Outside Huanzhou City, a troop of cavalry galloped in from afar.
Zhao Pu, astride his horse, felt as though his entire being was about to fall apart. At his advanced age of sixty-four, riding at speed for over a hundred *li* was nearly killing him.
Seeing the city ahead, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
A soldier broke away from behind him and rushed to the city wall, shouting upwards.
"The Grand Councillor of the Central Secretariat, Prime Minister Zhao, is here to deliver an imperial decree. Open the city gates at once!"
The guards on the city wall heard this and quickly dispatched their subordinates to run into the city.
Inside the great tent in the city, Pan Renmei sat still in his chair, his eyes bloodshot as he stared blankly at the jade pendant in his hand.
This jade pendant was the memento left behind by Pan Bao.
A single tear traced a path down his cheek as he gazed at the pendant, uttering hatefully,
"Pan Bao, my son, walk slowly on the road to the underworld~"
"Yang Yansi deserves to die. Father will make the entire Yang family pay with their lives for you!"
After speaking, he put the jade pendant away and carefully tucked it into his怀.
"Report~~~ Reporting to the Grand Tutor, Prime Minister Zhao has arrived to deliver an imperial decree!"
Just then, a soldier rushed in, shouting.
Pan Renmei was puzzled. Why would that old geezer come at this time?
He walked out, and upon reaching the city wall and confirming it was indeed Zhao Pu outside, he ordered the gates to be opened to let them in.
"Prime Minister Zhao, coming to Huanzhou at this time, do you have any matters to attend to?"
Although he was the Grand Tutor, Zhao Pu was a genuine Prime Minister, and he had to maintain the proper demeanor.
Zhao Pu accepted the tea handed to him by a subordinate and drank it in one gulp. Then, he took out an imperial decree from his怀 and handed it over.
"The Emperor decrees that you are to swiftly dispatch twenty thousand troops to Lianglang Mountain to rescue Yang Jiye!"
Pan Renmei immediately stood up and retorted without a second thought: "Prime Minister Zhao, it is not that this general is disobeying the decree, but with a hundred thousand Liao troops stationed in Youzhou, Huanzhou City simply cannot spare twenty thousand men!"
"Grand Tutor Pan, the Em—"
Zhao Pu's words were interrupted by Xie Bian. He looked at Pan Renmei and asked,
"Grand Tutor Pan, can your Huanzhou City truly not spare any troops?"
Pan Renmei gritted his teeth and replied, "Please inform His Majesty that we truly cannot spare any troops!"
Xie Bian nodded with a smile, then continued to press.
"May I ask how many troops Huanzhou City has in total?"
Pan Renmei's eyebrows shot up. He finally remembered that it was not Zhao Pu who had asked the question, but his accompanying subordinate.
He glared at Xie Bian and reprimanded, "Presumptuous! Who are you to interrupt when I am speaking with Prime Minister Zhao?"
"Oh, right, interrupting is wrong~"
Xie Bian revealed a cold smile, and in the next second, he suddenly flicked his wrist and slapped Pan Renmei across the face.
"Interrupting is wrong; slapping is right!"
"Slap!"
The crisp sound of a slap echoed through the hall.
Pan Renmei felt his head buzz. He never imagined that a mere soldier accompanying Zhao Pu would dare to lay hands on him!
"Bold!"
"Chong~~"
Pan's personal guards, stationed outside the door, immediately drew their swords and rushed in, then without any preamble, began to hack at Xie Bian.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out, leaving a pit the size of a peanut on the bluestone floor tiles.
Fan Wujiu lightly blew the smoke from the barrel of his gun and then looked at the guards, smiling, "Come on, let's see who's faster?"
Pan Renmei was both shocked and furious. If Zhao Pu were not present, he would have already ordered his men to kill without mercy.
However, precisely because Zhao Pu was there, the actions of Xie Bian and Fan Wujiu forced him to think of Zhao Guangyi, wondering if the Emperor was making a move against him!
"Prime Minister Zhao, what is the meaning of this!"
He lowered his voice and asked Zhao Pu.
"What is the meaning? Answer my question first, and then you will know."
"Huanzhou City, how many troops do you actually have!"
Xie Bian did not give Zhao Pu a chance to speak and stared at Pan Renmei, asking again.
The number of troops was recorded when the army marched out. Pan Renmei could not understand why he was asking such a question, but he could only grit his teeth and reply.
"Eighty thousand!"
Xie Bian sneered, "Heh heh heh heh! Eighty thousand indeed!"
"Since ancient times, defending a city holds the advantage. The attacking force cannot hope for success without ten times the enemy's strength."
"I believe Grand Tutor Pan understands this principle, correct?"
"Since this is the case, you refuse to dispatch troops to rescue Yang Jiye, even at the risk of defying the imperial decree. Are you willing to resist the order?"
"Or are you intentionally trying to put the Yang family generals to death, or perhaps intending to preserve your strength and wait for an opportunity to rebel?"
Pan Renmei sensed something was amiss. This person dared to disregard Zhao Pu, meaning he was definitely not sent by the Emperor!
"Who exactly are you!"
"How dare you slander this old man so! What are your intentions?"
Xie Bian drew the short knife from his waist, picking at his nails as he walked towards him.
"Heh heh heh heh, you don't need to know who I am. When I came, the Emperor instructed that if you showed any hesitation regarding the reinforcements, I was to immediately slice you to death on the spot!"
"Now, it's time to send you on your way!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a cold glint flashed in his hand, and he directly sliced off one of Pan Renmei's ears.
"Ah~~~"
After a scream of agony, Pan Renmei shouted outwards, "Help! Assassin!"
The sound of chaotic footsteps came from outside. Coupled with the few personal guards from before, they no longer cared about anything else and rushed to attack Xie Bian.
"Tutu tut~~"
Fan Wujiu's gun fired again. However, this time, he was no longer aiming at the ground but turned the muzzle and riddled one of Pan Renmei's legs with bullets.
"Grand Tutor!"
The soldiers wanted to rush in to save him but were driven back by Fan Wujiu's burst of fire.
"Look at the mess you've made with all this blood. How am I supposed to carve him now?"
Xie Bian complained with an annoyed expression.
Zhao Pu, standing beside him, was stunned by everything that had happened. He didn't know whether to scold Pan Renmei or Pan Renmei~
As for why he wasn't scolding Xie Bian and the others, the reason was simple: he couldn't afford to!
Even the Emperor had been beaten into a pig's head. If he dared to provoke them, wouldn't he be turned into a braised pig's head in minutes?
Pan Renmei endured the piercing pain and gritted his teeth, looking at Xie Bian and asking, "No matter who you are, even if I die, let this Grand Tutor die with understanding!"
Xie Bian squatted down, patted his face a few times, and sneered, "I heard that in this Great Song, you are considered a capable general."
"But once you put on this armor, you are a general of the Great Song first, and then the head of the Pan family!"
"You should not have, you should not have, placed family vengeance above national hatred!"
"As a general, you have no right!"
"Also, here's some news for you: your Emperor, Zhao Guangyi, is also at Lianglang Mountain now!"
Pan Renmei was stunned. He didn't think about why Xie Bian dared to address the Emperor by name. At this moment, only one sentence echoed in his ears.
The Emperor, was actually at Lianglang Mountain?!