Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 58 Can’t wait any longer
Cao Cao was reluctant to kill Wei Xiaobao, and was worried about Wei Xiaobao's close friendship with Guo Jia, Guan Yu and others. He was afraid that if he killed Wei Xiaobao, these people would never join him again in the future. So he hesitated again and again and was reluctant to take action. He just ran to Wei Xiaobao's tent to drink with him after marching every day.

Wei Xiaobao also realized that Cao Cao was unwilling to let him go, but the direction of the coalition army of the princes was just heading towards Luoyang, so Wei Xiaobao traveled with Cao Cao while looking for an opportunity to escape.

One day, the sound of war drums and shouts of killing were heard in front of the battle. Wei Xiaobao hurried to inquire about the news, only to find out that the army had arrived at Hulao Pass. At this time, Liu Bei and his two brothers were fighting with Lu Bu in front of the pass.

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "I won't have the chance to witness this wonderful spectacle of the three heroes fighting Lu Bu. Now is a good opportunity to escape."

Cao Cao had already secretly deployed guards to monitor and watch Wei Xiaobao, but they had all been dealt with by Shuang'er.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when Cao Cao and various princes were supervising the battle in front of the battlefield, Wei Xiaobao and Shuang'er stole two horses and escaped from the military camp. When Cao Cao came back after drinking the celebratory wine, they received the news of Wei Xiaobao's escape.

Cao Cao regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. After finding out that Wei Xiaobao and the other two were fleeing towards Luoyang, he didn't have time to think about it and took his soldiers to chase after them.

Wei Xiaobao expected Cao Cao to chase him, so after passing Hulao Pass, he and Shuang'er went north, preparing to make a big detour back to Luoyang.

Cao Cao, halfway through his pursuit, received news from Luoyang that Dong Zhuo, fearing the loss of Hulao Pass, had already fled to Chang'an with Liu Xie. Originally intended to pursue Wei Xiaobao, Cao Cao seized the opportunity to kill Dong Zhuo and rescue the emperor. He pursued him in all directions, but was ambushed along the way, and nearly all of the troops he had acquired in exchange for the seven gems were lost.

On his way back to Hulao Pass, Cao Cao thought of Wei Xiaobao and lamented to Xun Yu beside him, "If Wei Xiaobao had been with us, how could we have fallen into Jia Xu's ambush? Yuan Shao has no ambition, and I don't want to be associated with him anymore. But now that we've lost so many soldiers and generals, where can we go?"

Xun Yu and others were at a loss for a moment.

Cao Cao remembered Wei Xiaobao's words, "Return to where you came from," and nodded, saying, "No wonder he left me. He must have known I was going to fail. I raised my army in Shandong, so why not return to Shandong to recuperate and wait for Guo Jia to surrender before making any plans."

Cao Cao led the remaining troops back to Shandong, and Wei Xiaobao and Shuang'er had already rushed back to Luoyang.

However, Luoyang at this moment was no longer the same as when they had left. The streets were littered with charred rubble and broken timbers, and on distant rooftops, flames still flickered. The Beigong Palace had vanished in the blaze, and Liu Xie and his court officials were nowhere to be found.

Wei Xiaobao inquired about the situation and learned that Dong Zhuo had abducted Liu Xie and fled to Chang'an, setting fire to Luoyang before leaving. Furthermore, Wei Xiaobao heard rumors that not long after Dong Zhuo's escape, Sun Jian's army entered Luoyang and found the long-lost imperial seal in the ruins of the North Palace.

Wei Xiaobao grew increasingly frightened as he wandered through Luoyang, his sight filled with horrific scenes. Born in Yangzhou, he had heard stories of the atrocities committed by the Qing troops during the Ten Days of Yangzhou and the Three Massacres of Jiading, but he had only listened to them as stories, unable to empathize with their own suffering.

Now standing in the ruins, Wei Xiaobao felt fear of war for the first time.

