My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 139: I'll just flip the table! I'm a man of integrity, why should I explain myself to you Jiangdong scoundrels?
Lü Meng was startled and could not help but groan inwardly, secretly blaming Ling Tong for his impulsiveness.

With your blunt scolding, shouldn't you just overturn the table and leave no room for retreat?
If this proves that Gan Ning is innocent, how do you want me to end this?

When Lu Meng complained, Gan Ning was stunned.

I did shoot your father to death. You, Ling Tong, disliked me, Gan Ning, and you deliberately picked a fight with me more than once or twice. Since your father is dead, I won't hold it against you.

But you suddenly pointed at my nose and called me ungrateful and a betrayer of Jiangdong. What do you mean?
You've crossed the line this time!
Gan Ning then reacted and flew into a rage:
"Ling Tong, I shot your father dead back then. I know you bear a grudge, but how dare you slander me and falsely accuse me of betraying my master!"

Ling Tong became even more furious and scolded:
"A real man should be brave enough to take responsibility for his actions. You betrayed your lord and yet you dare not admit it. What kind of man are you?"

Gan Ning was both bewildered and furious, and said sternly:
"I, Gan Ning, have never betrayed my lord or Jiangdong. Why should I admit it?"

"Ling Tong, are you crazy? What on earth are you talking about?"

When Ling Tong saw that Gan Ning not only refused to admit it but also called him crazy, he became so angry that his face turned purple and he was about to curse again.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu Meng waved his hand to stop Ling Tong and signaled him to shut up for the time being.

Ling Tong's angry words were blocked, so he had to swallow them down angrily and wait for Lu Meng to speak.

After Lu Meng coughed a few times, he asked:
"Xingba, don't worry about what Gongji said for now. I want to ask you, did you just receive the letter from that traitor Su Fei?"

Gan Ning was stunned at first, but then he realized it.

It turned out that Ling Tong suspected that Su Fei had secretly communicated with Liu Bei because of the letter, so he started to curse without thinking.

As for why Lu Meng summoned him, it was obviously not to discuss the strategy of defending the city, but to "interrogate" himself.

Wait...Su Fei's letter was shot into the city from the south gate, and it was less than half an hour later. How did the news reach the ears of Lu Meng and Ling Tong?

Gan Ning rolled his eyes a few times and soon realized that these two people were in his camp and had bribed and arranged spies.

Obviously, these two "old men" from Jiangdong did not trust him as an outsider and were monitoring and guarding against him.

Gan Ning clenched his fists secretly, and a flash of annoyance appeared in his eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Gan Ning suppressed his anger and answered calmly:
"Commander Lu is really well-informed. He got the news so quickly. Yes, Su Fei did shoot a letter to me from outside the city with an arrow half an hour ago."

Lu Meng was stunned.

Ling Tong's face, which was filled with anger, was also stunned.

Gan Ning actually admitted it?
If they were to follow their speculation, Su Fei's letter should have been conveying Liu Bei's instructions, and Gan Ning should have been guilty and tried his best to deny it.

But why did he admit it so readily?
The suspicion in Lu Meng's eyes faded slightly, but he was still worried, so he asked again:
"But I don't know where this letter is. Xingba, could you lend it to me?"

Gan Ning's face suddenly changed.

When two countries go to war, it is common for former brothers and friends to serve in different camps.

Although people were fighting on the battlefield, it was not uncommon for them to exchange letters privately and reminisce and greet each other.

The princes from all sides just turned a blind eye to this.

Although Su Fei was a general of the enemy country, the letter he sent was a private letter to him and had nothing to do with official business.

Even Sun Quan is not qualified to ask to watch it, so how dare you, Lu Meng, come to watch it?
Moreover, from what you said, it is clear that you suspect that Su Fei's letter contains some evidence of him secretly communicating with Liu Bei, which shows your extreme distrust of him.

Gan Ning was immediately excited and asked:
"General Lu, what exactly do you mean? Why don't you just speak clearly? There's no need to beat around the bush!"

"Cough cough~~"

Lu Meng coughed lightly and said in a relaxed tone:
"Xingba, don't misunderstand me. I mean well and have no other intentions."

"But the soldiers in the army all know that you are friends with Su Fei, who betrayed Jiangdong. Now, you are suddenly exchanging letters with Xingba. The soldiers can't help but secretly discuss and speculate."

"I did this because I wanted to use my position as the commander-in-chief to dispel the soldiers' suspicions about you, Xingba, so as not to shake the morale of the army."

Lu Meng's reasons were very reasonable and his words were so casual that Gan Ning was speechless.

What they said is right. It’s not that I doubt you. I am trying to help you clarify the matter, to quell the rumors and stabilize people’s hearts.

If you refuse, it means you are either guilty or narrow-minded and unable to consider the overall situation.

"Why, Gan Ning, are you so guilty that you dare not show it to Commander Lu?"

Ling Tong, who was standing by, seized the opportunity to make a sarcastic remark.

Gan Ning's anger was boiling in his heart at this moment, and he was almost unable to control it.

If it were his original temper, he would have lost his patience and started fighting with the two people in front of him.

But the more than ten years of wandering from Yizhou to Jingzhou, and from Jingzhou to Jiangdong, have smoothed out his sharp edges and made him much more stable.

Now they have several thousand isolated soldiers surrounded in Chaisang. If civil strife breaks out at this time, Chaisang City will certainly be lost and everyone will die together.

Thinking of this, Gan Ning suppressed his anger again and silently took out the handwritten letter from Su Fei from his arms.

"I am open and honest. I have nothing to hide. If Commander Lu wants to see it, I will show it to you."

Gan Ning threw the letter to Lu Meng.

Lu Meng took it, exchanged a glance with Ling Tong, and quickly unfolded the letter. The two of them stared at it carefully with wide eyes.

