Romance of the Four Kingdoms

Chapter 49

The next day Chen Gong summoned Gao Shun to his quarters as he doing some admin work for Xia Pi while trying to come up with the best strategy to use against Cao Cao. He thought Gao Shun would be able to take care of the meddling serpent. He summoned him to come up with he next part of dealing with her now that the hermit has been taken care of. Suddenly a soldier emerged and knelt infront of Chen Gongs desk as he's writing something on a scroll.

'My lord lord Gao Shun has-'

'Ahh he's here, excellent send him in.' Chen Gong interrupted.

'No my lord. He's...he's...dead.' The soldier hesitated to answer him. Chen Gong stopping writing, his eyes wide open in shock though he looks down at the desk not revealing the horror on his face as he knows full well who did it.

'I-I see. H-how did it happen?' Chen Gong questioned, he attempted to keep calm however he couldn't help but stutter.

'it seems that he got bitten. Word is that he was hunting snakes my lord, but reports seen him walking down to his quarters yesterday and that was the last they saw him alive.'

'Hunting snakes? I know that hermit eliminated him but how...wasn't he going to meet with Gao Shun yesterday? ...No there's no way he could've anticipated our strategy right? Even so that doesn't explain why he was spotted returning to his quarters...GRR DAMNIT! HOW DID HE OUTSMART ME AGAIN!?' Chen Gong was internally fuming inside and struggled to make sense of it all. How could he have failed, could he really have seen through his strategy with him? No that can't be. Even if he did he would've killed him before he made his move...right?

'Erm, my lord?' The soldier looks up worried about his silence. Chen Gong shook his head, he knew that he needed to carry on and keep up his act.

'I see. Well we'll have to move on anyway and focus on our defences, no doubt Cao Cao intends to delay the siege until we run out of resources. Give the order for everyone to impose rations on both soldier and citizen alike. We can't afford to waste anything during this siege. And do not reveal the cause of death to anyone else, we can't afford a castle-wide panic at this moment in time.' Chen Gong ordered. The soldier nodded.

'Yes my lord as you wish.' He stands up and retreats from Chen Gong's quarters as he sits there looking troubled.

'Damnit! I can't afford to send anymore against him, not with Cao Cao right outside our castle. I'll have to deal with him first then we can deal with the hermit if he still lives after the battle. I doubt it since their forces will be on the frontline but I can't underestimate him anymore. Though in order for us to win we'll have to send an emissary to Yuan Shu for reinforcements...and I have the perfect person for the job.'

Elsewhere word reached Mitsuko and the other generals that Gao Shun has died mysteriously in his sleep and whispers were heard from the common soldiers and citizens speculating his death, some were mournful while some simply didn't care too much.

'So Gao Shun's dead huh? Don't suppose you know what happened to him do you?' Mitsuko questioned Pang Tong next to her as they were overseeing Zang Ba and Wu Zi training the soldiers.

'No not really, though a few claim he was hunting snakes before he died.' Mitsuko thought that to be odd. Hunting snakes? Are there any snakes even here in Xia Pi? And why would he be hunting them anyway? There's not any kind of snake related deaths that she heard about. The only snake here is...then it started to click into her mind what may have happened.

'Pang Tong, did you have anything to do with this?'

'Me? Of course not my lady, do you really think of me as a cold blooded killer?' Pang Tong feigned being offended. Mitsuko gave him a suspicious glare in response, not convinced of his innocence.