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

Outside Duan Yu's governor's mansion.

At this moment, all the people passing by the governor's mansion focused their attention on the area in front of the governor's mansion.

There was no other reason than that a large number of people had arrived in front of Duan Yu's governor's mansion at this time.

There were several hundred people.

Moreover, all of these hundreds of people were dressed in mourning clothes and came to escort the coffin.

Who would dare to be so bold as to place a coffin in front of the governor's mansion?

Among the hundreds of people, a boy who was no more than ten years old knelt in front of a huge coffin, dressed in mourning clothes with tears streaming down his face.

Behind the boy was a beautiful woman, about twenty years old, dressed in mourning clothes.

Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, Li Dian, Yue Jin, Yu Jin, and Dian Wei all knelt on either side of Cao Cao's coffin.

Further back were the Cao family, the Xiahou family, and the Ding family, along with hundreds of their relatives.

Before long, before the gates of the governor's mansion had even opened, Yang Fu and Jiang Xu arrived at the gates of the governor's mansion with some soldiers.

When Yang Fu realized who the visitor was, he was also greatly shocked.

Two years ago, Cao Cao, Duan Yu, and Yuan Shao fought against the Qiang people in Liangzhou.

He was the one who received Cao Cao and Yuan Shao when they first arrived in Ji County.

Therefore, Yang Fu knew perfectly well what the relationship between Cao Cao and Duan Yu was.

Yang Fu had previously heard Duan Yu say that the two of them met in Luoyang.

Duan Yu also sent a lot of warhorses to Cao Cao from Liangzhou.

Last year, when Cao Cao was suppressing rebellions in Yanzhou and Yuzhou, he was also under Duan Yu's command.

After learning the importance of the matter, Yang Fu did not delay but immediately went to Duan Yu's governor's mansion and informed Dong Yi of the matter.

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

Before long, after Dong Yi learned the whole story, she immediately came out of the mansion to greet him, and changed the brightly colored skirt she had just been wearing into a plain black one.

In front of the governor's mansion.

Dong Yi was accompanied by several maids.

Meanwhile, a large number of guards armed with swords poured out from both sides of the mansion, completely sealing off both sides of the alley.

"Which one of you is Lady Mengde?"

Dong Yi's gaze fell upon the crowd as he looked toward Cao Cao's coffin.

Ding, who was kneeling in front of the crowd, immediately stood up and said: "Lady of the Marquis of Ji, I am Ding, the wife of Cao Cao."

Seeing Ding Shi's face streaked with tears, Dong Yi immediately stepped forward and took Ding Shi's hand.

Cao Cao was older than Duan Yu, and Lady Ding was older than Dong Yi.

“Sister, my husband is away on a campaign in the Western Regions and is not at home. He has been neglectful and has not done enough. Please do not take offense.”

“My husband often tells me about the bond between him and my sister’s husband. Although they are not blood brothers, they are closer than blood brothers.”

“When my husband first entered Liangzhou, it was my sister’s husband who led troops from his hometown to support him, which laid the foundation for Liangzhou.”

"Although I am just a woman, I do not know about the relationship between men."

"But sister, please rest assured, no matter what injustice your husband encounters, he will definitely help him."

"My sister came all this way because she trusts my husband."

"Please don't be sad for now, sister. Let's go inside first, and you can tell me what happened. Then I'll immediately send someone to inform my husband."

"My husband is currently in the Western Regions, but I will inform him of this as quickly as possible."

Dong Yi held Ding's hand.

These words gave Ding a warmth she had never felt before.

Thinking about it, Ding looked at Cao Ang, who was kneeling on the ground to the side.

"Zixiu, kowtow."

Although Cao Ang, who was only ten years old, did not understand what Ding Shi meant, he still obediently kowtowed to Dong Yi.

Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, and a group of Cao clan members who were supporting the coffin on both sides also knelt down and kowtowed to Dong Yi.

