Battle Royale of the Sinners

While Sun Jian was working inside the government building, he texted everyone with the clan chat, copying every word and every sentence from the edict to show everybody.

Sun Jian: "Zhang Tong has forgiven our crime. It's a piece of good news!"

Wu Guotai: "Congratulations, husband!"

Huang Gai: "Awesome! This Zhang Tong is a good emperor. I like him!"

Cheng Pu: "Congratulations, my lord."

Han Dang: "Congratulations!"

Sun Ce: "Wow! I misunderstood the emperor. His tolerance is something else. I respect him now."

.

In Xuchang City, inside Sun Fang's resident, the otherworlder sat cross-legs, meditating to heal his soul injuries.

Sun Fang noticed all the commotion in the clan chat, yet did not comment anything. Instead, he had a bad omen about his father's promotion.

"Somebody, come and help me something."

Sun Fang's guard rushed into his room, thinking that Sun Fang's illness acted up again.

"Sir! Is there something wrong!?"

"Go fetch me a scroll and ink. I need to write a letter."

"Yes, sir!"

The servant rushed out with haste.

Meanwhile, Sun Fang's eyes gleamed.

'This is Zhang Tong's ploy. He wants to sow discord between our clan and Cao Cao.'

Sun Fang sighed in regret as he watched the name of his father.

'Soon, Cao Cao will probably kill you, father. But I'm sorry. For the sake of my survival, I can't let you join Zhang Tong. You have to die.'

.

The eunuch and his bodyguards remained in Xiapi for a day before they departed.

Sun Jian and his officers went out to send them off with gratitude.

"Thank you for your trouble, Lao Gonggong."

"Don't be. I'm just doing my job."

"Please take care of yourself," Sun Jian and others cupped their fist and bowed.

The eunuch revealed a bright smile. He walked closer to Sun Jian and whispered, "His majesty told me to pass this to you in secret."

A folded piece of cloth was shoved into Sun Jian's robe.

Sun Jian's face changed. He finally realized that this visit was fishy since Tong sent him a secret message.

The eunuch and his caravan left Xiapi and headed north, heading toward Langye. Once they reached there, they would head to Beihei of Kong Rong next.

While everyone was looking at the departing group, Sun Jian took out the eunuch's handkerchief.

On the piece of cloth, there were written characters.

[Cao Cao will kill you soon. Take all your men and escape, now!]

Sun Jian's face paled. He turned to the eunuch, who had already left. Wanting to confirm this message, Sun Jian turned to Huang Gai, "Get me a horse, quick!"

Despite being shocked and confused by their lord's action, the three generals rushed to the city stable and brought horses with them. Sun Jian, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Cheng Pu rode and chased after the eunuch together.

Unfortunately, by the time that they got the horses, it had been already thirty minutes after the eunuch departed.

Following the traces of wagons and horse tracks, the four galloped at full speed. While they were at it, Sun Jian bellowed, telling the content of the handkerchief to his subordinates.

"THE EUNUCH TOLD ME THAT CAO CAO WILL KILL ME!"

"WHAT!?"

Huang Gai and others could not believe their ears. Since none of them were stupid, they connected the imperial decree and the hidden message from the eunuch.

Cheng Pu shouted, "HAS ZHANG TONG SET US UP!?"

"NO! IF HE WANTS US DEAD, HE WOULDN'T HAVE DELIVERED THIS MESSAGE!"

"THEN, WHY!?"

"ZHANG TONG AND CAO CAO ARE PROBABLY NOT ALLIES! BOTH OF THEM ARE PLAYING A GAME, AND WE ARE THEIR CHESS PIECES!"

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

"YES, IT IS POSSIBLE! THE GAME IS ONGOING NOW, AND OUR LIFE IS AT RISK!"

As their horses were galloping toward the north, Sun Jian recalled the imperial decree. His brain also functioned, analyzing all past events at full speed.

From the decree, Tong wanted Cao Cao to concede Xiapi, Xiaopei, Langye, and Pengcheng to Sun Jian. Cao Cao would also have no right to interfere with this region's affair.

Secondly, the promotion order that made him the Marquis of Xu automatically dismissed Sun Jian from Cao Cao's ranks, which also disallowed him to serve Cao Cao again. As someone on the same rank, Sun Jian could not bow to Cao Cao anymore.

From the two orders, Sun Jian had to separate from Cao Cao and claim Xu Province as his own.

The Marquis of Wei had sacrificed his men, assets, and supplies to obtain the entire Xu Province, yet he had to give it away to Sun Jian, who was just a lowly general, because of a single imperial decree.

It was like a slap to Cao Cao's face.

Had the hidden message handkerchief not appeared, Sun Jian would have still been clueless about their status quo, thinking that both Cao Cao and he were serving the same emperor as loyal vessels.

However, the eunuch's hint changed everything.

.

A few kilometers north of Xiapi, Cao Cao's 500 elites and Zhang Kai hid in a forest on a side road. All of them wore old yellow turban uniforms, pretending to be the remnants of yellow turban imposters.

Yesterday, Cao Cao dispatched this unit to hide on the roadside, waiting to ambush the eunuch and faking it as a random bandit assault.

