Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 112: A Gift to Cao Cao
Liu Bei sent people to feint an attack on Xiaoguan, and within a few days, news came from Xia Pi City.

When Lu Bu learned that Xiaoguan was in danger, he originally planned to lead his troops to rescue it himself. However, Yan Shi refused to let Lu Bu leave the city, and Chen Deng added fuel to the fire. Lu Bu had no choice but to release Zhang Liao and let him lead his troops out of the city.

After reading the letter, Liu Bei wondered why Lu Bu was controlled by a woman?
Wei Xiaobao explained with a smile: "Brother, you haven't been the emperor yet, so you don't know how terrible jealousy is in the harem."

Liu Bei was displeased when he heard this and said, "Bo Zhi, we are all subjects of the Han Dynasty. You must never say such treasonous words again."

Wei Xiaobao quickly fell silent.

Zhang Liao traveled day and night to Xiaoguan, and Chen Deng had already passed the news of Zhang Liao's rebellion to Xiaoguan.

Chen Gong was worried that Zhang Liao would really rebel, so he only left a small number of soldiers to guard the pass and personally led the army to the east of Xiaopei to intercept Zhang Liao.

As soon as Chen Gong arrived at Xiaopei, he heard the report from the garrison in the rear that Xiaoguan had been lost.

Chen Gong then realized that he had fallen into a trap and was preparing to return to attack Xiaoguan, but Zhang Liao's troops were already rushing towards him from the east.

Zhang Liao saw Chen Gong's army appear in Xiaopei and knew that Wei Xiaobao's plan had succeeded. He said helplessly, "General Lu is in danger!"

Chen Gong immediately rushed to the front of the battle and shouted at Zhang Liao, "General Lu has been very kind to you. Why are you abandoning him?"

Zhang Liao felt bitter, but couldn't express it. Upon hearing Chen Gong's question, he replied, "General Lu imprisoned me. Is that considered treating me well? He trusted the words of a villain and a woman when facing a powerful enemy. What's the point of staying with such a man? Brother Gongtai, haven't you come to your senses by now?"

Chen Gong was also cursing Lu Bu in his heart for being useless, getting close to Chen father and son and distancing himself from himself, and eventually losing Pengcheng and Xiaoguan.

Seeing Chen Gong remained silent, Zhang Liao shouted again, "Now that I'm determined to leave, why don't you come with me to Xiaopei?"

Chen Gong said, "Cao Cao and I are irreconcilable. You want to go and steal him. I won't stop you because of our past friendship. But you want me to go with you? That's just wishful thinking."

Zhang Liao said, "I went to Xiaopei to report General Guan's help. What does this have to do with Cao Cao?"

Chen Gong said, "Liu Bei is only helping Cao Cao capture Xuzhou. Can he hold Xuzhou with his strength? If you don't believe me, General, we'll meet at Xia Pi City one day and we'll find out!"

After saying this, Chen Gong led his troops to avoid Zhang Liao and went straight back to Xia Pi.

Zhang Liao was apprehensive. He turned to the soldiers behind him and said, "I am going to Xiaopei to seek refuge with General Liu. If you wish to return to Xiapi, I will not stop you."

These soldiers were Zhang Liao's former subordinates, so naturally they were unwilling to abandon Zhang Liao, not to mention that Lu Bu's army had already lost its morale.

Wei Xiaobao stood on the top of Xiaopei City, watching the two teams of soldiers stopping and walking from afar, and finally saw a team of cavalry heading straight for Xiaopei.

Wei Xiaobao was overjoyed and ran down the city wall, urging the gate officer, "Open the gate quickly! Open the gate quickly!"

Liu Bei also heard that Zhang Liao was coming to surrender, and soon he rode his horse to Wei Xiaobao's side.

The two men and two horses stood in front of the city waiting for Zhang Liao.

Seeing Liu Bei personally coming to greet him, Zhang Liao quickly dismounted and knelt, saying, "Thank you, General Liu, General Guan, and Brother Wei, for your help in rescuing me. I cannot repay you enough for your kindness. From now on, I will be at your service."

Wei Xiaobao lived up to Guan Yu's trust and saved Zhang Liao, but he couldn't feel happy at this moment. After all, such a big thing had changed. Would history be different? Would Xiao Xuanzi still be on the throne?

