Battle Royale of the Sinners

October 30th, 184 A.D.

Gongsun Zan Army arrived at Xiangping and found out that he worried for nothing.

Gongsun Du, the governor who was also a member of Gongsun Clan, had defeated all Wuwan Army. The newly promoted 5,000-man-commander Zhao Yun captured one of their commanders and forced the Wuwan Army into retreat.

In Xiangping government hall, Gongsun Zan summoned Zhao Yun.

The white robe general walked into the hall. Because of his youth and his good looking, the vibrant of his cloth and the valiant manner impressed all officers of Gongsun Zan.

"I want to promote you to the grand commander of Xiangping Legion. What do you say?"

Gongsun Du's face twitched. If the young man in front of him raised his status, he would have the same power as him, the governor.

Feeling the looming threat of losing his influence, Gongsun Du protested, "Clan Head, please wait a minute. He has just been promoted this year. Promoting him again will get us a bad reputation. Some of the veteran soldiers in our army will think that we play favoritism for one of our servants, and it will create disharmony between us. Please reconsider!"

Gongsun Zan frowned. He would be stupid for not realizing Gongsun Du's scheme, but this governor had a point.

Zhao Yan glanced at Gongsun Du as he had a bad impression on this governor.

During the previous battle, Gongsun Du's ambush was not a part of his plan. His initial plan was to wither down Wuwan scout teams and Wuwan number little by little. However, Gongsun Du refused the idea and wanted to confront the enemy directly.

The debate broke out and they splitted their manpower in half.

Zhao Yun proceeded with his plans while Gongsun Du hid his men. Yet, when Zhao Yun was about to win, Gongsun Du Army appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the Tadun Army, claiming the credit that they made the Wuwan surrendered.

"Seeing with your own eyes. Listening with your own ears. Judge the situation without a bias thought. Then, your perception of the world will broaden!"

The teaching of Tong resounded in Zhao Yun's mind, and his anger subsided.

Zhao Yun cupped his fist and knelt, "I'm afraid that this promotion is improper like Lord Governor has said. I'm also too young to take the role of the city's grand general. Please reconsider."

Hearing that Zhao Yun agreed with himself, Gongsun Du was surprised.

'This brat has a good sense of politic. Is this brat trying to get on my good side? Very well, I like you! I'll make you my aide and my bodyguard!'

Gongsun Du's ill intent toward Zhao Yun disappeared. On the other hand, Gongsun Zan did not understand the objection of the promotion.

Gongsun Zan stared at the governor and Zhao Yun, 'A power struggle within my clansmen. This is troublesome! The boy is either modest, or he is under the threat of this guy's politic. I have to change my way of approaching things.'

A new idea came to Gongsun Zan's mind, "Well, how about this? Right now, Ji City is lacking the right protector. I can make you guard Ji City in my stead. You will be the governor of that city and protect it for me. Will you accept this new task?"

Gongsun Zan avoided using the word [Promotion], but he emphasized the transfer of his duty instead.

Gongsun Du was relief that his control over Xiangping still remained in his grasp. Transferring the hotshot Zhao Yun away was a good thing to him.

"Yes, Zilong. You are more suitable to be the protector of Ji City. We already have many experience officers here, so you don't have to worry about this front."

Zhao Yun sighed as he understood these two men's motives.

"Then, I shall do my best to guard Ji City from all invaders!"

…

…

…

Later that day, Zhao Yun pondered if the training under the Gongsun Clan was a good idea.

The power struggle did not happen just between warlords, the minor officials and subordinates of warlords also fought against their rival in secret to advance in their career and position. The political movements of Gongsun Du proved that this force also suffered from the same disease.

His thought wondered. Two faces appeared in his mind.

The first one was Liu Bei. He was kind toward his men, and all of his subordinates worked together in harmony, which was Zhao Yun workplace ideal. Moreover, Liu Bei seemed to be a righteous person from the way he acted or talked when they met.

The second face was his idol who taught him to cultivate his mind, Zhang Tong.

This person was unpredictable to Zhao Yun. His vision was so vast that Zhao Yun could not understand, but he could read thought Liu Bei without much of a trouble.

Furthermore, Zhao Yun did not know if Tong was the right person or not. He slaughtered innocent people in Liyang, yet he showed mercy toward his enemies sometimes, such as Qu Yi, Gao Lan, Te Langpu, and many soldiers who used to oppose Tong. These people switched side to work under him willingly, which confused Zhao Yun's logic.

Zhao Yun sometimes thought that Tong was a sinister lord who did not hesitate to kill or bribe officers to get his job done. Unfortunately, Tong's actions often contradicted with Zhao Yun's theories as he kept donating his food toward the refugees from around the country and took them in without exception.

"If I work for one of you, what kind of future will you prepare for me?"

…

November 1st, 184 A.D.

