Three Kingdoms: Daily settlement helps Liu Bei revive the Shu Han dynasty.

Fan Neng was repelled by Sun Ce's three spear thrusts and fled back to his camp in a sorry state, never daring to show his face again.

Sun Ce led his troops to break through the encirclement, and Fan Neng hid in the central army to direct the pursuit.

The two sides pursued each other for twenty or thirty miles.

Fan Neng did not return to camp until the sun was high in the sky.

Seeing that the pursuing troops had retreated, Sun Ce ordered his soldiers to stop and rest in a shady mountain hollow.

Cheng Pu took stock of the battle damage during his rest period.

Afterwards, he walked up to Sun Ce, his expression quite complex, and reported:

"Young Master, we have lost more than 270 brothers, and the rest are all wounded."

Sun Ce sat on a rock, his face and armor covered in black ash and bloodstains.

After listening to the report, he remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, "How did Liu Yao know I was going to attack Niuzhu Camp?"

Sun Ce's voice contained no anger, but rather confusion.

Cheng Pu shook his head.

That's a difficult question to answer.

Our deployments and operations have always been kept secret, and the enemy's scouts should not have been able to discover them.

The timing of the ambush was so precise.

If he absolutely had to give a possibility,

That is—there is a traitor within the military!

Huang Gai hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Zhou Gongjin just left, and we've already fallen into their ambush. Could it be...?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Sun Ce interrupted Huang Gai's speculation, saying, "Gongjin would never betray me."

Upon seeing this, Huang Gai quickly shut his mouth and turned his head away.

The valley fell silent, with only the sound of the stream flowing in the distance.

Sun Ce stood up, then suddenly smiled and said:

"It's just a minor defeat, what's there to be discouraged about? My father was besieged in Wancheng back then, and he was in a much worse state than he is today."

This remark successfully made these veterans from Jiangdong laugh.

The vast majority of them participated in that war.

Looking back now, it was much harder back then than it is now.

The crowd's spirits gradually lifted.

Sun Ce glanced towards the north bank and continued, "Now that we've crossed the Yangtze River, we've achieved half of our goal."

There will always be opportunities...

"Let's go to Wanling, we'll go find Gongjin!"

Sun Ce is right.

There's no such thing as being able to guard against thieves for a thousand days if you're a thief for a thousand days.

Now that they have crossed the Yangtze River, they will surely find another opportunity to steal from Liu Yao.

It's impossible for Liu Yao to have an ambush "just happen" every time, right?

If there really is one, then there must be a traitor within our team.

Several days later, Sun Ce arrived outside Wanling City with his remaining troops.

When Zhou Shang heard that Sun Ce had arrived, he personally came to the city gate to greet him.

Sun Ce was covered in blood, sweat, and mud, looking quite disheveled.

"Greetings, Uncle!" After bowing and greeting Zhou Shang, he asked, "Is Gongjin in the city?"

Zhou Shang's expression froze for a moment, then he said with a wry smile, "Yes, yes..."

"Where are the others?"

"In my residence."

Sun Ce didn't ask any more questions and followed Zhou Shang back to his residence.

Just as they passed through the hall door,

He then saw Zhou Yu leaning against a low table.

His right arm was in a white sling, and a plaster was applied to his forehead.

He was holding a book in his left hand and studying it intently.

"Gongjin." Sun Ce stepped across the threshold, examined Zhou Yu's injuries, and asked curiously, "How did you get into this state?"

Zhou Yu looked up at the sound.

He also looked Sun Ce up and down, then put the book on the table and asked:

"And what happened to you, getting into this state, and ending up all the way to Wanling?"

Sun Ce sat cross-legged opposite Zhou Yu, picked up Zhou Yu's teacup, and drank it all in one gulp.

After putting down his bowl, he sighed and said, "Don't even mention it... Liu Yao actually anticipated that I would launch a sneak attack. He even recalled Fan Neng and laid an ambush on us."

