Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 38: To target Lü Bu, first eliminate Chen Gong

Xuzhou, Xiapi.

Not to mention that Liu Bei led his troops here overnight, but that day Chen Deng received orders from the court and returned to Xuzhou, and told Lu Bu everything.

When Lu Bu heard that he had failed to obtain the post of governor of Xuzhou, he shouted angrily:
"You don't ask for the post of governor of Xuzhou for me, but ask for fame and honor for yourself!"

"Your father asked me to abandon Yuan Shu and join the imperial court. Now I have nothing I asked for, but you and your son are both prominent!"

"If I continue like this, I will be harmed by you guys sooner or later!"

He immediately drew his sword and wanted to behead Chen Deng.

But Chen Deng was not afraid at all when he saw this, and laughed loudly:
"General, why don't you understand Cao Gong's intention?"

Seeing that Chen Deng was not afraid, Lu Bu couldn't help but wonder:

"Why don't I understand?"

Chen Deng said bluntly:
"I entered the court to seek a position as a general, but Cao Gong said to me: The general is a tiger or a wolf, he should be fed with meat, otherwise he will bite people!"

"But Cao Gong replied, 'You should be like a hawk, and you dare not eat before the foxes or rabbits have rested!'"

"When hungry, use it; when full, fly away!"

"I would like to ask Cao Gong again, what are foxes and rabbits?"

"Cao Gong replied: "Yuan Shu in Huainan, Sun Ce in Jiangdong, Yuan Shao in Jizhou, Liu Biao in Jingxiang, Liu Zhang in Yizhou, and Zhang Lu in Hanzhong are all foxes and rabbits."

"These foxes and rabbits are all here, so I dare not give them the position of general or governor!"

When Lü Bu heard Cao Cao praising him, he forgot his anger for a moment and laughed, holding his sword:

"Cao Gong knows me too!"

As they were talking, someone came to report the news of Yuan Shu's advance.

Lu Bu panicked immediately, so he let Chen Deng go and sent someone to get the news.

When the spies came back, they learned that Yuan Shu had sent tens of thousands of troops from Shouchun, looting along the way.

At this time, Lu Bu's troops were stationed in various places, and there were only a few thousand infantry and cavalry in the city. He was frightened, so he sent a letter to Liu Bei and asked him to gather troops from various places.

As many days passed and there was no news from Liu Bei, Lu Bu became angry. However, he did not have enough troops and could not take the initiative to attack.

So Lu Bu had no choice but to sit in the county government all day, waiting for the troops to gather while watching the enemy army approach Xia Pi.

As bad news came one after another, Lu Bu finally could not sit still anymore and hurriedly summoned all his ministers to discuss the matter.

Chen Gong arrived at the palace first and saw Lü Bu sitting in the hall, so he said:
"The enemy has arrived. General, why are you sitting here instead of going to resist them?"

When Lu Bu heard this, he was naturally annoyed and said:
"I also want to send troops, but I don't have enough troops. How can I fight them?"

"Let's summon you all to come and discuss matters. Wait for Liu Bei's troops to arrive before we attack!"

When Chen Gong heard this, he said complacently:

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for Liu Xuande to come back!"

"This man has always been at odds with our army. If our army had responded to his call and seized Pei County earlier, his army would have come on its own."

"Now that Yuan Shu has sent out his troops, if our army asks for help again, they will not benefit from it, so why would they come to our aid?"

"I still advise the general to give up this idea and never make it a wish!"

Lu Bu listened, turned his head away, and said unhappily:

"Now the enemy is strong and cannot wait for Liu Bei. What should we do?"

"If the magistrate only wants to say this, just go back!"

Seeing this, Chen Gong stroked his beard and smiled:
"Don't worry, General. There's no need to send troops. I have my own way to repel the enemy!"

"Oh? What's Gongtai's plan?"

Seeing that Chen Gong really had a solution, Lu Bu quickly turned around.

Seeing this, Chen Gong stepped forward and said:
"The disaster in Xuzhou was caused by Chen Gui and his son. They flattered the court in exchange for titles and salaries. Today, they are shifting the blame to the general. You can cut off their heads and present them to Yuan Shu, and his army will retreat."

Hearing this, Lu Bu frowned and said:

"The father and son have helped me a lot, how can I kill them for this?"

Chen Gong knew that Lu Bu had made a move, so he said hurriedly:
"If you don't want to kill him yourself, you can tie him up and send him to Yuan Shu's army, which will also solve the problem."

Lu Bu was silent for a moment. Compared with his own safety, it seemed that Chen Gui and his son could be sacrificed!
At this moment, Chen Gui and his son came in, and Chen Gong hurriedly said:
"My lord, if you don't make a decision, you will suffer the consequences!"

Lu Bu thought for a while, then stood up and said:

"Come here, help me tie up Chen Gui and his son!"

Chen Gui and Chen Deng were thinking of a strategy to repel the enemy when they heard this voice as soon as they entered the hall.

The guards on both sides stepped forward and tried to capture him.

