Chapter 141
The prince and his companions were not stupid. As soon as they rushed out, they shouted loudly:
"The prince is here, protect him!"
"Charge! Kill these traitors!"
The Zhu family's soldiers were immediately led by the Crown Prince, Meng Chao, and the others. Subconsciously, they thought, the Crown Prince is here, and their commander hasn't rebelled, so of course they have to protect him! "Traitors and traitors," they obviously meant those bastards of the Xing family army! Charge!
"Don't be fooled, these are all thieves pretending to be the prince!" Xing Changfeng and others immediately retorted loudly. Anyway, they were determined not to acknowledge the prince's identity.
The people inside could hear clearly the shouting outside.
Yao Chunnuan sighed. The conversation had gone awry. It would have been much better if the prince and his companions hadn't revealed their identities. But she also knew that was impossible.
Both the prince and Meng Chao knew that Marshal Zhu might not be reliable, so while the two armies were fighting, Meng Chao took his men to protect the prince and leave.
On Yao Chunnuan's side, Xing Changfeng led his men in relentless pursuit.
The two armies had begun fighting, and it would be difficult to stop them for a while. Outside, there was a chaotic battle and the sounds of fighting continued.
Seeing Marshal Zhu's painful expression, Yao Chunnuan knew that he had been tricked by the prince this time.
Marshal Zhu was not stupid, and he could see the prince's intention.
The Crown Prince's move was tantamount to abandoning Marshal Zhu and pushing him away from Daliang. She accepted his offer without hesitation, so Yao Chunnuan suggested, "Marshal, let's go out together and make them stop?" The Crown Prince had already escaped, and the City Lord was chasing him. There was no point in them fighting to the death, right?
Marshal Zhu was overjoyed and agreed immediately.
So, Marshal Zhu, Yao Chunnuan and Yu Chen went out together.
"Stop, everyone, stop it!"
"Xing Family Army, listen up! Stop attacking!"
The generals below saw the three men in the lead ordering them to stop. Did that mean a truce? Confirming that a truce was indeed in order, they quickly called for a halt. Some soldiers spontaneously stopped fighting after hearing the order, while others struggled fiercely, unable to separate for a while. It was only when the smaller leaders stepped forward, kicked one another, and pulled the two apart.
On the Xing family army's side, the wounded were all sent away, and the medical soldiers performed simple hemostasis and bandaging, and each wounded was properly arranged.
On Marshal Zhu's side, without a medical corpsman, the injured soldiers either endured the pain or had to be treated simply by themselves or their companions. In contrast, the soldiers in the Yichun camp felt bitter and regretful for not beating up those bastards a few more times.
Zhu Dashuai, Yao Chunnuan, Yu Chen and others saw that the scene was still very chaotic, but at least they stopped fighting.
Yao Chunnuan suggested going back and sitting down for a while, and Marshal Zhu thought about it and agreed.
When Yao Chunnuan made the suggestion, Yu Chen vaguely guessed that she was going to take action, so he took Shi Mei to inspect the troops below.
Neither side left. Yao Chunnuan and the others were waiting for their city lord to return. Marshal Zhu was also waiting for the result. He wanted to know whether the prince had escaped.
Yao Chunnuan guessed that Marshal Zhu had been betrayed by the prince, and he was heartbroken and bleeding. It would be a shame not to do something about such a good opportunity.
So she said, "Marshal Zhu, you were asking that question on behalf of the Crown Prince, right? It's a pity that good people don't get good rewards."
Marshal Zhu said with a stern face, "Don't you deny his status as the Crown Prince? And you even say he's an imposter."
Yao Chunnuan waved her hand and said, "Oh, that's not important."
Marshal Zhu complained in his heart, isn’t this important?
Yao Chunnuan continued, "What I want to say is that if you had helped us, the result would have been different. We, the people in the main city of Yichun, have very good consciences. Your friendliness can greatly promote the friendship between the two sides. We have always been very generous to our own people." It was a crazy hint.
