With Cao Cao by my side, what do I have to fear from the world?

Chapter 278, Even the Emperor Can't Overturn the Case
Liu Bei looked at everyone and asked eagerly, "Then what do you think? Should I go to Changsha and join forces with Gan Ning?"

Ma Liang and Yi Ji nodded in agreement. Ma Liang said, "Cao Cao represents the imperial court after all. No matter how many men Gan Ning has, Cao Cao will not dare to attack Changsha!"

Liu Bei frowned and said worriedly, "There's nothing Cao Cao wouldn't dare to do. If we really go to Changsha, alas... once Cao Cao really attacks Changsha, we'll have no way out."

"Report, my lord, the north gate is about to fall. General Guan hopes that you will make plans as soon as possible."

"What...what should I do?"

Liu Bei was extremely anxious and paced around the room incessantly.

While Cao Cao relentlessly smeared Liu Bei, he launched a massive attack, giving Liu Bei no chance to breathe. This terrified Liu Bei. Even if he went to Changsha, would Cao Cao let him go?

The more Liu Bei thought about it, the more uncertain he became.

Liu Bei both hated and feared Cao Cao. Of all the people present, no one understood better than Liu Bei just how terrifying Cao Cao was.

Although he lost to the emperor and lost Xuchang, Cao Cao did not restrain himself.

In the past two years, Cao Cao has expanded his forces rapidly and increased his strength considerably. Although he dares not openly confront the imperial court, he clearly has some ambitions.

Liu Bei then invited Lu Su over and asked, "If we go to Jiangdong, we must rely on your fleet. Where is your Jiangdong fleet now?"

Ma Liang and Yi Ji both sighed; Liu Bei's mind had clearly shifted towards Jiangdong.

Lu Su was delighted and quickly replied, "Uncle, our fleet is closest to Jiangxia. You can go to Jiangxia first, and I will go back to report to Marquis Wu and send someone to pick you up."

Time was of the essence, so Liu Bei nodded. "Alright, it's settled then."

Lu Su immediately left Jiangling, and Liu Bei, disregarding the opinions of others, ordered his troops to Jiangxia.

Gan Ning had been closely monitoring the situation and had made preparations to meet Liu Bei, but he was still a step too late, as Liu Bei had already led his men to Jiangxia ahead of time.

No sooner had Liu Bei left than Cao Ren successfully occupied Jiangling. Subsequently, Cao Cao and Guo Jia arrived together, and the army pursued the victory, heading straight for Jiangxia.

Along the way, Cao Cao would occasionally encounter Liu Bei's troops who had fallen behind. He showed no mercy and swept through them, reaping a great deal of spoils.

At the beginning, Liu Bei had tens of thousands of troops. However, he was repeatedly pursued by Cao Cao's army. Many of his soldiers were separated from their posts, killed, or surrendered. By the time he reached Jiangxia, Liu Bei only had a little over 5,000 men left.

Xiakou is located on the Yangtze River and is the most important waterway hub in Jiangxia. After Liu Bei entered the city, he hurriedly prepared to defend it while hoping that Sun Quan's fleet could arrive as soon as possible.

Sun Quan had already made preparations. Upon learning that Liu Bei had arrived at Xiakou, Sun Quan was about to order his troops to meet him when Zhou Yu stopped him.

"My lord, wait a moment!" Zhou Yu walked slowly and calmly to Sun Quan.

Sun Quan looked at Zhou Yu in confusion, "Gongjin, why are you stopping me? Liu Bei is in a bad situation, and the pursuers are about to arrive. We should hurry over there immediately."

Zhou Yu shook his head. "My lord, please listen to me. Liu Bei is not willing to join forces with us. If Xiakou doesn't have a fleet to pick him up, it will be a dead end. Liu Bei will definitely fight Cao Cao to the death. Why don't you use Cao Cao to wear down Liu Bei's temper and weaken Cao Cao's strength? If Liu Bei is about to collapse, then we can make a move. That would be a timely help! At that time, Liu Bei will be even more grateful for your life-saving grace and will be more obedient to you after arriving in Jiangdong."

"..." Zhou Yu's words made Sun Quan quite interested.

Although Zhou Yu was young, he was a strategist and could see through everything. "If our lord goes there now, Liu Bei might still put on airs as an imperial uncle and look down on us because he has some troops. But if he is forced into a corner, his attitude towards us will be different."

Sun Quan nodded, "That makes sense, that makes sense!"

Lu Su was somewhat worried and couldn't help but say, "Isn't what we're doing not benevolent enough? Our lord originally wanted to join forces with Liu Bei. If Liu Bei suffers heavy losses, his usefulness to us will be greatly diminished."