But the father and son were both shrewd people. Upon hearing this, Chen Gui said to Lu Bu in a deep voice:
"General, why are you doing this? Since you asked me and my son to come here to discuss matters, why did you capture him?"

Lu Bu felt a little embarrassed and could only say:
"Just now Gongtai told me that the disaster in Xuzhou this time is the fault of you and your son. Now there is no way to repel the enemy, so we should capture them to avoid disaster!"

Upon hearing what Chen Gong said, Chen Gui sneered:
"Yuan Shu has only a few soldiers and horses, why should he be afraid of this?"

"My son has already made a plan, and he will definitely be able to break it!"

Chen Deng also raised his head and said:
"I think Yuan Shu's soldiers are like rotten grass. Why should we care about them?"

Lü Bu did not expect that the father and son really had a plan to repel the enemy, and hurriedly said:
"If you really have a plan to repel the enemy, please tell us quickly!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Deng took a big step forward and said:
"Although there are many art soldiers, they are all a motley crew. We cannot trust each other. We should defeat them with surprise troops!"

"Han Xian and Yang Feng were former ministers of the Han Dynasty. They fled because they were afraid of Cao Cao. They had no home to go to, so they temporarily went to Yuan Shu."

"Yuan Shu is from a distinguished family, so he must look down on people, and he is not happy to be used by Shu."

"If we can use this letter to form an internal alliance, and even ally Liu Bei with us, we will surely capture Yuan Shu."

After hearing Chen Deng's plan, Lu Bu stroked his tiger's whiskers and nodded:
"This plan is feasible. Does Yuanlong dare to go to Yuan's army to deliver the letter?"

Chen Deng said calmly:

"Why don't you dare?"

"But there is one thing. Our army is short of soldiers and horses, and Liu Bei said that we can march together. Now the army is approaching. Why don't you ask for help as soon as possible?"

It would have been fine if he hadn't said anything. As soon as he said it, Lu Bu said in a deep voice:
"I have already sent people to ask for help, but there is still no news from Liu Bei!"

"Maybe he doesn't want to send troops, who knows!"

As soon as these words came out, Chen Deng laughed and said:

"General, your words are wrong. If it were anyone else, he probably wouldn't send troops. But if we ask for help from Envoy Liu, he will definitely send troops!
"Xia Pi is only a few hundred miles away from Xiao Pei. If the messenger arrives early, I'm afraid your troops will have already arrived!"

"Someone must be interfering, so there is no response."

As he said this, he looked at Chen Gong coldly.

Seeing this, Chen Gong did not respond.

Lu Bu was familiar with Chen Gong. Seeing him like this, he knew something was wrong. However, he had no evidence and could not make trouble. He could only ask Chen Deng:

"As for now, if Liu Bei doesn't come, what can we do?"

Chen Deng also knew that he could not do anything to Chen Gong, so he could only say:

"The situation is urgent. You can send another messenger to ask for help. I will go to Yuan Shu's army to sow discord!"

"That's all we have to do!"

Lu Bu sighed and quickly arranged for the messenger to go again.

It is credible that as soon as the envoys set out, a soldier came to report:
"My lord, Liu Bei's reinforcements are coming outside the city!"

"What? Liu Bei's reinforcements have arrived?"

Lu Bu's expression suddenly became interesting, while Chen Gong's face darkened and he looked a little surprised.

Only Chen Deng laughed and said:

"General, since your reinforcements are coming, please come and see me!"

"As it should be!"

After Lu Bu replied, he joyfully ordered someone to let Liu Bei into the city.

At this time, outside Xia Pi City, Liu Bei was leading his troops to line up under the city gate.

Zhang Fei looked at the gate of Xia Pi, and the past events came to his mind. He said to Liu Bei:
"Brother, why don't we wait for Lu Bu to open the door, and then we can rush in together and capture this thief Lu Bu and kill him!"

Liu Bei frowned when he heard this:

"We are here to help, how can we take advantage of the situation to attack? This is an unjust act, absolutely not allowed!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei could only sigh.

Qin Zhen said on the side:
"Lü Bu is a treacherous man, he must be on guard. How could he open the city gate so easily? He must have only opened a small gap to let us in!"

"Even if it's a surprise attack, it's difficult to succeed!"

Listening to Qin Zhen's explanation, Zhang Fei's expression changed. Qin Zhen said this, could it be that he had also thought about this?

If this is true, then this military advisor can still be dealt with!

While he was thinking, he saw the city gate opened a crack, and a young general shouted:
"The general has ordered that you come into the city to see him!"

Zhang Fei was even more surprised to see that the city gate was only open a little.

Liu Bei turned around and said:
"As the military advisor said, the army is not allowed to enter the city. We can go forward on horseback!"

"Military Advisor, are you willing to go with us?"

Qin Zhen listened leisurely and said:
"Logically, I should go with you, but why can't I enter now?"

"Even though Lü Bu has never seen me, Chen Gongtai can recognize me!"

