Chapter 144 Yet Another Venomous Scheme

"You are framing me!" In Ma Jingrong's eyes, there was no doubt this was all a conspiracy. "I demand to see this so-called treasonous letter of yours and judge its authenticity for myself."

Naturally, he had no intention of awaiting his doom. He leaned forward, attempting to snatch the letter directly from Zhang Chi's grasp.

In his eyes, a delicate scholar and an incompetent prefect were hardly formidable figures. If he could not even handle these two completely powerless men, he would have wasted all his years of service in the military.

Yet the outcome wildly exceeded his expectations. Before he could even rush close to Zhang Chi, his wrist was seized by the old operative standing beside Zhang Chi.

Despite the old operative's advanced age, his martial arts were truly formidable. With a single grip on Ma Jingrong's wrist, he remained completely unyielding despite Ma Jingrong's violent struggle.

"You wish to silence witnesses and destroy the evidence?" Before Ma Jingrong could reply, the operative suddenly exerted force.

With a miserable shriek, Ma Jingrong's right wrist was snapped by the operative.

Intending to snatch the letter, Ma Jingrong had been caught completely off guard. With his wrist instantly broken and blinding pain surging through him, he hastily drew his sabre with his left hand and slashed toward the operative's face.

The operative had been waiting precisely for this moment. With a nimble sidestep, he moved to Ma Jingrong's left, grabbed the back of the blade, and pushed along the direction of Ma Jingrong's force.

The longsword swept in an arc, propelled by the operative's borrowed momentum, making it impossible to check. The blade cut directly across Ma Jingrong's own throat. With his vital windpipe severed, blood gushed like a fountain, instantly extinguishing his life.

The soldiers and generals behind him were already stunned, utterly bewildered by the rapid sequence of events. Shi Kean stepped forward and said, "The matter is now clear. Ma Jingrong defected to the enemy, plotted to assassinate General Zhai Shiyan, and attempted to seize command of the Hanzhuan garrison. When his plot failed, he even tried to murder witnesses! Fortunately, the traitor has been executed. However, given the suddenness of these events, we cannot be certain whether Ma Jingrong had accomplices. To prevent panic within the ranks and stabilize military morale, as the Prefect of Hanzhong, I am compelled to use expedient measures to temporarily assume military command. All other matters will be decided after an urgent report is dispatched to Chang'an!"

Having said this, Shi Kean issued another order: "Immediately notify the commanders of the three armies to assemble at the Prefect's Mansion for a council within half an hour. Anyone who arrives late will be treated as an accomplice to Ma Jingrong's treason!"

Suddenly, the two highest-ranking military officers had met untimely deaths. The soldiers were completely dazed, and since Shi Kean's reasoning was entirely sound in both logic and emotion, the officers and men had no choice but to obey the orders.

As for the commanders of the various military camps, they gathered at the Prefect's Mansion in a very short time.

Initially, these military men had been reluctant to let the Prefect assume command of the troops. However, once they saw the "conclusive evidence" of Ma Jingrong's treason, they were left speechless.

This letter was certainly no forgery. Everyone knew that Gu Beicheng, the commander guarding Yinping, was on close terms with Ma Jingrong. Furthermore, the letter indicated that the army from Shu had already captured Yinping. Given Yinping's substantial garrison and formidable fortifications, how could it have fallen so easily? Moreover, Hanzhong was close by, yet they had not heard the slightest whisper of news.

That left only one possible explanation: commander Gu Beicheng had surrendered the entire city. Since he dared to take such a step, he must have planned it long in advance. Given his close ties to Ma Jingrong, the two men must have been in communication, and this letter was precisely instructions for Ma Jingrong to act as an inside agent to help the Jin army capture Hanzhong.

Now that turmoil had arisen within the army and the Grand General had been slain, the Prefect taking over military command was entirely reasonable and justified. Besides, Shi Kean had stated that this was merely an expedient measure until these affairs could be reported swiftly to Chang'an for a final decision.

"Clearly, there are traitors lurking within our ranks. Although Ma Jingrong has been executed, we cannot rule out the existence of accomplices. If any surviving fish slip through the net and collude with the Jin army, Hanzhong will be in extreme peril. This matter must be thoroughly investigated," Shi Kean commanded. "Until the investigation is concluded, I must ask you esteemed commanders to temporarily surrender your military authority. It shall be returned to you once the truth is brought to light."

The Prefect was the highest-ranking official in the entire city. While some of these mid-level commanders were unwilling to relinquish their military power, they feared being suspected of treason themselves and thus dared not raise any objections.

"Then I must trouble the various generals to reside within the Prefect's Mansion for the time being, without permission to leave alone."

***

After the council concluded, the generals were assigned separate quarters to rest. Though called a rest, it was essentially house arrest, closely monitored by bailiffs, while all military power throughout the city was concentrated in the hands of Prefect Shi Kean.

With matters arranged thus, conquering Hanzhong appeared remarkably effortless. What troubled Zhang Chi now was how to notify Du Ximing to dispatch troops toward Hanzhong, and how to coordinate with him to achieve a victory from both inside and out.

Seeing Zhang Chi deep in thought, the operative smiled and said, "I know what the Young Master is pondering."

"Oh?" Zhang Chi asked with curiosity.

"The Young Master may rest easy. The Emei sect has long since made arrangements for what follows. Within our 'Cold Gate', we possess our own independent method of transmitting intelligence. Even with Hanzhong's city gates tightly sealed, we can easily send messages outside the city. Besides, with the military command of the entire city now in our hands, what is there to worry about?"

