At the end of November, a sweaty fast horse rushed into the city of Chengdu, which had just regained its calm not long ago.

It didn't take long for Zhuge Liang, the general of the military division, to be summoned into the Yizhou Pastoral Mansion, as soon as he entered the mansion, Zhuge Liang felt that the atmosphere was wrong, and Liu Bei, who had been recuperating since returning from the Sword Pavilion, looked very anxious, and was spinning back and forth in the house like a sleepy beast, and his steps were fast and urgent. As soon as he saw Zhuge Liang, he strode up to meet him, grabbed Zhuge Liang's sleeve, dragged him to the front of the case, pointed to an urgent report painted with three cinnabar poems on the case, and said: "Kong Ming, take a look, take a look." ”

Zhuge Liang looked at the empty lobby and suddenly felt excited. When encountering this kind of thing in the past, Fa Zheng was the first choice for Liu Bei to consider, but now that Fa Zheng has passed away, he Zhuge Liang has become Liu Bei's most relied on think tank.

Zhuge Liang lowered his head, quickly opened the emergency report and glanced at it, and immediately gasped, and did not speak for a long time. He suddenly had some ominous feelings, and glanced at Liu Bei in horror, and from Liu Bei's eyes, he saw the same uneasy mood.

This urgent report painted with three layers of cinnabar was sent by Guan Yu from Nanyang.

Guan Yu said that after he broke through Xu County, he rescued the Son of Heaven and the Hundred Officials from Cao Ying, and then Cao Ying personally led the army from Luoyang, and quickly forced Xu County, Xiahou Tang led an army of 30,000 from the direction of Jianghuai, he was not strong enough, and he had to divide his troops to protect the Son of Heaven, so he could only retreat to Nanyang Wancheng before they arrived, Xu Huang occupied Xinye, and Xiahou Dun, who arrived later, blocked his way, and now the Son of Heaven is looking forward to Wancheng, hoping that Liu Bei will come to the rescue, so as not to fall into the hands of Cao Ying again.

Guan Yu also said that the Son of Heaven promised that as long as Liu Bei could guarantee his safety, he was willing to crown Liu Bei as the king and Yongzhen Yizhou and Jingzhou, and at the same time declared Cao Ying a national thief and ordered Liu Bei to crusade against him.

"What is the lord going to do?" Zhuge Liang asked cautiously.

Liu Bei's eyebrows trembled, the corners of his eyes twitched, he was now extremely angry, and Guan Yu gave him a big problem. Not to mention that he never had any intention of welcoming back the Son of Heaven in his heart, and even if he had, it would be difficult to deal with it now. The Son of Heaven wants to declare Cao Ying a national thief and let him beg for a thief, but what else can the Son of Heaven give him besides a prince? Are there soldiers? No! Is there any food? No! There is no this, there is no that, what to use to crusade against Cao Ying, just with an edict? An edict without strength to support it is not as good as even a piece of waste paper.

Liu Bei is self-aware, among him, Cao Ying, and Sun Quan, Cao Ying's strength is the strongest, and his strength is the weakest, even Sun Quan's son is much better than him. After more than a year of fighting, Yizhou has been abolished, and there is no time for two or three years to alleviate this breath, let alone fight Cao Ying, it is not easy to withstand Cao Ying's offensive and keep Yizhou.

Go to Nanyang to rescue the driver? Joke!

But don't you save it? I'm afraid it's even more sad. What else can he Liu Bei have besides the name of a royal family, if he doesn't save him now, then everything he did before will be empty, don't Cao Ying attack, his subordinates will fall apart immediately.

Save, can't save, don't save, a lifetime of fame will be ruined, and you will die faster.

Liu Bei was in a dilemma.

"I ...... I'm going to come to the rescue?! Liu Bei's tone was very uncertain, sounding like he was asking Zhuge Liang what he meant, and it seemed like telling Zhuge Liang that he was going to rescue him.

"I'm going." Zhuge Liang nodded, expressing his meaning very clearly.

Liu Bei didn't say a word, his two eyes stared at Zhuge Liang deadly, and his chin was so smooth that he didn't have a beard tightly.

"If you don't go, not only will the Son of Heaven die at the hands of Cao Ying, but General Guan will not be able to survive even if he is afraid, in that case, it will be very unfavorable to the lord." Although Zhuge Liang's voice was very soft, his attitude was very resolute. Liu Bei thought about it and understood what he meant. Don't save the driver, be disloyal, don't save Guan Yu, unjust, these two are the foundation of his life, and they must not be lost.

