Taiheiki

Chapter 264 Beheading
"These barbarians may not be as good as my Han soldiers on the battlefield, but they are hardworking, honest, and brave, and they have their own strengths!" Yuan Shao thought to himself. "Take the three hundred southern barbarian soldiers that Wei Cong gave me earlier, for example. They are skilled in using crossbows, swords, and shields, and they can climb mountains and cross rivers as if they were on flat ground. They are indeed very useful. It's a pity that their tribal base is ultimately in Jiaozhou. After breaking ties with Wei Cong, they will definitely not be of use to me, so I can only leave them aside. However, after returning to Runan this time, I will find an opportunity to go on a diplomatic mission to the Wuhuan or the Southern Xiongnu and try to recruit some Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan cavalry. Wei Cong's raising of troops this time will surely cause an uproar throughout the land. Without military power, even if Confucius and Mencius were to be reborn, or Guan Zhong and Zichan were to be resurrected, they would only be able to sigh helplessly!"

Night falls quickly in the wilderness, and the moon rises from behind the hills. Its bright light illuminates the open field and the tips of the wild grasses. In the blink of an eye, the occasional trace of some wild animal can be seen across the landscape. The night wind blows, and clouds intermittently obscure the moonlight, making the shadows on the ground sometimes clearly visible, sometimes obscured. Sometimes, nothing can be seen at all, as if everything has melted into the night.

Lu Ping was the first to climb to the top of the hill. Her movements were so light and agile that they seemed almost superhuman, more like those of a legendary mountain spirit. Even though Nie Sheng had tried his best, he could only barely keep up. Standing on the hilltop, one could hear the river wind blowing across the open meadows, making a mournful sigh. The wild grasses seemed to bend over in fear, trembling with apprehension at what was about to happen.

"Where is Yuan Shao?" Nie Sheng asked in a low voice.

Lu Ping didn't answer, but made a shushing gesture. After a moment, Ali emerged from the grass and came to its master's side. Lu Ping bent down slightly and put her ear close to the leopard's mouth. After a moment, she stood up again and said with great certainty, "Yuan Shao's camp is over there. See that flat area behind that hill? Yes, the flat area with that particularly big tree. His night sentry post is under that tree!"

Nie Sheng quickly found the big tree that Lu Ping had mentioned. It was easy; the tree was exceptionally tall, but completely invisible to the naked eye. In the shifting dim light, he couldn't see it at all.

“Zhebie, can you see it?” Nie Sheng asked, turning around.

"I'm not quite sure!" Jebe shook his head with a wry smile. "If it were daytime, it would only take one arrow, but at night it would probably be closer!"

“That’s right!” Nie Sheng nodded: “You pick five capable men to take down the night sentries first, and then use three deer whistles as a signal!”

"No need for all that trouble!" Lu Ping laughed. "Just let Ali go!"

"Ah Li?" Nie Sheng glanced at the muscular, silent beast beside Lu Ping, its golden-green eyes fixed on him, and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

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After a while, Nie Sheng arrived at the large tree. There were two corpses on the ground. One man had a huge gash from his left ear to his right ear, clearly showing his trachea and neck bone. The other man was lying face down on the ground. A soldier had turned him over with a spear. His arm was broken at the elbow, half of his neck was missing, and there was a black hole in his stomach from which a foul stench was emanating. The leopard was lying on a rock nearby, licking its paws.

"This is no ordinary beast, it's a mountain god!" Nie Sheng heard the soldiers whispering. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind of all distractions: "The longer we wait, the more things might go wrong. Let's do it! Remember, don't take any prisoners. Make sure Yuan Shao doesn't escape! Whoever takes his head will be rewarded with three hundred bolts of silk!"

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He was fast asleep just a second ago, but suddenly he woke up with a start.

With his sword still on his right, Yuan Shao gripped the hilt, listening to the incessant snoring. Everything seemed normal; something was amiss.

Suddenly, Yuan Shao realized something was wrong. It was a tremor, a tremor coming from the ground. Only when a large number of warhorses were galloping nearby would there be such a violent tremor.

"Enemy attack! Get up! Enemy attack!" Yuan Shao jumped up from the blanket and shouted loudly.

A sharp shriek suddenly rang out, followed by a burst of mixed sounds, creating a terrifying chaos.

"Kill! Kill!"

"Help! Help me!"

"Enemy! Enemy! Rise up and resist!"

"It's too late, let's run!"

