"Is the Lord originally a native of Wei Commandery?" Qu Yi asked, a trace of genuine surprise flickering across his face.
"Oh, no, I am not," Zhang Xin replied, shaking his head with a faint, nostalgic smile. "It is simply that I passed through this specific sector extensively during my tactical travels in the years before the grand uprising."
Long before the fires of the Yellow Turban Rebellion had consumed the realm, he had traversed the length and breadth of these northern commanderies alongside his sworn brother, Zhang Bao. Even back then, knowing with absolute, historical certainty that an era of unprecedented chaos was rapidly approaching, Zhang Xin had forced himself to meticulously study and memorize every river basin, hidden valley, and geographical anomaly along his path.
Choke points like Wulu Market—perfectly engineered by nature to conceal massive concentrations of troops for an absolute ambush—had been permanently seared into his memory.
In the geographies of later generations, Wulu Market would be known as Shalou Mountain. By that distant era, the formations would have completely collapsed due to erosion, leaving behind nothing but a featureless, flat plain. But in this late Han Dynasty period, a modest but highly functional range of earthen hills still dominated the landscape.
To call it a mountain range was a bit of an architectural exaggeration; it was essentially a cluster of five massive earthen mounds, each rising roughly ten meters into the sky. Yet, local lore claimed that during the ancient Spring and Autumn period, these mounds had been formidable peaks rising dozens of zhang high. Because their jagged contours vaguely resembled a crouching deer, the ancients had christened them Wulu Mountain—the Five Deer Peaks—celebrating them as a rare, invaluable natural defensive barrier on the flat Hebei plains.
During that bygone era, the visionary Duke Huan of Qi had recognized its immense strategic value, constructing a heavily fortified outpost directly atop the crests, known as Wulu City.
Unfortunately, Wulu Mountain was not composed of solid, unyielding bedrock; it was a massive accumulation of loose, packed river silt and earth. Centuries of relentless seasonal downpours had triggered catastrophic landslides and continuous structural collapses. Hundreds of years ago, during a particularly violent, multi-day deluge, the ancient city of Wulu had been completely undermined, sliding down the slopes to be buried deep beneath the silt—forming the foundation of what was now the bustling trade crossroads of Wulu Market.
Though the modern market settlement itself was modest, the surrounding topography of dense overgrowth and deep earthen depressions provided more than enough cover to seamlessly vanish two or three thousand heavy infantry.
With nothing but open road ahead during their march, Zhang Xin casually relayed the historical lineage of Wulu Market to his newly minted vanguard commander.
"I would have never imagined this humble trade market possessed such an illustrious, ancient heritage," Qu Yi murmured, his face filled with an expression of profound intellectual awe. "The Lord's deep learning and historical erudition truly transcend the standard martial mind."
Zhang Xin merely smiled, offering no further explanation. Once the columns had finished watering their mounts and adjusting their kit, he raised his hand, ordering the unified vanguard to resume their steady, disciplined withdrawal back toward the secured walls of Liyang.
The Logistical Crisis
"Report!"
Deep within the bordering territory of Weiguo, a sweat-drenched scout from Zhang Xin's personal guard finally intercepted the vanguard elements of Xun You's main advancing army. The messenger spurred his horse directly to the front of the column, locating the chief strategist and delivering Zhang Xin's verbal military edict word for word.
"What did you just say?"
Xun You's normally composed, analytical eyes widened in sheer, processing disbelief. "The Lord demands that I formulate an immediate tactical solution to lure the combined legions of Yan Liang and Wen Chou directly into a bottleneck at Wulu Market?"
"Precisely, Military Advisor," the personal guard confirmed, nodding emphatically.
"This is..." Xun You rubbed his temples, a look of profound bewilderment washing over his sharp features. "Why on earth has the Lord suddenly issued such a radical deviation from our operational timeline? What is his underlying logic?"
"How could a common soldier like myself hope to fathom the grand calculations of the Marquis?" The guard scratched his helmet sheepishly.
Realizing he wouldn't extract high-level strategic reasoning from a courier, Xun You shifted his line of questioning. "Detail the exact sequence of events that transpired after the Lord's cavalry contingent reached Liyang. Omit nothing."
The guard immediately launched into a rapid-fire, animated recitation. He babbled about the bloodless capitulation of the Liyang garrison, the terrifying midnight blitzkrieg through the Xiongnu auxiliary camp, and the flawless, devastating afternoon ambush that had systematically annihilated the legendary White Horse Volunteers by the riverbank.
