Zhang Yu Curses Ying Zheng, Terrifying Dun Ruo

Huaiyang Village.

Village Head Zhang Yu squatted before the field ridge, watching the grand mansion taking shape before his eyes, his face blooming with a wide grin.

"Hehe, hehehehe..."

These past few days, whenever he had a spare moment, he would squat here and watch, never tiring of the sight, his mood exceptionally buoyant.

His aunt brought his meal over and found him there, and seeing him grinning like a fool, she couldn't help but slap him on the head.

"What are you laughing at!?"

Zhang Yu rubbed his head, still beaming. "Cheng earned a title through military merit, a Fifth Rank Grandee! Look at this grand mansion, oh my, I've only ever seen the big shots in the county with a house this large. Every time I passed by their gates, I'd secretly curse them in my heart."

"Now Cheng has become a big shot too. Heh, this lad, he's even bigger than those other big shots."

His aunt, however, didn't seem too happy, her face full of worry. "So what if he's a big shot! Didn't he have to gamble his life to get it back?"

"Is war such a good thing? No matter how big the house is, you need to be alive to live in it!"

"Swords and spears have no eyes on the battlefield, and this boy doesn't know his own limits. Every time I think about him charging forward without a care, I can't sleep for nights on end."

"Whenever I dream, it's all shouting and killing. I keep dreaming that Cheng is surrounded by enemies, unable to break out, with spears stabbing into his body. He's covered in blood, crying out, 'Aunt, save me, save me...'"

As she spoke, his aunt turned her head to wipe away tears.

Zhang Yu was stunned. "You woman, can't you dream of something better?"

"What's there to fear about war? Men are meant to fight. If others don't know, don't you? Our nephew was born with divine strength. His physique is like forged iron; he's been the famous 'Little Iron Man' of these ten miles and eight villages since he was a child. Who could possibly beat him?"

"He killed over two hundred enemies in a single battle!"

"The enemy dares to surround him? It would take five hundred... eight hundred... at least a thousand men to even have a chance of pinning him down!"

"Women don't know a thing. Cheng joined the Assault Cavalry Battalion of the Central Army. That is a top-tier elite force. It's more likely they'd surround the enemy than let the enemy surround them!"

"Put your heart at ease, nothing will happen."

Zhang Yu blustered with great authority, though deep down, his aunt's words had left him feeling unsettled.

He had been able to become the Village Head because he, too, had earned merit on the battlefield, and he knew that the situation there changed in an instant; it wasn't as simple as he made it sound.

Fortunately, his aunt was indeed persuaded by his words and felt much more at ease.

"You eat your meal. I'm going inside to take a look. These servants probably don't know how to build a proper house; the cabinets and the kitchen and such all need to be arranged properly. Otherwise, when Cheng brings home a wife, it'll be hard for her to cook..."

His aunt left, and as Zhang Yu ate, smacking his lips, he suddenly felt that looking at the grand mansion didn't feel quite right anymore.

Just then, a man dressed in black embroidered robes walked over. "Sir, is this the new mansion of the Fifth Rank Grandee Zhao Cheng?"

Zhang Yu looked at him vigilantly. "It is. What business do you have?"

"Nothing much. I've just heard that this Fifth Rank Grandee is peerlessly brave, a fierce general who can stand against ten thousand. I admire his reputation and came to take a look, to learn a bit about what his life was like before."

The Secret Agent's face showed admiration, looking quite sincere.

Zhang Yu, however, took half a step back, remaining on guard. "Where are you from?"

"What is your name, and where is your home?"

The Secret Agent looked a bit awkward, but still smiled. "You don't need to be so nervous; I'm just chatting with you casually."

Zhang Yu stared at him. "Can't say, can you? I see you're a spy sent by the enemy!"

With the two armies at war, it was not uncommon for enemy spies to infiltrate the country and threaten a general's family members.

Furthermore, the battlefield was not far from here, and Zhao Cheng had become famous in a single battle. Zhang Yu, already unsettled by his aunt's words, felt his vigilance spike; he didn't look at anyone as a good person.

