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

After saying this, Chen Deng kept a close eye on Yuan Shu's expression. When he saw the other man's face full of surprise, Chen Deng admired Qin Xuan more and more. He knew about such a confidential matter. He was truly a genius.

"My lord said that as long as you send troops to kill Liu Bei, this matter will absolutely not be known to the other warlords."

Chen Deng spoke again in a low voice, urging Yuan Shu to make the right decision as soon as possible.

After a long while, Yuan Shu finally recovered from his shock and agreed to Chen Deng's request: "Alright, I... I agree. I will send troops to attack Liu Bei as soon as possible. You can go and rest now!"

"Thank you, Your Excellency. I shall take my leave now!"

After receiving a definite reply, Chen Deng felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders and felt much more relaxed. He left the hall amidst Yan Xiang's astonished expression.

"My lord, should we really agree to Chen Deng's request to attack Liu Bei? What did he say to you that has caused you such panic?"

After Chen Deng left, Yan Xiang asked impatiently, though he hadn't heard clearly what Chen Deng had said.

"He said if I didn't agree, he would reveal the whereabouts of the Imperial Seal, and then the whole world would turn against me!"

Yuan Shu sighed heavily, saying that he truly hadn't expected that anyone else in the world knew about the Imperial Seal of the State.

When the allied forces of the warlords captured Luoyang, Sun Jian discovered it by chance while searching for treasures. Among the soldiers present was a spy whom Yuan Shu had bribed, who then informed him of the discovery.

After Sun Jian's defeat and death, Yuan Shu demanded the property from his widow, Lady Wu. He had not told anyone about this except Yan Xiang.

The story of Sun Ce exchanging the Imperial Seal for three thousand soldiers and his former retainers is purely a fabrication in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"What? You mean Qin Xuan knew about this too?"

Yan Xiang's eyes widened in disbelief; this was an enormous event.

Yuan Shu nodded heavily and said, "Summon the generals to the manor for a meeting to discuss launching an attack on Liu Bei!"

Yuan Shu had his own ulterior motives for agreeing to send troops to attack Liu Bei, after all, he and Liu Bei had a deep-seated grudge from the past.

At Hulao Pass, Zhang Fei had embarrassed him in front of so many people. How could the narrow-minded Yuan Shu not hold a grudge?

"Yes!" Yan Xiang also knew the seriousness of the matter and agreed with Yuan Shu's decision. It was much more worthwhile to antagonize Liu Bei than to offend all the warlords in the world.

After a long time, almost all the generals in the city arrived.

Due to the urgency of the situation, Yuan Shu immediately issued an order to send troops, appointing Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui as generals and leading 20,000 troops to attack Liu Bei in Xiapi.

After all, Liu Bei didn't have many troops at his disposal, and his foothold was not yet secure; 20,000 men would have been enough.

Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui, who had received the military order, were very puzzled by Yuan Shu's instruction not to occupy Xiapi after defeating Liu Bei. After all, wasn't the purpose of sending troops to attack the enemy to expand territory and deplete the enemy's strength?

Doing this now is clearly against common sense!

"Alright, this is my order. Just carry it out. You don't need to worry about anything else!" Yuan Shu didn't offer any further explanation when he saw the two puzzled men.

Although he was a spoiled brat, he wasn't particularly stupid. Qin Xuan had asked him to send troops to attack Liu Bei because he couldn't take over Xiapi himself. So he used someone else to do the dirty work. Once he killed Liu Bei and took over Xiapi, Qin Xuan would definitely send troops.

It would be better not to occupy it at all, to avoid greater losses, which would be beneficial to both sides.

"Yes, sir!" Hearing their lord's order, the two dared not investigate further and could only obey and set off on their expedition.

Early the next morning, Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui led an army of 20,000 men toward Xiapi.

After seeing Yuan Shu take action, Chen Deng bid farewell to him that afternoon and left Nanyang County to return to Xuzhou.

···············

While Yuan Shu was launching his campaign, Cao Cao of Yanzhou was also busy, gathering all his soldiers and garrisoning them in Puyang to engage in a decisive battle with Lü Bu.

Outside the city, the earth trembled and dust flew everywhere. Lü Bu and Chen Gong led tens of thousands of troops, surrounding Puyang City like dark clouds pressing down on it.

The army's banners fluttered, and swords and spears stood like a forest. Every face was filled with murderous intent, as if the towering city before them was utterly vulnerable.

Lu Bu, clad in heavy armor and wielding his halberd, stood majestically before the army on his Red Hare, with his strategist Chen Gong, also in full armor, beside him.

He continuously scanned the city walls with his sharp, hawk-like eyes, and shouted loudly at Cao Cao and his men on the distant city tower:

"Cao Mengde, I am Lü Bu, the Marquis of Wen of the Han Dynasty. I advise you to surrender immediately, otherwise, if my tens of thousands of troops break through the city, you will have no chance at all."

Lu Bu is now bursting with confidence. Most of the soldiers behind him are Bingzhou troops and former Xiliang troops who surrendered to him. Their fighting strength is extremely strong, not to mention his strategist Chen Gong.

Chen Gong played a crucial role in getting us to where we are today.

Cao Cao, who had already received the news, stood on the city wall, coldly watching everything with an expressionless face. No one knew what he was thinking. Surrounded by his most capable generals, none of them had ever shown any fear.

Hearing Lu Bu's arrogant words, everyone's face was filled with uncontrollable rage. If it weren't for the fact that they were currently the stronger force, they would definitely have volunteered to go out of the city and fight Lu Bu one-on-one to put an end to his arrogance.

Cao Cao merely smiled slightly. He knew that Lü Bu was trying to provoke him, and that if he fell for it, he would easily fall into the trap set by Lü Bu.

"Let's go, let's go meet my old friend—Chen Gongtai!"

After saying this, Cao Cao left the spot.

Before long, the city gates slowly opened, and Cao Cao, surrounded by his generals, slowly walked out of the city.

He was dressed in a black battle robe, with a sword at his waist, and his expression was calm, as if he didn't take Lü Bu seriously at all.

Seeing Cao Cao leave the city, Lü Bu snorted coldly, spurred his horse forward a few steps, and shouted, "Cao Mengde, today we shall fight to the death! Why not surrender now to avoid rivers of blood!"

Cao Cao ignored Lü Bu's words and instead turned his gaze to his old friend, Chen Gong.

As his first employee, Cao Cao's feelings for Chen Gong were different from those for others. When Cao Cao was wanted and hunted down by Dong Zhuo, Chen Gong still abandoned his official position to follow him.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a savior, but now the two sides are on opposite sides.

"Gongtai, why did you betray me? I, Cao Cao, believe I have treated you well!" Cao Cao appeared very puzzled, not understanding why Chen Gong would treat him this way.

"Heh!" Chen Gong sneered upon hearing this, and replied with a hostile gaze towards Cao Cao not far away:

"Cao Mengde, I, Chen Gong, was blind! Back when we were fleeing, you killed Lü Boshe's entire family because of a misunderstanding. This shows what kind of person you are. Not long ago, you avenged your father by massacring the people of Xuzhou. You could still do that!"

"Cao Mengde, I truly regret not having the courage to kill you, such a heartless and ungrateful man, that night. It's all my fault, Chen Gong!" After saying this, Chen Gong turned his gaze to Lü Bu:

"Fengxian, why are you wasting your breath talking to him? Quickly send troops to attack!"