Chapter 013
Two human heads rolled onto the map, their expressions still showing a hint of shock and horror from the sudden change.
But before they could respond, Dian Wei's double halberds had already fallen.
Then, two headless bodies fell to the ground.
In an instant, the blood dyed the completely unfolded map red.
The blood-red parchment scroll was first illuminated red by the two fallen candles, and then suddenly a corner was burned by the candle and caught fire.
Immediately, a smell of burning hair filled the air.
Liang Zhongning opened his mouth and tried to say something, but was shocked to find that when people are shocked to a certain extent, they really will be speechless.
Or maybe—
He just didn't know what to say.
It was just a sudden change in a flash.
Bu Ji and Zhang Bo were still looking at the map one moment, and the next moment they were dead as hell...
Dead!
He had thought before that if he was the only Yellow Turban leader in Yanzhou, would there be less trouble? But when he actually saw Bu Ji and Zhang Bo died here, he almost felt that he was still dreaming.
Before the dinner held in the former Dongjun Governor's Mansion began, he had once thought that Qiao Yan wanted to facilitate peace talks between him and the two men, but now -
Now the "military advisor" whom he addressed as "sir" straightened up calmly, not even bothering to wipe the blood splattered on his face.
The skin, which was already much whiter than that of the ruffians like them, looked even redder and whiter against the winding bloodstains.
But the silence in the face of this cruel scene only reveals a terrible sense of disconnection.
Although he had long ceased to care about her age, he still found the sight even more absurd because of the size difference between her and Dian Wei, who was standing beside her with a spear in his hand.
But before he could recover from the deaths of the two men, Qiao Yan had already made his next move.
She drew the sword at her side.
This was the sword she had selected from the Puyang treasury before she set out for the Gao family fortress.
The sword was narrow, long and light, and even though Qiao Yan's physique and strength were still below average, he could still throw it easily.
The sword flew out of his hand and stabbed into the table where Bu Ji sat when he just stepped into the hall, making a piercing sound.
"Don't do it yet!" Qiao Yan shouted.
Liang Zhongning woke up as if from a dream.
No matter what the reason was for Qiao Yan to let Dian Wei kill Bu Ji and Zhang Bo at this time, the followers brought by these two people must not leave this place alive!
But there was one person who reacted faster than him.
There were still traces of blood on the double halberds in Dian Wei's hands. He leaped forward almost the moment Qiao Yan threw the sword.
The short spear was a little light, which somewhat limited his strengths, but it also made him more flexible in the indoor fight.
There was only a moment's delay from the time Qiao Yan spoke to the time Dian Wei attacked again, and two men from Bu Ji's army who were not far from the narrow sword had already fallen.
Liang Zhongning was eager to help Dian Wei silence the witness, so he did not notice that when Qiao Yan looked at the first person who fell to the ground, his eyes were dazed for a moment.
She recognized this person.
This was one of the guards who protected Qiao Yan and her daughter as they evacuated eastward.
But he was different from the other guards who turned back to look for Qiao Yu, or who were forced to participate in the battle to capture Juye and died.
After he was drawn into Bu Ji's team, he surrendered to the enemy without hesitation.
Perhaps for him, continuing to follow a mother and daughter who may have lost their support is not as useful as fighting for a future in the Yellow Turban Army. This is understandable from the perspective of human instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm.
But when Qiao Yan's eyes met his just now, she clearly saw a hint of suspicion in the other's expression.
There are indeed some differences between wearing men's clothes and women's clothes, and there are many similar people in the world. Qiao Yan can be even more certain that if he judges himself and the original "Qiao Yan" at first sight, they are indeed very different.
But she had to cut the Gordian knot at this moment, so she couldn't leave any hidden dangers and let Liang Zhongning discover her identity early.
Anyway, since he was Bu Ji's subordinate and witnessed Bu Ji's death here with his own eyes, he was going to die anyway!
I just don’t know if it was her illusion. When Bu Ji died first and this person surrendered, Qiao Yan vaguely felt that she felt a lot lighter, as if it was because of -
This action of hers could be considered as revenge for her original mother.
But at the moment she didn't have the extra energy to think about it.
The deaths of Bu Ji and Zhang Bo occurred at the moment when the truth was revealed, but they cannot be treated with the attitude of "since the person is dead, it's nothing."
After Dian Wei and Liang Zhongning's men wiped out all the idlers here and made sure that there was no one who could leak the information, it was time for her to take charge of the situation.
