The fires in Shangcai had begun to weaken.
As Zhao Yun's Youzhou cavalry entered the city, the camp panic triggered by Wang Ping and Deng Fan was quickly split apart and suppressed.
Cheng Yu, now bound and captured without suspense, found himself once more in the familiar courtyard of the prefectural office.
The soldiers ordered to burn the grain shrank back, not daring to look at him. The tung-oil torches they had been issued lay scattered on the ground. What had happened was obvious, and Cheng Yu ground his teeth.
"Bandit troops…"
"Prefect Cheng speaks wrongly. How are we bandits?"
The rebuke came with footsteps.
Zhao Yun strode into the courtyard. Behind him followed the excited Wang Ping, Meng Huo, Zhang Nan, and Feng Xi, along with Deng Fan, whose face showed unmistakable unease.
Cheng Yu gave a cold laugh.
"A dying dog of Yan, uncivilized barbarians, and… a traitor to his lord. What face have you to stand before me?"
Wang Ping exploded with anger, but Meng Huo reacted faster and grabbed him.
"Zijun, Wang Zijun, wait and hear what General Zhao says."
Deng Fan's expression darkened. He bowed deeply.
"Prefect… the villagers only wanted a way to live."
"A way to live?" Cheng Yu snapped. "Your actions will only cause the Chancellor to cut off your entire clan's way to live in the future!"
If Zhang Yi had not been holding him from behind, Zhao Yun had no doubt Cheng Yu might have lunged at Deng Fan on the spot. Zhao Yun stepped between them.
"Prefect Cheng, allow Yun to ask. Where is Cao's path to survival now?"
Cheng Yu stared at him, then lifted his chin.
Zhao Yun showed no irritation. His tone remained calm and earnest.
"Prefect Cheng likely does not know the present situation. Allow me to explain."
"A few days ago, Zhang Liao was defeated by General Guan at Meng County. Our army then struck west at Xinxī. Cao Zhen fought to the death and perished with the city."
"Yesterday, General Guan marched north, broke Xincai, and now points directly at Chen County. I was ordered to assist in the attack on Shangcai. I did not expect to encounter the prefect on the road, which means I may lead my army north tomorrow."
"With the forces at Duyang blocking, and Lord Xuande dividing his army from the capital to press the siege of Xuchang, the situation is already taking shape."
Cheng Yu sneered at Zhao Yun's description of capturing him as merely "encountering him on the road." He hesitated a moment at the mention of Liu Bei advancing from the capital before realizing it referred to Luoyang. In the end he answered only with a cold laugh.
"If Zhao Yun the boy is tired, he should sleep early. Do not come here speaking dreams."
"You do not believe me?"
"The words of a fool."
"Strategist Xu once told me Prefect Cheng possesses both courage and insight."
"That Xu Shu at least is not blind yet."
Zhao Yun did not argue. He stepped forward, pulled a short bamboo tube from Zhang Yi's belt, and held it up.
"Strategist Xu said that once the prefect saw this, he would understand."
Without further explanation, Zhao Yun steadied the tube, lit the fuse with a fire striker, and aimed it at the courtyard wall ten paces away.
A thunderous blast erupted. Smoke and flame burst outward, startling Cheng Yu. Dust showered down from the struck wall.
"So it truly can only be used once…" Zhao Yun murmured.
He tossed the cracked bamboo tube, split at its center, toward Cheng Yu. It was said to be a small experimental hand-cannon made under the direction of Strategist Zhuge, following methods described in old Tang records.
Cheng Yu caught it awkwardly. The longer he examined it, the worse his expression became. Before he could even ask, Zhao Yun spoke.
"Strategist Xu said the money from a single bolt of Shu brocade can produce sixty of these."
Cheng Yu swayed slightly.
He knew the craftsmanship of Jing and Yi Provinces was exquisite. Before this, paper and sugar had seemed like clever curiosities, and even their iron tools had not seemed overwhelmingly superior.
But this object… even if it broke after one use, if each soldier carried two of them…
He did not dare continue the thought.
