wandering, but he still argued, "If not for the emperor's favor, what future would you have had following the Third Prince? Who truly valued you? You claim the emperor wrongly accused you, but you are now serving King Wu. He foresaw your betrayal and gave you a chance, which you squandered!"
Shan Jian suddenly burst into laughter, laughing until tears streamed down his face, shaking the wooden frame. Shi Bangze, furious, turned to the jailer and ordered, "Bring the branding iron! I'll burn this beast's mouth!"
"But you won't get the chance..." Shan Jian spoke slowly and lowly.
In the next moment, Shi Bangze felt a chill at his neck and saw his blood spurt wildly, spraying through the prison bars onto Shan Jian's feet.
Disbelieving, he wiped his neck, his hand red with blood.
Staggering like a drunkard, Shi Bangze collapsed and died. The captain, wiping blood off his blade, smiled, "It seems you won't have the chance... Thank you, Master Butcher, for your professional skills. I will report this to the king and reward you handsomely." The butcher-turned-captain thanked him profusely.
The jailer untied Shan Jian, who carefully got to his feet, wincing from the pain of his wounds touching the prisoner's clothes. He laughed, "The whipping was quite effective. No wonder it fooled Shi Bangze." The jailer, terrified, knelt and begged for mercy, thinking he would be punished, but Shan Jian lightly said, "Your efforts were also commendable. You will be rewarded. Stand up."
The jailer, drenched in cold sweat, rose to his feet. Shan Jian staggered and collapsed, alarming the jailer and the butcher, who quickly helped him back to his room and summoned a doctor.
Both key commanders of the anti-rebellion forces were eliminated in Xuanzhou Prefecture. Four thousand anti-rebellion troops were still in the barracks when Xu Cheng returned, expecting a grand scene. Instead, the city gates opened, revealing bustling streets with no signs of battle.
The city was intact, the soldiers were fine, and the citizens had no idea anything had happened. The only injured person was Shan Jian.
Upon hearing the details, Xu Cheng almost stumbled: "He had himself whipped just to fool Shi Bangze?"
The jailer, trembling, cowered. Xu Cheng raged, "Who whipped him? Couldn't you go easy on him? Someone even the king wouldn't dare yell at, and you beat him half to death! Have you all lost your minds?"
"Who whipped him! Thirty lashes!"
The jailer cried and pleaded, receiving two lashes before Xu Cheng reconsidered, "Stop! Considering it was his order, I won't punish you. We'll wait for him to wake up and decide the rewards and punishments." The jailer gratefully thanked him and ran off, clutching his sore bottom.
After dismissing everyone involved, Xu Cheng sat in a chair, deep in thought.
Twice, Xuanzhou Prefecture had been taken without a fight. While he hadn't witnessed the first time, this second instance made him fully appreciate the difference between fighting and not fighting. Under Shan Jian's planning, Xuanzhou, a front line in King Wu's rebellion, suffered minimal damage, contrary to his previous understanding of Shan Jian.
But upon reflection, it perfectly fit Shan Jian's style—ruthless and cunning, even willing to harm himself to achieve his goals. A single whipping dispelled Shi Bangze's final doubts, leading to his demise.
An enigmatic and unfathomable man, indeed, he mused.