After the two left the Peng residence, Peng Yuancheng's smile faded, he gave a cold snort, clapped his hands, and two advisors emerged from behind the screen, namely Shi Ze and Guo Yunfei.
What do you two think?
At this moment, the impetuousness on their faces from their verbal sparring with Gongsun Ming was gone. Shi Ze said, "This is a golden opportunity. City Lord, you should make a decisive move. If you give it up, Heaven will surely destroy us."
Guo Yunfei nodded in agreement. Peng Yuancheng laughed loudly, but as the laughter subsided, his expression suddenly turned ashen.
"Shi Ze, hurry to Leiming City and report to Feng Jiutian that Liu Guang sent someone to tell me about my uprising. Oh, and don't forget to report to Mr. Feng in detail about the debate in the hall."
Shi Ze's face lit up with joy, and he bowed, saying, "Rest assured, City Lord, I understand. I will certainly report everything, big or small, to Mr. Feng."
Peng Yuancheng looked at the two men again, and then they all burst into laughter. The laughter echoed from the empty reception room up the roof and into the deep courtyard, causing ripples to spread through the once silent and vast compound.
Section 2
After reading Shi Ze's urgent report, Feng Jiutian fell into deep thought.
Based on his understanding of Peng Yuancheng, this man's loyalty was questionable. He was initially a general under the former lord of Dagu City, but later murdered his lord and seized power. When Li Jun's army pressed in, he surrendered to the Zhu family, only to force the Zhu family lord to his death. Having directly or indirectly killed two lords, it wouldn't be surprising to add Li Jun, a lord in name only.
"Liu Guang sent someone to tell you that Peng Yuancheng has raised an army?" After reading the urgent report, he was still uneasy. After asking Shi Ze for a detailed inquiry, he had to admit that the information Peng Yuancheng sent Shi Ze to report was completely consistent with the information reported by his own spies around Peng Yuancheng. In fact, it was much more detailed than his own intelligence. For example, how Peng Yuancheng met with Gongsun Ming alone and how he used a trick to extract Liu Guang's plan from him was something that Feng Jiutian's spies had no idea about.
"In short, this matter is completely contrary to Peng Yuancheng's character and is hard to understand." After pondering repeatedly, Feng Jiutian wrote in a secret letter to Li Jun: "I believe that it is not a good thing for the Peace Army for the Commander to stay away for so long. Now that Chen State has been pacified, the Commander should return to the army immediately to avoid any unforeseen circumstances. Peng Yuancheng is deep and wise. If he can be used, he will be a great help to the Commander. If he cannot be used, then we should make plans to get rid of him as soon as possible."
The urgent message was delivered to the State of Chen by courier at a speed of 800 li per day. Therefore, Li Jun received the letter in just two days. Upon reading the message, he couldn't help but frown.
"Liu Guang sent an envoy to say that Peng Yuancheng is plotting a rebellion, that his ambition is not in Yuzhou, but in Chen State. If I return to Yuzhou, Chen State will fall into Liu Guang's hands." In his reply, Li Jun pointed out Liu Guang's conspiracy incisively. Li Jun had long known that Peng Yuancheng was ambitious and unscrupulous. He was likely the mastermind behind the collusion with Japanese pirates to harass Kuanglan City, but Li Jun had always valued Peng's talent and therefore pretended not to know. Now, it was obviously impossible for him to decide to eliminate Peng Yuancheng immediately. Moreover, Peng Yuancheng commanded a large army and was stationed in the rear. If Peng discovered any signs of trouble and actually rebelled, Li Jun would be in a terrible predicament.
"Send men to keep a close watch on Peng Yuancheng, but don't let him find out. Let Liu Guang's messengers go back, and don't let them know that we've discovered his treachery." When Feng Jiutian read Li Jun's arrangements, he was extremely disapproving. He had already planned to monitor Peng Yuancheng. Although Peng Yuancheng himself hadn't made any unusual moves, rumors about him plotting a rebellion were rampant. Feng Jiutian wasn't the kind of person to believe everything he heard, and besides, Peng Yuancheng hadn't shown any abnormalities. Although he still outwardly complied with the policy of suppressing the powerful and helping the poor, it would have been suspicious if he had actually followed it.
Two days later, Li Jun sent another package back. In his reply, Li Jun agreed with his assessment of Peng Yuancheng and was also deeply wary of the news from Yuzhou that Peng Yuancheng was planning a rebellion. He instructed Feng Jiu to issue an order to transfer Peng Yuancheng to the front lines of Chen State, keeping him firmly under his control so that he would not fear any unusual actions from him.
