I Claimed the Spoils Until the Very End
I claimed every last piece of the spoils.
“Open the gates!”
“My dear son-in-law, that’s too dangerous!”
Qiao Gong came running in a panic after spotting Cao Hong’s massive army at the north gate. The other powerful clans of Lujiang were no different. The moment they saw me preparing to ride out, they cried out in alarm and tried to stop me.
“Colonel Cao! At this point, the battle is already won without you needing to do anything more!”
“That’s right. You’ve performed miracles these past two days. This is more than enough.”
But I simply raised my spear high so everyone could see and declared,
“Son-in-law, no matter how much momentum we’ve seized from the walls, Sun Bofu and Zhou Gongjin are truly fearsome generals. Both of them are unmatched in horsemanship and martial skill across all of Yangzhou.”
“That’s exactly why I want to face them. I need to show those two exactly who stands above them.”
I had to make it clear to those two that I hadn’t taken the Two Beauties of Jiangdong through mere trickery. Moreover, to prevent Sun Ce’s growing power from ever threatening the north bank of the Yangtze again, I needed to carve a trauma so deep into their minds that they would never forget it.
I had already faced Xu Huang, Zhang Liao, and even Lu Bu. The solid gates of Lujiang swung open. I spurred my horse forward, leaping over the countless corpses piled high, and charged straight toward the enemy lines.
By now the enemy had already lost nearly thirty percent of their troops. The sudden opening of Lujiang’s gates and the sight of us charging at their rear would be impossible to miss. They would see us very clearly.
But what could they do about it?
With twenty thousand troops suddenly bearing down on them, could they really wheel around in an instant and charge back toward Lujiang’s gates? Absolutely not.
I knew that perfectly well, which was why I deliberately slaughtered the soldiers at their rear without mercy.
“You bandits of Jiangdong! Are you ready to die?”
The hundred elite riders I led were all members of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Including myself, every man burned with the desire to finally ride across open ground and crush the enemy beneath our hooves.
BOOOOM!
The sound of our charge was magnificent. The Jiangdong infantry collapsed like dominoes beneath our horses’ hooves. The rear units belatedly tried to turn and swing their spears to block us, but their legs had already gone weak and exhaustion had taken its toll. Many simply collapsed on their own.
“Only twenty of you, follow me! We’re hunting the enemy commanders!”
“Yes, Colonel!”
At that moment, two generals emerged from the middle of their formation. As expected, it was Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.
Among them, the shorter one led the remaining troops toward where my uncle Cao Hong was charging, while the taller, more imposing man drew his sword and led the rear forces straight toward me.
So Zhou Yu would face Uncle Cao Hong, and I would face Sun Ce?
I gripped my spear tightly, flicked the blood from its blade, and galloped straight at him.
Truly, the end for any great warrior was a chaotic melee where they risked their lives in single combat. Wasn’t that the very essence of romance?
I swung my spear down toward his head with all my strength.
CLAAAAANG—!
Clang!
“!?”
Oh! He hadn’t expected a spear-wielding rider to charge him while he held only a sword. He deflected the spearhead with his blade and immediately countered, striking at my neck with the shaft of my own weapon. He was certainly strong.
“You bastard. I will definitely take your head today!”
After our first exchange, we wheeled our horses and clashed again. Against sword users, the key was to maintain distance, focus on thrusts to keep them in check, and wait for an opening.
“Haaah!”
“Oho!”
Clang—Claaang!
But this guy… he deliberately knocked aside my probing thrust and used the rebound to close the distance. I had only seen this kind of horsemanship with a sword once before. Back then it had been twin blades. The left sword would deflect the opponent’s weapon while the right sword immediately drove in for the kill. It was an incredibly difficult style I never wanted to face again.
Having experienced it once, I knew how to counter it.
I feinted another thrust. The moment he moved to deflect it, I twisted the spearhead’s angle.
“!”
His sword cut through empty air. I immediately slammed the shaft into his side.
“Ugh!”
“Think you can grab it?”
