Wang Ming, What Do I Owe You

Surrendering was an art in itself.

It wasn’t enough for him to simply mount a horse and ride toward Iron Gate Pass. Most likely, he wouldn’t even make it out of the city before being surrounded and captured by Pei Wugou himself.

“So…”

“He had to use a few tricks!”

Lu Chaosheng knew exactly what he was doing. After tidying himself up, he immediately made a probing move.

The moment he stepped out of the residence, he saw two soldiers guarding the entrance. Clearly, after his falling-out with Pei Wugou, Pei Wugou had already grown wary of him.

Pei Wugou might not have expected him to defect to Ren Tianye, but he would still keep an eye on him as a precaution.

Lu Chaosheng promptly put on an unconcerned expression and went out for a stroll. With his years of experience, it was easy for him to find a weak point in the defenses.

By the time he returned home at dusk, he had already made his plans.

However, when he saw that one of the men assigned to watch over him was a former subordinate, he couldn’t bear to drag him into the matter. He waved the man over.

“Remember this. In a little while, pretend you have a stomachache and ask for leave to see a physician. Understand?”

The soldier had no idea what this meant, but he trusted Lu Chaosheng immensely and nodded in agreement.

Just as he was about to leave, Lu Chaosheng asked one more question.

“How is the army doing now?”

The soldier immediately shook his head. “General Lu, things are very bad. Everyone hates Chen Song—especially that odd-job soldier called Little He. They wish they could kill him and be done with it.”

“But Pei Wugou has tightened security throughout the army.”

“They’ve added several more patrol teams.”

“And… he’s fully armed at all times, never letting his sword leave his side. He looks as though he’s ready to fight Ren Tianye at any moment.”

Lu Chaosheng nodded.

This Pei Wugou was no fool. He knew when a situation required forceful suppression, allowing him to maintain control as much as possible.

Unfortunately, this made things rather unfavorable for Lu Chaosheng.

He had originally planned to defect to General Zhang Shi and then bring General Zhang Shi into Zhenjiang City.

But with the current situation, combined with Pei Wugou’s tight defenses, that would be extremely difficult.

It seemed he could only defect to General Zhang Shi first and figure out the rest afterward.

With that thought in mind, he told the soldier to leave at once. Then he returned home to rest and conserve his energy.

Late that night, he climbed over the wall at the back of the courtyard and hurried away along a familiar route.

The city gates had long since been closed, but that posed no problem for the man who had once been the de facto commander of Zhenjiang City. Before long, he reached a low section of the city wall and used a rope he had brought with him to climb over it.

He left Zhenjiang City.

Taking advantage of the darkness, he hurried onward.

When he passed through a village, he deliberately stopped to buy a fine horse from one of the villagers. Only then did he mount up and gallop toward Iron Gate Pass at full speed.

The horse thundered forward like a falling star. After racing through the night, Iron Gate Pass finally appeared before him. Lu Chaosheng did not slow down until he reached the entrance, where he abruptly hauled on the reins and managed to bring the horse to a stop.

At the entrance to Iron Gate Pass, a squad of soldiers had already formed up. Their swords were drawn, their arrows nocked, and their faces were filled with vigilance as they watched him.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

Lu Chaosheng dismounted and cupped his hands respectfully.

“I am Lu Chaosheng, the former commander of Zhenjiang City. I have come to offer my services to Lord Duke.”

“I would be grateful if you could report my arrival.”

As he spoke, Lu Chaosheng took out the seal he had brought with him and courteously handed it to the guard at the gate.

The guards were no strangers to people coming to surrender. After all, they had seen several waves of defectors already. But for Lu Chaosheng, the commander of Zhenjiang City, to appear in person was still a delightful surprise.

Since entering Iron Gate Pass, their General Wang Ming had often spoken of taking the northern defensive strongholds. He had mentioned Lu Chaosheng more than once.

Lu Chaosheng was one of the most important figures in the entire network of northern strongholds!

Now that Lu Chaosheng had come to surrender, could the northern strongholds still be far from falling?

After examining the seal, the guard’s face lit up with delight. He cupped his hands and said, “So it is General Lu. Please wait a moment. I’ll report this to General Wang at once.”

“I’m sure he’ll be overjoyed when he hears the news.”

Lu Chaosheng froze for a moment, then quickly reached out to stop him.

“Wait.”

“You’re going to report to General Wang?”

“Of course!” the guard replied. “General Wang’s army is stationed inside Iron Gate Pass. Since you’ve come here to offer your services, General Lu, naturally we must report your arrival to him.”

“In that case…” Lu Chaosheng hurriedly asked, “What about General Zhang Shi?”

“Oh? General Zhang Shi?” The guard pointed in a direction. “He’s over there. About three miles that way. General Zhang Shi has his army stationed there.”

Lu Chaosheng broke into a slight cold sweat.

That had been close. He had nearly defected to the wrong commander.

He had come to join General Zhang Shi because he had received a letter from him. If he had accidentally pledged himself to General Wang instead, things would have become terribly awkward.

He immediately cupped his hands and said, “My apologies, brother. I received a letter from General Zhang Shi. His words were so earnest that I was deeply moved, which is why I came to offer my services to him. It seems there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Please convey my apologies to General Wang.”

The moment he finished speaking, Lu Chaosheng mounted his horse, wheeled around, and galloped away as fast as he could. He left the awkward scene behind and headed straight for General Zhang Shi’s camp.

Three miles was a short distance on horseback.

This time, Lu Chaosheng finally found the right place. Upon reaching the camp entrance, he presented his seal and asked the guards to report his arrival.

“I am Lu Chaosheng, the commander of Zhenjiang City. I received a letter from General Zhang Shi and have come to offer my services.”

The messenger did not dare delay and hurried into the tent.

Although he saw Zhang Shi washing his feet, he quickly reported, “General, there’s a man at the camp entrance claiming to be Lu Chaosheng, the commander of Zhenjiang City. He says he has come to surrender. He has also presented his seal. I inspected it personally and confirmed that it is genuine!”

“What?”

Zhang Shi shot to his feet.

His movement was so sudden that he accidentally overturned the foot basin, but he paid it no attention.

“You’re saying Lu Chaosheng has come to surrender?”

“Hahaha!”

“Hahaha!”

“Hahaha!”

“Lu Chaosheng has come to surrender…” Zhang Shi was so excited that he couldn’t help shouting, “Lu Chaosheng has come to surrender! The northern strongholds are mine now!”

“Wang Ming, what do you have that I lack?”

He immediately ran outside to welcome Lu Chaosheng personally.

Seeing that Zhang Shi had not even put on his shoes, one of his personal guards picked them up and hurried after him.

“General! General! Put your shoes on! Your shoes!”

Zhang Shi paid no attention and ran all the way to Lu Chaosheng. He examined him in the firelight, then compared him with the portrait of Lu Chaosheng he had seen before.

Only after confirming his identity beyond doubt did he throw back his head and laugh.

“Hahaha! General Lu, you’ve finally arrived!”

“With your help, we can accomplish great things!”

“Great things indeed!”

Lu Chaosheng, however, looked somewhat apprehensive. In particular, when he saw Zhang Shi standing barefoot, he quickly stopped him and dropped to one knee.

“General Zhang Shi, you have gone out of your way to welcome me. I-I’m truly overwhelmed by your kindness!”

Zhang Shi immediately helped him to his feet.

“How could I not lose myself in delight at the sight of you?”

“Come, come, let’s go inside the tent and talk!”

“Inside the tent!”