Chapter 63 Why Is He Acting Like a God of War

However, Wang Lu raised one hand and shouted, "Stay back!"

With that, he drew his Wind-Breaker blade and pointed it forward. "I've also come up through a sea of blood and blades. Do you really think you can sweep this under the rug just by killing me? I'm reasoning with you right now not so you'll spare my life, but in the hope that you'll leave yourselves a way out!"

"I've just seen the Superintendent and Lord Tian. If you manage to let me live, then what does that make you?! Rebels! Because you are raising your hands against a thousand-household official of the Northern Inspectorate! When the time comes, not only will you be stripped of your Embroidered Uniform Guard status, but you'll also be personally catered to by my men in the imperial prison!"

"Lord Xu has met with misfortune, which naturally means someone is targeting the Northern Inspectorate to throw us into disarray. Instead of uniting against an outside foe at a time like this, you want to engage in infighting! Do you really want Lord Xu to die with his eyes open?"

The men charging at the front were awed by Wang Lu's solitary momentum. They stopped just three or five paces away from him, turning one after another to look at the thousand-household officials behind them, Chang Zhi and Du Rong.

Chang Zhi sneered. "Do you really think having an audience with the Superintendent can serve as your amulet? If you hadn't reported to the Inspector-General, would the Inspector-General have died? Surrendering is your only way out. Once an interrogation in the imperial prison proves you're innocent, we won't wrong you!"

Wang Lu let out a cold laugh. "It seems you've made up your mind to usurp power?"

"What usurpation? The Northern Inspectorate is our Northern Inspectorate, and naturally, it should be run by us. Otherwise, why was the Northern Inspectorate established as a separate entity?"

"Now you expect us to accept your word and let the Northern Inspectorate be controlled by the Commander from now on? Pure wishful thinking."

Even as Chang Zhi shouted angrily, Wang Lu understood the situation clearly.

Regardless of whether Xu Xinchun and Tian Ergeng were both Wei Zhongxian's dogs, even dogs had degrees of closeness.

As long as the Northern Inspectorate's Inspector-General held the direct authority to report to the Emperor, the conflict between the Commander and the Inspector-General would never cease for a single day.

Although it was a superior-subordinate relationship, the ultimate centralization of the Ming dynasty's feudal system ensured that every institution possessed functions designed to keep each other in check.

Tian Ergeng had long wanted to truly bring the Northern Inspectorate under his control, and his words earlier were a clear hint to Wang Lu: if the other thousand-household officials of the Northern Inspectorate could be pacified, a portion of the Northern Inspectorate's power could be handed over to Wang Lu.

As for the menacing appearance of the other thousand-household officials, they were hardly genuinely seeking revenge for Xu Xinchun. By seizing Wang Lu, who was the prime suspect, their hidden motives were likely far more sinister than Wang Lu's.

When the misfortune befell Xu Xinchun, Wang Lu had been the first to arrive at the scene. They were already a step behind, and now that Xu Xinchun—their close ally—was dead, their backing was gone.

Seeing that Wang Lu had actually established ties with the Superintendent, if they failed to capture him amidst today's chaos and were eventually forced by the Superintendent to swallow the bitter pill, a redistribution of power within the Northern Inspectorate would be inevitable.

Every single person's thoughts here centered entirely on the power of the Northern Inspectorate.

The authority to report directly to the Emperor made this position unrivaled, even by the Commander-in-Chief's deputies or assistant commanders.

This was also the reason why Wei Zhongxian's two main forces within the Embroidered Uniform Guard were divided between the Commander and the Inspector-General.

As for the other reason why they held such intense hostility toward Wang Lu, it was precisely the reason why Tian Ergeng had extended goodwill to him.

Wang Lu's political background was far too shallow.

Chang Zhi and Du Rong were veteran thousand-household officials deeply branded with Xu Xinchun's influence; only Wang Lu possessed shallow roots.

This was his disadvantage, but also his advantage.

Had Xu Xinchun still been alive, Wang Lu would have forever remained behind Chang Zhi and the others.

However, with Xu Xinchun dead, amidst a power struggle, someone with shallow roots and a clean background was clearly better suited to act as a blade to shatter the deadlock.

