Chapter 554: Seized

Bai Lang rode a teal pheasant horse, breaking through CaoCao's massive formation; he did not swing his long spear wildly, merely using the spear fitted with a sheath as a club to sweep the enemy aside, yet his charge still left CaoCao's troops in utter disorder. Bai Lang led his cavalry straight into Ye City. Some shouted to block him; Bai Lang gave a shake, tossed off the sheath, and with a single thrust ended that man's life. Once his killing intent flared, Bai Lang showed no mercy, cutting a bloody path through the chaotic CaoCao forces and the arriving Yuan troops.

Bai Lang advanced in a swaggering manner, which bought Shen Pei some time; he quickly organized his troops to block CaoCao at the western city gate where Bai Lang had just passed. Bai Lang never looked back, regardless of whether CaoCao could capture Ye City. In fact, Ye City was bound to fall—just look at the Zhang River flooding it, the city could not be defended. Bai Lang rode his cavalry across the main streets, easily slaying any soldiers who dared to stand in his way.

Bai Lang was heading for Yuan Shao's manor; his martial prowess was unmatched, so he entered the hall and saw two women. "Yuan Shao's wife Lady Liu, and who is the other?" Bai Lang asked knowingly. Given Bai Lang's current authority and his tall, imposing appearance, even Lady Liu would not dare to speak, so he answered honestly: "This is the wife of Yuan Xi, Lady Zhen. Since Xi was dispatched to Youzhou, Lady Zhen refused to travel far, so she stayed here."

Bai Lang ordered the woman to lift her head; she was indeed a stunning beauty in her twenties. Bai Lang stroked his bristling tiger whiskers and laughed, "I came to Ji Province this time for your beauty; Cao Mengde, you have no excuse now, hahahaha!" He directly took Lady Zhen onto his horse, placed a few cavalrymen to guard her, and flipped onto his own mount, shouting, "Let's go! Let old Cao have this Ye City." He thought that Cao Ang was still alive, heard that Lu Ying had a son, and that Cao Pi would at most become a king, so whether Emperor Ming of Wei existed later was irrelevant.

Bai Lang left the gate, taking a different exit. Naturally, some of CaoCao's troops tried to intercept the soldiers rushing out of the city, but upon seeing Bai Lang's white tiger banner, they fled in all directions, daring not to block him. Bai Lang did not say farewell to CaoCao; having witnessed CaoCao flood the city twice, he no longer felt any goodwill toward him, and he could guess that CaoCao's face would be green with anger; had CaoCao known what Bai Lang had done, he would surely have erupted in fury.

Seizing old Cao's women—if it were a woman Cao had already taken, it would be fine, but a beauty Cao had never taken would surely make him furious. In the matter of taking wives, Bai Lang and CaoCao are birds of a feather, but Bai Lang is better at actually obtaining them. This time Bai Lang was satisfied and rode his cavalry, though not very fast, because Lady Zhen could not endure a forced march of eight hundred li per day, day and night.

Bai Lang returned to Bingzhou; another person had joined his household, and he was even happier. He spent his days thinking that he should quickly bring Liu Xuande over, so he could dump all affairs onto Liu Xuande and have him serve as the Governor of Bingzhou.

Xu You rode forward, brandishing his whip at the city gate, and shouted to CaoCao, "Aman, you cannot have me, how can you enter this gate?" CaoCao laughed loudly. The other generals heard this and felt aggrieved. CaoCao arrived at Yuan Shao's manor and asked, "Who has entered this gate before?" The guard answered, "Bai Bingzhou took Lady Zhen inside." CaoCao indeed became enraged, "What a White Jade Pillar! I intended to take Lady Zhen for my old age's pleasure! He acted faster! I have never heard of such lechery! Truly unfilial!"

