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

Chapter 91: Gathering of Heroes, Zhou Yu's Alertness

Under the city of Shouchun, outside Liu Bei’s army camp.

At noon, hearing that Sun Ce had arrived with his troops, Liu Bei took Lu Bu out to greet them.

I saw a group of soldiers approaching from afar. The one in front was heroic and handsome, and the one beside him was handsome and had an elegant temperament.

Seeing this, Liu Bei stepped forward and said with a smile:

"May I ask if that's Sun Bofu from Jiangdong in front of us?"

Hearing this call, Sun Ce did not dare to be arrogant, and rode forward, turned over and dismounted, clasped his fists and said to Liu Bei with a smile:

"I guess it's Liu Xuande, the envoy in front of us?"

"Ce is still young, and you are the elder. You personally came out to greet me. This really makes Ce ashamed!"

Although Sun Ce is young, he is very sensible in dealing with people.

He also knew that Liu Bei and Lu Bu were of the same generation as his father, so he was quite humble and polite in his words and actions.

When Liu Bei saw Sun Ce like this, he couldn't help but secretly praise him in his heart.

I thought, no wonder Yuan Shu sighed, "If I had a son like Sun Lang, I would have no regrets in death."

Not to mention Yuan Shu, even if it was his first time meeting Sun Ce, he felt that Sun Ce had an extraordinary demeanor.

Thinking in his heart, he shook his head and smiled:

"You are only a few years older than me, how can you be considered an elder?"

"Bofu is such a hero, worthy of admiration, he is truly a young talent!"

He knew that Sun Ce was not as simple as he appeared. Although he called himself a junior, he might use this as an excuse to gain benefits from them.

Old Liu is also a shrewd man, so it is impossible for him to let Sun Ce consider himself his junior so easily.

Without waiting for Sun Ce to say more, he pulled Sun Ce aside and said to Lu Bu:

"I think Bofu hasn't seen it yet. Let me introduce it to him!"

"This is the hero who fought against the enemy for the country and traveled all over the Central Plains, Marquis Lü Wen!"

When it comes to Liu Bei's affinity, it is definitely top-notch. As soon as they met, he naturally held Sun Ce's hand.

Sun Ce was being pulled by him, but he did not feel anything strange. He just felt that Liu Bei was a really good guy. When he saw him introducing Lu Bu, he stepped forward and greeted him, saying:

"I didn't expect that it was Marquis Wen who was here. Ce also heard of Marquis Wen's name in Jiangdong."

"Now that I see it, it is indeed so!"

"This is truly heroic, extraordinary!"

Although Lu Bu was a difficult person, he liked to hear good words. Seeing Sun Ce praising him so much, he stroked his beard and smiled:

"I have also heard of Bofu's name. He is indeed a young hero!"

"In fact, your father and I are old acquaintances. I didn't expect that Brother Wentai would pass away before he could accomplish anything great. It's really a pity."

"Now that I have seen Bofu being such a hero, I think Wentai must be very happy to know about it!"

He did not have as many concerns as Liu Bei, so he just called him Wentai.

Sun Ce listened, and although he had a smile on his face, he felt disgusted in his heart.

I thought to myself that when my father was ruling the world, you were still a traitor.

What qualifications do you have to call myself an old friend of my father now?
But even though he felt evil in his heart, he never showed it on his face and just kept praising him.

After the three parties met in this way, Liu Bei invited the two men into the camp to meet them, acting like a host.

Zhou Yu was watching beside Sun Ce, frowning.

Looking at the performance of Liu Bei and Lu Bu, it was obvious that they had reached some agreement in private.

Otherwise, based on Lu Bu's character, he would obviously not obediently respect Liu Bei!
However, although he had this thought, he also knew that it was not his turn to speak, so he kept silent.

After everyone entered the tent, Liu Bei took the lead and invited Sun Ce to sit in the main seat. He said with a smile:

"Now our two armies are blocked here, and we are seeking Sun Lang's help."

"Sun Lang is here, please take the main seat!"

Lu Bu, who was listening nearby, curled his lips and said nothing.

Sun Ce did not dare to take the main seat, and hurriedly declined:
"Your Excellency cannot do that. First, you two are elders, and second, your official rank is lower than yours. You should take this seat!"

Liu Bei's behavior was naturally to play hard to get, and after refusing twice, he sat down.

When Zhou Yu saw this, he once again thought to himself that Liu Bei appeared to be kind, but was actually very cunning.

It seems to be just a position, but in fact this main position represents the right to speak.

Liu Bei did this not to give up any position, but to make Sun Ce recognize his right to speak.

Now that this position has been secured, the status of the three families has also been determined.

