The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

After staying in Xiaopei for two days, Qin Xuan returned to Tancheng. But before he could even sit down and have a drink of water, Meng Guang found him with a letter.

"Young Master, you're finally back! This is an urgent intelligence report sent by the Yangzhou branch of the Black Ice Guard a couple of days ago!"

As she spoke, she handed him the book she was holding.

"The Yangzhou branch? Could it be that Liu Bei and his men have made some moves?"

Upon hearing that the intelligence came from Yangzhou, Qin Xuan immediately thought of Liu Bei, because only Liu Bei could make him so worried about Yangzhou.

As he murmured to himself, Qin Xuan unfolded the scroll and quickly began to examine its contents.

I was shocked when I saw it. Zhou Yu had actually made such a big fuss. The intelligence showed that Zhou Yu had recently launched an attack on Liu Yao, who was entrenched in Lujiang County.

Because Zhou Yu's troops acted swiftly, they advanced all the way to Wan County, eventually besieging Liu Yao in the city. Five days later, they captured Wan County, and Liu Yao committed suicide.

Before Liu Bei and his men could arrive in time to provide assistance, they received news of Liu Yao's suicide. In order to preserve their strength, Liu Bei, on the advice of Jian Yong and Sun Qian, avoided a direct conflict with Zhou Yu and instead retreated west to seek refuge with Liu Biao in Jingzhou. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

"Liu Bei is really lucky; he can run so fast!"

After reading the information on the scroll, Qin Xuan sighed softly.

In less than a year, Liu Bei actually escaped three catastrophic disasters. He truly deserves to be called one of the three great heroes of the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Heaven really protected him.

"Meng Guang, inform the people in the Jingzhou branch to keep a close eye on Liu Bei's movements. This guy is our second greatest enemy after Cao Cao. We must not let our guard down against him, understand?"

Qin Xuan earnestly advised Meng Guang that if Liu Bei went to Jingzhou, he might grow even stronger and pose a greater threat to him.

However, Qin Xuan currently lacks the energy to deal with him and can only monitor his every move through a vast intelligence network.

As for sending elite assassins to kill them, that's just wishful thinking.

Not to mention that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were always by Liu Bei's side protecting him, Liu Bei himself was also a skilled warrior who fought his way out of dangerous battlefields and survived to this day.

Ordinary assassins simply couldn't kill them.

"Young master, should we send someone to assassinate Liu Bei and the others?" Meng Guang made a throat-slitting gesture, asking for permission from the Black Ice Guard to send someone to assassinate Liu Bei and the others.

"No need. Liu Bei and his men are highly skilled in martial arts. Doing so would be tantamount to throwing lambs to the slaughter, and it would also expose the existence of the Black Ice Guard!"

Qin Xuan rejected Meng Guang's suggestion.

"Here you go!"

Seeing that Qin Xuan had stopped him from making the suggestion, Meng Guang didn't say anything more.

············

On the official road of Poyang County, Yuzhang Prefecture, an army of more than 5,000 men was marching rapidly, as if someone was chasing them from behind.

And leading the charge were Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.

"Big brother, stop! Let's stop and rest. We've traveled for so long, Zhou Yu shouldn't be able to catch up, right?"

Exhausted, Zhang Fei was panting heavily. He had been traveling for dozens of miles from Wan County without a proper rest, and now he had finally reached a relatively safe place.

Zhang Fei had long been unable to bear it any longer and was shouting that he wanted to stop and rest.

Hearing Zhang Fei's complaint, Liu Bei looked around at the situation and then at the equally exhausted soldiers behind him. Thinking that Zhou Yu should not be able to catch up now, he immediately ordered the army to rest on the spot and start a fire to cook.

After the three of them sat down to rest in a warm place, Liu Bei sighed and lamented his experiences over the past year. He thought about how his career had finally started to improve, only to be defeated by others three times. If he hadn't been able to assess the situation carefully, he probably would have been dead long ago.

"Oh dear, brother, if you ask me, the three of us are just missing a wise and resourceful strategist to assist us, otherwise, we wouldn't be in this predicament!"

Listening to Liu Bei's nagging, the taciturn Guan Yu inadvertently uttered a few words, "The Three Kingdoms: Rise from Intercepting Liu Bei," which caught Liu Bei's attention.

"Second brother, what do you mean by that? Do you have some good idea?"