He barely managed to hold onto the shaft beneath the spearhead and avoided being thrown from his horse, but I held the advantage in raw strength. The instant I tried to twist and pull the spear free, he frantically let go and staggered.
If he hadn’t been wearing riding gloves, his wrist would have been severed and he would never have used that hand again.
Clang—Clang—Clang!
After taking a blow to the ribs, I switched from thrusting to sweeping strikes, driving him hard in an attempt to unhorse him completely.
“Is the great Sun Ce only this strong? You’re not a tiger of Jiangdong, you’re just a wildcat cub!”
“W-what nonsense is that?! I am…!”
I swung my spear in rhythm with my taunts. Sun Ce grew desperate trying to block them and shouted back at me. But the wound in his side must have been severe. He kept losing his balance, staggering, until my spear finally struck his shoulder.
“Kuh!”
It was a shame I only shattered his shoulder armor, but the impact made him drop his sword. He could no longer control his body.
This was the perfect moment to deliver the finishing blow…
“GONGJIIIIIIIN!!!!”
“!?”
CLAAAAAANG!
Suddenly, the man I had thought was the short and handsome Zhou Yu—who had been fighting Uncle Cao Hong—charged in and thrust a halberd at me. I barely managed to block it.
Gongjin? Then the tall, well-built one wasn’t Sun Ce but Zhou Yu? I had been fighting Zhou Yu this whole time?
Hah. What a ridiculous misunderstanding.
“You son of a bitch! I will definitely kill you!”
“So you really are Sun Ce after all?”
BOOOOOOM!
Damn, this guy had monstrous strength that didn’t match his size. Only two people came to mind with this kind of destructive power. While Zhang Liao and Lu Bu moved lightly and swiftly, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei delivered heavy, crushing blows. Sun Ce was the same type.
That’s why fighting someone this solid felt so satisfying.
BANG—BOOM—CRACK!
Every time our spears collided, it sounded like cannon fire. My ears were already ringing from the constant noise since dawn, and now I could barely tell which direction the sounds were coming from.
“I’ll kill you!”
This guy really seemed hard to break mentally. Sun Ce’s halberd and my spear sparked violently. Around me, the hundred Tiger and Leopard Cavalry riders had gathered, methodically cutting down any of Sun Ce’s men who dared interfere with their lord’s duel.
Zhou Yu had already dropped his sword. His injuries must have been severe, because he had been urgently escorted away. I couldn’t even hear his voice anymore.
“You… I will definitely kill you! You worthless bastard who dared insult me and Gongjin!”
“You were making so much noise I had to shut you up. Did you not like the clothes I sent your wife?”
At that moment, Sun Ce’s eyes turned bloodshot. He charged at me like a berserker.
It was actually easier this way. Once he lost his mind and attacked recklessly, although the raw power behind each blow made my whole body tingle, there were no tricky techniques to worry about.
He attacked with terrifying persistence, focusing entirely on my upper body in an attempt to take my head or pierce my chest. I used my spear as a shield, continuously deflecting his strikes while checking that Uncle Cao Hong’s forces were drawing ever closer from the rear.
This rampaging tiger of Jiangdong couldn’t see anything but me. As long as he kept charging at me alone, I could keep him tied down.
“Uncle! We must retreat immediately!”
At that moment, the ferocious Sun Ce froze.
Zhou Yu, who had somehow regrouped his scattered troops, shouted from hiding. Strangely enough, even in his berserk state, Sun Ce landed one final blow on me before stopping.
“Ugh…”
“Looks like your friend is calling you.”
“Uncle, hurry!”
At Zhou Yu’s desperate cry, Sun Ce pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then pointed them at me.
I’ve memorized your face. Something like that.
“You will never die an easy death. The next time we meet, I will twist all four of your limbs and kill you!”
“Who said I’d let you—!”
The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry tried to block his path, but Sun Ce swung his halberd wildly, cutting down my officers without mercy and breaking through.
“That bastard!”
