Chapter Twenty-Four: Forcing You to Surrender

  Yuan Shao's power is great, and unifying the world seems within sight.

  Yan Liang, as a general, actually dared to betray Yuan Shao, this is simply crazy.

  What shocked Kuai Yue even more was that a strategist like Xu You would also go crazy with Yan Liang.

  "What kind of charm does this Yan Liang have that can make Xu Ziyuan follow him?" Kuai Yue was puzzled in his heart and couldn't figure it out.

  Seeing Kuai Yue's shocked and frightened appearance, Yan Liang and Xu You exchanged a glance and secretly smiled.

  "Liu Zhenjun neither wants to surrender to Cao Cao nor submit to Yuan Shao's tyranny. It seems that Liu Zhenjun and our general are facing the same situation. If so, why don't our two families join hands, unite against the strong enemy in the north, and together safeguard the peace of Jingzhou?"

  After beating around the bush for half a day, Xu You finally spoke out his true intention.

  Kuai Yue suddenly realized.

  "This Yan Liang originally wanted to emulate Zhang Yi of old, no wonder he would attack Xinye under the name of unity... He must be trying to show off his abilities to Lord Liu..."

  Kuai Yue was a clever man and soon figured out Yan Liang's motive for deploying his troops.

  The corners of his mouth slightly rose, and a hint of cold smile flashed across, stroking his beard: "So General Yan is seeking something from my master, since he's seeking something from someone, he should show some sincerity. What General Yan did earlier doesn't seem like the attitude of someone who's seeking something."

  Kuai Yue knew that Yan Liang did not have Yuan Shao's backing, and was leading a lone army to Jingzhou, so his tone suddenly became arrogant.

  Bang!

  Yan Liang's wine cup was heavily placed on the table, his sword-like eyebrows slightly furrowed, and a fierce anger suddenly appeared.

  Kuai Yue's body trembled slightly, and a look of tension flashed across his face.

  Yan Liang's eyes were as sharp as a blade, staring fixedly at Kuai Yue. He said coldly: "Mr. Kuai, you need to understand the situation clearly. We came here to form an alliance with Liu Jing Sheng, not to surrender to him."

  Every word was like a knife, full of unquestionable power, making Kuai Yue listen with cold sweat on his back.

  "He's clearly at a disadvantage, yet he still dares to be so arrogant. Hmph, he's obviously just pretending to be strong, I won't be intimidated by him."

  Under pressure, Kuai Yue strengthened his heart and calmly said: "Even so, if my master doesn't plan to form an alliance with the general, what then?"

  Kuai Yue's tone also became tougher, he believed that Yan Liang did not dare to turn against him. Although Yan Liang had won a battle, he still had less than 10,000 soldiers and only controlled the county of Xin Ye. For Liu Biao, who had an army of 100,000 armored soldiers, destroying Yan Liang might require some effort, but it was absolutely not a problem.

  Yan Liang was secretly laughing, Kuai Yue's change in attitude was all within his expectations.

  He slowly said: "If Liu Jing Sheng does not want to cooperate with Yan Mou, then Yan Mou will take Xin Ye as a gift and surrender to Cao Cao."

  As soon as these words came out, Kuai Yue's expression changed greatly, and his previous arrogance disappeared instantly.

  He gazed at Yan Liang in astonishment, his face revealing an awkward expression, and he couldn't help but admit that the other's move was really too vicious.

  At present, Wan City has been lost, and Xinye is the last line of defense for Xiangyang. If Yan Liang surrenders Xinye to Cao, then Xiangyang will be directly exposed to the blade of the Cao army.

  If Xincheng is lost, then Xiangyang cannot be defended, and if Xiangyang is not defended, then Jingzhou will be hard to preserve.

  Yan Liang and Xu You exchanged a glance, with a hint of sly smile flashing in their eyes, somewhat like "sharing the joy of removing each other's hats".

  "Just now, Kuō Mǒu was just joking with the general, how could he take it seriously? If we can form an alliance with the general, our master would be overjoyed." Kuō Yuè immediately put down his guard and forced a smile.

  His words were tantamount to showing weakness to Yan Liang.

  Xu You smiled and said, "You're overestimating yourself, aren't you? My general is of course aware that you were just joking. With my general protecting Xiangyang for Governor Liu, repelling the strong enemy in the north, Governor Liu can rest assured and boldly quell the internal unrest and deal with the invasion of the Sun family from Jiangdong. It seems that Governor Liu has gained a great advantage, doesn't it, Brother Yu?"

  "Yes, Brother Ziyuan is right."

