Chapter 33 - A Turn for the Better (1)
Translator: Tchu
Translation Checker/Editor: James
“Follow the General to death, follow the General to death!”
Continuous shouts coming from atop Kaiyang had Cao Cao so enraged that he smashed his favorite jade marbles to the floor and shatters it to pieces.
TL: In ancient China, rich people like to play with 2 big marbles in their hand. Don’t ask me why…
“My Lord, please calm yourself!” Guo Jia instantly put down his wine glass and felt helpless in this situations. He knew that nothing could stop his Lord once he got angry and that his Lord’s chronicle headache would show up.
As Guo Jia expected, Cao Cao held his head and started shouting “Pain! So much Pain!”
“My Lord!” Guo Jia felt helpless and escorted Cao Cao to his bed.
“Ah, Fengxiao, why are there so many people following Lu Fengxian even though he is stuck in this situation? Is it true that I, as a leader am beneath him?“ Cao Cao became a little emotional and began to think what would have happened if he changed his position with Lu Bu. He suspected that he would’ve been be sold out by others already. During his first campaign against Xu Province, before he even suffers any defeat, his Yan Province was already sold out by others under him. Zhang Miao and Chen Gong gave Yan Province to Lu Bu. Had it not been that his family roots was much stronger than Lu Bu’s and that Lu Bu was not as greedy as him, then perhaps the person owning the two provinces right now would be Lu Bu instead.
However it was different for Lu Bu. Even though Wei Xu and Song Xian betrayed him and caused him to lose Xiapi, both of them eventually rejoined him. With less than three thousand soldiers combined, these two men managed to stop Cao Cao’s hundred thousand strong army from exiting Xiapi for a whole ten hours.
Guo Jia shook his head and said: “My Lord, you are worrying too much. In terms of reputation, you are the descendent of the Grand Commandant Cao Song. You had led an expedition against the Yellow Turbans, fought against Dong Zhuo and saved the Emperor. Furthermore, you are now the Prime Minister! In contrast, Lu Bu is just a nobody from Bing Province. Additional, he has betrayed both his foster fathers Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo. That is the reason why he is called the Slave of Three Surnames.”
TLC: Cao Song is Cao Cao’s father.
TL: In late Eastern Han dynasty, Grand Commandant is the highest rank of military officers but has no real power. TL: The Yellow Turbans is a civilwar started by farmers in late Eastern Han Dynasty.
“Slave of Three Surnames?” Old Cao laughed. It was a nickname through by that big eared Liu’s illiterate black faced brother. His insulting ability was indeed profound. Had it been Old Cao, the most he could come up with would be to call Lu Bu disloyal and unfilial.
“Although Lu Bu is currently the General Who Pacifies the East and the Governor of Xu Province, once we conquered Kaiyang, he would become nothing!” Guo Jia continued “As for our military forces, we have an army of a hundred thousand strong. For infantries we have the Qing Province Elites Troops. For cavalries we have the Ferocious Cavalry. As for Lu Bu, although he has the Formation Breaker and Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, there are not many left! My Lord, you control Yan Province and soon the Yu Province. Additional, with the exception of Kaiyang and Guangling, Kaiyang was also yours. Lu Bu has already become a trapped beast.”
“Kaiyang! Guangling?!“ Kaiyang was soon to fall. However, Guangling was still not under his control. “Chen family! The father and son of the Chen family that were controlling Guangling were not easy to deal with.” Guangling was like a country within a country. Even though the family had bowed to Cao Cao and became his subordinates, Cao Cao’s influence does not reach inside the city.
“Are you thinking about Chen Deng and his son?” Guo Jia smile. “It was not even worth to consider them as threats. As long as my Lord stays unbeaten, they would never betray you. Once we unify the world, the father and son can be easily be crushed. Furthermore, didn’t the old head of the Chen family personally go to Xudu to request to serve the Emperor!”
TLC: In case you forgot, After finding the old capital Luoyang ravaged by war, Cao moved the imperial court and Emperor Xian to Xudu in 196. So basically Old Chen went to Cao Cao to say he wanna serve the emperor…aka, said he will work for Cao Cao.
“The head of Chen family?” Cao Cao gave a wry smile and said “He is already dead!”
