Tiger Owl

Chapter 297 Rescue of Lü Fan
Pan Zhang was also one of the pro-war faction in Jiangdong. After Dantu County was besieged, he was ordered to lead 20,000 troops to defend Dongcheng. With the assassination of Sun Quan, Jiangdong completely collapsed, and he also led 20,000 troops to surrender to Cao Cao's army.

Pan Zhang never expected that Cao Cao would transfer him to Sun Ben. Of course, Pan Zhang and Sun Ben had a very good personal relationship. During Sun Ce's time, Pan Zhang had robbed the people of their property many times and violated military law. He was almost killed several times, but Sun Ben saved him each time.

It was precisely because of this that Pan Zhang was relatively loyal to Sun Ben. This time, Sun Ben appointed him as the vanguard, leading 5,000 troops with half a month's worth of rations to rush to Yuzhang County and capture Yu County.

Seven days later, Pan Zhang led his army to Yu County. Yu County was clearly not expecting an army to suddenly arrive. There were no troops stationed in the city, only a few dozen old soldiers responsible for opening and closing the city gates. In order to protect the people, the county magistrate and a group of officials were forced to surrender. Pan Zhang occupied Yu County without bloodshed.

The county magistrate of Yu County was named Jiang Ying. He was brought before Pan Zhang by the soldiers. Jiang Ying was very glad that Pan Zhang did not allow his troops to plunder the people, so he was very polite to Pan Zhang.

"Greetings, General Pan!"

Pan Zhang waved his hand, "County Magistrate Jiang, please have a seat!"

Jiang Ying sat down tremblingly, and Pan Zhang asked, "How come there are tens of thousands of shi of grain in the granary?"

Pan Zhang found it strange. Yu County could only be considered a medium-sized county, so how could it have so much stored grain?
Jiang Ying gave a wry smile. "This is tax grain, transported from Nanchang County. Nanchang County is rebuilding its granaries and has no place to store grain for the time being. The tax grain in the warehouses had to be temporarily distributed to the warehouses of various counties. Our Yu County received 10,000 shi of grain, and there are handover records to prove it."

Jiang Ying's explanation was reasonable, and Pan Zhang believed it. They were running out of food supplies, and their dry rations would run out in a few days. This 10,000 shi of grain was a godsend.

Pan Zhang nodded and asked again, "Will Nanchang know that Yu County has been occupied?"

Jiang Ying thought for a moment, "Probably not!"

"why?"

"Because Yu County is not on the military's defense list, they do not have troops stationed in Yu County, or even observation posts. I think they should not know about the incident in Yu County."

"No way! Yu County isn't important?"

Pan Zhang found it a bit strange. Yu County was an absolutely important strategic location. How could the military not pay attention to it?
Jiang Ying noticed that Pan Zhang was starting to suspect something, so he quickly added, "Not to mention Yu County, even Nanchang County hasn't had a single soldier in the past few months. The army only arrived in Nanchang County in the last few days."

This statement immediately cleared up Pan Zhang's doubts. Indeed, for the past few months, the Western Chu army had been concentrated in Chaisang, and had not been able to take care of the hinterland, or even Nanchang, let alone Yu County.

However, since the Western Chu army's attention has begun to shift south, it is very likely that they will also pay attention to Yu County and send troops to garrison Yu County, which may lead to a major battle.

Pan Zhang immediately sent someone back to Sun Ben to request reinforcements of 10,000 men.

A month later, five thousand reinforcements arrived, but the Western Chu army never sent troops to Yu County. Pan Zhang was very nervous at first, but as time went by, he gradually relaxed his vigilance.

As autumn turned to winter, it was mid-November. In the Yingchuan Restaurant in Xuchang County, Lü Fan was drinking alone in a private room on the second floor. Not far from him stood two guards from the Imperial Household Department, arms crossed, coldly watching Lü Fan as he drank.

Lü Fan did not surrender to Cao Cao, so Cao Cao ordered him to be placed under house arrest in Xuchang. He was monitored and guarded by the Imperial Household Department. Every ten days, Lü Fan was allowed to go out for a drink, but he was still closely monitored by the Imperial Household Department guards. In addition to two guards who kept a close watch on him, there were five more Imperial Household Department guards outside the door, a total of eight people were responsible for guarding Lü Fan.

