Chao Huang was obviously shocked: “You had concerns before, that’s true, but looking at his overall performance, I thought – Big Brother, did you see something wrong? Could he actually be Lian Yu’s spy?”

“What exactly he is, Big Brother can’t be certain, but as for being Lian Yu’s agent, that doesn’t seem likely. If he were Lian Yu’s spy, our military plans would have been completely leaked long ago – we wouldn’t have waited until today to suffer this defeat. Chao Huang, Big Brother will teach you something: whenever someone is another person’s spy, they usually don’t have much contact in daily life, because familiar people pretending to be strangers – sometimes one glance or gesture inevitably reveals flaws. He and Lian Yu have had several confrontations, and that feeling of mutual disgust was quite real. That’s the first point.” He paused, his phoenix eyes narrowing to slits.

Through years of understanding, Chao Huang didn’t interrupt but waited for him to continue.

Quan Feitong cleared his hoarse throat and soon continued: “Remember? He initially concealed Feng Suzhen’s matter. He had a betrothal arrangement with Feng Suzhen. You could see he truly wasn’t enthusiastic about this marriage, but he hid it from me for her sake. This indicates two things: First, he still has some affection for the Feng family – though it’s thin, it’s not entirely callous. Second, he might be a Prince Jin faction member.”

“Prince Jin faction?” Chao Huang was increasingly surprised, his mouth slightly agape.

“Chao Huang, just think in reverse – Minister Feng was executed for harboring Princess Jin. When he chose a son-in-law, might he have also brought this person into Prince Jin’s faction? This person appears to help me, but actually works for Prince Jin’s faction?”

“Big Brother, I understand. You mean his disgust toward Minister Feng was fake, otherwise he wouldn’t help Feng Suzhen.” Chao Huang had a sense of realization.

Quan Feitong habitually touched his nose, smiling: “If he’s a Prince Jin faction member, that is. Of course, my guess might not be accurate. He might just be the first type – an ordinary man who has a marriage contract with the Feng family but doesn’t like Miss Feng.”

“It’s just that anyone I have doubts about, I never completely trust. But regardless of whether he’s an ordinary clever person or an extraordinary schemer, he’s Lian Yu’s enemy. If Prince Jin’s faction wants to use me to attack Lian Yu and then reap the benefits, we can cooperate for mutual benefit – nothing wrong with that. When he’s no longer useful, I’ll strike at the right time. Better to kill wrongly than let him go, right?”

Chao Huang was puzzled: “But why did you let him go today?”

“With so many Murong soldiers, if he could get out, that’s his skill. He might already be dead.” His tone was bloodthirsty, yet his smile was like the bright moonlight.

“If he manages to escape, that’s also good news.” Finally, he added.

Chao Huang was startled, then thinking of something, smiled: “Big Brother wants Lian Yu to have another enemy?”

“Another formidable enemy.” Quan Feitong said indifferently.

“Prince Jin’s faction and Wei Chenghui are both Lian Yu’s major concerns. If Li Zhaoting isn’t Prince Jin faction, maybe he’s that old fox Wei’s man. The situation is unpredictably treacherous. Chao Huang, though we lost, as long as we’re alive, nothing is impossible.”

Listening, Chao Huang felt alternately passionate and melancholy, with lingering grief and anger. After all, they had ultimately lost!

Quan Feitong was now looking up into the distance. After a long silence, Chao Huang didn’t know what he was thinking and only said quietly: “Big Brother, I can’t take care of Qiu Jing, but you… please be at ease. As long as I have breath, I’ll find a way to carve out a bloody path for you.”

“I surveyed earlier – there’s a lake to the west. I still have tens of thousands of troops here. Liu Shouping has locked us on four sides – east, south, west, north – using roughly equal forces to mine for each position, about ten thousand plus each. The others are resting. Lian Yu fears Wei Chenghui and secretly has the restless Prince Jin faction, so they absolutely won’t over-consume their forces. If I order a nighttime breakout, concentrating strength to attack the north position, their camp soldiers are still sleeping and can’t respond in time – only troops stationed at the other three positions can come for support. Thus, the west position will be empty, and you can take the opportunity to cross the river downstream—”

“Chao Huang, Big Brother thanks you for your deep loyalty,” before he finished, Quan Feitong interrupted: “Since we’re brothers, Big Brother absolutely cannot abandon you to fight alone. Moreover, if this were someone else, this strategy might work; but against Lian Yu… it won’t work.”

“Besides, if your troops are annihilated, what power do I have left to rely on?”

“But if you don’t leave an escape route, when we charge out, we might not… might not have a way to live.” Chao Huang said dejectedly, punching a nearby tree trunk.

“What Li Zhaoting said – then surrender.” Quan Feitong smiled slightly, speaking word by word.

