The Deputy Chief had killed “Wei Ci.” Not only did had he cut off his escape route with this move, but he had also won the trust of the Red Lotus Group.

When the Deputy Chief invited the high-ranking Red Lotus members to the city to discuss their grand plan, the Red Lotus Group agreed without really thinking about it.

However, they were rather prudent and took 2,000 of their troops into the city with them. The other 30,000 troops remained gathered outside the city.

If anything went wrong, these 30,000 men would rush into the city as soon as possible.

The Red Lotus Deputy Chief and military strategist found each other very difficult to deal with. Both of them were sick of each other, but the current situation was a special one and they had no choice but to join forces and work together.

The scholar had secretly made up his mind. After they drove Liu Xi back, the first thing he would do would be to call on the Deputy Chief to account for his crimes.

For the sake of the bigger picture, he had to bear with this man for the time being… Heh, he would let this boor live for a few more days.

Nobody could know what was in their hearts. The scholar was secretly scheming, but little could he have imagined that the Deputy Chief was conspiring against him too.

Although the scholar and others in his party had brought 2,000 men, these 2,000 men could not be compared to the 30,000 troops outside the city.

The two pretended to be cordial on the surface, but each had other plans.

Despite the pounding of war drums by the army outside, the Deputy Chief refused to come out. He even ordered the soldiers guarding the city to spit and curse out loud from their positions on top.

Inside the city, the Deputy Chief kicked off a banquet, ordering the female dancers and singers to dance and sing. At the same time, he got a group of prostitutes to wait upon them from the side.

The pounding of the drums outside the city was like thunder. Even though they were separated by a long distance, if one was to prick up his ears, they would still hear it.

They only started to discuss the real topic after three rounds of drinks.

The Deputy Chief put on a bitter expression while secretly rubbing his hands together. He grabbed the scholar who was beside him and poured out his sufferings.

He did not dare to talk about his kidnapping of the Chief in front of everyone. He could only avoid touching on this topic and gloss over it by speaking of other matters. He spoke about how things had been difficult for him. Since everyone was part of the same family and were as close as brothers, they had to help him repel Liu Xi…

The smile on the scholar’s face was very stiff. All he wanted was to pull his hand back. But there was nothing he could do when the Deputy Chief was holding onto his hand so tightly. It would be difficult to extract his hand.

“Don’t worry. Liu Xi, that thief, only has some 10,000 troops. How can he stand against our numbers?” The scholar smiled reluctantly. He said, “Actually, as long as the two of us abandon our former enmity and join forces behind the city wall, Liu Xi will retreat within half a month if we stick to our guns and refuse to come out.”

The Deputy Chief said, “But their calls for battle sound so awful now. Won’t we lose face if we don’t fight?”

The scholar said, “How much is ‘face’ worth? As long as we drive Liu Xi back, our Group will become famous across the whole world.”

After he finished speaking, the scholar gave a detailed analysis of Liu Xi’s currently awkward situation. It was as if he was commenting on matters of national importance. Everything that he said seemed to be so logical and true.

Everyone in the hall praised the scholar repeatedly and toadied up to him. The scholar felt so smug and conceited over the compliments that his previous failures were all pushed to the back of his mind.

Outside the city, no matter how many people Jiang Pengji sent to call for a battle, those inside the city were determined not to come out. They were set on being mute.

Looking at the darkening sky, Jiang Pengji’s gaze grew frostier.

Yang Si hurried over with urgency. He panted heavily as he shouted, “My lord! My lord, we’ve found concrete information. There was an unusual change in the Red Lotus Group’s camp a short while ago. About 2,000 men have entered Qiuyu County. It looks like they’re about to join forces.”

Jiang Pengji’s eyes flickered slightly, a slight smile forming at the corners of her lips.

“2,000 people? Who are the important persons in the group?”

She wrapped her arms around her chest and glanced up at the sky. She pondered things over, scheming silently.

Yang Si had come prepared. He said, “According to the scouts’ reports, the leader is afraid of the elites from the Red Lotus Group. However, the distance is too far so the details are not clear. However, inferring based on their clothing, the number of high-ranking members seems to be around 23.”

