Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

This shout shocked Yang Xiu so much that his body shuddered and his heart began to beat wildly. He raised his head tremblingly and looked at Liu Bei in confusion.

"Yang Xiu, at this point, are you still being so smart?"

Xiao Fang gently waved his feather fan, with a sarcastic sneer on his face:

"Before Cao Zhi died, he confessed everything you did. Do you think the emperor doesn't know about the disgusting things you did?"

Yang Xiu trembled again, and panic appeared in his eyes.

"In today's world of great contention, it is common for heroes to serve their respective masters for fame or profit."

"You are from the Yang family, you call yourself a genius, and you want to help Cao Zhi become the crown prince, ascend the throne of the pseudo-Qin, and become the prime minister yourself. This ambition is understandable."

"What a pity! As Cao Zhi's confidant, you betrayed Cao Zhi in the moment of life and death in order to save your own life."

"In order to help Cao Zhi defend Bingzhou, you did not hesitate to persuade Cao Ren to collude with the Xiongnu, cede land and marry a princess, and sell out our Han territory."

"In the battle of Zishi, you helped Cao Ren stop our army and even offered a poisonous plan to drown the people of an entire county."

"You are such a disloyal and unjust person. You have done so many evil things, and now you dare not take responsibility for them and deny them flatly!"

"You are such a person, do you think my emperor will allow you to surrender and let you tarnish the court of my great Han Dynasty?"

Xiao Fang spoke sternly, pointed his feather fan at Yang Xiu, and exposed everything he had done.

Yang Xiu was stripped of his underwear and his face was filled with shame. He knelt on the ground trembling with fear, not knowing how to argue.

Liu Bei was too disdainful to listen to his explanation and waved his hand and shouted:
"Drag this thief away and behead him!"

Chen Dao waved his hand, and the imperial guards came forward. Two of them lifted Yang Xiu up and dragged him out of the hall.

"Your Majesty, I know my crime. Please give me a chance to atone for it!"

"I know the true strengths and weaknesses of the fake Qin. I can help Your Majesty to punish Cao and destroy Qin——"

Faced with life and death, Yang Xiu knew that he was doomed, but he still refused to give up and struggled and begged desperately.

Liu Bei remained indifferent and watched with disgust as the Imperial Guards dragged him away.

After sentencing the two prisoners, Liu Bei's murderous look turned into a smile, and his heroic spirit burned up.

"Pass on my order to take all the treasures in Jinyang and reward the soldiers of the three armies."

"I will hold a banquet in the state capital tonight. I want to celebrate the achievement of retaking Jinyang with you all!"

The ministers laughed and accepted the order gladly.

Inside and outside the provincial government, inside and outside the city of Jinyang, the laughter and cheers of the Han army soldiers resounded through the sky.

The south gate of Jinyang.

Cao Ren had been dragged here by Ma Chao, who made him kneel on the ground and prepared to execute him personally.

"Cao Ren, do you still remember how you tricked my father into going to Chang'an?"

"You are holding Cao Cao's handwritten letter and the emperor's edict, and you are patting your chest and swearing that Cao Cao will keep his promise, treat my Ma family well, and give us wealth and glory."

"Do you remember how you swore that year?"

Ma Chao, holding a ring-handled sword in his hand, admired Cao Ren's last moments before his death, and asked in an angry and sarcastic tone.

Cao Ren, who was lying on the ground and cursing non-stop, suddenly felt a shock in his heart and the past events suddenly emerged before his eyes.

"I guarantee with my life that Lord Cao will treat the Ma family well. As long as my Cao family is in power, the Ma family will be prosperous and wealthy forever!"

The oath that he had made in front of Ma Teng and his son, pointing to the Wei River, echoed in his ears again.

Cao Ren wilted, his cursing became quieter and quieter, his confidence grew weaker, and the grief and anger twisted on his face gradually turned into shame.

Although he had ten thousand reasons to hate Ma Chao, he could not deny that he was indeed the one who let Ma Chao down.

