After being demoted, my 300,000-strong army trampled the imperial city!

The following morning, convoys began to leave Chuzhou City one after another.

These merchants were indeed clever. To ensure that Liu Wendong would not notice anything amiss, they arranged relief supplies at the front of the convoy, while the cars behind were actually full of money, which was just a disguise.

After receiving Liu Wendong's disaster relief order, the garrison only asked a few casual questions before letting them pass.

After leaving the city, the merchants left behind their grain carts and did nothing with them. They secretly met up with their families who had left Chuzhou and left the Chuzhou area as soon as possible.

No merchant is honest; even without Chen Futu's scheming behind the scenes, they are more cunning than monkeys and would surely find a way to escape.

If we can just stall for time, the small amount of relief food the merchants brought out won't be enough. Within a day or two, large-scale public resentment will erupt in the surrounding area. Liu Wendong is worried about his son, and with the refugees questioning him, he will definitely use the garrison to suppress them. At that time, with a little planning, the big thing can be accomplished.

Chen Futu stayed in Chuzhou City for two days. As most of the merchants left, the remaining people secretly passed on a message to Liu Wendong. Liu Wendong did not stop them, because the merchants had hastily left behind a lot of property, which now all belonged to him.

Officials seek fame and fortune; now that they have the fortune, fame will soon follow.

Chen Futu catered to his tastes, which was exactly what he wanted.

"Master, something terrible has happened!"

In the afternoon, the butler suddenly rushed into the study. Liu Wendong glared at him angrily, "What kind of behavior is this, so impulsive and careless!"

"Sir, we don't have enough food or winter clothes, and the refugees are rioting!"

"What did you say?"

Liu Wendong's eyes instantly lit up with greed. "Didn't they take a large amount of supplies with them for disaster relief before they left?"

"It's not enough. It's said that when those merchants left, they casually handed over the supplies to their subordinates, who then raised the prices and sold them to the refugees. Now the area outside the city is in complete chaos, and the refugees demand an explanation from you."

The butler explained the inside story with a bitter expression.

This is the cunning of businessmen; to avoid being pursued by Liu Wendong, they even planted such a hidden danger before leaving.

Local officials, from prefects to minor clerks, all plundered resources, even the finest grains of rice turned to bran overnight after being delivered to the provinces. It was not uncommon for their subordinates to resell goods and hoard supplies.

"These damn bastards!"

Liu Wendong paced back and forth anxiously.

Normally, he wouldn't bother with it, but now his son's life is in the hands of the wandering knight. The knight hates merchants who don't care about the lives of ordinary people. Now that the merchant is leaving, if he angers the knight, will his son still be alive?

"Master, how about we allocate supplies from the treasury for disaster relief?" the steward said cautiously.

"Shut up! The Prince of Kaiping said that the grain supplies in Chuzhou are the foundation for resisting the northern frontier, and there can be no mistakes or omissions. If the Prince of Zhenbei's heir attacks now and there are no grain supplies, who will bear the blame? Will they chop off your head or mine!"

Liu Wendong demanded an explanation, and the butler shrank back, becoming mute.

Just as Liu Wendong was struggling with his decision, Chen Futu had just left Chuzhou City and arrived at a quiet grove of trees.

"No, don't kill me! If you let me go, my father will give you anything!"

Liu Wei knelt outside the carriage, looking terrified. His ears had been cut off, his face was covered in scars, and his clothes were tattered. He was no longer the high and mighty young master of the prefect.

Chen Futu ignored him and instead said to An Jingsi, "Have your men spread the word that Liu Wei was killed by refugees and that Liu Wendong is about to purge the refugees to avenge his son."

"Here!"

An Jingsi immediately arranged for his personal guards to rush to various places to deliver the message.

After they left, Chen Futu approached Liu Wei, who was trembling with fear.

Liu Wei raised his pale face in fear, grabbed Chen Futu's clothes and shook them, pleading with a sob in his voice, "Young Master Qin, please spare me! I promise you, as long as you spare my life, I will persuade my father to hand over Chuzhou to the Northern Frontier!"

"Is it?"

Chen Futu looked disgusted.

Liu Wendong is simply incapable of controlling Chuzhou. Furthermore, the current strategy for the northern frontier is defense, not external warfare.

"Whatever you want, I will make it happen!"

"Young Master Liu, doesn't this place seem familiar?"

Chen Futu pointed to the depths of the woods.

Liu Wei glanced around instinctively, then shook his head blankly. "I don't know, I've never been here before..."

"Oh, then I'll show you."

Chen Futu gave a cold nod, and An Jingsi grabbed Liu Wei, dragging him on the ground as if he were a tattered sack, and followed Chen Futu into the depths of the grove.

Deep inside was a vast mass grave, with jagged white bones piled up beside the craggy rocks, including those of adults and children.

The scene was extremely exaggerated and terrifying. Rats and snakes would occasionally scurry out from under the skeletons, and the gloomy withered trees and circling crows created an indescribably somber atmosphere.

"Do you remember now?" Chen Futu asked quietly.

Liu Wei knelt before the pile of bones, trembling with fear.

He remembered, of course, that these were the civilians he had killed casually, including children torn apart by his hunting dogs, and the child's mother.

Chen Futu sneered, "How many unarmed civilians have you killed? Their bones are carelessly discarded by your servants. This is just the tip of the iceberg."

"Young Master Qin, please forgive me! I was wrong, I'll never do it again! I can make it up to them!"

Liu Wei kowtowed frantically. He didn't want to admit the murders he had committed, but he dared not deny them.

Chen Futu closed his eyes, remained silent for a moment, then waved his hand, "Kill him."

An Jingsi grabbed Liu Wei and slammed his head onto a large blue stone.

Liu Wei's face touched the cold stone, and he was immediately terrified, crying and screaming, "Young Master Qin! Young Master Qin, you can't kill me! Do you have the right to kill me? You Northern Frontier are the real butchers! What I did is far worse than what your Northern Frontier prince did!"

"Are you trying to say that I killed tens of thousands of dragon barbarians?" Chen Futu asked coldly.

"Isn't that so?" Liu Wei said, his howling suddenly stopping. "You, you are the heir of the Prince of Zhenbei!"

"You just realized?" Chen Futu smiled wickedly, and at this moment Liu Wei's eyes were filled with despair and extreme fear.

The young master Qin in front of me is actually the famous heir!

"I killed the Dragon Barbarians because those who are not of my kind are bound to have different hearts. The Western Regions, the Northern Wu, and the Hu people are all enemies of the Central Plains."

"Have you forgotten how much bloodshed the Hu horses brought to the Central Plains back then? If we don't kill them now, they will be my comrades-in-arms who die on the battlefield in the future. Besides, what does it matter to me whether they live or die? If we can keep the Central Plains at peace, I will kill tens of thousands of Western Region people, or even hundreds of thousands or millions, to show you."

"Chen Futu!" Liu Wei cried out in despair.

"Young Master Liu, I'll borrow your head for a couple of days. I'll send it to your father. At least you can go home, which is much better than the people you killed."

"No!"

Before Liu Wei could say anything more, An Jingsi swiftly chopped off his head with a single stroke.

An Jingsi threw the corpse among the piles of bones, while crows circling the withered tree cawed, seemingly cheering that they had found new food.