Liu Bei nodded, his face even more ugly. It seems that it will not work if you don't save it, so how can you save it? With his own strength, can he be saved? Don't get them out, plant yourself in them. He can think of it with his toes, Cao Ying now wants him to save them the most, so that he can wipe them all out, and finally put the responsibility for the death of the Son of Heaven on his head, anyway, in the chaos of the army, who can tell what is going on, as long as Cao Ying unifies the world, it doesn't matter if someone says a few words of gossip.

"The lord goes to Jingzhou and does his best, even if he can't save the driver, he can keep Jingzhou." Zhuge Liang continued: "Sun Quan is a fickle person, and once there is a change in Yizhou, he is likely to turn to an alliance with Cao Ying and attack Yizhou on both sides. ”

A cold sweat broke out on Liu Bei's forehead, if Zhuge Liang's words just now were just moral pressure, now this is a real danger. If he doesn't save Guan Yu, then Sun Shao will also be finished, Sun Quan will see that the wind is not in the right direction, and he will probably throw himself at Cao Ying and attack Yizhou in the name of avenging Sun Shao. In this way, knowing that Sun Quan was very happy about Sun Shao's death, he could only be a scapegoat.

At that time, will Yizhou, which is in turmoil, still have the ability to resist the attack of Cao Ying and Sun Quan?

"How can I save it?" Liu Bei said in a hoarse voice.

"Zhao Yun guarded the Sword Pavilion, Zhang Fei guarded Ba County, and the lord's father-in-law led the army out of Zigui, stationed in Jiangling, entrusted the edict to undertake the system, and invited Sun Quan to attack Cao Ying together."

Liu Bei rolled his eyes, exhaled slowly, and his nervous face finally relaxed. Zhuge Liang's method is good, it seems that he is going to rescue the driver, but none of his generals have moved, and when he arrives in Jiangling, he can not only put on a posture of rescuing the driver, but also guard against Sun Quan, and at the same time use the name of the Son of Heaven to recruit Sun Quan to rescue the driver together. If Sun Quan doesn't listen, he is willing to be a thief, and attacking Yizhou is tantamount to rebellion, if he listens, then he will not only have one more reinforcement, but also one less potential opponent. If he loses this battle, it is not his responsibility, he has worked hard, it is caused by his lack of strength, no wonder he, if he wins by luck - this is basically impossible - then his prestige will be unmatched from now on, he can coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, dare not say anything else, with a large number of official positions and titles, it will become easier to win the hearts of the people of Yizhou than ever before.

As for the future, that can only be said later.

"Strategist." Liu Bei was very satisfied, and the more he looked at Zhuge Liang, the more pleasing he became. He immediately sent someone to Jiangdong to invite Sun Quan to rescue the driver, and in the letter to Sun Quan, he was impassioned, saying that he must personally lead the elite soldiers of Yizhou and Sun Quan to attack Cao Ying together, welcome back the Son of Heaven, and rejuvenate the Han Dynasty.

As soon as the envoy was sent out, he began to dispatch troops, summoned the ministers and the local Haoqiang natives of Yizhou, and wept bitterly that he was going to rescue the driver, hoping that everyone would be in the same boat, and those who had money would contribute money and force. With the call to save the driver, although Haoqiang in Yizhou was reluctant, he did not dare to oppose it openly, so he had to cut his flesh and bleed. Ten days later, Liu Bei led more than 40,000 people down the river, and in December, he arrived in Jiangling.

As soon as he arrived in Jiangling and saw Guan Feng, Liu Bei knew that Sun Quan was not in Jianye, he had arrived in Chaisang half a month ago, and Jiaozhou Mu Buqi had already arrived in Changsha. Liu Bei was taken aback, this formation of fools can see that it is not so much that Sun Quan responded to his call to rescue the driver together, but that he was preparing to come to Yizhou, if he Liu Bei did not come, then what Zhuge Liang said would definitely happen.

This blue-eyed! Liu Bei scolded fiercely in his heart.

"How's the war going in Nanyang?" Liu Bei didn't have time to untie his robe, so he asked Guan Fengdao.

