Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 120 Your humble servant, Cai Zhaoji, pays her respects to Your Majesty.
The laughter in the Xiongnu camp abruptly stopped.

Hun Tu Xie's smile froze on his face as he stared incredulously at the messenger soldier.

"You just said how many men Yuan Jun's main force had?"

"Reporting to Lord Zuo Xianwang, Commander Sun Qing said it was at least 200,000."

At this moment, Hun Tu Xie felt dizzy and thought to himself that the Han people were indeed treacherous!
Prime Minister Cao, you call this thing Yuan the Rebel???
Two hundred thousand enemy troops!
My unit has 5,000 men.

You promised me that after I quelled the rebellion of Yuan, I would ask the Emperor to bestow upon me the title of Chanyu.

So you're going to posthumously confer an honor upon me, huh?
You have to understand that these 200,000 are not like the Black Mountain bandits who were barely equipped with armor and weapons and were just a bunch of civilians they were taking hostage. These are 200,000 regular local Han Chinese troops.

Is it too late for me to go back to the Xiongnu and outwit Huchuquan?

Damn it!
The enemy's main force numbers 200,000. You call this thing Yuan the Rebel, but this is just a small rebellion caused by a local separatist force that occupies Yangzhou and half of Yuzhou in the thirteen provinces of your Great Han.
Is this the strength of the Great Han Dynasty?
I, the Left Wise King, have not read many books, so don't try to fool me, you Han people!
Is this thing I'm fighting in Liang Kingdom really not the main battlefield where you're waging war against another Han emperor?

This is the legendary battlefield in the Central Plains where you Han people fought for supremacy?
Or maybe I should go back and harass the border.

Without Modu Chanyu's authority to command the various tribes of the grasslands and his prestige of having 300,000 archers, who would dare to get involved in a battlefield of this scale?

Not only was Hun Tu Xie's face grim, but his generals also fell silent upon hearing this number.

After a long while, someone cautiously spoke up, "Your Excellency, it seems we've been deceived by the Han people again."

Now, the route south through Yanzhou has been blocked by Cao Cao's army, and we seem to be trapped in Liang, unable to return.

"Bullshit! Men, drag this scoundrel who's disrupting morale out and chop him up!"

Hun Tu Xie stared coldly at the generals, his face frighteningly gloomy.

"Everything is exactly as I expected, please do not doubt me."

After saying this, he hurriedly ordered his attendants.

"Go quickly and invite Aji here. I have something to ask her."

Upon hearing that the Left Wise King intended to invite this queen, the generals' expressions softened slightly.

Clearly, the wife of this Left Wise King held a high position among the Xiongnu people and was widely trusted.

Before long, a soldier led a beautiful woman to stand outside the tent curtain.

Her slender figure was wrapped in a snow-white mink coat, and the collar and cuffs of the coat were decorated with Han-style cloud patterns hand-embroidered by her.

The wind and snow on the frontier may have made her clothes grow looser, but she never regretted it. Yet, they could not dispel the coldness in her eyes, like a lonely star in the cold sky, which was the very essence of the Han dynasty.

Like a lotus trapped in a swamp, or a jade hairpin covered in dust, a year of hardship in the frontier could not dispel the poetic and refined spirit in her bones.

Instead, amidst despair and filth, she was pursuing the highest aspiration of Confucian scholars throughout history: to educate and enlighten!
Educating the Xiongnu people was also educating all people.

Although she did little, it was the change she, a woman, could make for the Huns in her despair.

Not long ago, she heard that her old friend Cao Cao had become the Chancellor of the Han Dynasty. The imperial edict that traveled thousands of miles was her only lifeline.

No matter how much gossip others spread, it can't compare to a single word spoken in her pillow.
Moreover, the history of killing the crown prince after being succeeded by someone else is well-documented in the annals of the Han Dynasty. How could Huntuye, as the Left Wise King installed by the old Chanyu, not be afraid?
She tricked Hun Tu Xie, the "most intelligent man among the Xiongnu," into accepting an imperial edict to enter Liang and punish the traitor Yuan. Her only reason was that she wanted to go home.