In history, such examples were ubiquitous. Even in modern times, it was hardly rare for the death of a leader to instantly turn someone he once favored and praised nationwide into a prisoner.

Though Shen Lian did not consider himself a clever man, he at least knew what he ought to do and whose side he should stand on.

Therefore, he stepped forward directly, standing a full step ahead of Wang Lu, and pointed his Yelun blade forward. "Fall back! Otherwise, Shen's blade won't show mercy!"

Chang Zhi and Du Rong exchanged glances, instantly grasping each other's thoughts.

The arrow was already nocked and had to be loosed.

If they captured Wang Lu now, they would undoubtedly be able to smoothly take charge of the Northern Inspectorate.

If there was anyone to blame, they could only blame Wang Lu for going to the Commander first instead of them!

Otherwise, they might have left him a few scraps of the soup.

"Attack!" The moment Du Rong's voice fell, the sound of doors slamming shut echoed behind Wang Lu and his men.

Without looking back, Wang Lu knew the guards outside were Du Rong's men; a clear victor had to be decided here and now through brute force.

"Kill!" Chang Zhi's deputy thousand-household official charged forward imposingly.

Wang Lu admired him. Although his earlier battle cry had been "Charge!" rather than "Follow me!", he was still the first to rush into the fray.

Out of respect for him, Wang Lu did not dodge or evade, gripping his blade with both hands and lunging forward. "Kill!"

A flash of joy crossed the eyes of Chang Zhi's deputy thousand-household official because Wang Lu had actually chosen to cross blades with him directly.

Over all these years, he certainly knew of Wang Lu's formidable swordsmanship.

However, skilled swordsmanship did not necessarily mean the blade itself was extraordinary. His own saber had been passed down from his ancestors, while Wang Lu's looked brand new—rumor had it that it had been forged for two hundred taels of silver.

It was simply incomparable to his own!

Therefore, without the slightest fear, he swung his blade, meeting Wang Lu's attack head-on.

Clang!

The tip of a blade let out a crisp, mournful cry, snapping off and flying sideways to embed itself straight into an unfortunate bystander's face.

The deputy thousand-household official stared wide-eyed at his broken blade.

Without losing any momentum, Wang Lu brought his saber straight down toward the man's neck.

A single strike severed the head from the body!

Having been "enchanted," the Wind-Breaker blade no longer posed any concern of snapping when facing the various sabers of this world.

Without hesitation, Wang Lu charged into the remaining ranks.

Behind him, Yue Qian, Sun Qiang, Xue Jing, and the others also rushed forward with drawn sabers, with Shen Lian advancing even further ahead than Wang Lu.

Wang Lu had never pinned high hopes on Shen Lian, but he truly hadn't expected that when crisis struck, Shen Lian would prove to be the fiercest of them all.

Lu Wenzhao's brow twitched violently. At this moment, Chang Zhi, Du Rong, and himself commanded around forty men in total. Given the urgency, the men they could temporarily summon were essentially all trusted confidants.

Yet Wang Lu had brought barely a dozen men.

Given the disparity in strength, Lu Wenzhao had already decided to abandon Wang Lu.

Uncontrollable, and showing not the slightest bit of respect for Prince Xin, Wang Lu's death would be for the best—it would remove a destabilizing factor.

This internal clash would further diminish Wei Zhongxian's strength, ultimately allowing His Highness to reap the fisherman's profit!

As long as Guo Zhen did not appear, there would always room for maneuver and explanation!

However, the situation exceeded his expectations.

Wang Lu's men suffered casualties on both sides in the melee—which was hardly surprising, as anyone who could appear here was no weakling.

Yet Wang Lu was simply too ferocious!

Facing every single enemy, it took him at most three strikes to produce another corpse.

Then there was Shen Lian.

Shen Lian's swordsmanship was also fiercely sharp, but the strange thing was that Shen Lian was not as savage as Wang Lu, rarely resorting to decapitations or dismemberment.

Instead, most of his strikes merely slashed across chests or backs to incapacitate the enemy, followed swiftly by a kick or a blow to render them unconscious.

The originally disadvantaged side began to tilt the balance, all thanks to these two gods of war, Shen Lian and Wang Lu.