Chapter 087: Has the truth come to light?

Dong Cheng, seated in the carriage, furrowed his brow deeply. In the whole city of Xu, there were not many who dared speak to him in such a tone.

Before he could answer, Wang Zifu immediately barked, "Who are you, you insolent fool, to show such disrespect to the Grand General of the Chariots and Cavalry!"

Xu Chu had not expected these men, with death already upon them, to still behave with such arrogant disregard.

His heavy iron saber swept down in a single brutal stroke.

The horse drawing the carriage was instantly cleaved in two by that overwhelming force, blood gushing everywhere.

At the same time, the carriage frame of Dong Cheng's vehicle crashed to the ground, tossing those aboard into a dazed, disordered heap.

Dong Cheng and Wang Zifu climbed down. When they clearly saw the man before them was Xu Chu, one of Cao Cao's trusted generals, they could not help but feel a chill of fear.

Dong Cheng, being the steadier of the two, forced down his dread and asked, "General Xu, what is the meaning of this?"

Xu Chu said coldly, "We are acting under orders. I hope Lord Dong will not make this difficult for us."

"Under orders? Whose orders?"

"Those of the Great General Cao Peng!"

"Cao Peng?!" At the name, Dong Cheng's face changed suddenly.

With Cao Cao's fate still unknown, Cao Peng was now their greatest enemy.

"Very well. If that is the case, this old man will go with you." Saying so, Dong Cheng was about to step forward.

Wang Zifu seized his sleeve. "My lord, we cannot go!"

Dong Cheng pulled his sleeve free and said calmly, "It matters not. We need not offend him at a time like this. I doubt he is so arrogant as to truly dare do anything to me, a high minister of the court."

After following Xu Chu to Cao Peng's quarters, Dong Cheng and Wang Zifu's expressions were very grim. Liu Bei, whom they had painstakingly tried to win over, had betrayed them?

It seemed Cao Peng had arranged it on purpose; the three brothers of Liu now sat in the seats beneath him.

Dong Cheng looked at Cao Peng and said coldly, "I wonder why General Cao summoned me here."

Cao Peng watched his pretense of composure with some amusement, then the smiling face abruptly darkened.

"Men, seize Dong Cheng!"

What?!

The two men panicked at once. Cao Peng was not following the usual script at all.

Dong Cheng shouted angrily, "I am the Grand General of the Chariots and Cavalry appointed by the court. How dare you be so insolent?!"

Cao Peng let out a sneer. Even now, this man still did not know he was staring death in the face.

"Seize him!"

At the command, the soldiers surged up like wolves and tigers and immediately took Dong Cheng down.

Dong Cheng glared wide-eyed at Cao Peng and asked harshly, "General Cao, do you mean to show complete disregard for the Son of Heaven today? Do you know that you..."

"You received the emperor's blood-written secret decree and tried to join with traitors to murder my uncle. Did you think you could hide it from me?" Cao Peng cut him off with a cold laugh.

Dong Cheng's expression changed drastically.

This matter had only just begun to be planned. How could it have been exposed so quickly?

Dong Cheng was shaken and uncertain, but he still tried to bluff his way through.

"I do not understand what General Cao means."

Wang Zifu was even more agitated, leaping and shouting, "What blood-written decree? This is nothing but your slander, your attempt to blacken the name of the Grand General of the Chariots and Cavalry and slight the Son of Heaven! What crime do you think you are committing?!"

"Seeking death!"

Faced with Wang Zifu's provocation, Cao Peng kicked out in a single motion, the wind whistling with it.

Before Wang Zifu could even cry out, he was sent sprawling like a tumbled gourd. After rolling across the floor, he felt heat rise in his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Let me tell you the truth: Zhong Ji has already confessed to everything, and your blood-written decree was found at Yang Biao's residence as well. You are still trying to be stubborn here? You're simply courting death!"

Seeing that the other man still wore the look of a dead duck insisting on being alive, Cao Peng said,

"Forget it. It is useless to speak further with the likes of you. We shall see what excuses you have when the evidence and the culprit are both here."

It was not long before Man Chong returned.

With him, bound hand and foot, came Yang Biao.

Yang Biao struggled violently. It was clear he had never suffered such humiliation in his life. If his mouth had not been stuffed with cloth, he would likely already have been shouting curses.

The moment Dong Cheng had left, Man Chong had broken into his residence with soldiers, and had given him no chance to argue at all before binding him and bringing him here.

Man Chong cupped his hands and said to Cao Peng, "General, the emperor's blood-written decree was indeed found in Yang Biao's residence!"

Cao Peng took the decree from Yang Biao and read it. Its contents ordered Yuan Shao to enter the capital to rescue the emperor, intending to eliminate the Cao clan amid the turmoil.

Cao Peng lifted his eyes to look at the ashen-faced Dong Cheng and asked with a half-smile, "Now that the culprit and the evidence are both in hand, what more have you to say?"

Unexpectedly, Dong Cheng laughed wildly.

"What need have I to say anything? Your Cao clan deceives the sovereign and defies Heaven; it schemes day and night to seize the Great Han's realm. Under Heaven, all may kill you without blame!"

"I am a minister of Han, I live on Han's bounty, and naturally I must destroy the nation's scourge!"

Cao Peng sneered, "I only hope your bones are as hard as your mouth!"

"Man Chong, take Dong Cheng away and subject him to the severest torture!"

Dong Cheng and Wang Zifu were immediately made to enjoy the treatment of being bound hand and foot with cloth stuffed into their mouths.

The two were dragged away just like that.

From beginning to end, Liu Bei remained a silent observer, his eyes lowered, saying not a word.

Instead, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were furious at Cao Peng's actions, and from time to time they glanced toward their elder brother. If Liu Bei gave the word, they would likely rush at Cao Peng without regard for their lives.

As Man Chong was leaving, he asked once more, "General, what of the decree?"

Only then, at his reminder, did Cao Peng remember that the emperor's blood-written decree was still lying on the table.

"Leave it here for now. I have my own arrangement for it."

"Yes, sir!"

For the moment, Cao Peng did not intend to hand the decree over to Cao Cao, because he still needed to reel in one more fish.

When news spread that Cao Peng had seized Yang Biao and Dong Cheng and subjected them to brutal interrogation, the civil and military officials under Cao Cao were somewhat stunned by his methods. After all, Dong Cheng was the Grand General of the Chariots and Cavalry and the emperor's father-in-law, while Yang Biao was a man of lofty reputation and great virtue.

To have them taken away on so little as a word and beaten under torture—Cao Cao himself would likely not dare act this way.

By now, Cao Peng still had not made the matter of the blood-written decree public.

But Liu Xie and the court officials who supported the emperor were in a panic.

They knew they absolutely could not sit and wait for death!

Fu Wan, a leader of the imperial faction and father of the present Empress Fu, understood that he had to shoulder the banner now.

This man was fairly quick-witted and certainly would not indulge in the wishful thinking that Cao Peng had failed to obtain the blood-written decree.

He even guessed that Cao Peng was trying to play the long game, casting a line to catch a great fish, seeking a contest of strength with them.

If that was truly the case, then he could only steel himself and continue this game of chess with Cao Peng to the end.

Fu Wan immediately contacted the court officials of the imperial faction and went to the residence of Cao Pi.

At this point, only by drawing in the children of the Cao family, and having Cao Pi win over the military commanders, would there be any hope of forming a force capable of opposing Cao Peng once more.