My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 693

“Here they come!” Zuo Jie was excitedly aiting on the walls of Huiji, unable to sleep. He waited for Yang Kui to lead their fifteen thousand men to attack Lu Meng's camp and take Lu Meng's head.

Once that happens, Zuo Jie would become famous. Lu Meng's head would elevate Zuo Jie to a position higher than his father's. In addition, he would become the Grand Commander of the Jiangdong rebels after the siege is lifted. Though of course, the Jiangdong rebels would not call themselves rebels. In order to distinguish themselves from his elder brother's troops, Sun Quan changed the name of his army to the Jiangdong Zhengdong Army.

Once Zuo Jie becomes the Grand Commander of the Zhengdong Army, even his father would have to salute him. Zuo Jie himself would also no longer need his father's position. That position can be given to his little brother. Zuo Jie was happy to see his troops returning.

“Who is that below the walls? Are you Master Yang Kui's men?” The gatekeeper may be excited after Yang Kui promised to share the rewards with him. However, he still remained vigilant.

“Nonsense! Who else would dare to approach so close to the city if it is not us? Wouldn't we be afraid of getting shot by arrows?” One person shouted rudely.

“They are speaking in our dialect!” The people on the walls nodded and then excitedly said. “Master Yang Kui has returned victorious!” Huiji had been besieged for so long that all of them from officials to common people were suffering. The longer the siege continues, the more likely they would find themselves dead on the city walls. But once the siege is over, they would all be rewarded.

“Quickly open the gates and welcome Master Yang Kui!” Zuo Jie quickly shouted. He even wanted to go down and greet Yang Kui personally.

“Wait!” The gatekeeper stopped Zuo Jie.

“What's wrong?”

“Young Master. Look over there. Those people's faces do not look right.” The gatekeeper pointed with a torch.

With the light of the torch, Zuo Jie saw that a group of people looked mournful like their parents had just died. This was not the expression of those that returned victorious in war.

“Why have you not opened the gates yet?” One person below the walls shouted when he noticed that things was not going well.

“Young Master. Should we open the gates or not?” One henchman asked Zuo Jie.

Zuo Jie silently thought to himself, unable to make a decision.

Another person then said. “I think we would open the gates. It would be bad if the others rebel. If Master Yang Kui returned victorious and receive this treatment, what would he think?”

Zuo Jie frowned even more after hearing this. It was indeed him who told Yang Kui to go out and fight. If he really stopped Yang Kui from returning here, it would be bad. If Yang Kui was victorious, then he would be offending Yang Kui. At that time, it would no longer be possible for Zuo Jie to make use of Yang Kui to win more battles in the future.

“Young Master. We really cannot open the gates. If, and I'm only saying if, Yang Kui is defeated, then the troops below would belong to Lu Meng's army. We would be finished if they enter the city!” The gatekeeper persuaded.

“Then you tell me what to do!” Zuo Jie was frustrated. Both decisions seemed to be wrong.

“Young Master. How about we question them or wait for Master Yang Kui to come?” The gatekeeper suggested. If Yang Kui is present, then they likely have won. If Yang Kui is absent, it was likely that they were defeated.

Zuo Jie nodded. This was also a good idea.

“The people below the walls! Where is Master Yang Kui? Tell him to come out!” The gatekeeper shouted to the men below.

“Master Yang Kui is still at the back. Open the gates first and let us in!” The soldiers below shouted loudly.

“Impossible! We will only open the gates once we see Master Yang Kui!” The gatekeeper responded.

“Minister Lu. What should we do?” A few soldiers asked Lu Su.

“Should we attack the city directly?” Lu Meng's deputy general asked. The South Gate initially only have thirty thousand men. Three thousand amongst them were elites while the rest were just civilians with weapons. Now, fifteen thousand of them were already captured and two thousand amongst them were elites. In other words, the rebels only have a thousand elites left guarding the walls. Attacking directly was not impossible.

