"You really don't know him?" I was surprised.
"Could it be that he changed his name?" After returning, the letter was still opened. Huangfu Song finished reading the letter. "It is indeed my old subordinate, but he was not called this name before. I didn't expect that he changed his name and went to Jingzhou. Okay, you go back and have a rest. I have something to discuss with you the next day."
Before I left, I saw his face change a little.
I returned to my tent to rest. This time I did not fall asleep. I felt that I had been deceived. Because I felt that the matter was not as simple as changing the name. There were at least two possibilities, neither of which was good: First, Brother Wen Dong was not his subordinate, and his letter was a suggestion, because I would not come up with such a plan!
Second, he was his former subordinate, and he must have committed a crime, no matter what it was, and Huangfu Song let him go, changed his name, and came to Jingzhou. But this letter is still an offer of advice, because I would not come up with that plan!
And damn, I know what the plan is. Why can the Yellow Turbans deal with the government troops and win victory after victory? The common people helped a lot. I have seen a lot on the road here. If the government troops act according to that plan... What am I doing, I asked myself, I am an official appointed by the court, and I am worrying about the rebels.
But I was still very sleepy. I couldn't sleep after tossing and turning, so I decided to get up and walk around.
I stood out in the barracks because I wasn't wearing armor and I was too tall. But many people knew I was a messenger, so I wasn't bothered much.
I saw two strong men wrestling by a fire, and people were making noises nearby. I could see clearly without squeezing through. They were obviously soldiers playing, but after watching for a while, I felt bored and decided to leave.
As soon as I turned around, someone called me, "That big guy, you look like a military officer from Xiangyang, come over and play."
I turned around and saw a middle-aged military officer with a beard and a burly figure. He was obviously the leader here. When he spoke, all the chattering stopped. The sir told me not to cause trouble, so I decided not to hurt anyone. I shook my head and smiled, "No."
"You look down on us soldiers." This person's words were really powerful. The soldiers began to make a fuss. If they didn't compete, it might be more troublesome. They would take it one step at a time. Thinking of this, they asked: "How should we compete?"
He looked around, ran to a large rock not far away, jumped on it, and waved at me: "If you knock me off this rock, you win. ... What are you doing?"
The general sat down on the ground, and said to me in disbelief and helplessness: "Why did you want to lift the stone under my feet?"
I didn't want to tell him that I only knew how to throw and move stones. He never thought of it that way, but this was the only thought in my mind.
"Besides my great strength, I have no other strengths. I have resorted to such a poor strategy. Please forgive me, General."
"That's fine, no need to call me General. My name is Bao Xin. You can call me Old Bao or Big Brother Bao."
I liked Brother Bao's personality, and soon, I got along well with him and the soldiers. I was not good at other things, but I was an expert at making trouble, and what made me especially happy was that I beat everyone in arm wrestling.
I went back to my tent and fell asleep. I think I was exhausted. I had a dream that I was sleeping at home.
The next morning, I was still woken up. I thought I would be able to sleep in for a few days, but I had no choice but to be invited into the big tent. When I entered the tent, I saw Brother Bao. He winked at me. I squinted my right eye to reply. I was treated preferentially and sat at the chief seat on the left hand of the general. The general introduced me. Everyone nodded to each other and immediately got down to business. The efficiency of the army was high. The meeting decided to move south immediately. However, there were two things that someone had to do. One was to inform Lu Zhi's unit, another official army in Youzhou, so that they would not retreat to Sili when the army moved south and quickly come here to temporarily resist Zhang Jiao. Another thing was who would delay Zhang Jiao's pace of progress so that before Lu Zhi arrived, the northern barrier of Luoyang would not be completely lost, causing Luoyang to be in danger, which would be more than worth the loss.
"I wonder who can take on this important task?... Zirui, what suggestions do you have?" Huangfu Song looked around. There was no need to look. I have already seen it. I know that no one wants to do it. There are chaos everywhere. If I leave the army, I am still a general. I will be exposed in front of the Yellow Turban Army. If I am discovered, I will definitely die. And if I delay the Yellow Turban Army, no matter how I delay, it is no different from committing suicide. But I didn't expect Huangfu Song to ask me for a suggestion. I don't know any of his men except Lao Bao. What do you want me to do? Just let whoever looks the most unfavorable to the army go? Of course I can't do that.
