Chapter 22: The Cause of Heartache

  More than 100,000 Cao troops surrounded the million-strong Qingzhou Yellow Turbans in Suixiang and Sheqiu, just like a small pack of wolves surrounding tens of thousands of sheep. Of course, it was impossible to be completely sealed off, and there were gaps everywhere. The Cao army only controlled several main roads, and large groups of Yellow Turbans would be attacked as soon as they broke out, but two or three people could still escape by climbing mountains and drilling through forests, which was ultimately unstoppable.

  Guan Mei and Bai Laowu barely escaped the encirclement.

  According to Bai Shao, the Yellow Turbans had already run out of food and were in the midst of winter, with nothing to plunder in the wilderness. They could only gnaw on grass roots and tree bark to barely survive, and nearly a thousand people starved to death one after another. After writing a letter advising Cao Cao to retreat his troops without success, they considered surrendering. However, Cao Cao set out conditions: he would guarantee the survival of the remaining Yellow Turbans only if they first killed Guan Hai and over ten other leaders, presenting their heads as proof.

  Guan Hai was about to kill himself on the spot, but was held back by Guan Yu and his trusted followers. Guan Hai had no choice but to send someone to negotiate with Cao's camp again, while ordering Bai Wuchang to protect Guan Yu and sneak out of the encirclement first. Guan Hai said to his daughter: "You go and scout the road first, if it's safe, I'll also escape, and then Cao Cao will have no choice but to surrender unconditionally."

  Bai Lao Wu described this section, deliberately turning his head to look at Shi Xun, and making eye contact. Shi Xun understood his meaning, Guan Hai had already sprouted the intention to die, and would not be willing to escape alone, but only to deceive his daughter out of the siege first, because he was very clear that Cao Cao would not easily let go of those Yellow Turban remnants without getting his head.

  "Is Jun asked: 'I taught you to enter Tai Shan, set up a camp by the mountain, cultivate and make a living, why didn't you listen and instead went to attack Yunzhou?' Guan Si lay on his mat, weakly muttering: 'Your idea is good, but there's no arable land in the mountains, how can we cultivate? A million villagers, if they don't cultivate, how will they survive?'"

  He was stunned for a moment, and then reacted - he had really overestimated the agricultural technology of this era! Even if these Yellow Turbans were all veteran farmers, how many people had experience and skills in opening up barren land in the mountains? At that time, it was a stupid idea to let them go up the mountain to fight guerrilla warfare, truly having the "Why not eat meat porridge" corrupt aristocratic FEEL... Originally thought it was just the poor valley's farming technology that was backward, if not for following Chen Deng to persuade and assist farming in Tancheng nearby last time, I'm afraid he wouldn't have woken up yet!

  Thinking of this, he couldn't help but lower his head and cover his forehead with his hand: "It's my fault..."

  "Of course it's your fault!" Although Guan Mei had just woken up and her whole body was weak, her mouth was still sharp as ever. "Now my dad is going to die... Waaahhh, it's all because of you too!"

  "This... " Xun wanted to say that this had nothing to do with him, but the words reached his lips and he swallowed them back down. Bai Lao Wu looked at him and said in a low voice: "Xī Er said you're the smartest, maybe you can save Commander's life, so we took the risk to rescue you..." Guan Xī Er pouted: "Who said he's smart? I'm saying it's all his fault, he has to take responsibility for saving my dad's life!"

  "General Shuai has spared my life..." Xun was about to say, "But I have already repaid him in Du Chang City", but he swallowed the second half of his words along with his saliva. He instructed Guan Yi: "You rest well for now, as for rescuing General Guan, let me think again..." As he spoke, he lifted the curtain and exited the tent.

  Inside the tent, there was a warm fire, but outside it had already turned pitch black. Looking up, he saw countless stars twinkling in the clear winter sky, as if they were the mouths of the millions of Yellow Turbans who had fallen into the abyss of death. Is called a soldier to bring water over and wiped away the bloodstains on his face, while wiping, he was deep in thought: "Cao Cao really wants Han's head, even if I were him, I wouldn't let him off... how can I make Cao Cao change his mind? This is quite a difficult problem..."

  "In the depths of his heart, a voice sneered: 'Who do you think you are? Can you make Cao Cao change his mind? Are you planning to run to Cao's camp and show off your arrogance?'"

  In front of me, Guan Mei's face appeared again, so thin and pale, with no sparkle in her eyes, weak to the point where even her voice was barely audible - except for that sharp mouth, she had almost become a completely different person... And it seemed like it had been nearly a year, but her height hadn't grown at all.

  Thinking of this, Xun couldn't help but feel a dull ache in his heart.

  If I hadn't met Guan Yu, it would have been fine. But now that we've met, it's as if we haven't seen each other before. If we don't meet again after this, perhaps the shadow of this little Loli in my heart will gradually fade away; if I see Guan Yu again after his death, I won't need to worry about persuading Cao Cao anymore - after all, "it's all his fault, he has to take responsibility for saving my father's life" and so on, it's just the ruthless words of a little Loli, she wouldn't really put Guan Yu's death on her own head. However, since I've already seen Guan Yu, since she made a request, if I can't fulfill it, then from now on, I'll truly have no face to see him again.

