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

Chapter 435: Ma Chao executes Cao Zhi! How can I face Cao Cao? I must defend to the death!

"Your brother Cao Ang is quite dignified, but you are like a dog or a pig. It is really sad that Cao Cao has a son like this!"

Liu Bei sighed and waved his hands indifferently.

The Bai Li Guards dragged Cao Zhi down the city like a dead dog.

Cao Zhi was so frightened that his heart and liver were broken, and he begged desperately with tears streaming down his face.

"Your Majesty, wait!"

A loud shout was heard, and a general strode up to the top of the city wall.

A ray of hope appeared in Cao Zhi's desperate eyes, and he thought that a Han general was trying to plead for him.

When Cao Zhi saw the Han general climbing up to the top of the city wall, his face turned as pale as paper. The ray of hope that had just appeared was extinguished in an instant.

Ma Chao!

The man who climbed to the top of the city wall was Ma Chao.

Ma Chao, the Xiliang King, who was almost exterminated by his father Cao Cao and had a blood feud with the Cao family!
How could he be begging for mercy for me? He came to take my life!
"Meng is up."

As soon as Liu Bei saw Ma Chao, his expression immediately turned from gloomy to bright and he stepped forward with a smile.

Ma Chao half-knelt on the ground and bowed:

"Your Majesty, Wenyuan and I led the cavalry to pretend to take the Fenshui Avenue, but who would have thought..."

Ma Chao then told the story of how Cao Ren dug the Fen River to Zhao Yu Ze and launched a water attack, and how he himself led the cavalry to evacuate in time.

Liu Bei took a deep breath and looked at Xiao Fang anxiously.

Cao Ren actually laid such a vicious plan in this clan!
Fortunately, Xiao Fang suggested that the cavalry pretend to take the Fen River route. Otherwise, wouldn't his 100,000 infantrymen have been wiped out by Cao Ren's flood without leaving anything behind?
"Prime Minister, you saved my 100,000-man army!"

After calming down, Liu Bei couldn't help but feel fortunate.

Xiao Fang smiled and bowed, saying:
"I didn't expect that my plan would accidentally save my 100,000 troops. This is your Majesty's destiny. God is protecting me!"

Liu Bei was shocked and looked up at the sky.

At this moment, he suddenly had a feeling that he was indeed blessed with good fortune.

Otherwise, how could he have avoided a great disaster, completely annihilated Cao Ren's 20,000-strong army, and captured Cao Cao's son alive!

Fate favors us, but that's it...

"Your Majesty, when I was just outside the city, I heard that Your Majesty wanted to execute Cao Zhi. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to carry out the execution myself!"

Ma Chao pleaded angrily, his face burning with rage for revenge.

This was the reason why he hurriedly climbed the city wall to stop the Bai Li soldiers from killing Cao Zhi.

Cao Zhi's heart skipped a beat and his face looked extremely miserable.

He knew that Ma Chao was seeking revenge and wanted to kill him personally to avenge the Ma family.

Liu Bei naturally understood Ma Chao's motives. Since he was going to kill Cao Zhi anyway, why not do him a favor and let his beloved general vent his anger.

"Okay, I grant your request, and Meng will execute the traitor Cao Zhi!"

Ma Chao was overjoyed and knelt down to express his gratitude.

When Ma Chao stood up and looked back at Cao Zhi, his eyes were wide open and endless hatred was bursting out.

Cao Zhi shuddered all over and shivered violently.

Ma Chao stepped forward, grabbed Cao Zhi's shoulder with his tiger paw, and dragged him towards the city like a dead dog.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to surrender to the Han Dynasty. I am willing to surrender to the Han Dynasty. Give me a chance to be loyal to the Han Dynasty——"

Cao Zhi came to his senses and struggled desperately, begging at the top of his lungs.

Liu Bei remained indifferent. His eyes had already turned to the north, and he jokingly talked with Xiao Fang and other ministers about the strategy of capturing Jinyang.

