Chapter 394 12k words ;_; (1/2)

Chapter 394 (12k words ;_;)

There was never enough time. Zhang Liao and his army had immediately rushed into Linhuai. When he had pa.s.s through the East gate, the guards there were still relaxing. Zhang Liao even offered to spare the man’s life in order to learn about the layout of Linhuai. The guard was naturally happy enough to become a guide as long as his life was spared. This was also why the sound of killing could be heard so quickly after Zhang Liao had pa.s.sed through the East Gate.

“Men! Get someone to close the gates! Chase the enemies back!” Qin Feng may be frightened but he still wanted to chase back the enemies. Linhuai may not have many troops but it was his place of pleasure. There were more food and money here compared to Tuzhong. If Qin Feng doesn’t beat back the enemies here, he would cry himself to death. Initially, he had plan to escape with all of his wealth in the event that Tuzhong gets captured. He had even prepared ten s.h.i.+ps for his wealth. If Linhuai were to be captured, Qin Feng would lose all of his savings.

“Let’s leave!” Unlike Qin Feng, Song Ming was cooler headed. He too had his own wealth at Linhuai but it was not that much. This was why he was more willing to part with his wealth. He knew it was no longer the time to fight back the enemies. Instead, it was more important for them to protect their own safety. Most of their soldiers were at Tuzhong. In other words, this city had too little soldiers to fight back.

He had already heard from the messengers that the enemy were heavy cavalries at least several thousand in number. If the messenger had arrived earlier, they could have closed the gates and fight back but the enemy was already in the city. It was definitely time to retreat.

“My King, you cannot leave! What are we supposed to do if you were to leave?” The three women had also turned pale from fright especially after hearing the word leave. They were simply weak women. In times of chaos, the women simply needed to attach themselves to a man for safety. This was why they could not bear to see Qin Feng leave. If Qin Feng were to elave, these three women would not be able to do anything. At that time, being treated as spoils of war would be the best ending they could get. On the other hand, they would rather accept death compared to being army prost.i.tutes.

“I won’t leave! Don’t worry. I, Qin Feng, will not escape. I want all of the invaders dead! We can then continue what was interrupted!” Initially, Qin Feng simply did not want to abandon his wealth. However, when the three women plead to him in tears, Qin Feng, like any other man in his position, ended up wanting to show off his valor.

“Sigh.” Song Ming slapped his thigh. At some point in time, all Qin Feng thought about was money and women. Song Ming wanted to escape on his own but he without Qin Feng’s approval, he would not be able to testify his status. It was absolutely impossible for him to accept becoming a refugee after escaping alone. He needed to stick to Qin Feng so that he could remain an official.

“Men! Get me my horse! Song Ming! What are you doing?” While Qin Feng made his preparations in high spirits, Song Ming and a few other high ranking military officials were feeling anxious. These people can’t actually fight. If they could, they wouldn’t have betrayed Yuan Shu. On top of that, they have joined Qin Feng in seeking pleasures during the past few years. As a result, their fighting capabilities is even less than normal. They wanted to continue seeking pleasure instead of dying meaninglessly at Linhuai. As a result, both Song Ming and these men had a tacit understanding. They immediately grabbed Qin Feng and dragged him away.

“My King!” The three women turned pale. If Qin Feng left, they would be finished. Although they wanted to stop them, how could three frail women fight against soldiers?

Song Ming looked at these three women as Qin Feng was taken away. Song Ming then shouted. “Men. Send these women on their way!” These three women could not be left behind or they would continue their seduction1. When that happens, Song Ming was the one that would suffer as Qin Feng would definitely settle accounts with him.

Following Song Ming’s orders, the soldiers stepped forward with a laugh. The results were clear. A few screams later, these three women was no longer part of the world.

“General. General. That place in front is Milor… I mean, Qin Feng’s place!” The soldier panted heavily. He was unable to handle riding together with another Xiliang Cavalry member.

