https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-578-The-Heaven-Altering-Life-Changing-Pill/13041860/
Chapter 577: Farewell to Zhang Yan
Chapter 577: Farewell to Zhang Yan
After the battle in Guangping, Lu Hai Kong had a vague feeling that the Yellow Turban Rebellion would not last long.
To be precise, Lu Hai Kong had this feeling when the sky and earth suddenly changed color in an instant, and everything seemed to transform in the blink of an eye. It was during that moment, amidst the purple glow and Zhang Jiao's faint screams, that Lu Hai Kong realized the rebellion might end in a way he had never imagined, and its conclusion could be right around the corner.
So, Lu Hai Kong had recently started making preparations, which was why he decided to halt the Tomb Raiders' activities for the time being.
On the one hand, the Tomb Raiders under his command were not engaged in honorable deeds. In the current situation, if they were exposed, it would be extremely unfavorable for Lu Hai Kong.
It should be known that, at this time, the Great Han Dynasty had not yet collapsed. Laws and regulations were still in place, and Cao Cao's development of the Tomb Raiders occurred after Dong Zhuo's entry into the capital and the chaos that ensued. The situation was different from Lu Hai Kong's.
Moreover, Lu Hai Kong had a background as a bandit, and if the Tomb Raiders under his command were exposed, his situation would be very unpleasant, to say the least.
Not to mention, there weren't many scholars who held Lu Hai Kong in high regard to begin with. If such a scandal were exposed, Lu Hai Kong could forget about scholars joining him. Therefore, he needed to stop the Tomb Raiders' activities in advance and erase any traces they might have left.
As for why Lu Hai Kong gave this order after Cao Cao's departure, it wasn't that Cao Cao's arrival made him nervous and prompted this decision.
In fact, Lu Hai Kong had been considering the Tomb Raiders' affairs recently. As for Cao Cao or Huangfu Song's request for supplies, he didn't pay too much attention to it.
His order had nothing to do with Cao Cao's arrival or Huangfu Song's request for supplies.
Lu Hai Kong merely sensed something unusual from Huangfu Song's request for supplies. Based on the intelligence he had, Huangfu Song shouldn't have come to him for supplies so soon.
He could still hold on for a while longer; it wasn't yet the time for Huangfu Song to take such a step.
Sure enough, not long after Cao Cao's departure, Dong Zhuo's men arrived with a letter.
The letter was filled with provocative statements aimed at Lu Hai Kong and Huangfu Song. In essence, it was asking Lu Hai Kong not to lend supplies to Huangfu Song and to join forces with him to bring Huangfu Song down.
"It seems that the battle of Guangping has made Dong Zhuo anxious," Lu Hai Kong thought. "This guy probably wanted to shirk his responsibilities from the start, but he didn't expect Zhang Liang's ultimate move to be so powerful, directly causing heavy losses to his troops. Now, he's blaming it all on Huangfu Song."
"Additionally, the Yellow Turban Army's inaction during this time has probably made Dong Zhuo realize something. He wants to take this opportunity to pull Huangfu Song down and take his place. But does he really have the confidence to do so?"
"Forget it, I'll put this fight between the two of them aside for now."
Lu Hai Kong casually tossed the letter aside after reading it. He didn't have the time to deal with Huangfu Song and Dong Zhuo's squabble. Let them fight as they wished; the fire wouldn't reach him anyway.
Lu Hai Kong was currently concerned with only two things. One was to return as many of the spoils of war from this battle as possible, and the other was to collect as much intelligence on the Yellow Turbans as he could, or more precisely, on Zhang Jiao.
Lu Hai Kong remembered that in history, not long after the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, Zhang Jiao had already fallen ill and died.
He didn't know if this world would follow the historical trajectory, but he was certain that Zhang Jiao's current state couldn't be good.
The situation within the Yellow Turban Army was complex, with numerous Yellow Turban elites and many smaller factions. For example, there was the Nanyang faction led by Zhang Mancheng and Zhao Hong, the Yuyang faction led by Bo Cai and Peng Tuo, and the Black Mountain faction led by Zhang Niugiao and Zhang Yan. Even among the elites, there were the Daozi faction and the Holy Maiden faction.
Such a complex and massive force could only be held together by Zhang Jiao. If anything happened to him, Lu Hai Kong estimated that they wouldn't even need to fight; the Yellow Turban Army would fall apart on its own.
After all, there was no strong and influential voice within the Yellow Turbans at the moment. Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang had the capability, but these two brothers were unlucky enough to encounter Lu Hai Kong, and they were killed early on, leading to the Yellow Turban Army's current predicament.
It was precisely because of this situation that Lu Hai Kong wanted to gather as much accurate intelligence on Zhang Jiao as possible.
He didn't necessarily want to behead Zhang Jiao and accelerate the Yellow Turban Army's downfall. If possible, he would rather Zhang Jiao hold on for a while longer.
After all, Lu Hai Kong needed some time to digest and transfer the battlefield gains back to Bingzhou. More importantly, the current situation was most favorable for Lu Hai Kong. He even hoped that Zhang Rang would use this opportunity to fight for his rights in the court, as the world was vast, and Lu Hai Kong's interests were paramount.
However, based on the current situation, Zhang Jiao's side didn't seem very optimistic.
In the 61st chapter of the 1st volume, it is stated that after the Yellow Turban Army won a battle, defeating Huangfu Song's forces and eliminating tens of thousands of his troops, they should have pursued further to take advantage of the Han Army's low morale and capture the Han Army. However, the Yellow Turban Army fell into an eerie calm.
Combining this with the purple glow and Zhang Jiao's faint screams during the sky and earth's transformation, Lu Hai Kong couldn't help but wonder if Zhang Jiao was on the verge of collapse.
"If only I could know the current situation within the Yellow Turban Army!"
Lu Hai Kong's intelligence capabilities were formidable, but the Yellow Turban Army's internal affairs, or even the intelligence within Julu County, were a forbidden zone for Lu Hai Kong's intelligence system. Even deploying Moon Shadow would be futile, which is why Lu Hai Kong expressed such a sentiment.
Interestingly, after Lu Hai Kong expressed this sentiment, someone immediately came to report that a visitor wanted to see him.
Thus, Lu Hai Kong's camp, which initially had few visitors, received two groups of guests within half a day. The first words of the second group of guests made Lu Hai Kong almost spit out his tea.
"Zhang Jiao is about to die!"
These were the first words spoken by the visitor, who turned out to be Zhang Yan.
Chapter end
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