"If Peng Yuancheng were here, that would be wonderful." Li Jun couldn't help but think of Peng Yuancheng again. Peng Yuancheng was indeed a rare military talent, but Feng Jiutian said that he had connections with the remnants of the Tong family. This matter should be investigated slowly after the current crisis has passed.
Upon learning that Li Jun had divided his troops to garrison three cities, Cheng Tian laughed and asked Tang Gan, "Master Tang, do you have any brilliant plan to defeat Li Jun?"
Tang Gan gently tugged at a strand of hair by his ear, and after a moment he laughed and said, "Li Jun thinks that no matter which city our army captures, his other two cities can come to its aid. If that's the case, our army might as well split into three routes and advance on the three cities at the same time, so that each of his cities will be unable to defend itself and will be beyond saving."
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy. How could Li Jun not know that he's diverting his forces? I can also divert my forces to counter him," Gan Ping asked. Among Cheng Tian's generals, he was the youngest, only twenty-five years old, and also the most eager to learn. Whenever tactical arrangements were to be made, he would ask probing questions. Tang Gan didn't take this to heart, and Cheng Tian even encouraged him to ask more questions and learn more, once telling Tang Gan that among the younger generation of the Lianfa Army, Gan Ping would surely become a great figure in the future.
"Hahaha, Master is keeping us in suspense again. Think carefully, Chief Priest Gan." Cheng Tian said, half-jokingly and half-testing Gan Ping.
Gan Ping blushed, but remained composed. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly realized, "Could it be that the master's intention is that the attack is a feint, merely a way to deter the Peace Army from leaving the city?"
“Exactly, haha.” Tang Gan couldn’t help but laugh as well. “Firstly, for this purpose, and secondly, so that our army can closely pursue and attack when the Peace Army is routed.”
"I'm afraid the Peace Army won't be so easily routed. If I don't attack the city, they will keep defending it. Huai'en City has plenty of food, while our army has little. How can we hold out against them?" Gan Ping asked further.
"There's trouble in the backyard; Li Jun's Yuzhou is in deep trouble." Tang Gan's eyes brightened, and he exchanged a smile with Cheng Tian. Cheng Tian continued, "Just now, Master Zheng Dingguo sent someone to say that several city lords in Yuzhou have taken advantage of Li Jun's absence to launch a rebellion!"
In Leiming City, a storm was brewing.
Thanks to Yu Sheng's efforts, most of the people in Leiming City, which has been plagued by war for the past few years, decided to temporarily evacuate to Kuanglan City. With such a large population, they could only travel thirty miles in a day and night. They were afraid that before they even reached Kuanglan, which was hundreds of miles away, they would be overtaken by Peng Yuancheng's pursuers.
At this moment, Peng Yuancheng had not yet raised an army. Just as Feng Jiutian had predicted, he sent a letter requesting the transfer of the Kuanglan City garrison under the pretext of quelling the rebellion in the four cities. Feng Jiutian entertained the messenger, instructing him not to rush back, while simultaneously expediting the evacuation arrangements. Seeing the chaos in the city, the messenger assumed Feng Jiutian was conscripting civilians to support Peng Yuancheng and paid no further attention. However, after two days, when Peng Yuancheng's second messenger came to inquire, Feng Jiutian bluntly stated, "With Lord Peng's military strength, quelling the rebellion in those four cities is already sufficient. Why then is it necessary to transfer the Leiming City garrison?"
The messenger then realized he had fallen into a trap, but it was too late to return to Yuyang. Peng Yuancheng had also anticipated this, so two days later, all the cities in Yuzhou that were still loyal to Li Jun received a proclamation from Peng Yuancheng's messenger, stating that Feng Jiutian harbored treacherous intentions and wanted to kill Li Jun in Chen State. Peng Yuancheng was to purge Feng Jiutian's entourage to save Li Jun from this crisis.
Upon seeing the proclamation, Feng Jiutian sneered and remained silent. Peng Yuancheng's act of rebellion under the guise of purging the empresses was entirely expected. With these precious six days, the people of Leiming City had already fled, and he could now confidently abandon Leiming City and focus on defending Kuanglan City.
