People of advanced age enjoy having their descendants around them, but with the capital in such turmoil, Xun Shuang feared accidents and had not brought his family when he entered the capital.
Gongda had come to the capital in response to General He Jin's summons, arriving in Luoyang even earlier than he had. However, they did not usually reside together—the vast Sikong mansion held only him, an old man, and the guards and servants sent by the court.
Little A'ju had been incomplete of soul in his youth, and afterward had gone into seclusion with his exceptionally quiet-natured father. When he learned of this from family letters, he had even considered having Zhongyu bring the difficult-to-care-for little child to seek refuge with him.
Both were forms of seclusion, but there was a world of difference between following a reclusive father and following a silver-tongued great-uncle.
The roads were long and carriages slow, and over the years their correspondence had not been overly frequent.
He had always thought the shy Zhongyu would raise an even shyer "little Zhongyu," but it seemed things reversed at their extreme—little A'ju, after his recovery, was more lively than any of the younger generation in the family.
Xun Ye was very skilled at dealing with elders. His great-uncle was not the stern, rigid old gentleman he had imagined—this kind of amiable elder was perfect for climbing the social ladder. It was the other one beside him, who appeared steady, reliable, and mature, that made it harder for him to show his talents.
His great-uncle had no time to leave the capital, and all contact with home relied on family letters. Many things could not be clearly conveyed in writing, so it was perfect that he, a junior who had just come from home, could relay them in person, putting his great-uncle's mind at ease.
The clan was well, and the villagers were well. Through the joint efforts of Uncle Wenruo and himself, they had ultimately succeeded in leading all the villagers away from Zhongyuan, that place of trouble.
It was hard to leave one's homeland, but one could not rush headlong into death either.
Xun Shuang listened with a smile as his grand-nephew reported on the clan's situation. Only after he finished did he remember there was another grand-nephew he had forgotten to introduce. "This is your elder cousin Xun You. Gongda currently serves as Huangmen Shilang. If you encounter difficulties in the capital, you may also seek him out."
"Greetings, elder brother." Xun Ye rose swiftly to offer his respects, not forgetting to maintain his flattering persona even while greeting. "My father spoke of you as a man of far-reaching vision and noble character. Having met you today, I see he was exactly right."
When he had first entered, he had thought the handsome middle-aged man who never spoke was a subordinate official of the household. But then he reconsidered—during the New Year, officials were all on holiday at home, and there was also the cousin Xun You, frequently mentioned by his beautiful father and uncles, who was in the capital. So even without his great-uncle's introduction, he could have guessed the man's identity.
Not a handsome middle-aged man, nor a big nephew—he was his legitimate elder brother.
Xun You folded his hands in his sleeves and returned the greeting. "Many years have passed. Ming Guang has changed greatly."
Xun Ye blinked and replied with some embarrassment, "I don't remember, elder brother. Please forgive me."
Well then—although he was no longer simple-minded now, one still had to be a bit more tolerant of the former simple-minded child.
The brazier fire was warm, and the three generations of grandfather and grandsons got along very harmoniously.
For the past half year and more, Xun Shuang and Xun You had watched the capital drift in the wind and rain. Even when they occasionally sat across from each other drinking tea, the atmosphere was heavy. Rarely could they enjoy such leisurely family talk.
Xun Ye knew his great-uncle and elder cousin were smarter than him. After reporting on the family situation, he continued to report on his own.
When wading through murky waters, one must have the awareness of wading through murky waters. Bringing along a few extra brains never hurt.
He had entered the capital with Zhang Liao. Zhang Liao, inexplicably promoted to Qiduwei, had not forgotten his great contributor. On the very day of his promotion, he had placed the position of Jun Sima on Xun Ye's head.
Young Zhang Wenyuan had not yet experienced too cruel a beating from life. Having caught his first ride on a rising tide, he was so excited he could hardly contain himself, nearly pulling Xun Ye into a sworn brotherhood.
Although they had only a little over a thousand new recruits under their command, incomparable to the battle-hardened Bingzhoubing, the soldiers before had belonged to others. Now these thousand-plus were personally recruited by him. With General He gone, as long as these new soldiers were trained, they would all become their trusted men in the future.
Before, he had not been qualified to promote his brothers. Now that he was qualified, he had to arrange it.
Zhang·Knows Gratitude and Repays It·Wenyuan said thus.
Xun Ye: …
Transmigrating did not make one smarter or dumber. There were always those more capable, and he felt that with his intelligence, he would not be easily fooled out in the world. But occasionally he worried that facing matters alone, he would be at a loss.
Especially since all the elders in his family were so outstanding—by comparison, he, the less outstanding junior, seemed rather foolish.
