Chapter 78: First Encounter

In the second month of the second year of Jian'an, bandits ravaged Langling.

The governor, Man Chong, personally led troops to suppress the uprising and restore peace to Runan. Yet at nearly the same time, Cao Yuan, the inspector of the western district of Runan, passed through Langling and discovered that the district chief there, Cheng Yao, was secretly colluding with the bandits. The western inspector, Deng Ji, executed Cheng Yao and uncovered several letters between Cheng Yao and Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia, in the county office. Upon learning of this, Man Chong immediately ordered a swift rider to rush to Xu City with the report.

Meanwhile, Deng Ji was left in temporary charge of Langling to govern the district and await a reply from Xu City.

Who was Deng Ji?

Almost no one knew.

It was as if he had suddenly leaped out of a crack in a rock, impossible to trace or verify. In any case, Man Chong of Runan placed the utmost trust in him.

At the same time, far away in Ye County of Nanyang, Cao Hong received a letter from Man Chong.

After reading it, Cao Hong could not help but burst into laughter. He said to those at his side, "Bo Ning has already distinguished right from wrong. From now on, if anyone comes from Langling, do not receive them."

At the beginning of the third month of the second year of Jian'an, an envoy from Xu City arrived in Pingyu.

In his letter, Cao Cao praised Man Chong for his decisive and proper handling of the matter, and appointed Xun Ji, eldest son of Xun You, former governor of Runan, Palace Attendant, and chief of the Military Counselors' Secretariat, as the chief of Langling, entrusting him with the takeover of local affairs. But when Xun Ji arrived in Langling, he found everything there running smoothly and in perfect order. Only after inquiry did he learn that before his arrival, Langling had been governed by the western inspector of Runan, Deng Ji.

So Xun Ji immediately went to Pingyu, intending to pay his respects to the western inspector's clerk.

Unexpectedly, the answer he received from Man Chong was that the western inspector's clerk, Deng Ji, had already returned to Xu City before the envoy from Xu City had even arrived.

"Was this Inspector Deng perhaps a man of Xu City?"

Man Chong only smiled and said nothing.

Xun Ji was somewhat disappointed, and also a little puzzled.

He had someone make inquiries at the governor's office of Runan, only to discover that not a single person there knew this mysterious Deng Ji.

It was said that since Man Chong had taken office, he had never appointed a western inspector's clerk.

So who exactly was this mysterious man named Deng Ji?

With his mind full of doubt, Xun Ji returned to Langling and immediately wrote a letter, sending it to Xu City to ask his father, Xun You, to investigate the man.

But after the letter was sent, Xun Ji was swept into a series of upheavals.

He did not even have time to examine the records. Otherwise, he might have discovered that the records of Langling County were missing for a full eleven days.

And those eleven days were precisely the eleven days during which Cheng Yao had illegally set up checkpoints...

In the sixth month of the second year of Jian'an, Liu Biao ordered his great general, Deng Ji, to march out of Nanyang and press upon Langling. Xun Ji hastily went out to meet him in battle, and was killed by Deng Ji.

Those missing eleven days were then swallowed into the vast and smoky current of history.

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The news of the district chief's death attracted little attention.

For at that time, everyone's gaze was fixed on the cavalry captain Dian Wei, who had returned from the dead and come home from thousands of miles away.

A full month had passed since the defeat at Wan City.

During that month, Cao Cao sent men several times to inquire after Dian Wei, trying to find his body, but without any leads. Even Zhang Xiu of Wan City did not know whether Dian Wei was dead. Since Cao Cao said Dian Wei had not returned, Zhang Xiu was naturally happy to proclaim that Dian Wei had died. Cao Cao was devastated by this. He buried Dian Wei's clothing and cap as a symbolic funeral and personally went to the memorial hall, where he wept in anguish before the spirit tablet.

In the middle of the second month, Cao Cao even appointed Dian Wei's eldest son, Dian Man, as a Gentleman of the Palace, and arranged for Dian Man to live in his own household. After the seventh day of mourning had passed, he ordered Dian Man to escort Dian Wei's symbolic burial and cenotaph back to their old home in Chenliu. Not long after Dian Man left—presumably before even leaving the jurisdiction of Yu Province—Dian Wei had returned.

So when Cao Cao received Man Chong's letter, he wept for joy...

