Chapter 278: Snakes and rats live together, and the rainstorm is coming After Cheng Lian and Hou Cheng were scolded by Lu Bu, they went all the way to Cheng Lian's house. Although this place is Cheng Lian's home, it is actually just a temporary residence. After the fall of Xia Pi, the generals became homeless. Fortunately, Tan County was a large city with many wealthy families, so Chen Gong found several vacant houses for the generals to live in. Apart from his trusted followers, there were few servants serving in the house. It was early in the morning, the lights were on, and the environment was quite dim, which was perfect for conspiracy. What Hou Cheng just asked Cheng Lian was actually what the two had talked about after they visited Wei Xu before. To borrow Wei Xu's words, if this continues, their children will become slaves. Is that what they wish for? Because Qin Zhen did not launch an all-out attack before, although they had ideas, they did not dare to say much. But after Wang Kai and Qin Song left, they gradually had more personal thoughts. Especially tonight, Lu Bu's treatment of them had made the two of them extremely disappointed.

So as soon as he entered the room, Hou Cheng sat down at the table and said: "If it weren't for Chen Gong today, I'm afraid we would have been beaten up!" "I once asked the general how he considered General Wei's words." "I wonder if the general is still willing to go with the flow now?" Cheng Lian was more courageous than Song Xian, but his temper was also colder. Hearing this, he said: "If we just stay in the city, we can take whatever happens!" "Now the enemy is attacking us fiercely and they treat us like grass. How can we be at peace?" Seeing him like this, Hou Cheng knew that Cheng Lian was also quite dissatisfied with Lu Bu, and hurriedly said: "The enemy is besieging the city now, and Lü Bu's family is here, so they will definitely not want to leave." "If we follow him and hold on, we will be trapped here and die sooner or later." "Since this person is unkind and unrighteous, how about we abandon him and run away?" When Cheng Lian heard this, he felt conflicted. He thought that Lu Bu had already been deserted by his friends and relatives, and as old friends, they should not add insult to injury. But the examples of Zhang Liao, Wang Kai and others are still there. Even Gao Shun, about whom there has been no news so far, may have already defected to Liu Bei. Why can these people do it but they can't? Besides, the city is definitely impossible to defend now. What difference does it make if we surrender early or late? But if he really surrendered, he would be reluctant to leave his own troops! I have to say here that in fact, Lu Bu's subordinates implemented the military system just like Jiangdong in the later period. To put it simply, in addition to the official troops, every general has his own followers. These troops represent their voice under Lu Bu. For example, the Xianzhen Camp was Gao Shun's unit, and they were elite troops trained by Gao Shun himself. Similarly, only someone like Gao Shun, who has no desires or demands, would allow Lu Bu to manipulate him at will.

People like Cheng Lian, Hou Cheng and others were reluctant to hurt their troops when fighting. Not to mention leaving his troops behind in the city and surrendering directly to Qin Zhen. Therefore, when he thought of his subordinates, he said to Hou Cheng in a deep voice: "We are surrendered generals. If we leave alone, how can we survive?" "If you want to abandon it and leave, you should take your troops with you!" But when Hou Cheng heard this, he frowned: "Chen Gong is still in charge of the city, and Wei Yue and Cao Xing are both loyal dogs of Lu Bu." "We can mobilize troops at will, how can we hide it from them? Brother, don't you worry about Hao Meng's situation?" When Cheng Lian heard this, he naturally knew what had happened to Hao Meng. When Lu Bu first entered Xuzhou, Hao Meng was persuaded by Yuan Shu to rebel, but was eventually killed by Gao Shun and Cao Xing. Since then, Cao Xing has been in charge of Hao Meng's troops and has always been the commander of Lu Bu's personal army. Before Chen Gong rebelled, it was extremely risky for them to mobilize troops. While thinking, he suddenly thought of someone and said hurriedly: "Xu Si and Wang Kai were close friends. When Wang Kai was trapped in the enemy's camp, this man cried bitterly." "Now that Wang Kai is living peacefully outside, how could this person be uninterested?" "We are rough people, it is difficult for us to plan everything out, why don't we go and test this person's intentions!" When Hou Cheng heard this, he thought about what Wei Xu said that day and proposed to contact Wei Xu again. As soon as he spoke, Cheng Lian nodded, and then the two of them immediately went their separate ways, one to find Wei Xu and the other to find Xu Si. It is also said that Wei Xu, after inciting everyone that day, intended to betray Lu Bu. However, his injuries were so severe that he was unable to move freely for more than 20 days. Hearing that Wang Kai and Qin Song had left Lu Bu one after another, he felt both envious and resentful. He wanted to persuade Wei Yue to take him away, but he was afraid that this stubborn boy would report him! So he could only sigh at home every day. Unexpectedly, one day when he was sleeping soundly, he heard his personal guard come to report that Hou Cheng came to visit. Wei Xu was in a daze, thinking for a while that Hou Cheng rarely came to see him since he was injured. Why did Hou Cheng suddenly come to visit in the middle of the night? He knew that something must be unusual, so he quickly asked someone to invite him in. After asking carefully, he finally understood the two's plan and said happily: "I only said that Lu Bu is a very popular man, and none of you want to be his enemy!" "I didn't expect the general to have such an intention. How could I not want to do it?" "But I am worried that I am seriously injured and cannot be free, and I am afraid that I will be a burden to you all!"

