Chen Xi silently drank his wine and then a faint smile emerged on his face, "Although I would like to say thank you, but..."
"No need, right?" Liu Bei also noticed the smile on Chen Xi’s face, knowing him well enough to understand what Chen Xi was about to say.
"Indeed, no need at all!" Chen Xi looked at Liu Bei and calmly said, "Though it somewhat exceeded my expectations, it’s clear that their timing was wrong. They’ve only exposed their own stupidity. Trying too hard can be worse than not trying at all. After this, any Confucian scholars with a guilty conscience will be the ones we need."
"Zichuan, your way of thinking is completely different from ours," Liu Bei said with a wry smile. "I’ve never seen disaster strike under your guidance."
"Disasters do happen, but disaster is where fortune relies, right? As for the way of thinking, maybe my perspective is somewhat different," Chen Xi said casually.
"Since Zichuan is unharmed, I won’t bother you any further." Originally, Liu Bei had planned to chat with Chen Xi. Though Chen Xi was now unharmed, it was still appropriate to strengthen the bonds with his important strategist.
However, the sharp-eyed Liu Bei caught a glimpse of Fan Jian hiding behind a pillar, so he made a gesture, hinting that Chen Xi should go and comfort his wife.
Without turning his head and knowing who was behind him just by seeing Liu Bei’s expression, Chen Xi smiled, made a gesture in response, and then saw Liu Bei out the door. Sure enough, Xu Chu was already standing at the door; it was all quite bizarre.
At a time when Chen Xi saw hope, over in Youzhou, Taishi Ci, leading a thousand men and having persuaded Tian Kai, finally personally escorted the supplies to the frontline. It must be said that with nearly five months of non-stop fighting, Youzhou had clearly suffered a lot of damage.
After delivering the supplies to the main camp, Taishi Ci, who should have returned, stayed at Gongsun Zan’s camp under the courteous pretext of observing the White Horse Soldiers in battle. It must be said that Gongsun Zan was still quite approachable towards allies, aside from Yuan Shu, especially towards a strong ally like Liu Bei who had spared no effort in providing support with supplies.
Therefore, even though Taishi Ci was there as an ally escorting the supplies, Gongsun Zan gave him a seat, allowing him to sit in on meetings and even permitting Taishi Ci to practice on the battlefield by providing him with a small unit of White Horse Soldiers to observe closely how he was thrashing Yuan Shao’s Army.
Taishi Ci spent ten days at Jieqiao, and during these ten days, all he saw was Gongsun Zan beating Yuan Shao with no chance for retaliation. Sometimes, the White Horse Soldiers even broke into Yuan Shao’s camp, although every time Yuan Shao managed to entrenched resist. It seemed like just a bit more force could have finished off Yuan Shao, but unfortunately, it was always just shy of enough.
This favorable situation left Taishi Ci at a loss for words. Once the White Horse Soldiers moved, they were like a wave of white foam engulfing everything in their path. Five thousand on the left wing, five thousand on the right wing, simply sweeping over was enough to flatten everything! How could this possibly be a loss? So Taishi Ci’s life here was quite comfortable, at least free from the incessant sneak attacks by Zhang He and Gao Lan back at Licheng.
"How could this possibly be a loss?" Taishi Ci thought weirdly as he watched another small-scale skirmish where Yuan Shao’s Army was almost routed by the White Horse Soldiers. Had Chen Xi not adamantly asserted that Gongsun Zan was destined to lose, Taishi Ci would have put the matter out of mind long ago, given the current situation, as Yuan Shao could scarcely hold out for a few more days.
"How does Ziyi find it?" Gongsun Zan stood on a hillock, pointing to the waves of white and proudly asked, "Is our army mighty?"
"The White Horse Soldiers can be considered the elite of the world!" Taishi Ci stated earnestly, without a hint of flattery. Indeed, he was telling the absolute truth.
"Hahaha!" Gongsun Zan laughed heartily, "The White Horse Soldiers under my command are my strongest troops! They are forged through the blood of the Northern Frontier Barbarians. Each of them, out there beyond the Great Wall, is worth ten men!"
