The Tragedy of Zhang Bai's Family

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  This chapter is a transitional chapter and may not be very exciting, but it's also unavoidable. Don't get excited, the big battle is coming soon!

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  After Gongsun Zan's proclamation against the rebels was issued, the whole country shook and eighteen vassals rose up in response. After exchanging letters to discuss the matter, they decided to gather at Chenliu where Cao Cao was located first, then join forces to attack Dong Zhuo.

  The world is in turmoil, and a great war will soon arrive.

  Sun Yu carefully dug up the 25 kilograms of gold he had buried in the corner of his house, wrapped it up carefully and put it into a large cart. This was to be used as medical expenses for Hua Tuo, so he had to handle it with care. Although he could have asked his soft-hearted sister-in-law for money, a man asking a woman for money didn't feel quite right, there was a sense of relying on others' charity, and using his own hard-earned money made him feel more at ease.

  This time, the eighteen vassals jointly attacked Dong Zhuo. Sun Yu decided to take this opportunity to go south and find Hua Tuo. Moreover, with the gathering of vassals from all over the world, the news came from a wider range, and it was possible that some vassal knew where Hua Tuo was. By borrowing the large army of the Gongsun family to head south, he mixed in with the troops, which was safer on the one hand, and didn't need to spend his own money to buy cars and war horses, saving a lot of money.

  There won't be a better chance than this to find Hua Tuo!

  As for the outcome of this battle between Dong Zhuo's coalition forces, Sun Yu was not worried at all. With so many capable generals under the command of the eighteen vassal lords, defeating Dong Zhuo should be a piece of cake. In his own world, Dong Zhuo had been defeated and forced to relocate to Chang'an, so this battle shouldn't be too difficult. He might as well join in on the fun, get a glimpse of the heroic warriors' martial skills, and enjoy himself.

  Sun Yu gathered up his meager gold and also got Zhao Yun and Zhang Bai onto the carriage.

  Zhang Baiji's old home is in Jizhou, and Sun Yu plans to go there on his way south to bring Zhang Baiji back to her hometown. This woman is very gentle, like a little girl from the neighborhood. A woman of this kind is not a good object for "Taiping Yaoshu" to attach itself to, so later find a woman who likes to rebel to assist "Taiping Yaoshu", and it will not take away the master's wisdom.

  Sun Yu's heart was secretly thinking, find a woman who listens to him and let her control the "Tai Ping Yao Shu", he would have a dark gold-level fighter, able to flash lightning all over the sky, how cool.

  Watching Sun Yucai fiddling with his gold, Gong Sun Yue was so angry that she couldn't help but speak out. She rode a white horse and shouted in front of the carriage: "Xun Zhen, why are you always staring at that little bit of gold? Our Gong Sun family has plenty of money. You just won't use it!"

  "This... " Sun Yu said seriously: "In our Beijing village, men can't use women's money. Otherwise, they will be seen as a gigolo, eating soft rice, and won't be able to hold their heads up for the rest of their lives. I can only use my own money! Of course, following the army to eat and drink is different, this is called eating public food, not eating soft rice."

  "I don't understand your place's strange rules." Gong Sun Yue said indignantly: "In our place, it's always the women who support the family."

  Sweat, Sun Yu was shocked and quickly got into the car.

  At this time, the soft girl Gong Sunzhan also dressed up and came out of the house. She was wearing a silver armor, with a white cloak on her back, a white feather on her helmet, and a double-headed iron spear on her back, looking heroic and refreshing. However, the expression on Soft Girl's face was gentle, and there was a red cheek, which was really not quite matching with her dress.

  Gongsun Zan smiled and said, "Second sister, this time you don't have to go to conquer the bandits. With all the heroes gathering together, even Sister's Blue Blade Technique is nothing special, and your Red 'White Horse' is even more useless. Help Sister guard Beiping well, as Wuhuan may attack at any time, we can't all run to the south."

  "But I want to accompany Xun Zhen to get treatment." Gong Sun Yue pouted.

  "Be good and listen! Hua Tuo may not be found yet." Gong Sun Zan looked at her gently.

  At this time, the large army of the Gongsun family from Beiping had gathered, with 5,000 white horse cavalry and 10,000 infantrymen, totaling 15,000 troops, accounting for one-third of the Gongsun family's regular military strength. These people will follow Gongsun Zan to go south to conquer the rebel Dong Zhuo, and half of the remaining troops will be left to defend Youzhou under the leadership of Gongsun Yue against the Wuhuan.

  Tian Yu and Yan Gang stayed behind to guard the house, while Gongsun Zan took only Sun Yu with him as he headed south. This was the result of Sun Yu's strong persuasion: anyway, the eighteen lords would gather together, and at that time there would be many fierce generals, so Gongsun Zan didn't need these few mediocre red generals under his command, it would just be a waste to send them out, and they would only be ridiculed by others.

  A large army slowly set out, with 5,000 white horses galloping in front and 10,000 infantrymen following behind, surrounding a large carriage pulled by eight horses. Gongsun Zan, Sun Yu, Zhao Yun, and Zhang Bai sat inside the carriage, slowly heading south.