“Dead?!” Guo Jia was shocked. He knew that Lu Bu broke through the White Gate Tower, he did not know that the old head of the Chen died there.
“Yes, he is dead! It was I, Cao Mengde who personally pushed him to his death.” Cao Cao answered with a self mocking smile. There was no other way. Lu Bu rushed up to kill him and he would be dead if he was a step late.
“My Lord, how many people knew about this?!” Guo Jia asked anxiously.
“Not many, only you, me, Miaocai and Hou Cheng who is already dead. Oh right, there’s also Lu Bu who is on the walls of Kaiyang!” Cao Cao’s facial color turned ugly again.
“Xu Province soldiers, the soldiers said that the one defending Kaiyang were Xu Province soldiers. They were all wearing Guangling army uniforms! When Chen Deng was defeated, according to Lu Bu’s character, he would have executed Chen Deng instantly. But he didn’t!” Guo Jia surprisingly said. “Had Chen Deng asked my Lord about his father?!”
Cao Cao answered “He had. After his defeated, I had him return home to recover. That was when he inquired about his father. I had casually answered that Lu Bu killed him.”
“And then?” Guo Jia wanted to get to the root of this problem.
“Then, Chen Deng asked me about his father last words.” Cao Cao was reluctant to tell him his father’s last words because he would lose face greatly if it would be known. That’s why he avoided answering Chen Deng’s question.
“Foolish, oh my foolish Lord!” Guo Jia suddenly shouted up. “Guangling would rebel and our Xu Province would never be in peace.”
“Fengxiao, do not scare me!” Cao Cao became a little nervous. He did not intend to kill Chen Gui. It was just that at that time he could not control himself.
“My Lord, oh my Lord. If Chen Gui was still alive, his family would never betray us. He knew that if his family wanted to gain power and influence, there are only two ways. One is to become an independent warlord and build his own territory. The other way is to become the vassal of one of the warlords and climb onto his war chariot. According to the Chen family’s strength, it was enough to become independent. Tao Qian, Lu Bu and the big eared Liu, none of them can match the Chen family’s reputation in Xu Province. But the Chen family did not declare independence and instead bowed before them. Why is that? It is because they knew that it’s easy to become warlords, but if they were to be defeated then the Chen family would perish. That’s why Chen family sold out Lu Bu so easily. They sacrificed the entire Xu Province in exchange for their own interest! When my lord has unified the world, how could you not reward the Chen family? At that time, it would practically be impossible for the Chen family not to gain immense wealth!”Guo Jia analyzed.
“Is there any difference now? Chen Gui might be dead, but the Chen family still exists!” Cao Cao pondered. “Won’t they still be bound to the Cao army’s war chariot?” Not only that, he will likely present upon the Chen family with even more grace because of his guilt.
“Although the Chen family still exists, but without Chen Gui behind it, the current head, the hot headed Chen Deng does not think that way!” Guo Jia gave a wry smile and shook his head.
“Before Chen Deng became the head of Chen family, he was renowned for his filial piety in Xu Province. There was a year when Chen Gui was severely ill. Chen Deng traveled over half the land to find him the best doctors. He even took especially care when he brewed the medicine and looked after his father carefully day and night.” Guo Jia explained.
“He’s such a filial son?” Cao Cao said annoyed. Normally, it would be a good thing to Cao Cao if Chen Deng was a filial son. As long as Chen Gui was in Xudu, Chen Deng would never cause any trouble. On the contrary he would pay more effort for Cao Cao’s cause. Historically, Chen Deng was an important minister of Cao Wei. The imperial examination system, Nine Grades Official Selection was implemented by him.
TLC: Cao Wei referred to Cao Cao’s state of Wei. You should know if you play dynasty warriors.
And now, Chen Gui was killed by Old Cao. It would be strange if Chen Deng were to not try to avenge his father.
Before Old Cao could prepare himself, a messenger arrived from Xiapi. “Reporting! Emergency message from Xiapi! Chen Deng of Guangling is leading an army of twenty thousand and arrived in front of Xiapi’s gates. General Che Zhou requests immediate reinforcements!”
“Under which banner is Chen Deng leading his army?” Guo Jia asked.
“They are all wearing white stripes. They intended to take revenge on the Prime Minister for killing their previous head.” The messenger replied.
“My headache!” Cao Cao held his head and screamed again.