Chapter 1329 – Defeating Huang Song, Unifying Dongqing (70)
Cheng Jing sighed, “It’s not worth getting the Lord upset over this kind of person. Just leave it to me.”
Huang Song’s expression was still dark; despite the traitor being a wishy-washy scoundrel, he was still upset and extremely furious.
However, after Cheng Jing’s persuasion, Huang Song’s mood lightened a bit as he calmly said, “Then let You Mo handle it.”
Cheng Jing bowed in acknowledgment, saying, “Understood.”
Seeking death was not frightening; what was terrifying was being resented by both Jiang Pengji and Huang Song at the same time. This Cheng Jing guy was also fishing for evidence.
Don’t let his gentlemanly appearance fool you; being a gentleman doesn’t mean being straightforward and inflexible. When he wants to scheme against someone, they’d willingly count their losses after being sold by him! To put it in the words of the live stream audience, which of these clever strategists isn’t white on the outside, black on the inside? They lure unsuspecting fish into their nets, and who ever realizes they’re playing with fire?
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Cheng Jing set the bait, and a fat fish took the hook.
“Is this news really true?”
“Of course it’s true.”
The speaker was the man who had visited Cheng Jing earlier.
His companion still felt uneasy, as if the document he held in hand was too hot to handle.
“Then you better explain the details. Cheng Jing is an old fox; how could he be so careless as to let you get your hands on this?”
The man replied, “Let me elaborate.”
It turned out that after Cheng Jing had forcefully sent him away last time, feeling a bit embarrassed, he had invited him into the tent for a chat.
The two hadn’t exchanged pleasantries for long when Cheng Jing received a battle document from Huang Song’s messenger, quickly hiding it in his sleeping quarters.
At that moment, due to the dry weather and the soldiers’ carelessness, sparks from the bonfire ignited the tent, causing a fire that burned several nearby tents. Cheng Jing thought the document was destroyed, not knowing that the man had seized the opportunity to steal everything during the chaos.
“This fire was too coincidental—” His companion still had doubts.
The man said, “What’s so surprising about that? It’s not rare for a camp to accidentally catch fire. Are you suggesting it’s a trap?”
The companion hesitated, “It looks somewhat suspicious…”
Indeed, while autumn was dry with plenty of dead grass, making it easy for a tent to catch fire, the timing made him suspicious.
The man insisted, “Cheng Jing nearly got burned; he has a small patch on his left hand. If the soldiers hadn’t responded in time, he’d have been gone. If this were truly a trap, what’s Cheng Jing’s motive? He would have already sent someone to capture us rather than play this charade!”
The companion said, “That does make some sense…”
If Cheng Jing were setting a trap, it would mean Huang Song had already noticed their treachery; how could he just sit back and do nothing?
Thinking this through, he realized he might be overthinking.
“So, what do we do now?” the companion asked.
The man replied, “To avoid prolonged nightmares, we need to deliver the news to Liu Xi before Huang Song takes action. That’s the only way to seize the moment for credit.”
Although the battle document was confidential, it had a time limit; they had to act before it expired.
The companion was worried. Once they truly betrayed Huang Song while still under his roof, it would cost them their lives if the plot was exposed.
He shared his concern with the man, and after some discussion, they decided to escape and seek refuge with Liu Xi that very night.
There were five powerful factions in Zhunghe County that intermarried, their interests deeply intertwined, so they had to act as one. They promptly split up to find others and finalize the plan to sneak out at the third watch of the night—
Cheng Jing had already been watching them closely, so he naturally had spies ready, and their conversation was reported to him word for word.
He snorted coldly and said, “They don’t know their doom is near!”
The camp occupied a large area with many people; if a confidant acted as an insider, disguising themselves as a common soldier to slip out wouldn’t be too difficult. Cheng Jing had even opened a back door for them, making their escape particularly smooth, and Jiang Pengji had arranged for their pickup.
Upon seeing the pickup, the group felt a wave of relief wash over them. While they didn’t show it on their faces, inside they were quite pleased.
Although they had betrayed Jiang Pengji before, they were now returning and being graciously welcomed back. How could they not feel proud?
In a way, they understood how heavy the weight of this confidential document was.
Holding the document meant holding onto power.
When they reached the camp, the sky was still gray, but their moods were brighter than ever.
From a distance, they could faintly see numerous tents sprawled on the ground.
Once they truly set foot on Jiang Pengji’s territory, they felt a sense of security.
Little did they know, the Divine Slayer Blade in Jiang Pengji’s hands was itching for action.
“Where is the Lord right now?” one of them asked the soldier who had come to receive them.
The soldier respectfully replied, “It’s still early, the Lord should be training in the martial arts field. Please wait here for now.”
They didn’t question it, each one waiting patiently in the main tent for Jiang Pengji to arrive.
Not daring to complain, they understood the hierarchy; Jiang Pengji had them wait, so wait they did.
What was Jiang Pengji doing at this moment?
Just as the soldier had said, she was warming up at the martial arts field.
As the Lord, how to win over the warriors and ensure their loyalty?
Besides having personal charisma, strength was also required. To instill respect, Jiang Pengji would visit every now and then, which put Qin Gong and the others in a tough spot. She occasionally pummeled newly appointed recruits, but most of the time, she would challenge them one-on-one or gang up against them.
Though she wouldn’t humiliate them, being thoroughly dominated by the Lord while outsiders thought they were evenly matched was pretty painful! Thus, the seasoned veterans avoided sparring with Jiang Pengji; seeing her show up at the martial arts field, they’d put on a grim face, while the newbies like Qin Gong and Xie Ze, who hadn’t had enough lessons, were quite eager. Only when they themselves could no longer dodge her would Jiang Pengji finally give them a break.
“What? Someone’s coming?”
As Jiang Pengji wiped the sweat from her neck, she looked refreshed, while Qin Gong and the others appeared drained as if they had been sapped of their essence.
“I’ll go over now. You guys continue practicing—”
The first sentence was directed at the messenger soldier, while the second was for Qin Gong and the rest.
“Understood!”
With Jiang Pengji leaving, the two who had barely escaped took a deep breath of relief.
Jiang Pengji strode into the main tent, not giving a glance at the few men, and sat at the head, propping her Divine Slayer Blade in front of her.
At such an attitude, don’t talk about being humble and respectful; she didn’t even spare them a word of “kindness.”
Yang Si remarked, “Lord, these gentlemen have brought something for you to review.”
He presented Huang Song’s battle document with both hands before Jiang Pengji, who picked it up with one hand and, with a swift motion, flipped through it in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Pengji’s attitude was inscrutable; the spirits of the men sank a little as they held their breaths, waiting for her reaction.
After a long pause—
With a loud snap, Jiang Pengji threw the document onto the ground and scoffed, “What, has Baogao only sent you few here to stage a surrender?”
