Chapter Thirty-Four: The Army Occupies Yangzhai

  "Bang, bang, bang!" The county magistrate of Yingchuan, Yin Xiu, was being hugged by his little wife and was fast asleep. He heard the urgent knocking at the door, opened his eyes impatiently, wiped the corner of his mouth because of the saliva left over from his beautiful dream, and scolded, "Who is it? Are you looking for death in the middle of the night?"

  "Master, it's Ah San. Something's wrong! Please open the door quickly, I have something important to report." The anxious voice of Ah San, the gatekeeper, came from outside the door.

  "Damn it, disturbing my beautiful dream in the middle of the night, get out." Yin Xiu didn't care at all, and hugged his delicate little wife again, lying beautifully on the couch. Looking at the stunning woman beside him, the corner of Yin Xiu's mouth flowed with saliva again, licking the sparkling corner of his mouth.

  With a loud crash, the door was heavily kicked open and Ah San rushed in with a bloody guard.

  "Ah..." The woman who had just been woken up by the repair, let out a frightened cry, and hastily pulled over the quilt to cover her snow-white body.

  "What the hell are you doing here?"

  The guard who rushed in didn't care about Li's scolding and hastily said, "Something bad has happened, sir! The Yellow Turbans are attacking the city!"

  "What? The Yellow Turbans are attacking the city, where did they come from and how many people do they have?" Yin Xiuzi was suddenly frightened pale, and in a panic, he lifted up his quilt to get out of bed. However, he forgot that he wasn't wearing any clothes on his body. As a result, his stout and obese figure was completely exposed in front of the two people, especially the ugly and short "caterpillar" below, which made them almost burst into laughter.

  "Wait for me outside." Seeing the two people staring at their lower body with a smile, Yin Xi's face turned red with embarrassment, and they quickly shooed them away, hastily putting on their clothes to cover up their private parts.

  A loud creaking sound, the heavy city gate was opened from the inside by Dian Wei and others. Dian Wei and others were solemnly guarding the gate, not allowing the defenders in the city to take over. Xu Feng saw this, rushed back and waved his hand, the Yellow Turban soldiers who had been waiting in ambush in the dense forest outside the city, all drew their swords and rushed out of the forest, swarming towards the city gate of Yingchuan like a dark tide. The black crowd was like a flood, and in the blink of an eye, they poured into the city of Yingchuan. Yin Xiu had just led 2,000 government soldiers to come and defend the city, but before he even reached the gate, he saw the endless Yellow Turban army, and let out a loud cry, immediately abandoning his guards and fleeing.

  "What's going on, sir?" the crowd asked curiously. However, Yin Xiu completely ignored them. Good grief, how could this small garrison withstand so many Yellow Turban rebels? A bunch of fools! Of course, it was one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems - to slip away quietly. Before leaving, Yin Xiu naturally went home to gather his gold, silver, and precious jewels, then brought his family along. As someone who valued his life, Yin Xiu would never think that this small garrison could protect Yongqiu City.

  "Kill, charge!" Zhang Fei held a snake halberd and rode on horseback, wearing a yellow turban and coarse clothes. Seeing the reinforcements coming to guard against him, he excitedly shouted loudly, patted his horse and swung his spear to charge forward.

  "Ah, run quickly!" Seeing Yin Xiu escape, the originally unstable and disheartened city guards saw the Yellow Turbans approaching like a flood and immediately scattered in all directions. The soldiers at the back couldn't see what was happening ahead and didn't understand what was going on, but hearing the shouts from the front, they also fled. Two thousand government troops hadn't even engaged in battle yet, but more than half of them had already run away. Many were trampled to death or injured by their own comrades due to the congestion. Xu Feng held his long spear and laughed loudly towards the sky, "Heaven is helping me!" With a loud shout, he led the charge on horseback.

