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

Chapter 41, Deploying Troops to Nanyang

Just as Zhang Fei was about to get angry, Guan Yu had already stepped in and helped the drunkard up.

"Yun Chang, it's alright, he's just a drunkard," Liu Bei quickly advised, fearing Guan Yu might make a move.

The next moment, the drunkard staggered away, but Guan Yu was stunned; a letter suddenly appeared in his hand.

Guan Yu glanced down at it and saw four characters written on it: "To be opened by Xuande personally!"

Guan Yu handed the letter to Liu Bei with a puzzled look. Liu Bei opened it and quickly read it through. He was overjoyed and exclaimed, "So, we've all misunderstood His Majesty!"

It is clearly written in the letter:

Xuande, I hope you won't blame me. I didn't mean to neglect you, but Xuchang is a place of great turmoil, and I have no choice in the matter.

Cao Cao held me hostage and commanded the world, but I was walking on thin ice, far from the carefree life you see.

I know perfectly well who is close to me, who is loyal and who is treacherous!
I hope that Xuande can leave Cao Cao as soon as possible, accumulate strength, and help me restore the Han Dynasty!

The last sentence brought tears to Liu Bei's eyes.

You are my royal uncle. If I don't trust you, who can I trust?
Liu Bei was so excited he didn't know what to say. He turned his head to look again, but the drunkard was already gone.

There were some things that Liu Xie couldn't do personally, and there were always people watching him, so he used those wandering knights to contact people outside.

These chivalrous knights are skilled and loyal, making them convenient and discreet for delivering intelligence.

When Liu Bei returned, his steps became lighter and lighter. After returning to his residence and closing the doors and windows, the three brothers carefully read the letter three times.

Guan Yu said, "So Your Majesty had a good plan. You deliberately distanced yourself from us. This way, it is safe for Your Majesty and for us. Cao Cao will not suspect anything."

Liu Bei clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with tears, and said, "Your Majesty, you have finally recognized me! Second brother, third brother, Your Majesty has acknowledged me as your imperial uncle! This is wonderful!"

Liu Bei paced back and forth in the room several times in excitement, not even bothering to wipe away his tears.

To Liu Xie, calling Liu Bei "Imperial Uncle" was as casual as politely calling someone "Uncle" when asking for directions; it was nothing special.

But for Liu Bei, it was like being injected with two pounds of chicken blood; he was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night.

Liu Xie was not worried about Liu Bei's situation at all. Sure enough, Cao Cao soon made arrangements to continue to have Liu Bei station his troops in Xiaopei.

At the same time, in order to divide Liu Bei's forces, Cao Cao summoned the brothers Mi Zhu and Mi Fang separately and bestowed upon them lavish rewards, hoping to make them grateful to him and turn them to serve Cao Cao.

In order to restrain Liu Bei, Cao Cao appointed Xue Ti as the governor of Mount Tai, Lü Qian as the commandant of Mount Tai, and Li Dian also stationed a troop of soldiers not far from Liu Bei.

Cao Cao did what needed to be divided, and what needed to be restrained. Although he did not kill Liu Bei directly, he did put in a lot of effort.

Both times they were stationed in Xiaopei, but last time Liu Bei listened to Lü Bu, this time he listened to Cao Cao.

But Liu Bei remained calm and did what he was supposed to do, without any dissatisfaction.

As the year drew to a close, Cao Cao had reorganized his troops and was finally able to act decisively, deciding to launch a campaign against Zhang Xiu.

Liu Xie naturally requested to join the army on the expedition, and Cao Cao allowed Liu Xie to follow behind, and even specially assigned a thousand armored soldiers to protect his safety.

When he left Xudu, Xun Yu personally saw him off.

Xun Yu walked to Liu Xie's carriage and earnestly instructed him, "Your Majesty, the army is going on a campaign. You must be careful and never risk going to the front lines."

Xun Yu's expression was very serious, his face full of worry. Liu Xie nodded, "Don't worry, Lord Xun, I promise you, nothing will happen."

Xun Yu then approached Yu Jin, who was now in command of the rear army. Xun Yu gave Yu Jin some more instructions. Liu Xie looked at Xun Yu, feeling somewhat moved; at least Xun Yu genuinely cared about his safety.

Last winter, when the weather was freezing cold and the palace was short of supplies, Xun Yu did not hesitate to donate all the charcoal from his own residence.

The procession moved slowly. Cao Cao had already gone far ahead, while Liu Xie seemed to be on a sightseeing tour. In any case, Cao Cao didn't expect Liu Xie to be of any help.

The procession had gone quite a distance when Liu Xie lifted the carriage curtain and looked back. Xun Yu was still standing at the city gate, motionless, gazing in their direction for a long time.

Liu Xie felt a rare sense of ease; this was the first time he had been so far from Xudu, and the feeling was truly intoxicating.

Yu Jin would also come to check from time to time to see if there was anything needed.

At first, Yu Jin felt that the emperor was busy with many things and difficult to serve, so he reluctantly slowed down.

However, Liu Xie quickly changed his mind.

On one occasion, Yu Jin came to ask, "Your Majesty, if you have been in the carriage for too long and are feeling too tired, let's stop and rest for a while."

"No need, I'm not that delicate. If it weren't for Lord Cao's instructions, I would have liked to ride with you all."

Yu Jin nodded and ordered his men to speed up. He found that, as expected, even though the journey was bumpy, Liu Xie never complained and even found it interesting, occasionally leaning out to look at the outside world.

When he stopped to rest, Liu Xie didn't need to give himself any special treatment.

"General Yu, military campaigns are different from those in the palace. There's no need to prepare separate meals for me; just serve the same food as the soldiers."

"Your Majesty, Lord Cao specifically instructed me to take good care of you, and I dare not neglect this duty."

Liu Xie rolled his eyes. "Nonsense, there's no need for so many rules."

Liu Xie waved his hand, signaling Xu Huang to get the food. Xu Huang hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Liu Xie didn't seem to be joking, he had no choice but to go to where the soldiers were queuing up to get the food for Liu Xie.

The soldiers in line were all dumbfounded when they saw this scene.

Without saying a word, Xu Huang made three copies, giving one to Liu Xie and one to Zhao Yun.

Liu Xie walked directly to the roadside and casually sat down on a rock.

The soldiers all watched with curiosity, forgetting what they were supposed to be doing.

Liu Xie waved to everyone as he ate.

Yu Jin strode over and shouted at the soldiers, "What are you looking at? Hurry up and line up for food!"

The crowd gradually dispersed, but after receiving their food, many people still couldn't help but gather around.

For these ordinary Cao soldiers, they dreamed of seeing the emperor, but they never expected that at this moment, the emperor would be so close to them.

"Zhao Yun, is that you?"

A captain strode over from a distance and shouted at Zhao Yun from afar.

Upon getting closer, the other person carefully confirmed it again before excitedly exclaiming, "It's me, Xiahou Lan!"

"Xiahou Lan, it really is you!" Zhao Yun recognized him, smiled at him, and walked over.

(End of this chapter)