Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 58 Zuo Lang's Chivalry
Outside Zhuoxian County.

Liu Bei divided his already limited forces in two.

Zhang Fei led his men to harass the prefect's villa.

He waited far outside Zhuoxian City until nightfall, then personally beat the drums to signal the advance, but did not order anyone to launch an attack.

"My lord, just as you predicted, Liu Wei immediately left the city upon seeing us 'thieves,' and took all the county officials and servants to another residence..."

Duan Jiong was discussing with Liu Bei: "But right now, the gates of Zhuo County are tightly closed. Even if there are no more soldiers inside, it will be difficult for us to enter the city overnight. Gongsun Zan should have already received the news and should be able to arrive within a day..."

Liu Bei can only use the name of bandits for now; he cannot use Zou Jing's name, nor can he be recognized.

Moreover, they arrived here on a forced march without any siege equipment...

It is indeed unlikely that the city can be captured overnight.

Gongsun Zan's camp was less than fifty li from Zhuo County. He had more than twice the number of troops as Liu Bei, and he also had powerful loyal followers to help him. Liu Bei could not confront him outside the city under the guise of being a bandit.

"Actually, it doesn't matter if we can't get into Zhuo County. As long as the prefect's villa is attacked by bandits, Liu Wei will definitely be furious with Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Zan will have no other choice..."

Liu Bei picked up a drumstick and fiddled with the war drum, saying, "If we can't enter the city tonight, then we'll retreat from here and head towards Beixin City to find the main force of the Taihang bandits. I imagine the Taihang bandits would be quite happy to have an allied force that can lead them into the prefect's villa... Prefect Liu's fortified village is overflowing with money and provisions..."

Zhang Baiqi listened from the side and thought that Liu Bei's way of making friends was much better than that of Jiu Chi...

……

Zou Dan is very irritable right now.

He could understand that bandits were attacking the city. Although the master had sent people to contact the Taihang bandits, not all of them could be reached, and some were disobedient.

Anyway, the bandits don't have siege equipment, so they won't be able to break through in a short time.

But those thieves were really annoying; they kept beating drums in the middle of the night, but never actually attacked!

I never expected the Taihang bandits would also use the strategy of exhaustion... Zou Dan is very sleepy now.

Moreover, there are not many capable people in the city right now, so Zou Dan can't get any rest.

This is because Prefect Liu Wei's villa and fortified village were located outside the city.

It is estimated that there is too much money in the villa and it cannot be moved into the city in a short time... Therefore, when Prefect Liu Wei discovered that the thieves were approaching, he immediately left the city and transferred all the manpower in the prefecture and county to guard his villa.

The city only left Zou Dan with an empty government office.

Seeing this, the wealthy families all led their servants out of the city and gathered at Liujiawu Fortress—Liujiawu Fortress was also in the east of the city, only a few miles away from the villa of Prefect Liu Wei.

There isn't even a single proper soldier in the county now, so it's definitely not as safe as the area near the prefect's villa.

Now, Zou Dan only had a dozen or so close followers left, and he had to be on guard and send messengers to deliver messages...

Right now, Zou Dan can only stand on the city wall, gazing longingly out of the city, like a woman waiting for her husband.

Fortunately, the bandits below the city walls didn't seem to intend to scale the walls directly; they were probably just petty thieves.

If tonight is over, Gongsun Zan should be able to return by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

Actually, there were people in the city. Apart from Zou Dan's personal attendants, there were at least a few dozen wandering knights and a few dozen servants and guards gathered by the merchants in the county who could be considered soldiers.

But these people were unwilling to obey Zou Dan's arrangements—Gongsun Zan had a terrible reputation in the county, and Zou Dan had previously shut down the wine shops in the city, making him a thorn in the side of wandering knights and merchants.

If bandits attack the city, they will participate in the defense and protect their homeland.

But if the bandits don't attack, Zou Dan can forget about commanding them.

……

At night, the drums beat loudly.

Zuo Yuan went to the city to take a look.

But what Zuo Yuan saw was different from what Zou Dan saw...

Zou Dan only saw some bandits attempting to attack the city.

Zuo Yuan saw a familiar scene—midnight, the sound of war drums... yet no one was attacking.

“Boom…boom…boom…boom…”

The marching drums that night were the same.

If the enemy is below the city, why would they beat the marching drums when they are not attacking the city?

Back at the inn, Zuo Yuan changed into a men's short coat and took a sword.

The short coat belonged to Liu Bei, and the sword was also the one he used when he was a wandering knight-errant.

Zuo Yuan was considered quite tall for a woman, but even wearing Liu Bei's clothes, she still appeared a bit too tall.

She drew her sword and cut off the hem of her garment, using the strip of cloth to tie a gauntlet around her arm.

"Anu, what's wrong with you...?"

Liu Bei's mother was very worried about Zuo Yuan's actions. She had been widowed for many years, and now that Zuo Yuan was by her side, she regarded Zuo Yuan as her daughter.

"Zuo Yuan is a retainer of the Liu family, so naturally he must protect the family and his master."

Zuo Yuan fastened her arm guards, casually tied her hair into a ponytail, and bid farewell to Liu's mother: "Don't worry, my lord, I'm going to the city to meet the enemy."

Zuo Yuan was indeed Liu Bei's retainer, and Liu Bei's first retainer.

She is now a respectable woman, so naturally she would not stay in Liu Bei's household as a maid or entertainer.

It was actually normal to take women as servants, and each household had quite a few female servants, but most of them were weavers or silkworm farmers who were there to earn money for the family.

Zuo Yuan, however, is more like a warrior.

