Chapter 444

Therefore, Guan Yu immediately bowed and explained: "As long as it is valid, that is enough!"

"As for leaving, I cannot leave your side for the time being!"

"As for the reason, I think you are aware, Lord Cao, that my two sisters-in-law are both pregnant with my eldest brother's children. Their bellies are gradually growing, making travel inconvenient, let alone long-distance travel!"

"Plus, you are currently at war with Lord Yuan Shao, and my eldest brother is in Lord Yuan Shao's vanguard. It is truly inappropriate to take two pregnant sisters-in-law to reunite with Liu Bei at this time!"

Cao Cao felt cold sweat break out on his forehead upon hearing this. He wiped it away casually and nodded on the surface: "Yes, yes! Yunchang is thoughtful; it is indeed inappropriate to go now!"

In fact, Cao Cao was panicking inside.

If others didn't know, how could he not know?

Liu Bei's two concubines were clearly still virgins back then; where would Liu Bei's children come from?

Those were clearly the results of his, Cao's, hard work!

If Guan Yu really met with Liu Bei, wouldn't everything be exposed?

By then, Guan Yu would probably hate him, Cao Cao, to death.

Therefore, Cao Cao had to panic!

Fortunately, Guan Yu didn't have the thought of leaving him to see Liu Bei for the time being!

"As long as I let Liu Bei die or disappear before that, wouldn't I not have to worry about things being exposed?"

Cao Cao thought to himself.

At the same time, he complained crazily in his heart: "Liu Bei, you pit! You're not even a man! Otherwise, why didn't you touch your concubines after marrying them? They were still virgins?"

If you had touched them, he wouldn't be in such a passive position!

Guan Yu didn't know what Cao Cao was thinking, otherwise, he might have had the urge to split Cao Cao in two with his blade.

Seeing Cao Cao agree with his point of view without any sign of anger, Guan Yu breathed a sigh of relief and continued to request: "Lord Cao! My eldest brother is currently serving in Lord Yuan Shao's army, and judging by today's situation, Lord Yuan Shao clearly already knows my identity;"

"I previously beheaded Yan Liang and Wen Chou for you, Lord Cao, which I fear has deeply offended Lord Yuan Shao and might even have implicated my eldest brother!"

"Therefore, for the sake of my eldest brother's safety, I fear I cannot continue to serve you in the army from now on!"

"For this, I hope you can understand, Lord Cao!"

"Hmm... very well!"

Cao Cao thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Although he didn't want to nod in agreement at all, and even wished Lord Yuan Shao would execute Liu Bei because of this.

That way, he would be spared the trouble of doing it himself.

As long as Liu Bei died, and it was Lord Yuan Shao who killed him, he believed Guan Yu would definitely follow him wholeheartedly.

But he knew that precisely because of this, he could not refuse Guan Yu's request.

Otherwise, he would be suspected of plotting against Liu Bei.

By then, Guan Yu would probably turn against him directly.

"Thank you, Lord Cao!"

Guan Yu saw Cao Cao agree so readily, and his guilt toward Cao Cao deepened, but for the sake of his eldest brother and his own loyalty, he had to do this.

He immediately braced himself and continued to request: "Furthermore! To avoid any misunderstanding, I have written a letter to my eldest brother. I wonder if you have a way to help me deliver this letter to him?"

"Don't worry, the letter only explains my situation and that of my sisters-in-law; it does not reveal any information about your army, Lord Cao;"

"You can verify this yourself, Lord Cao!"

Saying this, Guan Yu handed over a letter with both hands.

Cao Cao was slightly stunned, then waved his hand: "No need! I trust you, Yunchang! Don't worry, I will find a way to have the letter delivered to your eldest brother!"

He truly believed Guan Yu wouldn't plot against him!

But he knew that once this letter reached Liu Bei, the fact that he had given Liu Bei offspring would likely be exposed!

He had no idea how Liu Bei would react then.

If Guan Yu also learned the truth, the result would likely be very unpleasant.

So, Cao Cao had a headache!

Yet, this letter had to be delivered.

"It seems I can only find a way to scheme; I cannot let this letter fall directly into Liu Bei's hands. Hmm... the content of the letter probably just explains that Liu Bei's two concubines are pregnant with his children, and also includes the fact that Guan Yu cannot go to Liu Bei's side for now!"

"It won't do to let Liu Bei get it directly! But what if I let Lord Yuan Shao get it first?"

Cao Cao could imagine that Lord Yuan Shao definitely hoped to use Liu Bei's hand to poach Guan Yu from his side.

Hmm! Cao Cao could even infer that the reason Lord Yuan Shao hadn't moved against Liu Bei yet was definitely to obtain Guan Yu.

After all, Guan Yu was stronger than Yan Liang and Wen Chou combined!

But what if Lord Yuan Shao saw the content of this letter first?

Lord Yuan Shao, knowing he couldn't get Guan Yu for the time being, would definitely be furious, right?

He would definitely feel that he had been deceived by Liu Bei and Guan Yu, right?

He would definitely summon Liu Bei for a confrontation and show him the letter.

And after Liu Bei read it, he would inevitably deny the content of the letter.

