Battle Royale of the Sinners

The words of Tian Feng aroused suspicion from other lords as well. However, they glanced at He Xing in fear and withheld their opinion.

Jiang Man saw this as a chance, he followed up with his thought.

"I also disagree with this placement. We can easily tell from the glance that your army distribution is unequal right away. You've brought only 60,000 soldiers here while the other place houses 100,000 men. You are paying more attention to the northern shore front since it is your main army! Are you using us as your cannon fodders?"

Cao Cao, Cheng Yu, and Pu Jing glanced back and forth between Yuan Shao and Jiang Man.

Pu Jing whispered to Cao Cao, "Are these two factions the interesting thing you said earlier?"

Cao Cao chuckled, "You're sharp as always. Yes, Jiang Man is an immortal, and he has a secret relationship with Yuan Shao. My spies found that they formed a deal behind the back of Zhang Tong."

Pu Jing sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

'In any age, people like this exist. Instead of focusing their priority on urgent tasks as one, they fight like hungry dogs.'

Cheng Yu muttered to himself from the sight, "Foolish politicians. What's the point of getting in the way of the war now? They only reveal their hostility to motivate Zhang Tong into using them as pawns."

While the lords murmured and gossiped with their retainers, Tong blinked thrice and raised his eyebrows in bemusement.

"Have I said which army I will put on the frontline? I haven't said anything about the details of our front yet, no?"

Tian Feng and Jiang Man frowned. At that moment, Yuan Shao laughed.

"Then, why don't you put your own army on the front while all of us will follow you once you charge into the enemy lines? Would this erase the doubts?"

Tong shrugged as if he did not care, "Sure, why not?"

Tian Feng, Yuan Shao, and Jiang Man grinned. They believed that Tong was a naïve fool by accepting their proposal.

However, Tong added, "Before I go into the army allocation and placement. I want to encourage everyone, so you will fight Xiongnu efficiently. First, I'll put a bounty on Xiongnu soldiers. For each soldier that your men kill, I'll reward you one gold each."

The face of all lords twitched. Although their income was not much, they were not poor enough to be tempted by a standard reward that they commonly used with their subordinates.

"Secondly, I will give 200,000 gold and a year of provision to any lord that first crosses Hulao Gate."

Zhang Miao, Qiao Mao, Kong Zhou, and Kong Rong gulped. They were minor lords whose city did not generate much income taxes, so 200,000 gold was tempting.

Meanwhile, Tao Qian and Gongsun Zan wiped their sweat. Though they could earn 100,000 to 200,000 gold each year from the taxes of their province, having an extra 200,000 was also good. Even Cao Cao had to lower his eyes to calm his emotion since he needed resources to develop Xuchang and Runan.

On the other hand, Yuan Shao snorted. He owned several businesses in Nanpi, so he had seen an account with seven digits of gold. This little amount did not interest him.

As for Liu Bei, his mood swung from anger, exhilarating, excitement, and then frustrated as if he had a bi-polar syndrome. Nobody knew what he was thinking.

"And third, all lords who have come here to contribute to the cause will be promoted in noble tier once we repel the Xiongnu away from our lands. As for which position will be granted, I can't say. Her Majesty will decide on this."

He Xing also followed through with the persuasion, "We shall judge your competence in this battle. You can hide on the backline if you want to, but those that sacrifice themselves will not return home unrewarded. As a matter of fact, we're looking for the right person to run Luo Yang, Hongnong, Chang'An, and other cities that we will retake from the Xiongnu. We can make him a viceroy of a province to govern all these cities together, or we can make him a governor of our province capital Ye City or our affiliate cities. It depends on the result and your skills. Also, I'm willing to reconcile with those that erected false Empress or Emperor in the past as long as they show good results in this war."

Cao Cao turned to He Xing in disbelief. He looked back to Cheng Yu and Pu Jing without minding his manner, gesturing that he wanted their opinion.

Both Cao Cao's retainers nodded in approval. This was an opportunity for them to regain their status and salvage from their blunder with Diaochan.

Staring at the two bad-mouth strategists, Cao Cao calculated if the merit of getting on good terms with He Xing and Tong worth sacrificing his ambition. Then, he smacked his forehead.

'What's there to hesitate!? I've lost the initiative of the unification. At worst, I'll simply work under him and climb my ranks like I used to. Ending the chaos takes priority!'

Cao Cao stood up and bowed, "Lord Zhang Tong, I wish to deploy my men on the frontline. I hope you can count it on us."

The sudden volunteer of Cao Cao surprised Yuan Shao and Jiang Man. They thought that Cao Cao would be hostile toward Tong for sure, yet He Xing's words flipped the attitude of Cao Cao 180 degrees.

Once a dominant force like Cao Cao took the lead, other factions followed suit. Gongsun Zan also stood up.

