Wei and Jin did not submit to Zhou

Chapter 132 The Spirit of Youth
Boom!

Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by thunder. On the very day Zhong Hui planned to send out his troops, a torrential downpour began, the rain almost forming a curtain.

The sky alternates between light and dark, and the outside world is all water.

In this weather, even troop mobilization is impossible. Men walking in the downpour for a few hours would succumb to hypothermia. Bows and arrows are useless; how can we possibly fight a war like this?

Left with no other choice, Zhong Hui had to postpone his military campaign and then led his generals into Fucheng to take shelter from the rain.

Previously, Zhong Hui had been concerned with decorum, forbidding his soldiers from entering the city or staying in civilian houses. Now, he had dropped his pretense and allowed his generals to "act as they see fit."

If you want your soldiers to draw their swords and kill Deng Ai, then stop talking nonsense about the majesty of military law. Zhong Hui also made sure to satisfy the "small" requests of his soldiers.

If he can't even afford a place to live, who will risk their life for him?
Amidst the torrential rain, thousands of Fucheng residents were driven from their homes and out of Fucheng by the Wei army, leaving them homeless and adrift in the suburbs.

Seeing that Zhong Hui had gone too far, Shi Shouxin had no choice but to lead the civilians into the empty Wei army camp and settle them in the military tents to prevent them from dying in the rainstorm.

After finishing all these tasks, it was already afternoon.

Zhong Hui has divided the 100,000 Wei troops into three.

Zhong Hui's central army was stationed in Fucheng.

Hu Lie's left wing was settled in "Fengchu Village" north of Fucheng.

Li Fu's right army was settled in Shangma Village, east of Fucheng.

The surrendered Shu soldiers led by Jiang Wei were settled outside Fucheng.

As for the highly probable "Deng Ai's night raid on the camp," Zhong Hui had already made preparations. The deployment of more than 100,000 troops in separate areas was also a precaution against this.

Zhong Hui arranged for Shi Shouxin and his confidants to live in the mansion of a wealthy family in Fucheng.

In a bedroom in the courtyard, Wei Guan, who was under house arrest, was deep in thought, lost in thought. Meanwhile, Shi Shouxin was brewing wine, and the torrential rain outside showed no signs of stopping.

"Things have come to this point, let's see how you handle this!"

Wei Guan grumbled irritably, but still took the wine that Shi Shouxin had already prepared and drank it all in one gulp.

"Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up, so I'm not worried at all."

Shi Shouxin said slowly, and poured Wei Guan another cup of wine.

Seeing that Wei Guan remained silent, Shi Shouxin countered, "Zhong Hui entrusted Wei Guan to my care. Didn't you notice anything amiss?"

These words startled Wei Guan, who then seemed to realize something and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"Even at this point, Zhong Hui still wants to leave himself a way out."

Wei Guan shook his head helplessly.

Despite their differing stances, Wei Guan also felt sorry for Zhong Hui. If you're not cut out for this, don't do it. Why make such a fuss now?

Zhong Hui entrusted Wei Guan to Shi Shouxin's care, clearly intending to use someone else to do the dirty work and avoid getting his own hands dirty. Even if Wei Guan died later, it would be Shi Shouxin who killed him; the Grand Commander never intended to do it himself.

Zhong Hui was always wary of Sima Zhao sending troops into Shu, so he did not want to push things to the extreme, at least not for the time being.

Shi Shouxin sighed and said, "Supervisor Wei, actually, I did consider cooperating sincerely with you. But the problem is, you're too clever, and you even tricked me once, almost costing me my life. As the saying goes, 'Learn from the past to guide the future,' so this time, don't blame me for leaving alone. After dealing with Zhong Hui, you can come out and clean up the mess, how about that?"

"By then, will the situation still be salvageable? You make it sound so easy!"

Wei Guan retorted irritably, clearly somewhat skeptical of Shi Shouxin's words. Of course, it wasn't that he didn't believe Shi Shouxin's sincerity, but rather that he didn't believe the other party could defeat Zhong Hui at that time!
"The military supervisor is now writing a letter, entrusting me, Shi, to get rid of Zhong Hui and to let me temporarily take over the position of holding the imperial insignia."

