Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 463 A knife hidden in a smile
"Ji Yu, isn't this the last time you went to Xudu in person to borrow troops? But I really didn't have anyone under my command, so I couldn't lend them to you. Dian Wei and the others are back now, so I immediately brought Dian Wei and Ziwen to Yizhou to help you, Ji Yu, solve your problems."

Seeing Cao Cao talking to him with a smile, Liu Zhang no longer felt the same feeling as before, instead he was filled with a strong sense of vigilance.

"I didn't expect that Brother Meng De still cared about me, but now the situation in Yizhou has eased, and the rebellion in Yongchang County can be stopped soon."

Liu Zhang also became cautious and stopped talking to Cao Cao on a whim, nor did he continue to be close to him. He originally thought that forming an alliance with Liu Bei would be like courting death, but now it seems that Cao Cao is the one who would eat people without leaving any bones.

While the two men exchanged pleasantries, Cao Cao kept glancing at Zhang Ren. Although he didn't know much about the generals under Liu Zhang, he knew that the strongest general under his command was the one who wielded a red tasseled spear. Since Liu Zhang said that there was a solution to the rebellion in Yongchang County, it must be that he had a famous general under his command, otherwise he would not be able to deal with a famous general like Meng Huo.

Well, since someone was promoted to a famous general, it must be the strongest general under Liu Zhang.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao suddenly stopped greeting Liu Zhang and turned to look at Zhang Ren. He had a smile on his face, but his eyes were dark and no emotion could be seen.

"This should be Zhang Ren, the spear king of Xichuan whom Ji Yu often mentioned. He should be Zhang Gongyi. I have heard of your name for a long time."

As Cao Cao spoke, he raised his hands and clasped them, paying homage with the etiquette of a military general. The current Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty took the initiative to pay homage to a military general, and not even a military general under his command, with the etiquette of a military general. Moreover, there was no barrier in their words, but rather they spoke in a very familiar tone. This situation made people unable to help but think of impure things.

As the prime minister, how could he treat a military general of another country in such a courteous and humble manner if he had no other thoughts?

"Your Excellency, I am too kind to you. I only know a little about spearmanship. The title of Xichuan Spear King is just a false compliment from others. I dare not admit it."

Zhang Ren clasped his fists towards Cao Cao and bowed. His words could be said to have rejected Cao Cao's kindness, but Cao Cao seemed not to understand the hidden meaning in Zhang Ren's words and continued to talk to himself.

"Xichuan Gun King, what a great title, very domineering. People say that there are only wrong names, not wrong nicknames. You must be called the Xichuan Gun King because of your superb gun skills, so you have such a title."

As soon as Cao Cao said this, everyone present except Liu Zhang looked at Cao Cao with some confusion. After all, they had never heard such a sentence before. Only Liu Zhang understood that Cao Cao had just said it casually. Cao Cao also reacted at this time, but did not say much. At this time, it would be difficult to explain if he said too much, so he simply pretended that he had never said this sentence and continued to speak.

"Speaking of which, in Liangzhou, there is a Northern Spear King named Zhang Xiu. Both of you have the surname Zhang, and one is the Northern Spear King, and the other is the Western Sichuan Spear King. You both use the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear Technique. Could it be that you two... are related?"

Faced with the topic raised by Cao Cao in an attempt to get close to him, Zhang Ren was in a dilemma whether to accept or not. If he accepted, his current lord would probably become suspicious of him. His lord was not a kind person. Although he was usually very nice to them, once he became suspicious, everything would be the same.

But he had no choice but to respond. After all, Cao Cao was the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. If he ignored Cao Cao's words, it would be unreasonable. After careful consideration, Zhang Ren slowly spoke under the gaze of everyone.

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, the Northern Spear King Zhang Xiu is my senior brother. Although we both have the surname Zhang, there is no relationship between us. When I became his disciple to learn martial arts, my senior brother had already completed his studies and won the title of Northern Spear King. Therefore, I have never met him. We just have a friendship that is not very substantial."

Zhang Ren's words were completely flawless. Not only had he and Zhang Xiu never met each other, but their friendship as fellow disciples was only verbal and there was no real friendship between them.

However, Cao Cao did not give up and spoke again. However, Cao Cao also told himself from the bottom of his heart that this was the last time and three times would not do it.

