Chapter 63: Ma Chao, the Cheating Father
Just when Guo Hao was having a headache, Ma Teng was also feeling uneasy in the Qiang camp.
He is now in a difficult situation. His mother's tribe has found him and hopes that he will punish the arrogant Pang De.
Before he could figure out whether to help, his eldest son Ma Chao gave him a big surprise.
"Dad, my brother has defeated that guy named Pang De. Now you are the commander-in-chief!"
When his sons Ma Xiu, Ma Tie, and nephew Ma Dai congratulated him, he didn't even know what had happened.
It seemed like a good thing that he could become the commander-in-chief, but after the first coalition meeting, he was completely ruined.
"It's over, it's over, it's all over!" Ma Teng stared at the top of the tent with lifeless eyes.
He has worked hard for most of his life, intending to restore the glory of the Ma family and let the Ma family return to the court again, but now he has become the leader of the rebel army.
He originally thought it was an accident, but he didn't expect to see Han Sui, the prefect of Jincheng today.
After carefully questioning people from his relatives and tribes, he learned that the rebellion was led by Han Sui.
It was Han Sui's idea to involve him. It was not until this moment that he realized how many good things his son had done.
Ma Chao was a top-notch military general, ranked among the best in the entire Eastern Han Dynasty. Naturally, no one could stop him in the Qiang tribe.
Without Ma Teng's knowledge, Ma Chao helped his uncle and other Qiang relatives defeat countless opponents.
Even the eight strongest generals under Han Sui were pinned to the ground by Ma Chao, and he was known as Jin Ma Chao throughout the Qiang tribe.
Ma Chao, a traitorous young man, was praised by his Qiang relatives. When he chatted with Ma Teng, he usually talked in simple terms, saying that he helped his uncle and other relatives defeat some low-level thieves .
Ma Teng also knew that his son was very capable and it would be a good idea to help his relatives to catch some petty thieves.
Over time, Ma Teng really didn't take these things to heart. He had been working hard to build his own image and build connections, hoping to restore the glory of the Ma family one day.
Who would have known that the petty thief mentioned by Ma Chao was actually a ranked warrior among the Qiang tribe, some of whom he was no match for.
In fact, Ma Chao really thought that these people were petty thieves. Except for Yan Xing, a subordinate of Han Sui, who was first-rate, the others were at most second-rate generals. It was too easy for him to fight them.
Usually, there is no time to even say the opponent's name. Once the opponent is stabbed, he falls down. There is no feeling of any pressure at all.
Hearing that Pang De could even defeat Yan Xing, and since he often helped his relatives fight, Ma Chao couldn't wait to challenge Pang De.
As expected, Pound was indeed the strongest opponent he had ever seen, but unfortunately he was still a little bit inferior to him.
"Lingming, come and spar with me!" Ma Chao, excited about the sight of a prey, would stick to Pang De every day to spar with him.
At first, Pang De was not convinced, but after being beaten three or four times in a row, he was really convinced and realized that he was indeed no match for him.
A sparring match is not a life-and-death fight, so his characteristics cannot be triggered and he is not strong enough to fight against Ma Chao at all.
Of course, if he was not afraid of delaying Guo Hao's grand plan, he would certainly be willing to spar with Ma Chao every day. After fighting a few times, he felt that the bottleneck of his martial arts had loosened. After fighting dozens of times, maybe he could break through to the peak of a first-class general.
However, thinking that this was his first mission, he suppressed his pursuit of martial arts and sat in the Qiang camp every day to gather intelligence and then report it back to Beiliang City.
Although he lost to Ma Chao, he was still one of the leaders, almost the third in command after Ma Teng and Han Sui.
Pang De was extremely annoyed by Ma Chao's daily requests for a sparring match, as he had other important things to do.
"Meng Qi, can't you just go find that fellow Yan Xing? Isn't he also quite good at fighting? I have something important to do!"
"Yan Xing is too weak. I'm tired of beating him. I've fought him for more than ten times but there's no progress. Now when I fight him, I know what he will do next with my eyes closed." Ma Chao said nonchalantly.
Pang De thought about it in his mind and found sadly that there seemed to be no general in the entire Xiliang who could fight against Ma Chao.
He is not among the Qiang people, not in the Beiliang City, and not in the Xiliang Cavalry. Yet, Ma Chao is actually the number one person in Xiliang.
"Come on, come on, Lingming, just once, just once."
Looking at Ma Chao with eager eyes and thinking about Guo Hao who had not yet replied, Pang De couldn't help but feel soft-hearted.
"Mengqi, this is just the first time. We will be going to war in two days. I still need to organize the army!"
"Hahahaha, Lingming, come here quickly!" Ma Chao didn't hear Pang De's next words at all. He quickly picked up his weapon, mounted his horse and got ready.
Pang De sighed helplessly, fought a good fight with Ma Chao, and was finally beaten unconscious again.
"I hope this guy Ma Mengqi can keep his word."
When Pang De recovered the next day, Ma Chao ran out of the tent again to challenge him.
"Lingming, Lingming, let's fight again!"
Pang De had a terrible headache. The damn Ma Mengqi was really a dog-skin plaster.
"Ma! Meng! Get up!" Just when Pang De was having a headache, an angry voice rang out.
"Ah, Dad, why are you here!" Ma Chao's panicked voice rang out, and then he walked farther and farther away.
"Commander Pang, I'm sorry that the Teng family didn't educate you well enough." Ma Teng looked at Pang De who appeared, then bowed and apologized.
After he heard about Ma Chao's actions, he hurried over to stop it. Anyone would be horrified to hear that his own son had beaten the third-in-command of the coalition forces into unconsciousness.
"It's okay, it's okay, Mengqi is just a pure-hearted person." Pang De was a little surprised as he watched Ma Chao fleeing into the distance. He didn't expect that the carefree Ma Chao was actually afraid of his parents. It was really unexpected.
"Commander Pang, can you come into the camp and have a chat?"
"Please!" Pang De was a little surprised, but he didn't say anything and invited Ma Teng into the tent camp.
"Commander Pang, where are you from?" After some polite remarks, Ma Teng got straight to the point and pointed his finger obscurely in the direction of Beiliang City.
Pang De was shocked, but seeing Ma Teng coming to the tent alone, he knew there must be another hidden story.
"I don't understand what Commander Ma is saying." Pang De pretended to be calm and acted like he knew nothing.
"I have met Pengju once before. Commander Pang, can you introduce him to me? My son Ma Tie has admired Pengju for a long time. I hope Commander Pang can help me."
Seeing that Pang De was unmoved, Ma Teng directly revealed the explosive information and expressed his willingness to use his son as a hostage.
Pang De understood immediately and realized that there must be some hidden reason why Ma Teng became the commander.
The two discussed for a long time in the camp, and finally they parted with each other amid laughter.
With the agreement reached between Pang De and Ma Teng, the Qiang coalition forces made much faster progress.
In just three days, the Qiang coalition forces had completely assembled and began to march towards the counties of Liangzhou.