Liu Bei stared at Guan Yu and asked in confusion. He knew that Guan Yu had more of his own opinions than Zhang Fei, and most importantly, he was well-versed in the Spring and Autumn Annals and had a higher level of understanding and insight.

Guan Yu didn't speak first. Instead, he glanced at Jian Yong and Sun Qian, who were resting not far away. Seeing that they weren't paying attention to what was happening, he whispered his thoughts:

"Eldest brother, third brother, I think we lack a wise and resourceful strategist right now. Although Jian Yong and Sun Qian are somewhat intelligent, they are simply not capable of shouldering such a great responsibility."

"The failures we have suffered over the past year are enough to prove that we lack a wise and resourceful strategist by our side."

"Back when the three families joined forces, if Yan Baihu hadn't colluded with Qin Xuan, how could Zhou Yu's plan have failed? Moreover, this time it was Zhou Yu's resourceful scheme that caused Lord Liu Yao to suffer heavy losses."

"Therefore, we must recruit a resourceful strategist for our trip to Jingzhou, otherwise we will find it difficult to achieve great things!"

After listening to Guan Yu's words, Liu Bei fell into deep thought, as did Zhang Fei, as if they were recalling the hardships they had endured along the way.

"Second brother, you're right. We should hurry up and find a wise and resourceful strategist. Qin Xuan has Liu Bowen assisting him, which is why he is where he is today."

"I, Liu Bei, should also find a peerless talent to assist me, so that I can build a great empire!"

After a long while, Liu Bei expressed his heartfelt feelings. Although he had never given up on the plan to find a great talent, he had not put it first. He only focused on expanding his military power, thus neglecting the great role that a resourceful strategist could play in the struggle for supremacy.

After resting for more than two hours, Liu Bei led his 5,000 troops on their way and finally arrived in Changsha County, Jingzhou, six days later. However, they were blocked by the county magistrate in Ancheng.

Seeing that the city gates of Ancheng County were tightly closed and the city walls were filled with soldiers with bows drawn and arrows nocked, looking as if they were facing a formidable enemy, Liu Bei couldn't help but frown.

Before he arrived, he had already sent a message to the local magistrate, saying that his army was passing through Ancheng and entering Changsha County from there, and he hoped that the magistrate could do him a favor and also inform Liu Biao that he had come to join him.

But now...

As Liu Bei pondered, a middle-aged man dressed as a county magistrate appeared on the city wall.

"What's going on?" Looking at the magistrate on the city wall, Liu Bei frowned slightly, then spurred his horse to the city gate and asked loudly, "I am Liu Bei, a member of the same clan as Liu Jingzhou, a descendant of the Prince of Zhongshan. I have come to seek refuge with Liu Jingzhou. Why is the magistrate refusing to let us into the city?"

Looking at Liu Bei below the city, the magistrate of Ancheng County pondered for a moment and then said loudly, "General Liu, it's not that I deliberately prevented you from entering the city, but the situation has been unstable recently, and I have to act cautiously. Please forgive me, General."

Upon hearing the excuse, Liu Bei inwardly scoffed, but still smiled and said, "My lord, we have traveled a long way, and our soldiers are exhausted. They wish to enter the city to rest. I assure you, my army will not cause you any trouble."

However, the magistrate remained unconvinced. What he saw below were five thousand elite soldiers, all looking menacing. If he let them in, things would get out of control. So he made an excuse and refused again, saying, "General Liu, it's not that I don't trust you, but I have my duties. I hope you can understand."

Before Liu Bei could continue his polite persuasion to get the magistrate to open the gate, the hot-tempered Zhang Fei could no longer contain himself. He flew into a rage and shouted, "Brother, this magistrate is clearly deliberately making things difficult for us! I'll lead my men to attack the city right now and see if he dares to refuse us entry!"

He was about to order his army to attack the city.

Liu Bei, standing nearby, hurriedly advised, "Third brother, don't be impulsive. This is Liu Biao's territory. If you launch an attack, even if we capture Ancheng, it will be of no use. We'll offend Liu Biao, and then how can we pledge allegiance to him?"

"This won't work, that won't work, what are we going to do? The brothers haven't eaten all day, if we don't go into the city for supplies soon, they'll starve to death!"

Zhang Fei said impatiently that they had almost run out of food and money along the way, and if they couldn't get food soon, there was a certainty that a riot would break out.