Chapter 88

Fish was afraid that Cheng Lian would be pushed to the limit, so he didn't dare to play any tricks. He just hitched a carriage, placed the severely injured Guan Hai and the bodies of the two murdered household slaves on it, and then the whole family surrounded the carriage, slowly but orderly left the manor—of course, the men, including Guan Ji, almost all had weapons in their hands, they didn't dare to fully trust Cheng Lian's promise, if they didn't have weapons, they would become lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Sure enough, just as the group of over thirty people had not gone far from the manor and had not yet reached the small courtyard where Xie Zheng lived—Guan Ji knew this Xie Daoist was very important to her fiancé, so she insisted on taking him along—they heard the sound of hooves behind them. The elite cavalry of the Lu family kicked up a large cloud of dust and fiercely pursued them.

Guan Ji's eyebrows shot up, and she immediately drew her bow—she knew that on foot, the horse spears were hard to wield, and long swords were of limited use, only bows and arrows could勉强cope—she said angrily, "These shameless scoundrels, I'll fight them to the death!" Beside the carriage, Guan Hai, who was half-conscious, instinctively reached out and grabbed his daughter's collar: "You, you run, I will, I will..." Guan Ji pouted: "Father, don't be silly, even if we leave you behind, we can't escape far at all!"

At this critical moment, suddenly the door of the small courtyard behind them opened, and a Taoist priest gracefully walked out. He pointed at Cheng Lian from a distance and shouted loudly: "I have been taught by a great sage and have the power to repel evil with five thunderbolts. If you do not retreat, are you not afraid of being struck by lightning?" Then he pointed behind him: "Look!"

As he spoke, flames rose in the courtyard, followed by a series of deafening explosions, with smoke rising more than a dozen feet high. Both the horses pulling Guan Hai's carriage and the mounts of Cheng Lian's men were startled and neighed wildly. The two carriage horses tried to escape to the side, while Cheng Lian's mounts circled in place, no longer daring to move forward.

The Taoist priest—Xie Zheng—seeing that the pursuers were blocked, quickly darted onto the carriage like a frightened rabbit, whispering: "Hold the reins, run, let's run!"

Shixun, hearing Guan Ji's account of this heart-stopping scene, immediately grabbed Xie Zheng's collar as he came out, frowned, and asked in a low voice: "When did you develop gunpowder?!" Xie Zheng thought to himself that he had developed it long ago but didn't dare tell him, fearing that he would ask him to continue researching more powerful explosives, which could cost him his life. But he didn't dare tell the truth, so he lied: "After the master went to Chengyang, the formula was not yet complete, so I did not report it."

Shixun thought it was wonderful; since gunpowder had been developed, the safety of Juancheng was increased, and there was a chance to defeat the Lu Bu army before Cao Cao returned, which would be a great achievement! He didn't have time to ask Xie Zheng more questions and turned to Guan Ji: "How is your father's injury?"

Guan Hai's injury was indeed serious; the spearhead had pierced his chest, just a centimeter away from piercing his heart. If it weren't for his robust physique and the timely use of herbal medicine by Bai Laowu to stop the bleeding, he would have died before reaching Juancheng. Even so, Guan Hai had a high fever that wouldn't subside, and although almost all the doctors in the city had been called to treat him and prescribe medicine, no one knew if he would recover.

Shixun stood dumbly by the sickbed for a while. Guan Hai's face, which was already sallow, had turned deathly pale, with no color at all. Guan Ji was by his side, her eyes red, but she was gritting her teeth, determined not to cry. Shixun thought to himself, old man, you must hold on, at least until I officially marry your daughter. He gently held Guan Hai's hand and whispered to Guan Ji: "The enemy is about to arrive, I will go to the county office to discuss the defense of the city. I entrust your father to your care."

Guan Ji nodded gently: "Go about your business, I'll take care of it here. If anything happens to my father... I, I, I will break out of the city and demand that Lu Bu pay with his life!"

Shixun couldn't help but shudder, thinking to himself, don't do that, that's the famous 'Lu Bu, the Hero of Men,' the first great general of the late Han and Three Kingdoms period. If you go to seek revenge on him, it's like hanging yourself for no reason—do you think your life is too long? But he couldn't dissuade her at this moment, so he just gently patted Guan Ji's cheek and turned to leave.

As he walked out the door, Taishi Ci came close and nodded toward the room: "Is this your sister-in-law? She looks familiar." Shixun thought to himself, don't pretend, with your eyes, how could you forget someone you've seen on the battlefield? He stared at Taishi Ci, who guessed his thoughts and couldn't help but smile: "Fortunately, I didn't shoot her that day."