"Gongyi, if you have time, can you come to my place and help me train the spearmen under my command? I don't have any generals who are good at using spears. The spearmen in that battalion have no one to teach them, so they have to practice on their own. I wonder if you would be so kind as to come to Xudu and stay there for a while?"

Cao Cao was confident that as long as Zhang Ren arrived in Xu Du, no matter whether he used hard or soft tactics, and no matter whether he was willing to stay or not, he would have to stay in Xu Du, and Liu Zhang would have no way to stop him.

Faced with Cao Cao's olive branch again, Zhang Ren once again chose to avoid answering.

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, my spear skills are far from being worthy of being called elegant, and I am even less qualified to handle the important task entrusted by the Prime Minister."

He intentionally or unintentionally avoided all of Cao Cao's attempts to get close to him and his olive branches. Some of them he did not respond to, some of them he answered irrelevant questions, and some of them had hidden meanings. Anyway, he was just trying to please Cao Cao, and he would not turn around and serve under Cao Cao.

Seeing this, Cao Cao no longer insisted, but there was no disappointment on his face, nor was he angry. Instead, he looked a little... smiling?

This scene completely stunned Liu Zhang, who had been standing by, and he had no idea what Cao Cao was up to.

Cao Cao was even more interested in Zhang Ren, nicknamed the Spear King of Xichuan. If Zhang Ren really responded to his test, he would really have to consider whether he needed such a general and whether he could satisfy his ambition.

Because Cao Cao could borrow him from Liu Zhang in this way, then Liu Bei might use the same method to borrow Zhang Ren from him in the future. Therefore, Cao Cao was actually very happy about Zhang Ren's loyalty and steadfastness. After all, who likes a person who can be moved by just a few words?

"Hahaha, okay, then when we have the chance later, we can go to Xudu and take a look at the beautiful mountains and rivers of our Han Dynasty!"

Cao Cao did not give Zhang Ren and the others a chance to speak, but walked up to Liu Zhang.

"Ji Yu, I just heard from our scouts that Gongyi and his men had just had a fierce battle with Meng Huo?"

"Yes, Brother Meng De is well-informed. The battle hasn't even ended yet, but Brother Meng De already knows everything."

Faced with Cao Cao who tried to win over Zhang Ren in front of him many times, and knowing that Cao Cao had concealed his actions, Liu Zhang could no longer face Cao Cao with the same mentality as before, and at this moment he was also sarcastic towards Cao Cao. "Aren't you going to let us in and have a seat? After all, we have come from afar and want to help you, Ji Yu."

Cao Cao looked at Liu Zhang with a smile on his face, waiting for Liu Zhang's reply. Facing the shameless Cao Cao, Liu Zhang could not think of any words to refuse. Cao Cao had said so much, if Liu Zhang refused, it would be tantamount to tearing their relationship apart. Liu Zhang now had no strength to fight against Cao Cao, nor was he sure he could keep Cao Cao here, so he did not dare to break up with Cao Cao.

"Hahaha, look at me, Brother Meng De, blame me. Come in quickly, Deng Xian, take General Dian with you and go and camp the cavalry brought by Prime Minister Cao."

As Liu Zhang spoke, he turned and walked towards the camp. Before this, Liu Zhang would always let Cao Cao walk ahead of him, but this time Liu Zhang turned around and left without any hesitation.

Cao Cao's raised hand froze in the air, and the smile on his face also froze, but he soon returned to normal and followed Liu Zhang's footsteps, walking towards the camp.

Inside the big tent, Liu Zhang and Cao Cao had already taken their seats. Liu Zhang sat in the main seat and Cao Cao sat below Liu Zhang. Below them were Dian Wei and Cao Zhang. Opposite Cao Cao were Zhang Ren, Deng Xian, Leng Bao and other first-rate generals. Cao Cao just smiled at this. How could he not see that Liu Zhang was showing his strength to him?

However, in Cao Cao's view, Liu Zhang's strength was really insignificant. Although he had many first-class generals, he only had one famous general, and the total military force was only a few hundred thousand. The young and strong men from the Western Regions who were captured as agreed before, although they had been trained, were still with Cao Cao. He could give them to Cao Cao if he wanted to, and not give them to Cao Cao if he didn't want to. In name, they were Liu Zhang's men, but they had no actual relationship with Liu Zhang.

