Chapter 410

"You are right, I do have a problem, but the problem was caused by you!"

The centurion spoke, then dragged the two corpses to the edge of the grass to hide them, before rushing toward General Wang Lun's camp.

No obstacles were met along the way, and when he finally reached General Wang Lun's camp, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Why have you come?" A soldier saw the centurion and immediately rushed over to greet him.

"It's a long story, hurry and take me to see the Grand General!" the centurion said.

"I do not have the authority for that; first, I will take you to the Grand General's main tent. Speak to the guards there."

The sentry said.

"Good!" the centurion nodded.

The two arrived outside the main tent, and the centurion had the guard report to General Wang Lun, saying he had urgent matters to report.

After a while, the guard came out and led the centurion inside.

Upon seeing Grand General Wang Lun, the centurion immediately spoke of what he had heard: that Wei Pao and the others were planning to seize power.

"Are you sure you heard clearly?" General Wang Lun frowned.

"My hearing is stronger than that of ordinary people. When I went to deliver wild fruits, I was close to the tent and happened to hear them discussing the seizure of power inside."

"Although I was driven away after hearing only a few sentences, I believe their goal is to send someone to replace your position as Grand General!"

The centurion said.

"Grand General, yesterday Zheng Zili led his troops to surrender. Wei Pao and the others must think we will do the same as Zheng Zili, so they are highly likely to strike against us first. We must be on guard!"

The deputy general said from the side.

"Zheng Zili is Wei Pao's personal subordinate. Even he has surrendered, so it is normal for Wei Pao to suspect us as well." General Wang Lun said, frowning.

"Then what are you hesitating for? Please, Grand General, make a decision soon!" the deputy general said.

"The place we are stationed differs from Zheng Zili's. Zheng Zili is Wei Pao's private army, stationed on the perimeter, so it is very convenient for them to go out and surrender."

"But we are different. If we want to defect to the imperial troops, we must pass through Ceng Hai's camp, and Ceng Hai is also a person trusted by Wei Pao."

"If we act on our own, we might be sandwiched between the armies of Ceng Hai and Wei Pao!"

General Wang Lun said.

"General, speaking of which, Ceng Hai's status under Wei Pao is not even as high as Zheng Zili's. Even Zheng Zili has surrendered, so Ceng Hai will likely surrender as well." the deputy general said.

"What if he does not surrender?" General Wang Lun asked.

"This subordinate is willing to go to General Ceng's camp to persuade him!" the deputy general said.

General Wang Lun thought for a moment and felt this course of action was feasible.

Because their camp was very close to Ceng Hai's camp, the round trip between the two sides would take less than half a day.

Whereas the distance from their camp to the headquarters alone required most of a day.

They could determine Ceng Hai's stance before the headquarters discovered their intention to surrender.

If Ceng Hai surrenders, that would be best; the two armies would march out of the mountain together.

If Ceng Hai disagrees, then we can only force our way out!"

"We must prepare for the worst. You must stay here to lead the troops and cannot leave, so let him go." General Wang Lun's gaze fell on the centurion: "Take my token and go see Ceng Hai. You must return before midnight. If I do not see you return by then, I will assume you have failed, and at that time I will find another way."

"Please rest assured, General. This subordinate will definitely persuade General Ceng to defect to the government!" the centurion said.

"You returned from headquarters to deliver news, and now you risk your life to see Ceng Hai. I will not forget this." General Wang Lun said.

"This subordinate has long wanted to serve the General out of gratitude for your kindness; now is the perfect opportunity!" the centurion said.

General Wang Lun nodded, wrote his name on a piece of paper, then stamped it with his general's seal and handed it to the centurion.

As soon as the centurion left, General Wang Lun ordered the deputy general to make preparations early.

He estimated that the people at headquarters no longer trusted them, so they would likely take action soon.

When the people from headquarters come to seize power, then eliminate them!

When taking action, preparations must be thorough; the news must not leak out.

As long as they can hide it for one night, once news comes from Ceng Hai's side, he will no longer need to worry about the headquarters learning of the surrender plans.

On the other side, the centurion, accompanied by two soldiers, arrived at Ceng Hai's camp.

Because he had General Wang Lun's token, the centurion was quickly brought before Ceng Hai.

