The Empress’ Livestream

Chapter 657: Unifying Wanzhou (X)

From the very beginning, a military counselor had a strong heart. He was not only heartless towards his enemy, but he was even more heartless towards his people and himself.

The Deputy Chief could not describe that feeling, but when he heard Wei Ci’s explanation, there was only one thought in his mind. Fear.

Just how heartless was he that he was willing to “ask for death” to trap his enemy?

Wei Ci explained his plan in detail. It took a while before he “requested” the opinion of the Deputy Chief.

“General, how do you feel about this plan?”

The Deputy Chief recovered himself and stammered, “Very good… Sir, whatever you say goes.”

“Since it’s like that, it will be a pleasure to cooperate.”

Wei Ci’s smile was so beautiful, like a clear sky after rain. One could not help but sigh in admiration of his high moral character. He was an elegant nobleman.

However, the Deputy Chief could not be happy about having his attention. Instead, he had the urge to tremble like he was cold. All his hair stood on end.

The literati were terrifying. First, there was An Cui, who had played everyone for fools until they didn’t know left from right. Then, there was Wei Ci, who could switch from passive to active positions despite being in the enemy camp.

If possible, the Deputy Chief would never again provoke such heartless literati.

A clatter was heard shortly after the Deputy Chief entered the main hall. The noise was followed by the sound of a sword being unsheathed and an abrupt blood-curdling shriek. The guards stationed outside thought that someone had attacked the second commander and hurried in. They were all shocked by the scene in front of them.

They saw a young man clad in a dark green scholar’s costume on the ground, curled up and clutching his abdomen. His facial features could not be seen, but a pool of thick, dark blood spread from his body. A few of the guards immediately understood who had been killed and went deathly pale. The messenger was supposed to be spared when two enemies crossed swords!

Now that the Deputy Chief had executed Liu Xi’s messenger in a rage, the two sides were in a situation where neither would rest until the other side was dead.

If they were defeated on the battlefield, Liu Xi might cruelly slaughter everyone in the city and kill all his captives to vent his anger.

“Should I be afraid of that child Liu Xi?” The Deputy Chief harrumphed and said in a coarse voice, “I’d cut him down if he comes here in person, let alone a messenger that he sent. Lao Tzu would chop him to death. Drag this body out and chop him up to feed the dogs. Remember to clean up the bones and send some to Liu Xi, that thief. Peace talk? F*ck his granny! Kill everyone he sends here. Does he think he can bully me? Does he think the Red Lotus Group is a joke?”

The Deputy Chief exploded in anger. No one dared try to persuade him, they could only obey the order and drag the young man’s corpse outside.

The intense smell of blood spread through the room as the lights flickered, going out and lighting up again and again. The whole thing caused a sense of dread to rise in the guards.

The Deputy Chief paced back and forth anxiously with a gloomy expression. He was a far cry from the tough and imposing facade that he’d presented when it came to “executing” Wei Ci.

“Second leader… I’m afraid that Liu Xi will receive the news tonight that we’ve killed his messenger. If he challenges us to a fight tomorrow…”

“So be it. Why should I be afraid of a little brat who doesn’t even have a full beard yet?”

The Deputy Chief’s hot temper exploded. After a while, he went back to pacing back and forth with a dispirited expression. It was as if he was trying to wear a hole in the wooden floor.

After a long while, the Deputy Chief took a deep breath and asked his men to invite in the messenger sent by the Red Lotus Group.

After everyone had stepped down, the Deputy Chief hurried around to the back hall. Wei Ci had changed his clothes. He now wore a set of coarse linen work clothes. The jade coronet on his head had been swapped with a cloth towel. Besides his beautiful features and exceptional aura, he seemed to be no different from any ordinary scholar.

“Si- Sir… I’ve done as you ordered. Will they go for the bait?”

Wei Ci took a sip from the teacup in his hands. The flavor of the tea was not very good, but he was not picky.

