Sure enough, Guo Yunfei's expression changed, and he said, "Nonsense! I, Guo Yunfei, have followed Lord Peng since the time I raised an army in Dagu City. I am grateful to Lord Peng for not abandoning me and serving under his command. How could I possibly harm Lord Peng?"
"If that's the case, why did you have Lord Peng behead me in the marketplace? I, Gongsun Ming, have no kinship, no enmity, and no enmity with Lord Peng. I only came from afar to plan for your safety because I respect you as a hero of our time. You, on the other hand, enjoy a life of ease under the Lord's command, yet you cannot share his burdens at this critical moment. If I were you, I would have committed suicide long ago to avoid disgracing this world!"
“You…” Guo Yunfei pointed at Gongsun Ming, gritting his teeth in anger.
In contrast, Gongsun Ming remained calm and composed, showing no sign of excitement. Everyone already knew that Guo Yunfei was no match for Gongsun Ming. But Guo Yunfei was unconvinced and stubbornly retorted, "You're spouting nonsense! Tell me, where is Lord Peng in danger?"
"So you were unaware of your own perilous situation!" Gongsun Ming feigned surprise, saying, "Lord Peng's situation is as precarious as an egg, yet none of you have realized it! Li Jun is currently away and unable to attend to matters at the moment; otherwise, how could he allow Lord Peng to remain idle in Yuyang? Two tigers cannot share one mountain. How could he possibly trust someone like Lord Peng? Look at him: though he is away, he is mobilizing Lord Peng's troops to aid in the battle, and ordering Lord Peng to provide provisions and funds for the army. If the army is defeated, the dead and wounded will be Lord Peng's subordinates; if they win and return to the city, Lord Peng will be taken hostage. If Lord Peng obeys, he will be controlled and unable to escape for life; if he does not obey, the army will press on the city, and he will be unable to protect himself. In such a perilous situation, how can you all remain so complacent?"
The assembled civil and military officials exchanged silent glances. Most of them were Peng Yuancheng's confidants and naturally knew that Peng Yuancheng was not one to be subservient to others. Moreover, from their personal perspective, they also hoped to work alongside Peng Yuancheng to achieve great things and establish merit. Now that Yuzhou had a powerful figure like Li Jun keeping Peng Yuancheng in check, it was indeed as Gongsun Ming had said: they seemed to have more soldiers and more land than when they were in Dagu City, but this was all thanks to Li Jun's favor. If Li Jun were displeased, he could take back everything he had given them at any time.
"Therefore, Commander Liu ordered me to advise Lord Peng to make plans in case of unforeseen circumstances." Gongsun Ming looked around the hall with a disdainful gaze, a smile playing on his lips.
"Hmph, that's a misconception." A man sitting in the corner sneered, stood up, and calmly cupped his hands: "I am Sang Xiruo. Although Mr. Gongsun's words are startling, he is unfortunately unreasonable. Commander Li and Lord Peng are like brothers. Commander Li admires Lord Peng's character and respects his talent, so he entrusted Lord Peng with great responsibilities, listened to his every word, and trusted him implicitly. How could he harbor any resentment towards Lord Peng? Lord Peng has made great contributions to the Peace Army, so Commander Li granted him the cities of Yuyang and Dagu as his fiefdoms. How could he take back these cities and turn against Lord Peng? Mr. Gongsun's scheme to sow discord should be abandoned."
"Hahahaha..." Gongsun Ming laughed again, "So even someone as brilliant as Lord Pengcheng has someone as ignorant as you under his command. Let me ask you, whose city is this Dagu City originally?"
“This… was originally the city of Lord Peng.” Sang Xiruo realized she had given herself away and was momentarily speechless.
"Then, whose city was Yuyang originally?"
"this……"
"Let me tell you, Yuyang was originally the city of the Zhu family, later given to Lord Peng. Both Dagu and Yuyang were Lord Peng's cities. Li Jun's granting of them to Lord Peng is merely returning the property to its rightful owner; what favor is there to speak of? Lord Peng performed the great service of wiping out the Zhu family, yet his land did not increase, his population did not grow, his soldiers did not increase, and he received no reward. Why? Simply because Li Jun is suspicious of Lord Peng. Brother Sang is ignorant, comparing the relationship between Li Jun and Lord Peng to that of body and limbs, but he does not know that in reality, the relationship between Li Jun and Lord Peng is that of hunter and hound. Now, in the entire territory of Yuzhou, there is no prey left, and the hunter, hungry and thirsty, will kill the hound to satisfy his hunger, just as the saying goes, 'When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked!'"
"Furthermore, Li Jun is a man of few favors and little virtue, treacherous and disloyal. As a subject, he is an ill omen for his commander; as a lord, he is detrimental to his troops. Consider this: he joined Lu Xiang, only to be killed and unable to come to his aid; he formed his own army, yet wandered thousands of miles without a place to stay; he sought refuge with Hua Feng, only to die of illness; he captured Tonghai City, only to be attacked by Japanese pirates; the Hua brothers turned against each other; and now Hua Xuan is a puppet. All of this is Li Jun's fault. Do you still wish to follow such a man and bring about your own destruction?"
Seeing that everyone was intimidated by him, Gongsun Ming continued, "Commander Liu and Lord Peng are merely acquaintances, with no prior connection. Commander Liu and Li Jun are only known by name, with no enmity between them. The reason I, Gongsun Ming, have come here is because heroes admire heroes, and I cannot bear to see Lord Peng lose his long-standing legacy due to a moment of confusion. Why would I sow discord? If you doubt the sincerity of Commander Liu and Gongsun Ming, I have no other choice but to offer my head on the spot to prove my innocence!"
