The Three Kingdoms: Home Travel

"Alas..." A soft sigh escaped, followed by a mournful melody of longing and sorrow slowly drifting from the room. However, Cai Wei was distracted; losing his composure was secondary. The intermittent melody made Old Wang shake his head in disbelief.

"My lord... have you ever thought of me? In the eighth month of the second year of Zhongping, just as Jiang Zhe launched his beacon fire plan to surround and kill the White Horse Cavalry... at the residence of the Prefect of Xuchang." Cheng Yu coldly looked at a memorial in his hand, then turned to Li Ru and said, "Xianzhang, look, someone has come to report... a yellow turban has arrived..." "Oh?" Li Ru said with a half-smile, clapping his hands. "We've waited so many days, and they finally couldn't resist..."

After Jiang Zhe was promoted to Grand Minister, Li Ru also rose several ranks and became the Chief Clerk of the Grand Minister. Although this position was insignificant compared to his abilities, Li Ru didn't care much about it.

Jiang Zheyi left Xuchang. The administration of Xuchang naturally fell to Gou Huo, the most senior official, although he had previously acted as Jiang Zhe's deputy. This time, however, it was a legitimate position.

Gou Huo sat in the main seat, watching Cheng Yu and Li Ru's sinister smiles, and shook his head inwardly. "I hope Shouyi won't be led astray by these two..." "Thump, thump, thump!" A series of hurried footsteps approached, and then a palace eunuch entered, speaking in a shrill voice to Gou Huo and the other two, "My lords, His Majesty summons you. Please change your clothes and accompany me to the palace to meet the Emperor!"

Gou Huo had already risen when the eunuch entered. Upon hearing this, he exchanged a glance with Cheng Yu and Li Ru, and the three of them bowed deeply, saying, "Your humble servants obey the imperial decree! The emperor summons us, and the three of them dare not delay. After changing their clothes, they followed the eunuch toward the palace."

Amidst the puzzled looks of Gou Huo and the other two, the eunuch led them to the emperor's bedchamber and turned to say, "Please, gentlemen. His Majesty is waiting for the three immortals inside..." Upon hearing this, Gou Huo dared not be negligent. He straightened his clothes and strode in, with Cheng Yu and Xiao Liru naturally following closely behind.

Upon entering the palace, they saw Emperor Liu Xie sitting on his couch, looking at them from afar. Gou Huo and the other two bowed deeply and said, "Your humble servants pay their respects to Your Majesty." "Rise!" Liu Xie smiled and called the three over.

"Gou Huo rose, cupped his hands, and said, 'May I ask what Your Majesty wishes to summon me for?'"

"Oh, nothing else. Fu Wan came to report that a group of bandits had appeared in Ying. I summoned you all to inquire, but there have been no urgent reports from any of the passes. Where did these bandits come from?"

Li Ru and Cheng Yu exchanged a glance, both seeing the smile in each other's eyes.

Gou Huo frowned and shook his head, saying, "This humble subject knows nothing of this matter. I only know that they call themselves Yellow Turbans, presumably Yellow Turban rebels from Chang'an who have fled into our territory." "Oh," Liu Xie nodded, then hesitated and said, "However, Xuchang is our capital. If we let them go unchecked, wouldn't we become a laughingstock? Minister Gou, why not send an army to quell them?" "This," Gou Huo hesitated for a moment. He cupped his hands and said, "Why not wait for Lord Cao to return with his army before launching a campaign? ... Would that be alright?" "Your Excellency's words are different!" Liu Xie sighed. "Cao Cao's rescue of Yuan Shao is a small matter, not a minor one. How can he return in just a few days? If we wait for Lord Cao to return, how much suffering will the people endure! If there are no generals in the city, I will personally lead the campaign!" "Your Majesty, you mustn't! Your Majesty's life is precious. How can you so easily risk your life?" Gou Huo, startled, quickly said, "This humble subject already understands Your Majesty's intentions. Perhaps... perhaps we should send General Yu Jin to lead troops to punish the traitor. Is that acceptable?"

"That would be wonderful!" Li Xie clapped his hands and laughed. He then asked, "By the way, Minister Gou, I have been living in the deep palace for a long time and feel quite bored. If you have nothing to do in the future, please come and keep me company more often. Also, I would like to thank you for the matter of the Imperial Guards' pay!"

"Your Majesty, I dare not! But now that Minister Situ has gone to Ji Province, and there are many official duties in Xuchang, I am unable to find the time. How about another time?" Liu Xie's expression froze for a moment, then he recovered and said with a smile, "This was just a joke, my dear minister, please don't take it seriously. Well then, you all should calm down for now..."

"We take our leave!"

