Chapter 537: The Tiger Seal
Chapter 537: The Tiger Seal
Lu HaiKong was somewhat surprised. He had initially thought that Huangfu Song would seize the opportunity to catch him off guard, but instead, Huangfu Song brought up the matter of Liangqi City. Moreover, Lu HaiKong was unaware that Liangqi City had already fallen into his hands.
The situation became intriguing, and Lu HaiKong intentionally provoked Huangfu Song, gradually leading him to fixate on this issue. In the end, Lu HaiKong delivered a swift slap across Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun's faces.
At that moment, when Lu HaiKong revealed that he had captured Liangqi City with just a few thousand cavalry, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun were stunned, and everyone in the tent was left speechless.
"Hahaha! Well done, Lu! Truly a hero in the making! Taking a heavily guarded city with just a few thousand cavalry—what a brilliant strategy!"
Dong Zhuo was the first to react, applauding and commenting, "To think that a mere few thousand cavalry could capture a well-defended city is an astonishing feat. It's truly laughable that someone would slander such a remarkable achievement as cowardice and disobedience."
As soon as Dong Zhuo spoke, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun's expressions changed, but they were momentarily speechless.
The two of them clung to the idea of Lu HaiKong's cowardice, but Lu HaiKong suddenly threw them a curveball, leaving them stinging with embarrassment.
Zhu Jun glared at Huangfu Song, blaming him for not even having basic intelligence and causing them both to fall into this predicament.
Initially, they had wanted to assert their authority over Lu HaiKong, but now, not only had they failed to do so, but they had also been humiliated.
The atmosphere became awkward.
Just as Lu HaiKong was enjoying his triumphant moment, someone suddenly stood up and broke the tension, "Honorable Lords, it seems that the Yellow Turban forces have been retreating towards Julu recently. Could it be that Liangqi's Yellow Turban Army, upon seeing our mighty army approaching Ye City, abandoned the city, and Lu took advantage of the situation?"
Lu HaiKong turned to look at the speaker, his eyes like sharp arrows piercing the person.
When he saw the man, a glint of insight flashed in Lu HaiKong's eyes. He had not expected the speaker to be a foreigner, an outsider from the Han dynasty.
"Who are you? Do you have the right to speak in our presence?" Lu HaiKong pointed at the foreigner and demanded.
"This official, Meng HaoRan, serves as a military commander under Lord Huangfu. As for whether I have the qualifications to speak, that is for Lord Huangfu to decide! But with Lu so enraged, could it be that I've hit the mark?" Meng HaoRan replied with a cold smile.
This guy sure knows how to seize the moment. As soon as he saw Huangfu Song being slapped, he immediately stepped forward to confront Lu HaiKong.
For him, winning or losing wasn't the priority. Whether his speculation was true or false didn't matter. What mattered was that he had demonstrated his loyalty to Huangfu Song and provided them with a way to save face. With this show of loyalty, his future prospects were looking bright.
Indeed, as soon as he spoke, he immediately earned the appreciative gazes of Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun.
"It seems you're quite lucky, aren't you?" Zhu Jun's words effectively settled the matter. In truth, he didn't entirely believe that Meng HaoRan's words were accurate, but did it really matter if they were true or false? For now, the more important thing was to get them out of this awkward situation.
"Luck?"
Lu HaiKong's eyebrows furrowed, about to say something, but as he opened his mouth, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
It wasn't that he couldn't refute, but to do so, he needed evidence, such as capturing a high-ranking Yellow Turban general or a large number of Yellow Turban prisoners.
Lu HaiKong did have a captured Yellow Turban general, but Zhang Mancheng was someone he cherished dearly, so how could he possibly present him as evidence? As for a large number of Yellow Turban prisoners, that was even more out of the question. With his cavalry forces, only a few thousand could disperse tens of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers, which was already impressive. How could he possibly capture a large number of prisoners?
In this situation, Lu HaiKong could only watch as Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun descended from the platform.
What Lu HaiKong didn't expect was that in order to keep Zhang Mancheng silent, he let Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun off the hook, but these two still had no intention of letting Lu HaiKong go.
Once the arrow is released, there's no turning back. They had already made their move against Lu HaiKong, and he had almost slapped them in the face. In this situation, how could they possibly back down?
"Fine, even if you got lucky, but since Liangqi City is in your hands, if you're still timid and hesitant..."
"General Huangfu, who said my Liangqi City was obtained by chance?" Lu HaiKong originally planned to let it go, but he didn't expect the other party to rub it in even more.
"Since you captured it, then show me the evidence. Where is Zhang Mancheng's head? Or perhaps, the Yellow Turban prisoners?" Zhu Jun said coldly.
It was clear that Lu HaiKong's hesitation just now had given away his situation. Even if Lu HaiKong had evidence to directly refute them, he wouldn't hesitate. Moreover, at this moment, Zhu Jun was obviously being unreasonable. In this situation, even if Lu HaiKong presented Zhang Mancheng's head, Zhu Jun would still say it was fake, and even if he brought out prisoners, he could claim they were innocent civilians.
They were determined to deal with Lu HaiKong, and this attitude infuriated Dong Zhuo, who felt a deep connection with Lu HaiKong.
In a 1619 book, a bar, a look, a wrong version!
"Are the two of you going to twist things around?" Dong Zhuo said coldly.
"How dare you! General Dong, watch your words!" Zhu Jun slammed the table.
"Watch my words? You two..."
"Both of you, stop right now!"
Just as the two were about to argue, Huangfu Song, who had been silent for a while, suddenly took out a tiger seal. Dong Zhuo and Zhu Jun both stopped.
This tiger seal was granted by Emperor Ling of Han, symbolizing Huangfu Song's military authority. After it was presented, Dong Zhuo could only grudgingly remain silent.
After Huangfu Song showed the tiger seal, he looked at Lu HaiKong with a complicated expression. He had only wanted to use Lu HaiKong to establish his authority, but he didn't expect the situation to escalate to this extent.
By now, Huangfu Song had no choice but to take out the tiger seal to assert his dominance. To be honest, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun were capable in battle, but when it came to political maneuvering, they weren't as skilled. Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken one step after another to reach this point.
Fortunately, during the silence, Huangfu Song also realized something. He was a military man; what did he need political schemes for? What tricks could he play?
Who was he? He was Huangfu Song, the commander-in-chief of the Jiuzhou campaign. With military power in his hands, he could directly suppress anyone.
"Lu HaiKong, didn't you say you captured Liangqi with a few thousand cavalry? Good, I'll give you a chance. I'll give you ten thousand cavalry. Within three days, you must capture Ye City for me! If you succeed, I'll recommend you to the Emperor. If you fail, I'll hold you accountable!"
As soon as Huangfu Song said this, Dong Zhuo's expression changed drastically. He didn't expect this veteran general to be so domineering.
On Lu HaiKong's side, he seemed calm and composed.
"Ten thousand? That's unnecessary. It's just a small Ye City, a thousand will be enough!"
(End of Chapter)
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