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

Yan Yan, along with the remaining soldiers and Lu Xun, took a detour back to Linjiang City.

When they learned that Cao Cao had only sent 20,000 troops to support the Southern Camp, they went directly to Cao Cao.

"King Wei, my army is surrounded, and you only sent 20,000 men to reinforce us, without even a single general. Moreover, our 20,000 men were chased by 10,000 enemy soldiers. Aren't you going a bit too far?"

"Excessive? I say, Lu Xun, my goal is to defend Linjiang City, but you are only defending a part of it. If all the soldiers in the city are sent out to support you, who will defend the city?"

After Cao Cao finished speaking, he looked at Lu Xun again.

"Furthermore, you should know that you are a general under the King of Wu, while I am the King of Wei. Is this how you speak to royalty?"

After Cao Cao finished speaking, the soldiers around him drew their weapons and looked at Lu Xun.

Seeing this, Lu Xun remained silent for a long time before suppressing his anger.

“King Wei, I, Lu Xun, will remember this matter. I will report everything that happened here to my lord, without missing a single word.”

Lu Xun gritted his teeth and said these words, then turned and left Linjiang City.

"King Wei, I will also inform my lord of what happened. Farewell!"

Seeing Lu Xun leave, Yan Yan worried that Cao Cao would take action against them, so he quickly followed him away.

Cao Cao frowned as he watched the two figures walk away.

“How can Sun Jian’s men and Liu Zhang’s men be so useless? Two hundred thousand troops were wiped out, and Liu Bei lost fifty thousand men. We were hoping that they would weaken Liu Bei’s strength so that Liu Bei would still be wary of us, and perhaps we could hold Linjiang City for the time being.”

Cao Cao originally did not intend to hand over Linjiang City to Gu Rubing. He only wanted to weaken Gu Rubing's military strength. He could then simply play tricks on Gu Rubing and delay the handover of Linjiang City until after the New Year. By then, the situation would have changed again, and their agreement would be null and void.

But now, having offended Liu Zhang and Sun Jian, he will be leaving Linjiang City and Ba Commandery.

"My lord, there's no need to rush. We can stall for time. Liu Zhang and Sun Jian will definitely come to you later. If Liu Bei urges us, we'll use Liu Zhang and Sun Jian as an excuse to delay."

Upon hearing Xun Yu's words, Cao Cao nodded in satisfaction.

After the great battle ended, Gu Rubing sent all the surrendered soldiers to Jiangzhou City and then sent an envoy to contact Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's reply was that it would take a few more days, until he met with Liu Zhang and Sun Jian, before the handover could take place.

This made Gu Rubing realize that Cao Cao did not want to keep the agreement.

Therefore, Gu Rubing did not leave, but stayed outside Linjiang City.

Meanwhile, the 80,000 troops inside the city were locked in a standoff with Gu Rubing's more than 100,000 troops, resulting in a constant state of tension.

Cao Cao felt somewhat anxious as he listened to the soldiers' complaints every day.

Fortunately, not long after, Sun Jian and Liu Zhang appeared in Linjiang City.

The moment the two men saw Cao Cao, their faces turned grim, not smiling.

When Cao Cao saw the expressions on the two men's faces, the smile on his face gradually faded.

Gu Rubing's assessment of Cao Cao was correct.

Cao Cao was a proud man, and he certainly wouldn't flatter those who were less capable than himself.

Seeing Cao Cao's reaction, Liu Zhang cried out in grievance, "King of Wei, what do you mean by this? We sent a large number of troops to support you, and this is how you treat us? Four hundred thousand soldiers died before your eyes, don't you have even the slightest thought of saving them?"

"That's right, Cao Cao, you can't go too far, can you? You want provisions, I'll give you provisions; you want troops, I'll give you troops. What more do you want?"

Hearing their words, Cao Cao snorted coldly.

"When did I ask you for reinforcements? Didn't you give me all of this voluntarily? Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. If you want to treat me like Shi Xie, you're dreaming. Even if I, Cao Cao, am incompetent, you are still no match for me."

Cao Cao's voice was full of momentum. When Liu Zhang heard this, he couldn't help but take a step back and look at Sun Jian beside him.

Sun Jian, however, showed no fear whatsoever.

Seeing this, Cao Cao looked at Sun Jian with curiosity. He found that Sun Jian's strength seemed to be getting stronger. The Anluo Empire had never had any wars. How did Sun Jian become stronger?
However, Cao Cao also knew that now was not the time to consider these things.

