The figures appearing on the city wall because of the commotion caused by the marching from this direction appeared somewhat blurry from where she was, probably due to the considerable distance.

The people on the city wall naturally couldn’t see that there was such a pair of eyes in this campsite here, scrutinizing the entire situation and firmly locking onto his position.

What Zhang Liang on the city wall could see was just a well-organized troop advancing towards the city, halting at a distance that’s within shooting range from the city wall.

Zou Jing might not be qualified to be a general, but as a captain who could make contributions in fighting against bandits, he was definitely competent in organizing military affairs.

When the footsteps of the advancing troops stopped, they immediately followed his command and formed a posture of facing off against the defense of Quzhou City.

After doing all this, he looked towards the direction of the city wall.

Since their arrival in Jizhou, Zou Jing had encountered small groups of Yellow Turbans several times during their patrol tasks, but it was the first time he was in such close proximity to Quzhou City.

He subconsciously wanted to stroke his beard to appear composed, but suddenly realized that he shouldn’t make such a move because he didn’t have a beard anymore, so he quickly withdrew his hand.

Fortunately, this instinctive action didn’t alert Zhang Liang on the city wall, as his attention was fully focused on Dian Wei.

When he had previously looked at the flagpole with the “Qiao” character from a distance, he already felt that this flag was taller than the usual standards.

Now, up close, it seemed even more so.

However, despite being held up by Dian Wei alone, his movements were so light and relaxed that it didn’t seem like he was holding a huge flag, but rather a thin pole.

Even when they stopped under the city, he didn’t seem to let go of the flag.

Zhang Liang couldn’t help but be surprised.

Such a fierce warrior made the commanding flag in his hand, although somewhat rough in material, seem to exude even more majesty out of nowhere.

In his opinion, if this was the level of reinforcements attacking, then there was no need to defend the city.

Fortunately, the soldiers following from behind could still be called a unit, although they were only barely so.

The enforcement of commands was only at the same level as the Lu Zhi faction he had encountered before.

And the leader of this group seemed to lack some momentum, much worse off compared to Lu Zhi in his eyes.

The leader…

When Zhang Liang’s gaze finally shifted to Zou Jing, the latter had completely restrained his instinctive reaction to touch his beard, so what he saw was Zou Jing’s beardless face.

The distance between the city walls and the ground made it impossible for Zhang Liang to see clearly, and there seemed to be some artistic touch-up on Zou Jing’s face.

He only saw Zou Jing point his finger, and the soldier holding the flag slammed it to the ground, almost creating a deep pit, followed by a loud, resonant shout that could be heard clearly by those on the city walls:

“Do the Yellow Turban rebels dare to come down for a battle!”

Zhang Liang was almost amused by the performance of the people below the city.

This person was brave, and the soldiers they brought didn’t seem like mediocre men either, yet they came up and said the least appropriate thing to happen between defenders and attackers.

He, Zhang Liang, was defending a fortified city, why would he engage in fair combat that sacrificed their advantage?

If the defenders below the city could decide the outcome of the battle, then why did their brothers gather so many Yellow Turban soldiers in the name of the Taiping Tao, and conduct sieges and conquests in various counties and states?

It was all too ridiculous.

He even noticed that among the soldiers under their command, some were turning their heads away, as if they couldn’t bear to look at the scene in front of them, not to mention the defenders on his side of the city wall, who felt like the other side’s words were a joke.

If it weren’t for the first-time commander, probably no one would have done such a foolish thing.

But a new official in charge, inexperienced as he was, was actually a great thing for Zhang Liang.

Warfare was not a trivial game described casually in books!

However…

The opponent’s lack of experience undoubtedly gave him a good opportunity to confirm the identity of this reinforcement.

He immediately shouted down from the city wall, “Who is below, state your name.”

The fair-faced commander opened his mouth, but because the distance between the two sides didn’t allow Zhang Liang to hear what he was saying, he noticed that after realizing his voice was too low, he pointed his finger, and once again, the mighty soldier shouted back, “The position of the general is prestigious, how can you know? I am under General Qiao, Chenliu Dian Wei!”

Chenliu Dian Wei?

Never heard of this name.

But the other piece of information in his words made Zhang Liang pay extra attention.

The titles of Inspector General and General Qiao, as claimed by the strongman named Dian Wei, appeared to refer to two different individuals.

