Chapter 343

The guards helped Jiang Lu out of the tent, and Tang Yin sat back in his seat. Shangguan Yuanbiao snorted coldly and said, "This Jiang Lu is really too much."

Tang Yin also felt that Jiang Lu was too much, but now was the time to use people, and Jiang Lu did have some talent, so Tang Yin could only suppress his disgust.

Not long after, Ziying returned to the tent with a family letter he had just written in his hand. He handed it to Letian carefully, raised his hands, and said meaningfully: "The lives of my whole family, young and old, are entrusted to the general!"

Letian's face became serious, and while taking the letter, he said: "General Ziying, please rest assured, I will do my best."

"Thank you, thank you!"

After Ziying and Letian finished talking, he bowed deeply to Tang Yin and said with difficulty: "I was too rude just now, I hope you don't mind."

Tang Yin nodded secretly. Ziying is not only outstanding in ability, but also humble and easy-going. He is very good. He smiled slightly and said, "General Ziying, what are you talking about? Take a seat!"

"Yes!"

Letian did not dare to delay the matter of Ziying's family. That night, he sent a pigeon to the Tianyan spy in Yancheng to tell him the whole story and the letter written by Ziying. Letian was the person in charge of Tianyan, and the spies under him naturally followed Letian's orders.

After receiving his letter, the Tianyan spies immediately gathered and went to Ziying's house early the next morning. Because of Ziying's letter, things went very smoothly. Ziying's family of more than 20 people did not move in a big way. They just packed up some valuables, followed the Tianyan spies out of the back door quietly, got into the carriage prepared in advance, and left the mansion without anyone noticing.

Ziying's family was taken away by the Tianyan spies for two days before the news that Ziying led his people to join the Tianyuan Army was reported back to Yancheng. Hearing this news, Zhong Tian was almost fainted on the spot. It didn't matter that Ziying surrendered, but the key was that his 70,000 Peng troops also joined the Tianyuan Army with him. In this way, the only army that Zhong Tian could mobilize was the 100,000 Central Army in Yancheng. It was simply a fantasy to rely on this number of people to compete with the hundreds of thousands of Tianyuan Army.

Zhong Tian was first very sad, anxious and angry. He stomped his feet in the palace hall, and then he was furious and ordered the guards to immediately arrest Ziying's family and execute them all.

The guards took the order and left, but when they arrived at Ziying's house, they found that it was already empty. The guards hurried back to the palace to report to Zhong Tian. Zhong Tian heard the words and gritted his teeth in anger, and his fists clenched and creaked. There was no need to ask, Ziying's defection must have been premeditated, otherwise why did his family disappear?

Furious, Zhong Tian issued another order, asking the whole city to capture Ziying's family members and to capture them all. At this time, his advisers were all anxious, and they came out one after another, clasping their hands and saying, "My king, since the Tianyuan Army has captured Huya Mountain, it will arrive in Yancheng soon. My king, please make a decision!"

Zhong Tian's face flushed, his gray beard trembled, and he frowned and asked, "What decision to make?"

"Should our army...should our army fight or...or retreat?" The advisers wanted to say flee, but they felt that this was not appropriate, so they changed their words to retreat.

"Retreat? As the king of a country, how can I be scared away by the rebels?" Zhong Tian's face turned from red to blue. He looked around at the counselors below and said quietly: "Could it be that you are also secretly communicating with the Tianyuan Army like Ziying?"

When these words came out, the counselors below were all trembling with fear. They all knelt on the ground, kowtowed and stammered: "Your Majesty, we have no intention of secretly communicating with the Tianyuan Army, let alone doing such a treasonous thing. Your Majesty, please investigate!"

Even Ziying, whom he trusted and valued so much, defected to the Tianyuan Army. Zhong Tian now looked at the civil and military officials in the court and felt that there was no one he could really trust and rely on. Looking at the people lying on the ground, he sighed secretly.

Zhong Tian knew very well that he could only stay in Yancheng and live in the palace of Yancheng, and he was the king of Pengguo. Once he chose to escape, he would be nothing. However, now that hundreds of thousands of Tianyuan troops are about to attack Yancheng, can they resist with only 100,000 central troops?

Seeing that the anger on Zhong Tian's face gradually turned into hesitation, the counselors looked at each other, and one of them said: "As a monarch, the king should focus on the overall situation. At present, the Tianyuan army is coming aggressively and the morale is high. The king should not resist its edge, but should retreat to Wancheng first, so that he can command the overall situation and be in a safer situation. In addition, the king can leave a capable general in the capital to command our army and resist the attack of the rebels."

Wancheng is a nearby city of Yancheng, just south of Yancheng, less than 100 miles away. In Wancheng, Zhong Tian's power is also deeply rooted, and there is Yancheng in the north to resist the edge of the Tianyuan army, so the situation can be relatively safer. After hearing this, Zhong Tian thought this was a good idea. He deliberately showed an embarrassment and said quietly: "At such a critical moment, as a monarch, how can I be afraid of death and flee without fighting?"