Zhou Yu raised an eyebrow and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Sun Ce recounted in detail what had happened after they parted ways.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu's first thought was, "There's a traitor among us."

But instead of answering directly, he first explained why he had ended up in this state.

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce exclaimed in surprise, "Liu Bei's strategist is that capable?"

"It's alright..." Zhou Yu replied with a forced reply.

The two of them sat facing each other, neither of them saying a word.

After a while, a ridiculous idea suddenly popped into Zhou Yu's mind.

But once the thought appeared, it churned wildly in my mind, and I couldn't shake it off.

Noticing Zhou Yu's unusual expression, Sun Ce asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Zhou Yu stared into Sun Ce's eyes, and said somewhat uncertainly, "Bo Fu, do you think... it's possible that Liu Bei's side alerted Liu Yao?"

"?" Sun Ce was taken aback upon hearing this.

Seeing this, Zhou Yu simply called out by name: "Lu Yong!"

"Lu Yong?"

"Liu Yao is all talk and no action; he doesn't have the brains. So I suspect that Lu Yong anticipated your actions and leaked the information to Liu Yao in advance."

Sun Ce looked on incredulously.

He found it hard to believe that a person could scheme to such an extent.

"Do you have any evidence?" Sun Ce asked.

"No...it's just a gut feeling." Zhou Yu shook his head. "It's also possible that there's a traitor among us, or that Liu Yao has been secretly monitoring our actions all along."

"..." Sun Ce didn't know how to reply, as Zhou Yu had already said everything.

Finally, Zhou Yu spoke up, asking, "How many men do you have left?"

"You have fewer than five hundred soldiers capable of fighting. How many do you have?"

"After a period of defeat, I doubt more than a thousand have returned..."

"So what should we do next?"

Zhou Yu poured Sun Ce a bowl of tea before replying:

"Liu Bei's entry into Danyang is unstoppable. All we can do now is race against time."

"Liu Bei's 100,000 troops and civilians entered Wanling, but they could only travel a dozen or so miles each day."

We can seize this opportunity to defeat Liu Yao.

First seize the three counties of Liyang, Guzhang, and Yuqian.

This would completely block his eastward advance!

After a pause, Zhou Yu continued:

"South of Danyang is mountainous, and Yi, She and Jing counties are all inhabited by the Yue tribes."

We can send people into the mountains to contact the chieftain of the Yue tribes, offering them great rewards to harass Liu Bei and buy us more time.

During this period, if we can take Wu Commandery and Kuaiji Commandery, the situation in Jiangdong will be largely settled.

When the army is well-trained and the provisions are plentiful,

Then we can use our superior forces to completely drive Liu Bei out of Jiangdong!

Zhou Yu had already realized that Liu Bei's entry into Danyang was a foregone conclusion.

Therefore, his strategy changed to first seize more territory, and then concentrate his forces to drive Liu Bei away.

After listening, Sun Ce exclaimed, "As expected of Gongjin, he has already come up with a way to deal with Liu Bei so quickly."

Zhou Yu's lips twitched, and he picked up his teacup without saying another word.

……

After waiting all day, the wildfire finally spread far away.

Although the mountain path was in a mess, it was still passable.

Lu Yong still sent out scouts in shifts, and the subsequent journey went relatively smoothly.

After successfully reuniting with Xu Sheng

They then led the captives and the people who had arrived earlier toward Dangtu.

Midnight

The system notification sounded on time.

[It's midnight; let's begin today's settlement.]

[Host's achievements for today:]

[1. Successfully uncover the ambush and counter-ambush (Achievement +2).]

Overall rating: S grade.

[Reward: 1 Gold Item]

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained the entry: Crisis Insight (Gold).]

Effect: Permanently increases the host's perception of hostility, traps, ambushes, and other dangers within a one-kilometer radius by +20%.

The item has been automatically equipped, and its current attributes have been updated.