Zhou Yu shook his head and said, "He has no troops, but we can lend him some. As long as Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei are around, Liu Bei cannot be ignored. Moreover, if we give him troops, it will be easier for us to control him."

Then, Zhou Yu looked at Sun Quan, a smile appearing on his lips, "Does my lord prefer an ally who is on equal footing with him, or would you rather have an ally who obeys your commands?"

To get Liu Bei to obey, you have to push him to the brink of despair.

Zhou Yu remained calm and said, "Liu Bei has no way out now. No one but us will come to his rescue!"

Sun Quan didn't like to act out of kindness or be a pushover, and Zhou Yu's reminder made perfect sense to him.

Liu Bei was a fierce tiger. To make him obey, we had to use Cao Cao to temper his temperament.

After thinking it through, Sun Quan called Zhou Tai over and said, "Keep an eye on Xiakou and report to me immediately if anything happens."

Zhou Tai clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, then turned and strode away.

Lu Su was so anxious that he kept stamping his feet. Wasn't this just deliberately making things difficult for him?

From Sun Quan's perspective, he naturally hoped that Liu Bei could be used by him so that he could completely control him.

If Liu Bei went to Changsha to find Gan Ning, Sun Quan would have no chance at all; he couldn't just go to Changsha and snatch him away.

But now Liu Bei is in Xiakou, right under Sun Quan's nose, making it clear that Liu Bei is here to rely on Sun Quan, so Sun Quan is no longer in a hurry.

He wanted to simmer Liu Bei slowly and carefully, to properly manage him.

Liu Bei sent men to guard the riverbank, anxiously waiting for the ships from Jiangdong, but they waited and waited and they didn't come.

Before the ships from Jiangdong arrived, Cao Cao's army had already reached them.

This time, Cao Cao also came. Without saying any unnecessary words, Cao Cao directly ordered his men to surround Xiakou.

Cao Cao, dressed in a red robe, with bright, gleaming eyes, rode his horse with imposing presence and extraordinary aura.

Looking up at the city wall a few times, Cao Cao shouted, "Where is Liu Bei? Let him come out and answer me!"

The defenders on the city wall were somewhat flustered by Cao Cao's imposing presence.

Cao Cao had a stern face, and although his eyes were not large, his gaze was extremely sharp, as if he could see through people's hearts. Every move he made exuded a powerful aura.

Only the emperor could rival Cao Cao in terms of imposing presence; everyone else would unconsciously appear inferior, let alone these ordinary soldiers.

Someone rushed off to deliver the message, and soon Liu Bei, accompanied by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, appeared on the city wall. Cao Cao squinted at Liu Bei, glanced at him a few times, and couldn't help but laugh, "Xuande, it's been a long time. You've certainly lost quite a bit of weight lately."

As soon as Cao Cao finished speaking, many of his soldiers burst into laughter.

Cao Ang stared wide-eyed at Liu Bei. He had a good impression of Liu Bei, but he couldn't understand why Liu Bei, the Imperial Uncle, would poison two governors of Jingzhou in succession.

Cao Ang wasn't stupid; he had also suspected that there might be a mistake. However, there were simply too many suspicious points surrounding Liu Qi's death.

He died peacefully. Before his death, he had repeatedly expressed his desire to go to Xuchang. It wasn't just Madam Cai who said this; many other people in the household also spoke up.

This inevitably raises suspicions.

When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with fury. Upon seeing Cao Cao, Liu Bei lost his usual composure. He gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with a chilling glint, as if he wanted to pounce on Cao Cao and bite him to death.

"Cao Cao, you're the one who's behind all this, you're the one framing me."

"Xuande, what makes you say that?"

Cao Cao feigned surprise and widened his eyes. "You suspect that I am framing you? How could that be? If you did nothing, would I throw mud at you for no reason? Poisoning two members of the imperial clan is no laughing matter. Xuande, don't joke with me."

In front of so many people, Cao Cao remained very composed, while Liu Bei lost control of his emotions and his face turned red. In front of tens of thousands of soldiers, the more he acted this way, the more he lost his composure.

When two people are arguing, the person who appears more composed will be favored by onlookers, who will naturally be considered more reasonable.

Liu Bei, already feeling guilty, had a weakness that Cao Cao had seized upon.

"Xuande, if you are truly innocent, why not open the city gates and come with me back to Xuchang to see His Majesty? His Majesty will certainly handle the matter impartially and give you justice!"

Guan Yu also advised again: "Brother, there is no need for us to go to Jiangdong. Why don't we open the city gates? I doubt Cao Cao would dare to harm you."

However, Liu Bei also had his own concerns. After all, Liu Qi had died at his hands. Even if he went to see the emperor, could he really explain the matter clearly?

