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

Upon hearing this, Xun Yu burst out laughing.

“If you said this to someone else, I might believe it, but if you say it to me, forget it. We have 300,000 troops in Linjiang City, while you only have 200,000. What makes you think you can attack the city? Even if the Lie army is stronger than our Wei army, we are in a defensive position. Does the Lie king really think we can’t hold the city?”

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing immediately took out a short blade.

"Xun Yu, Xun Yu, you are indeed a clever man, but have you ever heard the saying: the smarter a person is, the faster they die?"

After saying that, Gu Rubing stabbed the short blade in his hand into the table next to him.

As the short blade fell, Wei Yan and the others around him drew their swords and looked at Xun Yu.

The attendants following Xun Yu were so shocked by what they saw that their legs went weak.

However, Xun Yu didn't seem scared at all. Instead, he sat leisurely on a chair and drank tea.

Gu Rubing glanced at Xun Yu, then burst into laughter.

"Xun Yu, you're really bold. Alright, tell me, what exactly did Cao Cao send you here for?"

"Your Highness, I don't need to tell you what my lord wants to do, you should understand, right?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing looked at Xun Yu in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I'm afraid your involvement in this matter is insufficient."

"Of course, of course. I was just asking for your opinion on my lord. Now I understand what you mean. My lord will be waiting for you in the desolate mountains outside the city in three days!"

After saying this, Xun Yu turned and left.

Watching Xun Yu's retreating figure, Lu Su walked over to Gu Rubing's side.

"My lord, it seems Cao Cao is planning to back down?"

"I suppose so. Cao Cao could only submit to those stronger than him; at least Liu Zhang and Sun Jian were not qualified."

three days later.

Gu Rubing arrived at the earthen hill as promised.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao was already standing atop the earthen hill, waiting for them.

Upon seeing Gu Rubing arrive, Cao Cao immediately walked up to him.

"King Lie, you've finally arrived. I've been waiting for you for so long."

"Haha, King Wei, I didn't expect you to arrive so early. I wonder if you have any plans to come see me?"

Seeing that Gu Rubing got straight to the point, Cao Cao knew that Gu Rubing had seen through his thoughts and wanted to make a move.

"King Lie, I suffered a crushing defeat in our previous battle, and I have no desire to continue fighting. Moreover, it is already winter, and the soldiers' hands are so cold they can't even take them out of their hands. I feel there is no need to make things difficult for them, is there?"

"So the King of Wei wants a ceasefire?"

"Well... what I mean is, I want to make peace with you."

"So you want to use me to teach Sun Jian and Liu Zhang a lesson?"

Cao Cao smiled and nodded.

"Sure, but I have to get something in return. I'd be at a huge loss if I helped you and didn't get anything in return."

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao fell silent instantly.

Liu Bei's words are truly shameless. His goal is to fight me, which means he will inevitably have to fight against Sun Jian and Liu Zhang's troops. Now that I am not only helping him to eliminate Liu Zhang and Sun Jian, he still wants to ask me for benefits.

The more Cao Cao thought about it, the more frustrated he became, and the smile on his face gradually faded.

Seeing Cao Cao's reaction, Gu Rubing smiled and then stood up.

“King Wei, I know what you’re thinking, but you don’t need to feel aggrieved. Although I will inevitably have to deal with Sun Jian and Liu Zhang’s men when I fight you, this time we are fighting as a three-way battle. You’re just watching the show, so someone has to bear my losses, right?”

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao hesitated for a moment.

"Bajun is yours."

"make a deal."

After discussing the details, the two quickly left the hill.

When Lu Su saw Gu Rubing return, he immediately went up to him.

"My lord, how is it? Is there any result?"

"Okay, get ready. We'll start the battle in an hour."

"Yes!"

The soldiers of the left and right battalions suddenly received Cao Cao's order to transfer some of them.

The deputy general leading the team sensed something was wrong. He discovered that those who had been exchanged were all his own men; Cao Cao had transferred his own people away.

But soon, the lieutenant remembered that he had received orders before he came out to obey Cao Cao's commands, so he didn't pay much attention to the matter.

An hour later.

The bugle call for the attack of the fierce army sounded.

The left flank was attacked.

