Battle Royale of the Sinners

October 10th, 190 A.D.

All territories within Xu Province surrendered to Cao Cao since nobody could resist him anymore.

At Xiapi, Cao Cao sat on his throne, breathing in the cold wind of pre-winter air.

"Fortunately, I didn't go through with the flood tactic this time. That time that I fought Lu Bu here, the restoration was hell."

Pu Jing glared at Cao Cao with a frown, "You sounded like you experienced the battles in my timeline."

"Ah, don't mind it, Putin. I'm just talking to myself. Man, I'm tired."

Cao Cao massaged his forehead as if he had a headache.

"… I'll call the local physician then."

"Yeah, please do."

An hour later, an elderly physician visited Cao Cao.

He was Hua Shi's father, Hua Tuo.

Hua Tuo inspected Cao Cao's facial expression, blood pulse, and his breathing tempo.

"There is no fever or a sign of illness. Just mental exhaustion. A night of good sleep will cure this naturally. You should skip the alcohol and avoid overworking for a week, and your condition will get better."

Cao Cao revealed a sarcastic grin, "You don't need to crack my head open?"

"You are still young. You don't have a sign of a brain tumor or even a fever. There is no point in opening your head to examine anything."

"I thought you only treat righteous people. Am I righteous to you?"

Hua Tuo turned to Cao Cao, wondered what this Marquis of Wei was thinking.

"You haven't slaughtered innocent civilians left and right like Zhang Tong. I have no complaint."

"Is that why you haven't returned to your son-in-law, physician Hua Tuo?"

The legendary doctor paused in surprise. He did not expect that Cao Cao would have known his name.

Hua Tuo maintained his manner, cupped his fist, and bowed to Cao Cao.

"As a physician, patients take priority. Family matter can be settled later."

"Even though your daughter has been killed by my new subordinates?"

Hua Tuo flinched. No father could maintain an indifferent expression if his daughter's murderers were close-by. He glared at Cao Cao in silence before he replied with a cracked voice.

"My naïve daughter had chosen to join the battlefield and the fight for hegemony. Casualties and accidents are something that no man can predict."

"Is that why you refused to join Zhang Tong?"

Hua Tuo glared at Cao Cao. Veins of anger could be seen on his face.

"Does Marquis of Wei want to pry on this lowly physician's family business?"

"Normally, I won't even care. But you are related to Zhang Tong, which is why I asked."

Hua Tuo did not say anything. He stared into Cao Cao's eyes with doubt and suspicion.

Cao Cao detected that he had stepped on a land mine. Thus, he chose not to push the matter. He waved his hand, "Forget it. You can leave."

"Hmm."

Hua Tuo bowed and left the government parliament building. On his way, he encountered Sun Jian, the father of his daughter's murderer, who was returning to report his patrol.

Sun Jian flinched and stepped backward, giving his way to the physician.

Ever since Sun Jian had returned, he established an intelligence agency inside the city, which he found out about Hua Tuo's background by accident.

Feeling guilty for what his son had done, Sun Jian cupped his fist and bowed to Hua Tuo with respect. He wanted to apologize to the doctor, but his pride did not allow his knees to bend.

Hua Tuo gritted his teeth and walked away, not saying anything to Sun Jian.

Sun Jian gazed at the physician's back and muttered in a quiet voice, "I'm sorry."

.

The domestic affair of Xiapi went smooth after the acquisition. As Cao Cao and Guo Jia had planned, the civilians were happy with Cao Cao's peaceful policy and his generosity. Although the south wall had to be reworked, the damage was in an acceptable range.

But their happiness did not last long. A eunuch from Ye City arrived at Xiapi, coming to visit them.

Both Cao Cao and Sun Jian had been working inside the government building when the eunuch arrived.

"Zhang Tong's servant? What is he doing here?"

Cao Cao stood and bowed to the official envoy with respect, "Lao Gonggong, what can I do for you?"

"I'm here as an envoy of his majesty, the emperor. I've come with an imperial decree addressed to Sun Jian!"

Cao Cao had a bad feeling about this. He had forgotten that an emperor's mandate was impossible to refuse, which was Cao Cao's current weakness.

"Sun Jian, step forward, and accept the heaven mandate!"

Sun Jian walked out and knelt to the eunuch.

"Sun Jian greets his majesty, may you live a prosperous life for ten thousand years."

The warlord did not kneel to the eunuch but the edict, which represented Tong's presence.

"According to the achievements from the previous Anti-Xiongnu Alliance, Sun Jian has displayed his abilities worthy of being praised. Thanked his prowess in battles, the Han Dynasty regains Hongnong and Luoyang from the Xiongnu. Leaving such a talented general unrewarded is terrible to Han's reputation. Therefore, we shall bestow Sun Jian with the title, Marquis of Xu. Sun Jian shall have the authority to oversee the entire Xu Province from now on. Because of this proclamation, Marquis of Xu and Marquis of Wei's territory will conflict against each other. To avoid such a problem, Marquis of Wei has to concede the Xu Province to Marquis of Xu."