  Zhang Fei charged into the enemy ranks with incredible speed, his snake spear dancing wildly in the air. With a few swift and fierce strikes, he broke through the enemy lines, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in his wake. The guards, already intimidated by Zhang Fei's fearsome reputation, were no match for him. One spear thrust took down one man, one sweep of his arm cleared a patch of soldiers, one strike crushed a group, and one jab impaled a row of enemies. Body parts flew through the air, blood rained down from above, and corpses littered the ground as far as the eye could see. Rivers of blood flowed across the battlefield, and Zhang Fei, his body drenched in the enemy's blood, looked like a god of slaughter, his face twisted into a grotesque mask of fury. Many of the cowardly government soldiers were so terrified by Zhang Fei that they fell to the ground, paralyzed with fear, and lay there helpless as Zhang Fei's spear pierced their chests.

  "Haha... it's really refreshing." Zhang Fei was like a bulldozer, and with his charge, the enemy soldiers fell down in pieces. Soon, he cleared a path for the Yellow Turbans who followed behind him. Xu Feng and others also showed no mercy to those who escaped, taking advantage of the situation to slaughter them. "Brothers, don't show any mercy! Kill all the government troops in the city!"

  Xu Feng wasn't someone who didn't understand human emotions, nor was he unwilling to let them off. However, in a chaotic world where heroes rose and fell, sometimes you had to show your enemies some color, or else it would be hard to have a deterrent effect.

  "Report, General, Yongqiu has fallen."

  "What?!" Huang Fu Song could hardly believe his ears. With himself stationed in Yingchuan Commandery, how could the city of Yingchuan suddenly fall without any reason?!

  "Who did this?"

  "It was Huangjin Xufeng, the county governor Yin Xiuyou was hanged to death on the city tower, Yin Xiuyou's family of over 200 people, not a single one was left, all were killed. More than 2,000 defending officials and soldiers, not a single one could survive...". The messenger soldier's face turned pale, he looked up at Huangfu Song with some hesitation, unsure how to report back.

  "What else? Speak quickly!"

  "The wealthy households and large clans in the city were all looted clean, Xu Feng took them all away."

  "Ah..." Huang Fu's loud cry was followed by a sudden weakness in his legs, and he sat down on the ground with a thud.

  Yongqiu County, the cradle of the Han Dynasty, is the economic, cultural and political center of Eastern Han. Every prominent family in this place holds a significant position, either being extremely wealthy, having remarkable knowledge or producing officials for generations. None of them are minor characters. The city of Yongqiu alone cannot be underestimated.

  However, two days later, even more shocking news arrived, causing Huangfu Song to vomit blood on the spot. Three days later, Xu Feng and others marched a hundred miles and captured Yangzhai, leaving Huangfu Song completely stunned.

  Yangzhai is the central hub of Yingchuan County, the seat of government for the entire county, a cultural metropolis, and a city of noble families. It is home to thirteen prominent clans, including: Yingyin Guan clan; Yangzhai Xue clan, Yuan clan, Chu clan, Zhao clan, Li clan, and Guo clan; Yongyang Wang clan and Yao clan; Wuyang Han clan; Changsha Zhong clan; Jiaozhou Zou clan and Shen clan. Six of these clans are located in Yangzhai. If these six clans were to be plundered and slaughtered, it would not only be a loss for Yingchuan County but also a loss for the great Han court.

  Noble families, with wealth and power that's not just about money and grain. These aristocratic families have descendants all over the world, their influence extending to every corner of the imperial court. Many of them hold official positions, and their impact is so great that even Huangfu Song, the Left Middle Lang General, dares not imagine it.

  "Hurry up and send someone to quickly bring back Cao Cao, Zhu Xu and others."

  "But, General, they have all taken their men out to meet the enemy."

  "What are you waiting for? The troops have been deployed for half a month, and there's not even a slight movement. It's already critical here, why don't you go quickly?" Huang Fu shouted angrily, at this moment, he had finally figured it out, the previous four routes of reinforcements were just a decoy, dispersing his own strength, the truly cunning enemy was none other than Xu Feng, that cunning and mysterious little fox.