The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 329 School Affairs Office: Kidnapping Us is the Real Deal

Wang Bin's team was too cumbersome and couldn't keep up with the speed of the secret agents from the School Affairs Office. As a result, Li Sheng was almost out of the city when Wang Bin returned. Fortunately, he managed to keep Li Sheng inside the city.

Wang Bin came to the front of the line, stared at Li Sheng for a moment, and said, "Release the child, and we can talk things over."

Li Sheng sneered, "Bullshit, would you still be arguing with me after I let the child go?"

"Open the city gates and let me out first. We can talk after I'm out of the city."

Their school administration is a professional kidnapper; they have a lot of experience in how to kidnap and extort money, and how to use hostages to escape.

With extensive experience in kidnapping, Zhang Jing knew that Wang Bin would not release him because of Feng Fei, and Feng Fei would not be willing to be controlled by him and was very likely to commit suicide, so he chose to give up resistance.

Similarly, because of his rich experience, Li Sheng, who was using the child as a hostage, would never surrender, because the child would not commit suicide, and as long as the child did not commit suicide, they would have leverage in negotiations.

To put it bluntly, whether to surrender or resist is not decided by the kidnappers, but by the hostage's status.

Li Sheng's attitude was firm, so Wang Bin began to hesitate. He was also annoyed by the crying of his child and Feng Fei's wife, so he had no choice but to admit defeat and said, "Let them leave the city."

Both sides advanced and retreated, and soon retreated to outside the city.

At the same time, Cheng Li, who had heard the commotion, rushed over. After understanding the situation, he looked at Li Sheng and advised, "Young man, don't be impulsive. You're still young, we can talk things out."

Li Sheng glanced at Cheng Li and said, "Commander Cheng, I've heard so much about you. You're a reasonable person, so you should know that the man I have here is the grandson of your Factory Director Feng. If anything happens to him, you won't be able to explain it to the Feng family. So now I'm in charge."

This was also the first time Cheng Li had experienced something like this, and he was completely at a loss. He stared at Wang Bin for a long time before finally saying, "What do you want?"

Li Sheng pointed at Feng Fei and said, "Release our people, and then let this person come with us."

Zhang Jing shook his head and said, "No need, this person is not Feng Fei, I've been fooled."

Li Sheng and Wang Bin were both stunned. Wang Bin asked in astonishment, "How did you know?"

He never told Zhang Jing about his identity as a body double. When did this kid find out?

Zhang Jing sneered, "I've been in the School Affairs Bureau for many years, and I've kidnapped at least eighty or a hundred hostages. I've never seen a father whose son was kidnapped as calm as him. Is this a stand-in you found because you think I don't know Feng Fei?"

Wang Bin remained silent; it was truly difficult for them, a group of amateurs, to deal with the professional group from the school administration.

Li Sheng said, "Then there's nothing more to say. Release our men."

Cheng Li shook his head and said, "Release is impossible. Even if you were released, you wouldn't be able to escape Kuaiji. So I advise you to calm down and be realistic. Think about your family, your parents, your wife and children. You don't want your children to never see their father again, do you?"

Li Sheng suddenly realized and said, "What Sima Cheng said makes sense. Gong Cao, if we just slink back like this, the King will definitely not let us and our families off. Why don't we kill this child and then commit suicide together? That way, at least we can be credited as dying in the line of duty and serving our country, and our families can also receive preferential treatment. What do you think?"

Zhang Jing clapped his hands and laughed, "Good idea! I'll count to three, you kill the child first, and then we'll die together."

Cheng Li was startled and quickly shouted, "No, calm down."

These days, there are too many people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for righteousness. Since Zhang Jing and Li Sheng have said this, it is very likely that they will commit suicide together. It doesn't matter whether they die or not, but the child cannot die. How can he explain to the Feng family if the child dies?

This child is Feng Tiezhu's own grandson. What if Feng Tiezhu and his son develop a rift because of this and start to slack off? What if they even defect to the enemy in a fit of anger?

Before leaving, General Guan Xing repeatedly instructed them to put people first and not to let their own people down. Therefore, Cheng Li preferred to let Zhang Jing go rather than let anything happen to his child.

