Chapter 147 Meeting a Mighty General

Fang Nian surveyed the surroundings and found that the weakest point of defense was near the courtyard wall at the back of the house. Perhaps because there was no gate there and a small river ran alongside the wall, only three guards were stationed there.

Determined to infiltrate from this spot, Fang Nian motioned for Zhou Cang to sneak over with him. Taking cover beneath the shade of the trees and pretending to be casual villagers out for a stroll, they instantly knocked out all three soldiers in one fell swoop.

After dealing with the guards, Fang Nian stood by the small river, wondering how to cross it. Suddenly, Zhou Cang stepped forward, scooped Fang Nian up in his arms, and hurled him forward. Fang Nian sailed right across the narrow river and slammed directly into the wall like a gecko.

Fang Nian was left speechless. Zhou Cang truly was a muscle-bound oaf; just like that, he had simply tossed him across? It was far too crude and violent, yet somehow, Fang Nian didn't hate it...

After throwing Fang Nian, Zhou Cang prepared to wade across the river himself, but Fang Nian stopped him.

"You don't need to cross. Just stay hidden back there and provide backup."

Though looking somewhat uneasy at these words, Zhou Cang nodded in compliance.

"Alright, I'll wait for you right behind this tree. If you go in and don't come out within half an hour, I'm charging in."

Fang Nian nodded, then vaulted over the wall and into the courtyard.

The courtyard was quite small and unguarded. Slipping through a gap by the window, Fang Nian entered the house.

However, the exact moment Fang Nian vaulted inside, an awkward scene unfolded. He had expected to slip into the room unseen and unheard.

Instead, the second he stepped foot inside, he came face-to-face with a luxuriously dressed woman possessing a vintage and ravishing beauty. At that moment, she was carrying a steaming bowl of medicine from the kitchen toward the room, running straight into Fang Nian, who was kneeling on one knee like a secret agent infiltrating a secure chamber.

The two of them stared at each other in silence. Not a sound escaped their lips, nor did anyone shriek in alarm—it was bizarrely harmonious.

Fang Nian offered the woman an awkward smile.

"Uhm... hello."

The woman froze, failing to catch the meaning of Fang Nian's words, but she nodded in acknowledgment anyway.

At that moment, Jia Xu suddenly emerged from the room, his face registering utter astonishment upon seeing Fang Nian.

"Benefactor? Why are you here?"

Fang Nian was dumbfounded too. This seemed entirely different from the scenario playing out in his mind—wasn't Jia Xu supposed to be threatened by this woman? Why did they look like members of the same family?

When the woman heard Jia Xu address him thus, the look in her eyes toward Fang Nian shifted, and she bowed to him.

"Are you the one who cured my foster mother's illness?"

Fang Nian was completely bewildered. What on earth was going on here? Following the normal storyline, Jia Xu had no business appearing in some remote, mountainous backwater in the north, nor should he have fallen into such destitute circumstances.

While Fang Nian could accept those anomalies, what was this about a foster daughter? Since when did Jia Xu acquire a foster daughter?

The whole affair left Fang Nian's head spinning. The background setting of this world was truly beyond his comprehension.

Still, since the young woman had greeted him, Fang Nian could not put on airs. He turned and returned the bow courteously.

"A mere trifle, a mere trifle. The young lady needn't worry about it."

Hearing this, the woman opened her mouth as if to speak, but the sentry general surnamed Zhang suddenly burst through the door, spear in hand. Seeing that an intruder had somehow snuck in, he bellowed in rage.

"Rascal, how did you get in here?"

Without missing a beat, he lunged forward with his blade to hack him down.

Fang Nian was rendered utterly speechless. Why were ancients so obsessed with violence? Couldn't they just sit down and talk things out calmly? Since the opponent clearly had no such intentions, Fang Nian could not simply stand still and await execution. He snatched up a nearby fire-poker and engaged the general surnamed Zhang in combat. They traded over twenty blows, nearly tearing the house down in the process.

