Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 173 Awakening from a Big Dream
When Wei Xiaobao arrived at the palace, Liu Xie, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and others had been waiting for him for a long time.

Zhuge Liang said, "The matter happened suddenly, and I am truly sorry for disturbing General Wei's wedding."

Wei Xiaobao clasped his hands in a fist and replied, "After waiting for so long, I am finally able to confront Cao Cao head-on. I am also very much looking forward to it."

After a night of discussion, Zhuge Liang had already devised a countermeasure.

Zhou Tai and Ling Cao's naval forces were originally stationed at the port outside Puyang City, but they were ambushed by Cao Cao. Then they fell into Cao Cao's trap of luring the tiger away from the mountain and went to Pingyuan to pursue Xiahou Yuan. This gave Cao Cao the opportunity to break through Guandu Port and approach Chenliu.

Zhuge Liang ordered Yuan Tan to lead the Qingzhou army to join forces with Zhou Tai's navy, and then, using a counter-strategy, attack Pingyuan and then directly seize Ye City in Ji Province.

Cao Cao personally led a large army to attack Chenliu, and Zhuge Liang ordered Guan Yu to lead the Jingzhou army soldiers to meet the enemy from the direction of Xuzhou.

After Zhao Yun led the Xiliang coalition to capture Tongguan, he surrounded Cao Cao from the direction of Luoyang.

Zhuge Liang personally led the large army gathered from Xuchang, Wancheng, and Runan to block Cao Cao from the front.

Chenliu City was now empty, so Zhuge Liang ordered the defending soldiers to abandon it, leaving the empty city to Cao Cao, and then surrounded Cao Cao from three sides.

After Cao Cao captured Guandu, his army advanced swiftly towards Chenliu.

Cao Cao, inside Chenliu, was smugly pleased with the current situation: "You all say Zhuge Liang is a brilliant strategist, but I think he's just good at using the navy. Now that we've broken through the river's blockade, Liu Bei's army is utterly vulnerable. Taking Chenliu will be effortless, and taking Xuchang will naturally be just around the corner."

Cao Cao's strategists and generals were all immersed in the joy of conquering Chenliu and had long been blinded by victory. Only Xun Yu remained clear-headed.

"Prime Minister, although Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang are no match for you, the defense of Chenliu City is not so easily breached. There is something about this that is hard to understand."

Cao Cao said, "Liu Bei is expanding in all directions and his troops are insufficient. He just wants to preserve enough troops to defend Xuchang. What's so strange about that?"

Xun Yu's intelligence network had long been blocked by Liu Ye, and he didn't have much useful information at the moment. Therefore, he couldn't determine Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's true intentions, and he was worried about disturbing Cao Cao's morale at this time, so he could only remain silent.

However, a few days later, Xun Yu regretted his caution.

Zhuge Liang led a large army from Xuchang and stationed his troops outside Chenliu City.

Cao Cao was initially puzzled as to why Zhuge Liang had so easily abandoned Chenliu, and why he had then led a large army to attack it. A few days later, Guan Yu's Jingzhou army also arrived, completely surrounding the eastern side of Chenliu. Two days after that, Zhao Yun's Xiliang coalition army also crossed Hulao Pass from Luoyang and set up camp on the plains west of Chenliu.

Thus, Chenliu is now surrounded on three sides.

When Cao Cao learned that the army outside the city numbered as many as 200,000, he realized that he had fallen into a trap.

After besieging Chenliu, Zhuge Liang did not rush to attack until Zhou Tai sent news that Ye City had been captured.

The news also reached Chenliu City, and Cao Cao immediately felt that the situation was hopeless and prepared to go out of the city for a final battle.

However, the army inside Chenliu City numbered only tens of thousands, which was no match for the large army outside the city.

Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan led their troops in several attacks, but it was all in vain. Each time they suffered heavy losses and managed to escape back to Chenliu by sheer luck.

Just as Cao Cao abandoned his attempt to break out and prepared to defend Chenliu to the death, Zhuge Liang's artillery units and the vanguard of the Jingzhou army launched an attack on Chenliu.

Despite Cao Cao's army's fierce resistance against Liu Bei's gunpowder, firecrackers, and siege equipment for over a month, the city eventually fell.

