[Yesterday, we spoke of how Fa Zheng and Li Yan, members of Yizhou's scholar-gentry, acted decisively and slew their weak, ineffectual lord, Liu Zhang.]
[The two then led Yizhou's civil and military officials in welcoming Yang Feng, the man chosen by Heaven.]
[Yet Yang Feng had no such intention. Following the founding emperor's precedent, the two draped him in the yellow robe and forced him to ascend the throne.]
[Left with no choice, Yang Feng could only heed Heaven's mandate and the people's wishes. He ascended the throne as emperor, named his realm "Great Yang," and established his capital in Chengdu.]
[This act thoroughly enraged Cao Cao, who held the emperor hostage to command the lords from the distant Xu Capital.]
[In Cao Cao's eyes, this was an act of disloyalty, of usurpation, of treason.]
[Cao Cao thus raised an army of one hundred thousand and, under the banner of "purging the ruler's entourage and punishing the traitor to the realm," marched from Xuchang toward Yizhou in a mighty host.]
[Meanwhile, Lü Bu, lord of Xu Province, coveted the spoils of war and likewise decided to join forces with Cao Cao.]
[The two armies advanced separately to strike together, both heading for Yizhou to strangle this newborn "Great Yang Empire" in its cradle.]
[Yet before their forces reached Yizhou, an unexpected change occurred.]
[Suspicious and greedy by nature, Lü Bu secretly planned to take advantage of the Cao army's main force marching west to lead a surprise attack on its rear stronghold, Yan Province.]
[This scheme was detected in advance by Guo Jia, Cao Cao's chief strategist.]
[Guo Jia advised Cao Cao: Lü Bu harbors a wolf's ambition and is fickle and faithless. He is truly a slave of three surnames, a grave threat lodged within our very heart.]
[Unless we eliminate Lü Bu first, chaos is certain to erupt in our rear when our army marches west. This is a cardinal military taboo.]
[Cao Cao wholeheartedly agreed and immediately decided to eliminate Lü Bu first.]
[At that time, Cao Cao had vast numbers of troops and commanders, with fierce generals gathering like clouds and strategists falling like rain.]
[Lü Bu, by contrast, was obstinate and self-willed, brave but without strategy. His army's morale was unstable, and its ranks had long since become divided in heart and purpose.]
[The battle's outcome held no suspense.]
[Cao Cao's army changed direction and encircled Xiapi with thunderous force.]
[Ultimately, Cao Cao diverted the Yi River and Si River into the city, flooding Xiapi.]
[After the city fell, Lü Bu was captured and ultimately hanged atop White Gate Tower. Thus fell the Flying General of his generation.]
[Cao Cao then consolidated Lü Bu's former followers and absorbed Xu Province's troops. With Zhang Xiu and other forces also coming over to him, his army swelled to more than three hundred thousand, its offensive might greater than ever.]
[Afterward, Cao Cao's army marched west, reaching Hanzhong without bloodying a single blade.]
[Hanzhong was the gateway to Yizhou, the throat of the Land of Shu.]
[Three hundred thousand troops massed here, their spearheads aimed straight at Chengdu.]
[Meanwhile, the newly established "Great Yang Empire," its foundations still unsteady and its internal forces not yet effectively integrated, was plagued by unsettled hearts and unenforced decrees. It was truly a heap of loose sand.]
The words on the Heavenly Screen stopped abruptly amid this suffocating contrast, and the image froze completely.
Atop Xu Province's city gate tower, there was a deathly silence.
Then a beastlike roar tore that silence to shreds.
"Bullshit!"
Lü Bu's eyes were bloodshot, his entire face twisted and distorted by extreme fury, looking utterly ferocious.
He pointed at the Heavenly Screen and cursed hoarsely, "Who the hell does that bastard Cao think he is? He could actually defeat me?"
"Flood Xiapi?"
"Hang me at White Gate Tower?"
