In Liyang Commandery, north of the Yellow River.
Yuan Shao lay weakly on his bed, his face ashen. He was ill, the defeat at Guandu had become a nightmare he couldn't escape each night.
—Wuchao was burned.
—Forty thousand Yuan troops defected on the battlefield.
Everything was like a terrible dream…
As if…
From crossing the Yellow River, he had fallen into one trap after another laid by Lu Yu, until the great defeat, until he fled back to Liyang City, north of the Yellow River, the place where he once had ambitious aspirations, dreaming of unifying the world.
Every time he thought of this, Yuan Shao’s mood plummeted, causing him to cough repeatedly in pain.
Speaking of which…
The weather in the northern region of the Yellow River was quite strange.
It was sunny during the day, but as soon as night fell, it suddenly poured with rain, as if… Heaven had sensed Yuan Shao's current mood, casting a thick layer of gloom over the sky.
In the pavilion, Yuan Shao’s coughs echoed one after another. He felt as if he was already in a daze. He had never been a magnanimous person; he inevitably fell into stubbornness, into a dead end in his mind.
“Tan’er, Xi’er, Shang’er, have they… have they gathered troops yet?”
That hoarse voice rang out…
Guo Tu, who was by his side, quickly reported: “The three young masters have arrived in Qingzhou, Jizhou, and Youzhou respectively… It is estimated that within ten days at the earliest, and a month at the latest, they will surely bring a strong army to help the Lord contend with that Cao Aman again!”
Hoo…
This news finally eased Yuan Shao’s sorrowful mood a lot.
To fight again…
The way to eliminate nightmares was to pick oneself up from where one fell!
What’s more, Yuan Shao had received intelligence from Cao’s camp that Cao Cao was running low on grain.
This was an opportunity, an opportunity for him to turn the tide.
At this very moment.
“Lord, Lord…”
The sound of footsteps came from outside the door. Judging by the sound, it was Shen Pei, the Magistrate of Ye City. Hearing of the defeat at Guandu, he had immediately gathered the troops of Ye City to come to his aid, fearing Cao Cao’s continued pursuit. Every day… he personally patrolled the banks of the Yellow River to ensure the defense was foolproof. Liyang City was the first line of defense on the northern bank of the Yellow River; in the current situation, it could not afford to lose!
Mm…
Hearing Shen Pei’s voice, Yuan Shao slightly opened his eyes.
“Zheng Nan? Why such panic?”
Yuan Shao’s voice was extremely low and faint…
Guo Tu rolled his eyes at him. This core strategist of Yuan’s camp, known for being “adept at infighting but inept at external affairs,” felt very lonely recently.
Among the talented individuals of Jizhou, Ju Shu, Tian Feng, Zhang He, and Gao Lan had all been suppressed by him.
Among the aristocratic families of Ru Ying, Xu You, who had a bad relationship with him, had been forced to go to Cao Cao’s camp.
Suddenly… with no opponents, it was as if he had lost his goal in life. They say, "Fighting with others is infinitely enjoyable," but… what was the feeling of having no one to fight with, compared to being a salted fish?
Coincidentally… Shen Pei had arrived, which gave Guo Tu a new goal in life: to suppress this guy as well.
“Zheng Nan, making such a commotion, do you not know that Duke Yuan needs to recuperate? Are you intentionally trying to harm Duke Yuan’s health?”
Uh…
With a heavy accusation, Shen Pei was stunned. He was not a good-tempered person either and intended to retort.
Who would have thought that Yuan Shao waved his hand.
“It’s alright, Zheng Nan can speak freely!”
His mood was already so desperate that any bad news would be unremarkable.
“Great joy for the Lord!” Shen Pei glared at Guo Tu and then said loudly!
“Zheng Nan… what nonsense are you talking about?” Guo Tu still confronted him. “After the defeat at Guandu, our Yuan army’s morale is low. What joy is there?”
Shen Pei ignored Guo Tu and continued to report: “Lord, those forty thousand surrendered soldiers who surrendered to Cao Cao, they… they have returned!”
“According to spies, it was Lu Yu who suggested to Cao Cao that our forty thousand Yuan troops be allowed to return north. Hahaha, this is a huge blunder on his part!”
“Lord Yuan, didn’t you lack soldiers? Now… they have returned, all of them have returned, and Lord Yuan will have the strength to fight that Cao thief again!”
Shen Pei spoke excitedly…
After all, it was the return of forty thousand Yuan troops!
This matter was too significant…
Hiss…
On the contrary, Guo Tu’s eyebrows furrowed. Instinctively, he felt that this credit could not be given to Shen Pei, and at the same time, he pondered whether something was wrong?
Who was Lu Yu? He was the Hidden Dragon!
The name speaks for itself; his previous series of schemes and tricks had almost led their Yuan army to ruin. Now… allowing forty thousand surrendered soldiers to return north?
