Lord Xinling and Mangmao, together with most of the guests, stayed in the tent to coordinate the siege, while Jin Bi, Zhang Yue, and Zhong Yue went out with about ten other famous guests. They discussed briefly outside the tent and then left.
Zhang He led several retainers out of the camp gate, came to the envoy, and said to the envoy: "The general has called, follow me!" The cold voice shocked the hearts of the three of them.
The three of them stood up and prepared to enter the camp. Zhang Noi said: "The general only summoned one messenger, please wait here." Then he turned to the soldiers who were left with him: "Ask a few brothers to push the cart into the camp." "
The messenger knew it was not good, but he had no choice but to follow him in.
Zhang Ye walked around the camp without saying a word. The messenger tried to say a few words, but received only a cold snort. The messenger couldn't figure it out, his underwear was soaked with cold sweat, and his heart felt cold when the wind blew. Finally, Zhang He and his party came to an open space, where a tall figure seemed to be waiting for him, with a row of black shadows behind him. None of them could see their faces clearly.
Zhang Ye stepped forward and saluted: "Bring the envoy!"
The messenger took a few steps forward and bowed. Before I could introduce myself, I heard the tall man say in a cold voice: "Your Majesty, do you know a few people!... Give the city envoy a hand!"
A dark figure took a torch, lit it on a nearby fire, turned back, and walked forward. Zhang Noi shouted to the messenger: "Go over and recognize me!"
The messenger followed the torch in confusion and saw the man walking into a bush, opening a straw mat and extending the torch downwards.
Three corpses appeared in the light, looking particularly terrifying in the dancing firelight.
The messenger was a little hesitant, and Zhang Noi shouted again: "Look carefully, you can recognize it!"
The messenger could only struggle to take a few steps forward, and saw a torch reaching towards the face of one of the corpses. When the messenger saw him, he shouted loudly, his legs became weak, and he sat down on the ground.
Zhang He bowed down in a deep voice: "Tell me, who is it?"
The messenger shook his head in panic, but could not speak.
Zhang Ye asked again: "Who do you recognize? Why did you send him here?"
The envoy gasped for air and said: "Is this the envoy you said you sent from the city? You have been deceived!"
Zhang He said: "He is not the messenger, then who is he?"
The envoy said: "But it's Mr. Ji! Mr. Ji is very unworthy and not favored by the emperor, but he doesn't know why he pretended to be an envoy and came to the army in person. This son is so unworthy that the Lord of the City will never send him as an envoy!"
"What about the other two?"
"Neither of these two people are from the city, and I have never met them. I think they are Biye whom Ji Jun met outside the city."
Zhang He sneered and said: "Ji Jun is unworthy, but he can get help from a despicable person to the death? He must be ordered by the city king!"
The envoy shook his head repeatedly and said: "Ji Jun is unkind and Cheng Jun is suffering. I have seen it with my own eyes. What Ji Jun did was definitely not the intention of Cheng Jun. The city has never sent an envoy before!"
Zhang He said: "When Lord Cheng Ji came here, your envoy said that he was not sent by Lord Cheng. Who is that envoy? What are the three of them doing in the army? How did you know?"
The envoy said: "None of what Mr. Ji did was intended by the Lord of the City, so I don't think the Lord of the City would entrust him with such an important task. Moreover, I don't know about sending an envoy. As for what happened to these three people in the army, I don’t know!”
At this time, Jin Bi shouted: "This man's words are outrageous, and he is obviously deceiving. No need to say more, he broke the city in one moment and captured the city's king. You will know as soon as you ask!"
The envoy said: "General, calm down! I am absolutely not deceitful! The Lord of the City is sincerely willing to serve the country. Please investigate, General!"
Zhang Ye said: "That's nonsense! Does your envoy really don't know who these three people are? These three people were named Lao Jun, but they sneaked into the tent, assassinated the general, and have been executed. Your envoy avoided the important and took the easy, and made false promises. What is your intention? ?”