Guan Feng has obviously lost a lot of weight, her originally round chin is now a little sharp, she is very anxious, Guan Yu and Sun Shao are in Wancheng, Cao Ying's 80,000 army surrounded them in the middle, Sun Quan went to Chaisang, but he was not active in the rescue in the north, Guan Feng also knew Sun Quan's mentality towards Sun Shao, and it was better to expect him to save Sun Shao than to expect Cao Ying to withdraw the army himself. The only thing she can count on now is Liu Bei, after all, Guan Yu and Liu Bei have a relationship of forty years, which is very comparable.

"So far so good." Guan Feng's eyes were red, and he hurriedly said: "Xiahou was guarding between Wancheng and Nieyang, and Sun Jiao and Uncle Elk tried to break the siege many times, but because of the lack of troops, they were blocked back by Sima Yi who was guarding Xinye. Cao Yingqin led an army of 60,000 to surround Wancheng, and his father and husband had a total of more than 20,000 people, as well as some rebel troops, plus sufficient food, they could still hold it. But the food was consumed quickly, and Wancheng was ruined, and if there were no reinforcements for a long time, I was afraid that morale would collapse. ”

"Don't worry, I will definitely save the Son of Heaven and your father." Liu Bei patted his chest and said very righteously. When Guan Feng saw it, he breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn't help crying: "Father said the same thing, he said that the envoy would definitely not leave him alone." Envoy, when are you going north? ”

Liu Bei didn't say a word, holding his chin in one hand as a thoughtful gesture, Zhuge Liang hurriedly said: "Lord, don't act rashly." General Guan and General Sun Weng's son-in-law are both famous generals today, and there are strong cities to defend, sufficient food is available, and now I hear that reinforcements will arrive, morale must be greatly boosted, and it will definitely not be a problem to hold on for a period of time, the most urgent thing at the moment is to join Sun Che to ride north together, so as to break Cao Ying in one fell swoop, welcome back the Son of Heaven, and recover the Central Plains. ”

Liu Bei nodded again and again: "Yinping, don't worry, since I have arrived here, of course I will definitely go north." But what the military advisor said is also reasonable, this matter must not be sloppy, I still have some things to deal with, so let's ask someone to escort you to Wancheng to report a message first, you tell your father, I will come to relieve the siege immediately. Xiahoudun was defeated once by me in Bowangpo back then, but unfortunately he escaped, this time he didn't have such good luck, I must cut off his head and ask the Son of Heaven for credit. ”

Guan Feng was already confused, and she didn't hear the meaning of Liu Bei's words at all, and when she heard that she was going to give her some people, she nodded busily. During this time in Jiangling, she was in a hurry, she had nightmares every night, and she didn't want to fly to Wancheng all the time, but Jiangling was a serious matter, and she didn't dare to leave lightly, and now that Liu Bei is here, she can finally go north with confidence.

Liu Bei's words counted, and sent Zhonglang to lead Elk Wei and Guan Feng to the north together. Elk Wei is the son of Elk Zhu, the family heirloom of riding and archery kung fu, Guan Feng also knows, she refused to stay for a moment, and set off with Elk Wei on the same day.

After sending Guan Feng away, Liu Bei sent an envoy to Chaisang again to meet Sun Quan and invite him to send troops to Nanyang together.

When Sun Quan saw Liu Bei's letter, he sighed secretly. As soon as he received the news that Guan Yu had broken through Xu County, he began to speculate about what Liu Bei would do. At this moment, Xu Shen, who he sent to see Cao Ying, came back, along with Cao Ying's envoy Bian Bing. Bian Bing is the younger brother of Cao Ying's wife Bian, and it can be said that Cao Ying can be trusted. He brought Cao Ying's meaning, exchanging the land of Jianghuai for Sun Quan's help - as long as you are willing to defeat Liu Bei together, I will give you the land of Jianghuai, and the Hefei you dream of will also be given to you.

Sun Quan was moved, so he rushed to Chaisang in the name of supervising the war, and only Jiang Qin and Sun Shao remained on the eastern front, and the rest of the army was transferred to Yuzhang and Jiangxia, and even Jiaozhou Mubuqi was transferred to Changsha. Once Liu Bei did not go to the rescue of Nanyang, he cooperated with Cao Ying to march in the name of conquest of Liu Bei, of course, he didn't think about fighting Guan Yu, he planned to take advantage of Cao Ying's entangled by Guan Yu to defeat Liu Bei, and wait for the opportunity to seize Yizhou, in order to repay Liu Bei's resentment at the beginning.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei came, he stationed in Jiangling with an army of 40,000, and disrupted Sun Quan's plan at once. Fortunately, Sun Quan was prepared, since Liu Bei didn't give him a chance, he would go to fight Cao Ying together. Anyway, the alliance fought one by one, no matter what, he didn't suffer a loss - Liu Bei and Cao Ying would not form an alliance if they were killed.

