Three Kingdoms: The Peerless Strategist of Wei

Chapter 67 What are you trying to do, Gu Cheng, by humiliating me, Yuan Shao like this!

Gu Cheng actually wanted to persuade Cao Cao to kill him.

Yuan Xi was initially startled, but then a look of disdain flashed across his face. He simply didn't believe Cao Ang would dare to kill him. "Brother Gu, what makes you say that?"

Cao Ang's eyes indeed showed doubt.

"It is common knowledge that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are about to engage in a decisive battle." "What Cao Cao needs to do is to unite his men and women and show a do-or-die determination in order to defeat Yuan Shao. If he spares Yuan Xi's life, it will give his civil and military officials the wrong impression, making them mistakenly believe that Cao Cao is not confident of victory and wants to leave himself some room for maneuver."

"If even Cao Cao is like this, how can his soldiers be determined to fight to the death with him?" "Therefore, in order to unite the people and show their determination to fight to the death, Cao Cao must kill Yuan Xi!" Gu Cheng's words revealed his reasoning.

Cao Ang suddenly realized his mistake and bowed respectfully, saying, "Brother Gu's considerations are indeed far-sighted. Thank you for the reminder. After returning to the capital, I will certainly explain the situation to my father and order Yuan Xi to be executed!"

Gu Cheng smiled without speaking, glancing back at Yuan Xi. At this moment, Yuan Xi was pale, his face filled with terror. He had never expected that Gu Cheng's few words would persuade Cao Ang. Moreover, even Yuan Xi himself found Gu Cheng's reasoning quite reasonable. If Cao Ang were to use this to persuade Cao Cao, Cao Cao would surely kill him! "Gu Cheng, you dare to harm me like this! My father will not let you get away with this!" Yuan Xi, both shocked and furious, leaned against the cage and screamed hysterically at Gu Cheng. Gu Cheng, however, ignored him, spurred his horse, and rode away.

Five days later, Gu Cheng returned to Xudu.

The travelers parted ways. Cao Ang escorted Yuan Xi into Xudu City, while Gu Cheng took Zhang Chunhua and Lü Lingqi back to his Gu residence on the outskirts of the city.

Upon hearing of her husband's return, Cao Jie, along with her two concubines, Mi Huan and Da Qiao, as well as Diao Chan, naturally came to greet him with great joy.

"Your humble servants welcome my husband home." The three women curtsied gracefully, their faces beaming with smiles. "We don't have such formalities in our household, ladies, please rise." Gu Cheng chuckled and reached out to help the three beauties to their feet. The three women looked up, their beautiful faces suddenly wide with surprise. They saw Lü Lingqi and Zhang Chunhua behind Gu Cheng. Zhang Chunhua was elegant and graceful, clearly a lady of high birth. Lü Lingqi, with a sword at her waist, was strikingly beautiful and possessed a unique charm. The three women exchanged glances, immediately understanding what was going on.

"How come my husband always brings back several beauties every time he returns, without exception?" Cao Jie asked with a smile, his tone slightly disapproving.

"Well, it really is a coincidence, my lady. Let me tell you the story..." Gu Cheng then led Cao Jie into the hall, telling her about Lü Lingqi and Zhang Chunhua along the way. "They had nowhere to go and insisted on staying by my side. I had no choice but to bring them back. I hope my lady will understand."

Gu Cheng looked rather helpless.

His helplessness wasn't feigned; it truly came from the bottom of his heart.

Lu Lingqi took the initiative to come to him, insisting that he take her in, even willing to condescend to become his family's bodyguard. As for Zhang Chunhua, he also promised to set her free, but she repeatedly begged to stay and serve him. From beginning to end, Gu Cheng did not actively offer to take in the two women.

"But it's no wonder. My husband is such a rare and extraordinary man. Any woman who is fortunate enough to be with him would do everything she could to stay by his side..."

Cao Jie sighed inwardly. She then smiled and said, "How could that be? My husband is the head of the household. Let alone just taking them in, even if he wanted to take them as concubines, it would be perfectly natural. How could I possibly mind?"

