Cao Cao was unaware that outside the Chang Shi Fu, a woman had already caused an uproar.
Currently, his mind was filled with "Yu'er."
"Report!"
A shout rang out.
Immediately, the first leader reported, "Reporting to Commander Cao, Situ Lu has recently sent people to purchase large quantities of mulberry bark, rattan bark, bamboo, sandalwood bark, wheat straw, and rice straw. Furthermore... they are drawing up 'curtain bed paper molds.' These actions are quite similar to the papermaking techniques of Marquis Cai's paper, except they are using much more material."
As he spoke, he placed a scroll on the desk and unfurled it. It depicted soldiers from the Long Xiao Battalion interacting extensively with merchants and purchasing raw materials.
"Marquis Cai's paper?" Cao Cao's eyes narrowed slightly, and he muttered to himself, "What is Yu'er doing? Making paper?"
Of course... Cao Cao's impression of paper was still stuck at the most basic stage of "Marquis Cai's paper." The main point was that it was expensive... and wrinkled, unsuitable for writing!
Thinking of this, Cao Cao noticed in the last drawing of the scroll, several Long Xiao riders were welcoming a young man.
This sparked some curiosity in Cao Cao.
"Who is he?"
"Zuo Bo!" the Chang Shi leader replied. "From Dongcai, courtesy name Ziyi. He is extremely ugly... but Situ Lu specifically ordered someone to invite him. It seems to be related to this papermaking as well."
Oh...
Cao Cao nodded.
Although he didn't know what Yu'er was up to, it seemed that Yu'er was very serious about papermaking! However... at this critical juncture of the battle between Cao and Yuan, undertaking such an elaborate papermaking endeavor made Cao Cao even more perplexed.
"Continue..."
Cao Cao raised his hand.
The second Chang Shi leader reported, "Situ Lu has secretly dispatched Sima Yi to Jizhou. Just yesterday, Sima Yi has already infiltrated Jizhou!"
The scroll was unfurled. The first drawing showed Sima Yi bidding farewell to Lu Yu in front of the Situ Residence. The second drawing depicted Sima Yi kneeling with tears in his eyes!
Cao Cao nodded.
He still didn't understand, but... with Yu'er having previously sent Yang Xiu to stir up trouble in Bing Province, it was no wonder that this time, Yu'er sending Sima Yi to Jizhou...
Cao Cao had a premonition that the situation in Jizhou would also be stirred up by this Sima Zhongda!
"Next drawing..."
Cao Cao continued to instruct.
The third Chang Shi leader reported, "Just yesterday, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao of the Long Xiao Battalion tested a 'saber.' It was about three meters long and weighed over twenty jin. Gao Shun, with this saber, split a warhorse into four pieces with a single strike, with the neck alone breaking into three segments!"
The scroll was unfurled, showing Zhang Liao on horseback charging towards Gao Shun.
Gao Shun, using the strength of his waist as a pivot, swung the saber. The final painting vividly depicted the shattering of the warhorse and the spraying of blood.
"What is this saber called? Why has Mu'er never mentioned it to me?" Cao Cao immediately asked.
"This saber is called the 'Mo Dao,'" the leader truthfully replied. "Miss Mu was also present during yesterday's test. It was also yesterday that the forging workshop stopped all weapon and armor forging to focus entirely on forging this Mo Dao!"
"Mo Dao?"
Cao Cao let out a sigh and murmured the name.
Then... his eyes turned cold. The next moment, "Hahaha... Hahahaha...", Cao Cao actually burst into hearty laughter.
As he laughed, he didn't forget to say to Cao Ren and Cao Hong, "I knew Situ Lu would bring me surprises! What a magnificent Mo Dao, to split a warhorse with a single strike!"
Cao Cao appeared extremely excited.
He strode towards the paintings. Compared to "papermaking" and "Sima Yi," the "Mo Dao" undoubtedly excited him more!
With the decisive battle between Cao and Yuan imminent, Cao Cao needed such divine weapons!
"Anything else? Are there any more thrilling paintings than one that can split a warhorse?" Cao Cao shouted.
In reality, his intention was that he had heard enough.
The mere appearance of the Mo Dao was enough to give him, Cao Cao, much more confidence on the upcoming battlefield. As for the question, it was just a casual inquiry.
Who would have thought... as soon as Cao Cao finished speaking.
"Yes... Reporting to Commander Cao, there really is!"
What...
Cao Cao was a little stunned.
He looked curiously at the last Chang Shi leader, his eyes filled with doubt. A painting more exciting than splitting a warhorse? This...
