Chapter 1: The Massacre of Xuzhou

  In Kanto, there is a righteous man who raises an army to punish the villains.

  At first, I met you in Mengjin, but my heart was in Xianyang.

  The military strength is not united, hesitating and flying in a scattered formation.

  Self-interest causes strife; descendants will turn against each other and kill one another.

  Huainan brother title, engraved seal in the north.

  Armor breeds lice, and the surname Wan is associated with death.

  Bleached bones lie in the wilderness, for a thousand miles there is no crowing of chickens.

  The people of Shu were left with one hundredth of their former population, and thinking about it would break one's heart.

  This is Cao Cao's "Grassland March", written during the early years of Jianping. In this short poem, he describes how in the first year of Jianping in the Eastern Han dynasty, when eighteen vassals joined forces to overthrow Dong Zhuo, they hesitated and did not advance, each with their own ulterior motives, seeking to gain power and profit for themselves, and ultimately turning against each other, while ignoring the suffering of the common people.

  "The Ballad of the Reed" was originally sung at funerals in Han music bureau poetry, but now it is created with the background of the eighteen vassals attacking Dong Zhuo, mourning the dead civilians and also directly pointing to Yuan Shu who privately kept the jade seal and Yuan Shao who wanted to abolish Emperor Xian and establish Liu Yu as emperor.

  The failure of the eighteen vassals to defeat Dong Zhuo led to the collapse of the entire Han Dynasty. The warlords in Guandong were at odds with each other, and Guanzhong was also plunged into endless warfare after Wang Yun eliminated Dong Zhuo through a clever plan. The only relatively peaceful places were probably Yizhou in the southwest and Jingzhou in the south, but these regions were also dominated by powerful families and were difficult to govern. Now that chaos has erupted, all we need is for heroes to emerge, raise their arms, and with one call, sweep away the dust, bring order to the eight desolate regions, and unify the world!

  In the first year of Han Xingping (194 AD), in Xu State, on top of Guangwei City. A troop wearing white clothes and with a large flag bearing the words "Revenge and Hatred" was pushing one by one the civilians to the city head. All the civilians' eyes showed deep fear, just a moment ago, they had known what this troop was going to do, that is, massacre!

  They originally had sympathy for this army clad in white. Especially the county magistrate who commanded the battle, ordered that no lives were to be taken during the resistance, but unexpectedly their sympathy would ultimately lead to the sacrifice of 30,000 innocent lives in Guangwei City. This left the county magistrate with deep regret.

  Fists clenched, the County Magistrate of Guangwei's fingernails had been pinched into his palm due to excessive force, and bright red blood dripped onto the black, hard, mottled city wall. However, this could not reduce the County Magistrate's hatred by a single degree. Suddenly lifting his head, he stared fiercely at the general who was commanding the massacre of the city, his eyes blazing with anger as he gritted his teeth and said: "You go back and tell Cao Cao that even if I, Zhou Yu, become a ghost, I will not let him off for killing the three million old and young people of Guangwei City! Let the descendants of the Cao family never be at peace!"

  The general spoke coldly, "Prefect Zhou, you can't blame General Cao for this. If anyone is to be blamed, it's that old man Tao Qian. He was the one who killed the general's father, and his family's lives are not enough to atone for that sin. Not even the lives of all the people in Xu State are enough to compensate for General Cao's life. That's why we can only let the people of Xu State die with them. I can tell you clearly, Guangwei is just the first place, and our army will continue to slaughter cities wherever we go! Only when the river Si flows with blood can we slightly alleviate General Cao's anger. So... die!"

  In the end, General Cao Jun's eyes gleamed with a fierce light, and he pushed his thumb forward on the hilt of the sword in his hand. The cold light flashed, the sword was unsheathed, and under the scorching sun, it carried a chilling murderous aura, and the sword slashed towards Zhou Ruo's neck! All the people around closed their eyes, as if they did not want to see the moment when the good official who loved his people like his children and governed with integrity had his head separated from his body.

  "Spare their lives! General Cao has given orders, no massacres are allowed!"

  Just as Zhou Ruo thought he was doomed, a soft but powerful voice suddenly rang in his ear. The voice was unmistakably that of a child, and when Zhou Ruo heard it, he didn't think much of it. However, an unexpected scene unfolded: the general holding the sword heard the child's voice, and the precious sword in his hand suddenly stopped at Zhou Ruo's neck with a "clang".

  The sharp sword, relying solely on the momentum generated by its swing, sliced through the skin on Zhou Ruo's neck, causing a trickle of blood to seep out. Zhou Ruo had already forgotten the slight pain from her neck and looked up in shock and confusion at the stone stairs leading up to the city wall.

