Dian Wei saw the signal and brought Bo Cai forward.

At first, when Bo Cai was brought along with the group, he thought they had done so because they valued his status as a generous leader and wanted to keep him detained for a while longer, hoping he would divulge more secrets about the great wise teachers in a state of weakened mental defense.

Who knew that Huangfu Song had no intention of playing such a game of cat and mouse with him.

The person who should have been released was still being kept in Changshe, to be warned, while the person who should have been killed, much like Bocai at this moment, had no intention of saying anything more.

He was brought before Qiao Yan, bound from head to toe, and at this moment, a sense of panic finally arose within him.

This isn’t right! This isn’t right at all!

He still had some recollection of this place.

After all, for him, killing an official of Han and killing a commoner of Han were two different things.

He even once boasted during drunken revelry about how that official, who seemed to hold a high position, accompanied by his guards and soldiers, was still resolved under their swarm tactics right there.

It was just a pity that they seemed to have let a few people escape at that time, making him appear somewhat incomplete in his success.

But now, brought here in his state of captivity, seeing Qiao Yan in mourning clothes with a cold expression, even if he couldn’t read minds, he could guess the current situation.

Previously, when he and Liang Zhongning were imprisoned together, he was still cursing the other party, believing that bringing along a strategist was actually bringing a calamity upon oneself.

If it weren’t for Liang Zhongning’s heavy reliance on her, how could he have given her the opportunity to outmaneuver him at every step?

Yet in this split second of realization, dredging up a certain fragment from his memory, Bo Cai couldn’t help but connect the girl standing in the role of the judge with the image of that desperate figure fleeing for her life.

He suddenly realized—

He shouldn’t have cursed Liang Zhongning! He should have cursed himself!

Why didn’t he try harder at the time, letting her escape from the encirclement? And now he was about to perish by her hand.

This was a retribution he had never imagined!

Seeing Qiao Yan’s gaze upon him, no different from looking at a dead man, Bo Cai desperately wracked his brains, trying to find a reason to stay alive.

Saying “Your father wasn’t killed by me” wouldn’t help.

These days, most subordinates’ killings would be counted against the leader’s head. If he were to say that, he might only enrage her further.

He could only grit his teeth and tremble, saying, “I know the strength of the troops in Julu County. You can’t kill me!”

However, his words seemed to evoke no response from Qiao Yan, as if they were as insignificant as the flowing waters of the Ji River.

She didn’t show any emotional reaction to his words, nor did even Huangfu Song think that he was about to reveal some military secret worthy of sparing his life for the time being.

The imagined scenario of the butcher’s knife halting before his words didn’t happen at all.

On the contrary, what he saw was Qiao Yan walking towards Huangfu Song, stopping in front and behind the horse, and saying, “General, please lend me your sword.”

Huangfu Song handed his sword to Qiao Yan.

Lending a weapon at this moment was by no means a presumptuous act, but rather a step towards the conclusion that “Bo Cai died under Huangfu Song’s sword.”

This would undoubtedly be a contribution to his extermination of the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan.

Seeing Qiao Yan still paying attention to this detail at this moment, Huangfu Song couldn’t help but feel a little more sympathetic towards her.

This sword, which had been used since Huangfu Jie guarded Yanmen Pass, was entrusted to him after Huangfu Song came of age.

Now, it was held in the hands of a ten-year-old child.

The weapon, once stained with the blood of barbarians, now gleamed with a terrifying cold light.

But as it was dragged to the riverside, facing Bo Cai in front of Qiao Yan, he felt that the gaze of this child was even more chilling than the sword.

Unfortunately, he was acting involuntarily, and in the face of this deadly sword, he had no chance of survival.

Having already faced death in front of Bu Ji and Zhang Bo at such close range, Qiao Yan was even less likely to show any signs of fear in personally wielding the sword.

Moreover, she had practiced many times alone in her tent and was confident that her current physical strength was enough to take this step.

She raised her hand, lifted the sword, and struck.

In the next moment, Bo Cai, who had been forced to kneel by the Ji River, fell to the ground, and the blood slowly flowed into the river from his severed neck.

He could no longer speak.

Although the blood would soon be diluted to the point of being almost invisible by the river water, Qiao Yan knew it was enough.

The sight of this blood flowing into the Ji River was bound to be seen by the soldiers behind her, and perhaps it would be spread when they triumphed.

It wouldn’t leave no trace after the river had flowed.

Interestingly, in modern times, the name of the Ji River has disappeared from the map, replaced by the riverbed swallowed by the Yellow River, but it was not so in the Han Dynasty.

The saying “rivers and streams in the Jianghuai region” still existed in this era.

