Chapter Twenty: The Rhythm of Desperation

  Yuan Shu wanted to tie Xuzhou to his own war chariot and would not allow Xu and Yan to form an alliance. He also wanted to find an opportunity to frame Tao Qian, so that he could replace him. Therefore, the mastermind behind the assassination of Cao Song's father and son was likely Yuan Shu. Before this, it was thought that Yuan Shu couldn't have reacted so quickly based on the speed of message transmission, so the actual order should have been given by his hidden agent in Xuzhou, who might be hiding among Tao's family members.

  However, if they also used carrier pigeons to convey messages, including between Yuan Shu and the spy, as well as between the spy and his subordinates - for example, giving orders to the county magistrate of Ju County, and then plotting against the county magistrate of Ju County who was murdered afterwards, or for example, Xue Tan, who had just been shot dead - then it is very likely that this order was indeed given by Yuan Shu himself. After all, a plot to murder a former high-ranking official of the imperial court under the banner of Tao Qian is not something that an ordinary spy would dare to decide on his own.

  Cao De couldn't help but grit his teeth and said hatefully: "I, Cao Cao, will never live under the same sky as that villain Yuan Shu!"

  Following Zhang Ke's suggestion, all the Huaxian soldiers who were ordered to assassinate Cao's father and son but were unclear about their true master were slaughtered and left on the roadside. Zhang Ke had his own companions report to Zang Ba. The group continued on their way, this time no one trusted anyone else, and even when they passed through Fei County, they refused to enter the city and instead summoned General Yin Li to come out of the city alone to pay respects to Cao Shuang.

  After leaving Fei County to the north, it was no longer within the sphere of influence of Zang Ba, and those encountered were no longer Xuzhou soldiers but Yanzhou soldiers. However, they did not dare to lightly trust the Yanzhou soldiers either, because Cao Cao had been in control of Yanzhou for a short time, and many areas had not yet been firmly grasped - in other words, the Xuzhou soldiers of this era could barely be considered Tao's army, but the Yanzhou soldiers were not necessarily Cao's army.

  So, despite Cao Song's opposition, they still refused to enter any county town and camped in the wild every day, as if facing a great enemy. Ji Xun found that Zhang Ke's troops were well-organized, with sentries posted, scouts dispatched, and camps guarded - indeed worthy of being Cao Hong's trusted spy and killer.

  So, where is the destination of this trip? According to the administrative division of Yanzhou, it was originally in Changyi County, Shanyang County, but Cao Cao's main camp was in Dongwu Yang, East County, more than 400 miles away from both. And according to Zhang Ke's latest intelligence, Cao Cao had surrounded the million-strong Yellow Turbans in Suixiang and Sheqiu counties southwest of Mount Tai, with the exact location of his main camp unknown, but as long as they got close, they would definitely encounter the authentic Cao army.

  At the mention of Qingzhou Huangjin, Xun's eyes couldn't help but recall the lovely expression on Guan Mei's face, pouting her mouth like a little loli...

  He was so busy with the affairs of Xu and Yan that he almost threw the father and daughter of Guan into the back of his mind. He knew the fate of Qingzhou Huangjin, if there were no other external forces involved, it would definitely end up in Cao Cao's hands, becoming an important pawn for him to compete for dominance in the east. But the problem is that historical records do not mention what happened to Guan Hai, let alone Guan Si. What will be the final outcome of Guan Hai?

  Theoretically speaking, his fate is no more than three kinds: one, beheaded; two, surrender to Cao and become a general; three, retreat from the world and live in seclusion.

  The possibility of being beheaded and having one's body left in a different place is the greatest. To speak of it, the scholars looked at these common people as if they were dirt on their shoes. Although the Yellow Turbans had been making trouble for over ten years, surging across the eight provinces of China, except for Zhang Jue and his brothers, there was really no one else worth mentioning when recording history, including their cause of death, time of death, and place of death. Not to mention Guan Hai, including Zhang Jiao, Bai Jiao, Huang Long, Zuo Xiao, etc., who recorded the outcome? Unless they were later pardoned and became pawns in the struggle for hegemony among the lords, such as Zhang Yan - also known as Zhang Niu Jue, if he hadn't passed on his position to Zhang Yan, it's likely that no one would know how he died.

  Second, He was demoted to a general. Although it is said that Cao's camp had many brave generals, and one more or less would not make a difference, he was after all the former commander of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans. If he really became a subordinate of Cao Cao, he would definitely find some clues in the corners — unfortunately, there were none. It is also strange to say that after the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans surrendered to Cao and became the Qingzhou army, not everyone was garrisoned or stopped fighting. But who led this Qingzhou army? There is no clue in historical records.

  Three is to return to seclusion in the countryside — this was the last time Xun Yu was in Douchang City, downstream of Guan Hai, when Guan Hai said he planned to return home and farm. But the problem is that he used to be the commander-in-chief of the million-strong Yellow Turbans, and it's not easy to just let him go back to his hometown like this. Not to mention Cao Cao, who was suspicious, but anyone would not be at ease, what if one day you suddenly rise up in revolt again, what can be done?

  So the most likely scenario is that millions of Yellow Turbans surrendered to Cao, but Guan Hai died - perhaps he was killed in battle or murdered by the surrender faction, or it's possible that he was sacrificed as a condition for Cao's acceptance of their surrender. If Guan Hai died, then Guan Mei would also be in grave danger, no matter how skilled she was in martial arts, after all she was just an underage loli who fell into the hands of tens of thousands of Yellow Turban youths and over ten thousand Cao soldiers... what kind of ending could there be? It's really too frightening to even think about...

