Yun Chang POV

“Lord Cao Cao!” I hurriedly stepped forward when I saw things about to turn bad and wanted to defuse the situation, “We had an agreement! I have already…”

“There is no need to say any further.” Lord Cao Cao cut me off and raised a hand to stop me, “You just need to wait here for a moment.”

Kuh… Does she intend on locking me up? I never thought that Lord Cao Cao would go back on her words. If that’s the case, then we can only forcefully break out like Lu Bu said. But if we do that, then what we will do with Gan Qing and Mi Zhen?! Or should I try and alleviate the situation first?

I couldn’t decide on what to do, and my grip tightened.

“Lord Guan Yu, I am very grateful for your service in this period.” Lord Cao Cao said as she stepped forward and helped me up. I slowly looked at Lord Cao Cao and saw that she was still smiling as usual.

“Then Lord Cao Cao should permit us to leave…”

“No need to rush, there’s a lot of time.” Lord Cao Cao said as she placed her hands at her back and walked to the entrance of the tent. I turned back and saw that Lord Cao Cao had parted the curtains and was looking outside.

Hai, looks like we can’t leave. I’d thought that doing things properly would work but it seems like I was too naive. It’s a good thing there are no guards here so if we’re lucky, it might be possible to charge out of Guandu and make it to Xuchamg if I can get in touch with Lu Bu and the rest. Then, all we have to do is to reach Xuchang before the couriers and get Gan Qing and Mi Zhen out…

“Un, they’re here.” Just then, Lord Cao Cao behind me said these words.

I turned and saw the curtains being parted and 2 people were escorted in by a soldier. I looked at the 2 people and breathed in deeply, “Gan Qing?! Mi Zhen?! Why are you both here?!”

“I brought them here.” Before either of them could answer me, Lord Cao Cao replied with a smile and walked over to Mi Zhen and stroked her head.

“Are you all alright?” I felt uneasy and hurriedly asked them.

“We’re okay, what’s wrong?” Gan Qing said as she pulled Mi Zhen close. From their faces, I couldn’t see any cause for concern.

I frowned as I looked at Lord Cao Cao in puzzlement. Could it be that Lord Cao Cao plans to use them as hostages…

“I’ve brought them here for you already.” Lord Cao Cao said, interrupting my thoughts, and walked over as she clapped my shoulder, “Since you’re going to leave, then just leave directly. Don’t go back to Xuchang.”

… Eh?

I wasn’t able to understand what she meant. “That is… This…”

“Un? Is there a problem?” Lord Cao Cao tilted her head, puzzled at my hesitation, “Aren’t you all going to find Xuan De? Since you know where he is, then you all should go.”

“But, I thought–”

“You thought I’d use them as hostages to make you all stay?” Lord Cao Cao gave an evil smile as she completely grasped what I was thinking in one sentence, “Didn’t I say it before? You can leave once you learn of Xuan De’s whereabouts. Why? Afraid I might break my promise?”

“No…” My voice grew soft as I was completely suppressed by Lord Cao Cao.

So I’ve been thinking too much all along? I can’t believe I suspected her even though I’ve known her for so long… How unsightly of me.

“Eh?! Sister Guan knows where Xuan De is?!” Gan Qing exclaimed as she looked at me in surprise. Seeing how excited Gan Qing was, I suppressed my own excitement and nodded.

“Ah… That’s great.”

“What!? We’re going to go find big brother Xuan De?!”

Gan Qing and Mi Zhen were extremely happy, to the point where they began shedding tears. It’s no wonder though, given that they haven’t seen big brother since we left for Yuan Shu.

“Well then, on behalf of everyone, thank you Lord Cao Cao.” I turned to her and saluted.

“Un, no need for such formalities.” Lord Cao Cao smiled and left my side as she returned to her seat behind the desk and picked up her brush as she returned to her scrolls.

After having a good look at her, I found that Lord Cao Cao seemed a little more tired than usual.

Meng De POV

As I watched them exit the tent, regret began to fill my heart. Leaving aside Guan Yu, that Lu Bu and Zhang Liao are definitely not weaker than Guan Yu. And there is also the medical genius Hua Tuo. Losing all of them is truly a waste.

But this can’t be helped since they will always be Xuan De’s cards and not mine.

“Is my lord going to let them go just like that? You know that Liu Bei is with Yuan Shao.”

Just then, Jia Xu, who had remained silent all this while, spoke up. Her voice was as low as always, and her tone always felt like what she spoke about was unrelated to herself.

“Yes… Their wills are resolute and they can’t be kept.” I said with melancholy before sighing, “Moreover, Xuan De won’t be so zealous in helping Yuan Shao once Guan Yu and the rest reunite with Xuan De.”

“Isn’t my lord afraid that releasing them will end up causing harm to us down the road?”

“Though you may be very good at scheming, your understanding of people is not as good as mine.” I smiled towards her as I said so only to find that she still had her eyes closed and felt disappointed, “Who do you think is the most dangerous person in Xuan De’s bloc?”

“… If my lord is asking it like this, then you should have reached the answer long ago. Why bother testing me?”

This fellow really doesn’t know how to keep a conversation going. Of course, I can’t deny that I did indeed want to show off my abilities.

“I think that, the most dangerous person in Xuan De’s bloc is Xuan De himself.”

“And why is that?”

“Though Xuan De has good judgement and a.n.a.lytical abilities, he lacks an understanding of combat strategies and tactics. His skill with martial arts is also lacking, and is even worse than an ordinary general.” I raised my brush and began to write a scroll to be sent to Xuchang. Though I may be in the frontlines, I still have to give timely Court reports, “But there is one thing about Xuan De which even I find it hard to achieve.”

“That he is a man?”

“Jia Xu, that joke isn’t funny at all.” I lightly coughed, hoping that she could be a little more serious, “Xuan De’s greatest strength is that he can change people.”

If I’m not mistaken, the reason why Ben Chu’s losses have been much less than what I have expected would be because of Xuan De’s effect on her. For Ben Chu to only have suffered minimal losses thus far would mean that either she fixed that problematic personality of hers on her own volition or someone else influenced her to do so.

And the only one who can do that, in my opinion, is Xuan De. If Xuan De himself stops putting in maximal effort for Ben Chu, then the greatest stumbling block to my victory will be cleared.

And it is also because of how Xuan De is that he can attract talents of all sorts, that he can go far.

“Can’t my lord change others as well?”

“That’s very difficult…” I shook my head as I smiled bitterly, “The person I really did change was just E Lai. But she is no longer around.”

I couldn’t help but feel sad once more as I thought of her. If E Lai was still alive, this war with Ben Chu would probably be easier.

“Speaking of which,” As I looked at Jia Xu, I couldn’t help but feel curious, “I’m curious, what did Feng Xiao say to you?”

Jia Xu only just arrived from Xuchang yesterday, along with Zhang Xiu. Both were convinced by Feng Xiao. G.o.d knows what words Feng Xiao used to bamboozle them into serving me.

“Nothing much, we just had some everyday normal conversation.” Jia Xu said in that low tone of hers that sounded more like that of a mature woman even though she was about the same age as me, “If you must know why I joined you, then all I can say is– I feel that you are stronger than Yuan Shao. That’s all.”

“Un? You seem rather confident about that.”

“My lord may be good at judging people, but your reading of situations is not as good as mine.” Jia Xu said sarcastically as she opened her eyes and smiled at me. Her eyes looked like those of a predator and emitted a dangerous, evil aura. No matter how I looked, those weren’t the eyes of an administrative official.

Jia Xu huh… Another strange fellow. As I thought so, I smiled back at her as well.

Speaking of which… I seemed to have forgotten something.