I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 318 Shameless!
When Liu Miao arrived in Wancheng, Wen Ping was alarmed to see that Liu Miao had not only not retreated but had come to the front line: "Why has our lord come to this place?"

"What? Yuan Shao can come, but I can't?"

Liu Miao urged Wen Ping, "Enough talk, hurry up and prepare hot water, hot food, and hot wine! We can talk about the rest later!"

Zhou Yu insisted on going with Liu Miao, and Liu Miao couldn't dissuade him: "Fine, let's wash together! We'll talk while we wash!"

Two large wooden tubs were placed in the courtyard. Liu Miao was the first to enter the tub. The sharp pain in his groin made him cry out, but then the warmth of the hot water greatly relieved his fatigue, making Liu Miao groan comfortably.

Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, but still turned his back to Liu Miao and removed his armor.

"Gongjin! Everyone is out there working day and night, how come you're the only one who's as white as milk? Look at your butt, it's practically reflecting light!"

"Pfft!"

Ignoring the injuries between his legs, Zhou Yu jumped directly into the tub, looking at Liu Miao with resentment.

"Ha ha!"

Liu Miao tilted his head back, lay on the edge of the wooden tub, and let out a comfortable sigh.

At this point, Zhou Yu finally asked Liu Miao, "Why did you suddenly return to Wancheng, my lord?"

"Gongjin, stop asking questions you already know the answer to. Li Yan and Wen Ping can't guess what I'm thinking, so why can't you?"

Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment: "Is our lord doing this for the Han Dynasty?"

"good."

Liu Miao shook his neck a couple of times. Although the pain following the stiffness was intense, it was accompanied by an unexpected pleasure.

"Cao Cao was betrayed by his friend and retreated to Xuchang. If I were to back down as well, the Han Dynasty would probably be doomed."

"Moreover, given Yuan Shao's personality, he has probably already spread the news that I have died in Hedong or Guanzhong to many places across the land. Now that I have stepped forward, the rumors will naturally be dispelled without a fight, and order can be restored to places like Yangzhou and Jingzhou as quickly as possible."

Liu Miao looked up at the sky and said, "Even now, I still can't believe Cao Cao could lose."

"Xun Yu is really something, actually letting Xu You succeed at a time like this. Where has his talent as a prime minister gone?"

Zhou Yu spoke up for Cao Cao, saying, "No one would believe that their close friend, whom they had kindly taken in, would turn on them at this time."

"Well said! The farmer and the snake!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Liu Miao stood up, his muscular physique gleaming in the sunlight, glistening with water droplets: "That's right, Cao Cao is a bastard! He doesn't even know the true nature of his own friend, he deserves to be bitten back!"

"Youping, bring me some salt!"

"Here!"

Zhou Yu gave Liu Miao a strange look: "What does my lord need salt for?"

"You'll find out later!"

Then, to Zhou Yu's astonishment, Liu Miao rubbed a handful of coarse salt between his legs, making Zhou Yu grimac in empathy.

"To prevent sores!"

Although Liu Miao was in great pain, he endured the agony and walked towards Zhou Yu with the salt, saying, "Gongjin, have some too!"

"No!!!"

Subsequently, Gu Yong, who was still in Xiangyang, received an order to inexplicably transport a batch of salt to Nanyang.

Yuan Shao also received Liu Miao's challenge.

Upon hearing Liu Miao's outrageous remarks, Yuan Shao stretched his legs, which he could move freely, and a mocking expression appeared on his face.

"So eager to die? Does Liu Miao think he's invincible just because he taught that rebellious son a lesson twice?"

Yuan Shao suddenly felt bored.

After gathering the Yuan army scattered downstream of the Baishui River, Yuan Shao led his army north again, successively capturing the counties along the way, forcing the local people to flee to Wancheng, where they recounted the strength of the Yuan army.

After resting in bed for two days, Liu Miao was back to his energetic self and able to walk again.

The other generals, though their eyes were filled with resentment when they saw Liu Miao, were also amazed.

In the past, such severe injuries would have required at least ten days of rest for a full recovery. While Liu Miao's act of throwing salt into the water was both wasteful and immoral, it undeniably made everyone recover remarkably quickly!
"Is your injury healed? If it is, come with me to see Yuan Shao! According to the scouts, Yuan Shao should be arriving today!"

Liu Miao and his generals climbed the city wall and quietly looked towards the horizon.

noon.

The horizon at the edge of the wilderness was swallowed by the dark torrent. A commander's flag embroidered with the golden character "Yuan" pierced the blazing sun first, its crimson banners fluttering in the wind, followed by a continuous stretch of blue banners for dozens of miles, like the scales of a lurking black dragon, making even the bright sun pale in comparison.

The muffled thud of iron hooves striking the ground caused the city walls of Wancheng to crack. Thousands of Hebei cavalrymen, clad in tiger-striped iron armor, jingled in unison with copper bells adorning their bridles, stirring up a vast expanse of yellow sand.

The supply train churned over the cracked loess road, its iron-wrapped wooden wheels groaning heavily. Eight hundred black-lacquered war chariots were loaded with sacks of millet and piles of hay.

Behind the chariot formation, 30,000 elite soldiers from Jizhou were arrayed in a fish-scale formation: spears and halberds stood like a forest of thorns covering the sky, black armor and lamellar armor merged into a vast iron-colored ocean in the dust and smoke, and the red turbans of the soldiers' hair tied up resembled surging waves of blood.