She stood with her hands behind her back, watching the confrontation quietly.
As one side had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength, the sound of swords clashing in the hall did not last long.
However, when the fighting stopped, the silence with corpses all over the ground made people feel that a storm was about to come, compared to the sound of fighting just now.
In the extreme silence, the sound of a drop of blood splashing on the ground seemed to be heard clearly at this moment.
After a long while, Liang Zhongning finally spoke up to break the silence, "Sir, why are you like this?"
Why is it so?
Suddenly, he went from being one of the three chiefs in Yanzhou to the leader of the Yellow Turban chiefs in Yanzhou. After the initial uproarious emotions he felt upon realizing the death of the two men, an indescribable fear gradually emerged in his heart.
He stared at Qiao Yan, whose face was covered in blood and looked murderous, and was surprised that she actually smiled slowly at this moment.
"Didn't the commander say that Zhang Bo is stupid and Bu Ji is greedy, and neither of them is someone you can work with for a long time?"
“…”
It’s true that he said that, but he didn’t say that he would kill the person so directly!
No matter how he thought about it, he felt that this was probably not because he had tried to keep the gentleman and complained too much recently.
Liang Zhongning's emotions were churning inside, and he was in a complicated state. Suddenly, he saw Qiao Yan put away his smile and turned serious, as if in a warning tone:
"Now that it's done, it's best for you not to dwell on why you killed him. In my opinion, the right thing to do is to make good use of this mess and take control of all three armies."
"All three factions are small factions of the Yellow Turbans. When combined, they only have as many people as a large faction. Does Commander Qu think he doesn't have the ability to lead a large faction?"
"Of course... not!" Liang Zhongning's subordinates were still in the hall. How could he possibly show weakness in front of them?
Faced with Qiao Yan's question, he could only cheer himself up and give an affirmative answer.
He was also distracted by this question, and his attention shifted from the death of the two people to the cleanup.
Yes, it’s too late to regret now that they’ve been killed.
The Taiping Dao Uprising was originally a road where success meant death, but now there is an additional restriction that prevents turning back.
In Liang Zhongning's eyes, which were eager to seek recognition and support, he could clearly see Mr. Yan Qiao's satisfaction with his reply.
Then, he saw the other party take out a piece of cloth from his sleeve, slowly wipe off the dirt on his face, and return to the bright and cheerful demeanor that Liang Zhongning was familiar with.
This also gave him a sense of security for no reason.
But it seems that this sense of security still seems a bit unreal.
So when Qiao Yan made another move, Liang Zhongning's eyes subconsciously followed her fingertips and saw that she was pointing outside the house.
He had no idea that Qiao Yan had aroused his emotions and he completely followed her words and thought that they might be a sign of danger.
The sudden sight of Bu Ji and Zhang Bo dying in front of him completely confused his thoughts.
Even when he heard Qiao Yan say "In that case, please give the orders, General Qu", he nodded instinctively at first, and then immediately showed a confused expression.
Give an order? How should he give orders?
Qiao Yan paused for a moment, then said in a tone that would not be misunderstood: "Please ask Commander Qu to send your trusted men here—"
"Fire the granary."
Liang Zhongning shuddered.
The four words she threw out were like a bolt of thunder, which frightened Liang Zhongning greatly.
The granaries in Puyang City were filled with grain from Tian's Fort and Gao's Fort, which changed the emptiness when Liang Zhongning first took over Puyang. It is no exaggeration to say that this place was the capital for his soldiers to survive.
Because of this, the guards he arranged at the granary were even better than those around him.
But what did he hear now?
Burning granary?
He hesitated and said, "I know the atmosphere is tense right now, but sir, please don't make such jokes..."
"I'm not kidding you!" Qiao Yan interrupted him immediately, "Burning the granary is the way to solve the problem here. General Qu could have moved the stored grain first, and just set a fire within the controllable range. As for how much grain was burned, it's all up to General Qu to decide."
"Today I intend to ease the relationship with General Bu Jiqu and invite him to come to the meeting to discuss cooperation. His military has seen it. But everyone knows what kind of person Bu Ji is."
"If he was dissatisfied with the gap between the two sides and deliberately set fire to the grain, or even sent people to secretly rob, is this possible?"
Liang Zhongning: It seems like there really is.
"If this matter is accidentally discovered by Commander Qu, what will Commander Qu do?"
