Chapter 146

"Liu Bei actually dared to come!"

Guo Tu only felt his face was a bit swollen—the kind that was beaten until it was very red!

Xu You cupped his fists.

"My Lord, Liu Bei must have come for the sake of the Zhen family!"

Xu You also didn't expect Liu Bei to be so impulsive; he came as soon as he said he would!

At the same time, he sighed that Ji Province had no natural defenses; Liu Bei could truly come whenever he wanted!

After a brief moment of shock, Ding Yuan Shao's anger grew even greater, and his body trembled.

"How dare Liu Bei bully me like this!"

"He is just a mat-weaver and sandal-seller; how dare he!"

"Come, gather the troops and follow me out of the city; I will personally defeat Liu Bei!"

Tian Feng and Shen Pei looked at each other and cupped their fists.

"My Lord, calm your anger. Liu Bei has the courage of a commoner; it is not advisable to fight him head-on (you might not be able to beat him)."

Xu You also said,

"My Lord, Liu Bei's 20,000 cavalry are elites he has trained for years (please don't leave the city)."

Guo Tu naturally didn't want to fight outside the city either.

"My Lord, Liu Bei is a reckless man; you don't need to fight him hard. Relying on the defenses of Ye City, he will inevitably return without success."

This time, the heavily divided group of advisors was surprisingly unanimous: really, don't leave the city.

Ding Yuan Shao felt a lump in his throat and had to calm down.

He glanced at Wen Chou again, remembering Wen Chou being knocked off his horse by Liu Bei with a single spear thrust, and felt even more miserable.

"Forget it. Liu Bei is a commoner; I will just wait for him on the city wall!"

After hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Order the soldiers to return to camp, and have the archers and crossbowmen set up defenses on the city wall!"

"Understood!"

The gates of Ye City were quickly closed!

Soldiers hurried to the wall to defend!

The people of Ye City were confused, and only later did they find out that Liu Bei had brought troops!

"Why is Lord Liu Xuande here!"

"I heard the Governor surrounded the Zhen family to force Zhen Mi to marry his son."

"Although Zhen Mi is the number one beauty of Hebei, there's no need for this!"

"Exactly. Marriage should be discussed by both parties; how is this any different from snatching?"

"Shh~"

"Why doesn't the Governor lead troops out to meet the battle?"

"Liu Bei is victorious in every battle; last time he just knocked Wen Chou away with one spear thrust..."

Everyone looked at each other; could it be that the Governor is a coward?

Outside Ye City,

The earth shook, and dust flew into the air.

The low sound of horns blared!

20,000 cavalry charged toward Ye City in a massive wave and stopped 500 paces away.

It was silent, and the momentum was like a mountain!

The soldiers of Ye City, although protected by the city wall, still felt chills.

Ding Yuan Shao's face was iron-blue; the stronger Liu Bei's military power, the greater the threat to him!

Soon,

Liu Bei, with Zhang Fei and Taishi Ci, rode out from the ranks and arrived within an arrow's flight.

"Alliance Leader Ding Yuan, have you been well!"

Ding Yuan Shao shouted angrily,

"Liu Bei, we have no enmity; why do you invade my Ji Province!"

"Alliance Leader Ding Yuan, I did not come for Ji Province, but for my friend and brother-in-law. Why did you surround the Zhen family with troops!"

Ding Yuan Shao cursed internally,

"I'm afraid you're here for your sister-in-law!"

Of course, he couldn't say this.

Ding Yuan Shao shouted,

"Zhen Yao is rude; how dare he look down on me! Zhen Yan originally agreed to the marriage between my child Ding Yuan Xi and Zhen Mi, yet Zhen Yao dares to deny it!"

"Liu Bei, how can my Ding Yuan family be looked down upon like this?!"

Ding Yuan Shao seemed to have a very good reason!

Liu Bei laughed heartily.

"The Ding Yuan family has been high officials for four generations and naturally has high prestige and understands etiquette. Then let me ask you: since you have negotiated it, where is the document, and where is the betrothal gift?"

"The Ding Yuan family is a family of etiquette; surely you wouldn't not know about these things!"

Liu Bei's voice was so loud that many soldiers heard it and whispered to each other.

"That's right, there should be a marriage contract."

"The Ding Yuan family couldn't possibly have nothing."

Ding Yuan Shao's face turned the color of a pig's liver; naturally, there was no marriage contract.

He had only spoken a few words with Zhen Yan in private.

He thought it was a done deal, but who knew that short-lived ghost Zhen Yan would die so soon!

Guo Tu saw this and shouted,

"Liu Bei, my Lord and Zhen Yan had negotiated it. It was just that he passed away suddenly, which delayed it!"

"Now that Zhen Yao refuses to acknowledge it, my Lord is naturally angry!"

Liu Bei cursed loudly,

"My brother-in-law just passed away a few days ago, and Alliance Leader Ding Yuan, you are so impatient?"

"The Zhen family is still immersed in pain, and you come to talk about marriage? Your Ding Yuan family's affairs are affairs, but other people's life-and-death matters are completely irrelevant?"

Liu Bei's voice was so loud that everyone heard it clearly!

Zhang Fei continued with his loud voice,

"That's right, someone else just lost their brother, and you come to force a marriage! When the forced marriage failed, you sent troops to surround them!"

"You, Alliance Leader Ding Yuan, have such great prestige! You're even more overbearing than Dong Zhuo!"

"Come, come, come, come down quickly; I'll practice with you, Alliance Leader!"

Ding Yuan Shao's face was terrifyingly gloomy. Now everyone knew that he had become a bully forcing a marriage! His reputation was damaged!