Watching Gou and the other two leave with a cold eye, Li Xie snorted coldly and raised his teacup to smash it on the ground, but then he suddenly remembered something and put the teacup down heavily on the table.

"Your Majesty's magnanimity is growing day by day, a cause for celebration!" Zongzheng Li Ailai turned around from behind the screen and looked at Liu Xie with a smile.

Liu Xie smiled coldly and said indifferently, "Uncle, is this acceptable?" Liu Ai lowered his head slightly and smiled. "Your Majesty, please rest assured, leave the rest to this old minister." "...Since it is the Emperor's order, and Cao Cao and Jiang Zhe are not in Xuchang, there is no other way but to order Yu Jin to lead 5,000 troops out of the city to attack Dun and the Yellow Turbans."

Yu Jin received the order and led the troops out. A reply arrived within ten days.

Yan Liang, the Yellow Turban leader He Yi, and several of his subordinates, both high and low-ranking. The number of bandits, etc.

The period lasted fifteen days. Yu Jin frequently reported victories to Gou Lin in Xuchang, but Gou Lin became increasingly worried. He not only ordered the city gates to be closed, allowing only entry but also enforcing a curfew.

"Nothing more than seeing Yu Jin getting further and further away from Xuchang..." "Hmph! A trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain!" Li Ru said coldly.

Cheng Yu shook his head and said in a sinister voice, "It seems Your Majesty..."

"Zhongde!" Gou Huo shouted in a deep voice, "Watch your words!"

Cheng Yu smiled slightly and said to Li Ru, "Xianzhang, how many usable soldiers are left in the city?"

Li Ru frowned and thought for a moment, then said clearly, "Aside from sending troops to patrol Xuchang and monitor the area, cough, and other uses, there are still more than seven thousand soldiers..."

"It's not right," Cheng Yu said after a moment's thought. "They only transferred General Yu Jin away, but there's been no movement elsewhere. This is extremely suspicious. If they intend to cause trouble, aside from using the troops for other purposes, there are still 13,000 soldiers in Xuchang, and the Imperial Guards only number 5,000. If not... no, there must be a trap!" "I know there must be a trap!" Li Ru shook his head and said, "We only need to monitor those 5,000 Imperial Guards. If there's any unusual movement, we'll seize the opportunity to take them down. What's the big deal? They're short a full 8,000 soldiers."

They lack the advantages of favorable timing, location, and popular support. What do we have to fear? Can they conjure up an army out of thin air?

"Hmm?" Gou Huo seemed to think of something, his expression changed slightly, and just as he was about to speak, someone rushed in.

"Who told you to come in...?" Cheng Yu was about to reprimand the person for being so presumptuous, but he was shocked when he saw that the person was covered in blood, as if he had been pulled out of a pool of blood.

"To inform you, sirs."

"Urgent report!" Cao's soldier shouted. The three men exchanged glances, a sense of foreboding creeping into their hearts.

Where is the urgent report? Gou Huo suddenly stood up and walked towards the Cao soldier.

"Here I am!" The soldier from Cao Cao took out a letter from his bosom, which was mostly soaked with blood.

Gou Yao ignored the bloodstains on it and began to examine it, but the more he looked, the worse his expression became.

"Wenruo?" Cheng Yu asked in confusion.

"He really did conjure an army!" Gou Huo laughed angrily. He handed the letter to Li Ru and then asked in a deep voice, "Yuan Shu attacked our territory, why didn't you report it sooner?"

The soldier from Cao Cao said in a distressed voice, "How could I possibly know about this? Oh, perhaps I'm just confused from anger. You've come a long way and must be tired. Go and rest!"

"Yes, sir! I'll take my leave!"

"Hmm?" Li Ru frowned as he looked at the letter, muttering, "Yuan Shu has been plotting this for a long time. Under the guise of training troops, he stationed them abroad, thus lowering the guards at the border passes and allowing Yuan Shu to capture them unexpectedly… There are quite a few capable people in the court!" Cheng Yu coldly mocked. "The world is not yet at peace, yet internal strife has arisen. How laughable! How lamentable!"

"Your Majesty..." Gou Huo shook his head with regret.

In mid-August of the second year of Zhongping, Yuan Shu of Runan raised an army of 30,000. Under the pretense of training his troops, he took advantage of the weak defenses of Yuzhou, launched a sudden attack, broke through the passes, and marched straight towards Xuchang. The other counties remained completely untouched.

Cao Cao, who was in charge of Yu Province, had previously mobilized 20,000 troops to rescue Yuan Shao, but they could only barely defend the various counties.

On the 20th day of the eighth month of the second year of Zhongping, Yuan Shu led his troops to the outskirts of Xuchang.

"This time, we have miscalculated!" Gou Huo sighed in the governor's mansion. He had planned everything meticulously, but he hadn't anticipated that Yuan Shu would raise an army. This made Gou Huo very dissatisfied with himself.

