She soon reached the tower where she raised her clasped hands to a guard and asked, “Is General Sun here?”
When he saw that she was wearing a noble outfit and footwear, the guard knew she belonged to the gentry. He at once respectfully replied, “General Sun has gone to see the mayor.”
Chen Rong naturally knew he had gone to see the mayor. She raised her voice to say: “I have important business with him. Please let me wait for him inside.”
“Aye.”
She had only entered when she heard the guard whisper: “This young lad looks just like a maiden, down to his figure. Unfortunately, someone so beautiful is also waiting to be killed like us.”
For whatever reason, the people in this era had always cherished and valued young, beautiful men. Take this guard for example. He was going to get killed himself, but he only bothered to feel sorry for Chen Rong.
Chen Rong came into the guest hall and chose a corner to sit. It was dark, significantly blurring her figure and facial features.
Time trickled by.
A while later, a tired voice sounded: “Aren’t we supposed to be a team? Clearly, the mayor only wants it his way. Had I known the nobles in Mo’yang are so united, I wouldn’t have brought my brothers to this bloody place.” This extremely disgruntled voice had belonged to Sun Yan.
Another voice, gruff, exclaimed: “It’s useless to say that now. Murong Ke’s tactic of surrounding three while letting one go is written in the Art of War. But if the mayor doesn’t say it’s a ruse then he calls it a bluff. Fine, we’ll let them break out from the west gate.”
At this juncture, Sun Yan harrumphed and wearily said, “Even the Wang retainers are better than these noblemen!”
“Aye, the Wang house from Lang’ya is renowned. But every time Wang Qilang opens his mouth, the mayor always opposes him. Sir, why don’t we listen to Wang Qilang? Let’s gather all the troops and break out from the south gate!”
Chen Rong’s eyes lit up upon hearing these words. Her hands knotted together as her hope rose.
The second voice started again after a short pause: “The barbarians arrived too suddenly… as if there’s something they’re after.”
Sun Yan absently hummed a reply.
“General Sun,” the gatekeeper said at this time, “there’s a pretty young man looking for you. He’s been waiting for a long time in the guest hall.”
He only relayed the facts without recalling that Sun Yan was beautiful himself. The young general hated “pretty” as a word used to describe men. He instantly barked: “I got it. Go.”
The man with the gruff voice laughed. “A pretty lad? How does he compare to our young General Sun?”