  Not just Zhou Ruo, all the Cao army on the city wall and those civilians who thought they were doomed looked towards the stone ladder. The difference was that the eyes of the Cao soldiers were mostly filled with doubt, mixed with a lot of luck. And the people of Guangwei City, in their originally dull gaze, suddenly burst forth with spirit, that was the hope for life!

  But none of them dared to speak out, fearing that speaking loudly would provoke the speaker and cause everyone to lose their lives. So they all just kept stretching their necks, hoping to see the person who was speaking.

  Tap tap tap...

  A faint sound came from the stone stairs, and under the gaze of the crowd on the city wall, a child about five years old, wearing a long gown, walked up from the stone stairs. The gown was too big for him, and it was clear that it didn't fit well, plus the child's efforts to look serious like an adult, made him look rather comical. However, no one on the city wall could laugh at this, because this child was related to the life and death of 30,000 people in Guangwei, and no one dared to make fun of it!

  When he saw the child, General Cao Jun's cold face suddenly had a hint of humanity, but to maintain his image, he still asked in his usual cold tone: "Fourth Master, why are you here?"

  The child saw the general, and his eyes, full of cunning, turned around. He then pretended to salute the general in a very standard manner. In Zhou Ruo's opinion, the child's salute was quite standard, but paired with that oversized long gown, it looked rather comical.

  The ruthless General Cao's expression changed, and the corner of his mouth twitched. At this time, the child had finished paying respects and said in a clear and tender voice: "Miao Cai Shu, Father ordered me to pass on the order that the city is not to be slaughtered!" The child spoke very seriously, and no matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem to be lying.

  "Xiahou Yuan?" Upon hearing the child's words, Zhou Ruo already knew that the person in front of her who was about to carry out the massacre order was none other than Xiahou Yuan, a brother of Cao Cao. And the so-called "Fourth Young Master" should be Cao Zhi, one of Cao Cao's four sons.

  After learning the identity of several people, Zhou Ru's eyebrows were tightly furrowed. He couldn't believe that Cao Cao would let a child deliver such an important military order. Not only did Zhou Ru not believe it, but Xiahou Yuan also didn't believe it. His face turned cold again as he asked in a stern voice: "Fourth Master, is this really what the general said?" After finishing speaking, his gaze stared intently at Cao Zhi.

  Facing Xiahou Yuan's pressing gaze, Cao Zhi, this young child, was not afraid to stare back at him and calmly replied: "Absolutely true! If Uncle Miao doesn't believe it, he can go with me to see General Cao!"

  "Hmm?" Cao Zhi's formal address made Xiahou Yuan even more suspicious, and at this time he was really indecisive. In fact, Xiahou Yuan felt that Cao Zhi was telling a lie in his heart for seven or eight parts, but he didn't dare to gamble. If he slaughtered the city and then found out that Cao Zhi's transmission was indeed a real order, given the relationship between the Cao family and the Xiahou family, although Cao Cao would not really kill him, Xiahou Yuan's reputation in front of the people of the world would also be ruined to the extreme.

  He clenched his fists, but Xiahou Yuan still decided not to gamble. He turned around and called out to another Cao general: "Wen Qian, you stay here and watch, I'll go see the General now." After saying that, he took three or four steps forward and grabbed Cao Zhi's arm, saying in a gentle voice: "Let's go together, Uncle Miao, and see the General."

  Cao Zhi was not afraid, grasped Xiahou Yuan's small hand tightly, smiled and calmly replied: "Good!" Afterwards, he even pulled Xiahou Yuan with force, jumping down from the city head.

  After Cao Zhi and Xiahou Yuan, those killing stars, had gone far away, the civilians tied up on the city wall finally breathed a sigh of relief. The civilians close to Zhou Yu asked in a low voice: "Lord Zhou, was the order just passed by the four young masters true?"

  It wasn't just Zhou Ruo, even some slightly wise or older people didn't quite believe Cao Zhi's words, so they came to ask Zhou Ruo for confirmation. Zhou Ruo nodded heavily and said, "It should be true."

  The crowd of people heard Zhou Ruo's affirmative words and all cheered loudly. Who likes to die? The reaction of the people is also within reason.

  General Le Jin, standing beside him, frowned and shouted in a cold voice: "Anyone who makes another noise will be killed without pardon!" Under the icy killing intent emanating from his body, all the civilians immediately shut their mouths, not daring to speak again, and the city wall returned to silence.

  Zhou Ruo seemed to be unaware of this, and instead looked in the direction where Xiahou Yuan and Cao Zhi were leaving, secretly thinking: "Cao Fourth Master, I don't know whether what you said is true or false, but the lives of 30,000 old and young people of Guangwei are all in your hands, Zhou Ruo entrusts you!"

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