Chapter 176

  As Qian Fuzhang Yu Kuan said, before Tang Yin and others arrived, Zhong Wu had already come once and brought Diao Man to the palace. Now Zhong Sang has come again, still bringing people, how could the two gatekeepers not be suspicious?

  "Whom does General Zhong want to recommend?"

  "The people from the three families of Liang, Wu and Zi Yang have all been taken away." Zhong Sang replied succinctly.

  Zhongsan was both afraid of and disgusted with these two gate guests. Even when they met, he would have this attitude, pretending to be indifferent.

  Two middle-aged gatekeepers looked at each other and furrowed their brows. One of them asked: "Do you have the king's edict?"

  Upon hearing this, Zhong Sang's small eyes immediately widened and his eyebrows rose high as he shouted: "Earlier when Brother Wang came to take the person away, did you two ask for a guarantee?"

  "Ah..." The two gatekeepers were suddenly at a loss for words. Zhong Wu was, after all, the eldest son of Zhong Tian, and he had come to take someone away, so naturally, no warrant was needed.

  Before the two could respond, Zhong Sang hastily walked up to them, pointed at his own nose and shouted angrily: "Want a token? I'll tell you two, my face is the king's token! If you think I'm meddling, go ask my uncle the king for clarification!" After finishing speaking, he ignored the two and hastily pushed against the wall of the wing room. To their surprise, the wall opened with a creak, revealing a long passageway leading downwards.

  One of the onlookers wanted to intervene but was pulled back by his companion, who whispered: "It's their family affair, let's not get involved anymore."

  As for Zhong Sang, these two middle-aged gatekeepers were also filled with helplessness. Although they disliked him very much, they didn't dare to do anything to him. Zhong Tian was quite fond of his nephew Zhong Sang and almost treated him like his own son. Otherwise, how could he have entrusted such an important task as guarding Wang Ting's mansion to him?

  The two gatekeepers no longer blocked Zhong Sang, but followed him into the dungeon.

  This dungeon is five or six meters deep, the passage is narrow, and anyone who enters will be shocked by the openness in front of them. Here are detained Wang Ting's ministers and their clansmen, with thousands of people. The area is so large that it can hold so many people.

  Zhongsan had been here countless times and was naturally very familiar with the place, so he went straight to the homes of Guan, Liang, Wu, and Zi Yang.

  The three houses were adjacent to each other, with men and women separated, like domesticated animals, surrounded by rough wooden fences.

  Zhong Sang's arrival immediately caused a stir in the cell, and naturally, people from the three families of Liang, Wu, and Zi Yang also saw him. Seeing Zhong Sang walking towards them, people stood up from the ground one after another, grasped the wooden railing, and stared at him with furrowed brows and cold eyes.

  At the sight, Zhong Sang couldn't help but laugh out loud, and Tang Yin also found it very amusing. The three families of Liang, Wu, and Zi Yang were all from noble backgrounds, traditional aristocrats of Feng Guo, born with a silver spoon in their mouths, and had never experienced such treatment before. Especially the three of them - Liang Xing, Wu Yu, and Zi Yang Hao Chun - as high-ranking officials of the imperial court, always receiving respect and favor, now reduced to being prisoners under someone's feet, must have been furious and humiliated to the extreme.

  Zi Yang Hao Chun was the most straightforward of the three ministers, and also the one with the least heart. He grasped the wooden railing tightly with both hands, his fingernails almost cracking, as he stared at Zhong Sang who was approaching slowly. The veins on his forehead bulged high, his teeth clenched with a clicking sound, as if he couldn't wait to pounce forward and bite him twice. Unfortunately, he had already been forced to take the Dispersing Spirit Pill, and his spiritual energy could not be condensed, so no matter how much he hated the Zhong family, he could only glare at them helplessly.

  Zhongsan walked in with a steady gait, neither too fast nor too slow, and came to his front, heh-heh sneering: "Is Lord Ziyang getting used to living here?"

  "Ptoo!" Zi Yang Hao Chuan spat at Zhong Sang, his eyes blazing with fury as he gritted his teeth and snarled: "You coward! If you have the guts, release General Ben and let's have a fair fight!"

  Zhōng Sāng maniacally laughed towards the sky, at the same time hooking his hand back to beckon.

  The officer and soldiers in charge of guarding the prison knew what this gesture meant, and they hastily ran up to him, respectfully handing over a whip.

  Zhongsang picked up the whip and swung it casually, the tip of the whip accurately lashing at Ziyang Haosun's chest. A loud "crack" was heard, and Ziyang Haosun involuntarily took two steps back, his body swaying as if he was about to fall over at any moment.

  At this time, he had no spiritual energy to protect his body, and he was no different from an ordinary person. In addition, the conditions in the prison cell were too poor, and he had been suffering from internal heat and shortness of breath for days. His physical condition was already extremely bad, and he couldn't withstand Zhong Sang's whip anymore. His face was pale, his teeth clenched tightly, his expression ferocious, and his eyes almost spewed fire.

  At this time, other members of the Zi Yang family came forward one after another, supporting him, and then each looked at Zhong Sang with righteous indignation.

  Zhong Sang ignored their anger, calmly pointing at Zi Yang Hao Chen with the whip in his hand, and coldly said: "Zi Yang Hao Chen, you really think you're still the same as before, what kind of great general? I'll tell you, in my eyes, you're now just a dog, not even worth being called a dog. Taking your life is easier than crushing an ant."

