Page:Romance of the Three Kingdoms - tr. Brewitt-Taylor - Volume 1.djvu/297

 Their master was angry and railed at Pei. “The long-eared rebel! How dare he do such a thing?”

Soon Yüan-tê appeared; again Shao ordered him out to instant execution.

“What crime have I committed?” asked Yüan-tê.

“You sent your brother to slay one of my generals. Is that no crime?”

“Pray let me explain before I die. Ts‘ao hated me and has always done so. Now he has found out where I am and, fearing that I may help you, has got my brother to destroy your two generals, feeling sure that when you heard of it you would be angry and put me to death. You cannot fail to see this.”

“What he says is sense,” said Shao, “and you two nearly brought on me the reproach of injuring the good.”

He ordered his attendants to retire and asked Yüan-tê to come and sit by him. Yüan-tê came saying, “I am deeply thankful, Illustrious Sir, for your great kindness, for which I can never be sufficiently grateful. Now I desire to send some confidential messenger with a secret letter to my brother to tell him where I am, and I am sure he will come without a moment’s delay. He will help you to destroy Ts‘ao Ts‘ao to make up for having destroyed your two officers. Do you approve of this?”

“If I got Yün-ch‘ang he would be ten times better than the two men I have lost,” replied Shao.

So Yüan-tê prepared a letter. But there was no one to take it. Yüan Shao ordered the army to withdraw to Wu-yang, where they made a large camp. For some time nothing was done.

Then Tsʻao Ts‘ao sent Hsiahou Tun to defend the strategical point at Kuantu while he led the bulk of the army back to the capital. There he gave many banquets in honour of the services of Kuan Yü and then he told Lü Ch‘ien that putting the supplies in the front of the army had been meant as a bait to draw the enemy to destruction. “Only Hsün Yu understood that,” said he in conclusion.

Every one present praised his ingenuity. Even while the banquet was proceeding there arrived news of a rising of Yellow Turban rebels at Junan. They were very strong and Ts‘ao Hung had been defeated in several engagements. Now he begged for help.

Kuan Yü, hearing this said, “I should like to have the opportunity of performing some service by destroying these rebels.”

“You have already rendered noble services for which you have not been properly requited. I could hardly trouble you again,” said Ts‘ao.

“I have been idle too long; I shall get ill,” said Kuan Yü.