negotiation
The next day, before dawn, while dew still clung to the grass, the army attacked the city again. The sounds of swords and spears echoed through the sky. Lu Chang had already climbed the city wall and was fighting fiercely. His lieutenant ran up to him, intending to shout: "General! Reinforcements have arrived! Reinforcements have arrived!"
He stood on the city wall, watching soldiers in white armor rush towards Fancheng, and then he looked at the white-robed general leading the charge, who looked extremely familiar.
Just then, the white-robed general raised his head. He was still on horseback, yet he could still draw his bow with one hand and nock an arrow with the other, aiming it directly at Lu Chang.
The lieutenant tried to shield him from the arrow: "General, be careful!" but was pulled aside. When the arrow flew, he didn't move an inch. The arrow flew past his shoulder and went straight behind him, hitting an enemy soldier behind Lu Chang—who had just tried to attack Lu Chang from behind when he wasn't paying attention.
Cui Dongchi laughed loudly downstairs: "Qingqing, wait for me to come upstairs!" With that, he spurred his horse and charged towards the city.
With reinforcements arriving, morale soared. Under the combined forces of the Jianchuan army, Fancheng, which had been besieged for months, was finally captured. Governor Yu Zhi fulfilled his vow made on the city wall that day: to never surrender. As the city fell, he jumped off the city wall and died on the spot.
Not far away, seeing Yu Zhi fall from the building, Qin Ziyou knew that there was no hope for Fancheng. He looked coldly at the man on the city wall and finally rode away from the place.
Yu Zhi was over sixty years old and could have retired and returned to his hometown, but he remained in Fancheng because of the chaos in the Great Wei. Lu Chang stood before his body and sighed at the integrity of this old minister. He ordered the soldiers to properly collect his body and solemnly bury him on Xiushan Mountain next to Fancheng, so that he could continue to accompany the city he had sworn to defend to the death.
This action, seen by the terrified people of Fancheng, brought them some reassurance. Knowing that Lu Chang held high prestige among the people of Fancheng, Lu Chang's actions had indeed won them over.
He and Cui Dongchi agreed that they would both be stationed at the corner of the city, not disturbing the people, and only keeping their men in check to prevent them from committing any crimes.
Cui Dongchi laughed and said, "I have no problem with that, I have brought enough military rations. But you, it will take quite a while to transport the rations from the south!"
Lu Chang raised his wine jug and drank it with him: "General Cui has always been generous, so my soldiers can only share the grain with the Jianchuan army!"
Cui Dongchi, still carrying the wine jug, laughed heartily upon hearing this: "Good, good! Being a soldier has indeed changed things!"
The soldiers drank their victory toasts. After months of being harassed by Fancheng, they were finally able to let loose. After round after round of toasts, they finally had a moment to rest when Cui Dongchi came over with a wine jug and tossed it into Lu Chang's arms: "Come on, let's go drink somewhere else!"
The two men, carrying wine jugs, found an open space to sit down. Cui Dongchi raised his jug and drank, the wine flowing from the spout into his chest, but he didn't care. He simply wiped it away casually, leaned against the rock, and sighed, "This is the first time I've drunk so heartily with you. In the past, we would sit in the courtyard and drink freely, but now that I think about it, it was more of a pretense!"
Lu Chang smiled and shook his head, drinking in silence. After a long while, he finally said, "You could have chosen not to come, or come later."
If he doesn't come, or comes late, and Lu Chang wins, we can take Fancheng; if Lu Chang loses, Cui Dongchi can lead his army back and occupy Lingnan. Or he can reap the benefits and seize Fancheng.
Cui Dongchi had also considered this issue, and he was quite straightforward, telling Lu Chang frankly, "I dare not. I'm afraid that if I make a move against you, the Lingnan army will flatten my Jianchuan!"
Lu Chang didn't believe him: "You're not telling the truth."
Cui Dongchi slowly suppressed his smile. The clear night sky also broadened his thoughts. He looked at the starry sky and said, "If the Great Wei is at peace, my father and I have no intention of changing the dynasty. Lu Chang, I am not an unfaithful or unjust person. It is just that I am loyal to the Great Wei and the people, not the Li family."
He turned to look at Lu Chang and said, "You are the same kind of person, which is why you have come this far. Otherwise, after defeating the Hu people, you should have led your troops south instead of staying in the Central Plains."
Cui Dongchi downed another sip of wine and said, "I can't guarantee what the future holds, but Lu Chang, you will always be my brother, and my father will always treat you as his son!"
The topic was heavy, and it wouldn't carry much weight to say such things at this time. Cui Dongchi changed the subject, took out a letter from his clothes, and tossed it to Lu Chang.
"Look what your good little sister has done! My older sister has grown up to be so well-behaved that even Father doesn't dare to lay a finger on her!"
Lu Chang glanced at it casually, then tossed the letter back: "A letter from home is worth a fortune, keep it safe!"
This casual attitude displeased Cui Dongchi, who kicked him and questioned, "Is this all the attitude you've got?"
Lu Chang laughed and said, "I know my sister's temper. If she really did it, it must be because your sister went too far and pushed her too far. If you don't believe me, you can investigate her properly when you get back."
"She also lent money to Chunlai, and then forcibly took her from my house and brought her back to your house. What do you mean by that?"
"Don't believe everything in the letter. If I were to believe anything, it would only be my sister Chunshan and Zhen. Come on, let's get some more wine! Let's keep drinking!"
The two got up, put their arms around each other's shoulders, and walked towards the camp. Along the way, they could hear Cui Dongchi still arguing quietly.
