Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 477 Chen Gong enters the city to persuade surrender, Cao Cao's request to Xu You

The imperial army arrived at Changsha City faster than Xun Yu and others had expected, in just two days.

The reason they came in such a hurry was that they were worried that Cao Cao would escape.

The first to arrive were the troops led by Huang Zhong. After the major families in Jiangdong defected and surrendered, he and Guo Jia led their troops to Changsha.

On the day when Huang Zhong led his troops to Changsha, Zhuge Liang also led his troops to Changsha, and the two sides formally met outside the city.

Han army, central camp tent.

Guo Jia, Huang Zhong, Ju Yi, and Taishi Ci walked into the tent. Zhuge Liang stood up and greeted them, bowed to Guo Jia and said, "Greetings, Minister Guo."

Although he is now highly regarded by the emperor and commands an army, he still has to maintain respect towards Guo Jia, the head of the civil officials.

"Kong Ming, there's no need to be so polite."

Guo Jia smiled faintly, and then said: "Flooding Xiangyang City, conquering Jiangxia, and burning Chibi, I have heard of your great name even in Yangzhou, it is really impressive."

"This achievement really makes me feel ashamed."

Zhuge Liang's performance in this campaign to the south to fight against the enemy was undoubtedly the most brilliant. He never lost a battle, big or small, and he advanced triumphantly all the way, breaking through the most difficult front in the middle.

However, he wasted a long time in Yangzhou and only successfully instigated the Jiangdong gentry to rebel with the help of the emperor's pardon order. He was undoubtedly far inferior to Zhuge Liang.

"Mr. Guo is overpraising you."

Facing Guo Jia's praise, Zhuge Liang said modestly: "It was just luck. It was all thanks to the bravery of Lord Wen and the soldiers. My little contribution is not worth mentioning."

Guo Jia smiled, and praised Zhao Yun for his achievement in killing Ma Chao and lifting the siege of Chang'an, and then sat down with Huang Zhong and others.

"We are now at Changsha City, and Cao Cao and the false emperor are already inside the city. They are already trapped in a jar."

"Does Kong Ming intend to besiege the city or storm it?"

Guo Jia asked, it was indeed surprising that Cao Cao did not abandon the city and flee with the false emperor, but this just saved them from having to pursue him.

"Needless to say? It must be a violent attack!"

After the words fell, Lu Bu was the first to make the decision, his face full of unwillingness, "Last time at Huarong Road, I let Cao escape. This time, I will not let him escape again!"

"Military Advisor, let me lead the troops to attack the city. I will definitely bring the heads of Cao the thief and the false emperor to you!"

Lu Bu has always been brooding over letting Cao Cao escape at Huarong Road.

In his opinion, this is a shame and must be washed away by his own hands!

When Zhuge Liang was about to speak when Lu Bu volunteered to lead the troops to attack the city, Huang Zhong and Zhang Liao stood up.

"Changsha City is just a mere city. Why does Lord Wen need to come out? I can conquer it by myself!"

Huang Zhong said in a powerful voice.

He had not been able to perform well in Yangzhou, so this was his last chance to gain credit. He also wanted to raise his ranking in Lingyun Pavilion.

Zhang Liao said seriously: "Changsha City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. You can't take control of it. Let me do it. I am better at commanding sieges than you."

His thoughts are similar to Huang Zhong's.

He didn’t get any credit in Yizhou before, including the Battle of Chibi, so he can’t fall behind this time.

"No one is allowed to snatch it from me!"

Lu Bu slammed the table and looked at Huang Zhong and Zhang Liao with an extremely unfriendly look, "Otherwise, don't blame me for turning my back on you!"

His tone was full of pressure.

Lu Bu was not greedy for this military achievement, he just wanted to save his face. Besides, now that things had come to this, if Zhang Liao and Huang Zhong still competed with him for it, he would really get angry.

Seeing that the atmosphere was somewhat tense, Zhuge Liang sighed helplessly and stepped forward to mediate: "Lord Wen, General Huang, General Zhang, you all calm down first."

"It is not advisable to forcefully attack Changsha City. Now in Changsha City there are not only the false emperor and Cao the thief, but also Xu Ziyuan."

"Your Majesty has given instructions in the letter, asking us to try our best to capture the false emperor alive and bring him back to Chang'an City; in addition, we must rescue Xu Ziyuan safely."

"If we forcefully attack Changsha City, Cao Cao will be desperate and will most likely kill both the false emperor and Xu Ziyuan."

"So it is better to adopt the strategy of surrounding but not attacking, and let Cao thief surrender on his own initiative."

Zhuge Liang revealed the emperor's order.

With the current strength of the Han army, it is not difficult to capture Changsha City by force. It will only take some effort.

But the key is that Cao Cao still has Xu You as a hostage.