The Ji River continued to flow eastward from where Qiao Yan was at this moment in Dingtai City, passing through the lakes below, then shifting northeastward, reaching Dayeze and Juye City.

That was exactly where Qiao Yan had awakened when she first arrived here.

If the mother of “Qiao Yan” truly had a spirit, she should be able to see the blood of the thief who killed her husband, indirectly leading to the deaths of her and her daughter, flowing to that place through the river water.

Qiao Yan realized that she didn’t need to feel any guilt about occupying someone else’s body and using her identity to do these things. As she took revenge on the original host grievances.

Nevertheless, she still stared at the river for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before turning back towards Huangfu Song and handing him the sword.

“General, I have one more request,” she said, her voice firm.

Despite the splatter of fresh blood on her white clothes, it didn’t diminish her noble demeanor.

Instead, the bloodstains added a touch of fierceness beneath her seemingly gentle appearance.

Huangfu Song found it strange that he would have such an impression of her.

Shaking off these inexplicable thoughts, he replied, “Go ahead.”

“Please allow me to accompany the army to Ji Province,” Qiao Yan said resolutely.

Huangfu Song hesitated.

Having her in the army was somewhat unconventional, especially during this urgent military operation.

He could also guess the intention behind Qiao Yan’s request, likely similar to her suggestion to spare Liang Zhongning’s life — she wanted to witness the downfall of the Yellow Turbans with her own eyes.

Yet, despite his hesitation, he leaned towards agreeing to her request.

After all, without her actions, the Yellow Turbans in the two provinces wouldn’t have been dealt with so swiftly.

If there were still remnants of the Yellow Turbans lurking around, they might target her. It seemed safer to have her with the army rather than leaving her behind anywhere.

Moreover…

Who could refuse her request at a time like this?

Who could refuse a child’s wish?

At least Huangfu Song couldn’t.

Besides, a few days ago, Cao Cao had clearly stated that she had accurately predicted the capture of Quyang.

This indicated that Qiao Yan was not making baseless claims but had indeed thought through her reasons.

Being able to make quick decisions based on the situation was not easy, and Qiao Yan seemed to be adept at it.

Perhaps she could indeed be of some help.

Furthermore, with Dian Wei and Xu Fu by her side, it would be less likely for anything to happen to her.

Although she wasn’t the most skilled rider, she could at least keep up. She wouldn’t be a burden.

Under the influence of various reasons, Huangfu Song pondered for a long time, and finally agreed to her request.

Since he had already agreed to let Qiao Yan kill Bo Cai, agreeing to take someone to Jizhou to fight the Yellow Turbans together wasn’t considered too out of line.

After finding reasons for himself, Huangfu Song led this group of people to continue north after crossing the Ji River.

Before entering Jizhou, they rested outside Dong’e City for a day.

Although they said it was outside Dong’e City, it was actually a distance away from Dong’e County, at least not close enough for the people in the city to notice the passing army.

There were trees around to prevent prying eyes.

When Qiao Yan sat by the fire warming herself, she asked, “Do you, Mr. Zhongde, feel like you can’t go home in fine clothes anymore?”

Cheng Li felt a bit speechless about Qiao Yan’s teasing.

He replied, “Before this, it was fine for Madam Qiao to see General Huangfu leading the troops northward, after all, Madam Qiao and the Yellow Turbans are opposed. But Dong’e City is a mix of good and bad, and apart from County Magistrate Wang Du, there may be others who join the bandits. For safety’s sake, it’s better not to enter the city.”

“Just joking,” Qiao Yan said with a smile.

Cheng Li thought that this seemed to be the first time she had shown a smile since the incident with Tao Zhang Bo Cai, and felt it was better not to spoil her mood.

Then he heard her continue, “I was just thinking, after Mr. Zhongde received my letter and had Xue Shi raise troops to surrender to Puyang, creating the illusion that Dong’e was fully submissive to the Yellow Turbans, but in fact, Liang Zhongning did not personally go to Dong’e to confirm. Later, Mr. Zhongde also came towards Puyang, and I guess you didn’t explain your actions clearly to the people of Dong’e County.”

“Correct.” Cheng Li and Xue Shi’s actions were both direct, just like the current march, things that fewer people knew about.

“So it seems that Mr. Zhongde couldn’t possibly return to Dong’e to study. After all, General Huangfu wouldn’t agree to let you send messages so close to Jizhou. My suggestion for you to accompany us to Jizhou is actually timely.” Qiao Yan confidently added another layer of reasoning to herself. “Mr. Zhongde should thank me.”

Cheng Li couldn’t help but smile wryly.

He found that Qiao Yan did better than anyone else when it came to being decisive in times of killing, but at times, she also acted like a child, which was quite fitting for her age.