When the city walls of Wancheng came into view, the curtain of the central army's sandalwood chariot moved slightly, revealing half of the tassels of Diao Chan's golden crown.

As Yuan Shao rode in his carriage, he saw the large banner with the character "Liu" on the city wall of Wancheng, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips once again.

"You invited me to fight, but you're hiding in the city yourself... If word gets out, I wonder how many people will laugh at you!"

The Baishui River outside the city served as a natural moat around Wancheng. Yuan Shao was not in a hurry to cross the river first, but instead stationed himself on the east side, facing Liu Miao across the water.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Yuan Shao remained silently observing Liu Miao from his carriage, making no attempt to conceal his domineering nature. Liu Miao, having witnessed Yuan Shao's actions, slammed his fist heavily against the wall in a fit of rage: "Overbearing arrogance! You're courting death!"

Everyone has imagined how powerful Yuan Shao was.

Everyone knows the true value of Yuan Shao as the overlord of Hebei and the number one warlord.

However, when they actually saw Yuan Shao's army in person, everyone was still on high alert.

Yuan Shao's army was no weaker than any elite force they had ever encountered.

To be not weaker than that is already quite terrifying.

After all, what was truly terrifying about Yuan Shao was not the quality of his soldiers, but their sheer number.

With the mobilization capacity of the Fubing system and the help of the water network, Liu Miao was able to raise an army of 100,000 in places like Langya and Nanyang, but the number decreased sharply further north.

Yuan Shao, on the other hand, was indeed able to muster an army of 100,000 and meet their logistical needs, sending this army to fight in Nanyang and even further south.

Those chariots loaded with grain and supplies, and countless livestock, were things that made Liu Miao's mouth water.

"Hebei is really rich!"

The other generals also looked solemn.

The gap between the North and the South remains as vast as an insurmountable chasm!

Such a formidable barrier cannot be overcome by simply working hard for a few years.

Why should the North, with its hundreds or thousands of years of accumulated experience, be able to catch up with the South in just a few years or even a decade?

Liu Miao slapped his forehead in regret: "If I had known Yuan Shao was so rich, I should have asked for more when we were in Langya, and when we returned his son!"

Just as Liu Miao was feeling frustrated, a rider charged out from Yuan's army on the opposite side, stood on the bank of the Baishui River, and shouted to Wancheng: "Liu Miao! Now you have invited Lord Yuan here, but you neither fight nor retreat. What exactly do you want?"

Liu Miao chuckled twice: "This is better than when Lord Yuan used a fake flag to scare me back in Langya!"

"To be honest, the reason I invited Lord Yuan here was to offer him my head! I'm just afraid that Lord Yuan doesn't have the ability to take it now!"

Faced with Yuan Shao's provocation, Liu Miao remained unmoved and instead provoked Yuan Shao once again.

Yuan Shao sneered upon hearing this: "Truly shameless!"

“Tell him I’m coming right now to take his head and make him wash his neck clean!”

Yuan Jun's scout shouted at Liu Miao, who immediately replied, "Don't worry! I've washed myself very clean! I've even marinated myself with salt! When Lord Yuan makes me into meat soup, I guarantee it will be fragrant even without adding salt!"

"..."

Yuan Shao shook his head in annoyance: "I thought he was at least half a hero, but I didn't expect him to be a local ruffian!"

"Order the three armies to boil three pots of water in front of the battle formation, and write the names of Liu Miao, Zhou Yu, and Taishi Ci on them respectively!"

Yuan Shao thought this move would intimidate Liu Miao and his troops, but to his surprise, Liu Miao shouted, "Lord Yuan! We have too many people! Three pots aren't enough! Can you cook a few more?"

"You can't show favoritism! Only write Gongjin and Ziyi's names! Otherwise, the others around me won't be happy!"

After Liu Miao finished speaking, he left it to the others to elaborate.

"That's right! Yuan Shao! You bastard, do you look down on your grandfather Zhou Tai?"

"Yuan Shao! Ask your son! Who killed him at the Longmen Ferry and faked his death to escape?"

"Yuan Shao! Write mine! Write mine! My name has few strokes! It's just the two characters 【Huang Zhong】!"

"..."

Yuan Jun, who was on the other side, was dumbfounded.

When they first saw it, they were vying to have their names written on the boiling cauldron!
Do Liu Miao's generals think this is something glorious?

Even more shocking things happened!

Yuan Shao seemed genuinely angry, and ordered several more pots of boiling water to be boiled, with the names of Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, Zhang Liao, Huang Zhong, and others written on them.

But this only caused an even bigger uproar on Liu Miao's side!
Originally, if only Zhou Yu and Taishi Ci were mentioned, there wouldn't be much for others to say, since the two were indeed founding heroes.

But you've added so many people but not me. Do you look down on me?

Immediately, the generals whose names weren't written down continued to hurl insults at the Yuan army below, while the generals whose names were written down beamed with pride: "Look! My name's down there! Hehe!"

"..."

Yuan Jun below was also completely helpless.

"How come Liu Miao's men are all such a bunch of scoundrels?"

Moreover, Yuan Jun soon discovered that boiling so many large pots of water was too wasteful of wood, and he moved the pots away on the very second day.

"Yuan Shao! You bastard! Where did you put Grandpa's pot?"

"Yuan Shao! Put the pot out here! Someone insisted yesterday that my name wasn't on it! I'm furious!"

"..."

Yuan Shao looked helplessly at the city walls of Wancheng: "Liu Miao and his ilk... they don't seem very bright at all?"

(End of this chapter)