Would he… would he play such a sinister trick? More importantly, would Cao Cao agree if he played such a trick? This was simply unbelievable!
Guo Tu’s brows furrowed.
At this time, Yuan Shao’s expression was also very complicated, as if he were lost in thought.
However, Shen Pei’s words continued.
“Lord, this is great joy. Now, these forty thousand surrendered soldiers are only twenty miles away from Liyang City. The most urgent thing is that the Lord needs to… needs to personally go out of the city to welcome them. This way, we can appease the soldiers’ emotions and reassure them!”
Shen Pei had not experienced Guandu.
But he could understand the pain Yuan Shao felt at losing forty thousand Yuan troops, and now, this pain had vanished!
Shen Pei could sense that this was an opportunity, an opportunity to fight Cao Cao again at Guandu.
It could be described as a blessing in disguise!
“Lord Shen Zheng Nan, can’t you see Duke Yuan’s condition? In this state… how can he… how can he go out of the city to appease them?” Guo Tu frowned…
At this, Shen Pei also noticed that Yuan Shao’s face was ashen, and his brows were knitted high.
Clearly… this news had not… dispelled his gloom!
But…
“Duke Yuan, appeasing the hearts of forty thousand soldiers, this… this cannot be delayed!” Shen Pei continued to persuade. “If… if Duke Yuan goes to welcome the soldiers in his sickly state, then… the hearts of the three armies will be united, and morale will soar. In this way, we will have an additional forty thousand troops and can cross the Yellow River to decide the fate of the world with that Cao Cao!”
As soon as these words were spoken.
Shen Pei stared intently at Yuan Shao. In his opinion, there was no need to think about this; it was simply a favor bestowed by heaven!
But…
Who would have thought that Yuan Shao’s complicated expression gradually calmed down, and in the end, he only murmured three words.
“I know.”
Know… know?
Shen Pei was a little stunned. For a moment, he felt that he completely misunderstood this lord.
“Duke Yuan…” Shen Pei continued to speak, but… before he could finish, Yuan Shao’s voice preempted him. “Zheng Nan, you have not experienced the battle of Guandu, hence you are so naive. I do not blame you!”
Uh…
Shen Pei was a little dazed. “Why does Duke Yuan say that?”
Heh heh…
Yuan Shao let out a cold laugh. “Zheng Nan, let me ask you? How did these forty thousand Yuan troops cross the Yellow River? They had no travel expenses? How could they travel to a place twenty miles from Liyang?”
This…
Shen Pei paused slightly and said loudly: “According to spies, it was… it was Cao Cao himself who gave them travel expenses and provisions, saying that he wanted them to return safely, and even said that there was no need to repay favors when they met again; they would each serve their own lord and fight bravely! Even… the wounded were distributed with carts and prepared with boats to help them cross the Yellow River!”
Humph…
Yuan Shao snorted coldly. “Foolish… Zheng Nan? When did you become so foolish?”
He was cursed from head to toe… “You are foolish!”
He almost used all his strength. “Who is Lu Yu? The Hidden Dragon of this era, the Hidden Dragon who can plan everything, observe people’s hearts, capture Yan Liang, behead Wen Chou, and flood forty thousand of my Yuan troops, he can also burn Wuchao, incite Zhang He and Gao Lan to defect, and almost single-handedly changed the situation at Guandu, allowing Cao Cao to leap onto my Yuan Shao’s neck!”
“Oh, Shen Zheng Nan, Shen Zheng Nan, hehe, such a terrifying opponent, and yet you naively think he would make such a clumsy mistake, allowing forty thousand surrendered soldiers to return north? How is that possible? You are too silly, too naive!”
Speaking of this, “Cough cough cough…” Yuan Shao turned his body sideways and coughed incessantly. Guo Tu, the number one flatterer, quickly supported him and kept patting his back.
Yuan Shao’s voice continued.
“Heh heh, Cao Cao personally gave these surrendered soldiers travel expenses and provisions… The wounded were even provided with carts, humph, this is clearly a wolf’s ambition, this is another scheme of the Hidden Dragon!”
“If these surrendered soldiers enter Liyang City, they will surely collude with Cao Cao from the inside and outside, capture Liyang in one fell swoop, and present my Yuan Shao’s head to Cao Cao, to the Hidden Dragon! Humph, does Lu Yu take me, Yuan Shao, for a fool? Does he think he can get my Yuan Shao’s head with such a despicable trick? He wishes…”
Roaring… especially the last three words, “He wishes… he wishes…”, Yuan Shao let out a “powerless roar”!
At this time, due to the defeat at Guandu, Yuan Shao was extremely wary of Lu Yu. In the past, he had underestimated the Hidden Dragon… he didn’t think deeply about things, but now, he would chew over every matter, considering every detail.
