Chapter 74: The best counselor in Jingzhou? Are you worthy? Three great hermits: How did Liu Bei transform himself?
The main camp was lost?
An army of more than 10,000 was completely wiped out?
Was his nephew Zhang Yun killed by Liu Bei?

Another brother-in-law, Cai Zhong, was captured by Liu Bei?
A series of shocking news, like bolts from the blue, hit Liu Biao hard on the head.

At this moment, his mind was buzzing and blank.

As for Kuai Yue, his face was distorted with endless astonishment, as if he had heard the most ridiculous thing in the world.

The Jingzhou troops who were marching on both sides were all shocked and stopped, huddled together.

Liu Biao on his horse began to gasp for breath, and the raging blood could not be suppressed like a volcano, rushing to his throat.

"what--"

Liu Biao let out a loud cry toward the sky, a stream of blood gushed out, and he was so angry that he fell off his horse.

"Lord!"

Everyone was horrified and jumped off their horses and rushed forward.

When Liu Biao landed, his eyes turned black and he fainted from anger.

"Quickly call a doctor, the master has fainted."

"Stop marching and set up camp right here!"

"Hurry up and carry the lord into the tent."

Cries and screams were heard one after another, and the Jingzhou army was in chaos.

The 20,000 Jingzhou troops had to stop marching and hastily set up camp on the spot.

When it was dark, the camp was set up.

Rumors were spreading inside and outside the camp. Soldiers were whispering to each other, and all kinds of rumors were flying around.

Liu Bei's army was about to attack and march directly into Xiangyang, Liu Biao had been angered to death, and Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others were ready to surrender to Liu Bei...

Inside the big tent.

Liu Biao, who had fainted, finally woke up.

"Ziying, Deshi!"

"I will return to Yuyang and avenge you~~"

Liu Biao, who had just woken up, screamed in grief and anger and struggled to get down to the ground.

Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and others were horrified and rushed forward to support Liu Biao and try to comfort him.

After a while.

Liu Biao was finally persuaded, and his grief and anger gradually calmed down.

"why?"

"Why was my camp breached? Didn't I leave more than 10,000 soldiers for them?"

"Liu Bei only has a few thousand soldiers in Yuyang. How could he break into my camp so easily?"

Liu Biao calmed down and finally remembered the doubts, and shouted at Wang Wei.

Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and others, seeing that Liu Biao had calmed down, suddenly remembered this crucial point of doubt and all looked at Wang Wei.

"According to the military report, Liu Bei did not divide his forces to attack our Xiyangju, but his main forces were all in Yuyang."

"That night, Liu Bei used his main force to feint an attack on our northern camp wall to lure our troops to the north, but he sent cavalry to attack from the south."

"Under these two attacks, my camp was lost."

While Wang Wei was explaining, he presented the information on the silk book.

Liu Biao struggled to stand up, snatched the silk book away, and stared at it anxiously with wide eyes.

Cai Mao standing by was completely confused.

Kuai Yue's expression gradually changed color. He seemed to have guessed something and clenched his fists quietly.

"Why did Liu Bei keep his entire army in Yuyang? Shouldn't he have divided his forces to attack us at Xiyangju?"

"Yi Du, what is going on?"

Liu Biao raised his head and looked at Kuai Yue with an incredulous look.

Kuai Yue clenched his fists so hard that they made a crackling sound, and a barely perceptible trace of shame flashed across his brows.

He already figured it out.

What about Wen Pin's secret communication with Liu Bei, what about the secrets Zhang Yun overheard, what about the surprise attack on the sunset grain camp...

Everything was just Liu Bei's strategy to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Just to transfer Liu Biao's main force away so that Liu Bei would have the opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity to raid their Yuyang main camp!
Such a seamless and interlocking layout, there is no need to guess, it must be the work of Xiao Fang.

It's ridiculous that he was completely kept in the dark and was played around by Xiao Fang.

Not only did he believe Zhang Yun's false information, but he was also smart enough to suggest to Liu Biao that he divide his troops and ambush them at sunset!

The best strategist in Jingzhou, a famous figure of the time, and the head of the Kuai family was actually played around by a country bumpkin like a three-year-old child!
"Xiao Fang, Xiao Fang~~"

At this moment, Kuai Yue was so ashamed and angry that he was too embarrassed to tell the truth.

He could only grit his teeth and whisper the name.

Looking at Kuai Yue's gradually distorted face and hearing him muttering the word "Xiao Fang", Liu Biao's thoughts raced and he suddenly woke up.

"Could it be that this is all a trick by that country bumpkin to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

"My foolish nephew fell into the trap set by Liu Bei's chief minister and unintentionally helped Liu Bei deceive me?"

"From the beginning to the end, Liu Bei's goal was to capture Wu Yuyang's main camp?"

Faced with Liu Biao's questioning, Kuai Yue could only choose to remain silent.

Silence means consent.

