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

Chapter 85: Lip-sharp sparring, Lu Bu's heart is moved

Hearing the arrival of Liu Bei's military envoy, Lu Bu felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

It seems like this is how it started the last time he was tricked by Liu Bei!

Now he had finally decided to confront Liu Bei, but the messenger came again.

Subconsciously, Lu Bu frowned and said in a deep voice:

"Where did the enemy's envoy come from?"

Upon hearing this, the soldier hurriedly bowed and said:
"He only said that he came here on Liu Bei's orders to meet the Lord, but he didn't say what he was here for!"

After hearing what the soldiers said, Lu Bu began to hesitate.

When Hou Cheng saw this, he immediately stepped forward and said:

"My lord, Liu Bei is here now because he is afraid of our army's strength and wants to seek peace!"

"If that's the case, why not chase away the envoy first, force him to come in person, and then question him!"

Now that Chen Gong is not here, naturally no one wants to kill the envoy.

Hearing this, Lu Bu nodded slightly. However, when Xu Si Wang Kai saw that there was still room for maneuver, he stepped out and said:
"Marquis Wen, you must not do this. Although Liu Bei has taken the city, he has not really become enemies with our army."

"Now that you have sent an envoy here, you must know that our army is dissatisfied and have come to ease the relationship."

"If we expel their envoy, it will not only be against etiquette, but also anger Liu Bei. Instead of arguing with them, since they have sent an envoy, we might as well see what they want to say first and then discuss it!"

Hearing this, Lu Bu was unable to make a decision for a moment. After thinking for a while, he said in a deep voice:

"I am not that kind of unreasonable person!"

"If Liu Bei can really admit his mistakes, I don't want to bother with him!"

"Let the messenger in!"

Upon hearing this, the soldier hurried out of the camp, found Zhuge Jin, and brought him into the camp.

As soon as Zhuge Jin entered the camp, he saw a tall and sturdy man sitting in the middle. He knew that this was most likely Lu Bu, so he immediately bowed and said:

"I am Zhuge Jin, the humble servant, and I am here to meet Marquis Wen!"

Seeing Zhuge Jin's extraordinary appearance, Lu Bu couldn't help but nod secretly.

Liu Bei sent such a person as an envoy, which shows that he did not look down on him.

Seeing Zhuge Jin was polite, he said in a deep voice:
"I see that you are not a rude person, so I don't want to humiliate you!"

"I just want to ask you one question. Why are you here? If what you say doesn't agree with me, don't blame me for kicking you out!"

He made it very clear that he didn't want to hear any nonsense.

If Zhuge Jin came to persuade him to stop, he should leave as soon as possible.

If someone else heard this, they would definitely tell him the purpose of their visit directly, but when Zhuge Jin heard this, he raised his head and said:

"I don't know what the general means. Before I came here, I heard people say that the general is a hero. Now that I see the general's heroic demeanor, I know that what they said is true."

"But just now the general said he would treat me with courtesy, and then he said he wanted to drive me away. This really ruined the general's virtue."

"Please tell me clearly what words would suit your wishes. I will check them one by one."

"If I can satisfy the general, I will tell him. If I cannot, I will leave on my own to avoid damaging his reputation!"

In ancient times, an envoy was not just about delivering a message. As an envoy, he represented the face of Liu Bei's army. If he was expelled by Lu Bu, his shame would be secondary. The most important thing was that he was afraid of losing face for Liu Bei.

So every move requires extra attention.

He said this in order to find out Lu Bu's intention, so as to avoid failure of his mission due to a disagreement.

The words of praise naturally made Lu Bu feel favorable and he was not likely to turn hostile easily.

After he finished speaking, Xu Si and others nodded secretly, thinking that this man was quite resourceful.

Lu Bu stared at him for a while, stroked his beard and smiled:

"Liu Xuande is really lucky. Although his territory is small, he has a lot of talented people!"

"Well, since you asked, I might as well tell you straight away!"

"I only ask you, are you here to return the city to our army? If so, then let Liu Bei give up the city, and this matter can be resolved."