"General Ceng, I need to speak with you alone." The centurion glanced at the people in the main tent.

Ceng Hai looked at General Wang Lun's token in his hand, then waved his hand.

Soon, only Ceng Hai and one middle-aged man remained in the main tent.

The centurion glanced at the middle-aged man but said nothing.

"The matter you wish to discuss with me alone, I will also tell him, so just speak whatever you have to say." Ceng Hai said indifferently.

Only then did the centurion speak: "Does General Ceng know of General Zheng Zili's defection to the government?"

"Of course I know; who doesn't know such a big matter?" Ceng Hai said.

"General Zheng is Wei Pao's private soldier; Lord Wei's trust in him exceeds that in you, General, and in our General Wang."

"Now that General Zheng has defected to the government, Lord Wei will no longer trust us and is highly likely to strike against us!"

"Therefore, General Wang has ordered me to come and discuss with you how to respond to this matter."

The centurion spoke somewhat euphemistically, but both Ceng Hai and the middle-aged man could hear that this was a mission to persuade them to surrender.

This indicated that General Wang Lun had already decided to defect to the government and now wanted them to surrender as well.

After all, they were stationed at the very front line; if they did not surrender, it would not be easy for General Wang Lun to leave Huashan.

"You say Lord Wei will strike against us; do you have evidence?" the middle-aged man asked.

"Yes! I heard it with my own ears!" the centurion said: "At that time, this subordinate went to deliver wild fruits to Lord Wei and heard them outside the tent saying they would send someone to take over the army. The army they referred to naturally meant the armies controlled by the various generals."

"They were discussing such an important matter; would they let you eavesdrop outside the tent?" the middle-aged man did not believe it.

"My ears are sharper than an ordinary person's; I can hear voices outside the tent if they are raised slightly, but it would be hard for anyone else to make them out clearly," the Centurion said.

The middle-aged man and Ceng Hai exchanged a glance, then the middle-aged man said, "Stand outside the tent for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, then come back in."

"Yes." The Centurion turned and walked toward the tent entrance.

He knew the other party wanted to test his hearing.

Reaching outside the tent, he immediately perked up his ears and listened.

After a while, the middle-aged man came out and gestured for him to enter.

"Tell me, what did I just say?" the middle-aged man asked.

"You did not speak; if you did, it was in an extremely low voice," the Centurion said.

196. Forced to Rebel (Part One)

"Then you heard nothing?" the middle-aged man asked.

"I heard General Ceng cough once, then say there were mosquitoes, and also that my lord Wei was thinking of eating wild fruits at a time like this!" the Centurion said.

Ceng Hai and the middle-aged man were instantly surprised.

He had indeed said those words, and when he spoke the two characters "mosquitoes," his voice was not loud.

Because a mosquito happened to fly by at that moment, Ceng Hai had instinctively said it.

It now appeared the Centurion spoke the truth; standing outside the tent, he could indeed hear the conversation inside.

"General, Zheng Zheng Zili's surrender to the authorities has doomed us all. Now my lord Wei trusts no one, so it is highly likely they will strike first against us. I suspect they will send someone to take over your military command. If you do not hand it over, they may take action!" the middle-aged man said.

"Sigh..." Ceng Hai sighed: "I originally had no intention of surrendering, but with things as they are, I have no choice but to surrender!"

"Please, General, make your decision soon so I can return and report to General Wang!" the Centurion said.

"Please tell Wang Lun that I, Ceng Hai, thank you for the warning. Once his main force arrives, we will all go out together!" Ceng Hai said.

"Very well, I will go immediately!" the Centurion said and was about to leave.

"Wait, I will send someone to escort you back," Ceng Hai said.

Immediately, he dispatched a trusted aide along with several subordinates to leave with the Centurion.

After seeing the Centurion off, Ceng Hai began to discuss matters with his deputy.

They believed Wei Pao would definitely take action against them, with the mildest outcome being the confiscation of their military command.

If they did not hand over their military command, they would very likely be executed.

Yet handing over their military command would be no different from being executed.

As the commander on the front lines, Ceng Hai was fully aware of the current situation.

Opposing them were Li Yuanba and artillery, two formidable forces that made victory impossible.

If they did not surrender, the only outcome facing them would be death.