Chapter One: The Honest Child

  "Lord Guan is here! Lord Guan is here! Xuzhou is saved! It's saved!"

  The joyful shouting echoed on the city wall of Xuzhou, and the people of Xuzhou on the city wall were also boiling up. The exhausted soldiers held up their broken weapons and jumped up and down, waving the big Han flag and shouting loudly. The civilians who assisted in defending the city were more excited than the soldiers, hugging each other and crying, and the sound of cheering shook the rammed earth on the city wall to collapse. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, all the people in the city, were hoarse from repeating the same honorific title: Lord Xuande!

  "Has Lord Guan arrived? Has Lord Guan really come?"

  Xu Zhou's Tao Qian stumbled out of the city building, the heavy pressure and suffering of more than half a year had made this 62-year-old old man already white-haired and weak, unable to walk without being supported by others, so weak that he could fall down at any time. But at this moment, Tao Qian seemed to have suddenly become twenty years younger, not needing anyone's support, he ran down the stairs of the city building by himself, rushed to the edge of the arrow tower, and with great effort opened his dim old eyes to look eastward, anxiously and excitedly asking loudly, "Has Lord Xuande's troops arrived? Where is Lord Xuande?"

  "My lord, look! Under that flag in the distance, riding a white horse is Lord Liu Bei. My lord, over there, it's the red flag with white letters that reads 'Liu Xuande of Pingyuan'."

  The one who replied to Tao Qian was a middle-aged man in his thirties, tall and handsome, with the courtesy name of Zizhong. Cao Cao personally led the army this time, dividing it into three routes to enter Xuzhou and avenge his father's death. He slaughtered five counties in Xuzhou, severely damaging four prefectures, and advanced all the way to Pengcheng, the seat of Xuzhou, with an unstoppable momentum. The people of Xuzhou were at a loss, and only Mi Zhu volunteered to go to Beihai to seek help from Kong Rong and Tian Kai of Qingzhou. As a result, not only did he bring back the rescue troops of Kong Rong and Tian Kai, but also unexpectedly brought Liu Bei, Liu Xuande, who had defeated the Yellow Turbans and fought against Lü Bu, as well as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun...

  In short, Mi Heng has made a great contribution to Xuzhou this time. If the reinforcements he brought can drive back Cao's army, then his already high-ranking and powerful position in Xuzhou will be even more unshakeable, and it won't be difficult for him to overshadow Chen Gui and his son Chen Deng, who have deep roots in Xuzhou.

  "Look! Old Master has seen the banner of Lord Guan!"

  Taoyue excitedly shouted, after a bit of effort, his dim old eyes finally found the red-bottomed white-character large flag in the midst of the chaotic army. Surrounding and following that large flag was a brave team of about two to three thousand people, with both cavalry and infantry, forming a neat charging formation, rushing straight towards the north gate of Xuchang. Although Cao's army desperately blocked them, they were clearly unprepared and were thrown into great disorder by Liu Xuande's troops. The hastily formed arrays were dispersed one after another, and the army collapsed in defeat.

  "Good kill! Good kill! Wipe out the Cao bandits!"

  Watching one by one Cao soldiers die on the battlefield, in front of Xuande's army turned into powder, the people of Xuzhou who had been suffering from Cao's military poison for several months were boiling again, the cheers echoed in the sky above Xuzhou, lingering and not stopping. Tao Qian was so excited that he burst into tears, saying repeatedly: "Xuzhou is saved, it's saved!"

  There was only one person who did not cheer, Tao Yingyi stood beside the gate of the city hall, with his hands crossed and a cold gaze at the distant battlefield of Cao Liu's two armies. His expression was indifferent, as if the bloody battlefield outside the city and the cheering crowd on the city wall had nothing to do with him, the second son of Xu Zhou Mu Tao Kui.

  Tao Ying is not a man of this era. In the 21st century, Tao Ying was called Tao Mingwu, an excellent public servant who was fair and honest, with high moral character and great prospects for advancement. At the critical moment when he was about to make a breakthrough in his career, due to a car accident caused by a momentary mistake while driving, Tao Mingwu had to attend three consecutive banquets and still didn't understand the cause of the accident. In a daze, he traveled through time and space and became Tao Ying, the second son of Tao Qian, the famous governor of Xuzhou in history.

  It so happens that Tao's courtesy name is Mingwu, also known as Tao Mingwu, which coincidentally has the same surname and given name as Deputy Director Tao.

  Deputy Director Tao is not at a disadvantage. This year, Deputy Director Tao is in his 20s and has a strong and healthy body. He hasn't married or had children yet, so he can enjoy several more years of youth without having to support someone else's wife and children. Moreover, as the son of Xu State's Second Master, Deputy Director Tao's status is much higher than that of his previous deputy department-level position.

  Tao Qian's deputy was also very depressed. Tao Qian, in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", was originally known for his warmth and simplicity. However, his two sons were even more honest and loyal than him. His eldest son, Tao Shang, was timid and weak, and not good at either martial arts or literature. His second son, Tao Ying, was even more foolish, to the point of being almost stupid. He would absolutely follow whatever Tao Qian said, without daring to take a step in the opposite direction. If Tao Qian told him to read books, he would hold onto his bamboo slips from morning till night, and wouldn't dare put them down until Tao Qian gave the word. This led to countless jokes being made about him, with not even half a point of initiative. Not only did the officials and generals of Xuzhou look down on him, but so did ordinary civilians and even the servants in the Tao household.

