In the Three Kingdoms period, the opening scene features the killing of Huang Gai, shocking Zhou Yu!

Outside Chenggu City.

The cold wind blows against the withered grass.

Zhao Yu and his group of ten were dressed in tattered clothes.

In order for the mission to proceed smoothly, Zhao Yu decided to break it down into smaller parts.

"If the ten of us gather together, we'll be too conspicuous and easily attract the attention of the garrison."

Now we've split into three groups, each acting independently.

"Yang Xiu, you take three people as a team and go to the charitable institution in the west of the city; 'Sun Dazhuang' and I will go to the south of the city to explore where Yang Song lives. The remaining four... remember, our mission is to gather information about the people and spread rumors!"

Upon hearing that they would split up, Yang Xiu immediately perked up.

He not only had to complete the task,

Furthermore, they need to fully demonstrate their "troll" skills.

At Yangping Pass

Everyone knows that Zhao Yu only needed a few pots of braised pork to completely fool those 30,000 ghost soldiers.

To be honest, Yang Dezhu was extremely envious of that scene and wished he could take its place.

In order to perfectly embody the role of the "starving people" and create a strong sense of resonance.

Before setting off, Yang Xiu began to control his diet, and on the day before he was about to enter the city, he didn't even drink a drop of water.

Not only that, he also smeared two handfuls of yellow mud on his originally handsome face, and tangled his hair like a bird's nest.

At this moment, his stomach was rumbling loudly, and with his eyes glowing green, he looked even more miserable than a real refugee.

"You can rest assured!"

Yang Xiu was so hungry he kept swallowing his saliva.

"I learned everything I needed to know from you. I'll use my silver tongue to completely shatter that hardened morale of the army!"

Looking at Yang Xiu, who was so hungry his legs were trembling, Zhao Yu felt something was off, but he couldn't stop him. After all, there's a saying that goes, it's a good thing for a child to have ideas, and we should support them.

"Alright, good luck. Don't fight if you encounter danger; saving your life is the priority."

Half an hour later, Yang Xiu, who was in the back of the team, successfully sneaked into Chenggu County.

Upon entering the city, Yang Xiu prepared himself to shed a few tears and go to the streets to have a heartfelt lament to the starving people.

But when he looked closely, he was completely stunned.

The streets were clean and tidy.

The common people, though dressed in patched clothes, looked to be in excellent spirits.

There was no widespread resentment, much less widespread starvation, and certainly no instances of cannibalism.

Nearby, there were groups of elderly men and women, their eyes closed and legs crossed.

Judging from the looks of it, he is meditating and trying to comprehend the Dao.

When we arrived at the largest "charitable shelter" in the west of the city, the order was even more orderly.

People lined up in long queues, holding earthenware bowls in their hands, quietly waiting for the porridge to be distributed.

The Taoist priest who distributed the porridge was generous, giving each person a large spoonful of golden millet rice, along with two pieces of his own pickled vegetables.

After receiving the food, the people would respectfully bow in the direction of Nanzheng (even though Zhang Lu had surrendered, the custom could not be changed) – silently saying, "Thank you, Heavenly Venerable, for the food; thank you, Sacrificial Wine Master, for your grace."

Yang Xiu was so hungry that he couldn't stand it, so he also took a bowl of millet porridge.

Looking at the watery, bland food in the bowl, without a single drop of oil, Yang Xiu's eyes lit up, and he felt that his chance had come.

Holding his bowl, he approached an old farmer who was squatting in a corner, eating with great relish.

He cleared his throat, then launched into his newly learned tactic of sowing discord:

"well--!"

Yang Xiu deliberately made a sound, let out a long sigh, and shook his head.

The old farmer glanced at him:

"Young man, why are you sighing? Not enough food? There's more in the pot, the Heavenly Venerable will feed you."

"Old man!"

Yang Xiu moved closer.

"There's only brown rice and two pickled vegetables here; it's really too simple."

"You must have suffered a lot! Want some meat? That sizzling, melt-in-your-mouth braised pork! As long as we..."

