Chapter 412
“Is Liu Biao not selling any provisions?” Pang Tong had been waiting for a few days at the guest residence. He inquired about the progress of buying provisions to the ones in charge.
“It is not that they refuse to sell us provisions. The ones in charge of provisions could only be met once every few days and he only sells a hundred at a time.”
“Whats the difference between that and not selling us anything?” Pang Tong sneered. That amount was nowhere near enough to support an army of hundred thousand. The ones buying the provisions also felt helpless. It was not like he could just conjure the provisions.
Pang Tong pondered to himself. A few days ago, Liu Biao had been very generous with the provisions. It was to the extent that he was prepared to give away provisions for free because of Liu Mang’s problem. Instead, Liu Mang is the one that got the provisions now.
“Liu Mang! It’s this guy again!” Pang Tong could have considered to have won against Cao Cao and Xu Shu ever since he made his appearance. Yet, in front of the King of Shu, he was a loser.
Liu Biao did not sell any provisions to Pang Tong partly because of Liu Mang’s presence and also because of scorn towards Liu Bei. Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu had allied with each other to attack Yangzhou but failed. Although Liu Bei may have obtained Zhang Xiu’s territory, he no longer had his previous influence. So Liu Biao felt that getting close to Liu Mang was more beneficial.
As Liu Mang was now a hostage, even if the Lu Bu’s Army expands, they would not act recklessly. On the other hand, Liu Biao decided to abandon Liu Bei.
“Hmph! You want to abandon Milord? You must be dreaming!” Pang Tong snorted as he looked at the information detailing Liu Mang’s Army setting out for Nanyang.
“Men! Prepare me a horse and accompany me to the government official’s residence of Jingzhou!”
“Yes!”
Once the horse was brought over by a servant, Pang Tong rode to the government official’s residence.
“Who is this?” Two soldiers questioned when they saw Pang Tong.
“Who am I?” Pang Tong narrowed his eyes. These men were Liu Biao’s personal troops and were familiar faces. In the past, they welcomed Pang Tong with a smiling face and would even send someone to report to Liu Biao about Pang Tong’s arrival before Pang Tong had even gotten off his horse. Now, they asked for his identity.
“How fearless! How could you not know our Military Advisor? Quickly step aside!” Pang Tong’s men stepped forward and scolded the two soldiers.
“Military Advisor? Our Military Advisor is Cai Mao. Not some black faced person!” The two soldiers argued back.
“Black faced person?” This was just humiliation. Pang Tong really cared about his own appearance. It was the reason he was so competitive. It was also one of the reasons he killed Tang Yun. The desire to kill Tang Yun appeared in his heart when people believed him to be Tang Yun’s servant.
“Impudent! You guys…” Pang Tong’s men became anxious. The moment Pang Tong gets called that, someone would suffer when they went back. On top of that, their Master was humiliated. Naturally, Pang Tong’s bodyguards immediately drew their weapons.
“You dare act so impudently here? You must not want to live anymore!” Liu Biao’s men also drew their swords in retaliation. With a single command, more of Liu Biao’s soldiers appeared.
“Protect the Military Advisor!” Pang Tong’s soldiers were outnumbered and had to guard Pang Tong. However, they were not afraid as they were amongst the elites in Liu Bei’s Army. On top of that, Liu Biao’s bodyguards were sure to be noble troops that have never gone out to fight before. At the very least, each of Pang Tong’s soldiers would be able to fight back another five of their enemy.
Two sides confronted each other. One side was more experienced while the other had greater numbers.
“Put down your weapons and surrender or die.”
“Who would die remains to be seen!” Pang Tong’s men sneered in reply. Their killing intent seeped out, making the other shiver.
Just as things was about to turn for the worse, Pang Tong ordered his men to stand down.
“Military Advisor?”
“Put down your weapons. They would not do anything to me.”
“Understood.” The soldiers kept their weapons unwillingly.
Once the soldiers kept their weapons, Liu Biao’s men ordered. “Men. Arrest these troublemakers and wait for the Lord to deal with them!” The soldier maliciously labelled Pang Tong as a troublemaker for the moment. If he had acted first and then report later, he was the one that would get into trouble.
“Military Advisor?” Pang Tong’s men wanted to resist again but he stopped them. “Left General Liu Bei Liu Xuande’s subordinate, Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan, requests to meet with Lord Liu Biao.”