Liu Bei is the main one, with Sun Ce and Lu Bu as the assistants!
It can be said that from the beginning to now, everything Liu Bei did was meaningful!
Thinking of this, Zhou Yu's heart sank. It seemed that Liu Bei was much more difficult to deal with than Lu Bu!

While he was thinking about this, the three people over there exchanged a few pleasantries and then got down to business.

In order to welcome Sun Ce, Liu Bei specially prepared a banquet.

However, the conditions in the army were definitely not as good as those in the city, and many of the dishes served were nothing more than roast chicken, meat sauce, dried vegetable soup, wheat cakes, etc.

Although it looks simple, it is a rare delicacy in this era.

Sun Ce came on the road in a hurry, and when he saw the wine and meat, he was naturally salivating. Unfortunately, according to the rules of that era, the host had to say a few more words before the banquet began.

Liu Bei raised his cup and said with a smile:

"Although we are here today for state affairs, we are also here for pleasure. Especially seeing Sun Lang here, I am very happy. I dare to ask you to drink this cup to the full!"

As soon as he raised his glass, Sun Ce and Lu Bu raised their glasses at the same time.

At this time, in addition to the three of them, there was Zhou Yu, of course, Liu Bei had Zhang Fei and Chen Dao, Lu Bu brought Hou Cheng and Song Xian, and Sun Ce brought Chen Wu and Jiang Qin.

The three of them were the main ones, and the rest were just there to keep company. When they heard the event, they all raised their glasses to celebrate.

After finishing his drink, Liu Bei raised his glass again and said:
"Logically speaking, you are of low moral character and position, so you shouldn't be in charge of important matters."

"But today we are here for the country, so we should not distinguish between first and last, so I am standing here with audacity."

"To thank you two for letting me go, I'll have a drink myself!"

Seeing this, Sun Ce and Lu Bu naturally couldn't let Liu Bei drink alone, so they raised their glasses and drank another glass.

After drinking two cups of this, I was able to relieve a lot of the heat.

Then Liu Bei raised his glass again and said:
"This cup is not for anything else, I just hope that our three families can work together to conquer this city!"

After saying this, Liu Bei drank the wine in one gulp.

When everyone saw this, they all followed suit and drank the wine.

After these three cups were drunk, the banquet officially began.

Everyone was alone, and no one cared about being polite, so they all started eating and drinking. Liu Bei presided over the banquet, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Only Lu Bu was addicted to wine and women, and was not very interested in these wine and meat. He raised his glass and sighed:

"Although the party is wonderful, it's a pity that there is no place to have fun!"

When Liu Bei heard this, he knew that Lu Bu wanted to watch some entertainment activities, and immediately shook his head and said:

"Where can you find entertainment in the army now? When we capture Shouchun tomorrow, we will have fun there!"

He wanted to encourage Lu Bu, but when Lu Bu heard it, he sighed again:
"But what should we do if the enemy does not fight?"

As he said this, he glanced at the handsome guy Zhou Yu and said:
"Speaking of which, I saw this person beside Bo Fu who looked extraordinary. Who is he?"

Seeing this, Sun Ce raised his cup and said with a smile:

"Wen Hou doesn't know, this is my childhood friend, Zhou Yu, Duke of Zhou!"

"Oh?"

When Lu Bu heard this, he became interested:
"Could it be that Zhou Lang in 'If the song is wrong, Zhou Lang will look back'?"

In fact, Zhou Yu was not an unknown person. His great-grandfather Zhou Jing and his uncle Zhou Zhong both served as Taiwei, and his father Zhou Yi served as the magistrate of Luoyang. His family background was extraordinary.

In addition, this young man is handsome and proficient in music, so he has become famous in Jiangdong at a young age.

Seeing Lu Bu talking about those rumors about himself, Zhou Yu couldn't help but smile modestly and said:

"I am afraid that this humble reputation will tarnish the ears of Lord Wen!"

"Where are you talking?"

When Lu Bu heard this, he grinned and said:

"I have heard of Zhou Lang's handsomeness for a long time. I was wondering what kind of handsome man he was to have such a reputation."

"Today, I see that Gongjin is so beautiful!"

"Even if there is no music in the army today, can you please show us your skills, Gongjin?"

Liu Bei also nodded and smiled:
"I have also heard of Gongjin's name. If you can show us your skills, we will be all ears."

Seeing the two of them like this, Sun Ce also laughed and looked at Zhou Yu and said:
"How about Gongjin try singing a song?"

If it were an ordinary day, Zhou Yu might really show off his skills.

But now he knew that Liu Bei and Lu Bu had their own thoughts. Now was the chance, the time to test them. How could he let it go? He immediately stood up and said:

"Even if Marquis Wen and the envoy are interested, I shouldn't spoil their fun."

