: Two Heroes!

(As requested by readers in the group, an extra chapter is added today...)

The next day, Jiang Zhe was yawning when Xiu'er shook him awake. He glanced at her groggily and said helplessly, "Xiu'er...please...let your husband sleep a little longer...yesterday, that old man...ah!"

Xiu'er pinched Jiang Zhe's waist and said reproachfully, "Husband!"

"Good, good, good! It's Uncle!" Jiang Zhe gave Xiu'er a strange look, wondering where she learned this trick from.

"Get up quickly, my husband. If you don't get up... then let me get up first..."

"No!" Jiang Zhe hugged Xiu'er even tighter.

"My lord..." Xiu'er called out sweetly, "We agreed to go and pay respects to my parents today, could it be that my lord..."

Seeing Xiu'er pout, Jiang Zhe said ingratiatingly, "How could that be! But..." He grinned mischievously, "I'll get up if you want, but only if you kiss me!"

"That bastard! Didn't he bully me enough yesterday?" Xiu'er bit her lip and slowly kissed Jiang Zhe on the cheek.

"No!" Jiang Zhe pointed to his lips, "Here..."

"I'm angry..."

"I'll get up, I'll get up..." Jiang Zhe got up, embarrassed, and started to get dressed.

"Giggle..." Xiu'er chuckled softly, stood up, cupped Jiang Zhe's face in her hands, kissed the corner of his mouth, and said shyly, "My husband is so naughty, always embarrassing Xiu'er..."

"Nonsense!" Jiang Zhe said happily, "I love Xiu'er too much to ask!" He then gave Xiu'er a deep kiss on the lips, chuckled, and got off the bed.

Love… Xiuer touched the spot Jiang Zhe had kissed, feeling both shy and happy.

Xiuer is so fortunate... to have such a husband...

"Get up, get up!" Jiang Zhe pounded fiercely on Tao Ying's door.

"What's the rush!" Tao Ying's lazy voice came from inside. "What's wrong, Shouyi? Did you get a lecture until late last night?"

"..." Jiang Zhe pointed at Tao Ying, "How did you know?"

"We thought Wang Yun was going to cause trouble!" Fang Yue's voice came from behind. "But after seeing the situation, we realized that you were safe, so we went back to sleep."

So I had two bodyguards with me yesterday? Jiang Zhe blinked. What a pity. I was always afraid that the old man would suddenly turn on me and make me go back to school. Damn it!

After studying for over a decade, I haven't even had a chance to rest for long before I have to start studying again? Poor Xiuer, she even said she'd push herself... How tragic...

"General Tao... General Fang..." Xiu'er came over.

"We wouldn't dare! Madam Jiang!" the two said. Even without mentioning that Xiu'er was Jiang Zhe's wife, just the fact that she was facing a woman whose martial arts skills seemed to be superior to their own made them feel the same way Chen Deng did when he saw Jiang Zhe.

"I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you two again today," Xiu'er said with a light laugh. "My uncle said that although there are few rebels in the area, the security doesn't seem to be very good..."

"We will certainly do our utmost!"

"I'll go prepare some things first..." With a nod, Xiu'er immediately left.

"Tsk tsk tsk!" As soon as Xiu'er left, Tao Ying put his arm around Jiang Zhe's shoulder and said, "Shouyi, your wife is truly... tsk tsk, a rare find indeed. If I could have a wife like that, I'd be willing to give up ten years of my life!"

"Alright, alright!" Jiang Zhe had already heard about Tao Ying's "notorious misdeeds" from Chen Deng, and said with a glance, "Then why don't you go find one? So that Lord Tao can hold his grandson soon."

"That old man back home?" Tao Ying sneered. "If I had a son, I'd rather die than let him hold me! I've suffered enough myself, why should my son suffer too?"

Jiang Zhe was speechless. "Let's go, let's go."

"Wait!" Tao Ying hurriedly called out to Jiang Zhe.

"What is it?"

Tao Ying straightened his clothes, checked the waist knife on his back to make sure it was securely placed, then his expression changed, and he said in a deep voice, "Sir, please!"

"..." Jiang Zhe glanced at Tao Ying, then walked away on his own.

"What are you doing?" Fang Yue asked curiously.

"Sigh, don't you even understand this?" Tao Ying said as he followed Jiang Zhe, "We are now guards, and we should naturally have the demeanor of guards!"

"……oh."

Xiu'er's parents were buried not far outside Luoyang City. Jiang Zhe listened to Xiu'er's request, so the group went there on foot instead of taking a carriage.

Seeing Xiu'er looking around at the buildings of Luoyang, Jiang Zhe's heart sank, and he said, "Xiu'er, are you remembering those painful memories?"

Xiuer shook her head, chuckled softly, and said, "Now that I have you as my husband, how could I be saddened by the past? It's just that when I left here... Luoyang had changed a lot... it seemed somewhat dilapidated..."

