Chapter 560

Lu Ping'an laughed heartily, raised his hand and pointed around, "General Chen Wuji, this place is indeed your Zhongjun Camp; if I killed you here, wouldn't that be throwing myself into a death trap? This hairpin, well, it's originally a common object, but it's undeniable that it looks very much like a weapon."

"It's my fault that General Chen Wuji harbors doubts; I shouldn't have done this. Let me punish myself with a cup to apologize to General Chen Wuji!"

Having said that, he boldly poured himself a full cup, raised both hands toward Chen Wuji as a gesture, then drained it in one gulp.

His whole procedure came across as open and aboveboard, his words reasonable and well-founded, which instead made Chen Wuji seem overly suspicious.

Chen Wuji didn't say anything more and readily accepted Lu Ping'an's self-imposed penalty of a cup.

Although what he said made perfect sense, Chen Wuji still trusted Chen Luozi and his judgment more.

Although Lu Ping'an's deep infiltration of the enemy camp to assassinate the Chief Commander seems foolish, it is likely true.

"It turns out I misunderstood Commander Lu Jinglve; that's my fault." Chen Wuji gave a faint smile.

"Although there was previously considerable friction between us, and though we have now turned swords into jade and silk, frankly I still have to be on guard."

Lu Ping'an waved his hand and said, "Quite right; I can fully understand General Chen Wuji's thinking. If we swapped positions, I would certainly be even more cautious than General Chen Wuji, guarding everywhere until complete trust is achieved."

"Actually, after hearing that General Chen Wuji had stationed troops at Po Feng Ridge and stopped advancing, I had some suspicions. But before I could do anything, some foolish underlings of mine went ahead and offended General Chen Wuji. However, General Chen Wuji can rest assured that the scouts who started the trouble have already been summarily executed on my orders."

"I also feared that General Chen Wuji might suspect me, which is why I braved the risks and came at night, full of sincerity, to see General Chen Wuji, hoping to dispel the misunderstanding so we could sit down and discuss the upcoming campaign."

What he said was extremely frank; in conversation he was completely open and aboveboard, hiding nothing, saying exactly what he thought.

Chen Wuji listened and occasionally nodded in agreement.

But in his heart he actually had a different idea, and at the same time he was reevaluating Lu Ping'an.

Before seeing this person, his views were very much in line with Yang Yu's.

Arrogant, self-important, fond of boasting about his achievements, and somewhat self-righteous.

But after hearing all that, Chen Wuji also gained some other perspectives.

This person actually does possess a certain personal charm.

However, this is probably limited to the initial contact; deep down he may still be a stingy, ungrateful person.

"What General Chen Wuji and I needed to discuss has already been talked about; now that we've both gathered our troops here, if we let this minor misunderstanding prevent us from joining forces, we'd only give that old coy Yang Yu something to laugh at, which would be utterly inappropriate." Lu Ping'an said.

Chen Wuji nodded again, "Commander Lu Jinglve's words have truly made me feel deep shame; I was measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty mind."

"No, no, no, General Chen Wuji thinking that way is completely understandable, it's only human!" Lu Ping'an immediately said, "The problem is that some things are just too coincidental, and I have too many foolish underlings."

Chen Wuji raised his hand to interrupt him, lifted his cup, and said, "Let's not talk about that anymore; having said it out in the open is enough."

"Commander Lu Jinglve, please, drink this cup; let's discuss the campaign and see how this battle should be fought! I'm an impatient person—stationing nearly ten thousand Bīngmǎ here costs a lot in provisions for men and horses; if we can end the war a day earlier, I'll save some Silver."

Lu Ping'an raised his cup, "Please!"

He completely ignored Chen Wuji's remark, acting as if he hadn't heard it at all.

After drinking a cup, Chen Wuji set down his cup, turned serious, and asked, "Commander Lu Jinglve, how should we fight this battle? I think you should first outline the plan. Specifically, what location are we to attack, and how strong is the enemy? I know nothing about any of this; right now it's completely dark ahead."

He decided to first talk with Lu Ping'an before making a move.

By the way, he also gave Lu Ping'an a chance to see if he had any other tricks up his sleeve.

Lu Ping'an personally entered his camp at night as an envoy; if he were to strike first, it would reflect poorly on his reputation when word got out.

Upon hearing this, outsiders would see Lu Ping'an as a lone brave hero, while he would be seen as a petty villain.

Although Chen Wuji doesn't mind such a reputation, if it can be avoided he still hopes to avoid it.

Lu Ping'an picked up two bites of vegetables with his chopsticks, chewed them, placed his hands on his knees, leaned forward slightly, and after swallowing, said: "About sixty li from Wenkou Town lies a small town called Hongde; it is the northern gateway of San Guan Jun facing Nan Jun, and also a key transportation route."

"Although Hongde City is small, it is a genuine fortress city, traditionally a place for stationing troops with few civilians living there. According to reports from my scouts, Yang Yu has stationed five thousand troops here, all skilled archers and infantry."

"There are rumors that the city also harbors over a thousand Qiang Soldiers, but this is unverified and its truth unknown. Yang Yu's allegiance to the Qiang People is an established fact, yet he has ordered his subordinates to keep it strictly secret; as for any other motives, they remain unclear."

Chen Wuji listened calmly to Lu Ping'an's baseless chatter, then asked doubtfully, "Since Yang Yu has already decided to ally with the Qiang People, why does he still need to conceal this? It seems utterly unnecessary."

"I've discussed this many times with my staff, but we've never reached a conclusion; I really can't guess!" Lu Ping'an shook his head and said.

"The most likely explanation at present is simply that he's deceiving the populace; Yang Yu enjoyed tremendous prestige and won the people's hearts while governing San Guan Jun. But even if that probability is higher, we still don't understand what he hopes to gain by deceiving the populace."

"Truly bewildering!" Chen Wuji added offhandedly.

Actually, he really wanted to say at that moment, when it comes to tricks for deceiving the populace, you have to look at Commander Lu Jinglve, you.

"What you've done is what I'd call really impressive!"

"At least Yang Yu has done plenty of concrete good for the people—especially securing the borders, pacifying the populace, and reducing excessive taxes and levies; Chen Wuji has heard plenty of that lately in Nan Jun. But the things Lu Ping'an has done are truly hard to describe; even calling it 'killing the chicken to get the eggs' is an understatement."

"Well, whatever his aims may be, we still have to fight this battle, no harm done!" Chen Wuji propped himself up with his elbow, casually picking at his food, and asked, "So, according to what you've said, the first battle you want to fight is Hongde City, right?"

"Exactly!" Lu Ping'an said.

"Hongde City is strategically important; although it's not exactly a chokepoint, if our allied forces capture Hongde City, it will be like driving a sword into Yang Yu's head—we can advance or retreat as we please."

Chen Wuji nodded, took a slurping sip of wine, smacked his lips, and asked, "Exactly how should we go about it?"