Chapter 197

"And My Lord must win this campaign!"

Everyone nodded. If the Lord and Cao Cao campaigned against Ding Yuan Shu together and failed to defeat him, they would truly lose face and help Ding Yuan Shu gain prestige!

Jia Xu, however, had already thought of what would come next.

"My Lord, Ding Yuan Shu has the Imperial Seal in his hands. In this campaign, the ownership of this seal is a big problem."

Liu Bei had also thought of this. If Cao Cao gets the Imperial Seal, he can support a Son of Heaven and use the Emperor to command the lords!

Give it to Ding Yuan Shao? Wouldn't that be admitting that the King of Hejian, whom Ding Yuan Shao is currently supporting, is the legitimate one?

Keep it himself?

He would surely be criticized by Cao Cao and Ding Yuan Shao, who would say he possesses the Imperial Seal with ulterior motives, find an excuse to attack him together, and ruin his reputation.

Publicly taking the Imperial Seal now would do more harm than good!

Although he is an Imperial Uncle, declaring himself Emperor now would be no better than Ding Yuan Shu!

The live stream chat had many more comments.

"Cao Cao is using an overt strategy; Liu Bei is in a tough spot!"

"The big-eared thief gained the dividends of his reputation, and now he is burdened by it!"

"Xi Zhicai's dying strategy is powerful!"

"The big-eared thief has to go this time whether he wants to or not."

"Miss Zhen Mi is newly married; big-eared thief, can you bear to leave her!"

"This Imperial Seal is a sharp weapon in others' hands, but a hot potato in the big-eared thief's hands; how miserable!"

Liu Bei thought for a moment and suddenly smiled faintly.

"There is no need to worry about the Imperial Seal. Ding Yuan Shu is like a centipede that doesn't die easily; his flight south to Shouchun this time might not mean he will be completely defeated."

Jia Xu, Guo Jia, Fa Zheng, and the others all had their eyes light up and cupped their hands one after another.

"My Lord is wise!"

Zhang Fei?? He truly couldn't understand.

However, since several strategists were praising it, it must be correct.

Liu Bei thought for a moment.

"Xun You, Guo Jia, Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci, Ma Chao, and Pang De will follow me to campaign against Ding Yuan Shu!"

"Understood!"

"Jia Xu, Fa Zheng, you stay behind to guard Chang'an."

"Understood!"

"Also, transfer Guo Huai and Wuqiu Sun Jian to Liangzhou to replace Zhang Zhang Liao and Xu Sheng, and have them guard Shangluo and Wuguan!"

"We depart in five days!"

"Understood!"

In the backyard.

Zhen Mi, covered in sweat, huddled in Liu Bei's arms.

"Husband, I can't bear to let you go, wuwuwu."

Before Liu Bei could speak,

Zhen Mi pouted and said again,

"But I know you are the Lord Liu Xuande of the whole world, and I cannot hold you back."

Liu Bei laughed.

"My little Zhen Mi is indeed sensible."

Zhen Mi pinched Liu Bei.

"Who is little!"

"Lord Liu Xuande, you actually dare to slander a young lady; face the wind!"

Liu Bei?? The young lady actually dared to steal his lines!

Early the next morning,

Cai Yan, Mi Zhen, and Zhen Zhen Jiang found Liu Bei.

"Husband, we sisters have pooled our money to import red wine from the Western Regions; help us think of a way to make it popular quickly."

Liu Bei looked at the red wine in the bottle.

"How about this, I will give you a poem and tell a story, and I guarantee your Western Regions red wine will sell well."

Mi Zhen's eyes were smiling.

"Husband is indeed talented! Wine paired with a story will surely spread far and wide."

The story was roughly: a woman from the Western Regions fell into a cellar storing grapes, had no one to rescue her, survived by drinking red wine, became beautiful, and eventually married the King.

Cai Yan said,

"I am looking forward to Husband's poem more."

Liu Bei stood up, walked a few circles, finally remembered Wang Han's Liangzhou Poem, and recited it slowly.

"Grape wine in luminous cups, ready to drink, the pipa on horseback urges."

Cai Yan's eyes lit up.

"What a great mood!"

Mi Zhen and Zhen Zhen Jiang looked at each other.

"Grape wine in luminous cups? This Western Regions wine will be hard not to be popular!"

Liu Bei paused, thought of the soldiers who died on the battlefield, and said slowly,

"Drunk on the battlefield, do not laugh; since ancient times, how many return from war?"

Cai Yan took a deep breath, carefully savored the last two lines, and said excitedly,

"Husband, it turns out your talent is so good, yet you kept lying to me that you couldn't write poetry; that's too much!"

Cai Yan excitedly threw herself into Liu Bei's arms and was instantly conquered by Liu Bei!

Liu Bei... he was just reciting a bit of the Three Hundred Tang Poems! Look how excited his lady is!

That day, the entire General of the Household Cavalry's mansion was in an uproar, and everyone was scrambling for Liu Bei to give them a poem!

Liu Bei?? What is going on!

Five days later, Liu Bei's campaign was imminent.

Ma Ma Yunlu was a bit upset.

"If I weren't pregnant, I could have followed Husband on the campaign this time."

Liu Bei pulled her into his arms.

"Alright, just stay home and take care of the pregnancy."

Diao Chan was a bit strange.

"Eh, where is Sister Bai? Why didn't she come to see us off?"

Liu Bei naturally knew that Bai Yuekui was too tired last night and couldn't get up today.

Outside Changancheng,

Ten thousand elite cavalry were lined up neatly.

The melodious sound of horns rang out.

The army set off! The target: Huainan!

Xuxian.

Cao Cao looked at the intelligence from various places sent by the Eagle Eyes.

"Haha, Liu Bei has set out after all."

Cheng Yu cupped his hands.

"My Lord, Liu Bei is burdened by his reputation and had no choice but to set out."

Cao Cao was somewhat smug.

"I have already contacted Ding Yuan Shao, and this time we must stop him. If he doesn't take the Imperial Seal, I will; if he takes it, I will campaign against him for the crime of hiding the Imperial Seal!"

Cao Cao picked up a cup of red wine and poured himself a glass.