When I saw one of the men who had fought beside me fall, I hurled my spear at Sun Ce’s back. But countless arrows flew in response. The remaining cavalry soldiers urgently raised their shields to protect me. In that moment, both Zhou Yu and Sun Ce successfully retreated.
I had fought the Tiger of Jiangdong, forced him to retreat, and driven him back south of the Yangtze.
“Haaaa…”
“Zayul! Zayul!”
Soon after, part of Cao Hong’s army pursued the retreating Jiangdong forces while the rest rushed over to me.
“Are you alright? I was too late.”
“Uncle Zilian! Those wounds…”
“Damn it. That tiger cub has some damn sharp fangs.”
When the real Sun Ce—whom I had mistaken for Zhou Yu—charged in, he had inflicted many wounds on Cao Hong. His torso armor was torn open, and blood was flowing beneath his saddle. He had barely managed to staunch the bleeding by wrapping a banner around the wound.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I can endure it. Something like this will heal after a few days of eating meat and sleeping well!”
When I heard that, I tried to pursue Sun Ce and Zhou Yu again, but Cao Hong stopped me.
“Zayul, that’s enough. With this, all of Lujiang belongs to us. It’s over.”
And so the Jiangdong army suffered a crushing defeat and fled. I remained in Lujiang and was able to completely occupy Liu Xun’s former territories of Lujiang and Huancheng.
With this, Southern Yangzhou and Northern Yangzhou were clearly divided by the natural boundary of the Yangtze River.
Northern Yangzhou—formerly Yuan Shu’s domain north of the Yangtze—now belonged entirely to Cao Cao’s forces.
Southern Yangzhou—including Moling, Wu Commandery, and Kuaiji south of the Yangtze—became the foundation for Sun Ce’s resurgence in Eastern Wu.
Truly, if only we had the supplies to cross the Yangtze, we could have kept pushing south.
After driving off Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, I was finally able to return.
Of course, I had picked up one more prize along the way.
“Zayul, what is that sword?”
“It’s something Zhou Yu dropped while we were fighting. It looked like an exceptionally fine blade, so I picked it up.”
It was the sword Zhou Yu had dropped in his hurry to escape after taking a blow earlier. After wiping off the blood, I saw it was a truly well-forged masterpiece.
Cao Hong examined it and remarked knowingly,
“Judging by the hilt decoration and the condition of the blade, this was made in Gojeongjin?”
“Where is Gojeong?”
“It’s a place in Hebei that produces iron for swords. Since ancient times, the weapons made from the iron of Gojeongjin have been famous for rivaling those of Cho County.”
“Then I shall call this blade the Gojing Sword.”
Perfect. When Lu Ming returned, she had asked me to get her a good sword. This would make an excellent gift. I could simply ask the blacksmiths of Lujiang to make a suitable scabbard for it.
“Son-in-law!”
“Husband~”
The moment I entered Lujiang after driving off Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, Qiao Gong and the Two Beauties of Jiangdong all came running toward me at once.
I was covered in blood, yet Daqiao and Xiaoqiao threw themselves into my arms while Qiao Gong grabbed my hand tightly.
“You truly are a hero of the world. To think you defeated the mighty Sun Lang and Zhou Lang through sheer martial prowess!”
“Well… I only tied with Sun Ce, but…”
“I was so scared! I thought you were going to get hurt, Husband!”
“See? That underwear really was a lucky charm! I’ll prepare more next time!”
Anyway, I took off my gauntlets, roughly wiped the blood from my hands, and gently caressed Daqiao and Xiaoqiao, savoring the joy of our reunion.
“Zayul, did you already have a concubine in Lujiang?”
“Uncle Zilian, that’s…”
“Hmmm~”
Cao Hong nodded as if he understood everything at a glance.
No matter what, the moment Cao Hong’s twenty thousand troops entered Lujiang, everything came to an end.
The accumulated fatigue of the past days finally hit me all at once, and I collapsed right where I stood.
This time, it had truly been an exhausting battle.