Shixun then led Taishi Ci and Wu Zhi to the county office, leaving Wu Zhi outside. He and Taishi Ci entered the main hall. There were quite a few people sitting in the hall, including Xun Yu and Cheng Li, who were ordered by Cao Cao to stay behind, as well as Ren Jun and Zao Zhi, who were responsible for land reclamation, and Mao Jie and Xue Ti, who were officials. There was also a stranger. Shixun had already introduced Taishi Ci to Xun Yu and Cheng Li at the city gate. Xun Yu greeted him first: "Hongfu often says that Taishi Ziyi has the talent of a great general. With Ziyi's help, Juancheng will be as stable as a mountain."

Taishi Ci modestly thanked him and greeted everyone. Shixun then asked, who is the stranger at the table? Cheng Li replied: "Guo Fengxiao from Yingchuan, recommended to Cao Cao by Xun Jun, but Cao Cao immediately went on a campaign and has not yet given him a position."

The man stood up and bowed: "Guo Jia."

Shixun thought to himself, yes, yes, I know you are Guo Jia, one of the 'Five Great Strategists' of Cao Cao's camp in later generations. This man is a super genius and a super mysterious figure! Why is Guo Jia mysterious? Because, in a sense, he is like a穿越者, and most of his advice to Cao Cao in historical records is straight to the point, without evidence or analysis, and his judgments are so precise as to be shocking!

Especially his advice about Sun Ce. At the time, Cao Cao was resisting Yuan Shao in the north, and Sun Ce in Jiangdong was not behaving well, launching multiple attacks, attempting to cross the river and attack Cao Cao's rear. If it weren't for Chen Yuancheng defending Guangling, he would have been stopped. If Sun Ce had succeeded, Cao Cao would have been in trouble. This situation worried Cao Cao, but Guo Jia advised him not to worry, saying that although he had never met Sun Ce, he judged him to be "reckless and unprepared" and believed that he would not cross the Yangtze and would "surely die at the hands of a commoner."

Well, even if you judged Sun Ce's behavior to be reckless and his personal safety to be neglected, like his father, how could you be so sure that he would not pose a threat to Cao Cao and would be killed in Jiangdong? If Sun Ce had died two days later or had crossed the river and then died, the war situation would have changed completely! So there is only one possibility: Guo Jia was involved in, or even planned, the assassination of Sun Ce and was absolutely confident in the plan, so he could confidently guarantee it to Cao Cao.

Shixun had a feeling that Guo Fengxiao was actually the head of Cao Cao's military intelligence...

Therefore, Shixun was very interested in and admired Guo Jia. Since Xi Xian's death, he had been waiting for Guo Jia to emerge. But Xun Yu neither recommended him left nor right—according to historical records, it was only when Cao Cao later lamented the lack of people around him that Xun Yu recommended Guo Fengxiao. He was busy being the magistrate of Chengyang and temporarily forgot about this matter. Now that Guo Jia had finally arrived, he was overjoyed.

Shixun then carefully observed Guo Jia. He was about 27 or 28 years old, not very tall, just over 1.6 meters, with a slender build—indeed, a sign of an early death—pale face, short beard, arched eyebrows, narrow eyes, small nose, and small mouth. In general, he was a "small" person. If he shaved his beard and put on some powder, he could pass for a lolita and be Guan Ji's sister.

His intense gaze made Guo Jia a bit uncomfortable, and he asked, "Is there something you want to say, Shixun?" You've been staring at me for a while, do you have something to say to me? Shixun then withdrew his gaze and smiled awkwardly: "I was thinking about the current situation and lost myself for a moment, please don't take it personally, Guo Jia." It was our first meeting, why would I stare at you so rudely? I was just lost in thought, sorry, sorry.

"The current situation..." Xun Yu sighed lightly, "We have not yet received news from other places, but in this Dongjun, Dongping, and the northern part of Jiyin, only Juancheng and Fan County remain, the rest have changed their flags." Shixun thought to himself, that's not right, according to the original history, the Cao family should have held three cities, including Dong'e. As he thought, his eyes involuntarily swept over Zao Zhi, thinking, oh no—the original history had Zao Zhi as the magistrate of Dong'e, so it could be held, but now, because of the strategy he had submitted, Cao Cao had moved Zao Zhi to manage land reclamation, so Dong'e could not be held!

His heart churned, the small butterfly wings he had flapped had caused more than just this. In the original history, when Lu Bu entered Yanzhou, Cao Cao was attacking Xu Province, killing Tao Qian and forcing Liu Bei to defend, so Cao Cao could retreat and fight Lu Bu. But now, he was fighting Yuan Shu, who still had tens of thousands of troops and the support of the Yellow Turbans in Runan. The difficulty for the Cao army to extricate itself from this quagmire was more than doubled. If they hastily retreated and were pursued by the Yuan army and the Yellow Turbans, then, then, then...

In other words, even though he had run around and secured the alliance between Xu and Yanzhou, making Cao Cao's power seem great, it was still a bubble that could burst with a single touch, and the situation was even more critical than in the original history! Damn, I thought I could live a peaceful life in Yanzhou, what should I do now!