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

Cao Cao sent a message directly to Liu Zhang.

He then recounted the current situation in Yizhou to Liu Zhang, even embellishing the story to make himself sound particularly pitiful, even mentioning that he had lost Jiangzhou City. He told Liu Zhang to give him another half month to take back Jiangzhou City before helping him.

After Cao Cao sent the letter away, he couldn't help but laugh.

He could already imagine what Liu Zhang's expression would be when he saw his letter.

Gu Rubing is currently in Jiangzhou City, organizing the troops within the city and waiting to enjoy a good show. He has not launched any attack on Cao Cao. Cao Cao is also reorganizing his troops to prepare for Gu Rubing's offensive and is also constantly transferring troops from Chengdu.

Half a month passed.

Liu Zhang finally received Cao Cao's letter.

When Liu Zhang saw the contents of Cao Cao's letter, he was so angry that he tore the letter to shreds.

"Cao Cao, you're really pushing me. Do you really think I won't dare to turn against you? Do you think that if I do turn against you, no one will be there to help me?"

After Liu Zhang finished speaking in a low voice, he immediately looked at Surena beside him.

"Prepare for the second plan!"

"Yes!"

Sun Jian was still feeling fortunate that he had been able to borrow the medicinal herbs from Gu Rubing.

Moreover, through this incident, he can take the opportunity to reclaim the cities he lost.

After the Battle of Youzhou, Sun Jian had been considering the matter of those cities. He hadn't been able to take action before, but now he had an excuse.

Just as Sun Jian was preparing to take all these cities in one fell swoop...

An envoy arrived before Sun Jian.

"Your Highness, my Prince Yi wishes to meet with you to discuss a ceasefire."

"Ceasefire? Your alien king, are you still dreaming? We've already fought to this extent, and you want a ceasefire? Do you think I'm playing house with you?"

Upon hearing Sun Jian's words, although the envoy did not understand some of what Sun Jian was saying, he could understand most of it. Sun Jian was clearly opposing the negotiations.

The envoy was not flustered by Sun Jian's decision; on the contrary, he remained very calm.

“King Wu, please calm down. My lord’s desire to cease hostilities is solely due to the unfavorable situation in Yizhou, which has frequently distracted King Wei. Your previous successful counterattack was also because King Wei temporarily withdrew his troops. Now we have received news that King Wei has returned, but my lord does not wish to fight any further. In the first place, taking Nisa City was not my lord’s intention. My lord only desires these seven cities, nothing more.”

Upon hearing that Cao Cao was actually returning, Sun Jian's expression subtly changed.

Cao Cao had a large number of famous generals, and their quality was extremely high. It felt like he was only slightly inferior to Gu Rubing.

We are at least much better than them.

If Cao Cao were to join the war, they would likely be driven back again, just like before.

Sun Jian had heard some things about what was happening in Yizhou. Now that Gu Rubing and Cao Cao were in a complete truce, it was possible that Cao Cao would return.

Thinking that there might be even more difficult battles to come, Sun Jian finally decided to give in.

"Alright, I'll wait for him in the military camp first thing tomorrow morning. If Liu Zhang has the guts, let him come see me."

"Yes, King Wu, I will go back and report to my lord immediately."

After the messenger left, Zhou Yu looked at Sun Jian.

"My lord, Liu Zhang's desire to meet with us at this time is probably not as simple as a ceasefire. I have a feeling that Liu Zhang wants to form an alliance with us."

"An alliance? Isn't Liu Zhang allied with Cao Cao? Does he intend to abandon Cao Cao and stand with us?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu nodded.

At least Zhou Yu felt that Liu Zhang most likely meant the same thing.

Sun Jian had some ideas in mind.

Early the next morning.

Liu Zhang, accompanied by Yan Yan, swaggered out of Sun Jian's camp.

Sun Jian did not expect that Liu Zhang would actually come, and that he would only have one famous general by his side.

"Otherworldly King, I didn't expect you to actually dare to come here. Aren't you afraid I'll have my men rush up and tear you to pieces?"

"Haha, King of Wu, I believe you won't do it."

Sun Jian glanced at Liu Zhang, smiled and nodded, then led Liu Zhang into his tent.

Upon entering the tent, Liu Zhang said directly, "King of Wu, besides wanting to make peace with you, I also have another idea: to form an alliance with you to jointly resist Liu Bei and Cao Cao."

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian burst out laughing.

This time, Zhou Yu was right.

