Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 190: Each of them has their own secret plans

Zhu Tianshou was speechless. After taking a sip of tea to calm himself, he said, "Captain Liu, please be very careful."

"That's natural. War is dangerous. If you're not careful, the whole army could be wiped out. We have to be careful."

"What are the rules for General Liu?"

Guan Chongyan waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about that for now. The Commander-in-Chief specifically asked me to first ask Master Zhu San. Why did someone among the confidants that Master Zhu San brought with him that day try to shoot an arrow at him?"

Zhu Tianshou was stunned again, but suddenly came to his senses.

This matter is definitely not a trivial matter, because in Zhu Tianshou's view, Liu Huai would suspect that the assassin was bribed by people loyal to the Jin Dynasty and deliberately disrupted the meeting between the two.

This means that the news of the two people's communication has been leaked, and Liu Huai will become alert and worry about being ambushed and will not attack Yishui County.

After cursing inwardly, Zhu Tianshou knew that he could no longer hesitate or remain silent, otherwise Guan Chongyan in front of him might think that he was making up a lie.

"Alas... the crossbow shooter is called Hu Er, and he's my trusted confidant." Zhu Tianshou sighed, "It's also a misfortune for our family, and it's hard to bring it up."

As he spoke, Zhu Tianshou ordered outside the door: "Bring Peng Wu up."

After a while, a man with his hands tied behind his back was pushed up. He was soaking wet, as if he had just been fished out of a water tank.

The man raised his head, his fleshy face was pale and full of fear.

With Guan Chongyan's knowledge, it was not difficult to see that this man must have suffered water torture, but not for too long. Because if he was soaked in water for a long time, not only would his face turn pale, but he might not even be able to stand up.

When he saw Zhu Tianshou, he kowtowed immediately and said, "Third Master, I was wrong, Third Master, please spare my life."

"Shut up!" Zhu Tianshou said coldly.

The man immediately kept his head on the ground and dared not move.

"I'm sorry to have made Guan Qilang laugh." Zhu Tianshou smiled again and said, "To put it nicely, I'm a man of great ambition. To put it bluntly, I'm just someone who cares about face. So any hero who comes to visit me will be treated with hospitality."

"A few days ago, Mr. Lin Zhengqi, the second master of Linqu, Yidu Prefecture, was returning home from his official trip. He passed by my place, and I naturally wanted to entertain him well. I slaughtered pigs and cattle, steamed buns, and baked flatbreads.

Naturally, the two of us couldn't eat much, so we just went up and down the stream.

Hu Er secretly hid two pieces of scraped fat and gave them to his wife to nourish her body. Such a small matter was reported to me by a gossip. I will ask Peng Wu to find out what happened.

At this point, Zhu Tianshou was also furious: "Who knew that Peng Wu, holding chicken feathers as a token of authority, secretly went to find Hu Er's wife, and used my order as an excuse to rape Hu Er's wife.

Hu Erjia was quite chaste and jumped into the well to die. When Hu Er came to settle the score with Peng Wu, this guy refused to say how he raped Hu Erjia. Instead, he put all the blame on me, saying that he just followed my orders. Isn't this nonsense?

"Hu Er is a complete idiot. He didn't even bother asking questions before he just wanted to kill me. Time was pressing, and he found the opportunity when Commander Liu was meeting me, which led to this huge misunderstanding."

By the end, Zhu Tianshou's anger had vanished, replaced by a look of helplessness: "I know that at a time like this, with only one witness, it's impossible to convince Commander Liu, but there's no other way."

Guan Chongyan looked at the tortured man named Peng Wu, then looked at Zhu Tianshou in front of him, and felt inexplicably strange in his heart.

Before he could even try to pinpoint the source of this strange feeling, Guan Chongyan nodded, following Liu Huai's instructions. "Now, the matter is clear. Actually, my Dalang simply wants an explanation. If it's true that Hu Er was bribed by the Jin people to assassinate him, with the Jin army arriving in two days, Master Zhu San would surely not be sitting still like he is now. He might even be packing up his belongings and fleeing." Zhu Tianshou paused again, then finally sighed, "General Liu truly has a keen eye."

