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

Upon hearing this, Zhou Cang immediately looked at Gu Rubing.

Gu Rubing really hadn't expected Surena's move.

"Alright, give it to him."

Gu Rubing nodded to Zhou Cang.

Zhou Cang quickly produced a pill.

After taking the pill, Surena clapped his hands.

A group of people rushed in from outside.

These people were all newly arrived reinforcements.

"Surena, I've given you what you wanted, so where's my stuff? You don't really think these few people can stop me, do you?"

Upon hearing this, Surena coldly snorted, "There is no antidote."

"What did you say?"

Upon hearing Surena's words, Zhou Cang broke out in a cold sweat. Without an antidote, didn't that mean he was going to kill his lord?

Seeing Zhou Cang's surprised expression, Surena gave a cold laugh.

"Why would you need an antidote for a laxative?"

After saying that, Surena turned and left the tent.

Zhou Cang quickly gave chase.

Outside the camp, Zhou Cang's 30,000 troops and Surena's 50,000 troops had formed a standoff.

However, because they were outnumbered and without Gu Rubing's orders, the 30,000 men did not launch an attack.

"Liu Bei, I'm leaving too. You've won this time, but remember this: I will definitely get my revenge."

Gu Rubing was completely unconcerned about Surena's threats.

I watched them leave.

Taishi Ci, who was standing nearby, immediately stepped forward.

"My lord, Surena has no generals under his command. Although we have the advantage in numbers, I should be able to capture Surena."

"No need. With so many of them, the chances of capturing Surena are too low. There's no need to cause unnecessary casualties. Don't worry, they won't just leave safely."

Upon hearing this, Taishi Ci looked at Gu Rubing with a blank expression.

Surena led his army slowly toward the Anro Empire.

In just four days, we were already close to the border of Liangzhou.

Looking at the distant border, Surena glanced behind him and, after confirming there were no pursuers, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Everyone, take a break."

However, Surena's voice had barely faded when...

A commotion was heard not far behind.

A soldier covered in blood ran up to Surena.

"General, something terrible has happened! Zhang Liao has led the Iron Cavalry on a massacre!"

"what?"

Surena then realized that he had completely forgotten about Zhang Liao all along.

Clearly, Zhang Liao had been hiding behind their lines all along.

They lost this battle too quickly, which meant that Zhang Liao didn't play much of a role. But if the two sides continue to be deadlocked, they will soon experience the terror of Zhang Liao.

Surena remembered that the Iron Pagoda only had a strength of 500 men. When Wang Yue and his men arrived, they had already lost 100 men, so the enemy should not have many men left.

"Everyone, prepare to fight Zhang Liao!"

In Surena's view, there were still nearly 60,000 troops left to fight against a few hundred people. How could they not hold out?

Soon, Surena realized that he really couldn't stop them.

Faced with a huge numerical disadvantage, Zhang Liao launched a desperate battle.

With the added boost of fighting to the death, all the soldiers of the Ironclad Cavalry have reached the peak of first-class generals.

More than three hundred iron-clad cavalrymen resembled a long black dragon, and screams echoed wherever they went.

Seeing Zhang Liao getting closer and closer, Surena finally remembered to run.

Zhang Liao then chased after Surena.

"Stop Zhang Liao here! Stop him!"

Surena ran while shouting to those around him.

With the desperate protection of 60,000 troops, Surena successfully escaped the battlefield.

After fighting among the crowd for two and a half hours, Zhang Liao and his Ironclad Cavalry finally chose to retreat before the Ironclad Cavalry ran out of energy.

When the remaining troops caught up with Surena, there were less than 20,000 soldiers left.

When Gu Rubing saw Zhang Liao return, he immediately went out of the city to greet him.

"My lord, Liao has fulfilled its mission. Before Surena could leave the border, we ambushed them and killed 40,000 enemies."

"Good, Wen Yuan is truly a great general in our army."

Gu Rubing smiled and patted Zhang Liao on the shoulder.

The group returned to the main hall and sat around the map.

"My lord, Liu Zhang and Sun Jian have now retreated. What should we do?"

Upon hearing Zhang Liao's words, Gu Rubing looked at the map and fell into deep thought.