After capturing Fancheng, the next stop was Runan, Li Ling's stronghold. However, this old fox had already emptied his lair long ago, and he had abandoned Runan as well.
At this point, Lu Chang and Cui Dongchi occupied all the land in the central and southern parts of the Great Wei, while Li Ling occupied the northwest and the three surrounding prefectures.
Although they were said to be in a standoff between the north and south, their strengths were vastly different. Lu Chang did not want to raise an army that would become a threat, and wanted to conquer the north in one fell swoop.
However, Li Ling came to make peace first, and the envoy he sent surprised Lu Chang. It turned out to be Qin Gang, the eldest son of the Qin family, with whom he had studied in the past.
The Qin family had long been colluding with Li Ling, but Lu Chang was somewhat surprised that even his former classmate, whom he had greatly admired, would condone his father and grandfather making such a choice.
In his youth, he and Qin Gang got along well and often studied together, having a lot to talk about. However, as they grew older, they lost the purity of their youth and their interactions became more polite and distant.
He had always admired Qin Gang's talent, so before leaving that year, he took Jingwan to a gambling den and bet that Qin Gang would be the top scholar that year.
As expected, he lived up to expectations and became a disciple of the emperor.
I never expected that we would meet in this way today.
Inside the tent, Qin Gang looked at Lu Chang, illuminated by the candlelight, and said calmly, "I knew you were no ordinary person back then, and sure enough, I was right."
His words contained no flattery; he was simply stating a fact as if in conversation.
Lu Chang said, "But you made a mistake. To conspire with Li Ling is tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin. Zijie, why?"
Zijie was Qin Gang's courtesy name, and Lu Chang called him that when he was young.
This sound of Zijie reminded Qin Gang of the past, when among all the candidates who participated in the imperial examination that year, only Lu Chang was worthy of being his opponent.
Unexpectedly, Lu Chang didn't even qualify for the list, and he realized that the imperial examination was manipulated. Perhaps his status as the top scholar was even obtained through a trade between his grandfather and Yang Fujin.
Later, Lu Chang left Pingdu to study abroad and then served as an official in Lingnan. His composure in the face of both honor and disgrace made Qin Gang admire him even more.
He had long understood that he was not in control of his own destiny, and so now, he stood before Lu Chang as a loser, listening to him ask, "Why?"
Why?
Qin Gang smiled knowingly. With eunuchs in power, the emperor was nothing more than a puppet in their hands. The Qin family simply wanted to find a wise and virtuous ruler surnamed Li.
However, Li Ling was ultimately short-sighted. When he allowed the Hu people to enter the Central Plains and wreak havoc on the Great Wei, the Qin family realized they had chosen the wrong person.
But what can we do?
"What can be done now that it's already a mistake?"
Qin Gang didn't want to elaborate, only relaying Li Ling's words: "The Prince of Runan does not wish to contend with the General for the throne, and hopes that the General will consider the territory the Prince currently occupies."
"Let the prince guard the northwestern border. As for whether the general will one day declare himself emperor or king, the Prince of Runan will not interfere."
"Why should I?" Lu Chang smiled. "If I raise an army, the entire Great Wei will be mine. Why should I give the Northwest to Li Ling?"
Qin Gang continued, "Your Highness is willing to return the Gao family members one by one. If the General ascends the throne, Your Highness, as the son of the Li family, should naturally lead all the people to kneel and pay homage first."
Lu Chang calmly looked at Qin Gang: "You know in your heart that I won't agree." He lightly glanced at the screen beside him and said, "The Northwest is my homeland, and I will never hand it over to this wolf in sheep's clothing. Qin Gang, do you think the debts of Pengcheng and the Princess can be wiped clean?"
Qin Gang laughed again: "Of course I understand, this is just a last-ditch effort. The prince also said that the murderer who killed the princess is Qin Ziyou of the Qin family. If the general agrees, the murderer will also be sent here for the general to deal with."
"Qin Ziyou? He's your brother. Would the Qin family really be willing to part with him?"
Qin Gang smiled sarcastically: "Born of a lowly servant, he can't be considered a younger brother." He raised his eyes and looked directly at Lu Chang: "The Qin family can afford to give up Qin Ziyou, but General, can you afford to give up the 300,000 people in the Northwest? Li Ling is cruel. If you push him to the last step, he will have no choice but to drag the entire Northwest down with him."
Qin Gang had already explained the purpose of his trip and had no intention of staying any longer. He left the tent, saying only, "Don't see me off, I will leave on my own."
After he left, Cui Dongchi emerged from behind the screen. He looked at Lu Chang and asked, "What are your plans?"
Lu Chang didn't look at him, but only wiped the sword in his hand: "Are you going to give Li Ling a chance to catch his breath? Who knows, he might have already contacted the Hu people and is preparing to go south."
These words didn't sound like something Lu Chang would say. Cui Dongchi asked in surprise, "You don't care about the people in the Northwest? Lu Chang, that's your home!"
This time, Lu Chang countered with the question: "If I don't want them, then do you want the people of the Northwest?"
“Three hundred thousand people! I want them! Lu Chang, what’s wrong with you…” At this point, Cui Dongchi stopped, a sudden realization striking him: “Are you testing me?”
Lu Chang smiled: "This isn't a test, it's a sincere question." He sheathed his sword, the sound clear and bright. Cui Dongchi heard him say: "Li Ling must be killed, but not now, yet we can't wait any longer. Dongchi, I've fought alongside my father in the Northwest since I was young, I know when is the best time to kill him. Now, let's prepare properly!"
He said, "I miss my younger sister. I've had someone invite her over these past few days. What about you? Would you like to come along?"
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