Chapter 274
Chapter 274 – Two Throne Successors?
March 13th, 183 A . D .
Yuan Shao and his forces were garrisoning in Guangchuan County to recuperate and resupply .
A week of rest boosted the morale of Yuan Shao"s soldiers as they could get proper food and wine that they had always wanted .
While the men were cheering and celebrating as if it was their holidays, Yuan Shao and Tian Feng never smiled .
In the government hall inside Guangchuan County, Yuan Shao replaced the prefect of this city with himself and sat on the throne . Tian Feng and all other officers gathered in the room as well .
Today, a messenger from the north brought them with a piece of shocking news . Tong had killed Zou Jing and routed Ji City Army . Instead of occupying Ji, Tong returned to Zhongshan to reinforce his uncles .
They had expected the result, but the details of the battle astonished them .
Tong defeated several ten thousand men with 4,000 soldiers! The battles did not happen once but twice! Furthermore, Tong returned with 3,000 men, which the casualty rate was too abnormal!
The result of the battle at Ye also arrived, which made everybody"s mouth turned into an [O] .
Sun Jian surrendered to Xiao Wu after a brief combat, which Sun Jian offered himself as a hostage to ensure the safety of their troops .
The details of the battle were even more terrifying than what Tong did because Xiao Wu destroyed Sun Jian forces with only a thousand men . Her army did not suffer a single casualty!
Both fronts had been torn apart by this duo husband-and-wife, which was a humiliation to the coalition armies .
Tian Feng was the first person who regained his sense . He stepped forward and awakened everybody in the hall with his words .
"My Lord, I don"t think we can defeat Zhang Tong and the Yellow Turban with our forces alone . I have a suggestion to make . "
Yuan Shao snapped back to his sense, "What is it?"
"It will sound disrespectful, but please forgive me . First, I would like to readjust our policies against the Yellow Turbans and Zhang Tong . I wish to stop the current war and have a truce with them . "
Everyone in the room frowned and murmured, but no one retorted or objected Tian Feng"s suggestion .
"Secondly, I would like to use our new chess piece to make the country moves . Please make the declaration of the survival of the Son of Heaven!"
The crowd murmured as they did not understand what Tian Feng was talking about . However, Yuan Shao and He Jin grinned as they had discussed this a while back .
"I see . I will do so . But first, what about our campaign against the Yellow Turban?" Asked Yuan Shao .
"We can"t attack their main forces with our army alone so we should concentrate on eliminating the imposter bandits that claims to be Yellow Turbans . Then, we shall spread the rumor that we have defeated several armies of Yellow Turbans and we are recruiting volunteers in the name of the Son of Heaven! Afterward, we shall secretly reform an alliance with Zhang Tong while we manipulate all forces to fight each other . When the dust settles, we will unify the country to establish our dominance!"
Yuan Shao laughed and nodded, "Do as you please! But make sure it"s believable . "
"Understood, my lord . "
The movement and the a.s.sembly in Guangchuan did not escape Jia Xu"s spies . They relayed the messages, and the info about their plans reached Jia Xu"s hands the next day .
…
March 14th .
Jia Xu read the spy reports while he paced around the camp . All officers in Anping watched him, curious about what made Jia Xu think that hard .
It took Jia Xu half an hour before he stopped thinking . He raised his head to look at everybody .
"Guys, we have to call Xiao Wu and our young master here . "
"What"s wrong?"
"He Jin is going to declare that one of Yuan Shao"s sons is Liu Xie, and he will use his name to gather more allies . "
"Huh?" Lu Zhi stood up in shock, "Why would he do that? Liu Xie and He Xing are with us . Doesn"t he afraid the false proclamation and repercussion?"
Li Feihong was also confused, "What"s that has to do with Xiao Wu and Tong?"
Jia Xu sighed, "It"s not that of an emergency, but we need those two to slow down Yuan Shao"s activities . Also, I have an interesting intelligence from Ye City . "
Zhang Liao and Li Feihong stared at Jia Xu as they already knew what he was about to tell everyone . They had read the clan chat messages from Xun Yu .
"Xun Yu"s spies send us news about the changes in Sun Jian forces . There was a decree from the new Empress in Xuchang . She wants to promote Sun Jian into the Governor of Changsha in Jing Province . "
"A new Empress!?"
Lu Bu, Gao Shun, Xu Huang, and Lu Zhi were baffled by the new emerging powerhouse, which appeared out of nowhere .
"You heard me right . There was something fishy going on in the Capital while we were fighting Yuan Shao and his gangs . Even though we killed Liu Ping, there is a throne succession conspiracy behind our backs . Therefore, I want our young master and our best fighter to be here before something goes down . It"s a preparation against possible chaos . "
Lu Bu"s ears piqued when he heard the words [Our best fighter] . From the conversation, it seemed that this Xiao Wu was their strongest commander .
"Sweet! I need to spar with this Xiao Wu! It"s a shame that most of the strong guys here are too cowardice . Oh wait, I need to beat up that brat Tong when he returns too! He"s been using me, and my men died because of this war! Dammit!"
Lu Bu"s mind wandered off into Lalaland .
Meanwhile, the meeting continued as Jia Xu spoke his thought .
