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

"My lord may not believe it, after all, the two sides are still at war, but the alliance between Liu Zhang and Sun Jian should not be underestimated, and Liu Bei is also aware of this."

Cao Cao nodded, pondering whether or not to form an alliance with Gu Rubing.

For the past two weeks, Gu Rubing has not launched any offensives, but has instead focused on reinforcing Linjiang City.

Moreover, he would occasionally visit the room where Jiang Wei was imprisoned.

It's called detention, but it's actually just house arrest.

Several crossbowmen guarded the perimeter of Jiang Wei's room, while a hundred soldiers took turns guarding the courtyard. In addition, Gu Rubing arranged more than ten maids to take care of Jiang Wei's daily life. It can be said that Jiang Wei had whatever he wanted.

However, Jiang Wei's reaction to Gu Rubing was always extremely cold.

This left Gu Rubing somewhat helpless.

Although it was known that it would be difficult to win over someone as loyal and capable as Jiang Wei, Jiang Wei's task was clearly more challenging than anyone else's.

Jiang Wei was mainly free from desires and ambitions, and he could not find any weaknesses in himself.

Perhaps his only weakness was Cao Cao's attitude towards him.

After all, every time Gu Rubing went to see Jiang Wei, he would habitually ask if there was any news about Cao Cao.

But every time Jiang Wei saw Gu Rubing shake his head, he would feel a little disappointed, and then he would not say a word to Gu Rubing.

However, Gu Rubing, who was mentally prepared, enjoyed it immensely.

However, just half a month later.

Gu Rubing came to Jiang Wei's room again.

Jiang Wei asked the same question as before.

However, the answer Gu Rubing gave this time excited Jiang Wei quite a bit.

"Cao Cao has replied. We will meet in Zhicheng in three days."

"Zhicheng?"

Jiang Wei frowned slightly.

Zhicheng was originally a small city. It was only because they stored grain that it was discovered by everyone and even became a battleground. If there were no grain, Gu Rubing or even Cao Cao probably wouldn't have bothered to even look at it.

However, Cao Cao actually arranged to meet Gu Rubing there, which was clearly to show that he had no hostile intentions.

Clearly, this is not as simple as just replacing Gu Rubing with someone else.

After Jiang Wei understood everything, his sense of loss deepened.

Exchanging himself was merely an add-on to Cao Cao's meeting.

Seeing Jiang Wei's disappointment, Gu Rubing smiled and patted Jiang Wei on the shoulder.

"What's wrong? Haven't you always hoped that Cao Cao would take you away? Now that Cao Cao is coming, aren't you happy?"

"My lord didn't come for me, he must have come to form an alliance. The alliance between Liu Zhang and Sun Jian is a headache even for you, Prince Lie, right?"

Gu Rubing hadn't expected that Jiang Wei would be able to guess so much just by providing a piece of information.

"I suppose so, but this matter has nothing to do with you right now, right? Cao Cao won't let you get involved either. Just wait here for my good news."

After saying that, Gu Rubing left Jiang Wei's room.

Jiang Wei watched Gu Rubing's retreating figure and fell into deep thought.

Three days passed quickly.

Gu Rubing led Zhao Yun and Guan Yu directly to Zhicheng.

When Cao Cao learned that Gu Rubing had arrived outside the city, he immediately led his men to welcome him.

"King Lie, it's been a long time! It seems you're doing well?"

"Of course, but I don't think the King of Wei is having a good time. I think his situation is similar to mine now."

Gu Rubing immediately struck at Cao Cao's sore spot.

Gu Rubing has never been in an alliance with anyone. Even after his marriage to Sun Jian, Sun Jian's relationship with Gu Rubing was only superficial, and he often plotted against him behind his back.

Cao Cao's alliance with Liu Zhang remained stable, and the two even caused Gu Rubing a lot of trouble. As for his relationship with Sun Jian, it was one of mutual exploitation.

But this betrayal by Liu Zhang made Cao Cao feel the same way about Gu Rubing for the first time.

The feeling of having to rely solely on himself in case of trouble, with no one to depend on, made Cao Cao feel extremely insecure.

"Haha, Prince Lie, you're quite the joker. Let's not talk outside anymore, let's go inside."

Cao Cao could only give an awkward smile in response to Gu Rubing's words.

Before long, the group arrived at the government office in Zhicheng.

After both sides were seated, Cao Cao smiled and said, "King Lie, I believe you already know my purpose, right? Then let's not waste any more words and directly change the personnel?"

