Chapter Twenty-Four: The Smiling Face on the Boundary Marker

  There is always someone beyond your reach, and there is always a higher power above you.

  Yuan Shang was a clever man, and the strategy and plan to raid Xudu were quite ingenious. However, there were too many clever people under the sky, and he wasn't the only one.

  Born Guo Fengxiao, a heroic figure among the group of heroes, with classics and history stored in his belly, and military strategies hidden in his chest. His strategic thinking is like that of Fan Li, and his decision-making is similar to that of Chen Ping.

  The Central Plains have countless talents, but in terms of cleverness and strategy, the most outstanding one is Guo Jia, the advisor under Cao Cao.

  It was just because the letters came too frequently that Yuan Shang's true intentions were revealed, and it could be inferred that Yuan Shang would retreat. The ghostly Guo Jia was indeed not famous in vain.

  This person is really too scary.

  Words cut both ways.

  Time flies so fast, in the blink of an eye two days have passed like a fleeting dream.

  For two days, Cao's army, under the repeated arrangements of Xun Yu, tried several times to break through the siege and send a message to Cao Cao, but unfortunately, Yuan's army was defending very tightly, not to mention a messenger, even a fly couldn't fly out.

  Thus delayed for two days, Xun Yu's heart grew cooler with each passing day, while Yuan Shang's heart became more and more at ease.

  It wasn't until the morning of the third day that Yuan Shang sent someone to summon Zhang Jue and Gao Lan to discuss a plan for withdrawing their troops.

  The two generals of the Yuan army, who had been waiting for a long time, were now completely spiritless. The usual sparkle in their eyes was gone, and all that could be seen on their faces was fatigue and overwork. Their eye sockets were dark and sunken, and their pupils were filled with bloodshot lines, a true picture of extreme exhaustion.

  He had indeed taken great pains, and Yuan Shang couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration in his heart.

  Yuan Shang took a big step forward, personally helping the two generals adjust their armor and collars. He then bowed deeply and said respectfully: "It's all thanks to the hard work of you two generals day and night, fighting against the enemy, that we have achieved today's results. I, Yuan Shang, can't repay you enough, so on behalf of my father and the soldiers of Hebei, I would like to express our gratitude to you both."

  Zhang Jiong was shocked by the words, hastily shook his head and returned with a bow: "Third Master's words are truly killing us, this is the end of our division, labor should be done, how dare we accept such a great gift from Third Master!"

  "Ha ha, it's nothing but a few days of less rest, what's the big deal? Wait until we capture Cao Cao in the future, peel off his skin, wrap it around me and sleep for a night, then return to battle again, won't that be satisfying?"

  Yuan Shang smiled and nodded: "General Gao's words are reasonable, if you think it's not enough, I'll give you a chamber pot... how about taking Cao Cao's head?"

  "Even more enjoyable!"

  He looked up and glanced at the city wall of Xuchang not far away, and a smile appeared on Yuan Shang's mouth: "The siege has been going on for two days, and the time is almost up. Even if Xuchang sends out scouts to inform Cao Cao now, it's already too late. The goal has been achieved, and we have no reason to stay here... Let's go! March east to Xuzhou!"

  Zhang Jie and Gao Lan exchanged a smile of relief.

  But then Yuan Shang's eyes suddenly flashed, as if he had thought of something again, and smiled: "However, before that, I still have to leave a small gift for Cao Cao... Where is the boundary stele of Xuchang?"

  Two heard this and suddenly felt suspicious.

  The so-called boundary stele is a symbolic stone monument erected in the county town for the division of prefectures and counties.

  On the stone tablet, the names of the prefectures and counties are carved, representing that the territory behind the stone tablet is the county city with the name, such as the boundary stele of Chang'an has "Chang'an" two characters, the boundary stele of Luoyang has "Luoyang" two characters, the boundary stele of Ye City has "Ye City"...

  It's like a personal home address.

  By analogy, the boundary stone of Xudu is naturally inscribed with "Xuchang".

  Yuan's army marched to the boundary stone of Xudu, where Yuan Shang suddenly pulled out a wooden box from his bosom, filled with bright red cinnabar that dissolved in water and solidified when it met air.

  Zhang Jie and Gao Lan stared at each other with a puzzled expression, completely baffled by what Yuan Shang was trying to do.

  Yuan Shang gestured and scribbled on the boundary monument for half a day, wiped his sweat with his hand, and smiled at the two generals: "The great achievement is announced, now we can withdraw our troops to Xuzhou."

  Zhang Jie and Gao Lan took a closer look at the stone tablet, and suddenly they couldn't help but wipe away their cold sweat together.

  Gao Lü's big mouth opened wide, and he hesitated: "Third Master, are we making a bit too much of this? If Cao's soldiers come back and see it, won't they chase us down and bite us to death? ... In my humble opinion, let's just wipe it out, don't provoke them too much."

  Zhang Jaw also smiled helplessly, opened his mouth wanting to say something, but hesitated for a moment, and finally closed his mouth without making a sound.

