Chapter 42: Night Visit to Cao's Mansion

  One master, two servants, three women walked out from under Long Fei's body and continued to move forward. Seeing the lanterns exit from a small door on the left, Long Fei immediately jumped down and followed them. The three people did not head towards the backyard but instead went towards the front yard. Long Fei thought: This Cao Cao is indeed cunning, others hide people in the back, but he actually hides in the front yard. Following from afar, Long Fei suddenly had an inexplicable urge to take a look at how beautiful this woman Zhang was.

  The ear house on the right side of the front yard was still lit. As soon as those women approached, a cold voice suddenly came from the darkness: "Who? What are you doing?"

  The little girl snorted: "You scoundrel, this is our family's young lady. Is our master inside?"

  Cao Cao's voice came from inside the house: "Jie er! It's so late, why aren't you sleeping? What are you doing here?"

  "Cao Jie said: 'Dad, you haven't closed your eyes for three days, what's the big deal that makes you so worried? I'm worried about you, so I came to take a look!'"

  "It's alright! We've already discussed everything, I'm going to bed now." Cao Cao's voice was soft and full of affection: "You go to sleep quickly, don't worry!"

  Cao Jie reluctantly nodded and turned around to walk back, accompanied by the two maids. Long Fei quickly hid behind a fake mountain in the nearby garden, letting Cao Jie pass by. The fake mountain was close to the path, and when Cao Jie walked in front of Long Fei, his eyes widened in amazement. Beauty! Absolute beauty! What is meant by "add one point and it's too fat, subtract one point and it's too thin", Long Fei finally understood from Cao Jie's face. Long Fei was stunned, and from that moment on, the stunning woman Cao Jie left an impression in his heart.

  He watched Cao Jie walk far away, and Long Fei only retracted his mind. Listening to the conversation just now, Cao Cao should have discussed with Mi Zhu, and he had to find someone to ask about it. Cao Cao was definitely not possible, this kind of treacherous person would not tell the truth, so there was only Mi Zhu left. Not long after, Cao Cao came out of the house, and the one following behind him was indeed Mi Zhu. Cao Cao stretched his waist, turned his head and clasped his fists: "Mr. Mi, tomorrow it will depend on you, the lives of hundreds of people in the mansion are all in your hands, I hope you will take care of them!"

  "Director Cao can rest assured, we businessmen value integrity. Our deal is done and we will naturally fulfill our responsibilities!" Zou Zhu was still speaking with the same businesslike tone.

  Two men bid farewell, and Zou Jing beckoned to the people outside his house. Long Fei hastily slipped out of the shadows and stuck to the wall of the house. The voices inside were very low, and Long Fei moved to the window. Then he heard Zou Jing say to his subordinates: "Cao Cao originally planned to kill Dong Zhuo under the pretext of presenting a sword, but now it seems that won't work. So he will present the sword without killing him. Since Li Ru and Li Su, two wise men under Dong Zhuo's command, won't fail to see the reason, Cao Cao wants us to protect his family and take them to their old home in Qiao County at an appropriate time!"

  "The Cao Mansion has over a hundred people!" Someone asked: "How can we few protect these hundred?"

  Zhang Liao shook his head: "The servants and lower-ranking officials are not a problem, as long as the main people are taken care of. In Cao's residence, there are only five people in total - Cao Cao and his wife, plus their three children. We don't need to worry about Cao Cao himself, he has a way to escape. That leaves one adult and three children, which is still manageable! Cao Cao has already agreed that if the task is successful, this residence will be left to us, and from now on, it will be our base in Luoyang!"

  "What about our mission?" Another person asked: "This task is personally entrusted by the master, if we fail, we will..."

  "Alas!" Mei Ren sighed: "Originally, I wanted to use the beauty trick, but unexpectedly, a Long Fei appeared halfway and ruined all my plans. This matter is too thorny, it needs to be carefully considered from a long-term perspective. Fortunately, there's no time limit, I've already explained it to the master, he shouldn't blame me."

  "Who!" Long Fei, because he listened too seriously, accidentally stretched his head a bit higher, and made a black shadow on the window. These assassins were not vegetarians, they saw it at a glance. With just one sound, two flying knives had already pierced through the window, brushing past his scalp and flew by. Long Fei didn't dare to stay, turned around and ran. Behind him, loud shouts and cries could be heard: "There's an assassin, catch the assassin!"

  The yard was suddenly lit up, and the three of them had already made arrangements to escape and find help. Zhao Yun and Dian Wei easily climbed over the wall and ran wildly towards the outside alley, shouting for Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. Long Fei wasn't so lucky, and after being discovered, he immediately ran towards the backyard, with more and more people chasing behind him, their torches getting brighter and brighter. In a panic, Long Fei pushed open a small door and jumped inside, closing it behind him.

  After searching the yard for half a day, no suspicious person was found. Someone discovered three pairs of footprints under the wall at the back of the yard and reported that two people had just climbed over the wall. Cao Cao was furious: "My mansion has never been breached by thieves before, yet someone dares to trespass! Search thoroughly, I must catch him!"

