Chapter 80: A Show for the Monkey

"Slaughter chickens?" Zheng Dali was baffled.
"Young master, if you want to nourish your body, there's no need for you to kill chickens yourself." Having served Wei Wuji for some time, Zheng Dali was confused.
Nourish my body? What nonsense is this? It took Wei Wuji a moment to realize what he meant. So Zheng Dali was a sly old fox too, with a mind so quick to wander off the proper path.
Truth be told, after such a long night, Wei Wuji did feel a touch of soreness in his back, but he would not let it show.
"My health is perfectly fine. What need have I for such nourishment?" Wei Wuji replied coldly. "Enough of that. Where have those people been taken? I want to meet them myself."
"Young master, you wish to interrogate them personally?" Zheng Dali asked.
Wei Wuji cast him a sidelong glance. "Interrogate? Haven't you already done that? What would be the point?"
Seeing that his efforts were always unappreciated, Zheng Dali fell silent.
As he led the way, Zheng Dali wondered if perhaps he still wasn't showing enough concern for the young master.
Tielin Town was not large, and in a few minutes, they walked from the Gu residence to the only main street.
To Wei Wuji's disappointment, the street was nearly deserted—one could say there was not a soul in sight.
"Didn't I tell you to bring those people to the gate and let everyone see them?" Wei Wuji demanded.
"Yes, young master! We brought them there." Zheng Dali replied with a hopeful smile, eager for a word of praise.
"Then where are the people? The street is empty! Who exactly did you bring them out for?" Wei Wuji said, exasperated.
Zheng Dali was bewildered. What is there to be angry about? How is this my fault? In times of chaos like these, who would dare loiter on the streets?
"Young master, everyone is hiding in their homes," Zheng Dali explained.
"Enough. Send the men to—no, call everyone out for me. Gather them all at the gate," Wei Wuji ordered impatiently.
Hadn't he drunk those few bowls of porridge just to make others wait for him?
Now look—he had to wait for them instead, wait for those unruly townsfolk.
Soon enough, Tielin Town was in an uproar. Doors were pounded all along the street.
Under military orders, every household was forced outside.
The elderly supported each other, parents clutched their children, and all were herded beneath the town gate by the shouts of Wei's soldiers.
Standing atop the gatehouse, watching the crowd gather, Wei Wuji nodded in satisfaction.
To command the people of a conquered empire was, in a way, to vent his own frustrations.
Moreover, this display of power would help solidify Wei's rule over these new lands. In this, Wei Wuji was doing his father a service.
Little did he know, however, that what he did today would one day fill him with regret.
Once most of the townsfolk had arrived, Wei Wuji made his formal appearance.
But he did not speak, for he saw Wang Xiu hurrying over.
At that moment, Wei Wuji's mind shifted. If he let Wang Xiu play the villain, while he stepped in as the benevolent one, wouldn't that be even more effective?

Just then, Wang Xiu arrived.
After a salute, Wang Xiu asked, "Young master, what is all this?"
The entire town had erupted so suddenly that even Wang Xiu, who had been napping, was startled awake. Was this a revolt?
Wei Wuji laughed and helped Wang Xiu up, then explained his plan to execute some men as a show of strength.
"So that's it," Wang Xiu nodded. "Indeed, Tielin Town needs to be cowed a bit. Who knows if there are still Gu spies hiding among them?"
Wei Wuji agreed wholeheartedly, praised Wang Xiu, and said, "I was going to have Zheng Dali handle this, but since you're here, it's yours to manage."
"Ah?" Wang Xiu was momentarily stunned.
"Yes, you. Your eloquence far surpasses Zheng Dali's. I trust you with this," Wei Wuji said, raising his thumb in approval.
Seeing nothing amiss, Wang Xiu agreed, though still puzzled.
Wei Wuji withdrew into the shadows, observing Wang Xiu's performance.
By the time Wang Xiu reached the gatehouse, the crowd below had fully assembled. Amid the forest of drawn swords and spears, they trembled in terror.
The elders struggled to stifle their coughs; mothers watched their children anxiously, terrified they might burst out crying.
When they noticed the twenty-odd bloodied men kneeling at the front, they were struck with horror.
Dark suspicions echoed in their hearts. The tales of Wei's ruthlessness, passed down from their fathers, rang in their ears.
Yet among the crowd, some who saw those bloodied men wept, their fear mixed with grief.
Naturally, Wei Wuji noticed. He guessed these must be the families of the condemned.
Never bring disaster upon the innocent—Wei Wuji knew this rule well, though he had wiped out the Gu clan.
"Silence!" Wang Xiu thundered at the crowd below.
His shout made the crowd fall even more silent. After all, the heads of the Gu clan still hung at every alley entrance.
No one wished to enrage these men of war, or they would share the fate of those kneeling before them.
"In recent days, our army bled and sweated in battle against Qin, all to protect Tielin Town," Wang Xiu's cold voice rang out.
"Yet among you, some repaid kindness with betrayal. They aided the Qin, plotted to seize the gates by night, and let the enemy in."
Gasps rose from the crowd—they only now learned the crimes of those kneeling men.
Wang Xiu changed his tone, pointing at the crowd and shouting, "Do you realize they have endangered you all?"
"The Qin are as wolves and jackals. If they come, they will slaughter you to the last."
Yet the townsfolk remained unmoved by Wang Xiu's words, thinking to themselves: Could the Qin possibly be more ruthless than you?
After all, they were people of Chen—these Wei soldiers had conquered their land and destroyed their city.
Nonetheless, Wang Xiu pressed on. "Fortunately, our young master saw through their plot and exposed their villainy."

At the mention of Wei Wuji, Wang Xiu clasped his fists and saluted him.
"Today, these traitors shall face the punishment of Great Wei. They will pay the price for their actions."
His voice grew even harsher, sending chills through the crowd despite the summer heat.
"Behead them all!" Wang Xiu declared, waving his hand in final judgment.
Immediately, Wei soldiers with great executioner's swords stepped behind each condemned man.
"Execute..."
Wang Xiu spat out the word coldly.
At once, the soldiers raised their blades.
Just as the swords were about to fall, and the townsfolk squeezed their eyes shut in terror, Wei Wuji's voice rang out.
"Stop..."
Though not loud, the silence was such that every soldier heard him.
They recognized his voice at once, and would obey without question.
"Salute the young master!"
All the soldiers knelt in unison, faces full of reverence. This was the young master who had fought the Qin on the battlefield.
Wei Wuji's prestige among the soldiers was already high; after this, he was truly the flawless lord in their eyes.
Not only the soldiers—even all the townsfolk fell to their knees, foreheads pressed to the earth.
Wei Wuji's decisiveness in killing had terrified them, especially those near the Gu residence, who still remembered the screams from that night.
Satisfied with the effect, Wei Wuji suppressed his delight and spoke in a deep voice,
"Though you are guilty, some among you were deceived or forced—such people may be spared death."
Indeed, among the twenty-odd kneeling men, only seven were truly conspirators; the rest had been misled or coerced.
Wei Wuji could afford to be magnanimous. One could kill to make a point, but executing only the ringleaders would suffice.
To release the rest and show mercy was even better.
"Wang Xiu, see to it," Wei Wuji said, turning to him.
"Understood..." Wang Xiu replied, as if he had swallowed a fly.
At once, the people of Chen prostrated themselves, this time in heartfelt gratitude.
They had no words for grand gestures and could only express thanks in this way.
And so, Wei Wuji, having completed his task, departed with the sweep of a sleeve, his merit hidden from view.