Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 83 Insider (Part 2)

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Liu Ye's original intention was to lure the group into taking a roundabout route, but Geng Zhongming's eyes lit up. He realized that the East Gate was indeed safer than the other gates and said, "Young brother, you've thought things through. We overlooked the remaining city gate."

Wang Zideng pondered: "East Gate? The garrison here is indeed the smallest."

Chen Guangfu was also inspired and added: "On the night of the operation, if we set fire to the south gate to create the illusion of an attack, attracting reinforcements from the defending troops, and then open the east gate, the defending troops will definitely be unable to defend themselves. After the army enters the city, we can strike the defending troops from behind and take control of the situation."

After thinking for a moment, Geng Zhongming realized that this was indeed the best solution. He couldn't help but look up at Xia Tiannan, who was young and composed, neither a scholar nor a soldier. He asked with a puzzled look, "Young man, what is your surname? What do you do for a living? And who are these two people next to you?"

"My surname is Liu, and I am a merchant. The lady next to me is the Holy Maiden of the White Lotus Sect and her disciples."

Upon hearing the words "White Lotus Sect," Geng Zhongming's eyes flashed with wariness as he cautiously replied, "So Brother Liu is a member of the White Lotus Sect." After a pause, he continued, "Brother Liu's plan is quite ambitious. We brothers will certainly consider it carefully and, once we've made up our minds, we'll send someone to contact Lieutenant General Li and Lieutenant General Kong. The three of you, will you stay here or leave the city? If you leave, I can send someone to find a way to escort you out through the north gate."

Liu Ye was eager to leave and find Sun Yuanhua, so he didn't clarify that he wasn't a member of the White Lotus Sect. Instead, he tentatively said, "Thank you, General Geng. We can leave the city on our own."

Given the gravity of the matter, how could Geng Zhongming allow a few members of the White Lotus Cult to escape his sight? If the news leaked, all of them would lose their heads.

"Dengzhou is under full alert. Although you managed to sneak into the city, it will be difficult for you to leave without an escort. The guards at the gate are the governor's men, all of whom are Zhang Tao's confidants. You can move freely and scale walls, but my men cannot. You must wait until dawn and find a reason to leave. Here's what we'll do: you wait until dawn, and then I will send someone to escort you out of the North Gate—the checks at the North Gate are a bit more lenient than elsewhere."

Liu Ye could tell that although Geng Zhongming claimed to be protecting him as he left the city, his real intention was to keep an eye on him. Unable to find a suitable excuse, he could only reply, "Very well, thank you in advance, General."

"Not at all, not at all. It's only right that we protect you and these two who risked their lives to enter the city and contact us. Hehe. But we'll have to trouble you three to make do here for the night..." Geng Zhongming replied with a smile, then called over a personal guard and led the three to a side room.

After the three left, Geng Zhongming's smile vanished instantly. Wang Zideng tentatively asked, "What should we do with these three? Should we really send them out of the city?"

Geng Zhongming sneered: "I don't know why Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde sent several people from their religious sects to contact us, but I know these people are not trustworthy..."

Chen Guangfu asked in surprise, "You mean, the inside-outside collaboration is a lie?"

"No, I believe it's true. A direct assault on Dengzhou would result in too many losses. Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde definitely want to join forces with us to take Dengzhou with minimal losses. However, the White Lotus sect certainly has its own agenda. They're acting as intermediaries, and if they know the whole story, they might use it against us... The White Lotus sect is notorious for inciting the ignorant masses to rebel, so I'm always worried..."

The two looked at Geng Zhongming, waiting for him to explain his solution.

"The safest way is to kill these people to avoid any further complications. We should send someone to Mi Shen Mountain to discuss the timing and details of our operation with Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde."

Wang Zideng and Chen Guangfu followed his lead and had no objection to the idea. So the three of them took the opportunity to discuss how to kill Liu Ye and the White Lotus master and disciple, and then how to send someone out of the city to contact the rebel camp and set the time and place for the operation.

"That White Lotus Sect woman knows martial arts, so we can't fight her openly, lest we alert the troops outside. We need to wait until they're asleep..."

"If communication goes smoothly, we might as well arrange to take action with Li Jiucheng and the others tomorrow, the sooner the better, to avoid any unforeseen complications..."

……

Just as they were discussing, a dark figure outside the window stared intently at them through a small hole, eavesdropping on everything.

After the discussion, Geng Zhongming prepared to arrange for men to carry out the murder in the middle of the night. The dark figure outside the window left silently, crossed the corridor, and slipped into a side room. The candlelight illuminated the person's face, revealing it to be Bai Lian.

"Liu Ye, you're right. We really need to be wary of these Liaodong people... We went through all that trouble to sneak into the city and deliver the message, and their reward is to kill the three of us? This is intolerable!" Bai Lian said indignantly.

Liu Ye hadn't expected Geng Zhongming to be so ruthless, turning around to kill and silence witnesses without batting an eye. However, his purpose wasn't actually to target Geng Zhongming and his group; rather, he wanted to use this as an excuse to sneak into Dengzhou to find Sun Yuanhua. Without expectations, there would be no disappointment, and he was more open-minded than Bai Lian, even trying to comfort her: "Fairy, forget it, think positively. The rebels and the Dongjiang soldiers in the city are all in cahoots. We're caught in the middle. If we're lucky, we might gain some benefits; if we're unlucky, it'll all be for nothing, and we might even lose our lives."

Bai Lian said pessimistically, "I went to so much trouble to infiltrate the rebel army through Wang Bao's connections, not to gain any personal benefit. Now it seems that the so-called Heavenly Guardian Army was just wishful thinking on my part..."

You should have thought of this long ago. The rebels can just rob whatever they want. What good would it do to follow your White Lotus Sect? Liu Ye thought to himself, but he didn't say it aloud. He was still hoping to persuade White Lotus to help him infiltrate the governor's office! Without White Lotus's protection, he would be killed by the governor's soldiers as a spy before he even saw Sun Yuanhua.

Following Bai Lian's lead, Liu Ye seized the opportunity to incite her: "Fairy, since the rebels are so ruthless, don't blame us for being unjust. Let's go to the governor's office and tell Governor Sun Yuanhua about the rebels' collusion, so that Li Jiucheng, Geng Zhongming and the others will be disappointed."

"Huh?" Although Bai Lian was resentful, she still held onto a sliver of hope that she could subdue the rebels and bring them under the control of the White Lotus Sect, until she was completely desperate. Liu Ye's decisive betrayal was a huge surprise to her.

"This... in that case, wouldn't everything we did before be for nothing? And we might even have to turn around and help the government fight the rebels, wouldn't that be like shooting ourselves in the foot?"

Liu Ye sighed: "Fairy, even if you can swallow this anger, even if Geng Zhongming changes his mind and doesn't kill us, with their attitude, they won't follow the White Lotus Sect in the end. What is the Eternal Mother or the Vacuum Homeland? In their eyes, nothing is more real than money and women."