When the city fell, Cao Cao led his army in a breakout, escaping the encirclement under the protection of Xu Chu and others, and boarded a ship at Guandu Port to flee north. However, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, and others were all killed in battle.

Cao Cao, who had fled to the river, looked at the dozen or so personal guards and a few others, including Xu Chu and Xun Yu, and couldn't help but shed tears of regret.

After Zhou Tai captured Ye City, he had already followed Zhuge Liang's instructions and ambushed Cao Cao at Baima Port. Upon seeing Cao Cao's retreating warships, he immediately ordered an attack. The Battle of Chenliu nearly exhausted Liu Bei's reserves accumulated over many years, but it also thwarted Cao Cao's intention to advance south.

Cao Cao's whereabouts remain unknown. Under the leadership of Cao Ang and others, Cao's troops in Ji, Bing, and You provinces defended their cities and put up a last stand.

Shortly after Zhou Tai captured Ye City, he found the imperial seal that Cao Cao had hidden.

When the imperial seal was returned to Xuchang, Wei Xiaobao had already returned to Xuchang with Zhuge Liang.

In Liu Xie's palace, Wei Xiaobao and Zhuge Liang sat facing each other.

Zhuge Liang said, "When I first met you, I already knew that you were someone special. Now that you have revealed everything, the unbelievable aspects of the matter still amaze me."

Wei Xiaobao said, "If Guo Jia could discover my special identity, I should have expected that you would also discover it."

Zhuge Liang said, "Now that the truth is out, Zhang Jiao is preparing to return the throne to our lord, and you are also preparing to return to the Qing Dynasty. I can naturally lend you a hand."

A few days later, the altar outside Xuchang City was completed.

Zhuge Liang, dressed in a Taoist robe, held the imperial seal in his hands and stood beside the formation.

Inside the formation, Wei Xiaobao and his six wives, including Diao Chan, were all sitting on the ground, pretending to be Liu Xie.

Following the incantation taught by Zhang Jiao, Zhuge Liang performed the ritual, and suddenly thunder and lightning struck the sky, accompanied by a strong wind.

While unconscious, Wei Xiaobao seemed to see Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others coming to see him off.

When Wei Xiaobao opened his eyes again, he found himself back in Yangzhou's Lichun Courtyard. He was still wearing the tattered jacket he had worn that day at the Lichun Courtyard, but Diao Chan and the others were not with him.

Wei Chunhua's voice rang out again: "You damned little bastard, you've been stealing the guests' drinks while I was away again!"

Hearing the familiar curses, Wei Xiaobao almost burst into tears.

The pain in his ear was so clear that Wei Xiaobao knew he wasn't dreaming, but had truly returned to his own era.

After calming Wei Chunhua down, Wei Xiaobao quickly slipped out of Lichun Courtyard and headed to his imperial envoy's residence, hiding along the way to avoid being captured by Hong Antong again.

Upon returning to the camp, Shuang'er and Zeng Rou were waiting for him in the room. The two seemed to be discussing something extremely mysterious, and they quickly shut up when they saw him enter.

Wei Xiaobao originally wanted to ask Shuang'er, but the matter was too miraculous, and he didn't know where to begin.

Early the next morning, Wei Xiaobao took Shuang'er to a teahouse on the street to listen to storytelling, and even specially requested a story from the Three Kingdoms period.

Wei Xiaobao was relieved to hear that Liu Xie had been forced to abdicate by the Cao family and had gone to Shanyang to practice medicine.

Then he turned to Shuang'er and asked, "Do you think the emperor in this book might not be the same emperor as before? Otherwise, where did the emperor in the palace learn medical skills from?"

Shuang'er smiled enigmatically: "Perhaps he was a Taoist priest who practiced medicine and saved lives before he became emperor?"

The two exchanged a smile, understanding each other's thoughts but not revealing them.

After leaving the teahouse, Wei Xiaobao glanced back at the teahouse sign and realized he didn't recognize the characters. He turned to Shuang'er beside him and said, "So, everything I learned in my dream is completely forgotten now that I'm awake!"

(end)
(End of this chapter)