  Otherwise, it's better to try to sneak into the heavy encirclement and persuade Guan Yu to escape. After all, I have successfully persuaded Guan Yu before, and no matter how you calculate it, this rough man is a million times easier to convince than Cao Cao, that chaotic hero of the world. But can I really sneak into the heavy encirclement? Just because Guan Yu was able to come out doesn't mean I can get in. If I accidentally run into Cao's soldiers, I'll definitely be dead. Rather than being killed by some unknown little soldier, it's better to risk offending Cao Cao's authority...

  Besides, Guan Hai is a straightforward and stubborn man with his own beliefs and persistence. Last time I was able to persuade him by using the excuse of protecting the elderly, women and children of the Yellow Turbans. Now, how can I ask him to abandon those elderly, women and children? How can he agree to that?

  It's really difficult... What bargaining chips do I have to negotiate with Cao Cao now? Xuzhou? No, after all, Xuzhou is not completely in my hands. The alliance between Xu and Yan is a debatable issue itself, it can't be used as evidence for another debatable issue. So, what else can I take out? He thought painfully, while unintentionally casting his gaze towards the magnificent tent of Cao's family - Could it be...

  Zi Xun thought for the whole night, and early next morning, with two dark circles under his eyes, he first entered his own tent and instructed Bai Lao Wu: "I'm going to see Cao Cao now, please spare General Guan's life. You stay here and take good care of Guan Yu, wait for my return." Bai Lao Wu nodded and said don't worry.

  He turned to leave, but heard Guan Mei say in a low voice: "You... you also need to be careful..." Her words were almost choked with sobs. Xi Yun couldn't help but glance at her lightly, and then met the gaze filled with worry...

  He ran out of the tent and turned towards Cao's large tent to ask for an audience with Cao De.

  Xu Shao and Cao De fabricated a story, saying: "It's impossible to go forward. The news my two friends brought back says that the Yanzhou soldiers are still fighting against the Yellow Turbans. If we run into the Yellow Turbans, our lives will be in danger. You should stay here for now and discipline your troops, also comfort the soldiers. I'll go find Cao Yanzhou first and ask him to send soldiers to escort us." He asked Cao De to write a letter to Cao Cao, which only needed to say that Xu Shao was trustworthy.

  Third, he found Zhang Ke, informed him of the situation and asked him to protect the lives of Cao's family at all costs until his return or the arrival of Cao's troops. Zhang Ke obeyed, then quietly inquired: "Are those two friends who came last night... Yellow Turbans?"

  Xun Wen was startled, but then thought again. Bai Lao Wu was bald-headed, and Guan Yike still had a yellow scarf wrapped around his head, so it couldn't be hidden from people. So he casually said: "One old and one young, both are weak and feeble with yellow scarves wrapped around their heads, they just barely escaped. These two men have helped me in the past, you must take good care of them." Zhang Kan bowed his head and responded: "Yes."

  Xun knew the situation was urgent and time was not waiting for anyone - if he delayed for a moment, Guan Yu would take another step towards the Ghost Gate, and it would be too late to persuade Cao Cao to spare Guan Yu's life, only to find that he had starved to death one minute earlier. Therefore, without even having breakfast, let alone taking a carriage, Xun set off in haste with just the two soldiers from Tancheng, riding towards Snake Hill.

  In a flash, he ran over ten miles, and in front of him, the city wall of Shezhou County could already be vaguely seen. As expected, he bumped into a small patrol team of Cao's army. Zuo Ming revealed his identity - but didn't mention that he was Tao Qian's envoy - so the soldiers took him to see their superior.

  They had an official who held the position of Riding Colonel, stationed in Sheqi County. His duties were to safeguard the flank and monitor the bandits between Hua and Fei. When he met Xun, he paid his respects and said that he had urgent business to report to Cao Cao immediately. The other looked him up and down: "Are you the Hong Fu who retreated from Douchang City with the Yellow Turbans?"

  Xun Yu said that he didn't expect his reputation to have spread so far. However, he was unaware that the situation with Huang Kui surrounding Kong Rong and Taishi Ci's plain rescue mission was particularly closely watched by Cao Cao's side - or rather, at that time, Cao Cao could only be considered as being from Dongjun. Many spies were sent out to secretly gather information in the vicinity of Douchang. Therefore, other forces may not have been clear about the lifting of the siege of Douchang, but the main generals of Cao's army were all well-informed.

  At this moment, when the other party mentioned this past event, Xun couldn't help but feel a little proud, and replied with a bow: "It was indeed me." The officer nodded slightly, then shouted: "Take him away and execute him!"

  He was so shocked that he didn't have time to react, and before he knew it, two soldiers had grabbed his shoulders and a rope had already been tied around his neck. He felt a surge of hot air rising from his lower abdomen to the top of his head, while a cool breeze flowed down his spine. Two parts shock, two parts fear, and two parts terror - he almost peed his pants... The remaining four parts were utter unwillingness - damn it, hadn't he even seen Cao Cao yet, and now he was going to be killed by his subordinates?! If he couldn't persuade Cao Cao and got executed instead, he would have resigned himself to fate. But to think that he had been holding back a bellyful of words, not to mention spewing them out - and this guy hadn't even met the main person yet! It was just too unjust! Who was this person? What grudge did he hold against him?! He couldn't help but shout loudly: "Wait!"

  He stroked his mustache and smiled coldly: "With your silver tongue, I won't let you speak, what can you bear with me?"