Do you have the strength to force me to join the Liangshan bandits?

Chapter 330 Cai Fu: A country cannot be without a ruler for a day, nor a family without a head of household for a day! [1st Update]

Seeing that the dust had settled, Fang Jinzhi breathed a sigh of relief and said to the young white-robed general who had been protecting them:
"Thank you so much, young general, for protecting us..."

"Mother is being too polite!"

The young general in white robes said matter-of-factly:

"Your son is acting on your father's orders to protect your mother; why should she thank you?"

What?
Fang Jinzhi was bewildered: No, I'm still a virgin!

Where did such a big son come from?
Fang Tianding stood to the side, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Goodness, is my brother-in-law getting married before?
Pang Wanchun secretly rejoiced: Thank goodness it wasn't my brother-in-law...

"kill--"

Just then, a deafening battle cry erupted. Fang Tianding and Fang Jinzhi were shocked and looked around in alarm. They saw that Fang Jie's Shezhou soldiers and Shi Bao's Hangzhou soldiers had stormed into the city gate.

Fang Tianding breathed a sigh of relief: He had finally survived another difficult day...

The Shezhou army originally numbered 10,000, but the casualties were too severe.

Fang Jie led the charge in the siege, and of his five thousand men, at most three thousand remained.

As for Wang Yin and Gao Yu, they led 5,000 men to resist Liu Yun and Zhang Wei's 30,000-strong army.

They had actually been scattered by the slaughter, and he only brought a few hundred remnants with him, who joined Fang Jie and entered the city together...

Shi Bao joined the battle relatively late, and it was cavalry against infantry. He still had seven or eight hundred cavalrymen left, so he was relatively well preserved.

The two sides together had less than five thousand men, but their entry into the city still reassured Fang Tianding.

Fang Tianding, Fang Jinzhi, and Pang Wanchun had already climbed onto the second-floor terrace of the Grand Hotel at Cai Fu's signal.

This was very helpful in stabilizing morale, but unfortunately Fang Tianding couldn't speak, so he could only wave his hand:
Aba aba!

Not many people paid him any attention, except for Shi Bao, who led the Hangzhou soldiers in a howling rant, which saved Fang Tianding's face.

Cai Fu put one arm around Fang Tianding's shoulder and waved downwards:
"Good job, brothers!"
"The Crown Prince has announced that everyone will be rewarded with ten strings of cash and promoted one rank!"
"The reward will be doubled for those who are killed in action!"
"The surrendered soldiers will be pardoned and treated equally in the future!"

"Oooooooo-"

This time, not only the soldiers from Shezhou and Hangzhou, but all the surrendered soldiers cheered excitedly!
Whether Fang Tianding actually said those words or not, those in the know understand that Fang Tianding is no longer able to speak.

But Cai Fu's words now carry more weight than Fang Tianding's, and even falsehoods seem true.

The soldiers from Shezhou and Hangzhou were overjoyed, and the surrendered soldiers were even more overjoyed, some even weeping uncontrollably...

Fang Tianding felt very uncomfortable.

Although he knew Cai Fu was right and that it was time to reassure people, he still felt uneasy.

Worried that he might overthink things, Cai Fu turned to look at him after speaking, and Fang Tianding also subconsciously looked at Cai Fu.

When their eyes met, Fang Tianding saw Cai Fu's open-mindedness and also noticed the change in the shape of Cai Fu's mouth.

Cai Fu said four words to him, the same four words he had said to Cai Fu before—

Comrade!

This is a phrase in Northern dialect that Cai Fu taught him when they first became friends. It means—

Brothers!
So when Cai Fu appeared, Fang Tianding silently uttered these four words, hoping that Cai Fu would save him.

Now Cai Fu said those four words to him as well, telling him not to worry.

Fang Tianding felt much better.

With tears welling up in his eyes, Fang Tianding held Cai Fu's hand tightly:

Comrade!

At this moment, another group of people rushed in through the city gate, and at a glance, there were at least 20,000 to 30,000 people!
Fang Jie, Wang Yin, Gao Yu, Shi Bao, and others hurriedly mobilized the soldiers from Shezhou and Hangzhou to prepare for the enemy!

not good!