Before Cao Cao could speak, the leader loudly declared, "Just an hour ago, Situ Lu was inspecting the spearmen in the Long Xiao Battalion..."
Cao Cao listened, thinking this was quite normal.
Who would have thought...
The leader's first sentence was followed by a complete reversal. "Unfortunately, a nearby cattle shed caught fire. Situ Lu led people to investigate and discovered that He Yan was conducting a test. It was... a white powder named 'white phosphorus' extracted by Situ Lu's newly established refining workshop. This powder, under high temperature, ignites a raging flame! It instantly burned to death ten cows in the cattle shed. These cows didn't even have a chance to resist!"
The scroll was unfurled. It showed a soaring fire engulfing the cows, almost instantly. The cows fell to the ground without changing position and ceased to breathe!
This...
Cao Cao gasped. If the Mo Dao splitting a horse's neck was somewhat reasonable, then now... a cow burning to death instantly? This was preposterous!
After all, cows, while diligent, having detached from base desires, loyal, and hardworking... undoubtedly possessed superior resilience, resistance to fire, and even vitality compared to humans.
Even if fire attacks were used in battle, it would be impossible to incinerate tens of thousands of soldiers in an instant. People would move, and cows would move too!
To burn them to death instantly, to kill them instantly, how was this possible?
This completely defied the common sense of fire!
Of course...
Cao Cao had no idea that this white phosphorus, with a ignition point of only forty degrees, not only ignited upon contact with fire, but also contained a large amount of poison that rendered the cows immobile. Coupled with the suffocating dense smoke from the widespread flames, it could indeed cause the cows to collapse instantly and die... while their fur continued to burn!
"Gulp..."
Cao Cao was not the only one surprised. This time... even Cao Ren and Cao Hong were so astonished they couldn't breathe.
Cao Ren was astonished by the terrifying destructive power of the flames, while Cao Hong was astonished by the opposite. He felt pity for the ten cows. After all...
In this era... one cow was worth three horses.
And now... on the black market, the price of a horse was calculated in hundreds of thousands of cash!
Cao Hong calculated with his fingers and felt like crying. Millions of cash had just... vanished!
His heart ached.
Not only his heart, but Cao Hong felt that his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys... everything hurt!
Just then...
"Report..." A messenger announced, and a tiger-armored guard quickly entered the Chang Shi Fu!
According to the rules of the Chang Shi Fu... only the Chang Shi leaders and Cao Cao, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong could enter to ensure intelligence confidentiality. Even Xu Chu could only guard the entrance.
But...
Cao Cao's brows furrowed. Before he could speak, the tiger-armored guard said repeatedly, "Madam Ding has arrived. She insisted on forcing her way into the Chang Shi Fu. We... we dared not stop her! We could only... only report."
Madam Ding?
Cao Cao instinctively wanted to ask, which Madam Ding?
In his memory, his principal wife, Madam Ding Hui, had always been a woman of strict principles and would never do something like storming the Chang Shi Fu!
But... before he could ask, Cao Cao's brows rose.
It was Ding Xiang...
That's right, the only person referred to as Madam Ding who could make the tiger guards hesitate was none other than his principal wife, Ding Hui, or Xiahou Yuan's wife - Ding Xiang!
And precisely, this wife of Xiahou Yuan... was Cao Cao's dream lover, the key figure who turned Cao Cao into "Cao Thief"!
Uh...
Instinctively, the ambitious leader stood up abruptly... trembling all over.
To be precise, due to the sisterly relationship between Ding Hui and Ding Xiang, and the cousin relationship between Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan... Cao Cao often met with Ding Xiang. Moreover... Ding Xiang had given birth to five children so far, and Cao Cao would visit her after each birth.
In this regard... Cao Cao was much more considerate than his younger brother Xiahou Yuan!
Even towards Ding Xiang... these sons of Xiahou Yuan, Cao Cao always treated them as his own children!
However, Cao Cao's thoughts... Xiahou Yuan didn't know, Ding Hui didn't know, and Ding Xiang certainly didn't know!
This was his buried first love!
This was the only woman Cao Cao wanted to touch but couldn't.
...In Ding Xiang's eyes, Cao Cao was her good brother-in-law!
This time...
Ding Xiang's sudden arrival naturally made Cao Cao's heart flutter.
But before he could speak, Ding Xiang had already appeared before Cao Cao.
She showed no hesitation, taking light steps forward to stand before Cao Cao... and got straight to the point, saying, "Brother-in-law, you are so careless... Sister is already four months along, and Brother-in-law still hasn't noticed?"