Anyway, Zhong Hui has already taken the scepter, so you can't use it.

After the rebellion was quelled, the military supervisor was to report the events that had occurred in Shu to the Duke of Jin.

Mr. Shi simply kept his merits and fame hidden.

Shi Shouxin said slowly, stating frankly that he would relinquish the credit for quelling Zhong Hui's rebellion.

Wei Guan gave him a deep look, nodded, neither denying nor admitting it.

In fact, not speaking is already a tacit agreement.

Only children talk about right and wrong; adults talk about interests. If cooperation benefits both parties, then they can unite—there's nothing more to say about that.

Shi Shouxin then handed over the pen and ink, and Wei Guan, without thinking, wrote a "letter of authorization" on it.

In this letter of entrustment, Wei Guan stated frankly: "Zhong Hui, as Grand Commander, wields immense power. If he were to rebel, no one could stop him. The supervising officer Shi Shouxin has been diligent and meritorious in his dealings with him, and is worthy of trust. I am currently imprisoned by Zhong Hui and unable to escape. Therefore, I entrust the power of the imperial insignia to Shi Shouxin to oversee the overall situation. I hope that all the generals in the army will obey his orders and quell Zhong Hui's rebellion."

Then Wei Guan stamped it with his personal seal.

After the ink dried, Wei Guan handed the letter of authorization to Shi Shouxin and asked, "How is this?"

“Very good. Supervisor Wei is a man of great integrity and trustworthiness.”

Shi Shouxin chuckled and casually complimented Wei Guan.

"Zhong Hui is not a threat, but you should be wary of Jiang Wei."

Wei Guan said solemnly.

"We do need to be wary of Jiang Wei, but... the Shu army has lost its morale. What good is it if Jiang Wei has three heads and six arms?"

Shi Shouxin didn't think Jiang Wei could cause any trouble; at least, the possibility of him "coming back to light after being hidden" was impossible.

Wei Guan sighed and nodded slightly, saying, "It is indeed a pity about Jiang Boyue."

"You can rest here and recuperate in peace. At least until we enter Chengdu, and even until Zhong Hui launches his coup, you will be safe."

Shi Shouxin offered Wei Guan a word of comfort and then left the house.

He didn't rest, but instead summoned his trusted confidants, including Meng Guan, Li Liang, Xi Zuo, and Zhao Lun, to the study in this large mansion to discuss matters.

"Meng Guan, you've been to Chengdu before. If we're talking about the speed of a horse caravan, how long would it take to get there if we set off now?"

Shi Shouxin looked at Meng Guan and asked.

Meng Guan did not answer, seemingly hesitant.

"Say!"

Shi Shouxin seemed a little angry.

"If it's a hundred riders, it will take six hours, or even less than half a day. Last time we set off at noon and arrived in the outskirts of Chengdu before midnight."

It's just that continuous high-speed riding requires one person and two horses. The person can handle it, but the horses can't; without two horses, it's absolutely impossible.

"Bring five hundred men, each with two horses, and follow me to Chengdu now."

Shi Shouxin looked around at everyone and said.

"You mustn't do that, Military Supervisor Shi!"

Everyone was stunned and exclaimed in unison.

They had considered everything, but they never imagined that Shi Shouxin would go mad.

That young and beautiful princess of Shu is right here in this courtyard. Wouldn't it be better to sleep with her in your arms? Hehe, wouldn't it be better to make babies? Why risk your life?
"Commander Shi, we should just do nothing and watch Zhong Hui and Deng Ai fight to the death. Why take any risks?"

Li Liang quickly offered his advice. He felt that the current situation wasn't just slightly good, but extremely good.

Moreover, there was another "benefit" for him: his younger sister, Li Qiu, was also pregnant. Once the child was born, they would be relatives. With such a good thing, wouldn't it be foolish to lead troops to Chengdu?

"I know what you're thinking, but we can't give Zhong Hui the opportunity to establish his prestige through military achievements."

Once Zhong Hui defeated Deng Ai with his troops, it would be difficult to control him afterwards.

Moreover, because of this heavy rain, Deng Ai's military campaign has been delayed. We can advance with a small force, and if I can enter Deng Ai's camp, we can win without a fight. No one wants to die with Deng Ai.

