The Zheng family servants rushing forward were startled.
Ah!
One of them clutched his chest, wounded, and collapsed onto the ground.
"Front ranks fall back to reload, rear ranks aim!"
Zhu Zi continued to issue orders.
The five men who had fired quickly retreated.
Seeing only one man felled, the Zheng family head continued to shout from the rear, "Charge! They're only a handful of people, take them down!"
His henchmen, abandoning the unfortunate casualty on the ground, pressed forward.
"Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
At Zhu Zi's command, another volley rang out.
This time, three were taken down.
The Zheng family's henchmen exchanged glances, their hearts pounding. What in the world were these things? They could fell a man from such a distance!
The road in front of the Zheng mansion was wide, easily over ten meters.
Fang Er and his group stood on the other side of the road, while the Zheng family's henchmen charged from the gate. Including the distance from the steps, it was over twenty meters.
After only a few steps, four were taken down.
Fang Er leisurely took a satchel of explosives from his back and pulled out the hidden fuse.
The Zheng family head's face turned green upon seeing the object!
"Young man!"
"You have no martial ethics!"
"Take them down quickly, don't let him throw that explosive pack!"
The Zheng family head's voice trembled.
His henchmen, hearing his voice, glanced at Fang Er's hands, and their souls nearly flew out of their bodies.
They recognized the object!
Lord Zheng from the Ministry of Works had specifically sent one back. An unfortunate servant accidentally ignited it, leading to tragedy in the Zheng mansion that day, killing several people.
Now, these people on the opposite side had brought out this item. This was going to cost them their lives.
Fang Er brought the fuse to Zhao Hu's torch and lit it, then flung it towards the Zheng mansion gate.
The Zheng family head's legs went weak as he watched the flying satchel of explosives, and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Save me! Hurry, save me! Whoever saves me will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"
Lying on the ground, he yelled hoarsely at the scattering servants.
The satchel of explosives flew past him and landed inside the gate.
Fang Er didn't want it to explode on him, so he threw it with considerable force.
With his persistent training, his physical condition was constantly improving. At full strength, he could throw the satchel over twenty meters.
Seeing where the satchel landed, the Zheng family head scrambled to his feet, just beginning to relax when a "boom" erupted from within the gate, followed by a flash of fire.
Then came the "thwack, thwack, thwack" sound as the shrapnel from the explosive pack scattered everywhere.
As fate would have it, a piece of shrapnel landed directly in his backside.
"Ooooh!~~~"
The Zheng family head collapsed again.
Clutching his backside with both hands, his face contorted in agony as he howled.
As gunfire erupted from the main gate, the Fang family guards stationed at other directions of the Zheng mansion also converged.
Forty men, each armed with a flintlock pistol, pointed them squarely at the Zheng mansion gate.
Inside the gate, some women and the elderly and weak, who had just rushed out of the courtyard, saw the miserable state of the Zheng family head on the ground and the scattered limbs of the Zheng family servants at the entrance. They were all terrified and trembled, clinging to each other.
Just then, a flurry of noisy footsteps approached from Fang Er's side. He turned his head and saw, illuminated by a flurry of torches, a group of soldiers wielding swords, led by a burly man clad in scale armor, rushing towards them.
Upon reaching the entrance of the Zheng mansion, the burly man in scale armor exclaimed, "Father!" upon seeing the Zheng family head lying on the ground.
He then rushed over, helped the Zheng family head up, and looking at the shrapnel stuck in his backside, his face filled with murderous intent towards Fang Er and his group, he ordered his accompanying soldiers, "Take them all down! How dare they harm my father, not a single one shall escape! Resist, and be killed!"
"Yes, Second Young Master!"
A leader among the soldiers responded.
Over three hundred soldiers surged forward. Zhu Zi began to panic. They were only a handful of people, and including those who had arrived, there were only about forty of them.
"Young Master, what do we do?"
"What is there to fear? Bring out the Meng Han hand grenades!"
Fang Er calmly drew a hand grenade from his waist, lit it, and tossed it towards the soldiers.
After throwing the hand grenade, he took an N95 mask from his chest and put it on.
The others followed suit, putting on masks, and then they all lit their hand grenades and threw them at the crowd.
This maneuver made the Zheng family head, whose posterior had been violated, grit his teeth in annoyance. How utterly shameless!
The soldiers, not knowing what was being thrown at them, mistook it for the group's last resort of throwing stones. They dodged the hand grenades and charged towards Fang Er and his group, brandishing their swords.
"Turn the cannons, and blast them to hell!"
Fang Er ordered Zhao Hu.
The cannon had two wheels beneath it, and with Zhu Zi's help, Zhao Hu easily made the adjustment.
The Zheng family head was dumbfounded. This thing could move?
The previous two shots had been fired at the gate, and he had assumed it was fixed like a defensive crossbow.
He quickly shouted to the soldiers, "Quick, get out of the way!"
But before the soldiers could react, Zhao Hu ignited the fuse.
The roar of the cannon echoed, and iron balls smashed into the soldiers.
It carved a bloody path directly through the crowd.
The soldiers were stunned, and the Second Young Master Zheng was also dumbfounded.
"Firearms!"
Fang Er continued to issue orders.
The forty-man team was divided into four rows, and under Zhu Zi's command, they fired in rotation.
The Second Young Master Zheng had no idea such things as firearms existed here. He had come in a hurry and hadn't even brought archers. Now, he was utterly bewildered.
The soldiers descended into chaos. As the gunshots rang out, more and more men fell, and the ground was quickly stained red with blood.
The Zheng family head watched dazedly as his soldiers fell to the ground. These were the sons of the Zheng family, now falling like reaped wheat. His heart bled.
*Thump.* The Zheng family head knelt before Fang Er, his voice choked with sobs, "Young Master Fang, please show mercy!"
"Father! What are you doing? Get up quickly!"
The Second Young Master Zheng tried to pull him up, but the Zheng family head remained unmoved, his eyes red as he stared at Fang Er.
"Afraid? When you ordered your subordinates to attack my Fang family, did you ever consider this day?"
Fang Er remained unmoved, only looking at the Zheng family head and saying.
"You tell me! Anything my Zheng family can do, I will not refuse, consider it compensation to you, how about it?"
The Zheng family head gritted his teeth, suppressing his fear.
"I'm sorry. The truth that wild fires cannot burn them away, and spring winds will make them grow again, I, Fang, still understand. It is your fault for striking first and provoking me." Fang Er drew a short pistol from behind him, one he had specifically made for his own defense.
He disengaged the safety, pointed the muzzle at the Zheng family head, and said, "You may go first."