74 The Assembly in Xuchang

The days passed and it was the day for Yun to leave Zhending with his family and troops. It took them another two weeks to arrive at Puyang.

Yun's first move in Puyang was to create a training ground outside the city where it wouldn't disturb the locals from their work on the fields while he and his family were relocated into a smaller manor which was enough for him and his family to live in.

The next move was to make plans to make houses since he couldn't have his people live on the streets until they leave for Xiapi.

But in the end, everything had to wait since Yun and his troops were called to Xuchang by Cao Cao. He still had a week before his army would march against Tao Qian who was governing over the Province of Xu at the moment.

Yun only stayed for a week in Puyang before he left with half of his troops taken with him Tang Shi, Huang Xu, Dian Wei, Taishi Ci, and Zhao Yun with Pang Tong, Sima Yi, and Guo Jia as their strategists leaving the rest behind with Huang Zhong and Zhao Xian being in charge of everything.

"So what do you think we will be doing in Xuchang?" asks Tang Shi riding beside Yun.

"Defend it until Cao Cao returns with his people. It will be quite boring which is why I left Huang Zhong behind to train Fang and Mulan," says Yun as he looked at a map while thinking about where Lu Bu would attack again.

Yun reached Xuchang with his troop while having an uneasy feeling. He saw the vast army of Cao Cao and was a bit impressed by it but the army wasn't well equipped as is his.

Xun Yu took the lead as he guided Yun, Pang Tong, and Tang Shi towards the Cao residence. There Yun was in a grand hall in which all of Cao Cao's generals were standing in two lines with the important ones being the nearest to Cao Cao with only one man standing beside him.

It was a giant man almost the same size as Dian Wei. He was a bit stockier than Dian Wei as well but Yun saw a giant club beside the man which made Yun jump to only one man which is Xu Zhu.

Yun looked at the other generals standing in line recognizing some of them such as Yue Jin, Xiahou Yuan, Yu Jin, and many more as he looked at Xun Yu wanting to know where he was supposed to stand since he was only a mercenary in Cao Cao's army.

"Yun come forward and stand between Cao Ren and Li Qian. You and Li Qian will be defending the Yan Province until I return," says Cao Cao telling him where he should stand while pointing between Cao Ren and Li Qian.

Yun walks with Tang Shi towards Cao Ren and stands between him and Li Qian while Tang Shi was standing some steps behind Yun. Xun Yu approaches Cao Cao as he and Xu Zhu seemed to be allowed to be near Cao Cao while they are assembled like this.

"Now then since everyone is now here, we can begin our this assembly," says Cao Cao as he hands to Xun Yu a list.

Xun Yu takes the list and walks forward when he says, "The people which will be defending the Province in our Lord's absence will be General Zhao Yun and General Li Qian. The rest will be joining our Lord to attack Tao Qian to exact vengeance for what happened last year to our Lord's parents."

Yun was still thinking about where it was that Lu Bu would begin his invasion of the Yan Province as he looked at Cao Ren who seemed to be a bit older than him.

Yun began to think and remembered that Cao Ren was in reality two years younger than him since he should have been born the same year as Hua.

'Cap Ren must have a tough time if he looks older than he really is,' thinks Yun looking at Cao Ren who has medium-long black hair and a well-kept beard.

He was a bit stockier than Xiahou Dun making Yun remember that Cao Ren was nicknamed the Walking Fortress in the future by his comrades and enemies alike. Yun now knew at least one reason why he was called like that.

"I hope that General Zhao and General Li get to know each other well while the rest will be at the front," says Cao Cao looking at Yun and Li Qian.

"Of course," say both at the same time as Yun looked at Li Qian who was an old man around the same age as his father.

He looked at Li Qian finding two men one the same age as his and the other at least ten years younger which made Yun quite suspicious. The assembly went on as Xun Yu was telling everyone their role in the Campaign to conquer the Province of Xu.

Yun was still thinking about where Lu Bu would begin his attack as the assembly ended and Li Qian says, "It seems you are deep in thoughts. Is it bothering you that you aren't going to join the others?"

Yun wakes up from his thoughts and looks at Li Qian and says, "No, I was thinking about the possibilities of being attacked by an unknown enemy once it is only us two defending the territory of our Lord."

"It seems that you at least know how to do your job," says Li Qian hinting at some of the other Generals who didn't believe in that possibility to happen because Cao Cao is a strong force besides Yuan Shao in the North.

"You need to know your enemy before he even can attack you so you can prevent his attack in the first place. That is why Yuan Shao never dared to attack Zhending while I was guarding it. He must have entered the city by now," says Yun as he looked at Li Qian.

Soon the other Generals walked towards him wanting to know him better since they only heard rumors of Yun until now. They had a demon in mind since Xiahou Dun told them that Yun lived surrounded by Tigers.

"Is it true that you hold Tigers as pets?" asks Cao Ren as Yun smiles.

"It is true. I have over twenty Tigers running around at home. We even got some kittens from the last litter our two Alphas had," says Yun as many were surprised when Yun says, "My youngest can get enough from the Tigers as he always plays with the strongest and largest of them all."

The people were shocked to hear that when Li Qian asks, "Aren't you afraid that the Tiger eats your child?"

"They are all tamed and wouldn't attack a person except they asked for it if not ask Xun Yu. He had to live with them for a month now. They might roar at you once or twice to get your attention but they are mostly playful," says Yun sounding like he was joking while Tang Shi was sweating a bit since he knew how much people can suffer mentally from the first encounter with a Tiger.

"But maybe you should introduce me to your follower," says Li Qian since he will be working hand in hand with Yun and his men.

"This is Tang Shi, he is my right-hand and second-in-command over my army. He is one of my first ten loyal men that followed me into the Lion's Den to get the head of Zhang Jiao and Zhang Liang," says Yun presenting Tang Shi to the others as Tang Shi gives a slight bow to them to show his respect.

"And those two are?" asks Yun as he points at the two men behind Li Qian.

"This is my son, Li Zheng," says Li Qian presenting his son first before he brings the young man forward and says, "And this is my nephew, Li Dian. He has proven himself lately which made me promote him a bit in the army."

They bowed towards Yun as Yun only smiled at them before saying, "The youngsters are going to replace us sooner or later. It is good that you are already roping him in as my father did with me."

Li Qian began to laugh as he says, "You aren't that old yourself. But I hope that those two at least become half as competent as you if you ask me."

"I know that feeling. I always look at my twins and hope that they become better than I am," says Yun in a warm tone while smiling.

"I know what you mean. My sons are trying to follow me around everywhere," says Xiahou Yuan as Yun could bow take a closer look at him.

Xiahou Yuan was quite normal with short black hair and a medium-long well-kept beard which covered only partly his throat. He has strong black eyes which show his determination.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," says Yun as he wasn't the youngest any longer.

He was reaching his thirties in two years making him not really the youngest any longer compared to some other people around him.

"Anyway, I should return to my troops and make sure that they don't cause any trouble," says Yun as he leaves the group when Li Qian joins him with his son and nephew.

"It will be nice to see the Deathseeking Army," says Li Qian excited since he heard that Yun only lost less than five thousand men so far because his men are trained to be soldiers while having a second occupation for when they are not needed to fight in a war.

"You will like what you will see," says Yun with confidence as they walked beside each other while the others followed wanting to see them as well.

They leave the Cao Residence and walk for a while finding themselves outside of the city seeing Yun's men already setting up the camp as the aura they were giving off was different compared to the aura their men gave off.