Brother, stop curling up! You're curling up like the founder of the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 196 Liu Yu flees in panic, Liu Bei plants his flag in Ye City (Seeking updates and monthly votes)
Liu Yu ultimately upheld the emperor's bottom line and did not panic to the point of abandoning the city and fleeing.

He hurriedly dispatched a fast horse to summon Yuan Shao back to reinforce Ye City.

If Ye City has enough troops, Liu Yu naturally has nothing to fear.

The problem was that Yuan Shao took most of his troops with him, and Shen Pei, Ju Shou, and Tian Feng each took a detachment of troops with them.

If Ye City has been well-managed for many years, Liu Yu has nothing to fear.

However, Ye City had only been the capital for a few months, and in order to gather civil and military officials, Liu Yu recruited many people to Ye City.

The identities of the people in the city are now complex, and it is difficult to distinguish between the loyal and the treacherous. Liu Yu dares not be certain whether there are any spies within Ye City.

If Yuan Shao delays returning his army, and some people in Ye City urge the city to open, then Liu Yu will be captured alive by Liu Bei.

Liu Yu's concerns were not unfounded.

After all, there were many suspicious points about Han Fu's death in Yuyang City. Han Fu was not without his confidants and retainers. If he wanted to secretly collude with Liu Bei, Liu Yu would have had difficulty predicting it.

Liu Yu's concerns were not unfounded.

There really were some of Han Fu's former associates in the city who wanted to cause trouble.

After learning that Liu Bei was less than a hundred miles from Ye City, Min Chun and Geng Wu, former subordinates of Han Fu, gathered their retainers in the city.

The two men had been managing things well for Han Fu in Ye City, but when Liu Yu and Yuan Shao returned to Ye City, Han Fu was already dead.

When asked why, they said he was killed by Qu Yi.

When asked about Qu Yi, it was said that Qu Yi had been killed by Zhang He and Gao Lan.

When questioned, Zhang He and Gao Lan said that Zhang Jin had witnessed Qu Yi killing Han Fu.

Min Chun and Geng Wu were not fools to serve as Han Fu's subordinates.

They immediately asserted that Qu Yi was instigated by Zhang Jin to kill Han Fu, and then used the anger of Zhang He and Gao Lan to kill Qu Yi, leaving no one to testify against him.

However, Min Chun and Geng Wu had no evidence, and Yuan Shao did not directly replace Han Fu but instead installed Liu Yu as emperor. Liu Yu also gave Han Fu a grand funeral and posthumously conferred upon Han Fu the title of Marquis.

Furthermore, he granted Min Chun and Geng Wu the official positions of the Nine Ministers to appease Min Chun, Geng Wu, and other former subordinates of Han Fu.

Neither of them had any military power to begin with, and they couldn't stir up any trouble in the face of the powerful Yuan Shao.

Unexpectedly, I heard today that Liu Bei launched a surprise attack on Ye City.

Min Chun and Geng Wu didn't know why Liu Bei launched a surprise attack on Ye City or whether he colluded with the people in the city. What they did know was that Ye City was now undefended!
If we take this opportunity to open up Ye City and lure Liu Bei into the city, we can leave Yuan Shao homeless!
Although this would harm Liu Yu and others' interests or even their lives, Min Chun and Geng Wu couldn't care less about that anymore.

With Han Fu dead, Min Chun and Geng Wu no longer cared about right or wrong.

To avoid leaking the news, the two did not contact Han Fu's other former subordinates, but agreed that if Liu Bei really came to the city, they would each lead their retainers and assassins to seize the city gate.

Liu Bei's army marched very quickly.

The next day at noon, Liu Bei led 10,000 infantry and cavalry to the city of Ye.

Looking at the inscription "Liu, the Imperial Uncle and General of Han" hanging high outside the city, Liu Yu's last bit of hope vanished.

The officials and soldiers on the city wall were also astonished.

They simply couldn't understand why Liu Bei would bring his army to the gates of Ye!
"Has Liu Bei already conquered Yanzhou?"

"With the general leading his troops outside, the city is undefended. How can we possibly defend it?"

"I should have known better than to come to Ye City. I've only been the Grand Master of the Palace for a few months."

"You've been a palace attendant for a few months, I haven't even been one month yet,"

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?"