But when Hou Cheng heard this, he was happy that Wei Xu was determined to rebel, and he laughed and said: "Not to mention that the general is only injured, even if he can't get up, we are very close friends, how can we abandon the general." "But we are short of soldiers and horses, so we need the help of the general's troops!" "Once we start a rebellion, we can take the general away. Why worry about it?" Wei Xu was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately agreed to come and asked Hou Cheng to call Cheng Lian over. On the other hand, in fact, ever since Wang Kai fell into the hands of the enemy, Xu Si had already begun to consider surrendering to the enemy. But while he was still preparing, Qin Song had already left before him, resulting in a strict curfew in the city and no one was allowed to leave the city without permission. Seeing this, Xu Si naturally regretted it, but there was nothing he could do. Unexpectedly, things turned bright for the better. Not long after Qin Zhen withdrew his troops that night, Cheng Lian came to him again on his own initiative. After hearing what Cheng Lian said, Xu Si was delighted and said hurriedly: "Apart from the general, who else is in cahoots with him in this matter?" Cheng Lian had no doubts and quickly said that Hou Cheng was also involved, and Hou Cheng was asking Wei Xu. When Xu Si heard this, he was shocked and said in panic: "General, if you guys are planning to start a rebellion, why bother trying to get Wei Xu to join in?" "This man is related to Lu Bu. When he heard that the general was planning a rebellion, how could he not report it?" "But we have two generals and soldiers to do the job, why do we need to do this?" Seeing this, Cheng Lian smiled complacently and shook his head, saying: "Sir, you don't know that this matter was not initiated by us, but by Wei Xu!" "If he hadn't already had ulterior motives, why would we do this?" After that, he told Xu Si about Wei Xu’s reaction in the past. Xu Si heard Mr. Wei Xuzui complaining and couldn't help but wonder: "How strange, how strange! No wonder these two are related, yet so unkind and unrighteous, they are like this!" "If you are like this to me, you shouldn't blame me for being ungrateful!" "With careful planning, we may be able to capture Lu Bu." "Not only can it protect our family, but it can also be a great achievement!" Seeing him like this, Cheng Lian hurriedly asked for advice, but Xu Si said there was no rush and to wait for Wei Xu's reply first. It just so happened that Hou Cheng persuaded Wei Xu to send someone over, and the two of them set off and gathered at Wei Xu's house. At one time, the four of them gathered together, almost half of Lu Bu's core personnel. After some discussion, it was finally decided to send someone out to contact Qin Zhen first, and then take control of the stables in the city to deprive Lu Bu of his mobility. Then, while Qin Zhen was attacking, they opened the city gate with the help of internal and external forces to let Qin Zhen into the city and captured Lu Bu in one fell swoop. After this agreement was reached, the sky was already bright and everyone said goodbye and left.