Seeing that Gu Rubing remained silent, Zhang Fei casually said, "Brother, this matter is related to Sun Jian. Now we have troops and generals, as well as sufficient provisions. Why worry about those? Just give the order, and I, Zhang Fei, will wipe out Sun Jian. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing glared at Zhang Fei.

Those around Zhang Fei laughed when they heard his words.

Sun Jian's Anluo Empire is vast, with a considerable army. Although their combat strength is not high, their numbers are numerous. Moreover, Sun Jian has two legendary generals and some famous generals under his command, including the scholar-general Zhou Yu. At present, going to fight Sun Jian would definitely be a losing proposition. This is definitely a vortex of war, and it is very likely to drag all of one's resources into it.

Gu Rubing immediately rejected Zhang Fei's suggestion.

But it was inevitable that Sun Jian coveted Liangzhou. If we let Sun Jian go so easily, who knows when he might turn on us again?

This time I was prepared and had done a lot of planning beforehand, which is why the matter was resolved so easily. What if I hadn't noticed?
How terrifying will the losses be this time? The entire Liangzhou region will probably belong to Sun Jian.

“Since Sun Jian is involved, we can’t let him off so easily. Zilong and Yide, you two come with me to the Anluo Empire. Wenyuan, you sort out the affairs of Liangzhou, and then take the rest of the people back to the Prime Minister. As for how to arrange the rest, let the Prime Minister handle it.”

"Yes!"

After arranging everything, Gu Rubing, along with Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, began their journey towards Sun Jian's location.

After learning that Surena had returned, he discovered that of the 150,000 troops he had sent, only 20,000 had returned.

Sun Jian knew that this was a crushing defeat, and that Gu Rubing would soon come looking for him.

After figuring things out, Sun Jian immediately ordered the preparation of provisions, gold, and silver, knowing that Gu Rubing would not let him off easily this time. A few days later, news reached Sun Jian that Gu Rubing was about to reach the border.

To show his sincerity, Sun Jian personally led a group of people to the border to welcome Gu Rubing.

Gu Rubing had just crossed the border when he saw Sun Jian's camp, and Sun Jian was waving to them from a distance.

"I never expected that His Highness the King of Wu would personally come here to greet me."

"Haha, I happened to be patrolling the border when I saw you."

"Border patrol? Why is the border so unstable?"

Upon hearing Gu Rubing's words, Sun Jian immediately feigned a troubled expression, then nodded and said, "Yes."

"Your Majesty, you may not know this, but because I am a Han Chinese and rule the Anluo Empire, many of the local people are very dissatisfied with me. At first, they could only suppress me, but now, due to Liu Zhang's instigation, they can no longer be suppressed and have begun to rebel. I have heard that many of them have already entered the territory of the Han Dynasty. These rebels are numerous, so I am rushing over to chase after them. If they enter the territory of the Han Dynasty, I am afraid it will cause misunderstandings."

"Is that so? What a coincidence. I had just wiped out more than 200,000 people when I arrived. But King Wu, don't worry, their fighting strength is very poor. It seems that another 50,000 reinforcements came later, and their fighting strength was decent. It's just a pity that my Iron Pagoda wiped them out. King Wu, I don't know who trained these trash. How could they be so bad? The fighting strength of 50,000 people is not as good as my few hundred men."

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian's lips twitched slightly.

But it soon returned to normal.

"I don't know about that. By the time I found out, they were already quite large."

"I see. So that's how it is."

After Gu Rubing finished speaking, he burst into laughter.

He then slapped Sun Jian on the shoulder.

Gu Rubing put all his strength into this palm strike, but Sun Jian didn't budge an inch under the full force of this second-rate general's attack, and his body didn't even tremble.

Gu Rubing couldn't help but wonder what Sun Jian's strength was really like now.

“Sun Jian, we’re all cunning foxes, so let’s stop acting now. If you want my Liangzhou, you can just tell me. Why send people to snatch it? Now you’ve not only failed to seize this territory, but you’re also throwing away over 200,000 troops. Don’t you feel any pain?”

Sun Jian wished he could devour Gu Rubing whole.

So even though you know you're the one causing trouble, you pretend you don't know anything and then criticize yourself.

