Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 191 Sixth Brother, did you do this on purpose?

Cao Yan's large cavalry force suddenly appeared, throwing the Xiliang army into disarray. Some soldiers even cried out in alarm.
Where did so many cavalrymen come from in the Central Plains?

"No, those are our Xiliang warhorses!"

"Damn it, they stole so many of our warhorses during the Battle of Anyi!"

"I understand! Cao Cao's army is trying to provoke us, then kill us and steal our horses!!!"

"General, let's return to the city! We can't let their treacherous scheme succeed!"

"..."

At this time, the sky was already getting light.

In the morning light,

Zhang Xiu could clearly see the overwhelming horde of Cao Cao's cavalry, and he felt a little panicked.

He now only has the three thousand cavalrymen he brought from Guanzhong; the rest are infantrymen either funded by Liu Biao or recruited by him.

How could they possibly be a match for this pack of ferocious flying dragon cavalry and Zhao Yun's pincer attack?
But they had already run more than a mile away from the city, and it wouldn't be so easy for them to retreat.

Left with no other choice, Zhang Xiu ordered his army to form ranks on the spot and prepare to deal with the attack.

These infantrymen had never seen the formation of ten thousand cavalry charging before. Even when they were still five or six hundred paces away, some of them threw down their weapons and ran away.

A resolute look appeared on Zhang Xiu's face. "A scholar can be killed, but not humiliated! Even if I die on the spot today, I will seek justice for my aunt!!"

However, Cao Yan did not order an attack, but stopped two hundred paces away.

This was just a trap he set up; naturally, there was no need to push Zhang Xiu to his death.

At the same time, Cao Cao also led his army toward this side.

Cao Chun, the vanguard, and Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, the left and right flanks, arrived one after another, followed by Cao Cao's central army.

Zhang Xiu's soldiers were already in despair, and more and more were deserting. The only ones who could hold their ground were his original subordinates.

Zhao Yun did not continue his charge, but instead detoured back to the Flying Dragon Cavalry formation.

Just as they approached within fifty meters of Cao Yan, Cao Yan received a system notification.
[Congratulations, host! You have met all the requirements for the Zhao Yun attribute upgrade quest. The quest is successfully completed!]

Zhao Yun's skill description "A hundred paces, an arrow through a willow leaf" has been successfully upgraded to "Seven in and seven out!"

[Obtained purple attribute: Hundred Steps Piercing Willow (Purple) *1, Obtained blueprint: Steel Forging Method *1]

[Seven In, Seven Out (Gold)]:
被动：每次普攻命中后迭加1层“枪魂”（上限7层），每层提升2%暴击率与3%攻速；迭满7层时，下一次攻击将无视防御的真实伤害。

Active: Zhao Yun locks onto an enemy general and can launch 7 charges, dealing 150% damage to all enemies in the path and 70 + (charges * 10)% true damage to the locked enemy general.

Cao Yan's lips curled slightly as he thought to himself, "Zhao Zilong with [Dragon Gall Silver Soul (Gold)] plus [Seven In and Seven Out (Gold)] is simply invincible!"

At this moment, Cao Cao arrived at the front of the battle and shouted to Zhang Xiu, "General Zhang, I treated you with sincerity, why did you betray me and kill me?"

Zhang Xiu roared, "You traitor Cao! You insulted my aunt! I will never forgive you!"

"?" Old Cao asked in confusion, "I haven't even seen your aunt's face, how could I insult her?"

Zhang Xiu glared angrily at Cao Cao and shouted, "Yesterday, my personal guards saw you send men to abduct my aunt into her room. And you still dare to deny it?"

You lecherous scoundrel, committing such an insulting act, I will never forgive you!

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao frowned and said with a puzzled look, "Yesterday I was completely drunk and slept very soundly. I don't even know if I touched your aunt or whether she even entered my room."

Zhang Xiu was not about to believe him. He snorted and said, "You scoundrel Cao, do you think I'm a three-year-old child who can be so easily fooled? If you didn't have any ill intentions towards my aunt, why did you send someone to take her away?"

"That little bastard Cao Anmin, he's always causing me trouble..." Cao Cao now wished he could hang Cao Anmin up and beat him.

However, Zhang Xiu still had to explain himself; he couldn't let the blame fall on him.

