Chapter 46: Xun Gong's Painting Strategy? Enigma!

  "Father, the child and General Xu will cut a bloody path for you!"

  "Master, Zhong Kang is clearing the way for you!"

  Cao Cao glanced at Cao Ang and Xu Chu, drew out his Heaven-Defying Sword, and said: "Alright, Zixiu, Zhongkang, let's charge out together!"

  "Don't worry, my lord! Xu Gongming has arrived!" Xu Huang led his troops to the vicinity of Wan City and met Yu Jin. Upon learning that Cao Cao was nowhere to be found, he brought his troops here to search for him. Hearing that Zhang Yang's army was shouting "Capture Cao Cao alive", he led his troops here.

  "Father, General Xu has arrived!"

  "Good! The whole army breaks out and kills!" Cao Cao led the charge, rushing towards Zhang Yun's army. Soon, the two armies were in a chaotic melee.

  Zhang Xiu saw Cao Cao's tendency to break through the siege, holding a golden spear and rushing over. Clang! Zhang Xiu's spear was blocked by someone. "Father, go first, I'll block him!"

  Cao nodded and rode his horse eastward!

  "Who's blocking me?"

  "Ts'ao Ang! Ts'ao Tzu-hsiu!"

  "It turned out to be Cao Cao's son, look at the gun!"

  Zhang Huo launched multiple spinning thrusts at Cao Ang on horseback, each of which was parried by Cao Ang. "The King of the Northern Territory's Spear? Is that all?"

  Whoosh! Before Cao Ang could react, he was knocked off his horse with a loud cry. "Look out for the spear!" As Cao Ang fell to the ground, Zhang Liao followed up with a spinning spear attack.

  "Quickly save the crown prince! Xu Gongming is here, Zhang Heng is going wild!"

  Zhang Xiu was pursuing Cao Cao at the same time, Lü Bu and Xun Yu led a large army from the south to Wan City. Lü Bu and Xun Yu sat in the carriage playing chess, saying: "Nainai, Xiao Dada, you are really calm, even at this time, still playing chess with me?"

  "General, there's a situation!" The horse carriage suddenly came to a stop, and Lü Bu and Xun Yu got out.

  Li Dian cupped his hands and said: "Military advisor, it seems like we've been circling around in this forest for an hour now, but we still haven't left!"

  "Oh?" Xun Yu looked at the nearby woods, which were no different from ordinary woods. Xun Yu looked at Lü Rui and said: "Rui'er, we're also tired of sitting in the carriage, shall we ride horses for a walk?"

  "Yes, Master Xun!" (To cultivate Lü Rui, Cao let Lü Rui follow Xun Yu to learn wisdom, another awesome teacher has arrived!)

  Lü Bu rode on his Red Hare, and Xun Yu led the army through the forest. Suddenly, a thick fog rose up in the woods without warning. Xun Yu looked around and muttered to himself: "It's actually the Heavenly Illusion Array? It seems that Zhang Liao has an expert among his troops!"

  Lü Rui was shocked to hear Xun You mention the "Tian Xiang Huan Zhen" formation, a tactic described in the Tai Gong Bing Fa Yu Jian manual he possessed. It was a type of illusionary formation that utilized natural weather conditions. Although it wasn't a forbidden technique, how did Xun You know about it?

  Lü Rui looked at Xun Yu with a puzzled expression and asked: "Master Xun? Then we can't get out?"

  Xun Yu smiled and said: "A mere Heavenly Image Formation? How can it stump me, Xun Yu?"

  "Guards, go and fetch brushes, ink and Huang Juan!"

  "Hello!"

  Soon, Hu Jun brought pen and ink to Huang Juan, Xun You said: "General Li, lend me your back for a moment!"

  Li Dian immediately bowed down, using his back as a desk, and let Xun Yu write on it. Xun Yu drew a diagram with a brush and said, "Alright, General Li, that's done!"

  Li Dian cupped his hands and said: "Military Advisor? Is there any further instruction?"

  "General Li, order four flag soldiers to hold up the long flags and lead the way in front!"

  "Promise!"

  Xun You followed behind the four flag-bearing soldiers, occasionally stopping them to observe the direction of the wind on the military flags, making some adjustments on Huang Juan's upper part, and then indicating the direction to the whole army.

  Soon, under Xun Yu's leadership, Cao's army walked out of the Tianxiang Huanzhen. Lü Rui watched Xun Yu in amazement, wondering how Xun Gongda could break through the formation introduced in Taigong Bing Shu Yujian? Lü Rui calmed down and asked: "Master Xun, what is this? I want to learn too!"