"I'm invincible under heaven!"
His roar echoed across the gate tower, filled with absurdity and unwillingness to accept it.
"Impossible!"
"What the hell is this talking about?"
"Fake! It's all fake!"
Standing a short distance beside him, Chen Gong let out a long, long sigh.
With that sigh, he seemed to exhale the very last shred of hope he had held for this man.
It was over.
Completely over.
Chen Gong's heart was ice-cold, as though the flood on the Heavenly Screen had soaked him through.
He knew Lü Bu was not made for great things: obstinate and self-willed, brave but without strategy.
But he truly had never imagined Lü Bu could be this hopeless!
This stupid!
It had simply lowered the very floor of his understanding of the word "stupidity."
Joining forces with Cao Cao to attack Yang Feng-what a fine position that would have been!
And what happened?
Before even catching sight of Yizhou, before testing his strength against that so-called "emperor unrivaled through the ages," he was already thinking about stabbing his ally in the back?
Was that something a normal person could do?
Only a pig's brain could come up with such a peerless masterstroke!
Then he was discovered, killed by his intended victim, and slaughtered as easily as a chicken.
In the end, he became an eternal laughingstock: Xiapi flooded, and himself hanged at White Gate Tower.
What utter garbage!
Chen Gong could not even be bothered to spare Lü Bu another glance. The man was still roaring hysterically, like a beast trapped in a cage, making one last, utterly meaningless struggle.
What was I still doing here?
Keeping him company as we drowned, then hanging from White Gate Tower as scenery?
Run!
I had to run immediately!
Like a bolt of lightning, the thought instantly illuminated Chen Gong's mind and became utterly firm.
I must have been blind back then to think there could be any future in following someone like him.
Now, the Heavenly Screen had laid out the road ahead perfectly clearly.
Lü Bu was a battered ship about to sink, and the way he would sink was extraordinarily humiliating and ridiculous.
Then where should I go?
Chen Gong's gaze involuntarily turned once more toward the frozen Heavenly Screen, toward the name "Cao Cao."
If nothing else... I could go to Cao Cao.
Once that thought emerged, there was no holding it back.
True, I had betrayed him back then and even helped Lü Bu seize his Yan Province. That was no small grudge.
But from what I knew of Cao Cao, he was a true ruthless overlord.
What was a ruthless overlord?
A ruthless overlord was a pragmatist, the very model of appointing people solely for their talents.
As long as I still had value to offer, as long as I could add bricks and mortar to his grand undertaking, what would those old grievances amount to?
Cao Cao could even accept Zhang Xiu, a man who had killed his son and his great general. There was no reason he could not find room for a mere Chen Gong.
Besides, the situation could not be any clearer now.
Lü Bu would be destroyed, Cao Cao would absorb all his forces, and with three hundred thousand troops, he would stand at Hanzhong's gates.
And on the other side, what about that "Yang Feng, emperor unrivaled through the ages," whom the Heavenly Screen had praised to the heavens?
"Its internal forces not yet effectively integrated, it was truly a heap of loose sand."
Those words were practically a death sentence for Yang Feng.
How could a newborn regime with unstable foundations and internal chaos withstand the greatest lord of the age, commanding three hundred thousand tiger-and-wolf troops at the height of their offensive might?
What could he possibly use to contend with him?
His mouth?
That Heavenly Screen, which could only fire its cannons after the battle was over?
It seemed this so-called "emperor unrivaled through the ages" amounted to no more than this.
Perhaps he truly did possess some extraordinary qualities, but such were the times, and such was fate.
Before Cao Cao's absolute strength, everything looked so pale and powerless.
Chen Gong had already made his final decision.
He paid no further attention to Lü Bu's futile roars and curses behind him. To his ears, those sounds were already no different from a dead man's wails.
His eyes remained fixed on the words in the sky, his gaze deep, as though he meant to carve every word into his soul.
In the end, this world would still bear the surname Cao.