“No.” Lu Su shook his head. Although it was possible, the casualties would be high. Besides that, the enemy would be able to react as well. The sky was also turning brighter. Once the South gate is attacked, reinforcements could come at any time, turning this into a normal siege. ʀ𝓪ℕŏ𐌱Εᶊ

“Let me go in front.” Lu Su said to the others.

“Minister Lu. That is too dangerous! If anything goes wrong, you would be exposed to the enemy's arrows!” Lu Su wanted to go right under the city. If anything wrong happens, Lu Su would be shot with arrows. At that distance, even someone with good martial arts would not survive. They would not be able to save Lu Su as well.

“Don't worry. I have my own plans.” Lu Su nodded to the troops. Everyone felt a little more relieved seeing that Lu Su was so calm.

Lu Su then walked towards the city walls and shouted. “Young Master Zuo Jie. I am Yang Kui. My army has returned. Why did you stop them? The troops are already exhausted and need to rest!”

“It's Master Yang Kui!” Zuo Jie looked at the figure below in confusion as it was too dark to see. Even the people around him could not be identified.

“Is it Master Yang Kui?” Zuo Jie asked again but no one could confirm it. Nobody wanted to be responsible if they were wrong.

“Young Master. Let us send someone down to check.” The gatekeeper suggested cautiously.

“Alright.” Zuo Jie nodded. Soon, a rebel soldier was sent down using a hanging basket. There were then shouts from below saying that it was Yang Kui.

Of course it was Yang Kui. Lu Su himself personally came out. The soldier was then carried back up.

“Did you see clearly? Is it really Master Yang Kui?” The gatekeeper asked. He had been feeling a bad premonition since earlier but he could not say it.

“Yes. It is indeed Master Yang Kui. I went with Master Yang Kui to Lu Meng's camp the last time. Unfortunately, I injured my leg so I could not follow him this time!” The soldier said as he punched his leg. His wound immediately reopened and stained his pants red.

“Then it is really Master Yang Kui.” Zuo Jie confirmed the identity of the person below.

Just as Zuo Jie was about to give the order to open the city gates, the gatekeeper stopped him again.

“Wait!”

“What is it now? You wanted to see Yang Kui and Yang Kui has already come out! What else do you want?” Zuo Jie was annoyed and complained.

“Young Master. There is no harm in being careful. I want to ask Master Yang Kui one more question. If it is just my misunderstanding, I will kneel in front of Master Yang Kui to apologize later.” The gatekeeper said to Zuo Jie.

“Go and ask!” Zuo Jie waved feeling annoyed.

“Thank you, Young Master.” The gatekeeper nodded and then shouted to Yang Kui.

“Master Yang Kui. You seem to have returned victorious!” The gatekeeper adressed Yang Kui.

“I can only say I lived up to the Young Master's expectations and completed my mission.” Yang Kui replied. He recognized this gatekeeper as this gatekeeper was the one who stopped Yang Kui from leaving the first time. Fortunately, Zuo Jie slapped the gatekeeper at the time. He did not expect the gatekeeper to cause trouble again.

“Did you hear that? He accomplished his mission! Lu Meng is finished!” Zuo Jie shouted excitedly. Lu Meng's death meant that Zuo Jie would get promoted. “Yang Kui! You really are my good fortune!”

The gatekeeper frowned seeing Zuo Jie so excited. He quickly hurried to ask his questions before Zuo Jie decided to open the gates in excitement.

“Master Yang Kui. Since we have won the battle, why are the soldiers crying? They do not look like they have won!” The gatekeeper asked.

“What? General Cheng Hu does not believe me?” Lu Su did not expect the gatekeeper to be so difficult to deal with.

“Did he figure it out?” Lu Meng who was at the side asked Lu Su. He wondered if it was time to change plans.

Lu Su shook his head. It was not yet the time.

“This Cheng Hu does not dare. I just want to ask you a question. This is not for myself but for you. If you are defeated, I want to come to your aid.” The gatekeeper said.

“Haha. General Cheng Hu really deserves to be one of the Zou Family's men. It is the Second Young Master's fortune that you are cautious.” Yang Kui did not get angry and even laughed. However, his words were to tell Zuo Jie that Cheng Hu was one of Zuo Ren's people while Yang Kui himself was one of Zuo Jie's men. Was Zuo Jie willing to watch his own people get humiliated by Zuo Ren's people?

