Chapter Twenty-Two: The Division of the Family

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The nights in northern Shaanxi during February were bitterly cold, but not as cold as Liu Chengzong’s heart, knowing his father was determined to stay in this land.

On the second morning after returning home, Cao Yao came to the house to discuss dividing the spoils with his elder brother, Liu Chengzu.

They needed to split the money and provisions snatched from Bai Yingzi’s hands.

"Your family doesn’t have as much land as we can till. You can’t just sit around and eat up what you have," Cao Yao said. "How about I take my men out and find a way to make a living? Coming here is just to get acquainted with the place. I haven’t touched the money or grain; let’s split it into two shares—one for you, one for me. You can distribute your share to the brothers who earned it."

He had brought two squad leaders, Du Lao Wu and Feng Rang, both once well-known in Yuhe Fort.

Du Lao Wu had a horse-like face and was a master of disguise, particularly skilled at making a woman’s corpse appear as a man’s. During their time as border troops in Shanxi, this trick had earned Cao Yao and his companions an extra three hundred taels in official bounty by faking kills of outlaws.

Feng Rang, the other, was unremarkable in appearance. After the catastrophic defeat at Sarhu, he survived by eating human flesh on the way, and eventually met up with Cao Yao in Mengjin.

These two were Cao Yao’s sworn brothers. After escaping the great battle at Sarhu, seventeen deserters from the imperial artil