The entire left battalion consisted of Liu Zhang's troops. The moment they encountered the attack, they requested reinforcements from the right battalion and the city.

After receiving this news, Cao Cao deliberately delayed issuing the order for an hour before sending the right wing to provide support.

However, without anyone in command, both the left and right battalions appeared extremely chaotic.

Gu Rubing easily drove them away.

These people immediately ran towards Cao Cao's direction.

However, they were all blocked at the city gate by Cao Cao.

Upon seeing these remnants of their army, Linjiang City showed no intention of opening its gates.

Wei Yan and Zhang He led an army of 100,000 in pursuit.

However, Cao Cao on the city wall showed no intention of firing an arrow. He sat quietly on the wall, drinking tea and watching the battle below.

Two hundred thousand soldiers were almost all killed in battle in just two hours.

Seeing that the battle was over, Cao Cao smiled and turned to leave the city wall.

Wei Yan and Zhang He brought back a portion of the prisoners.

"My lord, in this battle we lost 30,000 men, but annihilated 200,000 enemy soldiers."

After reporting his military achievements, Wei Yan couldn't help but sigh.

These people have no fighting spirit whatsoever; such victories, no matter how many, are meaningless. Gu Rubing hadn't expected the difference between having a renowned general in command and not having one to be so vast.

"Alright, everyone go and rest. We should have a break for a while after this."

Half a month later, Cao Cao was surprised to find two unexpected guests arriving in Linjiang City.

One was Surena, and the other was Zhou Yu.

Upon seeing the two men arrive, Cao Cao immediately went to greet them.

"Your Highness, can you explain to me what exactly you meant by the great defeat last time?"

"What do you mean? I don't quite understand what you two mean. There should always be winners and losers on the battlefield. I, Cao Cao, am not strong enough to win every battle, am I? Just because you supported me with 200,000 men, does my failure need your help?"

Upon hearing this, the two exchanged glances and then calmed down their anger.

Zhou Yu was the first to react. He took a deep breath and sat down opposite Cao Cao.

“King Wei, it’s not that we can’t accept defeat. We know how strong Liu Bei is. But we can’t allow ourselves to lose without a clear explanation. According to our intelligence, you had the ability to protect the retreating soldiers. Why didn’t you open the city gates?”

“You weren’t here at the time, so you can only hear what others have said. Do you know how tense the situation was? If I had opened the city gates, Wei Yan and his men would have rushed in. Moreover, the situation was extremely chaotic. How would I know if Liu Bei’s men were hiding inside? If Linjiang City were lost, the entire Ba Commandery would be without anyone who could restrain Liu Bei. Do you expect me to give up the entire Ba Commandery for the sake of a few remnants of his army?”

Cao Cao spoke with great emotion, and by the end, his eyes had turned red.

Seeing Cao Cao's indignant expression, Zhou Yu and Surena even began to believe him.

But soon, the two realized that Cao Cao's words, though seemingly without problem, could not withstand close scrutiny. Careful thought revealed many issues within them.

However, the two men also understood that since Cao Cao had said so, it was a response to them. Those people were already dead, and nothing could be changed. Besides, they didn't have the ability to make Cao Cao kneel down and admit his mistakes.

"King Wei, since that's the case, we can't say anything more. After we return, we will mobilize a large force to come and support you. We will definitely be able to help you overcome the current difficulties. Moreover, we will also send a famous general to command this time."

"A renowned general? It seems you two don't believe me."

With a renowned general leading the way, it's clearly unlikely that they'll be able to do what they did before.

"Of course not. After all, those are our troops. It must be difficult for you, King Wei, to command them. With our people, it will be much easier for you to command them, won't it?"

Zhou Yu immediately smiled and explained.

But Cao Cao was not about to be fooled by such words, and he slammed his hand on the table.

"Don't think that you two are the only smart people in the world. Do you think I don't know what you've done? What do you want me to be? Your pawn? The next Shi Xie? You've probably forgotten that I was the first to use this method. I can tell you clearly now that I don't need your support. It's winter now, and the soldiers can no longer fight. I'm preparing for a truce and will fight again next spring."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu and Suleina's expressions immediately changed.

