Chapter 2952: Stalemate

“But there’s still a problem. I heard that Lu Zhi is your teacher. Won’t that put you in a tight spot?” Princess Ni Huang had gathered some intelligence about Liu Bei before marching down to Ji County, so she was aware of his affiliations.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Zu An replied.

Murong Qinghe refused to believe that fate was set in stone, but she wasn’t willing to bet Zu An’s safety on that. If others were to learn that Zu An was working with the Yellow Turban Army, and the Yellow Turbans eventually fell in defeat, there would be nowhere for Zu An to go.

“But I’ll be joining Lu Zhi in the future,” Zu An replied with a troubled frown. That had been his plan all along, but that was before he knew one of the leaders of the Yellow Turban Army was an ally.

“That will be an issue. Are we doomed to meet on the battlefield?” Princess Ni Huang frowned.

“I’ll do my best to avoid a direct clash with you. You take care of yourself, too. Also, you should advise Zhang Jiao against being too hasty. There could be a window of opportunity if he stands his ground,” Zu An advised.

“Opportunity?” Princess Ni Huang was intrigued. “The imperial court has mobilized its army. Soldiers from nearby provinces and commanderies will only continue to pour in. I heard that a renowned general named Huangfu Song will be leading another elite army toward Yi Province. We’ll be in a difficult position if we don’t eliminate Lu Zhi’s force as soon as possible.”

Zu An told Princess Ni Huang about how Lu Zhi refused to bribe the eunuch dispatched to supervise the army, so the eunuch leveled false accusations against him, causing him to be removed from command and escorted back to the capital. “I’m not sure if it will happen in this world or not, but you can keep a lookout for that.”

Princess Ni Huang’s eyes lit up. “Lu Zhi is a famed general. Even our boss has suffered setbacks because of him. The imperial court will be courting death if it removes him from his position because he refuses to engage in bribery! Alright, I’ll advise our boss to maintain a defensive posture!”

The two discussed several more details.

Princess Ni Huang didn’t retreat right away. Instead, she continued heaping pressure on Lunu City for the next few days, lest Zhang Chun pursue her when she eventually retreated.

There had been so many close calls for Lunu City that Zhang Chun dared not close his eyes. He prayed hard to the moon and the stars. Finally, reinforcements from Ji County arrived, and he nearly burst into tears when Zu An appeared at the outskirts of Lunu City with the White Horse Righteous Followers.

Zu An pretended to clash with the Yellow Turban Army. With Princess Ni Huang as an insider, he enjoyed victory after victory.

Using the Yellow Turbans’ numerical advantage as a pretext, he maintained a defensive posture, refusing to pursue the opposing force when they retreated. Due to that, the Yellow Turbans didn’t suffer severe losses.

After suffering several losses, the Yellow Turbans finally began to back off. Lunu City’s crisis was finally over.

All the soldiers and the civilians were so relieved that they cried tears of joy. With deafening cheers, they welcomed the heroes who had saved them into the city.

Zu An entered the city with his troops, but he was too preoccupied to respond to the civilians’ cheers. After securing consecutive victories against the Yellow Turban Army, he had awakened a commanding trait—’Reputation’.

He was a little frustrated. His commanding trait didn’t seem useful compared to Princess Ni Huang’s ability to summon lightning or Murong Qinghe’s ‘Lightning Movement’. It wasn’t weak by any means, but he would prefer something more formidable.

It would appear that commanding traits are awakened through warfare. I wonder what kind of traits Tingxue and Yun Jianyue will awaken.

...

Zu An briefly traded pleasantries with Zhang Chun before demanding his compensation. As reluctant as the latter was, the Yellow Turban Army was still within the vicinity, so he could only bear the pain and pay up.

Zu An couldn’t be bothered to waste time with Zhang Chun. Upon receiving the rations, he made preparations to return to Ji County.

Murong Qinghe also led her Wuhuan cavalrymen back to her tribe. While the two reluctantly shared their farewells, she promised to nurture her own aides in hopes that she could bring more Wuhuan cavalrymen to his aid one day.

Two days later, Zhang Chun finally received news that Lu Zhi had cornered Zhang Jiao in Guangzong County. He realized that Zhang Bao had retreated not out of fear of Liu Bei, but to reinforce Zhang Jiao. That made him explode with anger.

“That little scoundrel Liu Bei! How dare he deceive me!”

He wanted to dispatch his troops to Ji County to demand the rations back, but his subordinates anxiously stopped him. Their army had suffered heavy losses in the previous battle and needed time to recover. Furthermore, they were all serving the imperial court. If Zhang Chun attacked Liu Bei, that would be tantamount to staging a rebellion!

“Hmph! I’ll return this favor one day!” Zhang Chun made sure to remember this grudge.

