Chapter 41: Sleeping on Brushwood and Tasting Gall

  Before opening the chapter, I would like to thank book friends 无Dragon玫 and D调_旋律 for their rewards, and also thank many book friends for leaving valuable comments in the comment section. As a shy person, I won't say more, just four words: Thank you all.

  (Addition: I saw someone in the book review section asking about Luoshen, okay, historically Cao Cao captured Ye City and learned that Zhen Luo was Yuan Xi's wife around 204 AD. Now it is the Battle of Guandu, still nearly five years away from that time. Five years ago, who dares to say that Luoshen must have married Yuan Xi? I don't dare anyway. As for the protagonist and Zhen Luo, will there be a romantic relationship in the future? Go think about it yourself.)

  Life is bittersweet, with joys and sorrows.

  A life without ups and downs is not a life, a life without pressure is not a life, memories without pain are not memories.

  Life is not always as we wish it to be, with eight or nine out of ten things going against us. In the face of adversity, we must charge forward bravely, fight strenuously, and never yield to difficulties or succumb to pressure. Only then can life be lived perfectly, vibrantly, with momentum, and with meaning.

  All along, Zou Zhen has always felt that his life has largely adhered to these most beautiful virtues. No matter what kind of adversity he is in, Zou Zhen feels that he has never been confused, weak, or at a loss...

  But today, Zou feels that he has wasted his entire first half of life.

  This matter has really made him feel weak and confused, lost and at a loss.

  In this world, there are actually people who will encounter someone who steals their own horse under the guise of being on their side... What kind of world is this? Is there anything more shameful, more humiliating, and more despicable than this in this world?

  At this thought, Mei Zhu couldn't help but close his eyes, look up at the sky and let out a long sigh, saying a phrase that was both poignant and to the point.

  "Jackals and wolves occupy the road..."

  Not to mention that he had a deeper understanding of the world, but at this moment, Gong was already furious, his five internal organs were burning, and he waved the chopping knife in his hand, rode his horse, and rushed forward. Without saying a word, he swung down at Deng's head, determined to chop him into minced meat.

  It happened between the time the rabbit jumped and the magpie fell, but Deng Xiang didn't even have time to react, that big knife had already chopped down to his head.

  Just at this critical moment, a sudden "swish" sound was heard, an arrow shot out from the grass, following the strong wind, accurate and flawless, neither biased nor deviated, and it happened to be firmly stuck in Gong Dou's right wrist.

  "Ahh~~~~!!"

  Gong Du ate a painful sky and roared, the tiger's mouth slightly loosened, and his war knife fell to the ground with a "ding" sound, heavily smashing in front of Deng Xiang, raising a large cloud of dust.

  Deng Xiang stood upright and motionless, staring blankly at the war knife on the ground. His face turned alternately pale and blue, his beady eyes fixed intently, but it was impossible to tell what he was thinking...

  On the other side, Gong tightly grasped his bleeding right hand, looking around in shock, searching for who had shot this arrow.

  Suddenly, a loud horn sounded in the quiet forest on both sides, and everyone present was shocked.

  "Waaaahhhh!!!!"

  Then, suddenly, several thousand people rushed out from both sides of the road, war horses neighing, armor shining brightly, each and every one spirited and alert, it was clear at a glance that they were regular troops.

  Meng Zong's face turned pale in an instant, and his heart began to beat rapidly.

  Something is wrong, it seems like I've met a tough opponent today!

  Just by looking at the appearance of these soldiers and horses, it's clear that they are not ordinary bandits, but rather seasoned veterans who have been through many battles!

  But where did these troops come from? What is the intention of impersonating the lord's soldiers and robbing on the road?

  Isn't this the army of Cao Ren from Yan City?! What is the intention behind them disguising themselves as our lord's troops? Is it merely to tarnish our lord's reputation?! Impossible! Cao Ren has been through a hundred battles and is the first general of the Cao clan, how could he do something so childish?! There must be a deeper reason for this!

  His mind was racing with anxiety, and on the other side, Gong had already covered his injured right hand and returned to the formation on horseback. With a furious gaze sweeping back and forth across the enemy army, he gritted his teeth in anger and bellowed: "Who was it that just shot at me with a hidden arrow? Does anyone dare to step forward and let me take a look?"

  As soon as Gong Dou's voice fell, a majestic and exceptionally handsome general slowly rode out on horseback. He wore silver copper armor, held an exquisite bow in his hand, and looked at Gong Dou with disdain, humming: "It's me!"

  It turned out to be none other than Zhang Jiong himself.

  Gong Du glared at Zhang Jue with a fierce gaze, his steel teeth almost biting through, and the palm of his right hand was covered in blood.

  Although his hand was injured, Gong Dou didn't care and furiously shouted at Zhang Jing: "Who are you? Dare to tell me your name?"

  This suddenly made Zhang Jaw speechless.

  His usual calm and elegant face suddenly turned red and white, Zhang's eyebrows furrowed and unfurrowed, his heart was in a state of turmoil, as if he was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle.

  After a long time, Zhang finally closed his eyes, his face turned bright red, and he looked up at the desolate sky. With all his might, he spoke in a trembling tone that was deeply humiliated by his self-esteem.

  "I... I... I am Guan Yu."

  “.........”

  Not far away, he looked at Zhang Jing's painful face with a mixture of sadness and admiration, and sighed in his heart: "Brother, it's hard for you!"

  Gong Dou's face also turned bright red like Zhang Jie, but the difference was that Zhang Jie's blush was due to shyness, while Gong Dou's blush was because he was so angry!

  "You... you... you fart!" Gong Dou's face twisted in rage, he was so angry that he almost pounced on Zhang and bit him.