He had already told them where the governor’s residence is after he surrendered. However, the general was neither slow nor hasty when advancing. The officer wanted Qin Feng captured. If he could help the general obtain Qin Feng’s head, he would not need to worry about merits.

“Are there any secret pa.s.sages?” Zhang Liao asked.

“No. There are none.” The soldier had been there many times before and could easily lead the way.

“Good! You completed your task well!” The soldier became happy when he heard the compliment. Just as soon as he thought he was going to be rewarded, Zhang Liao ordered Zhang Hu to execute the man. Two other Xiliang Cavalry soldiers also quickly advanced to seize him.

“General! You can’t do this! I brought you here! I also know where Qin Feng is! I can help you capture Qin Feng!”

“Do we need you to know that? We don’t! Zhang Hu! Kill him!”

“Understood!” Zhang Hu accepted the order and immediately killed that soldier. What Zhang Liao hated the most were traitors. Everyone would feel uneasy if they had to look at a person that sold his own Lord away. If this man could betray Qin Feng, it also means that this man could betray Zhang Liao in the future.

“Men! Surround this place! Let n.o.body in! Zhang Hu! Take the bodyguards with you and follow me!” Zhang Liao wanted to take Linhuai but also allow Qin Feng to escape.

Yes. Zhang Liao was asked to release Qin Feng. When Liu Mang had left, he had ordered Zhang Liao to capture either Linhuai or Tuzhong while letting the other city act as bait calling for reinforcements. Now that Linhuai was captured, only Tuzhong was left. However, Tuzhong alone is not enough for Sun Ce to send reinforcements. Sun Ce could only have a proper reason of sending reinforcements if Qin Feng was still around. If he did not move for Qin Feng, it would be like abandoning his own men. At that time, n.o.body would want to work for Sun Ce anymore.

This was why Zhang Liao had slowed down. He wanted to give Qin Feng the opportunity to escape. However, if Qin Feng was still around, he would have no choice but to die.

“General! The enemy is not here!” A few soldiers who had went in first quickly reported. All they could find were a few servants and three corpses lying in a pool of blood.

“They run fast!” Zhang Liao snorted and then followed his soldiers into the building.

This trip to Linhuai had given Zhang Liao plenty of pleasant surprises. There were no more than three thousand men stationed here and there were more than thirty thousand provisions. If these provisions were used to train the troops, there were enough to last a year. In other words, Zhang Liao and his men would no longer need to worry about provisions. There were so much here that Zhang Liao had even thought of capturing Tuzhong just for the provisions.

However, Zhang Liao remained calm. Had Qin Feng not escape, he could capture Qin Feng and use Qin Feng to take Tuzhong. However, since Qin Feng had escapes, Sun Ce would be hounding him. If what the provision officers said was correct, Tuzhong had a lot of provisions but also several tens of thousands of soldiers guarding it. Tuzhong has become a fortress. Although Qin Feng was not particularly skilled, the man also knew that wealth can only be ama.s.sed if one had enough power to guard it. Otherwise, this wealth was simply a mark of death.

Besides provisions there was also several tens of thousands of gold along with countless jewelry. Even Zhang Liao who is not tempted by money was stunned from the amount. Fortunately, Zhang Liao shook himself out of his stupor and then gave Zhang Hu and Ge Jun a thousand pounds of gold to distribute to the soldiers and placate them. This would also increase their morale for the following battles.

As for the two thousand captured troops, Zhang Liao had them leave Linhuai. He did not want to use them as they were all young pampered children that have never fought on a battlefield before. Keeping them would only be a waste of provisions. They were given a little food after being chased away. As these people would not have many places to go, they could only find shelter at Tuzhong.

“General. What are you…?” Zhang Hu could not believe that the soldiers were being released. These soldiers all cheered as they did not want to die.

