Liu Bei's Ambition!

  "Despicable method..."

  Liu Bei furrowed his brow, glanced at Liu Xuan, and quietly waited for Liu Xuan to continue.

  Liu Xuan hesitated for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words. After a brief pause, he looked straight at Liu Bei and said in a low voice: "Disrupt the main army..."

  "Disrupt the great army?" Liu Bei was perplexed and asked: "Xuan'er, what does it mean?"

  "Divide the army into small groups and send them to Jingchu to eliminate bandits, occupy their stronghold, and wait for the opportunity to arrive!" Liu Xuan said slowly with narrowed eyes.

  Liu Bei's eyes stared at Liu Xuan, slowly saying: "Xuan'er, your meaning is to occupy the mountain as king?"

  "Yes indeed..." Liu Xuan nodded and said: "That's exactly what we should do..."

  "Father can dispatch trusted and close subordinates to command the scattered troops stationed in various parts of Xiangyang, intensively training them..." Liu Xuan smiled and said: "In this way, waiting for a future change in Xiangyang, Father can first calmly observe from the sidelines as Liu Biao's two sons contend with each other. After they both suffer injuries, Father can then ascend to a high place and issue a single call, summoning the old troops from various places to gather..."

  "Great things can be expected!"

  It has to be said that Liu Xuan's words were indeed moving, and if things didn't go awry, it was entirely possible for them to develop as he had guessed.

  However, Liu Bei was unexpectedly furious and suddenly shouted: "Shut up, you beast! How dare you utter such disloyal words?"

  "Jing Sheng is my brother, how can I take it away from him?"

  Liu Xuan was stunned... dazed... the depths of his eyes flashing with unbelievable, unthinkable light, looking at Liu Bei's gloomy face, he said softly: "Father... what I said is from the bottom of my heart..."

  "Rebellious son... shut up......" Liu Bei suddenly became furious, abruptly drawing out his double-edged sword, a cold gleam flashing out. Liu Xuan suddenly shivered and hastily knelt down, speaking in a low voice: "Yes, your child was wrong, I hope father will forgive."

  Liu Bei saw Liu Xuan's terrified appearance, his anger slightly subsided, and with a single slash of his double-edged sword, the corner of the table in front of him was severed. Liu Bei coldly said: "You rebellious son, listen well, if you ever utter such treacherous and unrighteous words again, your father will surely behead you, to comfort our ancestors..."

  "Yes!" Liu Xuan hastily replied!

  Liu Bei saw Liu Xuan's sincere appearance and said: "You go out first... Today's words in this room, as a father, I will pretend that I didn't hear them!"

  "Yes." Liu Xuan stood up trembling, slowly backed out of the inner hall, and walked away. As he stepped out of the great hall, a gust of cool wind hit him, and Liu Xuan suddenly shivered violently. In an instant, Liu Xuan discovered that his back was already drenched in cold sweat.

  Liu Xuan turned his head and glanced at the inner hall, secretly thinking: "He can turn his face so quickly, he is indeed a hero." As soon as this thought occurred to him, he couldn't help but laugh at himself, what position did he hold in Liu Xuan's heart after all?

  Son, or is it a tool for competing with each other?

  A faint bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, he let out a soft sigh, and stepped into the gentle breeze, walking away slowly.

  ……

  Inside the hall, Liu Bei had already reined in his previous anger and was now beaming with joy, a smile in his eyes...

  "Xuan'er, don't blame your father for this." Liu Bei said with narrowed eyes: "Your father is also doing this for your own good..."

  "You are intelligent and clever, your achievements will surely surpass those of your father. If you have any stains on your reputation because of this, it's not worth it..."

  Liu Bei curled his lip and thought to himself: "Let the evil person be dealt with by Father." His eyes sparkled as he recalled Liu Xuan's previous words, which greatly moved him.

  "Xuan'er, before you come of age, I will lay a foundation for your future as a gift to celebrate your adulthood..." Liu Bei's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he said in a low voice: "Whoever dares to stand in the way..."

  "No matter who it is, a god blocks and kills a god, a Buddha blocks and kills a Buddha..."

  Then Liu Bei hesitated for a moment and shouted: "Who is it?"

  In a moment, a servant hastily came, with a constrained expression, and respectfully said: "General, what orders do you have for me?"

  "Ah... go and summon Chen to the general's presence." Liu Bei glanced at the slave with a faint gaze, whispering: "Remember, you must secretly bring General Chen here, do not let anyone else know."

  "Huh?" The slave was taken aback and stuttered: "Milady, Second General, Third General, where are they?"

  "Do you want me to repeat it again?" Liu Bei's gaze was gentle, yet seemed to have endless murderous intent spreading around.

  The slave lightly trembled and knelt on the ground, saying: "I deserve to die, I deserve to die..."

  "From now on, don't talk too much, got it?"

  "Yes yes yes."

  Liu Bei nodded: "Go."

  The slave bowed and quickly left...

  Half a month's hard work, Chen arrived at the government office again, but Chen was full of doubts.

  Chen arrived, following the slave from the small door into the inner hall, full of doubts and suspicions. Upon entering, he saw Liu Bei with his eyes closed, cultivating his spirit. Chen hastily knelt down on one knee and said: "I have come to pay my respects to you, milord..."

  "Hmm..."