Xu You is a meritorious official of the second level of Lingyun Pavilion and is highly valued by the emperor. They cannot just ignore Xu You's life or death.

After Zhuge Liang finished speaking, Lu Bu, Huang Zhong and Zhang Liao had to stop their actions. Although Lu Bu was unwilling, he did not say anything.

After all, this is the emperor's order.

Sima Yi frowned and said, "Cao the thief has done something like establishing a false emperor. Whether he surrenders or not, he will be sentenced to death with his entire clan exterminated. There is no way he will surrender."

"It's possible to capture the fake emperor, but rescuing Xu Ziyuan alive is probably as difficult as ascending to heaven."

As Xu You was a spy who was discovered after sneaking into Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao must have hated him to the core and would have taken him with him even if he died.

Zhou Yu also nodded and said, "Given Cao's character, it is unlikely that he will surrender. This thief has an extraordinary tenacity and I am afraid he will resist to the end."

Although he had little contact with Cao Cao, he knew what kind of person Cao Cao was. This kind of person was too proud and would not accept becoming a prisoner.

After Zhou Yu and Sima Yi finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

But at this moment, a voice suddenly sounded: "Let me go into the city to persuade them to surrender, maybe it will succeed."

Everyone looked over when they heard this, only to see Chen Gong had stood up at some point, and it was him who had just spoken.

"Enter the city to persuade them to surrender?"

Guo Jia was stunned for a moment, then frowned and shook his head, saying, "It's too dangerous. Cao is now a trapped beast in a cage. Although he is at the end of his rope, he is also at his most desperate."

"If you go into the city to persuade him to surrender, he will probably kill you directly. This is not a good strategy."

He did not agree with Chen Gong's proposal.

However, Chen Gong shook his head and said, "No, I know Cao Cao. Even if I fail to persuade him to surrender, he will not kill me."

"He and I...are old friends."

Chen Gong sighed slightly, his tone somewhat complicated.

This surprised everyone.

Are Chen Gong and Cao Cao still friends?
Lu Bu blinked and asked in confusion, "Gongtai, when did you become friends with Cao Cao? How come I didn't know about it?"

He had never heard Chen Gong talk about it.

Chen Gong said: "It was just an incident that happened many years ago. At that time, I was still the magistrate of Zhongmou County. Cao Cao had no intention of rebelling and was a loyal and upright man."

"After his assassination attempt on Dong Zhuo failed, he absconded and was wanted by Dong Zhuo. He happened to escape to my jurisdiction and was captured by me."

"I admired his loyalty to the Han Dynasty and his passion for serving the country, so I gave up my post as county magistrate and left with him, intending to do great things together."

Chen Gong slowly recounted this old story.

Zhuge Liang had never thought that Chen Gong had such an experience with Cao Cao, so he asked, "Why did Gongtai leave Cao Cao again? Did you find out that he had evil intentions?"

"No."

Chen Gong still shook his head, a trace of pain flashed in his eyes, "After Cao Cao and I escaped from Zhongmou County, we went to Lü Bushe's house to rest."

"Lü Bushe was an old friend of Cao Cao's father. He treated us two with great hospitality, let us stay at his home, and went to the next village to buy wine." "But Cao Cao saw that Lü Bushe had not returned for a long time, so he became suspicious. He also saw Lü Bushe's servants sharpening knives, and thought they were going to harm us, so he killed all of Lü Bushe's family and servants."

"Then...then we realized that the servants were sharpening their knives to kill the pigs, not to harm us!"

Chen Gong's eyes were red and his voice was choked with sobs.

The death of Lü Bushe's family was an eternal pain in his heart. Although it was Cao Cao who killed them and his hands were not stained with blood, he still felt that he was to blame.

After choking up, Chen Gong continued, "Cao Cao mistakenly killed Lü Bushe's family. Although he felt remorseful, he was more worried that Lü Bushe would resent him when he saw his family's miserable state, so he waited for Lü Bushe to return and killed him as well."

"I asked him why he did that, and he said something so cold-blooded, 'I would rather let the world betray me than let the world betray me'!"

"It was only then that I realized that I had misjudged Cao Cao. He was cruel and merciless, and I despised what he did, so I abandoned him and left."

Chen Gong did not hide anything and told the whole story in detail.

He felt very regretful when he said this.

If he had known earlier that Cao Cao would become a nemesis for the Han Dynasty, he would never have let him go. He would have killed Cao Cao even if he had to endure the curses of the whole world!
"I see……"

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Guo Jia slowly came back to his senses. After listening to Chen Gong's story, he believed that Cao Cao was indeed worthy of the description "a capable minister in peaceful times and a hero in troubled times."

An ordinary person would definitely feel guilty if he accidentally killed a good person, but Cao Cao chose to cut the roots to prevent future troubles. This kind of mentality is extraordinary.