Fang Jinzhi instinctively tried to snuggle into Cai Fu's arms, only to find that Fang Tianding had already taken them...

"no need to worry!"

Cai Fu patted Fang Tianding's vest:

"With us here, we will make sure these rebels never return!"

Lu Zhishen, Wu Song, Yang Zhi, and Sun Li were about to go downstairs to meet the challenge when they heard a cheer from downstairs.

They quickly peeked down from the railing and saw that the rebels had stopped just an arrow's throw away from the crossroads and had dropped their weapons on the ground. Clearly, the rebels were not there to fight.

The leading generals all dismounted, left their weapons on horseback, walked to the crossroads, looked up at Cai Fu on the second-floor terrace, and shouted in unison:

"We, Liu Yun, Zhang Wei, Xu Fang, and Gou Zheng, are willing to submit to the King of Justice of Liangshan!"
"Please, Your Majesty, take me in!"

After saying this, Liu Yun, Zhang Wei, Xu Fang, and Gou Zheng led the way and bowed to Cai Funa!

Then all the rebels fell to their knees with a thunderous crash, shouting in unison:

"Please, Your Majesty, take me in!"

Tens of thousands of rebels shouted in unison, and although they hadn't rehearsed and their movements weren't very synchronized, the sound was still deafening!
Upon seeing this, Wu Fu, who had already surrendered, immediately bowed down and shouted:

"This humble general, Wu Fu, is willing to submit to the King of Justice of Liangshan!"
"Please, Your Majesty, take me in!"

Wu Fu's surrendered soldiers all followed, knelt on the ground, and shouted in unison:

"Please, Your Majesty, take me in!"

Fang Tianding's head was buzzing from the shock on the second-floor terrace, but he still managed to grasp the key point:

They surrendered to the prince consort, not the crown prince!
No, to be precise, it wasn't the Prince Consort Cai Fu who surrendered, but Cai Fu, the Fair King of Liangshan!
What do they want?
Fang Tianding's pretty face turned red, yellow, and green all at once... Cai Fu frowned: Is he trying to make trouble for me?
However, Cai Fu also understood their meaning; they certainly wouldn't dare to surrender to Fang Tianding.

Now the blame for assassinating Fang La has been pinned on Fang Mao, and Fang Mao has also poisoned Fang Tianding, rendering him mute.

If they surrender to Fang Tianding, and Fang Tianding were to settle scores later, wouldn't they be giving Fang Tianding a handle against them?
Moreover, to be fair, Fang Tianding performed terribly in this coup; he was practically powerless to fight back.

These five generals have placed their bets on Cai Fu, but the problem is that Cai Fu can't refuse to accept them.

If someone specifically names you and you refuse to accept their surrender, aren't you forcing them to fight to the death?
Besides, if you don't accept it, who will surrender to you in the future?
However, if Cai Fu accepts them, it will inevitably create a rift between him and Fang Tianding, this "comrade-in-arms".

With men on either side, Cai Fu gritted his teeth and glared:
Receive!
If God does not take it, he will suffer the consequences!
Cai Fu waved his hand and said, "Get up, all of you!"
"Since you are willing to submit, I will treat you all equally!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Five generals, Liu Yun, Zhang Wei, Xu Fang, Gou Zheng, and Wu Fu, rose up, and the Suzhou soldiers also rose up.

With Cai Fu's promise, they no longer needed to worry about being punished by Fang Tianding later.

They're the heroes of Liangshan now!

……

Bangyuan Cave.

Fang Tianding handed Cai Fu a full page of his writing.

When Cai Fu took it and read it, every word was heartbreaking and every sentence was filled with blood and tears!
But after reviewing the summary, Cai Fu realized it boiled down to one sentence:

Good food and fun-loving!
After Fang La was assassinated, Fang Tianding believed that only Pang Wanchun had the skill to shoot an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred paces away and kill him with a single shot, so he personally went to capture Pang Wanchun.

On his way back, he passed through Shezhou and had something to tell Wang Yin.

Little did anyone know that Fang Mao had laid a trap in Shezhou and captured him all.

He initially thought Fang Mao had misunderstood him, but that wasn't the case; Fang Mao was clearly trying to frame him...

Fang Mao forced him to withdraw from the competition for the throne, but Fang Tianding refused. So Fang Mao simply poisoned him, rendering him mute.