"If that's the case, there won't be any problems." Guan Chongyan coughed twice. "The commander-in-chief has a military order. The day after tomorrow, on the morning of August 27th, he will personally lead five armies of armored cavalry to come. When Master Zhu opens the city gates, the commander-in-chief will lead his troops into the city, and then everything will be settled!"

Five of them make up 500 people, enough to fight a small-scale battle.

Zhu Tianshou was surprised and delighted, but immediately asked, "Is General Liu planning to rush all the way from the official road for fifty miles to attack us? Do you need me to clear the official road?"

Guan Chongyan shook his head. "Master Zhu has never been in the military before, and he doesn't know how to fight. How can he be strong enough to fight after running fifty miles? Naturally, we should set out tomorrow, set up camp by the official road to rest tomorrow night, and then attack directly the next morning."

Zhu Tianshou patted his forehead and smiled, "I've only led a dozen men to fight in rural areas over land and water, and I don't know how a large army operates. Fortunately, General Liu is a famous general, otherwise he would have been in trouble if he had listened to me."

Guan Chongyan did not respond to the other party's flattery. He drank the tea in the bowl, then bowed and made a gesture to leave.

Zhu Tianshou stood up to see him off, but saw Guan Chongyan stop again, turned around, and showed curiosity: "Master Zhu, I have something that can only be asked in private. I hope Master Zhu can enlighten me."

Zhu Tianshou stopped and said, "Qi Lang, please feel free to speak."

Guan Chongyan: "When I came here today, I saw that the people were being conscripted as laborers and the autumn grain was being requisitioned as military rations. As a wealthy man in Yishui County, can't Mr. Zhu San do something about it?"

Zhu Tianshou sighed and was silent for a moment before he said, "Since Guan Qilang asked privately, I will answer privately. If Guan Qilang tells everyone, I will not admit it.

The order to collect military rations and conscript civilians was issued by the Yishui County Magistrate Dapingzheng. This fellow was also a Hu person. He only cared about his career and the Jurchen army. How could he care about Han people? Why would he care if Han people starved to death?

As for me..."

Zhu Tianshou pointed at himself and said, "As for why I didn't stop him, it was because it was a critical moment. If I turned against the county magistrate, it would alert the enemy. At the very least, he would definitely replace all the local soldiers and archers guarding the city gate. Then how could I open the city gate for General Liu?
Secondly..."

Zhu Tianshou took a long breath and said sincerely, "Secondly, if General Liu and the Loyal Army truly abandon me, not caring about the lives of the people of Yishui County, then for the sake of Zhuangzi and the villagers, I will go to meet the Jin army and serve as their vanguard, fighting to the death with General Liu.

Qilang, my family, my friends and loved ones are all here. I can take hundreds of young and strong people and leave, but they can't leave... I have to fight for their lives."

"But if we can get through these two days, General Liu will be able to take charge, and the people of Yishui County will no longer suffer from exploitation. Qilang, now is the time to be still. If we move too much, if that guy Da Pingzheng reacts, many people who could have survived will die."

Guan Chongyan finally nodded and bowed again: "This is also human nature, and it is an explanation. Master Zhu San, see you the day after tomorrow!"

Zhu Tianshou hurried to see him off, but Guan Chongyan stopped him on the grounds that their identities should not be discovered by others.

After the servants reported that Guan Chongyan had left the farm, the smile on Zhu Tianshou's face gradually disappeared and his eyes became extremely fierce.

Zhu Tianshou pulled out the sharp knife that the guard beside him kept at his waist, reached out to grab Peng Wu's hair bun, and pulled his head back.

Zhu Tianshou did not listen to Peng Wu's vague plea for mercy. He stretched out his hand and easily cut the other's throat.

"Prepare the horses and go to the county government office."

Zhu Tianshou left Peng Wu flopping on the ground, holding his throat, and walked away.

　Fuck that ghost!!!!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)