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

Of course, there's also the county government square in the south of the city.

Zhao Yu and Sun Shangxiang, whose faces were smeared with soot, were mixed in with the dark crowd.

On the high platform,

The rebel leader, Grand Master Yang Song, is giving a highly inflammatory speech on the high platform.

This notorious corrupt official in Hanzhong was even more skilled at putting on an act than Yang Xiu.

Yang Xiu had been starving for three days in order to gain merit in entering the city, and he became extremely thin.

And what about Yang Song?

She couldn't even bear to go hungry for a single meal. To put on an act, she only applied a layer of pale powder to her face and added some dark circles under her eyes to make her look somewhat thin and haggard.

"Fellow villagers! Followers of the Five Pecks Sect!"

"Cao Cao's treacherous army is right outside the city! They intend to corrupt our pure souls with pork smeared with the blood of slaughter and with the filthy wealth they've plundered from the people!"

"If we agree, we will be disobeying the Heavenly Emperor."

When he got emotional, he patted his chest, trying to make the patches on his clothes as visible as possible.

"Everyone's looking at me!"

"As the current Grand Master of Ceremonies, I, Yang Song, eat only one meal a day to pray for everyone's well-being with the Great Heavenly Venerable! I don't even have a single penny of personal savings on me!"

…………

"We must protect... protect this last piece of pure land on earth."

"Good! Good! Good!"

The people below were moved to tears.

"Our Lord Chief Minister is suffering too much! We swear to follow you to the death! We will never eat the flesh of that traitor Cao!"

Sun Shangxiang rolled her eyes dramatically in the crowd.

She moved closer to Zhao Yu.

"Look at his clothes, the stitches are so shallow, it's obvious he had a Sichuan embroiderer deliberately sew them on to make it look nice. They could be torn off with the slightest force. Only these blind fools would believe that."

Also, the white powder on his face was thicker than when I dressed as a woman, and he dared to say he looked haggard.

This guy is definitely living the high life, he's not going to escape!

Zhao Yu naturally saw it too, especially Yang Song's big belly, which was so big that his belt could barely hold him up.

Saying you only eat one meal a day? Nobody believes that!

But looking at the crowd of fanatical people around him, he felt a pang of sorrow.

"Sigh, they're in a frenzy during the day, it's not a good time to cause trouble. Let's go first, we'll talk about it tonight."

……

At midnight, the City God Temple in the north of the city was destroyed.

The three groups of people met on time.

When Yang Xiu entered, he was still holding the earthenware bowl he used for eating, with half a piece of pickled vegetable given to him by the Taoist priest in the bowl, clearly indicating that he had suffered a setback.

Put the bowl on the table.

"Absurd! Utterly absurd! After all these years of dominating the debate scene, I've been rendered speechless by an old farmer!"

"Brother Zhao, I don't think your trick worked. They think eating meat is a crime, and you can't get through to these people at all."

Another group of people who went to the north of the city to persuade others also came in, all with bitter faces.

The soldier in charge reports:

"General, the people in the north of the city are the same. If we even slightly reveal that Cao Cao's army is well treated, they chase us away with brooms and say that we are going to hell."

Zhao Yu leaned against the statue of the City God.

Listening to everyone's complaints, all of them filled with stories of defeat,

"It seems Zhang Lu wasn't exaggerating; the people of Hanzhong really are well-fed."

"They have never gone hungry and do not like meat, so naturally they will not be moved by our money and food. Instead, they feel that we have come to ruin their peaceful lives, which is normal."

"Then our trip was for nothing? Why don't we just have General Xiahou launch a full-scale attack tomorrow? Kill Yang Song, then relocate all these people, and that will be the end of it."

Yang Xiu said dejectedly,

He genuinely doesn't know what better method there is besides a direct assault.

"no."

Zhao Yu immediately rejected the idea, saying that a direct attack was the worst possible strategy.

"Given the current situation, if we launch a direct assault, those bewitched civilians will likely rush onto the city walls and fight us to the death."

In the future, innocent civilians will be killed; right now, population is the most important thing.

"We cannot allow this land of Chenggu to be ruined in our hands."

The temple fell silent again, with only the sound of the wind squeezing in through the cracks in the windows.

Yang Xiu frowned:

"A direct assault won't work, and neither will persuasion. So what do you suggest we do? We can't just sit here and wait, can we?"

To catch the thief, first catch the king.

Yang Song...

Correct,

Get him.

"Braised pork really didn't work, because they currently trust Yang Song more."

They regarded Yang Song as a living celestial being guarding their sacred land, and believed his words without question.

"Then let's go and smash this living 'Heavenly Ruler'."

Zhao Yu turned to look at Sun Shangxiang, who was playing with a dagger.

"Sun Dazhuang! Bring your weapon."

"Tonight, let's make a trip to the residence of Grand Master Yang Song. I want to see what kind of person this supposedly incorruptible saint, who doesn't even eat a bite of meat, really is!"

……

Fortunately, Yang Song was in power.

It was around midnight.

On the streets, apart from the occasional ghost soldier on night patrol.

You can't even hear a dog barking.

In this city, which is strictly controlled by religious precepts, the people sleep more soundly than stones.

Zhao Yu and "Sun Dazhuang," dressed in gray cloth, had already quietly made their way to the center of the city.

What appeared before the two was the residence of Yang Song, the Grand Master of the Imperial Academy.

From the outside, the mansion appears extremely simple.

The gate was made of old, unpainted wood, and there wasn't even a stone lion at the entrance.

There are still a few withered foxtail grasses on the outer wall.

If you weren't told, you'd think this was the dilapidated courtyard of a down-on-his-luck scholar.

"They really know how to act convincingly."

Zhao Yu stood beneath a five-meter-high back wall, looked up,

"But this wall is built way too high. Is it to keep out thieves or believers?"

Sun Shangxiang stretched her wrists to the side.

Looking at the three-zhang-high wall, Liu Mei—oh no, now those two thick, black, unibrows—raised slightly.

Although she was highly skilled in martial arts and invincible throughout the world...

But climbing up this bare wall silently takes some effort.

"Hello,"

Sun Shangxiang's tone carried a hint of teasing.

"This wall is quite high."

Should I go up first, and then throw you a rope to help this Marquis who's always leaning against the wall?

"watt?"

"Pull me up? I need you to pull me up? You underestimate me."

They really are like dogs that will climb onto the roof and tear off tiles if not disciplined for three days.

As someone capable of fighting Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, how could I let my wife steal the spotlight when it comes to climbing walls?

How can I assert my authority as a husband in front of this tigress in the future?

Before Sun Shangxiang could react, Zhao Yu stepped forward, stretched out his right arm, and wrapped his arm around Sun Shangxiang's waist.

"What are you doing? Is it too late at night...?"

"Hold on tight, I'll take you flying!"

"Whoosh—!"

Zhao Yu stomped on the ground and jumped high into the air. Then, he touched the wall with his toes, creating a dent that acted as resistance to his ascent.

Using that hole as a springboard, they scooted up and were already on the top of the wall.

Who is Sun Shangxiang? She is a martial arts enthusiast. Otherwise, she wouldn't have taken a liking to Zhao Yu in the first place, and she wouldn't have even written a letter of divorce and sent a hundred riders to find her husband.

Her eyes were practically sparkling when she looked at Zhao Yu.

"Hey, don't look at me with that worshipful look."

"I, the mighty Marquis of Ice Crystal, the richest man in the Han Dynasty, taking my wife over the wall is basic stuff, nothing to brag about."