"No, how could I be a spy?"

The Secret Agent was caught between laughter and tears. "I am..."

His identity was not convenient to disclose, so he decided to stop talking. Thinking that if he couldn't get information from this man, he would just ask someone else, he turned to leave, intending to go elsewhere to gather intelligence.

Zhang Yu was already treating this as a dire emergency. Seeing him try to run, his suspicions were immediately confirmed.

Open spears are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against. I can't let him just run off!

Without a second thought, Zhang Yu summoned his courage, lunged forward in a few strides, grabbed the Secret Agent around the chest and abdomen, and threw him toward the ground with all his might, hoping to subdue him by surprise.

The Secret Agent was startled, stumbled, and regained his footing, anger surging in his heart.

The local villagers were far too rude!

Although he, a Secret Agent of the Black Ice Terrace, held no official rank, even ordinary ministers treated him with courtesy. How could such a boorish person just start a fight?

He truly didn't know the meaning of death!

With a slight exertion of his waist and abdomen, he flung Zhang Yu off and then raised a foot to kick him.

This kick landed with considerable force, enough to keep this villager bedridden for a few days—a minor punishment for his insolence.

Zhang Yu landed on his backside in the field, watching the large foot coming toward him, and thought, It's over.

Bang!

A tremendous force suddenly struck the Secret Agent in the lower back, causing his entire body to buckle and fly away, rolling several times across the field ridge.

He clutched his waist and scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain of his fractured ribs, ready to erupt in a counterattack.

But the motion of reaching for his blade had only just begun when it suddenly froze.

There was no other reason: standing before him was the head of the Black Ice Terrace.

Dun Ruo!

The gentleness that usually resided between Dun Ruo's brows had long since vanished, replaced by a gaze so piercingly cold that it sent a chill through the Secret Agent's entire body.

The scene was deathly quiet, and all three men were breaking out in cold sweat.

The Secret Agent was terrified.

He had never seen his superior with such an expression; under that icy glare, he felt as though he could die at any moment.

He stammered in a panic, "Boss, I..."

Dun Ruo was also terrified.

His subordinate's kick had nearly cost him his head!

He had been planning to come here and curry favor with a powerful figure, but instead of securing an alliance, he had nearly forged a mortal enemy!

To cut off my path to advancement—this is nothing short of seeking death!!

"Go back and accept the Heavenly Punishment."

Heavenly Punishment...

A Heaven-tier penalty; a fate worse than death.

The Secret Agent's face turned pale, yet he nodded in submission.

Beside them, Zhang Yu was already sweating like a waterfall; he, too, was terrified.

That spy was already so formidable that a single movement had easily shaken him off, leaving him completely unable to contend.

If the leader of these spies could kick him away with such force, just how powerful must he be?

This was a disaster!

The other side had come as an entire gang.

He couldn't win a fight, but his wife was still inside the house; he couldn't run, so what was he to do?

As his thoughts raced, Zhang Yu tensed his entire body, staring fixedly at Dun Ruo while racking his brain for a strategy to break the stalemate.

In just a short span of time, sweat had already begun to bead on his forehead.

As the three stood in a deadlock, Dun Ruo suddenly strode up to Zhang Yu and, despite the man's wariness, bowed deeply at the waist.

"I have failed to discipline my subordinate properly; I hope you will forgive me."

Zhang Yu was stunned, staring at the "spy leader" before him in disbelief, unable to collect his thoughts for a long while.

The surrounding Black Ice Terrace agents were also stunned.

Could this villager be some hidden, reclusive bigwig of the Qin State?

How else could he command such respect from the head of the Black Ice Terrace?

The agent who had offended Zhang Yu felt his face turn ashen; he had never seen Dun Ruo treat anyone other than the King of Qin with such courtesy.

Moreover, the man appeared to be a mere villager on the surface—often, such contrasts were the mark of a truly profound individual who had returned to simplicity!

What kind of existence had he offended?

