Chapter Eleven: The Person of Heaven's Mandate

  "Good, good, Meng De is right! You are indeed fake surrender!" Xiahou Dun said, pointing his big knife at Song Xian and Wei Xu.

  "Haha! Whether or not Cao Cao is pretending to surrender, he himself knows best. As for what's right and wrong, my brother and I have long stopped trying to figure it out!" Song Xian said with a smile, his laughter carrying a hint of nonchalance.

  "Yuan Rang, you get out of the way first!" Yu Jin also rushed over and heard Song Xian's words, furrowed his brow, and indeed it was a counter-plot! He took a step forward and said, "General Song, General Wei, we may have all fallen into Lü Bu's trap. It's a counter-plot to make us kill each other so they can escape. The two generals should quickly get out of the way. They have family members with them and won't be able to run far. At this time, pursuing them will definitely be effective!"

  "What's going on? Is this really a counter-spy plot?! Xiahou Dun, although he is thick-headed, doesn't mean he's stupid. He can also see that something isn't right. If Wei Xu and Song Xian are pretending to surrender, then earlier when the city was in chaos, they sent troops to block him and Yu Jin's army! According to the timing, Lv Bu should have been able to kill Meng De, but when Song Xian and Wei Xu's large army arrived, Lv Bu chose to open the city gate and make a surprise attack!"

  "Alas! No matter what! Song Xian Wei Xu, if it's really a counter-spy plot, I'll apologize to you and plead your case in front of the Prime Minister. Now, open the city gate, we want to pursue the remnants of Lü Bu's army!" Xiahou Dun shouted while waving his long sword!

  "No need to chase! Wei Xudan said calmly."

  "What did you just say?!" Xiahou Dun roared with anger, his brother Xiahou Yuan had been severely injured by Lü Bu and he wanted to avenge him.

  "Are these two generals harboring resentment?!" Yu Jin thought that the two men had complaints because they were attacked by their own people.

  Haha, what I meant by letting you off the hook is that we are indeed the remnants of Lü Bu's army! said Wei Xu and Song Xian in unison.

  Yu Jin's brow furrowed even deeper. "The two generals must not be mistaken! Lü Bu's army has already lost its momentum, and he is now like a stray dog in the streets, unable to achieve great things. You two must not lose your lives because of temporary anger!"

  "Wen Ze and they chatted so much for what? Just kill them directly!" Xiahou Dun was furious.

  Yu Jin stopped him. If it were in normal times, Yu Jin might have directly killed his way out like Xiahou Dun, and the troops of Wei Xu and Song Xian would have been severely depleted by now. They had a constant supply of reinforcements!

  However, it's not possible now. Once Wei Xu and Song Xian die defending the city gate, they can really block themselves for several hours. The area in front of the city gate is too narrow to deploy troops, and having more people won't help! If they are dragged on for a few hours, then Lü Bu will have escaped!

  "General Yu Jin, don't waste your breath! Yes! We admit we didn't surrender in good faith. At first, we did want to bind our elder brother and take him to Lord Cao to exchange for a life of wealth and honor. But Lord Cao was too suspicious, he not only killed the old marquis but also wanted our lives! Since ancient times, a child doesn't despise his mother's ugliness, a dog doesn't despise its owner's poverty! My brother and I have done wrong and it's already too late to make amends. Let us return this life to our elder brother!"

  Song Xian said it very freely, as if they themselves were not about to die!

  It's indeed like this! Yu Jin sighed in his heart, this is a counter-spy plan!

  "Ah!" Another sigh sounded, and somehow a black-faced chubby guy appeared beside Ban.

  "Yu Jin pays his respects to the lord!" Yu Jin was about to dismount and pay his respects, but was stopped by Hei Pangzi. Hei Pangzi was none other than Cao Cao, also known as Cao Mengde. Cao Cao was a suspicious man, but he was also highly intelligent! After ensuring his safety and calming down, he had an epiphany!