Marshal Zhu snorted, what kind of friendship do they have? Yao Chunnuan, this overly shrewd guy must be trying to trick him again!
"How come it's gone? Look, not to mention those far away, let's just talk about General Zhou. You were the ones who sent it, right? We sent 440,000 dan of grain, right? We have been dealing with each other. If this isn't friendship, what is it?"
Marshal Zhu was nearly furious when he heard Yao Chunnuan bring up Zhou Yushu's 440,000 dan of grain. Seeing her look as if she was convinced they were friends, Marshal Zhu rolled his eyes and said, "If you want to be friends with me, Fan, you can do that. But first, return that secret vault you stole!"
"Oh, why do you always remember those trivial things in the past? You should take a long-term view." Yao Chunnuan looked around and said something else. What a joke. How could you spit out something you have already eaten?
Marshal Zhu snorted again. In fact, after seeing Ray-Ban's fate, he had long since let go of the loss of the secret vault.
Yao Chunnuan slowly put away his joking expression and said seriously, "Let's be honest. You really should think carefully about the future of yourself and the 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers under your command."
From Marshal Zhu's perspective, Yao Chunnuan made it clear that he had only three options. First, remain a loyal subject to Daliang. Second, choose a faction to align with. Third, join the rebellion and establish himself as king!
Zhu Dashuai's unclear positioning was also related to his current unwillingness to take risks. If Daliang was more motivated, she felt that Zhu Dashuai would choose the first option without hesitation.
He didn't choose the first option, and Yao Chunnuan could understand his decision. It was simply that the situation in Daliang was dire. First, three factions within Daliang were rebelling. Furthermore, according to the news she had received, the Southern Barbarians were stirring. Wei Xizhe, the Beidi, a nation closely connected to them, had overthrown his brothers, becoming the new King of the Beidi, and was in the process of uniting the various factions.
It can be said that Daliang was plagued by internal and external troubles and was on the verge of chaos. It was understandable that Marshal Zhu was skeptical and lacked confidence in Daliang.
He had previously hesitated to choose the first option. But after today, he would no longer have the opportunity to choose. If he had met the Crown Prince, he would have bowed down and sworn allegiance to him, and he would have taken the first path. However, after discussing the division of Yichun with them, the Crown Prince saw that Marshal Zhu had already harbored rebellious intentions. Later, the Crown Prince had deliberately tricked him to deal with them, making his attitude very clear.
Marshal Zhu has a preference for the second path, but when he looks around, there is no force that he would be willing to rely on!
As for the third path, he probably didn't want it. If Marshal Zhu wanted to establish himself as king, he would have rebelled after they did.
Marshal Zhu took Yao Chunnuan's words to heart. After a long pause, he sighed deeply, clearly understanding the current situation he and his troops found themselves in. If the Crown Prince hadn't arrived, he could have remained silent. But now, he had lost another option.
"Marshal Zhu, I think no matter which path you choose, you need to make your choice quickly. Otherwise, you'll be lost, and your subordinates will be at a loss as to what to do. This will lead to chaos and harm the morale of the army." After saying this, Yao Chunnuan began to vigorously promote their forces in the main city of Yichun. "In fact, you really should consider our Lord City Lord. You can't just look at the fact that our army is smaller than yours in terms of numbers. You have to consider the growth potential of our forces. Although joining early is risky, the rewards are also great."
Marshal Zhu hummed in response to her sales pitch.
Despite being silently rejected, Yao Chunnuan remained undaunted. "Marshal Zhu, please consider what I just said carefully. If you don't want to agree now, it's okay to refuse. We are not like the Crown Prince, who is cold and heartless. Our Lord City Lord is very open-minded and generous. Of course, if you ever figure it out, you can always let us know."
These words were heard by Shi Mei who had just stepped into the door. She couldn't help rolling her eyes. Yao Chunnuan was really good at the art of pulling people down. They almost believed what he said.