However, what Wei Xiaobao was best at was comforting himself: "Anyway, Lu Bu didn't get Diao Chan, and it doesn't matter whether Cao Cao gets Zhang Liao or not. As long as there are three emperors in the end, maybe it won't affect Xiao Xuanzi at all." In the Battle of Xiaoguan, Liu Bei won with minimal losses, and also recruited the general Zhang Liao and his cavalry.

War reports also came from the north. Yuan Shao pacified Gongsun Zan and almost took over Jizhou and Youzhou. Only small forces such as Zhang Yan and Yang Feng continued to resist.

After Gongsun Zan was defeated, Zhao Yun also completed his brother's funeral and returned to Xiaopei soon after. At this point, Liu Bei had four generals under his command: Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Zhang Liao, with more than 30,000 soldiers and horses, including more than 5,000 cavalry.

After Chen Gong returned to Xiapi, he and Lü Bu reflected on their mistakes and reorganized their forces for defense. Fearing that the plot would be exposed, Chen Deng's father fled to Guangling with his family and property.

Without Chen Deng's support, Liu Bei was unable to capture Xia Pi for a while and came into a standoff with Lu Bu.

Cao Cao was concentrating on guarding against Zhang Xiu in Xudu. When he heard that Liu Bei suddenly felt a sense of crisis after the battle in Xuzhou, he decided to turn from passive to active and sent troops to attack Wancheng first.

At this time, Wei Xiaobao was already on his way to Wancheng.

Wei Xiaobao went to Wancheng for two purposes. One was to find a way to persuade Zhang Xiu to attack Xuchang, to involve Cao Cao's troops and buy time for Liu Bei to attack Xia Pi. The other was to prepare to poach Jia Xu to solve the dilemma of Liu Bei having too many soldiers and too few strategies under his command.

The key person in these two matters was Jia Xu. It was precisely because of their old friendship in Chang'an City that Wei Xiaobao decided to go to Wancheng to give it a try.

At this time in Wancheng, Zhang Xiu was already frightened and fidgeting when he heard that Cao Cao was coming to attack Wancheng. Sitting next to him were Jia Xu and Tang Zhou.

A soldier came to report: "An old friend from Chang'an City is here to see the military advisor."

Jia Xu glanced at Tang Zhou standing beside him and thought, "Li Jue and Guo Si can't possibly come to Wancheng. Lü Bu is far away in Xiapi, barely hanging on to his life. Tang Zhou is right here, so how can he have any old friends in Chang'an?"

When the soldier brought Wei Xiaobao in, Jia Xu smiled knowingly and said, "I should have thought it was you who mentioned old friends instead of old acquaintances."

When Wei Xiaobao saw Tang Zhou, he cursed him in his heart: "You little bastard, you knew that Lu Bu was doomed, so you ran to Jia Xu again."

Wei Xiaobao clasped his fists and saluted. Having stayed in the Han Dynasty for a long time, these etiquettes had become a habit for him.

Zhang Xiu saw the complicated expressions on Jia Xu and Tang Zhou's faces and was confused. He quietly asked Jia Xu beside him, "Who is this?"

Jia Xu said, "This brother is truly remarkable. He is the emperor's trusted confidant and a favorite of Prime Minister Cao, Wei Xiaobao."

Zhang Xiu's face fell, and he quickly returned the greeting, saying, "The military advisor has already discussed this with me. We are ready to surrender the city and submit to the imperial court."

Wei Xiaobao cursed inwardly, "I came here to persuade you to fight Cao Cao, but Cao Cao hasn't even arrived yet, and you've been frightened into surrendering?"

Jia Xu said, "If we had known that Brother Wei was coming to persuade us to surrender, we wouldn't have to worry about this."

Wei Xiaobao was so angry he couldn't speak. He cursed himself mentally, "It's all my fault for following Cao Cao around every day. Now I've helped Cao Cao defend a city. Damn it, am I a loyal minister or a traitor? If I continue to persuade them to fight Cao Cao at this point, wouldn't that just expose my true colors?"

Tang Zhou also became polite: "Master Wei, I have offended you many times before. I hope that Master Wei will not bear grudge against me."

Wei Xiaobao sat down on the ground, stared at Jia Xu, shook his head, and said, "Since it has come to this, you should all follow me to see the Prime Minister."

(End of this chapter)