Night raid on the Pacification Commissioner's Office

The troops from the two Pacification Commissioners' Offices were currently stationed in the military camp of the West City Pacification Commissioner's Office in the west of the city, which made it convenient for Gao Yuan to take over.

It had to be said that the items produced by the system were indeed powerful; as soon as Gao Yuan and Xia Luqi appeared at the camp gate, the guarding soldiers hurriedly saluted.

"Greetings, County Duke. Greetings, General."

Gao Yuan nodded slightly.

"Where is the commander's tent?"

The soldier bowed and extended his hand to guide them.

"This way, County Duke!"

"Lead the way."

Under the shocked gazes of Xia Luqi and the Personal Guards, Gao Yuan walked with his head held high into the commander's tent.

Officers of all levels from the two Pacification Commissioners' Offices had already gathered in the commander's tent. Seeing the two enter, they immediately stood up.

"Greetings, County Duke. Greetings, General."

Gao Yuan took the main seat and waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Please be seated, everyone."

Once everyone sat down, Gao Yuan finally spoke.

"From now on, you shall all follow the orders of General Xia Luqi. His words are my words. Is that understood?"

"We understand!"

"Good. I am very gratified that you all can abandon the darkness for the light today. However, currently, the Lin and Ye families are still..."

Before Gao Yuan could finish, Xia Luqi had already walked to the center.

"This humble general is willing to lead the troops to eliminate the two rebels."

The others stood up as well.

"We are willing to go!"

"Good. Both rebels are currently within the Pacification Commissioner's Office. This is a god-given opportunity. To avoid any complications from a long delay, I have decided to act tonight."

Gao Yuan paused and scanned the room.

"Remember, pull them up by the roots; evil must be completely eradicated."

"Understood!"

As the orders were issued, everyone left the commander's tent to begin preparations. Only then did Xia Luqi lean in toward Gao Yuan.

"My Lord, why are these people...?"

Gao Yuan naturally knew what he wanted to ask and could only give a mysterious smile.

"I have my own clever plan. You just need to remember that these people will be our main core force from now on."

Xia Luqi was a military man with a relatively simple mind. Seeing Gao Yuan say this, he knew there must be some special method involved, so he naturally didn't ask further.

Leading over a thousand men, Gao Yuan marched valiantly toward Ye Quan's Pacification Commissioner's Office.

In Dehong City, the buildings with the most Central Plains style, besides the Mu Family Villa where Zhao Xiyao was currently staying, were the Pacification Commissioners' Offices.

It was already late at night. The entire office had long since closed its gates and extinguished its lights, and most people had fallen into a deep sleep.

No one expected an army to suddenly surround them, and even less did they expect that the ones surrounding them would be the trusted subordinates of Ye Quan and Lin Yang.

Arriving at the main gate of the office, Xia Luqi cupped his hands.

"My Lord, shall we call for the gate to be opened?"

"Why call for the gate? Charge straight in! Anyone who resists is to be killed without mercy."

Since they had come in the middle of the night, they naturally had to take them by surprise. Gao Yuan was not some ancient person who still cared about rules.

"Understood!"

As Gao Yuan's number one henchman, Xia Luqi executed the order one hundred percent. He drew his broadsword and turned halfway.

"Follow me and charge in! Kill!"

The office gates were tightly shut, but that didn't stop Xia Luqi from leading his men to climb over with scaling ladders.

By the time the night watchmen inside reacted, the gates had been opened, and the army charged in without hindrance.

Caught completely off guard, the family guards of the Lin and Ye families inside the office had no time to resist.

Some were killed, while the rest, seeing that resistance was futile, chose to surrender immediately.

Compared to the Gao Family's guards, these family guards, who had been led by Ye Quan and Lin Yang to spend all day thinking about how to cause a split and become local kings, had no loyalty to speak of.

In the backyard, Lin Yang, who was sleeping soundly while embracing Ye Quan's concubine, was awakened by the noisy sounds outside.

Before he could even put on his clothes, Lin Yang pushed open the door and walked out, only to see a scene that left him astonished:

Soldiers dressed as Menge Pacification Commissioner's Office troops were unilaterally massacring his Personal Guards.

Without time to think about what was happening, Lin Yang shouted loudly,

"Stop! Stop! Are you all trying to rebel?"