The more composed Cao Cao appeared, the less confident Liu Bei felt.

In addition, given the emperor's usual leniency towards Cao Cao, Liu Bei found it very difficult to make up his mind to go to Xuchang.

At this time, Liu Bei was filled with anxiety and uncertainty, like a child who had made a mistake and dared not face his parents.

Liu Bei gritted his teeth and snorted coldly, "Cao Cao, I did nothing. It was clearly your conspiracy."

"You're saying it was a conspiracy I set up?"

Cao Cao raised his voice, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Xuande, you know better than anyone how Liu Qi died. You repeatedly refused to send him to Xudu for treatment because you didn't want him to live at all. Liu Qi argued with you, but you silenced him. Isn't that right?"

"You thought that by killing Liu Qi you could secure Jingzhou, and even Lady Cai, intimidated by your threat, took the blame upon herself. But you didn't realize that Lady Cai was only holding back because of the circumstances. She has already told me the truth."

Cao Cao's words left Liu Bei speechless. He hurriedly retorted, "I didn't poison her, it was Lady Cai. I didn't threaten her, she admitted it herself."

Cao Cao sneered, "I don't understand. In front of so many people, explain to me why you don't arrest Lady Cai immediately since she admitted to poisoning her?"

Cao Cao grasped the core of the problem, which was the most crucial point.

Everyone turned their puzzled gazes toward Liu Bei, including Guan Yu.

Since it was Lady Cai who poisoned him, why didn't Liu Bei deal with her promptly for such a serious matter?

Because Liu Bei also had something on Lady Cai's hands.

At that time, Liu Bei and Lady Cai were tacitly aware of each other's weaknesses, and Liu Bei wanted to find a suitable opportunity to get rid of Lady Cai.

However, before Liu Bei could take any action, the situation reversed, and now all the blame was being thrown at Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was speechless, his weakness had been seized upon by Guo Jia long ago and magnified a hundredfold.

Guo Jia used his own selfish desires to make Liu Bei believe that he saw hope, and he slightly obstructed Liu Qi from going to Xuchang. This small trigger eventually led to an uncontrollable situation, causing Liu Bei to suffer irreparable damage!

Cao Cao said firmly, "Liu Bei, it is a fact that Liu Qi died at your hands. It is also a fact that Liu Qi and Liu Biao had the same symptoms. Judging from all the signs, they died one after another, and you were the one who benefited the most. So you are the one who poisoned them and murdered your own clan!"

"Give up resistance, open the city gates immediately, and go to Xuchang to apologize to His Majesty."

Cao Cao's series of attacks completely shattered Liu Bei's psychological defenses.

The more this happened, the less Liu Bei dared to return to Xuchang, because he could no longer explain himself clearly.

Liu Bei only prevented Liu Qi from going to Xudu, but he ended up taking all the blame, and everyone believed that it was Liu Bei who did it!
Liu Bei was so wronged that he couldn't clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River!
…………

No one expected that Liu Xie would also come to Xinye from Xudu. Being closer to Xinye would make it easier for Liu Xie to obtain first-hand intelligence about Jingzhou in a timely manner.

Although he did not go to Xiangyang, the spies sent by the court to Jingzhou kept reporting the latest intelligence to Liu Xie, and Zhuge Liang also sent several letters to Liu Xie.

"Your Majesty, things seem to be going badly. Liu Bei has been forced to retreat again and again, and now he has led his men to Jiangxia." Jia Xu reported while shaking his head repeatedly.

Liu Xie's face was ashen, and his expression had never been so cold and serious. He remained silent for a while before coldly saying, "Cao Cao is really determined this time, leaving Liu Bei no room for maneuver!"

Zhao Yun was also very angry. He had always had a good impression of Liu Bei, having known him since he was a follower of Gongsun Zan.

Zhao Yun said, "Your Majesty, I absolutely do not believe that Liu Biao and his son were killed by the Imperial Uncle."

Liu Xie glanced at Zhao Yun and sighed helplessly. "Whether you believe it or not is no longer important. This matter is already a done deal. Now, rumors are spreading all over Jingzhou that Liu Bei prevented Liu Qi from coming to Xuchang for medical treatment. They even claim that Liu Qi argued with Liu Bei before he died, but he died peacefully with his eyes closed. The problem lies here. It is likely that Liu Bei saw that Liu Qi was about to die, so he had a little selfish thought. Unfortunately, someone seized on this and made a big fuss about it. Even if I am the emperor, it will be difficult for me to completely overturn this matter for Liu Bei."

"This... I really don't understand why the Imperial Uncle didn't go to Changsha, or even just surrender the city. Why did he go to Jiangxia instead?" Zhao Yun was completely baffled.

(End of this chapter)