My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 706

“Damn it!” Yuan Xi threw his helmet onto the ground when he returned to the meeting hall.

Cao Cao's lost half of his vanguard of thirty thousand. There were also several thousand captured. This could have been considered a great victory. However, Yuan Shang's disobedience caused his men to be caught in a pincer attack by Xu Huang and the advantage they would have gained was lost.

Cao Cao lost over twenty thousand men while the Yuan Army also lost about ten thousand men. Amongst those ten thousand were at least one thousand of soldiers who wore Yangzhou's armor. Cao Cao has three hundred thousand men in total while the Yuan Army only have about one hundred thousand in total. If this were to continue, they would be wiped out before Cao Cao.

“Haha.” Yuan Shang laughed with embarrassment evident on his face. He too, knew that this would not have happened if he had listened to Yuan Xi.

“Sigh. Thrid brother. Since Second Brother is the Commander, you should be listening to him! You see what happens now?” Yuan Tan took joy in Yuan Shang's misfortune. After all, it was not him who lost his troops.

Yuan Xi had the lowest number of troops while Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan were about equally matched. Neither of them wanted the other to become Commander as they could easily get the other to throw away their troops. Because of this, Yuan Xi was made Commander.

If Yuan Xi was the one reprimanding Yuan Shang, Yuan Shang would not have gotten angry. After all, it was his own mistake and Yuan Xi was doing things for his sake. However, Yuan Tan was clearly mocking him. They were still enemies several days ago. Yuan Tan's words made Yuan Shang rebellious.

“Yuan Tan! I admit that I was wrong. But the soldiers lost are mine. What are you complaining about?” Yuan Shang did not give Yuan Tan face at all.

“I am just reminding you to look at the big picture. If you continue like this, we do not need to fight anymore. You would just throw away all our weapons and armor. How about you be the Commander then?” Yuan Tan continued to say.

“The lost troops cannot return but isn't it just some weapons and armor? If we run out we can just buy more!” Yuan Shang was indignant.

“Buy? Do you have money to buy more?” Yuan Tan asked.

“Who said I don't have money? Isn't it just a thousand sets of weapons and armor? I still can afford it!” Yuan Shang waved his hand and someone brought more weapons and armors over. Yuan Shang acted like he was not short of money at all.

“Wonderful! You actually bought weapons and armor behind our backs. Why are your intentions?” Yuan Tan denounced.

“You want to accuse me of buying weapons and armor privately? Dear brother, I myself want to ask where you got all those weapons and armor at your barracks? Are you going to tell me that Gongsun Du gave it to you?” Yuan Shang accused back without cowering. After all, they were already at odd with each other so he might as well say everything out.

“Enough!” Yuan Xi suddenly shouted. He already took out his sword and cut the table into two. “Do you even see me as the commander?” Yuan Xi asked angrily. Even at this moment, these two brothers were at each other's throats. Yuan Xi felt very sorrowful that his father's eldest son and favored son were like this.

“Brothers. I do not care if the two of you privately buy weapons and armor! If you have money you can go and buy! Third brother, this is your mistake so you will have to pay for all the weapons and armor lost! Another thing, this mistake is not to be repeated! If this happens again, you guys can take command! I quit!” Yuan Xi angrily said. These two brothers did not take his position as Commander seriously at all. At this time, Cao Cao was still eyeing them covetously. Yet, they were having hostility inside. At this point, they might as well just kill themselves. No need to fight Cao Cao.

“Second Brother. Do not worry. I will always listen to you. If you tell me to go East, I will not go West. It is just that someone else might not listen to you.” Yuan Tan continued to mock Yuan Shang.

“Hmph! You do not need to worry as to whether I will listen or not! Second Brother, do not worry. This will not happen again!” Yuan Shang cupped his fist at Yuan Xi and then left. He really did not want to stay there any longer.

Yuan Tan felt refreshed to see Yuan Shang unhappy. He soon said his goodbyes to Yuan Xi and also left.

“Sigh.” Yuan Xi could only sigh after looking at his two brothers. He could only endure each passing day.

**

Meanwhile, Cao Cao was examining the blood stained sword in his hand. “Are these the new swords used by the Yuan Army?”

“Yes Milord. These are the swords used by the Yuan Army. It was them that defeated our vanguards.” Xu You replied. He was now more well behaved. Previously, he was arrogant as he had merit. He could look down on Cao Cao's men and not give face to Cao Cao. But now he was defeated so he no longer addressed Cao Cao as Aman.

