Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

"If the generals willingly surrender, they can enjoy both wealth and honor; if they foolishly oppose the Yellow King," he might literally bring about the destruction of their families and leave them with no burial ground when his troops advance!

"Please think carefully about your next move."

The supervisor eunuch Peng Jingrou also stood up and said, "Gentlemen, Mr. Zheng couldn't be here due to illness, but he has drafted a gratitude letter willing to surrender to the Yellow King.

"All you need to do is sign this gratitude letter, and the matter will be settled."

After speaking, he surveyed the many generals present.

Their expressions varied—some looked hopeful, some pained, but most were indifferent.

Clearly, everyone knew that the current situation could not be changed by just one or two people.

Peng Jingrou didn't intend to give these generals much time to think; he directly handed the gratitude letter to one of his confidants.

"Sign it!"

The confidant immediately took the gratitude letter, signed his name on it, and then passed it to another general.

In this manner, the generals eventually all signed their names on the gratitude letter.

The supervisor eunuch Peng Jingrou retrieved the gratitude letter and couldn't help but laugh heartily, "Good, now that the matter is settled, let the banquet begin!"

With that, he handed the gratitude letter to Huang Xianzhi's envoy Wang Hui, and the banquet scene was filled with joyous harmony.

...

The time Chu Ge spent bedridden with illness passed quickly; in the blink of an eye, several days had gone by.

Not long after obtaining the gratitude letter, Huang Xianzhi's envoy Wang Hui returned to Chang'an to bring the good news to Huang Xianzhi, and after some time, he would come again.

But this time, upon his return, he was destined to be executed by Zheng Tian to demonstrate authority.

Within the Military Governor's mansion, Chu Ge paced back and forth anxiously.

According to historical records, today should have been the day he gathered the generals, slit his arm for a blood oath, and agreed to join forces against Huang Xianzhi.

However, Chu Ge felt uncertain.

Because he had noticed some details did not occur as recorded in history!

Chu Ge vaguely remembered the historical records, which described:

The supervisor eunuch Peng Jingrou pronounced with the generals, signing the gratitude letter for Zheng Tian on Mr. Zheng's behalf. During the banquet with the envoy, all generals below cried. The envoy found it strange, and the aide Sun Chu said, "It is because Mr. Zheng could not come due to his illness that they grieve."

However, Chu Ge, during his illness, also witnessed the entire banquet process from a god-like perspective.

The first part was consistent, but what followed did not align.

The generals did not cry at the banquet!

Therefore, "the envoy found it strange" and the subsequent events naturally did not happen.

The most critical element was, "all the generals cried" implied they grieved for the fall of the Liang Dynasty, which led Zheng Tian to believe the generals had not yet forsaken the Liang Dynasty, prompting the subsequent alliance and joint attack on Huang Xianzhi.

But now, since the generals hadn't cried at all, this...

Chu Ge wasn't sure if he could still persuade them, but at this point, he had no choice but to try.

"Gentlemen, I already know about the incidents at the banquet.

"The supervisor eunuch Peng Jingrou drafted the gratitude letter in my name, which is a high treason! Generals, the people's hearts have not yet grown tired of the Liang Dynasty; we should indeed repair the city walls, reorganize the military equipment, and fight Huang Xianzhi to the death!"

Chu Ge spoke once again with impassioned eloquence, enriched by the grace of three days.

Moreover, since Zheng Tian had only recently recovered from his illness, his voice was raspy and his movements were not very agile, adding a layer of impact to his speech.

Even amongst the generals, some had their eyes reddened by Chu Ge's words.

However, when Chu Ge finished his speech, hoping to pledge a blood oath with the generals to join forces against Huang Xianzhi, the generals looked at each other, and none stood up resolutely in support.

"Mr. Zheng, we understand your feelings, but..."

The generals' faces still showed hesitation.

Clearly, Chu Ge's passionate speech indeed moved them, but just a little.

Not enough to make them decisively commit to the act of pledging a blood oath.

Chu Ge did not give up, but after several attempts, it was still to no avail.

It was just a bit short!

Yes, because these generals did not behave with "tears streaming down" at the banquet, they were not truly inspired or moved, and their nostalgia for the Liang Dynasty was not stirred.

Under these circumstances, even if Chu Ge had three motivating talents, he still could not inspire them.

Chu Ge, driven by a sense of luck, kept moving and observed the subsequent events.

Fengxiang eventually surrendered to Huang Xianzhi and did not break with Huang following Zheng Tian's incitement.

Later, the supervisor eunuch Peng Jingrou also gradually realized this. He was originally very afraid of Zheng Tian; in the original history, once Zheng Tian regained the support of the generals, the eunuch disappears from the historical records.

This eunuch might have been removed by Zheng Tian or sidelined. Either way, he did not cause any more trouble.

But in this slice of history, things were different.

Peng Jingrou found that Zheng Tian could not incite these generals to resist Huang Xianzhi, so he gradually became emboldened.

He reported Zheng Tian to Huang Xianzhi, who then sent troops to suppress them.

Chu Ge, in a hurry, managed to incite a small group of generals to fight to the death, but because they lacked strength, they ultimately did not defeat Huang Xianzhi.

This attempt naturally failed.

...

Back to square one.

Chu Ge did not rush to restart the trial but seriously contemplated the key to passing.

"From the current situation, I have not seen much historical tampering."

"If there is any, it's that the generals' mentalities have been somewhat tampered with.

"In normal circumstances, these generals should still long for the Liang Dynasty. They would not want to surrender to Huang Xianzhi, so at the banquet and after signing the gratitude letter, they would have cried.

"Later, Zheng Tian, using noble ideals and a passionate speech, would have rekindled the fighting spirit in these generals' hearts.

"This means that now the most crucial link is missing.

"I need to find a way to awaken these generals.

"But... how can I awaken them?

"I clearly picked the theoretically most provocative and infectious talents, and there shouldn't be any issues with my speech content…

"Could it be that I missed some other details?"

Chu Ge carefully reviewed his last attempt and realized that he had done his best within his capabilities.

This was bad news, but also good news.

The bad news was that since it was not a matter of details, he could not pass by continually improving the details and tweaking his plans.

The good news was that he could look for new methods directly and decisively.

Motivating these generals to reignite their faith in the Liang Dynasty was most important.

But, if Chu Ge, even with the enhancement of three tiers of talent skills, could not achieve this, then what could?

...

Meanwhile, Zhao Haiping, in the guise of Zhang Chengfan, had escaped from Tong Pass with a few dozen surviving soldiers.

But as to where to go next, he had no clue.

"The game hasn't ended...

"Strange, it feels like something is off.

"Logically, my task of defending Tong Pass should have ended, but the game hasn't provided a clear conclusion, whether success or failure, there should be some result...

"And now it's obviously incomplete?

"Also, I suddenly realized that playing Zhang Chengfan didn't offer me a talent card selection screen, could this mean that this section isn't mandatory…"

Zhao Haiping clearly took a completely different path from Chu Ge.

Chu Ge immediately realized that the absence of skill cards for the character of Zhang Chengfan meant it might not be a necessary segment and could be skipped.

So the Zhang Chengfan he portrayed died, and he moved directly to inhabiting Zheng Tian.

Whereas Zhao Haiping didn't realize this until he naively defended Tong Pass for three days, and only after he withdrew from the pass did he start to feel that something was amiss.

The moment he realized this, the talent skill selection screen appeared in his view.