  "Unexpectedly, apart from Chen Gong, there is such a great talent in Lü Bu's army! From using Xiahou Dun's banner to grasping the timing and this counter-espionage plot, every moment was grasped without any difference. If it weren't for Xiahou Dun's messenger arriving in time, Cao Cao would have probably died within Xiapi City!"

  "Wei Xu, Song Xian! It was I, the Chancellor, who erred. I should not have harbored doubts in my heart, nor should I have killed Hou Cheng. Let us part ways and consider this matter settled! I will select robust soldiers from Qingzhou to replenish your losses. As for Hou Cheng, I have ordered a grand funeral with honors befitting a marquis! It must be said that Cao Cao possesses an extraordinary charisma! At their level of power, where they are revered by millions on their own turf, their commands are tantamount to heavenly decrees – no one dares defy them!"

  But it was this person who bowed his head and admitted his mistake, and also forgave Wei Xun and Song Xian for their crimes and allowed them to replenish the army!

  To be honest, Song Xian and Wei Xu would have really been moved if they hadn't met Lü Bu before!

  "Cao Gong! In this world, there are only two heroes that I, Wei Xu, can look up to. One is my elder brother, and the other is you, Cao Gong! If I hadn't met my elder brother earlier, perhaps you would have been our brothers' lord. But sorry! Please forgive us two brothers for being unable to obey your command!" Wei Xu said with a bow of his fist.

  "Isn't there any room for compromise?!" Cao Cao asked, still unwilling to give up.

  "Listen up, all of you! Today, my brother and I have let you down. We must ask you to die with us here! I won't say any more words of apology. After we go to the underworld, my brother and I will be oxen and horses serving you!" Wei Xu and Song Xian also conveyed their decision to Cao Cao through their actions!

  "I'd rather die following General!" Song Xian and Wei Xu, although somewhat useless, were also high-ranking generals who had commanded troops for many years and still had some prestige in the army!

  "I understand!" Cao Cao closed his eyes, raised his hand and swung it down fiercely, and when he opened them again, they were filled with murderous intent. "Not a single one will be left! Kill!" This was the ruthless and decisive killing style of a generation's top hero!

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  Lü Bu's central army was slow due to having family members with them, and Gao Shun caught up with the Vanguard in no time!

  "Gao Shun?!" Lü Bu furrowed his brow "Why have you appeared here, weren't you supposed to be covering our retreat and blocking the enemy?" This time, breaking through the encirclement as the rear guard was almost a death sentence, but now Gao Shun had actually returned, could it be that Gao Shun was afraid of death?

  No! Lü Bu shook his head, he and Gao Shun had been together for so long, he still knew what kind of person Gao Shun was. As the saying goes, "what kind of people produce what kind of soldiers!" If it were someone like Liu Mang, who always put their own life first, the soldiers he produced would be experts at running away and saving their own lives!

  And someone like Gao Shun, look at his troops charging into the enemy camp! The slogan of charging into the enemy camp is "Determined to die rather than live!" You can see what kind of person Gao Shun is!

  "General Gao Shun, why have you come back?!" Lü Bu didn't dare to ask Gao Shun directly because that would lead to distrust among his subordinates, but Chen Gong from the side didn't care about that!

  "Jun Shi is also here!" Gao Shun bowed his fist towards Chen Gong "Reporting to Master, Old Song and Old Wei are also here!"

  "What's wrong with them?!" Although Song Xian and Wei Xu had already hurt Lü Bu's heart, he still cared about them as usual! As the elder brother, one should be tolerant of the younger brothers, right?!

  "They, they!" Gao Shun was originally inarticulate, and now he couldn't say anything at all!

  "Are they replacing General Gao with you, and then ambushing the Cao army?!" Chen Gong helped Gao Shun finish what he wanted to say!

  Lü Bu looked at Gao Shun, and Gao Shun nodded slightly!

  "Bo Ren, Zhi Gao?!" These are the words of Song Xian and Wei Xu! Lü Bu turned his head to look back at their place of origin, Xiaopei. The sound of fierce fighting shook the heavens at the city gate.

  The two armies were stuck at the city gate, completely using their lives to delay time! Maybe one minute or maybe one second could make a general close his eyes forever!