When the messenger heard this, his face suddenly turned gray, he was sweating profusely, his mind went blank, and he almost went into shock. He could only subconsciously mutter: "No, no,...not Ji Jun..., not the city lord..."
Jin Bi said: "Let this man be imprisoned, and from time to time when he goes out to fight, he will cut down the sacrificial flag!"
The messenger's legs were like sifting chaff, his face was earth-colored, foaming at the mouth, and he was about to faint.
Zhong Yue came out from behind Jin Bi and said, "General, wait a minute! This person is obviously not a confidant of the city lord, so killing him is useless. It is better to order him to send an order to the city lord to die early to save the life of the city."
"So, cut off both ears and blast out of the camp!"
In the morning, two doormen came, each holding a dagger. They raised their hands and cut off two ears, bleeding profusely. The messenger no longer felt any pain, but he felt a burst of heat and cold under his crotch, and his whole body was exhausted.
The two retainers didn't say much. Each of them held an arm and dragged the messenger out of the camp, dragged him to the entrance of the camp, threw him in front of the two companions, and turned around to leave. Zhong Yue followed out quietly.
When the two companions saw that the messenger's face was covered with blood, his whole body was smelly, and he didn't know whether he was alive or dead, they all panicked. Zhong Yue whispered: "Don't worry, he's not dead! Drag him back as soon as possible. If it's too late, the whole city will be wiped out."
The two companions said: "Sir, please save us! Seeing this situation, our legs are weak and we cannot return to the city. What should we do?"
Zhong Yue sneered: "You might as well leave the sacrificial flag!"
When the two heard this, they broke out in a cold sweat. Their bodies suddenly became energetic. They dragged the messenger, turned around and ran away. In the blink of an eye, there was no trace. Zhong Yue watched the two of them run out of sight before turning back to the camp.
Zhong Yue came to the big tent, which was already half empty. Everyone had probably gone to each camp to prepare for the expedition. Jin Bi and Zhang Ye are no longer here either. Zhong Yue bowed and sat down silently.
Lord Xinling said: "Thank you for your hard work, sir! May I ask if you can get anything out of it?"
Zhong Yue said: "It seems that the assassins were not sent by the city. They must have other origins. Only one of them is the city king Ji's son. I heard that this son is very unworthy. He has disobeyed his father's orders several times and likes to travel outside the city. However, it seems that he has never traveled far. His sword skills , but I don’t know who I inherited it from.”
"Is this not the sword of the country?"
"No. This man's swordsmanship is vicious, not the sword of an ordinary gentleman. It is biased towards strength and clumsy over agility, and is not the sword of Wu and Yue. The way of the sword is tricky, and it is not the sword of the Qin people. I am not a sycophant, but my knowledge is shallow, and I don't know why. It belongs to everyone! But it is undoubtedly the sword of a knight!"
"A chivalrous person? I feel worthy of being a chivalrous person. I must be entrusted by others! I can persuade three or five chivalrous people at one time. This guy is extraordinary!"
"That's not necessarily the case. Mohists take it as their own duty to ensure survival. When they see a large army coming to a small town, there are some who sacrifice their lives for righteousness."
"Sir, could it be that the three of them are from the Mo family?"
"Young Master, don't worry about the conjectures. The important thing now is to conquer the city as soon as possible. You must set up a formation to wait for the Qin army. If you don't have to be sycophantic, you can win over the city's kings, old and young, good and bad, and inquire carefully; and check the corpses to get their details." .”
"It's true what you said! The army is here, tired from the journey, and after a two-hour rest, we will order our troops to go out. I'm sorry for this small town, I can beat you with one drum!"
"In this case, if you don't want to wait, please retreat. Young Master, please lie down for a while in preparation for the expedition!"
"Sir, please do it!"
Zhong Yue and several guests left the tent, found a piece of flat ground outside the tent, closed their eyes and rested. Until there was a surge in the camp.
