Tiger Owl

Chapter 5 The Imperial Seal
Gan Ning and his men stayed at the Gaoping Inn. The rooms in the Han Dynasty were very spacious, and everyone sat on the floor. The furniture was also very low.

The Imperial Seal of the State was placed on the table in front of Gan Ning. Gan Ning stared at it, lost in thought, considering how to give the seal to Cao Cao.

In the past, he would have gone directly to Cao Cao's residence to request an audience, but things are different now.

Now he's thinking of eating a chicken two ways. Under what circumstances can a chicken be eaten twice? The answer is when two emperors eat it together.

"I'm going to pay my respects to Cao Pi!"

.........

Cao Pi is only thirteen years old now, it doesn't matter, getting to know him can be considered as forming a good relationship.

Cao Pi was not yet old enough to establish his own government. He would go out to study every morning and return home in the evening.

Cao Cao is not yet the Chancellor. He will only be called Chancellor Cao after the Three Dukes system is abolished in the thirteenth year of Jian'an. He is currently the Minister of Works, and is usually called Minister of Works Cao.

His residence, also known as the Sikong Mansion, was located in the north of Xuchang City, next to the Xuchang Palace.

This is a main street with many pedestrians, but soldiers are stationed at the entrance of the Cao residence, so pedestrians cannot get close and must stay away.

In the afternoon, a dozen cavalrymen escorted a carriage back. A guard shouted, "The Second Young Master is returning to the manor. No bystanders please!"

Pedestrians on the road quickly moved aside to both sides.

Standing by the wall in the distance, Gan Ning immediately shouted, "Selling Yuan Shu's head! Anyone want Yuan Shu's head?"

He spoke clearly and loudly, and the carriage stopped immediately.

Before long, a guard captain rode up on horseback and said, "What nonsense are you spouting here? Do you want to go to jail?"

Gan Ning smiled slightly and said, "I'm not talking nonsense. I really am selling Yuan Shu's head. You'll see if you don't believe me!"

Gan Ning opened the box, and Yuan Shu's head appeared lifelike.

The guard captain was startled and ordered several of his men to keep an eye on Gan Ning. He quickly turned his horse around and went back to report. After a short while, the captain returned and said, "My young master requests your presence. Please hand over your weapon first!"

Gan Ning took the knife and handed it to him, then patted himself on the shoulder and laughed, "I have no more weapons!"

"Come with me, no tricks!"

Gan Ning approached the carriage, the window opened, revealing the face of a young man with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a serious expression.

The young man was Cao Pi. He looked Gan Ning up and down and couldn't help but secretly applaud him, "What a magnificent man!"

Gan Ning is 1.9 meters tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with an extremely strong physique, long arms, tanned skin, deep features, and sharp eyes, resembling a fierce black tiger.

Liu Qi from Xiangyang also took a liking to Gan Ning at first sight and tried his best to persuade his father to keep Gan Ning, which resulted in a severe scolding from his father.

Cao Pi asked, "May I ask where you are from, brave warrior, what your name is, and how you came to have Yuan Shu's head?"

"I am Gan Ning from Ba Commandery, and I have come from Shouchun to present Yuan Shu's head in exchange for wealth and honor!"

"Were you waiting for me all this time?" The young Cao Pi was very clever and immediately guessed Gan Ning's intention.

Gan Ning smiled and nodded, "I would like to ask Young Master Cao to pass this on to your father!"

Cao Pi took the box, opened it and looked inside. He then turned to look at the captain of the guards. The captain nodded. He had seen Yuan Shu before and recognized him at a glance.

Cao Pi was overjoyed, for it was indeed the head of Yuan Shu that his father had been so eager to obtain.

"what do you want?"

Gan Ning said calmly, "Yuan Shu's head is just a stepping stone. If your father approves, I have something else that he's truly interested in!"

"What is it?" Cao Pi's curiosity was immediately piqued.

Gan Ning smiled slightly, "Does your father know what it is?" Cao Pi immediately ordered, "Bring him into the mansion and treat him well!"

