In the lobby of the county government office, Ma Chao was pacing back and forth, with complex expressions on his face.
Ma Chao, who was proud by nature, felt reluctant to surrender to Yuan Fang when he thought of surrendering to Yuan Fang.
However, if he does not surrender to Yuan Fang, his Ma family will be in danger.
Reluctant to surrender, but forced to surrender, how could the proud Ma Chao not struggle with this.
"Major General, Mr. Xiaozhi is back." The soldiers outside the hall suddenly came to report.
Ma Chao stopped suddenly, waved his hand and shouted: "What are you waiting for? Please invite Xiaozhi in quickly."
After a while, the dusty Fazheng walked into the hall.
"Xiaozhi, you are finally back. How is it? How did Yuan Fang reply? Did he agree to our conditions?" Ma Chao asked impatiently before Fazheng could speak.
Fazheng sighed and told Ma Chao the truth about how Yuan Fang rejected their marriage conditions and how he issued an ultimatum to make the Ma family surrender unconditionally.
The more he heard, the darker Ma Chao's face became. He smacked the table and said angrily: "What a Yuan Fang, how can he be so crazy? My sister is the most beautiful woman in Xiliang. Now I want to marry him as my concubine. How dare he?" To refuse is to disrespect my Ma family!"
Ma Chao originally thought that Yuan Fang was eager to recruit them and coveted the beauty of his sister Yunlu, so he would happily agree to the marriage conditions.
At that time, the Ma family would be able to submit to Yuan Fang with dignity as a relative of the King of Qi.
Who would have expected that Yuan Fang would not be moved by his sister's beauty, but would be so crazy that he wanted to marry their Ma family. The point of unconditional surrender.
"Major General, calm down, I wonder if I can listen to Zheng speak a few words of truth." Fazheng advised.
Ma Chao finally suppressed his anger. Waving his hands, he said, "If Xiaozhi has anything to say, just say it."
Fa Zheng said casually: "Yuan Fang did not accept our conditions just because he was greedy for the beauty of the young lady. This shows that this person is a true hero and a wise leader who can be trusted. Furthermore, we are facing internal and external troubles now, and Yuan Fang is ten times more powerful. As for us, he is completely crazy. Let me ask you, if the position is changed, will the young general accept Yuan Fang's terms? "
"I¡ª¡ª"
Ma Chao was speechless, and most of the anger on his face was reduced. It was obvious that Fa Zheng's words had touched Ma Chao's nerves.
The sound of footsteps started again, and Ma Chao started walking again. It was hard to make a decision for a while.
"Surrender is the only chance to save the Ma family. However, this Yuan Fang is too crazy. I just can't bear to surrender to him in such a humble manner"
While hesitating, rapid footsteps sounded, Ma Dai and Pang De. They both broke in.
Pang De¡¯s face was as gloomy as iron, and Ma Dai was even more emotional, with tears welling up in his eyes.
As soon as he entered the door, Ma Dai sobbed sadly and angrily: "Brother, something big happened in Chencang. Two idiots, Han Sui and Zhang Xiu, united with Chen Gong to act as internal agents. They besieged our Chencang camp, and the two brothers Xiutie were killed. He was killed by the rebels, and Zhang Xiu even killed his uncle with his own hands."
When Ma Dai talked about his grief, he couldn't help but fell to his knees on the ground.
Two younger brothers died in the battle, and their father Ma Teng was killed!
The shocking bad news hit Ma Chao's head. For a moment, Ma Chao felt like the world was spinning, his mind went blank, his body was swaying, and he was about to collapse.
"Young General!" Pang De quickly stepped forward and supported Ma Chao.
Fazheng's expression also changed with horror, and he was filled with grief and anger. He clenched his fists and said bitterly: "I knew that Zhang Xiu and Han Sui were dissatisfied with the alliance leader, but I didn't expect that they would be so cruel. He actually joined forces to kill the traitor Chen Gong, the leader of the alliance, and the two major generals. The leader of the alliance was so kind to him, but he dared to betray the leader of the alliance, it's hateful, it's hateful!"