Unexpectedly, Wei Yue was on night duty at this time and had just returned from his shift. When he reached the door, he saw everyone walking out. Wei Yue was shocked when he saw this. He thought that Wei Xu had already had the intention of rebellion that day. Could it be that he was gathering people here to rebel? Thinking of this, he wanted to go in and ask, and then he remembered what Wei Xu had said in the past. Although Wei Xu is his brother, Lu Bu is also a relative. The road is blocked at both ends. What should he do? Thinking of this, he felt that his brain was not enough, so he went to find Chen Gong again. When Chen Gong heard everyone gathering in private, he was shocked and said: "Yesterday, because Cheng Lian and Hou Cheng disobeyed military orders, Marquis Wen punished them." "It would be fine if the two of them were resentful and wanted to rebel, but why did Xu Zishan and Wei Xu want to rebel?" Faced with this sudden situation, even though he was very smart, he still felt his scalp tingling! Cheng Lian, Wei Xu, and Hou Cheng all have their own troops under their command, and with Xu Si's planning, once something happens, there will be chaos in the city. Even if they knew in advance that the four were plotting a rebellion, they could not take any major action. After all, Qin Zhen's dog nose is very sensitive. Once he smells any unusual movement in the city, he will most likely launch an all-out attack! Therefore, he must stabilize the situation in the city as soon as possible and not let Qin Zhen notice anything unusual. "Do you know what they are planning? Have you informed Lord Wen about this?" Wei Yue just saw everyone gathering together, but he didn't participate, so how could he know the plan? He shook his head and said: "Because I know that Marquis Wen has a hot temper. If he knew about this, he would definitely be furious!" "So I came to ask you first, sir, how can I persuade you all to stop us from killing each other?" Seeing that he was still thinking of persuading everyone to come back, Chen Gong shook his head. Since everyone has already decided to rebel, they will not turn back easily. His only advantage now is that Lu Bu doesn't know about it yet, so he won't alert the enemy. After thinking carefully for a while, he came up with a plan and said hurriedly: "Although everyone may be planning a rebellion, we don't know their plan, so it's not a good idea to move them." "The general is Wei Xu's closest relative, so maybe you can go and ask him. If we can find out what you are planning, we can take action!" After hearing this, Wei Yue nodded and pretended nothing happened and went back home. He pretended to visit Wei Xu and asked him questions indirectly, trying to find out Wei Xu's true intentions. After all, the two are brothers. When Wei Xu saw them, he did not become suspicious. Instead, he told Wei Yue the whole plan and invited him to join him. As Wei Yue listened to these words, he felt more and more hurt, until he finally cried out: "Brother has treated us well, how could you betray him?" "Don't you know that Mr. Chen already knows what you are planning? If you repent quickly, I will not blame you." "Otherwise, when my brother takes action, disaster may befall us!" When Wei Xu saw him suddenly behave like this, he was shocked. He didn't expect that his brother would cheat him!

But he thought, he and others had just conspired last night, how could the plan be leaked? Apart from Wei Yue who informed on the secret, who else would act like this? Thinking of this, he was sure that Lu Bu didn't know yet, so he simply followed Wei Yue's words and said: "I don't want to rebel either, but Marquis Wen won't let us live!" "Since you already know this, how dare we rebel?" "I hope you can tell the master for me that I dare not betray him again. I only ask for your forgiveness!" When Wei Yue heard this, his sadness turned into joy. He quickly agreed and walked out of the mansion again. As soon as he left, Wei Xu immediately sent someone to inform Xu Si of the matter. When Xu Si heard that the secret had been leaked, he was naturally frightened, but he knew Chen Gong's character. It would be fine if they didn’t know, but once they knew, they would definitely kill us all! At this point, he knew that he and his men had no way to retreat, so he simply sent people to contact Cheng Lian and Hou Cheng to mobilize the troops. When the two heard the news, they were naturally terrified. Fortunately, it was their turn to take turns, so they sent someone out of the city to tell Qin Zhen the news. After sending people out, the two of them simply didn't wait any longer and led their troops towards Chen Gong's mansion. Outside the city, Qin Zhen had successfully launched a night attack and was about to launch a second attack. Unexpectedly, before reaching the city, he received secret reports from people in the city. Seeing that Lü Bu's troops were falling apart, he was overjoyed and said to everyone with a smile: "This is a chance God has given our army to capture the city. We must advance quickly!" Having said this, he also led his troops towards Tan County. All of a sudden, the entire Tan County was mobilized, and a storm was about to come. (End of this chapter)