Now that we have finally achieved this situation, with Cao Cao, the strongest force besides Liu Bei, standing at the forefront, if we were to cease hostilities, given Cao Cao's personality, he would definitely disrupt the current situation.

"King Wei, it's not what you think, we..."

"Alright, that's enough. I've already told you that I'm going to make a truce. If you want to send reinforcements, that's your business. But let's make one thing clear first: I lost a lot of supplies during the battle and need your reinforcements. If you can meet this requirement, then you can continue to send people over."

How many reinforcements?

"Ninety million shi!"

Upon hearing this number, the two of them widened their eyes in surprise.

When Liu Zhang was short of grain, he only asked for 30 million shi (a unit of dry measure), but now Cao Cao is making an outrageous demand for 90 million.

"King Wei, aren't you asking for a bit too much?"

"There's no other way. Linjiang City is a major consumer of grain these days, with hundreds of thousands of troops at a time, all of whom are on standby. How much grain do I have to use like that? Besides, this 90 million is only for now. If I need more later, I'll ask you for it again."

"This matter concerning the King is quite important, and we cannot make any decisions on it. Please return and discuss it with our respective lords before giving you a definitive answer."

"Go."

Cao Cao watched the two figures as they walked away, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"You really think I'm Shi Xie? That you can be easily appeased with a little something? You want to use my methods to kill me? Then I'll show you who will be the one who gets played to death in the end."

Gu Rubing had been conserving his strength and even retreated his troops to Jiangzhou City during this period.

After all, the makeshift camp was too cold, and some soldiers had completely lost their fighting ability, so Gu Rubing simply sent everyone back.

Standing on the city wall, looking towards the distant Linjiang City, he was a little curious about how Cao Cao's discussion with Liu Zhang and the others had gone.

Lu Su came to Gu Rubing's side and draped the mink cloak over Gu Rubing's shoulders.

"My lord, it's cold in winter, please take care of yourself."

Gu Rubing smiled upon hearing this, then looked into the distance again.

"Zijing, when do you think we will be able to complete our great undertaking?"

"My lord, there's no need to rush. The difficulties will only increase as we progress. Right now, there are only three lords left. Once we defeat them all, we will be able to accomplish what we've been striving for. But my lord, sometimes I wonder if our choices were truly the right ones?"

After Lu Su finished speaking, he looked at Gu Rubing with some doubt.

Gu Rubing didn't quite understand Lu Su's meaning and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"My lord, I have heard about your ambush of Liu Zhang in Jiaozhou. The man in black said that Liu Zhang should live for the time being. Could he really be referring to Liu Zhang? Is it possible that he was referring to a warlord within the Han territory? I have always felt that the man in black was referring to Sun Jian."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing fell into deep thought.

According to the theory of the Dragon's Fortune, the lords who are still alive today all carry some of the Dragon's Fortune of the Han Dynasty, it's just a matter of who carries more and who carries less.

If what the man in black said is true, Sun Jian should indeed be dealt with first, because only with Sun Jian in the Anluo Empire has the Han Dynasty's imperial fortune been taken out of the Han territory.

However, Sun Jian's Anluo Empire has an extremely large territory and the largest population besides their own. Moreover, it is, after all, the Anluo Empire. If they were to go there, it would be an expeditionary force, and there would inevitably be many difficulties along the way. In any case, it would be inappropriate for them to focus their attention on Sun Jian first.

"Perhaps, but I have no obligation to listen to that guy. If we confront Sun Jian now, we are very likely to be ambushed by Cao Cao and Liu Zhang. Moreover, the expeditionary force has suffered too many losses, which is beyond our current capacity."

Lu Su nodded upon hearing this and said nothing more.

"My lord, the Colonel of the Crossbowmen has brought the latest intelligence. Would you like to take a look?"

"The latest intelligence?"

Gu Rubing immediately went to the hall.

He picked up the intelligence.

After a quick glance, Gu Rubing's face instantly darkened.

"What's wrong, my lord?"

Lu Su also noticed that Gu Rubing's expression was off, so he immediately went forward to ask him what was wrong.

"Cao Cao has received reinforcements again, and it's still 200,000 strong. However, this time, they've also sent Lu Xun and Yan Yan to guard the so-called left and right camps." (End of Chapter)