Chapter 115: A letter made Huang Zhong useless? Liu Biao: No one with the surname Huang can be trusted!

Have you already prepared a plan?

Making Huang Zhong useless?

It seems that our military advisor Xiao already knew Huang Zhong's strength before the troops were dispatched?
He also concluded that Huang Zhong was the biggest obstacle for him to capture Jiangling?
So he had already planned a clever plan to deal with Huang Zhong in advance?
Countless conjectures flashed through Liu Bei's mind, but they finally converged into one idea:
The military advisor is still far-sighted...

After sighing in his heart, Liu Bei happily asked:
"I wonder if the military advisor has any good plan to make Huang Zhong useless?"

Everyone pricked up their ears and looked at Xiao Fang with curiosity.

"Aliang, did you bring the letter from Mr. Huang?"

Xiao Fang did not answer, but instead extended his hand to Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang was stunned at first, then he remembered something and hurriedly took out a letter and put it in Xiao Fang's hand.

"My lord, this is a letter that Fang asked Huang Gong to write to Huang Zhong before he left Xiangyang."

"My lord, you can shoot this book into Jiangling and give it to Huang Zhong."

As he spoke, Xiao Fang handed the letter back to Liu Bei.

"A letter from Mr. Huang?"

Liu Bei looked suspicious and opened the letter.

Huang Chengyan and Huang Zhong are both descendants of the Huang family. In terms of seniority, Huang Chengyan has to call Huang Zhong his cousin.

However, Huang Zhong was from a side branch, while Huang Chengyan was from the main branch of the Huang family. They lived in different places and did not have much contact with each other.

But Huang Chengyan still knew Huang Zhong after all, and they had met several times in their life.

The content of this letter was that Huang Chengyan, in the capacity of his cousin, was persuading Huang Zhong to surrender to him.

He also claimed that Xiao Fang had the ability to bring people back to health and could cure his son Huang Xu.

Liu Bei suddenly understood.

Xiao Fang's strategy for dealing with Huang Zhong was to recruit this veteran and make him one of his own!

After all, there is a precedent of persuading Wen Pin to surrender, so persuading Huang Zhong to surrender is not impossible.

The key point is, how did Xiao Fang know Huang Zhong so well that he even knew that he had a sick son?

This is a bit incredible, isn't it?

Liu Bei was secretly amazed and looked at Huang Chengyan's letter again. Suddenly, he found some flaws.

The reason why Wen Pin surrendered was because Liu Biao had implemented a strategy of alienation before, which made him suspicious of Wen Pin.

With this preparation, Wen Pin's surrender was a natural thing after his family was exchanged for his.

As for Huang Zhong, could Huang Chengyan's letter of surrender persuade Huang Zhong to betray Liu Biao?
"Military Advisor, will Huang Hansheng really betray Liu Biao just because he wants to save his son?"

Liu Bei raised his head and looked at Xiao Fang, with a hint of doubt in his words.

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, and even Wen Pin and others immediately understood the purpose of Xiao Fang's letter.

"This Huang Hansheng is quite a man of character."

"It is impossible to lure him to surrender with just the bait of curing his son's illness."

"The purpose of Huang Gong's letter was not to lure Huang Zhong into surrender, but to make Liu Biao stop using Huang Zhong."

There was a hint of weirdness in Xiao Fang's eyes, and he revealed the secret.

Liu Bei frowned, his eyes full of thoughts, but he was unable to understand the hidden meaning of Xiao Fang's words.

"I understand. Could this letter from my brother-in-law be a plot to sow discord?"

Zhuge Liang's eyes lit up and he blurted out.

As expected of Wulong, he ranked first among the three heroes of Shuijing. He was indeed the one who saw the deep meaning of his action before Xu Shu.

Xiao Fang nodded slightly to show his approval and motioned for Zhuge Liang to continue.

"Although Huang Hansheng is a branch of the Huang family, his surname is Huang after all. In terms of seniority, he is Mr. Huang's elder brother."

"And now Mr. Huang has led the Huang family to fully support the lord."

"In addition to Mr. Huang, there is also Huang Zu who has his own army and is very powerful. He has repeatedly rejected Liu Biao's orders and refused to lead the Jiangxia army to help."

"With these two as a warning, Liu Biao must have some grudges against the Huang family, so it is impossible for him to fully trust Huang Zhong."

"If Liu Biao knew about my letter of persuasion, he would become even more suspicious of Huang Zhong and would not dare to use him any more."

"Huang Zhong and the thousands of Changsha soldiers under his command are precisely the key to Liu Biao's defense of Jiangling."

"Liu Biao is suspicious of Huang Zhong and doesn't dare to rely on him to defend the city. Huang Zhong is no longer useful. My lord, don't you have one less tough bone to chew when you capture Jiangling?"

Zhuge Liang spoke eloquently and pointed out the profound meaning of Xiao Fang's plan through his analysis.

Xiao Fang nodded with satisfaction and praised:

"Ah Liang, it seems that your wisdom and knowledge have improved a lot in the past few days of managing Wancheng's government affairs. Very good!"

This praise was naturally tantamount to tacit approval of Zhuge Liang's speculation.

Liu Bei suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly:
"It turns out that the military advisor's book is a plot to sow discord, and he also took Huang Hansheng's identity as a descendant of the Huang family into consideration."

"Well, the military advisor has made a thorough plan. This plan is indeed brilliant."

All the doubts in Liu Bei's eyes were cleared, and he immediately arranged for archers to shoot the book into the city.

At this time.

Xu Shu, who had been silent the whole time, coughed a few times and bowed his hands, saying:

"My lord, Military Advisor Xiao, I have some humble opinions on this strategy of sowing discord. I wonder if I should share them with you?"

