knife

Chapter 297 It's hard to tell friend from foe
The rapid sound of horses' hooves startled He Zudao from his deep sleep.

He sat up abruptly from the hard bed, his brows furrowed.

Running horses in the military camp, especially during battle, is a major taboo.

Unless it's something extremely important, or someone of a certain status, no one would dare to do such a thing.

Something must have happened.

He strode out of the tent and saw the horseman heading straight for his central command tent. The sight of him surprised He Zudao.

It was Chen Chien-jen.

Feng Kuan's main force is currently in a standoff with the Qin army, while Chen Jianren's plan is to lead a portion of auxiliary troops to Luoyang as a show of force.

It seems something has gone wrong in Luoyang.

"General, Luoyang has fallen!" Chen Jianren dismounted, his exhausted expression revealing that he hadn't slept all night and had rushed back as soon as he received the news.

"How is that possible?" He Zudao could hardly believe his ears. Feng Congwen's attack on Luoyang was also a deliberate move by He Zudao to weaken Feng's strength. Since Feng was going to leave him anyway, if he could be used, he should use him to the fullest.

But was Feng Congwen really that outstanding?

With less than 10,000 men, how could they take down a major city like Luoyang in one fell swoop?

"Kou Zhong is dead!" Chen Jianren whispered.

He Zudao suddenly raised his head and stared intently at Chen Jianren: "Kou Zhong is dead? Is Yang Jian that fierce? Isn't it said that one can be defeated by a Xiantian, but it is extremely difficult to kill him?"

"I don't know about the innate events. But not only is Kou Zhong dead, but Yang Jian is dead too! The two of them died together, and Kou Zhong's head was cut off by Yang Jian's men and hung on the Five Phoenix Tower!"

He Zudao was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Feng Congwen is now in a difficult position to explain to the Yang family of Hongnong. No matter how large and powerful the Yang family is, they only seem to have this one innate master, right?"

“General, Feng Congwen has an excellent opportunity now. He may not need to explain himself to the Yang family of Hongnong, right?” Chen Jianren said.

"Hmm?" He Zudao narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"General, Luoyang has indeed fallen!" Chen Jianren said, "but it is not in disarray. Kou Zhong's death has caused the morale of the Luoyang army to shatter, but Feng Congwen has only occupied the area around Yingtian Gate in the south of the city. Some areas are still under the control of the imperial army, but many more areas are controlled by different forces. If I were Feng Congwen, I would definitely seize this opportunity to gather enough manpower."

"The Feng family of Hedong is also a famous and powerful family. Do you all have a common goal?" He Zudao sneered.

Chen Jianren said, “General, it has been two full days since Feng Congwen broke through Luoyang. Has he sent you even the slightest bit of information? I think if we were to arrive in Luoyang by now, we might not even be able to get through the city gates. In two days, he could have done a lot.”

He Zudao nodded: "That's possible! If Feng Congwen has the opportunity to reach an agreement with the powerful families in the city, he will indeed have the leverage to refuse us. Even if there are still people in the city who are loyal to the court, they are sworn enemies with us. Moreover, there are tens of thousands of troops under Zhang Quanyi outside to restrain us."

"So when I received the news, I rushed over immediately. General, what do we do now?" Chen Jianren was a little annoyed. "We can't let all our hard work go to waste and end up benefiting Feng Congwen, can we? Luoyang is incredibly wealthy. Our brothers have been away for a few years and are about to go home. They need to bring some gifts back home. Besides, General, you need to gather the scattered brothers together. Without money, that's absolutely impossible."

He Zudao's primary objective in attacking Luoyang was to seize the city's wealth.

In terms of wealth, Chang'an cannot compare with Luoyang.

"If you want to take advantage of me, Feng Congwen, you're not quite there yet!" He Zudao sneered, his gaze fixed on the distance, where Zhang Quanyi's camp was shrouded in layers of mist.

"I'm going to see Zhang Quanyi!"

"To see Zhang Quanyi?" Chen Jianren asked in astonishment.

As the two were talking, they heard the sound of horses' hooves.

“Today seems to be an extraordinary day, with one major piece of news after another. It seems to be Feng Kuan’s guard who has arrived. What kind of news do you think he has brought us this time?” He Zudao said with a smile, looking at the knight who was galloping towards them.

“Of course it’s good news!” Chen Jianren said.

"General!" The knight dismounted, beaming with joy, "Our army routed the main force of the Qin army on the banks of the Luo River and captured their chieftain Li Tai alive. General, General Feng said that Li Tai is the Crown Prince! Someone second only to the Emperor!"

He Zudao and Chen Jianren exchanged a glance and then burst into laughter.

This is indeed good news.

“If I capture Li Tai alive, I’ll be even more confident in making a deal with Zhang Quanyi,” He Zudao said with a smile.

Zhang Quanyi was completely devastated.

As dawn broke, a series of bad news arrived.

First, Luoyang fell and Kou Zhong died. Before he could recover from the shock, Li Tai's defeat and capture were like a thunderbolt, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

How could this happen? How could Luoyang have fallen?

Not to mention the local garrison troops in Luoyang, there are 20,000 Imperial Guards that I left behind, personally controlled by Kou Zhong.

