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Chapter 656: Unifying Wanzhou (IX)

The Deputy Chief’s face turned livid with rage.

It was as if someone had exposed the most obscure and hidden thoughts in his mind and spread them out under the sun. He felt an indescribable feeling of shame.

“Heh heh... why should it matter? I can wait for both Liu Xi, that little child, and the Red Lotus Group to weaken...”

Wei Ci sneered.

“My lord owns Fengyi County, Shangyang County, and most of the territory of Chengde County. Only Qiuyu County is left in the biggest area of Wanzhou. Are you so powerful that you can weaken both sides? To put it unpleasantly, did you think that because there are a mere 100,000 members of the Red Lotus Group that you can go on a rampage without any fear and disregard the heroes of our land? Or perhaps you didn’t know about that? Previously, the Red Lotus Group stormed Jinmen County with a division of 36,000 troops. The guards in Jinmen County numbered less than 8,000. What was the result? The Red Lotus Group was utterly defeated and more than 30,000 men were captured. With this in mind, do you still feel that the Red Lotus Group can go head-to-head with my lord?”

The Deputy Chief’s eyes flashed with hesitation and an internal struggle. There was also a lingering sense of alarm.

As Wei Ci ridiculed him, he felt like the frog watching the sky from the bottom of a well, ignorant and narrow-minded. He’d thought that the Red Lotus Group was the hegemon of the north after they had defeated the Tsing Yi Army to the point that the enemy had fled like rats. But Wei Ci was telling him that the Red Lotus Group was actually very weak; its military force numbering 36,000 had been defeated by only 7,000 troops in a counter-attack.

This example was true, and he could not refute it.

Their 36,000 soldiers could not beat their enemy’s 7,000 soldiers!

The 30,000 troops in the city could not give him a lick of security.

Regardless of whether he chose to throw in his lot with the Red Lotus Group or sit and watch the fierce battle between the Group and Jiang Pengji, he would not have a good ending either way.

Wei Ci softened his voice to avoid pressing the other party into too tight a corner.

“My lord sent me down here to sincerely point out the more optimistic possibility for you.”

The Deputy Chief was silent. His eyes were opened wide and his gaze was like a tiger’s as he stared at Wei Ci.

“Continue. I want to hear what you can come up with.” He harrumphed coolly and gritted his teeth in humiliation and anger. He said fiercely, “I will die if I throw my lot in with the Red Lotus Group, will I not die if I rely on Liu Xi? You make things sound so good, but isn’t your lord the same in reality?”

Wei Ci laughed. “If you throw your lot in with my lord and assist him in destroying the Red Lotus Group, you will be the meritorious minister who eliminated the Group. Why would he poison a minister who contributed? If he did that, would there be anyone else who would choose to give up his wrong way of life and turn to a better with my lord? General, think carefully, has there ever been any conflict between you and my lord? Are there any old quarrels or scores to settle? Since there are not, why should you worry?”

Yeah, he had no enmity or feud with Liu Xi.

Why would Liu Xi harm him if he took the initiative to surrender and swear allegiance to him?

Even if Liu Xi did not put him to use, he would not harm him. On the contrary, he would treat him kindly. Otherwise, once word spread, the enemies that Liu Xi met from then on would stubbornly resist with all their strength. They would die whether they surrendered or not. They might as well fight to the death.

The scales in his heart slowly tipped towards Jiang Pengji.

Wei Ci knew that he had said enough and did not urge the general any more. Instead, he adopted a relaxed and tranquil appearance, looking calm and graceful.

“Can you guarantee... that Liu Xi will not turn his back on me?”

“My lord’s ambition encompasses the entire world. Qiuyu County alone is not worthy enough for him to break his promise.”

The Deputy Chief’s expression alternated between livid and dark. He understood that he was being looked down upon, but what made him feel powerless was that others had what it took to look down on him.

Hence, the struggle in his heart intensified even more.

Wei Ci got up from the table and flicked his sleeves.

His voice was clear and cold as a clear spring in the mountains. Hearing it felt as if one had dipped his whole body into an ice-cold spring in the scorching summer. The Deputy Chief could not help but shiver.