He said, “General Zhang, I, Cao Cao, have always respected heroes and great men, and I have done the same for you, Zhang Xiu. How could I have done something so disgraceful? Perhaps one of my men was ignorant and offended your aunt. I will teach him a lesson later and make him come to apologize to you, General!”

Zhang Xiu was furious when Cao Cao refused to admit it.

Cao Cao suddenly realized that something was amiss.

Logically speaking, I didn't drink that much last night, so how could I be so drunk that I was completely unconscious?
Cao Cao became suspicious and decided to find out the truth from the people involved. He quickly summoned Cao Yan and Cao Ang and asked, "Zian, Ang, what exactly happened that day? Tell me the truth."

Cao Ang glanced at Cao Yan cautiously, then said, "Father, Zhang Xiu's aunt was indeed brought to your camp yesterday."

But you were so drunk you were completely unconscious and didn't touch her.

Later, I wanted to send someone to take her back, but Zhang Xiu's men were already blocking the door.

After my uncle came in, he told us to take you out of the city first, and I don't know what happened after that..."

Cao Ang kicked the ball to Cao Yan's feet.

Cao Cao stared at Cao Yan with suspicion and asked, "Zi'an, what did you do later?"

Cao Yan revealed a harmless smile and slowly said, "Zou is in Zhang Xiu's residence, but I told her to come out of the cellar after dawn."

"After dawn...come out of the cellar?" Cao Cao was taken aback upon hearing this, then a thought flashed through his mind, and he asked, "You old rascal! Confess honestly, did you set your sights on their warhorses and deliberately provoke a war?"

Cao Ang was also shocked.

Hearing his father's words, he suddenly realized, "If it were my uncle, he might really be capable of doing such a thing!"

"Boom!"

"Ouch!!"

Cao Yan flicked Cao Ang on the head, making him cover his head and squat down.

He couldn't say he was doing this to complete Dian Wei and Zhao Yun's mission, so he came up with an explanation: "Zhang Xiu still has 20,000 troops. After surrendering to our army, his strength surpasses that of most of our generals. May I ask, elder brother, how will you deal with him?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao fell into deep thought.

Should we let him keep these soldiers?

It's certainly not a good thing to let a surrendered general keep more soldiers than most generals. No matter where you put him, he won't feel at ease.

Reduce the number of soldiers?

Zhang Xiu would definitely be very resistant, and might even surrender and then rebel again, which would be very troublesome.

But after Cao Yan's disturbance, Zhang Xiu will lose most of his soldiers, which will greatly reduce his potential threat.

At that time, even if Cao Cao transferred him to other places, or even the heartland, he would no longer have so many concerns.

Having thought all this through, Cao Cao couldn't help but say to Cao Ang, "Ang'er, you've been by your uncle's side for so many years, how come you haven't learned the essence of his military strategy? You can't even see such a simple principle?"

"You didn't figure it out either?" Cao Ang thought to himself. Then, looking aggrieved, he said, "I've tried my best, but Uncle is simply unfathomable..."

After figuring out the ins and outs of the matter, Cao Cao made his decision.

He reined in his horse and said to Zhang Xiu, "General Zhang, let's stop arguing here. You can send someone back to your mansion in the city to find Zou Shi and have her come to confront you face to face. The truth will then come to light."

Zhang Xiu hesitated for a moment, then realized that Cao Cao's words made sense.

He gritted his teeth and sent two trusted confidants on horseback to rush back to the city to find Zou.

At this time, the morale of Zhang Xiu's soldiers had already collapsed. Some fled, some scattered, and those who remained were filled with fear and anxiety.

Cao Cao's army, on the other hand, remained on high alert but did not take the opportunity to launch an attack.

Not long after, the two confidants finally arrived in a hurry with Zou Shi.

Ms. Zou looked haggard, but she forced herself to walk forward.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Xiu hurried over and asked with concern, "Auntie, are you alright? What exactly happened yesterday?"

Although Zou was tired, her clothes were intact and she looked normal.

She said, "Xiu'er, I was indeed forced into Cao Cao's room yesterday, but no one touched me."

Later, a handsome general came in and told me to hide in the cellar and come out at dawn…

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiu froze on the spot. "It really is a misunderstanding?!"

He himself, due to a misunderstanding, rashly rebelled, causing his soldiers to fall into this predicament!
(End of this chapter)