Before Liang Zhongning could reply, he had already heard Qiao Yan's decisive words: "I guess Commander Qu must be afraid to kill him easily just like before, because we are still allies, so he only pursues the responsibility but does not kill him."
Qiao Yan raised her hand and pointed. Dian Wei noticed the look she gave him and was stunned for a moment. He then handed the wine jar that had fallen to the ground during the fight but had not yet broken into pieces to her.
The wine jar didn't even last for a moment in her hand before she smashed it to the ground.
The smell of wine and the stronger smell of blood that filled the room as the wine jar shattered mixed into an even more pungent odor.
However, for no reason, Liang Zhongning's face showed a look of anger.
He seemed to have vaguely guessed Qiao Yan's plan.
This seems to be somewhat contrary to the other party's identity as Zheng Xuan's disciple, but when he is a vested interest, some things are always inevitably overlooked.
For a moment he felt that what was shattered on the ground might not be the wine jar, but his already precarious idea of trying to maintain a balance among the three Yellow Turban commanders.
Qiao Yan asked word by word at this moment: "But if he drinks at a banquet and gets drunk, and suddenly finds out that the fire in the granary was caused by Bu Ji, what should he do?"
This time, Liang Zhongning gave a sufficiently affirmative and resolute reply, "Kill him!"
As for why the other one died? Just consider it bad luck.
It was not until she walked out of the banquet hall that the night wind blew away the bloody smell lingering in her nostrils.
She looked up at the stars in the night sky that were dim and uncertain, and the decisiveness in her expression faded a little, revealing a sense of disappointment that was different from when she had arranged Liang Zhongning's next move. However, she smiled self-deprecatingly after looking away and suppressed the disappointment.
[…You are really taking an unconventional approach.] 】There was also a hint of sigh in the system's tone.
Even though it had experienced a shock before the banquet when Qiao Yan persuaded Dian Wei to follow her orders to kill the two men, when it really saw this happening in front of him, it couldn't help but feel that it seemed to have to refresh its understanding of its host again.
It was originally thinking that as a qualified system, its system library actually had psychological counseling content loaded into it, and perhaps it should comfort its host at this time.
After all - when she first came to this world, the bodies she saw were abandoned, and the people were already dead; in the battle between the Tian and Gao forts, she did not appear in the front line of the battle mostly out of consideration for her own safety.
But now I saw this scene at such a close distance.
However, the system waited for a long time, and only waited for Qiao Yan to watch Liang Zhongning's confidants go in and out to execute the plan, and then asked in a low voice: "Are there any points for calculating the counselor?"
[……] The system was speechless.
Isn't this a bit too professional?
But since Qiao Yan was not in a position to do something too strange like turning on the light screen, it would of course do it for him.
【have. 】
Of course there are.
The death of Bu Ji and Zhang Bo undoubtedly provided a favorable opportunity for Liang Zhongning, whom Qiao Yan was currently theoretically working for, to get a promotion and a raise, and become the leader of the Yellow Turbans in Yanzhou.
Judging from the personal development prospects of Liang Zhongning, this alternative "lord", this strategist point should be given to her.
Judging from the fact that the Yellow Turban Army is temporarily no longer restrained by three parties and is very likely to fall into the hands of one person and become powerful in the future, this strategist spot should also be given to her.
But this method of obtaining strategist points really confuses the system.
If I praise her, wouldn't that encourage her to do such a disco-like thing?
The system, which was bound to a host for the first time to perform a practical task, fell silent.
But no matter what the system thinks, Puyang City is destined not to remain peaceful tonight.
The soldiers on night patrol from Bu Ji's and Zhang Bo's garrisons outside the city saw the fire in the city, lighting up half the sky. Soon after, the word "fire" was heard from afar in the silent night.
As time went on, the sound became louder and the fire became brighter.
Unfortunately, because of the city wall, these people could not see where the fire started.
What was more important to them than the fire in the city was undoubtedly the soldiers who were awakened in the management camp.
No matter how the Yellow Turban Army used the banner of the Taiping Dao and seemed to have spiritual beliefs, it could not change one fact.
Most of the soldiers in the army were in poor physical condition due to long-term hard work, and the unknown outcome of their confrontation with the imperial court added to their mental stress.
Anyone with a few military experiences in the team would know that this is a situation where camp riots are extremely likely to occur.
Fortunately, there was no army coming to kill at this time, and the fire in the city was quickly put out, and it returned to its original calm.