“Do you not understand why?” Zhang Liao asked back as he watched those soldiers leave. Regardless of how weak the soldiers were, they were still soldiers that could harm the army. If Zhang Liao had been afraid of wasting provisions, he could just kill them. Instead, he let them go and even gave them food. This was like sending the tigers back to the mountains. However, Zhang Liao had actually let them go so that he could attack Tuzhong.

“Look at those soldiers. They live in debauchery and have no fighting spirit. Do you think such people could hinder our forces?”

“No!”

“There are no such pampered soldiers at Tuzhong!” Everyone knew that Tuzhong was going to be attacked. As a result, all the talented people with no properties and hungry for merits were all at Tuzhong. What Zhang Liao wanted to do was for these rotten people to weaken the entire group just like how one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.

Their bad habits such as gambling and other things would slowly spread to the other soldiers. The fearless soldiers would now fear death. The city guards would try to slack off. With such soldiers, it would not matter even if there were a lot of them guarding Tuzhong.

On top of that, Zhang Liao had given them food. This would allow them to go to Tuzhong and spread word of the Xiliang Cavalry to the others. As they would not publicize their own cowardice, they would definitely say that the Xiliang Cavalry were extremely powerful.

“General is smart.I cannot compare!” Zhang Hu wholeheartedly complimented Zhang Liao as he cupped his fist.

“There is still much you need to learn!” Zhang Liao replied with the face of a dead fish. Those that see it would become very irritated. Fortunately, Zhang Hu had been spending a lot of time with Zhang Liao for the past few days. He found out that Zhang Liao is easy to talk to once you adjust yourself to his temper.

“We should wait for Xu Sheng and the Black Flag Army. After that, we will attack Tuzhong!” Xu Sheng and the Black Flag Army were the ones with the catapults. Without them, Zhang Liao would need to sacrifice a lot of lives.

___

There was no more room for leeway. The corpses of Tang Yun and his servant were found outside Xinye.

“That boy Liu Mang is p.i.s.sing me off!” Liu Biao threw the report on the ground. Liu Mang’s envoy had certainly died without reason at Jingzhou. However, the culprit was Liu Bei and not Liu Biao. Liu Biao had sent provisions and invited Liu Mang over because he felt apologetic and also because he did not want to have a falling out with Liu Mang. There was no benefits to either side if they both go to war against each other and it was extremely important for the balance to be kept.

This was why Tang Yun had been dispatched. However, Tang Yun was found dead at Xinye. According to the soldiers at Xinye, apparently the Liu Mang’s Army was seen around the area.

“Milord. This Liu Mang is shameless! There is no more need for words. Let us dispatch our army together with Lord Xuande to vanquish this False King!” The ones that spoke were the Pang Family’s disciples. As Pang Tong was Liu Bei’s strategist, they would all naturally support Pang Tong.

“Milord. There are still points for doubt. We cannot be reckless!” The person who quickly objected this time looked similar to Kuai Yue. He was Kuai Yue’s little brother, Kuai Liang.

Kuai Liang had attended the meeting this time. Previously he did not come because he was furious at Liu Biao’s inaction when Pang Tong killed Liu Mang’s envoy. All of this would not happen if Liu Biao had arrested Pang Tong and send him straight to Yangzhou. Kuai Liang was now here because a serious matter has happened. Tang Yun had died. Although Tang Yun was friends with Pang Shanmin, he was just a small n.o.ble. His death had great effect because he was Liu Biao’s envoy.

“Reckless?” One scholar sneered. “Master Zirou. Why do you refuse to believe the truth? Tang Yun died at Xinye. Who else but Liu Mang could have killed him?”

“Did you, Zhang Cheng, personally see Tang Yun killed by Liu Mang?”

“No!” Zhang Cheng was of the Zhang Family in Jingzhou. The Zhang Family was of the same mind with the Cai Family.

“If not, how could you come to that conclusion? Do you want to invite war and sell off Jingzhou to Liu Bei?”

“You…!” Zhang Cheng pointed at Kuai Liang. Kuai Liang’s reply had rendered Zhang Cheng speechless and even involved Liu Bei.

