Chương 48: Death settles debts, Liu Hong is happy

Beneath the walls of Xiaquyang, the smoke of battle had not yet completely dissipated, and the air was filled with the stench of blood and burnt flesh, a truly intoxicating combination.

Liu Ce leaned on his imposing Heavenly Dragon City-Breaking Halberd, looking at the dark mass of Yellow Turban prisoners trembling with fear before him, and then glancing at Zhang Bao's still-warm headless corpse not far away.

He then instructed his six brothers, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Qin Qiong, and Cheng Yaojin, who were following closely behind:

"These prisoners, the same old way, deal with them according to the method I taught you back in Changshe."

"Identify each other, drag out those heinous soldiers and leaders whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent civilians, and execute them on the spot as a warning to others!"

"The rest, those who are strong and look honest, will be added to our infantry; the old, weak, women, children, or those who are not suitable for military service will be escorted back to Zhuojun for resettlement."

"Remember this: population is the foundation; not a single one can be wasted!"

"Understood, elder brother (my lord)!"

The six responded in unison, indicating that they were already very familiar with the procedure.

Liu Ce pointed the tip of his halberd at Zhang Bao's corpse again, his tone carrying a strange "regret":

"As for this Earth God General... alas, when a person dies, it's like a lamp going out; let bygones be bygones."

"Find a place with beautiful scenery and good feng shui, sew his head and body back together, and bury him properly."

"After all, he was once a prominent figure. Giving him some final dignity is a sign of our goodwill."

These words surprised Guan Yu and the others. They thought to themselves, "Why is our brother suddenly so compassionate today? This isn't like him."

Sure enough, Liu Ce's demeanor changed abruptly, revealing his signature "shrewd businessman" smile:

"However... the heads of those to be handed over to the imperial court cannot be so intact."

"Go among those Yellow Turban soldiers who died in battle, find an unlucky fellow whose build and hairstyle are similar to Zhang Bao's, and cut off his head."

"Then... give him a good 'processing,' trample him with horseshoes, smash him with stones, basically make him a bloody mess, so much so that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him! The more gruesome the better!"

"After it was done, I put it in a pretty box and sent it to my emperor brother to report my achievement."

"This is called... well, the physical evidence was destroyed due to force majeure, but we still have to acknowledge the credit!"

Everyone suddenly realized, "Oh... oh... good heavens, they were waiting here!"

He not only preserved the reputation of "benevolence and righteousness" but also fooled the court and kept the credit in his pocket. He made three profits from one fish. Brother (Lord)'s actions are getting more and more ingenious!

After arranging these "important matters," Liu Ce looked down at the blackened and congealed "enthusiastic gift" from Zhang Bao on his battle robe, wrinkled his nose, and complained with a look of disgust:

"Damn it, what a blunder! If I'd known this guy was so weak and had such a high blood supply, I shouldn't have beheaded him. I should have sent him on his way in a more elegant way!"

"Now look what's happened! It's splashed all over me, smells awful, and disgusting! It really ruins my mood!"

"Alright, you guys hurry up and get on with it. I need to go back and take a good bath and change into clean clothes; I can't stand the smell!"

After saying that, Liu Ce turned around with a look of disgust and walked towards his central command tent.

Behind him, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Qin Qiong, and Cheng Yaojin listened to Liu Ce's final complaint, filled with disdain and frustration.

Looking at his back, which seemed to be covered in something dirty, they all turned red in the face and their lips curled up in a crazy smile.

Only after Liu Ce had gone far away did Zhang Fei and Cheng Yaojin finally lose their temper.

A deafening burst of laughter erupted, causing Guan Yu to stroke his long beard and shake his head with a wry smile. Zhao Yun, Qin Qiong, and Dian Wei also couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hahaha! Big brother is so funny!"

Zhang Fei laughed so hard he slapped his thigh and said, "You killed the enemy general and now you complain about the blood being dirty! You're acting like a wronged little wife!"

Cheng Yaojin chimed in with a strange tone, "Our lord is a man of refined tastes! He loves cleanliness! You roughnecks don't know anything!"

After laughing, the six quickly split up to carry out their tasks: some buried people, some looked for "double heads," and some dealt with the prisoners. They were all very busy.

It was early June.

Xiaquyang has been completely controlled by Liu Cejun, and the troops have been resting and reorganizing here for quite some time.

The soldiers drilled daily, the wounded received medical treatment, the captured supplies were inventoried and stored, and the new recruits from the prisoners began to receive training. Everything seemed to be in good order.

Liu Ce seemed in no hurry to go to Guangzong to join the fun. In his words, he privately told several of his core brothers:

"What's the rush? Let that brute Dong Zhuo go and clash with Zhang Jiao first, and weaken the Yellow Turban army's strength before we talk about anything else."

"Why don't we just sit here and enjoy our hotpot, taking it easy and watching them fight it out? We can clean up the mess after they've both been severely weakened. Isn't that great?"

On the other side, in the Luoyang Imperial Palace, at the Deyang Hall.

On this day, a messenger rushed into the main hall with an urgent battle report and a beautifully sealed wooden box that emitted a strange smell.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! A great victory! General Liu, the Southern General, has reported a great victory!"

The messenger knelt down and shouted, his voice trembling with excitement and running.

Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, who was overwhelmed with worries about the wars in various regions, perked up immediately upon hearing the news of Liu Ce's victory and hurriedly said:

"Quickly! Bring it up! And what's in that box?"

The eunuch carefully presented the battle report and the wooden box to the emperor.

Liu Hong eagerly unfolded the battle report, which Liu Ce had written in fairly neat handwriting, using a rather "humble" style (the gist of it):

"Your subject Liu Ce kowtows and reports to my most wise and mighty emperor elder brother:" I had just finished setting fire to Changshe and hadn't even had a chance to catch my breath before I immediately led my brothers north to settle accounts with that bastard Zhang Bao!

Good heavens, Zhang Bao is no pushover. He has over 100, 000 soldiers under his command, holed up in Xiaquyang. He's a tough nut to crack!

I fought him for seven days and seven nights, and my buttocks were almost swollen from being beaten. It was only with great difficulty that I finally managed to defeat him!

And guess what? This unlucky fellow, he couldn't even rest in peace after death. He fell face down and was trampled into a pancake shape by his own people who were fleeing for their lives. Even his own mother wouldn't recognize him!

Although we won the battle, my troops suffered heavy losses. My brothers are missing limbs, their swords and spears are dulled, and they are simply unable to fight anymore.

We can only stay in Xiaquyang and rest for now, waiting for you, brother, to give us some relief food and compensation...

Oh, by the way, I've also packed up and sent you that unsightly head of Zhang Bao. Will you use it to inspect the goods? The seized money and grain are still being counted; I'll report back once that's done…"

Liu Hong automatically filtered out all phrases like "heavy losses" and "needs to rest."

The screen was filled with keywords such as "defeated Zhang Bao", "hundreds of thousands of bandit troops", and "bandit chieftain beheaded".