"Okay, we can exchange them together when we get back."

"no problem."

The exchange of hostages went very smoothly, without any barriers. However, Gu Rubing knew that the real show was about to begin after the exchange.

"As for the other matter, what is your opinion, King Lie, regarding the alliance between Liu Zhang and Sun Jian?"

"What do I think? I'll stand here and watch."

"What?"

Cao Cao looked at Gu Rubing with a shocked expression.

"Yes, what else can I do? Sit and watch? What impact does Liu Zhang's alliance with Sun Jian have on me? Absolutely none!"

After Gu Rubing finished speaking, he simply shrugged.

Cao Cao hesitated when he saw Gu Rubing's appearance. Gu Rubing was not following his plan at all.

"King Lie, I have an idea. How about we make a truce and form an alliance?"

"Shall we form an alliance?"

"That's right. As long as our two families form an alliance, wouldn't the world be ours? Neither Sun Jian nor Liu Zhang could be our match, would they?"

Gu Rubing did not speak, but quietly looked at Cao Cao.

He had allied with Cao Cao before, and it wasn't like he hadn't done something like that before, but the end result was always the same: betrayal.

This is not what Gu Rubing wants.

However, forming an alliance with Cao Cao would at least put pressure on Liu Zhang, which would be helpful for his future plans.

"Alright, let's form an alliance then. I also agree to a truce."

"Alright, let's form an alliance. Then let's drink to our alliance."

After saying this, Cao Cao picked up his wine cup and drank it down.

The two had no plans for the alliance, nor had they considered its future development. After all, they both knew that the alliance was forced upon them and could not be sustained for long; it was just a formality, and there was no need to think about the future.

After Gu Rubing returned to Linjiang City, he immediately released Jiang Wei.

Not long after, news came from their informants that Zhong Hui had been released and was on his way to Linjiang City.

Gu Rubing immediately ordered Zhang Liao to go and bring the person back.

Zhang Liao returned to Zhicheng with the few dozen guards who had surrendered with him. The group then knelt before Cao Cao.

"My lord, I'm back."

"Yes, it's good that Boyue is back. Go and rest."

Cao Cao waved his hand at Jiang Wei.

Jiang Wei turned to leave, only to find that his personal guards were still kneeling on the ground, and Cao Cao showed no intention of making them get up.

"My lord, these people are all my personal guards, they..."

Cao Cao waved his hand, stopping Jiang Wei from speaking.

"Guards, take them away and behead them!"

As soon as the voice fell, a group of guards rushed in and arrested all of them.

Those people begged for mercy, but Cao Cao completely ignored their pleas.

Jiang Wei stared wide-eyed, somewhat bewildered as to what reason Cao Cao had given for killing these people.

"My lord, why did you kill them?"

Jiang Wei looked at Cao Cao with a displeased expression.

Guo Huai, standing to the side, pulled Jiang Wei back, preventing him from speaking.

"Why? Boyue, it's normal that you were captured. Their target was you. But why were your men captured? Wasn't it because they were cowardly? Didn't they want to fight the Iron Pagoda head-on? My men don't want such incompetent soldiers."

"I……"

Upon hearing Cao Cao's words, Jiang Wei almost couldn't help but curse him. If Guo Huai hadn't stopped him, Jiang Wei probably would have blurted it out.

"My lord, Boyue is tired. Let me take him to rest."

"Well, let's go."

Guo Huai quickly pulled Jiang Wei away from Cao Cao's room.

"Boyue, what were you just doing? Were you going to attack our lord?"

Jiang Wei shook his head upon hearing this.

"How could I possibly lay a hand on my lord? But my lord has been too unreasonable this time. A few dozen men fighting against hundreds of Ironclad Cavalry is a sure way to die. Besides, I was the one who ordered them to surrender in the first place. Why did you kill them all?"

"Sigh, after all, they surrendered without being subjected to any torture. How can you expect our lord to trust them? Our lord may trust you, but will he trust them? Can you guarantee they are your trusted confidants? Do you think our lord can guarantee that?"

Guo Huai's words enlightened Jiang Wei.

Cao Cao wasn't killing those people; he was warning him. And it wasn't that Cao Cao didn't trust those people—after all, they were just soldiers; what could they do? The one who truly didn't trust him was himself.

Cao Cao no longer had much faith in himself.

Thinking of this, Jiang Wei was immediately disappointed.

