Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

"This...I...Yuan Xun..."

While Gu Ji was still hesitating, Zhuge Ke could no longer hold back. He looked directly into Gu Ji's eyes, his expression even showing a hint of ferocity.

"How come you wouldn't even sell out your country?"

“Your father, son, and clan are all in Wu, so a few days earlier or later won’t matter. But what about me? My situation is different. My father is still trapped in Jiangling. Even if the message can be delivered to Jingzhou half a day earlier, it will be good! Brother Xiaoxian, if you are unwilling, I will lead the troops to open the city gates myself, and your family will have no merit whatsoever!”

Under Zhuge Ke's words, which were half persuasion and half threat, Gu Ji finally agreed to Zhuge Ke's request and agreed to open the city together with Zhuge Ke, who controlled the largest number of troops in Jianye City, without his father's knowledge.

“Yuan Xun, things have come to this, what should I do?” Gu Ji asked.

After receiving Gu Ji's promise, Zhuge Ke became much more composed. He sat cross-legged on the mat and smiled, saying:
"Brother Xiaoxian, don't worry, the credit still goes to your Gu family. But you must send someone to block the gate later, preventing your father and the ministers from leaving the Ministry of Personnel. You yourself must enter the palace and subdue all the concubines and imperial children in Jianye Palace, and I will assign them to others. How about that? Go now, don't hesitate, I will open the south gate in half an hour!"

"Then let's do it this way." Gu Ji shook his head. "Yuan Xun, don't betray me!"

"No," Zhuge Ke said calmly. "Your Gu family has its own way of doing things, while I only want to save my father as soon as possible."

……

Cao Zhi, who had been guarding the Longzangpu wharf for several days, had been hearing news coming from all directions. Wu County had surrendered, a new governor of Wu Commandery had been appointed, Ruxu had fallen, and the general was besieging Wuhu…

Jianye seemed to have become a safe haven in this storm, remaining undisturbed for several days. The Wu soldiers in Stone City and Jianye City held their ground and did not come out, and Cao Zhi had no motivation to take military risks. Instead, he continued to improve the field defense fortifications at Longzangpu.

Kan Ze arrived, talked with Cao Zhi, Handan Jia and others for a quarter of an hour and then left.

Although Cao Zhi was quick-witted, he had no military authority and was merely a general with the title of commander of 10,000 men. He was far from being a regional commander. Moreover, given Cao Zhi's long-standing caution, how could he possibly make any political promises to Kan Ze?

Cao Zhi simply said how generous the Great Wei was, and that if the city were opened, there would surely be rewards. Kan Ze also sensed Cao Zhi's awkward situation, and immediately took his leave and returned home.

But as soon as Kan Ze stepped out of the Wei army camp, he saw a man dressed in the uniform of a Wu army commander entering the camp, led by a Wei scout. Still confused, Kan Ze hadn't walked far when he was startled by the reaction from the Wei army camp behind him.

The Wei soldiers marched out of their camp in formation, almost without stopping, and headed towards the south gate of Jianye. The situation at the south gate of Jianye also astonished Kan Ze. The city gate was wide open, and the soldiers inside were pouring out of the south gate under the orders of their respective generals. They were all empty-handed and without weapons. They lined up beside the city and then sat down on the ground.

Zhuge Ke's promise to his soldiers was simple: they could retain their original positions and would not have to die in battle. This simple promise was accepted by most officers almost instantly.

This is Jianye, the capital of Wu. The Wei army has been besieging the city for so many days, and there has been no news of Wei crossing the river for so many years. Especially since Sun Quan himself is not here, the officers and soldiers in the city have long lost the will to fight!
Kan Ze had already guessed what was going on, and his walk turned into a jog. Soldiers kept pouring out of the gate, but no one paid any attention to Kan Ze, and of course, no one harmed him. Kan Ze looked around for a moment, and when he saw Zhuge Ke's face, he was filled with rage:

"Zhuge Ke! How dare you open the city gates without authorization?"

Zhuge Ke had long been fed up with the pedantry of these ministers. He felt helpless, but still greeted them with a smile: "Minister Kan, I'm doing this for everyone's good."

"Your Excellency, Minister Kan is tired. Please lead him to sit down over there!"

Before Kan Ze could say another word, the soldiers beside him reacted swiftly, and Kan Ze was immediately dragged away by several men to a spot on the side of the crowd, where they forcefully made him sit on the ground. Seeing that things had come to this, Kan Ze let out a long sigh, shook his head, and remained silent.

Faced with this sudden and great achievement, Cao Zhi was both happy and worried. Just moments ago, Kan Ze had been subtly probing, and Cao Zhi had assumed they would wait for the main force of the imperial court to arrive before opening the city gates, but he hadn't expected it to be so swift!
Cao Zhi was overjoyed that Jianye City had opened, allowing him to establish his own merit. Today, Cao Cao's own army had been the first to enter Jianye City, a feeling of pride that would inspire Cao Zhi to pick up his brush and write several more masterpieces.

There were also concerns. Would his meritorious service arouse the emperor's suspicion in the future? How should he promise the soldiers and officials in the city to prevent any unforeseen events after entering the city? What should be done with Stone City? And what about Sun Quan's palace?
Overall, it's definitely a good thing.