It was the imperial decree that Tong had drafted long ago. Unfortunately, many of his advisors were against Tong's idea of demanding Sun Ce or Sun Fang as a hostage, so Tong nixed the latter part.

The eunuch passed the scroll to Sun Jian, who received it with trembling hands, astonished. He was grateful to Tong and affirmed that he was a strong emperor that the Han Dynasty needed.

"Sun Jian vowed to his majesty! I shall do my utmost best to meet your expectations!"

The old eunuch smiled and cupped his fist to Sun Jian, "I shall pass on your oath to his majesty himself. My work here is done."

The eunuch left without asking for a bribe like the eunuchs under emperor Ling, which impressed Sun Jian further.

His eyes brimmed with tears, believing that Tong had forgiven Sun Fang with this decree.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao glared at the eunuch and Sun Jian. Different from the tunnel vision Sun Clan's head, Cao Cao understood the hidden knife under the decree.

This decree voided Cao Cao's ownership of Xu Province, where he sacrificed his men to obtain it.

Secondly, Sun Jian now had the same rank as Cao Cao, which meant he could not control Sun Jian anymore.

And lastly, which was an explosive move that even made Guo Jia by Cao Cao's side grimaced, it became possible that Sun Jian and his clan would join Tong in the future, judging from the current Sun Jian's reaction.

'Thieving bastard!'

Cao Cao could not hide his anger. His face reddened, and his veins pulsed, fuming with rage.

As Guo Jia saw that his lord was about to lash out at Sun Jian, he blocked Cao Cao's path whispered to him.

"My lord, you must not dismiss Sun Jian right now."

Cao Cao gritted his teeth, "Zhang Tong is poaching the Sun Clan! He's about to destroy the future Wu Dynasty, Fengxiao! What do you want me to do? Watching Zhang Tong getting stronger?"

"Wrong. Please listen to me."

"… What's your ingenious plan, then?"

"My lord, Sun Jian may be loyal to Zhang Tong. Even children can see it if they see Sun Jian. However, we can't say the same with his sons."

Cao Cao's eyes sharpened. He glanced at Sun Jian, who was busy rereading the imperial decree over and over again in delight.

"We kill Sun Jian?" Cao Cao whispered.

"Indeed, we'll destroy the edict and kill the eunuch as well. This mandate didn't happen."

"If this is found out, Zhang Tong will have a reason to brand us as rebels."

"We have enough territories to form a new country. All we need is another emperor."

Cao Cao gulped. Deep down inside, he wanted to unite the country for the sake of innocent peasants and for the greater good. As for his conflict with Tong, Cao Cao had planned to devour Tong's country from the inside.

Along the way, he schemed and dibbed his hands into the dark side of politics, killing and backstabbing his friends, Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao did not regret killing his friends to achieve his goal, but he was about to stray from his path. Had he ascended to the throne and found a new dynasty on top of the reviving Han Dynasty, he would encourage a grand war between Tong and himself, which was against his real aim.

He wanted a peaceful method to unify this country for the people, not to create a conflict to advance in his career.

Cao Cao glanced at Pu Jing, who ruined his initial plan of surrendering everything to Tong.

'People or my self-interest?'

Cao Cao bit his lower lips and waved his hand.

"I need to reconsider this matter. Leave me alone for now."

"… My lord, we have to act now, or the eunuch will go back to spread words. It's now or never."

Cao Cao glared at Guo Jia, "Are you serving me to promote war, or are you serving me to promote peace?"

"I'm doing whatever necessary to bring the best to our forces, my lord."

"My eldest son will die because of you. Will you take responsibility for that?"

Cao Cao mentioned about Cao Ang, whom Tong forcefully took him to Ye City as a hostage. He was concerned about his son since Guo Jia's plan would force Tong to kill Cao Ang for sure.

"He won't die, my lord."

"Hah? Are you that confident?"

"Believe me, I won't let Zhang Tong kill your son."

"…"

Cao Cao gazed at Guo Jia, feeling nostalgic. In the dream memory of his other life, Cao Cao regretted losing Guo Jia. Now, he reunited with his precious strategist, but Cao Cao found himself in a dilemma.

He wanted to trust Guo Jia, but it was against his ironclad policy.

Fight for the people?

Fight for himself, his subordinates, and his clan?

Which one should he be fighting for?

'I lost Cao Ang in my last life because of my lust. Do I have to lose him again in this life?'

As he was pondering, he recalled the dream memory about him being the Duke of Wei and the story of Cao Pi, his son, who would be the first Wei Emperor.

The entire body of Cao Cao trembled. Tears rolled down from both eyes as he glared at Guo Jia.

'I'm not supposed to fight for the people. I have to pave the way for my children! Sima Clan has already joined Zhang Tong, so they can't usurp our dynasty like the other timeline!'

Cao Cao's new ambition ignited. His goal had changed.

"Kill Sun Jian, kill the eunuch, and save my son. That's the orders."

"… Understood."