After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 811 - 801: Suicide by One’s Own Hand

Liu Cong’s offensive was halted when it encountered Zu Ti’s army. Although the battle was fierce, they managed to stop the advance and could no longer capture a city with a single attack.

To be honest, Emperor Jin breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Displeased with the unfavorable battle at the front, Liu Cong returned to his residence in a fit of anger, sweeping the cups on the table to the ground.

The attendants, frightened, lowered their heads and only began to clean up after he had thrown almost everything he could.

A servant made a noise while picking up the broken porcelain and immediately prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to move.

Liu Cong’s gaze fell on him, a flash of anger passing through. He stared at him for a moment and asked deeply, "Where is Emperor Jin?"

The servant hastily replied, "In the side courtyard."

"Call him here to tidy up this place, the rest of you leave."

The servants did not feel pleased; instead, they turned pale and reluctantly obeyed.

As they left, they trembled slightly. After all, Emperor Jin was the emperor of Jin State, and the Great General had him doing the work of a servant. If word got out, perhaps nothing would happen to the Great General, but they might not survive.

Someone went to the side courtyard to inform Emperor Jin.

Emperor Jin thought Liu Cong wanted to speak to him again, so he came with a dejected look, but upon not seeing Liu Cong inside and instead seeing shattered cups and porcelain everywhere, he frowned in confusion until a broom was thrust into his hand.

Emperor Jin looked at the servant in bewilderment, who lowered his head to avoid eye contact, speaking softly, "The Great General wants you to tidy up this room."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jin’s face turned pale.

The servant dared not urge him and withdrew after giving instructions.

Emperor Jin stood holding the broom for a long time before silently starting to sweep the floor, imitating the servants in sweeping the broken pieces into a pile. Once he swept everything out, not only did the generals and ministers of Han Kingdom know about it, but so did the ministers of Jin State.

Liu Cong’s subordinate generals and officials laughed heartily upon hearing the news, immediately abandoning their tasks to watch the commotion at the main courtyard, finding relief in the face of the frustration brought by Zu Ti’s blockade.

The humiliation suffered by Emperor Jin was unacceptable to the Jin ministers. Zhao Zhongyu immediately led the Jin ministers to storm into the main courtyard, pushing aside the Xiongnu Han officials who were watching, and went to the emperor’s side, snatching the broom from his hand and surveying the surroundings, gritting his teeth as he said, "Where is Liu Cong? Is this how he treats the emperor of Jin State? Such a heart, smaller than a fledgling’s, yet he dreams of contending for supremacy in the world, dreaming his grandiose dreams of the Spring and Autumn period!"

"You! How dare you!" A Xiongnu subordinate general drew his knife and approached Zhao Zhongyu, "Do you believe I won’t cut you down?"

Zhao Zhongyu raised his neck and said, "You come!"

The Xiongnu subordinate general indeed wanted to step forward and cut him down but was held back by others, who pulled him back and whispered, "He is Zhao Hanzhang’s great-uncle, his importance is no less than that of Emperor Jin. Besides Your Majesty and the Great General, no one can execute the two of them. Do not act recklessly."

The subordinate general barely held back, saying, "Are we to allow him to insult the Great General like this?"

Of course not. Liu Cong soon came out and, seeing the broom in Zhao Zhongyu’s hand, apologized profusely, "I invited Emperor Jin here to reminisce, unaware of why His Majesty suddenly decided to tidy up my house. Could it be that he found my humble abode too filthy, and couldn’t bear to see it, so he decided to personally clean it?"

Emperor Jin’s expression changed slightly, lowering his eyes as he said truthfully, "It was the servants by the Great General’s side who asked me to sweep, saying it was the Great General’s orders."

Upon hearing this, Liu Cong’s expression changed drastically and he immediately shouted, "Which servant dared to be so bold as to falsely pass on my orders?"

