Tiger Guards

Chapter 292 Changing Circumstances
How many defeated soldiers drowned in one night is an unknown question and is difficult to count in detail.

Sun Ce's envoy Zhang Hong traveled upstream along the Bian River and stayed at Yongze in Yu County of Liang State.

The Bian River flows into Yongze, forming a relatively vast and larger marshland before flowing downstream.

Due to the war, many refugees were hiding in Yongze, and passing fleets also temporarily anchored in Yongze.

Zhang Hong was awakened by his guards and went up to the deck. He saw corpses floating on the surface of Yongze Lake, one after another, moving with the undercurrent.

Meanwhile, the refugees from Yongze rowed small boats and rafts across the marshland, scavenging the corpses for their clothes and belongings; a group of bandits even cut off heads, attempting to go upstream to find the victors and exchange them for a reward.

Therefore, many of the Cao army officers and soldiers who drowned were beheaded, and their blood and foam stained the waters red.

Zhang Hong observed for a moment, then covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and asked those around him, "Who is the drowned person?"

"Most of them are soldiers from Qingzhou. Their clothes are painted with talismans, and there are also bamboo talismans to prove it."

Huang Xiang, who was accompanying him, said in a low voice: "Only the soldiers of Qingzhou would use so many talismans to pray for protection and ward off evil."

Zhang Hong turned his gaze away from the lake and said, "Since Cao Cao has been defeated, we should not delay. We should urge all the ships to set sail. Attendant Zhao is swift in his military campaigns. If we are late, we will waste our time."

The matter in Xuzhou cannot be delayed any longer; we must resolve Sun Ce's position issue as soon as possible.

Huang Xiang responded and turned to look for the bow of the ship.

Seventy miles upstream, Zhao Ji also opened his eyes, feeling very uncomfortable with his current state.

Although he could feel that his body was strong and powerful, and that he had sharp hearing and eyesight and could observe things very carefully, there was a kind of fatigue that was hard to shake off. This fatigue would come in waves and disturb his thoughts, like a stream of water washing over a glass wall.

It's like drinking a lot of strong coffee; you're fully conscious and able to think, but the sights you see and the sounds you hear seem to be blocked by a barrier, making it impossible for your mind to process them naturally.

Perhaps this is the limit of the human body, the limit of external cheats, after all, it is only condensing qi and nourishing spirit, not refining essence into qi or refining qi into spirit.

"Energy and spirit" currently refers to abundant physical strength.

Yesterday's battle was too mentally taxing.

The hardest thing is that I can't fall asleep now, and I can't sleep soundly. This is the first time I've been unable to suppress my intense emotions.

Despite the great victory, he was under mental pressure and inspected the various locations with a serious expression.

As dawn broke, Zhang Yang had already led his troops to join forces with Lü Bu; Chen Guo's troops voluntarily withdrew from the battlefield and returned to their garrison in Ningling.

Even Chunyu Qiong, fearing other unexpected risks, withdrew his troops and returned to the old camp at dawn.

Zhao Ji and Lü Bu each treated the wounded and ordered the prisoners to clean up the battlefield.

Lu Bu, perhaps accustomed to poverty, withheld many of the horses belonging to the fallen knights of Zhao Ji's forces.

Even the Liang soldiers under Lü Bu's command not only robbed the dead horse, but also skinned it.

There were also many clashes when the two sides drove away the prisoners and cleaned up the weapons and armor.

"The Chamberlain, Marquis Meng sent an envoy to invite him."

Han Shu handed over a silk scroll, which Zhao Ji picked up and read. He then said, “Select three hundred knights to accompany me to see Lü Bu. Please have Xu Gongming lead the entire army, with Zhao Zilong and Zhang Junyi assisting.”

Han Shu hesitated: "Your Excellency, isn't three hundred men a bit too few?"

"I still think it's a bit too much."

Zhao Ji looked up and observed the surroundings. The officers and soldiers who had died in battle had been collected and piled up with the timber from the camp, waiting to be burned together.

The fallen officers and soldiers of our side are also to be cremated, in a rather luxurious manner, each one with a single pile of firewood, so that their ashes can be preserved intact and not mixed up.

Zhao Ji touched the hilt of the sword hanging at his left waist again, and at this moment he could even hear the unwilling cries of wronged souls in his ears.

Therefore, Zhao Ji's facial features turned cold and stern as he said to Han Shu, "Yesterday's battle has left me with too many murderous thoughts. If I keep them bottled up, they will cause trouble sooner or later."

Han Shulu was puzzled, because in terms of bloodshed, yesterday's battle was nowhere near as brutal as the night battle against the Xiongnu and the campaign against the Bai Bo generals, when Zhao Ji was covered in blood.

After the war, he just slept and returned to normal.

Zhao Ji was only directing the battle, and even when he participated in the fighting, he only fired less than three quiver of arrows.

This stark contrast left Han Shu puzzled, and he looked at Zhao Ji with a puzzled expression: "What's this?"

“Evil and resentment should not be allowed to accumulate; they should be released.”

Zhao Ji gave a brief explanation and then urged, "Go and select people quickly."

Han Shu was taken aback and pointed to Lü Bu's camp in the northeast: "What are you going to do?"

“Lu Bu is deliberately letting me run wild, he wants to see what I’m really made of. Cooperating with someone like him is like asking a tiger for its skin. I also need to show him what I’m capable of, otherwise he won’t know what’s good for him and will misjudge the situation.” Zhao Ji said, patting Han Shu on the shoulder. Han Shu nodded and strode towards his horse, preparing to select a group of strong men.

