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

The next morning, Lü Bu and Chen Gong led more than a hundred cavalrymen away from Xiaopei to Pengcheng to request Xue Rengui to join them in attacking Yuan Shu.

Due to the extreme urgency of the situation, Lü Bu and his entourage rode at full speed and arrived in Pengcheng by evening.

This place is only a little over 100 kilometers away from Xiaopei, the closest county to Xuzhou, so Xue Rengui stationed himself here.

Inside the Prime Minister's residence, the night was as dark as ink, and all was silent. Only a faint candlelight shone from the study, casting shadowy images of the furnishings.

Xue Rengui, dressed in a plain-colored robe, sat upright at his desk, holding an old military book in his hands, his gaze focused and profound.

This is a good habit he has developed since joining the army. As a general in command of troops, he often reads military books in his spare time to increase his strategic knowledge and apply it to practice.

"Reporting to the General, Lü Bu has arrived, saying he has important matters to discuss with you!"

Just then, the sound of a guard outside the door broke the tranquility of the study, his tone tinged with urgency.

"Huh? What's this guy doing here? Does he want me to increase his food supply?" Xue Rengui was puzzled when he heard that Lü Bu had come.

After all, he and Lü Bu weren't particularly close, but his arrival so late must mean something important. He then called out towards the door:

"Okay, I'm coming right now!"

Before long, Xue Rengui left the study and went to the reception room, where he met Lü Bu and Chen Gong who were waiting.

"General Lü, is there anything important that brings you here so late at night?"

Xue Rengui didn't stand on ceremony. After they sat down, he went straight to the point and asked Lü Bu why he had come.

Lu Bu then paused and said, "It's like this, we've decided to attack the Liang Kingdom region of Yu Province, and all the intelligence has been gathered."

"My purpose in coming here is to ask you to guarantee the food supply for my army. In addition, if possible, I hope you can send troops to join us, since I don't have many troops at my disposal."

So that's what it was about. But he couldn't make the decision to cooperate with Lü Bu; Qin Xuan had to decide.

After listening, Xue Rengui inquired about the deployment of Yuan's troops that Lü Bu had discovered, and after pondering for a moment, he said:

"General Lü, this intelligence is of great importance. I cannot make the decision on my own. I will send someone by horseback to report to the lord first thing tomorrow morning. I will inform you as soon as he gives his instructions."

"It's getting late, I'll arrange for someone to take you to rest!"

He then shouted loudly to the guards outside the hall:

"Someone, quickly escort General Lü to his guest room to rest!"

Upon hearing that Xue Rengui was going to report to Qin Xuan, Lü Bu and Chen Gong both smiled with satisfaction, since Xue Rengui had not explicitly refused them.

"Then General Xue, please act quickly; this opportunity must not be missed!"

Before leaving, Lü Bu urged him on.

After sending Lü Bu and the others to rest, Xue Rengui immediately wrote a letter and arranged for someone to send it to Tancheng overnight by fast horse, explaining the situation.

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The soldiers, carrying urgent letters, arrived outside Tancheng City after a night of rapid travel, just as dawn was breaking.

He spotted the guards at the city gate in the distance and hurriedly shouted, "I am a messenger sent by General Xue. I have important intelligence to report to our lord. Open the city gate immediately!"

The guards who had just changed shifts heard the shouts and looked in the direction of the sound. They saw a lone rider galloping towards the city gate in the distance.

Judging from the armor and command flags worn by the man, he appeared to be a soldier of the Great Wall Legion, but the guards still dared not be careless and immediately shouted loudly at him:

Where are the beacon fires now, atop the Great Wall?

This was a code word among the Great Wall Legion, used to verify the authenticity of their own messengers and ensure that the other party was not an enemy soldier in disguise.

"Where the dragon vein leads, Qin Wei will never be defeated!"

The man arrived at the city gate, raised his head, and answered loudly.

"Open the city gates, it's our people!"

