Liu Bei, who was full of doubts, drove his horse back to Xiapi City slowly. As soon as he entered the city gate, he was blocked by Lu Bu and Chen Gong who hurried from the city tower.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhao Chen, Huang Gai, Jian Yong and others also hurried over.
Lu Bu made a face, and immediately asked Liu Bei: "Mr. Xuande is so interested, and he had a great time talking with Cao Cao!"
"General, don't make fun of me."
Liu Bei looked a little helpless. He was completely confused about the matter, so why did he say that they had such a happy conversation?
Lu Bu was not going to let it go, and asked: "What did Duke Xuande and Cao Cao talk about that led to such joyful laughter?"
Lu Bu's questioning tone made Liu Bei frown, but since the two armies were united to fight against Cao, he didn't care.
On a normal day, Liu Bei was not a bloodless person and would have left long ago.
"Bei and Cao Cao didn't talk about anything. For some reason, Cao Cao always laughed."
When Liu Bei refused to admit it, Chen Gong became unwilling.
He is an upright person and speaks more directly.
"Gong Xuande is a gentleman. He wouldn't have made a private agreement with Cao Cao to plot to capture Pi City, would he?"
Liu Bei was shocked and hurriedly denied: "What Mr. Gongtai said, since Bei and the general fought against Cao Cao, they have been of one heart and one mind, advancing and retreating together. How could he have any intention of conspiring with Cao Cao to take down Pi?"
Jian Yong on the side also said: "Mr. Gongtai, please don't say that. My lord has always been benevolent. When Taozhou Mu Qian gave Xuzhou, my lord did not accept it. How could he join forces with Cao Cao to take down Pi today?"
Without Zhao Chen's suppression, the impatient Zhang Fei immediately jumped out and shouted: "What do you mean, my eldest brother came all the way to help you and others fight against Cao Cao, and now he has just defeated Cao Cao twice, and now he suspects that my eldest brother is conspiring with Cao Cao? What, Do you want to burn down the bridge? Chen Gong, let me tell you, there is no more upright person in this world than my eldest brother. If he says no, there is absolutely no one!"
Being yelled at by Zhang Fei justifiably, Lu Bu couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
After all, Cao Cao has not retreated at this time. They cannot resist Cao Cao with their own strength. There are only more than 20,000 soldiers in the city. It is estimated that the city will be broken in less than half a month.
So Lu Bu didn't want to have a bad relationship.
However, Chen Gong has always been skeptical and wary of Liu Bei.
Seeing that Lu Bu and Chen Gong stopped talking, Liu Bei signaled to Zhang Fei not to be rude.
He stepped forward and explained again: "General Lu, Chen Gongtai, you two misunderstood. Bei Zhen didn't know why Cao Cao laughed for no reason. Bei and Cao didn't talk about anything, they just looked at each other for two quarters of an hour for no reason."
"As for why Cao Cao did this, I don't know."
Seeing that Liu Bei had given in first, Lu Bu hurriedly went down the steps and said, "Mr. Xuande, since this is a misunderstanding, please go back to the mansion first and have a good rest. We will discuss the strategy against the enemy in a few days."
Liu Bei returned the gift and said goodbye.
Zhang Fei and others angrily followed Liu Bei all the way back to Liu Bei's residence.
Everyone in the group was very angry. As soon as they stepped through the door, they cursed and accused Lu Bu and Chen Gong of not knowing etiquette and being unkind.
Only Zhao Chen said nothing, quietly watching everyone vent.
Sun Qian glanced at the quiet Zhao Chen and suddenly asked: "Military advisor, how should we deal with today's incident?"
Liu Bei suddenly remembered that Zhao Chen had not spoken yet, and slapped his forehead and blamed himself. He should not have been so angry by Lu Bu and Chen Gong's two or three words.
He quickly asked Zhao Chen: "Military advisor, what is the purpose of Cao Cao's trip?"
Zhao Chen smiled and said: "My lord, everyone, please don't be anxious."
Zhang Fei was impatient and couldn't bear it: "Commander, I'm already angry with that guy from Lu Bu. Why aren't you in a hurry? If my eldest brother hadn't stopped me, I, Old Zhang, would have fought that guy for three hundred rounds!"
Guan Yu on the side quickly grabbed Zhang Fei and advised him: "Third brother, please be patient and listen to the military advisor."
Zhao Chen nodded to Guan Yu, and then said slowly: "My lord, Cao Cao came to see my lord today to reminisce about the past. It was indeed beyond Chen's expectation. But the situation is relatively clear. Cao Cao's army fell into my trap twice, and the loss was not small. He was worried that he would not be able to win, so he wanted to use other methods to break through, with the intention of disintegrating the Liu and Lu coalition forces. This plan must have been done by Guo Jia."