  As Sun Yu planned to take Zhang Bai back home on his way, the army deliberately chose to pass through Ju County.

  "Miss Zhang, how many relatives do you have in your family?" Sun Yu was chatting with Zhang Bai on the big cart.

  Zhang Bai smiled slightly and said, "With Father, Mother, Uncle... thirty or so people, our family is still considered to be relatively well-off, with hundreds of acres of good land."

  Sun Yu thought to himself: In this day and age, anyone who has the qualifications to read books must come from a family with some money; poor families don't have the money to support reading.

  The army arrived at the county seat of Ju Lu, only to see that Ju Lu was a small city, standing desolately and sparsely, with broken gates and listless guards on the city walls, looking weak and powerless.

  The army sounded a loud horn, raised the flag of the Gong Sun family, and easily entered the city. Inside the city of Ju Lu County, it was like a scene from the end of the world. Many houses had collapsed, many were half-burned, and many thatched cottages had completely fallen to the ground. The streets were empty, with few people walking on the road, occasionally a few people would walk by, looking around cautiously.

  Sun Yu Daqi couldn't help but ask Zhang Baiji: "Miss Zhang, was Julu County originally like this?"

  Zhang Bai's expression was anxious and he hastily said, "This can't be right. This place used to be bustling with activity, how did it become like this? I need to hurry home and ask my mother."

  Gongsun Zan summoned a messenger and had him go ask the county magistrate: "How did Julu County become like this?"

  The messenger returned to report: "My lord, the city of Julu was originally very prosperous, but half a year ago, General Zhang Jiao of the Heavenly Kingdom gathered a large number of people here and started a rebellion, raising a mighty Yellow Turban Army. The government army has besieged them several times, causing Julu County to be devastated. Even now, Julu County is not peaceful, and there are still many Yellow Turbans roaming around in the nearby mountains. They do not dare to come to the county city to make trouble, but they often burn, kill, and plunder the surrounding villages, making the residents here miserable."

  Gongsun Zan and Sun Yu both let out a heavy "oh" sound, their expressions solemn.

  Zhao Yun said, "But... do the people here still have food to eat? Will they go hungry? Zilong was abandoned because his family was robbed and his parents couldn't raise him, so they had to throw him away..."

  "Alright, sir won't throw you away." Sun Yu patted Zhao Yun's head and said, "Don't think about unhappy things anymore."

  Zhang Baiji, who was standing beside him, heard the messenger's words and suddenly felt dizzy. She exclaimed: "My family... my parents..."

  Sun Yu sighed and thought: Since your family is a wealthy household, how could you be safe and sound during the great events of the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the siege by government troops?

  He hastily called the carman to follow Zhang Baiqi's guide and headed towards a corner of the county town. Before long, the big cart arrived in front of a relatively quiet small hill, on which stood a huge mansion, apparently Zhang Baiqi's home.

  Sun Yu looked from a distance and saw that the mansion's gate had long since disappeared, with broken arrows still stuck in the roof and eaves... This large courtyard... seemed to have gone through quite a battle, and it was likely that the people inside were mostly dead or injured.

  Zhang Bai jumped down from the horse carriage and rushed into the mansion, with Sun Yu and others hastily following behind.

  All that can be seen is the courtyard full of tall grass, with broken bamboo sticks scattered all over. Apparently, after the bamboo spears broke, the spearheads had been picked up by someone, leaving only the spear handles here.

  All the doors in the house were open, some with knife cuts and burn marks on them, while others were split in two. As for the windows, all of them in every room were shattered.

  It's been ages since anyone was here...

  Zhang Baiji's face turned paler and paler, she drilled into the backyard, only to see a pile of white bones in the corner of the backyard. These white bones were piled up in strange shapes, apparently after death, the corpses were stacked together by people, and then weathered into white bones. Several of the white bones still wore clothes, but the clothes all showed a dark red color...

  Zhang Baiji saw those clothes and muttered: "Dad... Mom..." Then she fainted.

  Alas, what a tragic event! Sun Yu sighed and put Zhang Baiji back into the carriage. It seemed that he would have to add another maid to his household. Speaking of which, the downfall of the Zhang family was also related to Zhang Baiji herself, as she had been controlled by the precious "Taiping Yizhi" and transformed into Zhang Jiao, leading to the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, which ultimately led to the devastation of Julu County by war.

  It's also too pitiful! Sun Yu thought: This life should not let Zhang Baiji know that she herself transformed into Zhang Jiao and launched the Yellow Turban Rebellion, otherwise she would definitely go crazy.

  On the second day, Zhang Bai rode slowly and woke up. Sun Yu, Gong Sun Zan, and Zhao Yun helped Zhang Bai ride to bury the white bones of his relatives, set up a good grave for them, and then burned down the Zhang Mansion with one fire.

  Zhang Bai had no home to return to, so he could only follow Sun Yu and become his servant, just like Zhao Yun.