"If not, sir, you can go back and tell Liu Bei that if he takes our city now, I, Lu Bu, will not give up!"

But as soon as he said this, Zhuge Jin frowned again and said:

"Please forgive me, General. I still don't understand your intention!"

"What do you mean our army has taken the general's city?"

"You must know that after our army went south, we fought hard against the enemy and captured many cities along the way. They were all owned by Yuan Shu, but I wonder which city belongs to you, general?"

What he said was the truth, but when Lu Bu heard it, he glared at him and said:

"I respect your talent and want to help you, but I didn't expect you to be so talkative?"

"Let me ask you, our army has been stationed outside Yinling City for many days. If we hadn't been there to hold you back, how could you have captured Xiacai?"

"I originally thought that we should work together and not harbor resentment. You guys take the western route, and I take the central route, so we won't offend each other!"

"As a result, Lei Bu had just left and our army was about to seize the city, but you took it first!"

"Tell me, did you capture our city?"

When Lu Bu said this, all the generals were naturally angry and echoed:
"Our army has been attacking for more than ten days. This city will be captured by our army!"

"Liu Bei is so rude!"

As everyone spoke, there was a lot of noise. Seeing this, Zhuge Jin remained silent until everyone finished speaking. Then he bowed again and said:
"If the general thinks so, then I will go!"

"Although I cannot complete this mission today, it is a blessing to be able to meet the general. I will take my leave now!"

After saying this, he turned and retreated out of the camp.

But he suddenly did this, and Lu Bu was not happy about it. He said in a deep voice:
"stop!"

Zhuge Jin looked back and pretended to be surprised:

"What does Lord Wen want me to do?"

Seeing this, Lu Bu frowned and said:

"You are a strange person. Just now you blamed me for not speaking frankly to you. Now that I have made it clear, why are you leaving again?"

"Is there something wrong with what I said?" Seeing this, Zhuge Jin turned around and bowed:
"I dare to let Lord Wen know that in my opinion, this matter is not Lord Wen's fault, nor is it the fault of our army. It's just that the two families have different intentions, so this is the case!"

"But our army came here with good intentions. We didn't expect Lord Wen to look upon our army this way!"

"My master was originally determined to make friends with Marquis Wen, but Marquis Wen thought that our army was not good, so I knew that this would be difficult to accomplish, so I left!"

Listening to Zhuge Jin's words, Lu Bu frowned and said:

"What do you mean by that? How can it be that I think you are not good?"

"Could it be that you robbed our city without any ill intentions?"

"Of course. In my opinion, our army has never captured Wenhou City!"

Seeing him mentioning cities, Zhuge Jin sneered:

"Marquis Wen must know that even though Marquis Wen has been guarding outside the city for many days, this city was taken by our army from Yuan Shu's army, and not a single city was taken from Marquis Wen!"

"As for our army taking the city, we never intended to do evil with Marquis Wen. We used this opportunity to punish the traitor who usurped the throne."

"Every time our army captures a city, Yuan Shu loses a city. This is what our army wishes."

"It's not what Lord Wen thought. I came here to take the city on purpose to make enemies with Lord Wen."

"My lord didn't care about the loss of a city or a place, and he thought that Marquis Wen would put state affairs first."

"I didn't expect that Marquis Wen would blame our army for wanting to do evil with him just because of a small city!"

"From this, it seems that although our lord has entrusted us with this important task, Lord Wen may not be able to respond. Although our army is willing to hand over the city, Lord Wen may not believe it!"

At this point, Zhuge Jin bowed again and said:
"If Lord Wen thinks my words are correct, then I will tell you what my master has asked of me."

"If Marquis Wen still believes that our army has bad intentions, I will leave now!"

As these words were spoken, Zhuge Jin went from being passive to active.

That is to tell Lu Bu that our army wants to cooperate with you and is willing to give you the city, but you must acknowledge the legitimacy of our army taking the city.

If your attitude is better, we can talk. If your attitude is not good, I will leave.

These words not only refuted Lu Bu's words, but also confirmed his own legitimacy, without giving Lu Bu any chance to refute.

Listening to Zhuge Jin's words, Lu Bu's face was uncertain, and he secretly thought that this messenger was very powerful.