"The events occurred so suddenly that the Hanzhong commanders had no time to react. Yet if we fail to seize Hanzhong with lightning speed, long nights bring many dreams. Furthermore, even if the Cold Gate transmits the message, how could our army, far away in Yinping, blindly trust intelligence from strangers?" Zhang Chi's concern was entirely reasonable. Du Ximing did not know the Emei sect, and even if they approached him, he might not necessarily believe them. If a commander of three armies reacted to every whisper of wind and rain, wouldn't he easily fall into an enemy trap?

"The Young Master must not forget that there are also members of our Cold Gate hidden within the Yinping army," the operative smiled.

"The Hidden Edge!" Without needing further reminder, Zhang Chi instantly recalled whom the operative was speaking of.

Indeed, by this time Du Ximing had already led troops to a location within a hundred miles of Hanzhong, though the force he brought was not particularly large.

Yinping possessed a total of only thirty thousand troops, but the city also held a considerable number of surrendered barbarian soldiers. Zhang Chi had issued orders not to kill those who surrendered, but this undoubtedly introduced significant potential hazards to Yinping.

A man may have no intent to harm a tiger, yet the tiger harbors intent to harm men. Regardless of the circumstances, handling such a massive number of surrendered troops required the utmost caution.

In truth, Zhang Chi had long since planned for this. He had previously told Gu Beicheng that he would use only eight thousand men to attack Hanzhong. In reality, he could spare no more than that; otherwise, Yinping itself could not be secured.

If a small place like Yinping held so many surrendered soldiers, wouldn't Hanzhong have even more? Not necessarily. The reason Yinping had so many surrenderees was that Zhang Chi could not afford to let them escape. If news of Yinping's fall leaked out, what could his thirty thousand troops accomplish against the barbarians' tightly guarded defenses?

Hanzhong was different. Regardless of the strategy employed, the capture of a strategically vital city like Hanzhong would inevitably become known to the entire world. There was no need for such restrictive measures there; letting them scatter was of no consequence.

Utilizing a mere eight thousand troops to conquer Hanzhong—guarded by a hundred thousand barbarian soldiers—would truly be an extraordinary feat. Not even since the Wei and Jin dynasties had anyone witnessed a battle with such an overwhelming disparity in numbers, let alone a battle of this scale involving a siege.

Du Ximing knew that if this operation succeeded, not only Zhang Chi, but he himself would undoubtedly secure a permanent place in history.

The eight thousand cavalrymen all wore the armor and weapons of the surrendered Yinping soldiers. Holding their banners high without any caution, they swaggered boldly and directly toward Hanzhong.

Faking the identity of barbarian troops meant returning to Hanzhong was like returning to their own home, eliminating any need for stealth. At daybreak, Du Ximing finally led his troops outside the walls of Hanzhong.

The guards at the city gates had long been replaced by Shi Kean's trusted men. Moreover, since Du Ximing's eight thousand elite troops wore barbarian armor, no one raised any suspicions, and they marched straight to the Prefect's Mansion.

There was, of course, a specific reason why Du Ximing's eight thousand troops were still required. Although the military command of Hanzhong was currently under Shi Kean's control, if he openly surrendered the entire city, the hundred thousand barbarian soldiers would never consent. After all, Shi Kean was a Han Chinese, and his direct subordinates consisted of only a small number of bailiffs. Trying to suppress a mutiny through sheer force under those conditions would make stabilizing the situation extremely difficult.

Yet Zhang Chi possessed a brilliant strategy. Once Du Ximing arrived with regular troops—though small in number, they could accomplish a great deal—things would change.

First, they would storm into the Prefect's Mansion and capture all the Hanzhong camp commanders currently gathered inside. At that moment, Shi Kean would reveal his true colors, explain the truth of the situation himself, and intentionally let one or two commanders escape.

With the city gates tightly controlled, those one or two escaping commanders could not leave the city; they would be forced to mobilize their own subordinate troops to suppress the traitorous Prefect Shi Kean.

This was precisely the outcome Zhang Chi desired, allowing Shi Kean to legitimately order the barbarian army to suppress the rebellion.

Ma Jingrong was a traitor, and now that Ma Jingrong had been executed to root out traitors within the city, what else could these officers launching an attack against the Prefect be considered if not exposed rebels?

The barbarian commanders of the other camps were still detained in the Prefect's Mansion. What did the lower-ranking soldiers know? They merely assumed it was a case of barbarians fighting amongst themselves.

Letting them tear each other apart—this was Zhang Chi's method.

When these two barbarian factions were nearly exterminated from mutual slaughter, they would release another one or two barbarian commanders. Though these commanders escaped the Prefect's Mansion, with all four city gates heavily guarded, what options did they have left? Their only remaining choice was to summon the troops directly under their command to kill Shi Kean.

Yet all of this had long been anticipated in the calculations of Zhang Chi and Shi Kean, who would then deploy the remaining barbarian forces to mop up the chaos.

What did ordinary barbarian soldiers understand? They only knew that when given an order, they must kill. The fires of war inside Hanzhong raged from shortly after dawn until sunset. Though it was a mere single day, the city streets were already piled high with corpses, and blood flowed like rivers. As for the garrison forces of Hanzhong, the vast majority had been decimated and exhausted.

"The Mister's vicious strategy is truly ruthless to the extreme." Shi Kean was utterly and completely won over by Zhang Chi's methods.

Seeing that the timing was just right, Zhang Chi finally instructed Shi Kean to open all four city gates. Du Ximing charged out from within the city. After a full day of slaughter, the barbarians inside Hanzhong were completely disoriented and exhausted, just as the Jin army descended upon them like troops from the heavens.

Although Du Ximing's army numbered only eight thousand, the barbarians had no way of knowing this and scattered in all directions.

Fortunately, with the city gates wide open, the barbarians frantically surged toward the exits, scrambling desperately to flee outside the city walls.

Du Ximing's mission was precisely to drive these remaining scattered troops out of the city, naturally without making the slightest attempt to intercept them.