  Xun Yu glanced at Lü Rui and smiled: "Rui'er, first learn the basic formation methods well, don't rush this!"

  Xun Yu was unwilling to reveal more about the Heavenly Illusion Array, and Lü Bu didn't ask much either. After all, saving Cao Cao is the most important thing right now!

  Xun Yu led the army and soon encountered the disheveled Cao. "My lord!"

  "Lord Cao! I've finally met you, Lord Cao!" Cao grasped Xun Yu's hand tightly, his eyes filled with tears.

  Lv Rui took a look and couldn't believe it. Cao, the emperor's wife, had become like this? Wearing tattered underwear? And torn in so many places? Is this still the Emperor Wu of Wei? He was basically just a beggar!

  "Rui'er?"

  "Uncle!"

  "Ruier can know the misfortune of Taohua Furen, it can be seen that he has been studying hard recently. Returning to Xudu, Zhongfu will definitely reward you well!"

  "Thanks a lot, Uncle!" Hehe, made some extra money again. Although Lü Rui wasn't short of cash, having more was always better than less!

  "My lord, Young Master Cao has been seriously injured!" Just as Cao was feeling grateful for his new lease on life, a soldier reported that Cao Ang had been severely wounded.

  "What? Zixiu? What's wrong with Zixiu?"

  Only then did the soldiers bring in Cao Ang, who was unconscious and pale. "Zixiu, Zixiu, what's wrong with you?"

  One of Cao Ang's bodyguards said: "My lord, the young master has been defeated by Zhang Liao and is seriously injured!"

  Lü Rui's heart skipped a beat, could it be that he hadn't changed the course of history? Was Cao Ang still going to die?

  "Where is Dr. Heo?"

  A middle-aged military doctor ran over, cupped his hands and said: "Your Excellency, I have already been treated by the young master, however..."

  "Surgeon! How is Zixiu doing?"

  The military doctor looked at Cao's furious face, his trembling hands clasped together and said: "Your Excellency, the young master...the young master?"

  "What's wrong with Zixiu!!!!!!"

  Upon hearing Cao's furious roar, the military doctor fell to his knees and said: "Your Lordship, your subordinate is incompetent, unable to revive the young master, however?"

  "Zixiu!!" Cao shouted loudly, his heart racing with anxiety, and fainted. The crowd rushed over to support him.

  "What's going on with the lady? Ah, I don't know whether to live or die, and now she's fallen down. What a mess! Looking at the military doctor still kneeling on the ground, Lü Rui asked: "Military doctor, what did you just say wasn't enough? What wasn't enough?"

  The military doctor nodded and said: "My medical skills are not good, I couldn't save the young master. However, there is a famous doctor named Hua Tuo in the Hou's residence who might be able to save him!"

  This military doctor is really good at playing with words, and in an instant, it became a matter of my mansion! Hua Tuo? I hope he can save Cao Ang!

  Xun Yu gathered the remaining troops and stationed them thirty miles away from Wan City, waiting for Cao Cao to wake up.

  After a night of treatment, Cao finally came to and knew that Hua Tuo might be able to save Cao Ang's life, so he decided to withdraw his troops immediately and return to Xuchang.

  "Uncle, uncle, I'm back! I've brought Zou's family back for you!"

  Is this Cao Anmin's voice? The Turtle King is actually still alive? And he even brought the Zou clan back with him!

  Only to see the disheveled Cao Anmin bringing the tattered Zou Shi in front of Cao, beginning to boastfully recount his heroic deeds, summarizing it in one sentence: The lucky dog has returned!

  Zou Shi, who was standing beside Xu Chu, shouted loudly: "A woman has brought chaos to the country! I will kill you!" Does Xu Chu want to behead Zou Shi?

  "Halt, Zhang Kang!" Cao Cao shouted, stopping the enraged Xu Chu.

  "This defeat is Cao Mengde's fault! Can a single woman decide the outcome of war? Withdraw!"

  Cao's wife is still very clear-headed. If it were an ordinary person, they would definitely blame the defeat on Zou Shi. But Cao is a hero with great ambitions. When he makes a mistake, he must acknowledge it himself. Would he blame a woman? What kind of thing is that? A wise strategist like him wouldn't fail to see through the tactic of using a beautiful woman as a scapegoat! If he did that, he would lose the hearts of many people!

  "Master?"

