Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Zhou Yu smiled slightly; this was precisely the direction he wanted to guide him. He sighed softly, his tone tinged with emotion: "My brother and I were sworn brothers, and I know his character well. What he seeks is never the position of a regional hegemon, but peace throughout the land. Look at him in Xiliang: he reduced taxes and built water conservancy projects, and the people were all grateful. This time, in pacifying the grasslands, he slaughtered millions of Xianbei, preventing the grasslands from daring to covet the Central Plains for decades. This kind of magnanimity is what truly enables one to achieve great things."

He changed the subject, looking at Cao Ang with sincere eyes: "Zixiu, in these chaotic times, all we seek is to end the strife. Brother, you have the ability and the will; if you could gain the help of the people, why worry about the unrest of this chaotic world? But..."

"But what?" Cao Ang pressed, his heart already stirred by Zhou Yu's words.

“But one tree cannot make a forest,” Zhou Yu said, his tone growing heavier. “Though he is strong, he is ultimately outnumbered and outmatched. If one day he needs help, Zixiu, you…”

Cao Ang straightened his back abruptly, his eyes flashing with determination: "Brother Gongjin, rest assured! If the King of Liang has any orders, Cao Ang will do his utmost! Although I am not even one ten-thousandth as good as the general, my determination to protect the peace of the world is second to none!"

Zhou Yu was secretly delighted, but his face remained calm. He patted Cao Ang on the shoulder and said, "Zixiu's ambition is a blessing to the world. Come, let's have a big drink tonight to celebrate the capture of Xuzhou and to toast my brother's achievements!"

Laughter gradually rose from the camp. In the flickering firelight, Cao Ang, holding a wine bowl, gazed towards the northern frontier, his admiration for Ma Chao deepening. Zhou Yu, watching him, paused slightly, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes. He and Ma Chao had sworn brotherhood, and he had long placed his hopes for pacifying the chaotic world on his brother. These words today were both genuine praise and paving the way for the future. If things truly changed, having Cao Ang's respect in his heart would at least preserve an ally for Ma Chao.

The wine, warm and burning, carried with it Zhou Yu's unspoken schemes. In this chaotic world, every move required caution, and he was quietly placing a crucial piece for his brother.

When Zhou Yu returned to his own camp, the campfire outside the tent had been fueled with new firewood and was crackling loudly. Despite the noise, his face showed no signs of alcohol, and his eyes were as clear as autumn water.

"Summon Gan Ning and Taishi Ci into the tent," he ordered his guards, his voice devoid of emotion.

Before long, the two generals strode in, still carrying the chill of the night dew. "General, what brings you here?" Gan Ning asked, clasping his hands in greeting, his eyes still brimming with the triumph of conquering Xuzhou.

Zhou Yu pointed to the map on the table: "You two must immediately reorganize your troops, break camp within three days, and return to Wu County."

"What?" Taishi Ci was stunned. He stepped forward and said, "Commander, we have just joined forces with Cao Cao's army to take Xuzhou. It is time to divide the credit. How can we just leave like this? All this hard work will have been for nothing."

Gan Ning nodded in agreement: "Yes, Commander, Xuzhou is a vital location in the Central Plains. If we retreat now, wouldn't that be letting Cao Cao reap all the benefits?"

Zhou Yu, however, calmly picked up the military report about Ma Chao and handed it over, saying, "Take a look at this first."

The two generals took a look, and when they saw the words "The King of Liang has annihilated a million Xianbei and will soon return to Chang'an," their pupils shrank.

"Your Majesty, is there such divine power?" Gan Ning asked in a trembling voice, almost crushing the military report in his hand.

Zhou Yu stood up, walked to the tent entrance, looked at the northern night sky, and said with barely suppressed excitement, "Indeed. My sworn brother has already made unparalleled contributions on the grasslands. Now that he has returned in triumph, the world in the Central Plains is about to change."

He turned around, his gaze falling on the two generals: "Cao Cao is a man of great ambition and unpredictable nature. His cooperation with us today is merely a temporary expedient. But what I'm plotting against is not Cao Cao. Cao Cao's health has been declining these past few years since his defeat in Yanzhou. What I'm thinking about is Cao Ang. Now that my brother has returned, his prowess is enough to awe the world. Our retreat now is not only to avoid Cao Cao's sharp edge, but also to pave the way for the future."