He, with a serious face, said to Emperor Jin, "It must be that they are lazy, unwilling to clean the house but afraid of punishment, so they shifted the blame to Emperor Jin. Rest assured, I will certainly punish them severely."

After saying this, he summoned his personal soldiers and ordered, "Drag away all the servants who were serving in the main courtyard today, and behead them. Later, send their heads to Emperor Jin, and ask him to forgive my breach of etiquette."

Emperor Jin’s face turned pale as he hurriedly implored, "Perhaps I truly misheard, please be lenient, General."

Liu Cong could not possibly give Emperor Jin this chance to show mercy and insisted on the execution. The personal soldiers followed his orders, capturing all the servants who had served in the main courtyard today, heedless of whether they were favored, and promptly beheaded them all.

Their heads were sent to the courtyard for Emperor Jin and the Jin ministers to see.

Even Zhao Zhongyu and the other Jin ministers turned pale at the sight. Some Jin ministers sat on the ground, wailing uncontrollably.

In this situation, although Great Jin was nominally not destroyed, in reality, it was finished.

The emperor was a ruler of a fallen state, and they were ministers of a fallen state.

The disgrace of the ruler meant the death of the minister; what meaning was there left in living?

A Jin minister cried for a long time, and without waiting for his companions’ consolation, he got up, crawled to Liu Cong, knelt before him, and said, "Zhang Kai, a Jin minister, is willing to serve the Han Court. I ask the Great General to give Zhang an opportunity."

Liu Cong laughed heartily, holding his hand to help him up, delighted as he said, "Good, good, the Han Kingdom Emperor possesses a vast heart, one that welcomes all regardless of who comes."

Among those sitting on the ground crying was Zhou Chang, who also stopped his tears, looking up dumbfounded at him before crawling up and rushing over, but instead of kneeling, he pointed at Liu Cong and cursed, "You scoundrel! You are but the son of a barbarian, your father was a hostage in our Great Jin, and you, an illegitimate son among scoundrels, what face do you have to command my lord, and enjoy my Jin ministers?"

"Vast heart? I spit!" Zhou Chang cursed, "Bingzhou, a rich and fertile land, has been managed by you until not a blade of grass grows. You do not plant good fields, yet force people to sow grass seeds and graze. You force those who understand etiquette to become barbarians. What vast heart, when the common people understand etiquette, yet you make those who understand etiquette into slaves; when the common people are skilled in farming, you eat white rice and white flour, yet force them to herd, becoming savages."

"Being a savage yourself, instead of thinking of becoming one who understands etiquette, you want to turn all the world’s people who understand etiquette into savages. What is this ’vast heart’?"

Liu Cong’s face instantly darkened, clenching his fist under everyone’s gaze as he said, "Someone, Mr. Zhou is drunk, please help him sober up."

"Spit, don’t try to fool me. Am I drunk or not—is it for an outsider like you to decide?" Zhou Chang looked at Zhang Kai, then turned around, drawing a sword from the hand of a Xiongnu subordinate general, and with a swish, cut off a piece of his garment, "The wine of these two years I’ve drunk for nothing with you. From now on, we are no longer friends, in life or death, do not tell the living or the ghosts that we knew each other."

With that, he threw the piece of cloth at him, then raised the sword and slit his own throat.

Zhang Kai caught the piece of cloth, closing his eyes slightly, while a splash of red splattered on his face. After a while, he opened his eyes, seeing a group gathered around Zhou Chang, shouting, as if he did not hear, he wiped the blood from his face, crumpled the piece of cloth into his palm, and tucked it into his sleeve, walking silently to Liu Cong’s back.

Liu Cong did not notice his actions, only feeling stifled by the cries of the Jin ministers, very unwell, suppressing his anger, and glaring at Emperor Jin.

Emperor Jin could not withstand his gaze, hurriedly stepping forward to soothe the crowd, after which everyone carried Zhou Chang’s corpse and clustered around Emperor Jin as they left.