Gong Chao gritted his teeth, his brows knitted tight. He found the situation extremely troublesome and thought, Could I have backed the wrong horse this time?
The whole field fell silent. Xu Yi was the one who broke it, speaking in a ringing voice. "This lout was disrespectful enough to interrupt Director Gong. I'll kill him on Director Gong's behalf. Commander Zheng is known for enforcing the law impartially; surely he won't object?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he walked to the flagpole, reached out and snapped the flagpole forged from dark iron, then took Cheng Yan down.
Before Xu Yi could do anything else, Zhong Wu led his men rushing forward to catch Cheng Yan.
"Commander, Cheng Yan is lowly. You don't need to..."
Cheng Yan's face was as pale as paper, but his eyes were bloodshot.
Xu Yi hadn't looked down on him for his meager abilities. He had made Cheng Yan his personal guard—his only personal guard. Cheng Yan was deeply moved and repaid Xu Yi with unwavering loyalty.
He guarded the tent outside Xu Yi's quarters every day, and carefully attended to him at each meal.
This time, Zheng Bahuo had targeted him to give Xu Yi a humiliating welcome.
In truth, if Cheng Yan had merely bent his knees a little, Zheng Bahuo wouldn't have dealt him such a heavy blow. Besides, Cheng Yan had never been the sort to refuse to bend, no matter what. He'd lost count of how many people he'd knelt before.
But this time, he believed that since Xu Yi had entrusted him with the command token, he represented Xu Yi. So even when Zheng Bahuo's personal guards seized him and crushed his legs, he never once bent his knees.
"You're my comrade. How can you call