The Three Kingdoms: Home Travel

They seized Cao Ang and Chen Dao, two young guards, and escorted Cai Yan to the Shi residence...

Just then, Gou Huo finished talking about that matter and was about to head to the residence of Situ Jiang, which was not far from the governor's mansion.

Li Ru, with his sharp eyes, spotted Cai Yan, dressed in a white silk robe, slowly entering the room.

"Second Madam"

"Hmm?" Gou Huo was taken aback upon hearing this. He looked up and saw Cai Yan approaching. He quickly cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, Madam Jiang! Greetings, Commander Gou! Greetings, esteemed lords!" Cai Yan returned the greeting gracefully.

Gou Huo glanced at the pure and refined Cai Yan, and said with a smile, "We were just about to go and have a word with the two ladies, but unexpectedly, you've come here..." "May I ask what brings you here, Madam?"

Hearing Gou Huo's words, Cai Yan's face showed a slight confusion. She asked in confusion, "Why does Commander Gou say this? Is there something you need? If you don't mind that I am a woman, please speak frankly. I wouldn't dare!" Gou Huo's eyes revealed a hint of admiration. To be fair, of Jiang Zhe's two wives, he admired Cai Yan more. She was calm and composed, never angry or upset. If she were a man, she would be a great man. She was truly a remarkable woman.

"Madam must know that Yuan Shu of Runan currently has 30,000 archers. Taking advantage of the weakened state of our forces in Xuchang, he launched a surprise attack. Furthermore, a group of bandits appeared in Yingzhou a few days ago, and General Yu Jin, the only general remaining in Xuchang, has also led troops to suppress the bandits. As a result, there should be no generals left to guard Xuchang, and it should be said that there are no generals from the Cao family left." Cai Yan smiled slightly and listened quietly.

"I've heard that your esteemed Generals Gao Shun and Fang Yue are both excellent generals. I dare to ask if you two generals could jointly defend Xuchang. I wonder what Madam Jiang thinks?" Cai Yan lowered her head for a moment, then looked up and smiled, saying, "What are you saying, Commander-in-Chief? If my husband were here, he would certainly agree. After I return home, I will inform Generals Gao and Fang, and have them come to the Governor's Mansion to be under your command. Is that alright?"

"Thank you!" Gou Huo bowed deeply, thinking to herself, "Shouyi is such a wise and capable husband." Her tone was quite like her husband's. Hehe, truly a wise and virtuous helper like Shouyi.

"I wonder what brings Madam Jiang here?"

"Oh!" Cai Yan turned around, took out a letter from her sleeve, and handed it to Gou Huo, saying, "This was given to me by my husband before he left. He said that if there is any turmoil in Xuchang, I should give this letter to Commander Gou..."

"Oh? Is that so?" Gou Huo was slightly surprised, cupped his hands to accept the letter, and opened it to read. After reading it, he sighed and said, "Well done. Shouyi! He's truly stubborn!" "Wenruo, what is it?" Cheng Yu asked in confusion. Gou Huo then handed Jiang Zhe's letter to Cheng Yu and sighed, "Shouyi Hai, alas, given the current situation, it's not good to say anything to him!"

Cheng Yu glanced at Gou Huo, puzzled. Then, after a quick glance at the letter, he exclaimed with delight, "Excellent! Three thousand tiger-nose warriors! Haha! Xuchang is safe!"

"What's so great about that!" Gou Huo frowned and said, "Shouyi is being far too reckless, sending a mere ten or so people to Yizhou on foot!"

Li Ru chuckled and said with a mocking smile, "In that case, when Shouyi returns, Wenruo can severely reprimand him!" Hearing Li Ru's words, Gouhuo blushed slightly. If it weren't for Jiang Zhe's three thousand elite troops, who knows what the future of Xuchang would be like? If he were really to be blamed, wouldn't his own shortcomings be even more serious?

Ignoring Cheng Yu and Li Ru, who were mocking him, Gou Huo bowed to Cai Yan and said, "Thank you, Madam Jiang. If the war breaks out in Xuchang, it would be wise for the Situ residence to send more men to protect your mansion."

Cai Yan gracefully curtsied and softly said, "No need for your trouble, Sima. My husband has already been assigned several skilled soldiers to guard him in my residence."

"That's right!" Xiao Cao Ang tilted his head back and interjected, "If any fool dares to cause trouble in the manor, I'll chop him down first!" Chen Yi beside him nodded vigorously.

