Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Early the next morning, before the army had set off, Cao Shuang arrived at the place of Bian Lan, the infantry commander.

"Greetings, Commandant Bian." Cao Shuang nodded. "My hand injury has not yet healed, so it is inconvenient for me to perform the proper greetings. Please forgive me."

Bian Lan, with a calm demeanor, stood up to greet him: "Zhao Bo, what brings you to my place? Wasn't your tribe supposed to be resting today?"

Cao Shuang smiled somewhat awkwardly: "I have come to see you today because I have a favor to ask of you."

The Five Colonels of the Great Wei basically only retained the ceremonial name, and had no connection with their original origins whatsoever. The Colonel of Yueqi did not have Yueqi under his command, the Colonel of Shesheng did not lead crossbowmen, and the Colonel of Bubing did not lead infantry officers; all the troops under his command became elite cavalry.

If you really think about it, today is the first time that Infantry Captain Bian Lan has led the infantry on a mission.

Bian Lan was the nephew of Empress Bian, the wife of Emperor Wuxuan, and of the same generation as Cao Zhen. Cao Shuang had always treated him with great courtesy. Today, Cao Shuang came here and quite tactfully made his request to Bian Lan: when collecting the body, please help him find a Wu general who had lost his right ear.

Bian Lan smiled and immediately agreed.

Before noon, Bian Lan's subordinates came to Cao Shuang's camp to report that Colonel Bian wanted to see Colonel Cao, without explaining the reason.

"Commander Bian wants to see me?" Cao Shuang said to himself, "If you found the person, you found them; if you didn't, you didn't. What business is it of yours to call me over?"

Xiahou Xuan thought for a moment and immediately said, "Since Commandant Bian did not say it explicitly, then there must be something he cannot say."

"What does 'Taichu' mean?" Cao Shuang turned around and asked.

Xiahou Xuan stood up and straightened his robes: "This man most likely didn't die yesterday and was captured by Commandant Bian's men. The more cunning a person is, the more they will try to survive when they are about to die. Zhao Bo, let's go and take a look together."

"Okay." Cao Shuang took a deep breath: "We'll go together."

Surrounded by fifty riders, the two slowly entered through the south gate. As far as the eye could see, there were only broken walls and ruins. A heavy smell of blood permeated the city. Several flocks of crows, seemingly from nowhere, circled and hovered darkly near the left side of the city wall.

The soldiers, under the command of their respective captains and squad leaders, cleaned up the battlefield and carried the Wei soldiers who died in the attack on the city the day before onto carts, which were then pulled out of the city by oxcarts, to be buried after the military judges counted them.

The corpses of Wu soldiers were no longer in the middle of the street; they had all been neatly dragged to the side of the road. Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan rode by and saw soldiers stripping armor from Wu soldiers, searching for valuables, and collecting weapons. These infantrymen from Liaodong had clearly not experienced much warfare; their expressions were indescribable, and they were basically just enduring the pain as they did their work.

Cao Shuang didn't pay much attention; he had seen many scenes of cleaning up the battlefield. However, Xiahou Xuan, who was wearing an official robe beside him, frequently covered his face with his sleeve and frowned, as if he was uncomfortable with the unpleasant smell of the battlefield.

“Tai Chu, you’ll get used to it.” Cao Shuang rode alongside Xiahou Xuan. “These vassal state soldiers aren’t very strong; they can only be used for this kind of thing.”

"These are soldiers from vassal states?" Xiahou Xuan asked in surprise. "Why not use soldiers from prefectures and counties?"

Cao Shuang glanced at Xiahou Xuan: "They are the weakest. If we don't use them, who else can we use? Should we use the Hu cavalry? Of the five thousand vassal state soldiers under Boyue's command, one thousand Baekje infantrymen are divided into two cities north of the river. Among these soldiers, two thousand five hundred are Goguryeo infantrymen and one thousand five hundred are Buyeo infantrymen."

“But…” Xiahou Xuan pursed his lips: “If we let these Eastern Yi people restrain themselves here, won’t they look down on the Han people when they return to their respective vassal states in the future?”

"They only know fear, how could they underestimate us? All the troops available in their small country can't even match the number of Wu soldiers who died in the city!" Cao Shuang snorted, then flicked the reins with his right hand, speeding up the advance.

Xiahou Xuan glanced at it quickly and then followed.

When Bian Lan saw Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan arrive, he raised his hand to signal them:

“Zhao Bo, Tai Chu”.

"Greetings, Commandant Bian." Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan dismounted simultaneously in response. "Come with me." Bian Lan pointed to a courtyard: "If I'm not mistaken, this is the man who injured you. He hid in a cabinet in the room yesterday, and the soldiers found him today while searching the battlefield."