After receiving the order to go to Chen State, Peng Yuancheng calmly replied that he would obey without hesitation. Meanwhile, he began to mobilize his troops in a large-scale operation. Feng Jiutian, upon receiving news from Yu Yang's spy, suddenly understood. Li Jun's original intention was to send only Peng Yuancheng to Chen State, but this order couldn't be stated explicitly. If he directly said only one person was allowed to go, it would be tantamount to telling Peng Yuancheng, "I suspect you might rebel in the rear, so I'm sending you here as a hostage." However, by not explicitly stating only one person was allowed, he gave Peng Yuancheng an excuse to mobilize his troops.
Knowing that the die was cast, Feng Jiutian urgently ordered all cities to strengthen their defenses. He mobilized all available land forces from Yinhu City and Kuanglan City to Leiming City. He sent messengers to Li Jun to report the emergency, and also dispatched an envoy to question Peng Yuancheng about the mobilization of so many troops. Since Peng Yuancheng used Li Jun's orders as a pretext to mobilize troops, Feng Jiutian had no choice but to confront him directly.
Just as Li Jun and Feng Jiutian's attention was completely drawn to Peng Yuancheng, a dramatic change occurred within three days.
Shang Huaiyi, who was escorting grain supplies from Leiming City to Ningwang, looked at the somewhat gloomy sky and felt a strange tension in his heart. This tension made him unusually uneasy. They were still within the borders of Yuzhou, and were only a dozen miles away from Huichang, the last city in Yuzhou. If they hurried a few more steps, they could enjoy a hot bath and a good night's sleep in the warm inn in Huichang tonight. But why did he feel so nervous here?
He secretly took the spear hanging on the victory hook into his hand; the cold iron handle seemed to suck all the heat from his body. He breathed out a breath. Although Li Jun had captured Huai'en Granary and had enough military rations, Shang Huaiyi still had to escort supplies from the rear for the sake of a protracted war. In such cold weather, even with the various tools designed by Mo Rong, the long journey was still difficult.
"Once we enter Huichang City, everything will be fine." He looked into the distance, where Huichang City was faintly visible through gaps in the clouds, but he couldn't see any banners on the city walls. Shang Huaiyi looked around warily. This stretch of road was usually deserted except for merchants and travelers, and with the recent heavy snow, even fewer people were walking on it.
Suddenly, a gong sounded from ahead. Shang Huaiyi raised his gun and shouted, "Stop! Form ranks!" The Heping Army moved at the sound, surrounding the grain carts and livestock in the middle of the formation. With swords and spears in hand and bows and arrows nocked, they aimed at the source of the gong sound.
There were about two or three hundred men lined up on both sides of the road; judging from their clothing, they were all garrison troops from Huichang City. Shang Huaiyi breathed a slight sigh of relief, spurred his horse forward, and asked, "What do you mean by this? Why do you dare to block my way?"
The leading officer saluted and said loudly, "The city lord has ordered that, in order to prevent spies from taking the opportunity to infiltrate Yuzhou, all people coming and going must be thoroughly investigated. Please forgive us, General."
"I see, that's as it should be." Shang Huaiyi slowly spurred his horse forward, but did not make any gesture to relax his guard. The unease in his heart made him hesitant to trust the other party easily. If he could distinguish friend from foe by clothing, Li Jun would not have been able to launch several successful surprise attacks ahead.
But the soldiers showed no unusual expression; on the contrary, they seemed relieved to see that it was a supply convoy from the Peace Army. The officer smiled and said, "General, you must be Commander Shang Huaiyi. I met you once when you came to Huichang City last time. I wonder if you remember me?"
Shang Huaiyi looked up at him and felt that he looked familiar. He then relaxed and asked, "Brother, what is your name? I vaguely recognize your face."
"I am Wu Tong, and I await orders from the Jiangcheng commander." The officer slowly approached, came to Shang Huaiyi's horse, took the reins from his horse, and led the way as he spoke.
"Brother Wu, when I went to Leiming City from Huichang last time, I didn't see such heavy security. Why is it like this now?"
"Oh, General Shang came to Huichang from Leiming City. Did no one inform you when you passed through Pingyi City?" Wu Tong asked with a surprised look, seemingly puzzled that Shang Huaiyi was unaware of this important news.