Chapter 22: Meng Zhi Arrives at Jizhou

  As Zhang Yang had said, on September 17th, Ding Yuan led the great army back to Jinyang, and everyone went with him.

  Ding Yuan and Lü Bu were at the front, followed by Zhang Liao and Cao Xing. Further back was a force of 10,000 troops from Pingzhou, then Gao Shun and Zhang Yang leading over 300 soldiers from the Trap Array Camp and the Elite Camp, and finally Ma Chao.

  This was arranged by Zhang Yang for him, and Ma Chao also asked Zhang Yang, "If I run away, what will you do to my uncle?" Zhang Yang smiled, "Brother Meng Qi, don't worry about me, with Gong Sun Zan and Fu Yi here, Ding Jianyang won't kill me. The worst result is that I'll leave the army or be demoted to a common soldier, no big deal, just go your way. It was I who brought you in, so it's only right that I should escort you out."

  Zhang Yang is indeed a good friend, Ma Chao is very grateful to him, now there is no chance, can only find opportunities to repay in the future.

  During the journey back to Jinyang, Ma Chao took advantage of a night when the army was resting and slipped away unnoticed. By the time he was discovered, it was already daylight. Ding Yuan was furious when he found out, as someone had escaped from under his very nose. He originally wanted to severely punish Zhang Yang, but due to the pleas of Lü Bu and others, he eventually gave him a lighter punishment, demoting Zhang Yang to an ordinary soldier.

  Ma Chao ran away, and although Ding Yuan was relatively angry, he didn't take it to heart. In his eyes as the governor of this state, Ma Chao was only slightly better than an ordinary soldier. He ran, so what? Only Gao Shun didn't think so. Although he hadn't been in contact with Ma Chao for long, and not much, he knew that Ma Chao was absolutely not a simple person on the surface. His escape had been planned long ago.

  But now it's all useless, everyone has left. Ma Chao fled and rushed to Yunzhong City without stopping, and finally arrived on the afternoon of September 19th.

  As a result, when he arrived at the city gate, he saw Cui An waiting for him there, and he didn't know how long he had been waiting.

  Chui On also saw Ma Chao and hastily ran over, "Master, you've finally returned!"

  Ma Chao asked: "Fu Da, have you been waiting for me here all along?"

  "Yes, Master, you told me to wait for you here. After I returned in August, I've been waiting for you every day at the city gate during the daytime and returning before the city gate closes at night."

  Ma Chao smiled upon hearing this, it seems that Cui An is indeed obedient, looks like he's really afraid of being sent back to his hometown in Fufeng.

  "Great, Fada you did a great job! Let's go, let's head back home in Yunzhong City together!"

  Then the two returned to Ma Chao's house in Yunzhong City, and Cui An also brought his horse and luggage. After settling down the horses and entering the house, Ma Chao asked Cui An about escorting Cai Yong and his daughter along the way.

  Cui An told Ma Chao about what happened after they parted ways outside Jiuyuan City in Wuyuan County. He escorted Cai Yong and his daughter to Wu Commandery, but upon reflection, he realized that while he had a horse to ride, the father-daughter pair had nothing. So Cui An returned to Jiuyuan City, hired a carriage, and set off with Cai Yong and his daughter. Originally, the carriage driver was reluctant to go all the way to Wu Commandery, but after Cui An showed him some money and glared at him, he finally agreed.

  Then the carriage driver drove the horse-drawn carriage with Cai Yong and his daughter, while Cui An rode a horse alongside. The four of them set off on the road to Wu County. Along the way, they encountered one or two groups of petty thieves, but under Cui An's mighty halberd, all were either killed or injured, none standing. This made the carriage driver extremely frightened, and only then did he realize that the master who had hired him was not a good person, capable of killing without batting an eye. Fortunately, he had agreed to come along at the time; otherwise, this master would have struck him down with his halberd, and his life would have been forfeit.

  By the eighth day of July, the four finally arrived in Wu County. After paying for the carriage fare, the driver took on another job to rush to Ji Province and left. Cai Yan and her father also went to a friend's house, bid each other farewell, and Cui An returned alone to Pingzhou.

  He arrived at Yunzhong City and never forgot Ma Chao's words, waiting for him every day at the city gate. After a month and a half, he finally waited for him today.

  Things are like this, Ma Chao listened to Cui An's words and he also put his mind at ease regarding Cai Yong and his daughter. Cui An was indeed obedient, after waiting for such a long time, fortunately he had packed quite a few valuable items in his bag, enough for him to spend.

