Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

Chapter 433 A big fat fish fell from the sky, and you still want to leave? I treat you as my confidant, but you treat me as a fool?
West of Pingtao City.

Surrounded by five hundred personal guards, Cao Zhi was fleeing towards the Fen River.

To the west of Pingtao is the Fen River. By crossing the Fen River, they could temporarily block the Han army on the east bank, giving themselves a chance to escape.

When Cao Zhi was running desperately, a deafening cry of killing came from the direction of Pingtao City behind him.

Cao Zhi looked back and saw flashes of swords and sabers in the north of the city, and columns of blood rising into the air.

He knew that the Han army had arrived after all, and the 20,000 Qin troops fleeing north were unfortunately intercepted and were being besieged by a Han army that was five times their size.

The entire army was annihilated and it was a foregone conclusion.

Instead, Cao Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and looked relaxed.

Those 20,000 soldiers were just cannon fodder, which attracted the firepower of the Han army and bought him precious time to escape.

Successfully escaping from Pingtao and Bingzhou, which are dangerous places, should be no problem.

"Have tens of thousands of my soldiers been killed in vain?"

"They are all the sons of my Great Qin~~"

Cao Zhi's face was filled with sadness and reluctance.

Seeing this, Yang Xiu could only comfort him:

"Your Highness, please do not be too sad. It is because you cannot bear to see all our Bingzhou soldiers die at the hands of Liu Bei that you are risking your life to return to Guanzhong to ask for help from Your Majesty."

"Your Highness is saving my Bingzhou Legion, saving our Great Qin."

Yang Xiu's righteous and awe-inspiring stance made Cao Zhi feel comfortable, and the sadness on his face turned into determination.

"Uncle Zixiao, soldiers of Bingzhou, you must hold on. I, Cao Zhi, swear to heaven that I will bring you reinforcements!"

"You must hold on and wait for me to come back—"

The word "tian" has not yet been spoken.

The guard behind him suddenly shouted:
"Your Highness, cavalry, there is a large group of cavalry chasing us from behind!"

The scream frightened Cao Zhi so much that he turned around in a hurry.

Take a breath.

I saw a huge white sword chasing towards me from the side and behind me, across the field!

No, it was not a giant white sword, but thousands of white horse cavalrymen, galloping like the wind.

"White Horse Volunteers! Your Highness, it's Liu Bei's White Horse Volunteers!"

Yang Xiu was the first to recognize it and let out a scream.

Cao Zhi was greatly surprised and cried out in a trembling voice:
"Didn't Liu Bei go to intercept our 20,000 troops? Why did he send the White Horse Volunteers to chase us?"

Yang Xiu's eyes darted around a few times and suddenly widened.

"Liu Bei is not here to chase us. He wants to bypass Pingtao and seize Lishi and Xihe County first, blocking the way for our entire Bingzhou Army to retreat westward to Guanzhong!"

"We just ran into them by accident!"

After Yang Xiu revealed the truth, he whipped his horse whip madly and shouted:
"Your Highness, run quickly! Only by rushing to the shore and crossing the river first can you save your life!"

Cao Zhi shuddered and no longer cared about the etiquette of a prince of Qin. He whipped the horse like crazy.

The two of them had horses, so they galloped as fast as they could, and more than a dozen personal guards on horseback followed closely after them.

The hundreds of horseless infantrymen were in a miserable state. They were quickly left behind and were caught up by the White Horse Volunteers in a moment.

Zhao Yun galloped ahead, the dragon-dan spear in his hand dancing wildly like the wind, and instantly killed five Qin soldiers off their horses.

A thousand white horse volunteers swept through like a storm and killed hundreds of terrified Qin soldiers like cutting vegetables and melons.

The cavalry rolled forward without any slowdown in their speed as they continued to gallop forward.

Zhao Yun's eagle eyes were as sharp as lightning, and he quickly locked onto the dozen or so riders in front of him.

This group of people had obviously broken away from the main Qin army and wanted to flee westward to Guanzhong.

The cavalry of the Qin Army's Bingzhou Legion had already been killed or wounded, but the team in front had more than ten cavalrymen, and the people who were surrounding them must be of extraordinary status.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yun's eyes flashed with a gleam of light.

Originally, he was only ordered to seize Lishi and block Cao Ren's way to retreat to Guanzhong, but he didn't expect to come across a merit along the way. It was really a windfall.

No matter who those ten or so riders are protecting, it would be a great achievement if they could capture him.

Zhao Yun's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and he urged his White Horse Guards to chase after them.

The more he chased, the closer he got. In the blink of an eye, he was less than twenty steps away.

The dozen or so royal cavalrymen could have escaped, but Prince Cao Zhi was not a good rider, and his horses could not run at full speed, so they became a burden to them.

They had not yet reached the Fen River, but the White Horse Volunteers behind them were about to catch up.

Yang Xiu looked back and saw that the Han army was getting closer and closer, and he became more and more panicked and frightened.

He vaguely felt that the hands of the god of death had already grasped his neck.

"It was I who reminded Cao Ren to join forces with the Xiongnu, and it was also me who suggested the plan of flooding the Zi clan. If I fall into Liu Bei's hands, how could that big-eared thief spare me?"

"Moreover, my Yang family is all in Qin. Even if I surrender to Liu Bei, given Cao Cao's brutality, how could he let my Yang family go?"

"I am the hope of my Yang family. I must not die, and I must not fall into Liu Bei's hands!"

"Cao Zhi is a useless piece of shit, so it's better not to support him, but losing your life for him is not worth it."

"It seems that I must make a bold move to preserve my useful body..."

Yang Xiu glanced at Cao Zhi beside him.