But after spending a few days with Zhang Wenyuan, Xun·Dull-Witted·Ming Guang discovered that his self-confidence, which had been battered by all the clever people in his family, had actually recovered quite a bit.
Thanks, Brother Liao. Heart.
Xun Shuang listened with a kindly expression, then sighed at the current situation in the capital. "With Chancellor Dong in power, the situation for generals from Bingzhou is not good."
The capital was not a good place. He actually did not quite understand why this boy had come to the capital, and with a general from Bingzhou, no less.
Dong Zhuo was cruel and vicious. Even the provincial governors he himself had appointed did not acknowledge his authority. Now everywhere people were raising troops under the banner of punishing Dong. There was more than one path to achievement—entering the capital was not the only way.
Xun You appeared calm and composed, but the words that came out of his mouth were anything but "composed." "The Dong Rebel harbors wild ambitions—everyone has the right to strike him down."
Xun Ye was taken aback, never expecting Xun You to suddenly blurt out something like that.
What the—you're supposed to curse Dong Zhuo quietly in private. This wasn't exactly the right occasion for it, was it?
Xun Shuang sighed helplessly. "Gongda."
Fortunately, there were few people in the household, or he would have worried about eavesdroppers behind the walls.
Xun You's expression remained unchanged, seeing nothing wrong with saying such things in this setting. "Loyal and righteous men from across the realm have gathered in Chenliu to form an alliance against Dong. Uncle-Grandfather, do you believe the coalition army can resolve the nation's crisis?"
Xun Shuang sighed again. "With hearts not united, it will be difficult."
Though he had no standing to judge the heroes who had stepped forward to oppose Dong Zhuo, he had to admit that the various righteous armies—while nominally crusading against Dong Zhuo—were actually after fame or profit. Those truly fighting for the Han Shi were few and far between.
"Uncle-Grandfather speaks truly." Xun Ye perked up his ears, straightened his back, and sat upright in formal posture like Xun You, his eyes sparkling as he gestured for his uncle-grandfather and elder cousin to continue.
Before leaving, his handsome father and uncles had carefully analyzed the situation in the capital for him, and he had just relayed it all to his uncle-grandfather and elder cousin—there was no gap in information between the two sides.
The family was busy relocating to avoid disaster and had no time to track the grudges and rivalries of various armies. Uncle Wenruo did have the heart to uphold the Han Shi, but with the situation still unclear, he couldn't spare the energy to get involved until his clan and family were properly settled.
Anyone with eyes could see the coalition wouldn't amount to much. But those in the game are blind, while onlookers see clearly. Commander Cao Cao, who had poured his entire fortune into raising troops against Dong, hadn't yet hit the wall—he probably still thought everyone who responded to his call were loyal allies through and through.
Alas, poor Boss Cao.
Xun Shuang let out a soft laugh. "When Commander Cao Cao raised his righteous army against Dong Zhuo, his only initial supporters were the brothers of Chancellor Bao Xin of Jibei. Now that righteous armies have gathered in response, Taishou Qiao Mao of Dongjun deserves much credit for forging the Sangong edict and sending it to the provinces."
On the surface, there was nothing wrong with the various righteous armies only responding after receiving the Sangong edict. After all, Dong Zhuo's power was immense—cursing him verbally and raising troops against him were two different things, and the provincial governors' hesitation was understandable.
But think more carefully: when General He summoned outside generals to the capital to force Empress Dowager He to execute the eunuchs, Dong Zhuo wasn't the only one called. Ding Yuan and Qiao Mao were also on the list.
Dong Zhuo stationed his troops at Shanglinyuan in Guanzhong to observe the situation. Ding Yuan released several thousand troops to burn Mengjin and cause chaos in Henei. Qiao Mao, meanwhile, camped at Chenggao, ready to enter the city at any moment.
As a general summoned to the capital at the same time as Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan, Taishou Qiao was different from Commander Cao, who had to rely on local wealthy families to fund his recruitment. With his forces, Qiao could have directly confronted Dong Zhuo when he first entered the capital.
"Yet from General He's death to the Dong Rebel's entry into the capital to wreak havoc on the court, a full half year passed with Taishou Qiao making no move whatsoever. It wasn't until Commander Cao raised his army that Qiao forged the Sangong edict to stir the provinces into action—why?" Xun You spoke slowly, but his words were as merciless as before. "Clearly, he too harbors ulterior motives."
When Qiao Mao sent the edict to the provinces in the name of the Sangong, had he ever considered that the actual Sangong in the capital might incur Dong Zhuo's wrath and lose their lives?
