12dz Chapter 99 The scapegoat must be someone outside Cao Cao's camp!
Chapter 99 The scapegoat must be someone outside Cao Cao's camp!
Outside Chenliu City
A secluded house
Chen Gong slowly opened his eyes.
The back of his head still ached slightly.
"Mr. Gongtai, you're awake."
Several guards stood respectfully to one side.
Upon seeing these people, Chen Gong's memories from before he fell into a coma flooded back.
Yesterday evening, with urgent military reports coming in at all the city gates, Chenliu City was in its final moments.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Chenliu will surely fall in two or three days at most.
Under these circumstances, Chen Gong devised several plans and went to the city lord's mansion to discuss their feasibility with Zhang Miao.
Unexpectedly, as they were talking, Zhang Miao suddenly knocked Chen Gong unconscious and ordered several guards to take him out of the city through the tunnel.
As for Zhang Miao himself, he had no intention of escaping.
He had already made up his mind to make Cao Cao bear a bad reputation for the rest of his life.
Only death can complete this final plan!
And his old friend Chen Gong.
Zhang Miao didn't want him to die in vain!
He hoped that Chen Gong could find a truly worthy lord to assist and achieve his ideal great deeds.
Zhang Miao was a very complex person.
He always felt that he was unworthy of having a wise man like Chen Gong assisting him.
Honestly, Chen Gong is already very capable.
But their opponents were Cao Cao and Su Yu.
Zhang Miao believed that it was he, as the lord, who had dragged Chen Gong down.
now.
Realizing that Zhang Miao might be determined to die, Chen Gong grabbed one of his guards by the collar, his voice trembling, and said:
"My lord...where is my lord?"
The guard remained silent, but handed a letter to Chen Gong.
This is Zhang Miao's last letter, and also the last thought he left for Chen Gong.
"Gongtai, do not worry. By the time you see this letter, I, Zhang, will have already defeated Cao Cao once!"
"Please, sir, do not worry about Zhang."
"From now on, the vast sky and the distant earth are all beneath Gongtai's feet."
"Zhang is unable to accompany Gongtai on his long journey any longer. He only wishes Gongtai to take good care of his health."
"One day, I will surely realize my lofty ambitions!"
……
Chen Gong was speechless and lost in thought.
Sadness? Angry? Feeling sorry for Zhang Miao?
These emotions are no longer sufficient to describe Chen Gong's feelings at this moment.
All he knew was that the Zhang Miao of the past would never have acted so recklessly.
It was Chen Gong who, step by step, transformed Zhang Miao into the person he is today!
If only he hadn't advised Zhang Miao to compete for the governorship of Yanzhou, but instead had simply allowed Zhang Miao to serve Cao Cao and submit to him.
Surely today, things wouldn't end this way.
Did Chen Gong regret it?
Of course I regret it.
Zhang Miao is dead; there will never be another Zhang Miao in the world.
How insignificant he, Chen Gong, was.
He couldn't even manage to avenge his old friend Zhang Miao.
But will Chen Gong give up?
Obviously not!
If it were so easy to give up, Chen Gong wouldn't have chosen to oppose Cao Cao in the first place, gradually turning it into a life-or-death struggle.
Followed by.
Chen Gong learned from several of his personal guards about the movements of Cao Cao's army after the fall of Chenliu and Zhang Miao's death by burning the city.
Although less than a day had passed.
But the deceased Zhang Miao will never return.
There is a saying that goes well.
Extreme grief often brings not tears, but an unusual calm.
Chen Gong was in such a state at that moment.
He then spoke to his personal guards:
"Gentlemen, you have not wronged our lord."
"Now, our lord is no longer here."
"You no longer need to follow me."
"Surrender to Cao Cao!"
“At least, he can feed you and give you your lunch money.”
The guards were all Zhang Miao's staunch loyalists. How could they really just pack up and leave like Chen Gong said?
The group immediately knelt down, begging Chen Gong not to send them away.
Chen Gong sighed softly and stepped forward to help the guards up one by one.
"Since you all trust me so much, I will certainly not let you down!"
Two hours later, Chen Gong left the courtyard with several personal guards.