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "If Wu Sangui attacks the capital, will Xiao Xuanzi burn down the Forbidden City and flee back outside the Great Wall? Then wouldn't my Viscount's mansion also be burned to ashes? Even if my silver and jewelry aren't burned, that old turtle Wu Sangui will still steal them."

Thinking of this, Wei Xiaobao asked Shuang'er beside him, "Now that Sun Jian has found the Imperial Seal, will he send it to Chang'an?" Shuang'er shook her head and said, "I don't think so. Isn't he, like Cao Cao, here to fight Dong Zhuo? Isn't he afraid that Dong Zhuo will kill him if he goes to Chang'an?"

Wei Xiaobao squatted on the ground and scolded himself: "It's all my fault for not paying attention when I was listening to the story in the teahouse. I was too focused on listening to those heroic stories. I don't know if Sun Jian went to Chang'an. But I remember that Yuan Shu later got the jade seal and wanted to become the emperor himself, but I don't know how the jade seal came into Yuan Shu's hands. Even if we get the jade seal, we have to go find Zhang Jue. It's better to go to Chang'an first."

Shuang'er had no idea of ​​her own, but as long as she could follow Wei Xiaobao, she agreed immediately.

Wei Xiaobao and Shuang'er entered Chang'an among the refugees, and took advantage of the chaos to go to the palace to meet Liu Xie.

After Dong Zhuo arrived in Chang'an, he appointed himself as the Grand Tutor and became even more arrogant and domineering. He even transferred the affairs of state to the Grand Tutor's Office. Liu Xie had completely become a figurehead.

Liu Xie finally felt relieved when he saw Wei Xiaobao. He said, "I thought I would never see you again. Dong Zhuo took me abducted and brought me to Chang'an. I didn't know where you were, and I was worried you couldn't find me. I don't even have anyone close to me, and I live in fear every day."

Wei Xiaobao said, "I had already thought of it on the way here. I planned to take you away to find Yuan Shu."

Liu Xie asked, "Why do you want to go to Yuan Shu?"

Wei Xiaobao said, "Sun Jian found the imperial seal in Luoyang. I originally thought he would send it to Chang'an, but now it seems he has run away with it. I know the seal will eventually fall into the hands of Yuan Shu, so why don't we go and wait for Yuan Shu?"

Liu Xie said, "I am the emperor now. How can I just run away? If I run, Dong Zhuo will definitely send people to chase us. I'm afraid that before we find Yuan Shu, Dong Zhuo will chop off your heads."

Wei Xiaobao said, "Dong Zhuo will die sooner or later. As soon as he dies, we can take advantage of the chaos and escape. But we can't wait any longer. If we wait any longer, I'm afraid Wu Sangui will reach the capital. I have to find a way to send Dong Zhuo away as soon as possible."

Wei Xiaobao was still worried about the impact his actions during the Han Dynasty would have on future generations. He thought, "Since the book says that Dong Zhuo was killed by Lu Bu, I'll go and add fuel to Lu Bu's fire. As long as Dong Zhuo dies at Lu Bu's hands in the end, it shouldn't affect Xiao Xuanzi's chances of becoming emperor."

Having made up his mind, Wei Xiaobao decided to go see Wang Yun first. After all, with Wei Xiaobao's current mindset, it would be too difficult to come up with another way for Lu Bu to kill Dong Zhuo. It would be easier to just copy what was in the book.

On the way to Situ's house, Wei Xiaobao was still secretly happy: "I didn't expect that Wang Yun's honey trap was taught by me. When I go to the teahouse to listen to stories in the future, maybe I will hear about 'Captain Wei's clever chain of tricks and Grand Tutor Dong's chaos at Fengyi Pavilion'."

Wei Xiaobao was still immersed in his fantasy when he suddenly heard someone behind him say, "Master Wei, how are you?"

Wei Xiaobao turned around and saw that the person coming was Tang Zhou.

(End of this chapter)