"Why?" Fengyu froze. Entering Jiaozhou alone? Lin Zhi drenched three feet of blood at the city gates; the citizens of Jiaozhou must despise you. Lin Zhi was a good official, and his wife is seven months pregnant. At the height of public outrage, entering Jiaozhou is fraught with immense risk.
He is the commander of the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry, a man of high stature seated above ordinary threat. How could he venture alone into Jiaozhou?
"I cannot shirk responsibility for Lin Zhi's death; I cannot evade accountability. His coffin will rest for ten days before the funeral; I will send him off," Xie Xun said. "This is one reason. I am powerless to stop the rumors spreading across Zhongzhou and Jiangnan, but I cannot allow Jiaozhou to be consumed by fear—the fear that the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry will massacre their city. Since military force cannot resolve Jiaozhou, I will enter the city alone to show them Ningzhou Iron Cavalry's sincerity."
How is this merely sincerity!
