Chapter 36: Zhang Jiao's Mysterious Young Son (Part 1)
After being said by Xu Shu, Wang Xu re-examined the faces of these Yellow Turbans. "Huh? Why do they look so familiar?"
It was Wang Fei, as a bystander, who reacted faster than Wang Xu. Seeing that Wang Xu had also made a fool of himself, he burst out laughing. "Third brother! What's with your eyes? Aren't those the guards from your own household? I've seen quite a few of them before!"
"Ah! I said why it looked familiar!" Wang Xu suddenly came to a realization, and immediately exclaimed in surprise: "Could it be that the Yellow Turbans were just pretending to be my father? That's why they were fighting among themselves."
Having said that, she immediately asked excitedly: "Where's Father? What about Uncle Xu? Has anything happened?"
"They're all safe and sound! They're still washing up and changing. Xu Shu smiled as he took over from Wang Xu, then continued with a sigh: "Still, Uncle Wang is clever. Ever since the Yellow Turbans rose up, they immediately disguised themselves as Yellow Turbans, claiming to have a secret mission, so they didn't encounter any major issues on their journey. If it weren't for the sudden forced recruitment by the upper echelons of the Yellow Turbans in Jiyin County, trying to absorb them, I reckon they would've already returned home."
"Huh? Why would they forcibly recruit a Yellow Turban army of over 200 people?" Wang Xu asked in puzzlement.
"From what Uncle Wang said, it seems that the Yellow Turbans had their eyes on the large number of horses they were carrying. So, Uncle Wang and Father had no choice but to abandon the horses and rush ahead with a stiff upper lip. After several rounds of sending people to urge them in vain, the Yellow Turban leader may have also sensed something was amiss, which is why he sent troops to pursue them."
At this point, Xu Shu suddenly looked at Wang Xu mysteriously again. "And the person who is chasing you might be someone you know!"
"Who is this?" Wang Xu stared at Xue Shu in shock, and then reacted to the other's meaning that this general had some reputation in history, and couldn't help but speculate secretly.
Who is it? This person is obviously elegant and has heard of it, but the people she knows must not be those fleeting figures, they must have entanglements with the history of the Three Kingdoms and its main characters.
At this time, Wang Xu suddenly remembered that dark-skinned, robust man with a broad face, who looked like he was 17 or 18 years old. Could it be...
"Is it Zhou Cang?"
Xu Shu was taken aback, but immediately laughed and shook his head: "No! Wang Shu said he's called Liao Hua, and is quite resourceful. During the escape, there were several times when they almost got caught by the other side. I thought I'd heard of this name before, so I assumed you knew!"
Wang Xu heard Liao Hua's name and suddenly became excited, finally seeing the first Shu general. He couldn't help but blurt out: "Who said I didn't know! It's just that I didn't think of him for a moment. Liao Hua, style name Yuanjian, was known for his bravery and boldness. He was a late Han...
But just as he was saying this, he saw Xushu suddenly giving him a fierce stare from across the way.
Wang Xu immediately reacted and quickly closed his mouth.
Unfortunately, the always curious Wang Fei couldn't help but ask, "Third brother, how did you come to know the Yellow Turbans? And what period is the late Shu Han?"
Seeing Wang Fei's puzzled face, Wang Xulang suddenly pointed behind him and exclaimed: "Ah! So many Yellow Turban bandits!"
Wang Fei was suddenly startled and turned around abruptly, his piercing eyes shooting out.
But when he saw the family guards behind him, who were inexplicably intimidated by his fierce aura, he suddenly came to his senses. Turning back, he saw that Wang Xu had already dragged Xu Shu far away. He couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. "Why not just keep quiet? Why do you always like to use this trick?"
Wang Xu and Xue Shu ran into the central tent and sat for a while. After washing up, Wang Yan and Xue Rui, who had restored their usual appearance, walked in slowly. "Haha! My son is brave and powerful, he has really avenged his father's grievances."
Wang Yanhao smiled and then asked with concern: "I wonder how much damage was done in this battle?"
