"Dezu… tell me, who is the rebel now?"
Beneath the walls of Ye City, Yang Xiu listened to Cao Zhi's question and watched the departing army in silence.
They both knew what would happen wherever that army passed.
Grain levied. Men conscripted. Villages left in ruin.
At last Yang Xiu pressed his lips together and said quietly,
"I still remember what you lamented earlier this year, my lord."
Cao Zhi nodded, his smile faint and fragile.
"To devote oneself to the state above, to let grace flow to the people below. To found an enduring legacy and leave deeds worthy of inscription in bronze and stone."
He understood well what his father had done.
That was why he so often drowned himself in wine to avoid thinking about it.
Yet today, seeing his brother's shadow so closely resemble their father's, the desolation in his heart only deepened.
Yang Xiu nodded earnestly.
"What you said then cannot be matched by ink. Nor can prose or verse fully describe a true noble man. I have always agreed."
He paused, then added,
"Since you feel there is nowhere left to go, we might as well head north."
"North?"
"Yes. No matter which side ends up ruling, we Han men will still have to fight the Hu in the end."
Cao Zhi gave a soft laugh.
"If my brother inherits our father's cause and seeks battle in the south, then I shall go north. I must not let the prestige Father earned at White Wolf Mountain be diminished."
The carriage wheels began to creak into motion once more.
Yang Xiu's voice carried a trace more cheer as he said,
"Now that we have set out, why not drink to mark the journey?"
Cao Zhi lifted the curtain and looked northward, then shook his head.
"The sights before me are enough to occupy my heart. From now on, I should drink less. I cannot afford to let it ruin things."
The people around him were startled by that.
As Ye City slowly receded behind them, Ding Yi, riding beside the carriage, spoke hesitantly,
"But… our families… they're still in the city…"
Yang Xiu flicked his sleeve dismissively.
"Zhengli, don't be foolish. If the Chancellor wins, our families will naturally be safe. And if the Left General wins…"
He did not finish the sentence.
He did not need to.
Ding Yi thought a moment, then said,
"When the Chancellor wins, we can claim we went to Julu to recruit troops and gather grain, to support the Shangdang front?"
Yang Xiu sounded thoroughly impatient.
"That explanation will only matter if there is anyone left to use it on."
Ding Yi's face flushed with anger. His dislike for Yang Xiu's arrogance was long-standing.
"Do you even remember the Chancellor's valor at Guandu?"
Yang Xiu snorted.
"If Liu Xuande had been half as foolish as Yuan Benchu, he would have died in Xuzhou long ago."
"And if Yuan Benchu had possessed even half of Liu Xuande's intelligence, how could Guandu ever have ended in defeat?"
Naturally, that argument led nowhere.
---
A little farther south, Cao Pi, holding major command for the first time in his life, watched the quarrelling men before him and found himself oddly missing the cane sugar stored in his residence back in Ye.
For a moment he even wondered if he should have simply attacked the city when he had the chance.
But the information he had learned in the past half day quickly crushed that unrealistic thought.
In the third year of Chuping, after Han Fu's death, Yuan Shao had taken control of Ji Province and moved his seat from Gaoyi to Ye. From then until the fourth year of Jian'an, he ruled across four provinces and poured resources into building the city.
After his father's victory at Guandu, construction in Ye only intensified, until it became a truly formidable stronghold.
To try to storm such a city with fewer than thirty thousand men, and without Liu Bei's siege equipment, would be sheer fantasy.
No. The best use of this force was clearly to join the battlefield, help his father defeat Liu Bei, and settle everything at once.
In Cao Pi's view, not everyone inside Ye truly supported that useless Emperor. The great clans were more likely waiting to see who would emerge victorious between his father and Liu Bei before deciding whom to serve.
But would things really be so simple?
Cao Pi thought that once his father slew Liu Bei and he returned to Ye, he would have to make the city run with blood. Only then could today's humiliation be avenged.
In the distance, faint cries drifted through the air, mixing with the arguments before him and worsening his mood.
It was only conscription and grain levies, yet Wang Lang, the Administrator of Wei Commandery, had barged into the tent and would not stop talking.