Having heeded Zhou Yu's earlier words, Sun Jian was now prepared.

Sun Jian immediately smiled and nodded at Liu Zhang's request.

"It's not impossible for me to form an alliance with you, but you have to tell me what benefits I would get from it. I'm not Cao Cao, who only knows how to give and doesn't need anything in return."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang's expression changed. Wasn't this implying that he was an ingrate?
"Ahem, Your Majesty Wu is joking. Since we are talking about forming an alliance, we should naturally show some sincerity. I wonder what kind of sincerity Your Majesty Wu wants me to show?"

"It's simple, I want Liangzhou!"

"what?"

Upon hearing Sun Jian's words, Liu Zhang gasped in shock.

Liangzhou is Liu Bei's territory; this means I'm going to fight Liu Bei to the death.

If Liu Bei were to anger Liangzhou, not only would these seven cities be lost, but even Jiaozhou itself would be surrendered.

"King Wu, you must be joking. If I had the ability to take Liangzhou, would I need to form an alliance with you? Besides, if we offend Liu Bei at this time, Shi Xie would probably be the best example."

"You don't need to worry about that. Besides, I don't need you to do it yourself. I will find someone to represent us. All we need to do is provide troops and supplies, and let him and Liu Bei wear each other down in Liangzhou."

"Represent us? You mean Shih-hsieh?"

Liu Zhang wasn't stupid; he immediately understood Sun Jian's meaning.

This was an attempt to emulate Cao Cao, shifting the war to Gu Rubing's territory and finding someone to restrain Gu Rubing so that they would have a chance to develop themselves.

Last time it was Youzhou, and this time it's Liangzhou.

But would Gu Rubing suffer the same loss twice? Obviously not.

This was something Sun Jian hadn't anticipated.

Liu Zhang could see that Sun Jian was insistent, and in the end he had no choice but to agree.

Soon, the two began to take action.

Sun Jian and Liu Zhang began to mobilize their troops on a large scale. This was quickly noticed by Gu Rubing's spies, who then relayed the information to Gu Rubing.

"My lord, according to the intelligence sent by the Colonel of the Crossbowmen, their target is Liangzhou. Currently, we have no general stationed in Liangzhou, we..."

Gu Rubing waved his hand.

After the Battle of Youzhou, Gu Rubing discovered that his intelligence network had problems. He had too few informants in the border areas, especially in the more barren regions, and around the various warlords.

Therefore, after the great battle, Gu Rubing released most of his informants to strengthen the intelligence network, which enabled him to quickly uncover Sun Jian's purpose.

"Tell Cao Cao about the alliance between Liu Zhang and Sun Jian, and have your spies put the information on Cao Cao's desk. Also tell Cao Cao about their troop deployment, but don't say anything else."

Upon hearing this, Lu Su immediately understood Gu Rubing's meaning, but there were still some things he didn't understand.

"My lord, wouldn't it be better if we just told Cao Cao that the purpose of the Sun-Liu alliance was to target him?"

"No need. Cao Cao is a smart man. If you talk too much to a smart man like him, he will become suspicious. Cao Cao will only believe what he thinks."

Upon hearing this, Lu Su agreed with Gu Rubing's point and immediately nodded in agreement, then went to make preparations.

That night, Cao Cao saw on the table the letters from Liu Zhang and Sun Jian announcing the mobilization of large numbers of troops.
Cao Cao immediately summoned all his men.

After reading the letter in Cao Cao's hand, everyone's eyes showed a hint of hostility.

They were aware of the falling out between Cao Cao and Liu Zhang.

"My lord, this must be Liu Zhang's way of attacking us. I never expected that this villain would even collude with Sun Jian. We must strike first and take action against Jiaozhou."

Upon hearing what the generals said, Cao Cao hesitated.

After all, taking action against Jiaozhou would mean fighting against both Liu Bei and Liu Zhang at the same time.

Opening up a second front was difficult even for Liu Bei, let alone someone who only had the small province of Yi.

However, just as everyone was filled with righteous indignation and ready to take action against Liu Zhang, Jiang Wei suddenly spoke up: "My lord, this matter is probably not so simple. Should we wait for our spies to send back confirmed information before we make a move?"

"Wait for my spies! Jiang Wei, you need to understand that the only safe place from here to the Anluo Empire is by sea. And there's no such thing as an urgent message at sea. Our spies are almost moving at the same speed as the enemy's army. By the time they return with the intelligence, their main force will have arrived. There will only be a few days left. How are we supposed to prepare?"