The Red Lotus Group was not a regular army. Most of their members were impoverished commoners. They wore whatever they had. Most of their clothes were taken from the dead and. They made do with whatever they could wrap around their bodies. Anything was fine as long as they could keep warm and avoid freezing to death. Why should they care if their clothes were clean or beautiful?

Therefore, those in the Red Lotus Group who had armor to protect themselves or wore bright-colored clothing were typically people of some importance.

The scouts could not get too close, but judging by the clothing they’d seen, their conclusion should be more or less correct.

Jiang Pengji narrowed her eyes. A dangerous light shone in her eyes and she murmured, “23?”

Yang Si continued his explanation, “Although it is not clear how many high-ranking elites are in that branch of the Red Lotus Group, from this number alone, it seems that a good half of them have been led into the city.”

Jiang Pengji scoffed lightly. “That means that the Red Lotus camp is essentially devoid of leaders right now? Jing Rong, what do you think is our probability of success if we launch a surprise attack on them in the middle of the night? I think we can beat them even if they have 30,000 troops outside.”

She had fewer troops on her side, but conditions overall were so much better for her.

There was enough clothing to ward against the cold and sufficient military rations to stay fed. Their military equipment was rather good and their soldiers were well-trained… Their men only numbered one-third of the enemy’s, but their advantage of numbers would be greatly weakened on a late winter night. They would be attacking late at night, catching the Red Lotus Group off guard. Based on their overall quality, the Red Lotus Group would be crushed. Internally, the Group would still be in a leaderless state. She felt that there was a high chance of victory.

Yang Si smile. “In my opinion, this may be that fox Zixiao’s calculation.”

Jiang Pengji wrapped her arms around her chest and ‘tsked.’

“Zixiao has incited the forces in Qiuyu County to defect. The Red Lotus Group has simply entered the city with 2,000 troops… Haha, things will be lively tonight.” Their camp outside the city would be ambushed by Jiang Pengji while the party inside the city would be surrounded by enemies, isolated and without help. An ambush on all sides. The Red Lotus Group would die a worthwhile and just death.

Having made her decision, Jiang Pengji ordered the soldiers to continue the call for a battle for another quarter of an hour before they would beat the gong to recall the troops.

The morale of Jiang Yanji’s army was a little depressed because those in the city had refused to respond to their battle, despite them shouting for a battle the entire afternoon.

She got the logistics team to prepare an ample dinner for the soldiers. She let them have an early rest in groups to allow them to recover their energy and raise their morale again.

That night, the bright white moon was covered by dark blue clouds. There was not much light on the ground.

Jiang Pengji led the entire army away from the camp. The torches in the camp were left burning to avoid alerting those in the city.

The Red Lotus camp was a full two hours walk from their camp. It was night by then and the road was difficult so their pace was even slower.

The soldiers on guard at the ramparts still saw nothing strange.

Firstly, the torches in the camp were still burning.

Secondly, Jiang Pengji had led the soldiers away via the back of the camp. The guards on the ramparts did not have such great vision that they could see that the army had left.

At the same time, the city was brightly lit and the lively noises within were reminiscent of a beautiful spring day. In between the blurred figures, one could catch a glance of the beautiful and gentle postures of women dancing.

Everyone had reached a consensus and was in a pleasant mood. They opened up their appetites and drank.

Wine cups collided in this big drinking party. Crude voices that were wild like thunder carried far down the main hall.

The Deputy Chief drank until he was intoxicated. His cheeks were pink and his alcoholic nose was very red.

He rubbed his belly, feeling a sudden urge to pee. He got up and pushed away from the dancer clinging to him.

He raised his voice and said, “You all can eat and drink first, I need to relieve myself.”

Nobody suspected that anything was amiss. Was there a single person here who had not already gotten up to go to the latrine?

How could one hold his bladder after having so much to drink? It was very uncomfortable.

They revealed connotative smiles and turned their heads to carry on intimately with the women in their arms. No one cared where the Deputy Chief went.