His head lowered. His shoulders slumped.
Yet he still spoke.
"You think this alone can frighten me into surrender?"
He threw the broken tube to the ground and stamped on it. Zhang Yi winced at the sight, clearly pained to see the device destroyed. Zhao Yun shook his head helplessly.
"I did not come to make Prefect Cheng surrender," Zhao Yun said quietly. "Only to let you understand that Chancellor Cao's defeat is not far away."
"The words of a fool."
Behind them, Wang Ping muttered to Meng Huo,
"They say this Cheng Yu is learned. Why does he keep repeating those same four words? Even I can hear they sound a bit hollow…"
Zhao Yun ignored him. He turned, led Cheng Yu two steps forward, and opened the courtyard gate.
Outside stood a dense crowd of gaunt civilians, their faces yellow with hunger, their eyes fixed on Cheng Yu with fury.
Standing on the threshold, Cheng Yu recognized their clothing. Most came from Wufang and Quyang, the towns he had destroyed. Some had lost wives or daughters when he ordered wells poisoned with corpses to foul the city.
"Our lord… surely would not…"
His voice lacked conviction even before someone pushed him from behind.
Hundreds of skeletal hands caught him.
The gate slammed shut behind him.
---
The next morning, before mounting his horse, Zhao Yun asked Deng Fan once more,
"You truly will not come with me?"
The young agricultural officer was not yet twenty, they said, but diligent, studious, and capable enough to raise a midnight uprising and help Wang Ping seize Shangcai. Even without knowing his name before, Zhao Yun greatly admired him.
Brave, intelligent, and strong. A fine seedling.
"I am deeply grateful for General Zhao's kindness."
Deng Fan hesitated, then shook his head.
"My family has fallen on hard times. Everything I have today comes from the help of the people of Shangcai. Now that Lord Liu has pacified the rebels, I wish to go to Xiangyang and Jiangling to study agricultural methods, so I may benefit the villages and repay their kindness."
"When this matter is settled, I will certainly come seek General Zhao and General Wang to repay today's favor."
"Spoken like a true man!" Wang Ping beamed, slapping Deng Fan on the shoulder repeatedly.
Zhao Yun considered a moment. Bringing Deng Fan north might indeed be inconvenient. At last he nodded and handed over his waist token.
"Take this. I will leave you a horse. I only hope that once your work is done, you will come find me, and together we may win merit in the northern lands and the Western Regions."
Deng Fan felt his blood surge.
"I will not fail the general's trust!"
Wang Ping, who had been excited moments before, now looked confused.
What about me?
---
Riding out through the north gate, Zhao Yun glanced back once at the portion of Prefect Cheng hanging from the walls.
He shook his head, nudged his horse forward, and raised his silver spear, pointing it straight north.
Autumn winds swept the dusty road of war.
Silver armor shone beneath the rising sun, heralding peace.
---
The air turned colder.
Xiahou Yuan wrapped his cloak tighter as he watched the friction of armies ahead. Finally he asked the man beside him,
"Cao Zixiao, do you think Xu Gongming can hold?"
As a prisoner, there was no need for armor now. Like this, Xiahou Yuan could stand in plain robes atop a low hill and observe the battlefield.
Cao Ren was far less comfortable.
After Wuyang fell, it had been Wu Yi's men who dug him out of the ruins. When the gate tower collapsed, Cao Ren had been right beneath it. Fortunately, the building had been rebuilt less than half a year earlier, and its sturdy beams had left him a pocket of space.
Still, his leg was broken and his arm shattered. Now he lay on a Hu chair, forced to watch the wind and the war alike.
"Xu Huang is clever," Cao Ren said bitterly.
The key point of Xu Huang's defenses, Yan County, lay not far from Wuyang. He had likely sensed danger early, for from beginning to end he never tried to hold cities stubbornly. Instead he chose to defend along the Ying River and Ru River, blocking Liu Bei's army from crossing.
But even so…
With his leg splinted and his arm in a sling, Cao Ren still shook his head.
"Xu Gongming… has reached the end of his tricks."