Xun Ye blinked, oddly feeling like the speaker was Guo Fengxiao.
Was this really the Xun Gongda his handsome father had described as someone of great wisdom appearing foolish, slow of speech and few of words?
Though there were only the three of them in the room, this was still too candid—and rather thrilling to hear.
The three generations' "unspeakable" meeting lasted until noon, with Xun Shuang and Xun You doing most of the talking while Xun Ye listened.
The core message in one sentence: the anti-Dong coalition was unreliable. No matter how grand its momentum now, it would fall apart eventually. If they wanted to solve the problem, they had to rely on themselves.
Xun Ye desperately wanted to maintain the same calm, detached demeanor as his uncle-grandfather and elder cousin, but he simply couldn't. Every word they said caught him off guard, and his mind spinning too fast only made him look utterly bewildered.
Uncle Wenruo had only said that his uncle-grandfather had been forcibly conscripted to the capital and had no choice but to serve Dong Zhuo—he never mentioned the old man also harbored grand ambitions to kill Dong Zhuo!
And Cousin You was even more impressive. Uncle-Grandfather wanted to eliminate the Dong Rebel and cleanse the court; Cousin You wanted to personally kill Dong Zhuo.
The kind where you carry a blade and assassinate him.
Xun Ye: Confusion doubled.jpg
The Dong Zhuo of now wasn't yet the several-hundred-jin fat man who had indulged in wine and women after moving the capital to Chang'an, but a fierce general of immense strength who could shoot arrows from horseback with either hand. Though Cousin You was proficient in all the Junzi Liuyi, Xun Ye still didn't think assassinating Dong Zhuo was a good idea.
Looking at pure combat ability alone, his own chances of success were higher than Cousin You's.
No, no, no—he wasn't a professional assassin. Dong Zhuo's security was tight, and he had the San Guo's number one warrior, Lu Bu, as his personal bodyguard. The gap in combat power was too vast. He'd die too.
You only have one life, and the dead can't come back. The chaotic world was still waiting for them to conquer it. Cousin You, stay calm—don't do anything rash!
Xun You looked at his younger cousin, who was frightened into a fluster by his words, and suddenly, without warning, curled his lips into a smile. "Just a joke. Don't take it seriously."
Xun Ye: …
Bro, are you sure?
The warm and harmonious family gathering had, without warning, turned into "Eighteen Ways to Kill Dong Zhuo," and even the most lavish lunch he'd ever seen in his life couldn't soothe Xun Agu's deeply wounded heart.
Judging by Xun Gongda's role in Cao Wei, this man definitely wouldn't meet his end in Luoyangcheng, but better safe than sorry—he simply couldn't stop his mind from spiraling into worse and worse scenarios.
If it weren't for the fact that all three of them, grandfather and grandsons, had proper business to attend to, he would have turned himself into a pendant and hung onto Xun You's body.
By evening, at the new recruits' camp outside the city.
The two who had parted cheerfully now reunited in the tent, and upon seeing the same worried expression on each other's faces that mirrored their own, fell into even deeper silence.
"You…"
"You…"
"I…"
"I…"
"Forget it, I'll go first." Xun Ye wiped his face and said gravely, "The Chaotang is deep water. Jingcheng is even harder to navigate than I imagined."
"Tell me about it." Zhang Liao felt the same, worrying so much he'd nearly scratched his hair into a chicken nest. "Ming Guang, it's your elder brother who's failed you. It's not that I didn't want to make things right—it's just that Lu Fengxian simply won't listen to reason."
Xun Ye was baffled. "Failed me? Make what right?"
He'd never even met Lu Bu. What did Lu Bu being unreasonable have to do with him? Without any grudge or grievance between them, the man couldn't possibly come all the way just to beat him up.
"It's my fault for showing off in front of him." Zhang Liao glanced at his good brother's expression and explained with a grimace, "He said there's no future in following me, and after learning you're from Yingchuan's Xun Shi, he insisted on taking you over to serve as a Zhubu on his staff."
"Zhubu?" Xun Ye's eyes went wide. "Didn't you tell him I don't like using my brain?"
Though a Zhubu managing documents would grant access to more military intelligence, his goal was to become a super Hexagon Warrior like Emperor Li Er. Paperwork wasn't part of his career plan.
"I did tell him." Zhang Liao let out a long sigh, regretting it so deeply his intestines had turned green. "He didn't believe me."
Xun Ye was at a loss, feeling like the whole world had turned against him.
That certain someone had gotten so annoyed being a Zhubu himself that he'd stabbed his own superior officer. If he trained a few more years, could he surpass that someone and leap straight to becoming the number one fierce general of San Guo?