  The whole household, including the servants and guards, were mobilized to search every room and courtyard. Just as everyone was getting into the swing of things, a servant came to report that Zhao Yun, the Left Assistant Military Officer, and Zhang Liao, the Left Military Officer, had arrived with their men, saying that there were assassins causing chaos in the capital and they had chased them here, wanting to search the mansion. Cao Cao smiled: "Do they think such petty tricks can fool me? Tell them not to bother helping, I'll personally capture the assassins and hand them over!"

  Long Fei saw that there were not a few people in the courtyard, but no one came over here. He let out a mouthful of air and looked around, searching for a place to hide. A faint fragrance wafted into his nostrils, and this scent was especially familiar. A clear voice asked: "Xiūér, is that you? What's going on outside? What happened?"

  Long Fei was shocked and rushed into Cao Jie's room, holding his breath and hiding in the shadows. Xiuer woke up with a start, put on her clothes and was about to light the lamp when she felt a shock at the back of her head and fell limp. Cao Jie heard the noise and was so frightened that he shrank into the corner of the wall, just as he was about to shout out, a strong big hand tightly hugged him, while another big hand covered his mouth.

  "Don't call out, I promise I won't hurt you!" A man's voice entered Cao Jie's ears. Cao Jie struggled with all his might, but it was no use. The commotion outside the door grew louder and seemed to be coming closer. Long Fei whispered in Cao Jie's ear, "You know what to do, just cooperate with me and I won't lay a finger on you."

  "Jie er, are you alright?" Cao Cao asked from outside the door. The light of the torches and lanterns danced back and forth on the windows: "Jie er? Jie er?"

  "I'm fine! What's wrong with Father?" Long Fei released the big hand covering Cao Jie, his eyes staring at her fiercely.

  "It's all right!" Cao Cao shouted loudly: "There is an assassin in the government, you just stay in the house and don't come out. I'll catch that person and tear him to pieces! Keep searching for me, I must find him!"

  The sound outside the door gradually faded away. Long Fei slowly released Cao Jie. Just now, this hug made him feel that Cao Jie was as soft as boneless, with skin as smooth and clean as possible, and her breath was fragrant and warm, making Long Fei's anger rise, and he couldn't help but hold Cao Jie tighter. Eighteen-year-old Cao Jie, where did men hug like this before? At first, she felt uncomfortable, but after a while, they had body temperature between each other, the man's unique smell and strong physique made Cao Jie blush and her ears turn red.

  Long Fei bowed his hand to Cao Jie: "Thank you so much for saving my life, I will definitely repay it if I have the chance!"

  "Who are you? Why did you barge into my home?" Cao Jie hugged her quilt, covering her body.

  "It's a long story, I'll tell you slowly when I have the chance!" Long Fei quietly opened the door, looked around and saw no movement, then slipped out. Soon, the sound of catching an assassin came from the courtyard again. Cao Jie had an inexplicable feeling in her heart, hoping that her father could catch the assassin, but also worried that the person would be caught by her father, with a mix of emotions. Recalling the feeling of being hugged by Long Fei earlier, a unique girl's sentiment crept into her mind, with shyness, longing, and some aftertaste.

  Zhang Fei and Zhang Liao were anxiously pacing back and forth outside the gate of Cao's mansion, while inside the commotion grew louder. Jian Yong shouted loudly: "What are we waiting for? Let's charge in! If our boss is caught by them, he'll be done for!"

  "Absolutely not!" Zhang Liao immediately blocked: "Cao Cao is a councilor, and also has the trust of Taishi, if we rush in like this to rescue Lord Long, even if we succeed, if Cao Cao tells Taishi, we'll all be doomed!"

  "We can't just stand here like fools!" Tian Wei paced back and forth, stamping his foot anxiously.

  A dark figure flashed out from the corner of the wall. Long Fei ran up, panting, and climbed onto the horse's back: "Hurry up and go, if Cao Cao reacts, it will be too late! Go quickly!"

  Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and Dian Wei saw the dragon fly away safely, then they felt relieved and quickly gathered their troops to leave Bamboo Forest Alley. Cao Cao had been busy for a whole night, although he saw the assassin's shadow, but didn't catch anyone, so he was furious and scolded his guards loudly. Zang Ba sat aside, sipping tea and said: "Lord Cao, who do you think this assassin is? What did they come here for?"

  Cao Cao waved his hand and chased everyone out, looking at Mi Zhu: "Who did you say it was?"

  Mi Zongyi smiled: "Originally I didn't know, until Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao led the troops to come so quickly, and finally suddenly left without saying goodbye. From this, I guessed a few points!"

  "Hum!" Cao Cao said angrily: "Who else can it be? It must be that Long Fei! He instigated Wang Yun to have me assassinate Dong Zhuo, but in fact he wanted to break the alliance between you and me. I saw through this a long time ago!"

  "Then, Lord Cao, how will you respond?"

  Cao Cao glanced at Mi Zhu, slowly sat down: "That Long Fei is your man, if you want to deal with him, it should be your own hands. If you need help, I'm happy to assist!" Mi Zhu burst out laughing.

  The housekeeper walked in, holding a one-foot-long ancient wooden box: "Master, the Taishi Mansion has sent someone to urge you, please master attend the banquet and let you go immediately."