Reborn Liu Bei: I'll lead this Three Kingdoms to victory!

April 14th, Jian'an 7 (200 AD), Xuchang.

Zhao Yan hasn't left the house for three days. Ever since he received the "Wang Pu Saved" pebble, he hasn't moved an inch.

It wasn't that he was afraid to move. He was waiting. Waiting for that person to come to him. He had a premonition that that person would come.

Footsteps sounded outside the window. Very light, very slow, unlike Zhou Yuan's. Zhao Yan's hand reached for the short knife beside his pillow.

A knock on the door. Not three short knocks followed by two long knocks followed by three short knocks.

It was three taps, very slowly and steadily. Zhao Yan got up, walked to the door, and looked out through the crack.

A middle-aged man stood outside the door.

He was in his fifties, dressed in ordinary cloth clothes, his hair already gray, and his face etched with deep wrinkles. He just stood there, not in a hurry, as if waiting for the door to open by itself.

Zhao Yan didn't recognize the man. But he opened the door anyway. The middle-aged man walked in and closed the door behind him.

He stared at Zhao Yan for a long time. Then he spoke, his voice hoarse: "You're Zhao Yan?"

Zhao Yan nodded. "Xun Wenruo's student?"

Zhao Yan's hand tightened slightly. "Who are you?"

The middle-aged man did not answer. He took something out of his pocket and handed it to Zhao Yan. It was a cloth bag.

The cloth bag is embroidered with a single character: "荀".

Zhao Yan was stunned. He took the cloth bag and opened it. Inside was a letter. The paper was yellowed and looked quite old.

He unfolded the letter and immediately recognized the handwriting.

Xun Yu's courtesy name. "The one who holds this letter is an old friend of mine. All my students and acquaintances should treat him with the respect due to a teacher. Xun Yu's final words."

Zhao Yan's hands were trembling. He looked up at the middle-aged man. "You...you are..."

The middle-aged man looked at him calmly. "My name is Xun Qu," he said, "my cousin of Xun Yu."

Zhao Yan was stunned. Xun Yu's cousin?

He had studied with Xun Yu for so many years, yet he had never heard of this person.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of me," Xun Qu said. "I left Yingchuan twenty years ago."

"Where did you go?"

"Xudu".

Zhao Yan looked at him. "What are you doing in Xudu?"

Xun Qu was silent for a moment. "Be Xun Yu's eyes."

Zhao Yan's heart skipped a beat. The eyes. Xun Yu's eyes. In Xuchang, in the Imperial Secretariat, in every corner where Cao Cao couldn't see.

"That person from the School Affairs Office..."

"They are my men," Xun Qu said. "They weren't planted by Xun Yu, they were planted by me."

Zhao Yan looked at him.

This middle-aged man in his fifties had deep wrinkles on his face, but his eyes were as calm as a deep pool of water.

He suddenly understood many things. Those unsigned notes. The messages hidden in those pebbles. That phrase, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

It's all him. It's all this person.

"You..." Zhao Yan's voice was somewhat hoarse, "Why didn't you come out sooner?"

Xun Qu looked at him. "Because Xun Yu wouldn't allow it."

Zhao Yan was stunned.

"Before he died, he wrote me a letter," Xun Qu said. "The letter contained only one sentence: 'Don't do anything unless absolutely necessary.'"

He paused.

"Now, it's a last resort."

Xiapi.

In the secret chamber where no one was on duty at night, Sima Yi and Pang Tong sat facing each other. On the table lay a newly delivered secret report.

"An old friend from Yingchuan has appeared, claiming to be Xun Qu, Xun Yu's cousin. He entered Xudu twenty years ago as Xun Yu's mole. The spy in the Imperial Secretariat is his subordinate. Wang Pu's rescue was his doing."

Pang Tong looked at the secret report and took a swig of wine. "Xun Qu."

Sima Yi nodded. "I've never heard of that name before."

Pang Tong put down his wine gourd. "You certainly haven't heard of the person Xun Yu has been hiding for twenty years."

Sima Yi remained silent. Twenty years. One man, hidden in Xuchang for twenty years. Serving as eyes and ears. Serving as a hidden agent. Serving as a sword that would never be drawn.

"Zhongda," Pang Tong said.

Sima Yi looked up.

Do you know what this means?

Sima Yi thought for a moment. "This means that the number of spies in Xuchang is not just the thirty-seven we've planted."

Pang Tong nodded.

"Yes," he said, "and the group left behind by Xun Yu. Twenty years have passed; I don't know how many people there are, or where they are now. But they are all still here."

He paused. "Everyone's been waiting for this day."

Sima Yi looked at the secret report on the table. Xun Qu. An old friend from Yingchuan. He's finally come out.

Xiapi Academy.

Xun Yun sat by the window, holding a letter in his hand.

The letter had just arrived; it was unsigned and unattached. But he recognized the handwriting immediately.

