Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

"presumptuous!"

Zhu Jun, on the east bank of the Xun River, dismounted and shouted sharply at Qu Yi on the opposite bank.

"What are you trying to do? To shoot and kill an official of the imperial court! Even if you were Duan Yu himself, let alone just a subordinate of Duan Yu, you would still be imprisoned!"

Zhu Jun, with his hand on the hilt of his sword, walked down into the river and looked at Sun Jian, saying, "Bring me Bo Cai's head. I want to see who dares to be so presumptuous."

"I am the Right General of the Central Army, let's see who dares to act wildly!"

Standing beside Qu Yi in the river, Gao Shun reached out and pressed down the crossbow bolt in Gao Shun's hand, saying softly, "Lord Yi, don't be impulsive."

At this moment, Cao Cao, who was standing on the west bank of the river, quickly dismounted and came to Qu Yi's side.

"General Qu, you must not act rashly. This man is Zhu Jun, the Right General of the Household, and that one over there is Huangfu Song, the Left General of the Household. If you rashly shoot and kill Sun Jian now, even if we are in the right, we will be in the wrong now," Cao Cao said in a low voice.

Qu Yi looked at Cheng Pu, who was holding up Bo Cai's head, with extreme resentment in his eyes.

"So we're just going to watch them steal the credit that's already in our hands?"

Qu Yi gritted his teeth and said, "We have traveled a long way, and the Lord ordered us to wait here to intercept and kill Bo Cai."

"How should we face our lord?"

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "Ziyi has not returned yet. It is too early to draw conclusions now. A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan."

"We'll have to wait until Ziyi comes back to discuss everything."

“Since Ziyi has already foreseen Bo Cai’s inevitable defeat, he will probably be returning to Yingchuan soon. My suggestion is to wait until Ziyi comes back before making any further decisions.”

Qu Yi turned his gaze to Gao Shun beside him.

Gao Shun nodded slightly.

Qu Yi took a deep breath and put down the crossbow in his hand.

The tense atmosphere around them immediately eased somewhat.

But Qu Yi's unwilling and angry gaze remained fixed on Sun Jian, who was crossing the river to claim credit.

Standing in the middle of the river, watching the banquet being held with Qu Yi, Gao Shun, Cao Cao, and others, a smug smile appeared on his lips.

To Qu Yi, this scene was like a provocation.

"Dare to tell me your name!" Qu Yi gritted his teeth and looked at Sun Jian.

"Humph."

Sun Jian sneered and said, "A true man does not change his name or surname, I am Sun Jian of Fuchun, Wu Commandery!"

Qu Yi nodded through gritted teeth: "Okay, I'll remember you!"

Qu Yi, having put away his crossbow, ignored Sun Jian.

With Bo Cai dead, the remaining Yellow Turban soldiers either fled, ran away, or surrendered.

For a time, both banks of the Xun River returned to calm.

Cao Cao ordered Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan, and others to begin gathering the surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers.

Meanwhile, Zhu Jun ordered Sun Jian and others to disarm all the surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers and place them on the riverbank.

The two Han armies were separated by a river, each doing their own thing as if they were complete strangers.

"General, what should we do with these surrendered soldiers?"

Sun Jian, who had gathered all the surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers, brought Bo Cai's head to Zhu Jun's side.

At this moment, the thousands of surrendered soldiers who had been gathered together knelt on the riverbank, awaiting their fate.

Zhu Jun stared at Bo Cai's head with a fierce look in his eyes.

Zhu Jun was defeated by Bo Cai in his first battle and was therefore reprimanded.

Now, taking revenge can also be seen as wiping away past humiliations.

"Behead all the surrendered soldiers."

Zhu Jun said with a fierce look in his eyes, "There are still scattered bandits in various parts of Yingchuan. We are short of troops. If we release these bandits, they may start another rebellion."

"If we were to imprison him, we would need a large sum of food and provisions."

Upon hearing Zhu Jun's order, Sun Jian nodded.

When Huangfu Song heard that Zhu Jun wanted to execute all the surrendered soldiers, he frowned slightly.