Zhang Jing, however, could tell from Cheng Li's anxious shouts that he was wary and cared deeply about the child. Hearing this, he put the knife to his own neck and walked toward Li Sheng, saying as he went, "Don't stop me! If anyone dares to stop me, I'll kill myself right now. I'm just a worthless lackey of the imperial court. It's worth dying with Director Feng's grandson by my side."

The absurdity of the world is that if you don't care about your own life, others will have to care about yours. That's why outlaws like Cao Cao and Liu Bei were able to thrive.

As expected, Cheng Li waved his hand helplessly and said, "Make way, let him pass."

Zhang Jing retreated smoothly to Li Sheng's side, then moved the knife to the child and laughed, "A life for a life. Use Feng Fei to exchange for the child. As long as Feng Fei comes, I will release the child immediately. Our school administration has the credibility to guarantee this."

Cheng Li resolutely refused, saying, "Don't even think about it. Letting you leave is my way of showing my sincerity in negotiations. Since I have shown my sincerity, I have already given an explanation to the Feng family. If you are still greedy, then I will have no choice but to fight to the death."

Releasing Zhang Jing back was a show for the Feng family. If Feng Tiezhu asked him later, he could confidently say that he had actively rescued him and released all the hostages. But what could he do if the school administration broke its promise? He couldn't really exchange his son for his grandson, could he?

I believe Feng Tiezhu will understand.

Zhang Jing understood this principle and pondered, "Then give me Luo Tong. I have to have one. Director Feng can understand your refusal to exchange Feng Fei for him, but he will never understand your refusal to exchange Luo Tong for him. After all, in Director Feng's eyes, Luo Tong is just a prisoner, far less important than his own grandson. Old Cheng, you agree, right?"

Cheng Li frowned and asked, "What do you need Luo Tong for?"

Zhang Jing laughed and said, "This has nothing to do with you. Just tell me whether you want to change it or not. If you don't, we'll just stay here. I can afford to wait, but I don't know if the child can afford to wait."

Looking at Zhang Jingyang's smug face, Cheng Li wanted nothing more than to punch him, but he was afraid of hurting him, so he could only grit his teeth and say, "Go and bring Luo Tong here."

Fifteen minutes later, Luo Tong was brought in. After understanding the situation, he was stunned and asked in surprise, "Zhang Gongcao, right? I don't know you. Why does your school affairs office want to see me?"

Zhang Jing laughed and said, "Now that we know each other, are you coming with me, or staying here as a prisoner?"

Luo Tong nodded hurriedly and said, "I'll go with you."

No matter what, he was the head of a powerful clan in Jiangdong whom Cao Cao had tried his best to win over, and he was also the stepson of Hua Xin, the Imperial Censor. Don't forget that his mother was Hua Xin's concubine. With this relationship, his treatment in Cao Wei would definitely be much better than being a prisoner in the hands of the Han army.

This was also one of the reasons Zhang Jing wanted him; bringing Luo Tong back would earn him a favor from Hua Xin, and favors from the Imperial Censor were very valuable.

Cheng Li reluctantly let him go, and Luo Tong returned to Zhang Jing's side as he wished. Wang Bin said indignantly, "Now can you give the child back to us?"

Zhang Jing laughed and said, "Of course, but to avoid being shot into a pincushion, please throw away your bows and arrows. Throw the crossbows to the left and the arrows to the right. Thank you."

Cheng Li did as instructed. Zhang Jing tied the child's hands and feet with hemp rope and placed him on the ground. He then instructed his subordinates to aim bows and arrows at the child and said with a smile, "You can pick up the child after we retreat beyond the range of the arrows, otherwise the child will become a hedgehog if we let go."

After speaking, he slowly retreated with his subordinates. Cheng Li and Wang Bin dared not move and could only watch.

Zhang Jing retreated to a point beyond the range of the arrows, immediately turned around, mounted his horse, and fled with his men.

Cheng Li quickly stepped forward, picked up the child, untied him, and handed him to the child's mother after confirming his safety. He then pointed at the backs of Zhang Jing and the others and roared, "Chase after them! Once you catch them, shoot them without asking for permission!"

He was genuinely angry; he had never felt so frustrated in all his years.

Wang Bin was also furious. Upon hearing this, he personally led his team to chase after them and sent messengers on horseback to notify the troops stationed along the way to intercept them.