As the operational picture crystallized, Xun You's brilliant mind instantly deduced Zhang Xin's underlying strategic intent. He wasted no time, sharply commanding his aides to unfurl a massive, detailed topographical map directly onto the dry grass.
The moment his eyes scanned the coordinates, however, Xun You felt a cold weight drop into his stomach. He was utterly dumbfounded.
The trade crossroads of Wulu Market lay strictly to the east of the primary tributary of the Qing River. Conversely, the hostile garrisons of Qingyuan and Wei County were both firmly entrenched on the river's western bank.
To march from the city of Qingyuan down to Wulu Market required a grueling, near-hundred-li journey. The distance separating Xun You's current advancing main army from Wulu Market was roughly the same mathematical distance.
Under any normal operational parameters, if Yan Liang and Wen Chou received an order to retreat, their columns would naturally fall back along the established official highways of the western bank—they had absolutely zero tactical incentive to cross the wide river barrier to the east.
If Xun You wanted to position his forces to act as a credible bait to draw Yan Liang's vanguard out, his own infantry would have to march an additional ten li out of their way just to cross the river and intercept the western highway. If the enemy utilized that primary western road as their route of retreat, Yan Liang and Wen Chou would only need to cover a mere eighty li to bypass the trap entirely.
A standard Han army executing a disciplined, sustainable march covered roughly sixty li per day. But if, as Zhang Xin had calculated, a terrified Han Fu had issued an emergency, scorched-earth recall to reinforce his capital, the enemy wouldn't be adhering to a standard marching cadence. They would be driving their men forward in a frantic, forced march.
Yan Liang and Wen Chou could completely bypass the time-consuming process of constructing fortified nightly encampments, pushing their men ruthlessly to reach the massive logistical hubs of Wei County to rest.
The sun was already slipping into the late afternoon sky.
Assuming Han Fu's frantic riding couriers breached the gates of Qingyuan tonight, Yan Liang and Wen Chou's combined forces would be breaking camp and marching by the first light of dawn tomorrow. To have any mathematical hope of intercepting them, establishing a presence on the western bank, and executing a flawless luring maneuver, Xun You's army would have to rapidly cover over one hundred and twenty li before the sun reached its zenith tomorrow noon.
The operational timeline wasn't just tight—it was borderline suicidal.
"This is madness..." Xun You muttered, pointing a trembling finger at the map as he turned to the courier. "Our main army is completely unequipped for a forced march of this magnitude! A sudden, radical change of our entire operational route at this late hour is simply impossible to execute in time!"
"Military Advisor, this is the Lord's explicit, binding military order," the personal guard replied, cupping his fists respectfully. He offered a slight, sympathetic grin. "The Lord specifically told me to tell you... that he holds your peerless brilliance in the absolute highest regard!"
"I..."
Xun You've words choked in his throat. He waved his hand in a gesture of profound, helpless exasperation. "Fine, fine! Go to the rear and tend to your mount."
"Understood." The guard bowed and withdrew.
The moment the courier was out of earshot, Xun You's professional composure cracked, his face flushing with a rare, incandescent fury.
"He altered the grand strategy again! Without a shred of warning! He completely dismantled my campaign blueprint again!"
He paced around the map, venting his intense frustration into the empty air for several long moments. Yet, once the initial wave of operational resentment had burned itself out, the brilliant advisor let out a long, defeated sigh. He immediately commanded his staff to halt the army's advance and urgently summoned his senior commanders to the central pavilion.
Military orders were as unyielding as mountains; to defy them was treason.
Furthermore, despite his professional irritation, Xun You's analytical mind had to begrudgingly admit that Zhang Xin's terrifying capacity to seize fleeting tactical windows was nothing short of miraculous.
In their original, meticulously crafted campaign blueprint, after the vanguard secured the critical crossing at Liyang, the main army was supposed to push methodically westward. Their goal was to force open the strategic mountain passes of Baixing near Chaoge, successfully linking up with the massive waves of the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans descending from the crags. Once those massive manpower reserves were fully integrated and reorganized under Zhang Xin's iron discipline, they would have marched forth to deliver a textbook, numerically superior crushing blow to Han Fu's regime.