"My White Rider Legion never lost against the Xiongnu! Let the elites take the frontline!"

Tao Qian coughed and also bowed to He Xing, "Our troops may be lacking, but we're willing to join you on your great cause."

All minor lords stood and pledged along with the other major forces, which baffled Tian Feng and Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei, however, did not speak or stood up to show off his loyalty toward the Empress. Instead, he squinted his eyes as he watched all bootlickers and opportunists dancing in the palm of He Xing and Tong.

He might not be too bright in many certain aspects, but he understood Tong's motive. Had Liu Bei not had bias thought against Tong, he would have joined the bandwagon.

'Pawns. Sacrificial pawns are everywhere. Only Yuan Shao is sober from the temptation. Very well, all of you can go and die in the battlefield. Once you're weakened enough, I'll let my brothers display their prowess and take all the credits!'

While everybody was shouting, trying to get the attention of He Xing, Jiang Man stepped back as he resigned from his attempt to step on Tong's feet.

His eyes glanced on his status menu. He managed to collect over 90,000 lifespans from the angelic wing cultivation and the gathering of natural life forces. It would take a bit of time to rebuy his skill from Lilim.

'So far, Zhang Tong gains the total control over the coalition. I'll let him do whatever he wants for now. Once I have enough lifespans, I'll bet on the skill I can get back. If I can get my [Ninjutsu], I can destroy Zhang Tong's soldiers from within.'

…

Half a day later, Tong finalized the deployment order and the allocation of the next battle.

Cao Cao, Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei, and Tong's Immortal Legion would take the lead in this assault. The 115,000 soldiers of these four armies would be the first wave, while Yuan Shao's 100,000 soldiers would follow as the second wave. The rest of the lords were assigned as reserves for the prolonged war.

Liu Bei was shocked when he heard that Tong put him and his troops on the frontline instead of using the volunteered lords. However, He Xing was there in the meeting the entire time, so Liu Bei could not protest. He bowed his head and acknowledged his duties.

All of the lords left the tent to their camp, going back to rest. He Xing and her son also left to call it a day as well.

However, two factions decided to remain in the meeting tent.

Tong, Jia Xu, Xun Yu, Cao Cao, Cheng Yu, and Pu Jing stayed behind. The six men sat around a new table, which the guards brought in wines and food for the men.

Tong glanced back and forth between Cao Cao and Pu Jing before he raised his wine cup.

"For the cooperation."

Cao Cao toasted, "For the people and our country."

Both of them gulped down the wine. Afterward, they stared at each other to the eyes.

Cao Cao lost his patient and spoke first, "I've lost. You stole my Empress, and the righteous cause is on your side. I can't fight you anymore."

"I stole your Empress?"

"What? Didn't you order your wife to infiltrate my city, razed my granaries, and killed my general?"

"Hold it! I've yet to make a move on you! Who raided your city?"

"It's your goddamn Xiao Wu! Stop putting on façade already. I don't want to recall our past. I'm here because I want to reconcile. Can we have a peace talk? I don't like wasting times."

The new info about his wife shocked Tong. He took a deep breath and changed the subject. As for this issue, he would deal with it later on.

"Cao Cao, will you join me after we finish with the Xiongnu?"

Cao Cao chuckled, "Do I have a choice? If I don't, my Cao family will be executed because of me."

Tong's eyes turned to Pu Jing, "And you?"

Pu Jing shrugged, "I have no options. You have the royalty's backing while we've lost ours. Just put me in your clan and get over with it."

Tong smiled wryly at Pu Jing, "I've used up my quota this year. I'll get you in my clan later."

This year, Tong put the eldest son of Sima Fang, Sima Lang, into his clan to ensure their loyalty. If he wanted to recruit Cao Cao or Pu Jing into his clan now, he had to bring either Friday or Te Langpu here. Tong also could not use Hua Shi as he had sent her to Wan City.

The face of Cao Cao changed, "I have a condition for my surrender though, will you comply?"

"I'm not heartless. If it's something I can do, I'll grant it."

Cao Cao laughed, "Okay! You've promised. Now, listen to my condition."

"Okay …"

"Let me sleep with your wives."

"FOOK YOU!"

"BWAHAHAHA!!"

…

Until midnight, Cao Cao and Tong tuned their thought and had a heart-to-heart talk about the worldly affair and their vision.

Cao Cao gave the real condition to Tong. As long as Tong would not take the throne and relinquish his right to Liu Xie, Cao Cao was willing to work in the same faction, and he would bring in the Xiahou Clan to help Tong as well.

It was a difficult condition to him since all his subordinates had been gearing to ascent Tong to the throne. Jia Xu and Xun Yu did not hesitate to decline it since they did not need to satisfy Cao Cao's condition, which made the talk awkward.

In the end, Tong postponed his decision, but he did not refuse the condition that Cao Cao gave him.