Chapter 276 Inviting me to die together? Do you think I'm stupid? I want to die for the Lord of Peace and wash away the stain!
Hao Meng’s confidant?
Suspicion flashed across Liu Bei's eyes, and he didn't react for a moment.

Xiao Fang smiled and said calmly:
"My lord, it seems that Fang guessed correctly. Now is my chance to be defeated without any attack."

Liu Bei looked at Xiao Fang. From his expression and tone, it seemed that he had expected Hao Meng to send an envoy.

Could it be…

Liu Bei suddenly understood about 70% of what was going on, his eyes lit up, and he immediately ordered that Hao Meng's confidant be brought to meet him.

A moment later, a man in black half-knelt in front of the tent.

"I am General Hao's trusted personal guard. I am here on the orders of my General Hao to express my willingness to surrender to the general."

"My general has said that he is willing to open the city gates at noon tomorrow and lead the city's defenders to surrender to the general."

"I beg the general to show mercy and give my general Hao a chance to turn from evil to good and serve you."

The black-clad messenger revealed his purpose in a trembling voice.

Liu Bei's eyes moved, and he looked at Xiao Fang with surprise.

At this moment, he finally understood what Xiao Fang meant by "self-destruction".

It turned out that Xiao Fang had already figured out that Hao Meng was not loyal to the Yuan family and would not stay as prime minister for Yuan Tan to the death. He would choose to surrender the city.

"Jinglue's grasp of people's hearts is unmatched by anyone in the world..."

Liu Bei was amazed in his heart, and then gladly accepted Hao Meng's surrender, and he could not help but comfort the messenger.

The black-clad messenger felt relieved. He thanked Liu Bei again and again and expressed his sincerity in surrendering. Then he left with Liu Bei's promise.

"So Jinglue, you had already expected that Hao Meng would surrender the city. It seems that Xiaxiang City can indeed fall without a fight!"

As soon as the messenger left, Liu Bei looked at Xiao Fang with a smile.

Zhang Liao's eyes flashed with doubt, and he said:

"Liao knows Hao Meng well. Like Lu Bu, he also has an erratic temperament."

"Besides, in Xiaxiang City, there is not only Hao Meng, but also Chen Gong."

"Liao is only worried that Hao Meng might be pretending to surrender. Is there any trick of Chen Gong involved?"

Zhang Liao was obviously not very confident about his two former colleagues, Hao Meng and Chen Gong.

As an old colleague, Zhang Liao naturally had the most say, and this reminder made Liu Bei alert.

"It is precisely because Hao Meng is so fickle that he will not be loyal to the Yuan family."

"He had followed Lu Bu for many years. When Shouchun was besieged, he decisively abandoned Lu Bu to save his own life."

"Now Yuan Tan has ordered him to guard Xiaxiang, which clearly shows that he is abandoning him. Moreover, the situation in Xiaxiang is far more dangerous than that in Shouchun. What reason does he have to be loyal to the Yuan family?"

"As for Chen Gong, Xiaxiang is now surrounded by my 70,000 troops. Even if Chen Gong has great wisdom, I don't believe he can do anything with only 3,000 soldiers!"

"Let's take a step back and say that even if Chen Gong wants to cheat, I don't think Hao Meng has the guts to risk his life to cheat with Chen Gong!"

Xiao Fang analyzed it with a look of sarcasm on his face, and then he bowed his hands in a decisive tone:

"So we can be sure that Hao Meng must be sincere in his surrender."

"Besides, our army of 70,000 soldiers besieging the city has an overwhelming advantage. If Hao Meng opens the city and surrenders as promised tomorrow, that would naturally be the best."

"If he dares to go back on his word, my lord, please give the order, and my 70,000-man army will crush us to the ground!"

Liu Bei's ambition and ambition were immediately ignited by Xiao Fang's words.

"boom!"

Liu Bei stood up and said proudly:

"Military Advisor is right. Whether Hao Meng surrenders or not, I will capture the city tomorrow!"

"Pass on my order. If the city gates are not opened after noon tomorrow, the 70,000-man army will immediately attack the city and crush Xiaxiang!"

The generals suddenly accepted the order.

...

The next day, it was almost noon.

A banquet has been set up in the county government hall.

When Hao Meng, wearing armor and holding a sword, walked into the hall, Chen Gong, who had been waiting for a long time, hurriedly stood up, walked down the stairs, and came forward to greet him with a smile.