The city walls were in complete chaos. A group of civil and military officials, who had been hastily brought in to make up the numbers, had never witnessed the imposing presence of ten thousand infantry and cavalry at the city gates.

Just as the officials on the city wall were filled with fear, Liu Bei's voice also rose from below the city.

"Liu Yu! Do you know your crime?!"

"The late emperor appointed you as the governor of Youzhou, but instead of repaying his kindness, you helped the traitor Yuan Shao instigate war in eight provinces. How can you face the world?"

"Yuan Shao is a traitor, ambitious and ruthless. When he was serving He Jin, he deliberately had his retainer Zhang Jin persuade He Jin to summon brave warriors from all directions to the capital, hoping to drive the Ten Attendants to a corner and kill He Jin. How can such a disloyal and unjust person command the world? How laughable!"

"When Yuan Shao saw that his plan had failed, he fled Luoyang and then instigated Ding Yuan, Wang Kuang, and Qiao Mao to attack Luoyang. After they were defeated by me, he sent a proclamation to the prefectures and counties claiming that I and Dong Zhuo had forged an imperial edict. How foolish that some people would believe such a lie!"

"It's one thing for others to believe Yuan Shao, but you were appointed Governor of Youzhou by the late emperor. How could you not know that the late emperor most wanted to establish the current emperor? How could you believe in a forged imperial edict!"

"If you had believed the wrong person once, that would have been one thing. Yuan Shao sent men to murder the Prince of Hongnong, but you made the same mistake again and again, believing Yuan Shao's lies and thinking that the current emperor killed the Prince of Hongnong. How utterly foolish and laughable!"

"Gongsun Zan advised you not to believe Yuan Shao's lies, but you joined forces with Yuan Shao to kill Gongsun Zan, and even used this as an achievement to usurp the throne and declare yourself emperor. You are even more foolish and despicable!"

"Although I have killed many people, I have always only punished the ringleaders. Even if Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu conspired with Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji to rebel, I only asked Your Majesty to kill Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji and not the Yuan clan. Tao Qian was tricked by Yuan Shao into recklessly taking action, but I also protected his wife, children, clan and former subordinates, and only let Tao Qian take the blame."

"And you, Liu Yu, originally had the reputation of a benevolent and virtuous gentleman, yet you colluded with Yuan Shao, even allowing Yuan Shao to capture my widowed mother in Zhuo County. Have you, Liu Bo'an, become so muddle-headed that you can only bully an old woman?"

"You white-haired scoundrel! You old thief with a gray beard! You falsely claim to be a member of the Han imperial family. If you were to commit suicide to atone for your sins, I might still show you some respect. But if you continue to err and aid Yuan Shao in his tyranny, I will surely capture you alive and bring you back to Luoyang, where you will be spit on by ten thousand men!"

His words silenced the entire city wall.

Liu Yu blushed deeply, overwhelmed with shame.

Li Cheng was horrified when he saw this. If Liu Yu really committed suicide out of shame, then the Ye City court would become a laughing stock.

"You audacious traitor, how dare you slander His Majesty!" Li Cheng shouted angrily. "Liu Bei, you are a forger of an imperial edict, what face do you have to criticize His Majesty? His Majesty ascended the throne by imperial decree in order to restore the Han Dynasty. If you surrender, His Majesty may spare your life out of consideration for the imperial family. If you resist, when the General returns with his army, he will surely tear you to pieces!"

Liu Bei laughed loudly: "You scoundrel is arrogant! Last year, I defeated hundreds of thousands of rebel troops from three provinces with only 20,000 soldiers. Who dares to oppose me? A few days ago, I also killed Zhang Miao, Yuan Xu, and Qiao Mao. I conquered Yan Province in less than ten days. Who dares to stop me? Yuan Shao is a coward. How dare he compete with me?"

"Back when I was in the Western Garden Army, Yuan Shao only dared to feign illness when he saw me; when Luoyang was in chaos, I killed someone to his face, and Yuan Shao only dared to glare at me; wherever I, Liu Bei, am, Yuan Shao only dares to avoid my sharp edge. He even wants to tear me to pieces, haha, does he have the guts?"

When it comes to bluffing, Liu Bei was a professional.