“Surrender?” Chao Huang was shocked.

“Surrender!” Quan Feitong looked at him fixedly, his expression very determined. “Lian Yu doesn’t order fierce attacks precisely to induce surrender. People must eat. Though your soldiers are loyal to you, when they reach desperate straits, we can’t guarantee everyone will remain faithful. Many among them will certainly surrender. Once the general trend is lost, we’ll definitely die. Lian Yu only wants soldiers to surrender – Qiu Jing needn’t worry since he’s Lian Jie’s uncle. Lian Yu will give face regardless. So we must actively surrender, using these fifty thousand soldiers to exchange for our two lives.”

“We still have water sources here, and there are some fruit trees and animals in the forest. Though they can’t solve the soldiers’ long-term livelihood, within five or six days, no one will die. With you here, unlike the border situation, some who want to surrender will still hesitate about your reaction. Surrender will come at least six or seven days later, when there’s no way out. As you said, since Lian Yu wants to subdue our people while also being distracted by that old fox Wei, he absolutely doesn’t want to spend much time. He’ll definitely agree to our conditions!”

“Chao Huang, this differs from war with enemy nations. In a man’s life, losing face doesn’t matter, but losing substance is unacceptable. In that kind of situation, one cannot surrender, but in this power struggle, a great man can bend and stretch – there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Good, Big Brother, I understand. A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years. I’ll have my deputy go deliver the surrender document!”

Quan Feitong chuckled: “No rush. First have several deputies quietly tell the generals that you’ve battled on many fields with a reputation – you absolutely cannot yield, but you don’t want soldiers to die with you, so you want to surrender for them. Yet you worry that once you go out, Lian Yu will exterminate everyone, so you want to observe for three days to confirm there’s no deception before surrendering.”

“If Lian Yu forces surrender, in the end some soldiers will resent you, but if you fight for their survival, they’ll be grateful for life. I also want to make Lian Yu anxious. If it’s too easy to obtain, he might not agree. Go now.”

“Yes, Chao Huang understands.” Chao Huang was greatly energized and immediately went down.

Half an hour later, he returned after instructing his deputies, but saw Quan Feitong sitting on the ground. A roasted chicken beside him was untouched, and several characters were carved on the ground with sword marks, along with several question marks. The writing was somewhat blurred, but Chao Huang’s eyesight was sharp – he immediately saw the characters were “Li Huaisu.”

“Big Brother, eat something first.” He said through gritted teeth.

Quan Feitong pointed at the food: “Food supply is difficult. Take it down and share it with your soldiers. There’s sufficient water here – I’m fine with just water.”

“Good, I’ll take it down immediately.” Chao Huang understood his thoughts, then said angrily: “Big Brother, you’re still thinking about her? She’s now Lian Yu’s…”

Whether he was concerned or not, Quan Feitong didn’t answer, only saying indifferently: “She was taken away by my people, then fell into the hands of another group of powerful, mysterious people.”

“Since we’ve made our decision, I have nothing else to do, so I’ll ponder this. Otherwise, with this hunger, it’s uncomfortable.”

Quan Feitong didn’t know Suzhen’s whereabouts. Similarly, someone else at this time was also in the same situation – perhaps it should be said that his concern wasn’t focused here.

Wind passed through the treetops as night grew more mysterious.

This person flexed his body that had just crawled out from a pile of corpses. A pair of sharp eagle-like eyes alertly watched the distant Murong soldiers carrying torches, coming to count today’s mountain-high pile of wounded and dead bodies. He walked to a dead Murong soldier’s side, stripped off his clothing and armor, and quickly put them on himself.

The heavy, stinking, putrid odor made his internal organs want to turn over, but he never made any sound, quickly walking into the deeper night behind.

Nearly two hours later, this person appeared before an ordinary civilian house on a street in the capital.

The battlefield was cruel, but the people here still enjoyed relative tranquility, so the neighboring households still sleeping didn’t notice this blood-covered “deserter.”

In this house, lamps still flickered. The occupant hadn’t gone to sleep.

He knocked lightly, and soon someone came to answer.

Seeing him, the person was shocked: “Young Master? Quickly, come in!”

This person calling him “Young Master” wasn’t his usual servant Xiao Si, whom he had sent to follow his beloved girl in temporarily leaving the capital. This person should now be thousands of li away at the border – the Assistant Minister of War at Jicheng, Si Lanfeng.

Si Lanfeng welcomed him inside, bringing him to the study. Just as he was about to get medicine and clean clothes from the side room, the man stopped him: “Discuss important matters first. These few minor wounds won’t kill me.”

“Yes.” Si Lanfeng knew the situation must be unusual and dared not delay. He quickly sat down, only to hear him laugh lightly: “Your public master has completely defeated Quan Feitong. This news hasn’t reached the capital yet, has it?”