“General, there is not much time left.” He laughed. “My lord has received orders to send troops to rescue to the Emperor. If he can’t take down the city even after attacking it for a long time, he will retreat to defend the other three counties. Without the pressure from my lord, do you think that the Red Lotus Group will just let things go and ignore your crimes of kidnapping the Chief and turning against the Group?”

There was no need for Wei Ci to remind him. Simply by thinking about that scenario, the Deputy Chief knew just what was going to happen to him.

Wei Ci added more fuel to the fire. “Your army is strong and solid, but most of them are religious followers of the Red Lotus Group. According to my intuition, apart from a few confidants, most of the people don’t know that you’ve harmed the Chief, right? If my lord withdraws his soldiers and the Red Lotus Group finds a practical way to verify the charges against you, don’t you think that the Chief’s worshippers will take up arms and confront you?

Not just an armed confrontation... his head would be cut off the first time he fell asleep sleep!

The Deputy Chief knew that his position was unstable. But after listening to Wei Ci’s words, he finally realized that things were far more serious than he had imagined.

He was really frightened now, so he restrained his overweening attitude.

Once he understood, he was most eager to adapt to circumstances.

He bowed and asked for advice, looking rather incongruous and absurd.

“Master, could you please point out the way for me?”

Wei Ci sat back down in his seat with a slight smile at the corners of his lips.

“I wouldn’t dare give directions, but I do have some words of advice for you.”

Wei Ci had arrived at a very fortuitous time. The messenger sent by the Red Lotus Group for peace talks had come over during the day. He had reasoned in every possible way and made bucket-loads of promises.

The Deputy Chief felt uneasy and did not immediately agree, only saying that he wanted to consider it further.

The night had barely begun when Wei Ci had arrived. His sincere talk had put the Deputy Chief more at ease than a bucketful of promises.

Facing desperate straits, he naturally chose the path that was the most advantageous for him.

It was not necessarily a bad idea to support Liu Xi and become one of his men.

The Deputy Chief saw a ray of hope for survival after hearing Wei Ci’s words.

He secretly gritted his back molars and told Wei Ci, “The Red Lotus sent an emissary during the day to persuade me to join forces with them... To express my sincerity, I’ll get someone to kill those b*stards... I just hope that you will say something nice about me to your lord... ”

Wei Ci blocked the Deputy Chief’s movements. He said, “You must not do that.”

The Deputy Chief was astonished. “Why not?”

“You’ll alert them to our intentions.” Wei Ci didn’t blink as he continued, “If you kill their messenger, they will know that you’ve defected to my lord’s side. They will take precautions when the time comes and you will be in an even more dangerous situation. Hold back your troops for the time being and pretend to cooperate. Tempt their best troops to enter the city while your soldiers lay in wait. It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel. At that time, the troops will be lacking leaders, and the Red Lotus Group outside the city will have no commander. Then, my lord will dispatch troops to capture the city... This way, the thorn in our sides can be easily removed... ”

Wei Ci spoke as if it was a totally ordinary idea.

But as the Deputy Chief listened, he felt as if he was about to drown in his sweat.

From his perspective, this literati in front of him was beautiful and elegant; he represented no threat at all.

If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have had the guts to stay in the same room with him for such a long time. He felt that Wei Ci was a weak chicken.

When he looked at him now, he thought that this scholar was terrifying. His mouth was like a sword and his pen was like a knife. He spoke mildly and murdered without showing his true nature.

Wei Ci asked him, “General, what do you think?”

The Deputy Chief stuttered a little as he said, “It’s very, very good.”

Wei Ci continued, “To win their trust, I hope that you can do this one thing.”

The Deputy Chief asked, “What is it?”

“Kill me.”

The Deputy Chief was so shocked he stood rooted to the ground. He thought that there must be something wrong with his ears. Otherwise, how could he have made such a weird request?

“Kill... kill you?”

Wei Ci calmly said, “Please do not misunderstand. That’s not what I meant. I am afraid that even before my lord sent me here to persuade you, the people who are determined to learn about this had already gotten wind of it. To better gain their trust, you can use the corpse of somebody else to deceive the Red Lotus Group. From their perspective, there’s no possibility that you’ll defect to my lord if you’ve killed his messenger. It’d even less likely that you’d be accepted by him. In this way, you can trick their best troops into entering the city without too much suspicion on their side. Our plan will be executed more smoothly.”