Cao Zhi was dragged all the way down from the city wall and forced to his knees at the gate by Ma Chao.

"Cao thief, you wiped out my entire clan, but have you ever thought that one day, your son would die under my knife!"

"God is also helping me to get revenge, hahahaha——"

Ma Chao couldn't suppress his ecstasy. He snatched the ring-handled sword from the soldier beside him and raised it high in the air.

The excitement and pleasure of killing Cao Zhi was a hundred times greater than that of killing Cao Chun and Cao Tai!
After all, Cao Tai was only Cao Cao's nephew, and Cao Chun was just Cao Cao's cousin, not even a brother.

Killing those two people would at most only make Cao Cao angry, but it would not be a heart-wrenching thing.

Cao Zhi is Cao Cao’s own flesh and blood, his own son!

He was also the most talented poet in the world and was Cao Cao's favorite son!
Killing such a beloved one like him would be like stabbing Cao Cao in the heart, and that would be the real revenge against Cao Cao!

Knowing that he was doomed, Cao Zhi finally gave up begging and turned to glare at Ma Chao with grief and anger.

"Ma Chao, you are a traitor to the Qin Dynasty!"

"You are disloyal and betrayed my Great Qin, killing so many Cao clan members, and you are trying to harm me today!"

"My father will not let you go. He will kill you sooner or later. Kill that big-eared thief and avenge me~~"

Cao Zhi's eyes were bloodshot, and he roared in anger and cursed angrily, gritting his teeth like a wild beast.

Ma Chao raised his mouth with sarcasm and smiled coldly:
"Cao Zhi, you call yourself a genius, but I think you are really stupid and can't even see the general trend of the world."

"Everyone knows that the emperor's extermination of Qin and the punishment of Cao is an inevitable trend, and no one can reverse it!"

"You are still fantasizing that your father Cao Cao will avenge you?"

"It's ridiculous, it's really ridiculous!"

After Ma Chao's ridicule, his eyes suddenly focused and murderous intent surged out like a tide.

"On the road to the underworld, just wait patiently with your brothers and uncles. It won't be long before I send your father, Cao the thief, and your entire Cao family to reunite with you!"

He raised the ring-handled sword high in his hand, and with his hatred for the genocide and his rage for revenge, he slashed it down angrily.

"Ma Chao——" the crying voice suddenly stopped.

Cao Zhi was beheaded.

...

Jinyang City.

The whole city was in panic and rumors were spreading.

"You know, last night the cavalry general fled back to Jinyang City in disgrace, bringing back only a few hundred men and horses."

"Only a few hundred men? Didn't he lead 20,000 soldiers? Did they all get wiped out?"

"I heard that he was caught up by the Han army in Pingtao, and the 20,000-strong army was completely wiped out. Even the Prince of Chenliu died in Pingtao."

"What a pity! Half of those 20,000-plus soldiers are from Bingzhou."

"Alas, since we surrendered to Qin, our life has been even worse than when we were in Wei. When will this end?"

"It will be soon. Qin will not be able to defend Jinyang. Bingzhou will be taken by the Han emperor sooner or later. Then we will have good days."

"That's right. All his 20,000 soldiers and horses have died. What else can he use to defend Jinyang City?"

...

The people of the city were whispering to each other. Even before the Han army arrived, their morale was on the verge of collapse.

Within the state capital.

Cao Ren's face was ashen as he sat in the upper seat, his forehead supported by his hand, his eyes tightly closed, and he said nothing.

The might of the General of Cavalry of the Great Qin and the most famous general of the Cao family has disappeared, leaving only a feeling of sadness and loneliness.

In the Battle of Pingtao, all 20,000 soldiers were killed or wounded, and he only led more than 500 people and fled back to Jinyang like a stray dog.

This disastrous defeat completely crushed Cao Ren's mental will.

"General Huoqi, now is not the time to be discouraged. Liu Bei will lead his army to Jinyang at any time."

"General, you must cheer up and make plans early. You must not give up!"

Xun You persuaded and reminded with a bitter face.

