We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

"Forgive you? Forgive you, but who will pay for my daughter-in-law's life?!"

In the dilapidated wooden door frame, an old man was hunched over, his wrinkled face distorted with anger.

It seemed that because of the mention of his daughter-in-law, the veins on his hand that was holding the door frame bulged, and he pointed at Zhang Ben who was standing hunched outside the door and cursed:

"You have swallowed up the money my son earned through hard work. My daughter-in-law is raising three children by herself, and she still has to serve me, an old man."

"In the cold winter, I was reluctant to fill myself with clothes until I was so tired that I vomited blood and died!"

"What a wonderful daughter! No matter how much of this filthy silver you offer, can it buy back my daughter-in-law's life?!"

The old man cursed so hard that spit flew everywhere and his face turned red.

Zhang Ben stood outside the door, forcing a flattering smile on his face, but he felt extremely annoyed in his heart.

He is the head of a division, yet he has to be so humble. This old killer is so ungrateful!

If His Highness's order was not as heavy as a mountain, he would not want to go through so much trouble. He could just give him more money to get rid of him.

However, Zhang Ben didn't know what the prince was thinking, whether to get to the bottom of it or just let it go.

He didn't dare to gamble on such a big thing, so he could only go door to door.

He had already visited seven or eight houses, and each one was extremely terrified.

Even if there were those who were resentful, seeing his behavior, they would calm down after receiving a few taels of silver and a few soft words.

Only this old man is so stubborn and he really deserves to die!

But thinking of His Highness Fengtian Palace's cold words, he dared not show any dissatisfaction, and could only smile and soften his voice:

"What the father-in-law scolded is that the boy deserves to die!"

"But...but we have to make ends meet, right? You have a whole family, and children need to eat. How can we survive without money?"

He took out a heavier cloth bag from his arms, clanging loudly:

"Well, in addition to embezzling the ten taels of compensation from your elder brother, I will personally pay another ten taels!"

"I just beg you to calm down and give me a chance to live!"

boom--

In response, the old man slammed the door shut, almost hitting his nose.

After being firmly rejected, the fake smile on Zhang Ben's face instantly collapsed and turned ashen.

A few dozen steps behind him, a young woman in a brocade cotton skirt and a fox fur cloak walked quickly forward.

She has fair skin and delicate features, which makes her look out of place in this poor alley.

The woman walked up to Zhang Ben and, distressed, wiped the non-existent dust from his forehead with a scented handkerchief, complaining softly:

"Husband, please take a break! This old jerk is so ungrateful. Why does he have to humiliate himself like this?"

This woman was none other than Zhang Ben's newly married beautiful wife, the daughter of a powerful noble from the previous dynasty who had been exiled to the border areas outside the Great Wall.

When the Fengtian Army first broke out of the Great Wall, these remnants of the previous dynasty were like dogs that had lost their homes, and everyone on the street shouted and beat them.

From generals to soldiers, everyone in the Fengtian Army only married down-to-earth and hardworking girls from good families. No one looked down on these young ladies from wealthy families.

But now the world has changed, the hard times are over, and the former peasant officers have begun to dislike their original wives' rough hands and feet and sallow complexion.

It became a fashion to marry these well-educated and tender-looking noble ladies from the previous dynasty.

It is unknown where this trend came from, but Zhang Ben is undoubtedly the best among them.

Seeing his beloved wife following him, Zhang Ben felt warm at first, but then his face turned pale with shock.

He lowered his voice and scolded, "Nonsense! I told you not to come with me. His Highness has strictly ordered that I must do this myself. If anyone sees you here, it will be another disaster!"

Zhang's wife pouted, her voice soft and sticky, with a hint of grievance: "I really feel sorry for my husband... In this icy and snowy weather..."

After hearing his wife's sweet words, Zhang Ben's heart softened immediately.

He held the soft, boneless, well-maintained little hand with his backhand, and his tone softened:

"Be good and go home and wait. It would be terrible if someone saw you."

Why are daughters of powerful people so popular?

Because of this understanding, although Zhang's wife was reluctant, she nodded obediently and was about to turn around.

"Master! Master!"

A servant of the Zhang family came running out of the alley, panting.

Zhang Ben's face darkened, and he let go of her hand, angrily saying, "You bastard! Didn't we strictly forbid anyone from following us? Are you looking for death?!"

The servant trembled with fear and bowed quickly: "Master, calm down! It really is... something terrible has happened!"

"Say!"

The servant swallowed his saliva and lowered his voice:

"Your Highness...Your Highness summoned all civil and military officials in front of Fengtian Palace this morning and publicly...executed Zhang Yi, Wang Yong, and eight other generals!"

"Your Highness said they were corrupt and disobeyed orders, and now they have lost their heads. The Night's Watch has raided their homes! The news has spread all over the city!"

"what?!"

Zhang Ben was struck by lightning and froze in place.

He suddenly felt a chill rushing from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, his vision went dark, and the world began to spin.

Dead? Dead now?