Once he mounted the horse, he felt even more strongly that there was something wrong with "asking a tiger for its skin." If you want the tiger's leather, do you expect the tiger to obediently take it off for you?

Although he didn't quite understand, Han Shu had been fighting against all sides for the past six months and was not afraid of Lü Bu's side.

If Lü Bu was able to kill Dong Zhuo back then, and it was my group who were in charge, we might have done even better!
If Lü Bu could cut his way from Nantianmen to Penglai East Road, why can't we, his men, surpass him?
At this moment, Lü Bu had changed into a bright brocade robe and wore a fist-sized golden crown. He sat on the grassy beach at the north end of the embankment, with curtains and walls on three sides, the open sides facing the Bian River and the grassland. On his left and right were guards holding halberds.

Under his watchful eye, more than two hundred captured officers and soldiers of Cao Cao's army were brought over and tied behind their backs to a row of densely packed wooden stakes, forming a human wall.

Sitting to the side, Zhang Yang saw this scene and guessed what Lü Bu was thinking. Looking around and seeing that there were no outsiders, he said, "My lord, Marquis Pingyang is strong-willed and I'm afraid he will not be easily subdued."

Lu Bu slightly turned his head and glanced at Zhang Yang on his right: "He poached two thousand of your men yesterday, aren't you angry?"

"That being said, the Marquis of Pingyang's execution of Sui Gu, Yang Chou, and others means that I have more than three thousand more people in my ranks."

Zhang Yang then looked at the stools set up nearby. If Zhao Ji were to sit here, he could only sit to the left rear of Lü Bu, as if he were an apprentice.

Although it is a crucial position as a right-hand man, a subordinate is still a subordinate.

Sui Gu and Yang Chou were only nominally subordinate to Zhang Yang. Without Zhao Ji yesterday, Zhang Yang might not have been able to kill the two men and their followers smoothly, let alone quickly swallow up these five or six thousand people.

After these five or six thousand people are eaten, and some are distributed to other captains, Zhang Yang's main force can grow another three thousand, and those three thousand are carefully selected.

As for Gou Huan's tribe, which was taken away by Zhao Ji, Gou Huan was a powerful figure in Hanoi, similar in nature to Yang Chou, but not as powerful.

Even if Gou Huan remained under his command, his control and discipline of Gou Huan remained superficial. He had to persuade Gou Huan first before he could mobilize Gou Huan's troops.

Seeing Zhang Yang's distressed expression, Lü Bu chuckled and comforted him, "How could my daughter marry him so easily? Since it's a father-in-law and son-in-law alliance, I'm in the host's position. What's wrong with that, both in terms of courtesy and reason?"

Having said that, Lü Bu picked up a cup of turbid wine and took a small sip.

Someone has to pursue Cao Cao, otherwise Cao Cao will quickly gain a foothold.

Someone else would have to go to Yingchuan to welcome the imperial court and intercept Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan. Even if their armies were to merge, they would likely collapse without a fight after hearing of Cao Cao's great defeat at Bianshui and the imperial court's encirclement.

This way, he could force Chen Gong and his group to rejoin him, and at that time, he would naturally become the ruler of the Central Plains.

While it may not escalate to a full-blown war, Zhao Ji must be suppressed.

Lu Bu also felt that the previous marriage agreement was quite suitable... but besides his daughter, he also had a son.

If nothing unexpected happens, he will have more sons and daughters in the future.

Choosing between what is important and what is not is not difficult for Lü Bu, who is forty years old.

"My lord, General Zhang, Attendant Zhao has arrived."

Qin Yilu strode over, cupped his hands to Lü Bu, and also bowed to Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang returned the greeting, and then Lü Bu asked, "How many men did he bring?"

"More than three hundred knights, all of them brave warriors."

Qin Yilu thought about Zhao Ji's emotional state and wanted to say something, but seeing Lü Bu's smug and composed appearance, he held back and didn't speak.

Zhang Yang then stood up and said, "My lord, I will go and welcome Attendant-in-Ordinary Zhao."

No matter what, Zhao Ji was a court attendant, representing the emperor and the court; however, Zhang Yang's proposal did not elicit a response from Lü Bu.

Fearing that Zhang Yang would frighten Zhao Ji away, Lü Bu reached out and pulled Zhang Yang to sit down, saying, "Now that Cao Cao has been defeated and fled, and official business is finished, we are only here to reminisce and discuss personal matters. You and I are elders of Zhao Yuansi, so why should an elder greet a junior?"

Zhang Yang was stunned. Lü Bu then looked at Qin Yilu and said, "Tell him this as well. I want to discuss the marriage between our two families here. Therefore, we will only talk about private matters and not state affairs during the meal."

"Here."

Qin Yilu readily agreed, bowed deeply, took five or six steps back, and then turned and strode away.

However, before Qin Yilu could return to the embankment, more than a dozen elite cavalrymen in purple robes rode up the earthen embankment. After confirming that there were no ambushes inside the embankment, these men dispersed to the left and right, and more knights rode up the embankment.

Lu Bu's guards, who were protecting the dike, were no match for Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji was taking advantage of the fact that these men dared not draw their swords.

If they dare not draw their swords, what kind of deterrent effect do they have?

Soon, more than a hundred knights occupied the embankment and took a detour down the riverbank. At this time, Zhao Ji drove his horse to the earthen embankment.

Looking at the curtain where Lü Bu was and the row of bound prisoners, Zhao Ji couldn't help but smile: "In this kind of era, how many people can be intimidated by killing?"

He concluded that Lü Bu's thinking might still be stuck in the previous version.

(End of this chapter)