Zhu Dashuai humphed, open-minded and magnanimous? Ask Ray-Ban if he believes this.
Seeing Shi Mei coming back, Yao Chunnuan said she had finished what she needed to say. She decided to give them some time and space to think things over. Perhaps there would be unexpected results. So she stood up and led her people out.
After Yao Chunnuan and others left, only Marshal Zhu's men were left in the conference room.
Marshal Zhu's eldest son, Zhu Yucheng, couldn't wait to ask, "Dad, why don't you just reject that Yao family member?"
"I have my own considerations."
"Dad, we have many soldiers and generals. If Xing Changfeng can rebel, why can't we? We might as well join the rebellion and declare ourselves king." Zhu Yucheng couldn't understand. They had such strong power, why should they be inferior to others?
"Want to make yourself king? That's a nice thought." Marshal Zhu looked up and down at his eldest son Zhu Yucheng. He didn't expect that his eldest son would have such ambition.
Shi Mei also said, "Young Master, you think too simply." If there is a real rebellion, the court will definitely be the first to pick on them!
Furthermore, the territory where their Yichun camp was located bordered the Northern Di to the northeast, the Gaoshan tribe of the Jiachuan region to the northwest, and the jurisdiction of Xing Changfeng, the Yichun City Lord, to the southwest. This meant that any expansion of their territory would be difficult. First, the Northern Di were difficult to defeat, and they couldn't defeat Xing Changfeng in the southwest. Expanding northwest meant attacking the Gaoshan tribe, but the Gaoshan people were on good terms with Xing Changfeng, the Yichun City Lord, and his men. Ultimately, their only way to expand their territory was to head southeast and bully other vulnerable groups. Given this, would he dare rebel? Would he dare declare himself king?
After listening to Shi Mei's analysis, Zhu Yucheng's hopes were dashed. "This won't work, and that won't work. What should we do?"
Yeah, what should they do? Or should they just surrender to the people in Yichun's main city? This thought suddenly popped up in Zhu Dashuai's mind, and he immediately shook his head. No, no, he was almost brainwashed by Yao Chunnuan, that damn girl.
In the room, Marshal Zhu and others were at a loss after some discussion.
Outside, Yu Chen whispered to Yao Chunnuan, "Do you think the City Lord can successfully intercept and kill those thieves?" The City Lord had been chasing them for so long, and there was no telling what the outcome would be. Thinking about the identity of the man the City Lord was chasing, his heart pounded.
Yao Chunnuan thought for a moment and said, "The probability of success is about 40% to 60%. "
Hearing this, Yu Chen's heart sank. Does that mean the possibility of success is only 40%?
Although they had only met once, Yao Chunnuan had witnessed the prince's cleverness and courage. If he had dared to come, he must have planned a retreat. It was no surprise that he escaped, despite his deliberate actions. It was also his fate.
"Actually, this is my fault. I should have thought of it earlier!" Yao Chunnuan was quite annoyed.
When they had driven back Lei Peng, the first person to lead his troops, she had assumed the Crown Prince would send someone to appease the Yichun military settlement. She had even considered what conditions she would offer to bring the matter to light. Later, she changed her mind and used Lei Peng to create the illusion that they had been forced to revolt. Since he hadn't appeared, she had been so busy that she had forgotten about it. No wonder she had been feeling like she'd forgotten something these past few days; it turned out to be this.
She could guess that the person sent by the prince to mediate and appease them must be of high status, but she really didn't expect that the prince would come in person.
The prince was able to rush to Yichun to deal with the conflict personally when the prefect Lei led his troops to seize the Yichun military settlement for the first time. It is estimated that he guessed the seriousness of the matter.
Yao Chunnuan was extremely grateful that they had used their tricks to drive Lei Ban crazy, forcing him to launch a siege on the Yichun military settlement without any regard for the consequences, giving them the opportunity to seize the opportunity to counterattack. If they had hesitated, if they had acted a little later, the outcome would probably have been different.
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