Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Come on, everyone, eat and drink well! Just relax and stay here at the manor! No matter what you've done outside, once you're inside my Jia Manor, you're my friend, Jia Huan!"

"I, Jia Huan, have always loved making friends with heroes and valiant men. When I heard about your deeds, I was truly filled with excitement!"

"Come on, heroes, let's raise our glasses and drink to our hearts' content! Cheers!"

"Thank you, Master Jia! Cheers!"

Inside Jia Manor, more than thirty tables of dishes had been set out in the courtyard, and Jia Huanju and his entourage were toasting these so-called "heroes and heroines" with large bowls of wine.

After downing a bowl of wine, Jia Huan waved his hand and said, "Help me as much as you like! There's plenty of wine and meat, make yourself at home!"

Soon, sounds of chewing and laughter could be heard from the courtyard.

Looking at the lively atmosphere before him, Jia Huan felt a sense of comfort and kept moving between the tables, toasting and greeting them.

"Sir, please come with me."

The steward, looking troubled, grabbed Jia Huan's sleeve and forcibly pulled him aside.

"Steward Wang, why are you in such a hurry? Can't you see that I'm drinking with the heroes?"

"Master, I've done the math these past two days. Since this group of people arrived at the estate, their daily food and drink expenses have increased dozens of times compared to usual."

I know you enjoy associating with heroes and great men, but surely you should act within your means?

"What do you mean? My Jia family is broke? We've been eaten into poverty in just one month?"

"Sir, you can see for yourself."

The steward handed a ledger directly to Jia Huan.

Jia Huan flipped through it and glanced at it a few times; his expression changed instantly.

"Master, we've been treating them to good food and drink every day these past few days. The wine we originally planned to sell at the market in the cellar is now almost gone."

And the grain in the warehouse is decreasing every day, as are the livestock such as cattle, sheep, and pork.

There were several hundred people, all of them martial artists, whose appetites were naturally much larger than those of ordinary people.

The food they ate in one meal was equivalent to the amount eaten by five or six people in our village.

Of course, it's fine to give them some food and drink, but shouldn't the master give them money even when they go out?

I've been calculating these past few days, and the silver in the accounts has decreased by fifty or sixty percent.

"It hasn't been that long, sir. You don't really intend to squander this family fortune, do you?"

Listening to the steward's account and looking at the account book in his hand, Jia Huan couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

But soon, he hardened his expression, closed the ledger, and tossed it back to the steward: "I know what I'm doing, so you don't need to worry about it."

"master!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a servant rushed in to report: "Master, another group of heroes have come to seek refuge with you."

"Please come quickly!"

"Yes."

Before long, about ten people entered the courtyard and, guided by servants, met Jia Huan.

"Greetings, Master Jia!"

Upon seeing Jia Huan, the visitors immediately knelt on one knee and bowed in unison.

"We were disciples of the Sea Shark Gang, but we were all slaughtered by the sect and the Empress. Only I led the remaining disciples to fight our way out of the encirclement."

Just when we were at our wits' end, we heard that Master Jia was kind and generous, and a man of great integrity, so we came here to seek his help. We hope that Master Jia can take us in and shelter us from the storm for the time being. Thank you very much!

Upon hearing this, Jia Huan slapped the armrest of his chair: "Excellent! You are truly righteous men! Since you all think highly of me and are willing to stay, you are giving me immense face."

How could I, Jia, not help you? Since you're here, we're all friends. Just stay in my place; with me, Jia Huan, here, I guarantee no one can harm you in the slightest.

Come on, everyone, let's raise our glasses and cheer for the Sea Shark Gang!

"it is good--"

As the surrounding cheers continued, the members of the Sea Shark Gang were completely relieved and praised Jia Huan for his benevolence and righteousness, calling him a hero.

Little did they know that the members of the Sea Shark Gang would soon regret their decision to side with Jia Huan.

This feeling is no less intense than that of the KMT supporters who defected to the Nationalist army in 49...

"It's getting more and more lively."

Pei Lun looked at the scene inside the manor through the binoculars, and couldn't help but make "tsk tsk tsk" sounds.

After a long while, he put down his binoculars and said to Sun Yuwang, "Governor Sun, shall we begin? This great achievement is right before our eyes. If I weren't so unlucky, I would definitely fight for it."

Sun Yuwang tried to regulate his breathing, and finally exhaled heavily: "Okay."

With a shout of "Good!", the two 75mm howitzers in the artillery company immediately began loading ammunition.

Cold sweat trickled down Sun Yuwang's forehead. Pei Lun, with an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, watched him with a faint smile.

"Your Excellency, the cannons have been calibrated. Shall we proceed with firing?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Yuwang silently clenched his fist.

After a long silence, he finally uttered a single word.

"beat!"

-

"Come on, drink! Drink up!"

"We're out of wine! Butler, go and fetch ten more jars!"

Inside the manor, everyone was still sobering up and playing drinking games.

Just as Jia Huan was raising his wine bowl to toast the newly arrived members of the Sea Shark Gang, a loud tremor suddenly resounded in the courtyard.

boom--

After a cannon shot, the people around who had no time to react were immediately thrown into the air, along with the tables.

The deafening roar instantly transformed the manor into a scene of carnage.

"What happened? What on earth happened?"

Terrified, Jia Huan hid under the table, trembling uncontrollably, but still managed to ask what had happened.

boom--

Another grenade landed on a rooftop not far away, and a cloud of smoke rose from the authorities' office.

The next moment, shells rained down on the village, the intense explosions and scorching heat waves mercilessly claiming the lives of these "heroes".

"These are the imperial army, and these are cannons!"

Several martial artists who had experienced the massacre of their entire families immediately recognized it as a cannon, and they were all terrified.

"Fight them!"

The two warriors shouted in unison and rushed towards the manor gate, followed by a large group of irrational companions.

But just as the manor gates opened...

bang bang bang-

A burst of gunfire rang out, and all the people who had just stepped out were killed on the spot by Czech light machine guns and Thompson submachine guns.

"Clear the Zhuangkou area, continue advancing, and maintain distance."

The company commander in charge of the assault coldly issued new instructions, pulled out his Browning pistol, and as he passed through the gate, fired a final shot into the head of a dying warrior lying by the doorframe.

Upon entering the manor gate, a large group of warriors wielding swords and knives rushed towards them.

The company commander calmly took two steps back, and the soldiers behind him all pointed their guns at the group of warriors.

"shooting!"

Bang bang bang bang bang——

At the command, blood splattered everywhere, and the attacking crowd fell into pools of blood after gunshots rang out.

At this moment, Jia Huan was completely terrified and at a loss when he saw the chaotic scene.

"Why, why did they do this? How could they dare?"

"I have a certificate of merit, why do they still dare to ignore it!"

He was on the verge of tears, filled with shock and fear.

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something.

"Yes, it must be because they've never seen the Iron Certificate before. That must be it. As long as I take it out, they definitely won't dare to act recklessly like this."

Thinking of this, he seemed to see hope again and hurriedly prepared to go back to his room to find the imperial edict.

But just as he stood up, the room where the imperial edict was kept was suddenly blasted apart by a cannonball and collapsed.

"No, my imperial edict, my imperial edict!"

Jia Huan rushed towards the ruins like a madman, searching frantically.

But the next moment, more soldiers poured into the village and began indiscriminately firing at all living things within.

In the blink of an eye, countless righteous men who resisted tyranny were riddled with bullets.