Uh...
Cao Cao was taken aback.
At this moment, his mind was entirely occupied by his first love, the woman before him. Instinctively, he hadn't reacted yet. Sister is four months along? Four months of what?
"What? Four months? What four months?"
Cao Cao uttered these words.
Who would have thought... this ambitious leader Cao Cao, who commanded respect and instilled fear in those who heard his name, would appear like a shy young man in front of Ding Xiang, a little nervous and with a slight decline in intelligence.
"Brother-in-law, Sister is pregnant... she's already four months pregnant? Brother-in-law hasn't noticed?"
Ah... ah...
If just now, Cao Cao was stunned and dazed upon seeing his first love, then now... he had heard such explosive news, his eyes widened, and his chest began to heave.
Pregnant?
Ding Hui... is pregnant?
Hiss... Cao Cao gasped.
Instantly, many things flashed through his mind.
He remembered... some time ago, to be precise, about four months ago...
For some unknown reason, his principal wife had suddenly changed like a different person, becoming like a wolf and a tigress... completely intent on draining Cao Cao's vitality!
He recalled that during that period... no matter whether Cao Cao was in his study at night or elsewhere, Ding Hui would appear on time. Later... it had almost become Cao Cao's nightmare!
At that time, Cao Cao had only one feeling.
This was a literal "besieged city"... those inside wanted to go out, and those outside wanted to come in. The experience was not pleasant!
"Hoo..."
Thinking of this, Cao Cao gasped again. To this day, he understood... most likely, Ding Hui, who had no children after more than twenty years of marriage, had found some prescription from somewhere, consequently... had regulated her body, and then... it was a sad story!
Wait!
Cao Cao felt his mind racing. He suddenly remembered... in the past... Yu'er's prescription had seemed to cure Xiahou Dun...
Then...
"Gulp!"
Swallowing his saliva, the whole sequence of events suddenly became clear.
It was "Immortal Physician" Yu'er's prescription that cured his wife, Ding Hui, and consequently... the "sad" story...
Then, Ding Hui became pregnant, and was already four months along!
Thinking of this, Cao Cao's eyes widened even further.
"Brother-in-law shouldn't... be happy?"
Ding Xiang's words followed immediately.
"Happy... Ha... Happy..." Cao Cao forced a very strained smile.
At this moment...
He was thinking more and more, and further... was this a happy occasion? He, Cao Cao, clearly wanted to cry!
This matter was absurd, utterly absurd!
Cao Cao suddenly thought of the "heir apparent," and Yu'er, the heir apparent he had already designated!
Ding Hui's pregnancy almost shattered all his original plans.
After all, in Cao Cao's plan...
The current eldest son was Cao Ang. Strictly speaking... he was not the legitimate son, but was raised by the principal wife, Ding Hui, and naturally became the legitimate eldest son. And the same operation... could also be applied to Yu'er.
When the day of father and son recognition came, let Yu'er first recognize his younger brother Cao De as his father... and then be adopted by Cao Cao. In this way, the identity of an illegitimate son could be avoided!
Next... let him recognize Cao Cao's principal wife, Ding Hui, as his mother. As long as Ding Hui accepted him, based on age, he would leap to become the legitimate eldest son, the rightful first successor to Cao Cao's great undertaking.
But...
The child in Ding Hui's womb now would be a huge variable!
If it were a son... then it would be troublesome!
There was a significant difference between a "legitimate son" by adoption and a "legitimate son" born to the principal wife.
Clearly...
At that time, if Yu'er were to inherit the throne, he would have to put in much more effort and face more obstacles!
Not to mention anything else, just passing the hurdle of the Ding family and Madam Ding would be difficult. Who wouldn't dote on their own son?
But unfortunately...
This matter was so absurd. It was Yu'er who helped Ding Hui get pregnant... no... it was Yu'er's medicine that helped Ding Hui get pregnant. Cao Cao suddenly felt a sense of "self-inflicted harm"!
He shouldn't have indulged Ding Hui... he should have endured it!
Heh, what a mess this was...
Before, his body was tired, now his heart was tired!
At this moment, Cao Cao's entire mind was filled with four words: "It's too difficult for me!"
"Brother-in-law's smile... why does it look worse than crying?"
Ding Xiang's words came out again.
Heh heh...
Cao Cao just "hehehed." Cao Cao muttered to himself that he was fortunate not to be crying. Unless his sister... gave birth to a daughter, then it would be great news, a cause for universal celebration!
Otherwise...
"Too tired, your brother-in-law has been too tired recently..." Cao Cao forced a smile.