With the massive influx of the Black Mountain forces, Zhang Xin's army would have permanently shattered Han Fu's numerical supremacy. Moreover, with their specialized naval supply lines continuously transporting grain along the river networks, their logistical security would have been absolute. It was an incredibly stable, low-risk, high-probability plan.
Aside from Zhang Xin's personal insistence on taking a small cavalry vanguard to Liyang to test the political waters with Qu Yi, the Marquis had fully endorsed and adopted every single one of Xun You's strategic recommendations. Xun You had treated the Lord's sudden cavalry excursion as a harmless gamble—a chance to let his martial master blow off some tactical steam. After all, Zhang Xin was only leading highly mobile horse elements, and Han Fu's forces wouldn't dare risk a deep offensive into Dong Commandery, so the baseline danger to the Lord's person was functionally zero.
If he wishes to hunt, let him hunt... Xun You had reasoned.
He had never, in his wildest nightmares, anticipated that while his main infantry columns were still slogged down halfway through their scheduled march, Zhang Xin would not only effortlessly bloodlessly capture Liyang, but casually, systematically obliterate the entirety of Han Fu's elite mobile cavalry reserves in a single afternoon.
The operational tempo was simply absurd.
Not content with that staggering victory, Zhang Xin now wanted to swallow the massive, intact garrisons of both Qingyuan and Wei County in a single, audacious sweep, effectively liquidating every hostile soldier east of the capital before the main army even arrived.
Was it a brilliant, decisive strategy? Of course it was.
But the problem—the agonizing, logistical reality—was that the entire crushing weight of executing this miracle had now been dropped squarely onto Xun You's shoulders.
The advisor let out another heavy sigh. Such was the fate of a strategist. The Lord merely needed to envision the grand tapestry of victory; it was the Military Advisor who had to sweat blood over the thousands of individual threads required to weave it.
The Council of War
A few minutes later, the heavy canvas flaps parted, and the senior generals filed into the tent, their armor clanking softly.
"Generals," Xun You began without preamble, his voice deadpan as he laid his palms flat on the map. "Let us look at the raw data. Can our respective camps successfully breach and secure the western bank of the Qing River before noon tomorrow?"
"The Youzhou Cavalry can accomplish it without issue," Tian Kai declared instantly, stepping forward.
Zhang Xin had only taken a select detachment of the You Province riders with him to Liyang. Xun You's main advancing column still retained the core strength of over two thousand elite frontier horsemen. For a veteran cavalry unit, covering a distance of one hundred and twenty li overnight was a standard operational exercise.
"And what of the heavy infantry?" Xun You's sharp eyes scanned the remaining commanders.
If they only relied on a single cavalry regiment, the entire operational framework would fall apart. If only Tian Kai's horsemen managed to reach the coordinates in time, were they supposed to act as the bait to lure the enemy, or were they supposed to be the anvil executing the ambush?
If they acted as the ambushers, there would be no credible force left on the highway to lure the enemy in. Conversely, if they acted as the bait, there would be no hidden force left to spring the trap. Although Zhang Xin had already dispatched Guan Yu and Zhao Yun's elite riders to secure the woods at Wulu Market, a single heavy cavalry division could, at absolute best, defeat Yan Liang and Wen Chou's forced-march column—they could never achieve a total, clean annihilation.
And Zhang Xin's explicit, non-negotiable directive to him... was the absolute, total liquidation of the enemy force.
"The Trap Camp can match the pace," Gao Shun stated, his pale, expressionless face entirely devoid of emotion. He paused for a fraction of a second before adding his grim assessment: "However, if we execute a forced march of that speed across that distance, our soldiers will have completely depleted their physical reserves upon arrival. They will possess zero baseline combat effectiveness."
This was the exact structural nightmare that had been keeping Xun You's mind locked in a vice. If it were a matter of simple, administrative movement, covering one hundred and twenty li overnight was technically feasible. But if his men arrived at the frontline so physically broken that they couldn't even lift their tower shields, the entire elaborate ambush would transform into a pathetic massacre of his own elite troops.
"The Three Thousand Camp can also force the distance," Xu Rong chimed in, his tone measured. "However, our reality mirrors the Trap Camp. We can guarantee arrival, but we cannot guarantee tactical viability in a pitched melee immediately afterward."
"My division echoes those concerns," Yu Jin added concisely.
Xun You stared intensely at the map, his mind spinning through complex algorithms of weight, terrain friction, and human endurance. He looked up, his eyes narrowing. "What if we reduce the march requirement? What if we only force them to cover one hundred li? Can our infantry retain enough physical stamina to wage a lethal engagement?"