"Han Sui, Zhang Xiu, Chen Gong, you three traitors, I, Ma Chao, will not be a human until I kill you -"
Ma Chao swore to God that he was extremely angry.
At this time, Pang De said in a deep voice: "Although the three thieves are hateful, they now have a total of fifty or sixty thousand soldiers. We are now trapped in Xi County with only twenty thousand soldiers and horses. If we want to kill them for revenge, I'm afraid ¡¡±
Before Pang De finished speaking, Ma Chao turned to Fa Zheng, gritted his teeth and said resolutely: "Xiao Zhi, go to Chang'an quickly and tell the King of Qi that I, Ma Chao, am willing to surrender to him with my entire army."
With his retreat cut off and his father and brother killed, Ma Chao now has no choice but to surrender to Yuan Fang.
Only by surrendering to Yuan Fang can he take advantage of Yuan Fang's power to pacify Xiliang, kill Han Sui, Zhang Xiu and Chen Gong, and avenge the death of his father, brother and two younger brothers.
"I understand, I'll leave now."
The law is correctHesitantly, with a heart full of sorrow, the starry night passed back to Chang'an.
¡¡
Chang'an City, dusk.
At this time, Yuan Fang was already patrolling the camps outside the city, boosting morale and preparing for the day when he would raise his troops and continue to advance westward.
Liu Zhang in Yizhou has been retreating steadily, and Yuan Fang has no time to wait any longer. Regardless of whether Ma Teng surrenders or not, Yuan Fang is determined to send troops once the five-day period has passed.
Fang Zi had inspected the last battalion and had just returned to the palace. Before Yuan Fang could even take off his armor, Yi Cong came to report that Ma Teng, the envoy of Fazheng, had suddenly left and returned and was seeking to see him outside.
The Dharma has gone away and come back?
From Chang'an to Chencang, even if Fazheng was galloping day and night, it would still take five days to go back and forth. Less than three days have passed. Why did Fazheng leave and come back?
"Could it be that the Xiliang army has changed"
Yuan Fangji suppressed his guess and ordered Fa Zheng to be introduced.
He had just settled down with his front legs, and then he hurried in with his back legs, and he still had a solemn look on his face.
"Your Highness, King Qi, my young general has decided to surrender to His Highness unconditionally. I also ask Your Highness to keep his previous promise." Fazheng said solemnly, holding his hands.
Ma family, surrender!
Hearing the words of Dharma righteousness, all the civil and military officials including Guo Jia and others were overjoyed.
Yuan Fang was excited at first, but he soon heard something fishy about Fa Zheng's return and his words.
When Fazheng said, "The Major General is willing to surrender," he was clearly referring to Ma Chao, but in the Ma family army, it was obvious that Ma Teng should be the one who called the shots.
unless¡¡
Yuan Fang suddenly guessed something, looked at Fa Zheng and said: "The Ma family is coming back. It's natural to be filial and upright. If my guess is correct, could it be that something happened to Ma Teng?"
A strange look flashed in Fazheng's eyes. He was obviously surprised that Yuan Fang had guessed the clues.
"Alas~~" Fazheng sighed and told the truth about the Chencang Incident and the murder of Ma Teng and his son.
" Listening to what Fazheng said is not only about influencing civil and military affairs. Even Yuan Fang himself was quite surprised.
Yuan Fang expected the Xiliang army to fight among themselves, but what he didn't expect was that Zhang Xiu and Han Sui would be so vicious that they would secretly communicate with Chen Gong and annex Ma Teng's tribe. Kill Ma Teng and his two sons.
"Zhang Xiu and Han Sui were once allies of the Ma family. Chen Gong was also favored by Ma Teng. I didn't expect that these three people would do such a great job."
Yuan Fang sighed with regret, and was even more disgusted with what those three people did.