Cao Cao could not help but sneer seeing the change in Xu You. He even felt refreshed. Cao Cao really did not like such an arrogant and crazy person. He had dealt with one before. That person was Ni Heng who dared to curse at Cao Cao in the middle of the street. Cao Cao could not endure it but he was also not able to kill Ni Heng directly. So he sent Ni Heng to Jingzhou. Sure enough, Huang Zu killed Ni Heng which pleased Cao Cao. Now, there is another crazy person named Xu You. Cao Cao could not kill Xu You nor could he send Xu You away. After all, Xu You contributed to the war for Cao Cao. He offered advice at Wuchao. It can be said that without Xu You, Cao Cao would not have defeated Yuan Shao so quickly. Cao Cao may even have been defeated.

Since Cao Cao could not kill or send Xu You away, he could only endure it. As time passed, Xu You continued to gain merits which caused his arrogance to become more rampant. Now that Xu You had been defeated, he became cowardly. Cao Cao was also happy at this.

Though Cao Cao was happy, he remained indifferent. “Really?” Cao Cao's calm voice frightened Xu You.

“Men. Bring a sword over here.” The following experiments shocked Cao Cao's subordinates. In front of this sword, their weapons were like wooden sticks. Only Cao Cao's Qinghong Sword and Yitian Sword could compete against it. Cao Cao's army did not have that many divine weapons. 𝘙Ἀ𐌽ổʙΕŝ

“How can we fight this battle?” The generals began to think.

“Milord. Why should we worry?” Guo Jia stepped forward to speak. If he did not, morale would be affected.

“Milord. Although Xu You was defeated by the Yuan brothers, General Xu Rong and General Zhang He won and killed over thousands of enemies.” Guo Jia said. “This shows that the enemy is not invincible.”

Guo Jia's words calmed down Cao Cao's generals. There was nothing to worry about since Xu Rong and Zhang He won. Xu You was only in such a tragic state because he allowed himself to be surrounded to try and break out like a hero.

“Besides that, did you realize the enemy only have several thousand men equipped with these? They did not equip the entire army with it.” Guo Jia added. When Xu You was surrounded, Guo Jia already found out that the most unlucky one was Xu You to encounter such enemies. Zhang He and the others only encountered regular enemies that were not equipped with these weapons. This showed that the enemy was unable to outfit their entire army with it.

If the entire enemy army was using this, then Cao Cao's army no longer needed to fight. They have already determined that they needed at least three times the manpower if they wanted to make up for the difference in equipment. Any less and they would just get slaughtered.

“But even if they have not yet equipped the entire army, they would slowly do it!” A general stood up and said to Guo Jia.

The others nodded. This new equipment was probably just developed. Sooner or later, the Yuan Army would be entirely outfitted with it.

“No.” Guo Jia shook his head. “If this weapon was made by the Yuan brothers, they would have used it a long time ago. They would not have end up in this situation. Besides that, do you think Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan would share this equipment with each other?” Guo Jia asked back. These new equipment were made using a new forging method. Though Guo Jia did not know what kind of forging method was used, he still knew that Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang did not trust each other. They were probably thinking of ways to kill each other after defeating Cao Cao.

These two will definitely not tell each other about the forging method as telling your enemy about it would only lead to trouble.

If the Yuan brothers did not make these weapons, then the only other possibility is that they bought it.

Who could sell thousands of such divine weapons like this?

“They bought it?” Cao Cao's eyes shone. If it was something that is bought, then Cao Cao may also be able to buy it.

“Milord, give up. I am sure the person selling it will sell to anyone except you.” Guo Jia immediately said to Cao Cao.

“Why? Why would he not want to profit when he could?” Cao Cao was now extremely rich and merchants normally seek profits.

“Milord. Merchants may seek profits but the benefits you provide is not enough.” Guo Jia shook his head. The Yuan brothers were all stuck in Youzhou now and their connection with the Central Plains has been cut off. It was also obvious that the Yuan brothers did not buy these equipment from Cao Cao's territory. Had it come from Cao Cao's territory, Cao Cao would have equipped his entire army with it a long time ago. Besides that, he would not have allowed such weapons to reach the Yuan brothers.

Meanwhile, the barbarians in the North had no forging knowledge and had to buy their equipment from the Central Plains. They would definitely not sell equipment.