  The three armies were in a stalemate, and Yuan Shang's eyebrows furrowed slightly. Who was this scar-faced man? He didn't seem easy to fool.

  General Zhang's deception level still needs to be improved.

  He turned around and made a gesture towards the soldiers behind him, but Yuan Shang shouted loudly: "Come on, raise the commander's great banner!"

  As soon as Yuan Shang's voice fell, a horn sounded "Wooooo——", and behind the Yuan army, three banners slowly rose, with golden edges, red bottom and black characters, shining brightly in everyone's eyes.

  Everyone in the field, including Zhang Jie, Gao Lan, Mi Zhu and Gong Dou, had their faces changed to five colors, their muscles stiffened, as if they had been poured with two kilograms of mercury, staring blankly at the three flags, unable to speak.

  On the three-pole big flag, a square and upright embroidery of three black-body large characters.

  Liu! Guan! Zhang!

  Gong Dou's chest heaved up and down, his face flushed red, as if he were a late-stage heart disease patient. He spoke in a voice that was almost squeezed out of his throat.

  "This is getting too much... I'm going to fight them to the death today!"

  Mao Zhai's complexion was also very unsightly, but reason told him that the other side had too many people, and it was not advisable to lightly engage with them, so it was better to withdraw early.

  "General Gong, calm down! The bandits are strong and we're weak, it's not suitable to provoke them. Since they're so arrogant, it's clear they don't know who we are. General Gong mustn't reveal our identities due to anger, or else we'll definitely be silenced!"

  Gong Du turned his head in surprise and stared at Mi Zhu, gritting his teeth: "What? They impersonate us, can't we acknowledge it? This is too much!"

  He nodded solemnly and said, "Is it time? Is it momentum! With a bitter heart and anxious thoughts, I put my gallbladder on the seat, and every time I sit or lie down, I look up at my gallbladder. Even when eating and drinking, I taste the bitterness of my gallbladder. The current situation is just like Gou Jian's story of sleeping on thorns and tasting gall... One word: Endure!

  Yuan Shang coldly gazed at Gong Dou and Mi Zhu, who were whispering to each other in the distance. He was impatient and loudly said: "How is it? You two recognize our military flag, Liu Yi State has received an imperial edict to surrender his horses and prepare to send troops to punish the rebels! You two quickly offer up your horses, it will be a meritorious service to the state. Otherwise, it will be considered defying the imperial edict and disrespecting authority... the consequences will be that all of you will die!"

  He glared at Yuan Shang, took a deep breath of cool air, and clasped his fists: "Very well, the horses will be left to you. Today's affair will be settled another day, when I will certainly demand justice from you."

  He finished speaking, and Zhuo Yue didn't say much more. He turned his horse's head around and galloped away in different directions. Gong Du also gave Zhang Jue a fierce glare with his bloody hand, and led the Yellow Turban bandits to retreat quickly towards the rear.

  Yuan Shang and others only came to get the horses, not to kill people. Seeing that the other side had fled in a hurry, there was no need to rush up and fight to the death. He immediately ordered the soldiers to gather the horses and expand their armaments.

  In less than a moment, hundreds of soldiers from the Yuan army who lacked war horses were once again equipped with war horses, and 5,000 soldiers became a uniform cavalry.

  Looking at the soldiers under his command, everyone had a horse, and he regained his former momentum. Yuan Shang was satisfied in his heart, nodded, and smiled: "This is more like it!"

  Gazing afar, he rode his horse to the back of Yuan Shang's army and looked at the three flags embroidered with "Liu, Guan, Zhang". He was puzzled in his heart and asked: "Young master, where did you get those three flags?"

  Yuan Shang shook his head and said, "When I was in Nandun County, I had someone rush to make it overnight. When you're on the road, you have to be prepared for anything."

  Gao Yun's face suddenly sweated like rain.

  He turned his head, but saw Deng Xiang still standing there motionless, staring at the large chopping knife left on the ground by Gong, like a thousand-year-old boulder, unmoving as if struck by lightning.

  Yuan Shang found the situation strange, rode his horse to Deng Ai's side and shouted at him: "I say, what are you staring at that sword for? Are you scared silly?"

  Deng Xiang remained still and silent, as if he hadn't heard anything.

  Yuan Shang furrowed his brow and slapped Deng Cheng's back of the head with his hand: "Deng Zhubu, wake up!"

  At this moment, Deng Ai was suddenly inspired. In front of a group of soldiers, he hugged Yuan Shang's thigh on horseback and burst into loud wailing.

  "Ahhhhh... it's too scary! General, head, head, my head...... almost didn't make it just now!"

  Yuan Shang comforted him by patting his shoulder, saying: "Alright, stop crying. This is the battlefield, get used to it. You see, being a bandit isn't an easy life, right? From now on, just be content with being a hostage. The Master said: 'When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.' This sentence was written by Confucius six hundred years ago specifically for you. Go back and read your Analects carefully."

  Deng Xiang cried and looked up dazedly, saying: "Master Kong, did you also write a sentence especially for me?"

  "Is it possible that Confucius's extensive love would forget you alone?"

  Deng Xiang burst into tears, his nose running wildly, crying so hard that his face was streaked with tears, and he nodded vigorously while choking back sobs.

  At this moment, a Yuan army soldier looked at Deng Zang's crotch and shouted: "Young Master!"

  Yuan Shangzheng patted Deng Xiang's shoulder and comforted him, saying: "What's wrong?"

  That gentleman looked at Yuan Shang with a careful glance: "Chief Clerk Deng... was scared pee-less!"

  Yuan Shang's face suddenly changed.

  "Get out! You're a useless thing, don't cling to my leg. At your age, aren't you ashamed...? Bastard, you wiped your snot on my pants!"