Gou Huo's expression froze. He exchanged a glance with Cheng Yu, both seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes. He already knew that his lord's son was temporarily residing in Jiang Zhe's residence because his father had not returned. He had heard that this kid was quite lawless, causing the local generals and civil officials a great headache.

Bai Zhe gently tapped Cao Ang's head with her small hand, and Cai Yan bowed and said, "If there is nothing else, I will return to the manor first."

"Oh, may you rest in peace, Madam!" Gou Huo stared in astonishment at his lord's eldest son, almost forgetting to reply to Cai Yan's words.

What an extraordinary woman! Gou Huo watched with a smile as Cai Yan walked out of the mansion and boarded the carriage. When he turned around, he saw Cheng Yu looking dazed and muttering something to himself.

"Is this really the eldest son? How strange! How strange! Back when Cheng Yu escorted Cao Ang to Xuchang, he suffered quite a bit. He felt that the lord's eldest son was extremely unruly. He did as he pleased, didn't listen to others' good advice, and couldn't stand being taught anything by others, but now..."

Could it be that he became like this because of Shouyi's teachings? Cheng Yu frowned, recalling Jiang Zhe's personality. He thought to himself, "How could that be!"

On the 25th day of the eighth month of the second year of Zhongping, Yuan Shu personally led an army of 30,000 to attack Xuchang. His imposing presence caused great fear among the people of Xuchang.

While serving as the military commander of Xuchang, Gouhuo ordered a proclamation to appease the people, and at the same time appointed Gao Shun and Xiao Fangyue as generals to be responsible for the defense of Xuchang. During this period, Yang Feng, the commander of the Imperial Guards, came to the governor's mansion and said that he wanted to help defend the city.

How could they possibly let him have his way? After much roundabout negotiation with Yang Feng, they subtly persuaded him to back down. They even adopted a righteous tone, saying, "General, you are the Commandant of the Imperial Guards, the guardian of the palace. The palace is a place of utmost importance, and cannot be lost. General, you have His Majesty's high regard; you should simply remain and guard the palace. Leave the rest to us!" Yang Feng was rendered speechless and left indignantly.

After this, Gou Yuan's search for the sword failed. He then issued an order to all four gates of Xuchang: anyone who disobeyed the governor's military command would be executed, whether in day or night!

Yuan Shu had assumed Xuchang was merely a county town, and that there wouldn't be many soldiers within it, so he only brought 30,000 troops. Upon seeing the city that day, he was truly astonished.

Seeing Yuan Shu frowning, Chief Clerk Yan Xiang said, "My lord, why not have a feint attack from the west and east? Then launch a fierce attack on the south gate while attacking the north gate."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "As you say!" Yuan Shu then ordered Ji Ling, Xiao Chenlan, and Xiao Zhangxun to lead 10,000 troops in a fierce attack on the south gate, and ordered Lei Bo, Mei Cheng, Liu Xun, and Xiao Chenji to each lead 2,000 of their own troops in a feigned attack on the east and west gates.

Chief Clerk Yang Hong stepped forward and reported, "My lord, today our army is approaching Xuchang. You may go forward and challenge them. If you can kill the defending general, that would be wonderful. If not, it will also let the people in the city know. In addition, if the people in the city become restless and their morale is low, our attack on the city will be less troublesome."

Yuan Shu nodded and said, "Good!"

Yuan Shu then ordered his general Li Feng to challenge the enemy. Li Feng, following orders, rode forward to a point outside the range of the Xuchang archers and, following Yuan Shu's instructions, shouted, "Listen, people of Xuchang! Cao Mengde harbors rebellious intentions and has coerced the Emperor; his crime deserves death. Our lord, concerned for the nation, could not bear to see the Han Dynasty reduced to this state, and thus led his troops to rescue the Emperor. Hand over the Emperor, and I will spare your lives. If you remain obstinate, when the city falls, not a single chicken or dog will be spared!" At that moment, Gou Huo, Cheng Yu, and Li Ru, hearing that Yuan Shu intended to attack the city, quickly divided their troops to guard the four gates. Upon seeing Yuan Shu's troop deployment, they realized that Yuan Shu's forces were insufficient and that he only intended to attack the south gate.

Therefore, Gou Huo divided 5,000 troops with Cheng Yu and Li Ru, ordering them to guard the East, West, and North gates, while he himself led Gao Shun and Xiao Fangyue to defend the South gate.