  Yuan Shang patted Gao Lan's shoulder and said with a smile: "General Gao, you're too honest and think too much. As the saying goes, seeing is not as good as knowing, knowing is not as good as doing. We've come all this way, why just turn around in front of someone's door without knocking? This is out of politeness."

  Gao Luan's eyelids twitched upon hearing the words. He turned his head to look at the boundary marker that Yuan Shang had scribbled on, which looked like a ghostly scrawl.

  The Third Master really loves to joke around, painting someone's door with this kind of bear face, can also be considered polite?!

  As for Cao Jun's side, after listening to Guo Jia's advice, Cao Cao immediately stopped hesitating. On the one hand, he personally led the army north to pursue Yuan Shao, and on the other hand, he sent General Xiahou Yuan leading a team of elite troops to quickly head south to Xudu to assist Xun Yu in annihilating the Yuan army that was besieging Xudu.

  In the eight elite cavalrymen of Cao Wei, Xiahou Yuan was most skilled at long-range raids. He followed Cao Cao to start his uprising in his early years and fought bravely in battles. He served as a registrar of another division and a cavalry commander before being promoted to governor of Chenliu and Yingchuan, with outstanding military achievements. In the Battle of Guandu, he was mainly responsible for supervising the transportation of grain and fodder for Cao Cao.

  This time Cao Cao sent him back to rescue Xuchang, which was exactly where his expertise came in handy.

  Xiahou Yuan was most fond of swift and surprise attacks, his army advanced extremely quickly. From the time Cao Cao gave him the order to reinforce Xuchang, to the time he led his troops back after a surprise attack, it took him less than a day and a night at most, truly living up to his reputation as a vanguard general.

  The army rushed day and night, and soon they would reach the border of Xuchang County. Xiahou Yuan, who was at the forefront, narrowed his eyes slightly, and then issued an order, instructing the generals behind him to be prepared for a surprise attack and ready to charge into battle at any moment.

  War horses neigh, banners flutter, soldiers' spears shine brightly, morale is high.

  Under the leadership of Xiahou Yuan, Cao's army was like a pack of wolves foraging for food, using their fierce and agile eyes to patrol every possible place where the enemy might be lurking, waiting for the enemy to show their heads slightly, then pouncing on them with lightning speed, tearing their throats apart and ripping them to shreds.

  Report—

  In a flash, a lone scout on horseback came galloping over, like an arrow shot from a bowstring, and in the blink of an eye had arrived right in front of Xiahou Yuan.

  Xiahou Yuan reined in his horse and stood tall, gazing at the scout with an air of majesty, opening his mouth to utter a single word: "Speak!"

  Xiahou Yuan's military career was marked by a single word: "speed". His personality was like a raging fire, and he never dragged his feet in speech or action, fully displaying the demeanor of a capable general.

  He hastily reported: "Report to the general, outside Xuchang City, there is no movement of Yuan's army, all his troops have withdrawn, not a single camp, stove, soldier or guard has been left behind, only..."

  "Just say it, don't hesitate!" Xiahou Yuan hated people who spoke hesitantly.

  That scout heard the words and trembled, hastily replying: "Although Yuan's army has completely withdrawn, they left behind some cinnabar marks on the northern boundary stone of Xudu, their appearance is extremely tragic... Please ask the general to go take a look himself."

  Boundary marker?

  How tragic!

  What's going on? Can a broken stone still play any tricks?

  Xiahou Yuan's heart was unclear, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he clamped his legs together under the seat, leading his troops to rush straight to the northern border of Xuchang.

  In the blink of an eye, Cao's army had already arrived at the northern border stele. The original bluestone upright and majestic boundary stele now had red vermilion markings that looked like ghostly symbols, with circles and dots that were particularly striking and dazzling to the eyes.

  Xiahou Yuan's expression changed, and he hastily rode forward to take a closer look.

  He had only looked for a few seconds, when Xiahou Yuan's face turned red with rage, his spear pierced the ground, his eyes wide open, his nostrils flared, and he let out a loud roar, shouting at the sky in anger.

  "Yuan's army is full of despicable and shameless people! They only hit where it hurts, but not the face! Which bastard did this!"

  Several school lieutenants behind Xiahou Yuan looked forward together...

  Then everyone was stunned.

  But the original smooth and flat, only the "Xu Chang" two words of stone monument above, at this moment has been a vermilion left one stroke, right one stroke of outline sweep, drawn like the final blood book, as many people are chilled, so many people are chilled.

  What's even more detestable is the content of the writing above, although it seems like you can understand it but not quite, at a glance it's clear that it's not anything good.

  But all I saw was a crooked and twisted row of red characters that completely covered up the sharpness and momentum of the two words "Xu Du", looking like a crawling shrimp, extremely awkward, and with a silly smiling face at the back.

  "Beautiful mountains, beautiful waters, and a wonderful view. Eating well and drinking well makes everything doubly fragrant. The great master has come to Xuchang for a visit, leaving behind a painting as a memento. Treasured by the owner, carefully stored away, yeah!"