If Cai Fu hadn't arrived in time, Fang Mao would have put Fang Tianding on trial in public and then beheaded him!

How could someone with that kind of brain even think about staging a coup?

If you stay in Hangzhou honestly, what can Fang Mao do to you?

Why do you have to come out and court death? You're both terrible at it and love to play!

Although Fang Tianding's words were full of bitterness and tears, Cai Fu still felt that what he said was not entirely true.

I'm passing through Shezhou and I have something to tell Wang Yin.

If you were just passing through, why did Fang Mao know in advance that you were going to enter the city and set up such a trap?
It's obvious that Fang Mao predicted your moves!

So, what did Fang Mao use to predict your appearance?
Cai Fu already had a guess in his mind, but he didn't say anything. He just sent the text to Fang Jie to read.

Whether it was a misperception or not, Cai Fu noticed that Fang Tianding's eyes flickered when he gave the letter to Fang Jie.

Feeling guilty?
This made Cai Fu even more certain that Fang Tianding's trip to Shezhou was most likely to be a move to capture them all in one fell swoop!
Using the pretext of Fang La's assassination attempt, they wiped out Wang Yin, Gao Yu, and other direct subordinates of Fang Hou in one fell swoop!
Without the support of Fang Hou's loyal followers such as Wang Yin, Gao Yu, and Pang Wanchun, Fang Jie would not be able to contend for the throne even if he returned.

However, Fang Tianding did not expect that his competitor would not be Fang Jie of the same generation, but Fang Mao of the previous generation!
After reading Fang Tianding's calligraphy, Fang Jie passed it on to Fang Jinzhi without changing his expression.

Fang Tianding carefully observed Fang Jie's expression, worried that Fang Jie already knew something.

Fang Jie possesses unparalleled bravery, but he is neither skilled in literature nor martial arts. What if Fang Jie were to attack him...?

Cai Fu patted Fang Tianding on the shoulder, and Fang Tianding trembled reflexively, looking at Cai Fu pitifully:
Brother-in-law, if I get into a fight with Fang Jie, will you still be my comrade-in-arms?

Cai Fu pretended not to understand Fang Tianding's meaning and patted him on the shoulder:

"What are the next steps?"

Fang Tianding blinked his small eyes: What's the arrangement?
A country cannot be without a ruler for a day, nor a family without a head of household for a day!

Cai Fu solemnly said, "My father-in-law has already been buried by Fang Mao. He didn't inform me or Brother Jie; he took care of everything himself."

"We can't afford to hold another funeral for my father-in-law, so the most important thing in the South right now is—"

Fang Tianding's eyes lit up, and he wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he realized that he couldn't speak, and his gaze dimmed again.

If he weren't mute, the throne would most likely be his.

But he's mute...

How can a mute person become an emperor?
Does sitting on the throne mean you have to ask someone else to speak for you whenever you want to say something?
What's the difference between that and a puppet?
There are no outsiders in the hall now, except for Fang Tianding, Fang Jie, Fang Jinzhi, and Cai Fu, the imperial son-in-law.

After several rounds of infighting, only four members of the Southern Kingdom's royal family remained.

Even so, Cai Fu was still an unofficial member of the organization.

After realizing that he could not become emperor, Fang Tianding turned his attention to another male heir, Fang Jie.

The two brothers looked at each other, and Fang Jie immediately understood Fang Tianding's meaning, waving his hand without hesitation:
"Your Highness, you know me!"

"I only want to become the greatest warrior in the world, just like Lü Bu!"

This statement is, of course, not entirely untrue. Fang Jie's reluctance to become emperor was mainly due to Fang Hou...

Just as Fang Tianding was able to figure it out, Fang Jie also figured out why his grandfather died.

His grandfather has already cleared his name with his life. If he becomes emperor, wouldn't his grandfather's name have been cleared in vain?

Besides, most people now believe that Pang Wanchun killed Fang La, and his becoming emperor only makes it harder to clear his name.

Although Fang Jie's statement was not entirely untrue, Fang Tianding could tell that he truly did not want to be emperor.

This left Fang Tianding feeling extremely bitter; it turned out he had only been judging others by his own petty standards…

(End of this chapter)