That night, in Lu City of the Jibei Kingdom.
Inside the main hall, the council meeting was still ongoing.
Meanwhile, in a side chamber, Xun Yu’s unease continued to grow.
“Young Master, something isn’t right.”
One of the attendants who had accompanied Xun Yu glanced at the heavily guarded doorway and whispered:
“These people seem to be watching us. And there’s obvious hostility in their eyes.”
“Say no more.”
Xun Yu had noticed it long ago.
But now that he was deep inside enemy territory, the only sensible course was to remain calm and adapt to circumstances.
Any rash action would only bring disaster upon themselves.
It wasn’t as though he had never seen Yellow Turbans before.
But the Yellow Turbans he had encountered today were different from those of the past.
The Yellow Turbans he had seen before—aside from the soldiers—were little more than walking corpses.
They looked as though a strong gust of wind could knock them over, lacking even the strength to stand properly.
Yet the Yellow Turban civilians he had seen today though equally gaunt and yellow-faced from hunger possessed a completely different spirit and vitality.
“The Yellow Turbans have always suffered from food shortages,” Xun Yu thought.
“The new Commander is distributing grain to ordinary followers despite that fact. Either he is a man of great ambition, or he possesses a truly pure and compassionate heart.”
As the thought crossed his mind, he turned his gaze toward the brightly lit courtyard outside.
Then his expression darkened.
It seemed he had suddenly realized something.
His face instantly turned pale.
This is bad!
The words exploded in his mind.
Immediately, Xun Yu rose to his feet and headed for the door, with more than a dozen attendants following close behind.
“Sir, please stop.”
Before he could step outside, a Yellow Turban officer blocked his path, one hand resting on the hilt of his saber.
The surrounding Yellow Turban soldiers also gathered around, sealing off the side chamber and trapping Xun Yu’s party inside.
“How dare you!”
Before Xun Yu could speak, one of his attendants stepped forward with his hand on his own sword and shouted at the officer:
“Is this how your commander treats his guests?”
“Sir, please return to your seat.”
Ignoring the attendant entirely, the young officer said solemnly:
“We are acting under the Commander’s orders to protect you here. Please do not make things difficult for us.”
“The fault lies with me.”
Xun Yu stopped his subordinate and forced a smile onto his face.
Lowering his posture, he said politely:
“I merely wished to instruct my attendants to prepare some food. General, I hope you will not take offense.”
“Please proceed, Sir.”
The young Yellow Turban officer visibly relaxed.
“Let’s go back.”
Xun Yu took a deep breath and gestured for his attendants to return.
But as he turned away, his face became even paler.
Because at that moment, he finally understood what had been bothering him all along.
Food was the lifeblood of any army.
Yet despite the severe grain shortages among the Yellow Turbans, all the various Yellow Turban factions he had passed on his journey had remained peaceful and orderly.
That alone was the greatest anomaly.
If the new Yellow Turban Commander were merely an idealistic youth with a compassionate heart, how could he possibly persuade all the disparate Yellow Turban forces to cooperate?
If that explanation didn’t fit, then only one possibility remained.
The new Commander was distributing grain not out of simple kindness, but to win the people’s hearts.
And more importantly, he was preparing to stake everything on a final struggle against the Han court.
A fight with no retreat.
A battle to the death.
The realization sent a chill through Xun Yu’s entire body.
He thought of his lord waiting anxiously in Wuyan City.
He thought of the city’s current state barely twenty thousand troops, most of them inexperienced recruits.
If they truly faced a Yellow Turban force prepared to fight with the desperation of men who had burned their bridges behind them, would his lord still have any chance of victory?
Near midnight, sounds finally came from outside.
Xun Yu assumed Zhang Jing had arrived.
Instead, the young officer entered with several men carrying food.
Looking at the steaming bowls of porridge that were placed upon the table, Xun Yu was momentarily stunned.
He came from a great aristocratic clan.
He had arrived as an envoy bearing five thousand shi of grain.
And yet his hosts were serving this as his meal?
If he remembered correctly, the food being distributed to the common people along the road had been the same kind of hot porridge.
“Please eat while it’s hot, Sir.”
“Please don’t blame my lord for being a poor host. Everyone in the army eats this. For days now, my lord himself has been eating the same food.”
“General Yuheng also lives on porridge?”
