“Can strategists not take the throne?”
Volume One: Yellow Turban Rebellion, Chapter 04: It’s been a while, Your Highness!
So, Dian Wei?
As of now, Dian Wei hasn’t even received Cao Cao’s infamous ‘the ancient scourge’ appraisal, nor has he pulled off that public assassination for the Liu family in Xiangyi yet.
From the perspective of Liang Zhongning, who’s managing a ‘territory’ now, this Chenliu fellow looks like someone who doesn’t know their place. With the unstoppable Yellow Turban Army on the rise, he’s gone and attached himself to the local tyrant, thinking he can swagger around just because he’s got a bit of muscle.
This fool looking for trouble is just the kind of target he can chop down!
Besides, the Tian family in Puyang has been around for years, so they’re bound to have stockpiled quite a bit of food and gold.
Even though he had taken Puyang City, he hadn’t breached the Tian family’s fortress outside the city yet, which is like having a juicy steak right in front of him but not being able to eat it.
And even before his troops reported back, Liang Zhongning was laying out the map of the area right in front of him.
In the late Han, local warlords tended to cluster together, and the Tian family was no exception. Their fortress was built just ten miles outside Puyang.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Han Dynasty didn’t ban swords and knives outright, and considering the discussions held by Emperor Wu of Han, Gongsun Hong, and Wu Qiu Shou Wang in the past, which had little restrictions on bows and crossbows, this would explain the formidable heavy crossbows installed in the Tian family’s fortress—
He would have already surrounded the fortress by now!
There was no need to hesitate any longer.
On one side loomed the approaching Bu Ji’s army, their power pressing down on him.
On the other side, a bunch of brash fools coming out of the fortress to challenge him were probably going to be his breakthrough to taking down the Tian family.
Additionally, the Yellow Turban battlefield’s front lines were split across three locations: Guangzong, Yingchuan, and Nanyang, which meant he wasn’t even in the running to face off against the court army. The overly confident Liang Zhongning had been anxious for a month because he had nowhere to make his mark.
Faced with such a golden opportunity, Liang Zhongning felt that if he didn’t take action soon, and if the Changshe army solidified their victory over Zhu Jun, he would truly be out of luck!
“Get me my spear!”
This was Liang Zhongning’s decision after pondering over Dian Wei’s name.
The next day, to prevent chaos from erupting inside Puyang City, he left a portion of the Yellow Turban troops to guard the place while taking his five hundred loyal followers and three hundred recruited Yellow Turban warriors out of the city.
Qiao Yan could only observe from her hidden position that this Yellow Turban Commander didn’t seem to stay in one place, but she had no clue about his latest movements.
However, she didn’t have the time to worry about what kind of ruckus Liang Zhongning was stirring up in Puyang City.
According to the system, while she was in a space that could be understood as a parallel world, she could still use historical records as evidence until she caused a sufficient butterfly effect.
Thus, Liang Zhongning wouldn’t meet his end at the hands of the famous Han general Fu Nanrong until August this year, so for now, she didn’t need to worry about him losing his life and wasting her resources.
Instead of worrying about that, she should focus on herself.
Just as she had guessed, there were indeed many kids around her age in the Yellow Turban camp, so mingling in wasn’t difficult for her.
Her dirty, dusty face made it tough to tell if she was a boy or a girl, making her blend in with the rest.
Moreover…
After the earlier battle at Juye, the refugees driven by the Moth Bandits had formed a front-line barrier, leading to significant casualties; even though they had help from inside Juye City, it couldn’t change one fact.
For the Yellow Turban Army, fighting—especially as an irregular army—wasn’t as glamorous as it seemed.
Zhang Jiao had stripped the Buddhist sect of its scriptures to establish his cult, creating a spectacle that previous leaders had never achieved by deifying himself and rallying the masses.
But among his disciples, those truly capable of marching and deploying were few and far between.
Peeking through the stray hair in front of her, Qiao Yan glanced at the group getting their rations and noticed that most of the young children around her were separated from their family.
This made her appear less conspicuous in the camp.
Yet the reason was clear; these children’s elders had already perished.
Qiao Yan couldn’t help but sigh for the umpteenth time in her heart, but her feet didn’t stop as she continued forward to collect her ration for the day.