That was my father's handwriting. "The one who holds this promise is my cousin Xun Qu. Seeing him is like seeing me. I should treat him with the respect due to an uncle."

Xun Yun's hands trembled. His cousin, Xun Qu. He had never heard his father mention this person before. Yet his father had left him a letter. A letter like this.

"Young Master Xun." Fu Shou's voice came from behind.

Xun Yun didn't turn around. "Miss Fu, tell me, how long can a person hide?" Fu Shou walked to his side. "Hide what?"

"Hide yourself," Xun Yun said. "Hide yourself for twenty years."

Fu Shou thought for a moment. "A long time," she said, "but if it's for someone important, I can hide it for a lifetime."

Xun Yun turned to look at her. "How did you know?"

Fu Shou remained silent for a moment. "Because my mother hid me."

Xun Yun was stunned.

"On the day of the Xudu massacre, my mother hid me in the cellar." Fu Shou's voice was calm. "She told me that no matter what I heard, I shouldn't come out."

She paused. "I hid inside for three days and three nights."

Xun Yun looked at her. This eight-year-old girl had little expression on her face. But her eyes were deep. "And then?" he asked.

"Later, Mr. Hua found me," Fu Shou said. "He said, 'Your mother sent me to pick you up.'"

Xun Yun remained silent. He suddenly understood something: the concealment wasn't for himself, but for someone important. He looked down at the letter.

Xun Qu.

The man my father hid for twenty years has now been released.

Xudu.

Xun Qu sat opposite Zhao Yan, slowly sipping his tea. He hadn't sat like this and drunk tea for many years. "What do you plan to do about Wang Pu?" Zhao Yan asked.

Xun Qu put down his teacup. "He's already out of the city. Zhao Yun picked him up; he should be almost at Xiapi by now."

Zhao Yan was taken aback. "Zhao Yun received him personally?"

Xun Qu nodded. "Liu Bei's men are very reliable in their work."

Zhao Yan remained silent. He thought of the people who had come from Xiapi.

Thirty newcomers. Zhou Yuan, Sun Fu, and others whose names he didn't know.

They were all Liu Bei's men.

Everyone was waiting. "Mr. Xun," he said.

Xun Qu looked at him.

Now that you're out, what are your plans?

Xun Qu remained silent for a moment. "Wait."

"Waiting for what?" Xun Qu didn't answer. He stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the darkening sky outside. "Waiting for someone."

"Who?"

Xun Qu turned around and looked at him. "Waiting for someone who's meant to come."

Outside Xiapi. Wang Pu finally arrived. He didn't know how he had managed to endure it. Three days and three nights, non-stop travel, he was practically falling apart. But he had arrived. Xiapi.

That place he had never been before.

A man stood at the city gate, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a handsome face and deep eyes.

Sima Yi.

"Captain Wang," Sima Yi said, walking up to him. "You must have had a long journey."

Wang Pu looked at him, his lips moved, but he couldn't say a word.

Sima Yi reached out and took his arm. "Sir, being alive is more important than anything else."

Wang Pu's eyes reddened. He remembered his daughter's fingers. He remembered that smiling face. He remembered the person who rushed in to save him. He opened his mouth, wanting to say thank you. But no sound came out of his throat. He just stood there, letting the tears stream down his face. Sima Yi remained silent.

She simply helped him walk slowly into the city.

Xiapi Governor's Office.

I stood before the map, gazing at the location of Xuchang. Two secret reports lay on the table. One, from Sima Yi: "Wang Pu has arrived." The other, from Pang Tong: "Xun Qu has appeared; he is Xun Yu's cousin, and has been hiding in Xuchang for twenty years."

Xun Qu. Xun Yu's cousin. Hidden for twenty years. I put down the two secret reports and remained silent for a long time. "My lord," Pang Tong's voice came from behind me.

I didn't turn around. "Shiyuan, tell me, how many more people is Xun Yu hiding?"

Pang Tong walked up to me. "I don't know," he said, "but no matter how much they've been hiding, it's time for them to come out."

I turned to look at him. "Why?"

Pang Tong pointed to the location of Xuchang on the map. "Because Wang Pu was arrested, two people from the Imperial Secretariat died. Cao Cao won't let this go. He will investigate, dig, and turn Xuchang upside down."

He paused. "Xun Qu came out at this time for no other reason than..."

"For what reason?"

"In order to take over," Pang Tong said, "we need to hand over the men Xun Yu left behind to us."

I remained silent. I took over. A twenty-year-long covert operation. The last legacy Xun Yu left me.

"Shiyuan".

"exist."

"Do you trust this Xun Qu?"

Pang Tong thought for a moment. "He's trustworthy," he said. "Xun Yu has trusted him for twenty years, so we can trust him too."

I looked at the location of Xuchang on the map. That tiny dot. At this moment, someone who had been hiding for twenty years was waiting.

Waiting to see someone. "Shiyuan."

"exist."

"Make arrangements; I need to see this Xun Qu."