Sun Quan immediately sent Sima Zhuge Jin to Jiangling to meet Liu Bei to discuss matters related to marching together. As soon as he and Zhuge Liang met, he didn't say a word of homely things, and asked directly: "The general of the chariot is ready to stop, when will Liu Yuanjun enter the army?" ”

Zhuge Liang smiled: "Just wait for Sun Che to ride." ”

The brothers looked at each other and smiled.

…… In the first month of the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an, Guan Feng rushed to Wancheng, and as soon as she entered the city, she saw Guan Yu who was patrolling the city.

"The lord is here?" Guan Yu's eyes lit up.

"I have arrived in Gangneung, and I am discussing with the general of the Che Cavalry about the joint march of the army." Guan Feng breathed a sigh of relief and told Guan Yu about the situation. Guan Yu was overjoyed, turned to Guan Ping, Yin Guan and the others and said, "What, I said that the lord will definitely come to the rescue in person." You don't believe it, and you say that the lord will send at most one general, what is happening now? Did I say it was bad? ”

Yin Guan and the others looked at each other, and no one said a word. Liu Bei came in person, but now he is still in Jiangling, thousands of miles away, when he will be able to get to Jiangling is still an unknown thing, you don't want to think about it, he is here, but Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and other generals have not brought any of them, and there is no sincerity at all. Are you rejoicing a little too soon?

"Where's the husband?" Guan Feng didn't see Sun Shao's shadow for a long time, and hurriedly pulled Guan Ping aside and asked. Guan Ping raised his arm and covered his mouth and smiled: "Your husband, you should practice riding in the camp now, or go back to play chess, he is very idle." ”

Guan Feng saw that Guan Ping said something strange, she couldn't help but be a little strange, she didn't bother to ask more, and took Sun Shangxiang, who came from Xiangyang, to find Sun Shao. After going around the barracks, he didn't find Sun Shao's shadow, and when he asked Zhou Xun, who was practicing, he knew that Sun Shao had just returned home. They rushed to Sun Shao's mansion again, and when they entered the door, Sun Shao was sitting and playing chess face-to-face with an old man in brocade clothes with a serious face.

Hearing the footsteps, Sun Shao raised his head and glanced at it, and couldn't help clapping his hands and said: "General, I'm sorry, my aunt and wife are here, I can't play chess with you anymore, let's go tomorrow, I'll accompany the general tomorrow." ”

The old man nodded, stood up, and left without saying a word, followed closely by two big men in armor and swords.

"Who is he? So arrogant? Sun Shangxiang asked a little unpleasantly.

"General Cao Ren of Zhengnan." Sun Shao replied with a smile, holding Guan Feng's shoulders with both hands, looked at it carefully for a while, and said with a smile: "You have lost weight, are you worried about your father and husband?" ”

Guan Feng's eyes were red, tears fell down, she threw herself into Sun Shao's arms, crying silently. Sun Shangxiang pursed her lips, looked at it coldly for a while, and patted Sun Shao's shoulder with some impatience: "Hey, the little couple wants to go back to the room affectionately, this is in broad daylight, can you also restrain some?" ”

"Auntie, that's not right." Sun Shao squeezed his eyebrows and smiled: "My uncle arrived in Jiangling, why did you come to Xiangyang?" ”

Sun Shangxiang's eyes widened, and he said angrily: "You are embarrassed to say, have you forgotten what you promised me at the beginning?" It's been almost two years. ”

Sun Shao touched his nose embarrassedly, and said with a smile: "Isn't this busy, don't worry, I will definitely get it done for you this time." ”

"The devil believes in you." Sun Shangxiang's mouth crooked, and he nodded in the direction where Cao Ren disappeared: "Why did you get mixed up with Cao Ren?" ”

"He's my captive." Sun Shao pulled Guan Feng with one hand and Sun Shangxiang with the other to the court, and asked people to serve food, and then explained: "Not only Cao Ren, but also Man Zhong and Pang De, they are all my prisoners. ”

"I've known this for a long time, and I asked you how you got along so well with him, like an old friend." Sun Shangxiang asked puzzledly: "The prisoner didn't stay in the prisoner camp, why did he come here, did he surrender?" ”

"He surrendered?" Sun Shao snorted: "Do you think it's possible?" ”

Sun Shangxiang was a little dazed, she was drinking water while staring at Sun Shao with big eyes, waiting for him to explain her doubts.