Waryness… this was the immense pressure Lu Yu brought him!
Moreover…
Yuan Shao, who had fallen from the clouds to the valley, how could he believe that these forty thousand people had truly returned in good faith!
Once disloyal, he, Yuan Shao, would never use them again!
Thinking of this…
Yuan Shao was still roaring, “Foolish, foolish…”
He pointed at Shen Pei’s nose, “I finally understand why Guandu was lost? It’s because of you… you fools, you have wronged me, you have wronged my great cause!”
At this moment, Yuan Shao seemed possessed…
With each cold roar, Shen Pei was a little dumbfounded!
Damn it, he wasn’t even at the Battle of Guandu, so why was he being blamed?
However…
It seemed that what Yuan Shao said had some truth to it.
This made… the usually outspoken him unable to refute.
Besides, Shen Pei considered himself not to be a thoughtful strategist. Since Yuan Shao had put it this way, he might as well not offer any advice.
Once disloyal, no need to use them.
“Your subordinate’s thinking was flawed, and your subordinate is guilty!” Shen Pei lowered his head…
Seeing him embarrassed, Guo Tu’s lips curled into a hidden smile. As the chief flatterer, he put on a fawning appearance.
“Lord is wise and heroic, seeing through the Hidden Dragon’s scheme at a glance. Such wisdom is beyond our comprehension. Lord’s intelligence truly amazes me. I, Guo, pride myself on my high vision, but Lord’s talent is truly astonishing, and I am immensely impressed!”
The same flattery and praise!
However, in different situations and with different moods, Yuan Shao’s response was completely different.
This time, after hearing Guo Tu’s words, Yuan Shao only responded with one word— “Scram!”
The “scram” of “get lost!”
Uh…
Guo Tu was a little stunned. He felt…
The lord had changed. The lord seemed immune to his flattery.
No, not immune, but starting to reject it!
Immediately, Guo Tu wisely got out, shamefully leaving the pavilion!
…
…
On the official road from Yanzhou to Xuzhou.
A convoy of a hundred vehicles was galloping. This was the army of the Dragon Cavalier Camp.
However, Lu Yu did not bring too many people for this mission of gathering grain in Xuzhou. One hundred Dragon Cavalier riders, along with Generals Dian Wei, Cao Xiu, and Zhao Yun.
In Lu Yu’s opinion, gathering grain was not fighting a war; having more people was useless. Besides… in Xuzhou, there was Chen Deng.
This current governor of Xuzhou, the representative of the Xuzhou gentry, Lu Yu’s unreliable disciple Yang Xiu had even saved his life!
As the saying goes, “A present official is better than a former one”…
For the matter of gathering grain, one Chen Deng was worth ten thousand troops!
However…
Thinking of Yang Xiu inexplicably, Lu Yu smacked his lips. He didn’t know if he was alive or dead after being captured by Tong Yuan. If he died, Lu Yu would probably feel heartbroken for two hours.
Speaking of Tong Yuan.
Lu Yu subconsciously weighed a small Zhuge Repeating Crossbow hidden in his sleeve.
This was a small hidden weapon forged by “Kong Ming” according to his instructions. It could be worn on the wrist and hidden in the sleeve, thus being able to deal with some unexpected situations.
Speaking of which, Tong Yuan had still escaped under the siege of Lu Bu, Zhang Yan, Qu Yi, and Gongsun Zan…
From this point of view, his martial arts were probably not low?
One must guard against others!
Just as Lu Yu thought of this…
“Dada da da…”
The sound of urgent hoofbeats came from the rear of the cavalry formation.
A few fast horses rushed over.
—“Report…”
Arriving beside Lu Yu’s four-horse carriage, the knight immediately reported.
“At Guandu, Commander Cao released forty thousand surrendered Yuan troops. Now, these surrendered Yuan troops have each been issued provisions and travel expenses, and are heading north across the Yellow River towards Liyang City.”
As soon as these words were spoken, Lu Yu nodded.
Then, he waved his hand.
“Send scouts again. Information regarding the banks of the Yellow River must be reported to me as soon as possible.”
“Yes!” The knight agreed, rested briefly, and then hurried towards Guandu.
Speaking of which, allowing forty thousand surrendered soldiers to return was a strategy Lu Yu had proposed to Cao Cao.
Precisely…
This strategy… there was no mention of it in the historical records!
According to the original historical trajectory, after the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao directly carried out a massacre, solving the problem of these surrendered soldiers once and for all.
But the situation was different now…
Lu Yu had also discussed it repeatedly with Xu Shu, and based on Yuan Shao’s character flaws, he had devised this strategy.
Theoretically, Yuan Shao’s suspicious nature meant that he would definitely not accept these surrendered soldiers who had returned in rebellion!
Let alone Yuan Shao, anyone else would not dare to accept it, and would think there was a trick involved!
