Chapter Five Exposure

  "Bring in! Behead the messenger sent by Liu Bei and push him out of the camp, and send his head to the city of Xuzhou to show the crowd! The army will set out immediately and launch an attack on the city!"

  "Your Excellency, wait!" Just as Cao's voice fell, before the warriors under the account could respond, a person suddenly stood up from the left column of civil officials. He was 23 or 24 years old, with a handsome face like a peerless beauty, but unfortunately, his face was pale and his body was thin and weak, looking as if he would be blown down by a gentle breeze. This person was none other than the famous Guo Jia, also known as Guo Fengxiao.

  Guo Jia stepped forward and bowed, then coughed and spoke to stop him: "Lord... Lord, please calm your thunderous anger, don't fall into Liu Bei's trap."

  "Filial piety, has your illness worsened again?" Cao Cao saw that Guo Jia's situation was not good and hastily asked: "Do you want to summon a doctor?"

  "Thank you for your concern, my illness is not serious." Guo Jia coughed and said: "My lord, although I have not seen Liu Bei's letter, but hearing what you said about the mocking tone in it, I already understand Liu Bei's true intention. I hope that you will put aside your thunderous anger for now, think carefully three times, and don't fall into Liu Bei's trap of turning the tables."

  "Sit down and talk, sit down and talk." Cao Cao beckoned Guo Jia to take a seat while asking: "What did Feng Xiao mean by his words? How did Liu Bei turn the tables?"

  "Return to the lord, Liu Bei wrote a letter to the lord, named as courtesy before war, but actually reversing the guest and the host. However, the person Liu Bei is after is not the lord, but Tao Qian." Guo Jia replied: "The lord has already annihilated Tao Qian's main force, and the army is under the city of Xuzhou. Tao Qian only has 6,000 to 7,000 defeated soldiers and generals besieged in a lonely city, with no will to fight, and the city will be broken soon."

  "Now Liu Bei leads his army into the city, with only two or three thousand men under his command. It's like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water - it's impossible to achieve great things this way. If Liu Bei comes out of the city to fight a decisive battle, my army will easily defeat him. But Liu Bei's only chance of winning is to join forces with Tao Qian and defend the city together, relying on the strong walls of Xuzhou to resist our army. However, if Liu Bei makes excuses to rescue Tao Qian and enters Xuzhou without fighting us, he won't be able to explain himself to Tao Qian and the people of Xuzhou; but if he directly proposes to join forces with Tao Qian to defend the city, it will make him a laughing stock for being cowardly and afraid of battle, which would harm his reputation..."

  "So Liu Bei is using the pretext of courtesy before battle to deliberately provoke me." Cao Cao quickly came to his senses and slapped his forehead, saying: "What a cunning scoundrel! If I fall for his trick and immediately order an attack on the city, not only will I lose the moral high ground, but also allow Liu Bei's little brat to avoid the danger of a decisive battle outside the city. That little brat can then take advantage of the situation to join forces with old Tao Qian on equal terms to defend the city. If they win, Liu Bei will get all the credit for rescuing Xuzhou; if they lose, he can still preserve his military strength and make a leisurely retreat, leaving old Tao Qian to face my wrath alone!"

  "It is indeed so, but some think that Liu Bei's move has another layer of meaning." Guo Jia nodded and said: "Liu Bei is a hero with ambitions for the world. This time, under the guise of rescuing Xu Zhou, he actually came for the land of Xu Zhou. Previously, Tao Qian had been defeated repeatedly, his army was severely damaged, and his vitality was greatly injured. If Liu Bei could join forces with Tao Qian to repel our lord, then Tao Qian would certainly treat Liu Bei as a superior guest, and in order to borrow Liu Bei's strength to keep Xu Zhou safe and prevent our army from returning, Tao Qian would definitely try his best to persuade Liu Bei to stay. He would offer Liu Bei wealth and land, and Liu Bei could take advantage of the situation to establish himself in Xu Zhou."

  "Your abacus skills are quite good, but can you, Liu Bei's little boy, drive me back?" Cao Cao sneered.

  "It doesn't matter if we can't retreat, with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, two brave generals, protecting Liu Bei on both sides, it's not difficult for him to break through the chaotic army." Guo Jia smiled and said: "But if we can force our army to retreat, Liu Bei's gains may be even greater. Our scouts have already reported that Tao Qian is seriously ill and won't live long, and his two sons are notoriously weak and incompetent. If Liu Bei borrows the strength of Kong Rong and Tian Kai to force our army to retreat, and then takes credit for lifting the siege of Xuzhou, and then Tao Qian suddenly dies, wouldn't Liu Bei...?"