"Sister, please make them get up, please make them get up."

"I will immediately instruct the servants to prepare food and lodging. You must be tired from your journey, so please arrange for some rest."

"Lord Yang, please trouble you to inform my husband's subordinate in the county and ask him to come here."

Yang Fu, who was standing to the side, nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Dong Yi personally helped Cao Ang, who was kneeling on the ground, to his feet, then took Cao Ang's hand with his left hand and Ding Shi's hand with his right hand, and together they walked into the governor's mansion.

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

Since Duan Yu's governor's mansion was established in Ji County, it has never stopped expanding.

The original prefectural governor's residence later became the governor's residence, and now it is the residence of a marquis with ten thousand households.

As the number of people in the mansion increased, the area required also grew larger.

After establishing his own government, Duan Yu's governor's office became the main venue for routine military and political meetings throughout Liangzhou.

However, Duan Yuren is not currently in Liangzhou, so there have been no officials visiting his residence during this period.

However, Dong Yi still chose to hold the reception of the Cao clan members in the council hall of the front residence.

As the person in charge of external affairs, it was perfectly appropriate for Dong Yi to handle this semi-public, semi-private matter, given that Duan Yu was not in Liangzhou.

Soon, following Yang Fu's notification, some of the officials who remained in Ji County, Hanyang, also arrived.

Li Ru, Yang Fu, Jiang Xu, Chen Qing'an, and others all sat in the main hall.

After settling most of the Cao clan members, only Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, and Cao Cao's wife, Lady Ding, remained in the main hall.

And some important relatives such as Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, and Xiahou Dun.

“Sister Ding, as far as I know, your husband was a governor of a prefecture, and now he has died for the country. You should be properly taken care of.” Dong Yilai looked at Ding.

Ding wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

At this point, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and the others all looked furious.

Cao Hong cupped his hands and said to Dong Yi, "Madam, this matter... this matter is all the fault of that Chancellor of Langya, Liu Bei."

Liu Bei?

Li Ru raised an eyebrow.

At this time, besides Cao Cao's family, only Li Ru and Dong Yi knew about Liu Bei in the hall.

Dong Yi had heard of Liu Bei's name because her father, Dong Zhuo, was framed when he was suppressing a rebellion in Ji Province, and Liu Bei's name seemed to have been mentioned in the incident.

Li Ru goes without saying, since he was in Jizhou at the time.

“Uncle Li.” Dong Yi turned her gaze to Li Ru.

Li Ru cupped his hands in greeting to Dong Yi: "Miss, this person is Liu Bei, the one who had a conflict with Lord Jun in Ji Province last year. When he was in Ji Province, Lord Jun cut off one of his ears."

Cao Ren nodded: "That's right, it's this person!"

Upon hearing this, Dong Yi naturally formed a preconceived notion.

"How could this person be so despicable?" Dong Yi frowned.

Cao Ren immediately explained the whole story.

"That day, we led a large army to avenge our elder brother, pursuing him all the way to Fei County..."

Cao Ren slowly explained.

That day in Fei County, Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun were ambushed by Zhang Fei at night. When the main army arrived at dawn, they began to pursue the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou.

While in Feixian, they caught up with a large group of Yellow Turbans.

At that time, a large number of Yellow Turban rebels from Qingzhou were crossing the river.

Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and others immediately began their pursuit, and launched a massacre when the Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou crossed the Wu River.

That day, the entire Wu River was dyed red.

Cao Ren didn't know how many people he had killed.

In any case, corpses were floating all over the Wu River.

After a full day of fighting in Wushui, the vast majority of the Yellow Turban rebels in Qingzhou had been wiped out.

Before sunset, Cao Ren led his army around the Wu River, which was used for crossing the Yellow River, and then continued the pursuit.

But at that time, Liu Bei had already led another group of Yellow Turban rebels from Qingzhou to Linyi, the territory of Langya Kingdom.