This meant that the equipment came from Liaodong. Guo Jia would not believe it at all if you told him that Gongsun Du had these equipment made.Gongsun Du was an ambitious man. If he could make such an equipment, he would have already expanded his territory rather than be stuck in Liaodong.

This could only mean that the equipment was made in Yangzhou.

“Yangzhou's Liu Mang?” Cao Cao felt bitter to hear this name. Cao Cao had long found out from Guo Jia that Liaodong now had a trade route open through the ocean. This was also one of the reasons Cao Cao wanted to make Gongsun Du the King of Liaodong. He wanted them to stop giving benefits to Yangzhou.

Now, Yangzhou was using Liaodong as a middleman to sell equipment and provisions. As long as the Yuan brothers had money, they could continue to buy Yangzhou's equipment from Gongsun Du.

“Don't worry Milord.” Guo Jia placated Cao Cao. “These equipment cannot be too cheap. So although we cannot buy it from Yangzhou, the Yuan brothers would not have too many of it as well.”

If these weapons were cheap, the Yuan brothers would have already equipped their entire army with them. Though they have lost several provinces, they had looted the place and taken all their wealth with them to Youzhou. It was not an exaggeration to call them nouveau riche. Such people would definitely buy as many good things as they can. Yet, they only equipped about a thousand people with it. This showed that the prices of the new equipment was expensive.

Cao Cao felt a little better after hearing this. He would cry if the entire Yuan Army was equipped with this. The other generals also breathed a sigh of relief and hoped that their men would not encounter the elites of the Yuan Army.

“Alright.” Guo Jia said to everyone. “This time, we were able to find out about the enemy's new weapons thanks to Master Xu You's contributions. The Lord will naturally reward meritorious ministers.” Guo Jia looked at Cao Cao and Xu You.

“I do not dare.” Xu You lowered his head but felt happy. He had lost the vanguard troops and had hoped that he could offset his mistakes by obtaining these new weapons. He did not expect Guo Jia to ask Cao Cao to reward him. This was beyond Xu You's expectations but who did not want to be rewarded? So although Xu You lowered his head and acted humble, his arrogance slowly resurfaced on his face.

Cao Cao felt disgusted to see Xu You so arrogant. He looked at Guo Jia in confusion. If it weren't for Guo Jia, he would not have sent reinforcements to save Xu You. Xu You would most likely be killed and would not be standing in front of him right now.

Cao Cao did not allow the Yuan brothers to kill Xu You because he was afraid that the vanguard army would be wiped out. Losing a general would also affect the morale of the troops. However, this did not mean that Cao Cao would reward Xu You. Xu You was already so arrogant that if you were to reward him, it would become too unbearable.

Cao Cao saw Guo Jia wink at him. Thinking that Guo Jia would not harm him, Cao Cao nodded. “Yes. Ziyuan brought back the new weapons of the Yuan Army. With this understanding, we would not suffer unnecessary losses in future battles. This is a great contribution. Come. Reward Ziyuan with a hundred gold, a hundred pieces of silk and a pair of Dong Pearls.” Cao Cao would not reward Xu You with a position as Xu You's position was already high enough. Any higher would just make Xu You too happy.

“Thank you for the reward Milord.” Xu You smiled. He was rewarded despite losing thirty thousand men. Who else could be appreciated so much by Cao Cao? Xu You was very proud of his status as Cao Cao's childhood friend. Cao Cao even followed him around when they were younger.

Guo Jia could not help but smile as he looked at Xu You.

“Milord. Since ancient times, those who have accomplished great things have always been clear about reward and punishment. Since Milord is wise, he definitely place importance in rewards and punishments.” Guo Jia said to everyone. Xu You also agreed. “Mengde is indeed a wise Lord.”

Xu You became arrogant again after being rewarded by Cao Cao. He even addressed Cao Cao and Mengde. Although calling each other by name was a sign of intimacy in ancient times, they were in the army's camp at that moment. Cao Cao was the monarch and they were his ministers. Others would give Cao Cao face rather than mixing private and public matters. However, Xu You was different.

A fierce glare flashed in Cao Cao's eyes. Guo Jia also showed murderous intent.

Guo Jia did not care that Xu You humiliated him. After all, Guo Jia was a slacker. When people curse him, he ignores them. However, Xu You's attitude towards Cao Cao was a different matter entirely. Cao Cao was his best friend and it was Guo Jia's wish to help Cao Cao achieve his ambition. All those who oppose Cao Cao will die.