Now, he finally understands. Why did Ma Chao surrender so happily? It turned out that Ma Teng was dead and he had no choice but to surrender to himself in order to save his life. Revenge for father and brother.
"However, this disaster happened to the Ma family. To be honest, Yuan Fang has benefited a lot from it to a certain extent.
Ma Chao, Pang De and Ma Dai, the three generals surrendered, plus more than 20,000 Xiliang cavalry, this gift is really too generous.
"Your Majesty, once the Ma family surrenders, the strength of the Xiliang army will be greatly reduced. Han and Zhang will no longer dare to defend Chencang. They will definitely lead their troops to withdraw to Longxi and stick to the key pass of Jieting. Without further delay, our army will raise its troops immediately. Go west and head towards the street pavilion."
Guo Jia was the first to recover from his emotions, immediately figured out the enemy's thoughts, and proposed a plan to Yuan Fang.
Yuan Fang was convinced that this was true and without hesitation, he immediately ordered all his troops to mobilize, break out of camp and march westward to join Ma Chao's troops, seize Chencang and street pavilions.
After the decision was made, the civil and military officials dispersed and were busy sending out troops.
Yuan Fang asked Fa Zheng to stay and sent someone to invite Ma Yunlu to meet him.
Now that Ma Teng, Ma Xiu, Ma Tiesan and his son are dead, Ma Chao leads his troops to surrender, and Yuan Fang should let her know about the drastic changes in the Ma family.
¡°Although, for her, this was a tragic event that destroyed her family and her life.
Not long after, Ma Yunlu hurriedly walked into the lobby.
When he looked up and saw Fazheng, Ma Yunlu suddenly became suspicious and said curiously: "Fa Xiaozhi, why are you back so soon?"
Fazheng sighed, facing Ma Yunlu, he didn't know how to explain it.
"In these troubled times, no one has ever had a relative die. Since it's hard to say what filial piety is, let me tell you."
Yuan Fang turned to Ma Yunlu and said slowly: "My brother Ma Mengqi has decided to lead the rest of his troops to submit to our Daqi army."
When Ma Yunlu heard what he said about "the death of relatives", his heart skipped a beat, but when he heard that the Ma family had surrendered to Daqi, he couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.
"That's great. Dad finally figured it out. This is a good thing. Is there anything you shouldn't tell me?"
Looking at Ma Yunlu¡¯s face, Yuan Fang took a breath,Fang Dao: "Although your brother surrendered, your two brothers were rebelled by Han Sui, Zhang Xiu and Chen Gong, and they were all poisoned."
A thunderbolt struck from the blue.
Ma Yunlu's body swayed, his face suddenly turned pale, and he was horrified, as if he couldn't believe his ears.
¡°You¡¯re talking nonsense, I don¡¯t believe it, I don¡¯t believe it¡ª¡ª¡±
Unwilling to accept this cruel fact, Ma Yunlu took a few steps back and shouted at Yuan Fang.
Yuan Fang said nothing and only glanced at Fazheng.
At this point, Fazheng couldn't hide anything, so he could only sigh and said bitterly: "Miss, what Your Highness said is true. The two major generals, General Ma and Xiutie, were both murdered by the three traitors in Chencang. died."
"This cruel fact, coming from Fazheng's mouth, there is nothing to question. Even if Ma Yunlu doesn't want to face it, she knows in her heart that this is absolutely true.
"Zhang Xiu, Chen Gong, Han Sui, you three thieves, you dare to kill my father and my brother. I, Ma Yunlu, want to kill you, I want to kill you!"
Ma Yunlu, who was extremely sad and angry, had a stern voice and vowed like crazy. Tears could not stop falling from his cold face.
With excitement and qi and blood surging, Ma Yunlu felt his eyes darken and he lost consciousness.
In her anger, she fainted and staggered to the side.
Seeing this, Yuan Fang didn't have time to think too much. He jumped forward and reached out with his ape-like arm at the moment she fell.