Cao Zhi and Handan Jia had already guessed that a conflict had likely broken out among the forces within Jianye City, which was why Zhuge Ke had opened the city gates first, and even Gu Yong's figure had not yet been seen. But in any case, such details were of no importance to Cao Zhi at the moment.

Only when he saw Cao Zhi's soldiers arriving did Zhuge Ke send someone to invite Gu Yong and the others. The Wei army arrived first, took control of the south gate of Jianye, and then surrounded the Wu army sitting on the ground. Cao Zhi, the general of the Wei naval fleet, arrived late. However, the situation inside the city was not entirely as Zhuge Ke had predicted.

Gu Ji ultimately lacked the courage to enter the palace, and instead ordered his men to guard the main gates of Jianye Palace. This was wartime; normally these gates were rarely used, so temporarily blocking them meant the people inside wouldn't notice anything amiss.

Gu Ji chose to personally lead his troops to block the entrance of the Ministry of Personnel. No matter how Gu Yong shouted angrily from inside, Gu Ji simply ordered his soldiers to lock the gate and keep it tightly closed, while he stood silently outside.

Zhuge Ke first bowed to Cao Zhi in front of the army, and then was helped up by Cao Zhi, performing an official act of submission and acceptance. Zhuge Ke came from a prominent family, was quick-witted and eloquent, and had read many of Cao Zhi's poems and essays. With his deliberate flattery and praise, Cao Zhi was quite pleased, and they had a pleasant conversation in front of the army.

Handan Jia, who had joined the army, accompanied them with a smile, occasionally making a joke. The three of them chatted like this in front of the South Gate for quite a while.

"General Zhuge, I trouble you to go into the city and personally bring out Gu Yuantan. I will wait here." Cao Zhi saw what appeared to be a carriage coming out of the city from afar and pointed towards the city.

Zhuge Ke nodded, cupped his hands in greeting, and then turned and walked towards the city gate.

As Cao Zhi watched Zhuge Ke walk away, he turned to look at Handan Jia:
"When you look at this person, do you feel a sense of déjà vu?"

Handan Jia sighed softly: "Without the general saying it, how could I not see it? His thoughts are so quick, his words so clever, and he is just as intelligent and self-important. If it weren't for the fact that this person is a bit fairer, a bit fatter, and has a slightly different accent, judging from his demeanor and actions when he speaks, I would really think that he has come again."

Cao Zhi let out a long breath: "Emperor Wu issued a decree, and for many years I have not been to Dezu's tomb. Today, thinking of Dezu, I am filled with sorrow. After returning this time, I will ask His Majesty for a decree to allow me to go to Dezu's tomb to pay my respects. Dezu's son, Yang Xiao, should now be of coming-of-age age. I will then ask His Majesty to allow him to enter the Imperial Academy."

"However, I don't like Zhuge Ke because he is too ambitious. Although he is similar to Zhuge Ke, he is far inferior to Emperor Dezu."

“Since the general is willing, then there’s no harm in doing so. Having made such a great contribution, one should be willing to suffer some losses.” After saying this, Handan Jia paused and continued, “Zhuge Ke is similar to Yang Dezu, and with such a family background, he has made such a great contribution to the opening of Jianye at the age of thirty-something. Afterwards, there will probably be something to say about him with Zhuge Jin. His future position should be immeasurable… Should the general write a letter to His Majesty to remind him of this?”

Cao Zhi nodded: "Your Majesty has treated me with great kindness. Now that I have seen it, I will certainly report it to Your Majesty. You can rest assured."

Handan Jiashu breathed a sigh of relief.

Now that things had come to this, no matter how humiliated and rushed Gu Yong felt inside, he still meticulously completed all the procedures for surrendering and offering up the city, kneeling before Cao Zhi along with the other ministers and inviting the Wei army into the city.

Zhuge Ke explained Gu Yong's late arrival by citing a miscommunication in the timing, and publicly claimed that it was Gu Yong who initiated and contributed to the event, while he himself was not the one who made the first contribution, thus glossing over the matter.

Within the city, Gu Yong was the one with the biggest hat, and there was no way to avoid it. Gu Yong had no choice but to take the opportunity to admit it. When he admitted it, Gu Yong felt a sense of relief that everything had been settled, but the other half was worried about how history would record his actions in the future. It would only clearly state "Gu Yong surrendered the city" instead of "Zhuge Ke surrendered the city".

Cao Zhi calmly replied, "You are a disciple of Cai Yong, and Emperor Wu was a close friend of Cai Yong during his lifetime. Therefore, you and I are not strangers. Since you are older, I will address you as 'Lord Gu' as you would any other person."

"I dare not," Gu Yong said, bowing slightly. Since Cao Zhi had brought up the old relationship between his father Cao Cao and Gu Yong's teacher Cai Yong, Gu Yong still had something to say.

"General," Gu Yong bowed, "news from the Central Plains to Jiangdong has been cut off for many years. I wonder how Master Cai's two daughters are doing?"

Cao Zhi replied, "Zhao Ji passed away two years ago, but Zhen Ji is still alive. Just now, General Zhuge told me that Sun Quan's relatives are still in Jianye Palace?"

"Yes." Gu Yong nodded.

"Please lead the way, Lord Gu." Cao Zhi gestured forward.

Gu Yong nodded, but a wave of sorrow washed over him, and he almost burst into tears.

Zhuge Ke, observing Gu Yong's actions from the side, merely shook his head inwardly, filled with sarcasm. (End of Chapter)