Cao Cao had promised at the beginning that he would summon Ma Teng and his son to the capital to enjoy wealth and glory, and that Ma Chao and Ma Dai would continue to lead the Ma clan.

At that time, it was a stopgap measure that had to be taken in order to gain Ma's support because they had just retreated to Guanzhong and had not yet established a firm foothold.

Later, after Cao Cao had gained a firm foothold, he was afraid that Ma Chao was not his confidant, and wanted to put Ma's army and even Liang Province under his direct rule.

So Cao Cao broke his promise and placed his confidants in the Ma family army, trying to quietly sideline Ma Chao and deprive the Ma family of their military power.

It was for this reason that Ma Chao was forced to expel Cao Cao's cronies in order to protect himself.

In the end, Cao Cao became furious and openly used his troops against Ma Chao. After losing the initial battle at Weishui, he even slaughtered the entire Ma family in rage.

In terms of fairness and loyalty, he swore an oath by the Wei River and then followed Cao Cao in breaking his promise. It was only natural for Ma Chao to avenge his family and kill all of Cao's clan!

However, Cao Ren never expected that one day he would become a prisoner of Liu Bei, giving Ma Chao the opportunity to execute him personally to punish him for his betrayal.

The oath I made pointing to the Wei River back then has come true today!
"Could it be that I really suffered such retribution because I betrayed my loyalty and broke my promise to the Ma family?"

Cao Ren raised his head and looked toward the sky. He was in a trance and had completely lost his previous anger and indignation.

Ma Chao didn't bother to talk any more and slowly raised the ring-handled sword in his hand, ready to take his life.

"Forget it. Perhaps it was because I betrayed you that I got this retribution."

"Ma Chao, if you want my life, I'll give it to you!"

Cao Ren raised his head, closed his eyes, and calmly welcomed death.

At this moment, he seemed to have come to his senses, and actually regained some of the demeanor of a cavalry general of a country.

Ma Chao exerted force with his tiger arms and was about to be killed.

At this time.

As the pleading voices rang out, Yang Xiu was dragged to the top of the city wall by the Bai Li Guards, ready to be executed together with them.

"Please take me to see the emperor. I will be able to persuade him to spare my life and give me a chance to live."

"My Yang family is a prestigious family in the world. We can secretly form a connection with the Guanlong family, and the emperor will attack Qin and destroy Cao!"

"Please give me another chance to see the emperor~~"

When Yang Xiu was forced to his knees on the ground, he still refused to face reality and continued to beg incoherently.

Cao Ren, who had originally calmed down, could not help but become furious again when he saw Yang Xiu's cowardly character and lack of integrity.

"Yang Xiu, you are a descendant of a famous family, but you are so shameless and cowardly!"

"You have ruined the reputation and integrity of the Yang family!"

"I hate it. I only hate why I listened to your bad ideas. Otherwise, how could I lose Bingzhou and be defeated to the point of death!" "You are a smart, shameless, cowardly traitor. If I meet you on the road to the underworld, I will definitely tear you into pieces!"

"I bother!"

Cao Ren was so angry that his face was about to explode. He started cursing Yang Xiu and even spat at him at the end.

"Cao Ren, you, you——"

Yang Xiu wiped the thick phlegm on his face, feeling angry and ashamed. He wanted to scold Cao Ren but didn't know how to start.

He didn't have the chance to speak.

The swordsman growled and swung his sword.

Before Yang Xiu could wipe the spit off his face, a bloody head rolled to the ground.

Seeing Yang Xiu being executed, Cao Ren's anger disappeared, and his resentment also dissipated, leaving only the endless desolation and despair as he faced death.

"Your Majesty, Mende."

"It's my incompetence. I'm sorry for not being able to defend Bingzhou for you and protecting your son."

"But I did try my best. I fought until my last breath."

"Perhaps, you really don't have a destiny, and our Cao family really doesn't have a destiny..."

Cao Ren's weak and withered body stood upright, looking towards the direction of Guanzhong. Tears of despair seeped out of his bloodshot eyes.

