Chapter 63: Shouldn't You Thank Me?

Cao Hong wanted to run, but it was already too late.

When he traveled from Henei to Luxian, the warhorse between his legs was already utterly exhausted.

According to his plan, he should enter Luxian, meet with Lu Chuan, have a brief chat, and meanwhile let his warhorse rest.

Once he finished talking with Lu Chuan, he would ride back, and everything would work out just right.

Yet who could have expected that Lu Chuan would not play by the rules? Not only did he refuse to let him enter the city, but he even sent troops to surround him.

Lu Chuan was clearly planning to catch Cao Cao completely off guard.

"Lu Huo, General Cao Hong's warhorse is exhausted. Give General Cao Hong a fresh mount so we don't delay our journey!"

"Understood!"

Lu Huo acknowledged the order, waved his hand, and a cavalryman behind him led a horse forward to Cao Hong.

"General Cao Hong, please!"

Cao Hong looked around and found that among Lu Chuan's thousand cavalrymen, this was the only extra horse.

This was truly... far too coincidental!

Not daring to resist, Cao Hong changed horses as Lu Chuan demanded and thus followed Lu Chuan toward Henei.

...

Cao Cao put down the bamboo slips in his hand, breathed a slight sigh of relief, looked up at the time, and shook his head lightly.

Henei was over two hundred li away from Luxian, and even a warhorse galloping at full speed would take two or three hours. Given Cao Hong's temperament, having departed at noon yesterday, he would most likely be delayed until this morning before arriving.

After reaching Luxian, Lu Chuan would arrange a time to meet with Cao Hong, have a meal together at noon, and by the time Cao Hong returned, it would most likely already be evening. Since it was currently only afternoon, Cao Cao was not in a hurry.

He was also very eager to know what on earth Lu Chuan was thinking and why he insisted on discussing the campaign against the Dongjun bandits with him.

What did the bandits in Dongjun have to do with him, Cao Cao of Henei?

Besides, was a campaign against bandits something that could be undertaken just by talking about it casually?

How much money and grain would be consumed along the way just to mobilize a large army toward Dongjun?

Once they arrived in Dongjun, whether the Administrator of Dongjun would even be willing to let them enter was another question entirely.

Even if the army reached Dongjun and the Administrator allowed them in, would they simply be able to defeat the bandits?

The bandits in Dongjun numbered in the tens of thousands, and even the Administrator of Dongjun could not suppress them. Could they just waltz over and defeat the bandits?

What if they failed to defeat the bandits and instead suffered losses in troops and prestige? What then?

War involved far too many variables; how could anyone make such a snap decision on a whim?

Cao Cao could not help but shake his head, feeling that Lu Chuan was acting far too childishly.

Although Lu Chuan possessed some ability, his understanding of affairs was still somewhat lacking, far from matching his own profound insights.

Now that the world was on the verge of great chaos, everyone with ambition should exhaust every means to develop their own strength rather than attacking others on a whim and pointlessly wasting their own wealth and grain.

Just as Cao Cao was running through various analyses in his mind, a soldier rushed in frantically and fell to his knees on the ground.

"Reporting to my lord, a troop of cavalry suddenly appeared at the city gate! Before the gate guards could react, they broke through the gates and are now heading straight for the Administrator's Mansion!"

"What?"

Cao Cao's expression changed drastically. "What cavalry? Where did they come from? What is going on here?"

The kneeling soldier trembled all over. "This subordinate does not know either; the cavalry simply appeared out of nowhere... Ah, and this subordinate caught sight of General Cao Hong among those riders."

"Zilian? How could he..."

Cao Cao stopped abruptly and asked again, "What banners are those cavalry flying? Is it... Lu?"

"Precisely! The man in the lead is fiercely brave, followed by a massive banner bearing the character 'Lu'... My lord, the situation is critical, you must retreat at once."

Lu... Lu Chuan...

Cao Cao's expression turned blank; he no longer knew what to do.

He had never dreamed in a million years that instead of waiting for Cao Hong's reply, he would be greeted first by Lu Chuan leading a thousand cavalrymen in a rapid raid!

Didn't Lu Chuan invite him to Luxian to discuss jointly subduing the Dongjun bandits?

Why had he suddenly charged into Henei?

Coming to Henei was one thing, but what was the meaning of bringing cavalry to smash through the city gates and head directly for his Administrator's Mansion?

Wasn't this going a bit too far in bullying people?

As for escaping?

Cao Cao no longer held any illusions.

With Lu Chuan personally taking the field and leading elite cavalry charging into the city, could he possibly run anywhere?

He had witnessed firsthand just how formidable Lu Chuan's cavalry truly were.

Covering the short distance from the city gate to the Administrator's Mansion, by the time this soldier arrived to report, Lu Chuan was likely already outside the mansion grounds.

Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and the others were indeed in the city, but how could they possibly muster enough troops in a hurried panic to counter Lu Chuan's cavalry?

Furthermore, Dian Wei's two thousand infantrymen were also inside the city. At a single word from Lu Chuan, Dian Wei would charge over with those two thousand foot soldiers. Even if Xiahou Dun and the others rushed over, they would merely be offering their heads on a platter.

That being the case, there was no point in running.

Running or not running, it made no difference anymore.

Sure enough, just as the soldier finished urging Cao Cao to flee, the sound of rhythmic, synchronized hoofbeats echoed from outside, followed by the crash of the main gates being smashed open, and then Lu Chuan's voice rang out.

"Mengde, you put on quite a grand airs! I invited you to Luxian to discuss major matters, yet you refused to come. Since that is the case, I had no choice but to come and find you myself."

Cao Cao was so enraged that the muscles on his face trembled uncontrollably: *Are you calling this 'coming to find me', you bastard?*

*Judging by this grand display, wouldn't it be fair to say you're about to trample Henei to the ground?*

Yet, remembering that Lu Chuan was right outside, backed by a thousand cavalrymen, with Dian Wei's two thousand infantry stationed in the city, Cao Cao could only force himself to calm down, put on a composed expression, and walk out.

"So it is Lord Lu who honors me with a visit. Cao failed to go far to welcome you; that was indeed my discourtesy."

"No matter, I don't care about such trivial details... Oh, by the way, I accidentally smashed the front gate of your Administrator's Mansion. You won't mind, will you?"

"Of course... not."

The muscles on Cao Cao's face twitched once more as he forced a smile, masking his inner disgust. "The gates of the Administrator's Mansion were already old and dilapidated; I had long wished to replace them anyway. Lord Lu smashing them open actually saves me the trouble."

"Is that so? That's quite fortunate then. Would you like to... thank me?"

"I... thank..."

"Alright, alright, I'm just joking."

Lu Chuan knew better than to push too far. After exchanging a few mocking remarks while still on horseback, seeing that Cao Cao was on the verge of cracking, he finally dismounted and casually tossed his spear to Lu Huo behind him.

"Mengde, I came to see you this time to discuss serious business. Standing out here forever is hardly reasonable. Let's go inside and talk, shall we?"

Though phrased as a question, Lu Chuan gave Cao Cao no room to choose, grabbing him by the arm and walking straight inside.

Pity Cao Cao—although he possessed some martial prowess and had personally charged into battle during the suppression of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, before Lu Chuan, he had not the slightest strength to resist.

With just a casual grip on his arm by Lu Chuan, he found himself utterly unable to break free, forced to let Lu Chuan drag him inside, his facial expression beyond description.