Pang Qingyun shifted the blame for the defeat onto He Kui, claiming that He Kui had feared the enemy and refused to advance, leaving them to die. But if that had truly been the case, He Kui would inevitably have been punished.
Even if they were not court troops but a private armed force recruited by Lord Jiang, such a disastrous defeat still required military discipline. Lord Jiang had to give Lord Chen an explanation, and He Kui would most likely not survive.
In the end, it was not wise to oppose a bureaucrat of equal rank for the sake of some lowly bastard who handled errands below them, even if one held every advantage. Lord Jiang could suppress Lord Chen, but Lord Di and the other bureaucrats were still watching. No one could bully others quite so outrageously.
Besides, Lord Chen was not truly useless. He merely lacked strength when it came to private armed forces. In other respects, he was no weaker, and he had his own circle of allies, bound together by shared interests.
So it was more likely that Pang Qingyun had failed to follow the established strategy, instead taking a risky gamble and pinning his hopes on He Kui's rescue. If He Kui had sent troops, then perhaps, as Pang Qingyun claimed, many fewer men would have died, and they might even have won.
That suited Pang Qingyun's style perfectly. His famous saying proved it: "I tread on thin ice throughout my life!"
He loved to gamble! Every hand was all-in, leaving no room to retreat!
Unfortunately, He Kui did not move. In the end, Pang Qingyun was the only one who escaped by playing dead.
He could not return to Lord Chen; if he did, he would most likely be beheaded. So he could