  "What a big appetite." Cao Cao sneered again and asked, "Liu Bei's son is so treacherous, in my humble opinion, how should I defeat him?"

  "It's not difficult to defeat Liu Bei." Guo Jia said lightly: "Liu Bei took advantage of our unpreparedness and unexpectedly broke into Xuchang City to join forces with Tao Qian, and the morale was high. If we attack the city immediately, even if we win, there will definitely be heavy casualties. Why not turn the tables and first treat Liu Bei's messenger well, respond to Liu Bei with kind words, and lull his mind. Then suddenly attack the city when he is off guard, and Xuchang can be broken in one battle."

  "Excellent!" Cao Cao applauded and laughed, saying: "Let Liu Bei be pleased for a moment, and later we will execute him along with that old man Tao Qian! Someone, send Liu Bei's envoy to the rear camp, treat him well with wine and food. Wait until I finish writing my reply, then let him take it back to Xuchang." The officials under the tent acknowledged and left.

  ………

  Taking advantage of the weak and beautiful young man Guo Jia's good fortune, our Deputy Director Tao barely escaped a great disaster. When Cao's military officer invited Deputy Director Tao to have dinner in the rear tent, Deputy Director Tao finally let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he had won this gamble. As long as he could avoid Cao Cao's initial wave of fury, he would basically be safe. Next, it was just a matter of whether that thing would happen or not, and considering how to grab as much credit as possible for the rescue of Xuzhou.

  Cao Cao's troops mainly planted millet, so the staple food for entertaining Tao Ying was also millet. The dishes were very simple, with a plate of melon and a plate of meat, plus a pot of coarse wine. Compared to the rich and prosperous Xuzhou City, the food was far inferior, but although the dishes were simple, Tao Ying ate with relish, in a good mood, and naturally found the food delicious.

  "He's here! The messenger from Xuzhou is here!"

  Suddenly, a loud shout interrupted Tao Ying's meal. Immediately afterwards, a team of Cao army soldiers rushed into the military account where Tao Ying was located. The first one, a burly man, saw Tao Ying sitting honestly beside the case, and his expression was first joyful, then he shouted loudly: "Take him down!"

  "Bang!" Tao Ying's bamboo chopsticks fell to the ground, and on his face, which had been trained in the imperial court for many years, a rare look of shock appeared. He thought: "What's going on? Why did Cao Cao entertain me first, but then want to capture me?"

  The Cao Jun soldiers didn't care what Tao Ying thought, they rushed up and pressed him down, a thick hemp rope fell from the head, three or two times tied Tao Ying into a tight knot. The burly man sneered again: "Good boy, big guts, dare to come here! After Master Wei gives the order to execute, I will definitely tear you apart with my own hands! Take him away!"

  The soldiers sang, and Tao Ying was dragged away without resistance - it would have been useless to resist, not to mention that this was the main camp of Cao's army, with tens of thousands of Cao's generals and soldiers, let alone Tian Wei standing in front of him, who could crush Tao Ying to death with just one hand!

  So, Tao didn't struggle and just thought tensely in his mind, "Why did Cao Cao send Dian Wei to capture me? Has my identity been exposed? It's impossible. If someone in Cao's camp could recognize me, they would have already revealed my identity long ago. Why wait until now?"

  "Could it be...!" Calculating up to this point, Tao Ying suddenly discovered a major mistake in his plan. "Could it be that Tao Qian couldn't sit still and sent troops to rescue this fake son of mine, so Cao Cao suspected my identity wasn't simple? But it's not right either, there's no shouting outside the camp! If Tao Qian really sent troops to rescue me, the outside should have been turned upside down!"

  "Go!" Dian Wei disliked the slow movement of the soldiers, stretched out his arm which was thicker than Tao Ying's thigh, grabbed the rope on Tao Ying's body, and lifted him up like an eagle catching a chicken. He hurried towards Cao Cao's main tent with big strides. Tao Ying had no strength to resist and could only silently pray in her heart, begging heaven to bless her, hoping that Cao Cao would not see through her disguise.

