nucmednet Chapter 79 Liu Ye Offers Advice
Chapter 79 Liu Ye Offers Advice
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Seeing that no one responded, Li Jiucheng looked at Liu Ye with ill intent: "Since this young man is so good at divination and has such a sharp tongue, why don't we send him?"
Liu Ye had originally planned to lure Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng into sending his and Zhang Tao's defeated soldiers to infiltrate the city, but unexpectedly, they had also sent two hundred of their personal guards. This made things more complicated, but he couldn't show weakness right now and could only take it one step at a time. Faced with Li Jiucheng's suggestion, he didn't know whether to agree immediately or decline to avoid arousing suspicion, and he hesitated for a moment.
Kong Youde felt that Liu Ye was quick-witted and had a very insightful analysis of the situation. He thought that keeping him around might be helpful, while sending him into Dengzhou City might just mean his death, which was a pity. He hesitated and said, "Nine out of ten, Brother Liu Ye and Geng Zhongming have never met before. Why not send someone from Dongjiang Town?"
Li Jiucheng remained unmoved and insisted, "I think he's quite suitable."
He was now a key figure within the rebel army, making decisions on everything, big and small. However, several White Lotus Sect members suddenly emerged to offer advice, among whom Liu Ye was particularly astute, insightful, and had a clear understanding of the situation on the Dengzhou battlefield. He was also well-versed in the plight of the soldiers and civilians from Liaodong, and his proposed strategies were quite useful. Having such a person around made him very uneasy, but since Liu Ye's ideas were beneficial to his side, he couldn't easily retaliate, lest he alienate the people.
Since everyone knows that it is risky to go to Dengzhou to persuade Geng Zhongming, we might as well let him go. If he succeeds, great; if he fails, we can use Geng Zhongming to get rid of him. The rebels only need one guide, and that is Li Jiucheng. They don't need anyone else to influence the thoughts of Kong Youde and others.
The others remained silent upon hearing Li and Kong's words. As long as they weren't the ones going, it was fine. As for the man surnamed Xia, they could only hope for the best, since he wasn't one of their own.
Li Yingyuan had a bad first impression of Liu Ye, and this suggestion suited him perfectly. He immediately said loudly, "Father is absolutely right. There's no time like the present, so let's go today."
Seeing that Li Jiucheng and his son were proposing and he was agreeing, while everyone else, including Kong Youde, remained silent, Liu Ye felt quite calm. Being regarded as a "demon of the White Lotus Sect" and suffering such treatment was normal. Let them go. As long as they entered Dengzhou City, they could find a way to shake off these personal guards and defeated soldiers, and meet Sun Yuanhua. The fate of these rebels could be rewritten, and there would be no Prince Gongshun of the Qing Dynasty.
Bai Lian was unaware of Liu Ye's ulterior motives. She had remained silent until she saw that Liu Ye had given the rebels an idea, but instead of receiving praise, he was sent as an envoy, putting his life in danger. She was furious and stepped forward, coldly saying, "Our honor and disgrace are intertwined with his. Since he has been sent, we two should naturally go with him."
Li Jiucheng shook his head: "You can't all go. He'll go alone, and the two of you will stay behind. What if you're spies sent by the court? We'll have to leave one or two as hostages." In fact, he had been lusting after Bai Lian and her disciple ever since he saw them. By sending Liu Ye away, he could not only use them as a tool to kill, but also get rid of someone who would get in his way, making it easier for him to take action against the master and disciple. How could he possibly let Bai Lian and her disciple leave?
Even Kong Youde couldn't stand it anymore. He opened his mouth to persuade her, "Nine out of ten..." but was interrupted by Bai Lian.
“Since this General Li doesn’t trust us, then just kill us. Otherwise, as long as you send him as an envoy, I will go with him. He doesn’t know martial arts, but I can protect him.” Bai Lian stood with her hands behind her back, looking at Li Jiucheng with arrogance.
Li Jiucheng grinned, "You're just a weak woman, who can you protect..." Before he could finish speaking, a small, nimble sleeve sword flew right in front of his nose, carrying a chilling aura. Having fought on the battlefield for many years, he immediately recognized it as a short sword that could cut through iron like mud. There was no time to retreat or dodge, and he could only watch helplessly.
The sword was about to pierce his face when it suddenly somersaulted and flew back into Bai Lian's sleeve. Bai Lian retrieved the sword and stood with her hands behind her back, as if nothing had happened.
Having narrowly escaped death, Li Jiucheng was terrified, while the others were stunned. They never expected that such a frail woman could move with ghostly speed. Her hidden sword seemed to have a life of its own; if she wanted to take someone's life, no one present could escape.
The moment the hidden blade flew out, Liu Ye was stunned. Holy crap, a flying sword! This is illogical! The trajectory of this hidden blade completely defied the laws of physics. According to the principle of gravity, an object without a propulsion device can only move in a parabolic trajectory due to inertia and cannot change direction. Only a boomerang can fly out and then return, but this hidden blade's design has absolutely nothing to do with a boomerang.
However, the moment the hidden sword was retracted into his sleeve, Liu Ye, with his sharp eyes, noticed the faint luster of silk threads reflecting off the end of the sword hilt and inside his sleeve, thanks to the sunlight streaming in through the tent entrance. He understood immediately; it was connected by a thread, no wonder it could fly out and then be retrieved.
After realizing what had happened, Li Jiucheng flew into a rage, drew his sword, and roared, "How dare you, you witch!" He raised his sword to charge at Bai Lian. Kong Youde, recognizing Bai Lian's power, quickly grabbed him.
Bai Lian remained motionless and said expressionlessly, "If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead. I just want to prove that I can protect my disciple."
After calming down, Li Jiucheng had to admit that if Bai Lian had wanted to kill him, he would already be a corpse lying on the ground. He hadn't expected this woman to be so powerful; unless his men swarmed her, two or three of them probably wouldn't be a match for her. His earlier thought of keeping her to satisfy his own desires vanished instantly. Forcing her seemed impossible; his life was more important. After conquering Dengzhou, there would be plenty of beautiful women.
He glared at Bai Lian with hatred, then waved his hand and said, "Since you and your disciple are of one mind, I will grant your wish. You may both embark on your journey together."
"Wait a minute." Liu Ye objected. "Generals Kong and Li, if we can't persuade General Geng on our way to Dengzhou, my life will be in danger. But if we can persuade him to open the city gates, what benefits will I get?" Since he couldn't refuse this arrangement, he had to get some benefits. Otherwise, he would not only suffer losses, but he might also be suspected of having ulterior motives.
Li Jiucheng was speechless for a moment. These three were not his subordinates, so why should they risk their lives to work for him? He was at a loss for words.
Kong Youde felt this made sense; otherwise, it would be unusual for the three of them to risk their lives to infiltrate Dengzhou without making any demands. He asked, "I wonder what benefits Brother Xia desires?"