The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 70 Revenge
Hearing the sound, everyone gathered around and saw a charred corpse, burned beyond recognition, lying among the ruins in the northeast corner.

A blast of hot air hit me, carrying a pungent, acrid smell that made me want to vomit.

Jiang Han frowned, stepped forward, and gently pried open the charred corpse's clothes with the tip of his knife, revealing charred fragments of clothing inside. He could vaguely make out that it was a crimson official robe.

He dared not draw a conclusion hastily, and turned to call Li Liyuan:

"Come and take a look."

Without saying a word, Li Liyuan immediately peeled off the charred corpse's outer shell, pulled out all the charred clothing fragments, and then searched the corpse all over.

After a flurry of activity, he was pleasantly surprised to find a blackened ivory plaque and a cracked official seal on the charred corpse's chest.

Li Liyuan was overjoyed and excitedly exclaimed:

"General, this man is Zhang Nian!"

He grabbed the wad of clothing and handed it to Jiang Han.
"General, look! This is the crimson robe with wild geese on it, the robe of a fourth-rank official!"

“Deep red, no doubt about it! There’s even half a charred wild goose on it!”

Immediately afterwards, Li Liyuan took out the ivory plaque and official seal, pointing to the nine-fold seal script on them.

"This is the seal of the Prefect of Yan'an."

"There's no mistake! This person is Zhang Nian!"

Li Liyuan stared at the charred corpse at his feet with a face full of resentment, and rushed forward, ready to tear "Zhang Nian" to pieces.

But Jiang Han stopped him.

Jiang Han stared at the charred corpse, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper, sensing that something was amiss.

"If Zhang Nian really chose to set himself on fire, why did he have to run back to his own house?"

"The prefectural government office is quite a distance from here. Did he want to choose a comfortable place to commit suicide?"

To confirm the identity of the deceased, Jiang Han squatted down and carefully examined the charred corpse.

He forced himself to suppress his nausea and leaned closer to examine the charred corpse.

He first examined the corpse's teeth carefully, then reached out and felt along the charred bones, from the spine to the shoulder blades, finally stopping at the skull.

A strange sensation came from his fingertips.

Jiang Han raised an eyebrow and gestured to his personal guards to turn the corpse over, revealing the charred back of its head.

Jiang Han carefully used the tip of his knife to pry open the charred hair and flesh, and saw that there was a deep dent on the skull of the charred corpse, as if it had been smashed hard!
Seeing this, Jiang Han suddenly stood up and said decisively:

"This is not Zhang Nian at all!"

Li Liyuan was stunned:

"Why do you say that, General? The charred corpse still has its official robes, ivory token, and official seal. How could it not be Zhang Nian?"

Jiang Han shook his head and explained:
"These external objects can be faked, but the characteristics of the human body cannot be faked, at least not now!"

“Look closely at this person’s teeth. They’re very worn down. It’s obvious that he often chews on coarse grains.”

"That bastard Zhang Nian lives a life of luxury, how could his teeth be so rotten?"

He then pointed to the back of the charred corpse's head.
"Furthermore, look at the back of this person's head. There's such a noticeable dent. It couldn't have been there from birth, could it?"

Jiang Han sneered:
"That bastard Zhang Nian probably found a scapegoat and pulled off a clever escape for us. Who knows where he's hiding now!"

Upon hearing this, a brilliant idea flashed through Li Liyuan's mind, and he suddenly slapped his thigh:
"I remember now! He also has a separate courtyard in the west of the city!"

He didn't dare delay and immediately told Jiang Han the whole story.

It turns out that the villa was a property that the Li family gave to Zhang Nian back then. On the surface, it was unremarkable and even a bit dilapidated.

But beneath the courtyard was a huge cellar, where Zhang Nian hid all his shady possessions.

Li Liyuan looked completely certain:
"That bastard is definitely hiding there!"

A glint flashed in Jiang Han's eyes, and he decisively gave the order:
"Let's go!" Jiang Han's eyes lit up as soon as he heard Li Liyuan mention a cellar.