"If we completely strip them of their heavy supply trains and personal baggage? Yes," Gao Shun nodded firmly.
"Agreed."
"That is doable."
The veteran commanders nodded in succession, their calculations aligning.
"Then we abandon the baggage entirely!"
Xun You slammed his fist on the table, standing tall as his authority radiated through the tent. "Generals!"
The assembled commanders went rigid, cupping their fists in unison. "Please issue the operational mandates, Military Advisor!"
"General Tian," Xun You commanded, his gaze locking onto Tian Kai.
"Present!"
"You are to lead the Youzhou Cavalry out immediately. Your men will carry nothing but combat rations, heavy felling axes, and thick rigging ropes. Before the first light of dawn breaks tomorrow, your vanguard must construct three fully functional, stabilized pontoon bridges across the expanse of the Qing River!"
Xun You took a deep, steadying breath, his fingers tracing the tactical flow. "The moment those pontoon bridges are secured, you will guide your warhorses deep into the hidden tree lines of Wulu Market, concealing them completely. Your cavalrymen will then cross back over the river on foot, setting up a visible, seemingly disorganized perimeter directly along the official western highway. You will serve as the primary bait."
"When Yan Liang and Wen Chou's forced-march legions arrive and witness what appears to be a shattered, physically exhausted detachment of our forces, their commander's hubris will compel them to launch an immediate, aggressive pursuit. You will fight a disciplined, fighting retreat, luring their entire vanguard back across your pontoon bridges and straight into the jaws of Wulu Market."
To utilize elite, expensive frontier cavalrymen as dismounted bait was a terrifyingly high-stakes gamble. If the enemy's vanguard caught them in the open highway, the casualties among his irreplaceable horsemen would be catastrophic. But Xun You was trapped in a vice; the Marquis had granted him a dangerously narrow window of time, and standard heavy infantry simply could not cover the geographical distance to establish the trap.
"By your absolute command!" Tian Kai accepted the dangerous mandate without a single tremor in his voice.
"General Yu," Xun You turned his focus to Yu Jin.
"Present!"
"You will take immediate command of three hundred of our swiftest logistical baggage carts. They are to be loaded exclusively with a minimal allotment of copper coinage and loose grain supplies; fill the remainder of the crates and straw sacks with useless river sand and chaff to drastically minimize their operational weight."
Xun You continued, his voice dropping into a cold, manipulative register. "Before noon tomorrow, your columns must reach the eastern terminus of the pontoon bridges. Deploy these baggage carts conspicuously along both shoulders of the approach, but ensure the central bridge surface remains entirely unobstructed."
"The moment the pursuing enemy forces surge across the river after Tian Kai's men, your rearguard will intentionally shatter the crates, scattering the silver, copper, and food grain directly across the dirt. You will then execute a panicked retreat."
"Yan Liang and Wen Chou are nothing but uncultured, short-sighted brawlers from the common classes. They possess zero comprehension of high-level tactical formations or rigid military discipline. The moment their common infantrymen behold a sea of free wealth and food scattered at their feet amidst a forced march, their formations will instantly fracture into a chaotic, screaming scramble to loot the field."
"You will bide your time until the entire enemy column is thoroughly, irreversibly snarled in their own greed. The moment their momentum is dead, you will unleash a single, piercing whistling arrow into the sky. That will be the absolute signal to unleash our hidden ambushes from the tree lines and counter-attack with maximum violence!"
"Understood!" Yu Jin roared, his eyes gleaming with anticipation as he accepted the tactical scroll.
"General Xu."
"Present!"
"You will lead your legions to execute a covert river crossing further south at Yinan. Establish a comprehensive, hidden ambush network along the western bank of the Qing River, sealing their avenue of retreat."
"Understood," Xu Rong replied, his expression turning utterly lethal.
"General Gao."
"Present!"
"Your Trap Camp will form the primary hammer. Conceal your entire strength within the eastern tree lines of the market, awaiting the whistling arrow signal."
"Understood," Gao Shun replied with his signature, deadpan finality.
"General Xu Huang." Xun You finally turned his eyes to the last commander.
"Present!" Xu Huang's chest swelled with an intense wave of excitement, his hands gripping his greaves. "Is there an offensive assignment for my division as well, Military Advisor?"