Taishi Ci smiled. Although Gongsun Zan’s words seemed boastful, they held truth. Perhaps no single soldier could take on ten by himself, but when the White Horse Soldiers, numbering over a thousand, galloped on the Northern Grasslands, achieving battle feats ten times their number was no challenge at all. Gongsun Zan had not been bestowed the title ’White Horse General’ by others; he had earned it through the blood of the Hu People, to the extent that the Northern Barbarians—whether they were Xianbei, Wuhuan, or Huns—would flee at the sight of a White Horse.
In this respect, Taishi Ci, who had once resided in Youzhou, held a great deal of respect for Gongsun Zan. Although Gongsun Zan’s methods were rather bloodthirsty, he had indeed protected the people of Youzhou, which was exactly why Taishi Ci was willing to accept the task of protecting him!
"The Northern Frontier is harsh and cold, and the barbarians ravage the land. If not for General Gongsun, northern Youzhou would have likely fallen victim to their brutality," said Taishi Ci, who also belonged to the Iron Blood Sect and naturally disapproved of Liu Yu’s appeasement policies. No matter how much appeasement was done, the barbarians still raided, and in Taishi Ci’s view, Liu Yu’s methods merely treated the symptoms, not the root, and were simply a means to obtain political achievements.
"The barbarians!" Gongsun Zan’s eyes flashed coldly, "Humph, if I get the chance, I will march to the North Sea and wipe out those beasts! Only dead barbarians are good barbarians!"
Then, as if something had just occurred to Gongsun Zan, he pulled out a piece of paper from his chest and handed it to Taishi Ci, his face a mask of icy resolve, "Take a look at this proposal from the Southern Huns. I think the Xianbei are also getting restless!"
"Such a matter cannot be agreed upon!" a cold light flashed in Taishi Ci’s eyes. The Southern Huns had opened negotiations by stating how much Yuan Shao had offered them to help him attack Gongsun Zan. Since they had no direct quarrel with Gongsun Zan, they said that if Gongsun Zan gave them more goods, they would be willing to help him beat Yuan Shao.
"No direct quarrel? I’ve shed so much blood of the Hun People I’ve lost count! I wouldn’t mind getting rid of an additional nuisance while defeating Yuan Shao," Gongsun Zan said with a cold snort, "To ally with the barbarians? That is beneath me!"
"By the way, General Gongsun, how do you plan to handle the matter with Liu Youzhou?" asked Taishi Ci, feeling more assured after hearing Gongsun Zan’s response, and thus he changed the subject. Compared to the unreliable possibility of Gongsun Zan enlisting barbarians for aid, the political disagreement between Governor Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan was a more substantial issue.
Upon mentioning Liu Yu, Gongsun Zan’s face darkened instantly as unhidden malice flickered in his eyes. He silently decided to eliminate Liu Yu upon his return; if Liu Yu hampered Gongsun Zan’s fight against the barbarians in front, he would be a hindrance against Yuan Shao in the back. It was truly never-ending!
Seeing the look in Gongsun Zan’s eyes, Taishi Ci knew what he had in mind and sighed inwardly at how accurate Chen Xi’s prediction had been.
"General Gongsun, if you find this matter burdensome, allow me to handle it. Lord Xuande and Liu Youzhou share clan kinship, and in these times of dim prospects for the Imperial Family, we need Han Imperial Kinsmen of high virtue and esteem like Liu Youzhou for support. Hence, my lord hopes General Gongsun could show leniency, allowing me to take Liu Youzhou back to Mount Tai, and then to Chang’an," Taishi Ci repeated Chen Xi’s instructions, the implications clear without being spoken.
Gongsun Zan was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter, "Xuande truly is my brother, I’ll leave this trivial matter of Liu Bo’an up to Xuande to manage!"
Gongsun Zan might be straightforward, but he was not foolish. His plans to kill Liu Yu had been made in a fit of rage without any real thought, a knee-jerk reaction born of fury. He hadn’t considered the potential fallout at all. Now that Taishi Ci had enlightened him, Gongsun Zan suddenly understood, instantly seeking to avoid this potential catastrophe.
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