As Zhang Kai surrendered together with the soldiers and Xiahou Yuan, he was reassigned to do mundane tasks. This ambush job, too, was something that Cao Cao rigged for Zhang Kai.

If he failed, Cao Cao did not mind if the former bandit died. After all, he had already informed Cao Ren with the clan chat. Had the caravan made it to Langye, Cao Ren would deal with them.

Zhang Kai, however, was oblivious to Cao Cao's scheme. He thought that he got the job that suited him best, a bandit. He planned to desert Cao Cao's forces if he scored sizable treasures and wealth from the eunuch group.

Soon, the eunuch escort troops arrived.

Within the caravan, the imperial eunuch was resting in his carriage. Meanwhile, a tall youth rode beside him.

He was Taishi Ci, Tong's bodyguard that was sent to counter Cao Cao's possible ambushes. Furthermore, the 100 men equipped with M2 shotguns and 9mm pistols, created by Diaochan.

These 100 bodyguards were a part of Tong's 5,000 royal guards, who were the only battalion authorized to use firearms as their primary weapons.

Taishi Ci guided the royal guards, crossing the ambush site.

Zhang Kai waved his hand, and all 500 ambushers aimed their crossbows at the troops.

At the same moment, Sun Jian and his generals caught up with them, "STOP! PLEASE WAIT!"

All royal guards turned around. Upon looking back, one of the soldiers noticed a hiding bandit.

"AMBUSH!! PROTECT THE ROYAL ENVOY!"

Taishi Ci pulled out his pistol and fired at the direction of detected bandits.

Not only Taishi Ci used his pistol, but the royal guards also used their shotguns to attack the bandits in the bushes.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Zhang Kai, who was hiding at the forefront, was shot in his chest.

*WHOOSH*

*WHOOSH*

*WHOOSH*

The bandits also counter-attacked with their repeating crossbows.

Slug shells and bullets maimed one hundred ambushers in the forest, while hundreds of arrows also killed a few guards.

The exchange lasted less than 10 seconds as the royal guards ran out of bullets. Instead of reloading, they switched to melee weapons. Each of them pulled out their best cold weaponry, swords, spears, halberds, axes, and even maces.

The royal guards had a unique rule. Everybody could use any secondary weapon of their choice so that they could display their full potential in a free fight.

"KILL!"

"SHAAA!!"

Taishi Ci and half of the surviving soldiers rushed into the forest.

Meanwhile, Zhang Kai was crawling on the ground after he had been shot. He coughed blood as the shell went through his lung.

Taishi Ci reached him in a flash.

*SWUA*

Without being about to fend off for himself, Zhang Kai was killed by Taishi Ci, who did not realize that he killed an enemy general.

Out of 500 Cao Cao's men, only less than half survived from the gunshots. A hundred of the survivors ran away the moment they realized they were up against Tong's firearms.

As for the rest, they stood their ground and attacked the royal guards.

Sun Jian, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Cheng Pu jumped into the fray, helping the eunuch escorts.

Everybody scattered into the forest and attacked anyone with clothing that was not the same as theirs.

.

.

Each Sun Clan generals slew ten men, while Sun Jian killed 20. Meanwhile, Taishi Ci managed to claim 12 lives, and his men finished the rest.

When everyone returned to the eunuch carriage, they found that only half of the royal guards survived.

Taishi Ci grimaced, blaming himself for not detecting the bandits earlier.

Although his thought was in disarray, he did not forget to express his gratitude to Sun Jian and his generals.

"Thank you for your assistance, sir. Had it not because of you, more of my men would have died."

Sun Jian waved his hand, "Don't thank me. Thank his majesty for warning me about this peril."

"Oh, did his majesty tell you about this ambush?"

"No," Sun Jian looked at the eunuch carriage, "But he should be able to tell us what had happened and why this happened."

Taishi Ci followed Sun Jian's eyes and turned to the eunuch.

The middle-aged eunuch stepped down from his carriage and bowed to everybody in humble.

"Thank you, everyone, for your sacrifice and your protection. I assume that Sir Sun Jian wishes to inquire about the handkerchief?"

Sun Jian nodded, "Yes. Can you tell us about it?"

"I can tell you, but your soldiers in Xiapi might have faced troubles by now. Do you have the time to listen to my story?"

"…"

Sun Jian's face lost color when he was reminded that over 25,000 men of their forces were still resting in Xiapi. He was about to pull his horse to return, but Huang Gai stopped Sun Jian.

"My lord, it's too late now. If Cao Cao sent these men to kill the envoy, he should have prepared other ambushers to kill us too."

"What about my men? Are you telling me to abandon them!?"

"Cao Cao won't kill everybody for the sake of killing you! He will probably create a piece of false news about your death, so he can absorb everyone into his ranks. If you and the envoy die, Cao Cao could pretend that the imperial decree didn't happen!"

"!!!"

Sun Jian's eyes brimmed with tears of regret. He regretted working for Cao Cao now.

"Why is he fighting against his majesty!? Hasn't he been fighting for the people!? Just why!?"

The envoy shook his head, "It's politic and greed, Sir Sun Jian. We're deeply sorry for involving you in our affair. We need to confirm Cao Cao's stance, or our Han Dynasty will face another crisis because of Cao Cao."