Ji Han Liu Zhang

Qu Yi, a native of Xiping County in Liangzhou, spent his early years in Liangzhou, living together with the Qiang people. He learned the Qiang people's methods of attack and warfare through what he heard and saw, and at the same time he was inevitably influenced by the Qiang and Hu people's habits and style.

Just like now, Qu Yi bluntly asked Liu Bei, who had failed to stop Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu from entering Hedong, "General Liu, you are also an old fighter. You failed to stop a group of defeated soldiers and let Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu sneak into Hedong, which resulted in the failure of this battle."

After saying this, Qu Yi's tone became increasingly hostile, his expression became frivolous, and his attitude became condescending. He did not take the hero Liu Bei seriously.

It is not surprising that Qu Yi did so. After all, he had recommended himself to Yuan Shao and requested him to attack Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu, and he had guaranteed that he would deliver the heads of Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu to Yecheng.

However, Qu Yi fought several hard battles in Taihang Mountains, forcing Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu who were hiding there into a desperate situation. When he was about to completely annihilate Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu, Liu Bei, who was blocking Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu's way to Hedong, failed to achieve his goal. How could Qu Yi have a good face for Liu Bei?

In the tent, the participants included Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Zhang He, Gao Lan and other generals.

Zhang He and Gao Lan were not surprised by Qu Yi's attitude. After all, they had been with Qu Yi for a long time and knew Qu Yi's temper. He always said what he meant and said it without regard for the occasion or the dignity of others.

"The barbarians from Liang Province have no manners and no dignity!" Zhang He and Gao Lan looked at each other, looked away and shook their heads slightly, and cursed Qu Yi in their hearts.

Liu Bei was a man who never showed his emotions. When he heard Qu Yi's harsh words, his expression remained calm, as if he was neither angry nor annoyed. He just cupped his hands and said, "Zhang Yan has been in Taihang for a long time and is familiar with the geography and people. I was caught off guard and he escaped. I hope General Qu will forgive me."

Liu Bei spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly. He neither tried to defend himself nor protested. He made his attitude clear in just a few words.

Qu Yi raised his eyebrows, looking particularly arrogant. In his opinion, Liu Bei's words were just excuses, and his request for forgiveness did not contain much sincerity.

However, since Liu Bei had already apologized, it was not easy for Qu Yi to pursue the matter further. After all, what had been done was done. It was difficult to capture and kill Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu since they had entered Hedong, so there was no point in blaming Liu Bei any further.

However, when Qu Yi moved his eyebrows and saw Zhang Fei beside Liu Bei, he saw Zhang Fei leaning forward slightly, his eyes wide open, staring at him straight, as if he only needed Liu Bei's call to pounce on Qu Yi and kill him.

"Why are you glaring at me?" Qu Yi found an excuse and continued to vent his resentment. He pointed his finger at Zhang Fei who was staring at him and threw out a question.

It would have been better if Qu Yi didn't ask. After this question, Zhang Fei's eyes widened even wider. He secretly clenched his teeth, clenched his fists tightly, and looked ferocious, but did not respond to Qu Yi's words.

Liu Bei stretched out his hand and placed it in front of Zhang Fei, signaling Zhang Fei to suppress his anger, and then took over Qu Yi's words and said: "General Qu, please don't blame me. My brother was born with big eyes, but they are not staring."

"Humph." Qu Yi snorted, showing disdain for Liu Bei's lies. How could he not see that Liu Bei was just staring at him? Zhang He saw that the atmosphere in the tent was a little tense. In order to prevent any accidents, he stood up and said something auspicious: "General Qu, Envoy Liu, no matter what happens this time, Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu were defeated by us. Although the two thieves have fled to Hedong, we have not been able to behead them to punish them according to the law."

"But once Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu are gone, Changshan, Shangdang and other counties can finally enjoy peace. Our first priority now is to report to the general and show our military achievements."

"What Junyi said is true." Gao Lan, who had a good relationship with Zhang He, stood up with a smile on his face. "We have worked hard in this cold winter, and we have made some achievements. It is not that we have no merits to show for it."

"Besides, your order was to wipe out the Black Mountain bandits in Pingchang Mountain and Shangdang. Although the bandit leaders Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu escaped, they are still worthless and have no great value."

"Speaking of which, General Qu Yi should be credited with the greatest achievement in defeating Black Mountain this time." Zhang He did not give Qu Yi the opportunity to continue to attack Liu Bei. He boasted about Qu Yi's military achievements: "In the previous battles with the Black Mountain bandits, General Qu Yi was always the first to attack, breaking up the bandits' formations and defeating their enemies. This time, I think General Qu Yi should be credited with the greatest achievement."

"What Junyi said is very much in line with my opinion." Gao Lan responded, pointing at Qu Yi and saying, "If General Qu is not ranked first in the commendation this time, I'm afraid everyone in the army will be dissatisfied."

Zhang He and Gao Lan sang together, which made Qu Yi, who had originally looked unhappy, suddenly smile. Facing the praise from Zhang He and Gao Lan, Qu Yi did not refuse or be modest, he just happily accepted it.

"My contribution is obvious to all in the army. Without me, how could we have easily defeated the Black Mountain bandits this time? How could we have conquered Changshan, Shangdang and other counties by the end of the year and let the general have a good year?"

Qu Yi spoke these complacent words with an extremely arrogant look on his face. There was no word "modest" in his dictionary. There was only frankness and bluntness, as well as the arrogance and pride brought about by his superior martial arts.

"That's right, that's right." As if they were coaxing a child, Zhang He and Gao Lan flattered Qu Yi. To be honest, although they were not very fond of Qu Yi's arrogant and arrogance, and even disliked him, they were impressed by Qu Yi's martial arts and ability to lead troops and fight.

In addition, as a great hero in the Battle of Jieqiao, Qu Yi's military exploits and abilities were the best under Yuan Shao, and Zhang Gao and the others recognized this. This was because if the Battle of Jieqiao had been a failure, Yuan Shao would have found it difficult to settle down in Jizhou. Without Qu Yi, there would be no Yuan Shao's glory today.

Therefore, although Qu Yi had a bad temper and spoke bluntly, which often offended people, the generals under Yuan Shao rarely had open conflicts with Qu Yi. Most of the time, they used kind words to appease Qu Yi's bad temper and avoid direct conflicts with Qu Yi.

With the advice of Zhang He and Gao Lan, the tense atmosphere in the tent was eased. Those who participated in the expedition against Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu agreed that Qu Yi would be ranked first in the merit book, and the others would be ranked in order of their merits, thus ending the post-war meeting happily.

Qu Yi won the first place, and he got up and left happily, muttering an unknown cheerful tune. It did not sound like Chinese, but rather like the accent of Qiang and Hu people.

Behind Qu Yi, Liu Bei also stood up and prepared to leave the meeting tent. Zhang Fei, who was beside him, received Liu Bei's signal and had been suppressing his anger. At this moment, he angrily bid farewell to Qu Yi. (End of this chapter)