Chapter 118: The Oath of Loyalty

Had Shen Pei already struck against the Xu family?

Hearing this news, Mo Xiaobai knew exactly what would happen next.

It was the most classic scene from the Battle of Guandu: Xu You betraying his lord to join Cao Cao.

Perhaps because they had tasted the sweet success of Xu You’s betrayal, when Huang Gai came to join Cao Cao during the Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao was even more excited.

It was a pity that Cao Cao forgot one thing. Xu You and Huang Gai were two different kinds of people. Xu You did not go to Cao Cao willingly; he was driven to that choice because he was pushed into a dead end.

Mo Xiaobai could already smell who was setting the trap for Xu You, but right now, he did not want to waste time explaining. Instead, he immediately spoke up: “If the Xu family falls into Zhengnan’s hands, they are lucky to even keep a whole body. Once Xu You knows about this, he will surely not stay long under Yuan Shao’s command.”

Xu You wanted to defect to Cao Cao?

Seeing Mo Xiaobai’s analysis, Guo Yuan and Tian Yu exchanged a glance, both feeling a bit shocked.

Although Xu You’s status among Yuan Shao’s strategists was not as high as Tian Feng, Ju Shou, or Guo Tu, he was still on the same level as Feng Ji and Shen Pei. He was definitely a top leader in Jizhou.

If he defected to Cao Cao, there would be no secrets left for Yuan Shao in Cao Cao’s eyes.

“Let us guess even more boldly. If Xu You goes alone to the Cao Camp without any merit, how could he survive there? Given his arrogant and conceited personality, if he really went, he must have brought a massive achievement to help the Minister of Works.”

After Mo Xiaobai said his second sentence, Tian Yu thought for a moment and immediately understood: “When two armies face each other, food and pay are the most important. Xu You knows every checkpoint in the Yuan Camp well. If he truly wants to help the Minister of Works, he can easily reach Wuchao.”

Bingo!

You guessed right, but you also guessed wrong.

In history, Xu You did exactly that, and he succeeded in the end. But this is an Instance. There are countless Players here. Since the Battle of Guandu began, Xu You has been watched by the Players.

In the previous Instance, Xu You had not even walked two or three li from the camp before he was surrounded and killed by hundreds of Players.

Mo Xiaobai revealed Xu You’s plan not to make Tian Yu and the others guess what Xu You would do, but to take Xu You’s role in the final battle of this long war.

“If Xu You can offer Wuchao to the Minister of Works, why can’t General Xianyu do the same?”

Mo Xiaobai laughed lowly and fully explained the plan he had just thought of: “If General Xianyu is willing, he can send someone to secretly contact the Minister of Works while also forging Yuan Shao’s token. He can use the excuse of being ordered by Yuan Benchu to move You Province troops to reinforce the garrison at Wuchao and rush from Yuancheng to Wuchao.”

“Then, he can set a date with the Minister of Works to attack Wuchao from both inside and outside. When that time comes, the Battle of Guandu will be decided. General Xianyu might not be able to keep the title of General Jianzhong, but being ennobled as a Marquis after the war would not be bad either?”

Sending You Province troops to offer Wuchao?

Hearing Mo Xiaobai say this, both Guo Yuan and Tian Yu became interested.

Guo Yuan wanted to give Yuan Shao a hard blow, and Tian Yu had also thought that if he defected to Cao Cao, he must have a good gift to show.

Wuchao!

It was heavy enough!

“If we need to ally with Cao, I am willing to go to Guandu personally, but I only want to forge a letter from Yuan Shao!”

Tian Yu was very interested in the plan, but he still had some doubts. However, before he could finish his sentence, Mo Xiaobai smiled: “This is simple. Brother Zini is a top student under Duke Kangcheng. Even if your calligraphy is not as good as your senior Cui Jigui, how bad can it be? We will travel only at night. In the dark and dim light, the soldiers and generals at those checkpoints will not spot any flaw. Besides, among the generals currently favored by Yuan Shao, only Chunyu Qiong can read and write. The other few, who knows if they can even read?”