No one knows where he went.
Even with Li Dian and the intelligence guards searching high and low, they were unable to find Chen Gong within the territory of Yanzhou.
……
Chenliu City
In the council chamber
Su Yu said to Cao Cao:
"My lord, do you want to take the blame for this?"
Cao Cao waved his hand and said urgently:
"Ziyi, isn't that obvious?"
"Cao originally didn't even want Zhang Miao's life. After winning the battle, he just wanted to keep him under surveillance and live a life of luxury."
"Who would have thought that this scoundrel would actually die to prove his innocence and even give me such a huge black pot!"
As he was talking, Cao Cao's headache started acting up again.
Su Yu quickly beckoned to Xu Chu and gave the order:
“Zhongkang, quickly tell the lord about those widows in your village.”
I don't know if it has some kind of magical power.
As soon as Xu Chu mentioned the widows in Xu Family Village, Cao Cao's headache immediately disappeared!
Seeing that Cao Cao's headache had been "cured," Su Yu continued:
"My lord, since you don't want to take the blame, then someone else will have to!"
"My lord, think back, when you were caught spying on a widow before, whose name did you give?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Cao fell into thought.
There are so many memories in this regard!
When Cao Cao was discovered by a widow, whose name did he use?
Xiahou Dun had the most! Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan were next!
Occasionally, Cao Hong's name would make a cameo appearance.
In any case, he will never reveal his real name, Cao Cao.
This is similar to the classic saying from later generations, "I have a friend."
Friends are illusory, they don't exist.
The story, however, is true.
But...
Surely we can't pin the blame for the murder of Zhang Miao's entire family on Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren, can we?
Even if they were willing to take the blame for Cao Cao, it wouldn't make any difference!
after all.
Anyone with common sense can see that they are taking the blame for Cao Cao.
So what should we do?
Only those outside Cao Cao's camp are qualified to take the blame!
A few hours later.
Yang Hong, who had been captured by Cao Cao and Su Yu for a long time (Chapter 74: Captured), was released from the dungeon in a daze.
Honestly, Yang Hong felt like he was being forgotten by Cao Cao and Su Yu.
They neither killed him nor released him; they just kept him imprisoned.
Yang Hong prayed day and night that Yuan Shu would soon invade Yanzhou and rescue him from the dungeon.
But I didn't expect it.
Before Yuan Shu's "royal army" even arrived, a black pot was steadily thrown at Yang Hong's head!
……
Riding his horse on the road back to Runan, Yang Hong was completely dazed.
No... what exactly happened?
Why did Cao Cao and Su Yu suddenly release him?
They even proactively gave him a travel permit, ensuring his smooth journey to Runan!
Even the checkpoint guards along the way treated Yang Hong with great respect, inquiring about his well-being and presenting him with local specialties.
They knew that Yang Hong was a released prisoner.
Anyone who didn't know better would probably think Yang Hong was some kind of celestial being! (Guan Yu: I'm so damn envious!)
Until he returned to Yuan Shu's camp.
Yang Hong coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Him? Yang Hong? Killed Zhang Miao's entire family?
They even set fire to the city lord's mansion and burned it down?
Just to disrupt the unity of Yan Province, and to frame Cao Cao?
It was obvious to anyone with a discerning eye that this news wasn't very credible.
But Su Yu and Xi Zhicai worked through the night to create a storybook, and it turned out to be quite well-written!
The genre of storybooks didn't officially appear until the early Tang Dynasty. They were widely circulated in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and became an indispensable part of urban life in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The emergence of vernacular stories is a direct and devastating blow!
Let's not even talk about ordinary people.
Even many members of powerful families believed that Yang Hong had deliberately allowed himself to be captured by Cao Cao in order to sow discord between Cao Cao and Zhang Miao!
Finally, seeing that sowing discord had failed, they resorted to setting fire to Zhang Miao's entire family and burning them to death!
Yang Hong was considered an utterly wicked person by Cao Cao and Zhang Miao.
But towards Yuan Shu, he was absolutely loyal.
He was a representative of those who devoted themselves to Yuan Shu's cause, and a beacon of righteousness in Yuan's camp!
……