But this smile had just appeared when it abruptly stopped...
Because, suddenly... a sharp pain surged upwards, as if from his abdomen straight to his forehead... for a moment, Cao Cao's head was like a mountain collapsing, like being chopped by knives and axes...
Pain, this time it was real pain, unbearable pain!
"Pain..."
"It's killing me!"
"Quick... quickly summon the imperial physician!"
As he spoke, Cao Cao's legs buckled, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Brother-in-law... Brother-in-law..."
Ding Xiang grabbed Cao Cao, while Cao Ren and Cao Hong rushed to surround him, but... apart from calling for an imperial physician, they were helpless!
"Big Brother... Big Brother..."
"Big Brother..."
The entire Chang Shi Fu was thrown into chaos.
Just at this moment.
Tap, tap, tap...
Hurried footsteps echoed.
"Report... Urgent dispatch by seven hundred li, urgent document... urgent document!"
An armored guard holding a bamboo slip walked quickly to the entrance of the Chang Shi Fu.
Cao Ren glanced at his elder brother, Cao Cao, furrowed his brows... and quickly walked over, snatched it, and quickly unfurled it.
It was better not to unfurl it...
As soon as he unfurled it, Cao Ren's forehead began to sweat.
- Yan Liang leading fifty thousand troops south... to attack Baima!
- Yuan Shao leading five hundred thousand troops south, attacking Yanjin!
This...
Cao Ren's entire body panicked.
Cao Hong, seeing his expression turn grim, quickly asked, "Zixiao? What happened?"
"Alas..." Cao Ren sighed deeply, his eyes looking back at Cao Cao. "Big Brother is unconscious, and at this very moment, Yuan Shao's army is marching south!"
Ah... ah...
Cao Hong exclaimed, his eyes widening, "This... this... what should we do!"
"Go... go tell Situ Lu, go... go tell Xun Lingjun!"
Cao Ren immediately commanded.
At this moment, he had to remain calm... as calm as possible!
...
...
At the border between Jizhou and Youzhou, in the northernmost part of Changshan...
Beneath Feilong Mountain, in a private room of a tavern!
On a table were placed three bamboo slips. One of them was a received letter, detailing Yuan Shao and Yan Liang's pincer movement south.
The second appeared to be a letter to be sent out, and the last bamboo slip was somewhat messy, densely covered with small seal script!
Among them, some important characters were circled.
For example...
The greatest戟 (halberd) of the present era - Li Yan;
The God of Spears - Tong Yuan!
The two young ladies of the Yan family in Hebei - Yan Yun, Yan Yu;
And... the most striking and elaborately written - "Yan Liang!"
These names seemed very important, but only the name "Yan Liang" was repeatedly circled, adding a layer of intrigue!
Beside this third bamboo slip were several writing brushes, which were fine brushes, known as "Zhang Zhi brushes," not cheap.
And the owner of this "Zhang Zhi brush" was that young man in white robe and bamboo hat.
This time...
This white-robed young man was not wearing a bamboo hat, and his white hair was exceptionally unusual!
Whether it was due to inherited "premature graying" or excessive melancholy, in any case, his appearance gave people a sense of two words - mystery.
And his brush kept crossing out the words "Yan Liang" on the bamboo slip, and then writing them again.
It seemed...
This name made him quite hesitant! He couldn't make up his mind!
Finally...
He shook his head, then nodded again, his eyes suddenly widening...
As if he had finally made a decision.
Immediately after, with a bold stroke, he crossed out Yan Liang's name again. As if to prevent himself from regretting it, he deliberately threw all the brushes far away!
Following closely, he murmured:
- "Yan Liang, the eldest son of the Yan clan, possesses extraordinary martial arts."
- "Alas, his personality is too impetuous and fiery. Having been doted on since childhood, it is destined that he would develop a proud and arrogant personality! With him in command, a surprise attack on Baima is bound to fall into an ambush!"
- "Father's action this time, perhaps one of the four pillars and one of the eight supports of Hebei is about to fall!"
After a sigh of emotion, he threw the letter written to Yuan Shao, which could save Yan Liang, into the brazier.
Then...
A smile appeared on his lips.
- "Good. It just so happens that I can use your life... to force out the most formidable Yan clan!"
- "Madam Yan Yun, having lost her beloved brother, surely... she will not let this go?"
- "Heh heh..."
The white-robed man let out a light smile.
- "Ten Yan Liangs? Can they compare to one Tong Yuan?"
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed... a trace of intriguing cunning smile quietly emerged.
...
...