One of them was likely the owner of the commanding flag, who was not present here at the moment, leaving Zhang Liang unable to confirm whether his previous speculation about this person possibly being Qiao Mao was correct.

The other one, however, was this fair-faced leader!

The title of Inspector General was not commonly seen, and it was somewhat sensitive, especially considering the outward characteristics of this person…

Zhang Liang had a rough guess in his mind.

The Taiping Dao preached by the Yellow Turban Rebellion had many followers even within the capital city of Luoyang.

In terms of the penetration of influence, other religions paled in comparison.

What was even more terrifying was that even among the eunuchs around Emperor Liu Hong, there were followers of this doctrine, such as the Central Attendant Feng Yu and Xu Feng.

With such eyes and ears in place, although Zhang Liang had not formally met them, he could gather plenty of palace-related intelligence from the messages passed down by the upper echelons of the Yellow Turbans he had contact with, much of which might not have circulated within the official circles of Luoyang.

For example, according to his knowledge, among the eunuchs in the palace, there was one praised by Emperor Liu Hong as “strong and possessing martial prowess,” named Jian Shuo.

There were also rumors that Emperor Liu Hong had recently intended to establish a special army to protect Luoyang closely, directly under his control.

Due to Liu Hong’s appreciation of Jian Shuo, he had even casually mentioned appointing him to a prominent position within it during conversations.

Was this an indication of Liu Hong’s excessive reliance on the eunuch faction, or was he intending to completely control this newly established army through this move, so as to maneuver around the aristocratic families in the capital city?

Zhang Liang vaguely recalled some remarks made by his elder brother Zhang Jiao, but he couldn’t remember what exactly he had said at the time.

However, one thing made sense to him —

If Liu Hong indeed intended to entrust one of the divisions of the directly subordinate army to a eunuch attendant by his side, in order to gain their loyalty, he would undoubtedly need to give them an opportunity to perform meritorious deeds.

This perfectly explained why this Inspector General had appeared under the city walls rather than sitting comfortably in the main camp, merely supervising.

Because the other side was here for the merit of defeating him!

And only those who resided in the deep palace, serving the incompetent emperor, would come up with such naive war tactics.

Zhang Liang took a deep breath.

He had initially thought that since the other side had brought only a small force and was not a skilled military commander, he might be able to quickly deploy troops and defeat them, thereby venting some of the frustration of being trapped here by Lu Zhi.

But upon realizing the probable identity of the newcomer

As he saw the distant team coming to reinforce, he decided against it.

He slowly lowered his hand, which he had intended to use to order an attack.

No, he couldn’t do that.

With this thought in mind—

To Diaochan’s announcement of his identity, he responded provocatively with a casual “So what?”

To the subsequent invitation to battle from the white-faced general, he pretended not to notice.

To the requests for battle from his subordinates, he merely gestured for them to wait.

It wasn’t until the distant sound of the retreat horn from Lu Zhi’s camp that the reluctantly returning white-faced troops joined the reinforcements, disappearing within the confines of the camp’s enclosure.

Zhang Liang finally withdrew his gaze from the distant horizon, a calculating smile playing on his lips.

“Why did the general allow the enemy to provoke us at the city gates and then let them retreat unharmed?” someone from his retinue immediately questioned, clearly dissatisfied with Zhang Liang’s decision to avoid battle.

“Because letting them go back is better than having them die at our walls,” Zhang Liang replied, a hint of satisfaction creeping into his tone.

This was quite different from his mindset when he first saw the banner of General Qiao.

“I originally thought there were only two opposing forces, but now it seems there might be three,” he continued.

His subordinates, who were used to physical labor, couldn’t understand why Zhang Liang was so pleased with this.

“Isn’t three worse than two? Doesn’t that mean more pressure on us?” If there were indeed three opposing forces, wouldn’t they face even greater pressure?

“No, this is an opportunity for us,” Zhang Liang said, his gaze falling on the newly erected Qiao character banner in the opposing camp, which now seemed to exert pressure on Lu Zhi’s banner.

His expression relaxed even more. “The Han army is different from us; the more people they have, the more they might vie for credit.”

Zhang Liang was unaware of the recent merger of three Yellow Turban leaders into one force in Yanzhou territory.

