A deputy lieutenant said anxiously, "General, it's time to decide. If we don't act soon, won't we end up buried alongside Marquis Wu?"
They were in a residence near the east gate. It had belonged to a wealthy family, but its convenient location had made it Zhang Yuanhong's temporary headquarters.
The assembled officers watched Zhang Yuanhong, waiting for him to make up his mind.
"We do not serve Marquis Wu so he can trample every principle! The Immortal Sects would rather destroy every Earth Deity and Netherworld Office in Wu Hou State than replace him with another marquis. Clearly, they mean to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys: wipe out Wu Hou State and show every lord under heaven that the Immortal Sects cannot be defied!"
A scholar stepped forward and spoke in a ringing voice.
"If that's true, why are we still defending the city for Marquis Wu?" the deputy lieutenant demanded. "Why not hand it over? Whether we join Marquis Shou or Marquis Yue, we'll all be rewarded for it!"
"Nonsense. How many years have Wu State and Yue State fought? The hatred between us runs as deep as the sea. Wu Xian, wasn't your father killed by a Yue arrow? And you, Captain Tang—didn't your grandfather fall into the water in winter while fighting the Yue, then return home and die of illness?"
The scholar named them one by one, and the officers' faces changed. Wu and Yue had been enemies for generations. Many of the men present bore deep grudges against the Yue...
And countless Yue had died at their hands. Even if they could swallow their pride and surrender, there was no telling whether the Yue would take revenge later.
Otherwise, they would have surrendered long ago!
"If we can't surrender to Marquis Yue,