For a moment, everyone was speechless. Apart from heavy breathing, there was no other sound in the hall. Gongsun Ming's eloquence left Peng Yuancheng's civil and military subordinates feeling that they could not refute him. To refute him would only be to humiliate themselves.
"Although Mr. Gongsun is eloquent, I will only ask Mr. Gongsun one question to see how he answers."
Gongsun Ming looked up and saw that the man had three beautiful wisps of beard and a striking appearance. He quickly cupped his hands and asked, "May I ask your name, sir?"
"Yu Yang Sima Yun." The man also cupped his hands in greeting. "General Liu Guang is renowned throughout the land, second only to the late Marshal Lu Xiang. But why, despite his great contributions to Heng Kingdom, was he forced to flee to a foreign land and serve in Chen Kingdom? Is it possible that with General Liu's wisdom and your eloquence, sir, you are unable to establish yourself in Heng Kingdom?"
"Mr. Sima's question is very true." Gongsun Ming sighed and said, "Commander Liu is an upright and loyal man, which is why he is not tolerated by the new ruler of Heng. If Commander Liu only wanted high office and riches, he could easily win the favor of the new ruler of Heng by being obsequious. But Commander Liu is concerned about the country and cares about the common people. How can he let the villains do evil without saying a word? Heng's intolerance is Heng's loss. What does it have to do with Commander Liu's reputation?"
"If that's the case, with Commander Liu's talent and prestige, it wouldn't be difficult for him to depose the tyrannical ruler in Heng and install someone else, or even replace him. It would be perfectly reasonable. Why then did he have to come to Chen and condescend to the position of deputy commander?" Sima Yun seemed to have caught Gongsun Ming's weakness and asked.
"Since your surname is Sima, you must be a descendant of the prestigious Sima clan of Yuzhou. Why then do you utter such treasonous words?" Gongsun Ming's face showed indignation as he said, "Commander Liu is loyal and upright. Although he is not tolerated in Heng, he could not bear to do anything disloyal, so he abandoned Heng and fled to Chen. This shows Commander Liu's benevolence and righteousness. If he had recklessly started a war in Heng, it would not have been difficult for him to seize the throne. But such an act is not something Commander Liu would do. How could he win the hearts and minds of the heroes of the world? You should not mention such treasonous words again, Mr. Sima!"
"Enough." Peng Yuancheng saw that none of the talented people from the prominent families of Yuzhou that he had gathered could gain any advantage over Gongsun Ming verbally, and he felt quite bored. He felt that if he continued to argue, he would lose face at the hands of this group. Therefore, he said, "Mr. Gongsun is a guest from afar. It is not the way to treat a guest to question him with words. Let's sit down and first welcome Mr. Gongsun and wash away the dust of his journey."
After the banquet, Peng Yuancheng dismissed everyone, leaving only Gongsun Ming and Tong Pei. He then said, "Mr. Gongsun's eloquence is truly admirable. It is remarkable that Commander Liu has such a person under his command. However, I wonder if Commander Liu summoned Mr. Gongsun here solely for this set of arguments?"
Gongsun Ming bowed again and said, "If it were just for this excuse, Commander Liu wouldn't have sent me here. Ordinary people might not understand these simple matters, but how could a man of great talent like Lord Peng not be clear about them?"
Peng Yuancheng's spirits lifted. The two had actually reached a tacit understanding: as long as the opportunity arose, he would raise an army to stab Li Jun in the back. However, such an opportunity was hard to find. Although Li Jun was far away in Chen Kingdom, Feng Jiutian was stationed in Leiming City. Although he was a newcomer, his arrangements were watertight, making it difficult to find an opportunity to take advantage of him.
"Then, what else does Commander Liu have to teach me?" he asked.
"Commander Liu once said that Lord Peng's talent and temperament are both outstanding, but it is a pity that he has not had the right time. Now, Commander Liu has a plan that can help Lord Peng seize the right time!" Gongsun Ming's words hit the nail on the head, forcing Peng Yuancheng to lean forward and look at him, saying, "Sir, there is no need to hesitate. There is no one else here. Please tell me Commander Liu's plan."
"This plan doesn't require Lord Peng to take any risks..." Gongsun Ming's voice trailed off, and Peng Yuancheng leaned forward more and more until the two were sitting side by side, whispering to each other. To an outsider, it would seem as if two close friends were reminiscing about the past, but they were actually plotting a conspiracy. Li Jun, who was holding back his troops in Huai'en to observe the changes in Chen Lie, never dreamed that the greatest crisis since he raised his army would be triggered by Liu Guang, whom he had never met or dealt with before, and who was currently fighting alongside him against the Lianfa army in Chen.
"There's no time to lose. Please, City Lord, act according to the plan immediately. I will also return to Chen Kingdom right away. You will naturally know exactly what to do." After whispering this over, Gongsun Ming cupped his hands in farewell to Peng Yuancheng.
“In that case, I won’t see you off any further.” Peng Yuancheng returned the greeting, then clapped his hands three times. An old servant came in, and Peng Yuancheng said, “See Mr. Gongsun and General Tong out.”
After the two left the Peng residence, Gongsun Ming remained calm, while Tong Pei couldn't help but beam with joy, saying, "This trip can be considered a great achievement."
Gongsun Ming smiled slightly and said, "Brother Tong is absolutely right, haha."