Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 169 Siege is another problem
After hearing Wei Xiaobao's theory of fratricide, Ma Yunlu decided to leave and stay in Chencang for a few more days to observe Ma Tie.

The next day, news of victory finally came from Anding. Ma Chao's army had besieged Guo Si for many days, and Cao Cao kept urging Guo Si to transport grain. Just as Guo Si was secretly risking his life to transport grain out of the city, the female cavalry regiment launched a surprise attack on Guo Si's grain transport army. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Guo Si surrendered the city.

Enraged by Guo Si's stubborn resistance, Ma Chao killed Guo Si and more than 3,000 of his soldiers on the spot.

When the news reached Chencang, Ma Tie secretly arranged for someone to write a letter accusing Ma Chao of being bloodthirsty and send it to Tianshui. Fortunately, it was intercepted by Ma Yunlu halfway there.

After Ma Yunlu intercepted the letter, she did not confront Ma Tie directly, but instead took the letter to Wei Xiaobao.

After reading the letter, Wei Xiaobao said, "Although you and I both know that this letter is your third brother's scheme, it has neither a signature nor his handwriting. As the saying goes, to catch a thief, you need to catch him red-handed. If we go to your father to complain without any evidence, and your third brother turns around and accuses us of framing him, it will not only make your father suspicious of you, but it will also make your third brother more cautious and secretive in the future, which will be even more detrimental to your eldest brother."

Ma Yunlu asked, "What should we do with this letter?"

Wei Xiaobao countered, "What did you do with the messenger?"

Ma Yunlu replied, "I was so angry when I saw the letter that I killed him outside the city. He was a spy trained by my third brother, and he was extremely secretive in his actions. There was no one else present when I killed him."

Wei Xiaobao walked to the table, took out a tinderbox from his body, lit the oil lamp, placed the letter on the fire, and threw it into the brazier.

Ma Yunlu tried to stop it, but the fire had already started, and the letter was burned to ashes in the blink of an eye.

"Why did you burn it? Even without my third brother's seal, it could have been kept to corroborate other evidence later!"

Wei Xiaobao shook his head and said, "It's no use. Since Ma Tie wants to frame Ma Chao, he has naturally prepared a way out if things are exposed. Burning this letter will only make him think that your father received it. Ma Tie also knows that your father will not blame Ma Chao for this matter of stability, so his goal is to gradually undermine your father's trust in Ma Chao."

Ma Yunlu asked, "How did you guess what my third brother was thinking?"

Wei Xiaobao chuckled: "I've done this kind of thing—framing and slandering others—so much of it has taught me a thing or two. Trying to kill someone with a mere fabricated charge isn't that easy."

Now that Anding has fallen, my elder brother will surely be considering attacking Wuwei. There's no need for us to stay in Chencang anymore; why don't we set off back to Chang'an now?"

Ma Yunlu was still worried that Ma Tie would continue to make trouble behind her back. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I want to stay here and keep an eye on Third Brother, so that he won't do anything out of line again."

Wei Xiaobao said, "You can only be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days. Even if we follow him around every day, we can't stop him from doing bad things. The most urgent thing is to get rid of Han Sui, this hidden danger. As for what will happen to the Ma family in the future, we can only take it one step at a time. As the saying goes, when soldiers come, we will block them; when water comes, we will dam it. We don't have any evidence now, so we can only wait to strike back."

Ma Yunlu thought Wei Xiaobao's words made sense, so she agreed with his suggestion.

When Ma Yunlu bid farewell to Ma Tie, her face was full of anger.

Ma Tie assumed that Ma Yunlu was upset because he had gotten Wei Xiaobao drunk the night before, so after offering a few words of explanation, he saw Wei Xiaobao and Ma Yunlu off to their carriage.

Liu Bei's intelligence network reacted extremely quickly. Just as Wei Xiaobao and Ma Yunlu returned to Chang'an and met Zhao Yun, a letter from Xuchang arrived, along with an imperial edict from Emperor Xie. In the letter, Liu Bei mentioned that the emperor had appointed Ma Teng as General Who Guards the West and Governor of Liangzhou, with his capital in Tianshui. Zhuge Liang's letter also outlined plans for a joint attack on Wuwei with Ma Teng, and the subsequent actions of Zhao Yun and Wei Xiaobao after the pacification of Western Liang.

Zhao Yun had come to trust Ma Yunlu completely by this time, and he did not keep any military matters from her. He also told Wei Xiaobao about these things in front of her.

Wei Xiaobao asked, "Brother, do Chang'an currently have enough troops and supplies to attack Wuwei?"

Zhao Yun shook his head: "Cao Cao's navy is already quite large, and Xiahou Yuan is stationed at Tongguan. If Chang'an is undefended, I'm afraid Cao Cao will take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack. This time, the attack on Wuwei will mainly rely on General Ma Teng's forces. When we blew up Yangping Pass last time, didn't General Ma Teng take in 10,000 surrendered soldiers from Hanzhong?"

After General Ma Chao occupied Anding, he also seized a large amount of military supplies and provisions, which was enough to support General Ma Teng in conquering Wuwei.

However, Xiliang valued cavalry but was not adept at siege warfare. This attack on Anding is a case in point.

If Han Sui and Guo Si had adopted the same defensive strategy, remaining holed up in Wuwei City and refusing to come out, this battle would likely have dragged on for more than six months.

Wei Xiaobao said, "Could you ask my second brother to lend us General Zhang Liao? He is skilled in using siege equipment and has a lot of experience in siege warfare."

Zhao Yun shook his head: "The Jingzhou army is training its siege troops. The governor has formed a suicide squad called the Vanguard Battalion and is preparing to attack the four counties of southern Jingzhou."

Wei Xiaobao said, "It seems we'll be able to take over the entire Jingzhou region soon. We need to work harder too, we can't lose to Second Brother and the others. If we could keep half of the gunpowder from last time, we'd be more confident in attacking Wuwei this time."

Zhao Yun said, "Gunpowder should be easy to obtain. The strategist has set up gunpowder workshops in both Xuchang and Wancheng, working day and night to produce gunpowder."

Wei Xiaobao exclaimed excitedly, "That's wonderful! Brother, quickly write to the strategist and ask them to send some gunpowder from Wancheng!"

As Zhao Yun wrote the letter, he asked, "The gunpowder needs to be prepared in advance so that it can be ignited and take effect when the enemy breaks into the formation. What use is gunpowder to us when we're attacking a city?"

Wei Xiaobao smiled mysteriously and said, "My idea is not yet fully developed. Once the gunpowder arrives, I will have to try it a few times to know its effectiveness, and then I will explain it to you, brother."

Ma Yunlu had no idea what Wei Xiaobao was up to, but seeing his excited expression, she knew he was scheming about some strange idea.

While waiting for the gunpowder, Wei Xiaobao and Ma Yunlu made a special trip back to Tianshui to deliver the imperial edict to Ma Teng and discuss the subjugation of Wuwei with him.

As the governor of Liangzhou, Ma Teng naturally had an unshirkable duty to subdue Wuwei for the imperial court. Moreover, he could also use this opportunity to settle a personal grudge. Such a win-win situation was something he readily accepted.

Ma Chao's side also received news of the planned attack on Wuwei and was already eager to fight.

Wei Xiaobao and Ma Yunlu returned to Chang'an, and the female cavalry regiment also rushed from Anding to Chang'an to join Ma Yunlu.

(End of this chapter)