  Liu Bei slowly opened his eyes and saw Chen Dao, smiling: "Uncle has arrived? Uncle doesn't need to be polite, please get up quickly."

  Chen Dao got up and looked at Liu Bei, puzzled: "Has milord found me for some instructions?"

  "Haha..." Liu Bei smiled and said: "That's right..."

  "Uncle is coming, I have an important task to entrust to you, but I don't know if Uncle can handle it?"

  "A heavy responsibility?" Chen Dao's eyebrows twitched as he listened, looking at the smiling Liu Bei, and then proudly said: "What am I afraid of?"

  "Good!" Liu Bei clapped his hands together and said: "Indeed, heroes emerge in their youth..."

  "Uncle is coming, and he's leaning in close..."

  Chen arrived and listened, then leaned in close to Liu Bei's ear, only to hear him say: "Uncle, after you left, this is what happened..."

  After a moment of silence, Chen Dao's expression turned serious and he said: "Your Excellency... doing this might be a bit too risky. And what about the two generals and the third general?"

  "Uncle, what you're worried about is unreasonable, so I asked you to come here!"

  "My lord..."

  Liu Bei's expression turned serious, and he shouted: "Shouzhi, are you confident or not?"

  Chen's expression changed several times before he gritted his teeth and said: "Your Excellency, I have confidence."

  "So be it! Liu Bei said: "I will entrust this matter to you, Uncle, I hope you won't disappoint my high expectations..."

  "Don't worry about anything else... I'll take care of it..."

  "My lord, I will certainly exhaust all my strength and die after fulfilling my duty..."

  "Alright, alright..."

  The two of them huddled together, whispering to each other until the sun was setting before they secretly left, just as they said: "Hastily came, hastily went!"

  ……

  Chang'an, the current capital of the Great Han Dynasty.

  The general's mansion was solemn and the atmosphere was depressing.

  At this time, in the council hall, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, Li Dian and others knelt down one by one, bowing their heads without speaking.

  Seated in the main seat is the great general of the Han Dynasty, a treacherous hero of his generation, known to later generations as Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Cao.

  Cao Cao's pair of small eyes gazed calmly and unremarkably at the crowd of kneeling generals, his pupils revealing no attempt to conceal the chill emanating from them. The civil and military officials by his side were all silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to speak up to plead for mercy on their behalf.

  After a long time, Cao Cao slowly spoke: "Miaocai, Yuanrang, Mancheng! Do you know your crimes?"

  "My lord, we know our fault!" The crowd of Xiahou Yuan's generals secretly let out a sigh of relief. Since Cao Cao had spoken up to ask, things weren't as bad as they could be. The angrier Cao Cao was, the less he would speak, just giving you a cold glance that made your heart feel uneasy.

  Just like now, Cao Cao is visibly furious but has a calm and composed demeanor. Those who are familiar with Cao Cao's personality clearly understand that he is on the verge of erupting.

  "Now that you know your crime, I'll let you speak, where is your guilt?"

  "In the end, I rashly led troops out and fell into Zhang Fei's trap! I almost lost my life, if not for Master Wenhe and Miao Cai..."

  "Hmph, is that all?" Cao Cao coldly shouted, his voice icy.

  Xiahou Dun did not dare to look straight into Cao Cao's eyes, and stuttered: "Still... there is also the reason for my mistake, which ruined the great general's plan in its infancy. I am really worthy of death..."

  "Hum, knowing is good enough. Yuan Rang, I will demote you to deputy general and deduct your salary for a year. Can you accept this?"

  "I'll obey, I'll obey..." Xiahou Dun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and replied hastily.

  The civil and military officials present could not help but smile, but after a cold glance from Cao Cao, they all pretended to be serious.

  "Your cleverness saved Yuan Reng, and also safely withdrew the army from Manchester. This is a great achievement, but in fact, there was no merit to return with. The merits and demerits cancel each other out, can you accept this?"

  "I will obey." Xiahou Yuan replied in a deep voice.

  Cao Cao nodded slightly, his gaze turned to the rear generals, suddenly stood up, pointing at the generals and said: "You people, can't even beat Liu Bei's ragtag army. I demote you three ranks, deduct your salary for a year! Are you convinced?"

  The crowd listened and couldn't help but feel convinced. After finishing speaking, however, they felt a chill run down their backs, and before they knew it, their backs were drenched in cold sweat.

  Cao Cao snorted coldly and asked in a low voice: "Is it true that Lu Zhao has defected to the enemy?"

  "Report to the General, this matter is indeed true..." Xiahou Yuan's eyes swept over with a hint of gloom, his voice filled with shame: "This subordinate misjudged someone, I hope the General will punish me..."

  "Remember this lesson for now, if you make the same mistake again next time, I will definitely not let you off lightly..."

  "Ah."

  Cao Cao continued: "Pass on the order to comfort and reassure Lu Zhao's family, saying that Lu Zhao died in battle for the country, a heroic death... he is an example for my three armies..."

  As soon as Cao Cao spoke, the generals were stunned. Especially Xiahou Dun, who was about to glare and shout in anger, but was held back by Xiahou Yuan just in time, shaking his head slightly, and Xiahou Dun gave up.

  The next moment, all the civil officials led by Xun Yu bowed to Cao Cao and said in unison: "General, you are brilliant..."