My Cultivation Starting from Archery

Chapter 328 - 160: Crown Prince Rebels_6

Fortunately, it was certain that unlike Yunzhou, where the Emperor personally plunged the knife, one could let go and make full use of their abilities.

According to his judgment, the situation in the Eastern Territory was still far from optimistic.

Whether it was troops or high-ranking generals, Dasheng was somewhat lacking; on paper, Dasheng was undoubtedly the strongest, but being surrounded by enemies on all sides and needing to attend to every front was an extremely arduous task.

That Deng Feng...

If only he could surrender, it would be of great help for the upcoming situation.

Moreover, Chen Sansi had carefully investigated.

This man was of valuable character, one of the few good officials in this era who did not oppress the civilians or engage in corruption.

It was for this reason that he was exiled from the Capital City to the borderlands several years ago.

While he was a good man, such people often had a strong backbone.

If it weren’t for being well-prepared and calling Cui Congyi and Sha Wenlong to go in together, he would have succeeded in his suicide just a moment later. Whether he could be persuaded to join was also something that could only be tried.

If it really came to it, then so be it.

On the battlefield, if one couldn’t be a friend, they could only be an enemy.

After returning to his assigned quarters, Chen Sansi did not make any fuss but seized the time to practice the Sword Qi Skill all night long.

[Magic: Sword Qi Skill (Proficient)]

[Progress: 855/1000]

Only when the next day dawned did he speak.

"Xia Cong! Go fetch General Deng’s archives and all the records of his life’s deeds for me."

"Yes!"

...

"General Deng, why don’t you surrender? It would be beneficial for everyone."

Sha Wenlong, holding the Iron Thorns Whip in his hand, looked impatiently at Deng Feng, who had taken off his armor and was left only in a blood-stained undergarment robe, and said, "You know the rules; it’s too much trouble to keep high-ranking generals captive, so usually, if they don’t surrender within seven days, they will be beheaded and shown to the public!"

Not only was Deng Feng entirely bound by Mystic Iron Chains, but now his hands and feet were also nailed to a cross-shaped wooden stake.

He kept his eyes tightly shut, without uttering a word.

"Deng Feng!"

Sha Wenlong reprimanded, "You, a defeated general, have even been promised a marquisate by the Great Sheng Court. What more could you be dissatisfied with? Well, I recognize your stubbornness. What about your family? Bring in the Deng family members!"

Soon, a dozen or so family members, young and old, including two sons, three daughters, as well as his elderly mother and concubines, were pushed and shoved into the tent.

Deng Feng turned a deaf ear.

"General Deng!"

Sha Wenlong said, "It would be one thing for you to die alone, but do you really want to drag down your wives and children along with you?"

This time.

Deng Feng finally opened his eyes, but rather than begging for mercy, he scoffed and said, "Hurry up and kill them, kill them all with me!"

"You?!"

Sha Wenlong was taken aback, never expecting that even this move would not work.

"Kill them!"

Deng Feng was actually urging them on, "They lived off my blessing while they were alive. Now that I have been defeated, it is only right for them to die with me! Why won’t you kill us!"

"Fine, I will kill them for you to see!"

Sha Wenlong, who had been bottling up a bellyful of rage and looking for an outlet, was about to act when a young man in a white robe walked into the tent.

"Sha Wenlong, that’s enough."

"Chen San, General Chen."

Sha Wenlong, restraining himself from addressing him directly, said, "Deng Feng refuses to surrender, just kill him!"

"You may leave. Make sure General Deng’s family is well-cared for,"

Chen Sansi ordered, "If anyone, especially the women, suffers the slightest insult, I’ll send a petition and execute your entire family!"

"Got it."

Sha Wenlong, biting back his anger, led away the Deng family members.

Chen Sansi then ordered Xia Cong and the others to stay two hundred steps away from the tent, forbidding anyone to come within two hundred steps.

"Chen."

Deng Feng mocked, "Do you think by taking care of my family, you can buy me over?"

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"No, I wasn’t planning on buying your loyalty with this. I simply knew that killing you would be pointless, so I kept you alive, intending to kill you alongside me after seven days, as a sign of respect for you."

Chen Sansi said as he took a seat on the chair inside the tent and began perusing a few volumes of records, not in any hurry to continue talking.

On the contrary, it was Deng Feng who couldn’t hold back. He said resentfully, "Chen Sansi! I only lost to you by an hour! By dawn, you all are planning to retreat, aren’t you? That means, in another hour, if the city doesn’t descend into chaos, you lose!"