Shortly after Zu An returned to Ji County with the rations, Gongsun Yue and the White Horse Righteous Followers took their leave, claiming that they had been out for too long.

Zu An was reluctant to let them leave, but he couldn’t force the White Horse Righteous Followers to stay. So, they bade each other farewell.

Next, Zu An, together with Tingxue, Yun Jianyue, and three thousand elite soldiers, marched toward Guangzong County to reinforce Lu Zhi.

Zou Jing tried to dissuade Zu An, claiming that the Yellow Turbans were still plundering in the region and they needed to prioritize their territory first. However, Zu An said that Lu Zhi was his teacher, so he was duty-bound to reinforce him.

Perhaps due to Zu An’s commanding trait ‘Reputation’, Zou Jing was won over by his explanation and looked at him with glowing eyes. Despite being the superior, he subconsciously heeded Zu An’s words. He offered to guard Ji County so that Zu An could leave without worry.

Zu An and his army of three thousand marched southwest. Along the way, he updated Tingxue and Yun Jianyue about recent events. The two women were impressed. For the first time, they thought that there were benefits to Zu An’s philandering ways.

They didn’t encounter any Yellow Turbans along the way, so they arrived outside Guangzong City without any issue. A huge army was already standing in formation outside the city, and the intimidation aura it emanated surged into the sky.

Even Tingxue and Yun Jianyue felt their cultivation being suppressed despite being a great distance away. Previously, they couldn’t understand how the Yellow Turban Army was defeated within a year despite having built up such a huge momentum. But it all made sense now. The imperial court’s most elite army was far stronger than any army they had seen to date. Indeed, the imperial court hadn’t completely declined yet.

Zu An noticed Princess Ni Huang camping on the other side of the city, but the intimidation aura there was far weaker.

According to their intelligence, Princess Ni Huang had already clashed with Lu Zhi several times, but she hadn’t won a single exchange. Her army’s morale was currently at its lowest. They were initially supposed to attack Ji County, only to abruptly switch targets to Zhongshan Commandery. They suffered setbacks there, and all of a sudden, they had to travel a long way to Guangzong City.

It was fortunate that Zhang Jiao was holding the fort here, and Lu Zhi’s army was much smaller than the Yellow Turban Army. That had led to a stalemate for the time being.

Zu An stationed his army in the vicinity before bringing Tingxue and Yun Jianyue to meet Lu Zhi.

Lu Zhi stepped out of his tent to welcome Zu An. He had grayish-white hair held together by a wooden hairpin, with several loose strands scattered around his thin face. He had sharp cheekbones and a pair of deep eyes that exuded a warm light. Despite his old age, his back was upright.

He looked at Zu An with an approving nod. “Xuande[1], I heard you have turned the tides over at You Province. You protected Ji County, defeated Gao Sheng’s army of fifty thousand, and resolved the threat at Zhongshan Commandery. You are a pillar of the Eastern Han!”

Lu Zhi’s commanders turned to Zu An. This Liu Bei has received such high praises from Lu Zhi. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes known all over the world.

Zu An hadn’t expected news about his accomplishments to spread so quickly. Is this due to the effect of my ‘Reputation’ trait?

He quickly replied with a bow, “It’s all thanks to your teachings.”

Lu Zhi burst into laughter. While he frowned on bootlickers, it was a different story here, as Liu Bei was his student. He turned to the two ladies and asked with a frown, “These two are...?”

—

Some additional context:

As suggested, many local officials ‘overlooked’ the Yellow Turban Rebellion, allowing it to build up, mainly due to displeasure toward the emperor.

In this era, there were two major opposing factions in the imperial court—the eunuchs and the officials.

The eunuchs were intended to serve as a counterweight against the officials and the nobles. The officials and nobles slowly accrued power through the generations, with wealth and power building up to a point where they inspired fear in the emperor. In contrast, the eunuchs had been castrated and were unable to reproduce, so the emperor viewed them as a lesser threat.

Unfortunately, the eunuchs had committed many vile actions over the years, and the emperor seemed to just side with them (perhaps partly because he wanted to weaken the officials, but the justifications there weren’t strong enough).

For instance, the eunuchs had blatantly engaged in corruption right before a national amnesty. The officials learned about it and punished them anyway. This led the eunuchs to complain to the emperor, and the emperor sided with the eunuchs and punished the officials for it.

Such things happened several times, leading to great dissatisfaction against the imperial court. That is what sowed the seeds for the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and it’s partly the reason why many officials chose to overlook it even while it was building momentum.

Ultimately, the biggest beneficiaries of the Yellow Turban Rebellion were really the warlords, who gained permission to build up their private armies.

1. Liu Bei’s courtesy name ☜

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