"Zi Shi, you are finally here. I have kept the wine warm for a long time. Please take a seat quickly."

Chen Gong pulled Hao Meng to sit down, poured him some wine himself, and held it in front of him with both hands.

Hao Meng took the wine glass but did not drink it. He looked Chen Gong up and down with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

Today is the day he and Liu Bei agreed to open the city and surrender.

Originally he was already at the South Gate, planning to open the city gate alone without telling Chen Gong and welcome Liu Bei's army into the city.

But one hour before the agreed time to open the city, Chen Gong suddenly sent someone to come, claiming that he had set up a banquet and had important matters to discuss with him.

After weighing the pros and cons, Hao Meng brought more than 20 relatives to the county government.

"I wonder what important matter Mr. Gongtai suddenly asked me to come here to discuss?"

Hao Meng put down his wine glass and expressed his doubts.

Chen Gong knelt down, stroked his thin beard and said with emotion:
"It's nothing, I just wanted to have a couple of drinks with you."

"Thinking back to when we were in Yanzhou, we fought side by side. It has been almost ten years now."

"Now that Lü Bu is dead, Wei Xu, Hou Cheng, Cao Xing, and Song Xian have all turned into a pile of yellow earth, and the two thieves Zhang Liao and Gao Shun have surrendered to Liu Bei, leaving only you and me."

"In the battle of Shouchun, we narrowly escaped death and came together to join the Yuan family."

"Now, it is you and me again, trapped in Xiaxiang City, facing the same dilemma as before."

"When you think about it this way, Zishi, we two can be considered to have lived and died together."

After expressing his feelings, Chen Gong poured himself a glass of wine and raised his glass:

"Just for the sake of this friendship of life and death, we must drink this cup to the full!"

Chen Gong's words touched Hao Meng silently. He immediately raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"Gongtai, if you say so, we are indeed friends for life."

"In that case, I will also tell you a few words from the bottom of my heart." Hao Meng wiped the wine stains from the corners of his mouth, patted Chen Gong on the shoulder and said:
"Gongtai, even a crude warrior like me can see that Master Yuan treats us as abandoned pawns and will not come to save us at all, let alone someone as smart as you."

"He is unkind and we are unrighteous. Why should we continue to defend Xiaxiang and be loyal to the Yuan family? How about we open the city and surrender to Liu Xuande?"

Hao Meng wants to recruit Chen Gong into the gang.

Originally, he had no intention of asking Chen Gong to surrender to Liu, but Chen Gong's emotional talk just now successfully moved him, causing him to change his mind at the last moment and decide to help Chen Gong.

After all, he surrendered to Liu Bei and his life was saved. But when Liu's army invaded in large numbers, Chen Gong's life or death would be in danger.

Chen Gong frowned slightly, obviously unhappy with Hao Meng's suggestion.

"During the battle of Shouchun, I pretended to surrender to Liu Bei, but ended up disguising myself as a commoner and escaping Shouchun."

"Zi Shi, do you think that even if I surrender to Liu Bei again today, will he let me go?"

Hao Meng's heart was shocked, and he just remembered that Chen Gong had this "dark history".

Chen Gong poured a glass of wine for Hao Meng and continued:
"Besides, it is a foregone conclusion that Yuan Shao will defeat Cao Cao, take over the Central Plains, and unify the north."

"At that time, Yuan Shao led a million strong troops from the north to the south. How could Liu Bei resist with only the troops from Jing and Yang states?"

"It is only a matter of time before Yuan Shao unifies the world and defeats Liu Bei."

"We first took refuge with the Yuan family. If we surrender to Liu Bei because we are afraid of death, even if Liu Bei doesn't kill us, will the Yuan family let you and me go when Yuan Shao destroys Liu?"

Hao Meng's body shuddered, as if he was suddenly reminded.

But the next moment, Hao Meng sighed helplessly with a bitter face:
"The things you mentioned are all things of the future, and can only be discussed in the future."

"The problem now is that if we don't surrender to Liu, Xiaxiang City will be captured soon, and our lives will be in danger!"

"Instead of considering whether Yuan Shao will kill us, it is better to surrender to Liu Bei first and save our lives for now."