"Indeed, everything you said is correct."

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Chen Sansi paused, "But this hour is a chasm, an insurmountable natural barrier that you cannot overcome. You are destined to lose."

This battle...

He didn’t know where his confidence came from, but he truly had grasped a kind of military tactic, one that came not only from the deeds of sages but also from the understanding he gained through many large and small battles.

Under the circumstances at the time, the common people and the defending army were simply seeking a way to survive. Since that way out had been provided, there was no point in continuing the defense.

It was only because of Deng Feng’s excessive prestige that they didn’t open the gates the next day. They didn’t even need to resort to the tactic of attacking from all sides.

"Enough."

Deng Feng was tired of arguing: "Victors beget kings, and losers bandits. Go ahead and kill me. Deng will never be disloyal or unfaithful."

"Loyalty and faithfulness, such noble virtues."

Holding the document, Chen Sansi read, "General Deng, let me ask you one thing, what is the purpose of defending the city?"

"Of course, it’s to protect the people!"

"Now that the city has fallen, have the citizens been harmed? Even this morning, several corrupt officials whom you previously didn’t dare to touch due to their backing from the court were killed, and the common people are cheering. Doesn’t this mean that the circumstances have improved for the people?"

Deng Feng: "..."

"Or are you suggesting that General Deng believes you must continue the fight, and see more civilians die in order to protect them?"

"..."

Deng Feng changed his tune: "I did it to serve the court!"

"Oh?"

With the document in hand, Chen Sansi said: "In the year 192 of the Qingli Era, when General Deng was only sixteen and just beginning his career, you wrote a poem that shocked the literary world."

"Studying the sage teachings assiduously to stand by the people, continuing the lost studies to usher in peace."

"Holding a three-foot Green Blade Sword, sweeping away all corrupt beings in the world."

"So I want to ask, what is more important to General Deng, serving the court, or pursuing this grand aspiration you once set for yourself?"

Deng Feng furrowed his brow: "Are these in conflict?"

"Of course, they’re in conflict!"

Chen Sansi continued: "To my knowledge, in Qing Country corruption is rampant, taxes increase every year, and the people are in unspeakable misery, with at least a dozen uprisings each year. Given such a deeply entrenched and irreversible state of decay within the court, does General Deng believe it’s possible to achieve the so-called everlasting peace? Even... establishing a just society for the people and sweeping away all corrupt beings are unachievable, right? Otherwise, the officials in the city wouldn’t have to wait for me to execute them."

"As such, doesn’t serving the court and aiming for a peaceful world contradict each other?

By continuing to serve Qing Country, aren’t you destroying your own grand aspirations?

Or is it that..."

He paused for a moment, then suddenly raised his voice: "General Deng is nothing but a glory-seeking, hypocritical pretender! All your actions are merely to preserve the so-called ’six generations of loyal service’ reputation!"

"You’re talking nonsense!"

Deng Feng, who had been as silent as a dead dog, finally had his nerves struck and burst out in anger: "What right do you have to say that about me!"

"Isn’t it true?"

Chen Sansi stood up: "Suppose, because of General Deng’s brave and indomitable defense, Zhao Tong Prefecture City had been saved. Then, that Prefect Young Master with a powerful family background, considered to be royalty in Qing Country, could continue to harm the civilians, forcing himself on women. Even with numerous petitions filed by you, what good would that do? At worst, they would be dismissed or fined, but they could simply move to another place and continue their former deeds without any repercussions."

"All those victimized civilians, could they think that it was General Deng’s defense that caused their suffering?

Hence, aren’t serving the Qing Country court and striving for a world of peace in contradiction?

As long as General Deng continues to serve as a general for Qing Country, even a thousand years would not be enough to realize your wish, right?"

"Ridiculous, ridiculous!"

Deng Feng found a loophole and began to fiercely counterattack: "All this meaningless drivel, isn’t it just to make me surrender? Corruption may be endless in Qing Country and the people may suffer terribly, but what about Sheng Country? In Yunzhou alone, in just ten days, even I can see that something’s amiss! That’s nearly a million civilians! If you want to talk about being rotten, Sheng Country is far worse!"

"General Deng!"

Chen Sansi enunciated each word: "Have I ever said that I am loyal to Great Sheng, or boasted about being a loyal martyr for Great Sheng?"

"Boom!"

Those words.

They exploded in Deng Feng’s mind like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

"You, what do you mean by that?"

```