But after hearing Zhu Jun's reason, Huangfu Song frowned and didn't say anything more.

The thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers kneeling on the riverbank were unaware that their fate was about to be judged.

Countless empty eyes stared at the reddened puddles and the corpses floating downstream on the river.

Sun Jian, carrying out Zhu Jun's orders, along with Han Dang and Cheng Pu, led soldiers armed with powerful crossbows to the back of the Yellow Turban army who were kneeling on the riverbank surrendering.

The moment the command flag was raised high, the crossbow was raised horizontally.

"put!"

With Sun Jian's command, the command flag fell, and a dense barrage of crossbow bolts instantly reaped all the surrendered soldiers kneeling on the riverbank like mowing grass.

Corpses fell directly into the river, turning the already scarlet water even more crimson.

West bank.

Qu Yi, Gao Shun, Cao Cao, Cao Ren, and others, who were gathering the surrendered soldiers, were all stunned when they saw this scene.

The surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers who had been gathered together watched this scene with terrified eyes.

Zhu Jun, clad in armor, stood on the riverbank, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his gaze coldly fixed on Qu Yi, Gao Shun, and the others on the opposite bank.

His eyes were full of provocation.

Just like Sun Jian just now.

The surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers, now gathered by the Liangzhou army, looked at the Liangzhou army behind them with pleading eyes.

Cao Cao looked at Zhu Jun with a furrowed brow.

The words Bo Cai spoke before his death seemed to echo in his ears once again.

These people, they just want to live.

Are they wrong?

Maybe there is.

They should not have instigated a rebellion, attacked cities, or plundered the surrounding areas.

But all they really wanted was to live.

Besides this, there doesn't seem to be any other reason.

"Pass down the order: no soldier shall kill a surrendered soldier, nor shall anyone kill a surrendered soldier to claim military merit," Cao Cao said with a dark face.

After Cao Cao issued his order, the surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers all looked at him with gratitude.

On the other side of the river, Zhu Jun looked at her with disdain and said coldly, "It's just womanly compassion."

As time passed, Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song, having finished cleaning up the battlefield, ordered the army to cross the river.

.............

With Bo Cai's army defeated, the Yellow Turban army in Yingchuan was now leaderless.

The task of clearing out the remaining bandits no longer requires Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun; the county troops in each county can handle it slowly.

Zhu Jun, having taken Bo Cai's head, rode his horse slowly across the river.

"Brother Yizhen, the credit for defeating Bocai belongs to you, Brother Yizhen."

Zhu Jun looked at Huangfu Song beside him and said, "In this campaign to quell the rebellion, Brother Yizhen deserves the greatest credit. Brother Yizhen should petition the court for credit for Bo Cai's head."

Upon hearing this, Huangfu Song smiled and shook his head, replying, "Brother Gongwei, you are too kind. Without you, I would still be trapped in Changshe, and how could I have broken through the encirclement?"

"This credit should go to Brother Gongwei."

"but......"

Huangfu Song paused for a moment, then looked at Cao Cao and the Liangzhou army on the west bank and said, "Since Duan Yu's troops are here, I estimate that Duan Yu himself is not far from here."

"He should be here soon."

"I'm afraid Duan Yu will try to take Bo Cai's head."

"Humph."

Zhu Jun scoffed coldly, "What makes him so special?"

"The imperial court ordered him to send troops to suppress the rebellion, but he had been traveling from Luoyang for a month and had not yet reached Yingchuan."

"It's one thing to not send troops to suppress the rebellion, but to send troops here to seize credit. I must impeach him for such behavior."

"Didn't Zishi also say that he would submit a memorial to impeach Duan Yu?"

"Besides, it was we who defeated Bocai..."

Zhu Jun, who had just reached the west bank of the Xun River, looked at Cao Cao and Qu Yi and others not far away and said, "How is their behavior any different from that of bandits?"

Zhu Jun deliberately raised his voice so that Cao Cao, Qu Yi, Gao Shun, and others who were not far away could hear him clearly.

Qu Yi was already harboring anger, and upon hearing Zhu Jun's words, he immediately gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

Zhu Jun, mounted on his horse, narrowed his eyes and sneered, "What, you still want to draw your sword at me?"

