On the other side, Jiang Ze returned to the main base in the underground tunnel and asked Chen Ling where he was, but no one knew where Chen Ling was.
Jiang Ze made some guesses. Chen Ling disappeared inexplicably. It was probably because she went to see Xiang Mao privately.
"Wei Sheng, immediately take two elite teams to the top of the ruins of construction site C2 to check. If you encounter an ambush, you can check the situation. If you feel you can beat us, then attack. If you can't, then retreat."
"clear."
After Jiang Ze laid out the order, he sat on the chair, held his forehead with his hands, closed his eyes, and frowned.
In fact, Jiang Ze was eager to go check it out in person. After all, he was really worried about Chen Ling's situation. However, he couldn't do this because no one knew whether Chu Ba was lurking in the dark. In addition, Jiang Ze has now lost a sole of his foot and has difficulty moving. He can even no longer activate super high speed. Therefore, to be on the safe side, he can only let Wei Sheng explore the reality first.
Time passed bit by bit, and Jiang Ze kept looking at his watch. Although only a few minutes had passed, it felt like a long time had passed.
After waiting anxiously for half an hour, Wei Sheng finally came back, and with him came a simple voice recorder.
Jiang Ze turned on the recorder and heard Xiang Mao's voice.
"Jiang Ze, I am Xiang Mao. Chen Ling is in my hands now. If you want to get her back, come to the Chu Army Qiu Tao Road Base."
After Jiang Ze heard this, he was so angry that he crushed the recorder.
"Why is Chen Ling so stupid? Why?" Jiang Ze gritted his teeth.
"It's strange, why does Xiang Mao treat Chen Ling like this?" Gu Nian asked strangely.
"There is nothing surprising. No matter how good their relationship was before, they are now in two camps. General Chen Ling was not cautious enough this time and actually trusted the enemy general." Wei Sheng's tone was somewhat reproachful.
"What should we do now?" Gu Nian looked at Jiang Ze.
"Send an envoy to negotiate with Xiang Mao. The terms can be negotiated." Jiang Ze didn't know what to do and could only take one step at a time.
Early the next morning, the envoy came to Qiutao Base and negotiated with Xiang Mao all morning.
The envoy returned to Jiang Ze and reported truthfully: "Xiang Mao doesn't want anything, not minerals, weapons, manpower, all. He just wants you to show up at Qiu Tao's base and fight Chu Ba to the death."
"It seems that Chu Ba still wants my life. If you go to negotiate again, you must delay time. This time, raise the bargaining chip to the highest level, Nuer City. Let Chen Ling go, and I will take the initiative to hand over Nuer City. "
Hearing this, Wei Sheng shouted excitedly: "Captain, are you serious? You are willing to give up Nuer City for Chen Ling?"
"I don't really want to give in. I just want to delay the time until Erhu gets the news."
"That's it, it scared me."
After Wei Sheng and the envoy left the room, Gu Nian asked Jiang Ze softly: "You know that Erhu will not be so fast, you can't delay much time at all, and Xiang Mao knows very well how precious time is now, so he doesn't Will drag."
"I know, just say what you want to say."
"If the negotiations don't go well this afternoon, what will you do? Do you really hand over Nuer City?"
"What do you think?"
"I don't know, I'm getting more and more desperate for you now. I don't know how high Chen Ling has risen in your heart." Gu Nian's tone was filled with jealousy.
"I know how serious the consequences of this matter are. Once Nuer City is handed over, all our previous efforts will be in vain, and my subordinates will all turn against each other. They will not accept that I gave up Nuer City for a woman. .”
"Then why did you let the envoy negotiate like this?"
"Because I need an answer."
"What do you mean?" Gu Nian asked curiously.
"I now propose to give up Nuer City, which can quickly solve the crisis in Chu State. No matter Xiang Mao or Chu Ba, they have no reason not to agree to this request. However, I suspect that Xiang Mao may hate me far more than The importance of Chu State."
"Do you think Xiang Mao arrested Chen Ling because of you?"
"Recalling the previous experiences, Chen Ling and Xiang Mao were always safe and sound together. However, this time, Xiang Mao was angry and did not hesitate to capture Chen Ling alive to force me to show up. Perhaps, Chen Ling said something that angered Xiang Mao. . My guess is that Chen Ling must have accidentally revealed that I have become very concerned about Chen Ling and am very good to Chen Ling."
"I understand what you mean. You guess that Xiang Mao is jealous. He cannot accept that Chen Ling and you are in love."
"I'm not sure, but there is a possibility, so I want to do an experiment to find out what Xiang Mao wants, the future of Chu State, or my life."
On the other side, the envoy came up with the last trump card, which was that Jiang Ze was willing to hand over Nuer City as long as Chen Ling could return safely.
When Chu Ba heard such a proposal, his eyes shone with excitement, and he kept asking again and again: "Are you sure? Are you sure that Jiang Ze said that?"
"Yes, the transaction location is at the gate of Nuer City. If you hand over Chen Ling, the gate of Nuer City will be opened for you."
"Okay, great. I didn't expect Jiang Ze to value the love between his children so much. I really admire this. It seems that the rumors are not wrong. Jiang Ze is indeed a person who values love and justice." Chu Ba said happily.
"So, is the matter so sure? If it is sure, I will go back and resume my life."
"It's confirmed. Go back and inform Jiang Ze. We can prepare to go to Nuer City."