As expected, Zuo Jie turned cold. “General Cheng. If you cannot find out anything important, do not blame me for being ruthless!”

Cheng Hu's head was already cold with sweat. It was not good to be targetted by Zuo Jie. Not even Zuo Ren could save him. After all, Zuo Jie is someone who caused more harm than good. As the saying goes, it was better to offend ten gentlemen than it is to offend one villain.

However, since Cheng Hu has already offended, he had no other choice.

“General Cheng Hu. Don't you want to know why my men are so mournful? Let me tell you why! This is because for the great cause of Young Master Zuo, my book servant Yang Chen, has died in battle! These soldiers are crying because they are sad!” Lu Su shouted righteously at the city walls.

“I'm dead?” Yang Chen was right beside Lu Su and was shocked when he heard those words. He then smiled bitterly. Let me stay dead then. At least it can get Huiji to open the gates.

“General Yang Chen! You died so miserably!” Lu Meng who was standing on the other side shouted mournfully. He was even in tears. Seeing their commander like this, the other soldiers joined in on the performance. Looking at them was truly heart wrenching.

“This is just the strategy. This is just the strategy.” Yang Chen repeated to himself silently to prevent himself from stabbing Lu Meng.

Thousands of people wailed loudly in grief. Cheng Hu was also dumbfounded. He could accuse these people for losing because they were sad. But if they were to claim that they were sad because their general died, Cheng Hu had no rebuttal.

“Young Master. If we still do not open the gates, the troops would be filled with complaints. These people fought for you and even General Yang Chen is dead. If you still do not let them in, they can easily incited to switch masters.” The words of Zuo Jie's henchmen was even more poisonous than Yang Kui's. This was all simply about the right of inheritence. If the soldiers are disappointed by Zuo Jie, they would not betray the Zuo Family. They would simply serve another Zuo. In this case, that would be Zuo Ren. Even Cheng Hu was Zuo Ren's subordinate. Zuo Jie's eyes turned red. He believed that Cheng Hu was plotting against him.

“Cheng Hu! Why don't you open the gates and welcome our heroes back in?” Zuo Jie shouted.

“But…” Cheng Hu wanted to wait until it was bright as it was too dangerous at night. But when he saw Zuo Jie's face, he swallowed his words. This is because if he continued to speak, Zuo Jie would kill him.”

“Open the gates! Welcome our heroes back in!” The Jiangdong rebels at the city gates were very excited. After all, Yang Kui's reputation amongst the rebels was high. He knew how to win people over. On top of that, when he led three thousand men out the first time, he was victorious and brought real benefits to these three thousand men. Later, Yang Kui even said that if they captured Lu Meng's camp, the merits would be shared equally. This made the rebels even more grateful to Yang Kui.

Besides that, many of the three thousand men who followed Yang Kui out the first time were injured and could not go out a second time. Because of this, they became good propaganda material for Yang Kui. All of them were very excited when they heard that they were going to open the city gates to welcome Yang Kui's return.

“Open the gates!” The gates were slowly opened and the bridge was lowered over the moat.

Even Zuo Jie went to greet Yang Kui personally. He looked at the bloody soldiers outside and felt moved. It was the bloody battles of these soldiers who made his achievement possible. Zuo Jie's worries were completely dispelled seeing their hard work.

“Master Yang Kui! You have worked hard!” Zuo Jie stepped forward to lead Yang Kui's horse. It was truly a great honor. The others who knew what Zuo Jie was usually like were all shocked. They then felt jealous. An arrogant person like Zuo Jie was leading Yang Kui's horse. They have never enjoyed such treatment. This clearly showed how highly Zuo Jie thought of Yang Kui. These henchmen then start thinking about how to curry favor with Yang Kui.

“It was not hard.”

“In that case, Lu Meng must have already been beheaded by you? The siege of Huiji is finally going to be lifted!” Zuo Jie said to Yang Kui.

