People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 607 Scheming
The two slaps from Ma Teng not only stunned Ma Dai and Ma Xiu, but also silenced the surrounding soldiers. Even a fool could see that something was not right in the situation, and at this time no one would be so tactless as to interfere with Ma Teng's handling of family affairs.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Ma Dai and Ma Xiu's faces turned red. It was a shame for them to be scolded by their father in front of everyone. As for Ma Teng's questions, they didn't know how to answer them for the time being.

But the more they did so, the angrier Ma Teng became. He was almost tricked to death, but his two sons remained silent, which made him even more dissatisfied.

Just as he was about to continue lecturing, he heard a voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"Father, there is no need to ask. I acted on my own will. Ma Dai and Ma Xiu just submitted to me. If you want to blame someone, just blame me!"

Everyone looked and saw Ma Chao walking forward from the separated crowd.

Ma Chao had a heavy expression on his face. After he came in front of Ma Teng, he knelt on the ground like Ma Dai and Ma Xiu.

"I hope father will forgive me. I just don't believe that you will give in to Xuan Xia. I thought it was Xu Chen who coerced you into house arrest, so you had to lead the army eastward out of desperation. Now that father has returned safely, I am completely relieved!"

After Ma Chao finished speaking, he bowed deeply. At this moment, he felt very complicated and it was hard to say how happy he was.

In his expectation, after the uprising, the imperial court should execute Ma Teng to vent their anger. After all, Xiliang had already launched the uprising, and no matter how much Ma Teng said, it would be of no avail.

He didn't believe that Xu Chen would be stupid enough to let Ma Teng go back to Liangzhou. Once Ma Teng came back, he would turn against him, and then it would be Xu Chen who would lose all face.

However, the most unlikely thing happened. Ma Chao never expected that Ma Teng could really come back safely, and as a result, all his plans were completely ruined.

In this era, a son can never challenge his father. Ma Chao can do things privately to achieve his personal goals, but he can never challenge Ma Teng's authority openly. Filial piety is absolutely correct and is also prevalent in a wild place like Xiliang.

Ma Teng walked up to Ma Chao. The father and son, one standing and the other kneeling, looked at each other with complicated emotions.

They both knew what each other was thinking, but this also made it more difficult for them to face it calmly. A huge rift had already appeared between father and son.

When a son does something to harm his father, it is difficult for the father to treat him as his son again. Just thinking about all the things Ma Chao had done, Ma Teng couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

Of course, sons are very important, but for Ma Teng, he has more than one son.

"I'm back for my father. I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."

Ma Teng's voice was so low that the soldiers around him couldn't hear clearly what he said, but Ma Dai and Ma Xiu next to them looked over in disbelief. They didn't know why Ma Teng said such a thing.

Until now, these two men have only seen the waves on the surface, and are unaware of the more deadly undercurrents beneath the water.

Ma Chao's body was shocked, but he did not choose to make any excuses in the end. Both the father and the son knew the reason of the matter very well. It would be fine to harm his father, but it would be wrong to treat his father as a fool.

After taking a deep breath, he chose not to answer the question directly. Instead, he stared at Ma Teng and yelled.

"I was rash in starting the rebellion. I will accept any punishment from my father. But I did it for a reason. My father sent me a letter to ask me to take Liangzhou to Xuanxia. I can't believe it. You are not a coward. How could you sell out a million soldiers and civilians from Liangzhou to Xuanxia? It's better for me to die than to believe such a thing!"

At this point, Ma Chao's eyes turned red, and his voice couldn't help but sound a little aggrieved: "There are still a million soldiers and civilians in Liangzhou who are ready to fight. How could you surrender without a fight, father? This is not something our Liangzhou warriors can do. Father, tell me, that letter must have been written under the coercion of the court!" After shouting like this, countless soldiers present turned their eyes to Ma Teng. Judging from their expressions, they were all very curious about Ma Teng's answer.

Ma Teng's eyes narrowed suddenly, and he stared at Ma Chao, feeling both shocked and angry.

This guy is really my eldest son. It’s bad enough that he has harmed me, but now he actually wants to force me to abdicate in public!

If he failed to answer this question properly, his prestige in the Western Liang Army would be severely damaged in an instant. He would either be forced by Ma Chao to raise an army, or lose the morale of his army. Then Ma Chao could take the opportunity to take over Ma's banner and continue to lead the Western Liang Army.

This scheming is so impressive that it really made Ma Teng look at his son with new eyes.

In the past, he only thought that Ma Chao was brave in battle and had his own style. It was not until this time that he realized that Ma Chao was not only extremely brave, but also had a scheming mind that should not be underestimated.

It has to be said that Ma Teng was really caught in a dilemma. If he admitted his allegiance to the court, he would fall into Ma Chao's verbal trap, but if he denied it, it would mean that he could only continue on Ma Chao's path of raising an army, and he would have no position to blame Ma Chao.

Fortunately, Ma Teng came prepared. Since he had decided to surrender, how could he not have an excuse?

After snorting coldly at Ma Chao, he turned to face the many soldiers and said, "Brothers, I, Ma Teng, will not fight with you. Today I will tell you that I have indeed agreed to Liangzhou's surrender!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the soldiers were suddenly shocked. They all couldn't believe it.

However, Ma Teng was not in a hurry. Everyone in Xiliang knew each other, and surrendering was not difficult for the people of Xiliang to accept. They could submit to the Han Dynasty before, but couldn't they submit to Xuan Xia now?

In the final analysis, it all depends on the price of the attachment.

Not to mention that Xuan Xia's strength is obvious to all. The Xiliang Army says they are not afraid of death, but if they can avoid death, it would definitely be better for them not to die.

Then, Ma Teng began to shout loudly.

"Why did I surrender? Because the Han Dynasty is bad, and Xuan Xia is good. After surrendering, Liangzhou will still be the Liangzhou of us Liangzhou people. I, Ma Teng, will also stay in Liangzhou with my brothers. It will remain the same as it was before!"

With just these words, the people around him calmed down a lot. This was actually a guarantee made by Ma Teng, that is, after surrendering, the imperial court had no intention of taking action against the local powerful families.

In this way, the biggest obstacle to submission was eliminated by more than half. If the local nobles were unwilling to agree, submission would basically be impossible.

Of course, not taking action against the Liangzhou nobles was just a delaying tactic. Although Ma Teng knew that there would be a day of reckoning sooner or later, he couldn't say it out loud at this time.

He didn't care whether the Liangzhou nobles would suffer in the future. The right thing to do was to protect the Ma family first.

When the issue that the Liangzhou nobles were most worried about was resolved, their minds involuntarily became active. Since it could ensure their own safety, it seemed that surrendering was not something unacceptable.

(End of this chapter)