Page:Romance of the Three Kingdoms - tr. Brewitt-Taylor - Volume 1.djvu/263

 This made the two men quake with fear, but as the fierce-eyed warrior with uplifted sword was bearing down upon them they heard another man galloping up and shouting, “Do not behave so disgracefully!”

The newcomer was Kuan Yü and his appearance relieved the unhappy men of all fear.

“Why do you stop them since our brother set them free?” cried he.

“If they are let go to-day they will surely come back,” cried Fei.

“Wait till they do, then you may kill them,” replied Kuan Yü.

The two leaders with one voice cried, “Even if the Minister slay our whole clan we will never come again. We pray you pardon us.”

Said Fei, “If Ts‘ao Ts‘ao himself had come I would have slain him. Not a breastplate should have gone back. But for this time I leave you your heads.”

Clapping their hands to their heads the two men scuttled off while the two brothers returned to the city.

“Ts‘ao Ts‘ao will certainly come,” they said.

Sun Ch‘ien said, “This is not a city that can hold out for long. We should send part of our forces to Hsiaop‘ei and guard P‘eich‘êng as a corner stone of our position.”

Yüan-tê agreed and told off his brothers to guard P‘eich‘êng whither he also sent his two wives, the Ladies Kan and Mi. The former was a native of the place; the latter was Mi Chu’s sister.

Four captains were left to defend Hsüchou and Yüan-tê with Chang Fei went to Hsiaop‘ei.

The two released leaders hastened home to Ts‘ao Ts‘ao and explained to him that Liu Pei was not disaffected. But their master was exceeding angry with them, crying “You shameful traitors, what use are you?”

He roared to the lictors to take them away to instant execution.

The fate of the two leaders will be told in the next chapter.