44. Persuading Qiao Rui to Surrender, Asking the General to Meet His Death!

Persuading Qiao Rui to Surrender, Asking the General to Die!

When it comes to the man Qiao Rui, historical records actually contain very little.

But Qin Tian remembered clearly that whenever Qiao Rui appeared, it was always alongside Zhang Xun.

When Yuan Shu first pacified Huainan, he appointed both Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui as generals.

Later, when Sun Ce fought north and south under Yuan Shu's banner, it was these two who held Sun Ce in high regard; because of this record, some have inferred that Qiao Rui was the father of the Two Qiaos.

But this was not what concerned Qin Tian; what he cared about was that in his memories, Qiao Rui had once been captured by Lu Bu, only to be released and allowed to return.

After returning to Yuan Shu's command, he was once again entrusted with heavy responsibilities, guarding Chen State alongside Zhang Xun, only to be ultimately defeated and executed by Cao Cao!

Judging from these memories, Qiao Rui possessed three traits: first, he was always a subordinate to Zhang Xun; second, he was not a man who surrendered easily; and third, he respected heroes!

These three traits were precisely why Qin Tian prepared to persuade Qiao Rui to surrender.

First, as a subordinate, he had fewer concerns.

Second, having been captured once before without surrendering, his loyalty would have a certain guarantee if he were persuaded now.

Third, because he respected heroes, one could use verbal persuasion and have Liu Bei step onto the stage!

It was nothing more than a bit of verbal sparring, and Qin Tian still had some confidence in that.

Therefore, upon arriving outside the tent where Qiao Rui was held, he said to Liu Bei:

"My Lord, please stop here; Yide, follow me inside."

Liu Bei nodded and simply stopped outside the tent, letting Zhang Fei accompany Qin Tian inside.

It must be said that the way the old Liu treated captured enemy generals was quite decent; aside from having their upper bodies bound with ropes, they were all kept in individual quarters.

As soon as they entered, they saw a general sitting on a cot, looking at them with an expression of fury; had his mouth not been gagged, he likely would have started hurling insults immediately.

Clearly, he had heard all the commotion outside the camp.

Seeing Qiao Rui in this state, Qin Tian wanted to laugh, so he turned back and asked:

"Yide, what is the meaning of this? Why gag the General?"

Hearing this, Zhang Fei pouted and said:

"The Military Advisor does not know, but this man's tongue is sharp. If I did not gag him, I fear we would have no peace!"

As soon as he said this, Qiao Rui's eyes widened, and he let out muffled cries, his face turning beet red from the effort.

Seeing him struggling so uncomfortably, Qin Tian spoke up:

"Release him. The General is a great commander; how can we treat him like this!"

Seeing this, Zhang Fei frowned and said:

"I only feared that if I released him, he would offend the Military Advisor!"

"What does that matter?"

Seeing that Zhang Fei was unwilling, Qin Tian simply walked straight forward, saying as he went:

"I have long heard that General Qiao is a man of righteousness!"

"If we treat him with kindness, the General will surely not respond with malice!"

Reaching Qiao Rui, he directly removed the gag from his mouth and smiled at him:

"Is that not so, General Qiao?"

Qiao Rui had intended to curse them, but after being addressed this way by Qin Tian, he found it difficult to speak.

In this era, being called a "man of righteousness" was a high compliment.

If he cursed them now, would he not be admitting that he himself was unrighteous?

Though his mouth was free, the words would not come; he merely snorted coldly and turned his head away, as if unwilling to listen to Qin Tian.

But Qin Tian's smile only grew brighter:

"Why does the General not say a word?"

Hearing this, Qiao Rui turned his head back to glare at him, his lips moving as if to lash out, but he held it back and said in a deep voice:

"A defeated general has nothing to say!"

"If you want to kill me or butcher me, do as you please; why put on this pretense?"

As soon as he finished, before Qin Tian could speak, Zhang Fei roared:

"Audacious! How dare you be disrespectful to the Military Advisor?"

Hearing this, Qiao Rui naturally glared at Zhang Fei, but Qin Tian turned back and smiled:

"Yide, you must not do this!"

"The General is surely unwilling to accept this defeat, which is why he acts this way!"

He turned back to look at Qiao Rui and said:

"I wonder if what I say is what the General is thinking?"

Qiao Rui heard this and immediately replied with haughty arrogance:

"If not for your treacherous schemes to persuade Yang Feng and those other rebels, how could our army have been defeated?"