Seeing his subordinates confused, he had to explain further: “Before, there was only Lu Zhi on the other side, a tough opponent. But now, it’s different.”

“On one side, there’s Lu Zhi, who hasn’t defeated any Yellow Turban leader yet. On the other side, we have an opportunity.”

“What would be the outcome when three such individuals gather? One is a eunuch sent by the incompetent ruler to prove his worth as a supervisor, another is a young general trying to revive the authority of his family’s past glory.”

Zhang Liang didn’t give a definite answer at this moment, but he clearly hinted at his meaning, confident in his tone.

As long as he held the city and didn’t venture out, conflicts between these three factions were inevitable!

If any cracks appeared in the enemy’s camp, that would be his opportunity.

When reports came in from scouts that Lu Zhi’s men, who had been gathering wood to build siege weapons, had decreased significantly today, Zhang Liang was even more certain that his judgment was correct.

“So, this guy can change his plans too…” he remarked sarcastically. “Of course, it’s also thanks to the good assistant sent by that incompetent ruler.”

Lu Zhi was likely under considerable pressure at this moment, and it was quite possible that even some of his soldiers had defected to the other two factions.

Perhaps today’s events weren’t enough to cause a significant change in this conflict, but what about tomorrow or the day after?

Once those two newbies took over military affairs, it would be his time to strike back!

After sending out a small team for a night reconnaissance, only for them to be wiped out, Zhang Liang became even more certain.

Lu Zhi still retained control of the camp, and it wasn’t yet the time for Zhang Liang to make his move.

The next day, he witnessed a dispute erupting in the enemy camp.

While the strong men went out to gather wood, Lu Zhi’s troops remained inactive.

He quickly brushed aside the frustration caused by last night’s losses.

Just a few more days of waiting!

He had endured even longer stalemates before; waiting for three or four days was nothing to him.

However—

If Zhuo Shuo, as he suspected, was the eunuch, if Qiao Yan had indeed raised the Qiao character banner because of Qiao Mao’s arrival, and if Lu Zhi was still in command, then his speculation wasn’t wrong.

As they waited, leisurely playing chess, her task was complete, and now it was up to Guangzong.

At this point, Zhang Bao, merely a tool used by the incompetent ruler to be a pawn in their schemes, was barely hanging on.

Huangfu Song certainly wouldn’t have any mercy for him.

After confirming that once the city gates were taken, Lu Zhi’s army would immediately catch up, they exchanged glances with Cao Cao, seeing the determination in each other’s eyes.

In the deeply entrenched Guangzong City, the heart of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, whether they could succeed in one strike, ending the chaos, depended entirely on this moment.

Amidst the days of traveling and waiting, Huangfu Song didn’t have time to consider Qiao Yan, whom he had praised as a “talent for a king”.

He was more focused on convincing Lu Zhi’s younger generation, whom he entrusted with important tasks, about what could be accomplished in Quzhou.

His entire attention was on this preparation.

For example, he had to mimic the attitudes and expressions of the Yellow Turbans to ensure he didn’t stand out too much with his exceptional military prowess, lest he appear out of place when they reached the city gates.

He also had to learn a few phrases of the Jizhou dialect from a soldier in the army, so as not to arouse suspicion with his Luoyang accent when answering questions from the defenders on the walls.

But these tense preparations didn’t make him feel any apprehension when he finally arrived at the gates of Guangzong City.

He was a commander ready for battle!

With a hunched figure and an anxious expression on his face, like an ordinary Yellow Turban soldier worried about Zhang Bao’s serious illness, he carried the barely conscious General and marched straight towards Guangzong, accompanied by a group of people.

As the warning came from the city walls, he looked up and his sweat-drenched face was illuminated by the sunlight.

As he continued forward with his small group of only thirty or forty people, he shouted loudly, “General Di gong is critically ill! Quickly inform the wise and virtuous teacher!”

The flags belonging to Zhang Bao stood out conspicuously among the waiting troops in the distance.

The closer they got, the clearer the appearance of the person being carried became.

Coupled with the anxious tone of the person calling out, all of this undoubtedly signaled news that would force the defenders of Guangzong to open the city gates—

General Di Gong, Zhang Bao, is critically ill! The wise and virtuous teacher, Zhang Jiao, is coming to save him!