Chapter 676

"Of course!"

Xu Chu nodded affirmatively: "Those who are literate can skip the literacy courses!"

"That's good! That's good!"

Lu Bu let out a long sigh of relief upon hearing this: "In that case, I am actually looking forward to that military theory class!"

He hoped he could learn the characters in that course as soon as possible, so he could surpass Xu Chu and the others in this regard.

In Picheng, Xuzhou,

"What? Lu Bu ran away? He was picked up by Su Xuan's naval fleet from the port of Huaiyin City?"

"Tens of thousands of people all left?"

Cao Cao asked loudly in astonishment upon hearing the latest news about Lu Bu.

Clearly, he had not expected that Lu Bu would ultimately make such a choice.

Was this still that incredibly proud Lu Bu?

Didn't he think he was invincible and refuse to submit to anyone?

Wasn't he unable to bring himself to go and defect to Su Boyuan?

Why did he go and defect at this time instead?

Cao Cao could not quite figure it out.

He did not understand why Lu Bu's change in attitude was so drastic.

If you were going to defect to Su Xuan, why didn't you do it earlier?

"That's right!"

Zhong Yao also reported with a headache: "Indeed, they were all transported away by the King of Qian's navy! It is estimated that there are a full thirty to forty thousand troops!"

"This is not good news for us, my lord!"

"In this way, the King of Qian will not only gain Lu Bu, a Heaven-Man Realm divine general, but also tens of thousands of battle-hardened elites; his strength will inevitably increase greatly, and we must be on guard!"

Zhong Yao was very annoyed.

How could they have failed to stop Lu Bu?

Now it was done. They had forced Lu Bu over to Su Xuan's side.

This was simply aiding the enemy!

And the one being aided was the King of Qian, the great enemy of the scholar-official class.

"Heh! You are overthinking it!"

Cao Cao sneered upon hearing this: "Based on my estimation, Lu Bu's personal strength would be lucky to rank in the top five on Su Boyuan's side!"

"As for his tens of thousands of troops? They might be battle-hardened elites to me, but to Su Boyuan, that is not necessarily the case."

"Therefore, adding these tens of thousands of people and one Lu Bu is far from a major increase in strength for Su Boyuan! You don't need to worry about this."

Cao Cao knew perfectly well why Zhong Yao's face was so ugly at this moment.

It was certainly not because they failed to help him keep Lu Bu, but because they had forced Lu Bu over to Su Xuan's side.

"These scholar-official descendants really never forget to strike and target their enemies for a moment! It's just that I can't do without you all right now, otherwise, I would want to deal with you all!"

"One by one, they are all cheapskates! Accustomed to being selfish, keeping them is also a disaster!"

Cao Cao muttered to himself.

"Uh..."

Zhong Yao was stunned and incredulous upon hearing this: "Really? It can't be that bad, right? Lu Bu and the troops under his command are very strong; in terms of frontal combat, even our army is no match, and we can only rely on numerical superiority and strategy to calculate and suppress them;"

"How could he and his troops be so incompetent after going to the King of Qian's side?"

Zhong Yao clearly could not accept that Su Xuan was so powerful.

If this were really the case, could they truly defeat or even kill Su Xuan in the future?

"Indeed!"

Chen Qun, who was on the side, could not help but echo: "My lord, you are exaggerating too much! I admit that the King of Qian is very powerful, but not to this extent!"

"If he were really that powerful, what would be the point of our current resistance and struggle for hegemony? We might as well just raise our hands and surrender, don't you think, my lord?"

"Hehe!"

Cao Cao smiled knowingly upon hearing this: "Think whatever you want! I was just saying! No matter how strong Su Boyuan is, it is impossible for me to just admit defeat and surrender;"

"In the future, he and I will inevitably have a battle. When I have dealt with Yuan Shao and gained control of the North and the seven provinces of the Central Plains, that will be the moment for our decisive battle."

"Now that we have reached this step, the heavy burden ahead is not easy, and I still need talents like Changwen and Yuanchang to assist me!"

I have told the truth, but you don't believe it yourselves; if we are truly defeated in the future, you cannot blame me!

To be honest, the more Cao Cao understood Su Xuan, the less hope he held for future victory.

But as he said, it was impossible for him to just admit defeat to Su Xuan.

He hadn't even fought him yet, hadn't even tried, so how could he be willing to give up?

How could he be convinced?

He had to try, didn't he?

In this way, it would not be in vain that he had come to this world.

Of course, even if he were eventually defeated, he would not feel regret. At the very least, with Su Xuan's promise, he would not have to worry about the safety of his family and trusted aides.

On this point, he still trusted Su Xuan.

A powerful Su Xuan simply did not need to care about his small force.

Moreover, even if he knew with 99% certainty that he would lose to Su Xuan, he was still willing to be a stepping stone for Su Xuan.

All for the sake of achieving the unification of the world sooner, so that the common people of the world would suffer a little less.

"Naturally!"

Zhong Yao and Chen Qun did not know Cao Cao's true thoughts, and upon hearing this, they both expressed their stance: "My lord, please rest assured, our two families will definitely fully support you in fighting Yuan Shao and Su Xuan to the end!"

Especially Su Xuan; no matter what, they could not let him win.

Even if Cao Cao could lose, they would not let Su Xuan win in the end.

For this reason, they could even go and defect to Yuan Shao at a critical moment.

Hmm! On the surface, they were indeed saying words of loyalty to Cao Cao, but in secret, they had actually never stopped their dealings with Yuan Shao.

And they had never given up on placing their bets on Yuan Shao.

In any case, the one to unify the North and the seven provinces of the Central Plains would inevitably be Cao Cao or Yuan Shao; it absolutely could not be Su Xuan.

"Hehe! That's good! That's good!"

Cao Cao looked at the two with a smile, his eyes seemingly seeing through all the little thoughts in their hearts, but he just smiled without saying a word.

Mutual calculation was a very normal thing; it just depended on who could have the last laugh.

"Although Lu Bu going to Su Boyuan's side indeed shouldn't play a major role in increasing Su Boyuan's strength;"

"But I have also lost the opportunity to obtain Lu Bu, which is very regrettable!"

"Is there any new news about Liu Bei? Where did he run off to?"

Cao Cao asked with some regret.

He was currently in need of peerless fierce generals and Heaven-Man divine generals!

Zhong Yao reported immediately upon hearing this: "Reporting to my lord! The latest news indicates that Liu Bei and his group have appeared in Qingzhou and seem to have headed north!"

"I estimate that Liu Bei has gone to defect to Yuan Shao!"

"However, there is news stating that only Liu Bei and Zhang Fei were seen; our people did not see Guan Yu by Liu Bei's side. They seem to have been separated!"

"In addition, our people also intercepted Liu Bei's two wives, it seems!"

"Hmm? Wives?"

Cao Cao was stunned upon hearing this: "Where did Liu Bei get wives from? Are they pretty?"

Zhong Yao: "..."

Chen Qun: "..."

My lord, are you serious about that last part?

Is this a question of whether they are pretty or not?

If they are pretty, what do you want to do?

"Sure enough, Cao Mengde's reputation for liking other men's wives is not fake! It is indeed true!"

"It seems that we must be careful in the future and guard against this guy, trying our best not to let our wives go to the Han Prince's Mansion and trying our best not to cross paths with Cao Cao!"

Zhong Yao and Chen Qun both felt a chill in their hearts and could not help but think.

Cao Cao's hobby was simply too dangerous, putting them at risk of being cuckolded.