"You and I shall lead the remaining regular reserve units to maintain our original vector, securely escorting the primary heavy supply trains and siege engines back toward Liyang."
"Understood..." Xu Huang's shoulders slumped slightly, a trace of profound disappointment coloring his tone.
However, he was a rational commander; he knew inward that his newly raised River East recruits simply lacked the iron-clad discipline and physical conditioning required to survive the brutal, overnight forced march that the veteran elite camps were about to endure. Furthermore, an army's heavy lifeblood could not be left unguarded in hostile territory; someone of absolute dependability had to manage the logistics.
"Every remaining camp is to immediately light their cooking fires, prepare double rations, and organize thousands of travel torches and lighting equipment," Xun You commanded, his eyes sweeping across the elite of Zhang Xin's military apparatus. "The moment darkness blankets the plains, we march!"
"By your command!" the generals roared in a thunderous, singular chorus.
Within the hour, the entire landscape around Weiguo transformed into a hive of controlled, hyper-disciplined activity as the camps prepared for the grueling night ahead.
The Panic of Han Fu
On the opposite side of the grand chessboard, the advanced scouts deployed by Yan Liang's vanguard captured the sight of the massive plumes of cooking smoke rising from the Weiguo sector. They immediately wheeled their mounts and galloped back to the headquarters at Qingyuan to report.
After listening to the scout's brief, Yan Liang casually nodded, waving his hand. "I see. Dismissed."
Standard military scouts operating in hostile territory could essentially only observe the extreme outer perimeters of an opposing army; they didn't dare breach the lethal web of Zhang Xin's elite counter-scouts for fear of being systematically hunted down and executed.
The complex internal reshuffling, the stripping of heavy gear, and the precise movements of individual elite camps were completely shielded from their view. Thus, the scouts could only provide a basic, routine baseline: the enemy had halted their march and begun setting up a standard camp in the mid-afternoon.
To establish an early camp after a standard march was entirely textbook behavior for an invading force. Consequently, Yan Liang noted absolutely nothing anomalous in the report. He drafted a routine, unhurried situational update, dispatched a courier toward Ye City, and proceeded to eat, drink, and retire to his bedchamber with his usual careless confidence.
In the dead of night, however, Yan Liang was violently shaken awake by his personal guard captain.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Yan Liang growled, his eyes half-open as he yanked his door open, his massive frame radiating an immense, dangerous displeasure.
"General, an emergency operational courier from the capital has just breached our gates," the guard captain reported, bowing low. "The Grand Excellency Han Fu's personal messenger is standing in the main hall this very microsecond."
"An emergency courier?" Yan Liang's brow furrowed in deep confusion. "Zhang Xin's main infantry elements are still sluggishly wallowing down in the Weiguo sector. What possible emergency could have manifested within the capital?"
"Could it be that that useless greenhorn, Zhang He, utterly botched the defense of Wu'an, allowing the Black Mountain bandits to successfully lay siege to the city walls?"
Though he grumbled with deep professional arrogance, Yan Liang dared not ignore a formal midnight summons from the high command. He hastily threw on his heavy robes and marched into the main administrative hall.
Han Fu's messenger stood there, his fine robes caked in thick road dust, his face pale with absolute exhaustion and terror. The moment he beheld Yan Liang's towering figure, he frantically tore a sealed wooden cylinder from his belt.
"General Yan! A catastrophic emergency! Zhang Xin has bypassed our lines and launched a devastating, supernatural surprise attack directly against the gates of Ye City! The Governor issues an absolute, non-negotiable command: you are to immediately mobilize every single soldier under your command and execute a forced march back to the capital for emergency reinforcement!"
"What did you just say?!"
Every single drop of sleep vanished from Yan Liang's system. He lunged forward, violently snatching the official parchment from the messenger's trembling hands, his eyes scanning the urgent script.
"Qu Yi... that treacherous, foreign cur! He actually dared to defect to the enemy?!" Yan Liang's veins bulged against his temples, a wave of incandescent rage boiling through his chest. "The next time our blades cross on a field of blood, I will personally cleave that barbarian dog from his horse!"
His fury at Qu Yi's betrayal was visceral, but beneath the anger, a profound wave of strategic shock began to settle in.
Zhang Xin's forces are already operating outside the walls of Ye City? Then what the hell have we been sitting here guarding along this riverbank? Have we been defending a completely empty border?