  This time going to Cao's camp, it would be good if Guan Yu could save Guan Yin's life. Xun You couldn't help but think about this. However, as he thought about it, for some reason, his mind kept straying - if he could get Guan Yin's little loli by his side, that wouldn't be bad either. Unfortunately, that girl was still young, and... can't you grow a bit taller? With your current appearance, taking you in would make me feel guilty, do you know? And from Guan Yin, he couldn't help but think of his own fiancée, the Cao family's young lady whom he had "accidentally met" in the snow... As for this one, she was already taller than him, please don't grow any more!

  As he was deep in thought, the group turned northwest from Liangfu County, crossed the Wen River, passed through Juping County, left Taishan Commandery and entered Jinan Commandery, heading straight for Sheqi County. That night, they stayed in a pavilion east of Sheqi County, with about 30 miles to go, estimated that they would set off early tomorrow morning, and before breakfast, they could see the county city - Moreover, it's possible that they hadn't seen the county city yet, but had already run into Cao's army. As long as they showed Cao Song's letter of introduction, wouldn't they be heavily escorted and safe as Mount Tai?

  Heavenly Father, please don't let any more monsters appear, just let us arrive safely at Cao's camp.

  It's because of this that he would shiver in his heart, it's because along the way, on the surface it seemed peaceful, but actually hidden were all sorts of crises, he saw them all with his own eyes and was shocked in his heart. Since they didn't enter the county town, for most of the time they could only camp out in the wilderness, occasionally staying a few days at an inn or pavilion. Inns and pavilions naturally don't need to be mentioned, Cao's father and son, grandfather and grandson lived there, relying on their status as scholars to mix in, soldiers camping outside was reasonable, who would dare say no? - national system, non-officials were not allowed to live in inns or pavilions, let alone those common soldiers.

  But if they were camping in the wilderness, the Cao family would set up a super luxurious large tent with a golden top and silk curtains, divided into several compartments, which was more eye-catching than the general's main tent. It was impossible for the soldiers not to feel jealous. Of course, no matter how big the tent was, it was impossible for hundreds of soldiers to squeeze in, so they could only be envious. But Cao's old master had two meals a day with fine food and wine, meat, vegetables, and hot soup, which was definitely a treat for him as an honored guest. Zhang Ke occasionally came to grab a meal, and even the Cao family's servants, Ding Zhuang, benefited from it and ate well. How could the soldiers who were eating dry rations and drinking plain water every day bear with this?

  He instinctively sensed that many soldiers were gazing at the Cao family's large tent and the Cao family servants cooking outside, with eyes full of envy, jealousy, and hatred, and even a hint of murderous intent. If these negative emotions continued to accumulate day by day, it was hard to guarantee that nothing would happen - after all, Zhang Ke was not their true superior officer, but only temporarily managing this small group of three hundred people.

  So, Cao De exhorted Cao Der to take out some millet and pickled vegetables, even pickled meat, to distribute to the soldiers, trying to control their unstable emotions. According to his original intention, it would be best to give each person a little more money, and then promise double rewards when they arrived at their destination. However, just giving out some grain was enough; as soon as he mentioned dividing up the money, old Cao Song was extremely displeased, rolling around on the ground, and no matter how much Cao De begged, he couldn't get a single coin from his father.

  You're really willing to risk your life but not your wealth, you old thing! This is a rhythm of seeking death! Sometimes I hatefully think that it would be best to send you into Cao Cao's hands, and once you've rid me and Xuzhou of this burden, you'd immediately be killed by mutinous soldiers with chaotic knife strikes!

  So he rushed day and night to get to the place, eager to hand over the old man. However, there is a saying that "sincerity moves heaven", but Xun himself did not believe in God, so God would definitely not let him off easy...

  The day before arriving at Shek Wu County, in the evening, after setting up camp, Huan went to Cao's family banquet again, ate a full meal, and then felt uncomfortable in his intestines and stomach, and was forced to leave the campsite. He ran to the back of a thicket by the side of the road to relieve himself. Originally, it wasn't necessary to run too far, as soldiers often relieved themselves just beside the campsite, but on one hand, Huan wasn't used to squatting in front of people, and on the other hand, he still had to maintain his dignity as a soldier, so he walked a little further away.

  He leaned against a bush, lifted his hem, untied his belt and squatted down. In this month, the pants worn by scholars were basically two pant legs connected to a rope without a crotch, only poor men who wore short clothes for special purposes - such as riding horses or climbing high - would wear pants with a crotch, so they were also called "poor pants". However, Xun was from the future and wasn't used to having his legs exposed, plus he needed to ride horses on this trip, so he always wore poor pants.

  This thing called bowel movement, sometimes it's quite strange, just like luck or the opportunity to pick up girls, it always comes suddenly and without warning, but when you're fully prepared, it disappears like a yellow crane, fleeting and nowhere to be found. You've been squatting there, straining for half a day, but it just won't come down, and just as you're thinking "this intention has gone with the yellow crane, this place is empty...", you suddenly hear a faint human voice from not far away.

  "Could it be that someone else also came here to relieve themselves? Unexpectedly, I've traveled back in time and can still meet with this deceitful person. He was thinking wildly while perking up his ears to listen, when he heard a voice say: "The defense is quite strict, what's the plan?" Another voice scolded him: "Keep your voice down! If Cao Zhen finds out, it will be even harder to take action."

  Good heavens, I'm not protecting Tang Sanzang on his journey to the Western Heaven, no need to go through 81 hardships! Besides, that old guy is just a pig-headed Bajie, what does he have in common with the pure and clean Tang Sanzang?! Suddenly, Xun felt a chill run down his spine, instinctively holding up his pants as he stood up, only to hear a "crack" sound beneath his feet, seemingly having snapped a tree branch.

  He was completely flustered and didn't even have time to pull up his pants, turning around to make a frantic retreat!