When the time comes, shouting "Punish Deng Ai, but not the rest," we can win without bloodshed.

Capturing Deng Ai would provide an opportunity to win over his generals, which would be beneficial for future endeavors.

This torrential rain is an opportunity; if we miss it, it's gone forever, and we may never be able to make up for it again.

Upon hearing this, Li Liang and the others exchanged glances, all feeling that Shi Shouxin's words made some sense.

Because what they couldn't imagine, Deng Ai couldn't imagine either. Zhong Hui's more than 100,000 troops could have slowly advanced; Deng Ai wouldn't have expected someone to launch a swift attack!

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the two armies might meet on the road, in which case Shi Shouxin would be doomed.

So this is a high-stakes gamble, or rather, a gamble on when the rain will stop!

"Supervisor Shi, I can lead the troops there myself; you don't need to go, do you?"

Meng Guan asked with a troubled expression.

“If I don’t go, who will go into Deng Ai’s camp and persuade them to lay down their arms?”

Shi Shouxin countered with a question. He had already obtained many tokens of authority, and using them to persuade the enemy to surrender would be effortless.

Meng Guan was speechless; that was indeed the case. Often, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

"Then it's settled."

Meng Guan, you lead the way. Zhao Lun, you are in charge of leading the charge against the main camp, spearheading the attack.

The rest of you remain in Fucheng to manage military affairs, everything as usual. Let's go now!

Shi Shouxin looked around at everyone and gave orders, issuing one command after another with great efficiency!
"Alright! Let's take a gamble tonight. My grandfather's generation went alone into Zhang Lu's camp to assassinate him, killing more than a dozen people in battle. How heroic that was!"

Today, Zhao will follow in the footsteps of his predecessors! He will accompany Inspector Shi to venture into the den of dragons and tigers!

Zhao Lun stood up, clenched his fists, and his strong muscles bulged on his arms, making him look very imposing.

"In that case, let's not say any more and go."

Shi Shouxin turned and left, passing by Liu Yue's room without even pushing the door open or glancing inside.

……

With torrential rain pouring down outside, the troop deployment naturally had to be postponed. Mobilizing a large force is no simple matter; it involves personnel organization, logistics, reconnaissance, and more.

It's clear that many things cannot be accomplished in heavy rain.

Of course, one could organize a few hundred men to brave the heavy rain and launch a surprise attack on Zhong Hui's army of over 100,000. But what would be the point of sending such a small force?

Sitting in the imperial study in the Chengdu palace, Deng Ai looked at the heavy rain outside and felt only agitated.

Just then, Deng Zhong, wearing a straw raincoat, walked into the study. He looked as if he had been pulled out of soup, his whole body was soaked.

"How's the situation in the army?"

Deng Ai asked softly, his brows furrowed.

"Shi Zuan's idea is not very good. The soldiers don't really believe that Zhong Hui wants to kill them all."

Deng Zhong sighed helplessly.

Shi Zuan's statement was rather... well, it underestimated the wisdom of the lower-ranking soldiers.

Before Zhong Hui's army arrived in Chengdu, no matter how much Deng Ai emphasized that Zhong Hui would lead his men to kill them all, it was difficult to be convincing.

Before a knife is held to their throat, people's thoughts are mostly about getting by.

"Never mind, we'll strike as soon as the rain stops!"

Deng Ai raised his hand, signaling Deng Zhong to stop talking.

"Father, Qian Hong led his troops away from Chengdu and their whereabouts are unknown."

Deng Zhong said in a low voice, afraid of angering Deng Ai.

Qian Hong was a subordinate of Deng Ai and the second son of Qian Zhao, a famous general of Cao Wei. He had previously served as the governor of Longxi and was an old acquaintance of Deng Ai.

Unexpectedly, after Deng Ai announced that Zhong Hui was plotting a rebellion, Qian Hong readily agreed to his request, but secretly took advantage of the torrential rain to lead his troops to quell the rebellion!

Qian Hong's attitude can be seen as a weathervane, indicating that many soldiers and generals in Deng Ai's army did not share his views.

"Forget it, let him be!"

Deng Ai sighed deeply; he no longer had the energy to pursue Qian Hong's responsibility.

(End of this chapter)