Yang Xiu's "Theory of Surrender and Eating Meat" was not yet fully published.

Then came the old farmer's brutal attack.

The old farmer's expression changed.

They looked at Yang Xiu as if he were a plague god.

He moved two steps to the side, then suddenly covered his earthenware bowl with his hand and protected it in his arms.

"Get out of here! Where did this scoundrel come from? A new vagrant, perhaps? Doesn't he know any manners at all!"

Spit flew everywhere, accompanied by eye-rolling.

"Meat is a luxurious and decadent thing!"

Do you know how our former master lost his faith and lost Hanzhong?

He was so swayed by that old scoundrel Cao Cao's braised pork that he abandoned even his own empire! Eating that stuff corrupts one's moral compass and makes one forget one's roots!

They were bewitched by Cao Cao, that living devil, and abandoned all their backbone, surrendering outright!

"Eating meat defiles the soul! Do you want your soul to be taken away too?"

The old farmer became more and more excited as he spoke.

"Now, under the leadership of Grand Master Yang Song, we live a simple life, free from worldly desires. Although we eat simply every day, we never miss a meal! Isn't that good?"

Yang Xiu was sprayed with spittle, but he was still not giving up and stammered a rebuttal:

"Then...then don't you want to live a good life? Don't you want to have fish and meat every meal? If there really is meat..."

"If there's meat, it definitely has to be given to our High Priest!"

The old farmer interrupted Yang Xiu as a matter of course.

"How tiring is the Chief Minister Yang's day! Every day he has to pray for us at the altar, communicate with the Heavenly Venerable, and guard against the Cao traitor's attack. He eats only coarse food every day, and it breaks our hearts to see him like this! If there were any meat at all, all the people in the city would save it up to offer to the Chief Minister, even if it meant going hungry!"

"That's right, brother. You look pale and thin; the outside world's temptations have probably drained your energy."

An elderly woman who was eating pickled vegetables also came over.

"Could it be that you, like Master, have been bewitched by Cao Cao? Are you deliberately trying to undermine our resolve and ruin our cultivation?"

Upon hearing this, several people holding bowls around stopped eating and all turned to look at them.

Two hot-tempered, burly men had even picked up wooden sticks, seemingly ready to act on behalf of Heaven and deliver Yang Xiu from his grave at the slightest provocation.

Yang Xiu was startled, and his already weak legs went even weaker from hunger.

He was the eldest son of the prestigious Yang family of Hongnong, and possessed exceptional talent.

How could we possibly stoop so low as to be mobbed by a group of ordinary people who see us as "evil spirits"?

A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle, so he quickly buried his head in the bowl of millet rice, shoveling mouthfuls into his mouth, and mumbled an admission of defeat:

"No, no, I was just delirious from hunger and talking nonsense... Heavenly Venerable, Grand Master, have mercy..." He said from the bottom of his heart.

If it weren't for the Five Dou Dao's policy of granting three pardons before punishment, giving Yang Xiu a chance, his fate would have been different...

This is what happens when you don't do your homework.

The old man's words came from the bottom of his heart.

The people are innocent; they have done nothing wrong.

If there's any mistake, it's all Zhang Lu's fault. By sheer coincidence, he managed to make Hanzhong so prosperous, in a way that brought it good.

In this chaotic world, here there was no war, no exorbitant taxes, and they had a stable meal to eat, so they already regarded Zhang Lu as the true Heavenly Emperor.

I'd rather have a simple meal in times of peace than a feast of rich meat in times of chaos.

Zhang Lu surrendered to Cao Cao, and now Yang Song wants to maintain the life they want. They don't trust Cao Cao, who is known for his ruthlessness.

Therefore, this pure gratitude and faith made Yang Xiu appear like a clown.

The people of Hanzhong numbered 100,000 per household, and the land was rich and fertile.

So no matter how much classical Chinese literature, history, philosophy, and logical debate Yang Xiu prepared, he never expected that an old farmer would use the most naive "double standard worship" to thwart his plan.