The aristocratic families submit and surrender, guarding the city while awaiting reinforcements

Hearing Su Ming's words, the leaders of the prominent noble clans finally felt a sense of relief in their hearts.

If you had eight thousand troops, could you hold Ye City for seven months?
There is no need for seven months; seven days will suffice.
After seven days, wouldn't Prime Minister Cao's reinforcements arrive?
Once Prime Minister Cao arrives, he will undoubtedly send Zhang He fleeing in disarray, and perhaps even capture Zhang He alive!

As for where these eight thousand troops would come from?
There is no need for you to perform some magical spell to scatter beans and turn them into soldiers; we will lend them to you.

After putting their heads together and discussing the matter, these powerful noble families realized that every single one of their households maintained private armies.
These private soldiers had all been meticulously selected; every single one of them was a robust, broad-shouldered man between twenty and thirty years of age, standing over seven feet tall.
Their weaponry, equipment, and training were in no way inferior to those of regular soldiers.

The representatives of these prominent clans put their heads together and calculated: your household contributes three hundred private soldiers, my household contributes five hundred, and their household contributes eight hundred.
In the end, they managed to pool a total of five thousand private soldiers.

Aside from these five thousand private troops, the domestic servants, gate guards, menial laborers, shop assistants, and porters from their estates could all go up to the city gates to help out.
Although these people lacked proper military training and could not be deployed as regular soldiers, they could still haul supplies up to the city walls. While drawing bows and shooting arrows might be beyond them, carrying thunderous stones and rolling logs to hurl downwards—such simple tasks were well within their capabilities.

In addition to the five thousand private soldiers, they managed to gather another eight thousand strong, able-bodied laborers.

After conferring among themselves, the representatives of the aristocratic families dispatched an emissary to report to Su Ming.

"General Su, if you are provided with another five thousand elite soldiers, plus eight thousand able-bodied laborers, would you be able to hold Ye City?" the representative of the noble families asked Su Ming.

As soon as this question was posed, the rest of the elite clan members stared eagerly at Su Ming, anxiously awaiting his response.

"I can! Of course I can!"
"As the military maxim goes, surround them with five times their number, and attack them with ten. If I have five thousand elite troops plus eight thousand able-bodied laborers, there is not the slightest possibility that Zhang He's force of fifty thousand can capture Ye City; he would need at least one hundred and fifty thousand troops to even stand a chance." At this point, Su Ming sighed and said, "Alas! What a pity! I do not have so many troops; I only have eight hundred men of the Camp-Breaker."
"What a pity that I do not possess the art of scattering beans to form an army! If I knew the spell to transform beans into soldiers, how wonderful that would be."

Upon receiving a definitive answer from Su Ming, the noble families thought to themselves: *Alright, General Su, you can dispense with scattering beans now.*
*Even if you did scatter beans, wouldn't you still need to prepare tens of thousands of actual beans?*

"General Su, five thousand elite soldiers, plus these eight thousand able-bodied laborers—we will lend them to you!"

"Before nightfall, we will have them delivered to you!" the representative of the noble families declared.

"You?"
"You have troops at your disposal?" Su Ming asked, feigning ignorance.

The leading representative of the noble families replied, "The private armies of our various clans, our household guards and servants, the shop assistants, the laborers, as well as the young scions of all our families—all of them will place themselves under the command of General Su."
"We ask for only one thing: that the General must, by all means, hold Ye City!"

"This..."
"Would that be proper?" Su Ming asked, feigning hesitation.

Seeing Su Ming still lingering and hesitating, the people from the noble families grew frantic. They urged him repeatedly, "General Su, please hesitate no longer."
"This city of Ye is entrusted entirely to you."
"General Su, it is we who are begging you to help us defend the city."
"Should Zhang He break into the city, he will surely subject the entire population to a massacre."

As they spoke, the members of these prominent families dropped to their knees one after another like dumplings falling into boiling water, filling the ground before him.

At this moment, Zhang Liao, Xu Qian, and the others who knew the truth were holding back their laughter, thinking to themselves: *General Su is truly formidable!*
*With just a slight stratagem, he has turned the tables and made these aristocratic families beg him to defend the city.*
*They have willingly offered up all their private armies, bodyguards, and servants.*

Now was the time for Su Ming to showcase his Academy Award-level acting skills.
With eyes brimming with tears and a voice full of emotion, Su Ming proclaimed, "Since you place your trust in me, I, Su Ming, will defend Ye City no matter what!"
"Even if I must die, I will never allow Zhang He to slaughter the city."

With the atmosphere thus elevated, the members of the prominent families began to curse Zhang He bitterly.
"Zhang He is truly a beast, threatening to massacre the city at the drop of a hat."
"That bastard Zhang He is nothing more than a common butcher!"
"General Su is truly a man of noble character!"
"In this age, generals who cherish their soldiers and love the people like General Su are few and far between."

After returning to their respective estates, the heads of these noble families hastily mobilized their people, dispatching the five thousand private soldiers and eight thousand laborers without delay.

Before handing these men over to Su Ming, the leaders of the noble clans had even held a briefing for them.
They told the men that once Ye City fell, Zhang He intended to slaughter the city to vent his personal spleen. Behind them stood their own parents, wives, children, sisters, and brothers.
No matter what, they must not falter on the battlefield; they had to fight fiercely to kill the enemy and hold Ye City.
Furthermore, they were promised generous rewards once Ye City was successfully defended.

With these five thousand private soldiers and eight thousand able-bodied laborers now in hand, the forces at Su Ming's disposal were more than sufficient.
With such a force under his command, he was entirely confident in his ability to hold Ye City.

Meanwhile, Qu Ah was darting through the mountain forests like an agile leopard.
The rugged mountain paths, the tangled vines, and the thorny brush did nothing to impede Qu Ah's speed.
In fact, if one were not paying close attention, they would have mistaken him for a gibbon leaping through the woods rather than a human being.

To prevent the defenders of Ye City from sending for reinforcements from Cao Cao, Zhang He had already dispatched forces to blockade the main roads surrounding Ye City, setting up checkpoints everywhere, alongside patrols of cavalry.
Yet, Zhang He could never have imagined that someone could move through the mountains at such speed, with the agility of a monkey.

Ever since he departed from Ye City, Qu Ah had been scaling mountains and leaping across ridges, pressing onward in the direction of Guandu.
When thirsty, he drank mountain spring water; when hungry, he ate the dry rations he carried with him; when exhausted, he snatched a brief nap on the branch of a tree.
From the moment he left Ye City, Qu Ah had not dared to waste a single moment.

Having put a safe distance between himself and Ye City, Qu Ah approached the edge of the mountain forest flanking the main road, advancing along the boundary where the woods met the highway.
If he traveled directly on the main road, Qu Ah feared falling into one of Zhang He's ambushes. If he traveled deep within the mountains, he feared missing Cao Cao's advancing army.
Therefore, he chose the border between the highway and the forest.
This way, should he encounter an ambush, he could instantly melt back into the mountains, while ensuring he would not miss Cao Cao's main forces.

Crouching low to the ground, Qu Ah heard the rhythmic *thud, thud, thud* of hooves echoing in the distance.
Understanding that a unit of cavalry was about to pass by, Qu Ah swiftly concealed himself behind a large blue boulder at the edge of the forest, poking his head out just enough to carefully observe the road ahead.
Qu Ah needed to see clearly whose troops they were.