Upon hearing the coded message correctly, the guard immediately opened the city gate and welcomed the visitor inside.

After entering the city, the soldiers dismounted, abandoning their exhausted horses, and, disregarding their fatigue, hurried towards the governor's mansion.

Inside the back hall of the governor's mansion, Qin Xuan was in a hazy sleep when a guard suddenly came to report.

Xue Rengui sent someone with extremely urgent intelligence overnight.

Qin Xuan immediately lost his sleepiness, got up from his cozy bed, went to the council hall, and urgently summoned the two civil officials, Liu Bowen and Zhang Juzheng, to discuss countermeasures.

Once everyone had arrived, Qin Xuan handed the letter he had read to Liu Bowen and Zhang Juzheng.

His face was full of solemnity as he paced slowly in the lobby.

"Does Lü Bu want to join forces with our army to attack the Liang Kingdom in Yu Province?"

Liu Bowen quickly read through the contents of the letter and said with some surprise, then handed the letter to Zhang Juzheng who was standing next to him.

After reading the letter, Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment and cautiously asked Qin Xuan:

"My lord, do you wish to help Lü Bu or eliminate him?"

"My lord, do you wish to help Lü Bu or eliminate him?"

Zhang Juzheng's question left Liu Bowen and Qin Xuan somewhat puzzled, unsure of what Zhang Juzheng meant, and they both looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

Faced with the questioning looks from the two men, Zhang Juzheng slowly revealed his inner thoughts, guessing that Lü Bu wanted to launch a joint military campaign:

"My lord, Bowen, Lü Bu wants to join forces with us to send troops for two reasons: first, to ensure his logistical support; and second, because he's worried that Cao Cao of Yanzhou might take this opportunity to launch a surprise attack!"

"They want us to join forces against Cao Cao, since Cao Cao and Xu Province have an irreconcilable feud. But the problem is, if we ally with Lü Bu, Yuan Shu will definitely ally with Cao Cao!"

"On the surface, it appears to be a two-on-two battle, an evenly matched contest. But the question is, will Lü Bu truly be our ally?"

"No, he won't!"

Qin Xuan gave an affirmative answer. After all, the agreement he signed with Lü Bu was an unequal one, and given the huge loss Lü Bu had suffered at his hands, he would not let it go easily.

"Uncle, do you mean Lü Bu might be plotting something behind the scenes?"

After Zhang Juzheng's analysis, Liu Bowen immediately understood what the other party meant and made a somewhat uncertain guess.

"It's not just possible, it's certain!"

Qin Xuan answered decisively that historically, Lü Bu had betrayed Liu Bei over Xuzhou, thus seizing Xuzhou.

Now that he's requesting a joint operation, he might be trying to profit from the chaos. Don't forget that Lu Bu has a strategist named Chen Gong by his side, and that guy is no pushover.

With his assistance, Lü Bu might actually do that.

Having figured all this out, Qin Xuan made his decision. He looked at the two of them and said:

"Since Lü Bu wants to join forces, let's agree to it. At the same time, we should send someone to Yuan Shu to inform him of this news and have him contact Cao Cao. The three of us will then devise a plan to eliminate Lü Bu!"

Currently, among all the warlords, Lü Bu is the easiest to eliminate.

Who told him to be the weakest in terms of power but the strongest in terms of martial arts?

This guy might not be good as a ruler, but he's definitely a master as a general. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, an era teeming with talented people, he outshone many fierce generals and was someone that all the warlords wanted to recruit.

"Our lord is wise!"

Liu Bowen and the other man immediately began to flatter him.

Lü Bu's fate was thus sealed. Immediately afterward, Qin Xuan sent a messenger to Xue Rengui, instructing him to inform Lü Bu that both sides had agreed to cooperate, but a large amount of war supplies needed to be mobilized, and the departure date was set for one month later.

Meanwhile, Liu Bowen was secretly dispatched to Yuan Shu's territory to inform Cao Cao that the three parties were plotting to eliminate Lü Bu.