His mind was no longer on Zhang Nian; he just wanted to take everything out of the cellar immediately!
The group rushed to the west of the city. The villa was hidden deep in the alley. The gate was closed, and weeds grew everywhere, giving it a desolate feel.

Li Liyuan took the lead, kicking open the courtyard gate and rushing into the inner room.

Jiang Han followed closely behind, leading his guards to carefully search every corner, afraid of missing even the slightest clue.

Suddenly, Li Liyuan's joyful voice came from the inner room:
"here!"

Jiang Han went inside and saw that Li Liyuan had found a pile of disturbed ashes in the kang (heated brick bed) in the inner room.

He used his knife to pry open the ashes and pulled out a cloth bag full of silver ingots and gold leaves.

Li Liyuan looked excited:
"That corrupt official must be hiding in the cellar!"

After saying that, he quickly pried open the floor tiles next to the fire pit, took out a tinderbox, and followed the hidden passage under the floor tiles down.

Seeing this, Jiang Han also wanted to follow, but was stopped by his personal guard:
"Lord Jiang, let me go down and scout ahead. You can wait here."

Jiang Han nodded. For safety's sake, it was best for him not to go down.

Li Liyuan lit a tinderbox and made his way through the secret passage to the depths of the cellar.

Jiang Han's personal guards followed closely behind, gripping their waist knives and warily surveying their surroundings.

"here!"

Li Liyuan suddenly roared and pulled out a trembling man from the corner.

The man was dressed in coarse cloth, with disheveled hair and a face covered in dust, but Li Liyuan would never mistake him for Zhang Nian!
Li Liyuan dragged him out of the corner and roared:
"Zhang Nian! You've finally met your match!"

Zhang Lian was dragged by the hair by Li Liyuan from the tunnel to the courtyard and thrown in front of Jiang Han.

Zhang Nian fell to the ground. When he looked up, he saw that he was surrounded by murderous rebel soldiers, and his legs went weak.

He knelt down with a thud, looking at Jiang Han, who was at the head of the group:
"You can't kill me! I'm a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), a protégé of the emperor! I'm a high-ranking local official of the fourth rank, someone of great importance!"

"My grandfather served as an official and brought benefits to his fellow villagers. His students and former officials are all over the world!"

"If you kill me, the Emperor will never let you off!"

Jiang Han didn't even lift his eyelids, and gestured angrily at Li Liyuan:

"I'll leave it to you; I'm too lazy to do it myself."

Upon hearing this, Li Liyuan's face lit up with ecstasy. He trembled his steel knife and was about to step forward and chop Zhang Nian to pieces.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Nian immediately knelt down and crawled all the way to Li Liyuan's feet, tears streaming down his face.
"My dear son-in-law! My dear son-in-law! Spare my life! I am your father-in-law!"

“I often give you pointers, have you forgotten?”

Looking at Zhang Nian's appearance, Li Liyuan couldn't help but recall how his father had knelt and crawled to Zhang Nian's feet to beg for mercy in the government office to save his second brother's life.

Li Liyuan ignored him, his hatred growing even more intense. Ignoring Zhang Nian's desperate pleas, he raised his knife and slashed viciously at his thigh.

"Son-in-law?! Father-in-law?! Advice?!"

"You've only ever treated the Li family like dogs. All you've done is scold me, never offer any guidance!"

Li Liyuan chopped and cursed at the same time.
"You're the first one surnamed Zhang! I also remember the castrated dog surnamed Wang!"

"After I kill you, I'll go to Pagoda Mountain to settle the score with him!"

Blood splattered everywhere, and Zhang Nian screamed in agony.

But Li Liyuan wore a cruel smile, wildly waving his saber, his mind filled with the horrific scenes of his second brother and father's deaths.
He hated his own cowardice; at the time, he didn't even dare to plead with these officials.

But now, as he slashed his saber fiercely at the once high-ranking, imperious prefect, he suddenly realized:

"Damn it, so these old men are made of flesh and blood after all!"

(End of this chapter)