The empress disliked my achievements for overshadowing her own, so she turned her attention to the N

Hongming glanced at the two kneeling on the ground, walked over, and kicked them.

Jiang Zhe and Lin Qiao remained motionless, like two dead fish.

"Stop pretending to be dead," Hongming said angrily, his voice increasing in strength.

This kick sent Jiang Zhe sprawling to the ground.

Jiang Zhe opened his eyes, looked up, and met Hong Ming's fiery eyes.

He grinned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth: "Hongming, hahaha, do you like the gift I gave you?"

Hearing this, Hongming's face turned even uglier.

He raised his foot again and kicked it.

Jiang Zhe, with strength that seemed to come from nowhere, actually flipped over and dodged the kick, continuing to laugh and rant: "Hongming, are you heartbroken? I've seen it clearly now."

"It's just death. As a soldier of the Great Qian Dynasty, do you think I'm really afraid of death?"

Having traversed battlefields for so long, Hongming could naturally see that Jiang Zhe was extremely afraid at this moment, but he was still pretending.

It seemed that only in this way could she let the other party go.

It has to be said that Jiang Zhe was overthinking things.

In the entire city of Suzhou, there are more than 200,000 lives at stake. How could they possibly spare his life so easily just because of his two empty words of begging for mercy?

While Hongming was pondering how to deal with the other party.

Chen Nan took a step forward, half-squatted down, looked Jiang Zhe in the eye, and asked in a calm tone, "Do you want to die?"

Jiang Zhe was stunned. He realized that things had come to this point, so wasn't death inevitable?

That's what I was thinking, but my body still couldn't stop trembling, and my eyes started to dart away.

But he didn't know that dying is easy, even simple; what's difficult is being unable to live and unable to die.

His little movements naturally didn't escape Chen Nan's notice. He smiled faintly and said, "You seem to be afraid? It seems you don't really want to die. I have a compromise here. If you can pull through, I'll spare your life, how about that?"

Spare his life?

In an instant, a glimmer of light appeared in Jiang Zhe's eyes.

He seemed to see a glimmer of hope for survival.

Even if the chance is slim, he still intends to seize the opportunity.

"General Jiang, don't agree to him!" Lin Qiao hurriedly shouted from the side.

Others may not understand, but he understands Chen Nan very well.

Jiang Zhe had committed such a grave crime that he knew very well that Chen Nan would not let him live.

Not only that, but the manner of death would likely be extremely agonizing.

"Lin Qiao, do you want to die? Chen Shuai kindly gave me a chance to live, and you're not going to cause trouble now that you don't have that chance?"

Jiang Zhe retorted loudly.

Lin Qiao's well-intentioned advice was ignored; instead, he turned his anger towards the other party.

Hearing this, Lin Qiao didn't continue to persuade him. Instead, she stared at Jiang Zhe with a creepy smile.

Jiang Zhe felt a chill run down his spine at that smile.

Unconsciously, enduring the pain emanating from her lower body, she moved a small distance to the left.

Hongming angrily pulled Chen Nan aside and asked, "Commander Chen, you're not really going to give Jiang Zhe a chance to live, are you?"

A wicked smile crept across Chen Nan's lips, and his aura intensified: "Of course, that's assuming he can hold on."

Seeing that wicked smile, coupled with his imposing aura, Hongming took a step back in fear and instinctively nodded: "Alright, I'll do as you say."

Immediately afterwards, Chen Nan called out softly, "Mo Bai."

Mo Bai, who had been called upon, knew his chance to rise to power was about to arrive. He flashed behind Chen Nan and respectfully said, "Commander Chen!"

Chen Nan looked down at Jiang Zhe and whispered, "Are you afraid of blood?"

Mo Bai was puzzled. How could a soldier like him be afraid of blood?

He found Chen Nan's question somewhat strange, but he still answered honestly, "Commander Chen, I'm not afraid!"

"Very good, go find a small knife."

Having received the instruction, Mo Bai turned and left.

At the same time, Chen Nan continued, "Drag these two people up to the city wall."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hongming and Hongyao stared at Chen Nan with suspicion, wondering what he was planning to do.

Two guards appeared behind them and pulled the two onto the city wall.

Meanwhile, at the south gate, illuminated by dozens of torches, the corpses that had been cleared away had long since disappeared.

The only evidence of the previous great battle was the blood that flowed on the ground.

Soon, Mo Bai ran up to the city wall, panting, and came up behind Chen Nan, respectfully saying, "This is the knife that Commander Chen wanted."

Chen Nan glanced back at the small knife in Mo Bai's hand.

Under the torchlight, the knife gleamed with a yellow light, its blade very sharp.

Chen Nan strode up to Jiang Zhe, a smirk playing on his lips: "Are you sure you want to accept this condition?"

His face was deathly pale as he stared intently at the small knife in Mo Bai's hand.

The fear of the unknown made him tremble all over.

But he still didn't want to give up on the only way to survive, so he gritted his teeth and nodded heavily: "Chen Nan, come on, I'm not someone who can be scared."

Seeing him nod, Chen Nan smiled, a cold yet wicked smile.

On the contrary, Lin Qiao, who was standing to the side, had already closed her eyes and was speaking in a trembling voice: "Commander Chen, could you put something in my ears?"

He seemed to have already anticipated that Jiang Zhe's screams would be horrific.

However, no one paid any attention to his request.

Chen Nan pointed at Jiang Zhe and ordered, "Strip him naked first."

Upon hearing the sound, Mo Bai stepped forward and reached out to help Jiang Zhe take off his clothes.

Chen Nan's expression changed, and he asked again, "Why did I ask you to find Xiao Dao?"

Upon hearing this, not only Mo Bai, but also Hong Ming and Hong Yao behind him, had drastic changes in expression.

Using such a sharp knife to undress someone?

I'm afraid that once you take off your clothes, your body will be covered in bruises.

Mo Bai's face turned pale, and he took a deep breath.

With a trembling grip on the knife handle, he aimed at Jiang Zhe's upper body and easily slashed an opening.

Perhaps it was good luck, but Jiang Zhe was completely unharmed after the slash.

He let out a breath and grinned, "Chen Nan, thank you. You're such a kind person, you even gave me a chance to live."

Chen Nan ignored him and continued, "Mo Bai, it's too sharp. Get some blood on it and keep cutting."

Mo Bai was dumbfounded. What did he mean by "too sharp"?

Wouldn't it be better if it were sharper?

Besides, how could there possibly be anything on the city wall...?

Suddenly, he realized that the ground beneath his feet was covered in the blood left from the previous battle.

"Someone, bring torches!"

Chen Nan gave another order.

Two people appeared simultaneously behind Mo Bai and on either side of Jiang Zhe.

The four torches shone on Jiang Zhe's face, giving it a yellowish glow.

Everyone could clearly see that he was trembling, as if he was hesitating.

Finally, Mo Bai made up his mind, squatted down, and rubbed the dagger in his hand against the bloodstains on the ground.

When I stood up again, I was no longer trembling.

Holding a small knife in his right hand, he aimed it at Jiang Zhe's upper body and stabbed him hard.

In an instant, a stream of blood spurted out from the gap where the knife had pierced.

"Chen Nan, ahhhhh!"

Immediately following was Jiang Zhe's pig-like screams and howls.

At this moment, Hongming realized why Chen Nan had that kind of smile.

Now it seems impossible for Jiang Zhe to survive.

However, she didn't know that this was only the first step.