Cao Jie's magnanimity warmed Gu Cheng's heart, and he pulled her into his arms. "Ahem, Liheng," Zhou Tai interrupted their display of affection, unable to resist saying, "Before the young master left, he instructed me to recruit craftsmen from various prefectures and counties at great expense, and also ordered me to build ten workshops. I have completed all of that. I wonder what exactly you plan to do, Liheng?"

Cao Jie blushed slightly and quickly pulled away from Gu Cheng's embrace, coughing lightly to cover his embarrassment. Gu Cheng, unperturbed, took out several blueprints from his robes and tossed them to Zhou Tai. "Repeating crossbow blueprints, forging method for the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword), blueprints for the Xiangyang cannon..." Zhou Tai read the strange names, then looked up at Gu Cheng with eyes full of surprise and suspicion. "The decisive battle between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao is imminent, and the government's demand for weapons will inevitably increase greatly." "It's time for our Gu family to get involved in the weapons business and make a fortune from the war." "These weapons I've given you will sooner or later be sought after by Cao Cao's army for a hefty sum. Just follow those blueprints and have all the weapon workshops work day and night to manufacture them."

Gu Cheng slowly and deliberately explained his intentions.

Zhou Tai suddenly realized and exclaimed with delight, "No wonder you had me recruit so many blacksmiths and carpenters, it turns out you wanted to do weapons business."

Changing the subject, Zhou Tai asked curiously, "But what kind of strange weapons are these—repeating crossbows and long-handled broadswords? I've never heard of them before!"

"You don't need to ask any more questions. Just go and build them. Build as many as you can, and I guarantee they'll fetch a good price in the future!"

A hint of mystery flickered in Gu Cheng's confident eyes…

Zhou Tai didn't ask any more questions, and happily said, "In short, you can't go wrong by listening to Li Heng. Even if you asked me to make a pile of shit, I believe you could sell it and make a fortune!"

"Disgusting!" Cao Jie, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but frown.

Zhou Tai laughed heartily, then took the blueprints Gu Cheng had given him and excitedly went off.

"Although Old Zhou is disgusting, he's not wrong. The weapons my husband wants to make are indeed strange." "Will those weapons really be useful to Father...?" Cao Jie's thoughts were churning, but a few barely perceptible questions flashed in his eyes.

Ye City, the General's Mansion.

Yuan Shao, seated high on his throne, had a face ashen with rage, his eyes burning with fury. Below him, the officials were in complete disarray, all discussing the horrific defeat at Hanoi Commandery. "The Second Prince's seven thousand troops were utterly wiped out by Cao Ang! It's unbelievable!" "Yes, even Ju Yi's vanguard was completely annihilated!"

"Guo Tu also died in the chaos of battle, and even the Second Prince was captured alive by Cao Ang. This is truly a great disgrace to the Yuan family!" The ministers' discussions were like needles piercing Yuan Shao's heart.

"Bang!" Yuan Shao slammed his hand on the table.

The ministers were startled and immediately fell silent.

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth and said, "Cao Ang is nothing but a dog. Even if my son was defeated by him, how could he have suffered such a complete defeat and been captured alive? I don't believe he has that ability!"

"My lord, this is most likely Guo Jia, advising Cao Ang!" Feng Ji hurriedly said. "Guo Jia!" Yuan Shao frowned.

Tian Feng shook his head and said, "Guo Jia is indeed exceptionally intelligent, but at most he can defeat the Second Prince and seize Hanoi County. He could never annihilate our entire army, kill Ju Yi Guo Tu, or capture the Second Prince alive!"

"If it's not that scoundrel Guo Jia, then who could it be?" Yuan Shao roared.

Liu Bei's eyes widened in shock, and he hurriedly said, "Lord Yuan, this must be Gu Cheng stirring up trouble behind the scenes again. No one but him could have caused the Second Prince to suffer defeat and capture!"

Gu Cheng!

This name appeared once again before Yuan Shao and his ministers. "Gu Cheng, is it him again?!" "He refused my offer to recruit him before, and now he's helped Cao Ang capture my Xi'er alive, humiliating me like this. What is he trying to do?"

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth, his face burning with fury.

"Father, please calm your anger. It's not worth ruining your health over a mere member of a small clan. When your army marches south and crushes Cao Cao, you can wipe out that Gu family as well." An arrogant voice rang out. The one who stepped forward was none other than the eldest son, Yuan Tan. Yuan Shao's anger instantly turned into contempt.