"Wenruo, please don't be like this!" Cheng Yu advised from the side. "The most urgent task now is to defeat Yuan Shu. We should gather our soldiers and defend to the death!" Gou Yao took a deep breath and said to Cheng Yu and Li Ru, "I might have lost my composure and made you two laugh at me... Hehe!" Li Ru shook his head and said inscrutablely, "Wenruo, don't blame yourself. Even so, it's a 50/50 situation. Are there really no generals in Xuchang? Shouyi Mansion still has two rare talents!"

Gou was taken aback for a moment, then clapped his hands and laughed loudly. "If it weren't for Xianzhang's reminder, I would have almost forgotten! However, this matter must be reported to Shouyi's two wives..."

"That's excellent!"

Situ Mansion!

"Something terrible has happened!" Cao Angxing rushed out of the mansion, followed by Chen Dao.

Xiu'er was taking a nap, leaving Cai Gui alone in Jiang Zhe's study, browsing through books. For Cai Gui, who had loved knowledge since childhood, marrying into the Jiang family was incredibly lucky. Even the greatest Confucian scholars of the time would look down on women who studied and wrote. But Jiang Zhe not only didn't stop her, but actually encouraged Xiu'er and Cai Gui to read.

For this reason, Cai Gui was very fortunate to have married such a man.

Just a quick note: Xiuer has been feeling quite tired lately. She used to practice martial arts frequently in the courtyard, but lately we haven't seen her around much.

Hearing the noise, Cai Leng frowned slightly. Looking at Cao Ang and Chen Dao who rushed in, she said, "Shouting like this, what kind of behavior is this! If your uncles were here, they would definitely scold you." Cao Ang shrank his head and dared not utter a word.

Cao Ang had no fear of Jiang Zhe's principal wife, Xiu'er, because she was gentle and kind, much like Cao Ang's mother, Lady Ding. However, Cao Ang felt a slight fear of Cai Zhi, for no other reason than this.

It was simply Cai Jiao's unique aura.

Seeing the two men's flustered state, Cai Yang smiled faintly and said, "Alright, there's no need for this. Your uncle isn't here, Ziqiao, why are you in such a panic?" Cao Ang, hearing Cai Cui's question, exclaimed, "Auntie, Yuan Shu of Runan is going to attack Xuchang!"

"Oh?" Cai Lan looked slightly puzzled. He put down his book and asked, "How did you know that?"

"The whole city is buzzing with the news! Yuan Gonglu is currently camped a hundred miles outside Xuchang!"

Slightly taken aback, Cai Yang nodded and said calmly, "I see. I understand..."

"Auntie, aren't you afraid?" Cao Ang asked curiously.

"Afraid? Why be afraid?" Cai Cuihe stood up, placed the book back in its original spot, and said softly, "What's the use of being afraid?"

Cao Ang's face fell. He exchanged a glance with Chen Dao, scratching his head as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.

Cai Cui turned around and saw the two of them like this, and smiled slightly to herself. She said calmly, "You two came to tell me about this. It can't be that simple, can it?"

"Uh..." Cao Ang chuckled awkwardly, clasped his hands, and said, "Auntie, you are wise. Uncle and I have made up our minds to join Tiger's camp, just like..." "No!" Cai Tanfen's face tightened. How could someone as intelligent as her not know what these two boys were thinking? She said seriously, "When my lord left, he entrusted you two to my instruction. I haven't blamed you for your laziness and lack of interest in learning. Are you perhaps thinking, 'If something happens to me, how will I explain it to my husband?'"

"Auntie"

"There's no need to say anything more. I've said I won't allow it, and that's final! Give up on this idea!"

Cao Ang was furious, but dared not offend Cai La Jiang Zhe, so he hesitated and said, "Auntie, shall we go to the city wall?"

"How is this any different from me indulging you? No!" Cai Tan frowned and said in a deep voice. "From this day forward, neither of you are allowed to leave my side... Hmm, if that's the case, when my husband returns, I'll put in a good word for you two..." These words left Cao Ang and Chen Dao both surprised and disappointed. They were surprised that their second aunt would say she would speak well of them, but disappointed that another opportunity to gain military merit had been lost...

Seeing the two young men standing there hesitantly, Cai Yi smiled slightly and said softly, "I have business to attend to at the governor's mansion to see Commander Gou. Would you two be willing to act as my guards?"

"Huh?" Chen Dao asked curiously, "Why is Auntie going to see Commander Gou?"

Cai Lou put on the white brocade outer robe, smiled slightly, and said, "My husband once said that if any misfortune befalls Xuchang, he would instruct me to deliver the letter he left behind to Commander Gou."

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