"Now that Yuan Shao is trying to fake a successor to the throne . His interest will eventually collide with this new Empress, and it will work on our favor . This is our chance to rest and develop our armies and domestic finances . "
"From our intel, Tian Feng wants to reform an alliance with us to rest while they burn the country to ashes . We will play along with them since it benefits our people . "
"We will maintain our army here until Yuan Shao retreat from Guangchuan, but we will relocate our officers to our developing cities . "
"For the defense of Anping, we can leave it to Xiao Wu or our young master since they are a bunch of freaks … I meant they excel in the military!"
"Me, Sir Li Feihong, and all Jinyang gentlemen will move to Ye City to solidify our control and the security over there . Xun Yu will also help us integrate the city and follow after Julu"s development . "
At this point, Lu Bu came back to his sense .
"Hey, who said that I will move along with your order!?"
Jia Xu kept his poker face, "Sir Lu Bu can stay in Julu or Anping if he wants to . As for the compensation, all soldiers, generals, and commanders will be compensated with a year worth of Julu"s standard salary . All dead soldiers will also be compensated, but the payment will be given to their families . "
Lu Bu raised his eyebrows, "How much is my salary?"
"You are the grand commander of a legion . The pay is 5,000 taels of gold a month . Therefore, your compensation for this war is 60,000 gold . "
Hearing that he would get 60,000 gold, Lu Bu"s nostrils flared while he grinned from ear to ear . He had been working under Ding Yuan for years, but he could only ama.s.s 100 gold up till now . Getting paid 600 times of his saving was a boon for him .
"Hahaha! Sure, I"ll stay in Julu, and I"ll protect the city for you lots . "
"And I"ll move my family in Julu as well," Lu Bu thought .
Everyone rolled their eyes as they could read through Lu Bu like a book .
…
…
The meeting was over, and the a.s.signment had been completed .
Lu Zhi, Zhou Cang, and Xu Huang would move to Zhongshan to increase the city defense and help the Zhang brothers managing the city .
Jia Xu, Li Feihong, Gao Shun, and Zhang Liao would move to Ye so they could implement Julu System into the city next .
Lu Bu could go wherever he wanted . However, Jia Xu gave him a condition that he had to be present whenever he was summoned .
Tong and Xiao Wu would replace all commanders here in Anping once they arrive .
As for the soldiers, they would remain here to put pressure on Yuan Shao forces .
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After the meeting, Li Feihong returned to his tent, sitting alone and enjoyed Tong"s whiskey . He also gazed at his quest status .
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**Main Mission No . 20**
Clear Condition: Kill Gao Lan .
Failure Condition: Time limit exceeded .
Clearing Reward: 10,000 years of lifespan . Bonus experiences for your existing skills .
Mission Failure: Your location will be shown on the system map to other players for 1 year .
Time Limit Remaining: 15 Days 11 Hour 5 Minutes .
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A bitter smile appeared on Li Feihong"s face . It seemed that he might fail it .
As he was in doubt, he tried to consult with Lilim .
"Lilim, if someone else kills my target, what will happen to my mission?"
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[Ah? Oh! As long as the target is killed, you will complete the mission, and you will get the rewards . I don"t care how you do it, I want the result . ]
[You can also pay one million lifespans as a fine to cancel the mission . ]
Li Feihong snickered . It felt funny to him that Lilim sounded like a cruel boss in his previous life .
"Ah, that"s a relief . Thanks, Lilim . Do you know? You are cute sometimes . "
[… You"re welcome . ]
Got his answer, Li Feihong opened the clan chat to ask Tong a favor .
In the chat, Jia Xu pretended that the situation in Anping was terrible, and they required reinforcement . However, he wanted both Tong and Xiao Wu to reach here first . As for the soldiers, they had to leave it there .
The face of Li Feihong twitched . It was too fishy no matter where he saw it .
"I doubt Tong will believe that …"
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Tong: Okay . I"ll rush there in a few days . Hang in there .
"…"
No word could describe Li Feihong"s thought at the moment .
Xun Yu: Xiao Wu is rus.h.i.+ng there . She said she will get there before the end of the day .
Xun Yu: By the way, that was a stupid excuse no matter how I see it .
Xun Yu: If you want Xiao Wu there alone, just say it straight!
"…"
Li Feihong sighed . Sometimes, Tong and his family could be simpletons .
"Is it a characteristic of someone with great power? Or is it that when you rely on your strength for a certain amount of times, you become stupid? Screw it . I"ll just ask them outright . "
Li Feihong: I have a problem with my mission …
He explained his mission with all the details, hoping that Tong would help him .
Tong: Is Te Langpu in Yuan Shao Army?
Li Feihong: I think so?
Jia Xu: He"s there .
Tong: Roger that, I"ll have Xiao Wu handle this .
…
Hua s.h.i.+ and Zhang Jiao, who was waiting for them in Julu, read the chat logs with attention .
"It seems like we won," Smiled Zhang Jiao .
"Indeed . Still, that Jia Xu barred Tong from coming home . "
"It"s alright . Tong will return . After all, he"s alive and kicking . "
In ancient time, a woman was powerless in all fields . Hua s.h.i.+ had no choice but staying home and raised her child .
Normally, she would have been enraged because she wanted Tong"s attention as well . However, she could to cultivate her [Chast.i.ty] and [Abstinence] by not having s.e.x with Tong .
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The progress was slow, but it was a steady increase in all [Virtues] .
"This will take a while . But soon, I"ll be joining you guys on the frontline as well!"
"Oh wait, f.o.o.k! Zhang Min has to grow up a bit first . "
"Haiz, being a virtuous mother is hard . I miss Tong"s seeds …"