Zhang Fei roared: "Guo Jia, Guo Jia, it's that little guy again!"
Guo Jia, who was far away in Cao Ying, sneezed three times in a row.
As soon as Zhao Chen said this, Liu Bei fell into deep thought. Fortunately, there was no conflict just now. If a few words could not make sense, and the two armies fought, Cao Cao would benefit.
"Lord, don't worry. If Chen's prediction goes well, Cao Jun will make his next move soon."
In fact, when Chen Gong and Lu Bu questioned Liu Bei, Zhao Chen already understood the purpose of Cao Cao's trip.
When two armies are at war, if they unite they will survive, if they separate they will die.
It is an alliance, and the most important thing is mutual trust. In the past, the princes from the eleventh day of Chu attacked Dong Zhuo, and later the Sun and Liu coalition resisted Cao Cao. They were all based on trust, otherwise they would have broken up long ago.
Zhao Chen roughly estimated that it was when Cao Ren's Eight Gate Golden Lock Formation was broken that Guo Jia saw the gap in the Liu and Lu coalition forces.
"The military advisor means to wait?"
"Yes, wait! There is no big gap in the Liu and Lu coalition forces now, so there is no need to worry, my lord."
"But military advisor, when the gap appears, is it still too late?"
Zhao Chen suddenly smiled evilly and said: "It appears, maybe this is an opportunity."
Everyone looked confused.
Just as Zhao Chen expected, just one day later, Cao Cao sent a secret letter.
The moment Liu Bei opened the secret message, he was dumbfounded.
This is not a secret letter. It is like a three-year-old child writing. There are many words in the letter that have been blurred, and the words do not make sense at all. Liu Bei is confused.
The spy who monitored Liu Bei's army outside the gate immediately reported to Chen Gong that Cao Cao had sent a secret message.
Chen Gong was shocked and hurriedly ordered: "Notify General Lu quickly and go to Liu Bei's mansion together."
Liu Bei couldn't understand the letter, so he ordered people to convene everyone for discussion.
As soon as Zhao Chen and others arrived at the gate of Liu Bei's residence, they encountered Lu Bu approaching menacingly with Chen Gong, Gao Shun, Zhang Liao and others.
There was a tense atmosphere as soon as the two teams met.
Lu Bu didn't even say hello, and didn't allow the guards at the door to notify him, and went straight in.
However, when Zhang Liao saw Zhao Chen and Guan Yu, he nodded slightly to greet them.
Zhang Fei pouted behind him: "What is that guy doing here? He is putting on such a stinky air, as if others owe him something."
Huang Gai was the calmest and suggested: "Perhaps my lord has a military plane that needs to be discussed. General Zhang, why don't we go in first, so that my lord doesn't have to wait in a hurry."
"That's what the general said!"
A group of people filed in.
In the hall, Lu Bu snatched Cao Cao's secret letter from Liu Bei and looked at the messily erased letter, wondering why.
Chen Gong read up and down for a while, suddenly realized the problem, and hurriedly asked Liu Bei: "Xuan De Gong hid it so deeply. Why did Cao Cao cover up the key parts of the letter with ink every time he read it? Is it possible that there is something wrong?" What content can’t I wait to see?”
When Liu Bei heard this, he became anxious: "Gongtai misunderstood. The dark spots on the letter were not done by Bei, but just like that. Bei was also surprised. Could it be that Cao Cao sent the discarded letter?"
Chen Gong sneered and said: "Mr. Xuande, don't try to deceive others. Cao Cao is cautious by nature, how could he make such a low-level mistake?"
"this……"
"Mr. Xuande, what else can you say?"
"My lord has nothing to say."
Zhao Chen's voice came from outside the door.
As if seeing a life-saving straw, Liu Bei cast an excited look at Zhao Chen, as if to say: You are finally here!
Zhao Chen saluted Liu Bei and said softly: "My lord, leave the rest to Chen."
Liu Bei nodded knowingly.
From the sounds he heard in the corridor just now, Zhao Chen had basically understood what was going on.
Cao Cao used Han Sui's original plan to wipe out the book on Liu Bei.
Ma Chao's habits are very similar to Lu Bu's, and Chen Gong originally rejected Liu Jun, so this strategy is very suitable.
It's a pity that Cao Cao and Guo Jia met him, Zhao Chen. How could such a little trick be hidden from his eyes.
Zhao Chen smiled evilly and had a countermeasure in his mind.
