Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 168 The Trouble Starts from Within
Zhao Yun's scouts reported that Yangping Pass was on fire. Knowing that Wei Xiaobao had succeeded, Zhao Yun hurriedly sent men to lead horses back to find Wei Xiaobao.

Wei Xiaobao and Ma Yunlu were groping their way along the marks left by Zhao Yun in the mountain valley when they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves ahead.

Wei Xiaobao pulled Ma Yunlu behind a boulder and peeked out to observe.

A group of about a hundred men rushed out from the front, all dressed in Hanzhong military uniforms.

Wei Xiaobao's heart was in his throat: "Oh no, could it be Zhang Lu's remnants?"

Suddenly, Wei Xiaobao spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.

With snow-white fur and yellow feet, it was none other than Zhaohuang Feidian.

Wei Xiaobao jumped onto the boulder and whistled at his mount.

Upon hearing Wei Xiaobao's whistle, Huang Feidian broke free from his soldiers and charged towards Wei Xiaobao.

Wei Xiaobao laughed heartily and said to Ma Yunlu under the boulder, "My elder brother has sent people to pick us up."
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Zhao Yun's marching speed did not decrease, and by the time Wei Xiaobao and Ma Yunlu caught up, the two sides had already arrived at the walls of Chencang.

Ma Tie had already sent the prisoners to Tianshui, leaving only a few officers with military ranks, including Zhang Wei.

When Zhao Yun heard that Ma Tie had sent the prisoners away ahead of schedule, he guessed that Ma Tie was worried that he would take advantage of these surrendered soldiers. He secretly laughed at Ma Tie's petty intentions.

Zhang Wei, who looked like a white-haired pig, was locked in a prison cart, with four generals standing in front of him: Zhao Yun, Wei Xiaobao, Ma Yunlu, and Ma Tie.

Zhang Wei had maintained a half-squatting posture the whole way, and his legs were already sore and weak. When he saw that all the enemy generals had arrived, he thought that his death was imminent. He was so frightened that his legs cramped and trembled uncontrollably.

Zhao Yun drew the sword from his personal guard and suddenly slashed it down from above.

Zhang Wei let out a loud "Ah!"

Clang!
The chains on the prison cart were cut, and Zhao Yun returned his longsword to his personal guard.

“I promised your brother I would let you go back, but Yangping Pass has already been blown up by us. I’m afraid General Zhang will have to spend some time getting back to Hanzhong via Ziwudao.”

Zhang Wei was dragged out of the prison van and knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly in gratitude.

Zhao Yun couldn't stand his groveling and begging attitude, so he waved his hand and ordered his men to drive him out of Chencang.

Although Ma Tie was somewhat dissatisfied with Zhao Yun's act of releasing prisoners of war privately on his territory, Zhao Yun had not only helped the Ma family army out of the predicament in Tianshui, but also had a large number of troops in Chencang at the time, so he dared not say anything more.

After settling things with Zhang Wei, Zhao Yun prepared to lead his troops back to Chang'an. Upon learning that Wei Xiaobao would be staying in Chencang with Ma Yunlu for the night, he gave a few instructions and then left.

That evening, Ma Tie prepared a family banquet at his residence to entertain Wei Xiaobao and Ma Yunlu.

At the banquet, in addition to the hearty Northwestern cuisine and fine wine, there was also the indispensable dance performed by Qiang girls.

Wei Xiaobao recalled that Ma Yunlu had performed a sword dance for him in Wancheng. He said to Ma Yunlu, who was slightly drunk, "Last time you danced for me, you almost killed me. I was so scared that I didn't even get to appreciate it properly. If you have the chance, you can dance it again sometime."

"Aren't you afraid I'll take this opportunity to stab you again?"

"Don't worry, what woman would willingly want to be a widow?"

Ma Yunlu laughed heartily, displaying the forthrightness of the people of Xiliang: "Alright! Since you want to see it, I'll dance now."