"This... Report!... Only this person can do it, what a pity..." I originally thought it was a pity that the man was in Xinye, and I could see Huangfu's reaction. If he was unnatural and used words to cover up when he mentioned this name again, then there must be a problem. If he did not cover up and expressed regret, then it might really be someone under his command in the past. I took the opportunity to mention this name in front of his subordinates, and perhaps I could learn about Brother Chen's past through his subordinates' inquiries. Unfortunately, Huangfu misunderstood what I meant, and led the matter to a direction I had never expected.
"Bao Xin,... yes, I suddenly remembered that you and Lu Zhi had a teacher-student relationship. Well, I didn't expect that Zirui actually knew Ziyi. Why didn't I think of that?"
I knew it was not good, and then I saw Brother Bao’s bitter face. He looked at me, and I knew he wanted to ask me why I wanted to harm me, so I had to make a bitter face to show that I didn’t expect it.
"Then this matter is settled. Who is willing to go and negotiate with the Yellow Turbans for a few days until General Lu Zhi arrives? Does Zirui have any good candidates?"
Seeing Bao Xin's dejected look, I wanted to say, "This... leave it to... this person is the only one who can do it, but this person is in Xiangyang." I thought of Zi She, but I was afraid of hurting others so I took back my words.
Forget it, I harmed Brother Bao, so let me be the scapegoat. I made up my mind, "I'll do it!"
As soon as the words fell, everyone was shocked, and then I heard many people sighing.
"Oh, this... is very dangerous. If anything happens to you, I won't be able to explain to your husband! Think twice..."
"I have a plan." Actually I don't have one, but since I'm going to do this, I'll just pretend to be tough.
"Zi Rui is indeed a man of many plans. I'll allocate 10,000 people to you... Do you think it's too little?"
"Three hundred are enough. Just give me the old, weak, sick and disabled! But you must give me enough food and a hundred times the military pay!" I actually have an idea.
"Oh, I'd like to hear it."
"I won't tell you." If I tell you, I won't give me a hundred times the military pay. But I whispered in his ear, "Maybe no one, including me, will survive. Tell the gentleman that I want to go on my own." After that, I sat there very calmly as if I had made arrangements for my funeral.
Huangfu Song looked at me, looking very touched. "If the Yellow Turbans can be defeated this year, you, Xie Zirui, will be the first to achieve the credit."
I waved my hands, speechless.
After the meeting, Bao Xin found me. I guessed he was coming to see me, so I prepared a pot of tea for him in the tent.
"Brother, what are you going to do? You don't want to live at such a young age. It is dangerous to go to Youzhou, but it is true that only I can go and move the teacher. But you are leading 300 old, weak and sick soldiers... You know, there are 200,000 Yellow Turbans in Yanzhou. Do you want to live?"
"I have my own way, Brother Bao. I want you to make great contributions. When you defeat the Yellow Turbans in the autumn, don't forget your brother when your elder brother rewards you."
"It's good enough to be alive. Everyone in Yanzhou knows me, the Yellow Turban bandits. I always fight on the front line... Oh, it's troublesome. I can only go alone. If I get caught, you will have to collect my body. It seems that both of us brothers will die this time..."
"No need," I smiled and pulled out his sword, then stroked his beard violently, shaving off a lot of his beard, "Now that the beard is gone, it's all right."
"Yes, yes, why didn't I think of that? Come on, brother, help me cut off one more."
I was busy for a long time and shaved off a lot of his beard. I also took out my clothes and gave them to him. His height was about the same as mine, so they fit him well. I also reminded him not to wear official boots. I knew that Zhou Cang robbed me last time just for this.
I must admit that my method was very effective. As a result, Brother Bao Xin was stopped by a patrolling sentry less than ten steps out of the tent.
I wrote a letter to my teacher, saying that I would be back late and not to worry. I also wrote another letter to my sister, saying that I would be back late, but not to worry because I knew that no matter what I did, she would definitely be worried.
I gave the two letters to Huangfu Song and asked him to ask someone to take them to Jingzhou. Huangfu Song would definitely hand them over personally. Actually, I didn't care, but I still acted very grateful.
The army set out early the next morning. Bao Xinting had left the night before. I wished him good luck. I also wished myself good luck because I wanted to go back early. General Huangfu left with the central army. The general at the rear greeted me and saluted me on his horse, "Take care!"
I immediately took a liking to this person and I returned the gift.
When they disappeared over the hillside, I looked back and saw the 300 old and weak soldiers left behind. They were even older and weaker than I had imagined. However, that was just right. I asked one of the old soldiers, "Who was the general who was guarding the rear just now?" His answer shocked me.
"Liu Dai (stay)."