"Are you... not spies from Han?" Zhang Yu asked, bewildered.

Dun Ruo smiled sincerely, "It is not wrong to call us spies, but even if we are spies, we are spies of the Qin State."

"Allow me to introduce myself: I am Dun Ruo. By the personal decree of His Majesty the King, I have come to investigate the life of Zhao Cheng."

"In the battle at Fang City Pass, Zhao Cheng's valor and distinguished military service caught the King's eye. His Majesty values him highly and has specifically ordered us to uncover Zhao Cheng's life, background, and temperament so that he may be heavily employed in the future."

He spoke with such sincerity that he produced the King of Qin's decree, showed Zhang Yu his Black Ice token, and presented the Household Register Bamboo Slip he had obtained from the county magistrate.

"I have just come from the county seat and am acquainted with Meng Wei; if you do not believe me, we can go to Meng Wei's place to discuss this further."

Although Zhang Yu did not recognize the royal decree or the Black Ice token, he certainly recognized the Household Register Bamboo Slip.

He had personally taken his title-granting decree to update his household registration just a few days ago, and the slip bore his own seal—it could not be a fake.

"So that is how it is." Upon learning that Zhao Cheng's valor had caught the King's eye and that he was about to be heavily employed, Zhang Yu was immediately overjoyed.

He looked at the agent he had previously misunderstood, "My apologies, young man; I misunderstood you earlier."

He then looked at Dun Ruo, "It was I who struck first, so please, do not punish him."

Dun Ruo shook his head, "He is a newcomer and did not follow the rules; naturally, he must be taught a lesson."

He waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to withdraw, and then squatted down on the edge of the field with Zhang Yu to converse.

Despite the fine embroidered robes he wore, he still possessed the air of an old farmer.

Squatting beside Zhang Yu, he did not look out of place in the slightest, blending perfectly into the environment.

The two began to discuss the life of Zhao Cheng.

Zhang Yu was filled with deep emotion.

"...This child never saw his father growing up, and lost his mother in his teens; he lived a lonely and bitter life. Fortunately, he has ambition, and he can farm a hundred mu of land all by himself, even having enough energy left over to help us with our farm work."

"Who in the surrounding villages doesn't praise him as a lad made of iron when they see him? Everyone is just waiting for him to come of age so they can marry their daughters off to him!"

Zhang Yu said proudly, then grinned, "It's just that his appetite is truly too large. He can empty my rice jar in half a month, and he has to go up the mountain to hunt frequently just to barely manage to feed himself."

"Even then, he still wasn't full, and at only fifteen, he was already clamoring to enlist in the army. We in the Qin State have regulations; how could we let him enlist before he reached the age?"

"Who would have thought that war would suddenly break out again? He had wanted to enlist long before this."

"Now it's done; the age requirement was lowered, and he went off to join the army happily. He had only just been granted a title, and it already scared his aunt so much she couldn't sleep for several nights."

"My Lord, you can rest assured; our family are all good citizens, and there isn't a single criminal or evildoer among us."

As if afraid Dun Ruo wouldn't believe him, he even brought up himself, "I followed the Central Army and fought in quite a few battles. I killed five or six Han soldiers, and I've taught Zhao Cheng to be loyal and brave since he was small..."

Dun Ruo kept softly chiming in, which gave Zhang Yu a strong desire to keep talking.

But when Zhang Yu paused, Dun Ruo asked naturally, "I naturally believe he is a good child, but regarding his background, I still need to understand the situation with his father..."

Zhang Yu didn't speak, looking a bit sheepish and downcast.

Dun Ruo knew this matter couldn't be pushed too obviously; if the other party wouldn't say, or didn't know, that would actually be a very good thing.

"It is no matter if you do not know."

Who would have thought that after holding it in for a long time, Zhang Yu suddenly blurted out, "That son of a bitch..."

Dun Ruo's whole body jolted, his heart leaping into his throat, and he nearly reached out to cover Zhang Yu's mouth.

My ancestor, you can't go around cursing like that!