“Sigh.” Another person stopped Zhang Cheng as if tagging in and then said, “Master Zirou. Although we did not see the deed with our own eyes, Tang Yun had died at Xinye and by his side was a weapon used by Rear General Yuan. I want to ask. Who else uses such weapons?” In ancient times, the distribution of weapons is restricted. So now that Yuan Shu is dead, the only people who could use weapons made by Yuan Shu would be Liu Mang. This is especially true as Yuan Shu had used to deliver weapons to Lu Bu while Liu Mang was Yuan Shu’s son-in-law.

“What can a single weapon explain? Not only that this is the late Yuan’s weapon but even if it was Liu Mang’s weapon, it explains nothing! The question is who used the weapon. I even have one of Liu Mang’s weapon presented to me by Brother Yang Hong in my room. Are you saying I am the a.s.sa.s.sin?” Kuai Liang retorted.

In war, there would be victory and there would be defeat. It was normal for an enemy to be holding your weapons.

“Besides that, Huang Guang. Have you ever met a murderer that drops their weapon with a peculiar mark serving as evidence at the scene of the crime?” Kuai Liang sneered back.

“This showed that Liu Mang does not even bother giving any face to Milord when retaliating! He left the weapon there so that Milord would need to dispatch his troops or be ridiculed by the world.“ Huang Guang was also not easy to deal with. Kuai Liang had just only said that the real enemy was trying to sow discord but Huang Guang reversed it by saying that Liu Mang was arrogant and simply did not have any respect for Liu Biao.

“The King of Shu is definitely not this kind of person.” Kuai Liang had seen Liu Mang before when he went to Lujiang. Liu Mang was cordial and even showed a lot of respect to Kuai Liang to the extent that Kuai Liang felt embarra.s.sed. This is because Liu Mang knew about the two Kuai brothers. He knew that if Liu Biao had actually listened to these two, he would not have died horribly.

Those that can show respect to others would not be such an arrogant person.

“If he is not such a person, why would he dispatch his troops and even occupy Yiyang and Zaoyang?” Huang Guang became overbearing. Initially, this was Liu Biao’s fault for taking advantage of the time Liu Mang was attacked on three sides. Liu Mang angrily took Yiyang and Zaoyang and interest. Liu Biao had even tacitly nod in approval. Now, it became the reasoning for Liu Mang’s haughtiness.

“Of course it is because somebody erred first! If we had not simply watch, Liu Mang would not have taken Yiyang and Zaoyang! You guys even reached an agreement with Sun Ce unafraid of a plot. Later, you will all be eaten up until nothing is left!” Since Huang Guang had become overbearing, Kuai Liang returned the favour by tearing the man’s words apart. Liu Mang had taken away their benefits when he gave the recruitment order. Liu Mang had ma.s.sacred the n.o.bles at Wancheng. Sun Ce would not dare to offend the n.o.bles but the same could not be said for Liu Mang.

“You better not regret your decision. If Sun Ce captures Jingzhou, you all would still have a way to live. However, since you have offended the King of Shu, you would not have anywhere left to run!” Kuai Liang mocked. These n.o.bles were angry at Liu Mang but they also feared Liu Mang as Liu Mang would kill their entire family just like what he did at Wancheng.

The n.o.bles then remembered their fear. The three families could not get rid of Liu Mang and they did not want to imagine the consequences if Liu Bei were to lose.

Pang Tong frowned. He never expected Kuai Liang to be able to speak in such a way that the others could not retort. He was just about to stand up when they all heard a funeral song being played along with the sounds of weeping outside the governor’s residence. They were all able to hear it despite the governor’s residence being so big.

“Who is holding a funeral?” They were still in discussion but a funeral was being held. This is simply looking for trouble. If they had just been pa.s.sing through, the noise would only be temporary. However, the noise simply grew louder and louder, annoying Liu Biao.