Chapter 33: A Turn for the Better (1) Second Watch

  "Die for the general! Die for the general!"

  The loud roar on the city wall of Kaiyang made Cao Cao so angry that he smashed his favorite jade object to pieces on the ground.

  "My lord, calm down! My lord, calm down!" Guo Jia also put down his wine cup at this time. He was very helpless. This lord couldn't get angry. Once he got angry, he absolutely wouldn't stop, and his headache would come with it.

  As expected, Old Cao suddenly hugged his head and shouted "It hurts! It's painful!"

  "My lord!" Guo Jia had no choice but to support Cao Cao onto the bed.

  "Alas, why is Lü Bu still so revered and followed by so many people?! Am I really inferior to him?" Cao Cao felt a pang of regret. If he were to switch positions with Lü Bu, he would have been finished long ago. During the first battle of Xu Province, before he had even suffered defeat, he was betrayed and sold out by Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, who welcomed Lü Bu into Yan Province. If not for his own strong foundation and Lü Bu's insatiable greed, it would be Lü Bu occupying two provinces instead of him. But Lü Bu is different; Wei Xu and Song Xian may have betrayed him, leading to the fall of Xiapi, yet in the end they returned to their senses. With fewer than 3,000 soldiers combined, they managed to hold off Cao Cao's army of 100,000 for a full five hours beneath the walls of Xiapi."

  "My lord, you're worrying too much again!" Guo Jia shook his head. "Compared to your reputation, my lord, you are the successor of Taishi Cao Song, have defeated the Yellow Turbans, fought against Dong Zhuo, and saved the emperor! Now you are even more honored as the Chancellor! What about Lü Bu? He's just a minor warlord from a small state, and on top of that, he betrayed Ding Yuan and is a runaway slave of the three families - not someone we summoned!"

  "What a three-surnamed family slave?!" Old Cao chuckled, this title was still thought up by that big-eared illiterate black-faced rascal, the city folks are indeed ruthless when scolding others. If it were Old Cao, he would have only said that Lü Bu was disloyal and unfilial at most.

  "Lü Bu is now leading the General Who Conquers the East and the Governor of Xu Province, but as soon as Cao Cao makes a move, Lü Bu will be nothing! Guo Jia continued, "In terms of strength, our army has 100,000 soldiers, with the elite troops from Qingzhou on the outside and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry on the inside. As for Lü Bu, although he has the Trap Array Camp and the Bianzhou Wolf Riders, how many can he still have left? Chen Pi, my lord, you occupy Yanzhou, and Yingzhou will fall soon. Xu Province is also under our control except for Guangling and Xiaoyang. Lü Bu has become a trapped beast."

  "Open Yang! Guangling?!" Open Yang is right in front of him, and there's another thing that Cao Cao can't control, which is Guangling. "The Chen family! This father-son duo is not easy to deal with." Guangling is completely a country within a country, although it has surrendered to Cao Cao, but his hands cannot reach inside.

  "What about Chen Deng and his son?" Guo Jia smiled slightly. "Don't worry, as long as you, my lord, remain undefeated, the Chen family father and son will not betray us. Once the world is unified, can't we just crush them at our fingertips? Besides, didn't old man Chen volunteer to go to Xudu to serve the Emperor?"

  "Is Old Man Chen's father...?" Cao Cao bitterly smiled "He is already dead!"

  "Dead?!" Guo Jia was stunned, the White Gate Tower he knew that Lü Bu had broken through, but he didn't know that Chen Gong's old husband was also dead. "Master, are you certain?"

  "Yes, he's dead! And it was I, Cao Mengde, who personally pushed him down!" Cao Cao smiled wryly. He had no choice either. Lü Bu was attacking and if he had hesitated for a moment longer, he would have been finished.

  "Who else knows about this matter, My Lord?!" Guo Jia asked anxiously.

  "Those who know are none other than you and me, as well as Miao Cai and the late Hou Cheng. Ah yes, and also Lü Bu on top of Yangcheng!" Cao Cao's face turned ugly too.

  "Xuzhou soldiers, the troops said that the main defense of Kaiyang was Xuzhou soldiers, but they were wearing Kuaiji military uniforms! Chen Deng suffered a great defeat. According to Lü Bu's temperament, he should have beheaded Chen Deng directly, but he didn't!" Guo Jia said in a low voice "Did Chen Deng ever ask our lord about his old father?!"

  "Asked!" Cao Cao replied, "After Chen Deng retreated in defeat, I let him go back to rest. He asked me about his father's information, and at that time, I casually answered that it was Lü Bu who killed him."

  "What else?!" Guo Jia wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.

  "Moreover, Chen Deng seemed to have asked me about a sentence his old father said before he died. This sentence Cao Cao was unwilling to say because if it were said, the old Cao would lose face greatly, so when dealing with Chen Deng's inquiry, the old Cao directly avoided it."

  "Foolish, foolish Lord!" Guo Jia suddenly cried out "Gongling will rebel, and Xuzhou will never know peace again!"

  "Filial piety, don't scare me!" Cao Cao was also a bit panicked. He killed Chen Gui not intentionally, but at that time it was really hard to control.

  "Your Excellency, if Chen Gui were here, the Chen family would never betray you. He knew that for his family to grow and prosper, there were only two possibilities: either become an independent vassal or bind themselves tightly to a powerful vassal. If they chose independence, their strength was more than enough; Tao Qian, Lü Bu, and Liu Bei had no reputation in Xuzhou that could compare with the Chen family. But instead of becoming independent, they submitted to you, why? Because they knew it's easy to become a vassal, but once defeated, the Chen family would be finished! That's why they were so willing to betray Lü Bu, just to use all of Xuzhou to secure their own interests! In the future, when you unify the world, how could you not reward the Chen family? It would be hard for them not to rise to prominence!" Guo Jia analyzed.

  "What's the difference now? Chen Gui is dead, but his family hasn't been exterminated!" Cao Cao said in doubt. This way, it's still possible to bind them to the chariot of the Cao army, and not only that, Cao Cao might even show more favor to the Chen family out of guilt.

  "The Chen family is not extinct, but without Chen Gui in the back, the current master of the Chen family, Chen Deng, would not think so!" Guo Jia sighed and shook his head.

  "Chen Deng was a renowned figure in Xuzhou even before he became the head of his household, known for his filial piety. When Chen Gui fell seriously ill one year, Chen Deng rushed to all corners of the land to seek out doctors for him and personally supervised the preparation of medicine, serving at his father's bedside day and night without daring to slacken." Guo Jia explained.

  "Such a filial son?" Cao Cao was also annoyed. Logically speaking, Chen Deng being a filial son should be a good thing for Old Cao, as long as Chen Gui is in Xudu, Chen Deng won't dare to cause any trouble and will instead work even harder for the Cao family. In history, Chen Deng was indeed a high-ranking official of Wei, and he even created the Nine Ranks System of Wei and Jin.

  Now it's all right, Chen Gui was framed by Old Cao, and Chen Deng would rather die than fight with Old Cao.

  Lao Cao is not ready yet, and the messenger has already come with news: "Report, an urgent report from Xia Pi has arrived, Chen Deng of Guangling has mobilized 20,000 troops and is now laying siege to Xia Pi City! General Che Zhou requests reinforcements!"

  "What flag is Chen Deng waving?" Guo Jia asked.

  "The whole army has put on white mourning clothes, saying that they are seeking revenge for the old master's death!" The messenger replied.

  "My head hurts!" Cao Cao hugged his head and wailed again.