"The truly awesome one is definitely not Yang Qingzhi!"
"The man who advised Yang Qingzhi was a gray-robed man. Yang Qingzhi and the generals of Southern Zhou respected this gray-robed man greatly and called him their strategist."
"It is clear that Yang Qingzhi's swift victory over Feng Jing and Xiao Luofeng, and his great victory over our army today, are all due to the gray-robed man's strategy."
"The gray-robed man?" Zhao Cheng tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table, muttering to himself, "The gray-robed strategist? Interesting."
Cheng Xu frowned slightly. As his own strategist, he also developed a great interest in the enemy's strategist.
Zhao Cheng asked, "Do you know who this gray-robed man is? Did you see his face clearly?"
Yuan Fei shook his head and said, "No, his face and body were completely hidden inside his robe."
"Is it something you're ashamed to show off?" Zhao Cheng muttered to himself, rubbing his nose. "Or is it just for the sake of looking cool?"
Zhao Yan then realized what was happening and asked, "Brother, you said to wait a little longer, were you waiting for news from Yuan Fei?"
"Um."
"So you sent Yuan Fei to scout the camp before the war even started?"
Zhao Cheng said, "No, it was only when Zhao Hu entered the formation that Yuan Fei was allowed to go. Cui Wuming is in the army, and if Yuan Fei went there rashly before the battle started, he would definitely be discovered by Cui Wuming."
Zhao Cheng looked at Yuan Fei's bleeding right arm and continued, "It seems you've been discovered after all."
Yuan Fei sighed and said, "Cui Wuming's sword is too fast. If I were any slower, I would already be a dead soul under his sword."
At this point, Yuan Fei suddenly remembered something and added, "Cui Wuming's attitude towards the gray-robed man was different from that of Yang Qingzhi and the others."
Zhao Cheng asked, "What's the difference? Are you dissatisfied with him?"
No, quite the opposite.
Yuan Fei recalled for a moment and said, "Yang Qingzhi and the others respected the gray-robed man, but Cui Wuming was very natural with the gray-robed man, just like..."
As he spoke, Yuan Fei looked at Zhao Hu and said, "It feels just like when you're with General Hu."
Zhao Cheng narrowed his eyes and asked doubtfully, "Cui Wuming sees me as an enemy because Su Wansan died because of me. The more he hates me, the more loyal he is to Su Wansan. Now that he is a Grandmaster, he is even less likely to easily acknowledge someone else as his master?"
"Could it be that Su Wansan is not dead?" Zhao Hu guessed.
“That’s impossible. It was Yuan Xiu who decided to kill Su Wansan back then, and the people who carried it out were Xu Qingshan and Chen Jiudao. Cui Wuming even had his arm cut off by Xu Qingshan because of this. Su Wansan had no chance of surviving,” Zhao Cheng said with certainty.
Cheng Xu said, "Forgive my bluntness, but it is not surprising that a wise man like the gray-robed strategist could persuade a grandmaster to serve him."
Zhao Cheng thought for a moment and said, "What the strategist said makes sense. Things are getting more and more interesting."
After speaking, Zhao Cheng looked at Yuan Fei.
"You've worked hard, go down and heal your wounds first."
"promise."
After Yuan Fei stepped down, Zhao Cheng glanced at the generals and said, "You all heard that, what kind of bullshit military genius descended to earth, and was invincible? I admit that Yang Qingzhi is a talented commander, but he's not that amazing."
Zhao Cheng gave a thumbs up and said, "He's good at leading troops, but not at strategy."
Zhao Hu said, "We know, but the soldiers don't."
Tuo Tiewuhua said, "Given the current atmosphere, even if we tell them the truth, they might not believe us."
Zhou Nuo drew his bow and stood up, saying, "I'll go assassinate him!"
"Are you out of your mind?!"
Zhao Cheng stood up hurriedly and said, "The gray-robed strategist is Cui Wuming's master. With Cui Wuming by his side, you have no chance."
"I have the Spirit-Startling Bow..."
"Don't even think about it! You won't even get within range before Cui Wuming notices you. Is your arrow faster or his sword? Didn't you see Yuan Fei almost get broken?" Qian Qianren said.
Seeing Zhou Nuo's dissatisfaction, Zhao Cheng said earnestly, "Since I've brought you here, there must be a way you can be of use. I promise I'll give you a chance to deal with the gray-robed man."
Zhou Nuo then sat down.
Zhao Cheng walked to the middle of the hall, drew a circle on his head with his index finger, and said, "You all need to calm down first. Rumors are spreading in the military right now, and we must control them in time. We can't let all the soldiers be brainwashed."
How to control it?
"Anti-brainwashing".
Zhao Cheng walked step by step toward the door and said, "Quiet down, give me a few minutes to sort this out."
Just as Cheng Xu was about to speak, Zhao Hu grabbed him.
Zhao Hu leaned close to Cheng Xu's ear and whispered, "Strategist, I know you have your own ideas, but when it comes to such crooked schemes, I think my master is more reliable."
"Forehead……"
Suddenly, Cheng Xu recalled that night from years ago, when Zhao Cheng's scheme plunged Zhu Shan into despair...
No, that's not design.
That was a wicked scheme!
Cheng Xu shuddered, realizing that he had become somewhat arrogant since becoming a strategist, especially after devising the plan to capture the Southern Zhou scouts.
Speaking of shady and despicable...
I'm still far inferior to Zhao Cheng...
At this moment, Zhao Cheng suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked enlightened.
"so……"
"Third brother, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to capture a few Southern Zhou soldiers, right?"
Zhao Yan said, "What's so difficult about that?"
Zhao Cheng said, "After we capture them, there will always be spineless ones we can bribe. We'll publicly torture them to get them to say something. Like, '...'"
"Yang Qingzhi suddenly became so powerful because he hired a master. To gain this master's help, Yang Qingzhi not only gave him countless riches but also treated him with utmost respect, even kneeling down and licking his shoes in private..."
Cheng Xu: "..."
Zhao Hu: "..."
Tuo Tiewuhua said, "Yang Qingzhi is at least a minor governor of the Southern Zhou Dynasty. Isn't it a bit too much for him to kneel down and lick shoes?"
"What do you know!"
Zhao Cheng snorted coldly and said, "If the soldiers can believe that Yang Qingzhi is a military genius descended to earth, then why can't they believe that he would kneel down and lick shoes?"
"After you've finished talking about Yang Qingzhi, have them talk about this expert. Say he's a monster afflicted with a strange disease, who can only hide his face and body in a gray robe because he'll spontaneously combust if exposed to light. This gray-robed monster isn't from the Southern Zhou; he's a pirate! He was the pirate's former strategist!"
Tuo Tiewu asked doubtfully, "Why do you say he's a pirate?"
Zhao Cheng explained, "By belittling and weakening Yang Qingzhi, we can relatively strengthen Grey Robe's position. At this point, when we reveal Grey Robe's identity as a pirate, the soldiers will be able to draw two conclusions: first, Grey Robe is not from Southern Zhou and is not truly of one mind with Yang Qingzhi; second, Grey Robe is a pirate, and we, the people of Jing, deeply resent pirates!"
"In this way, no matter how powerful the gray robe is, our soldiers will not be afraid to fight."
Upon hearing this, the generals were stunned.
Cheng Xu muttered, "That's really mean..."
"What's this?"
Zhao Cheng stuck out his index finger and shook it, saying, "What I'm about to say is even more offensive!"
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