Shouts of battle and screams echoed, red torches pierced the darkness, horses clattered, swords clashed, and knights seemed to emerge from the night, charging towards the camp from several directions. The agonizing cries of the dying, accompanied by the dull thuds of weapons slicing into flesh, lasted less than six or seven minutes before falling silent again; the battle was over.

"Captain, we've captured the real culprit!" a soldier reported with a beaming smile.

"Bring it over so we can take a look!"

A moment later, two soldiers half-carried, half-dragged a man dressed in a plain white short shirt up. There was a patch of blood on his right thigh, indicating that he had just been injured.

"Bring the torch closer!" Nie Sheng said. He stepped forward and, using the torchlight, carefully discerned the person's appearance. After confirming that it was the right person, a light smile appeared on Nie Sheng's face, and his tense nerves finally relaxed.

"You must be Wei Mengde's adopted son?" Yuan Shao's expression remained unchanged. He sighed, "Unfortunate times have come. I shouldn't have rested on the way!"

"Hehe!" Lu Ping laughed, taking the silver cup from her sleeve: "Even when you're fleeing for your lives, you don't forget to bring these things with you. You scions of noble families are never willing to suffer for yourselves!"

Yuan Shao opened his mouth, unsure how to defend himself. He glanced at Nie Sheng and Lu Ping and said, "Forget it, some things are hard to explain to people like you. Take me back to see Mengde!"

"There's no need for that!" Lu Ping said.

"What does this mean?" Yuan Shao felt a sense of foreboding.

"What I mean is, I'll end you right here and take your head back to report to Wei Lang!" Lu Ping said with a smile.

"You want to kill me here?" Yuan Shao exclaimed in shock. "I am a cavalry commandant of the imperial court and a member of the Yuan clan of Runan. Even if Wei Cong wanted to kill me, he should at least take me back for interrogation. How can he just treat me like this?" "Young Master Yuan!" Seeing Yuan Shao's loss of composure, Nie Sheng felt a pang of pity. "Killing you is not my adoptive father's order. In fact, he doesn't even know you've escaped!"

"He doesn't know?" Yuan Shao was taken aback. "Then what are you doing—"

“Of course, it’s a fait accompli!” Lu Ping laughed. “I know you have a past relationship with Wei Lang, and the Yuan family has a past favor to him. If I told him you escaped, he might just let you go, or even if he caught you, he wouldn’t hurt you. So I simply didn’t tell him, directly mobilized troops to chase you, and killed you here to settle things, to avoid any unforeseen complications!”

"You vicious woman!" Yuan Shao roared. "If you kill me, the Yuan family of Runan will not let Wei Cong off the hook. You've ruined him!"

"Hehehe!" Lu Ping laughed: "Even at this point, you're still playing these tricks. If Wei Lang succeeds this time, the world will be in his hands, and the survival of the Yuan family of Runan will depend on his decision. If he fails, do you think you can spare his life? If you're going to do something big, you can't hesitate. When powerful figures are in power, they must be eliminated, let alone a mere Yuan Shao! Kill him!"

Before he finished speaking, the two soldiers pinned Yuan Shao to the ground. With a flash of their blades, a head with wide-open eyes fell to the ground, and blood splattered far away.

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Wei Cong opened his eyes, yawned, and habitually reached out to his left, only to find nothing. He then realized that no one was there.

"Ah Ping is already up!" Wei Cong glanced at the sky outside. "Looks like I overslept!" He sat up, and the servants outside, hearing the commotion, brought in warm water and salt for washing. As he washed, Wei Cong habitually asked Meng Gaogong, who followed him in, "Did anything happen last night?"

Meng Gaogong hesitated for a moment before replying, "Yuan Shao fled overnight!"

"What!" Wei Cong spat out the warm water in his mouth and turned around: "When did this happen? Why didn't you wake me up for something this big?"

"My lord, please don't be angry!" Lu Ping entered from the outer room, looking exceptionally beautiful at that moment: "Asheng led men in pursuit overnight and has already intercepted Yuan Shao!"

"That's good, that's good!" Wei Cong breathed a sigh of relief. "Luckily, Sheng'er is here. Where is Yuan Shao? Bring him here, I want to see him!"

"Yes!" Lu Ping responded, giving Meng Gaogong a wink. Meng Gaogong nodded and went out. A moment later, he brought Nie Sheng in. Nie Sheng was holding a tray with something covered by a cloth on it.

"Where is Yuan Shao?" Wei Cong was a little surprised to see that there was no one behind Nie Sheng, but when he saw the tray in Nie Sheng's hand, his expression changed drastically: "You, you killed him!"