"Still in statistics, but according to my estimate, the casualties are absolutely less than a hundred!" As he said this, Wang Xu also proudly raised his head slightly.
"You must be mistaken!" As soon as the words were spoken, Wang Wen and Wang Fei suddenly walked in under everyone's astonished gaze.
But when Wang Fei spoke, Wang Xu frowned. "Did the casualties exceed one hundred people?"
"Haha! Not at all." With a bright smile, Wang Fei and Wang Wen, who was standing beside him, exchanged a glance, and said with admiration: "Just now, Wang Wen has already finished the casualty statistics. This battle, we didn't lose anyone. Only 7 people were seriously injured, but as long as they are well taken care of, there's no big deal. As for the others, they just had some minor scratches."
As soon as he spoke, everyone's face lit up with joy. Wang Yan shook his head in incredulity. "You few young whippersnappers can actually achieve such a feat? It's too unexpected!"
"This is none of my credit, all the deployments were carried out according to San Di's plan, I didn't even touch the edge of the Yellow Turban bandits." As he spoke, Wang Fei also let out a stifled sigh.
But his silly words made everyone else burst out laughing.
"Second brother, merit is not calculated in this way. You didn't kill anyone, but you successfully executed the plan and perfectly achieved the pre-war goal, that's merit. If you couldn't do all these things, even if you killed many people with your own hands, it would be useless."
"In any case, I feel that I didn't get to fight and kill the enemy, it's just not satisfying." But Wang Fei obviously still couldn't let it go, resentful about not having killed the enemy.
As for Wang Fei's theory, Wang Xu was also helpless. It seems that his second brother is really only suitable as a fierce general, but not a talented person.
However, Wang Xu did not continue to discuss this topic. After Wang Fei and Wang Wen were seated, he turned to say: "Father, you have returned from the north this time, do you have any understanding of the situation with the Yellow Turban bandits?"
Wang Yan's expression turned serious as he spoke, with a hint of concern. "Huangzi's predictions last year were extremely accurate, and this time the Yellow Turban Rebellion is truly not ordinary! I've been disguising myself as a Yellow Turban rebel on my way back south and have gathered quite a bit of information. From what I know, the Yellow Turban bandits are led by three brothers: Zhang Jue, Zhang Liang, and Zhang Bao. Zhang Jue calls himself 'Heavenly General', his younger brother Zhang Bao calls himself 'Earthly General', and Zhang Liang calls himself 'Human General'. They have divided themselves into thirty-six factions, each with a leader. The larger factions have over ten thousand people, while the smaller ones have six or seven thousand, and they're expanding extremely rapidly!"
"What? All thirty-six rebel groups have succeeded?" As soon as Wang Yan spoke these words, Wang Xu suddenly let out a cry of surprise.
Xu Shu, who was standing beside him, was also stunned. She knew a thing or two about the Yellow Turban Rebellion. She hastily asked, "Uncle Wang, are you certain that all thirty-six factions have risen up in revolt?"
"I'm sure the imperial court should have known about this news by now. And I estimate that the latest intelligence will be delivered to our Shanyang County soon!" Wang Yan said without any hesitation, very affirmatively.
Xu Rui, who was on the side, added at this time: "Yes! And along the way, I also heard that due to the rapid development of the Yellow Turbans, they are planning to set up 72 departments under the 36 generals, named after the 108 stars of Tian Gang and Di Jue."
What the...! Is this "Water Margin" or "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"? How did Zhang Jiao come up with this thing?
Just as Wang Xu was silently scolding himself and hadn't reacted yet, Xu Rui threw out another heavy bombshell that left both Wang Xu and Xu Shu on the brink of collapse.
Moreover, the Yellow Turbans have been passing down a rumor that all these were planned by Zhang Jiao's youngest son. It is said that this son was incredibly talented and much loved by Zhang Jiao. And after being embellished, his prestige in the Yellow Turban army was quite high!
As they spoke, Xu Rui and Wang Yan exchanged a glance, both with strange expressions. "But the strangest thing is that if the rumors among the Yellow Turban rebels are not false, this child's birthdate is actually the same as Young Master and Shu'er, even the time is identical."
