Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 345 Provoking War
This is the voice of Taishi Ci. The ghost mask on his face is a Nuo ritual mask, which is a common sacrificial mask in the Jianghuai area.

Wearing this kind of mask often signifies some kind of sacrificial ritual...

For example, revenge.

As soon as he entered, Taishi Ci brandished his sword and lunged at the group.

"Help! There's a thief... Ah..."

Zhong Ji only had time to shout before he was slashed and before he could draw his sword. Then Taishi Ci kicked him, sending him sprawling to the ground where he lay motionless.

Upon seeing this, Dong Cheng turned and ran, but was forced back at the door by two assassins, both wearing ghost masks and wielding knives.

Those were two underworld soldiers.

The ghost masks were not only for concealing identities, but also for identifying them, because most of the underworld soldiers had become attendants or bodyguards of Luoyang officials, and they had to avoid accidentally harming friendly forces when committing crimes.

"No...don't kill me...uh..."

Wu Shuo was about to kneel down and beg for mercy, but Taishi Ci didn't even blink before stabbing Wu Shuo in the neck, killing him instantly.

Taishi Ci wiped the blade on Wu Shuo's body, then turned the masked ghost face to Dong Cheng: "Dong Cheng, do you remember the grudge against the seven hundred members of the Yuan family?"

"Your Excellency... Your Excellency is a member of the Yuan family? This was not my intention; I was merely following orders..."

Dong Cheng waved his hand and took a few steps back: "I am a relative of the Empress Dowager and have a sworn brotherhood with the Minister of Works. If you can spare me, I can have any high position, wealth, and beautiful women you desire with just a word..."

"Hmph... Empress Dowager Dong? Dong Zhuo? Brother Gonglu will soon lead his troops into Luoyang, and none of you surnamed Dong will live... Today, I will use you as a sacrifice!"

Having said that, Taishi Ci swung his sword and struck.

Dong Cheng covered his head with his hands and tried to escape, but one of his hands was cut off.

"You're one of Yuan Shu's men?! Guards!"

Knowing he was doomed, Dong Cheng clutched his severed arm and howled loudly.

Dong Cheng killed the entire Yuan family. If Yuan Shu were determined to take revenge, then this would indeed be the path he would take, since everyone knows that Yuan Shu has associated with many bandits.

"Well……"

Taishi Ci didn't delay any longer. He leaped forward, severed Dong Cheng's neck with a single stroke, and hung his head on the roof beam.

This looks like a ritual of revenge.

Just as they finished hanging up Dong Cheng's head, a voice came from outside the door: "The city guards are here!"

Taishi Ci glanced back at Zhong Ji, who was huddled under the bed with his eyes closed and motionless, then turned and left the scene.

Taishi Ci was able to appear at Dong Cheng's house so easily because two of his underworld soldiers had successfully applied for jobs there—the same two underworld soldiers who hadn't made a move earlier.

In reality, you don't need to become a high-ranking official by the enemy's side to succeed an undercover agent; even being a regular security guard would suffice...

Soon after, a squad of city guards rushed into the house and found bloodstains and severed limbs scattered all over the floor.

Dong Cheng's head was still swaying on the roof beam.

At this moment, Zhong Ji, who had been pretending to be dead with his eyes closed, moved slightly, covered in blood: "...cough...save me..."

Taishi Ci's sword strike after entering the room landed diagonally on Zhong Ji's shoulder, neck, and chest. The wounds looked large and gruesome, but they were not fatal.

This was obviously intentional.

……

the next day.

The murder of Dong Cheng at home shocked the entire city of Luoyang.

As the only surviving eyewitness, Zhong Ji concluded that the murderer must have been sent by Yuan Shu to avenge the killing of his family.

The sight of severed heads hanging on the scene certainly suggests a desire for revenge.

"The Yuan family has countless retainers. Yuan Shao once kept thousands of assassins, and Yuan Shu also colluded with bandits everywhere. Now, who knows how many of their henchmen are hiding in Luoyang..."

When Empress Dowager Dong learned of this, she was terrified and immediately summoned Dong Zhuo for a meeting: "We must cleanse Luoyang! And we must quickly destroy Yuan Shu! Otherwise, none of us will have a peaceful day!"