As he spoke, Ma Yunlu stepped from behind the desk to the center of the crowd and slowly drew his sword from his waist. "Ha!"

With a delicate shout, the longsword pierced the air in front of her with the sound of a dragon's roar. Then, her body followed the sword, her full figure moving and twisting amidst the blooming sword flowers.

Wei Xiaobao saw that her sword dance showed no murderous intent whatsoever, but rather was full of charm and allure.

"I never imagined that someone who practices martial arts every day could have such a graceful figure."

When the song ended, Wei Xiaobao's saliva was soaking his front.

Ma Yunlu returned to her seat and, seeing Wei Xiaobao's dazed expression, couldn't help but chuckle: "Why do you look like you're seeing me for the first time?"

Wei Xiaobao said, "You know what, for a moment, I thought I was watching someone else's wife dance!"

Ma Yunlu rolled her eyes: "I just gave you a friendly look, and now you're spouting nonsense at me?"

Realizing he had misspoke, Wei Xiaobao quickly picked up his wine cup and said, "Punishment drink! Punishment drink!"

After drinking a glass of wine, Ma Yunlu also drank one with him.

Seeing that the two of them seemed to ignore him, Ma Tie jokingly added, "General Wei, although my little sister doesn't usually wear makeup, she's a famous beauty in Xiliang."

"Since my father has already agreed to your marriage, why don't you marry into the Ma family and become the King of Xiliang in the future?"

Upon hearing Ma Tie's words, Wei Xiaobao was startled: "Even Cao Cao doesn't dare to claim the title of king at this point, yet Ma Tie is already having such thoughts. Even if Ma Teng is indeed made King of Xiliang, the title will be passed on to Ma Chao. Could this kid be planning to follow Yuan Shang's example and turn against his own brother?"

Wei Xiaobao pretended not to hear Ma Tie's words, picked up his wine cup and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, General Ma Tie. I am not a good drinker, and I will go back to rest after finishing this cup."

Before Ma Tie could reply, Wei Xiaobao had already finished his drink and put his hand on Ma Yunlu's shoulder, saying, "I'm a little drunk, take me home."

Ma Yunlu helped Wei Xiaobao back to the pre-arranged lodgings, pushed him onto the bed, and said, "Alright, stop pretending! Do you think I don't know your alcohol tolerance? It's not easy to have a good time drinking and having fun with Third Brother. If you don't like it, just come back on your own. Why do you have to drag me along?"

Wei Xiaobao rubbed his sore bottom from being thrown by Ma Yunlu and said, "If we don't leave now, your third brother might kill you."

Ma Yunlu asked in surprise, "What do you mean by that?"

"Didn't you hear your third brother talking about the King of Xiliang?"

Ma Yunlu disagreed, nodding and saying, "I heard him, wasn't he just flattering you?"

"That's not flattery. Your third brother made it very clear that I need to marry into your family in order to become the King of Xiliang. So tell me, where does this King of Xiliang come from?"

Thinking of her marriage, Ma Yunlu's face showed a mixture of joy and shyness: "My third brother was drunk and talking nonsense."

Wei Xiaobao said, "As the saying goes, people speak the truth when they're drunk. I'm afraid your third brother has long harbored resentment towards your eldest brother. I worry that the day your father truly dominates Xiliang will be the day these brothers turn against each other."

Ma Yunlu said, "How is that possible? My third brother went to the battlefield with my eldest brother when he was a teenager. The two of them have been through so many life and death together."

Wei Xiaobao said, "Some people can fight together to conquer the world, but they can't rule it together. Right now, they're only thinking about how to deal with Han Sui, Guo Si, and others. Once Xiliang is pacified, your Ma family will have no rivals in Xiliang, and then it will naturally be time for the internal division of interests."

Only then will we see if brothers will truly fight each other for fame and fortune! I've seen plenty of fratricide before!

(End of this chapter)