Zhao Yun arrived at Ji, but he could not get inside the city.

The City had fallen under the hands of Xiongnu!

"How!?"

In disbelieved, Zhao Yun stared at the flags on top of the wall and read the character on it over and over again.

They were not the [Gongsun].

"Could it be … sound in the east and attack the west!? They baited at Xiangping, and the real attack was Ji!?"

Zhao Yun ordered his bodyguards and caravans to withdraw back to Beiping. In the meantime, they also searched for the survivors to ask for the news of the city.

*BOOM*

Zhao Yun heard a loud metallic sound of iron slamming onto another metal.

The sound came from the city. One of the city gates was opened, and soldiers of Xiongnu marched out with haste.

Zhao Yun panicked as he thought that they were sending out troops to get rid of him and his men.

Betraying his expectation, Xiongnu soldiers ignored their existence and rushed north in a hurry, leaving the agape Zhao Yun and his men alone.

"Are they retreating? Wait, did they rob the people enough then they are withdrawing back to their territory?"

Zhao Yun's guess became a reality when Xiongnu forced people out of the city. They were to civilians of Ji!

All civilians were tied in a train of ropes. Had one person tried to escape, all prisoners would be in the way as the ropes tied all prisoners in a long continuous line.

Hatred brewed in Zhao Yun's heart, but he calmed his anger in a minute.

Zhao Yun wanted to get rid of these invaders and rescue the people, but at the moment, he was powerless as he did not have enough troops to do so.

*RUMBLE*

Another rumble sound came from the south of Ji City. Birds in the forest panicked and flew from their nests, revealing that there was an army moving here.

"An army from the south!? Maybe …"

Hope.

Zhao Yun regained his hope.

"South of Ji lies Zhongshan, if the army came from Zhongshan, then it's Zhang Tong's forces!"

Zhao Yun clenched his fists.

"Sir?" A follower of Zhao Yun asked.

"What?"

"Are we going back to Beiping?"

Zhao Yun hesitated. He was still a commander under Gongsun Zan. Because of that, he could not move around or influence other forces without permission.

But he wanted to join the fight.

[Do not sway by your emotions.]

Tong's teaching resounded in his heart again at the critical moment of decision.

Zhao Yun took a deep breath and turned around, "All none combatant personal will head back to Beiping and inform our lord!"

"What about you, sir?"

"Men, hear me! At first, we have to move to Ji and protect the city from the possible invading Xiongnu. But now, the city has already been taken, and they are in the middle of enslaving our people and taking them away! If we don't help them, they will suffer an endless hell of slave lives! I'm going to assist Zhang Tong's forces and rescue the civilians. If you don't want to fight, feel free to go back. If you believe in my decision, come with me!"

All bodyguard soldiers were shocked. From first glance, the army of Xiongnu was no less than 20,000 men. It was impossible for them to attack the invaders directly.

"Sir, I'm going back to Beiping."

"Sir, me too."

"I have a family in Beiping, sir. Please forgive me."

None of the soldiers had to same thought as Zhao Yun. They did not have the same intelligence, and they could not figure out that another army was approaching Ji City from the south.

Most importantly, they did not believe in the young governor who had yet to prove himself.

Zhao Yun had a bitter smile on his face.

'I'm a failure at persuasion. As a commander, I can't even convince them.'

Zhao Yun turned around and left, thinking that nobody would follow him at this rate.

Yet, the childish voice of a boy called him.

"Sir, I'll go with you!"

Zhao Yun turned around. A 12-year-old boy in a tattered cloth ran after Zhao Yun.

"You …,"

"I'm going with you! I want to help the Ji people!"

Zhao Yun frowned, "Do you have a weapon?"

The boy looked around and laughed, "Ahaha, no."

"Have you ever use a sword or a spear?"

"Err, no."

Zhao Yun's face turned ugly, "You might die before you can even kill an enemy."

"I'm prepared!"

"This is not a playground for children at your age! This is WAR, THE REAL WAR!"

"But sir, you're only a few years older than me. If you can do it, I can do it, too!"

Zhao Yun was taken aback. Indeed, his age was not that far apart from the boy.

Zhao Yun was only 16 this year.

He stared into the eyes of the boy. For a moment, Zhao Yun saw himself within the boy.

When Zhao Yun begged Tong, wanting to tag along with his army when they marched to Ganling, his appearance and his emotion was similar to him.

'I was impulsive back then. Well, I am still impulsive.'

Zhao Yun's eyes became gentler, "Boy, what's your name?"

"Tian Yu, sir!"

"Tian family? Aren't Tian Kai a general under our lord? Aren't you a relative to him?"

"Sir, not everybody with the same surname is relative. I have nothing to do with him!"

"Right, Tian Feng was also a "Tian" as well. Come, get on my horse, I'll take you with me."

"Thank you, sir!"