  "You..." Zi Yang Hao's face turned blue with rage, and he had never been so humiliated in his life. He was so angry that a mouthful of blood spurted out, and with a loud "whoa", he spat out a mouthful of bloody water, splashing it all over the ground.

  Zhongsan was also startled, muttering to himself that he had overacted a bit. However, his face didn't show any expression, nor did it show any guilt. He sneered and said: "Don't try to scare me with your blood-spitting, if you want to die, wait till I hand you over first!"

  The surrounding officials and soldiers, as well as the two gate guests, all sighed in their hearts. What is called a petty person getting his way? Zhong Sang is the best example.

  A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. What's more, Subutai is still a great general of the previous dynasty, and he is also the elder of Zhongshan. Now that he has been treated like this, even those who stand on the opposite side of Subutai feel bitter in their hearts and cannot bear to watch.

  But Zhong Sang is a close relative of the king, so even if people have grievances in their hearts, they are unwilling to speak out and offend him.

  Zhongsangke didn't care what others thought, and with a proud expression, he gave orders, pointing at the prison gate, saying: "Open it up, bring everyone inside out!"

  He was the commander of the troops, and the soldiers below him didn't care about the orders, they just went to execute them. After hearing the order, the prison guards immediately came forward, opened the large lock on the cell door, and swarmed in, pulling and dragging everyone out of the cell.

  "Zhongsan Xiaoer, where are you taking us?" Ziyang Haosong asked in a loud and angry voice, suppressing the severe pain in his chest.

  "Heh heh——" Zhong Sang let out a strange laugh and slowly said: "I'll send you on your way!"

  As soon as these words were spoken, the men in Ziyang's family hadn't reacted yet, but the women in the neighboring cells all burst into tears. At this time, Ziyang Haosun also let go, his spirit was sealed, but his mouth wasn't, he cursed loudly: "Zhong Tianlao, you are a traitor, you killed your lord, you will surely suffer heavenly punishment, I, Ziyang Haosun, even as a ghost, will not let you off..."

  Zhongsan carelessly plugged his own ears and then said to the prison guard: "Go, go, go! Let him shut up!"

  Two jailers rushed to the front of Zi Yang Hao Chun, looked at him, and said with a difficult expression: "General, sorry." As they spoke, the two tightened the chains on Zi Yang Hao Chun's wrists and then sealed his mouth with a strip of cloth.

  Zhongsan pointed at the cell where Suboyao's womenfolk were imprisoned and said: "What about them? Take them all away!"

  "Yes! General!"

  The jailers below followed his orders and dragged out the women of the Zi Yang family, and the intermittent crying sounds immediately became a continuous piece. Zhong Sang didn't bother to look anymore and continued walking deeper, arriving at the dance house's cell, first looking at the men's side, seeing Wu Yu sitting in the corner inside, with a gloomy face, silent and speechless.

  He nodded slightly, although the dancer's family style was weak, but at critical moments they were all very calm, from the top to the bottom, they could all hold their breath, this is the noble family's demeanor. He took a deep look at Yu Wu again, and then walked to the female prisoner's cell, in the crowd, he saw Yu Ying with one glance.

  Just as I imagined, still so beautiful and charming, elegant and refreshing, only looking a bit haggard.

  His gaze swept over the crowd, slowly scanning the other women, and indeed, he couldn't find Mei's figure among them. Zhong Sang secretly furrowed his brow; one of the most important purposes of his trip this time was to rescue Mei, everything had gone so smoothly, yet only this matter had gone wrong, which gave him a headache.

  Mei must be rescued, if all else fails, even if it means storming the palace.

  He was thinking of a countermeasure in his heart, but still had a hippie smile on his face, his eyes deliberately lingering on Yueting's body, turning back and forth. After a moment, as if he couldn't wait any longer, he shouted towards the back: "Come on, come on, first open this prison door."

  The men of the Ziyang family, along with their wives and children, numbered over 200. The jailers were already busy escorting them out when they heard Zhong Sang's call, so they had to allocate more people to bring out the female relatives of the dancers.

  Zhongsan ignored everyone else, and when Yueting walked in front of him, he suddenly grabbed her wrist and said with a smile: "You've been suffering for a while, Miss Yueting. How's your body? Is there anywhere uncomfortable?" As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and pretended to be concerned about Yueting's body.

  Her sword eyebrows immediately stood up, and her apricot eyes also stared round. Although she was born into a famous family, she was not an ordinary lady, but a female general who could lead troops to fight on the battlefield. She suddenly shook off Zhong Sang's palm and shouted: "Impudent!"

  Zhong Sang's face changed color, but soon softened again, and once more grasped Yu Ying's wrist, pulling her into his own embrace. He chuckled and said: "If you submit to me, General Ben, I will definitely plead for mercy from Wang Shu, not only sparing your life, but also allowing your entire family to live... how about it?"

  Before he could finish speaking, Wu Ying spat in his face, her body trembling with rage, pointing at Zhong Sang's nose and scolding: "Bastard, shameless, despicable!" As a member of the Wu family, this was the most vicious insult she could think of.

  Seeing Zhong Sang being spat in the face by Wu Ying, the surrounding prison guards all had a look of wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh, and also secretly cursed: Deserved!

  Including those two gate guests.