  Lü Bu paused for a moment, took a deep breath and said: "Pass the order to the three armies to wear mourning attire, to see off Song Xian and Wei Xu, Marquis of Changping!"

  "Master?!" Chen Gong was stunned, if this were the case, then it would mean that Wei Xun, Song Xian and Hou Cheng had not betrayed him after all, and if so, there would be no way to stop the rumors.

  After all, the fall of Xiapi City was due to these three people!

  "What I said is useless?!" Lü Bu coldly stared at Chen Gong and Gao Shun.

  "Ah!" Gao Shun lowered his head, the tiger's gaze was something that no one could withstand!

  "Alas!" Chen Gong sighed, Lü Bu was just that kind of person. He didn't care who you were, as long as he thought you were right, then you were right! Even if your mistakes were outrageous, if he thought you were wrong, even if you were a saint on earth, he would still dare not to give you face!

  This temperament is fine in an ordinary person or a general, an official, and it can even be a beautiful story called uprightness. Unfortunately, Lü Bu lived in a chaotic era and became a warlord!

  Reward and punishment are not distinguished, achievements and mistakes are all attributed to intentions! If you're in a good mood, you're considered meritorious; if you're in a bad mood, you're at fault. A lord like this is really hard to accomplish anything with!

  But Chen Gong didn't become Lü Bu's subordinate for this reason, did he?

  If Lü Bu had a rich mind, if Lü Bu were as ruthless as Cao Mengde without any human feelings! Then would such a Lü Bu still be called Lü Bu?!

  "The general has an order. The whole army will wear mourning attire to see off the three generals, Song Xian, Wei Xu and Cheng, who are going to their posts!" As the small school's voice spread throughout the front of the central army!

  "Is Wei Xun sending off Song Xian Hou Cheng? Aren't they traitors?"

  "Sending off a traitor? What's wrong with our lord!" The soldiers were whispering to each other!

  "It's them, it's their fault that Xiapi City was breached!" The soldiers were all stirred up. "No way, I won't take you! If anyone is to be taken, it will be you three!"

  "What's going on?!" Liu Mang, who was resting in the carriage, walked out. He had just been overwhelmed with excitement, he could go back! Back to the 21st century, although he might continue his hanging career, but that was home, wasn't it?! Just as he was about to fry Lu Boss's squid and bid farewell, he heard the surrounding generals boiling over!

  "What's wrong with you, Cheng Yu?!" Liu Mang shouted at Cheng Yu by his side.

  "Sir! This... this is because our master, our master had us wear mourning attire and send off Hou Chengwei, Song Xian, and three others!" Cheng Yu seemed to be in a difficult position.

  "See off these three people?" Liu Meng was also very surprised, weren't these three traitors? He had never seen Hou Cheng before, but he had met Song Xian and Wei Xu, it was from their hands that he rescued Lao Ban!

  "Yes, they are traitors. Sir, please go and persuade the lord, the generals really don't want to see them off!" Of course not! Because of these three people, the city of Xiapi was breached, and many generals died in the city! They would rather trample on their corpses again after they die, and sprinkle filthy things on them so that they can never be reborn."

  "This!" Liu Mang was somewhat embarrassed, because he knew that Lü Bu's last words to Song Xian were: if you are tired, and the Bingzhou army will always be your home! Go persuade him yourself!

  Forget it! Anyway, I've resigned and won't mix with Lao Da anymore. Might as well go on a trip while I'm at it!

  Liu Mang nodded and walked towards Lü Bu's direction!

  "Your Excellency! Our provisions are running low!" This time, they didn't even deliberately bring food and grass for the horses. They only had some dry rations that Gao Shun's vanguard troops carried with them! These won't last more than a few days!

  "Grain and fodder?!" Lü Bu was also in a difficult situation. This time, their marching direction was Langya, where Zang Ba and Zang Yan were. Although they were under Lü Bu's command as one of the Eight Elite Generals, they were not his vassals. However, they valued loyalty, and had been won over by Lü Bu! Therefore, Chen Gong's plan for Lü Bu was to recruit Zang Ba's troops from the Taishan bandits. Although it was somewhat disregarding their relationship, this was also a desperate move. They would make amends with him when they rose again in the east.