No wonder he became a powerful enemy of the imperial court.

"Such a person must die. If he doesn't die in Changsha, he will definitely become a disaster in the future!"

A hint of coldness flashed in Guo Jia's eyes.

No matter what, even at the cost of Xu You's life, he would not let Cao Cao leave Changsha alive.

"Cao is truly a beast among beasts!"

After hearing this, Huang Zhong was so angry that his eyes were wide open and he cursed indignantly, feeling deeply disgusted with Cao Cao's behavior.

Zhao Yun also snorted coldly: "If I were to capture Cao Cao, I would poke a hundred holes in his body with my spear!"

"Such traitors will only bring disaster to the world if they stay in the world!"

Chen Gong had calmed down by now, and he looked up at Zhuge Liang and said, "Military Advisor, let me go into the city to persuade them to surrender."

"Although Cao Cao is unkind and ungrateful, he and I were friends in need, and I saved his life. He will not do anything to me."

Cao Cao was a very complicated person. He did feel very regretful when he killed Lü Bushe, but the mistake had been made, so he simply decided to kill Lü Bushe once and for all.

But this does not mean that Cao Cao is really ruthless and ungrateful, because a ruthless and ungrateful person will not feel remorse, nor will he do something like assassinating Dong Zhuo.

"This……"

Zhuge Liang looked hesitant. He did not want Chen Gong to go and persuade them to surrender, but if he wanted to capture the false emperor alive and rescue Xu You, persuading them to surrender was the only way.

Among those present, no one was more suitable than Chen Gong.

After thinking it over again and again, Zhuge Liang finally agreed and said, "In that case, Gongtai can go, but be careful not to anger Cao Cao."

"I have my own sense of proportion."

Chen Gong nodded, bowed to everyone, then turned and walked out of the military tent.

"Public platform!"

Lu Bu trotted forward, hesitated for a moment, and said to him seriously: "Be careful and come back alive."

Seeing Lu Bu's concerned eyes, Chen Gong rarely smiled and then strode away.

……

Changsha City, Sikong Mansion.

In a courtyard deep inside the mansion.

After Cao Cao left his bedroom, he dragged his sick body to this courtyard. The soldiers guarding outside the courtyard saluted him when they saw him.

"You all stand down."

Cao Cao coughed twice and waved to them.

The soldiers did as they were told.

Then Cao Cao walked into the courtyard alone. It was now September, and the osmanthus tree in the courtyard was in bud.

The sun is scorching, but it is cool under the tree.

Xu You was sleeping on a bamboo chair, holding a bamboo slip in one hand and a wine gourd in the other, and his voice was deafening.

Cao Cao walked over to the stone bench next to Xu You and sat down.

He did not wake Xu You up, but just sat there, watching the fish swimming in the pond in the yard, his eyes as deep as the pond water.

After an unknown amount of time, Xu You slowly woke up. He sat up and stretched, then raised his hand to wipe the saliva from the corner of his mouth and chanted: "Once upon a time, Zhuang Zhou dreamed that he was a butterfly, fluttering around like a butterfly. He thought he was happy and contented, and didn't know he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up, and found himself to be Zhuang Zhou... eh?"

"Cao Cao? When did you come?"

As soon as Xu You opened his eyes, he saw someone sitting next to him. He was startled and said in surprise.

Although Cao Cao had his back to him, he was so familiar with Cao Cao that he could recognize him even from his back.

"It's been a while."

Cao Cao said without turning his head, continuing to watch the fish swimming in the pond, "You slept soundly."

Xu You snorted coldly and said, "Why should I be unable to sleep well? You should be the one who is unable to sleep well."

"Let me guess, we lost again?"

Xu You's tone was full of joking. Every time Cao Cao came to find him, it meant that he had suffered another setback at the court.

So he was now happy to see Cao Cao coming.

Without waiting for Cao Cao to reply, Xu You looked outside the courtyard again and asked, "Why didn't that idiot Xu Chu come with you?"

"After he left, no one bought me good wine."

In the past, when Xu Chu was guarding him, the wine he was given was of the best quality. But now that someone else was guarding him, the wine he was given was only turbid wine.

"He died in battle."

Cao Cao said calmly, as if he was talking about a trivial matter.

After hearing this, Xu You was stunned.

It was not until this time that he noticed Cao Cao's current appearance. He looked sick, weak and haggard.

After a moment of silence, he asked, "Are the imperial army's troops coming?"

Xu Chu was Cao Cao's personal attendant. Even Xu Chu died in battle, which shows that Cao Cao suffered a great defeat and was in a life-and-death crisis.

"Ah."

Cao Cao did not deny it. He withdrew his gaze from the pool and looked at Xu You.

"Remember what I said before, if I end up losing, I hope you can promise me one thing?"

"Now is the time."

(End of this chapter)