Ling Tong's eyes gradually became disappointed.

Lu Meng breathed a sigh of relief, and the doubt on his face gradually disappeared.

The content of the letter was purely Su Fei greeting Gan Ning and reminiscing about the past as an old friend, all talking about the time when they drank and boasted.

Not even the name Liu Bei was mentioned, let alone any instructions from Liu Bei or any conspiracy to surrender the city. "I've told you before, Xingba, you're nothing like that shameless Su Fei. Xingba is a man of integrity and shame. How could you possibly betray your lord and secretly collude with that big-eared thief Liu Bei?"

Lu Meng returned the letter with both hands and said with a smile:

"Now it's clear. I wonder who in the army would dare to gossip about Xingba and say that you—"

The words have not yet fallen.

Ling Tong suddenly snatched the letter back, pointed at it, and asked Gan Ning sharply:

"Gan Ning, what did that traitor Su Fei write in these places? Why did you erase them?"

Lu Meng looked at it carefully again and noticed that there were at least four places where ink had been erased in the letter.

Although Su Fei was a military general, he came from a wealthy family and it was impossible for him to be illiterate and make typos in his letters.

Even if there are occasional mistakes, it is impossible to make so many mistakes.

Even if there were so many mistakes, he should have rewritten the letter. Sending it over with all the scribbling on it like this, isn't that disrespectful to his good friend Gan Ning?
there is only one truth:
Those smears were not made by Su Fei, but by Gan Ning after he saw them.

Why did Gan Ning apply it?
Of course there are some secrets that cannot be told, and they are afraid that they will be known by outsiders, so they have to be painted over to cover them up.

Lu Meng suddenly understood.

Su Fei must have used the excuse of reminiscing about the past to hide Liu Bei's secret instructions to Gan Ning among the words of reminiscing about the past.

In this way, when they asked, Gan Ning could erase the secret orders, and what would be presented to them was just an ordinary letter between good friends reminiscing about the past.

"To think of using such a cunning method to convey secret orders to the Jinfan thief, this must be the work of Xiao He again."

"This country bumpkin is truly cunning and treacherous. Fortunately, Mr. Ling is careful, otherwise even I would have been fooled by him..."

Lu Meng cursed inwardly, his face suddenly turning pale. He snatched the letter from Ling Tong and threw it in front of Gan Ning.

"Gan Ning, please explain to me what's going on with the smudges on this letter?"

Gan Ning, however, looked confused.

The smears on the letter were already there when he got it, so he naturally didn't pay too much attention to them, thinking they were just smears made by Su Fei after a mistake.

Who would have thought that such an insignificant thing would cause Lu Meng to get angry and question him.

Gan Ning was also annoyed by the question and threw his hands impatiently:

"These smears were already on the letter when I opened it. How could I have known what was going on?"

Lu Meng's eyes were deep and he said coldly:

"Su Fei is not an illiterate commoner. How could he make so many mistakes in the letter he wrote to you and not rewrite it? Instead, he just scribbled over it and gave it to you?"

"I suspect it was Xiao Hejiliang who, under the guise of Su Fei reminiscing about the past, hid Liu Bei's secret order in the letter."

"In this case, you only need to erase those secret orders, and then you can give us this letter with confidence to dispel our suspicions about you!"

"Gan Ning, you underestimate me, Lü Meng. Do you really think I, Lü Zhi, am just a child, fooled by Xiao He's random trick?"

Gan Ning looked stunned.

He never expected that Lu Meng could come up with such a complicated thing with just a few strokes!

Just by scribbling a few strokes, you dare to conclude that you have secretly communicated with Liu Bei?

"If I'm not mistaken, in that previous battle, it was you who secretly leaked my plan to set fire to Liu Bei's camp. This allowed Liu Bei to be well prepared. Not only did he kill General Han, but he also set an ambush and severely damaged our army!"

"I should have thought of this earlier. Even if Xiao He is a brilliant man, he is still just an ordinary person. How could he possibly see through my perfect plan like a celestial being?"

"So it was you, this fickle, treacherous spy, who secretly leaked my plan, causing me to fail on the verge of success and fall into this desperate situation today!"

Lu Meng completely turned against Gan Ning and put all the blame for the previous defeat on Gan Ning.

Ling Tong became even more unscrupulous upon seeing this, pointing at Gan Ning and angrily cursing:
"Jinfan thief, I knew you were a perpetrator, I should have ignored my lord's advice and killed you with a single blow!"

"If it weren't for this, how could the lord have trusted you and ended up suffering the consequences today!"

Lu Meng and Ling Tong started to talk back and forth, scolding and scolding Gan Ning.

Gan Ning's eyes gradually became bloodshot, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and his fists were clenched to the point of crackling.

He no longer had the heart to think about what Su Fei's letter was about.

He was repeatedly provoked and targeted by Ling Tong, and repeatedly distrusted by the people of Jiangdong. The resentment accumulated in his heart was completely ignited at this moment by the unwarranted slander of Lu Meng and Ling Tong.

"Shut up, everyone!"

Gan Ning suddenly interrupted the two with a roar of anger and said sternly:

"Since I surrendered to Jiangdong, I have fought bravely in every battle, charging into the thick of the enemy lines, just to prove my sincerity in submitting to the Marquis of Wu."

"I have never had the slightest thought of betraying the Marquis of Wu, much less have I ever secretly communicated with Liu Bei or leaked any military secrets."

"I, Gan Ning, am a man of integrity. I have a clear conscience and don't need to explain myself to anyone!"

"Whether you believe it or not is none of my business!"

After saying this, Gan Ning flicked his sleeves, turned around and left angrily.

Lu Meng and Ling Tong were left behind, staring at each other with a look of bewilderment on their faces.

(End of this chapter)