Cao Ren regained some spirits and sighed helplessly:
"Then tell me, at this point, what else can I do?"

Xun You took a deep breath and bowed solemnly:

"The only options now are to stay or to flee. There are only two options."

"All of my 20,000 soldiers have been lost. It is impossible to defend Jinyang with only a few hundred people. We have no choice but to immediately garrison Shangdang, Yanmen and other places, withdraw all of them back to Jinyang, and gather all the Bingzhou troops to defend it."

"The second option is to gather troops immediately, abandon Bingzhou and head west, cross the Yellow River via Xihe County, and return to Guanzhong to join Your Majesty."

"Time is running out. General Huoqi must make a quick decision. Otherwise, if Liu Bei's retreat to the west is cut off, we will have no choice."

Cao Ren's heart trembled, he stood up suddenly, stood in front of the map with his hands behind his back, and fell into deep thought.

The generals behind him started talking.

Most people believed that even if they gathered the remaining 50,000 soldiers, they would not be able to defend Jinyang City and would be wiped out sooner or later.

Defending Jinyang to death would be a dead end. It would be better to save the people and lose the land, lead the remaining troops and retreat to Guanzhong, and save these 50,000 precious soldiers for Qin.

The generals' discussions could not have had no influence on Cao Ren.

Previously, he did want to hold on to Jinyang, and even Bingzhou, until Cao Cao invaded Hedong and forced Liu Bei to withdraw.

The Battle of Pingtao shattered his fantasies and greatly shook his will.

What he needs now is for someone to pave a step for him so that he can walk down comfortably and run away with everyone.

"General Hussar, General Hussar——"

Cao Ren didn't wait for the stairs, but waited for Yang Xiu.

Looking back, he saw Yang Xiu alone, crying and rushing into the hall, and kneeling in front of Cao Ren.

"Yang Xiu?"

Cao Ren's heart tightened, and he asked anxiously:
"Where is Zijian? Why are you alone? Why didn't he come to Jinyang to join us?"

Yang Xiu burst into tears and cried with a look of grief and indignation:

"The Prince of Chenliu and I were cut off from our northward march by the Han army and were forced to flee westwards, intending to retreat to Guanzhong via Xihe to seek help from Your Majesty."

"Who would have thought that Liu Bei would send cavalry to seize Xihe County first? Unfortunately, we were intercepted by the enemy cavalry, and the Prince of Chenliu and I were separated in the chaos."

"I luckily escaped the pursuit of the Han army, and later I learned that the Prince of Chenliu was unfortunately captured by Liu Bei."

"That big-eared thief was so cruel and vicious that he actually ordered the traitor Ma Chao to kill the Prince of Chenliu in Pingtao City~~"

By the end of his speech, Yang Xiu was so grief-stricken that he fell to the ground.

Cao Zhi was killed by Ma Chao!

It was like a bolt of thunder, crashing down on the mansion.

All the generals of the Qin army were shocked and there was an uproar.

Cao Ren also staggered back three steps and fell down on his seat, his expression dull and wooden, as if his soul had been drained out.

The one who was killed was not someone else, but Cao Zhi!
The most beloved son of Emperor Cao Cao, one of the candidates for the crown prince of the Qin Empire, and the prince of Chenliu!
He actually died at the hands of Liu Bei, and died under the knife of Ma Chao, the remnant of the Ma family?
Cao Zhi came to Bingzhou, but he came to follow you, Cao Ren, to gain fame. However, you, his uncle, failed to protect him and instead let him die at the hands of Liu Bei!

How are you going to explain this to Cao Cao?
In other words, how dare you escape back to Guanzhong to meet Cao Cao?

Cao Ren, who had been stunned for a long time, suddenly exploded, and his face instantly twisted into a hideous look like a beast.

"Pass my order, all troops retreat to Jinyang!"

"I will defend Jinyang to the death, I will defend Bingzhou to the death, I will fight the big-eared thief to the death—"

(End of this chapter)