"Cao Cao, what you said is a bit too much. However, I can let bygones be bygones for what happened before. Do you still want to continue your battle with Liu Bei? We can send you more troops."

"No need! I'm not planning on getting it done anymore. We'll talk about it next spring!"

Upon hearing this, the two men's expressions changed immediately, and a hint of panic appeared in their eyes.

"King Wei, you..."

"Alright, that's enough. If there's nothing else, please leave."

Seeing that Cao Cao had already given them the order to leave, the two men didn't say anything more. After giving Cao Cao a cold snort, they turned and left Linjiang City.

However, Liu Zhang returned to Jiaozhou, while Sun Jian did not leave.

Now that we have arrived in Yizhou, and Cao Cao is clearly no longer reliable, Sun Jian represents the Anluo Empire. If he wants to participate in the affairs of the Han Dynasty, he must find a middleman. Since Cao Cao cannot be used, and Liu Zhang does not have the courage to fight against Liu Bei, the only middleman now is Liu Bei.

Although Sun Jian was in the Anluo Empire, he always wanted to lead his men back to the Han Dynasty and at least regain control of his original territory.

However, Sun Jian could only imagine this idea in his mind. With his strength, once he left, he would never have the chance to come back.

Gu Rubing had not expected that Sun Jian would come looking for him.

However, Gu Rubing directly sent Sun Jian's envoy back without even giving him a chance to meet him.

Sun Jian had long anticipated this outcome.

After all, he had just formed an alliance with Gu Rubing and then immediately provided Cao Cao with troops and supplies to fight against Gu Rubing. Although it was nominally a purchase, Gu Rubing was not stupid and would not be so easily deceived.

However, Sun Jian was not unprepared. As early as when he was on his way to Cao Cao's side, he had already sent someone to a certain place.

Shortly after Gu Rubing drove away Sun Jian's envoy.

A man arrived at the military camp.

"My lord, my sister-in-law has arrived!"

"Huh? Who is it?"

"Sister-in-law Sun!"

Guan Yu looked at Gu Rubing with some helplessness.

He knew that Gu Rubing had driven away Sun Jian's envoy. Now that the envoy had just left, Sun Shangxiang had arrived. Clearly, Sun Jian had prepared this in advance. He knew that Liu Bei could refuse to see Sun Jian, but he would never refuse to see Sun Shangxiang.

"Sun Shangxiang? She actually came?"

Gu Rubing knew that Sun Shangxiang must have come because of his relationship with Sun Jian.

He never expected that Sun Jian would be so shameless as to drag Sun Shangxiang into the mess as well.

"Bring him in," Gu Rubing sighed, speaking with a hint of helplessness.

Before long, Sun Shangxiang entered the commander's camp.

"Madam, why are you here?"

Gu Rubing immediately stepped forward and walked to Sun Shangxiang's side.

"My husband hasn't been back for more than half a year. If he won't go back, can't I at least come and see him?"

Sun Shangxiang smiled, then walked to a chair and sat down.

Guan Yu and the others wisely withdrew from the commander's camp.

“Madam, this is a battlefield, it’s very dangerous. It’s safer for you to stay in the rear. I will naturally return after the war is over.”

Upon hearing this, Sun Shangxiang took a sip of the tea in front of her and then looked at Gu Rubing.

"My husband should know why I've come, right? I didn't expect my father to drag me into this. If my father has offended you in any way, I apologize again. I hope you two can meet, but I won't interfere with your subsequent discussions."

Seeing Sun Shangxiang's pitiful appearance, Gu Rubing smiled.

He hadn't originally intended to completely avoid seeing Sun Jian; he simply left him outside the camp as a punishment, to teach him a lesson.

"Alright, since Madam has spoken, let Sun Jian in. However, Madam should leave immediately. This is the front line, and no one knows when Cao Cao will launch his next attack."

"Alright, I'll leave now."

Sun Shangxiang rolled her eyes at Gu Rubing, then turned and left the tent.

Not long after, Sun Jian walked in.

Behind Sun Jian, only Gan Ning followed.

"Oh, isn't this the King of Wu? What brings Your Highness here?"

"King Lie, I've come here simply to offer an explanation."