“A blitzkrieg strategy,” Wei Ci said. “It’s best to tempt their best soldiers into entering the city tomorrow. Otherwise, they will become suspicious as time goes on.”

The Deputy Chief nodded obediently and asked, “Should I send someone to escort you out of the city?”

Wei Ci waved his hand in refusal.”I am a ‘dead man’ who should not be exposed to other people. Even if it is only by your trusted aide, we may not be able to fully trust anyone. The best way to keep a secret is to minimize the number of people who know it. I’ll stay here for a day or two. Many thanks for the hospitality.”

The Deputy Chief did not reject this plan. He was happy that Wei Ci was in his hand. This at least gave him a guarantee of safety.

If Liu Xi did not live up to his promises, he could remain secure in the knowledge that he had Wei Ci under his thumb.

But…

The Deputy Chief turned his thoughts in another direction and came up with an even more dangerous problem.

“…Sir, will Liu Xi not bear a grudge against me for returning your ‘bones’ to him as you’ve instructed?”

It would be okay if Liu Xi was informed of what had actually happened, but if he was not, he would just cut him down without a single word when the time came. What an unjust death he would suffer!

Wei Ci laughed. “Of course not. General, you can rest assured.”

Wei Ci’s plan had been conceived at the last minute. He had generated several plans before ever setting eyes on the Deputy Chief. After seeing the man in person, he’d abandoned all previous plans and formulated a new one. Of course, this plan had also been the cruelest option.

The Deputy Chief left with confidence. Wei Ci slowly lowered his eyes.

He put down the teacup in his hands, his gaze revealed a chilling and fierce gleam.

Wei Ci had always held the idea of removing the Red Lotus Group entirely, so why would he recruit someone from the Red Lotus Group into his forces?

He had not informed Jiang Pengji of this last-minute plan. In other words, his lord was “uninformed” about “the death of Wei Ci.” If the Deputy Chief died in this situation, no one could say anything bad about Jiang Pengji. At most, people would just say that Wei Ci was black-hearted, ruthless, and treacherous.

However, he had stopped caring about his reputation a long time ago. He could say that he had developed a thick skin.

As long as by-standers did not implicate his lord, they could say whatever they liked about him.

No, Wei Ci did not intend for the Deputy Chief of the Red Lotus Group to live.

Shortly after “Wei Ci” had been executed by the Deputy Chief, the messenger from the Red Lotus Group received news of this event.

After learning that “Wei Ci” had been killed, chopped into pieces, and fed to the dogs, and that his incomplete and damaged bones had been sent to Liu Xi overnight, the messenger immediately rejoiced. He smiled so widely that his eyes became crescents. The Deputy Chief took the opportunity to express his worry. He had killed Liu Xi’s trusted counselor, wouldn’t he explode in anger when he heard?

The messenger from the Red Lotus Group followed the Deputy Chief’s lead, hoping that the two sides could shake hands and make peace by using the dangers of the city wall to resist Liu Xi.

The Deputy Chief listened and heartily agreed.

Frankly speaking, the Deputy Chief’s acting was rather clumsy. However, he had a beard that covered nearly his entire face, so it was not easy to observe his expressions. Besides, the information received by the Red Lotus Group was too clear. “Wei Ci” had indeed been stabbed to death by the Deputy Chief. The flesh and blood on the corpse’s face and body were mutilated, so they naturally did not suspect a thing. The Deputy Chief had killed “Wei Ci,” which meant that he could never be recruited by Liu Xi!

Jiang Pengji’s tent was brightly lit during the latter half of the night. Her brows knitted slightly together in a frown. She had a bad feeling.

She waited for a long time and was about to put her chin on her hands to rest for a while when she heard footsteps hurrying towards her tent.

“What’s happening outside?”

Yang Si lifted the curtain of the tent and walked in. White linen cloth was wrapped around his waist. His eyes were bloodshot. Two attendants followed behind him.

Jiang Pengji picked up on the smell of blood. Her heart thumped as she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Zixiao, Zixiao… has been killed…”

Jiang Pengji could not answer.