  "The defeat at Wan City was due to my, Cao Mengde's, momentary carelessness. Zhang Xiu led his army in surrender, but I couldn't accept their spears and calm their officers, this is my fault. I personally led twenty armies as a warning to the military!"

  Isn't it a matter of cutting one's hair and changing one's lord? How is it that Old Cao wants to accept the military seal? That would be bloody!

  "Your Lordship!" Everyone knelt down!

  "My mind is made up, there's no need for any of you to persuade me!" With that, Cao walked out and was about to take command personally.

  Lü Rui helplessly patted his mouth, feeling extremely tired, and went to sleep. His wife Cao hit him on the buttocks? This wasn't pleasant or interesting, so he decided to rest instead. Yesterday's forced march had truly exhausted him!

  "We're finally going back to Xuchang!" Cao Cao rested his troops thirty miles outside of Wan City for a day, then broke camp and left, returning to Xuchang. Cao Ang still needed medical treatment and couldn't be delayed.

  Lü Rui sat alone in his carriage, thinking about the problem, why not with Old Cao? Human wife Cao, human wife Cao, think about it and you'll know, Zou Shi got on his carriage!

  Lü Rui was in a carriage, holding a brush, and on a piece of yellow silk wrote a passage from the Records of the Three Kingdoms: "Gong Da had twelve extraordinary strategies before and after his death, but only Yu knew them. Yu compiled and collected them, but died suddenly, so the world did not get to hear them all."

  This passage is a record of Xun Yu's twelve extraordinary strategies. When Lü Rui read this in his previous life, he had many doubts.

  Firstly, what is "Hua Qi Ce"? Why use the word "Hua"? Is it because some content in "Qi Ce" cannot be expressed in words and needs to be explained with pictures?

  Secondly, the time it took Zhong Yu to sort out was too long. Xun You died in 214 AD and Zhong Yu died in 230 AD, sixteen years apart, but he only sorted out twelve strategies? It's strange that he couldn't finish sorting them out. Lv Rui has made many assumptions about this:

  First, what are the Twelve Strategies? Are they strategic plans or a book of strategies like those from the Warring States period? This cannot be determined. Even if it were twelve books, could Zhong Yu not have finished editing them with his abilities? He could have asked Cao Pi for help to copy and compile them. Given Cao Pi's respect for Xun You, this would have been a trivial matter. Could the collective wisdom of the Wei state over sixteen years still not produce anything?

  Secondly, is Zhong Yu too old? This is impossible. In AD 225, he was still able to come up with a plan for Zhong Hui, and his energy and strength should not be a problem! Given the relationship between Zhong Yu and Xun You, he will definitely help Xun You complete this task wholeheartedly.

  Thirdly, did only Zhong Yao know about the extraordinary strategy? Why? Why didn't Zhong Yao hand over the extraordinary strategy to someone else? Although Zhong Hui was too young, he still had an older brother who was also a high-ranking official of Cao Wei. Even if it wasn't handed over to the old Zhong family members, there were others who could be entrusted with it! However, once Zhong Yao died, the unsorted extraordinary strategy went missing!

  Finally, the extraordinary strategies compiled by Zhong Yu were all Xun You's strategic plans, but there was no record of military tactics and formations for marching and deploying troops. As Cao Cao's military advisor, Xun You followed him on his southern and northern campaigns, and his wisdom in battle was certainly not weak, and his deployment of troops was also a strong point. Why didn't Zhong Yu compile any of these? (Xun You himself had compiled tens of thousands of words on the experience of marching troops before Cao Cao's death, but not a single word was left behind? How strange!!!!!!)

  This matter has been troubling Lü Rui since his past life, and now that he's become the current Lü Rui, even in his free time, he would think about this matter, but still couldn't come up with any leads. However, after Xun You broke through the Tian Xiang Huan array at the Battle of Wan City, Lü Rui had a new idea!

  If Xun Yu had the strange book recorded in the Jade Book of Taigong, then the problem between Zhong Yao and Xun Yu can be explained. Zhong Yao discovered some secrets that he couldn't tell anyone, so he hid part of Xun Yu's Twelve Strategies! Hehe, if it was like that, the Three Kingdoms were truly a heroic era!

  Lü Rui was thinking about Xiao Xun's problem all the way, and when he arrived at Xu Du, he returned to the Si Kong Fu. As soon as he got off the carriage, Ren Qi Cao looked at Lü Rui with a flattering expression! What? Ren Qi Cao? Zhong Fu? This gaze? Pit father!!!!!! (Welcome everyone to discuss Xun Yu's twelve strategies that have not been passed down, another strange book is about to appear!)