It's worth noting that they had captured Gu Rubing's men before, but after Gu Rubing rescued them, he still trusted them completely and allowed them to participate in all the secret operations. In comparison, Cao Cao was far less trusting.

Guo Huai could see Jiang Wei's disappointment, but he didn't know how to comfort him, so he could only let Jiang Wei deal with it on his own.

When Gu Rubing saw Zhang Liao bring Zhong Hui back, he immediately stepped forward and patted Zhong Hui on the shoulder.

"Indeed, you know how to protect your comrades in times of danger. How did you suffer at Cao Ren's hands?"

Zhong Hui shook his head.

Zhong Hui immediately knelt down in front of Gu Rubing.

“My lord, I once told Cao Ren that I wanted to join Cao Cao, which is why I didn’t suffer. I beg you to punish me.”

"Oh? So you really want to join Cao Cao? Or if Cao Cao had actually been in front of you back then, would you have joined him?"

Zhong Hui shook his head immediately without even thinking.

"My lord, I only came up with this excuse because I knew Cao Cao was not here. If Cao Cao had been here, I would have thought of a different reason. Joining them was just a way for me to temporarily ensure my survival."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing immediately pulled Zhong Hui up and then praised, "Good, I like smart people like you. You save me a lot of trouble."

After speaking, Gu Rubing looked at the people around him.

“You should also learn from this. On the battlefield, life is the most important thing. As long as you can save your life, you can say whatever you want. What matters is what you do.”

Everyone nodded immediately upon hearing this.

Soon, Gu Rubing led everyone back to the government office.

Gu Rubing then reiterated the matter of forming an alliance with Cao Cao.

Upon hearing this, Lu Su immediately shook his head.

"My lord, we cannot be allies with Cao Cao. Cao Cao has great ambitions, and we are the ones who have blocked him. It is a thousand times more dangerous to ally with Cao Cao than to ally with Sun Jian."

After listening to Lu Su's words, Gu Rubing nodded.

"So forming an alliance with Cao Cao was only part of my plan."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately looked at Gu Rubing.

"Cao Cao is just a smokescreen. I've allied with Cao Cao, and I bet Liu Zhang and Sun Jian will panic. Our next step after forming an alliance is to defeat Liu Zhang, and then Sun Jian. They can't stop us at all. Liu Zhang will turn to Cao Cao and re-ally with him, and Sun Jian will also come to me."

Upon hearing this, Lu Su finally understood that this was the two men's true purpose.

It was truly a tragedy for Liu Zhang and Sun Jian to be targeted by these two old foxes.

Lu Su silently prayed for Liu Zhang in his heart.

"My lord, what should we do now?"

"Us? No need to rush, just wait quietly. The moment Liu Zhang contacts Cao Cao, we'll go find Sun Jian. After all, it's too much trouble for Sun Jian to contact us."

Things were indeed proceeding as Gu Rubing and Cao Cao had predicted.

The moment Liu Zhang and Sun Jian heard that Gu Rubing and Cao Cao had formed an alliance, they both panicked.

However, Surena and Zhou Yu immediately saw through the deception and advised Liu Zhang and Sun Jian not to panic, as it was all just a show put on by Cao Cao and Gu Rubing.

However, at this moment, neither of them could listen to what Zhou Yu and Surena were saying.

The two panicked even more when they learned that Cao Cao was mobilizing supplies to move towards the border of Jiaozhou, and that Gu Rubing was also mobilizing supplies to move towards Liangzhou.

After all, an army marches on its stomach; if the enemy makes any move to move its supplies, it means they are about to make a move.

Liu Zhang was the first to lose his temper.

After all, Liu Zhang had to face attacks from Cao Cao and guard against sneak attacks from Zhuge Liang, which he simply couldn't handle on his own.

Subsequently, Liu Zhang secretly traveled to Yizhou.

Upon receiving the news, Gu Rubing immediately set off for the Anluo Empire.

The turmoil in Yizhou has now subsided. It is indeed a pity that Jiangzhou City could not be defended, but Gu Rubing is confident that Jiangzhou City will definitely be his next possession in the next war.

Right now, forming an alliance with Sun Jian is the most important thing.

Most importantly, the words spoken by the man in black during the ambush of Liu Zhang in Jiaozhi made Gu Rubing somewhat suspicious.

Why can't I touch Liu Zhang yet? Does that mean the other side has to dictate who I attack first and who I attack later? Is attacking Cao Cao right or wrong? What if the other side intervenes at the last minute? (End of Chapter)