Under the strict protection of hundreds of guards, Cao Cao's carriage slowly drove into the mansion. Guards stepped forward to open the carriage door and helped Cao Cao out of the carriage.

"I heard something happened at the manor. What happened?"

"Reporting to the Minister of Works, when the Second Young Master returned to the manor this afternoon, someone presented him with Yuan Shu's head."

"Whose head?" Cao Cao was slightly taken aback.

"Yuan Shu's head!"

Cao Cao was stunned. Yuan Shu's head? After a long pause, he asked, "Who delivered it?"

“A man named Gan Ning actually wanted to present the head to Sikong.”

Cao Cao felt that he seemed to have heard this name somewhere before.

He nodded. "Have Erlang come to my study to see me!"

..........
Cao Cao sat down in his study, looking somewhat preoccupied.

He was forty-five years old this year, and the years had left a few streaks of gray on his temples. Compared to Liu Biao's handsome appearance, Cao Cao had a more cunning and treacherous air about him. His long, narrow, triangular eyes gleamed with a sharp light, and when he smiled, his eyes narrowed, exuding a treacherous aura.

Cao Cao was rather short, only about 1.55 meters tall. Standing in front of a group of giants like Xu Chu, Dian Wei, and Xiahou Dun, who were nearly two meters tall, he was just a short man with a small stature.

But every word spoken by this short man made everyone bow their heads, bend over, and hold their breath to listen carefully.

Cao Cao had just returned from Hanoi Commandery. He had already captured Hanoi Commandery and established his first foothold in Hebei. This also meant that he had broken the balance of power, and a major battle for supremacy with Yuan Shao was inevitable.

Everyone believed that Cao Cao was no match for Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao had swept away all his rivals in terms of military, political, and economic resources. Although Cao Cao had just defeated Lü Bu, Yuan Shao had also captured Gongsun Zan, and his hundreds of thousands of troops were in high spirits.

Therefore, even Cao Cao lacked confidence in himself, which manifested as him being preoccupied with worries.

At this moment, the eldest son, Cao Pi, hurriedly walked in, knelt down, and bowed deeply to his father, saying, "Your son greets Father!"

"I heard someone offered up Yuan Shu's head, what's going on?"

Cao Pi quickly recounted what had happened an hour earlier, and with a wave of his hand, his subordinates stepped forward with a plate containing a wooden box holding the severed head.

Cao Cao opened the wooden box, inside which was Yuan Shu's head, lifelike. Cao Cao couldn't help but laugh, "Gonglu, how have you been?"

Upon seeing Yuan Shu's head, Cao Cao was overjoyed, for now he could give the emperor an explanation.

Yuan Shu usurped the throne, but what he truly hated was not Cao Cao, but Emperor Liu Xie. He issued several edicts to Cao Cao, demanding that Yuan Shu be executed without exception, and that his body be found either alive or dead.

Although Yuan Shu's life or death was insignificant compared to Yuan Shao's situation, Emperor Liu Xie's constant chatter had annoyed Cao Cao, and this incident finally silenced the emperor.

Cao Cao nodded. "What reward does Gan Ning want?"

“He didn’t say that, he just said that he still had things that his father was really interested in.”

"What is it?"

He said his father knew!

Cao Cao's eyes lit up. Could it be that treasure?

Cao Cao immediately thought of the Imperial Seal of the State. Everyone knew that the Imperial Seal of the State was in Yuan Shu's hands. Cao Cao thought that the Imperial Seal of the State had been given to Yuan Shao, but then he thought that was impossible. This was Yuan Shu's last asset. How could he easily hand it over?
At this moment, Cao Cao was so excited that he was restless. He hadn't looked forward to this for many years. He quickly said to his son, "Gan Ning must be talking about the Imperial Seal of the State. Go and fetch the seal first. If there are no problems, I will meet with him!"

Cao Pi's eyes lit up as well. The Imperial Seal of the State! Could it be that the Liu family is destined to perish and the Cao family to rise?

He quickly stood up and said, "I'll go find him right away!"

(End of this chapter)