Upon arriving at the South Gate, Gou Huo unexpectedly found Commandant Yang Feng there as well. After exchanging a few perfunctory words with him, he overheard this conversation between Yuan Shu's general, Li Feng.

Yang Feng sneered, glancing sideways at Gou Huo, and said, "Commander Gou, the enemy is so arrogant, yet you remain unperturbed?"

Gou smiled and said, "For a general, the most taboo thing is to be pleased or angered. Does the general not know this?"

"You!" Yang Feng paused, then said coldly, "Does Commander Gou intend to just stand by and watch this man spout nonsense outside? It would only damage the morale of our soldiers in the city."

Then, as if secretly holding back Fang Yue who was about to step forward, he feigned a worried expression and said, "Perhaps there is no good solution to this matter. If someone were skilled in martial arts, they would surely go out of the city to kill this man and bolster our army's morale. What a pity!" "Oh. I see!" Yang Feng nodded. Suddenly, his tone changed, and he said gently, "How about I go and kill this man? If I fail, at least let him know how powerful we are!"

"Huh?" Gou Huo was taken aback and hesitated before speaking. "General, you command the Combat Guard and are a highly trusted minister of His Majesty. If anything were to happen to you, how could I possibly bear the responsibility?"

"No need!" Yang Lai said, laughing loudly, "This man can't do anything to me!"

"Then I will trouble you, General!" Gou Huo said, bowing.

"Hahaha!" Yang Feng laughed loudly, picked up his sword, and went down from the city wall, heading out of the city.

"This man is extremely arrogant!" Fang Yue said coldly. Although he was invited by Cai Yan, the second wife of the Jiang family, to help Gou Huo, he also knew about the relationship between Jiang Zhe and Gou Huo, so he also respected Gou Huo.

Gao Shun, who was also disguised as a guard like Fang Yue, merely opened his eyes and glanced indifferently at Yang Feng's back. Then he closed his eyes again, remaining silent.

"Heh!" Gou Huo's humble demeanor vanished, a glint of cunning flashing in his eyes. He sneered, "This man thinks I don't know his purpose. Going out to fight is a pretense; his real intention is to reveal the city's true strength!"

Fang Yue was startled and hurriedly said, "Since Commander Gou knows this man's purpose, why didn't you stop him? Instead, you let him leave the city. What if Yuan Shu finds out the true situation in the city? General Fang, don't be anxious!" Gou Huo, his face full of confidence, slowly said, "If we want to defeat Yuan Shu, we need this man's help!"

"Help?" Fang Yue's face showed a strange expression as she looked at Gou Huo with great distrust. If Jiang Zhe had said this, Fang Yue would have been convinced, but as for Gou Huo, "after all, Fang Yue has never seen Gou Huo's abilities."

Amidst Yuan Shu's puzzled gaze, Xu Xun slowly opened the south gate, and Yang Feng rode out on horseback, sword in hand.

Yuan Shu was baffled by this and turned to Yang Hong beside him, saying, "Why him...?"

Chief Clerk Yang Hong frowned and pondered for a moment, then exclaimed with delight, "I know! There are no generals in the city! This man has come to inform us of the true situation within the city. My lord, you can order General Li to feign defeat and return to the city in triumph. No one will suspect a thing!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu understood immediately and hurriedly sent his guards to inform Li Feng of the matter.

After listening, Li Feng nodded in understanding the direction of the poison technique, and then engaged Yang Feng in battle.

Two men and two horses. After a few exchanges, Yang Feng, just as Gou Huo had predicted, said softly, "There are no generals in the city, and the soldiers' provisions are not plentiful. If you want to take the city, you should do it as soon as possible!"

Li Feng nodded in response and said softly, "General, you may wound my arm, and I will feign defeat and return. You, General, can then return to the city in glory without anyone suspecting you! Um… excuse me!" Yang Feng shouted, "Heavy! Heavy!" and slashed Li Feng's right arm, causing blood to flow profusely. He then yelled, "Watch how I kill you!" Li Feng looked panicked and helpless, barely managing to block a few of Yang Feng's blows before turning his horse and fleeing.

"Haha!" Yang Laici pointed at Li Feng's retreating figure and laughed, "I'm sparing your life today! Next time you meet me, I'll take your head!"

The Cao soldiers on the south gate of Xuchang were bewildered. Seeing their general had won, they cheered loudly.

Gou Huo coldly observed Yang Feng in the arena, a strange smile appearing on his face.

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