Taishi Ci seemed to understand but not quite: "The Commander-in-Chief means..."

“Next spring, my brother will surely head south.” Zhou Yu’s voice suddenly grew louder, his eyes flashing with deep-seated hatred and determination. “We can’t wait any longer to avenge Bo Fu. Sun Quan killed Bo Fu, and this debt must be settled. And the only ones who can help Jiangdong avenge this great grudge are my brother’s Xiliang cavalry.”

He walked up to the two generals and said in a deep voice, "Return to Wu Commandery, strengthen our troops, prepare provisions, and wait for the day when you march south, that will be the day we join forces with you. At that time, even if Sun Quan has the land of Jiangdong, he will not be able to withstand the combined forces of the Xiliang cavalry and the Jiangdong navy!"

Gan Ning and Taishi Ci exchanged a glance, their doubts instantly vanishing, replaced by a burning fighting spirit. Indeed, with the Liang King, who had swept across the grasslands, as their backer, how could they not avenge their lord's blood feud?

"Your subordinate obeys!" the two generals replied in unison, their voices so loud that fine dust rose from the top of the tent.

Zhou Yu waved for them to leave, remaining alone in the tent. His fingertips lightly traced the sword on the table. This sword was a gift from Ma Chao to both Sun Ce and himself when they parted ways in Xiliang. It gleamed faintly in the firelight. "Bo Fu, you wait. It won't be long before I lead my brother's iron cavalry to conquer Jiangdong and avenge you."

The wind outside seemed to pick up stronger, but it couldn't dispel the heavy anticipation and determination within. The warships of Jiangdong were about to lower their anchors for an even greater storm.

When Cao Ang returned to Qiao County, it was nearly dusk. He lifted the curtain and entered, and saw Cao Cao leaning against his sickbed, his face ashen, cold sweat from a headache soaking his temples, but his eyes remained sharp, staring intently at the map of Xuzhou held by the servant, his knuckles tapping softly on the edge of the bed.

“Father,” Cao Ang bowed, his voice low and slow, “Xuzhou has been captured, and Zhou Yu… he really didn’t take a single penny, even leaving us the granaries on the outskirts of the city intact.” He paused, his tone filled with undisguised emotion, “Such magnanimity, coupled with Ma Chao’s triumphant exploits on the grasslands and the massacre of a million Xianbei, truly makes him a hero of noble character.”

Cao Cao shifted his gaze from the map to his son's face, his eyes sharp as ice, and slowly said, "You certainly have a high opinion of Ma Chao."

Cao Ang straightened his back and spoke with great passion: "Most of the heroes in the world are ruthless warlords vying for the Central Plains, but only Ma Chao is not limited to fighting—he opened granaries in Xiliang to distribute grain and relieve the people from their suffering; he attacked the grasslands in the north to protect the peace of the border. How can such a brave and benevolent person not be admired?"

Cao Cao sneered and coughed a few times. A servant quickly brought him warm water. He took a sip and glanced at Cao Ang: "I heard that you forced those aristocratic families in Xuzhou to open their libraries, and when they refused, you took action?"

“Yes.” Cao Ang said neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Those aristocratic families possess thousands of volumes of books, yet the common people are illiterate. This is the root cause of the chaos in the world! Mr. Li Ru once said that if the people are not enlightened, chaos will not stop. When I met Zhou Yu in Jiangdong this time, one sentence of his enlightened me—if we want the world to be at peace, we must first ensure that the people have books to read.”

Cao Cao remained silent for a long time, then circled the city of Xuzhou on the map with his finger. Suddenly, he said in a low voice, "Do you know that doing this is digging up the roots of the aristocratic families?"

“I know,” Cao Ang looked up to meet his father’s gaze. “But when Father raised an army, wasn’t it precisely to sweep away these oppressive policies?”

Cao Cao let out a muffled laugh, seemingly both pleased and regretful: "You are even more ruthless than I was back then." He looked out the window at the deep twilight, "But... Zhou Yu and Ma Chao, one in the south and one in the north, seem to be unrelated, yet Zhou Yu subtly respects Ma Chao. His intentions are not small."