Throughout the skirmish, Jia Xu and the woman shouted from the sidelines for them to stop, but the general surnamed Zhang acted as though he were deaf. He desperately sought to pierce Fang Nian's defense, yet failed time and again to knock the fire-poker from his grasp.

General Zhang was immensely startled. In this turbulent era, very few people could fight him to a standstill without losing the upper hand. Moreover, he noticed that Fang Nian appeared remarkably relaxed while parrying his attacks, which only fueled General Zhang's competitive fire and made him strike with even greater force.

Fang Nian was truly at his wit's end. Fighting was troublesome, yet refusing to fight was impossible; the combat prowess of this fellow before him was simply too formidable. Even if Fang Nian exerted every ounce of his strength, victory was far from guaranteed.

Seeing that the warrior was utterly incapable of reigning in his temper, the woman finally snapped with fury, turning to General Zhang and snapping:

"If you don't stop right now, get your ass back to Xuchang!"

"Clang, clang, clang..."

At the sound of that stern roar, General Zhang's hands finally went limp, allowing Fang Nian to easily bat his long saber aside.

Everything finally quieted down. The woman then informed General Zhang that Fang Nian was the very man who had saved Jia Xu's wife. Hearing this, General Zhang's face flushed with remorse as he hastily offered his apologies to Fang Nian.

"Benefactor, my apologies. Wenyuan pays his respects and offers his deepest apologies to you."

Naturally, Fang Nian did not take it to heart; after all, disputes often paved the way to friendship. Besides, this fellow's combat skills... wait...

"Did you say your name is Wenyuan?"

General Zhang froze for a moment before replying.

"Yes, Benefactor. I stand by my name: Zhang Liao, style name Wenyuan, a general under Lord Cao."

Upon hearing this, Fang Nian almost burst out laughing. He truly never expected that Zhang Liao would also end up in this forsaken place, and even appear right before him. This was...

One had to admit, this Zhang Liao was a fierce and formidable figure. Whether in *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* or *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, Zhang Liao maintained an illustrious reputation. Fang Nian cast his mind back to recall the image of Zhang Liao from his own world.

Zhang Liao, styled Wenyuan, was a native of Mayi in Yanmen. A renowned general of the Cao Wei state during the late Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms period, he was a descendant of Nie Yi.

Initially, he served as an official in Yanmen Commandery, subsequently following Ding Yuan, He Jin, Dong Zhou, and Lü Bu in succession, fulfilling his duties faithfully through numerous hardships.

Following Lü Bu's defeat and demise, Zhang Liao pledged allegiance to Cao Cao, thereafter earning a multitude of illustrious military achievements. He insightfully gauged enemy situations to persuade Chang Xi to surrender. He attacked the Yuan clan and campaigned across Hebei. At the Battle of White Wolf Mountain, he led the vanguard to crush the Wuhuans and slay their Chanyu, Tadu. He expelled the Liaodong general Liu Yi. He used a defensive posture to pacify mutinies within the army. He courageously breached Mount Tiantun to annihilate Chen Lan and Mei Cheng. Following these campaigns, he was stationed at Hefei for a prolonged period.

In the twentieth year of Jian'an, at the Battle of Hefei, Zhang Liao led eight hundred soldiers to charge an army of one hundred thousand from Eastern Wu, fighting all the way to Sun Quan's main command banner, throwing the Wu forces into disarray and striking terror into their hearts.

Later, he led pursuing forces to heavily defeat Sun Quan, Gan Ning, Ling Tong, and others, nearly capturing Sun Quan alive. Through this single battle, Zhang Liao's might shook Jiangdong, and the tale of "Zhang Liao stops crying" became an eternal legend.

In the first year of Huangchu, Zhang Liao was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Jinyang. Even after falling ill, his mere presence struck great dread into Sun Quan. In the third year of Huangchu, despite his illness, Zhang Liao defeated the Wu general Lü Fan, passing away in Jiangdu later that same year with the posthumous title of Marquis Gang. Zhang Liao has been revered through the ages, recognized as one of the sixty-four supreme military commanders of history.