  He smiled wryly in response, but his heart was filled with bitter resentment.

  Now that things have come to this, apart from persuading Liu Biao to join forces with Yan Liang and letting Yan Liang station himself at Xin Ye, there is no other way out. Who would have thought that he would be so careless as to lose the strategic location of Xin Ye?

  Yan Liang saw that Kuai Yue was intimidated, so he let him quickly write a letter to Liu Biao, expressing his "sincerity" in forming an alliance, and the two sides could soon conclude a treaty.

  Kuai Yue had no choice but to write a letter to Liu Biao, explaining the pros and cons, and advising him to agree to the alliance.

  As soon as he received the letter, Yan Liang politely sent Kuai Yue down to rest, but opened his letter and took a look at it first.

  The letter roughly stated that Xin Ye had fallen and in order to preserve Jingzhou, an alliance with Yan Liang was necessary, which was more or less what Yan Liang had hoped for.

  However, when Yan Liang saw the part about Shi Xin's defeat in the letter, a cold smile spread from the corner of his mouth, and he muttered: "This Kuai Yue, the level of shirking responsibility is indeed good, pushed well, right into my pocket..."

  In the afternoon, Yan Liang took the letter from Kuai Yue and went to visit his other captive.

  The locked door of the house opened, and Wen Pin, with a gloomy expression, sat there with a heavy face.

  Yan Liang waved his hand and the soldiers hastily brought in the prepared wine and dishes.

  Wen Ping didn't even move his chopsticks, and with his current mood, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as "food without flavor".

  "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in the military, and being defeated by Yan Mou is not a shameful thing. Zhong Ye, why do you look so worried and troubled?"

  Yan Liang poured a cup of wine and placed it in front of Wen Ping.

  Wen Ping took a look and still had a gloomy face, unmoved.

  Yan Liang didn't think it was strange, and drank a cup himself, sighing: "Although Yan Mou is in Hebei, he has long heard of Wen Zhongye's great name. In fact, the battle of Xin Ye, if not for Kuai Yue's interference, you would have been in full command, and the outcome might still be uncertain."

  Defeated and captured, Wen Ping's dignity was completely shattered by Yan Liang. Now Yan Liang's words have restored his dignity once again.

  Moreover, Yan Liang quietly shifted the responsibility for the failure onto Kuai Yue's shoulders.

  Wen Ping's gloomy expression eased a bit, as if Yan Liang's words struck a chord in him.

  He gritted his teeth and downed the cup of wine in one gulp, only to shake his head and let out a sigh.

  Yan Liang could see that his words had indeed struck a sore spot, and at this moment, Wen Ping's heart was certainly filled with resentment towards Kuai Yue.

  "For now, I will form an alliance with Liu Jing and station myself in Xinye, to resist Cao Cao in the north. My army is currently short of a capable general who is familiar with Jing Province. You, Zhongyue, are also a man of great passion and talent; rather than being underutilized under Liu Jing's command, why not surrender to me?"

  Yan Liang finally extended an olive branch to Wen Ping.

  Wen Ping's military ability is top-notch, and his governance skills are not weak either. Moreover, he is from Nanyang, so recruiting such an excellent general will be of great help to Yan Liang in stabilizing his position in Jingzhou.

  Moreover, Wen Ping's family was in Xinye, and if Wen Ping surrendered to him, he would not have to worry about his family being troubled by Liu Biao.

  At present, he has only one hurdle to overcome, which is to abandon Liu Bei psychologically.

  Wen Pin's expression changed, seemingly moved by Yan Liang's invitation, but soon showed hesitation.

  "The General's kindness, Wen Pin feels deeply honored, but Liu Gong treated me with great favor, and Wen Pin truly cannot bear to abandon him." Wen Pin said helplessly.

  Yan Liang snorted: "If Liu Jing Sheng really treated you well, why wouldn't he trust you with military power and instead send Kuai Yue, a trusted aide, to restrain and monitor you?"

  "This......" Wen Ping's words stuck in his throat, and for a moment he was speechless.

  When the time was ripe, Yan Liang took out the letter from Kuai Yue and handed it to Wen Ping: "This is a letter from Kuai Yue to Liu Jing Sheng. You take a good look at what he says about you in the letter."

  Wen Ping was taken aback for a moment, then took over the book and looked at it.

  As he looked on, his originally helpless expression suddenly turned into a face full of anger.

  The anger in his chest was burning, and the injustice on his face surged forward as Wen Pin gritted his teeth and cursed: "Kuai Yue you scoundrel, how dare you confuse right and wrong, shirk responsibility, really despicable!"