"General Yan," the courier pleaded frantically, his voice cracking. "The Grand Excellency is experiencing absolute distress! Please, General, you must organize the withdrawal immediately!"
"Very well!" Yan Liang nodded grimly, turning to his guards. "Awaken General Wen Chou and bring him to the pavilion this instant!"
A short while later, Wen Chou stumbled into the hall, still haphazardly strapping his golden armor plates over his heavy frame, his eyes blinking away the remnants of sleep. "Brother, what is the meaning of this midnight alarm?"
Yan Liang silently thrust the panicked edict into Wen Chou's hands, rapidly detailing the collapse of the Liyang front.
"What?!" Wen Chou's eyes widened to the size of saucers, all traces of lethargy evaporating. "This... Brother, if the capital is imperiled, should we not immediately sound the war drums and organize the legion's retreat?"
Before Yan Liang could open his mouth to issue the order, the heavy wooden doors of the hall were slammed open once more, and another elite personal guard rushed in, his breath ragged.
"General Yan! A second courier has just breached our perimeter—this one bears the personal seal of our true master, the Lord Yuan Shao!"
"The Lord has dispatched a courier as well? Could it be that Ye City has already fallen..." Yan Liang's heart skipped a violent beat. He stepped forward urgently, waving his hand. "Quickly! Bring him in this instant!"
A moment later, Yuan Shao's private envoy strode into the candle-lit room. He reached into his inner silk tunic, pulling forth a heavily encrypted letter bearing the crimson wax seal of the Yuan clan, handing it directly to Yan Liang.
"General Yan, the Lord Yuan Shao issues a strict, absolute counter-command: you are not, under any circumstances, to abandon your sector to reinforce the capital!"
"Huh?" Yan Liang's massive jaw dropped, completely and utterly bewildered.
One official edict commanded him to abandon the sector and flee back to the capital immediately, while his true political master explicitly commanded him to hold the line at all costs. What kind of madness was transpiring within the high command?
Yan Liang hurriedly broke the seal on Yuan Shao's private correspondence.
Within the letter, Yuan Shao laid out the macro-strategic reality with cold, desperate clarity. He explained that the combined defensive lines of Wei County and Qingyuan constituted the absolute eastern shield wall of the entire province. If those two bastions were abandoned, the entire eastern corridor would be laid bare, allowing Zhang Xin's elite heavy cavalry to march unhindered across flat terrain and completely encircle Ye City. Yuan Shao strictly, severely ordered his two premier generals to disregard any frantic commands issued by the civilian administration and hold their ground to the last man.
The strategic reality within the walls of Ye City was exactly as the turncoat Qu Yi had mathematically predicted.
Zhang Xin's midnight annihilation of the Xiongnu camp, coupled with the absolute, ruinous slaughter of the legendary White Horse Volunteers, had completely fractured Han Fu's fragile mental state. The Governor was no longer capable of thinking about long-term territorial integrity or calculating complex pincer maneuvers. His mind had regressed into a state of primal, animalistic panic. He wanted every single shield, every single spear, and every single warm body pulled back within his immediate field of vision to build a human wall between himself and Zhang Xin's terrifying heavy horsemen.
Ju Shou had wept in the grand hall, Min Chun had blocked the palace gates with his body, Li Li had argued until his voice turned hoarse...
Even Yuan Shao himself, alongside his brilliant advisors Pang Ji and Guo Tu, had spent hours using every rhetorical device known to the empire to persuade the Governor to maintain the eastern shield line. It was to no avail.
Han Fu's heart was as unyielding as flint, entirely locked in a vice of defensive delusion.
In truth, what the aristocratic strategists failed to realize was that if Han Fu were a man capable of being swayed by cold, rational logic, he would have never historically surrendered the entire wealthiest province of the empire to Yuan Shao out of simple, phantom intimidation over Gongsun Zan's reputation.
And the current Zhang Xin? He was a hundred times more terrifying, a hundred times more ruthless, and possessed a mountain of legendary body counts that made Gongsun Zan look like a common border captain. Han Fu's stress tolerance had completely shattered.
Yuan Shao had initially wanted to simply deploy his own private assassins to intercept and slaughter Han Fu's riding messengers along the highway, but he was paralyzed by the political fallout. Han Fu was already hyper-vigilant and profoundly paranoid. If the Governor discovered that his direct military commands were being systematically sabotaged by Yuan Shao's apparatus, he might conclude that the Yuan clan was launching a coup d'état and order his remaining city guards to massacre them inside their estates.