From the beginning till now, he has never given in. It was clearly to rob his city, but now it seems that Liu Bei has the right to do so!

If he accepts it, wouldn't that mean he was admitting that he was being unreasonable before?

But if he does not accept it, judging from Zhuge Jin's expression, it seems that Liu Bei wants to hand over the city.

Even though he just said he wanted to fight to the death, in fact he could avoid mobilizing troops. Lu Bu still didn't want to fight with Liu Bei.

While thinking like this, Lu Bu did not speak.

Zhuge Jin naturally said nothing, and the two of them just faced off against each other.

Wang Kai couldn't stand it anymore and stepped out immediately:
"Since your army has no intention of causing trouble for our army, my lord will not deliberately make things difficult for your army!"

"We are all fighting for the country, so we should put national affairs first."

"Just now I heard you say that Liu Xuande has come here with an important mission. He must have something to ask of our army, but I don't know what it is. Please explain it clearly first. Don't let the big thing be ruined by a mistake in words!"

He knew that the confrontation between the two meant that Lu Bu was hesitating, and there was only one step missing, so he simply stepped out to serve as this step.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Bu nodded and said:
"Zi Fa is right. Sir, don't think that I, Lü Bu, am the kind of person who cares about gains and losses. Even if Liu Xuande doesn't want to embarrass me, I, Lü Fengxian, won't bother with him!"

"Since he has come to ask for a favor, you might as well speak frankly!"

"What exactly does Liu Bei want from me?"

He found the steps and lifted himself up secretly.

When Zhuge Jin heard this, he decided to stop while he was ahead. He immediately bowed and said:
"To be honest with you, Lord Wen, I came here this time because my lord asked me to invite you to march to Shouchun together!"

"Because we know that Marquis Wen has no place to stay at the moment, our army is willing to give up Xiquyang for Marquis Wen to stay!"

As soon as he said this, before Lü Bu and the others responded, Hou Cheng smiled and said:

"My lord, our army still wonders what Liu Xuande can entrust us with!"

"I didn't expect that they wanted to exchange Xiquyang with our army for Shouchun!"

"You are really teasing us by acting this way!"

Facing Hou Cheng's ridicule, Zhuge Jin said to Hou Cheng with a serious face:

"General, what are you talking about? We are fighting for our country and it is only natural for our two families to advance together. Why do you say that our army is exchanging cities for cities?"

"This general's words put the loyalty of our two families to fight against the enemy at a low level. I do not want to hear such evil words!"

After saying that, he turned his face away and didn't listen to Hou Cheng's words.

When Hou Cheng saw this, he was furious and stepped forward and said:
"You poor, corrupt scholar, you are looking for death!"

But as soon as he made a move, Lu Bu became furious and said:

"How dare you do this?"

Hou Cheng trembled when he heard Lu Bu's shout and dared not move.

After Lü Bu drove Hou Cheng away, he sneered at Zhuge Jin:

"I am sorry to make you laugh at me for not being strict with my subordinates!"

"But what Hou Cheng said is not without reason. Even if your army is determined to fight the enemy and our army helps, we still have to distinguish between the primary and the secondary!"

"From what I heard from you, sir, it seems that your army is the main force. If we take the city, it will naturally be handed over to your army!"

"If they take the city, they can unite it. Our army has no base here, so what good will it do us?"

"Does sir really think that you can persuade our army with just a mere reputation?"

Seeing that Lu Bu finally stopped hiding his intentions, Zhuge Jin naturally revealed his final trump card:

"So I know that the general has come a long way and worked hard. In fact, my master has already instructed before he came that as long as the general is willing to cooperate with our army to defeat the bandits and seize Shouchun, the money and food in Shouchun City will be used to reward the general!"

"As long as the general can promise not to rob the people, our army will not take a penny, and all the money will belong to the general!"

When Lu Bu heard this, his pupils dilated!
All the money and grain in Shouchun Prefecture belong to him?
You must know that the treasury contains Yuan Shu’s accumulation over the years!

If this is true, then this deal seems like it can be done!

(End of this chapter)