Chapter 91: Seeing Through the Conspiracy
"Shooting my comrades? Brother Cai, are you talking about me? I just accidentally fired the three-barreled gun in my hand. Who knew that your men were so incompetent... Are you going to blame me for this too?"

Ye Mingsheng looked at the familiar figure below the city and said in a calm voice:

He and Cai Pengbo served in the Xuanwu Army together, both were commanders of the 1st Battalion of the 7th rank, so naturally they had met each other and were quite familiar with each other. However, Cai Pengbo, who counted himself as Xu Zhaojie's confidant, felt that he would be promoted sooner or later, so he had a very high opinion of himself.

Even when facing ordinary military officers of the same rank in the Xuanwu Army, he often put on a condescending attitude, which was extremely annoying. For Xu Zhaojie's sake, no one would say anything to him, but in private, they all cursed this guy.

"Humph!"

Cai Pengbo was immediately furious at Ye Mingsheng's teasing, but he didn't know how to refute Ye Mingsheng, so he could only snort hatefully.

After a moment of silence, he remembered what mission he had come here for. He did not bother to argue with Ye Mingsheng on this issue, and said coldly: "The commander has received orders that a group of Japanese pirates intend to harm your army, so he ordered me to come to support you. Ye Mingsheng, why don't you open the city gate quickly? What are you waiting for?"

Hearing Cai Pengbo's poor excuse, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but smile disdainfully, and said in a calm voice:
"Thank you for your kindness, Commander-in-Chief and Brother Cai. However, you two don't need to worry about it. I have already defeated the Japanese pirates and they have already fled out of Luwang Town. Brother Cai, you can go back and report to the Commander-in-Chief!"

"Ye Mingsheng, you said to defeat them, so we have to defeat them? Commander, since you asked me to come to help you, you should just open the city gate obediently. Why are you talking so much nonsense? Do you want to disobey the military order?"

Cai Pengbo, who was riding on a horse, drew out his sword and shouted at Ye Mingsheng. The threat in his last words was self-evident.
As the oriole in Xu Zhaojie's plan of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind", Xu Zhaojie made a good plan for Cai Pengbo. He secretly followed behind Ye Mingsheng's troops. As long as he waited for Ye Mingsheng and the Japanese pirates to fight, he could reap the benefits.

No matter whether Ye Mingsheng finally resisted the Japanese pirates or the Japanese pirates killed Ye Mingsheng, he could lead the cavalry to join the battle before the battle was over, intervene in the battle in the name of suppressing the Japanese pirates, easily kill Ye Mingsheng and the Japanese pirates of the Black Dragon Society, and then put the blame of killing Ye Mingsheng on the Japanese pirates, saying that Ye Mingsheng died in the chaos.

One could even be a little hypocritical and say that he wiped out the Japanese pirates, avenged Ye Mingsheng, and earned some fame among the imperial guards... Although the plan was well thought out, unfortunately, the military situation on the battlefield changed rapidly and the situation changed too quickly!
Although Cai Pengbo's cavalry marched very fast, after hearing that the Japanese pirates attacked Ye Mingsheng in Luwang Town, he personally led the cavalry and covered the distance that Ye Mingsheng's troops took a whole day to cover in just one hour, and arrived at the city of Luwang Town.

But he was still too late. Ye Mingsheng had already completely defeated the Japanese pirates, which made his actions morally untenable and without any justification!

Although the name is invisible and intangible, it is very useful. Without the name of exterminating the Japanese pirates, even though Cai Pengbo has absolute strength to crush Ye Mingsheng, he is afraid to take action. After all, military discipline and national laws are there!
Of course Cai Pengbo could. He gave orders to his subordinates to attack the city. In less than a cup of tea, he could get Ye Mingsheng's head for his master, Xu Zhaojie!
But the key to the problem is that Ye Mingsheng is not alone, he has hundreds of subordinates. It is easy to break through Luwang Town and kill Ye Mingsheng, but it is almost impossible to wipe out Ye Mingsheng's troops in such a dark night and not let any of Ye Mingsheng's men leave Luwang Town alive.

Or even Ye Mingsheng’s subordinates didn’t need to expose this matter, because Cai Pengbo himself was not sure that after this matter was done, all of his 1,000 cavalrymen would be loyal to him and would not let any wind leak out...

As long as a little news gets out, Cai Pengbo will be finished. The crime of recklessly launching war and killing hundreds of his comrades is definitely a serious crime. Not only will he be executed, but his entire family will also be executed, and there is even the possibility of his entire clan being exterminated!
At that time, Xu Zhaojie, the Marquis of Zhenyuan and the mastermind behind the scenes, would have been very considerate if he had not come out to protect him or even cut ties with him and added insult to injury.

Although Cai Pengbo is Xu Zhaojie's trusted and beloved general and is very loyal to him, he is not Xu Zhaojie's hired warrior after all, and he is not capable of making such a great sacrifice for Xu Zhaojie's orders!

As far as the current situation is concerned, the "mantis stalks the cicada while the oriole waits behind" plan that Xu Zhaojie originally formulated for him has inevitably failed. Therefore, in order to complete Xu Zhaojie's order, he had to kill Ye Mingsheng.

Cai Pengbo was fearful. Even though he had the ability to break through Luwang Town, he couldn't really do it. He could only curse in his heart, saying that the Japanese pirates were a bunch of trash and idiots who were dealt with by Ye Mingsheng so quickly. At the same time, he threatened to attack in an attempt to make Ye Mingsheng open the city gate himself.

As long as he enters Luwang Town, he will have the opportunity to find a random excuse to create a conflict with Ye Mingsheng's troops, and then arrange two trusted men to kill Ye Mingsheng. Although this is easy to be criticized and has considerable risks, he has Xu Zhaojie's support, so it is likely that a big thing can be made small, and a small thing can be made nothing...
There is no need to take such a big risk of attacking Luwang Town and killing comrades!
Cai Pengbo was calculating in his mind, how could Ye Mingsheng not see his little thoughts?
Looking at Cai Pengbo, who was threatening but not daring to act, Ye Mingsheng had already realized what he was afraid of. A sneer appeared on his angular face, and he said loudly to Cai Pengbo:
"Brother Cai, I know exactly what you want to do. If you have the guts, lead your troops to attack the city. My head, Ye Mingsheng, is waiting for you here!"

As soon as Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, he waved his hand, and the soldiers who came from the military camp climbed up the city wall of Luwang Town one after another, holding swords and sticks, and took a fighting stance...
(End of this chapter)