Because he had never touched his two concubines, how could they have children?

By then, Liu Bei would definitely realize that Guan Yu had been deceived by him, Cao!

And he would inform Lord Yuan Shao of the situation.

"...But based on my understanding of Lord Yuan Benchu, he probably won't believe Liu Bei's explanation anymore, and instead will think Liu Bei is making excuses to cover for his second brother! Maybe it will make Lord Yuan Shao impulsive enough to execute Liu Bei?"

"Hmm... just this probably won't be enough! I need to bribe Xu You or Guo Tu to fan the flames on the side!"

Cao Cao thought to himself.

Of course, Cao Cao had another doubt: where did Zhang Fei go?

Why didn't he see Zhang Fei's figure on Lord Yuan Shao's side?

If others didn't know, he, Cao, knew very well that Zhang Fei's combat power was only slightly inferior to Guan Yu's!

Even in terms of potential, Zhang Fei was not inferior to Guan Yu; it was just that his martial cultivation was temporarily a step behind.

Such a fierce general not appearing in Lord Yuan Shao's army was very strange.

"What on earth is Liu Bei doing? Where did he put Zhang Fei?"

"It couldn't be that they got separated too, right? That shouldn't be!"

Cao Cao was full of doubts.

But without definite news, he couldn't make a judgment.

He could only guess that Liu Bei had left a backup plan against Lord Yuan Shao.

That was true; Liu Bei was no pushover; he couldn't have gone all-in on defecting to Lord Yuan Shao.

Temporarily attaching himself to Lord Yuan Shao was just an expedient measure.

Liu Bei had done this many times in the past.

Every time, he was able to use others' power to recover and strengthen his own.

This time was clearly no exception.

Chapter 274: Liu Bei: My Second Brother is Unparalleled in Loyalty (Part 1!)

These thoughts flashed through Cao Cao's mind. Cao Cao took the letter from Guan Yu, set it aside, and said to Guan Yu: "Don't worry, Yunchang! Brother Liu Xuande will receive your letter very soon!"

"Then thank you, Lord Cao!"

Guan Yu bowed deeply to Cao Cao in gratitude, then said with some hesitation: "I hope you can allow me to return to Xuchang for the time being!"

"Very well!"

Cao Cao naturally nodded and agreed without hesitation.

At this moment, he wished Guan Yu would hurry away from the Guandu battlefield and away from Liu Bei.

Only then could he proceed with his plan to frame and kill Liu Bei, and shift the blame onto Lord Yuan Shao.

By then, Guan Yu would truly belong to him.

The longer Guan Yu stayed on the front lines, the more likely his "green hat" plan would be exposed.

Anyway, Lord Yuan Shao's strongest generals, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, had already been beheaded by Guan Yu. Among Lord Yuan Shao's remaining generals, none could compare to his own Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Lord Yuan, Yue Jin, Cao Ren, and others!

Hmm! Gao Lan was still quite strong, but he was far away in Youzhou fighting Zhang Yan!

"Many thanks!"

Guan Yu didn't know Cao Cao's thoughts and felt even more grateful to him.

At the same time, his guilt became even more intense.

He had treated Cao Cao this way, yet Cao Cao's attitude toward him had never changed; no matter how unreasonable his requests were, Cao Cao agreed without hesitation.

Guan Yu couldn't help but think: "If it were eldest brother, could he do what Lord Cao has done?"

"Probably not!"

It wasn't that Liu Bei didn't treat him well, but everything is afraid of comparison.

Compared to Liu Bei, Guan Yu felt at this moment that Cao Cao was the one who treated him with all his heart!

"Alas! Born in the wrong time! Who told me to meet eldest brother first and swear brotherhood with him?"

"I can only repay Lord Cao's kindness in the next life!"

With this thought, Guan Yu left Cao Cao's command tent, packed his things, traveled light, and quickly left the Cao army camp at Guandu, heading toward Xuchang.

"Phew!"

Watching Guan Yu leave, Cao Cao breathed a huge sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and said with a look of relief: "Fortunately! Fortunately, Yunchang left at this time, otherwise, things would really have been exposed!"

"Right! I must send someone to notify Lady Tao and the others before Yunchang arrives, telling them not to panic, to avoid any problems and Guan Yu seeing through the clues!"

Without delay, Cao Cao immediately wrote a letter and gave it to a fast rider, who headed toward Xuchang at top speed.

After doing this, Cao Cao opened the letter Guan Yu had written to Liu Bei and read it carefully.

Then, he smeared out some key parts.

After a while, he stopped and nodded with satisfaction: "Hmm! This should be about right!"

"Next, it's time to proceed according to my plan!"

Immediately, Cao Cao summoned the commander of his Office of Affairs, handed the entire plan to him, and earnestly instructed: "This matter concerns my grand plan and absolutely cannot tolerate the slightest mistake. You must complete it for me, understand?"

"Yes!"

The commander of the Office of Affairs immediately accepted the order: "This subordinate will certainly not fail your trust, my lord, and will definitely handle this matter beautifully!"

"Hmm!"

— Author's Notes —

PS: Seeking first subscriptions, custom subscriptions, and support!