Liu Bei took one last look at the Pengcheng city wall and led his army around Yuan Shao's army camp at the north gate of the city.
At the gate of Yuan Shao's army camp, Yuan Tan had already received the news that Liu Bei had led his army to seek refuge.
At this moment, the scouts reported that a large army was coming towards this direction, and Yuan Tan immediately came with all the generals to greet them.
Not far after leaving the camp, I saw Liu Bei and others.
Yuan Tan hurriedly rode forward and said with a smile: "My lord, you are finally here. I have been waiting for you for a long time!"
Liu Bei quickly dismounted and went up to greet Yuan Tan. He saluted Yuan Tan and said, "Liu Bei came to surrender at the end of the road. How dare you bother the eldest son to go out to greet him?"
Yuan Tan helped Liu Bei up and said with a smile: "My benefactor, please don't say such things! How can I express my benefactor's kindness to Yuan Tan just by going out to greet me?"
"Not to mention, now that we are in a stalemate with Jiangdong, our benefactor comes even though he is thousands of miles away. This is another great favor!"
After that, he took Liu Bei's hand and walked to the generals and said: "Come, come, let's get to know each other, benefactor, these are all the generals in this battle."
Then he said to the generals: "Gentlemen, this is my benefactor Liu Bei and Uncle Liu Huang, Yuan Tan's benefactor."
"In the past, before I became an official, my benefactor recommended me to be Xiaolian."
"Without my benefactor, I, Yuan Tan, would not have achieved what I have achieved today!"
Everyone saluted Liu Bei and said, "Uncle Liu Huang!"
Liu Bei saw Yuan Tan and the generals treating him so politely, with a smile on his face and said: "Liu Bei has met all of you generals!"
When Yuan Tan and Liu Bei met, he looked at Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with a smile and said, "General Guan, General Zhang, it's been a long time!"
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also saluted Yuan Tan.
Yuan Tan then pulled Liu Bei into the camp and said with a smile: "My dear friend, I will introduce you to a great talent. It's just because he was injured and the medical staff didn't allow him to move around, so I didn't bring him out to greet him."
Liu Bei asked curiously: "Oh? I wonder who this great talent is?"
Yuan Tan said: "The descendant of the Zhou family of the Third Duke of Lujiang II, Zhou Yu and Zhou Gongjin!"
"Before, I thought he was young and my father asked him to be my mastermind just because of his status."
"After these few battles, I discovered that people have real talents and learning."
"I also heard him say that this Jiangdong originally belonged to him and the overlord Sun Ce."
"It was just taken away by the villain's conspiracy."
Liu Bei said in surprise: "Zhou Yu of the Zhou family? I heard that he is a true descendant of a wealthy family!"
Yuan Tan nodded in agreement.
A group of people arrived outside Zhou Yu's camp.
Medical workers guard the door.
Seeing Yuan Tan coming with many generals, the medical staff hurried in.
After a while, an old medical worker came out.
Yuan Tan said hurriedly: "Old sir, I have a distinguished guest whom I would like Gong Jin to meet."
The old medical worker said: "Only a quarter of an hour."
Yuan Tan smiled and said: "No problem."
With that said, he greeted Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others to come in.
In the tent, Zhou Yu had already sat up.
Seeing Yuan Tan come in, Zhou Yu would get out of bed and salute.
Yuan Tan and others walked up quickly and stopped him: "Gong Jin, you are injured, so don't be polite!"
Zhou Yu thanked him.
Although he almost died in this risky rescue, it was worth it because it allowed Yuan Tan to change his attitude towards him.
Only in this way will he have a chance to regain Jiangdong in the future!
Yuan Tan pulled Liu Bei forward and said, "My dear benefactor, this is Zhou Yu and Zhou Gongjin!"
Liu Bei smiled, saluted Zhou Yu, and praised: "As expected of a descendant of the Zhou family, he is young and handsome."
Zhou Yu looked at Liu Bei doubtfully.
Yuan Tan said: "Gong Jin, this is Liu Bei, Liu Huang's uncle, after King Jing of Zhongshan, the hero who defeated the Yellow Turbans in the past."
"He was framed by Lu Bu before and had to go to Xudu to seek refuge with the emperor."
"Now, he heard that we were at war with Jiangdong, and he specially led 20,000 soldiers to come to our aid."
Zhou Yu's eyes lit up slightly and he said to Liu Bei: "It turned out to be Uncle Liu Huang who defeated the Yellow Turban bandits. I have heard of your deeds. You are really a hero!"
Looking at Guan Yu and Zhang Fei behind Liu Bei, Zhou Yu asked again: "Who are these two extraordinary warriors -"
Liu Bei smiled and said: "These are my sworn brothers. They are the second brother Guan Yu and Guan Yunchang, and the third brother Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide!"
Guan Yu glanced at Zhou Yu and just clasped his fists lightly.
Zhang Fei ignored it.
Liu Bei smiled and said, "My two younger brothers are serious about words and expressions."
Zhou Yu smiled and said: "It doesn't matter!"
After a pause, Zhou Yu asked again: "Where did Uncle Liu Huang come from?"
Liu Bei said: "I deceived Cao Cao's 20,000 troops from Xudu, marched in a hurry, killed the people and chariots who intercepted him on the way, and then rushed here."
Zhou Yu doubted: "Then Uncle Liu should be passing by the west gate of Pengcheng City. What is the enemy's situation there?"
Liu Bei was stunned and said: "There are arrays of flags on the city wall, and there are many guards."
Zhou Yu squinted his eyes and said, "Has Uncle Liu Huang ever fought with them?"
Liu Bei shook his head and lied: "I was worried that the eldest son was in danger here and I didn't dare to neglect it, so I took a detour and met with the eldest son."