The soldiers who woke up and were temporarily unable to fall asleep gathered together and expressed their ideas about the possible locations of the fire in the city.
However, they soon received three pieces of news that shocked the entire camp.
The fire burned the granary in Puyang City.
The fire was set by Bu Jiqu, a mentally unbalanced commander.
Bu Shuai was killed on the spot by Liang Shuai under the influence of alcohol, and Zhang Shuai, who came forward to dissuade him, was also killed.
These three pieces of news are more shocking than the last!
If the person in charge of reporting had not spoken with such confidence, it would have sounded like a joke!
Hearing that your boss is gone is not something that can be easily moved on for anyone.
However, after some people were selected from the camp to ask Liang Zhongning for an explanation and were allowed to enter Puyang City, the scenes they saw seemed to confirm what the messenger said.
The fire broke out in the granary.
There were still traces of burned grains on the floor of the granary, and outside the granary were bags of rescued grain.
Some of the bag openings were burned and the corn spilled all over the ground.
That was exactly the millet obtained from the fortress.
This thing is rare in ordinary people's homes, so it is particularly eye-catching.
Also outside the granary was Liang Zhongning.
The Yellow Turban leader was still drunk at the moment, and he held a bloody blade in his hand, which distinguished him from an ordinary drunkard.
Because the damage statistics after the fire needed to be reported to him, he could only pretend to be cheerful.
Before the soldiers under Bu Ji could even get close to Liang Zhongning, they suddenly saw him draw his sword with a fierce look on his face, as if he had heard something unbelievable. He shouted:
"I wanted to cooperate with him to get food, so that both sides could have enough food to eat. Why did he treat me like this?"
"The loss of two hundred thousand hu? I just killed him and it was too easy for him. Even if I hang him on the top of Puyang City, it will not be able to relieve the hatred in my heart!"
As soon as he said this, not only the person reporting to Liang Zhongning who was closest to him, but even Bu Ji's followers who were farther away subconsciously took a step back.
But they also saw that Liang Zhongning's alcohol had slightly faded away and he sobered up, and put away his sword.
Seeing these people coming, he turned around and asked, "Forget it, let's not talk about this person. Bu Ji is dead, and the army...is there any chaos in the army?"
The person he pointed out shrank back and replied, "Not yet, but the news came suddenly, and we were sent here to find out the reason."
Liang Zhongning sighed.
He did not reply immediately, but did as Qiao Yan taught him, first slowly lowering his gaze to the sword in his hand. It seemed that when he touched the bloodstain on the sword, he felt a little more regretful.
But as the saying goes, the dead cannot be resurrected. No matter how much he regretted it, since there were reasons for what happened and he was drunk, he had to deal with the consequences.
When he looked up again, it was obvious that he had forced himself to calm down.
"The reason? You have seen the reason. Bu Ji and I are both at fault in this matter. However, the food stored in this city is really closely related to whether we can feed the soldiers. His actions are no different from taking people's lives!"
The soldiers who came to inquire about the news did not respond.
But if they were really asked to speak, perhaps they would think the same.
Setting fire to the granary sounds absurd, but it was blamed on their leader, and it seemed like it was really possible.
In this case, it is not so easy for Liang Zhongning to calculate.
He was already exhausted from the consecutive killings of two generals and the loss of the granary fire, and he had to give an explanation at this time.
What these soldiers didn't expect was that he took the cold water handed to him by his subordinates and drank it in one gulp. After his expression became clearer, he immediately said, "You said that there has been no change for the time being, but I am not very reassured."
"The army is leaderless and prone to mutiny. I am still drunk and cannot take over. But if there are enough food, and everyone has come here in response to General Tiangong's call, they will not scatter."
His gaze shifted from these people to the sacks outside the granary. He showed some reluctance and said through gritted teeth, "Since the granary has caught fire, these rescued millets are a godsend. You can take them out and share them with your comrades outside the city."
Divide food?
The representatives who were sent looked at each other, and they all saw surprise on each other's faces.
It is obvious that Liang Zhongning had more than one place where he stored grain, but the amount of grain rescued from this place was about 200,000 to 300,000 hu.
If General Liang only apologized for the accidental killing of General Bu, he would be criticized in the army.
But if General Bu did something unkind first, and there were 200,000 or 300,000 hu of grain in front of him——
Kill him if you want!
Whoever can feed them will be the new leader!
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