And Xu You once again did not give face to Cao Cao and addressed him as Mengde. Where is Cao Cao's dignity?

“Milord. Since we have given the rewards, it is time to give the punishment!” Guo Jia's words was filled with killing intent. Xu You was immediately alarmed but still remained calm as he was a top class strategist. He had enough ability to be appreciated by Yuan Shao. It is just unfortunate that in the end, Yuan Shao was betrayed by those closest to him.

“Punishment? What punishment should I give?” Cao Cao asked loudly.

“Men! Arrest Xu You!” Guo Jia immediately commanded the soldiers.

“Understood!” Guo Jia and Cao Cao were so close that everyone knew it. That was why Cao Cao's guards also listened to Guo Jia's orders.

“I want to see who dares!” Xu You finally found out why he had been feeling a bad premonition. It would seem that Guo Jia wanted to act directly this time.

Xu You's words immediately caused the guards to pause as Xu You was Cao Cao's childhood friend. This was also quite a high position. They were not sure if they could actually go after Xu You without getting into trouble themselves.

“Guo Jia Guo Fengxiao! What do you want?” Xu You asked sternly.

“Not much. Master Xu You, you also said that the Lord is wise so the rewards and punishments were clear. Since you were meritorious, you were rewarded. But you also made mistakes so we need to punish you!” Guo Jia replied with a smile.

“Punish? Hmph! Guo Jia Guo Fengxiao! I may have made mistakes but my contributions have cancelled it out! I lost my vanguards because I underestimated by enemy but I also brought back the Yuan Army's new equipment!” Xu You tried to refute.

“That's right. Merits can offset mistakes.” Cao Cao said, not to Xu You but to Guo Jia. It was as though he was defending Xu You but he was actually asking if Guo Jia had the right to kill Xu You.

“Milord. That is true but there is something that cannot be offset.” Guo Jia replied to Cao Cao and winked. Cao Cao immediately understood Guo Jia's intentions. Guo Jia was certain that Xu You would die.

“What is that thing?” Cao Cao feigned ignorance and asked.

“Men! Bring that thing over here!” Guo Jia immediately ordered.

“Understood!”

Xu You's eyes grew wide in realization. The thing Guo Jia was referring to was the thing he was most worried about. The military order.

“No!” Xu You immediately shouted.

“Master Ziyuan. You signed the military order. You have no way out. Anyone with a little commmon sense knows that signing a military order is extremely risky. Once it is signed, it has to be fulfilled.” Guo Jia smiled. At that moment, Guo Jia looked like a demon to Xu You.

“Guo Jia! You plotted against me!” Xu You shouted loudly.

“Master Ziyuan. How can you say that?” Guo Jia argued. “You yourself competed to have the chance to go out and fight. Did I obstruct you?” Not only did Guo Jia did not stop Xu You. The other generals were even competing against each other to sign the military order.

“I even recommended for the Lord to pick you. How can you say I plotted against you?” Guo Jia asked innocently. “You simply failed to live up to the expectations of the Lord and everyone else here.”

“Guo Jia!” Xu You finally realized that Guo Jia had him write down the military order so that he would die if he were to lose. It would not be a problem if he won but losing meant that there was no way to escape. “I understand now! You are jealous of me! You are jealous of the friendship between me and Meng De!”

The other generals wanted to laugh the moment they heard this. It was true that Xu You was Cao Cao's childhood friend. But at that time, Cao Cao was just a fatty. He doesn't get his share of good things while he was made the scapegoat for bad things.

When Yuan Shao peek on a bathing women, Xu You was the lookout while Cao Cao was the stool for Yuan Shao to stand on. When Yuan Shao kidnap brides, he gets the woman while Xu You may get benefits. Meanwhile, Cao Cao is the one left behind to be caught by others.

What kind of good relationship could he have with Xu You with this kind of childhood? On the other hand, Guo Jia was a great talent who helped Cao Cao reach where he is. Cao Cao's current position was Guo Jia's contribution. How can his relationship with Guo Jia be bad?

Cao Cao felt it unbearable to look at Xu You being so hysterical. After all, Xu You was still his childhood friend. Guo Jia noticed this and wanted to remind Cao Cao that he had to be strict this time.

Fortunately, Guo Jia did not even need to remind Cao Cao of anything.