On the 19th day of the second month of the 13th year of Chongde in the Chen Kingdom, Peng Yuancheng, wearing a scarlet cloak, held a ceremony to swear an oath to Heaven and Earth in Yuyang City to launch his rebellion. After a passionate speech, he ordered his general Song Xi to be the vanguard and his advisor Shi Ze to be the strategist, leading 15,000 elite troops to Leiming City first, while he himself led the rear guard in Yuyang City to guard against Xiao Lin from behind.
This was actually a cautious move, as Xiao Lin was currently facing an attack from Jiang Runqun and three other families. Under Gongsun Ming's clever arrangement, Peng Yuancheng and Jiang Runqun reached a tacit agreement: they would deal with Xiao Lin, who controlled the cities of Yujiang and Yuping, so that he would be unable to restrain Peng Yuancheng from attacking Leiming and Zhucheng in Beiyu Prefecture.
Xiao Lin originally had fewer than 30,000 troops, and Li Jun had drawn more than 10,000 from him. Facing an attack from 50,000 troops in four cities, he would barely be able to defend himself, let alone anything else. When his advisors raised this issue with Peng Yuancheng, Peng Yuancheng sneered and said, "Xiao Lin is an old friend of Li Jun and is extremely loyal to him. Moreover, he is a mercenary commander; a city or a piece of land is not important to him. What matters is the people he pays to hire. Therefore, if our army mobilizes its entire force, Xiao Lin will definitely abandon Yu Ping and Yu Jiang. At that time, our army will be in a dilemma. How can I take such a drastic step?"
"Does Commander Peng mean to defeat them one by one?" Shi Ze asked, his eyes gleaming with a strange light.
“Exactly, Shi Ze, you must not forget to use my name. You must make a big show of it and make it seem like our army has come out in full force.” A faint blush appeared on Peng Yuancheng’s fair face, and he was also a little excited.
"Xiao Lin, even if you see through my plan, you still have no choice but to fall into this trap," he thought to himself.
Seeing that he was deep in thought, Shi Ze quietly withdrew. After a while, Peng Yuancheng's old servant came in.
"Sir, Madam requests your presence."
Peng Yuancheng was quite surprised. His wife was quite bold, something Li Jun had greatly admired. She had never interfered in Peng Yuancheng's military affairs and was extremely virtuous. Although Peng Yuancheng had taken two concubines, he deeply respected and loved his first wife, often boasting of his "virtuous wife." According to past practice, whenever Peng Yuancheng was busy with military affairs, his wife would not distract him with any trivial matters. Today, however, she had taken the initiative to invite him forward, which pleased Peng Yuancheng greatly.
"What are your orders, Madam?" Upon arriving at the back room, Peng Yuancheng noticed the Madam's rather serious expression, which deepened his suspicions, so he asked.
"I have summoned you here, sir, to ask you a question." Madam Peng paused for a moment, seemingly searching for the right words, before sharply asking, "Sir, is your raising of troops to save Commander Li's life, or to seize his territory?"
Peng Yuancheng's face darkened. Apart from his confidants like Shi Ze, most people could only guess about his purpose in raising the army. His stated purpose was to eliminate the villains around Li Jun and save the Peace Army from danger. However, his wife had laid out the question he wanted to avoid in one sentence, and her tone seemed to contain an unprecedented anger.
"This is a private matter, and it's best for a woman to refrain from interfering." Madam Peng's question cooled Peng Yuancheng's earlier smugness about his scheme, and his words became tinged with anger.
"My lord, what kind of person is Li Jun?" Madam Peng, realizing she had spoken out of turn, softened her tone and asked.
"You shouldn't worry about these things. Just stay home and wait for the baby." Peng Yuancheng saw that she had softened and didn't want to damage their relationship over this matter.
Madam Peng's expression changed slightly, her eyebrows raised, and she said, "Please answer my question, sir."
"I have other things to do and don't want to get bogged down in such pointless questions with you!" Peng Yuancheng stood up abruptly and strode out, feeling as if an unnamed fire was burning inside him, making him extremely irritable.
"My lord!" Madam Peng knelt down properly before him and said, "My lord, since we got married, I have never interfered in your affairs for more than ten years. This time is different from the past. Please hear me out."
Seeing her tilt her head back with a pleading look on her face, Peng Yuancheng felt a pang of pity and said, "Go ahead and tell me, I'm listening."