Shangcai City was the capital of Runan County. The city was tall and sturdy.
Although it had been through many years of war, it was still not something that an ordinary small city could compare to.
Yuan Yao had been traveling at high speed, and he was lightly equipped. He didn't bring any large siege weapons, so he didn't have any good ways to quickly break through the city.
Outside Shangcai City, in the Yuan army camp.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the men of sacrifice to attack the city tower and take down Shang Cai City for Your Majesty!”
Zhou Cang, who had just joined the army, was eager to make a contribution and asked to fight.
The other generals also requested to fight.
"Yuanfu, I know that you have always been loyal and brave, but Sun Tzu's Art of War says that the best weapon is to attack strategy, the second is to attack diplomatic relations, the second is to attack the army, and the last is to attack the city.”
"Forcefully attacking is only the last resort. Unless we have no other choice, we can't use the lives of our soldiers to attack the city.”
"Moreover, there isn't much food in the city. I'm sure Liu Bei will think of a way to break out of the siege in the next few days. We can ambush Liu Bei outside the city and not attack the city by force.”
Yuan Yao waved his hand, rejecting Zhou Cang's request to fight.
…………
Shangcai City, in the prefect's house.
"Second brother, third brother, there's not much food left in the city. It can only last for a day or two at most. We have to break out of the encirclement as soon as possible, otherwise, we will be trapped in the city by that little Yuan Yao.”
Liu Bei said anxiously to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
"Big brother, the Yuan army outside the city has surrounded Shang Cai City so tightly that not even water can seep through. We only have a thousand soldiers left, so I'm afraid it'll be difficult for us to break out of the encirclement.”
Guan Yu looked worried.
"What are you afraid of? I, Zhang Fei, will definitely be able to kill a bloody path for my elder brother with my eight-foot Snake Spear.”
Zhang Fei glared at him and said disdainfully.
"With our martial arts, of course we have a chance to protect big brother and break out of the encirclement, but what about the two sisters-in-law?”
Guan Yu retorted.
Zhang Fei was silent when he heard this. Yes, it was indeed not easy to protect two weak women in the chaotic army.
He, Zhang Fei, had once lost Xuzhou because of drinking, and his two sisters-in-law had also fallen into the hands of Lu Bu. This was the thing that he had done the most wrong to his big brother. How could he throw his two sisters-in-law to the enemy again?
Liu Bei gritted his teeth and said with determination," Brothers are like hands and feet, and women are like clothes. As long as you and I can break out of the encirclement, we can definitely make a comeback in the future."”
"Ai, I can only let down the two Furens once again. Although Yuan Yao is a traitor who overstepped his authority and proclaimed himself emperor, he is still a descendant of an aristocratic family. He should not make things too difficult for the two Furens. I will think of a way to save them in the future.”
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were extremely touched by his words. Their big brother actually regarded them as more important than his wife. They secretly vowed to serve their big brother well.
Now that the three brothers had made up their minds, they prepared to break out of the encirclement that night.
……
In the backyard of the prefect's manor.
"Sister, I heard that husband lost another battle. This time, he won't abandon us again, right?”
A gorgeous beauty asked worriedly.
Her skin was as white as jade, and her entire person looked like frost under the bright moonlight from afar.
It was Liu Bei's Madam Gan.
"Younger sister, husband is a person who does great things. Perhaps…perhaps he really can't care about us this time. We can only leave it to fate.”
A woman with a graceful bearing answered sadly.
She was none other than Mi Zhen, the sister of Mi Zhu, the tycoon of Xu Prefecture, and Liu Bei's Madam Mi.
In a chaotic world, beautiful women were fated to die, not to mention that they had met a husband who was always defeated and heartless.
The two beauties could only pity themselves.
……
The moon was setting in the west, and the night was getting darker.
Outside Shang Cai City, Yuan Zhou's camp was silent.
"Big brother, it seems that Yuan Jun has relaxed. Even the soldiers patrolling outside the camp are sleepy. We might be able to take the opportunity to break out of the encirclement tonight.”
Zhang Fei's tone was filled with excitement.
"Third brother, you can't be careless. Yuan Yao has always been cunning, he might be doing it on purpose for us to see.”
Perhaps Liu Bei had been defeated many times, but he had become more cautious.
"Big brother, third brother, why don't you let me lead a few hundred men out from the west gate and charge into the enemy camp to attract their attention. Big brother and third brother can then escape from the south gate.”
Guan Yu volunteered to be the bait.
"This, second brother, is too dangerous. If the enemy has a trick up their sleeves, you will be surrounded.”
Liu Bei could not bear to lose Guan Yu, a very important general to him.
"How about this, we spread the news that Yuan Yao is going to massacre the city after breaking through the city, and let the people in the city pour out from the four gates to disrupt the enemy's line of sight and cover our retreat.”
Liu Bei thought of the hundreds of thousands of people in the city and could not help but have a plan.
Although this plan would damage his reputation of benevolence and righteousness, he could not care less about it in order to escape.
Moreover, Yuan Yao was the greatest traitor in the world. Even if he announced his scandal to the world, no one would believe him.
In any case, he would just refuse to admit that he had done this in the future.
Hearing that they needed to use the people in the city to cover their escape, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu hesitated for a moment before reluctantly agreeing.
Therefore, Liu Bei urgently sent people to announce to the people in the city that the Yuan army would massacre the city after breaking through.
Although the people were skeptical, there was not much food left in the city. Staying in the city was also a dead end. The people in the city could only pack up and leave the city to take refuge.
That night, the four gates of Xiacai City suddenly opened, and countless commoners poured out.
These commoners brought along the old and the young, walking together in groups of three to five.
Due to the panic, the scene was chaotic and the roads were crowded.
The Yuan Army, who had been lying in ambush outside the city, was dumbfounded. It was difficult to find Liu Bei and the others among the hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Even though they had killed hundreds of soldiers, Liu Guan and the other two managed to escape successfully.
"You big eared thief, I didn't expect you to reveal your hypocritical true colors so quickly. You actually used innocent people as human shields.”
After Yuan Yao received the report from his subordinate, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart.
"Your Majesty, Liu Bei is indeed a hypocrite. I was really blind in the past to think that he was a great hero of benevolence and righteousness. It's all thanks to Your Majesty's reminder that I would have mistakenly joined a villain!”
When Zhao Yun heard the news, she was also furious.
"Zilong, Liu Bei is very good at winning people's hearts. It's understandable that you were bewitched by him before. It's not too late to see his true colors now.”
Previously, when attacking Liu Bei, in order to not let Zhao Yun have any ill feelings, he did not let him participate.
Now that Liu Bei had done such a shameful thing, Yuan Yao naturally wanted to take the opportunity to cut off Zhao Yun's last thoughts about Liu Bei and follow him wholeheartedly.
Hearing this, Zhao Yun nodded heavily.
[PS: Shroom Author is throwing a tantrum. Please help me with the evaluation tickets and collection. Shroom Author is here to thank you all.]
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