Then, a large number of Yellow Turban rebels from Qingzhou entered Linyi City.

Although the vast majority of the Yellow Turban rebels in Qingzhou had been wiped out, Liu Bei led the elite of the Yellow Turban rebels who had escaped.

There are still about two or three hundred thousand young adults.

However, Cao Ren was eager for revenge, so he led a large army to besiege Linyi.

Standing atop the city wall, Liu Bei declared that the Yellow Turban rebels of Qingzhou had surrendered to the imperial court and had been brought under control. He warned Cao Ren not to attack the city any further, or he would report the matter to the court.

Knowing full well that the enemy who killed their brother was in the city, how could the Cao brothers let it go?

After a day of rest, Cao Ren ordered an attack on Linyi.

But with Liu Bei's army plus two or three hundred thousand Yellow Turban rebels from Qingzhou, how could they possibly conquer it?

They failed to capture Linyi and instead suffered heavy losses.

Three days after attacking the city, Liu Bei dispatched Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to fight.

If Dian Wei hadn't fought despite being seriously injured, they would have been nearly defeated by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

Unable to avenge his defeat and suffering heavy losses, coupled with insufficient supplies, Cao Ren ultimately had no choice but to order a retreat.

The army retreated to Feixian.

But a few days later, the imperial edict arrived in Luoyang.

Only then did the Cao brothers learn that Liu Bei had already reported the matter to Luoyang.

The imperial edict reprimanded the Cao brothers for leading troops in rebellion and dismissed them from all their official positions.

Cao Cao's death was attributed to his unauthorized advance and recklessness.

To die for one's country is not a merit, but rather a crime.

The Cao family was also about to face punishment after Liu Bei submitted another memorial to the court.

Li Ru listened and nodded: "Although I don't know if Liu Bei has submitted a memorial to the court, if he has, he will definitely convict you."

"Liu Bei recruited a million Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou, but you slaughtered hundreds of thousands of them."

"Strictly speaking, it was not the Yellow Turbans who were slaughtered, but the civilians that Liu Bei had already recruited."

“Hundreds of thousands of people... and most of them are the elderly, women and children. If this stigma is attached to you, not to mention whether there will be an imperial edict in Luoyang to punish you, the local people will not tolerate your Cao family.”

Cao Ren, who knew this well, nodded.

“Sir, you are right. That’s why we have no other choice but to come to Liangzhou to seek refuge with Marquis Ji. We hope that Marquis Ji can help us and avenge my elder brother.”

"I regret not listening to what my elder brother said."

"Before my elder brother was pierced through the chest and died in Zhang Rao's camp, he told us to come to Liangzhou to find Marquis Ji and avenge him."

"But we acted on our own initiative..."

Li Ru took a deep breath, then shook his head and said, "It's human nature, it's human nature."

"Given the circumstances at the time, what you did was understandable."

When Cao Cao died, his brothers held tens of thousands of troops, and the enemy who killed their brother was right in front of them. Anyone would want to take revenge.

It's just that in that situation, hatred had blinded them, and they couldn't see many things clearly.

Although Li Ru only heard the gist of the story, he knew that the Cao brothers had made several mistakes.

Otherwise, it wouldn't stop there.

It was obvious that they should not have pursued them beyond the territory of Yanzhou.

Furthermore, it would have been even more inappropriate to attack Linyi after Liu Bei had clearly informed them that the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou had already been persuaded to surrender.

Of course, this could also be a trap set by Liu Bei.

They were deliberately waiting for the Cao brothers to jump in.

“This is no small matter,” Li Ru said to Cao Ren and the others. “Only you, Lord, can handle it. However, you are currently dealing with matters in the Western Regions and it is unknown when you will be able to return to the army.”

"Alright, I will immediately send someone to the Western Regions to inform the Lord."

"You may all remain here for now and await the Lord's decision," Li Ru said.

P.S.: I have a rural assignment today, don't know when I'll be back, updates will be irregular.