I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 56 Chen Wen's Assassination Attempt
Huainan, Bagong Mountain.

Mount Bagong, also known as Mount Huai, Mount Chu, and Mount Shouchun, derives its name from the eight retainers of Liu An, the King of Huainan during the Han Dynasty: Zuo Wu, Li Shang, Su Fei, Tian You, Mao Bei, Lei Bei, Wu Bei, and Jin Chang. Legend has it that the King of Huainan and these eight men climbed the mountain and buried gold there, ascending to heaven in broad daylight. The remaining elixir remained in a vessel; when the chickens and dogs licked it, they all became immortals. This is the origin of the idiom "When one attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."

Besides its beautiful scenery and traces of immortals, Bagong Mountain, together with the Huai River, forms the Huainan direction. It allows the south bank to have a commanding view and observe the movements of the north bank at any time, making it impossible for the north bank to hide the movement of its soldiers and troops, and completely exposing them to the defenders!
Governor Chen Wen and Yuan Yi stood under a thatched hut on Mount Bagong, looking at the military strength of Yuan Shu's army on the opposite bank, and each had their own feelings.

"If this place were a plain or hilly area, how could I have the courage to resist when Yuan Shu led his army to attack?"

On Mount Bagong, the two could not see the specific details of Yuan's camp, but could only see tens of thousands of felt tents lined up one after another, like countless beetles with their fangs bared, crawling on the shore to drink water.

The river, reflecting the cold glint of weapons, surged forward, its reflection a jumble of palisades and chevaux-de-frise. Smoke rising from the camp blocked out the sunlight, disorienting even migrating birds, leaving them stranded in mid-air.

An army of this size is something that most people have probably never seen in their entire lives!
The thought of becoming their enemy, even if separated by a great river or standing on a mountain, still fills me with trepidation and fear.

"Fortunately, the Huai River has abundant water this year, and even though it is already winter, the shallows have not been exposed."

This was probably the only good news for Chen Wen, Yuan Yi, and others.

The absence of shallows meant that although Yuan Shu's army was large, it could not cross the river on a large scale.

Using the Huai River as a hindrance to prevent Yuan Shu from leveraging his superior military strength is the only hope for this battle!
The two believed that as long as they could unite and mobilize the troops in Jiujiang, they might be able to achieve great things with limited resources and prevent Yuan Shu from entering Huainan from the north bank of the Huai River!
After watching for a while, the two felt increasingly dizzy and fearful, so they went back to the thatched hut to drink and chat.

"General Zhou Ang will be back tomorrow."

"With the assistance of his elite Danyang troops, this battle is no longer a worry!"

"So good!"

Yuan Shu's army had no ships, and our side had the advantage of timing and terrain, which undoubtedly increased our chances of winning!
Ignoring Yuan Shu's overwhelming military might, Chen Wen's fear gradually subsided, and he even felt a surge of pride!

"Now, standing before the vast army, the two of us remain calm and chat about interesting things. Even the best generals of the past could not be so composed."

Yuan Yi smiled and stroked his beard: "Indeed! It seems that neither of us lacks the qualities of a great general in this era!"

"Hahahahaha!"

It's truly rare to see someone so unrestrained and carefree in front of a large army!

Chen Wen drank several cups in a row, then realized the pot was empty. He immediately called out to those behind him, "Bring another pot of wine!"

A waiter limped forward, his movements quite comical.

Chen Wen was immediately embarrassed and annoyed.

We're talking about military affairs! We're talking about heroic spirit! How come there's such a spoilsport here?
Upon closer inspection, he realized that this person was the servant he had previously punished with a stick, which only increased his annoyance: "Since your injury hasn't healed, why are you serving me? Are you here to humiliate me?"

The waiter shook his head, but his movements didn't slow down at all; he charged straight at Chen Wen!

Chen Wen then realized something was wrong, but it was too late!
Suddenly, the other party drew a sharp blade from his chest, took three steps in two, came in front of Chen Wen, and stabbed it into Chen Wen's chest!
Chen Wen's eyes widened: "You traitorous dog!"

