Chapter 52

"Ha ha ha, this time coming from afar, I didn’t bring such good things, but I have two small trinkets to give to the two of you, as a token of my appreciation." Liu Yao said casually, then called out to the guards outside, "Someone, bring my gifts here."

"How can we accept this?" The two quickly declined.

"Ha ha ha, the two of you are great contributors to our Han Dynasty, what’s a small gift?" Liu Yao laughed heartily. Seeing that the two still looked hesitant, he couldn’t help but pretend to be angry and said, "Are you not giving me face?"

"Well, how could we dare to." Huangfu Song said helplessly.

At this moment, one of Liu Yao’s guards also brought the gifts inside. From the moment the guard walked in, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun’s eyes never left the guard’s hands. The guard was holding the fish-scale armor from Liu Yao’s army. How could Liu Yao not notice their gazes? The two pieces of fish-scale armor were not much, but they could serve as a way to befriend Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun.

The two sets of fish-scale armor, entirely silver-white, shone brightly under the candlelight. Although they were not personally crafted by Oufeng, they were far superior to the fish-scale armor used by the Xianfeng Camp. Made from fifty-refined steel and coated with a layer of silver, the fish-scale armor not only had excellent defensive capabilities but also an outstanding appearance.

As for the secret of the fish-scale armor, without Oufeng’s personal guidance and the steel refining technology, how could anyone replicate it? Moreover, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun were friendly to him, and he was not afraid that they would do anything detrimental to him. It was absolutely worth cultivating a good relationship with them.

"Do you like them?" Liu Yao asked with a smile.

"This..." The two looked incredulous but still accepted them. The reason was simple: they really liked the fish-scale armor.

"Thank you, Your Highness." The two bowed in gratitude. They then carefully placed the fish-scale armor beside them, afraid of damaging it.

"Ha ha ha, no problem. These are not too valuable in my army." Liu Yao said casually.

Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun exchanged glances, their mouths twitching, and they couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. They secretly sighed that this Crown Prince was truly remarkable, able to mass-produce such powerful armor. No wonder the Wuhuan people were just a joke to him. Little did they know that Liu Yao defeated the Wuhuan through strategy, not equipment.

"Your Highness, may I ask the names of these distinguished guests? With such outstanding martial arts, could you introduce them to me? I would like to get to know these heroes." Zhu Jun said.

"Ha ha, why not." Liu Yao then introduced Shi A, saying, "This is Shi A, a disciple of the Imperial Tutor Wang Yue, and now my personal guard commander. This is Zhang Fei, Zhang Yide..." Liu Yao introduced each of the warriors.

Finally, Liu Yao pointed to Tian Feng and said, "This is Tian Feng, my military advisor for this campaign. I was able to defeat the Wuhuan thanks to Yuanhao’s strategies."

"Your Highness is too modest, this is everyone’s effort." Tian Feng said humbly.

"Oh!!" Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun exclaimed simultaneously. Originally, as martial generals, they would have a certain disdain for scholars, thinking they could neither stabilize the country nor defend it. Therefore, they initially ignored Tian Feng.

But now, hearing that the defeat of the Wuhuan was due to the strategies of the scholar in front of them, they immediately took Tian Feng seriously and respectfully bowed, saying, "Please, Mr. Yuanhao, teach us how to thoroughly defeat the Yellow Turbans currently entrenched in Yingchuan."

Tian Feng looked at Liu Yao, and seeing him nod, said, "Generals, there’s no need for such formalities. I will certainly share everything I know."

"Please, Mr. Yuanhao, guide us." Huangfu Song said.

Tian Feng smoothed his beard, thought for a moment, and said, "I have just arrived and am not very familiar with the current situation of the Yellow Turbans. However, we can take a good rest now. The Yellow Turbans have just suffered a major defeat and will not be able to launch another attack in the short term. Your troops have also suffered significant casualties. We can discuss specific strategies later, is that acceptable?"

"Well..." Huangfu Song was disappointed that Tian Feng’s plan was just to rest, but then he thought that Tian Feng had just arrived and was not familiar with the situation, so he didn’t blame him. Moreover, his troops were very tired, and a good rest was not a bad thing. "We will follow Mr. Yuanhao’s instructions." Huangfu Song said respectfully.

The banquet, under Liu Yao’s restraint, did not get too wild, and they only had a light taste. They then returned to their rooms to rest and prepare for future battles.

On the other side, in the Yellow Turban camp, Bo Cai was sitting in the main tent, with a guard bandaging his left arm, which had been shot by Huang Zhong. "Ouch, be gentle. You’re useless." But the guard was not a doctor and had no skills. Most of the Yellow Turbans were peasants. When the guard touched Bo Cai’s wound, Bo Cai winced and kicked the Yellow Turban away.

"General," a Yellow Turban officer walked in.

Bo Cai, seeing the officer, asked, "How is it? How many casualties did we have?"

"Well..." The officer hesitated, not daring to speak.

"Speak quickly, or I’ll kill you." Bo Cai, seeing the officer’s hesitation, became angry.

"Reporting to General, this time we lost a total of 30,000 brothers, and over 3,000 were severely injured. The lightly injured are countless. Most importantly, the cloud ladders we built over the past few days were all destroyed by the government troops." The officer gritted his teeth and reported the numbers.

"Argh, Liu Yao, you little brat, I, Bo Cai, will never forgive you." Bo Cai, enraged, jumped up and roared.

"Ouch..." Perhaps the movement was too large, and it aggravated his wound. Bo Cai inhaled sharply and sat down, his face twisted in pain, deep in thought.

The officer, seeing Bo Cai fall silent, asked worriedly, "General, what should we do now? Many people are starting to fear, and if this continues, there will be a mutiny. At that time, we will be in chaos without the need for the government troops to attack us."

Bo Cai thought for a moment and said to the guard he had just kicked, "You, go find someone who can write. I need to write a letter to General Peng Tuo, asking him to send troops to rescue us."

The guard, looking terrified, ran out to find someone.

The officer hesitated and said, "General, will General Peng Tuo come? After all, each of us is in charge of a different area?"

"Hmph, don’t worry. If I am defeated, Peng Tuo will be next. We are on the same rope, and he has no choice but to come." Bo Cai said coldly.

Not long after, the guard brought in a Yellow Turban with a scholarly appearance.

Bo Cai looked at the Yellow Turban coldly and asked, "Can you write?"

The Yellow Turban trembled and said, "General, I studied for a few years, so I can write a few characters."

"Good." Bo Cai nodded in satisfaction. "Now, write a letter according to what I say."

"Yes." The Yellow Turban nodded. Bo Cai dictated, and the Yellow Turban wrote, quickly producing a letter for help.

Bo Cai then handed the letter to the officer, "Take this to Runan and ask Peng Tuo to come to my aid. Understand?"

"Yes! General, I will complete the mission." The officer took the letter and ran out of the tent.

"Hmph." Bo Cai coldly snorted, looked at his newly bandaged left arm, and said with a grim face, "Liu Yao, I will make you suffer worse than death."

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