"Ah Fu, ahead is Xu City!"

Dian Wei reined in his horse and pointed toward the road before them, his voice ringing with excitement.

It was dawn.

At the edge of the sky, the pale white glow of day had just begun to spread, faint and layered, and in the distance the outline of a city emerged.

That was Xu City.

After leaving Black Pass Ravine, their journey had gone smoothly. The governance of Yingchuan was still relatively orderly, and the trip had not taken much time.

After traveling through the night, they had finally reached Xu City. Cao Peng could understand Dian Wei's excitement; to Dian Wei, Xu City was home. But for Cao Peng, watching the distant silhouette of the city, he could not feel happy. There was a trace of bewilderment in his heart, something he could not explain, could not name, as though he were dreaming. Xu City was right before his eyes—the day he had longed for with such fervor had finally arrived.

Yet when he truly came beneath its walls, an inexplicable unease welled up in him.

"Uncle Dian, let us go."

Cao Peng's voice sounded odd, though Dian Wei did not notice.

"Yes, let us hurry on!"

Wheels and hooves rolled forward, and Xu City drew nearer and nearer.

In the morning light, an ancient and imposing city came into Cao Peng's sight. The towering, majestic, and winding old city walls stood silently in the breeze. Those were the outer walls of Xu City. According to Dian Wei, Xu City consisted of an inner and outer city, with the inner city serving as the imperial enclosure, and the outer city rising in gentle mounds around it. In his previous life, Cao Peng had once visited the ruins of Xu City, but what he had seen there were only broken walls and rubble.

Truth be told, if Dian Wei had not been beside him, Cao Peng would never have been able to connect those ruins with the grand and mighty city before his eyes.

He had crossed eighteen hundred years to walk among the age of the ancients.

It sounded romantic enough, yet it always felt somehow unreal.

Taking a deep breath, Cao Peng spurred his horse and caught up to Dian Wei...

Woo--

The mournful blare of long horns tore through the silence of dawn.

Ahead, Xu City's gates stood wide open, and a troop of men and horses came surging out from within the city.

They moved swiftly, like a black torrent, and in the blink of an eye they had reached Cao Peng.

At their head was a towering, broad-shouldered man, mounted on a black steed. He was eight feet tall, with a waist as broad as ten ordinary men. His face was bronze-dark, and there was a conspicuous mole on his forehead, giving him a somewhat strange appearance. In ancient times, when a man looked odd or plain, people did not usually describe him with the word "ugly." Most often, they would use such terms as heroic or resolute to explain that his appearance was unlike that of ordinary men. This was both custom and courtesy. For instance, the Records of the Three Kingdoms described Dian Wei merely as having a resolute and formidable countenance. It sounded admirable enough, but once one saw the man himself, one understood what "resolute" truly meant.

This broad-shouldered man looked just as "resolute."

"Junming, is it really you?"

The man reined in his horse, and the black torrent behind him came to an immediate halt.

From the saddle he studied Dian Wei closely, his voice trembling with emotion.

And Dian Wei leaped from his horse, took a few quick steps forward, and laughed heartily. "Zhongkang, you old tiger of Xu... ha ha ha, I, Dian Wei, have returned!"

"I said as much. How could a mere Zhang Xiu destroy your accursed life?"

The broad-shouldered man also dismounted, strode forward, and with a thump embraced Dian Wei tightly.

He was slightly shorter than Dian Wei, though even more solidly built and imposing.

Cao Peng, the moment Dian Wei had spoken, had quietly stepped back a few paces to make room. At the same time, he was secretly muttering to himself: could this fellow be the tiger fool, Xu Chu?

He could not quite remember Xu Chu's courtesy name.

It seemed to begin with "Zhong" something. But he knew that "old tiger of Xu" was Dian Wei's unique way of addressing Xu Chu. Watching Xu Chu locked in an embrace with Dian Wei, Cao Peng could not help but shiver. Two such giant men clinging to each other so tightly in broad daylight—if this were the age beyond, who knew how many people would be sickened by it... At the same time, Cao Peng felt that Xu Chu's enthusiasm looked a little false.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Xu Chu was portrayed as a fiercely loyal general of extraordinary prowess.

At the time, many people believed that if Dian Wei were still alive, he ought to have been like Xu Chu. Later, some even said that the Xu Chu of the Romance was entirely a figure drawn by Luo Guanzhong according to Dian Wei's character.