With food shortages now rampant, the Yellow Turban Army was certainly not handing out gourmet meals.
The piece of flatbread handed to her had a rather formal name: “Qiu.”
It was made from cooked rice that got smashed and reshaped into a flatcake, dried to make a kind of hard bread.
Thanks to this production method, the food was hard but not spoiled, though it was utterly flavorless compared to the crispy fried rice from later periods, making it so dry that it was hard to swallow.
On top of that, the only water available was from the lake at Daye Lake.
Qiao Yan felt she should truly thank the system for the newbie protection period.
Without a place to boil water unconditionally at this time, the effect of [Not affected by environmental diseases within the protection period] significantly increased her chances of survival.
The Strategist System 068, being a newbie, was probably slightly more conscientious than Qiao Yan. It watched with guilt as the host it had chosen gulped down food and raw water without complaint, thereafter curling up in a corner, listening to two other boys her age chatting.
The struggle of swallowing the food reflected on the faces of both boys, yet perhaps this contorted expression hid a deeper resentment.
The younger one stifled a sob and finally swallowed down the last bit of his dry flatbread, whispering, “Big brother, I miss mom.”
The older brother could only pat his shoulder, unsure how to console him.
The younger one continued, “Mom’s rice cakes were way better than this hard bread, and she even made sweet rice cakes for grandpa’s birthday, but mom… mom and grandpa are gone.”
Now, only these brothers had each other to rely on.
But no matter how bitter they felt, facing the threat of survival, they could only swallow it down with the dry food and water.
This scene wasn’t rare amidst the grand Yellow Turban Rebellion.
The voices of the two brothers gradually faded away.
The system noticed a flicker in Qiao Yan’s gaze and suddenly sprang up, hurriedly advising: [You really shouldn’t try to talk these two into grouping up with you without knowing their character first…]
“Don’t worry.” Qiao Yan replied in a voice meant only for her and the system, “If I were in a high position and saw this scene, I might feel compelled to help them. But since I can barely keep myself safe, I won’t do anything foolish right now.”
During times like this, it’s quite a luxury to have compassion and sympathy.
Qiao Yan was a rational individual who knew her own capabilities and would never try to make friends at this moment.
[Then what about you…] the system asked, puzzled.
“I’m going to do something naughty.”
Qiao Yan said she was going to do something bad, but to the system, there wasn’t a hint of guilt on her face.
First, she flipped this ill-fitting outfit inside out, trimmed it down even shorter, tied her messy hair back, and smeared another layer of mud on her face. After taking a stroll around the camp to make sure nobody noticed her antics, she slyly joined the line for food again.
【……？】
The system stared blankly as Qiao Yan casually walked up the line to the bread distributor and… received another piece of bread.
Typically, during disaster relief efforts, they use a stamped voucher system or take rice with a quick shave to prevent double-dipping, but managing that was a bit tricky with the complicated Yellow Turban Army.
In such circumstances, it’s only natural that some folks might think about collecting two portions of food.
But just now, the system had witnessed a Yellow Turban soldier stab someone to death, claiming the guy tried to collect food a second time. He even bragged about distributing porridge to rich merchants and had a knack for recognizing faces, which got a few people cut from the bread line.
So now, seeing Qiao Yan pull such a risky stunt, how could it not make the system tense?
Well, it didn’t matter; it was a system, so it had no heart or guts.
As if sensing the system’s thoughts, Qiao Yan ducked into a quiet spot and started stuffing bread into her clothes while saying, “You really think the guy handing out food can recognize anyone? He just randomly picked a poor sap! Honestly, with a slight change in clothing, he wouldn’t have a clue.”
Unfortunately, the poor guy who got picked for the ‘lesson’ was already in trouble.
Whether he did indeed try to pull that food stunt for a second time was now irrelevant.
Because dead men don’t defend themselves.
He must have been singled out because he was alone at the time.
Qiao Yan saw through the whole twisted situation clearly, but she knew she lacked the power to change things. All she could do was make her own life a bit better and then—
Continue with her plan.
She was still in the Juyi Marshes, but after half a day of travel, they officially entered Dong Commandery territory.
Another half-day later, they reached the Hezi River.
