Secretary Wang's face changed drastically, and he took a step back. "Lin Taichu, what are you trying to do? I'm a court official!"
"A court official?" Lin Taichu sneered and gave the personal soldiers a look. "An official who disrupts military morale is nothing but a menace if left alive."
Four personal soldiers immediately rushed forward. Although the two attendants Secretary Wang had brought knew some martial arts, they were no match for the personal soldiers. Within moments, they were knocked to the ground, their throats slit, and fell silent.
Secretary Wang was terrified out of his wits. He turned to run, only to be kicked to the ground from behind by a personal soldier.
He lay sprawled on the ground and looked back at Lin Taichu, his voice trembling. "You can't kill me! I belong to the Prime Minister! If you kill me, the Prime Minister won't let you off!"
Lin Taichu walked over, bent down to pick up a stone from the ground, and smashed it down on his head. Once, twice—Secretary Wang's screams soon stopped.
"Clean this up." Lin Taichu rose to his feet and dusted off his hands.
The personal soldiers immediately got to work. Moving swiftly, they first stuffed the three corpses into sacks, then washed the blood from the courtyard with clean water and scattered a layer of fresh dirt over it.
They wiped the blood from the stone table clean, leaving behind no trace at all. The entire process took less than an hour, and the courtyard soon returned to how it had been before, as though nothing had happened.
"Take the bodies away," Lin Taichu ordered. "As discussed, leave them in an alley near Secretary Wang's residence. Make it look like he was murdered by his attendants."
The personal soldiers nodded, carried