"Besides, this person has always been at odds with me, and this time he will definitely hinder our military plan!"

"I must get rid of this man before I can enter the city!"

His reminder made Liu Bei remember that Qin Zhen and Chen Gong both came from Cao's camp. Now Qin Zhen came under a pseudonym, and he would be exposed as soon as he saw Chen Gong.

"But Chen Gong is Lu Bu's military advisor. How can we get rid of him?"

"Don't worry, my lord. Chen Gong is a man of integrity but lacks quick wit. I have my own way to trap him!"

Qin Zhen raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said:
"After entering the city, if Lu Bu asks, you can do as I say!"

"This way, we can solve Chen Gong's problem!"

As he spoke, he whispered a few words into Liu Bei's ear.

After hearing this, Liu Bei nodded repeatedly and said:

"Don't worry, military advisor. We will act according to your plan!"

He immediately took Zhang Fei and others and headed towards the city.

As for the county government, Liu Bei was afraid that Zhang Fei might do something bad, so he asked Zhang Fei to wait outside the hall. When he entered the hall, Lu Bu stood up to greet him.

When they were seated at the table, Lu Bu smiled and said:

"Why is Xuande so late? Bu has been waiting anxiously for you!"

If Qin Zhen hadn't told him to do so, Liu Bei would have naturally opened his mouth to confess his crime, but now he said expressionlessly:

"Because of the people blocking us, we haven't gotten any news!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Bu remembered what happened just now and asked hurriedly:

"Who is stopping you?"

Liu Bei still had no expression on his face:

"This man is an important official under the general. I am an outsider, so it is inconvenient to say anything!"

He had always been like this, and Lu Bu was not surprised. But when he heard that it was an important official under his command, he shouted angrily:
"Now Xuande and I advance and retreat together, so how can we talk about inside and outside? Xuande, just say whatever you want!"

"I thought I was waiting for Xuande's troops here, but someone betrayed me and stopped me from asking for help from the messenger. If I knew about this, I would never forgive him!"

Liu Bei saw that the time was almost right, so he spoke:

"That person is Chen Gong, also known as Chen Gongtai!"

"Because I knew Yuan Shu was advancing, I thought the general would ask for help, so I prepared the troops."

"But the messenger never arrived. He just arrived four days ago!"

"My military advisor asked him the reason, and he just told me!"

In fact, Lu Bu already had the answer in his mind, but he had no evidence. When he heard this, he glared at Chen Gong and said:
"Chen Gongtai, is this true or false?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Gong simply said:
"Even if I'm blocking you, what can I do?"

He is a straightforward person. He does what he does and doesn't bother to make excuses.

But when Lu Bu heard this, he glared and shouted angrily:
"Chen Gongtai, what are you thinking?"

"I was wondering why Xuande's troops were so slow to move forward, but I didn't expect that they were blocked by you!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Gong stood up with emotion, pointed at Liu Bei and said:

"General, Liu Bei is just a weaver and shoe seller. He took advantage of the chaos in the country to rise up. Why do you respect him?"

"I heard that this man has been recruiting soldiers and horses recently. He must have some plan!"

"If we let it come, it will definitely bring disaster!"

"So why not stop it?"

Now that the matter was out in the open, he simply stopped hiding it.

To be honest, he really looked down on Liu Bei!

How could a mat weaver and shoe seller, a relative of the Han royal family from nowhere, hold such a high position?
Even Lu Bu made great contributions to the country by killing Dong Zhuo, so what contribution did Liu Bei make?
Even if Xuzhou was really given to Yuan Shu, he would not let Liu Bei get involved.

When Lu Bu heard this, he gnashed his teeth.

Seeing this, Liu Bei stood up and bowed, saying:
"Since Mr. Chen doesn't want me, I'll leave!"

Seeing Liu Bei was about to leave, Lu Bu hurriedly said:
"Wait a minute, Xuande. Now that you are here, where are you going?"

As he said this, he shouted angrily:
"Come here, capture Chen Gong and bring him back to the palace and keep him under strict guard!"

The situation suddenly reversed, and the guards on both sides stepped forward and captured Chen Gong.

Seeing this, Chen Gong was so wide-eyed that he said:

"General, why do you trust the treacherous and harm the loyal ministers?"

He pointed at Chen Gui and his son and shouted:
"The father and son have always been close to Liu Bei. Now that Liu Bei has arrived, they will definitely unite with Liu Bei. If the general continues like this, he will be killed by them sooner or later!"

Lu Bu was furious and shouted when he heard this:
"Shut this man's mouth and send him straight to prison. I will deal with him personally after the war!"

Chen Gong was also furious, and immediately started to curse Lü Bu for not listening to his advice, and then he cursed Liu Bei:

"Little Liu Bei, who taught you to harm me like this? What do you want to do?"

He suddenly realized that this was not Liu Bei's style, and someone must have taught him this!

But before he could finish his words, he was blocked by someone.

Liu Bei looked at Chen Gong like this, his expression remained unchanged, as if it had nothing to do with him.

(End of this chapter)