Xiahou Dun wasn't particularly skilled in strategy, but he was incredibly precise when it came to calculating the timing of military campaigns.

"General Xiahou, I didn't..."

Just as the two were about to argue, Cao Cao suddenly waved his hand.

"Alright, stop arguing. Yuan Rang is right. We don't have much time. We don't know what Liu Zhang's purpose is yet, but we can't just wait to be attacked. How about this, we'll launch a surprise attack from Zangke Commandery, take Jiaozhi Commandery, then Jiuzhen Commandery, and finally Rinan Commandery. After we take these three commanderies, we'll see what Liu Zhang's intentions are."

Everyone nodded immediately upon hearing this.

At present, Liu Zhang has no troops stationed in Jiaozhi Commandery, which is indeed a good opportunity for them.

Although there are many mountains between Zangke Commandery and Jiaozhi Commandery, making it unsuitable for large-scale military operations, it is still possible to send only 10,000 to 20,000 troops.

Jiang Wei knew that Cao Cao was bound to send troops and that he couldn't stop him, so he was somewhat disappointed. However, he was still unwilling to give up and wanted to try to stop him one more time.

"My lord, we are still in a stalemate with Liu Bei. If we make a move against Jiaozhou, Liu Bei will not let this opportunity pass."

“Liu Bei? Boyue is right. Let’s contact Liu Bei and tell him I want to see him.”

Jiang Wei did not expect that even if he brought up Liu Bei, he still could not stop Cao Cao from taking action against Liu Zhang.

Left with no other choice, Jiang Wei could only silently leave the hall.

Cao Cao watched Jiang Wei's departing figure and sighed helplessly.

This attack on Liu Zhang was not only intended to warn Liu Zhang, but also to warn Jiang Wei.

For some reason, Cao Cao always felt that Jiang Wei was not truly obedient to him.

So this time, Cao Cao was also telling Jiang Wei to tone down his sharpness.

Soon, Gu Rubing received a request from Cao Cao to meet him.

After sending Cao Cao's envoy away, Lu Su burst out laughing.

"My lord, Cao Cao has fallen for our trap so easily. It seems we're about to have a good show."

"Yes, but Zijing, we can't let our guard down too much. We still need to be careful about the alliance between Liu Zhang and Sun Jian. Have we sent the letter to the Prime Minister yet?"

"Rest assured, my lord, the messenger departed last night, and the Prime Minister should receive the letter in two days at most."

Gu Rubing trusted Zhuge Liang the most.

after one day.

Outside Jiangzhou City.

Cao Cao, accompanied by Dian Wei and Xu Chu, was waiting for Gu Rubing outside the city gate.

Not long after, the city gates opened, and Wei Yan walked out.

“King Wei, my lord says he wishes to see you within the city. Please come with me, King Wei.”

"Wei Yan, who do you think you are? You dare to lead the way for my lord? Tell Prince Lie to come out. Does Prince Lie not know the rules?"

Upon seeing that it was Wei Yan who came out, Dian Wei felt a surge of anger.

Wei Yan was also a general of the Lie Army. With such a status, it would be an honor for anyone to welcome him, except for Cao Cao, the King of Wei.

When the two kings meet, they are greeted only by a general. How can this be explained?

"Hmph, Dian Wei, others may fear you, but I don't. Back then, your lord only assigned a deputy general to lead the way. Do you think my status is lower than that deputy general's?"

"you……"

Dian Wei pointed at Wei Yan, but remained silent for a long time.

Cao Cao could no longer hold back at this point.

“Wei Yan, tell your lord when he will come to greet me. I will go in then. If he doesn’t come, we won’t go in.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Yan gave a cold laugh.

"I wonder who is asking whom for a favor right now? Since the King of Wei prefers to be outside, then let him wait outside."

After saying this, Wei Yan didn't even look at Cao Cao, and swaggered back to Jiangzhou City, whereupon the city gates were closed.

Cao Cao and his two companions waited outside for a long time, and before they knew it, an hour had passed.

The scorching sun outside was making Cao Cao feel increasingly uncomfortable.

Since Jiangzhou City had long been ordered to close its gates, there were naturally no civilians wandering around.

This also meant that no matter how long Cao Cao waited, no one among the people knew about it.

Just as Cao Cao was about to knock on the city gate, it opened again, and Wei Yan emerged once more. (End of Chapter)