CaoCao bestowed gold, silk, grain and rice upon Yuan Shao's wife Lady Liu and issued an edict: "Residents of Hebei, spared from the calamity of war, are exempt from this year's taxes." He submitted a memorial to the court and took the governorship of Jizhou. However, Jizhou's Wei Commandery had already fallen into Bai Lang's hands, and CaoCao appointed Cao Ang as General of the Central Army, Five Offices. Since CaoCao had secured Jizhou, he naturally turned his sights to Yuan Tan of Qingzhou; Yuan Tan, courting death, also tried to strike at CaoCao's Jizhou first, so CaoCao raised troops to attack Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan sought aid from Liu Biao, who asked Xuande what to do. Xuande said, "Now CaoCao has broken Jizhou; his forces are strong, and the Yuan brothers will soon be captured by CaoCao, so rescuing them is futile; moreover, CaoCao constantly eyes Jingxiang, I only raise troops for defense and cannot act rashly." While he spoke, a messenger arrived, claiming to seek Liu Xuande. Liu Xuande recognized him as a knight under Governor of Bingzhou Bai Lang and immediately inquired about the situation.

Thus Liu Biao also saw Liu Xuande's strange expression… "Bai Bingzhou actually wants to hand over Bingzhou to me… I, Liu Biao, am willing to become Governor of Bingzhou." Liu Xuande was baffled, but Liu Biao praised him, "Bai Bingzhou has the air of a wandering hero." Liu Xuande finally only shook his head, "Even if Bai Bingzhou wishes to entrust Bingzhou to Bei, Bei lacks the talent to claim it."

So Liu Xuande wrote a thank‑you letter for the other party to take back; he himself would not go to Bingzhou.

CaoCao fought Yuan Tan; in the winter of the ninth year of the Jian'an era, Yuan Tan was defeated and killed. CaoCao immediately took control of the whole of Qingzhou. From then on, CaoCao held Yanzhou, Xuzhou, Jizhou and Qingzhou, becoming the foremost power in the north. CaoCao attacked Youzhou; Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi had no recourse, and someone suggested seeking aid from Governor of Bingzhou Bai Lang, which would make Yuan Xi's face look very bad. Yet Yuan Shang, desperate and erratic, actually sent envoys to request aid from Bai Lang, saying, "CaoCao claims to be a Han minister but is truly a Han bandit…" Such words from the young masters Yuan lacked any persuasive power.

However, after receiving the letter, Bai Lang indeed never dispatched troops to rescue.

Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi abandoned Youzhou and fled directly to Liaodong; CaoCao seized all of Youzhou, and it was already the tenth year of the Jian'an era. Bai Lang once again sent troops against the Hu, this time targeting Wu Heng. Bai Lang led three thousand light cavalry across the desert, lost over a thousand riders en route, and when he reached White Wolf Mountain he had only eighteen hundred elite cavalry left, exhausted and burdened, exclaiming, "What a blessed land! Bai Lang has arrived at White Wolf Mountain; here we shall crush the enemy!" He shouted, and at that moment roaming riders reported that tens of thousands of Wu Heng cavalry were gathering ahead.

Bai Lang urged his horse forward, drew a folding iron sword from a rider, wielded a long spear in his right hand and a long sword in his left, while the cavalry behind mustered courage, shouting wildly to follow their general. Bai Lang crossed the hills, faced an endless sea of Wu Heng cavalry, let out a terrifying laugh, and his terrifying fighting spirit erupted into a white tiger, charging straight into the Wu Heng troops. The cavalry behind him also ignited their own fighting spirit, following Bai Lang into the fray, though many were shot down to the ground.

Bai Lang brandished his long spear and long sword like a soaring eagle, each beat of his wings raising endless flesh and blood, taking dozens of lives. He surged forward, his horse encountering no organized opposition, only creating a flood of shattered corpses. His cavalry shouted in fierce battle, like a sudden snowstorm scattering the Wu Heng cavalry before them. Some Wu Heng warriors tried to block Bai Lang's charge, but countless died, each becoming a corpse before Bai Lang.

The defeated troops surged straight into the other Wu Heng cavalry formations, like rolling back a pearl curtain...