Empress Dowager Dong is not actually that old, only fifty-two, a year younger than Dong Zhuo.

But perhaps his life in the past two years was too exciting, he looks old and looks very old, which is in stark contrast to the greasy and energetic Fatty Dong.

"Don't be impatient... There won't be too many bandits in Luoyang. Just keep a close watch on the palace."

Dong Zhuo was also somewhat uneasy, though he didn't actually care whether Dong Cheng lived or died.

The Yuan family wanted revenge, so they would naturally try to eliminate the Dong family by any means necessary.

But Dong Zhuo was Dong Cheng's sworn brother and, in name, Empress Dowager Dong's nephew. Moreover, Dong Zhuo was currently protecting Empress Dowager Dong. At least in the eyes of the people, Dong Zhuo and Empress Dowager Dong's family were no different.

Dong Zhuo knew that Yuan Shu would indeed target him as well.

Whether it was to inherit the family fortune or to seek revenge, Yuan Shu would deal with the Dong family of Longyou together.

Furthermore, Dong Zhuo knew that Yuan Shu was a chivalrous person who would definitely seek revenge. The reason Yuan Shu hadn't caused trouble before was simply because he had been stationed in Runan and Huainan.

Now that Yuan Shu has secretly entered Nanyang, Dong Zhuo sees it as inevitable that trouble will break out.

"Brother Zhong, shall we send troops to Nanyang?"

Yin Dongmin from Henan asked from the side.

"First, seal off Luoyang. You guard the Forbidden City and have Huanglang protect Xiaobai well... We can discuss the attack next year." Dong Zhuo shook his head and said, "First, conduct a thorough search of Luoyang and purge the remaining Yuan clan members within the city. Otherwise, internal unrest will make it easy for the enemy to take advantage of the situation."

As for assassins, Dong Zhuo had seen plenty of them; he wouldn't panic like Empress Dowager Dong.

Sending troops out in autumn or winter is not a good choice. Even if we were to launch a major campaign against Yuan Shu, we should wait until after the ancestral worship ceremony at Mount Tai and the establishment of the Dong-Bai alliance.

Luoyang was sealed off, and the entire city was placed under lockdown, with no one allowed to leave. Subsequently, Dong Zhuo and Dong Min led troops to search Luoyang thoroughly, detaining anyone suspected of 'colluding with Yuan Shu'.

Because of the incident involving Dong Cheng in the city, Dong Zhuo ordered his nephew Dong Huang to send Dong Bai to Bi Gui Yuan in the east of Luoyang City for strict protection.

Bi Gui Garden is located outside Luoyang City. It is a royal garden with an imperial palace inside, and it is also where Dong Zhuo's troops are currently stationed.

It is certainly safer under the strict protection of the military.

Dong Huang is the son of Dong Zhuo, the elder brother of Dong Zhuo, and currently serves as a Colonel of the Central Army.

At present, Dong Zhuo's main force is the Luoyang Imperial Guards. This Commander of the Central Army actually leads Dong Zhuo's main central army.

The previous head of the central army was Niu Fu. After Niu Fu became the governor of Bingzhou, Dong Zhuo's main force was taken over by Dong Huang.

The problem is that when Niu Fu was organizing his troops in Luoyang, he also incorporated some underworld soldiers...

Mingzu and Zhang Baiqi had both followed Duan Jiong in fighting the Qiang people on the Liangzhou battlefield. They both came from Hedong, Sanfu, or Liangzhou. Their origins were completely the same as those of Dong Zhuo's troops, and they had no flaws in Dong Zhuo's army.

There are currently about five or six underworld soldiers in Dong Huang's army, and they haven't done any other tasks in the past year.

They only began their operation after Zhang Bai left secret markings on the city gates and official road of Luoyang.

It wasn't about dealing with Dong Bai... The few underworld soldiers were just lowly soldiers in Dong Huang's army, unable to get close to important figures. They only caused a fire at Bi Guiyuan's horse farm.

This is a horse farm in a park, not a military camp, and it's also the place with the most hay, so it would be easy for the people inside to start a small fire.

