Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Immediately, Sun Ce held up the head, wrapped in cloth, in his hand. Leaving behind the corpses scattered on the ground, he led his troops away in haste under the cover of night.

After Sun Ce had walked back about half a mile, by a stone staircase beside the plank road, two armored soldiers were guarding a disheveled man, bound tightly.

The man looked up as Sun Ce approached. It was Wei Yan.

Seeing Sun Ce carrying a head wrapped in cloth, Wei Yan immediately realized what had happened and quickly spoke.

“General Sun, I, Wei Yan, have not deceived you in any way. Please release me.”

Sun Ce walked up to Wei Yan and raised the Ancient Tipped Saber in his hand, startling Wei Yan, whose expression changed slightly.

The next moment, the Ancient Tipped Saber came down, but only cut the ropes binding Wei Yan, allowing Wei Yan’s extremely tense body to completely relax.

Previously, Wei Yan had only brought a dozen trusted followers. After breaking away from Liu Biao's burden, their travel speed was naturally incomparable to Liu Biao's.

Moreover, after Wei Yan initially escaped into the dense forest, he considered his unfamiliarity with the topography of Ba Commandery. Fleeing into uninhabited areas would likely result in the depletion of food and water before he could even leave the continuous mountains.

Therefore, Wei Yan circled around and returned to the plank road, unexpectedly moving ahead of Liu Biao and encountering Sun Ce.

Due to the Jingzhou soldiers' attire of Wei Yan and his men, Sun Ce mistook them for scouts sent by Liu Biao to explore the way ahead and directly attacked them.

Although Wei Yan was also exceptionally brave, he had been fleeing for a day and a night, and his strength was exhausted. He was also surrounded by only a dozen loyal guards. In an instant, many of his trusted followers were killed on the spot, and Wei Yan was subdued by Sun Ce after less than ten exchanges.

Subsequently, Wei Yan naturally revealed the ambush of the Jingzhou army and its near total annihilation, claiming to be a Jingzhou general who had侥幸escaped.

It was because of this that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu became fully aware of Liu Yan's scheme to frame Liu Biao, “willing to sacrifice his concubine and lose his son.”

Sun Ce had also promised Wei Yan that as long as he truthfully revealed everything he knew, he would spare his life…

Having narrowly escaped death, Wei Yan got up and stretched his stiff muscles and bones, then cupped his fist and said, “General Sun is truly a man of his word. I presume General Sun's trip has been successful in avenging his great hatred.”

“Since I said I would spare your life, I, Ce, will not be untrustworthy. You may leave,” Sun Ce waved his hand and said.

“Thank you, General Sun!”

Wei Yan said, but his heart couldn’t help but become active.

Coming from a poor background, Wei Yan had spared no effort to climb up the ranks. After struggling for many years, he finally became a small city gatekeeper, and then seized the opportunity to offer a clever plan to Liu Biao, all in order to continue climbing higher.

However, with his former lord now held in Sun Ce's hand, Wei Yan was extremely confused about where to go in the future.

With Liu Biao's death and the fall of Jingzhou, everything Wei Yan had worked for in the past vanished like smoke, undoubtedly returning him to the very beginning.

However, looking at Sun Ce, who displayed such straightforwardness and heroism, Wei Yan suddenly saw a great opportunity.

At this moment, even Wei Yan vaguely sensed the implication of鹬蚌相争, with Liu Bei undoubtedly being the ultimate beneficiary.

Joining Liu Bei at this moment seemed to be an opportune time.

If he could obtain Sun Ce's recommendation, coupled with Wei Yan's familiarity with the Jingbei region, he would surely be valued by Liu Bei.

With this thought in mind, Wei Yan no longer hesitated, slightly tidied his disheveled hair, and then spoke to Sun Ce.

“I have long heard of Imperial Uncle Liu's oath to the Han Dynasty, and I have long admired Imperial Uncle Liu, regretting that I could not join Imperial Uncle Liu's command earlier to serve and assist Imperial Uncle Liu in restoring the Han Dynasty.”

“It's just that I previously received the俸禄of Liu Jingzhou, and I dared not do anything to betray him. Now, I risked my life to open a path for Liu Jingzhou to break through, which can be considered fulfilling my loyalty and righteousness. I originally intended to go east to join Imperial Uncle Liu.”

“It is a coincidence to meet General Sun here. Could it be that there is a destiny in the冥冥之中? I wonder if General Sun is willing to recommend me to Imperial Uncle Liu's command. I, Yan, will thank you and repay your kindness in the future.”

Wei Yan spoke sincerely, causing Sun Ce's expression to change slightly.

More importantly, Wei Yan bore a seven or eight resemblance to Guan Yu in appearance, similarly having a face like重枣and lips like涂脂.

Only his eyes were very different. Unlike Guan Yu's often squinting, majestic phoenix eyes, Wei Yan's eyes drooped at the corners, making him appear more cunning.

Besides that, Wei Yan did not have Guan Yu's five flowing long beards on his chest, only a short beard.

However, this was enough to surprise Sun Ce.

At first sight, Sun Ce thought that Wei Yan was a distant relative or brother of Guan Yu, which is why he deliberately held back and did not harm Wei Yan's life.

Now, with Wei Yan's sincere request, looking at the face that was quite similar to Guan Yu's, Sun Ce couldn't help but feel a sense of goodwill and closeness.

Although Sun Ce did not have much contact with Guan Yu, for the sake of Li Ji, Guan Yu also regarded Sun Ce as a close junior.

Guan Yu, who was immersed in 《春秋》, especially valued etiquette. During festivals, he never lacked Sun Ce's share of gifts for his junior, which naturally made Sun Ce feel close to and respect Guan Yu.

Only Zhou Yu frowned slightly and secretly tugged at Sun Ce's sleeve, intending to stop Sun Ce, but Sun Ce had already agreed.

Afterwards, Sun Ce allowed Wei Yan to leave together, taking the opportunity to distance himself from Wei Yan before asking.

“Gongjin secretly reminded me just now, could it be that you are worried that Wei Yan is a spy?”

Zhou Yu shook his head and said in a low voice.

“Wei Yan, even when exhausted, can exchange a few moves with Bo Fu, which is by no means comparable to ordinary people. After being well-fed, he is probably only slightly inferior to Bo Fu. It is unlikely that such a person would be a spy.”

“I also think so. If such a brave warrior is used by the lord, he will surely add a few points to the lord's great cause.”

When Sun Ce said these words, his eyes seemed to shine.

“It's just…”

Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, but still reminded him. “Even though Wei Yan's appearance is somewhat similar to that of the Marquis of Hanshou, his temperament seems to be very different.”

“Now that Liu Biao's head is still in Bo Fu's hand, Wei Yan does not think of avenging his lord, nor does his face show any anger, and even congratulates Bo Fu for avenging his father, which shows that he may be a薄凉反覆person.”

“Moreover, with the permission of the 国士侯, I was fortunate enough to borrow and read a few volumes of books related to physiognomy at the 国士侯府. Just now, I observed for a while and found that Wei Yan has反骨in the back of his head. Over time, he may develop rebellious intentions.”

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce couldn't help but hesitate.

Sun Ce had always trusted Zhou Yu's words and knew that Zhou Yu was by no means someone who spoke nonsense.

(End of this chapter)