“Aman! Save me! I don't want to die! I helped you capture Guandu, Ye and Jizhou! Spare me, Aman! I can still help you take down the Yuan brothers! It is not possible without me, Aman!” Xu You begged for his life.

“Haha” Guo Jia laughed at this. Xu You was digging his own grave.

Human beings were strange creatures. There was a saying that says “a bowl of rice is a favor but a bag of rice is a grudge.” It meant that if you are too good to someone, that friendship will turn to hate.

It is like owing a debt. If someone always lend you money, eventually you will owe this person so much that it was impossible to pay it back. To survive, the only way out is to kill the person who lend you money. Only when he dies will you be debt free. If you do not kill him, then you would have to pay back your debts for the rest of your life.

Just the same, Xu You's contributions have made Cao Cao feel like he was unable to repay them. Without Xu You, Yuan Shao may have fought his way from Yanzhou all the way to Xudou.

The situation was so urgent at the time that when Cao Cao found out about Xu You coming from Yuan Shao, he greeted Xu You while barefooted.

Later, Yuan Shao lost at Guandu but he still has his foundation at Jizhou. If Yuan Shao had calmed down a little and reorganized his army, he could still deal a blow to Cao Cao and annihilate Cao Cao's army.

Unfortunately, Yuan Shao fainted. Even so, Cao Cao was still unable to break through the defenses of Ye. Cao Cao's own Yanzhou army only have twenty thousand men while the surrendered soldiers were eighty thousand men. If the stalemate were to continue, the newly surrendered troops will lose confidence and become afraid that Yuan Shao would settle accounts with them when he wakes up. This made them easy to incite and likely to rebel on the battlefield.

It was Xu You who personally went to Ye to persuade the defenders to surrender. This allowed Cao Cao to catch Yuan Shao's army unprepared.

After Ye was taken, Cao Cao's original plan was to use Ye to hold back Yuan Shao's army and fight to the death at Ye. It did not matter if Ye was destroyed as it was originally Yuan Shao's territory. At the very least, Xuzhou and Yanzhou would be safe. Cao Cao wanted to go all out in governing his old territory.

Unexpectedly, Xu You showed his strength again. This time, he persuaded the Jizhou nobles to stop helping the Yuan brothers. These nobles initially planned on helping the Yuan brothers as they were not sure as to how Cao Cao planned on dealing with them. It was the same as the nobles of Jiangdong after Sun Ce had surrendered to Liu Mang. The nobles panicked fearing that Liu Mang would settle accounts with them as they had supported Sun Ce against Liu Mang.

The Jizhou nobles were just as frightened as the Jiangdong nobles and decided they might as well help Yuan Shang kill Cao Cao first rather than wait for Cao Cao to deal with them.

It was at this time when Xu You took action. As the patriarch of the Xu Family in Jizhou, Xu You visited dozens of nobles and praised Cao Cao as a good man. He persuaded these nobles to not be stubborn. If Yuan Shao could not defeat Cao Cao, what chances does Yuan Shang have against Cao Cao?

Some of the nobles agreed but most of them simply chose to not take sides then wait for a good offer when the battle was over.

It was precisely because Yuan Shang lacked the support of the Jizhou nobles that he was finally driven out of Jizhou and lost Bingzhou as well.

Because of this, Xu You was someone who had devoted himself to Cao Cao's pacification of Hebei.

But what can Cao Cao reward Xu You with? Xu You was already the Governor of Jizhou. If he is promoted again, he would be a Three Duke. Cao Cao himself was only Prime Minister. He was not about to let Xu You be on equal footing as him.

Cao Cao's favor towards Xu You turned into murderous intent. This creditor had to be killed. On top of that, this creditor was also arrogant, making Cao Cao want Xu You dead even more.

At first, Cao Cao was worried. It would cause an uproar if he were to kill someone who contributed greatly. But now, Cao Cao has a convenient excuse in the form of a military order. It was written there in black and white and no one can complain.

Cao Cao already had a ferocious expression but then he suddenly started crying.

Thats right. Cao Cao suddenly started crying. Not including those who inherit things from their parents, nobody who could rule were good people. All of them were people who crawled their way up and were cunning. They could cry whenever they need to.

“My childhood friend Ziyuan! You are the person closest to me! But I am incapable!” Cao Cao cried. It looked like brotherly love on the surface but Xu You was not deceived. Cao Cao also cried like this for his father Cao Song. But in the end, Cao Song died and Cao Cao took over Xuzhou.