"But I came here in a hurry and didn't bring any musical instruments."

"If you two really want to do this, it won't be too late to show off your ugliness after we capture Shouchun tomorrow!"

"I just heard that the enemy army did not fight. Our army has just arrived and we don't know why. I dare to ask Lord Wen to explain it in detail so that we can understand it!"

Seeing that he was unwilling to play, Lü Bu was very unhappy. After hearing this, he complained:

"Why should we elaborate on this? It's just that Ji Ling is timid and doesn't dare to leave the city!"

As he spoke, he described the battle situation of the past few days.

It turned out that after Ji Ling was defeated that day, Lu Bu asked for a fight several more times, but unfortunately Ji Ling refused.

Seeing that there were still 20,000 soldiers in the city, they naturally could not attack by force and could only wait outside the city.

When Zhou Yu heard this, he was immediately surprised.

They originally thought that Ji Ling had only about ten thousand people in Shouchun, so it was normal for him to hold his ground against the 20,000-strong coalition army.

I didn’t expect that Ji Ling still had 20,000 soldiers under his command!
It should be noted that Shouchun is the largest city in Huainan. The city wall is nearly four zhang high and is surrounded by a moat. One side of the wall is three or four miles wide.

For a city as big as this, guarding only 20,000 soldiers and horses, you can't even think of storming it without 80,000 or 90,000 men!

So the difficulty of capturing Shouchun is several times greater than that of Hefei?
For a moment, Zhou Yu secretly looked at Sun Ce.

The smile on Sun Ce's face also froze.

How could things be like this?

It should be known that they went north because they saw that Liu and Lu were powerful.

But looking at the current situation, it seems that Ji Ling took the initiative to withdraw his troops, not because Liu Bei's advance was too fierce!
Thinking of this, Zhou Yu couldn't help but said in a deep voice:

"Shouchun is such a big city, and the enemy is defending it. How can we take it?"

Seeing Zhou Yu like this, Lu Bu couldn't help but be stunned. So you came here without knowing anything about the situation?

Only Liu Bei calmly raised his glass and said with a smile:
"That's why we gathered here just now, waiting for Bofu to lead his army here!"

"Fortunately, Bo Fu has arrived now. With the troops of our three families, even though Shouchun City is big, we are not afraid of it!"

After he finished saying this, Sun Ce held the wine glass tightly, looking at Liu Bei's smile, his heart sank.

If they hadn't formulated a strategy early on, they would have been cheated this time!

Judging from Liu Bei's appearance, he knew their situation and set up a trap here specially!

It would have been fine if they hadn't come, but now that they have arrived, it is exactly what Liu Bei wants.

But this time their trip north was not Liu Bei's plan, so it was difficult for him to speak up.

Sun Ce was in a difficult position to speak, so Zhou Yu took advantage of the situation and said in a deep voice:
"If you follow what the envoy said, and the three families march together, how will they distribute the resources after they capture Shouchun?"

The current situation is different from what they imagined, so the response strategy must naturally change.

Since Liu Bei cannot take the city independently, they can gain some benefits from Shouchun.

But it would have been better if he hadn't said this. As soon as he said this, Lu Bu laughed and said:
"Don't worry, Gongjin. I have already discussed this matter with Xuande."

"We know that you are heading north this time because you were blocked in Hefei."

"So we are thinking, after we take the city this time, we will not want this city anymore, we only want the money and food in the city, and we will hand the city over to Xuande, and then we will go south to help you take Hefei!"

"As for Hefei, we don't want the city or the food. Everything we get will belong to you."

He spoke these words with great righteousness, as if he and Liu Bei had suffered losses.

When Zhou Yu heard this, his eyebrows knitted together:
"You two want to help our army take Hefei?"

He had thought of many possibilities, but he never expected that Liu Bei and Lu Bu would join forces and offer to help them take Hefei!

It’s okay if it’s Lu Bu, but why would Liu Bei be like this?

Could it be that the strategy Qin Zhen set for Liu Bei was to seize half of Jiujiang?

Of course this is impossible!

Taking only half of Jiujiang is neither in the interests of Liu Bei's army nor in line with Qin Zhen's style!
There are only two possibilities for such an abnormal situation. The first is that his feeling was wrong and Qin Zhen was not under Liu Bei's command. The second is that Qin Zhen's plot was far bigger than they expected!
Obviously the latter is more likely!
So, what exactly does Liu Bei’s army want to do now?
Such changes made Zhou Yu feel nervous. It seemed that the situation in Huainan was much more complicated than he had imagined!
Just like Yuan Huan, at this moment, Zhou Yu felt that the situation was instantly out of his control!

An ominous premonition came over him.

(End of this chapter)