Chapter Thirty-Four: Uniting the Army’s Spirit and Establishing Prestige

“Yes, sir!” Several of the personal guards immediately stepped forward in response, picked up the sword Yang Xi had thrown to the ground, and dragged Bian Lingcheng out of the city.

What followed were Bian Lingcheng’s desperate, pig-like howls and pleas for mercy. “Commander Yang, spare me! I have always been on good terms with your father, the Minister Yang, who counted me among his trusted confidants. How can you kill me? Commander Yang, Fourth Young Master Yang, I beg you, spare my life… Fourth Young Master, as long as you spare me, I will obey your every command from now on. I will petition His Majesty to reward you for your deeds. Fourth Young Master, you cannot kill me… Commander Yang, Fourth Young Master, I carried you in my arms when you were a child, even took you to play in the palace… Fourth Young Master, everything I did was under your father’s orders…”

But Yang Xi paid him no heed, letting Bian Lingcheng wail as he pleased, his own expression unchanged.

Though Bian Lingcheng was a trusted aide of Yang Guozhong, Yang Xi’s father, in Yang Xi’s mind this eunuch held no weight whatsoever. He would not be troubled in the slightest by the death of such a man. What occupied his thoughts now was something no one else could have guessed.

He knew Bian Lingcheng was an utterly detestable figure; the fact that he had slandered loyal generals Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, leading to their deaths by order of Emperor Li Longji, made it clear. This “rootless man” was a criminal in the annals of history, a scourge upon the nation. Not to kill him would be an injustice to the people’s outrage. Yang Xi did not know how Bian Lingcheng had met his end in history, but believed that for him to die in this way, slain outside the city of Tong Pass before the eyes of the entire army, was the most fitting end possible.

No matter what, he would kill Bian Lingcheng today, even if Ge Shuhan himself pleaded for mercy—it would be to no avail.

His death could be used to rouse the troops’ spirits!

Yang Xi truly felt that Bian Lingcheng had arrived at precisely the right moment. Today, with this man’s head, he had asserted his authority, established his prestige, and invigorated the morale of the entire army! This was evident in the unusual looks the officers and soldiers now gave him.

Even without thinking, he knew how much the troops loathed Bian Lingcheng. Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, two renowned generals, had been executed because of his reports. Regardless of the personal relationships between the officers here and those generals, all would feel anger at such injustice—a sense of shared fate. They would dearly love to see this eunuch gone, but none dared to act, lest they be accused of treason or rebellion.

Even Marshal Ge Shuhan no doubt feared Bian Lingcheng greatly—there was no need to question it. Now, with the emperor’s own sword, Yang Xi had killed Bian Lingcheng; it was a cause for universal rejoicing.

Yang Xi was certain that killing Bian Lingcheng would win him greater favor and trust from the troops—and even from Ge Shuhan himself.

As Bian Lingcheng’s screams gradually faded, Yang Xi finally allowed his cold gaze to soften. Turning to Ge Shuhan and the assembled officers, he said, “Marshal Ge Shu, gentlemen, let us go witness Bian Lingcheng’s end!”

With Ge Shuhan and the other officers nodding assent, he immediately issued another order: “Instruct all troops to come to the city wall, so they may see with their own eyes how Bian Lingcheng, who abandoned his army and fled for his own life in the face of the enemy, meets his death!”

Without waiting for any further response, he strode first to the battlements, standing tall and watching intently.

Ge Shuhan did not hesitate; he signaled to his attendants to help him forward, and the other officers surged eagerly towards the wall to watch as Bian Lingcheng was dragged to a hill outside the city. The soldiers, having received orders, abandoned their rest and hurried to the ramparts to witness the execution.

At this moment, Bian Lingcheng had already been dragged to a hill southeast of the city. It was a rise visible from both the southern and eastern garrisons. He was hauled there like a dead dog and bound to a tree.

Realizing Yang Xi was not bluffing but truly intended to execute him, Bian Lingcheng was paralyzed with terror. All he could do was beg incessantly, his voice growing hoarse until he could no longer cry out. No one paid him any mind. Even before he was dragged out of the city, he had lost control of his bowels, causing the soldiers dragging him to cover their noses in disgust. By the time he was tied to the tree, he had already fainted.

It was only after a soldier threw a basin of water over him that he regained consciousness, but by then he could no longer speak, his whole body trembling.

A captain of the disciplinary troops drew the sword bestowed upon Yang Xi by Emperor Li Longji and slashed it across Bian Lingcheng’s neck.

After a brief, piercing scream, Bian Lingcheng—the eunuch once trusted by Emperor Li Longji and counted as a confidant by Yang Guozhong—spewed blood from his throat, his head slumping forward as his life ended.

Before the eyes of several thousand soldiers at Tong Pass, Bian Lingcheng’s head was severed and placed in a box.

With his death, a great cheer rose from the walls of Tong Pass, swelling louder and louder!

Yang Xi raised his arm and joined in the shout, declaring his resolve to defend Tong Pass to the death!

“As long as the city stands, we stand; if the city falls, we die!”

In that instant, earth-shaking cries rang out within and without Tong Pass. The soldiers were roused to a fever pitch. Those who had long suffered under Bian Lingcheng—Ge Shuhan, Wang Sili, Qiu Xingliang, Gao Shi, and others—felt an immense catharsis. Their impression of Yang Xi underwent a profound transformation.

This young man was truly decisive and ruthless. Upon arrival, he had executed the Prince of Yan, Huoba Guiren, with barely a word exchanged. Now he had dared to kill Bian Lingcheng, a censor eunuch whom only the emperor himself could judge, and who was also his father’s trusted aide.

No general within the city could have accomplished what this youth had done in such a short span!

At the very least, none had dared put Bian Lingcheng to death—except in open rebellion!

From the changing expressions of the officers, Yang Xi could sense their shifting attitudes, and he was inwardly elated.

The impact of Bian Lingcheng’s death was nothing short of extraordinary!

When the disciplinary officer respectfully returned the execution sword to Yang Xi, he did not immediately sheathe it. Instead, he held it aloft before the assembled officers and shouted, “If anyone else—like Bian Lingcheng or Huoba Guiren—shows cowardice, deserts to the enemy, betrays or rebels, there will be no mercy!”

“We pledge to unite our efforts and fight to the death!” the officers replied, their voices ragged but growing into a furious roar.

The soldiers on the wall echoed the cry, swearing to live and die with Tong Pass!

Yang Xi joined in the shouts before finally sheathing his sword.

The transformation on the ramparts left Yang Xi without a single remaining worry—this was exactly what he needed.

He had united the army’s heart and established his own prestige!

He immediately ordered that Bian Lingcheng’s head be sent to Chang’an.

Along with the severed head went a memorial, signed personally by Yang Xi, listing Bian Lingcheng’s major crimes.

He alone signed this memorial, refusing Ge Shuhan and the other officers’ requests to co-sign. He feared that Emperor Li Longji would vent his anger on the others; this was his own doing, and he would shoulder all the responsibility himself. Of course, when sending this “gift” to Chang’an, he also penned a private letter to Yang Guozhong, explaining the reasons for his actions.