57: Chapter 57 Please send troops to attack Hancheng!

The Lord of Han City is targeting the City Lord!

As soon as this truth came out, cries of shock erupted inside and outside the City Lord's Mansion.

If the previous poisoning incident had made the citizens angry, then now, their fury was like an erupting volcano, impossible to contain.

If it were targeted at them, the common subjects, they might have been able to swallow their anger.

But targeted at the City Lord?

That was absolutely intolerable!

What kind of person is the City Lord?

He is the great benefactor who gives them food to eat and places to live!

He is the benevolent ruler who abolished the execution line and let them live without fear!

He is the god who brought out the black jade connection paste and allowed the disabled to be reborn!

Such a City Lord—what kind of existence could be so heartless as to target him?

"City Lord!"

An old man knelt on the ground, "Before this old man came to Flower City, I nearly starved to death on the road."

"It was you who took us in and gave us a way to survive!"

"We have no way to repay your great kindness and virtue!"

"Now that someone wants to harm you, even if this old man has to risk his life, I will fight them to the end!"

"The old gentleman is right!"

A young man also knelt down, his expression excited, "The City Lord has the grace of rebirth toward us!"

"Whoever dares to touch a single hair on the City Lord's head is the enemy of us all!"

"Right!"

"To be an enemy of the City Lord is to be an enemy of us!"

"To want to kill the City Lord is to want to kill us all!"

The shouts rose and fell, growing louder and louder. The citizens outside the City Lord's Mansion also knelt down one after another, a vast, dark sea of people that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Minister Lei!" a young man shouted loudly.

"Please send troops to attack Han City!"

"I am willing to be a vanguard!"

"Count me in!"

"And me!"

"I'll go too!"

"Turn Han City into ruins!"

"Slice the Lord of Han City into a thousand pieces!"

The pleas to fight rose wave after wave, deafening to the ears.

Especially those who were originally citizens of Flower City; they had followed Zhou Yun the longest and had received the most favors.

All this time, they had been thinking about how to repay the City Lord's kindness. But the City Lord lacked nothing, so they had no way to repay him.

Now the opportunity had come! Someone dared to target the City Lord? That was perfect! Let them go and seek justice for the City Lord!

"Please let us go to war!"

"We are willing to go through fire and water for the City Lord!"

"We will not decline even if we die ten thousand times!"

Zhou Yun sat in the main seat, his expression calm. For some reason, upon learning that someone wanted to harm him, he did not have much emotional fluctuation.

However, because of this, he understood a point of irrationality regarding the poisoning incident.

Sun Weiwu and Liu Dashun only had one jin of poison powder on them. One jin of poison powder, even if it was the Bronze Rank black stone powder, once thrown into a well and diluted, would have very little toxicity left.

But the Lord of Han City had arranged for a full thousand people! If every two people carried one jin of poison powder... then the thousand people combined would have a total of five hundred jin!

Five hundred jin of black stone powder! Even after dilution by the water in the city's wells, this poison powder might not be able to poison a Silver Rank powerhouse like Lei Lie. But apart from him and Lei Lie... everyone else in the entire Flower City, as long as they drank the water, would likely not survive.

Over one hundred thousand lives were calculated to be lost just like that. How vicious! Did they not regard human lives as lives?

A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He actually didn't care about being targeted. He would not truly die in the City Lord World; at most, he would just be eliminated and return to the Blue Star, where he could continue living.

But the people in the city? If they died, they would be truly dead! So... regardless of who this Lord of Han City was, and regardless of why he wanted to do this... he could not forgive it!

"City Lord!" Lei Lie stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and cupped his fists to request orders.

"Please, City Lord, issue the order to attack Han City!"

"This subordinate is willing to lead the soldiers to trample Han City and seek justice for the City Lord!"

His voice was loud and clear, carrying monstrous fury. Tie Shan also knelt down.

"This old man is also willing to join the army on the expedition!"

Wan'er also stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"Although this subordinate is a woman and cannot don armor to go into battle, I am willing to follow the army to handle logistical affairs. Please, City Lord, grant your permission!"

Minister Wang Fugui knelt directly on the ground, his face full of seriousness.

"City Lord, this subordinate is also willing to contribute!"

Strategist Zhu Ge sat in his wheelchair and similarly cupped his fists to request orders. One by one, the officials of Flower City requested to fight. The citizens outside the City Lord's Mansion also knelt down in a vast, dark sea.

"Please, City Lord, issue the order to attack!"

"We are willing to die for the City Lord!"

"Attack Han City!"

"Seek justice!"

The voices were uniform and shook the heavens and the earth. This anger, they had to vent! Not just for themselves, but even more so to seek justice for the City Lord!

Zhou Yun looked at the scene before him, a warm current surging in his heart. He raised his hands slightly, signaling everyone to stand up.

"I know everyone's intentions."

His voice was peaceful, but it carried a power that made people feel at ease.

"But right now, there is still a more important matter to handle."

His gaze turned to the side, landing on the one thousand people who had surrendered. Those people were still kneeling on the ground, their heads lowered, not daring to look up.

They knew what they had done. Although they hadn't actually poisoned anything, they had carried the poison powder and had had that thought. If Sun Weiwu and Liu Dashun hadn't been discovered and executed... many of them would likely have walked down the same path.

At this moment, their hearts were filled with guilt. Zhou Yun spoke slowly, "You, look up."

They trembled as they looked up, only to discover that the City Lord had a gentle smile on his face!

Zhou Yun looked at them, his gaze calm.

"You were indeed coerced by the Lord of Han City."

"You did indeed carry poison powder on your persons."

"However, you did not put it into practice."

"You did not throw the poison powder into the wells."

"You chose to surrender and chose to confess."

His voice was steady and firm.

"Therefore—"

"You are innocent."

Innocent?! Those one thousand people were all stunned. They thought they had misheard. Innocent? The City Lord said they were innocent?

"But... but we..." a middle-aged man said, stuttering.

"We carried the poison powder... we almost..."

Zhou Yun shook his head with a smile. "A gentleman judges by actions, not by intentions."

"No matter what you thought in your hearts, as long as you did not do it, then there is no fault."

"That you were able to voluntarily confess makes me very gratified."

"Moreover, rest assured, you are all citizens of Flower City, just like Liu Dashun and Sun Weiwu."

"Your families are also families of Flower City."

"Therefore—"

"This City Lord will also bring your families from Han City to Flower City!"

Once these words were spoken, those one thousand people were all stunned. Immediately after, they began to kowtow with a "thump, thump" sound.

"City Lord..."

"City Lord..."

They wanted to say words of gratitude, but when the words reached their lips, they couldn't say them. Those words were blocked in their chests, stuffed full, making them almost unable to breathe.

They could only keep kowtowing, using this most primitive way to express their gratitude. They were so fortunate. Fortunate that they had hesitated. Fortunate that they hadn't been too decisive. Otherwise, they would have done the same things as Liu Dashun and Sun Weiwu.