Chapter 44

Lü Bu let his troops rest half a day, and also gathered the troops of Zang Ba and Wei Xu to this small Changguo County. As both sides were tense on the city walls, Lü Bu prepared to take the wall in one go, when several red-background white-character banners came flying from afar, the banners bore the characters "Liu" and "Han Left General" etc.

Originally Jia Xu had been sending people to secretly monitor Lü Bu's movements; when he learned that the one fighting Lü Bu at Changguo County was Zhang Tou, he hurried to find Liu Bei to discuss.

After discussing, both felt that Zhang Tou appearing here must be to avoid Cao Cao and seek refuge in Xuzhou, so Liu Bei led the Molin army and some light cavalry rushing to Changguo County city.

When he saw the large force Liu Bei had brought, Lü Bu dismounted to pay his respects.

"Foster father, I have already surrounded Changguo County; these Western Liang rebels cannot escape."

Liu Bei waved his hand, about to speak, when the gate of Changguo County suddenly opened; Zhang Tou led tens of thousands of Western Liang Army charging out, Lü Bu was startled, about to mount and fight, but Liu Bei stopped him.

Jia Xu smiled and said.

"General Fengxian, please calm down and don't be impatient; let's see how the lord will handle this."

Lü Bu looked doubtful, tightly gripping his Heaven-Piercing Halberd in his hand, while Zhang Tou and his troops indeed had no weapons in hand.

Zhang Tou reined his horse to a stop several paces away, and upon seeing Liu Bei's figure under the great banner, he immediately dismounted and kowtowed, crying and crawling all the way.

"My lord, my uncle died tragically, and my aunt was captured by the Cao rebels; I hope the lord will avenge my uncle's family. I, Zhang Tou, am willing to be a humble horseman before you and take the heads of the Cao rebels!!!"

Liu Bei stepped forward, helped Zhang Tou up, and comforted him by patting his arms.

"Get up; I will surely make the Cao rebels pay blood for blood for the grudge of your uncle and the Western Liang brothers of Chang'an."

Zhang Tou again kowtowed and wept bitterly.

"All depends on the lord's decision; if the lord does not despise me, I wish to lead troops now to help you take Jinan Commandery."

Lü Bu watched this scene, his heart gave a sudden jolt.

"That brat Zhang Tou... could he be trying to become Liu Da'er's adopted son like I did?!"

"Wouldn't my unique position then be challenged?!"

Lü Bu felt anxious in his heart, spreading his hands and said to Jia Xu beside him.

"Ah, Mr. Wen He, what's wrong with young people these days! Always looking for shortcuts; this really isn't like how we used to be."

Jia Xu clasped his hands inside his sleeves, trying hard not to laugh as he glanced at the solemn Lü Bu.

Liu Bei sighed.

"You have come from afar, and you have only just arrived in Azure Prefecture; it's not easy. Since you wish to achieve merit, after resting two days, go attack Jinan Commandery."

Zhang Tou was overjoyed, welcomed Liu Bei and his entourage into the city, and set up a banquet to entertain them.

A few days later, Liu Bei ordered Zhang Tou to lead 15,000 troops to take Jinan Commandery; Second Brother led 30,000 troops to attack Donglai Commandery; Zhao Yun led the Snow Dragon cavalry and 10,000 surrendered troops to pacify Pingyuan Commandery.

Liu Bei himself led the central army and Zhang Fei's troops to support each other, preventing Yuan Shao's forces from stealing the fruits of victory.

When Han Meng and Jiang Yiqu discovered that Azure Prefecture had been largely taken by Liu Bei, they jumped out wanting to split the three commanderies, but Liu Bei had Lü Bu give them a stern lesson.

The grain is ours, the troops are ours, and now Azure Prefecture is ours too; what right do you have to demand a share?!

"You, Yuan Benchu, with your fat head and big ears, how can you dream so sweetly?!"

The hot-tempered Jiang Yiqu led troops to attack Jinan Commandery, but despite early preparations by Zhang Tou and Third Brother, he was defeated, losing armor and helmets, and had to retreat resentfully to Jizhou.

Yuan Shao had been fiercely battling Gongsun Zan in Secluded Prefecture when he suddenly exploded in anger upon receiving a report from his subordinates.

"What are Feng Ji and Xu You doing, feeding them? They sent so much stuff only to be played like monkeys by Liu Bei! We helped him block Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan, yet in the end we gained nothing!"

The oily-faced Guo Tu took the opportunity to come up and, with a constipated look, told Yuan Shao.

"My lord, I heard that Ziyuan has received many gifts from Liu Bei, while Feng Ji is everywhere being suppressed by Liu Bei; I suspect that Brother Ziyuan..."

Yuan Shao stroked his beard, pondered slightly, and increasingly found Guo Tu's words credible.

Ju Shou, observing the words and expressions, immediately stepped forward and said.

"My lord, right now Gongsun Zan's summer grain hasn't been harvested, supplies are insufficient; if we hold on a little longer, we should be able to take half of Secluded Prefecture's cities."

Yuan Shao waved his hand impatiently.

"My mind is made up; first we'll deal with this hateful Liu Bei! Someone, send a letter of severance to Gongsun Zan; we'll go back and deal with Liu Bei first."

……

When Yuan Shao's mighty army withdrew to Jizhou, reactions from all sides were vastly different.

Cao Cao, hearing of Yuan Shao's actions in Permissive Prosperity, laughed to Guo Jia beside him.

"Yuan Shao this fellow schemes without decision, dare to call himself the number one lord under heaven? He sent us 100,000 dan of grain to tell us not to send troops to Azure Prefecture, truly wasteful!"

Guo Jia pondered for a moment, then said to Cao Cao.

"My lord, why not let the emperor appoint Yuan Shao as Governor of Azure Prefecture, Yuan Shu as Governor of Jizhou, and Liu Bei as Governor of Xuzhou plus Inspector of Jizhou, and then let Gongsun Zan be Inspector of Xuzhou."

Cao Cao clapped his hands, laughed loudly, picked up his wine vessel and said.

"Wonderful, Fengxiao's words can make this muddy water even murkier. Come, let's drink a few more cups tonight, and on an overcast day we will present our memorial to the emperor……"

Meanwhile, Gongsun Zan of Secluded Prefecture stood atop the city wall, watching the tide-like withdrawing Jizhou army; at this moment he was utterly exhausted, and without the help of the Black Mountain Army, he could hardly have resisted Yuan Datu's attack.

"Junior brother, thanks to you we lifted the siege, but it's a shame that my White Horse Followers suffered heavy losses…… sigh."

In the South of the Huai River, Sunny Prefecture's Yuan Shu has recently been full of vigor; upon hearing that his elder brother had been outwitted by Liu Bei, he couldn't help but laugh triumphantly.

After the subordinate's intelligence arrived, this sharp-tongued, cheeky Yuan Shu, with a sneering look, inwardly mocked.

"Yuan Benchu, you've always acted as my elder brother, yet you've been played by Liu Bei, a mere sandal-seller, between applause—hehe, I am the true heir of the Yuan family; what can you, a bastard, use to fight me?"