Chapter 21: The Great Chaos of Yanzhou

  Three days later.

  "Report!" In the council hall of Ren City, a scout rushed in with urgent footsteps, running hastily towards the interior while stumbling and staggering.

  Li Dian was originally looking at military books on his desk, but suddenly heard this voice, and subconsciously had a strange expression.

  "What's all the fuss about!"

  The scout hastily knelt down, crying out: "General... urgent military news has arrived from all over the place. Zhang Miao of Chenliu County has defected to Lü Bu. Lü Bu has divided his troops into three routes and in just three days, he has successively captured Wuyan City and Lucheng County. The governors of various counties have all responded to Zhang Miao's call. This time, Lü Bu's army is even more powerful, with added strength. They are now besieging the city of Rencheng, fiercely attacking the city..."

  "What?!"

  With a "pa" sound, the book in his hand was suddenly thrown to the ground. Li Dian couldn't help but rage: "How is this possible! The lord has said it before! Lü Bu can't possibly come and attack!"

  All that could be seen was that the messenger's face turned increasingly bitter, and he smiled miserably: "General... This time Lü Bu himself is directing the battle outside the city... Because of the sudden turn of events, we defenders were completely unprepared... I fear that in another hour... The city gates will be breached..."

  His heart sank to the bottom, Li Dian sat on the ground in a daze, shaking his head stupidly: "It's impossible, Ren City can't be breached so easily by him..."

  "General! The lord has taken all the troops from Yanzhou to attack Xuzhou, and now there are less than 2,000 soldiers left in Rencheng... The enemy's forces are too strong!"

  Suddenly, a stern expression flashed across Li Dian's face, and he roared: "I don't care about the enemy army, but as the defender of Ren City, I have received great kindness from my lord. Even if I die, I will share life and death with Ren City..."

  On the other side, the city government of Kuaiji.

  Xun Yu didn't know why, but he felt a sense of unease in his heart, pacing back and forth in the mansion, with a bad premonition slowly closing in.

  "What's going on here?" At this moment, a lean and thin scholar with an age of about fifty years old walked into the government office.

  Upon seeing this person, Xun Yu's eyebrows furrowed even more, and he shook his head saying: "Brother Zhongde doesn't know, today my mood is extremely uneasy, I fear that some bad thing will befall us..."

  That old scholar heard this, but couldn't help shaking his head and laughing: "The master has ordered you, Wen Ruo, to manage Yangzhou with me, Cheng Yu. At present, our main task is to manage the various counties of Yangzhou well, not to worry about the master's great army."

  It is clear that this old scholar was Cheng Yu and Cheng Zhongde.

  At this moment, Cheng Yu mistakenly thought that Xun Yu was worried about Cao Cao's army attacking Xuzhou, so he comforted him.

  Knitting his brow and shaking his head, Xun Yu said: "No, I'm not worried about this matter, but rather worried about this Yong Province..."

  "Yanzhou?" Cheng Yu asked, taken aback for a moment.

  Xun Yu nodded again, somewhat hesitant, but still said: "This time, Lord Cao's attack on Xuzhou is a heaven-sent opportunity that makes sense, but I keep thinking of what Cao Xin said..."

  "Cao Xin?" At this point, Cheng Yu's face suddenly became somewhat strange. Although he didn't know what Cao Xin had said, he still had some impression of the man's strategy.

  After all, the city of Ren was taken without bloodshed, and he was also the first to anticipate that Cao would be harmed. Such wisdom came from an eighteen-year-old youth, which made Cheng Yu look at him with admiration.

  "So this..."

  Just as Cheng Yu was about to ask, a small official's respectful voice came from outside the mansion.

  Chenliu Governor Zhang Miao sent an envoy with a letter.

  Xun Yu was startled and immediately walked over, seemingly nervous, asking the other person, "At this time... why would the governor of Chenliu have a letter coming here? Do you know who the messenger is?"

  The little official said: "The envoy who came claimed to be Liu Yue, and now he has left without saying goodbye."

  "Is it Liu Yue?" After a moment of stunned silence, he took over a letter from the small official's hand, but his mouth was muttering: "Why did you leave in such a hurry without saying goodbye?"

  Cheng Yu also found it strange and said, "Liu Xun has always been known for his benevolence and virtue. In the past, he was always courteous and polite when coming or going. Why is he so impatient now?"

  Xun Yu suddenly felt a sense of strangeness in his heart and immediately opened the envelope.

  But it was just a moment of ten years in the past... Xun Yu's face became increasingly ugly.

  He crumpled the envelope into a ball, and on Xun Yu's seemingly calm face, a blue vein burst out, and he muttered in his mouth: "Indeed... was still deceived by Cao Xin..."

  At this moment, Cheng Yu also felt something and walked to the front with a strange expression, asking: "Wen Ruo, what do you mean by this?"

  Xun Yu smiled wryly and said, "Feng Xiao told me that when Cao Xin returned from Xuzhou, he immediately saw the lord and learned that the lord was going to attack Xuzhou. Cao Xin repeatedly advised the lord not to attack Xuzhou... He said..."

  "What did he... say?"

  Xun Yu let out another bitter laugh and continued, "Cao Xin said at the time... If our lord leads the army of Yan Province to attack Xuzhou, not only will it be difficult to capture Xuzhou, but even Yan Province will be coveted by the enemy... Cao Xin also said that Chenliu's Zhang Miao has long had a heart of rebellion and is watching from the sidelines with Lü Bu. This time, Zhang Miao will definitely join forces with Lü Bu to launch a major attack on Yan Province. At that time... the military strength of various places in Yan Province will be empty, and those timid officials of the counties will surely surrender to Lü Bu one after another, then Yan Province will surely fall into great chaos..."

  "This is impossible. Lü Bu has always been brave but lacking in strategy, hesitant and indecisive. How could he have launched such a decisive attack on Yan Province this time?"

  Xun Yu sighed and said, "Alas, I and Feng Xiao also thought so, even Lord Cao had determined as much. But it seems that Cao Xin already knew that Lü Bu had a noble assistant by his side... We were all wrong this time."

  "Who is helping?"

  "Adviser Chen Gong... said in the letter..." Xun Yu handed over the crumpled letter to Cheng Yu, saying: "Zhang Chao's letter says that it was Chen Gong who suggested that Lü Bu lead his troops into Yanzhou... Chen Gong said that this time Cao Gong's attack on Xuzhou will be difficult, so Lü Bu will bring three external states' iron cavalry to assist Cao Gong and jointly conquer Tao Qian... Haha, it's simply ridiculous."

  At the same time, Cheng Yu's face turned solemn and he indignantly said: "That sounds good, but it's clear that you want to take advantage of Xuzhou's empty military strength and forcefully occupy Xuzhou..."

  "Everything has been said by Cao Xing... Even we who consider ourselves strategists could never have imagined..."

  Compared with the reaction of various counties in Yanzhou at this time, it is even more shocking.

  At this moment, Lü Bu's army is spreading across the entire Yanzhou territory at a speed as swift as lightning and as fierce as a raging fire.

  And just like Yangyi County at this moment, it is also surging with undercurrents.

  "What? General Zhao was killed by Cao Xin?"

  Under the dim light, a man in black robes stood before a middle-aged general, seemingly recounting something.

  But in the end, the general was shocked again and again.

  "Yes, General, I just barely escaped with my life from that Cao Xing's army. I found out that Cao Xing is preparing to launch a surprise attack on Yangyi County..."

  Under the black robe, a familiar face appeared at this moment, but it was also a tall and thin young man. Compared to the elf before, there were a few more gloomy colors at this moment.

  It was indeed Liu Er.