Seeing Mo Xiaobai put this task on him, Guo Yuan did not hesitate and nodded at once. Forging Yuan Shao’s seal and letter was enough; as long as he had a reference, he could write something ninety percent similar.

The three-person secret meeting ended. After leaving the small hut, everyone quickly got busy with their own tasks.

Tian Yu went to persuade Xianyu Fu, while Guo Yuan started grinding ink to copy the text. Mo Xiaobai, having nothing to do, originally wanted to find Grandpa Zheng Xuan to chat, but after eating his porridge, the old man had gone back to sleep.

This time, his breathing was steady. He was truly asleep, not just unconscious again.

Bored and having nothing to do, Mo Xiaobai had to stand at the bedroom door with Li Ji and Li Guang as door gods, stopping anyone from disturbing Zheng Xuan’s rest.

To be precise, they were blocking the Players who returned to the County Government Office without finding the medicine, preventing them from seeing Zheng Xuan again.

Because Mo Xiaobai’s words and actions were very similar to Li Ji’s, the Players from the Yuan Shao Camp did not realize that the man before them was actually “Daydreaming”. They just thought he was a new NPC.

Since the NPC did not let them in, and they had not obtained the life-saving prescription, they had to give up in disappointment and return to their side courtyards to rest.

“These Players are such a trouble. We certainly cannot kill them, but we must make Tian Yu guard them strictly. We cannot even give them a chance to commit suicide.”

Watching the Players leave, Mo Xiaobai added another link to his entire plan in his heart.

To take Wuchao, the most important thing is to keep the news secret.

Once a Player dies, they return to the Yuan Shao Camp. At that time, there would be no secrets left.

Half a day passed. When Tian Yu came back, two burly generals in armor walked with him.

The leader was Xianyu Fu, and the other was Xianyu Yin.

As soon as they met, Xianyu Fu stared straight at Mo Xiaobai: “I never expected that the War General who helped Cao Mengde pacify Xu Province would be such a white-faced scholar.”

“From ancient times to now, no one has ever said that looking good disqualifies someone from being a General, right?” Mo Xiaobai chuckled and asked a question in return.

“Well said. As long as this lets me vent my anger, I do not care if a face is white or black.” Xianyu Yin did not speak like his clan brother. He bluntly swore a few rude words, not caring if others could hear them.

The five of them exchanged simple greetings and then sat down to discuss matters further.

In the end, they decided that Xianyu Yin would accompany Tian Yu to go to the Cao Camp at Guandu, while Mo Xiaobai would go straight to Wuchao with Xianyu Fu. Only a few hundred loyal followers and Li Ji would stay in Yuancheng, mainly to take care of Zheng Xuan and Guo Yuan.

Once the plan was set, Tian Yu and Xianyu Yin quietly left the small County City that night. At the same time, faint screams rang out inside the County Government Office. Those who needed to be killed were killed, and those who needed to be imprisoned were all locked up.

After doing all this, Mo Xiaobai finally felt safe. He mounted his horse and rode away with Li Guang and Xianyu Fu, kicking up dust as they left.

…

Just as Mo Xiaobai and his group left Yuancheng under the cover of night, at the Central Army camp in Guandu.

In that unremarkable small tent next to the main command tent, Guo Jia looked gloomily at the two black-clad Xiaoshi soldiers standing with fists clasped before him.

“Have your affairs been settled?”

“We report to the Military Advisor. Yuan Shao has repeatedly scolded and demoted Xu You recently. Now, he is not even allowed into the tent to serve.”

“Just like that?”

Guo Jia stroked the short beard on his chin, his eyes flashing with cold light: “This is not enough. I want rumors to spread within Yuan Shao’s camp that he intends to kill Xu You to vent his anger. I want Xu You to worry that his head might not stay on his shoulders if he stays there for one more day.”