Unfortunately, she repeatedly advised Hun Tu Xie not to commit further killings and to treat the local people kindly.

She recited almost every sage's teaching in the books, yet she still couldn't change the brutal and plundering nature of the Xiongnu.

She watched helplessly as one Han woman after another cried out, just like she had been the previous year, being abducted by these barbarians.

Her cold, icy eyes held sorrow, guilt, and, more importantly, a deep-seated hatred for the Xiongnu.

She didn't regret it. After all, even if these Xiongnu didn't come to Liang to plunder, Huchuquan's forces in the north would still plunder the people, and countless others would suffer. However, all of this would soon end, and soon someone would come to rescue you.

That's fine too.

Since you cannot educate them, bury them with me in this homeland.

If you still won't listen to any of the sage's teachings, then witness the wrath of even the sage, and how even a scholar or woman can make you bleed for miles.

At this moment, returning to her homeland, the wind of her homeland swept over her slightly frail figure, a solitary and ethereal silhouette against the vast天地 (heaven and earth).

She slowly drew back the felt curtain and stepped into the tent, her cool eyes looking up at the tall, imposing figure of Hun Tuxie at the head of the table, and gave a "gentle" bow.

"Zhao Ji greets Your Majesty."

"Aji is here! Quick, think of a way for me. It seems we've been outmaneuvered by that Cao Cao."

"These so-called rebels under Yuan Shikai now number two hundred thousand. What am I to do?"

"Your Majesty, do not worry. I know all the details here. Now I will offer a strategy to defeat the enemy and devise a plan for Your Majesty."

Her "gentle" voice echoed throughout the camp, even though the Xiongnu had previously disregarded her teachings of the sages.

However, the skills and culture of the Han people that she taught brought many beneficial changes to the lives of the Xiongnu.

As a concubine of the Left Wise King, she held a high position among the Xiongnu people, and they all trusted her.

She smiled and talked, explaining things to Hun Tuxie in detail.

"Is Your Majesty aware of the Yellow Turban Rebellion?"
Previously, there was General Zhang Jiao, who led the Great Way and established the Yellow Heaven, uniting the people of the nine provinces and shaking the royal court of one family.

At that time, eight out of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty rebelled, and the overwhelming force involved more than a few million people.

However, Lu Zhi, Huangpu Song, and others led the Han government troops to besiege and suppress the rebellion, and their forces of only tens of thousands were able to quell the rebellion in one fell swoop.

The Yellow Turban rebels of the past and the Black Mountain bandits of today are just like that.

Although Sun Qing requested reinforcements, saying that Yuan's army numbered 200,000, Your Majesty should not believe it too readily.

I fear that a few thousand or tens of thousands of Yuan troops could easily wipe out their hundreds of thousands of men, leaving them with virtually no foothold. If they don't claim that Yuan's army numbers two hundred thousand, how can they possibly ask Your Majesty for help?"

Upon hearing this, Hun Tu Xie suddenly understood!
“What Aji said is very true!”

I found it strange from the beginning. How could a mere rebel in the country have an army of 200,000? How could the Han Dynasty not perish?

Moreover, I have heard that this traitor Yuan is not only fighting against us in Liang, but also against your Han imperial uncle in Pei, and confronting Prime Minister Cao's troops in Yingchuan.

If that were the case, wouldn't he have already declared himself emperor and ruled across the Yangtze River if he still had 200,000 troops in Liang? Why would he still be called a traitor like Yuan?
This must be Sun Qingxu's exaggeration.

After hearing Zhao Ji's explanation, he agreed even more and hurriedly asked for a plan:

"Even so, Yuan Jun's ability to force Sun Qing's more than 100,000 men to this point should not be underestimated."

"Does Aji have any good advice for me?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty."

Her eyes were clear and cool, her smile as beautiful as a flower in spring, as lovely as snow in a garden.

"That's why I've come."

(End of this chapter)