"The key to Wancheng's breakthrough lies in Cao Ren's body." Sun Shao pointed to his feet and said with a faint smile: "I can't count on anything else." ”

Sun Shangxiang blinked his eyes and did not say anything. She knew what Sun Shao meant, don't look at Sun Quan when he arrived in Chaisang, but asking him to come over to relieve the siege and save Sun Shao is a little unrealistic, not to mention whether he has the strength to do so, she has to ask him if he has this mind. Sun Shao's strength has grown too fast in the past two years, Sun Quan can't be afraid of him, some time ago he also found an excuse to split his Aurora Sailor, and co-opted his pirate Su Thick Legs, and now Sun Shao is trapped in Nanyang by Cao Ying, probably just what he wants, and it is impossible to expect him to save people. Otherwise, Lu Su had obviously arrived in the Langling area, why did he not make a move.

"The Supreme is not there, but Liu Yuanjun will definitely arrive." Guan Feng swallowed a piece of cake and said with some complaint: "How can you pin your hopes on Cao Ying." ”

Sun Shao glanced at Guan Feng, and said in his heart that he was really Guan Yu's daughter, it was time for him, and he still pinned his hopes on Liu Bei, he didn't want to think about it, Guan Yu didn't make a great contribution now, he made a big mistake, he forced Liu Bei to a dead end, if Liu Bei didn't borrow a knife to kill people, it would be a strange thing.

It's better to ask for someone than to beg for it, but before doing this, he has to extinguish the flame of hope in Guan Yu's heart, otherwise, he won't agree to his plan if he is killed.

Seeing the opportunity, this opportunity has not yet arrived.

"I'm just preparing for the worst and leaving myself a way out." Sun Shao said perfunctorily: "Don't you know that the book of war says that the first thing is invincible, and then the enemy can be defeated?" ”

Guan Feng had read the book of soldiers, so of course he knew what Sun Shao meant, but he didn't think too much about it. Before the victory is decided, it is not a bad thing to leave a back road for himself, not to mention that Sun Shao's identity is so sensitive, if he doesn't leave some backhand, even if this battle is won, he will not have any good results. She is very clear about Sun Shao's mentality, if it wasn't for Su's thick leg move in the East China Sea, how could he have the strength he has today.

"How's the battle going?" Sun Shangxiang didn't think so much, and asked directly about the war: "I see that it seems to be very quiet outside, although Xiahoudun's camp is outside the city, there is no trace of fighting outside the city, have they been besieging but not attacking?" ”

"Didn't attack." Sun Shao shook his head, glanced at Sun Shangxiang, and a smile appeared at the corner of his eyes: "Doesn't my aunt think it's strange, the Son of Heaven has not issued an edict to declare Cao Ying as a national thief, nor has he removed him from the position of prime minister, the lord of the King of Wei?" ”

Sun Shangxiang blinked, and also felt a little strange, she looked at Sun Shao suspiciously: "Why?" ”

Sun Shao straightened up and patted his thigh gently: "The people who can save the car are still thousands of miles away, there are only 20,000 people who can really fight in Wancheng, but there are 50,000 or 60,000 people who eat, and the food consumed every day is amazing, although we have grabbed a lot of grain from Xiangcheng, but the road is far away, it is impossible to transport it all, Cao Ying only needs to count the numbers to know how long we can last." Although he has an army of 60,000, it is not so easy to attack the city, if he attacks, he will inevitably lose a lot, and when the time comes, he will face Liu Bei and Supreme who come to help, is he still sure? ”

"Wait, didn't you say that they wouldn't come to the rescue, why did you say they would?" Sun Shangxiang was confused, and interrupted Sun Shao's words involuntarily. Sun Shao rolled his eyes depressedly: "They won't come now, but when we are killed by Cao Ying, they will definitely come." ”

Sun Shangxiang suddenly realized, she picked the corners of her mouth, rolled her eyes, and pointed at Sun Shao with a smile: "So, Cao Ying doesn't want to attack and trap you, and you are also delaying time, just see who can't hold on first in the end?" ”

"Auntie, it's not good that women are too smart." Sun Shao reminded seriously: "Men will be very stressed. ”

(To be continued)