Assist Cao Zhi in his fight for the position of crown prince, and one day help Cao Zhi ascend the throne and unify the world, while he himself will become a prime minister and a famous minister comparable to Xiao He and Zhang Liang...

All those beautiful dreams were shattered one by one in Yang Xiu's heart. All that was left was the belief in survival!
"Prince Chenliu, I'm sorry. The prosperity of my Yang family is more important to me. I'm sorry I can't accompany you to the end..."

Cao Zhi took a deep breath, and the last trace of hesitation and worry in his eyes disappeared, leaving only iron-like determination.

Sudden.

Yang Xiu suddenly turned his horse around, left the team, and headed north.

"Yang Dezu, where are you going?"

Cao Zhi noticed that Yang Xiu changed direction and screamed in panic.

where to go?
Of course, we went north to Jinyang.

The White Horse Volunteers behind him were about to catch up, so it was impossible for him to escape to Lishi, cross the river and retreat to Guanzhong. Of course, he had no choice but to escape to Jinyang first and save his life.

But he couldn't say this to Cao Zhi, much less ask Cao Zhi to change the route to the north, otherwise he would be dead with the White Horse Volunteers chasing him relentlessly.
"Prince Chenliu, I will lead away the pursuers, you quickly cross the river!"

Yang Xiu tried his best and shouted at the top of his voice.

The three words "Prince of Chenliu" were shouted the loudest, as if he was afraid that the Han army pursuers behind him might not hear clearly.

Cao Zhi was instantly filled with endless emotion.

At this critical moment, in order to cover his own escape, Yang Xiu was willing to sacrifice his own life to attract the pursuit of the Han army!

What a spirit of sacrifice!
What loyalty this is!

"Yang Dezu, I, Cao Zhi, was right about you. You are truly a man of unparalleled loyalty and righteousness!"

"If anything happens to you, I, Cao Zhi, will protect your wife and children for the rest of their lives!"

Cao Zhi was grateful and secretly swore an oath.

Then he whipped his mount desperately, hoping to live up to Yang Xiu's sacrifice and save his own life.

Behind.

Zhao Yun, who was twenty steps away, saw a scholar break away from the Qin army and flee northward alone. He was still hesitating about who to chase.

When Yang Xiu shouted "Prince of Chenliu", Zhao Yun's spirits suddenly lifted and all his hesitations disappeared in an instant.

King of Chenliu?
Isn’t that Cao Cao’s son Cao Zhi?

God actually threw such a big fat fish right in front of him, how could he miss it?
The achievement of capturing Cao Zhi alive is comparable to the achievement of capturing Yuan Shang alive back then!

Zhao Yun's eyes were filled with excitement. He spurred his mount without hesitation and sped up to chase after Cao Zhi.

As for the scholar who escaped alone, no matter who he was, no matter how important he was, could he be heavier than the big fish Cao Zhi?
The white sword whizzed up and in an instant it was within ten steps.

Cao Zhi was dumbfounded.

What about the agreement that Yang Xiu would act as bait to lure away the Han army's pursuers and give himself a chance to escape?

Why didn't the Han army follow the script and instead of chasing after Yang Xiu, they continued to chase after me?

Suddenly, Cao Zhi realized something, and his anxious and panicked face suddenly changed.

Yang Xiu's action was not to attract the Han army to pursue him, but to get rid of him and escape alone!

The cry of "Prince of Chenliu" was ostensibly to show his loyalty, but in fact it was a deliberate exposure of his identity as the prince of the Qin Dynasty.

When the Han army pursuers behind him learned that he was the son of Cao Cao, how could they not chase him like crazy?
The truth is revealed!

At this moment, Yang Xiu's image of unparalleled loyalty and righteousness collapsed in Cao Zhi's heart.

"Yang Dezu, Yang Xiu, I consider you my confidant, yet you treat me like this!"

"Father is right. The nobles and the wealthy are not to be trusted. They will never die for the Cao family or for my father and son—"

Cao Zhi, who wanted to know the truth, had a face twisted with endless grief and anger, and cursed with gritted teeth.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Behind him, there was a sound of breaking air, and the White Horse Volunteers launched a horse-riding archery attack.

Screams rang out one after another, and the guards on both sides were nailed to the ground by arrows one by one, all of them died.

Cao Zhi's grief and anger were dispelled by the fear of death. He no longer cared to hate and curse Yang Xiu, but could only continue to gallop on his horse.

Finally, under the desperate protection of his left and right personal guards, he managed to escape to the bank of the Fen River.

When the Han army appeared, the several boats at the ferry were frightened and rowed away from the shore.

Cao Zhi spotted the nearest ship, galloped towards it on horseback, and intended to jump onto the ship.

"Cao Zhi, don't run!"

A loud shout came from behind.

Zhao Yun swung his tiger arm, and the Longdan Spear in his hand flew out and went straight towards Cao Zhi.

"Crack!"

Accompanied by the sound of flesh and bones being torn.

Cao Zhi's back shoulder was pierced, and his huge body was lifted into the air by the spear, and then fell heavily to the ground.

Cao Zhi fell face first. The heavy impact caused his mouth and nose to be broken and his face was covered with blood.

He didn't know how many bones in his body were broken and the pain was so severe that he felt like dying.

When Cao Zhi, enduring the pain and driven by the fear of death, tried to struggle to get up and crawl towards the Fen River, he suddenly discovered that his shoulder had been nailed to the ground by a spear.

The slightest movement would cause the wound on his shoulder to be pulled so hard that it caused excruciating pain.

"what--"

After a heart-wrenching howl, Cao Zhi's eyes went dark and he fainted on the ground in pain.

(End of this chapter)