A leading junior officer wiped the blood from his face and looked at Lin Yang with burning eyes, shouting,

"By order of the Princess, capture the rebels! Whoever captures the ringleaders like Ye Quan and Lin Yang alive will be credited with the top merit!"

This sentence almost made Lin Yang unable to stand. He couldn't understand how the trusted subordinates he had spent so much money to raise could betray him.

Lin Feng, however, thought of a logical explanation.

"Father, that Gao Yuan must have bribed these people! Let's go quickly, or it will be too late!"

"Go? Go where?"

"To Menge. Uncle Xian Zhen still has troops. We can still make a comeback."

Lin Yang shook his head bitterly.

"We have no troops and no power. Will Xian Zhen still care about us?"

"He will. We still have the righteous title."

The Pacification Commissioner's Office was the bridge between the Great Gan court and the Local Chieftains, and it was also a form of recognition.

Simply put, a Local Chieftain's orders were only considered legal if they were stamped with the seal of the Pacification Commissioner's Office.

Lin Feng's words reminded Lin Yang.

"Right, right, right. Xian Zhen still has use for us. He will definitely take us in."

"Lin Da, cover my father and me as we break out!"

With someone giving orders, the Lin Family guards finally had a backbone and began to cover the Lin father and son's breakout.

Soon, the Lin Family group met up with the Ye Family group. Both sides looked at each other helplessly.

"Brother Ye, from now on, you and I will be fellow sufferers at the end of the world."

"Sigh, I only hope Brother Lin can take in this old man and his family."

"Heh, trying to leave? It won't be that easy!"

Before the two sides could finish their pleasantries, they were surrounded once again.

It turned out the sounds of battle had alerted Zhao Xiyao and Mu Sheng in the city, and they had brought men to check the situation.

This provided Gao Yuan with a fresh force of several hundred men, allowing him to surround the remnants of the two families.

Looking at the hundred or so people surrounded in the middle, Gao Yuan revealed a victorious smile.

"My two Pacification Commissioners, why are you in such a pathetic state instead of sleeping well in the middle of the night?"

Seeing Gao Yuan's smug look, Ye Quan gritted his teeth.

"Gao Yuan, you brat! I only regret my own negligence, letting you incite these people to defect."

Gao Yuan sneered.

"Defect? They were originally the court's soldiers, only temporarily under your command. Did you really think of them as your private army? Alright, it's the middle of the night and I'm too lazy to talk nonsense with you. Drop your weapons and surrender, or continue your futile resistance—you choose!"

Lin Yang still wanted to negotiate terms, but Ye Fan had already stepped forward, raising his weapon.

"Gao Yuan, you pretty-boy, you gigolo! Do you dare to come and fight me?"

Before Gao Yuan could speak, Xia Luqi had already stepped forward.

"Why use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken? Get past me first!"

Gao Yuan looked at Xia Luqi's back with gratitude. This truly was a thoughtful and good subordinate.

Ye Fan didn't waste words either, attacking with the long spear in his hand.

As the saying goes, 'an inch longer is an inch stronger.' Xia Luqi hadn't brought a long weapon today, so he was at a slight disadvantage in terms of attack range.

However, a long spear couldn't fully exert its advantages in a foot battle. Combined with the cramped space and an absolute crushing difference in strength, Ye Fan fell into a disadvantage in less than ten rounds.

After two more rounds, Xia Luqi seized an opportunity to knock away Ye Fan's spear and sliced off his left arm with a single blow.

"Ah..."

Having lost his left arm, Ye Fan clutched his wound and rolled on the ground in agony like a slaughtered pig.

Even the strongest, Ye Fan, had been defeated. This caused everyone from the Lin and Ye families to instantly lose hope, their faces turning as pale as paper.

Having won, it was naturally time to show off.

"How about it? Still want to fight?"

Ye Quan was an old fox after all; he quickly steadied his mind and prepared to negotiate with Gao Yuan.

"I've hunted geese all my life, but I never expected to have my eyes pecked by a goose today. Gao Yuan, what do you want?"

"Everyone, drop your resistance and surrender. Wait for Her Highness the Princess to decide your fate."

The few of them looked at each other, still hesitating. Xia Luqi led the soldiers to step forward, tightening the circle until their spear tips were almost touching the rebels' faces.

*Clang...*