"Okay." The messenger bowed and planned to leave.
"Wait a minute." Xiang Mao suddenly stopped the messenger.
"Commander Xiang, is there anything else you would like to add?" the messenger asked.
"I'm really sorry. I reject this proposal. I still ask for the old proposal and let Jiang Ze come to Qiu Tao Base to meet us."
"Ah?" The envoy was a little confused. He didn't expect that Xiang Mao and Chu Ba could not agree on the same opinion.
Chu Ba was also furious now and said excitedly: "Xiang Mao, what do you mean?"
"It literally means that Nuer City is not important, but Jiang Ze's life is important. As long as Jiang Ze is gone, all problems will be solved."
"I also hope to capture Jiang Ze, but it is not easy to kill Jiang Ze. It is better to take a step back and quickly retake Nuer City, disband the Flying Tigers, and solve the crisis in the capital."
"So what if the crisis in the capital is temporarily solved? As long as Jiang Ze is around, they will still continue to erode Chu's land."
"I have already said that things are not so perfect. It is very rare for Jiang Ze to hand over Nuer City now. You still want Jiang Ze to send a sheep into the tiger's mouth. This is simply impossible."
"How is it impossible? Nuer City is willing to hand it over anyway, so what's the point of not being willing to part with that miserable life?"
"Xiang Mao, can you be normal? You shouldn't elevate your personal grudges to such an extent. Jiang Ze will have many opportunities to kill him in the future, and now he should first solve Chu's urgent needs."
"Needless to say, I caught Chen Ling, so it's not your turn to point fingers."
"Okay Xiang Mao, I will send someone to inform the King of Chu immediately and let the King of Chu give the order."
"I'm sorry, I will be outside and I will not accept your order. Even if it is the order of King Chu, I must disobey it this time."
"Damn it, Xiang Mao, you are crazy, you are really crazy."
"Messenger, you can go back now and tell Jiang Ze that if he doesn't show up tomorrow, just wait to collect Chen Ling's body."
"clear
Yes, I will tell you the truth. "The messenger bowed and slowly exited the conference hall.
Chu Ba was so angry that he stood up and shouted: "Xiang Mao, you are very abnormal now. I must impeach you."
"I have already said that even if the King of Chu comes now, I am not afraid. Also, most of the people in this legion are my people. As long as they say no, who can you impeach?"
"Damn it, damn it, General Raymond, General Yutong, General Li, General Tiger, don't you say something? What is the difference between Xiang Mao's current behavior and treason?"
The other generals present did not respond to Chu Ba. Perhaps as Xiang Mao said, Chu Ba had been away from the battlefield for too long and his prestige in the army was far less than that of Xiang Mao.
"Damn it, are you planning to treason? You white-eyed wolves..." Chu Ba couldn't bear it any longer and smashed the conference table to pieces and began to curse at these generals.
After cursing for several minutes, they were still indifferent. Chu Ba was so angry that he slammed the door and left, planning to report Xiang Mao and the disobedient generals to the king.
In the conference room, Xiang Mao said to the other generals: "What are your thoughts? You can just say it."
"Whatever you want us to say, we will follow you from birth to death. As long as it is something you decide, we will support it."
"Thank you, but... I really don't know what to do. Wuming has left. I now... I feel empty in my heart now..."
"The departure of Wuming has indeed greatly reduced our morale. However, I still feel that Jiang Ze's life is more important than anything else." Admiral Raymond said.
"I didn't expect you to see it that way."
"Jiang Ze is really terrible. As long as he doesn't die, how long can our Nuer City return? In addition, Ao Lie's main army has already rushed into the capital of Zhao State. Zhao State may not be able to hold out for even three days. The country will be declared destroyed. At that time, Ao Lie will most likely guard Zhao State, but part of the main force under his command will be allocated to Jiang Ze. If Jiang Ze gets these troops, we will not be able to handle it at all."
"Leymon, since the last failure, you seem to have become very afraid of Jiang Ze."
"Although I don't want to admit it, he does scare me. If I don't kill him, I won't even be able to sleep well."
"In that case, let's not worry about it. We will continue to implement our strategy despite the pressure from Chu Ba and King Chu, and force Jiang Zelai to show up and die."
On the other side, the messenger told Jiang Ze what happened in the afternoon.
Although Jiang Ze had already guessed a thing or two before, he was still a little surprised when he heard Chu Ba and Xiang Mao quarreling angrily.
Why did Xiang Mao ignore the safety of the country? Does he really want my life that much?
Jiang Ze fell into deep thought. He felt that Xiang Mao's behavior was too suspicious.
"Will you agree to Xiang Mao's request?" Gu Nian interrupted Jiang Ze's thinking.
"I haven't thought about it yet, why do you ask so urgently?"
"Because I really want to know what importance Chen Ling holds in your heart. You wouldn't really risk your life for her."
"How is that possible? I only have one life. No matter who it is, no one can make me give it away."
"That's good. I'm really afraid you'll lose your mind."
"Are you a little happy to hear me say no?"
"No, actually I'm also worried about Chen Ling. That Xiang Mao didn't hesitate to fall out with Chu Ba shows that he is serious. If you don't show up, he might really kill Chen Ling."
"I do have a headache, but I think I'm not the only one who has a headache now." Jiang Ze suddenly smiled.
"Who are you referring to?"
"Of course, Chu Ba."
(End of chapter)