  Ma Chao took out the map and looked at it, and the trip to the state can be said to have ended perfectly. His next plan was to leave Yunzhong City for Youzhou or Jizhou. However, he hesitated slightly as to whether to go to Youzhou or Jizhou first, but Ma Chao finally decided to go to Jizhou first and then go to Youzhou after a while.

  "Foda, get a good rest tonight, tomorrow morning we set out for Jizhou!"

  "Great, Master! I haven't been out of this place for over a month now, and this time I'm finally leaving this haunted place!" It seems that staying in Yunzhong City for so long has gotten on Cui An's nerves.

  The next day at Chen time, Ma Chao and Cui An packed up their things and set off on the road. As for the house in Yunzhong City, just leave it as it is. It doesn't have legs and won't run away, so if they come to Yunzhong again someday, they'll still have a place to stay.

  Two men headed towards Hebei Province's Changshan State, on the way they would pass by Yammen, where they would stop for a while before hurrying to Hebei. Originally Ma Chao had planned to go to Yammen first, but after meeting Zhang Liao at Ding Yuan's place, there was no need to stay in Yammen any longer. However, this time passing through, Ma Chao thought it would be good to take a look around.

  The two men's horses were of the highest quality, especially Ma Chao who had two horses, one of which was the one Zhang Yang gave him. Whenever he saw the horse, he would think of Zhang Yang. He also wondered how his uncle Zhang Fei was doing now and hoped that not too many people would be implicated because of his own affairs.

  He and Cui An didn't rush all the way, and after nearly three days, they arrived at Yamenguan. They didn't stay there for too long, only staying overnight, and set off for Jizhou the next day.

  The closer he got to Hebei, the more Ma Chao felt that Bingzhou was a poor place. The households in Hebei were much stronger than those in Bingzhou. It's no wonder, as both Liang and Bing were considered poor places, while Hebei was one of the top three richest provinces in the Han Dynasty.

  But after a few years, with the continuous disasters and man-made calamities, it was also Hebei Province that first stood up to resist. There are many people in this province who have been oppressed, forced to flee, and have no way out, with nothing to eat or drink. Where there is oppression, there will be resistance. Now, Ma Chao sees that the common people seem to be living a good life, but most of it is just superficial.

  The aristocratic families of Hebei Province are thriving, while ordinary people have been oppressed to the point where they can barely survive. Although it is said that Hebei is better than other provinces, when a natural disaster strikes, who knows how many people will starve to death? In the imperial court, you allow them to engage in intrigue and struggle for power without any problem, but when it comes to providing disaster relief and saving the common people, the national treasury is empty, and they all line their own pockets. A few of them care about the lives and deaths of ordinary people.

  What's the point of relying on the local government? It's hopeless, so in the end the common people had no choice but to pick up their hoes and resist. Anyway, if you don't eat, you'll starve to death; if you stand up and resist, maybe you'll get something to eat and live a few more days.

  Ma Chao entered Jizhou and also saw people wrapped in yellow scarves, this should be the Yellow Turbans. Although not many, as time passed, more and more civilians would join the Yellow Turbans. He knew what would happen later, but it was a historical inevitability, even if you destroyed the Yellow Turbans today, tomorrow there might be Green Turbans or Black Turbans. This is something that cannot be changed by human power.

  After leaving Yanmen, Ma Chao and Cui An walked for more than three days. Today, they finally arrived at Changshan Zhen Ding. He came here to find Zhao Yun, Ma Chao remembered that Zhao Yun was a native of Changshan Zhen Ding, and his age should be similar to his own.

  After arriving in Zhending, Ma Chao and Cui An began to look for Zhao Yun. He remembered that Zhao Yun's home was probably located in Zhaojia Village, so Ma Chao asked people about the location of Zhaojia Village. As it turned out, there really was such a place.

  Ma Chao was overjoyed after learning the situation, and it would be easier to handle with a specific location. After knowing the location, he and Cui An rushed to Zhaodian Zhaojia Village on horseback. When they arrived at Zhaojia Village, it was already evening, so the two had to stay overnight at the home of an old man named Zhao in the village, and also asked where Zhao Yun's house was.

  Zhaojia Village, ninety percent of the villagers are surnamed Zhao. Ma Chao and his companions were lodging at Old Man Zhao's home. This Old Man Zhao is already sixty-seven years old, which in ancient times was considered a very long life. Both Ma Chao and Cui An showed great respect to Old Man Zhao.

  Mr. Zhao was the only one in his family, his wife had passed away early, he had two sons, the elder son was doing business outside and could come back once every ten days or half a month, while the younger son was serving as a soldier in the Hebei Provincial Military Command, seemingly as a squad leader, and it was even harder to see him.

