Chapter 115: Saving the Leader of the Late Han Literary Circle

Wei Commandery, Yuancheng.

Since the Guandu conflict began, many soldiers from You Province had stationed themselves in this quiet county city with fewer than ten thousand households.

“Hah~”

“It’s so stuffy.”

“We can’t even see a single shadow of the Cao Army. I really don’t know why the General brought us here.”

“We traveled all the way from You Province just to guard the gate for Yuan Shao. It’s so frustrating, I’d rather just go back.”

Due to the fighting and the arrival of the You Province soldiers and generals, Yuancheng had become even emptier than usual in the past month. During broad daylight, no one went in or out of the city gates.

The soldiers guarding the city gate chatted idly, so bored they wanted to start counting the ants crawling on the ground.

At that moment, three figures rode in from the north at high speed.

Seeing someone approaching, the guarding soldiers straightened up and raised their spears: “Halt! Dismount immediately. You must be checked before entering the city.”

Hearing the little soldier’s shout, the three men on horseback reined in their horses and stopped.

The leader was a young man who looked like a scholar with a pale face. He led his horse forward two steps, clasped his hands, and said: “Excuse me, distinguished soldiers, may I ask if the carriage of Duke Kangcheng has arrived here?”

“Huh? You mean that old man on his deathbed? He arrived three days ago, and even the General welcomed him personally.”

Since You Province was a cold and harsh land, different from the Central Plains, the soldiers did not show much respect for great scholars while speaking. However, they knew that most scholars were not to be trifled with. Pointing toward the city, they said with a sneer: “If you are looking for that old man, you can go straight to the County Government Office. If you hurry, you might still see him one last time.”

“Thank you for the information. Here is a small gift to show my gratitude.”

The young man handed over ten copper coins and immediately led the two people behind him, leading their horses into the city.

The guards who had just received the coins shared them among themselves, and smiles of satisfaction appeared on their faces.

As long as you give money, who cares what you came for!

…

Mo Xiaobai easily slipped into Yuan Shao’s territory. He and Li Ji and Li Guang headed straight for the County Government Office.

There was only one goal for this trip.

Save Zheng Xuan!

Zheng Xuan!

A Confucian scholar and Master of Classics in the End of Han period. He studied under great scholars like Zhang Gongzu and Ma Rong. For decades in his life, he annotated the Confucian classics and wrote books such as “A Discussion on the Seven Celestial Bodies” and “Zhong Hou”, totaling over a million characters. He was the great summarizer of Han Dynasty classical learning.

He was a true great scholar of his time who buried himself in his studies. He was also one of the few leaders of the literary circle in the End of Han.

It was a tragedy that this Confucian master, who refused to Enter Service, found himself caught between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, a pair of arch-rivals who hated and loved each other, when he was already over seventy years old.

At Guandu, they faced off, each claiming to be the righteous one.

To prove this point, both of them went to great lengths.

Cao Cao made the first move. In order to win over the Great Han scholar group, he sent his most capable official for agriculture, Guo Yuan, to Qing Province to find his former teacher, Zheng Xuan.

Cao Cao did not expect Zheng Xuan to say many good things for him. He just hoped Zheng Xuan would not curse Cao Cao behind his back. Cao Cao’s intention was very clear: “Old man, you decide for yourself. Your favorite apprentice is now working for me. I sent him to serve you. So, do you want to thank me or not?”

Unlike Cao Cao’s more subtle approach, Yuan Shao, relying on his family’s reputation of four generations of high officials, directly sent his eldest son to order his men to Qing Province to “invite” Zheng Xuan to Ye City to take command. As a domineering CEO of the world, Yuan Shao’s thinking was even more direct. “Cao Cao, even if you recruit Guo Yuan, it’s useless. Zheng Xuan is with me, so scholars from all over the world will naturally come to Ye City.”

With all this trouble between the two, poor Zheng Xuan was the one who suffered.

The old man, over seventy years of age, was just happy a moment ago that his favorite apprentice had free time to visit him. The next moment, he was forcibly pushed into a carriage by men sent by Yuan Tan and driven off to Ye City.

Yuan Tan obediently followed his father’s orders, but he never thought that Zheng Xuan was really very old and had been sick for a long time. How could he possibly endure the journey on horse and carriage?

Zheng Xuan could not hold on before reaching Ye City.

He was going to die!

In his past life, after the Guandu Instance ended, the mission to save Zheng Xuan was exposed by several players from the Yuan Shao Camp.

These players exposed the mission just to complain about the process and show off that they had seen the real Zheng Xuan.

However, when the post appeared, thousands of players rained abuse on them.

There were so many missions for the Yuan Shao Camp. Why did you have to take the mission released by Yuan Tan to escort Zheng Xuan to Ye City?

As a result, they killed the person they were supposed to protect, and they still had the nerve to post about it.

This one-sided verbal war left those Yuan Shao Camp players stunned. Since then, they had disappeared from the Plane. However, the small mission “Save Zheng Xuan” became a hot topic on the Forum.

Because, looking at the situation at that time, even Hua Tuo coming wouldn’t be able to save Zheng Xuan.

Mo Xiaobai remembered this mission because of the Nine-Fragrance Pill given to him by Little Dot. He only remembered Zheng Xuan when he saw this item while counting the items in the Xumi Bag.

Without the Nine-Fragrance Pill, Mo Xiaobai guessed that even if he remembered it, he might not have come. After all, he would not waste his time on a task he was not sure could succeed.

But now it was different. Even if the Nine-Fragrance Pill could not completely save Zheng Xuan, it could extend his life by one month.

One month was enough, as the Battle of Guandu would have long ended by then.

Mo Xiaobai could easily take Zheng Xuan to Daming Village and let Dong Zhen treat him carefully.

This was a chance, a chance to take the leader of the current literary circle to the Plane.

With his mind filled with a whirlwind of memories, Mo Xiaobai finally arrived in front of the County Government Office. He immediately stepped forward and used the same excuse as before. However, this time the soldiers outside the office did not let him in.

Until a middle-aged scholar came out after being notified to check. When he saw Mo Xiaobai, a flicker of surprise appeared in his eyes, but it quickly faded. “Since you are here to see your teacher, please come with me.”

The middle-aged scholar led Mo Xiaobai and the other two into the County Government Office. As they walked along the stone path inside, he suddenly spoke: “Baron, you have a bold heart. Do you think Wei Commandery is Cao Cao’s backyard?”

Hmm?

How did I get exposed?

A flicker of surprise flashed in Mo Xiaobai’s eyes, but he quickly calmed down.

The man had not called for people directly, which meant he was not an enemy. Plus, Mo Xiaobai was dressed as a commoner now. It was impossible for someone from Yuan Shao’s side to recognize him.

Only an NPC from the Cao Cao Faction would assume his identity through the Intellect Brain’s intervention without any warning.

So, the man’s identity was already clear.

It was Guo Yuan, also known as Zini, Zheng Xuan’s favorite junior disciple.

After figuring out the other’s identity, Mo Xiaobai smiled immediately and said: “So it’s Brother Zini. My apologies for the rudeness.”

“You are a Baron. I do not deserve to call you my elder brother. But I heard you saved Pengcheng and defeated Sun Ce. Why are you here in Yuancheng today?”

“This is quite simple to explain.” Mo Xiaobai curved his lips and took out the Nine-Fragrance Pill. “I have a powerful medicine that can temporarily relieve Duke Kangcheng’s illness.”