Yang Kui did not answer the previous question. Instead, he sighed.

“Yes. The siege is about to end. It is about time to go back?”

“Hm?” Zuo Jie was confused. What does Yang Kui mean by going back. But he soon found his answer.

“Brothers! The gate of Huiji is finally open! When will we attack if not now? Break into Huiji and capture Sun Quan! Kill!” Lu Meng who was behind Lu Su raised his arms and shouted. The elites of the Jiangdong Army rushed into the city like a tide.

“This is…” Zuo Jie was shocked. Was he hallucinating?

“Young Master Zuo. Do you want to hang yourself here or do you need me to help you?” A young man came out from behind Lu Su to ask Zuo Jie.

“You are… Yang Chen! Didn't you die in battle?” Zuo Jie asked with disbelief. Yang Kui had just said that Yang Chen had died.

“If I was not dead, would you all have opened the gates?” Yang Chen looked back at Zuo Jie and asked resentfully.

“Yang Kui! You lied to me?” Although Zuo Jie was dumbfounded, he still realized what was going on. The soldiers running past him were all wearing Yangzhou's uniforms. The ones who originally wore the rebel's uniforms even changed to Yangzhou's uniforms. The ones that had no time to do so wore white cloth around their arm to differentiate themselves.

“Don't kill Zuo Jie! He is still useful.” Lu Su said to Yang Chen.

“Hmph! I will spare you dog life!” Yang Chen harrumphed and let go of Zuo Jie.

“Yang Kui! How much benefits did Lu Meng give you that you would betray me? As long as you return to my side, I will forgive you. I will even recommend you to my father to become a general to command the troops!” Zuo Jie still tried to struggle. He hoped his words could persuade Yang Kui to return to his side. But Yang Kui simply shook his head.

“I am Yangzhou's Minister of Appointments, Lu Su Lu Zijing. Fellow people of Jiangdong. Drop your weapons and you will be spared!” Lu Su shouted.

“You are Lu Su?” Zuo Jie was shocked. No wonder he was not tempted at all by his offer of rewards. The man's position was higher than the Marquis of Wu. Lu Su's position was so high that even becoming Jiangdong's Grand Commander would be a demotion.

Meanwhile, Cheng Hu was struggling on the city walls.

“Brothers! Stop them! Close the gates!” Cheng Hu shouted hoarsely but there were too many enemies rushing in. Though Cheng Hu had many elites under his command, they could not stop the swarm of enemies.

“Close the gates! If we can't close it, we will all die!” Cheng Hu still had some skills. He roared and led his men to attack the city gates. As long as they could guard the city gates, they could still survive.

“General Cheng Hu! We cannot hold on much longer! Our brothers have suffered heavy casualties!”

“We have to hold on even if we suffer heavy casualties. Once it is dawn, our reinforcements will arrive! We must hold on! General Zhendong and the our family head will bring reinforcements!”

Reinforcements? The troops morale increased for a moment before plummetting yet again. Though they say there would be reinforcements at dawn, that time would only arrive in about two to four hours. This amount of time would seem to last forever in a situation like this. How long can they hold out?

“Zuo Jie!” Cheng Hu gnashed his teeth angrily. I told you not to open the city gates and you still wanted to. Now the South gate is finished and they had to sacrifice their lives to defend it.

Cheng Hu continued to resist hard but his desperate charge had long been noticed by Lu Meng. Other places were swallowed by the group of soldiers entering the South gate but Cheng Hu himself was difficult to knock down. Lu Meng stepped up personally to deal with Cheng Hu. Though Cheng Hu had skills, he was no match to a historical celebrity like Lu Meng.

After twenty rounds, he was killed by Lu Meng. Lu Meng then walked up to a high platform and raised Cheng Hu's head. “Cheng Hu's severed head is right here! Until how long more will the rest of you continue to resist? Surrender now and be spared!”

Cheng Hu was the defender's last place of confidence. Without Cheng Hu, the rest dropped their weapons and stopped resisting. The defenders at the South gate have surrendered.