Changing the subject, Hao Meng continued:

"As for your false surrender to Liu Xuande, I believe that Liu Xuande is magnanimous and generous. As long as you really open the city to surrender to me this time and make a contribution, Liu Xuande will definitely let bygones be bygones!"

"Gongtai, don't worry too much, just come with me and surrender to Liu!"

As he spoke, Hao Meng gently patted Chen Gong's shoulder to show his closeness.

However, Chen Gong pushed Hao Meng's hand away, the corner of his mouth slightly raised with a hint of pride.

"Cao Cao is treacherous and cruel, the descendant of a eunuch, and Lu Bu is just a common man from the north, who killed his father and master and was fickle."

"I, Chen Gong, served these two men first and then as my masters. I was blind and this is a stain I will never be able to wash away."

"This Liu Bei is nothing but a hypocritical weaver and shoe seller. If I, Chen Gong, change masters again and again and surrender to Liu Bei, won't I be laughed at by the world and regret it for the rest of my life?"

After Chen Gong finished his disparaging remarks, he bowed towards Guandu:

"Today, I, Chen Gong, finally see clearly that only Yuan Benchu ​​has a clean family background, divine power and great strategy, and is the ruler of peace who can end this chaotic world!"

"This time, even if I have to risk my life, I will die for Lord Yuan and will never change my master again!"

Seeing Chen Gong's enthusiasm and iron-heartedness, Hao Meng couldn't help but feel disappointed and his brows gradually furrowed.

After a slight silence, Hao Meng said in a deep voice:
"It seems that you, Chen Gongtai, are determined to be loyal to the Yuan family. What do you want me to do?"

Chen Gong stood up and bowed to Hao Meng:
"Although I only have 3,000 soldiers, as long as you and I work together, I have the confidence that I can defend the city until the eldest master leads his troops south again."

"Even if we fail to hold on in the end, I, Chen Gong, am willing to die with you for the Yuan family. We will go to hell together and achieve the reputation of loyalty and righteousness!"

Hao Meng was stunned for a long while, then suddenly burst into laughter.

That laughter was full of irony.

"Chen Gong, do you think I, Hao Meng, am stupid?"

"Yuan Tan treats me as an abandoned pawn, and you still want to drag me to die with you for his Yuan family?"

"If you want to die, go ahead and die by yourself. I, Hao Meng, won't accompany you!"

Hao Meng stopped laughing and said coldly:
"There is no need to hide it from you now. I have secretly asked the general for surrender, and he has accepted my surrender."

"Since you are unwilling to follow me and surrender to the general, I will not force you because of our past friendship. You can do whatever you want!"

After saying that, Hao Meng jumped up, turned around and was about to leave.

Chen Gong's eyes narrowed, he grabbed the wine glass and slammed it to the ground.

More than a hundred soldiers rushed out from the side halls on both sides, wearing armor and holding swords, and surrounded Hao Meng and his men.

When Hao Meng saw the situation, he realized that Chen Gong had already set up an ambush in advance, and if he refused to obey his orders, he would smash the cup as a signal to surround and kill him.

"It turned out to be a Hongmen Banquet..."

Hao Meng snorted coldly, drew his sword, and said proudly:

"I, Hao Meng, do have some martial arts skills. Do you think you can stop me with just these little pieces of shit?"

Chen Gong stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Hao Meng with contempt, and sneered:

"Hao Meng, of course I know you are a master of martial arts, but do you think you only arranged these hundred or so ambushes?"

Hao Meng felt a chill down his spine, thinking that Chen Gong was always cunning, and wondered what other schemes he had planned.

He didn't dare to delay and wanted to take the initiative with the knife in hand.

"Crossbowmen, don't act now!"

Chen Gong suddenly shouted loudly.

Countless sharp arrows whizzed through the gaps in the ambushes and flew towards Hao Meng and his personal guards from all directions.

Hao Meng was horrified. He never expected that in addition to the swordsmen, Chen Gong also secretly deployed archers and crossbowmen.

In a hurry, he didn't have time to think and just brandished his sword to block.

Unfortunately, the incident happened too suddenly, and the arrows came too fast and too frequently, and with his martial arts skills, how could he resist them?

"Puff puff!"

Five sharp arrows pierced his body.

"Chen Gong, you, you——"

Hao Meng half-knelt on the ground with his knife as support, his eyes wide open, staring at Chen Gong in grief and anger.

(End of this chapter)