Finally, Cao Pi struck the table lightly with his scabbard, cutting him off.
"Administrator Wang, the affairs of the state are difficult now—"
"Lord Cao."
Wang Lang bowed. His face showed obvious exhaustion, yet he refused to yield.
"No matter how difficult the state's affairs, it should not come to stealing the very food that keeps the people alive."
"My own household can devote everything to the state. Why must the royal army compete with the people for grain?"
Cao Pi faltered, then flicked his sleeve and sneered.
"Everyone knows you are generous, Sacrificial Officer Wang, giving freely until your house holds no surplus grain. If so, how do you propose to supply the army?"
Wang Lang stepped forward stubbornly.
"If my household is like this, how much worse must it be for the common people?"
"Enough!"
Cao Pi's voice rang out.
"The people farm. Soldiers fight. Both serve the state. If those who farm fear their livelihood is insufficient, they may follow the army and fight instead. They will not starve."
"Sacrificial Officer Wang, you must be tired. Please go and rest."
Wang Lang tried to speak again, but Wu Zhi was already smiling as he put an arm around him and guided him out of the tent.
When the flap lifted, the crying outside became clearer.
Cao Pi did not react at all. He simply turned back to the map.
"So… we're taking Hulao Pass?"
The map before them was only roughly sketched, but one could still make out the three passes north of Luoyang.
Chen Qun nodded, recalling from memory as his finger traced the terrain.
"To break the three passes, one must first cross the Yellow River. Mengjin and Xiaoping are difficult precisely because of that."
"But we come from Wei Commandery. We can cross at Baima Ford or Yanjin, then move south. Changyuan, Suanzao, and Xingyang can all serve as supply points. From Henan we strike directly at Hulao Pass."
It sounded reasonable, yet Cao Pi hesitated.
"But Hulao Pass is also a formidable stronghold…"
"Prince," Chen Qun urged, "to march to Yingchuan would take nearly a month. By then news of Ye's fall will have reached the Chancellor. A weary army may become a burden to him rather than an aid."
"Liu Bei, on the other hand, once inside Luoyang, cannot possibly guard all eight passes at once. He must also divide troops toward Yingchuan and Runan to support Guan Yu. And we hear he lingered in Luoyang for a full month earlier to build his reputation. How many troops must that have consumed?"
"The earlier mobilization in Henei was meant to pin him down. Our arrival here completes the design. If the three passes are attacked together, he cannot reinforce them all. Once we kill our way into Luoyang…"
Cao Pi was already convinced. He slapped the map.
"Then the great affair will be settled. This victory would rival even Guandu!"
Yet inwardly, he also knew he did not particularly want to face his father.
Everyone knew how much his father favored his younger brother. And responsibility for the loss of Ye would undoubtedly fall on him.
Now, however, thanks to his close relationship with General Liu Ruo, he commanded thirty thousand troops. Though he had lost Ye, his power had only grown greater.
In that moment, Cao Pi felt like a child gripping a sharpened blade.
He had to achieve something great. Something that would satisfy his father.
---
At the same time, on the Jing–Yu corridor between Duyang and Wuyang, two great tides bearing Han banners collided once more.
Huang Zhong, older with every passing year, had blood staining his beard, yet somehow looked more vigorous than ever.
Even while stabilizing his line, he still had breath to roar,
"Xiahou Yuan! The head on your shoulders belongs to me. Why do you refuse to give it up?"
Behind the Cao army, Xiahou Yuan cursed furiously.
"That old brute!"
Of course, he only cursed.
He still remembered how this veteran had slain the fierce general Yue Jin in battle. And as for himself… a commander's strength lay first in planning, only second in personal bravery.
In other words, he had been shouted at like this before, and he had no intention of stepping forward to duel. He stayed firmly beneath the command banner.
Fortunately, today…
"Old General, the battlefield is no place for retirement. You should withdraw early!"
Huang Zhong casually knocked aside a soldier beside him, then studied the young officer before him, at least twenty years his junior.
"So. Are you Xiahou Yuan's fine son?"
The man flew into a rage.
"Remember this well. The one who kills you will be Li Dian of Shanyang!"