Cao Ang was taken aback: "Father means..."

Cao Cao coughed violently, and a glaring red stain appeared on his handkerchief, but he seemed not to notice it. He just gripped the map of Jiangdong tightly, his fingertips almost digging into the paper.

"You think Zhou Yu kept Xuzhou because he wanted to befriend us?" He gasped for breath, his voice hoarse yet chilling. "He's waiting for Ma Chao. Waiting for that tiger and wolf who slaughtered his way across the grasslands to return, to borrow the winds of Xiliang, and burn away the fog over Jiangdong."

Cao Ang stood before the couch, his back ramrod straight, but he couldn't help clenching his fists: "Even if Ma Chao and Zhou Yu wanted revenge, they would seek it out on Sun Quan. What does it have to do with us?"

“Enmity?” Cao Cao suddenly raised his eyes, his eyes swirling with a murky light. “When Sun Ce died, Sun Shao was still an infant! Zhou Yu is holding onto that old grudge and refuses to let go. He wants to use Ma Chao’s knife to shatter Sun Quan’s bones, and then wrap Jiangdong up as a dowry and hand it over to Ma Chao!”

He suddenly coughed violently, and the waiter hurriedly stepped forward to pat his back, but he waved him away and stared at Cao Ang: "Do you think Ma Chao is here to avenge Sun Ce? He swept across the grasslands, incorporated tribes, and now he wants to swallow up Jiangdong—he's treating the world like a pasture, and he's the one holding the whip!"

"Father!" Cao Ang retorted urgently, "Ma Chao reduced taxes in Xiliang, and the people all remember his kindness..."

"Good?" Cao Cao sneered, his laughter laced with the sound of phlegm. "Once he takes over Jiangdong and the north and south unite, do you think those powerful families can still protect their wealth? Do you think the common people can live in peace forever? A commoner is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. The knife in his hand is too sharp!"

He pointed to the Jiangdong region circled on the map, his fingertips trembling: "You are now forcing the aristocratic families to open their book collections, seemingly for the sake of the people's enlightenment, but in reality you are tearing down your own walls! In the end, the aristocratic families still hold the dominant power in this world. If the aristocratic families are not stable, the territory will not be stable. When Ma Chao's iron cavalry tramples over, if we are not stable internally, won't we be waiting to be defeated?"

Cao Ang felt a pang of fear at the fleeting vulnerability in his father's eyes, but he still straightened his back and spoke with the sincerity and passion of a young man: "Father, you always say that the King of Liang is unpredictable, but look at him, he is a man who wholeheartedly cares about the poor people."

He stepped forward, his gaze intense: "If such a person truly has the ambition to conquer the world, it is to prevent the people of the world from suffering the torment of war! If we surrender, we can not only ensure the safety of our clan, but also follow him to do something practical. It is better than being trapped in this small place and watching the people struggle in hunger and cold—isn't this exactly what you said when you raised the banner: 'Protecting the safety of all people'?"

Cao Cao looked into the light in his son's eyes and saw it was just like his own when he was young—that pure trust in a "hero" was so tender it brought tears to his eyes. He opened his mouth, but the words were crushed by a sharp headache.

"Uh..." He pressed his temples, his knuckles turning white, and his vision blurred.

"Father?" Cao Ang saw that his face was pale and quickly stepped forward to support him. "Is your headache again?"

Cao Cao waved his hand with his eyes closed, his voice as weak as a candle flickering in the wind: "You... go down first."

Cao Ang wanted to say something more, but his father stopped him with a wave of his hand. Looking at his father's furrowed brows and pale lips, he finally suppressed his words, bowed, and withdrew.

Only the flickering candlelight remained in the tent. Cao Cao slumped on the couch, his coughs carrying the smell of rust. Cao Ang was too young to see the thorns hidden in the wrinkles of human hearts, yet his worldly-wise eyes could only watch helplessly as his son ventured into the fog.

"Protecting all people..." he murmured to himself, coughing even more violently, adding new red stains to his handkerchief. In this world, there are no heroes who are simply black and white; they are just a group of people struggling in the mire, some trying to climb up by stepping on others, and some trying to drag others down with them.

But his son insisted on believing that the flowers blooming in the mud were truly the light that could illuminate the way forward.