Cao Shuang took a deep breath and followed Bian Lan into the courtyard. There he saw a Wu general tied to a tree with several arrow wounds on his legs, clearly extremely weak.

"Who are you?" Cao Shuang asked in a cold tone as he walked a short distance in front of the Wu general.

"Ding Feng from Lujiang." Ding Feng struggled to look up and meet Cao Shuang's gaze: "And who are you?"

Cao Shuang looked carefully at Ding Feng's face: "I have two things to tell you. First, Gu Yong has opened up Jianye. Second, Danyang and Wujun have both surrendered."

"If you are willing to surrender, I may ask the Grand General to spare your life."

Ding Feng's eyes were filled with rage: "When His Majesty and General Quan's army come from the west, none of you will be able to cross the river and return to the north bank!"

"Is that so?" Cao Shuang scoffed. "There's a third thing. General Lu Boyan of the Great Wei, who is in charge of the Eastern Expedition, has led his navy up the river to launch a counterattack. Sun Quan has already fled to Wuchang. The Emperor and General Quan you mentioned have both fled west. Are you still waiting for them?"

"I've heard you're a former subordinate of General Lu. Would you be willing to return to General Lu's command? Or perhaps join my ranks? I am Cao Shuang, Cao Zhaobo, the eldest son of the Grand General. If you surrender, I'll guarantee your life. You take one of my hands, I'll take one of yours. I'm slightly inferior to you, but it's roughly a draw."

"Cao dog!" Ding Feng cursed resolutely, spitting at Cao Shuang, but he had already lost his strength, and saliva still lingered at the corner of his mouth: "I only regret that I didn't take your father Cao Zhen's life!"

Cao Shuang was taken aback at first, then enraged, and immediately drew his sword to slash horizontally at Ding Feng's neck. Because he was tied to a tree, the first sword strike didn't cut through him, so Cao Shuang swung it twice more before the head rolled to the ground, and Cao Shuang's armor was stained with a lot of blood.

After sheathing his sword, Cao Shuang gasped for breath a few times, then picked up Ding Feng's head, turned to look at Bian Lan and Xiahou Xuan, and chuckled:

“I was naive. I shouldn’t have talked to him so much. I thought he would surrender and join the army, which would have kept him from losing his wealth and status. If I see someone like this again, I will just kill him without hesitation. It’s a waste of breath. Captain Bian, thank you for your guidance. I will take this man’s head with me.”

Bian Lan, however, remained unconcerned: "Zhao Bo, don't overthink it. This kind of traitor is stubborn and deserves to die."

"By the way, what use do you have for this person's head?"

Cao Shuang said, "Take this back to the camp and preserve it. Later, take it home for safekeeping. Firstly, use this head to remind me to be extremely cautious on the battlefield. Secondly, remind me that I cannot be as naive as I was today, or I will only bring shame upon myself!"

"Taichu, come and hold this for me, I can't put it in my bag." Cao Shuang reached out and handed Ding Feng's head to Xiahou Xuan.

Xiahou Xuan felt somewhat rushed, as this was the first time he had witnessed such a bloody scene. He wanted to reach out and take it, but hesitated.

Cao Shuang, impatient, pushed Ding Feng's head into Xiahou Xuan's hands: "Taichu, you're already an official in the Privy Council, are you afraid of getting your hands dirty? Just hold it for me."

"Alright." Xiahou Xuan hurriedly took it, his hands indeed stained with blood. He swallowed hard, placed the head in Cao Shuang's horse saddlebag, and the two bid farewell to Bian Lan before leaving together.

The two remained silent the entire way until they left the city gates, at which point Xiahou Xuan finally asked:
"Zhaobo, the Grand General said that you will remain a general in the future. What are your thoughts on this?"

Cao Shuang replied directly, "So what if I lose a hand? Even if I lose an eye, it won't matter if I lead troops into battle. I won't have to fight every time."

“Tai Chu, I had already thought about this when I left the city. Father’s order to massacre the city is probably also because my hand was cut off by the Wu general. His Majesty appointed Father as the governor of Jiangzhou, and the six prefectures of Wuchang, Yuzhang, Poyang, Luling, Zhang’an and Jian’an that were assigned to him have not yet been conquered.”

"Since I'm in the army, I should take care of these kinds of things from now on! Massacring a city will leave a bad name, how can we let Father bear all that? I, as his son, should do it!"

Xiahou Xuan intended to offer further advice, but upon seeing Cao Shuang's still-bandaged left arm, he shook his head slightly and remained silent. (End of Chapter)