knife

Chapter 759 Infernal Affairs
Ge Huaili, the deputy commander of the rear army, sat in the empty hall. The aroma of food from the kitchen still lingered, and the wine jars that had been opened in the next room wafted into his nostrils.

Contrary to Yan Cheng's expectations, there was no scene of many generals preparing to get drunk together. Instead, Ge Huaili was left in the room, holding a pen and gesturing something on a map.

Hurried footsteps came from outside, and Ge Huaili looked up.

"General, they've launched their attack!" A captain rushed over and reported excitedly to Ge Huaili.

Ge Huaili paused for a moment, stood up, walked to the window, and opened it. From the west of the city, flames soared into the sky, and the faint sound of clamor could be heard.

He shook his head silently, "You have a path to heaven but you choose not to take it; you have no way to hell but you choose to crash into it!"

The captain beside him laughed and said, "General, for them, there is no heaven, only hell!"

“Not entirely!” Ge Huaili said, “If they had acted honestly and properly after surrendering, then neither the Empress Dowager nor Protector Li would have pretended not to know his background. After all, he was the first prefect to surrender to the Empress Dowager. Even if it was a case of buying a horse's bones with a thousand pieces of gold, he would have been worthy of being displayed as a specimen. But alas, he insisted on courting his own death.”

"How could these people willingly surrender and work for us?" the captain laughed. "It's just that General Lin is quite shrewd. How did he guess that they would start their rebellion at this time, instead of waiting until we were engaged with the enemy? If our army had left Tong'an County and he had stabbed us in the back, we would have been in even worse shape!"

Ge Huaili's face showed a strange expression. After a moment of silence, he said, "Yan Cheng is afraid of General Lin Yunqi! He probably thinks that if General Lin comes, he will have no chance to play tricks anymore. So he simply decided to go all out and launch the attack first. His goal is to destroy our grain supplies. Once he succeeds, our tens of thousands of troops will have a hard time in Tongan County. When that Wei's southwestern wolf soldiers come, we will really be in trouble!"

"Is General Lin really that powerful?" the captain asked, somewhat surprised. "Just hearing that General Lin was coming was enough to frighten him into launching his attack ahead of schedule?"

Ge Huaili smiled and said, "You came from Zhi Qiu Academy, unlike us who came from the Tiger Army. Outsiders may not know the name of Lin Yunqi, the Vice Minister, but back then, when we mentioned his name, we would turn around to see if he would suddenly appear behind us!"

The captain burst into laughter: "You're really talking nonsense. I bet you never imagined that General Lin would become your superior, did you?"

“I really didn’t expect it, but I’m still very happy to have such a capable guy as my boss!” Ge Huaili spread his hands and said, “Just like this time, General Lin thought of everything and arranged everything perfectly. All I have to do is follow his plans meticulously.”

“You’re right. In the military, where you risk your life, the more capable the leader, the better!” the captain said with deep feeling. “For people like us, the more capable our superiors are, the more crucial it is. One miscalculation and we’re done for!”

The two smiled at each other.

Judging by rank, Ge Huaili was several levels higher than the captain in front of him. However, the people of Zhiqiu Academy were not in the same order as the military. Ge Huaili was unwilling to offend the people of this institution and had always treated this guy with great respect.

"Is everything set up?" Ge Huaili asked.

"The important places have all been arranged," the captain said. "With those two traitors and our own intelligence, we can say that everything is under control. As for the warehouse, since General Lin has personally taken charge, we don't need to worry about it anymore!"

"Of course!" Ge Huaili smiled and stood up, walking with the captain to the back hall. Pushing open the door, he saw two men sitting there awkwardly. They were the two from the Household and Criminal Affairs departments of the Six Ministries under the former Tong'an County City. Seeing Ge Huaili approach, the two men jumped up.

"The areas you two are in charge of have already been mobilized as previously agreed!" Ge Huaili smiled as he looked at the two men. "Yan Cheng should already be leading his men straight to the treasury!"

"Then General, why are you still here?" Cao Zhen, the Registrar, looked at Ge Huaili with pleading eyes. Since he had already betrayed him, he naturally hoped that the person he had betrayed would die cleanly and without leaving any hidden dangers.

“There’s no need for me to go, because General Lin Yunqi is already there waiting for them!” Ge Huaili said with a smile.

It was obvious to the naked eye that the two guides immediately relaxed.

"I suppose you two have seen some of our arrangements here, and understand that even without your surrender, we would have been prepared!" Ge Huaili said.

Cao Zhen and Jia Ben from the torture chamber were both somewhat dejected. This was the truth, and it greatly diminished the merit of their surrender. To Ge Huaili and others, Cao Zhen and Jia Ben's surrender was merely icing on the cake.

"Gentlemen, there is now an opportunity for you to make great contributions, an opportunity for you to rise to the top and truly become like-minded partners with us. I wonder if you are willing?" The captain stepped forward and looked at the two of them with a smile.

Cao Zhen and Jia Ben were taken aback. Although it was supposed to be a discussion, there was probably no room for them to bargain. They bowed and said, "Of course we are willing."

"Alright!" the captain nodded. "A big fire will break out over the treasury in a little while!"

Cao Zhen and Jia Ben were taken aback.

"Of course, it wasn't a real fire, but after some preparation, from a distance it looked exactly like a real one!" the captain said. "You two fought your way out of the encirclement and escaped with your lives. You delivered the valuable intelligence that our rear guard in Tong'an County had run out of supplies to Na Wei's vanguard general, Na Xin, urging him to get to Tong'an County as quickly as possible, so that the sacrifice of Yan Cheng and his son wouldn't have been in vain!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhen and his companion understood what the other party was planning. Not content with wiping out all the spies in Tong'an City, they wanted to use this to achieve even greater results, which was in line with Lin Yunqi's personality.

"I'm afraid Xin won't believe us so easily!" The captain smiled slightly and stepped aside. Without saying a word, Ge Huaili punched Cao Zhen with a bang. Cao Zhen screamed and collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from the corner of his mouth. Before Jia Ben could react, Ge Huaili had already turned around and grabbed him. His ten fingers were like hooks, and with two cracking sounds, Jia Ben's left arm was immediately broken into several pieces.

Both men were sweating profusely from the pain, but seeing that Ge Huaili had stopped after his attack, they understood his intention and could only bite their lips tightly to endure the pain.

"The pain you suffer today is for the happiness of you and your families in the future!" The captain smiled and handed the two a small bottle: "Made by the Great Medical Hall, a holy medicine for healing! We will arrange for you two to leave the city, and we will also intentionally let a few people from other places escape back. You will meet up with them at a suitable place, and then escape all the way to where Na Xin's army is! After you settle down with Na Xin, someone will contact you."

"Understood, I will not fail in my mission!"

(End of this chapter)