Your Highness really... killed someone?

Of course, it is not surprising that Li Che killed people. As a vassal king who made his fortune through military force, the number of people killed by Li Che himself was not much less than that of these Fengtian Army generals.

But they were enemies. Your Highness had always been kind and righteous to these old subordinates. How could he have ever used such cruel means?

This is the first time that eight heads have fallen to the ground!

Such a blatant warning. If I can't complete what His Highness said, then the next one will be...

At this moment, the broken wooden door creaked open from the inside.

The old man's face, still furious, poked out and cursed, "Why don't you get out of here! Do you really want me to chase you away with a dung ladle?! Give me..."

Before he could finish his words, the old man was stunned.

The general who had just tried to hit someone with money outside the door suddenly fell to his knees in the cold mud with a thud.

Then he kowtowed three times to him, "dong, dong, dong," and his forehead was instantly covered with dirty snow and mud.

The old man shrank back in shock: "You...what are you doing?!"

Zhang Ben raised his head, tears streaming down his face, and cried out in a hoarse voice, "Old man! Father-in-law! Help!"

"Please be kind and spare my life!"

The old man was stunned: "Save...save what life?"

"Your Highness has ordered this! If you refuse to forgive me, I will be punished according to my crime and beheaded like them!"

Zhang Ben pointed in the direction of the imperial city, his voice trembling:

"Eight of my brothers have already been chopped off by His Highness. I beg you to be kind and spare me this time as a gesture of good will. I will serve you like a slave!"

The old man was completely stunned, his cloudy eyes widened.

Your Highness... would you actually resort to violence against your own generals just for the sake of these common people?

Something in his heart was suddenly touched.

Although these generals are hateful, they were also men who fought for their country on the battlefield.

His Highness was just... killed?

But when he thought of his daughter-in-law's emaciated body, he hardened his heart again: "But my daughter-in-law's body is still warm, how can I..."

Without waiting for him to finish, Zhang Ben suddenly pulled his stunned wife to her knees and said urgently:

"Father-in-law! No... Daddy!"

"Dad! From now on, my wife is your daughter-in-law. We, husband and wife, will take care of you until the end of your life. This is absolutely true!"

Zhang's wife turned pale and looked at her husband in disbelief.

Her face was full of reluctance, and she moved her lips as if she wanted to say something, but Zhang Ben glared at her fiercely.

After all, Zhang's wife was a woman from a noble family. She was the best at observing people's expressions and weighing the pros and cons. She immediately lowered her head, bit her lips tightly, and said nothing more.

The old man looked at the general and his wife kneeling in the mud, his expression changing constantly.

In the end, all the anger and sadness turned into a heavy sigh:

"Forget it...forget it...it's all my daughter-in-law's bad luck. You...get up."

He waved his hand wearily, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

"I... forgive you." The old man stretched out his withered hand. "Go and get the document and ink. I will bear witness for you."

Zhang Ben felt as if he had been pardoned. He almost fainted. He hurriedly got up and bowed to the old man repeatedly:

"Thank you, Dad. Thank you!"

The old man's face darkened: "Get lost! I don't have a son like you!"

He then took the document, pressed his fingerprints, and slammed the door.

The same scene was being played out in various places in Fengtian City.

The generals who committed the crime were initially nonchalant, thinking that they would be fine after returning the stolen money, and they did not even apologize sincerely.

But when the news came that Li Che had executed eight generals in front of the palace, everyone was so shocked that they almost wet their pants.

We are all generals and our status is not much different.

Among those eight people, there is also a veteran from the Criminal Camp. All these loyal followers have been killed. What are you lacking?

If you continue to try to fool him, there's no chance that His Highness will find out and there will be a few more ghosts in front of Fengtian Palace.

Not only these generals, but Li Che's large-scale anti-corruption campaign in the military has also made other departments except the military much more honest.

Corruption is certainly not limited to the military, but the scale of corruption in other departments is not large and has not yet been exposed.

At the cost of eight heads, the officialdom was temporarily cleared.

. . . . . .

That night.

There is a blockhouse at the west gate of Fengtian Hall, where the bodies of the eight executed generals are temporarily placed.

The heads of the eight people have been sewn up, and they are just waiting for their families to settle their household affairs before choosing a cemetery for burial.

A patrolling soldier passed by here and felt a cold wind on his back, which made him suspicious.

As the saying goes, the more you fear something, the more likely it will come.

The soldier had just taken a few steps when he suddenly heard low crying sounds coming from the blockhouse.

The voice was extremely sad, like a man crying, and it echoed in the air in a very strange way.

The soldier's teeth chattered as he mustered up the courage to look inside the blockhouse.

But I saw a man in a long robe squatting among the corpses, and the voice came from him.

The man had a tall and straight figure, and it was obvious that he was a soldier. There was nothing unusual about him sitting upright on the ground, except for his shoulders... From the soldier's perspective, it seemed that there was no head!

“Ghost…Ghost!!!”

A sharp explosion resounded throughout the Fengtian Hall.