Pit Massacre

Of course, the Imperial Court had not given up its last shred of hope. Since the three great sects were useless, they contacted Shang Chaozong and Meng Shanming directly.

At this point, the Imperial Court was practically granting every request. Their meaning, both openly and between the lines, was that Shang Chaozong could name any conditions he wanted; everything was negotiable.

The reason was simple. Whatever debts needed settling, they had to get through this crisis first. They had to stabilize Shang Chaozong before anything else. If they could not even get past the immediate hurdle, what future reckoning could there be?

The army finally emerged from the muddy stretch. Zhang Hu's mount had become mud-legged from all four hooves up. He reined in and looked back, waiting for the carriage carrying Meng Shanming to come ashore from the mire.

The soldiers who came ashore one after another were also covered in mud. Most had their trouser legs rolled up, their stinking shoes slung over their shoulders, and all of them were exhausted.

The prisoners hauling the supplies were in even worse shape. At least the Yan troops had eaten their fill, but the prisoners had only drunk a little thin soup. Their ears had been cut off, leaving them injured, and now they had been forced to carry and drag heavy loads. They had been worn down to utter exhaustion; some collapsed on the ground the instant they came ashore, unwilling to move another inch.

This was precisely why Meng Shanming had temporarily spared them: marching through flooded ground was inconvenient, so he used the prisoners as laborers!

When he saw prisoners lying down, the escorting Yan soldiers immediately went over and kicked and punched them, forcing them to crawl back up.

Zhang Hu turned a blind eye