“Aman! Mengde! You can't do this!” Xu You pleaded.

Cao Cao then approached Xu You and whispered so that only the two of them could hear. “Ziyuan. Did you know? The name Aman is too annoying. I swore from the beginning that I would kill anyone who called me by this name again.”

Cao Cao's nickname was Aman (conceal). The reason he was called this because there was a strange custom in the area of Haozhou. The people there do not give their children proper names until they were twelve. They were afraid that the King of Hell would see their child's name in the book of life and death and then take the child. So the people give their children terrible nicknames like Agou (dog), Amao (cat) so that the King of Hell do not take interest. That way, the child can grow up in peace.

Cao Cao's father Cao Song was originally from the Xiahou Family. The Xiahou Family and the Cao Family were close and the Cao Family had no heirs. That was why Cao Song was given to the Cao Family. Later, Cao Cao was born. The Cao Family who was wild with joy treated Cao Cao as their greatest treasure. Similarly, they never named Cao Cao because they were afraid the King of Hell would take him. Unfortunately, the Xiahou Family failed to give birth to an heir this time so the Cao Family was also afraid the Xiahou Family would take him back and decided to hide Cao Cao.

Even then, they still had to find a way to address Cao Cao which is why Cao Cao was given the name Aman.

Why would Cao Cao not kill anyone who calls him with such a detestable name?

“No! You cannot do this!” Xu You wanted to struggle. “Cao Cao! If you kill me, I will tell everyone what you did in the past! You have done too many preposterous things during your childhood!” Xu You threatened to ruin Cao Cao's reputation just like Chen Gong.

Cao Cao wanted to obtain Chen Gong and appreciated Chen Gong's talents very much. This is why he did not mind if Chen Gong scolded him. However, if Chen gong publicized his affairs to others, Cao Cao would definitely not spare him.

“Ziyuan. If you die today, you will still be my loyal minister and your Xu Family would still be a noble family. But if you resist, then the Xu Family will be attacked by some bandits in the future or be completely wiped out as rebels.” Cao Cao softly threatened.

“Hahaha!” Xu You completely lost his hope to survive. He knew that he would die that day. “Aman. This is the last time I will call you. I used to think that people like Benchu were wise leaders and the ones with schemes. However, I was wrong. You are the one who is the leader and the one with schemes!” Xu You figured out many things now that he was at the end of his life.

For example, when Yuan Shao was peeking at women and Cao Cao was his stool, in the end, they had to run away because Cao Cao fell down. Yuan Shao fell with him and they were discovered. They were chased and beaten. Yuan Shao did not say it but now Xu You realized that Yuan Shao definitely did not manage to peek. In fact, he was the unluckiest one since he fell from a higher position and definitely felt more pain. Cao Cao who was already half squatting on the ground only dirtied himself.

If Cao Cao was unable to obtain something, he was sure to make sure others can't as well. The one who was really a scapegoat during that incident was Yuan Shao as Yuan Shao was the hedonistic son of rich parents. If people were to gossip, Yuan Shao would be the target rather than the fatty Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was also the one to benefit from kidnapping brides. Yuan Shao and Xu You ran faster but it was not that Cao Cao could not run because he was fat. He intentionally stayed behind to get caught. Who dared to kill Yuan Shao, Xu You and Cao Cao when they were from influential families? Report to the authorities? Their parents were all government officials. Who would not give face to them?

The bride's family could only swallow their anger. Since the bride was kidnapped her reputation was ruined and the husband's family no longer wanted her. Yuan Shao and Xu You ran away leaving Cao Cao to take responsibility. Naturally, Cao Cao could only do so by taking her as his concubine. So in the end, Cao Cao was the winner.

“Aman. Do you still remember the time the three of us played together without worries? The three of us were close friends and did not need to scheme against each other.” Xu You was about to die so his words were also virtuous.

However, this was a period of life that Cao Cao did not want to recall. “If you miss Benchu, you can go down there and find him.” Cao Cao stood up. He then wiped the tears from his face and cupped his fists towards Xu You. “Ziyuan. I cannot save you. The military law is ruthless so I can only give up reluctantly. But Ziyuan. Do not worry. Your family will be my family. I will be filial to your parents. Men! Bring Xu You out and execute him according to military law!”

“Understood!”

“Hahaha!” Xu You laughed. His laughter continued until he was executed.