Yuan Tan was moved and said: "My benefactor~"
Zhou Yu lowered his head, and after a moment, said to Yuan Tan: "Young Master, I have something to say to you alone."
Yuan Tan hurriedly said: "Okay."
Looking at Liu Bei and others, Yuan Tan said: "My dear friend, you go to the commander's tent first. I have prepared a banquet and will be there later."
Liu Bei hugged his fists and led everyone away.
It wasn't until Liu Bei and others disappeared outside the camp that Zhou Yu sighed and said to Yuan Tan, "Master, there are some things I don't know whether I should say."
Yuan Tan said doubtfully: "Gongjin, you have something to say, but it doesn't hurt to say it."
Zhou Yu then said: "Uncle Liu Huang is not a loyal person. If possible, the eldest son will seize his military power to prevent changes."
Yuan Tan was surprised and said: "How can this be done? Moreover, my benefactor is indeed a very good person! In the early years, he recommended me as Xiaolian!"
Zhou Yu patiently said: "My eldest son, you are the eldest son of Duke Yuan. After the fourth generation and the third Duke, even if he does not recommend it, your father will find someone to recommend you as Xiaolian."
"Anyone with a bit of vision will find a way to do this!"
"And since he took the initiative to recommend you, Mr. Yuan owes him a favor."
"How valuable is the favor of a person who has lived for four generations and three generations?"
Yuan Tan: "."
Zhou Yu continued: "Let's talk about Uncle Liu Huang. He seems to be loyal on the outside, but he is actually treacherous."
"Nine out of ten of what he said just now are false!"
"First let's say that he was defeated by Lu Bu and defected to the emperor."
"The Emperor is now in Xudu and is held hostage by Cao Cao. He claims to be a royal noble. Isn't this even clear?"
"As a member of the royal family, as long as you are loyal to the court, how can you fall into a trap?"
"It shows that his ambitions are not small. Being a member of the royal family is just an identity he uses."
"It's a lie that he defected to the emperor, but it's true that he wanted to use Cao Cao's help to eradicate Lu Bu for revenge."
"For him, as long as he can get revenge and achieve what he wants, he doesn't care about anything at all."
"Although Cao Cao was unworthy, he kept him and allowed him to take away 20,000 soldiers, which shows that Cao Cao regarded him as a confidant. Otherwise, how could a surrendered man be qualified to command such a large army?"
"But Uncle Liu Huang abandoned him and went to join the eldest son."
"Isn't that enough to show how ungrateful he is?"
"Just now, I asked him where he came from, and he said he came here after killing General Cao Cao."
"This kind of person can raise a butcher's knife against the people he once trusted. When he leaves the eldest young master and Yuan Gong, he will not hesitate to raise a butcher's knife against the eldest young master and Yuan Gong!"
"Also, he led his army past the west gate of the city and said that the city walls were lined with flags and there were many garrison personnel."
"This is also false."
"He led an army of 20,000 to betray Cao Cao and came straight to Pengcheng. How could Cao Cao not know about Xuzhou?"
"Xuzhou knew that Liu Bei had betrayed him. How could there not be a large number of defenders at the west gate of the city?"
"Since there are a large number of defenders, how can we tolerate him leading his troops closer and even seeing a large number of defenders on the city wall?"
"I'm afraid that before he gets close, the army is already preparing for a battle."
Zhou Yu took a long breath and said: "Liu Bei's words indicate that this person came to seek refuge with the eldest son is a lie, but it is true that he came to seek refuge with the eldest son."
"He must have done something in Xudu that endangered his life."
"So, he escaped from Xudu and came straight to us."
"However, he was afraid that he would lose his soldiers and not be able to use them as bargaining chips to obtain a higher status from the eldest son and Yuan Gong. Therefore, he lied. He did not have any fighting with the defenders in the west of the city."
"As for Pengcheng, in fact, there may only be a small number of defenders trying to confuse us. In fact, the real main force has already evacuated Pengcheng and has moved to the next city, Xiapi, waiting for danger."
Yuan Tan said "Huh?"
Then people like you have been guarding an empty city?
Zhou Yu looked at Yuan Tan's surprised look, shook his head and said: "If the eldest son doesn't believe it, lead an army to attack the city now, and the city will be destroyed! However, before that, let's entertain Uncle Liu Huang and the others with a banquet. Wait until they have had enough. After they had eaten, they handed over their tiger talismans. After that, they separated Uncle Liu Huang and his two sworn brothers."
"Uncle Liu Huang can ask him to go to Mr. Yuan."
"Mr. Yuan has many talents, and everyone will watch."
"Guan Yu and Zhang Fei appointed separate commanders respectively, allowing them to lead an army respectively, so that they could not be connected together."
"I think these two people are quite capable."
"As long as Uncle Liu is separated and allowed to be used by the eldest son, the eldest son's strength will greatly increase."
Yuan Tan's expression perked up.
He needs help!
However, Yuan Tan hesitated and said: "Would it seem too ruthless if I do this? Moreover, if they don't listen, what should I do?"
Zhou Yu asked back: "If he sincerely comes to vote, why should he care about where he will serve as an official? What do you think, eldest son? If they are unwilling to separate, doesn't it mean that they have evil intentions?"
"Such an extremely ambitious and ungrateful person, if he is allowed to wait for the opportunity, eldest son, can you ensure that he will not betray you like he betrayed Cao Cao?"
"If you often walk by the river, how can your shoes not get wet?"
"People are always negligent."
"Instead of being on guard all the time, why not stay away from danger, or even eliminate it before it even starts?"
"A single spark can start a prairie fire!"
Yuan Tan fell silent.
After a long while, he nodded heavily and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
(End of chapter)
