After the Peerless Daoist finished writing the letter, he quickly picked it up and blew on it repeatedly. Soon, the marks on the paper grew fainter and fainter, eventually disappearing completely without a trace.
Then, the Peerless Daoist flipped the letter over and, with a swift stroke, wrote a new letter.
The content of this letter was precisely as Liu Rumei had said, instructing his two disciples to quickly withdraw their troops and retreat outside the Great Cang Kingdom.
Before a meal was even finished, the letter written by the Peerless Daoist was placed before Crown Prince Xiao Jingyun. Xiao Jingyun picked it up and couldn't help but fan himself a few times in front of his nose.
"Such strong liquor on you."
Zhou Quan couldn't help but complain, "This old Daoist is thoroughly drunk, so it's natural he carries the smell of alcohol."
Xiao Jingyun nodded and quickly read through the letter. It contained nothing more than an order for the two princes to withdraw their troops immediately in exchange for the Peerless Daoist's departure from the Great Cang Kingdom.
Confirming that the letter's content was acceptable, Xiao Jingyun sent someone to summon the Zhang brothers, give them the letter, and also reward them with ten taels of silver.
The Zhang brothers, instead of being reprimanded, were rewarded with silver. Naturally, they were overjoyed, kowtowing repeatedly in gratitude.
Meanwhile, in Princess Zhaoning's tent, the Lotus Cult Leader was plotting another matter with her.
The Lotus Cult Leader wanted to repeat his previous tactic, infiltrating Jizhou, killing Zhu Meng and Ge Cun, and causing chaos in Jizhou City to help the princess earn merit.
However, Princess Zhaoning flatly refused this time.
She even advised, "Master, the situation in Jizhou City is unclear at the moment. We have no informants there, and it would be very dangerous for you to enter rashly."
The Lotus Cult Leader shook his head, "Disciple, the situation is urgent now. We could have waited, but Liu Rumei has arrived, and she possesses a secret letter, reportedly from the Crown Prince of Great Tu Kingdom to the Peerless Daoist."
"If they reach some agreement and the Crown Prince withdraws his troops, then the war will end very quickly."
"If the war ends like this, and upon returning to the capital, merits are rewarded, what will you receive?"
This statement caused Princess Zhaoning to fall silent. At this point, Chu Han, standing nearby, spoke up, "Your Highness Princess, why don't you let me enter the city? I, Chu Han, have achieved nothing yet."
The young maid also couldn't help but step forward, cupping her fists, "Your Highness Princess, please let me go."
Seeing so many eager to go, Princess Zhaoning felt overwhelmed and looked to her master for help again.
The Lotus Cult Leader smiled slightly and nodded.
"Since everyone wishes to go, then let us prepare. At the third watch tonight, we will infiltrate Jizhou City, kill Ge Cun and Zhu Meng. If the war on this front ends first, the merit will naturally belong to the princess." Sudancx.com
After the third watch passed, the Lotus Cult Leader, the young maid, and Chu Han quietly left the camp and headed towards Jizhou City.
However, after circling Jizhou City once, the three finally found a weak point.
The northeast corner of Jizhou City was pitch dark, appearing to be unguarded.
The three arrived at the city wall. The Lotus Cult Leader still took out two daggers.
Then, he leaped up. As his body began to descend, he aimed at the gaps in the city wall's bricks and lightly inserted his daggers. He then used them for leverage to leap up again. In no time, he had quickly scaled the wall.
Next, he lowered a rope from the top of the wall, and the young maid and Chu Han climbed up.
After all three were on the wall, the Lotus Cult Leader turned around again, pulled the rope up, and then signaled the two to continue forward.
The three had not walked more than ten feet when suddenly a whistle sounded from the side, followed by the eruption of flames.
Seeing the sudden flash of fire, the Lotus Cult Leader sensed something was wrong, realizing they had fallen into a trap. Just as he was about to leap away, the sound of blades slicing through the air reached his ears. Immediately, he felt a sharp pain in his thigh.
He then saw that the young maid and Chu Han beside him had also been struck by several repeating crossbow bolts in their legs.
One could say this tactic was truly foolproof; first, shoot them in the thigh, ensuring they couldn't run.
Surrounded by the firelight, a thin man with a pointed mouth and a small, monkey-like face appeared before the three.
"Heh heh heh," he first let out a dry chuckle, then stroked his chin, his sparse mustache twitching as he looked smug.
"I knew you would enter the city. After waiting for more than ten days, prey has finally taken the bait."
At this point, the Lotus Cult Leader sighed inwardly, realizing he had indeed been careless.
He suppressed the anger in his heart and asked the man with the small mustache in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
The little monkey chuckled dryly again, "My name is Ge Zhuang. Ge Cun, the commander of Jizhou, is my elder brother."
The Lotus Cult Leader nodded. As the saying goes, every debt has its creditor; this grudge would be repaid sooner or later.
After Ge Zhuang announced himself, he waved his hand, and soldiers stepped forward to bind the three tightly.
"Guard them well, I'm going to find my elder brother."
With that, Ge Zhuang turned and left.
Ge Cun, the commander of Jizhou, had already gone to bed. Upon hearing that his younger brother had important information to report, he put on his clothes and went to his study.
As soon as he entered, Ge Zhuang excitedly exclaimed, gesturing wildly, "Elder brother, tonight I captured three people! I knew they would find a way to enter the city!"
Ge Cun couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, "Oh? Have you questioned their identities?"
Ge Zhuang shook his head, "Two young women and one man. Elder brother, after you've interrogated them, can you give me those two women?"
Hearing this, Ge Cun glared, "Absolutely not! Second brother, I'm warning you, do not have any wicked thoughts about Xiao Jingyun's people. If you dare to touch them, don't blame me for being impolite."
Ge Zhuang sighed helplessly, "Elder brother, the two armies are at war. Xiao Jingyun is our enemy, our adversary. If we capture his people and have some fun, what does it matter?"
Ge Cun looked at his brother and sighed slightly, "Second brother, don't you understand? I have a bond of brotherhood with Zhang Liao, which is why I agreed to hand Jizhou over to Zhu Meng."
"But look at the enemy forces pressing down outside the city, and the reinforcements from Great Lin Kingdom that Zhu Meng mentioned, we have yet to see any sign of them."
"If Zhu Meng is defeated one day, and if we treat Crown Prince Xiao Jingyun's subordinates with respect, perhaps there will still be a way out for us. If you harm his subordinates, wouldn't that be cutting off our own escape route?"
After hearing Ge Cun's words, Ge Zhuang sighed helplessly.
"Alright, alright, elder brother, I understand. We will not commit any offense and will treat them with respect. Is that satisfactory?"
"Right, those three, you can interrogate them yourself. I'm going back to sleep."
With that, Ge Zhuang yawned and left.
Ge Cun put on his armor and quickly led his men to see the Lotus Cult Leader and the others.
Upon seeing that all three had injured legs and were bleeding, Ge Cun couldn't help but frown. He said to a soldier beside him,
"What are you standing around for? Quickly call for a military doctor to treat the wounds of these three esteemed heroes!"
Afterward, he cupped his fists towards the Lotus Cult Leader and the others, "You three, I sincerely apologize. My foolish brother has startled you."
Hearing that it was Ge Cun, the Lotus Cult Leader immediately spoke, "Ge Cun, if you know what's good for you, release us quickly."