"To be defeated in such a manner—who could ever be convinced?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei was immediately displeased and bellowed:

"Preposterous! You arrogant fool, it was clearly I who captured you, yet you refuse to submit!"

"If you have the guts, I shall release you. Let us have a duel, and we shall see if you can emerge victorious!"

Stung by Zhang Fei's shout, Qiao Rui sneered:

"A general should not rely on the brute strength of a common thug. While I may not be your match in a duel, when two armies clash, I am not necessarily the one who will lose!"

Zhang Fei had always prided himself on his martial prowess, and encountering someone who refused to judge matters by strength left him utterly incensed.

Seeing this, Qin Tian spoke to Zhang Fei:

"Yide, you must not act this way. General Qiao's words are not incorrect."

"When two armies clash, one truly should not rely on the brute strength of a common thug. Look at the Overlord of Western Chu; his strength was peerless in his time, yet was he not captured all the same?"

"This shows that a general must prioritize the greater situation and must never rely solely on his own strength to court danger!"

Zhang Fei had never been fond of such rhetoric, but having just been lectured by Qin Tian, he did not retort and merely nodded in agreement.

Seeing Qin Tian lecture Zhang Fei, Qiao Rui's expression grew even more smug, though he said:

"Zhang Fei may be wrong, but he did capture me!"

"Who are you to speak such empty words?"

"I know you must have come to persuade me to surrender, hoping to curry favor with your tongue, but I will not surrender! No matter how flowery your words may be, I will not surrender!"

Hearing this, Qin Tian turned back and smiled at Qiao Rui:

"It seems the General is truly seeking death. Very well. Someone, bring me a short sword!"

The guards outside the tent heard this and hurriedly brought a short sword inside.

Seeing this, Zhang Fei could not help but feel surprised, thinking that since Qin Tian was supposed to be persuading him to surrender, was he now planning to give up?

When Qiao Rui heard Qin Tian's words, he was startled and asked:

"Do you truly intend to kill me?"

Qin Tian took the short sword and smiled faintly:

"Is the General afraid?"

Qiao Rui frowned:

"A true man's word is worth its weight in gold. If you want to kill me, then kill me! If I so much as furrow my brow, then I, Qiao Rui, have lived my life in vain!"

"That is well. Since the General says he leaves his fate to me, why ask any further questions?"

Qin Tian held the short sword and walked toward Qiao Rui step by step.

Seeing him act this way, Qiao Rui was naturally astonished. This young man appeared refined and scholarly, yet who would have thought he was so ruthless as to want to kill him with his own hands?

He did not fear decapitation, for that would be over in an instant, but if Qin Tian intended to stab him one blade at a time, his heart could not help but tremble!

However, having already spoken his piece, he could not go back on his word and could only close his eyes and wait.

He heard the other man walk up to him step by step, yet the man remained motionless for a long time.

All people possess a desire to survive, especially when facing imminent death, and this desire causes time to stretch out indefinitely.

Listening to the silence as the other man failed to act, even Qiao Rui could not help but swallow hard.

Watching from the side, Zhang Fei felt his heart rise to his throat.

He could see Qin Tian holding the sword, measuring it back and forth against Qiao Rui's neck, as if contemplating where the best place to strike would be.

He had killed his fair share of men, but he had never seen anyone killed in such a manner!

It was hard to imagine what it would look like if Qin Tian were to suddenly plunge the sword into Qiao Rui's chest.

He watched, and Qiao Rui listened, yet Qin Tian remained motionless, repeatedly examining the short sword from different angles.

Finally, Qiao Rui could bear it no longer; he opened his eyes and roared:

"If you want to kill me, then do it! Why act like this?"

As he opened his eyes, he saw the look of conflict on Qin Tian's handsome face, and then heard the other man say:

"It is not that I wish to torture the General, but I was thinking that even the lowliest ant clings to life. You are a man of seven feet, raised by your parents—do you truly seek death?"

Hearing Qin Tian mention the parents who had raised him, Qiao Rui's expression dimmed.

Suddenly remembering the faces of his parents, he could not help but sigh:

"I have failed the grace of my parents who raised me. If I reach the Yellow Springs, I shall surely beg for their forgiveness first!"

"So, the General's parents have already passed away!"

Qin Tian's eyes revealed a look of pity as he said:

"If it comes to this, and you reach the Yellow Springs, should your ancestors ask who killed you and for what reason you died, how will you answer them, General?"

"I fear those two elders know nothing of the current situation; they only know the Han Dynasty has an Emperor, and have never heard that the Yuan clan has declared themselves emperors!"

