Sui and Tang Dynasties: You were driven out of Wagang, but you surrendered to Yang Guang and were ma

Chapter 84: The First Sword Strike Against the Aristocratic Families Begins with Zheng Ji

"Zheng Ji!"

Lu Xiao raised his finger and walked unsteadily to him, the strong smell of alcohol hitting him in the face.

A flicker of panic crossed Zheng Ji's eyes.

But his long-standing family background allowed him to feign composure, maintaining an outward appearance of unwavering calm even in the face of imminent collapse.

He didn't believe it.

In front of so many aristocratic families and civil and military officials, how could Lü Xiao dare to do anything to him, the head of the Zheng family of Xingyang?

"Lu Zilie, do you truly intend to fight the Zheng family of Xingyang to the death?"

Zheng Ji raised his hand and slapped away the finger that Lü Xiao was pointing at him.

In just one day.

He was twice pointed at by this young man who was even younger than his grandson.

This was the ultimate contempt for him, something he could not tolerate under any circumstances.

"You'll fight me to the death?" Lü Xiao sneered, his gaze sweeping over the sword at the waist of the guard beside him.

"It was you! It was you who cursed me in Dongdu to die a horrible death on the northern grasslands!"

"I risked my life and fought valiantly on the northern grasslands to stop the Turkic cavalry from advancing south, only to be protected by treacherous and ungrateful people like you..."

Lu Xiao's voice carried a hint of sorrow and anger.

"I feel so wronged! So wronged!"

The guard beside him watched as Lü Xiao walked up to him, and was about to bow in greeting.

But then Lü Xiao reached out and pulled out the sword from his waist.

At this, everyone in the hall panicked completely, and cries of alarm rose and fell.

Those close to Lü Xiao scrambled back, while those farther away cowered in the corners of the hall, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.

Yang Lin frowned and looked at Yang Guang with a questioning look in his eyes, as if asking whether he should step forward to stop Lü Xiao.

Yang Guang shook his head slightly, indicating that Yang Lin did not need to step forward.

He was already aware of the deep-seated grudge between Lü Xiao and Zheng Shi; the enmity between them was so profound that it was impossible to resolve.

Today's matter is in Lü Xiao's favor, so let's just let him do it and see how things develop in the end.

At the same time, Yang Guang moved his feet discreetly and walked to Yang Ruyi's side.

In case Lü Xiao really had murderous intent, he, as her father, would be able to remedy the situation in time, and he couldn't let his daughter be frightened by this bloody scene.

Zheng Ji stood still, and when he saw Lü Xiao draw his sword, he was not afraid at all, but instead laughed.

If they were to take Lü Xiao seriously, he would naturally be wary of Lü Xiao's unreasonable behavior.

But when it really came down to drawing swords against each other, he just couldn't believe that Lü Xiao would actually dare to cut him.

He has the entire Zheng family of Xingyang behind him. If Lü Xiao dares to touch him, he will be making an enemy of the entire Zheng family of Xingyang!

"Come on! Lü Zilie! If you have the guts, then cut me!"

"I'll stick my head out in front of you today and see if you dare to chop it off!"

Zheng Ji took a step forward and simply stuck his head out, looking completely fearless.

"Lord Zheng! No! Quickly pull your head back in!"

Upon seeing this, members of prominent families nearby quickly spoke up to dissuade them.

You might save face by sticking your head out, but you'll lose your life!

Lu Xiao is a lawless brat who actually dares to lay a hand on people!

"Go ahead and chop! Go ahead and chop..."

Zheng Ji tilted his head, his tone contemptuous.

Before he could finish speaking, a flash of cold light streaked past his eyes, moving so fast that he had no time to react.

Immediately afterwards, he felt a chill on his neck, and his vision went completely dark, his consciousness vanished completely.

Glug glug...

Zheng Ji's head rolled to the ground, and his body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Snapped!"

Yu Juluo, Yuwen Shu, and other senior officials, who were drinking and watching the play, dropped their wine bowls on the ground.