But it seemed that with this, the sense of awe that the scenes at Ji River had brought him, or perhaps a bit of fear, had been invisibly weakened a bit.

Cheng Li couldn’t say for sure whether this was a good omen or not, but as he turned around, he noticed Qiao Yan had skipped over that question and was now asking about the progress of Xu Fu and Dian Wei’s studies during the past few days she hadn’t supervised them.

Xu Fu, this kid, could even say things like wanting to tie Qiao Yan’s horse’s reins, naturally showing great reverence for her words.

He even remembered all the books she said she wanted to read, so it seemed his memory was quite impressive.

As for Dian Wei…

Let’s not even go there!

The scene looked quite chaotic.

Huangfu Song and Cao Cao, listening to the sounds outside the tent, although still worrying about the wording of the documents in their hands, couldn’t help but share a knowing smile at this moment.

“It’s best to clearly mention the deceased affairs of Rencheng in the memorial, please do not inform Duke Qiao,” Cao Cao said, looking at the memorial he had already drafted, then added after a moment of thought.

Emperor Liu Hong was really difficult to figure out sometimes.

He was extravagant in his wealth, to the extent of selling offices and titles, yet he also established the Hongdu Academy, and even appointed students from this school, which almost went against the gentry, as officials in the states and counties.

He favored eunuchs, yet there were also some serious moves, such as having Cai Yong engrave the Xi Ping Stone Classics.

In the memorials sent to such a capricious emperor, it was best to clarify everything that needed to be said.

Just in case this guy, who had no clue about the situation, took this memorial and ran to Qiao Xuan’s sickbed, saying, “My Lord, your son and daughter-in-law were killed by the Yellow Turbans, but luckily your granddaughter has some skills and has taken care of the Yellow Turbans in two provinces,” that would be trouble.

Qiao Xuan was already seventy-four years old and in a fragile state of health.

Would he be pleasantly surprised by his granddaughter’s heroism, or would he be directly angered to death by the news, with his other son having gone before him?

Cao Cao felt it was best not to have too much hope for Liu Hong and to make everything clear in the memorial.

Huangfu Song nodded in agreement and added a sentence to the draft.

After reviewing the memorial several times, Huangfu Song handed it over to Cao Cao to have it copied.

Then, on the second day after crossing the border between Yanzhou and Jizhou, he handed the memorial to one of his personal guards to deliver to Luoyang.

As for the little extra distance, it wasn’t a big deal.

He had personally seen the situation in Yanzhou, so it was necessary to add a few comments to the memorial. He couldn’t have others filling in the blanks while they were still within the boundaries of Yuzhou and Yingchuan.

However, as he continued north and reached the boundary of Liaocheng, he suddenly pulled on the reins and hesitantly asked Cao Cao, “Mengde, I remember there was a line in the memorial saying that Duke Qiao’s grandson, Yan, at the age of ten, played a role in resolving the Yellow Turban rebellion in two provinces. Wasn’t it mentioned?”

“Yes, that’s how it was written,” Cao Cao replied.

Initially, he didn’t understand why Huangfu Song brought this up, but then he suddenly realized—

Though it said “grandson” in the writing, but grandson and granddaughter were completely different matters, right?

If Emperor Liu Hong really misunderstood this, and with their deliberate plea to His Majesty to consider Duke Qiao’s frail health and not mention this matter to him—

“The Yellow Turban rebellion hasn’t been completely pacified. His Majesty wouldn’t give out rewards so soon. There shouldn’t be any problems, right?” Huangfu Song and Cao Cao exchanged a glance, trying to find some confidence in each other’s eyes.

Hmm… Liu Hong was so stingy; he wouldn’t do something like giving out rewards in advance!

After comforting themselves, they focused their gaze ahead.

To be precise, it was already too late for them to retrieve that memorial.

The horse ridden by the messenger was better than most in the army. With more than half a day’s head start, there was basically no hope of catching up.

If they supplemented another memorial specifically to explain this matter, it would seem a bit strange and might bring some unfavorable consequences to Qiao Yan.

Instead, it was better to wait until they defeated the main Yellow Turban forces in Jizhou and clarify the matter in the final memorial report.

They had now entered the territory of Jizhou, meaning they had reached the boundary where they would determine victory or defeat against the Yellow Turbans.

Although their swift action to resolve the Yellow Turban rebellion in Yanzhou and Yuzhou must have exceeded Zhang Jiao’s expectations, after years of planning, he had finally raised such an uprising force that couldn’t be ignored.

If they underestimated him, it might backfire.

As the commander-in-chief, Huangfu Song couldn’t afford to be distracted by other matters.

He only had one goal in mind—

March to Xiquyang!