Liu Bei was startled at first, then waved his hand and smiled:

"Since we are discussing matters, we should speak freely. Yuanzhi, feel free to speak up if you have any ideas." After thinking for a while, Xu Shu said slowly:
"Liu Biao certainly couldn't trust Huang Zhong completely. If he hadn't lost Xiangyang and all his elite troops, he wouldn't have used the Changsha soldiers as the backbone of the city defense."

"But Liu Biao should be very clear that he has no one to use now. He can only rely on Huang Zhong and his Changsha soldiers to hope to defend Jiangling."

"Under this situation, the military advisor's strategy of sowing discord can certainly increase Liu Biao's distrust of Huang Zhong, but whether it can completely make Liu Biao suspicious of Huang Zhong and abandon him is not certain."

"If Liu Biao chooses the lesser of two evils and still decides to take the risk and employ Huang Zhong, what should he do?"

After listening to Xu Shu's analysis, Xiao Fang's face also showed approval.

He is worthy of being one of the three masters of Shuijing. Although he is not as good as the previous two, his profound insights are enough to show his qualifications.

"Military advisor, what Yuanzhi said makes sense."

"Using Huang Zhong is certainly risky, but if we don't use Huang Zhong, Jiangling City will be in danger."

"If I were Liu Biao, I would most likely do as Yuan Zhi said and choose the lesser of two evils."

Xu Shu's words also made Old Liu feel a little worried.

Xiao Fang smiled faintly and said comfortingly:
"Don't worry, my lord. I have already thought of what Yuanzhi is worried about."

"This letter from Mr. Huang alone is not enough to make Liu Biao abandon Huang Zhong. Let's add a few more words to add fuel to the fire. Liu Biao would rather take the risk of losing Jiangling than rely on Huang Zhong."

Liu Bei looked confused and failed to understand Xiao Fang's deep meaning.

Xiao Fang did not explain much. He took Huang Chengyan's letter of surrender, picked up the pen, and scribbled on it.

"Okay, that should be enough for now."

"My lord, there is no time to lose. Shoot this letter into the city."

Xiao Fang returned the letter of surrender to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei looked down again, his eyes widened in confusion.

What Xiao Fang meant by adding a few more strokes was really adding a few strokes to the letter, but he just erased several paragraphs from it.

"Military Advisor, what does this mean?"

Liu Bei raised his head and asked with a puzzled look on his face.

This time, even Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu were confused and could not guess the intention of Xiao Fang's move.

Xiao Fang did not explain, but just smiled and said:

"My lord, please keep me in suspense for now. Once this plan of alienation succeeds, I will explain it to you later."

Liu Bei was full of doubts, but he thought that Xiao Fang's actions and strategies were always unconventional.

Although this move is strange, it must have a deep meaning!
"Okay, let's follow the military advisor's plan!"

"Come here, quickly shoot this book into Jiangling City with a strong bow and crossbow!"

...

Jiangling City, inside the government hall.

"My nephew and Huang Hansheng led 5,000 elite Changsha soldiers to guard the north gate and face Liu Bei's main camp."

"There are three thousand soldiers guarding the west and east gates respectively, and two thousand soldiers are left in the city as a reserve force to reinforce the gates at any time."

"The city walls are being repaired and reinforced at all locations, and arrows and wooden stakes are ready."

"If the big-eared thief dares to attack, I will make him fall before the city!"

Liu Pan's face was full of confidence as he reported the city's defense situation to Liu Biao.

Liu Biao nodded to show his satisfaction, and after a slight hesitation, he said:

"Pan'er, what do you think of Huang Hansheng? He is truly loyal and righteous. Can I rely on him?"

Liu Pan was stunned and didn't understand the implication of Liu Biao's words.

Kuai Yue, who was standing by, understood what was said and said comfortingly:

"Although Huang Hansheng is also a descendant of the Huang family, he is a member of a branch of the Huang family and has little contact with Huang Chengyan and Huang Zu. My lord, there is no need to worry about his surname Huang."

"Besides, our army is currently small in number. Huang Hansheng is an expert in martial arts, and his Changsha soldiers are brave and adept at fighting. They are the key to our defense of Jiangling."

After hearing what Kuai Yue said, Liu Pan finally came to understand what his uncle meant.

"My nephew has worked with Huang Hansheng for many years, but I have rarely seen him interact with Huang Chengyan and Huang Zu."

"Now that my uncle has entrusted him with an important task and promoted him, I think he will be grateful and should repay my uncle with his death."

Liu Pan also affirmed Huang Zhong's loyalty.

The suspicion and worry in Liu Biao's eyes faded a little, but he sighed:

"Huang Hansheng is indeed a fierce general. We really have to rely on him and his Changsha soldiers to defend Jiangling."

"But no matter what, his last name is Huang, which always makes me worried."

The words trailed off.

Suddenly, a personal guard walked into the hall in a hurry.

"My Lord, the spy we planted among the Changsha soldiers just reported that the enemy used an arrow to shoot a letter into the city from the Changsha soldiers' defense zone."

"The letter was written by Huang Chengyan to General Huang. The Changsha soldiers have presented the letter to General Huang."

Upon hearing the news, Liu Biao's expression suddenly changed and he jumped up.

Huang Chengyan?
The traitor who defected to Liu Bei?
Why did he suddenly write a letter to Huang Zhong at this critical juncture?

Or did Liu Bei shoot arrows into Jiangling City?
What does he want to do?
What was written in that letter?
Countless suspicions surged in Liu Biao's mind, and he felt a chill down his spine. He immediately shouted:
"Someone, quickly send Huang Zhong to see me!"

(End of this chapter)