Chapter 329 Suspicion of Immortal Rivalry (2/2)
”When I investigated the dead youths, I found that they were immortals like Zhang Tong and Hua Shi as well! None of them should have a grudge or an enmity with the others since they were so young back then, yet they slaughtered the others in cold blood.”
Tao Qian protested, ”That incident alone should not be the evidence of this poisoning, right?”
”Lord Tao, you have grown senile. Have you forgotten that the previous emperor, Liu Ping, was also an immortal!?”
”T-This!?”
”Everyone, please continue listening to me. Emperor Liu Ping has never known Zhang Jiao or Zhang Tong since he had been raised within the Capital City. Yet, why was he so adamant on killing Zhang Tong years ago? Do you remember that day when he ordered the mobilization of the imperial forces?”
The crowd murmured. All warlords could notice the big picture and Yuan Shao's point now.
”Liu Ping was an immortal, and he wanted Zhang Tong dead because they were both immortals!”
Tao Qian stuttered, ”B-But, Hua Shi and Zhang Tong were both immortals. Why haven't they killed the other?”
”Liu Ping also had an immortal consort named Wang Li! He also killed her in his bedroom and blamed her because of her sorcery! Among the dungeon of the imperial clan, Liu Ping lured many immortals with his mysterious writing flyers and killed them all in the dungeon! During the battle at Jinyang, there are rumors that Liu Ping was killed by a mysterious immortal! Don't you see it? Every immortal are aiming to kill each other!”
All the deeds that both Liu Ping and Tong did came to light. Liu Bei, who was still wet with tears, stared at Yuan Shao in astonishment.
He could partly understand the big picture now! Jiang Man was using him as a tool to kill Tong!
Liu Bei understood why Jiang Man acted like he did not like Tong. He also remembered that Jiang Man wanted him to pretend to be Tong's ally, so they could backstab him when Tong did not expect it.
Furthermore, Jiang Man acted very suspiciously when he visited Yuan Shao. Thinking back, both Yuan Shao and Jiang Man seemed to have a weird relationship between a master and a servant.
'Bastard! Yuan Shao knew something, and Jiang Man must have told them! They conspired behind my back!'
All warlords in the banquet hall were also not stupid. They also connected the dots and their personal's intelligence from their men.
They also knew about Pu Jing, Sun Fang, Li Jing, Li Feihong, and Te Langpu. These people were the confirmed immortal entities within China.
Because they knew about Te Langpu and Li Feihong, something still did not make sense. If they were that hostile against each other, why Tong had gathered so many immortals to work with him.
Tao Qian was about to ask, but Tian Feng interrupted them as he had predicted their questions.
”Our forces used to employ Te Langpu, one of the immortals. After we crashed with Zhang Tong at Anping, Te Langpu encountered with Zhang Tong and surrendered to him. As for Li Feihong, I think he tried to fight with Zhang Tong long ago. I'm sure you remember about the incidents in Jinyang where Lu Bu and Zhang Tong fought. They ended up reconciled and worked in the same force later on, which I think they came to a truce. If you have noticed, Li Feihong and Zhang Tong never stayed inside the same city!”
Yuan Shao inserted, ”Both Li Feihong and Zhang Tong formed an alliance to kill other immortals. It was a relationship that all of you politicians can understand.”
Everyone here had conspired against their friends or their colleagues more than once. Thus, they believed that if they could form an alliance to kill the others, then all immortals could do the same.
Sun Fang and Li Jing also fell into this criteria. Both of them might have joined forces when they realized that they could not kill Zhang Tong on their own.
Hua Shi and Tong also might have formed an alliance early on and disguised their relationship as a husband and wife. However, some of the lords believed that they married for real.
Then, their attention came to Pu Jing, who was serving under Cao Cao.
If the theory about the rivalry between immortals were true, every incident behind the fight between Tong and other immortals could be easily explained. The motive behind the service of Pu Jing could also be seen as an attempt to manipulate Cao Cao into fighting Tong.
Xiongnu King was also an immortal. With this theory, it explained why Tong gathered everyone here. Everybody here was used as pawns, so Tong could kill the Xiongnu King!
Now that the Xiongnu King escaped, it was not hard for them to put themselves in Tong's shoes. If they were Tong, what would be his next move if he wanted the another immortal dead?
”Then, the first suspect of this poisoning …”
”Of course! The first person who would want Jiang Man dead is no other than Zhang Tong!”
Liu Bei's eyes beamed as he found a reason to gather everyone to kill his target of envy, Tong. He stood up and took the lead, ”Everyone! I need justice for my fourth brother! Zhang Tong plotted to use our forces to kill the Xiongnu King, then he planned to discard us. I hope to borrow all of your forces to kill this tyrant!”
Tao Qian stared at Liu Bei in hesitation.
”What about her majesty!? Do you forget that he's the prince consort!?”
Yuan Shao retorted, ”I don't think she's the real empress! It should be one of Tong's superpower trick to disguise someone as the empress! Do you think someone with her caliber will lower herself to favor a son of rebel!? Impossible! That empress is an imposter!”
Liu Bei agreed, ”That's right! That's an imposter!”
Zhang Miao stood up as he also followed suit, ”I don't believe she can be this low. That's an imposter!”
”Imposter!”
”That's Zhang Tong's trick!”
”We're not fools. That is not the empress!”
The crowd in the banquet erupted as they believed in Yuan Shao and Liu Bei.
Yuan Shao grinned at Liu Bei while Liu Bei glared at the Yuan Shao in an annoyance. With their experiences in the politician world, they understood their underlying façade as they knew what the other's goal was.
'I'll use you, Yuan Shao!'
'A nasty actor, I like a lowlife like you!'