  Old Zhao was sixty-seven years old, but in Ma Chao's eyes, he looked like a man in his fifties or late forties. Ma Chao thought that this old man could easily live to be over ninety, and maybe even over a hundred without any problem.

  The old man was also very humorous, and he would always laugh whenever he saw someone. Ma Chao thought the old man's temper was quite good, perhaps it was because of this that he could live a long life. Since it was getting late, the old man prepared dinner for Ma Chao and his companions. However, they couldn't let the old man do all the work by himself. So the three of them worked together to cook and prepare dishes. Although Cui An's brain didn't always function properly at times, he could still manage tasks like cooking, and as for Ma Chao, it was as if he had learned how to do these things in his past life.

  They didn't let Old Zhao do the cooking, but he said, "It's rare to have guests at home, you must try my signature braised chicken." Because of Ma Chao and his friends' arrival, Old Zhao slaughtered one of the two chickens they raised at home, which made Ma Chao feel particularly guilty. He thought that in ancient times, people were indeed simple and unsophisticated, so when it was time to leave, he wanted to give some money to Old Zhao as a token of gratitude.

  After dinner, Ma Chao and Old Man Zhao chatted idly. He inquired about Zhao Yun's situation from Old Man Zhao, "I wonder if you know whether there is a person named Zhao Yun in Zhaojia Village?"

  "Zhao Yun, of course. Cloud junior, this kid is a good kid!" Old Man Zhao smiled and then told Ma Chao some things about the Zhao family.

  Zhao Yun's parents had passed away many years ago, leaving behind three children. Zhao Yun's older brother Zhao Lei, Zhao Yun and his younger sister Zhao Yu. The children of poor families have to grow up early, Zhao Lei was still young but took on the responsibility of taking care of his siblings after their parents' death. And Zhao Yun and Zhao Yu were also very sensible.

  Unfortunately, the heavens have unpredictable winds and clouds, and people have unexpected fortunes and misfortunes. Last year, Zhao Lei also passed away due to illness, leaving behind only 8-year-old Zhao Yun and 5-year-old Zhao Yu. As a result, Zhao Yun naturally took on the responsibility of taking care of his sister. But what can an 8-year-old child do? He could only chop firewood in the mountains to sell, and with the help of fellow villagers, the siblings barely managed to make ends meet.

  Until a few months ago, a man came to the village and saw Zhao Yun. He said that he had excellent roots and was a good seedling for martial arts practice, wanting to take him as his apprentice and go into the mountains to learn martial arts together.

  Zhao Yun indeed liked to practice martial arts, but as soon as he heard that he had to go into the mountains, he refused. The person was puzzled and asked him why, Zhao Yun said that if he went to the mountains to learn martial arts, his sister Zhao Yu would have no one to take care of her.

  Who would have thought that the man laughed and said, "Why don't you two siblings come with me into the mountains?" Zhao Yun heard this and put his mind at ease, then kowtowed to become a disciple. The man said his name was Tong Yuan, and he took Zhao Yun as his own personal disciple, while in front of him there were still two older brothers, the eldest brother named Zhang Xiang, and the second brother named Zhang Ren. Afterwards they entered the mountains, and now it has already been over two months.

  Old Zhao looked at Ma Chao with a smile after finishing his words, implying that you see, I know a lot of things, and if you ask others, they may not necessarily know.

  "Thank you, sir!" Ma Chao said respectfully.

  "Mei Qi, you don't have to be polite."

  "I don't dare to deceive you, sir. I came to Zhaojia Village just to find Zhao Yun and make friends with him, but I didn't know where he was. Now that you've told me this, I know where to look for him."

  "Meng Qi, you're a good kid too. Otherwise, I wouldn't have said so much to just anyone. I think you two will become good friends." After finishing speaking, Old Man Zhao gave Ma Chao an encouraging look, as if saying, "Young man, I've got high hopes for you!"

  Ma Chao suddenly felt that he was being seen through by Old Man Zhao, as if everything had been exposed. It seemed that this old man was not an ordinary person either. Just as he was thinking about it, Old Man Zhao spoke again, "Meng Qi, you all should rest early. The house has already been cleaned up, and I'll go to sleep first. As people get older, they easily get sleepy, so I must sleep early." After finishing speaking, Old Man Zhao turned around and left.

  Ma Chao hastily expressed his gratitude, "I've really troubled you, elder!"

  Old Zhao didn't even turn his head, he just slightly waved his hand and said, "Meng Qi, if you want to do something, work hard at it! Being young is truly great!"

  Old Zhao went to rest, Ma Chao couldn't just stand there, he and Cui An naturally also went back to their own room to rest.