Originally, Li Cheng guessed that Qiao Mao and Ju Shou were very likely to be defeated by Liu Bei. Now, when he heard Liu Bei boast that he had conquered Yanzhou in ten days and killed Zhang Miao, Yuan Xu and Qiao Mao, he was so shocked that his legs trembled. How could he dare to talk back to Liu Bei?
Seeing the terrified crowd on the city wall, Liu Bei shouted again in a stern voice.

"You have all been deceived by Yuan Shao. As long as you surrender, I will forgive and forget! You can go and inquire about the families and relatives of Yuan Wei, Yuan Ji, and Tao Qian. Have I ever killed a single one of them?"

"But if you stubbornly resist and hold out, humph! The 108 heads of bandits on the walls of Luoyang will be your fate!"

The civil and military officials on the city wall were even more terrified. Guan Yu rode closer and whispered, "Ye City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Without an inside help, we cannot break through the city. This place is ultimately too dangerous. We have already dampened Liu Yu's morale. We should first set up a false flag somewhere and quickly return to Baima Ferry."

"No rush. Let's wait a little longer." Liu Bei silently calculated the time.

Even Li Cheng, the only one who dared to retort just now, dared not speak now. Ye City was even more empty than Liu Bei had expected.

If we don't give them a good scare, then we'll have wasted our trip.

With Liu Yu and others inside the city focusing their attention on Liu Bei, Min Chun and Geng Wu, who were also inside the city, arrived at the gate with their men.

Taking advantage of the city gate captain's momentary lapse in attention, Min Chun slashed him down with a single blow, shouting, "Avenge Lord Han! Kill!"

The sudden sounds of fighting terrified Liu Yu and the others on the city wall: "Min Chun, Geng Wu, I have treated you two well, why have you rebelled against me?"

Geng Wu shouted: "Lord Han was murdered by Yuan Shao's scheme, yet you deliberately concealed it. How can you say you are not being lenient?"

Liu Yu's face turned even paler.

Actually, it wasn't that Liu Yu couldn't guess, but Han Fu was already dead at that time. It wasn't worth breaking ties with Yuan Shao for a dead man!

Furthermore, with the marriage alliance with Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao's daughter becoming his daughter-in-law, Liu Yu had no choice but to stay on this pirate ship, even if he didn't want to.

"Look! The inside man has arrived!" Liu Bei chuckled and beckoned to his men, "Give the order to beat the drums to boost morale!"

As the drums pounded incessantly, the drummers carrying military drums beat their drums, and the Lingyan Army shouted in unison, causing even greater panic among the city's defenders.

Not long after.

Min Chun and Geng Wu scattered the defending troops, the gates of Ye City opened, and the drawbridge was lowered.

"Lu Bu, listen to my command! Enter the city and plant the flag!"

At his command, Lü Bu, who could no longer contain himself, led a hundred cavalrymen inside.

Upon seeing Liu Bei's troops enter the city, Liu Yu and the others were terrified and fled in panic. Because they dared not descend from the city wall, they could only circle around the city to the side gate.

When Min Chun saw Lü Bu, he shouted, "General, how should I address you? Come with me to capture Yuan Shao's wife and children."

Lu Bu retorted, "I don't have time for that. If you don't want to die, take your wives and children and get out of the city immediately."

Min Chun was taken aback, then realized: "Could it be that you—"

Lü Bu did not answer, but instead rode his horse to the city wall and planted a large banner that read "Uncle Liu of the Han Dynasty" on the city wall.

They then shouted threats from the city walls.

The people and residents of Ye City, unaware of the situation, were terrified when they saw Liu Yu fleeing in panic. When someone shouted that Liu Bei's army had entered the city, they all ran away in a panic.

Min Chun and Geng Wu also hurriedly returned to their residence, took their wives and children out of the city to see Liu Bei.

“You are Han Fu’s men, so I dare not use you. If you want to work under me, go to Hanoi. If you can transfer the troops from Hanoi, you will have accomplished a great feat.”

Although Liu Bei did not intend to bring Min Chun and Geng Wu along, he was happy to give them a chance.

If the two of them could divert the troops in Hanoi and allow Zhang Fei and Ma Teng to succeed, that would indeed be a great achievement.

"May I ask, Imperial Uncle, what is the situation in Yanzhou?" Min Chun couldn't help but ask again.