"Father, please forgive me!" Nie Sheng knelt down on both knees: "Yuan Shao had dozens of elite soldiers by his side. When the two sides fought, it was impossible to tell them apart in the chaos of battle. By the time we found out, Yuan Shao had already been shot and killed!"

"How could you just kill him like that?" Wei Cong stamped his foot and said, "Putting aside the fact that we were on good terms and had a past favor to do, given his reputation for destroying the eunuchs and the Yuan family of Runan, killing him will only bring more trouble later!"

“My lord, you are mistaken!” Lu Ping said, “Yuan Shao’s escape at night clearly indicates his intention to become your enemy. He knows a great deal about you and the situation in Jiaozhou. If he is allowed to escape back, he will surely become a great threat to our army. What use is such a person if we don’t kill him? What you intend to do today is to defy the world. What is killing a mere Yuan Shao?”

Upon hearing this, Wei Cong immediately understood the situation and angrily retorted, "You deliberately didn't wake me because you were afraid I wouldn't kill Yuan Shao?"

"That's right!" Lu Ping knelt down on both knees: "Not only that, I also misused your imperial seal to mobilize troops to pursue and kill Yuan Shao. Please punish me!"

"You, you—" Wei Cong looked at his adopted son and his wife kneeling on the ground, feeling both angry and heartbroken: "I trusted and valued you so much, and you actually did such a thing behind my back?"

"Godfather! This is not Lady Lu's fault!" Nie Sheng said, "She did all this to save you; Yuan Shao had no choice but to kill her!"

"You're pleading for her?" Wei Cong was taken aback. It was said that Nie Sheng's biological father had died at Lu Ping's hands. Although Nie Sheng never mentioned it, it was clear that he couldn't have forgotten it.

“Godfather, let’s separate the issues. She really can’t be blamed for what happened today. If we’re talking about who’s guilty, I’m guilty too. Please punish me, Godfather!” Nie Sheng knelt down again.

Wei Cong was a shrewd man; he knew perfectly well that Nie Sheng and Lu Ping were telling the truth. Things had progressed to this point, and a decisive conflict had formed between him and Yuan Shao. Killing the other side and eliminating future threats was the simplest and best course of action. Yuan Shao had also seen this, which was why he fled immediately after learning of Wei Cong's alliance with Feng and Zhang in rebellion. He let out a long sigh and said, "So be it! Things have come to this; this is the only way. Have you brought back Yuan Shao's body?"

“It’s in the outer room!” Nie Sheng said.

"Prepare a fine coffin, sew up his body, and then send someone to Runan to bury him in his hometown!" Wei Cong sighed deeply, "I considered Benchu ​​my closest friend in life and wanted to work together to achieve great things, but I never expected that fate would play such a cruel trick on me, causing him to die because of me! How cruel is fate!"

Yuan Shao's death did not affect Wei Cong's actions. He was like a clockwork toy, executing the plan precisely. The day after forming an alliance with Zhang Huan, he led all the troops at Xiakou, including the large army that originally belonged to Feng Kun and Zhang Huan, northward along the Han River by both land and water, arriving in Xiangyang five days later.

"Chancellor Feng has captured Wancheng, this is truly good news!" Wei Cong smiled as he handed the military report to Zhang Huan: "With Wancheng fallen, Nanyang is no longer a threat. The next step is to advance on Luoyang!"

"Luoyang should know about the situation here by now!" Zhang Huan's mood was obviously complicated. After reading the military report, he looked at Wei Cong with conflicted feelings. This man, who was even younger than his son, was controlling the direction of the chariot. If it succeeded, he would achieve something he never dared to dream of. However, his reputation in the literati would probably be ruined.

"Zhang Gong, there's no need to worry!" Wei Cong laughed. "The faster we advance here, the safer the Emperor will be. In such a hasty situation, how could Dou Wu possibly muster the small number of troops that are a match for our battle-hardened forces?"

Zhang Huan remained silent, but he knew Wei Cong was right. If Dou Wu dared to do anything to the Emperor now, it would only confirm Wei Cong's accusations against him. Therefore, the Emperor's personal safety was not a concern; the only option was to settle things on the battlefield. Originally, many of his and Feng Kun's troops came from the Three Rivers and Five Schools, and these officers' families were all in Luoyang and the surrounding areas. They certainly wouldn't be willing to commit such an obvious act of rebellion as marching towards Luoyang. However, the situation was different with the more than 20,000 Jiaozhou soldiers under Wei Cong's command. They had no psychological pressure about making a fortune in the imperial capital. With this army as the backbone, Feng Kun and his officers from the Three Rivers and Three Rivers under his command were less likely to play tricks.

(End of this chapter)