Zhang Xiu froze for a moment, then shook his head. "I haven't seen Master Wenhe in a year. Why do you ask about him, my lord?"
"I've heard Jia Xu is a brilliant strategist," Bai Xiaowen said. "After Cao Cao's defeat, I meant to appoint him as my military adviser, but I lost track of him amid the chaos."
"Master Wenhe is indeed among the finest strategists in the world," Zhang Xiu said. "His plans account for every possibility, and his thinking is meticulous. Even Xiao He and Chen Ping cannot match him."
"I hear you and Jia Xu go back a long way," Bai Xiaowen said. "If you hear from him, please tell him how eager I am to have him join me."
Zhang Xiu quickly agreed.
Bai Xiaowen then told Zhang Xiu when the army would assemble and asked him to prepare. After that, he left the Yangwu General's Residence.
Once Bai Xiaowen was gone, a middle-aged scholar stepped out from behind a screen. He had narrow, keen eyes and three long wisps of beard beneath his chin.
Zhang Xiu rose. "Just as you predicted, sir. The moment war came, Yuan Xi called on me. You heard our conversation, didn't you? He means you no harm, and he values your talent."
The scholar was Jia Xu.
Jia Xu sighed. "I followed Li Jue back then and made enemies across the realm. Whenever I face a new lord, I have to be careful. I thought Cao Mengde was a wise ruler, which was why I urged you to join him. Who could have imagined Cao Cao would fall so soon?"
"In my view, Yuan Xi is no less a lord than Cao Cao," Zhang Xiu said. "Everything he says and does has the bearing of a wise ruler. It's