This did not mean Xu Chu was imaginary, for in history he ultimately rose to become General of the Imperial Guard, Marquis of Mou Village, and was posthumously titled Marquis Zhuang. The claim of being "drawn" simply meant that the image of Xu Chu in the romance did not correspond to history.

Was Xu Chu truly that happy?

Cao Peng did not think so...

Xu Chu was a man of Qiao County, and in that sense he was also a fellow townsman of Cao Cao. Unlike Dian Wei, he came from a powerful local clan. Historical records state that Xu Chu's clan numbered as many as a thousand households, making it an especially formidable family in the late Han. He attached himself to Cao Cao in the first year of Jian'an, and Cao Cao praised him as "my Fan Kuai," appointing him as a Commandant and placing him in charge of the central guard alongside Dian Wei.

Yet because Dian Wei existed, Xu Chu had always been suppressed in status.

Now that Dian Wei had died, Xu Chu would have become the foremost man of the inner guard and an undisputed trusted confidant. But with Dian Wei back, that position as number one in the guard was no longer secure...

At any rate, if such a thing had happened to Cao Peng himself, even without any hard feelings, he would never have been so enthusiastic. That was another reason Cao Peng found Xu Chu somewhat insincere...

As for what Xu Chu truly thought, Cao Peng did not know.

Likewise, all he could do was think this to himself; he would not tell Dian Wei.

Given Dian Wei's temper, if he voiced such thoughts, Dian Wei might well rebuke him, or even accuse him of judging a gentleman by the mind of a petty man, and then grow distant from Cao Peng. That was not a result Cao Peng wished to see, so he could only observe in silence.

"Junming, the lord has come as well!"

"Hm?"

Xu Chu grabbed Dian Wei's arm. "Yesterday the lord received a letter from Mancheng and learned that you were returning today. He was so pleased that he did not close his eyes all night.

"So, at dawn he ordered me to come meet you, and said he would personally welcome you back outside Xu City's gates."

Mancheng was not Zhang Mancheng of the Yellow Turban rebels, but rather Li Dian, Li Mancheng, the magistrate of Yingyin. Yesterday, when Dian Wei's party passed through Yingyin, Li Dian had also come to greet them. But at the time Dian Wei was eager to return to Xu City, so he declined Li Dian's kind intentions, went around the city with his people, and traveled through the night. Presumably Li Dian, seeing that he had failed to meet Dian Wei, had sent someone ahead to Xu City with word. In any case, Li Dian was also a notable figure of the Three Kingdoms.

According to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Li Dian was among the earliest to join Cao Cao together with Le Jin.

But the real history was that at this time, Li Dian was merely a county magistrate under Cao Cao's rule. Of course, Yingyin's standing was different from that of other places, which also showed how highly Cao Cao regarded him. However, the first to attach himself to Cao Cao was Li Dian's uncle, Li Qian. He later died at the hands of Lü Bu's general Xue Lan, and his forces came under the control of Li Qian's son, Li Zheng. Li Dian was only one member of the Li clan.

Li Qian? Li Zheng?

Cao Peng was truly baffled!

He also did not know whether these things were true in the original history. At any rate, in his memory, he had no impression of Li Qian or Li Zheng.

When Dian Wei heard that Cao Cao was waiting outside Xu City's gates, he was overjoyed.

He no longer had time to greet Cao Peng and the others, and pulling Xu Chu by the arm, he headed straight toward the city.

Fortunately, Xu Chu's men did not leave Cao Peng and the others stranded, but came forward to lead the convoy and hurry toward Xu City.

At dawn, the first light of day appeared.

A company of men stood in rank outside Xu City's gates, waiting in silence.

At the front stood a man in brocade robes, not tall, perhaps not even one hundred and seventy centimeters. He stood at the very forefront, rubbing his hands together again and again, his face flushed with emotion.

His complexion was somewhat dark, his build a little plump, which made his limbs appear rather short.

Yet the long beard beneath his jaw gave him an extraordinary bearing...

When Dian Wei saw the man in brocade robes, he hurriedly let go, took several quick steps forward, and with a force like toppling a mountain and overturning a pillar, dropped to his knees before him with a thud.

"This subordinate Dian Wei has failed in his lord's trust. I beg my lord to punish me!"

He was Cao Cao...