Vol 9 Chapter 141 (2/2)

“I did hear what you both said but that’s just circ.u.mstantial evidence for a hypothesis of yours that cannot be proven.” Shen Pei cut me down ruthlessly and continued rather anxiously, “What is key here is not to look at what is not suspicious but to look at what is suspicious.”

Look at… What is suspicious?

“Umm, if you can, I hope you can explain what you just said.” Cao Ren said as she sat upright, as did I, as she waited for Shen Pei’s explanation.

“That’s easy.” Shen Pei said with raised eyebrows as she looked at the letter and then raised her head to look at us, “Because the enemy chose to defect at the time when we need generals to do so the most.”

Wu… I still do not understand what she means.

“Ah,” Cao Ren exclaimed softly.

“Now that you mention it…” Cao Rem said as she began to gesture with her hands, “If one wants to defect, one would do so only when the main body of our southern campaign is here. Defecting now is equivalent to inviting us to take the city.”

Ah, so that’s what she means. I finally understood what Shen Pei meant. The timing is too perfect, it’s obvious that we will siege the city if we accept their defections. And that was indeed what Cao Ren and I were thinking about. If their defections were fake, then we would definitely be annihilated from within and without when we sieged the city.

“But… This might be because Guan Yu and the rest wish to earn some merits by doing so now.” Cao Ren continued as she leaned forward, “It is because they know that their troops will be vital for us that they have chosen to come now. When they help us take Xinye city, they will earn merits as well.”

“Un, that is indeed possible.”

“A warrior like Guan Yu would not pursue such things.” I denied Cao Ren’s words but then added on, “But we are talking about 3 people here. There is Zhang Liao and that Chen Gong who might be after t.i.tles, merits and officialdom.”

Back when we tried to persuade Zhang Liao, these were the ‘carrots’ we used after all. If it worked, then she might have begun to consider such things after the battle.

“In any case, we do not have enough information and I do not recommend acting now.” Shen Pei concluded while Cao Ren and I were still thinking. When she finished, she picked up the letter and pondered for a moment before she continued, “This might be a little despicable but the best use of this letter is to send it back to the city.”

When she finished, Shen Pei looked at us. Judging from her expression, she seems to think that this is a good idea. It is indeed a good idea but we cannot do this.

Cao Ren and I looked at each other with the mission that our lord gave us back then in mind.

We need to capture as many generals as we can. If we send this letter back, a good number of precious, capable individuals will likely perish. Even I think that it’s a great waste, especially when they can serve my lord.

“No, I don’t think that’s right.” I do not think I managed to transmit my thoughts to Cao Ren as she is undoubtedly more hung up about my lord than I am, “If we do that, the world will shower us with ridicule.”

“Even Lord Yuan Shao will not find this palatable.” I added on.

Shen Pei’s eyebrows jumped when she saw this and put the letter aside as she shrugged, “I was just proposing it and did not intend on actually following through with it.” She paused and sank into thought but immediately got the answer she wanted and spoke up, “How about this? We do not have enough information so let’s test the waters.”

“What do you mean?”

“They say they want to defect right?” Shen Pei said as she flipped the letter and pointed at a line on it, “Then let’s ask them over for a chat.”

“Eh?” Cao Ren uttered in surprise, “Ask them over huh…”

“Yes.” Shen Pei said as she grabbed a brush and began writing on the back of the letter, “We’ll get them to come over and personally examine their motivations to see if their intention to defect is genuine.”

“And if they are not…” I asked.

Shen Pei looked up, “if they are not…”

Halfway through, Shen Pei let out a long sigh and when we looked over, we found that her demeanor had weakened. Looks like she reverted to her normal state.

“Ah… Umm… In that case…” She became weak yet again, “In that case, we can just kill them on the spot~” She said as she made a slicing motion at her neck and smiled wryly.

I have to say that the aura she has right now is more evil than it was before.

But what she proposed is a good idea.

“Then what if they don’t come?”

“If they don’t come, then we’ll take it that this letter never existed.” I said, “That would mean that their resolve is lacking.”

Of course, this is a.s.suming they genuinely wish to defect.

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