"I doubt you have the guts!"

Upon hearing Zhu Jun's words, Cao Cao's expression immediately changed.

This is a provocation, a blatant provocation.

Zhu Jun was clearly trying to provoke Qu Yi.

It was one thing for Qu Yi to raise his crossbow at Sun Jian before, but the situation was different then.

Besides, Sun Jian was just a military advisor.

But if Qu Yi were to draw his sword at Zhu Jun, the situation would be completely different.

Zhu Jun was the Right General of the Household, a court official with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain).

If Qu Yi were to draw his sword, it would first and foremost constitute the crime of disrespecting his superior and committing treason.

Zhu Jun was clearly trying to provoke Qu Yi.

"No."

Knowing Zhu Jun's intentions, Cao Cao immediately stood in front of Qu Yi, turned his head and said, "He is trying to provoke you on purpose. Don't fall for it, otherwise even Ziyi can't protect you."

Standing next to Qu Yi, Gao Shun nodded and placed a hand on Qu Yi's hand as he was about to draw his sword.

"He's right."

Qu Yi took a deep breath and nodded, his eyes red.

Zhu Jun, mounted on his horse, sneered and said, "A lowly soldier who doesn't know his place, be careful you don't lose your head."

"let's go."

After saying that, Zhu Jun waved his hand.

Sun Jian, who was following behind Zhu Jun, also looked at Qu Yi with a sneer.

Huangfu Song, walking alongside Zhu Jun, glanced at Cao Cao and the others but remained silent.

Only after walking some distance did Huangfu Song turn to look at Zhu Jun beside him and say softly:

"Brother Gongwei, why bother arguing with them?"

Zhu Jun shook his head slightly and said, "Brother Yizhen, you are mistaken."

"Since Duan Yu made his troops wait again, it's clear that he had planned to scheme against us first."

"His troops didn't appear earlier or later, but at this exact moment, which clearly shows that they have been observing our movements."

“If Brother Yizhen cannot break through Changshe, then Duan Yu will keep waiting, waiting for Brother Yizhen to be defeated.”

“If we don’t make our stance clear, Duan Yu will think we’re afraid of him.”

"We'll teach his men a lesson today, so they'll know we're not to be trifled with either," Zhu Jun said coldly.

“Brother Yizhen may think that what I did was inappropriate, but given our positions, we could never be friends from the beginning.”

Upon hearing this, Huangfu Song took a deep breath and nodded in agreement with Zhu Jun's statement.

But I always had a bad feeling about it.

............

evening.

West bank of the Xun River.

Cao Cao, Qu Yi, Gao Shun, and several others sat together.

The surrounding air was oppressive.

All three kept their heads down and did not speak.

Duan Yu's previous orders to them were to wait here.

Although Bo Cai's army has been defeated, Duan Yu's new orders have not yet arrived.

So after discussing it, the group decided to wait there for the time being, and make further plans after receiving Duan Yu's latest orders.

Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song, and Wang Yun's armies have all returned to Yangdi.

At this time, besides the surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers, only the Liangzhou army remained on both sides of the Xun River.

Just as the group was still immersed in the oppressive atmosphere, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly rang out from afar in Dong'an, Xunshui.

Upon hearing the sound of horses' hooves approaching from afar, Cao Cao, Qu Yi, Gao Shun, and the others immediately stood up and looked towards the east of the Xun River.

East of the Xun River, a cavalry force of three thousand men, weary from their journey, is moving at an extremely fast pace.

At the forefront of thousands of cavalrymen, Duan Yu, riding the Crimson Dragon Cloud-Treading Beast, took the lead.

When the battle flag embroidered with the character "段" in black appeared on the east bank of the Xun River.

Qu Yi clenched his fists tightly.

"It's Ziyi!" Cao Cao exclaimed excitedly. "It's Ziyi's troops."

Gao Shun nodded.

When the thousands of Liangzhou soldiers who were resting saw the Duan-character battle flag, they all turned their attention to the east of the Xun River.

Their general has arrived!