How did Feng Congwen break through the city walls?
And the crown prince was captured...

Compared to the loss of Luoyang, the capture of the crown prince seems to be a more serious problem.

Zhang Quanyi was completely at a loss, and for a moment, he didn't know what to do.

As time went on, more and more detailed information finally came back one by one.

Zhang Quanyi, who came from the Black Ice Guard, was well aware of the importance of information. Even when he was away with his troops, there were still plenty of sources of information within the city, and the Black Ice Guard was still operating normally in Luoyang.

In less than half a day, Zhang Quanyi had a general understanding of the situation in Luoyang.

Inside the large tent, seven or eight high-ranking generals looked at each other in bewilderment.

They never imagined that things would deteriorate to this extent.

“Magistrate Kou is indeed dead, killed by Yang Jian of Hongnong!” Zhang Quanyi gritted his teeth and said, “With the Magistrate dead, the garrison troops in the city lost their deterrent power and immediately fled. The Imperial Guards could not control the situation and could only withdraw their forces to the area around the North Gate. The rebels are not in a hurry to attack them now, but it is only a matter of time. If we cannot get back in time, the remaining Imperial Guards brothers in the city will either be surrounded and annihilated in the city or escape.”

"General, the problem is, how do we get rid of He Zudao?" A captain shook his head and said, "With He Zudao in front of us, what's the difference between retreating like this and committing suicide? Besides, the Crown Prince is now in his hands..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

Even if they recapture Luoyang after losing the Crown Prince, what good will it do?

Would the imperial court forgive their crimes?

Everyone was somewhat frightened and uneasy.

Their relatives and friends are all in Chang'an. Now that things have deteriorated to this point, what does the future hold for them?

The tent flap rustled, and a duty officer entered, bowing and saying, "General, a man from the rebel side has arrived, saying he wishes to see you!"

Zhang Quanyi looked at the generals in the tent, stood up, and slowly said, "There will still be opportunities. Let me see this person first and see if there is any turning point in things!"

Zhang Quanyi accepted He Zudao's invitation.

Thus, on the midline of the battlefield where the two armies faced each other, the two generals, each on horseback, met under a solitary tree.

To be fair, Zhang Quanyi was quite courageous.

He Zudao was at the peak of the ninth rank of Xuan Yuan, and there were even rumors that he had entered the Xiantian realm. Zhang Quanyi, on the other hand, had not yet entered the ninth rank. Yet he dared to meet He Zudao alone, without fear of He Zudao plotting against him. He truly had the ambition and courage of a leopard.

"Do you feel like you've reached a dead end?" He Zudao looked at Zhang Quanyi with a hint of sarcasm.

If it weren't for my intuition, I would have been wrapped up and boiled alive by this guy in front of me during that battle in Hedong.

“We’re not at our wits’ end yet!” Zhang Quanyi said. “Since General He sent someone to see me, I have a feeling that things are looking up. It seems that the General and Feng Congwen are not on the same page!”

“The powerful and wealthy families will never be of one mind with a poor family like mine!” He Zudao smiled and said, “We originally agreed that he would leave after this battle, but I never expected that Luoyang would be captured by him in one blow, which gave him more options.”

"If Feng Congwen doesn't follow the General, who will he go to?" Zhang Quanyi was taken aback. Of course, Feng Congwen wouldn't go to the imperial court, because the entire Feng family had died at the hands of the court and were among those targeted for elimination.

"He's climbed the social ladder, seeking refuge with the Yang family of Hongnong, and this time the Yang family has their eye on Linghu Ye!" He Zudao laughed, pointing to his own nose: "A lone ghost like me is nothing in their eyes!"

Zhang Quanyi understood: "In other words, although Luoyang has been captured, it may not necessarily fall into the hands of the General. Right now, Feng Congwen is definitely contacting various forces in the city to strengthen himself and resist you, General. And the General obviously cannot stay here for too long, or he will be easily surrounded and attacked!"

"Of course, with Luoyang fallen, Kou Zhong dead, and the court suffering another heavy blow, my value has been almost completely squeezed out. If they can seize the opportunity to kill me, that would be the best!" He Zudao laughed.

What do you want me to do?

"It's simple. If Feng Congwen occupies Luoyang, none of us will benefit. Why don't we join forces and give Feng Congwen a good beating first?"

"cost?"

"Li Tai is back to you. Moreover, afterward, I will leave, and you can claim that you fought a hard battle, defeated the traitors He Zudao and Feng Congwen, and recovered Luoyang! This achievement is enough to make you famous. Kou Zhong is dead, you have troops at your disposal, and you also have the background of the Black Ice Guard. You can then stand on equal footing with Wei Zhengdao."

"It's a brilliant plan," Zhang Quanyi said with a wry smile. "But will a dilapidated Luoyang still be Luoyang by then? And how can you guarantee you'll return the Crown Prince to me?"

“Even the worst Luoyang is still Luoyang,” He Zudao laughed. “Besides, Zhang Quanyi, my character has always been pretty good. I either don’t make promises, or if I do, I’ve never gone back on my word!”

(End of this chapter)