"I am a disciple of the Yuan family! You dare to challenge me as your master?"

As he spoke, he stabbed Chen Wen seven or eight more times until Chen Wen was too exhausted to even curse. Then the guards rushed forward and cut him in half at the waist.

"what?"

"what!"

Yuan Yi remained in a daze throughout.

Only when he watched Chen Wen breathe his last and felt Chen Wen's blood splatter on his face did he scream twice in surprise!
It was at this moment that everyone realized what was happening.

Chen Wen.

A renowned scholar of his generation.

The dignified Prefect of Yangzhou.

He actually died right in front of everyone? Yuan Yi stared blankly at the pool of blood and flesh in front of him, feeling a chill run down his spine!

The Yuan family of Runan has students and former officials all over the world!

Just as he himself was able to know about the quarrel between Liu Miao and Chen Yu through the connections of the Yuan family of Runan, why couldn't Yuan Shu, a direct descendant of the Yuan family, use the Yuan family's connections to assassinate a governor?

Yuan Yi looked in horror across the Huai River at the cannibalistic camp.

It wasn't until this moment that he realized—

Yuan Shu was certainly inferior to Yuan Shao, and even inferior to Cao Cao...

But he was ultimately a warlord in a chaotic world! In fact, he was one of the heroes who started this chaotic era!

Chen Wen and I are just Confucian scholars who have read some books, yet we actually want to resist such people?

Yuan Yi's throat was dry, and with his last ounce of strength, he ordered his trusted confidants:
"Quickly send a letter to Lord Yuan! Tell him there's been a change in Huainan!!!"

……

The sound of cavalry hooves drew closer.

The person approaching was none other than Lu Kang, the nearly eighty-year-old prefect of Lujiang!
For Lu Kang to be working so hard at his age, something truly extraordinary must have happened!

As Lu Kang rode his warhorse, he felt as if the jolting was turning his old bones into dust.

Even so, Lu Kang was unwilling to slow down even slightly and continued heading east!

"Zhongshan, Zhongshan, why are you nowhere to be found at such a crucial moment?"

It turns out that after Liu Miao recaptured Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai that day, he did not return to Shuxian County, but instead went south along the Ruxu River and stopped at the water mouth between Ruxu Mountain and Qibao Mountain, as if he was going to build a fortified village.

Lu Kang guessed that Liu Miao was probably the only one in the entire Huainan who had the leisure to repair the fortified village at a time like this.

As Lu Kang approached the area, he immediately asked Zhou Yu to lead him to see Liu Miao.

Upon hearing what Lu Kang had to say, Zhou Yu's expression changed drastically. The usually composed Zhou Gongjin actually jogged all the way to Liu Miao's tent.

"Lord Liu! Something terrible has happened!"

Zhou Yu abruptly flung open the tent flap, his fists clenched. Though his emotions were running high, he had to lower his voice and say to Liu Miao, "Chen Wen is dead!!!"

"Oh."

"???"

Zhou Yu had assumed that Liu Miao would be just as shocked as he was!
That's Chen Wen! The governor of Yangzhou!

On the eve of Yuan Shu's arrival in Huainan, the news of such a figure's death only elicited an "oh" from Liu Miao?
Zhou Yu suspected that Liu Miao hadn't heard him clearly, so he repeated himself: "Chen Wen is dead! It's that Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou!"

Liu Miao's ears were so shaken by Zhou Yu's roar that they fell out, and he quickly reached out his little finger to pick them out.

"I don't know any other Chen Wen! He's dead, so why are you yelling so loudly?"

Zhou Yu stamped his foot: "That's Chen Wen! Does Lord Liu know how much Chen Wen's death will affect the current situation in Huainan?"

Liu Miao's gaze toward Zhou Yu grew increasingly strange.

"Didn't we already know that Yuan Shu's arrival in Huainan would inevitably bring about tremendous changes?"

"Besides... Chen Wen is just a prefect, after all. These days, even the emperor dies mysteriously, so what's so surprising about a prefect dying?"

(End of this chapter)