Fang Xiang, Fang Bi, and the other military officers stepped forward, but Zi Shou stopped each of them.
It seemed King Zhou had resolved to see E Chongyu off alone.
E Chongyu soon realized that King Zhou was trying to salvage his reputation.
By putting on a show of harmony between sovereign and subject, he could at least fool the ignorant commoners and, in passing, keep some of the more timid Feudal Lords from acting rashly.
What he had lost in prestige, he had recovered elsewhere. At the very least, his courage commanded admiration.
As E Chongyu looked at King Zhou beside him, a bold idea suddenly arose in his mind.
Why not follow King Pingling's example? Instead of holding a Commandery Governor hostage to command the Feudal Lords, he could hold King Zhou hostage to command them.
However disloyal the Feudal Lords might be at heart, Great Shang was still the nominal overlord of the realm.
E Chongyu had made his decision. To demonstrate harmony between sovereign and subject, King Zhou would surely escort him personally into his army. When that happened, he would immediately order his men to seize him.
He had to admit that King Zhou's courage in escorting him into his army alone to salvage his reputation deserved respect, but he had grossly underestimated human ambition.
The ambitions of the Feudal Lords would never end!
He seemed to faintly hear the sound of a sword leaving its sheath.
E Chongyu lowered his head and stared in disbelief at the blade protruding from his chest.
Zi Shou pulled out the Tai'a Sword. The people this sword killed were rising higher and higher in rank: first ordinary soldiers, then a tribal chief, then a regional Feudal Lord, and finally the newly invested King of Chu.
"You..."
"What do