Yang Lin tried to cover Yang Ruyi's eyes, but found that Yang Guang was even faster.

"Huh?" Yang Ruyi felt a sudden darkness before her eyes and asked, somewhat bewildered, "What's wrong? Is it getting dark?"

Yuwen Chenglong swallowed hard. Damn it, Lü Xiao really has guts.

Zheng Ji, this is a member of the Zheng family of Xingyang, how dare you kill him?

However, as Lü Xiao's number one lackey, this was the perfect opportunity to clean up Lü Xiao's mess.

He darted forward and said to the crowd, "Hey, you all heard that too!"

"It wasn't our Prince who wanted to chop it up; both Lord Zheng and the Prince were drunk, which led to this little accident!"

Pei Yuanqing nodded and echoed, "I, Pei Yuanqing, have never heard of such an impolite request as that of Lord Zheng in my entire life!"

Yang Lin walked over, snatched the sword from Lü Xiao's hand, and said with great sorrow:

"It's all my fault! I kept plying Zi Lie with alcohol, and it ended up causing this disaster!"

"Zheng Gong is really something, getting so drunk himself and still going to provoke another drunkard, really..."

Yu Julu muttered to himself, starting to talk about Zheng Ji's mistakes.

"Quickly, carry Duke Zheng away and give him a grand burial, a truly grand burial!"

Yang Guang said to the guards.

The guards dared not delay and quickly stepped forward to cover Zheng Ji's body and head with a white cloth before hurriedly carrying it away.

The blood-stained areas inside the palace were immediately washed clean by palace servants with water.

A moment later, apart from a faint smell of blood still lingering in the hall, it was as if the bloody massacre had never happened.

Everyone returned to their seats, but all remained silent, as if trembling with fear.

Especially those from aristocratic families, they all shrank their necks and avoided eye contact.

He dared not look at Lü Xiao again, fearing that he would become the next Zheng Ji.

Those who needed to be sealed off were sealed off, and those who needed to be killed were killed; Yang Guang's interest had largely dissipated.

He raised his sleeve, waved to the crowd, and said:

"Let's conclude the victory celebration here. As for the matter of conquering Goguryeo, we'll discuss it in court another day."

"Yes! We'll take our leave!"

Upon hearing this, all the members of the aristocratic families breathed a long sigh of relief, as if they had been granted a pardon.

Fearing that staying any longer would lead to the same fate as Zheng Ji, they quickly bowed and hurriedly left the main hall.

"My brother is drunk, I'll take him home!"

Pei Yuanqing reacted very quickly this time, fearing that something might happen to Lü Xiao again, and hurriedly stepped forward to help him up.

But before his hand could even touch Lü Xiao, Yang Ruyi preemptively directed the maids behind her to step forward and lift the drunken Lü Xiao up.

So drunk and you still want to go home?

Today, I'll make him stay obediently in the palace and let him do whatever he wants with me!

Pei Yuanqing panicked when he saw Lü Xiao being carried away by Yang Ruyi's maid.

Preventing Lü Xiao from going home is clearly an attempt to harm him!

No, his newly chosen backer absolutely cannot be allowed to fall into trouble!

He immediately gave chase, shouting as he ran, "Where are you taking my brother? Stop right there! Give my brother back to me!"

As soon as Yang Guang and Yang Lin came out of the main hall, they saw Pei Yuanqing chasing after a maid and trying to snatch someone away.

Yang Lin shook his head helplessly, took a few steps forward, and kicked Pei Yuanqing away.

"Get out of my way! Stop causing trouble and ruining your brother's good time!"

Pei Yuanqing was kicked so hard that he stumbled and fell to the ground.

He got up and saw that it was Yang Lin who had kicked him, so he didn't dare to move.

He could only watch helplessly as Lü Xiao was carried away by the maid, silently closing his eyes and praying in his heart:

"Big brother, you have to hang in there!"