"No, no, no!" The counselor said hurriedly: "Your Majesty is definitely not fleeing without fighting, but just temporarily retreating to the rear, using the prestige of the king to organize troops and look for opportunities to counterattack the rebellion."

"Yes!" Zhong Tian nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and he was very happy in his heart. Then he looked at the generals on his left and asked: "Which general is willing to lead the royal army to stay in the capital to resist the rebellion?"

After Zhong Tian finished asking the question, the hall was silent, and no one even answered. The generals under his command lowered their heads, not daring to breathe. If there was a crack under their feet, they would go in without hesitation.

At this time, who would still be willing to stay in Yancheng? Who would not want to follow Zhong Tian to retreat to Wancheng? Staying here would most likely lead to death, but following Zhong Tian might still give them a chance of survival.

After waiting for a long time, seeing that no one spoke, Zhong Tian frowned and asked again: "Which generals are willing to stay in the capital?"

As before, no one answered. Zhong Tian's anger surged, and he slammed the table, stood up, pointed at the generals, and cursed: "Waste! All of you are waste! Where is your usual prestige? Now that you are needed, why are you all pretending to be deaf and dumb?"

Under Zhong Tian's scolding, the generals lowered their heads even lower. At this moment, someone suddenly stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "Father, I am willing to defend the capital!"

Zhong Tian hurriedly looked for the voice, and it turned out that the person who spoke was not someone else, but his second son Zhong Wu. Zhong Tian took a breath of cold air. Zhong Wu was now his most valued son and the only heir he could count on. If he let Zhong Wu stay to resist the Tianyuan Army, what if he had any accident?

Taking a deep breath, Zhong Tian's face darkened, and he said coldly: "All the generals in the court are your predecessors. Do you, a young boy, know how to lead troops? Do you know how to govern the army?"

Zhong Wu was unconvinced and wanted to argue, but Zhong Tian waved his hand and shouted: "Fighting is not a child's play. There is no place for you to talk here. Go back!"

Alas! Zhong Wu sighed helplessly. He had no choice but to retreat.

At this time, Zhong Tian did not wait for the generals to volunteer, and directly named: "General Li Qi!"

"I am here!" Following Zhong Tian's shouting, a middle-aged general hurried out.

"Lieutenant General Xu Hui!"

"I'm here!"

"Lieutenant General Ye Cheng!"

"I'm here!"

"Lieutenant General Wei Xuan!"

"I'm here!"

Zhong Tian named eight generals in one breath, including one general, five lieutenant generals, and two generals with the prefix "Ping". He looked around at the generals he had named and said, "You will lead 80,000 soldiers to stay in the capital. General Li Qi will be the commander, and the other generals will be assistants. You must work together to resist the enemy and make no mistakes!"

When Zhong Tian finished speaking, the eight generals who stood out did not say a word, but were sweating coldly.

Zhong Tian's eyes shot out a vicious light, and he asked in a serious tone: "What? Generals, don't you want to accept the order?"

The eight people were shocked at the same time, and they dared not hesitate anymore. They knelt on one knee and said with their hands clasped: "Minister, I accept the order!"

"Yes!" Seeing this, Zhong Tian nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Then, I will wait for the good news of the generals' defeat of the enemy in Wancheng!"

"Yes! King!" The eight people responded with a stiff upper scalp, and they all complained in their hearts. Zhong Tian was not waiting for the good news of his people defeating the enemy, but waiting for someone to report the death! It was like a fool's dream for the Central Army, which was only 80,000 people, to resist hundreds of thousands of brave and warlike tiger and wolf divisions. Even if Yancheng was strong and the city defense was perfect, there was no chance of winning!

Alas! We are done! Before the battle with the Tianyuan Army, the eight generals who were named by Zhong Tian to stay were already desperate.

Zhong Tian continued, "In order to ensure the safety of the families of the generals, I will take them to Wancheng."

His meaning couldn't be more obvious, that is, to hold the families of the eight people as hostages to prevent Ziying from defecting again.

The generals knew it well, and cursed Zhong Tian's ancestors in their hearts, but their expressions were all respectful. Not only could they not show any complaints, but they had to kowtow and thank Zhong Tian.

Zhong Tian accepted the advice of his advisers, took the concubines in the harem, the ministers of the court, many palace guards, and 20,000 central troops, fled Yancheng, went to Wancheng, and lived in the palace in Wancheng.

As the Peng Kingdom court moved to Wancheng, many powerful and wealthy families in Yancheng who depended on Zhong Tian also went to Wancheng. As a result, Yancheng immediately became much more depressed, and the atmosphere of the upcoming war became more and more intense.

The Tianyuan Army was also the first to receive the news that Zhong Tian had fled to Wancheng. Tang Yin scoffed at this. Qiu Zhen's guess was right. Zhong Tian did choose to flee south, but Baguan had already been controlled by them. Zhong Tian would only die if he ran south.