"Haha, this time King Lie was an accident. I will definitely give King Lie a satisfactory answer. King Lie has now completed his border patrol. Let's go back first. We can talk about other things when we get to the palace."

"Okay, let's go together then."

Gu Rubing smiled and nodded.

In the following days, Sun Jian spoke highly of Gu Rubing, but he didn't mention a word about attacking Liangzhou.

Gu Rubing was too lazy to argue with Sun Jian now.

The group seemed to have a pleasant conversation on the way.

A few days later, the group finally arrived in Constantinople.

Sun Jian led Gu Rubing and others into the palace.

After everyone was seated, Gu Rubing slowly began to speak.

"King Wu, so much time has passed, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

"This……"

Sun Jian hesitated for a moment and glanced at Zhou Yu beside him.

Zhou Yu had no choice but to step forward.

"King Lie, this matter is indeed a misunderstanding. It's all because of Liu Zhang. He wanted Liangzhou and even gave us a lot of benefits, asking us to give way to him. He also bought some troops from us. We didn't send a single general this time, as you should know."

Gu Rubing burst out laughing upon hearing this.

“That makes sense. I’ll contact Liu Zhang now and ask him for some money. I’ll then send troops to help him take over the Anluo Empire.”

After saying that, Gu Rubing stood up and prepared to leave.

"Wait, wait, Prince Lie, we're just discussing this, why are you so angry? We know we were in the wrong this time, how about you take a look at the compensation we're offering?"

After saying that, Sun Jian waved his hand.

A soldier stepped forward and presented a letter to Gu Rubing.

Gu Rubing opened the letter and saw that it contained various kinds of compensation.

It contained provisions, troops, weapons, and even people.

Under normal circumstances, he might have accepted these things and let it go, but attacking one's own territory is a very serious matter.

Previously, Sun Jian had only been making small moves behind my back, but this time Sun Jian really went too far.

Gu Rubing tore the paper in his hand to shreds right in front of Sun Jian.

Upon seeing this, Sun Jian immediately stood up and looked at Gu Rubing with some nervousness.

"Prince Lie, what's wrong?"

"King Wu, you've caused me so much trouble this time, and you're planning to fob me off with this little bit? Do you think I'm a beggar? I was prepared this time. If I hadn't, would the entire Liangzhou be yours? You're not kidding me, are you?"

"This……"

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian fell silent.

I can't just give Gu Rubing a whole province; that would be a huge loss for me.

Zhou Yu, who was standing nearby, knew that Sun Jian was in a dilemma, so he immediately stepped forward.

"Your Highness, this situation is due to Liu Zhang's insistence. So, tell me, what do you want?"

"Alright, since you say it's because of Liu Zhang, then I'll have you kill one of Liu Zhang's legendary generals!"

Those present gasped upon hearing Gu Rubing's words.

So far in the war, no legendary generals have been killed in action.

Gu Rubing clearly intended to set this precedent.

Moreover, Gu Rubing wasn't joking at all when he said this.

"This... King Lie, as you know, our legendary generals are not very strong, while the opponent is a mysterious and unpredictable legendary general of the Gu clan. If they were to fight, it's really hard to say who would win!"

Gu Rubing knew that Sun Jian would definitely refuse, so he made another preparation.

"Fine, since you don't agree to take action against the legendary general, I understand. Then I'll just build one myself, and I'll make sure you lose Liu Zhang's Gu clan."

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian looked troubled again. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Rubing stopped him.

"I say, King of Wu, you asked me to name my conditions, and you rejected every single one I suggested. Your attitude is terrible! You have no sincerity at all!"

"No, the key point is that I'm also a victim in this matter. You can't treat me like this, Prince Lie!"

"So I didn't ask you to pay anything? Liu Zhang asked you to send troops to attack me, so now I'm asking you to send troops to attack Liu Zhang. The Gu Clan's forces only number a few hundred. Is that too much to ask of you? As the king of the Anluo Empire, are you afraid of a few hundred people?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian did not tell the truth, but instead looked at Zhou Yu beside him.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhou Yu could only nod in agreement.

"Alright, then let's do as King Lie says and deal with Liu Zhang's Gu Clan troops." (End of Chapter)