The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

As night fell, endless darkness enveloped the land. The Xiliang army on the walls of Chang'an were drowsy under the torchlight. The intense battles of the day had left them all exhausted and completely unprepared.

Meanwhile, in the allied camp a mile away from Chang'an, there was a chilling silence, with only a few faint firelights illuminating the iron cavalrymen holding weapons and with cold, stern faces.

"Yichen, shouldn't it be time? Why is there not a sound from Chang'an City?"

Cao Cao, dressed in full military attire, was already getting impatient as he rode his warhorse. This time, they had gathered all their iron cavalry and were just waiting for the signal to attack from inside the city so they could launch a swift attack and storm Chang'an as quickly as possible.

"Just wait, what's meant to come will come!"

Qin Xuan said this, but he had no confidence at all and doubted Meng Guang's claim about the Black Ice Platform's operational capabilities.

Today's daytime attack was merely to support the nighttime operation.

"All right!"

Cao Cao sighed heavily and turned his attention back to the distant city of Chang'an, where faint lights flickered.

As for the Yuan brothers, they had no intention of personally participating in tonight's operation. They simply dispatched their generals to lead the troops while they themselves drank and whiled away the time in their military tents.

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In the dead of night, the streets of Chang'an were deserted. A cold wind howled, stirring up broken tiles on the ground and making a rustling sound. The Xiliang soldiers on night patrol carried torches as they moved through the streets and alleys of Chang'an.

This was a patrol team set up by Li and Guo to prevent unrest among the city's residents. They were afraid that some fools would storm the city gates and rebel. Anyone found wandering the streets was to be killed without exception.

Meanwhile, Li Jue had already returned to his residence, where he embraced his newly acquired concubine and fell asleep early. The day's battle had exhausted him, so he could only seize the time to rest and recover his strength to deal with the upcoming attack from the allied forces outside the city.

However, in a room within the mansion, dimly lit by candlelight, seven or eight men wielding blades were gathered together, discussing something. The burly man at the head of the group added at the end:

"Listen up, we'll split up later. Once we've taken down Li Jue, immediately light the campfire we prepared earlier, understand?"

"clear!"

The people inside answered in hushed tones, then picked up their weapons and left the house.

The group of seven or eight people carefully bypassed the patrolling soldiers and dispersed in the small courtyard outside the main hall. Three of them went to the gate of the mansion, while the rest went to the backyard where Li Jue lived.

Before long, the remaining few people arrived at the backyard with ease. After seeing that the house was completely dark, one of them went to the window, carefully observed the situation, and nodded to his companions after confirming that Li Jue was fast asleep.

"Attack!" the leader shouted, and the group quickly sprang into action, weapons in hand, and rushed into the house.

The loud noise woke Li Jue from his sleep. He opened his eyes groggily and found several people standing beside his bed.

"Ahhhh!"

The woman on the bed screamed in terror at the sight of what was happening inside the room, but before she could even shout, she was stabbed to death without even understanding what had happened.

"Who...who are you people? Why...why would you do such a thing?"

Li Jue was fully awake from his drowsiness. When he saw that these people were his personal guards, he was very puzzled and did not understand why they would do this.

These are all the people he trusts most!

"We're from the Black Ice Control Bureau. Don't worry, Guo Si will go down and join you!"

After the leader finished speaking, he raised his knife and charged at Li Jue without saying a word, his actions swift and decisive.

"Damn it!"

Seeing the chilling longsword thrusting towards him, Li Jue cursed and instinctively stood up to fight back. But before he could even stand up, the longsword had already pierced his chest, and blood instantly stained his clothes.

Finally, he clutched his wound in agony, his eyes filled with disbelief, and breathed his last shortly afterward, never understanding what the words "Black Ice Platform" meant until his death.

"Let's go, light the campfire!"

After confirming that Li Jue had completely died, the leader left the scene with his men without saying a word, and then quickly walked out of the mansion gate and met another group of people.

"Objective achieved, proceed to the next step!"

"good!"

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Soon after, a towering flame burst into the sky over Chang'an City, its dazzling orange-red color standing out conspicuously and visible from miles away.

"Look, it's a signal!"

In the allied camp, Yan Liang pointed to the fires burning in Chang'an and shouted, his voice filled with an indescribable excitement.

Everyone turned their attention to the direction Yan Liang was pointing. Inside Chang'an City, a towering flame illuminated the night sky like a signal lighthouse.

The firelight flickered in the night wind, as if announcing to them that the time for action had come.

"Lord Cao, give the order!"

Qin Xuan said slowly and deliberately.

"Good!" Cao Cao immediately shouted, his voice echoing like thunder throughout the camp, "All troops, charge! Enter Chang'an and annihilate the Xiliang army!"

Instantly, the entire camp erupted in cheers.

The soldiers were all in high spirits, and countless torches were lit at that moment. Under the leadership of the four generals, they gathered into burning torrents in the night and charged towards Chang'an City.

Meanwhile, the chaos within Chang'an continued.

The sudden burst of flames triggered panic throughout the city. The soldiers of the Xiliang army were bewildered and had no idea what was happening. The firelight reflected on their faces, making them appear even more terrified.

"Something's wrong! Someone has opened the city gate! Go check it out!" a Xiliang soldier suddenly shouted in panic.

However, before the soldiers could react, the cavalry attack from not far away surged in like a tidal wave.

The heavy gate was opened, and before the Xiliang army on the city wall could organize an effective resistance, Yuan Shao and his iron cavalry were already upon them.

The city streets instantly descended into a bloody battle. Swords clashed, blood splattered everywhere, and every inch of land became a battlefield. The people, hearing the sounds of fighting and the neighing of warhorses from the streets, hid in their homes, not daring to breathe, and dared not go out to see what was happening.

Upon hearing the commotion coming from Chang'an, the Yuan brothers immediately ran out of their military tent, mounted their horses, and led the remaining troops toward Chang'an, fearing that Li Jue and Guo Si would fall into the hands of Qin Xuan and Cao Cao.

"Lord Cao, let's go and see Li Jue and Guo Si. Perhaps they have someone you like in their household!"

At the city gate, Qin Xuan didn't forget to tease Cao Cao beside him.

"Hehe, what's wrong now? But I'm curious how you know about Madam Yin?"

Cao Cao was not annoyed by Qin Xuan's teasing. He just wanted to know how Qin Xuan knew about Lady Yin. After all, he had kept this very secret. How could such a young man like Qin Xuan know?

When Cao Cao questioned him about the matter again, Qin Xuan ignored him and rode his horse towards Li and Guo's residence under the protection of Yuwen Chengdu and the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry.

"This Qin Yichen has more and more secrets about him that are worth exploring!"

"Giddy up!"