Ma Chao raised his ring-handled sword high and slashed down angrily.

"Crack!"

With a crisp muffled sound, a head rolled to the ground.

The Qin State's General of Cavalry, the chief military general, and the most famous general of the Cao family, died in this way.

Ma Chao held Cao Ren's head in his hand and pointed his bloody knife towards Guanzhong:
"Cao Cao, don't worry. Your good days are numbered."

"Today I will kill your brother first. It won't be long before I follow the emperor into Guanzhong and kill you with my own hands!"

"I will wipe out your Cao family!"

...

Pubanjin.

On the river, hundreds of boats and rafts, carrying tens of thousands of Qin troops, rushed towards the ferry one after another.

On the riverbank on the east bank, more than 5,000 Qin soldiers who had already landed attacked the Han army in formation like mad dogs, regardless of everything.

Subsequent Qin troops continued to land and join the attack.

On the beach.

More than 40,000 Han troops formed a solid wall of steel and advanced step by step under the command of Ling Tong with iron will.

Due to limited beachhead positions, the Qin army could not cross the river in one batch and could only transport more than 5,000 people ashore each time.

Therefore, on the shore line, the Han army had a military advantage of nearly nine times.

Relying on this absolute advantage, Ling Tong urged the Han army to advance step by step, forcing the Qin army, which had finally landed, to retreat step by step.

On the river.

On the deck of a fighting warship, Cao Cao was leaning against the wall, looking at the battle on the opposite bank with his brows furrowed.

This was the third attack he launched within ten days since Jinyang was besieged.

At this time, Cao Cao was extremely anxious under the dual stimulation of saving Jinyang and avenging his son's death, and he did not care about the lives of his soldiers at all.

After only three consecutive attacks, Pubanjin remained as impregnable as ever.

Even though he personally crossed the river to the shore to boost morale this time, the Qin army was still unable to break through the Han army's defense line and land on a large scale.

Seeing that the Qin army that had landed was retreating step by step and was about to be driven into the Yellow River, Cao Cao knew that this attack would most likely end in failure due to Huo Jun and Ling Tong's tactic of attacking them halfway across the river.

"Your Majesty, the situation is not favorable. If we continue to fight, the soldiers landing on the shore will be annihilated. Withdraw the troops."

Guo Jia, who was beside him, advised him promptly, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.

"Huo Jun, Ling Tong~~"

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and punched the ship's side hard.

After a fruitless attack on Tongguan and being intercepted by Guan Yu in Shan County and failing to capture the city, Cao Cao was forced to abandon his strategy of capturing Luoyang and had to turn back to Puban Pass and attack Hedong again.

Unfortunately, it was still a failure and I was unable to make any progress.

At this moment, Cao Cao was filled with anger, but he was helpless and could only wave his hand helplessly:

"Pass the order, sound the retreat, and retreat back to the west bank!"

The sound of gold rang out.

The five thousand soldiers who had landed seemed to have been pardoned. They hastily retreated to the beach, boarded rafts, and retreated to the west bank.

The subsequent Qin troops on the river also returned empty-handed and retreated to Puban Pass on the west bank.

"Zixiao, I'm afraid I can't save you. You have to find a way to break out and save yourself."

"I won't blame you for not protecting Zijian. As long as you can come back alive and bring those 50,000 soldiers back to me, you will have made a great contribution..."

Cao Cao, at the bow of the ship, looked towards Bingzhou and prayed silently in his heart.

At this time, he already regretted not ordering Cao Ren to abandon Bingzhou in time and save the 50,000 precious Bingzhou troops.

Unfortunately, it's too late.

By the time I was distracted and regretful, the boat had already reached the shore.

When Cao Cao got off the warship, he saw Cao Hong, Jia Xu and other people who stayed behind, already waiting on the pier.

They all looked heavy-hearted, as if something big had happened.

There were even tears in Cao Hong's eyes.

Cao Cao shuddered, and an extremely ominous premonition rose in his heart. (End of this chapter)