The fire did not cause any casualties, but only burned a few haystacks.

The hay barns in the horse farm were all next to the stables. The burning of the hay barns frightened many warhorses, causing them to run out of the stables and creating considerable chaos.

Dong Huang quickly dispatched men to put out the fire, and then retrieved the horses, only to find that Dong Zhuo and Dong Huang's own mounts were missing.

Actually, it was taken by the underworld soldiers who set the fire, because they needed to escape, and good horses run fast...

Zhang Baiqi's task for the underworld soldiers was simple: set fires, then take advantage of the chaos to steal the best warhorses and escape south.

These underworld soldiers rode off on their best horses and fled in different directions. Although their whereabouts were discovered by the outer guards, they were not caught.

After all, they had taken the best horses from the army without having to do anything else.

Once they escaped, their mission was complete.

This matter itself was not a serious problem, but Dong Huang was very uneasy—after Dong Cheng was killed, anyone would see this as someone trying to harm Dong Bai.

He then placed the palace within the Bi Gui Garden under strict lockdown and dispatched a small force to pursue the enemy southwards.

Actually, this matter has nothing to do with Dong Bai; it was just psychological manipulation.

Subsequently, Taishi Ci and Zhang Baiqi gathered dozens of underworld soldiers and intercepted and killed several scouts sent out by Dong Huang to pursue them in the southern part of Bi Gui Garden.

After the killings, they headed south again and ambushed and killed several scouts on the official road between Luoyang and Nanyang.

This time, Taishi Ci even broke the ghost mask in half, leaving half of the mask in the hands of a slain Dong army scout.

There was a slight mishap during the interception of the scouts; two of the underworld soldiers were accidentally killed by Dong Zhuo's scouts, proving that Dong Zhuo's troops were still very strong.

Special operations missions are inherently dangerous. After suffering casualties, Taishi Ci and Zhang Baiqi did not continue to intercept Dong Jun's scouts, but instead quickly headed towards Luyang.

Upon seeing the ghost mask in the hands of the dead scout, Dong Huang quickly sent someone to report the matter to Dong Zhuo, and at the same time intensified the pursuit southward.

After all, this was no longer just about catching thieves. The deaths of more than a dozen scouts had to be accounted for, and the enemy was always ahead, seemingly within easy reach with a little effort.

Taishi Ci and his men continued to flee south, occasionally deliberately leaving their tracks behind, which led Dong's army to search all the way to the northern suburbs of Luyang County.

Luyang was the northernmost county of Nanyang Commandery, bordering Henan Yin.

At this time, Yuan Shu was taking over the counties of Nanyang. Luyang was in an important position, so Yuan Shu sent many people to defend the county town and also sent many soldiers to plunder outside the county.

At this time, Taishi Ci and Zhang Baiqi secretly intercepted and killed several of Yuan Shu's scouts.

Moreover, this time they were dressed in the uniforms of Dong Zhuo's army, and they even sent two scouts to escape—the soldiers who had previously joined Niu Fu's army were dressed in the uniforms of Dong Zhuo's army.

Upon hearing that his scouts had encountered Dong Zhuo's troops and even fought a "scout battle," Yuan Shu immediately ordered his troops to march north and seize advantageous terrain.

The minor skirmish created by Taishi Ci escalated into a full-blown skirmish.

……

The next day.

Li Ru was advising Dong Zhuo: "Lord Dong, launching a full-scale war against Yuan Shu at this time would not benefit you. It would be better to send a general to garrison Yangren (a small town in southern Henan) and subdue them for the time being..."

At that moment, Dong Zhuo received a military report from Dong Huang: "Report! Our troops were attacked by Yuan Shu's forces in the northern part of Luyang. The enemy has a large number of troops, and our troops have suffered nearly a thousand casualties!"

Yuan Shu has already launched an attack, so there's no way we can afford not to fight back.

Dong Zhuo gritted his teeth and ordered: "Let Hu Zhen lead the army to quickly capture Luyang... Send an order to Niu Fu to transfer all troops from Bingzhou and Yongzhou to Henan Yin... to attack Yuan Shu!"

Li Ru sighed and shut his mouth.

(End of this chapter)