He sneered, "Tan'er is right. That Gu Cheng is ungrateful and dares to oppose me. I will make him regret it!"

The ministers all echoed his sentiments.

Yuan Tan cupped his hands again and said, "Father, the best course of action now is to quickly send someone to Xuchang to order Cao Cao to release my second brother." Yuan Shao's expression changed, and he suddenly remembered that his two sons were still in Cao Cao's hands, their fate uncertain. "What kind of status do the second young masters have? Cao Cao captured them with great difficulty; how can he release them so easily?" Tian Feng sighed.

Feng Ji sneered, "Our lord commands four provinces and has a million soldiers. Even if Cao Cao overestimates himself and tries to compete with our lord for the throne, he must leave himself room to maneuver. Our lord has ordered him to release the Second Prince. How dare he not release him!"

Tian Feng was speechless.

Yuan Shao looked arrogant and snorted, "What you say is absolutely right. I will send someone to Xuchang to retrieve Xi'er. I doubt Cao Cao would dare to refuse!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

The guard rushed in, his voice trembling as he cried out, "My lord, urgent news from Xuchang! Cao Cao has forced the Emperor to issue an edict ordering the execution of the Second Prince for treason!"

Rumble!

A bolt from the blue struck Yuan Shao like a thunderbolt. The arrogance on his face vanished instantly, leaving him utterly dumbfounded. Inside the hall…

Yuan Tan, Feng Ji, and everyone else were stunned and speechless. "Cao Cao, you eunuch, ugly descendant!" Yuan Shao suddenly snapped to his senses, cursing with grief and rage, "You dared to kill my beloved son, treating me as nothing! If I, Yuan Shao, don't kill you, I swear I'm not worthy of being called a man!"

The officials suddenly snapped out of their daze, immediately erupting in indignation and cursing Cao Cao. "Didn't you two say that the traitor Cao wouldn't dare touch Xi'er? What's the result now!" Yuan Shao, in his grief and rage, questioned Yuan Tan and Feng Ji. Yuan Tan's forehead was covered in sweat, at a loss for words. Feng Ji, however, said with a bitter face, "The two families haven't openly broken ties yet. Even if Cao Cao wouldn't release the Second Prince, he shouldn't have killed him. I truly can't understand why Cao Cao did this!"

Everyone was bewildered. "It's because of Gu Cheng!" Just then, a stern voice rang out from outside the hall. Yuan Shao looked up and saw a scholar strut in. "Xu You, what did you say? Why is it Gu Cheng again?" Yuan Shao demanded sharply, his face ashen.

"My lord, my subordinate Siwen Cao is responsible for spying on the secrets of the world."

"They just sent back a secret report, claiming that it was Gu Cheng who advised Cao Ang to behead the second son." "Cao Ang listened to Gu Cheng blindly and used the same words to advise Cao Cao, which is why Cao Cao ordered the second son to be beheaded and displayed to the public."

Xu You reported the intelligence to Yuan Shao with indignation. Yuan Shao was furious, his eyes bloodshot with rage, and he said hatefully, "Gu Cheng, it's you again! You not only oppose me, but you also caused the death of my beloved son! I will tear you to pieces, tear you to pieces!"

An angry roar echoed through the hall. "Father!" Yuan Tan stepped forward, his voice filled with rage. "What are we waiting for? Father, please give the order immediately to mobilize the troops of the four provinces to march south, kill Cao Cao, execute Gu Cheng, and avenge our second brother!"

With him taking the lead, all the civil and military officials in the hall angrily volunteered for battle. Yuan Shao's fists were already clenched, and his eyes burned with fury.

"My lord," Tian Feng argued, "the four provinces have only recently been pacified, and the people's hearts are not yet won over. To march south and attack Cao Cao at this time would be far too hasty." "So what!"

Yuan Tan, however, scoffed and arrogantly declared, "My father's name is renowned throughout China, and the hearts of the people are with him. Once our army crosses the Yellow River, all the provinces of the Central Plains will surely rise up and submit. Destroying the Cao traitor will be as easy as turning one's hand!"