It can be said that as long as Cao Cao wanted, he could easily defeat Liu Zhang with only Dian Wei, Cao Zhang and the 5,000 cavalry he brought, and even beat Liu Zhang without any chance to fight back. Liu Zhang obviously had not realized this yet, and still did not treat Cao Cao well at this moment, but Cao Cao ignored him. This time, he came to Yizhou to subdue Liu Zhang, or in other words, to destroy Liu Zhang.

No matter which one, Liu Zhang won't be able to jump around for long, and Cao Cao doesn't mind Liu Zhang being a little arrogant in this last period of time.

"Ji Yu, last time you went to Xudu to borrow soldiers and generals from me, my generals were not here at the time. They are back now, and I will bring them here as soon as possible. From now on, Meng Huo will be handed over to me."

"I'm sorry to bother you, Brother Meng De. We needed support at that time, but we don't need it now. If you came here just for this matter, you can go back. After all, you can't eat or sleep well on the battlefield, and I can't treat you well."

Liu Zhang immediately responded. It could be said that what Liu Zhang said was just short of saying that he did not welcome Cao Cao. However, Cao Cao would not give up until he achieved his goal this time. Therefore, even though Liu Zhang had said this, Cao Cao pretended to be indifferent.

"This Meng Huo is not easy to deal with, and he has many barbarian soldiers under his command. If you fight this battle alone, Ji Yu, I'm afraid there will be considerable losses. Maybe even a few generals will die."

Cao Cao no longer treated Liu Zhang well. Liu Zhang really didn't know what was good for him. Not only did he keep disobeying Cao Cao, but he also kept making fun of Cao Cao. Under such circumstances, Cao Cao naturally wouldn't stand it. Before Liu Zhang could even speak, a young general behind Zhang Ren suddenly stood up.

"Cao Cao! What do you mean? Are you saying that we are weak and vulnerable? That sounds nice, but you only brought two people, a dazed black-faced man, your own son, and five thousand cavalrymen. What's the use of them? Can they hold out for half a quarter of an hour if they are thrown into the battlefield? If you want to get a piece of the pie, just say so. There's no need to use this banner and say you're helping us!"

This young general was none other than Liu Zhang's son Liu Xun. He had just joined the army and had already become a second-rate general. With the blessing of his father Liu Zhang's status, he also had his own position in this big account. He was also the only second-rate general in this big account at the moment.

Cao Cao's eyes turned icy cold in an instant, unlike his previous eyes. This time, Cao Cao really had murderous intent. Cao Zhang and Dian Wei on the side sat up straight at the same time. As long as Cao Cao gave an order at this time, Dian Wei or Cao Zhang could twist his head off immediately.

Zhang Ren, who was sitting in front of Liu Xun, also sat up straight at the first moment and tried his best to stand in front of Liu Xun, frowning at the same time.

If in their eyes, Dian Wei seemed to have merged into one with the heaven and earth, then in the eyes of famous generals like Zhang Ren, Dian Wei seemed not only to have merged into the heaven and earth, but also to have been stealing the power of the heaven and earth. The power of the heaven and earth was for their use. So in the eyes of others, Dian Wei seemed to have merged into the heaven and earth.

Therefore, Zhang Ren at the moment was the most nervous person in this big account. Once the war broke out, Zhang Ren would be dead anyway. If he did not stand in front of Liu Xun, Liu Zhang would definitely not let him go. If he overestimated his own abilities and tried to stop a chariot with his bare hands, he would be torn to pieces by Dian Wei immediately and would have no chance of survival.

"Brother Meng De, don't be angry!"

Liu Zhang obviously noticed that the atmosphere was not right. At this moment, he could not care about the previous things and quickly raised his arms to appease both parties.

"Brother Meng De, this is my son. I failed to educate him properly. I hope you can forgive him for his offense."

After saying that, Liu Zhang stood up, pointed at Liu Xun and said with a look of disappointment.

"You rebellious son, why don't you apologize to the Prime Minister!"

Liu Xun stiffened his neck and wanted to say something, but Liu Zhang suddenly stepped forward and slapped him hard in the face, while scolding him angrily.

"After apologizing, get out of here!"

Liu Xun had never seen Liu Zhang so angry before, and realized the seriousness of the matter. He quickly stood up and bowed to Cao Cao.

"Prime Minister, it was my fault. I was a little confused just now, so I said those unreasonable words. I hope you can forgive my ignorance."

Cao Cao still had a blank expression on his face, and the murderous intent in his eyes had disappeared. However, he still stared at Liu Xun without moving, as if he was thinking about something.

(End of this chapter)