Ji Han Liu Zhang

Just as Liu Bei stood up and prepared to leave the meeting tent, Zhang He stopped him. With an apologetic look on his face, he said to Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, "Envoy Liu, General Zhang."

"General Qu is a straightforward person. If you don't listen to him, he's a bit confused. Please don't take his words to heart, Envoy Liu, and don't take it personally."

Gao Lan, who was standing by, also said, "Qu Yi has always been arrogant, and many generals in the army dislike him. However, because he is the general's favorite, few people stand up to him. Envoy Liu, please don't provoke him, and don't pay any attention to him."

After Qu Yi left, Zhang He and Gao Lan spoke to comfort Liu Bei. The two of them were also very respectful to Liu Bei, who had gone 200 miles out of Yecheng to personally welcome Yuan Shao, for his extraordinary demeanor. They also praised Liu Bei's neither humble nor arrogant attitude.

As such, Zhang He and Gao Lan had no scruples and gossiped about Qu Yi behind his back. It could be said that they had long been unhappy with Qu Yi, who was proud of his achievements.

"Thank you both generals for your advice. I have already made up my mind." Liu Bei showed a faint smile and bowed to thank Zhang He and Gao Lan for their heartfelt advice.

After saying this, Liu Bei said goodbye to Zhang He and Gao Lan, took Zhang Fei out of the meeting tent, and returned to the camp set up by his own troops.

"My lord." Zhao Yun, who was guarding the camp, came up to Liu Bei as soon as he saw him. He then asked, "Is there anything unusual in today's meeting?"

Liu Bei shook his head calmly and said, "Today's meeting is just to commend merits. The generals have agreed to give Qu Yi the first place, and the others will be ranked according to their merits."

Liu Bei was calm and did not mention Qu Yi who was furious during the meeting. However, Zhang Fei could not hold back and said, "During the meeting, Qu Yi was proud of his achievements and spoke disrespectfully to you because we failed to stop Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu. He was very rude."

Zhao Yun frowned. He used to work under Gongsun Zan and had dealt with Qu Yi on the battlefield. He also had heard about Qu Yi's character, so he was not surprised by Qu Yi's words, but he felt sorry for Liu Bei.

"I have heard of Qu Yi's character. He has boasted a lot since the battle of Jieqiao. If it weren't for him, Yuan Shao would not have been able to conquer Youyan. Qu Yi is proud of his achievements and has a wild temper. Judging from his character, it is expected that he will fail..."

After predicting Qu Yi's future fate, Zhao Yun comforted Zhang Fei, who looked unhappy, and said, "Brother Yide, please don't be angry about these mean words. It's really not worth it."

"I hope it will be like what Zilong said." Zhang Fei exhaled, his expression still somewhat unhappy.

At present, Liu Bei, Qu Yi, Zhang He, Gao Lan and others are stationed in Taiyuan County, which is only separated from Yecheng by Shangdang County. However, the mountainous roads in Shangdang are rugged and difficult to pass.

Therefore, the book of merits agreed upon by everyone was delivered to Yecheng before the last day of the fifth year of Jian'an due to the hurried journey of the messenger, and was handed to the desk of General Yuan Shao.

"Good, very good." Yuan Shao praised while reading the battle report handed over by Qu Yi and others.

Yuan Shao had been in a low mood recently, but now he finally got some good news, and it was received in the fifth year of Jian'an, not the sixth year. In his joy, Yuan Shao summoned all the civil and military officials to share this good news, and also to boost their morale. After all, being blocked at Yubi City and having to withdraw did indeed cause some low morale among the civil and military officials.

After Yuan Shao had someone read out the happy event, Guo Tu was the first to jump out and say, "Congratulations, my lord! The Black Mountain bandits have been wiped out. Changshan, Shangdang and other counties can now enjoy peace and tranquility. A future trouble has been solved."

Feng Ji followed and sang praises: "The Black Mountain bandits have been rebelling since the first year of Zhongping, and it has been more than ten years now. The bandits are powerful and have spread their poison to Hebei. Now that you have defeated them, it can be said that it is the blessing of the gods and the care of heaven, and it can also be said that it is due to your great virtue."

With Guo Tu and Feng Ji taking the lead, Yuan Shao's civil and military officials came one after another to offer words of praise and compliments to Yuan Shao, fearing that they would fall behind.

Conquering Black Mountain was indeed a great achievement and a happy event, because the Black Mountain bandits rebelled during the reign of Emperor Huan, and the imperial court was unable to conquer them and could only allow them to be pacified.

But now it was decided by Yuan Shao, which could not help but illustrate one thing, that is, Yuan Shao's benevolence is better than that of the Han Dynasty, and Yuan Shao's military prowess is stronger than that of the Liu family, which means that the Yuan family is superior to the Liu family.

A group of civil and military officials praised him, but Yuan Shao, who was at the head of the group, had a calm expression, as if he didn't care at all. Only the slight curling of his mouth revealed his true emotions - he was very happy about the praises from the civil and military officials, and was quite proud of himself.

After the meeting, Yuan Shao left behind several of his trusted ministers. Facing the crowd, he sighed, "It's a pity that we didn't accomplish our mission and failed to kill Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu. Otherwise, we could have sent their heads to Xudu and placed them in front of the ancestral temple to comfort the spirit of the late emperor."

Then Yuan Shao changed the subject and said hesitantly, "The military report said that Qu Yi, Zhang He, Gao Lan and others were chasing and were intercepted by Liu Bei. Qu, Zhang, Gao and others were chasing properly, but Liu Bei failed to intercept them, which allowed Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu to escape to Hedong."

"Someone privately wrote to me, saying that Liu Bei, out of consideration for his friendship with Gongsun Zan, deliberately left a path open for Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu to flee to Hedong. What do you think?"

Guo Tu followed Yuan Shao's words and said, "Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan were both students of Lu Zhi, and Liu Bei served as the Prime Minister of Pingyuan for Gongsun Zan. The friendship between the two is deep... Therefore, considering that Gongsun Xu is the son of an old friend, it is understandable that he intends to let him go."

While listening to Guo Tu's words, Feng Ji secretly glanced at Yuan Shao's expression. Seeing that Yuan Shao was somewhat interested, he immediately had an idea and knew what to say next.

But Feng Ji was present and said, "My lord, Liu Bei is a great hero of the world. He has tried to establish himself. Now he has allowed Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu to escape, which shows that his heart is not in Hebei... We should summon Liu Bei back to Yecheng and have the officials question him and investigate the details. If there is any truth, we can execute him to prevent future troubles."

Guo Tu was only guessing that Liu Bei might let Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu go. On the other hand, Feng Ji followed Yuan Shao's thinking and confirmed that Liu Bei had let Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu go.

Yuan Shao nodded indifferently, as if he was persuaded by Guo Tu and Feng Ji. However, at this time, he saw a man present, arguing for Liu Bei: "My lord, Liu Bei is not a good commander. He lost Xuzhou twice and was defeated in many battles. This time he failed to successfully stop Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu. It was because of his lack of ability, not other reasons."

Yuan Shao looked up and saw that it was his deputy Tian Feng who was protesting. Tian Feng continued, "Liu Bei is well-known in the world and came here in poverty. If you harm Liu Bei based on hearsay, who among the heroes in the world would dare to come to you?" (End of this chapter)