After all, she chose to follow Liu Bei because he single-handedly fought to the death against the enemy.

Liu's mother reached out her hand, then withdrew it, letting out a deep sigh: "My daughter, be careful..."

Stepping out of the inn and into the street, I saw dozens of young swordsmen gathered in front of Zhang's tavern, each carrying a knife and a sword.

The tavern was closed, but the wandering knights still liked to gather there. This was a crossroads in the street, and the knights lit many torches to illuminate the area. This was something Liu Bei and Jian Yong had done before, patrolling the city at night in case of an emergency to prevent thieves from causing trouble.

"Are you all partners of Liu Lang and Jian Zeicao?"

Zuo Yuan asked.

"But Sister Zuo? Why is she dressed like this? Isn't she inside with Auntie?"

A young boy recognized Zuo Yuan and was curious when he saw Zuo Yuan holding a sword.

These boys were indeed friends of Liu Bei and Jian Yong, the ones who often drank and boasted at Zhang Fei's house.

"I am a subject of Liu Bei, and now that the bandits are attacking, in this critical moment of life and death, I must defend the city and our home for Liu Bei. Brothers, are you willing to fight alongside me?"

Zuo Yuan was dressed as a man and performed a male bow.

Although the beauty's figure was completely undisguised, no one could recognize her as a woman at that moment.

"Sister... Brother Zuo is a hero, just like my elder brother. I will go with Brother Zuo!"

The young man solemnly rose to return the greeting and addressed Zuo Yuan as "brother".

"We will go with Brother Zuo!"

The wandering knights all stood up.

"Alright... Break down this gate and take the wine to the city!"

Zuo Yuan drew his sword and slashed through the wooden seal on the tavern door, breaking it open and entering.

The boys cheered and drank heartily at the barracks, then went up to the city with Zuo Yuan.

“Zou Dianli, since you have no one else to rely on, how about I defend this city?”

Zou Dan, who was standing on the city wall waiting for her husband, suddenly heard a woman's voice behind her.

Turning around, I saw Zuo Yuan leading a dozen or so boys up the city wall.

"What are you doing here? Are you trying to cause trouble? Get out of here!"

Zou Dan looked quite displeased. He had a lot of grievances against Prefect Liu Wei and was currently in a bad mood, so he turned around and cursed him without any politeness.

Zuo Yuan didn't want to say anything more to Zou Dan, so he drew his sword and stabbed her.

Zou Dan really didn't expect that this woman would actually attack directly, so she quickly reached out to block the sword.

He managed to block it, but his arm was pierced.

"How dare you..."

Zou Dan pushed herself back two steps with all her might, trying to pick up the axe leaning against the wall, but her arm hurt and she couldn't lift it.

"Leave him off the city walls; we'll take over here."

Zuo Yuan stopped approaching; she couldn't stand guys who kidnapped other people's mothers, so she directly ordered the wandering knights to take action.

The wandering knights were already resentful that Zhang's tavern had been shut down, and even more resentful that Liu Bei and Jian Yong's mother had been placed under house arrest. In addition, they had just drunk some wine, so they were now very bold. They rushed forward and threw Zou Dan off the city wall, where he fell to the ground and died without a sound.

"Go open the county treasury, take out money to reward the brave and strong, dismantle the county magistrate's office to make a mortar, and have the merchants boil molten gold..."

Zuo Yuan directed the boys to arrange the city's defenses: "Open the city gates, I'm going to take a look outside the city."

"Sister Zuo? You're leaving the city? There are so many bandits outside!"

The wandering knights were astonished; this woman was incredibly brave.

"We have to go and negotiate... and the people outside might not be bandits. If I'm not back in two hours, just seal all the city gates..."

Zuo Yuan gave an order and then turned to walk out of the city.

……

“I just played a few drumbeats to test it out, I didn’t expect you to actually understand… I thought I would have to climb over the wall to enter the city.”

Liu Bei looked Zuo Yuan up and down, who resembled a swordsman: "This outfit is really nice."

"Ha, don't blame me for ruining your clothes."

Zuo Yuan smiled and pointed to the city gate behind her: "I don't really know if the young master is down below the city, but I feel I should come out and take a look... Would the young master like to enter the city?"

"With you here, I won't go into the city."

Liu Bei looked up at the city wall and asked, "How long can you control this city?"

"I can't control it anymore."

Zuo Yuan remained composed and dignified: "I just threw Zou Dan out of the city, and my lord must find someone to replace me... Gongsun Bogui recognizes me."

"No one can replace you... You are far superior to them."

Liu Bei praised him sincerely, then turned and instructed, "Zhang Baiqi, go into the city and listen to Zuo Yuan's instructions. If necessary, Baiqi will appear and claim to be a bandit from Taihang."

"My lord, how long must we hold out in the city?"

Zhang Baiqi bowed to Zuo Yuan, then turned to ask Liu Bei.

"About five days, just hold out until the Taihang bandits launch a major invasion."

Liu Bei assigned Zhang Baiqi a task: "You just need to hold the line and answer questions. Zuo Yuan will take care of everything else. Unless the beacon tower in the north of the city lights up, no one is allowed to enter the city!"

"Don't worry, my lord. Five days is not enough time for Gongsun Bogui to build siege equipment. We can hold the city."

Zhang Baiqi led his underworld soldiers and followed Zuo Yuan into the city.

Liu Bei turned around, recalled Zhang Fei, and led the remaining soldiers toward Beixin City.

Duan Jiong left some auxiliary troops at Shiliting to provide support at any time.

(End of this chapter)