"An explanation? I don't think it's necessary. But I really didn't expect that His Highness King Wu would be so shameless as to have his daughter knock on the door for you. How can you be worthy of being a king?"

Sun Jian could tell that Gu Rubing was genuinely angry this time.

But he had no choice. It wasn't easy for him to come to the Great Han Dynasty. If he couldn't see Gu Rubing, he didn't know when he would be able to have a proper talk with Gu Rubing next time.

"King Lie, please don't be angry. I can explain what has happened recently. I was just doing business with Cao Cao and had no intention of helping him. Moreover, I have now severed ties with Cao Cao, so it's all a misunderstanding."

Gu Rubing was too lazy to look at Sun Jian's face and waved his hand impatiently.

"Alright, just get to the point. What brings you here today?"

"Didn't we promise to provide grain and fodder to Yizhou? I figured the last batch of grain and fodder should be almost used up, so I was just letting you know that I'm preparing to transport the next batch."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing that there was grain available, Gu Rubing was naturally willing; who wouldn't want a free bargain?

"Sure, sure, but this time you have to prepare 200,000 troops and three months' worth of provisions for me. You know that your Anluo Empire is slow to transport provisions, and I often have to pay for them myself. You can't let me suffer too much of a loss, can you?"

"Hmph, you're the ones who are trying to extort us, yet you're making yourselves sound so pitiful. You're shameless."

Gan Ning couldn't help but let out a cold snort.

However, just as Gan Ning finished speaking, a chilling killing intent enveloped him. Upon sensing this killing intent, all the pores on Gan Ning's body opened instantly, and cold sweat broke out on his body.

Gan Ning was a legendary general. In the entire Han Dynasty, there was only one person who could bring Gan Ning to this state: Guan Yu.

"Don't you know what your King of Wu has done? A bunch of treacherous villains, what right do you have to talk about us?"

Upon hearing Guan Yu's words, Gan Ning immediately shut his mouth.
However, to Guan Yu and Gu Rubing's surprise, the moment Guan Yu released his killing intent, he subconsciously avoided Gu Rubing, who was standing next to him. Even so, Gu Rubing still felt his whole body stiffen and his limbs were completely unable to move.

However, under these circumstances, Sun Jian actually stood up from his chair, his movements completely unrestricted.

Guan Yu's expression changed immediately upon seeing this.

Although Sun Jian's expression was not good, Guan Yu could sense that Sun Jian now had the ability to block his attack.

The ability to block a legendary general's attack means that the opponent is also a legendary general.
This terrifying thought crossed Guan Yu's mind.

However, it wasn't just Guan Yu; even Gu Rubing shared this idea.

"General Guan, I have already explained these matters. They were indeed misunderstandings. Xingba speaks rather bluntly, so please don't take offense. I will prepare the provisions for the King of Lie once I return. However, I would like to ask the King of Lie to send someone to Liangzhou for the handover. I do not wish to cause any further misunderstandings."

After Sun Jian finished speaking, he turned and left.

Watching Sun Jian's retreating figure, Gu Rubing looked at Guan Yu.

"Second brother, can you sense anything?"

Guan Yu paused for a moment, then looked at Gu Rubing with a troubled expression.

"Brother, there's something I'm not sure if I should say!"

"But it doesn't matter!"

"I feel that Sun Jian has probably already entered the realm of legendary military generals!"

Gu Rubing was not surprised by Guan Yu's words, because the answer was the same as his guess.

But Gu Rubing couldn't understand how Sun Jian could be promoted so quickly.

The battlefield of the Han Dynasty is now relatively stable, and almost no one will experience any major changes. Even if Sun Jian was a famous general in the past, the requirements for becoming a legendary general are very strict, and it is impossible for Sun Jian to become a legendary general so easily.

Did Sun Jian have something special about him?
Gu Rubing hesitated for a moment, then looked at Guan Yu.

"Take Zhao Yun and go test Sun Jian."

"Yes!"

After Sun Jian and Gan Ning left Gu Rubing's camp, they were about to continue walking when a lot of snowflakes suddenly began to fall from the sky.

"Snow in Yizhou is truly a rare sight!"

Just as Sun Jian was sighing, he suddenly looked behind him.

At this moment, Zhao Yun and Guan Yu slowly walked over.

Sun Jian could sense the hostility emanating from the two men; clearly, these two were not there to see them off.

"Xingba, be careful." (End of Chapter)