  Dian Wei's footsteps were swift, and as soon as he arrived in front of the main tent, Tao Ying had not even had time to clearly see the appearance of the commander's tent, which was heavily guarded by Cao's army. Dian Wei had already dragged Tao Ying into the tent and thrown him heavily onto the ground in the center of the tent, bowing his hands to report to Cao Cao: "My lord, this is Liu Bei's messenger!"

  Cao Cao did not respond immediately, and Tao Ying, who had been thrown to the ground, struggled to lift his head with great difficulty. He saw that on both sides of the large tent were standing rows of Cao army officials and generals, with two white flags hanging in the middle, bearing the words "Report revenge and hatred". Below the flag stood a man in his forties, wearing white mourning clothes, who was short and ugly but had an extraordinary air about him, as majestic as Mount Tai. He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at Tao Ying with cold, sharp eyes that made Tao Ying's heart beat wildly and his hair stand on end.

  "This black dwarf is probably Cao Cao." Tao Ying thought to himself, "He sent his trusted general Dian Wei to capture me, what does he plan to do?"

  "Little boy, what's your name?" Cao Cao finally spoke up, coldly asking Tao Ying: "What is your identity?"

  "Why are you asking me for my name and identity?" Tao Ying's forehead broke out in cold sweat, vaguely guessing that Cao Cao had already seen through his identity.

  "Answer!" Cao shouted again, his tone stern and authoritative.

  "My goodness! I'm done for!" Tao Ying steeled himself and thought, since Cao Cao had probably already seen through his disguise, there was no use pretending anymore, and it might even make Cao Cao hate him more.

  After deliberation, Tao Ying struggled to get up, slightly bowed to Cao Cao and straightened his back, answering loudly: "Reporting to the Duke, my surname is Tao, name Ying, courtesy name Mingwu, second son of Xu State Governor Tao Qian, temporarily without official position."

  "It's really this little thief!" A burst of noisy voices came from the account, Cao Jun's military and civilian officials were either shocked or delighted, and some gritted their teeth and clenched their fists, shouting loudly, "Good! He sent himself to the door! Master, let me, the end will be, chop this little thief into pieces, avenge the master's father!"

  "People say that Tao Qian's two sons are weak and incompetent, useless and mediocre. It seems that the rumors were wrong." Cao Cao sneered coldly and said in a low voice: "I didn't expect Tao Qian's son to not only be not weak, but also have a particularly big temper, daring to come personally to my camp to deliver a message, throwing himself into the net! His temper is not small, his temper is really not small!"

  Sweat rolled down Tao Ying's forehead, his face was as pale as dead ashes, and he trembled for half a day before answering, "Your Excellency is overpraising me, Tao Ying really doesn't dare to accept it."

  "There's no pardon." Cao Cao shook his head, a sly smile spreading across his face like a cat playing with a mouse. "Your father Tao Qian slaughtered my father, and yet you dare to come to my camp to deliver a message. Don't you fear that I'll kill you?"

  Afraid." Tao Ying answered honestly this time.

  "If you're afraid, then why did you dare to come?" Cao Cao coldly asked, trying his best to suppress the urge to tear Tao Ying into pieces with his own hands.

  Tao Ying was no longer just sweating on his forehead, but all over his body. He was thoroughly at a loss and did not know how to answer Cao Cao's question - he couldn't say that he was pretending to be Liu Bei's envoy in order to compete with him for merit, could he?

  "Why won't you answer?" Cao Cao asked again, his hand on the hilt of his sword, slowly drawing out the precious sword from his waist, his body emitting a murderous aura that made Tao's skin feel like it was being cut by a knife even from twenty steps away.

  "What...what should I do?" Tao Ying knew that his time was running out, and his heart was even more panicked, his legs also uncontrollably trembling wildly.

  The moment Cao Cao's treasured sword was completely unsheathed, the name Chen Lin suddenly flashed through Tao Ying's mind! Chen Lin, who had scolded Cao's ancestors for eighteen generations until they were covered in dog blood, and finally managed to get an iron rice bowl in Cao Cao's army!

  "Returning to Duke Ming, Tao Ying is afraid of death, yet he comes to Duke Ming's army to deliver a message, only because..." Tao Ying began to recite:

  "My name is on the list of strong men, but I am not selfish. I would sacrifice my life for the country's crisis, and view death as a return home! So, Tao Ying is not afraid to die!"

  By the way, the original author of this poem is a certain black dwarf's son. The black dwarf's son is not yet two years old.