Trapped in a political checkmate, Yuan Shao could only wait until Han Fu's official messenger had departed before frantically dispatching his own private courier to ride like the wind, hoping his loyal generals would understand the implicit reality.
"My virtuous brother," Yan Liang sighed heavily, handing Yuan Shao's private letter to Wen Chou. "What is your assessment of this quagmire?"
"This..." Wen Chou looked at the conflicting scrolls, his rough face twisted into a knot of profound emotional conflict. "Brother... should we not defy the Governor and return to safeguard the Lord?"
"The Lord Yuan Shao's magnanimity toward us two brothers is as heavy as Mount Tai itself. Now that the capital is transformed into a den of wolves and the Lord's very life may be in peril, how can we two brothers sit idly by on a riverbank while our master faces destruction?"
Hearing Wen Chou's words, Han Fu's courier let out a breath of intense relief, while Yuan Shao's private envoy went completely pale with dread.
"General Yan!" Yuan Shao's envoy shouted, stepping forward aggressively. "Are you truly intending to openly disobey the direct military orders of the Clan Leader?!"
"This is..." Yan Liang looked deeply troubled.
What Wen Chou had just expressed was the exact, raw emotional impulse driving his own heart. He desperately wanted to ride back and protect Yuan Shao from the chaos. But military protocol...
"Is Yuan Shao's private military order greater, or is the official imperial mandate of the Governor of Jizhou greater?!" Han Fu's messenger suddenly snarled, glaring viciously at Yuan Shao's envoy.
"Let alone you two mere field generals—even Yuan Shao himself is currently nothing more than a guest living under the Governor's roof! He eats the Governor's grain, he sleeps under the Governor's protection, and he must implicitly obey the Governor's supreme edicts!"
This specific courier was a fierce, uncompromising loyalist of the Han Fu administration. Long before the historic grand coalition against Dong Zhuo, back when Yuan Shao was covertly using his immense family prestige to systematically subvert and win over the local officials of Jizhou, this man had harbored a deep, visceral resentment toward the arrogant aristocrat.
Following the disastrous anti-Dong Zhuo campaign, Yuan Shao had not only suffered a string of humiliating military failures, but his political reputation had become increasingly notorious across the northern commanderies. Consequently, the courier possessed absolutely zero baseline respect for the Yuan name, openly calling him by his bare name without a shred of titles.
Hearing the sharp, political reality laid bare, Yan Liang and Wen Chou hesitated.
Yuan Shao was indeed living under someone else's roof; his entire political survival depended entirely on catering to Han Fu's fragile emotional state. Han Fu was already profoundly wary of the Yuan clan's ultimate ambitions; it was only the terrifying, existential threat of Zhang Xin's grand invasion that had forced the two factions into a temporary, brittle marriage of convenience.
If they openly defied Han Fu's explicit, written military edict to hold their ground, and the paranoid Governor concluded that Yuan Shao was covertly preserving his own private legions to launch a coup while the capital burned, Han Fu might simply order his palace guards to execute Yuan Shao on the spot.
After an agonizing, tortuous deliberation, the two generals' raw, operational instincts fell victim to the complex political web. They made their choice. They would obey the Governor's edict and return to the capital.
"Generals! You must not commit this tactical suicide! The Lord's letter explicitly states—" Yuan Shao's envoy screamed in a panic.
"What is wrong with a soldier obeying the supreme commander of the province?" Han Fu's courier countered, a smug, triumphant sneer breaking across his face. He turned to the heavy guards lining the hall, waving his hand dismissively. "He is disrupting military morale. Throw this disruptive element out of the compound!"
The heavy personal guards hesitated for a fraction of a second, looking toward Yan Liang for confirmation.
Yan Liang let out a long, helpless sigh and slowly nodded his head.
Though he was not a man blessed with high strategic cunning, he possessed enough baseline political awareness to know that under the current parameters, the Yuan clan simply lacked the operational capital to openly fracture their alliance with Han Fu.
Yuan Shao's screaming envoy was brutally dragged from the hall and cast out into the freezing night. Urged on by the relentless, barking prompts of Han Fu's triumphant messenger, Yan Liang and Wen Chou strode out into the pitch-black central encampment, ordering the immediate sounding of the midnight war drums to mobilize their massive, unsuspecting legions for a forced march back to the capital.