  But the problem now is that it's not just a day or two to get to Langya, it takes three days of travel. Can't starve their stomachs, can they? Even if those soldiers can endure it, what about these family members? They can't take it either!

  "What villages are around here?!" Lü Bu's mind was racing! He and Cao Cao were generally selfish people, only Cao Cao would sacrifice the world for his own personal gain, while he would also sacrifice the world for the sake of his own brothers!

  He wants to raid the village and get food for his troops!

  "There is a Zhou Zhuang! With more than 300 households!" Gao Shun was a general and naturally very familiar with the terrain of the entire Xuzhou.

  "Are you really going to do this?!" Chen Gong's eyebrows furrowed, raiding the village would leave no survivors, over 300 lives! Those were 300 human lives! In these chaotic times, human life was already cheaper than a dog's, but Chen Gong still couldn't bring himself to do it!

  "What can we do then?" Lü Bu retorted!

  "Alas!" Chen Gong sighed. He also had no choice, he couldn't starve to death after all! There was only sacrifice.

  "Teach me about food problems!" A figure walked in, wasn't this Liu Mao who was going to bid farewell to Lü Bu?

  "Zhang Liao has over a thousand soldiers, and 700 of them have fallen into the enemy's formation. You still have more than 200 men under your command, plus family members, totaling over 2,100 mouths to feed for three days. How can you, a weak scholar, find food for them?" Lu Bu was the first to express his disbelief.

  "It's just food for over 2,000 people for three days! I'll get it for you!" Liu Mang's eyes turned red as he looked at Lü Bu. Pillage and plunder Zhou Village? Liu Mang didn't know where Zhou Village was, but he knew that there were over 300 lives there. In chaotic times, human life is not worth a dog's, but Liu Mang wasn't a person of chaotic times! He had no qualms about killing on the battlefield, but this kind of slaughter he could never agree to!

  "Oh, little brother really has a way?!" Chen Gong also didn't want to see the common people die miserably! "This isn't child's play!"

  "I'm willing to swear an oath!" Liu Mang knew that if he didn't make it sound severe enough, they wouldn't believe him!

  "Do you think military orders are child's play? If we can't get grain, people will die!" Lü Bu roared!

  "Perhaps Master really has a way!" Gao Shun was quite impressed with this young master.

  Hey, what's with "Mr." this and "Mr." that? What's so small about me?!

  "Alright, let's try it out then. If it doesn't work, we can always take it down later when we get to Zhouzhuang!"

  "Alright! I'll give you a chance, two days, that's the maximum time limit. If you can't make use of the food in two days, then I'll have no choice but to kill you as a sacrifice to the flag!" Two days is the most extreme degree of rationing!

  "It doesn't take two days, one day is enough!" Liu Mang had originally planned for half a day, but this cooling time actually takes a whole day!

  "No more nonsense! I'm going to find some food, bye bye Lord Lü!" In front of Lü Bu, Liu Mang confirmed the return button.

  A golden light flashed down and shone on Liu Mang's body. In a moment, Liu Mang disappeared!

  "This! This!" Not even Lü Bu could say it, let alone Chen Gong, a strategist who remained calm in the midst of thousands of troops.

  "Immortal?!!" Gao Shun spat out these few words after being stunned for half a day!

  "The Son of Heaven?!" Lü Bu exclaimed in disbelief.

  "Offer sacrifices, offer sacrifices! Is Liu Xiao's surname really Liu?!" Chen Gong suddenly asked excitedly.

  Nonsense! Little Liu's surname is not even Liu but Li!

  Lü Bu nodded and added, "He once said his father and brother were Your Majesty!"

  "Your Majesty?!" Chen Gong directly exclaimed "Surnamed Liu! The Heaven-ordained one?! Your Majesty's father and brothers?! Heaven bless the Great Han, heaven bless the Great Han!!"