In the past, Emperor Wu of Han built the Xuanfang Palace in Puyang, right above the Hezi Weir. After that, the riverbanks separated upstream from the palace, leaving only some ditches remaining. This band of several thousand people could cross the creek quite easily, way simpler than crossing a river.
Not far from the river, the walls of Yun City came into view.
Among the three rebel leaders in Yanzhou, Zhang Bo had already taken Yun City by storm, meeting up with Bu Ji there.
After their two forces combined, they set out westward, totaling over ten thousand soldiers. Plus, Liang Zhongning had already captured Puyang, causing both Linqiu and Juancheng’s county captain to flee without a fight, allowing the Yellow Turban Army to face fewer skirmishes.
This was good news for Qiao Yan within the Yellow Turban Army, but perhaps not such a great thing for the relatively well-off folks in those two cities.
Listening to the commotion in the city after the Yellow Turbans stormed in, Qiao Yan’s face tensed momentarily, as if she was gritting her teeth to suppress her emotions.
The system wanted to make a joke or two, but when she arrived here, anyone who knew her would have noticed she appeared plumper from the extra bread she secured, yet it chose to remain silent.
“Zhang Jiao is quite a capable man,” Qiao Yan sighed, “but he forgot one thing: when interest is involved, the thirty-six factions are bound to fight amongst themselves, which will inevitably lead to a breakdown in military discipline. That’s not how you save the Han from its demise.”
The setting sun reflected on a flag atop the walls of Juancheng, and she gazed at it for a long while.
The system couldn’t read her innermost thoughts, nor did it know what was on her mind; all it could see was—
Her hand once again fiddled with the dagger hidden in her clothes, a sign of firm resolution, before she seized the opportunity amid the food distribution chaos to slip away from the group.
This time was different from the earlier days of chasing after the Yellow Turbans while starving.
She had a few pieces of stolen food on her, enough to last her two days.
And in her line of sight, only the marker indicating Liang Zhongning’s location was glowing faintly.
Where was Liang Zhongning?
Under the starry night, this Yellow Turban Commander was fleeing with his remnants.
Before leading his men to Tian Family Fortress, he had never imagined he’d end up in such a humiliating state.
The Chenliu Dian Wei he had heard of for the first time was more than just a strong guy as reported by his men!
That dude was practically a walking tank!
The spear in Liang Zhongning’s hands had already snapped while he was barely escaping, leaving him with just a broken tip.
For a general, having his weapon shattered was almost like having his head and neck chopped off; he was practically one step away from disaster.
In the previous two days of stalemate, with the Tian Family’s crossbows assisting, he had already lost a large chunk of his men before even breaching the fortress. On the last day, he’d been thrown off by a fearless brute who came charging at him, grabbing his spear, leaving him on the verge of being thrown off his horse.
Thankfully, one of his loyal subordinates quickly sliced the attacker’s spear in half with a long knife, buying him some time.
If it weren’t for that, he would’ve bitten the dust at Dian Wei’s hands.
But that devoted subordinate had died on the spot.
Liang Zhongning, thinking, “As long as there’s still green hills, I don’t have to worry about firewood,” immediately turned his horse around and headed back toward Puyang.
However, the emotions he brought with him were completely different from when he had set out.
When he came, he was hopeful about capturing the Tian Family Fortress, feeling like it was a piece of cake; now he was leaving in utter disgrace.
Even though it was still spring, his face burned with an embarrassment akin to being scorched by fire, and even the light of the stars and moon couldn’t change his foul mood.
When he noticed someone blocking his path atop the mountain trail ahead, his self-inflicted frustration reached a peak!
But before he could hurl his broken spear at this blocker to teach him a lesson, he recognized the person’s face.
Moonlight filtering down through the trees illuminated the face of this obstruction.
What shocked Liang Zhongning was, the figure was small, not because of any visual trick in the darkness, but because it was a child, no more than ten years old!
A child who shouldn’t be here!
Though this child wore ill-fitting tattered clothing, there was something in their demeanor and eyes that set them apart from the ordinary country folk.
And this face, blurred by the moonlight, held a level of maturity that was far beyond their age, along with an air of mystery that left Liang Zhongning completely baffled.
Just as he was about to explode in anger, the child calmly smiled at him, bowed slightly, and loudly stated:
“Gao Mi Yan Qiao, I’ve been waiting for the Commander for quite a while.”