Liu Bei laughed heartily: "If you want to achieve merit, then I will conquer Yanzhou in ten days, kill Zhang Miao, Yuan Xu, and Qiao Mao in succession, and then capture Ye City, causing Liu Yu to flee in panic. If you don't want to achieve merit, then just make up whatever you want!"

Done.

Liu Bei turned his horse around and called to his soldiers to return to Baima Ford quickly.

Although the strategy employed was to "besiege Wei to rescue Zhao," Sun Bin did not dare to actually stay in Wei for too long, and Liu Bei similarly did not dare to linger there for too long.

If Yuan Shao were to return in a fit of rage before Liu Bei had even had a chance to cross the river to the other side, then Yuan Shao would have been able to launch a surprise attack and decisively defeat Liu Bei while he was still halfway across.

Min Chun and Geng Wu were both stunned as they watched Liu Bei's army come and go like the wind.

"What Liu Huangshu meant just now was that he didn't actually conquer Yanzhou, but only sneaked across the Yellow River to come?" Min Chun's tone was stiff.

Geng Wu echoed this sentiment: "That's probably what it means. If Liu Bei had left directly just now, wouldn't we have been—"

Both of them broke out in a cold sweat from fright.

He was eager to avenge Han Fu by acting as an inside agent, but he discovered that Liu Bei had secretly and risked his life to reach Ye City and didn't dare to stay there for long.

Min Chun glanced again at the "Uncle Liu of the Han Dynasty" banner still fluttering on the walls of Ye City, and his heart sank even further: "We two have no way out now. We must quickly go to Hanoi to find Shen Pei. To avoid arousing Shen Pei's suspicion, you take your guests and family along the river, while I will ride alone to Shequan to deliver the message."

Geng Wu nodded.

Now, there's no way to go back to Yecheng, and we can't stay in Hebei either. The only option is to go and rely on Liu Bei.

However, if they wanted to attach themselves to Liu Bei, they had to transfer Shen Pei away from Hanoi.

Upon closer reflection, Min Chun and Geng Wu were even more horrified: Liu Bei not only dared to cross the Yellow River to launch a surprise attack on Ye City, but he also had a force hidden in Hanoi!
Liu Bei did not linger in Wei Commandery, but returned to Baima Ford. With Ma Chao's help, they all crossed the river back to the south bank.

Meanwhile, within the city of Puyang.

Ju Shou was furious.

Pointing his finger directly at Qiao Mao's nose, he angrily shouted: "Qiao Mao, you coward! How dare you turn a blind eye to the bandits at Baima City and Baima Ferry? Ye City is currently vulnerable. If Liu Bei launches a surprise attack on Ye City, we will be guilty of a grave crime!"

However, Qiao Mao responded to Ju Shou's accusations as if it were perfectly reasonable: "I told you long ago that Liu Bei would launch a surprise attack on Dongjun, but you didn't believe me. It's a good thing I didn't listen to you, otherwise Puyang would definitely have been captured by Liu Bei."

"Why are you worrying about nothing, just like Chen Gong? Even if Liu Bei can launch a surprise attack on Ye City, can he really capture it? Are all the civil and military officials in Ye City just for show? Do you think they would abandon the city and flee as soon as they see Liu Bei?"

Ju Shou, not wanting to argue with Qiao Mao about this topic, hurriedly ordered, "Quickly muster the troops and go with me to Baima Ford. We have more than 10,000 men. Baima Ford and Baima City only have 4,000 men. As long as we defeat them, we can block Liu Bei on the other side of the Yellow River!"

“No!” Qiao Mao immediately rejected the idea: “Liu Bei will at most go to the other side of the river to scare people, but he will definitely come back. If I go to attack Baima Ford and Baima City, I will surely be defeated by Liu Bei.”

"As long as we hold Puyang, Liu Bei will naturally retreat when his supplies run out. If you want to pursue him then, General Pingnan, I can go with you."

"But now, you either help me defend Puyang City, or you go and attack Baima City and Baima Ferry yourself. I'm not going!"

Ju Shou was furious: "Don't forget! His Majesty gave me an imperial edict, how dare you disobey it?"

Qiao Mao's temper flared up: "Ju Shou, don't push your luck. Even when Yuan Yi was the governor of Yanzhou, he didn't dare speak to me like that. I've said it before, I'll only guard Puyang, I'm not going anywhere else!"

(End of this chapter)