Today was the day for going out for drinks. Lü Fan ordered two jugs of wine and five or six dishes, and drank by himself.

Just then, two soft "clicks" were heard, and two guards from the Imperial Household Department suddenly clutched their necks and slowly collapsed. They tried to shout but could not make a sound. Each of them had a poisoned crossbow bolt stuck in their neck, and their necks and faces instantly turned black.

"Mr. Lü!"

Someone called out softly from the window. Lü Fan immediately got up and went to the window. Outside the window was not the main street, but the alley behind the restaurant.

"Come down quickly!"

A long, thick rope slid down from the window to the ground, where someone was waiting for him. Lü Fan glanced at the door of the elegant room; though extremely nervous, he didn't hesitate to grab the rope and slide down.

The two burly men caught him and immediately helped him into a light carriage parked in the alley. The carriage started and left the alley.

At this moment, shouts and screams could be faintly heard coming from inside the elegant room.
The atmosphere in Xuchang became tense. The city gates were quickly closed, and squads of soldiers ran through the streets. Guards from the Imperial Household Department searched inns throughout the city.

All the waterway checkpoints leading from Xuchang to various places were carefully inspecting and intercepting Lü Fan's escape.

The most dangerous place is also the safest place. Lü Fan did not leave Xuchang County. He hid in the cellar of a wine shop, which was the intelligence point set up by Western Chu in Xuchang.

In an effort to rescue Lü Fan, the Western Chu Intelligence Agency exhausted all its resources and finally discovered that Lü Fan had not been sent to Yedu, but was being held under house arrest in Xuchang, where he was being monitored and guarded by the Xuchang Military Affairs Office.

The rescue was handed over to the Xuchang intelligence station. It took them a month to figure out Lü Fan's current situation and find an opportunity to successfully rescue him from the restaurant.

This was also due to the negligence of the School Affairs Office. They did not take Lü Fan seriously, thinking he was just an ordinary official from Jiangdong. They never expected that Western Chu would use every means to save him.

Lu Fan was reading at a small table in the wine cellar when a waiter rushed in and said, "Sir, hide quickly! The soldiers are here to search!"

Lü Fan immediately crawled into an empty wine barrel, sealed the lid tightly, and soon a series of chaotic footsteps could be heard outside.

"Open the door!" came the fierce voice of the school guards from outside.

"Sir, this is just a wine cellar."

"Search the wine cellar too!"

With a clanging of chains, the cellar door was pushed open, and five or six guards from the Imperial Household Department entered.

When Cao Cao learned that Lü Fan had been rescued, he was furious and ordered General Chen Wei of the Imperial Secretariat to thoroughly search Xuchang. If he could not find Lü Fan, he was to bring his head to Cao Cao.

Chen Wei then realized that he had made a huge mistake by negligently letting Lü Fan go.

He began a city-wide search, checking all shops and residences owned by outsiders, and soon found the liquor store.

Five or six soldiers tapped on the wine barrels with their knives, seemingly opening even the empty ones to take a look. The wine shop owner was on the verge of finding the barrel where Lü Fan was hiding.

Just then, a bugle call sounded outside, an order for all guards of the Imperial Household Department to assemble. Several guards stopped searching and ran outside.

After a while, the wine shop owner closed the door and let Lü Fan out.

"What's going on?" Lu Fan asked, puzzled. They were about to find him, so why did they suddenly stop and leave?

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "We shot a secret message arrow at the School Affairs Office, telling them that Lü Fan was hiding in a manor outside the city. They needed manpower, so they all went there."

Lu Fan chuckled and said, "I just thought about it, and I realized that I don't need to hide at all. I'll cut off the bearded man's beard, change my name to the wine shop's accountant, and when the guards from the Imperial Household Department come to search the wine cellar again, I'll personally lead the way for them."

Lu Fan and the shopkeeper exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.

(End of this chapter)