"You were originally a minister of the Han, yet now you serve a traitor. If your ancestors in the underworld were to learn of this, how would you account for yourself?"

"If I call you a traitor, you died serving your master; if I call you a loyal subject, you betrayed four hundred years of the Han Dynasty's grace. Truly, I know not what is to be done!"

Qiao Rui heard this, his expression twisted, his lips trembling, unable to utter a word.

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the concept of reincarnation had not yet become widespread; in the eyes of the ancients, after a person died, they would arrive at the underworld.

In other words, in the eyes of the ancients, death meant facing one's ancestors.

If Qin Tian had spoken of grand principles, Qiao Rui would surely have scoffed, but once the matter of the afterlife was raised, he had no retort.

Just as Qin Tian said, if he were to die and go below, how would he face his ancestors?

Though the Qiao clan was not a prominent family, his ancestors had once been prosperous.

If he died now, how could he answer to them?

Could he say he followed the Yuan family in rebellion and was killed in defeat?

Going back three generations might be fine, but go back seven or eight, and who would even know where the Yuan family came from?

The Han Dynasty had stood for four hundred years; how long had the Yuan family been on the rise?

For a moment, Qiao Rui became hesitant.

Seeing this, Qin Tian knew the time was ripe, so he used his short sword to slice through the ropes binding Qiao Rui.

Qiao Rui, lost in thought, felt his body suddenly go slack, and he looked up in surprise:

"Why do you do this?"

Qin Tian looked at him and said sternly:

"Seeing you like this, I cannot bear to kill you, lest you be reproached when you go below!"

"Furthermore, we are both ministers of the Han. Now that the world is in chaos, we should prioritize restoring the Han Dynasty; how can we slaughter one another?"

"If you truly wish to die, General, please do as you please. I have no desire to stain my hands with the blood of a righteous man!"

With that, he plunged the sword into the straw mat and said:

"Please, General, proceed to your death!"

Having finished, he turned and walked toward the back of the tent.

Zhang Fei watched Qin Tian's performance, stunned; he had never seen such a way to persuade a surrender.

First, he talked the man out of wanting to die, then invited him to go ahead and die!

This maneuver was truly eye-opening.

Now, Qiao Rui was caught in a dilemma!

And just as he had hoped, after that barrage of words, Qiao Rui had already abandoned the thought of dying right there. Looking at the sword, he fell into a state of conflict.

If he died, he couldn't face his ancestors below; if he didn't, the atmosphere had been built up to this point.

But after a moment, he still pulled out the short sword; regardless, saving face was more important.

Yet at that moment, a voice came from outside the tent:

"General, you must not!"

As the words fell, Liu Bei walked quickly into the tent.

Seeing Liu Bei, Qiao Rui was taken aback:

"Lord Liu?"

"Why has the Lord come?"

He had a decent impression of Liu Bei, unlike his feelings toward Zhang Fei.

Seeing this, Liu Bei hurried forward:

"General, you surely do not know, but when I heard outside that you intended to die, my heart burned like fire!"

"A righteous man such as yourself, how could you die here?"

He snatched the short sword from Qiao Rui's hand:

"If you do not wish to surrender, General, then go. Our army will certainly not kill you. I only hope you will prioritize the greater cause and refrain from making things difficult for us in the future!"

"Yuan Gonglu's act of usurpation is truly not worth such service from you!"

Hearing Liu Bei's words, Qiao Rui felt a surge of emotion, thinking to himself that Liu Bei was truly benevolent!

Not only did he refuse to kill him, but he was willing to let him go. If he returned, how could he ever have the face to be his enemy again?

Reflecting on his past actions under Yuan Shu, he felt a deep sense of regret.

He thought that since Yuan Shu was a traitor, he had no face to meet his ancestors, but if he joined Liu Bei to restore the Han Dynasty, he imagined his ancestors would surely be pleased.

Thinking of this, he fell to his knees with a thud and said in a deep voice:

"If you treat me with such kindness, My Lord, and I were to simply depart now, I would be no man at all!"

"I am willing to surrender, and I hope My Lord will take me in!"

Seeing Qiao Rui kneel in submission, Liu Bei's eyes lit up, and he instinctively glanced toward Qin Tian.

He had originally held no hope, yet he never expected that Qin Tian would actually manage to force Qiao Rui into surrendering!

Qin Tian, meeting Liu Bei's gaze, merely offered a faint smile without saying a word.

The Han Succubus was no laughing matter; as long as he could break through their defenses, once Liu Bei stepped onto the stage, there was no one who could not be persuaded to surrender.

It was finally worth all the breath he had spent!