Taking in forty thousand surrendered soldiers with a history of rebellion required such strong courage! Perhaps even Old Cao might not have such courage!
Of course, theoretically, Lu Yu did not dare to be careless. He kept sending people to monitor the banks of the Yellow River, fearing that Yuan Shao would not play by the rules.
In short, as long as Yuan Shao performed normally, these forty thousand surrendered soldiers would eventually change their surname to “Cao”!
“Young Master Lu…” Zhao Yun, who was beside him, also heard the urgent report from the knight. His brows furrowed, and he quickly asked, “Commander Cao’s act of releasing forty thousand surrendered soldiers to return north, although benevolent, is in fact equivalent to aiding the enemy. In this way… wasn’t the Battle of Guandu fought in vain? Were all the previous deployments and strategies of Young Master Lu to gain the current great advantage all ruined in an instant!”
After hearing Zhao Yun’s words, Lu Yu smiled slightly.
“Zi Long only knows one thing and not the other…” Lu Yu turned around and looked at Zhao Yun, who was riding a white horse. “Yuan Shao, this person, cannot even trust his confidant strategists Tian Feng, Ju Shu, and Xu You. How can he trust forty thousand Yuan army soldiers who have returned in rebellion?”
Speaking of this, Lu Yu paused. He did not intend to hide it from Zhao Yun.
In fact, since the best strategy is to attack the enemy’s plan, there was nothing to hide.
“Forty thousand Yuan army soldiers yearn to return home, and similarly… the families of the forty thousand Yuan army soldiers in the northern region also long for these sons to return north. If they are not released, then the ‘yearning to return home’ will eventually cause mutiny in Cao’s camp. On the contrary… once they are released, Yuan Shao, in his suspicion, will inevitably prevent them from returning north!”
“In this way, the ones who will separate the forty thousand Yuan troops from their families will not be Commander Cao, but Yuan Ben Chu himself. In this way… when marching north against Yuan Shao, which of these surrendered soldiers will dare not exert themselves? Which will not go all out, after all, this is the temptation of going home!”
Hoo…
As soon as Lu Yu finished speaking, Zhao Yun let out a long sigh. “So, everything was calculated by Young Master Lu!”
“Zi Long, get used to it.” At this moment, Cao Xiu added, “Our Young Master thinks three steps ahead. Even though he has left Guandu, Yuan Shao can still not escape our Young Master’s grasp! Haha…”
Hearing the praise, Lu Yu waved his hand. “Wen Lie, be low-key! Do not praise me. The reason Yuan Shao was defeated is that he only listens to pleasant words, but… loyal advice is often unpleasant to hear! As the saying goes, good medicine is bitter to the taste but effective in curing illness, and loyal advice is unpleasant to hear but beneficial for action!”
As soon as these words were spoken…
Zhao Yun and Cao Xiu exchanged glances, and then burst into laughter.
…
…
The return of the forty thousand surrendered Yuan troops.
It was like a grand migration on the grassland!
Under the light rain, viewed from high above, the entire north bank of the Yellow River was shrouded in darkness, vast and teeming with people. Each soldier, filled with dreams and the excitement of returning home, embarked on their journey step by step.
Five miles ahead was Liyang City, the gateway to the north. They had finally returned.
No one could truly understand the emotions of a wanderer returning home…
Even though there were no phrases like “The loving mother’s hand stitches, the wanderer’s body clothes” in this era, the feelings of every loving mother and every wanderer have always been the same.
Who would have thought…
Just as they were rushing forward, about to enter the territory of Liyang City.
Suddenly…
“Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh…”
Arrows filled the sky, shooting out from the front. Countless arrows embedded themselves in the stone steps, in the soil, and even some eager wanderers, yearning for home, were shot and killed by random arrows!
At this moment, the forty thousand surrendered Yuan troops were stunned…
They did not know what had happened!
But… when they looked up, another volley of ruthless arrows was shot out again.
Following closely behind were a series of extremely sharp voices.
—“You have already joined Cao Cao’s camp, why do you come to feign surrender!”
—“Lu Yu’s trick has been seen through by Duke Yuan. Hurry back north of the Yellow River. Anyone who dares to take a step forward will be killed without mercy!”
Shout…
On the city wall, Yuan Shao’s loyalist Jiang Yiqu shouted loudly!
Just a moment ago, Yuan Shao had ordered… anyone who dared to enter Liyang territory, regardless of their identity or explanation, would be killed!
At this moment…
Cold arrows shot randomly through the sky, and colder than these arrows were tears mixed with cold rain!
The colors in front of them were suddenly obscured, and the shadows of their northern homeland hovered around them heartlessly.
Yuan Shao was like an executioner, completely betraying the souls of these forty thousand surrendered soldiers!
Their hearts felt as if they had been stabbed by bayonets!
…
…