Xun Yu’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this, though his expression remained unchanged as he looked at the officer.
“Of course.”
The young officer’s face was filled with fervent admiration.
“I’m one of the Central Army guards. My lord said that times are hard and that he would endure these hardships alongside us. And my lord always keeps his word.”
“General Yuheng is truly a wise and virtuous man.”
After hearing this, Xun Yu swallowed with difficulty.
Looking at the steaming bowl of porridge before him, he felt even more despair.
No matter how hard he tried, he had never imagined that the new Yellow Turban commander would go this far merely to win the people’s hearts.
“That’s only natural!”
The officer looked proud.
“Please eat while it’s hot, Sir. My lord will be here shortly.”
With that, the young officer paid no further attention to Xun Yu and walked out.
“Hiss—”
After the officer left, one of Xun Yu’s attendants stared at the porridge and sucked in a sharp breath.
“The greatest commander among the Yellow Turbans actually eats this every day?”
In the attendant’s view, no matter how impoverished the Yellow Turbans might be, Zhang Jing was still a major figure who commanded a population of over a million people and held the loyalty of hundreds of thousands of able-bodied men.
Setting aside wives and concubines, surely it wouldn’t be difficult for someone like him to eat decent food every day.
Yet it turned out that his meals were even worse than those of a mere attendant.
Xun Yu said nothing.
He quietly ate the pickled vegetables and drank the hot porridge.
Though the taste was mediocre, he showed no sign of discomfort.
His thoughts, however, had already drifted far away.
At the same time, his curiosity about Zhang Jing grew stronger than ever.
What he never expected was that he would not meet the man himself until the Hour of the Chou the following day. *1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m
“Then this must be Mister Wenruo.”
Zhang Jing entered the room with Cheng Yu at his side.
A trace of apology hung on his face as he cupped his hands toward Xun Yu.
“Military affairs have kept me occupied. I fear I have made you wait far too long, Sir.”
“You are too courteous, General.”
Xun Yu immediately straightened and returned the salute.
“You have only recently taken command of such a great army. Being overwhelmed with affairs is only natural.”
“As for myself, I came here uninvited. I only hope you will not find my visit presumptuous.”
Grrr~
At that moment, the unmistakable sound of a growling stomach echoed through the room.
“Guards!”
Hearing it, Zhang Jing’s face darkened slightly.
“Escort all those who accompanied the gentleman to the side chambers. Prepare food and see that they are properly entertained.”
“Yes, sir!”
As soon as the order was given, a squad of soldiers entered and moved to escort Xun Yu’s attendants away.
“In that case, I thank you in advance, General.”
Xun Yu looked at the smiling Zhang Jing, then at the stern-faced Cheng Yu.
A weight settled in his heart.
Yet with himself effectively under another’s roof, he dared not openly antagonize them.
“There is no need for such courtesy, Sir.”
Zhang Jing walked toward the seat of honor and spoke gently.
“Rather, I hope you will not blame me for my poor hospitality.”
“Please, have a seat. Zhongde, you as well.”
“Thank you, General.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
The two men took their seats.
When Xun Yu heard the name Zhongde, his heart stirred.
He turned toward Cheng Yu, his expression becoming somewhat complicated.
“May I ask whether this gentleman is Cheng Li of Dong’e, Mister Zhongde?”
Xun Yu had certainly heard of Cheng Li’s reputation.
The man’s name was known even to Xun Yu’s own lord.
In fact, his lord had once attempted to recruit him by offering him the position of Magistrate of Shouzhang County.
And Shouzhang was no insignificant county.
“Cheng Yu of Dong’e, courtesy name Zhongde, greets Mister Wenruo.”
Cheng Yu’s expression remained calm.
He offered a salute without further explanation.
“If there is no misunderstanding, then the Cheng Li you speak of is indeed myself.”
“Mister, you…”
The revelation shook Xun Yu to his core.
The words that had reached his lips were forcibly swallowed back down.
Because he suddenly remembered something.
Just moments ago, this very Mister Zhongde had addressed the Yellow Turban commander as ‘My Lord.‘
Xun Yu stared at Cheng Yu in disbelief.
A man whom even his own lord had sought to recruit with great sincerity a renowned scholar and administrator was now openly serving under the Yellow Turbans.
— The end of the Chapter–
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