  Deputy Director Tao was able to possess the body of the honest child Tao Ying, which was also thanks to Tao Ying's cowardice. A few nights ago, Tao Ying followed Deputy Director Tao's orders and went on patrol in the city, coincidentally bumping into Cao's army sneaking into the city. Several Cao soldiers took advantage of the night to climb up the city wall and collided with Tao Ying's patrol team. The outnumbered Cao soldiers fought desperately, while Tao Ying, who was leading a team of thirty or forty people, was so scared that he cried out loud and fled in panic, even falling off the city wall and losing consciousness. In the end, the Cao soldiers were repelled by General Cao Bao of Xuzhou, and Deputy Director Tao took advantage of Tao Ying's unconsciousness to occupy his body - then bore the brunt of Deputy Director Tao's scolding and the ridicule of the people of Xuzhou, feeling so suffocated that he almost vomited blood.

  "Awesome! Too awesome!"

  The renewed cheers interrupted Tao Ying's reminiscence, and when he focused his eyes to look, he saw that on the distant battlefield, a Liu army general held an extravagantly long spear, leading the charge and breaking through Cao's army's formation. Wherever the spear went, Cao's generals and soldiers were all defeated, and one of Cao's generals was even directly speared off his horse, his dying screams audible even from atop Xu State City, also causing the people on the city walls to erupt in thrilling cheers once again.

  "Second brother! Second brother! Did you see? Did you see?" Eldest brother Tao Shang yelled as he rushed up the steps, rushing in front of Tao Ying, grabbing both his shoulders and shaking them excitedly, just like a child who had just received their favorite toy.

  "Returning elder brother, younger brother has seen." Tao Ying replied respectfully, trying his best to get familiar with the language tone and addressing habits of this era as soon as possible.

  "Second brother, look at that general with the long spear. Could he be Zhang Fei, the third brother of Lord Guan?!" Taoshang pointed to the Liu army general holding a long spear in the distance and asked excitedly: "Second brother, do you think he could be the Zhang Yide that Zhu Bajie spoke of? The Zhang Fei who joined forces with Lord Guan and Guan Yu to defeat Lü Bu at Tiger Trap Pass?"

  "What the elder brother said is extremely right, it should be General Zhang Fei. Zuo Botong also mentioned that what General Zhang held in his hand was indeed a 18-foot snake spear." Tao Ying's mouth was smooth, but his heart was thinking of another big thing.

  It doesn't matter if the general in the distance is the famous Zhang Fei or Zhang Yide. What's most important to Tao Ying right now is to save his own life! Because Tao Ying had already found out that his cheap father, Tao Qian, had good intentions but did bad things, and sent General Zhang Kan to escort Cao Cao's old father, Cao Song, through the territory. But Zhang Kan, that white-eyed wolf, killed off Cao Song's whole family, stole a large sum of money from the Cao family, and went on to become a mountain bandit, a very promising career. As a result, the furious Cao Cao blamed Tao Qian for it, led his army to Xuzhou, and vowed to slaughter all the soldiers and civilians in Xuzhou to avenge his father. As Tao Qian's second son, if Tao Ying fell into Cao Cao's hands, his fate would be too terrible to contemplate.

  Cao Cao, Guo Jia, Xun Yu, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Chun, Cao Hong, Yue Jin, Li Dian, Yu Jin, Dian Wei...

  Thinking of the enemies waiting outside the city, Tao Ying had a chilling feeling. These guys, weren't they all powerful enough to crush him with just one finger?

  Liu Bei's relief troops were getting closer and closer to the city gate, and the cheers on the city wall were getting louder and louder. Tao Qian had already ordered his trusted general Cao Hong to open the city gate and lead the army out of the city to meet Liu Bei's relief troops. Tao Shang, also known as Big Brother Tao, was overjoyed, dancing with excitement, waving his arms and shouting that Xuzhou was saved. However, Tao Ying remained calm and expressionless, without a hint of joy, and instead felt even more worried in her heart.

  Because Tao Ying knew that soon, a shocking event would occur between his father, Tao Qian, and Liu Bei - his father would give the position of Governor of Xuzhou to the unrelated outsider Liu Bei! As a result, Tao Ying, the second son of the Governor of Xuzhou, would thoroughly become a nobody, forever lost in the annals of history. He wondered if he would die at the hands of Lü Bu, the future master of Xuzhou, or at the hands of Cao Cao, or perhaps die an obscure death like Liu Qi, not even worth recording in the historical books!

  Tao should also know that Liu Bei, the defeated general and master of preserving his life on the battlefield, also had a nickname - Old Master Killer! Apart from Cao Cao, who was harder to kill than him, who could kill whom?

  Liu Bei! Guan Yu! Zhang Fei! Zhao Yun! Ah, yes, and there's also Chen Dao, that one who didn't leave a name in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but whose actual martial power is not at all inferior to Zhao Yun's!!

  Just thinking about these opponents coming from outside the city to grab territory, Tao Ying not only felt a chill run down his spine, but also felt his scalp tingling. What kind of evil deeds had he done in his past life that heaven would arrange so many terrifying opponents for him? He wasn't Dong Zhuo, and didn't have Lü Bu to deal with these freaks!

  "Or, consider currying favor with Liu Bei and working hard for him?" Tao Ying was shaken for a moment, but thinking of the fate of Liu Qi and Liu Zong brothers, the desolation of Liu Zhang's family after surrendering to Liu Bei, himself and his elder brother Tao Shang disappearing without a trace in history books, and the various changes that occurred after Liu Bei took over Xuzhou, Tao Ying couldn't help but hesitate again.