Jiang Zhe took Xiu'er's hand and said, "Everything in its entirety will inevitably be lacking, everything at its extreme will inevitably reverse, and everything that is full will inevitably diminish. This has always been the case throughout history... So why should Xiu'er be sad?"

"Brother, what you're saying is rather disrespectful..." A soft laugh came from behind.

"Huh?" Jiang Zhe was taken aback. He turned around and saw two young men who looked extraordinary.

He was handsome, tall, and had a sword at his waist; he was truly a man of exceptional talent.

The other person was shorter in stature but also had an extraordinary appearance, with a mocking smile on his face. This was the one who spoke.

Seeing Jiang Zhe turn around, the young man who had spoken immediately smiled and said, "It was just a joke, please don't take it to heart, sir."

"No, you are...?"

"So-and-so? My surname is Cao, my given name is Cao Cao, and my courtesy name is Mengde!"

Cao Mengde… Jiang Zhe’s eyes widened.

"This is Cao Cao's good friend..."

"I will introduce him myself! Yuan Shao! His courtesy name is Benchu!"

Yuan Shao… Jiang Zhe swallowed hard. Good heavens… He actually ran into these two, two future overlords of the north?

Seeing Jiang Zhe's stunned expression, Cao Cao didn't take it to heart and laughed, "Sir, you won't exchange names with us. Do you perhaps look down on us?"

"No, no!" Jiang Zhe said to himself, how could I dare to look down on you, Cao Mengde?

"My name is Jiang Zhe, also known as Jiang Shouyi... You may simply call me Shouyi!"

"Shouyi, haha... good calligraphy, good calligraphy!" Cao Cao glanced at Tao Ying and Fang Yue behind Jiang Zhe. Seeing the murderous aura emanating from the two men, he realized they were both brave warriors and immediately thought more highly of Jiang Zhe.

Upon seeing Xiu'er, his eyes lit up immediately, and he thought to himself, "There really is such a woman in the world?"

"Mengde?" Jiang Zhe was a little annoyed that his wife was being stared at so directly by others, not even Cao Cao!

"I apologize for my rudeness!" Cao Cao said apologetically. "This must be your wife..."

"Hmm..." Jiang Zhe simply responded.

Seeing that Jiang Zhe seemed somewhat angry, Cao Cao didn't take it to heart; it was just his own rashness earlier. He cupped his hands and said, "Where is Shouyi now?"

Jiang Zhe pondered for a moment and said, "Let's go out of the city to pay respects to our closest relatives..."

"Oh!" Cao Cao nodded, then smiled and said, "Since you're traveling the same way as us, why don't we go together?"

Seeing that Cao Cao was easier to talk to than the silent Yuan Shao, Jiang Zhe immediately asked, "Mengde, are you also going outside the city?"

"No!" Cao Cao shook his head and laughed, "The Emperor appointed me as the Chancellor of Jinan, and I am going there to take up my post..."

"Oh..." Jiang Zhe suddenly realized that this powerful figure had apparently distinguished himself in the Yellow Turban Rebellion. "Then I congratulate you, Mengde."

"Not at all, not at all, it's all for the sake of the Han Dynasty!"

Huh? Jiang Zhe felt something was off. Why...?

"I have always harbored lofty ambitions, willing to use my blood to sweep away the traitors and restore peace to the Han Dynasty!" After saying this, Cao Cao suddenly became somewhat discouraged, "However, fate is fickle, and now the court..."

"Mengde!" Yuan Shao hissed, "Watch your words!"

"Heh!" Cao Cao chuckled self-deprecatingly and said to Jiang Zhe, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Shouyi."

"...I wouldn't dare."

As they approached the city gate, servants from the Cao family were already waiting there.

Cao Cao clasped his hands in a fist salute and said to Jiang Zhe, "It is truly my great fortune to have made the acquaintance of Shouyi! Farewell!"

"No need to see me off!" Jiang Zhe said, leading the group away.

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao mounted their horses. Yuan Shao rode up to Cao Cao's side and said strangely, "Mengde, could it be that you've been tempted by that woman's beauty?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Cao Cao smiled slightly, recalling Jiang Zhe's eyes, and immediately laughed, "This Jiang Shouyi is very unusual..."

"Oh?" Yuan Shao said with a sneer, "I don't see anything unusual about him! It seems you're the one with ulterior motives!"

"Haha!" Cao Cao spurred his horse forward, shouting, "Leaving Luoyang! From now on, the world is vast! General Who Conquers the West! I, Cao Mengde, have taken it!"

"Tch!" Yuan Shao scoffed. "General Who Conquers the West? I'd rather be one of the Three Dukes! What use is a general!"

"Hahaha……"

"Mengde, wait for me! Let's go!"

.