Liu Biao felt depressed and immediately complained, and asked:
"Yidu, Yidu, you are the best strategist in Jingxiang, how could you not see through Xiao Fang's tricks and let that country bumpkin fool you so many times?"

At this time, Liu Biao was already in a panic. He didn't care about Kuai Yue's face at all and started to scold and complain on the spot.

Kuai Yue lowered his head, his face turning red and white, and he was so ashamed that he was speechless.

"My lord, calm down. The truth of this information is still uncertain." "Perhaps someone secretly communicated with Liu Bei and leaked the strategy of Yidu, causing the big-eared thief to give up the sneak attack on my granary and instead attack my main camp?"

"I think it's too early to blame the alien now."

The Kuai and Cai clans are of the same blood. Seeing that Kuai Yue was in an unfavorable situation, Cai Mao immediately stepped forward to rescue him.

The sentence that someone leaked the secret to Liu Bei was clearly an allusion to Wen Pin's collusion with the enemy.

Liu Biao was slightly shocked, and had to suppress the resentment in his heart.

The man in front of him was the patriarch of the Kuai family, his right-hand man, and one of the pillars that supported him in holding the position of Governor of Jingzhou.

Even if Kuai Yue miscalculated and caused him to lose many soldiers and generals, what could he do?

Can you still kill Kuai Yue?
After swallowing the bitter water, Liu Biao could only sigh and wave his hand:
"Forget it, forget it. Now that things have come to this, there is no point in trying to pinpoint who is responsible."

"Now the main camp has been lost, Deshi and Ziying have both been killed by Liu Bei, and our army has suffered countless casualties."

"Tell me, everyone, what should I do?"

Kuai Yue secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After a brief pause, Kuai Yue bowed and said:
"Our army has suffered several defeats and is already seriously injured. I'm afraid we have lost the confidence to continue the attack. We can only switch from offense to defense first."

"Yue thinks that the lord can lead the main force back to Xiangyang, recuperate while mobilizing troops from various counties to regroup."

"At the same time, leave a general to guard Xiangyang from Xinye."

"If Liu Bei dares to continue southward, Xinye's stronghold will be enough for more than 10,000 soldiers to pin him down at the foot of the city."

"My lord, once you have recovered and assembled your new army, you can march north to Xinye."

"By then attacking from both inside and outside, we will surely be able to defeat Liu Bei and avenge our previous humiliation."

Kuai Yue advocated retreat.

Liu Biao, however, frowned.

To put it bluntly, he, the governor of Jingzhou, was defeated by Liu Bei, a mat weaver and shoe seller, and had no choice but to retreat and defend.

What would the people of Jingzhou think of him?

What will the princes of the world think of him?

Wouldn't it be like this that his reputation and dignity were completely destroyed?

Liu Biao was unwilling to accept this.

Just thinking about such a miserable defeat and the fact that he was so angry that he vomited blood, it seemed that he had no choice but to endure the humiliation.

After struggling for a long time, Liu Biao could only wave his hands helplessly:
"As you said, withdraw your troops."

Kuai Yue secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Cai Mao lost his temper, and no matter how angry he was, he could only acquiesce to Liu Biao's decision.

Liu Biao then led his army south and retreated to Xiangyang.

However, he ordered Cai Mao to gather the defeated troops and lead 10,000 soldiers to station in Xinye to prevent Liu Bei from continuing to move south.

The news of Liu Biao's disastrous defeat quickly spread everywhere.

The people of the seven counties of Jingxiang were greatly shocked.

...

On the bank of the Han River, in the bamboo forest, there is a academy.

On the plaque at the gate of the academy are written the four characters "Shuijing Academy".

Inside the bamboo pavilion in the courtyard, two middle-aged Confucian scholars were playing chess. Another Confucian scholar in black was watching the game while cooking wine for the two men.

"Brother Chengyan, Brother Degong, I'm afraid the outcome of this game won't be decided until dark."

"The wine is warm, how about a drink first?"

The black-robed scholar smiled faintly and scooped a spoonful of green plum wine for each of the two people playing chess.

The two middle-aged scholars had no choice but to put down the chess pieces in their hands and pick up the wine glasses to take a sip.

"Well, my dear brother Decao, the temperature of the green plum wine is just right. It is indeed a specialty of Xiangyang."

The man who started praising him was none other than Pang Degong, the famous scholar from Xiangyang and the head of the Pang family.

The person who played chess with him was also a famous scholar in Jingzhou, Huang Chengyan, the head of the Huang family.

As for the person who was cooking the wine, he was the owner of Shuijing Academy, Mr. Shuijing Sima Hui.

"Recently, the two Lius have been at war, and the war in Nanyang has started again. What do you two brothers think about this?"

Sima Hui drank another cup and asked the two people casually.

"Although Liu Xuande came from a humble background, he was truly extraordinary."

"Otherwise, how could they have defeated Zhang Ji in a snap, seized Nanyang, and even won over Zhang Ji's nephew Zhang Xiu, who served him at his side?"

"In terms of his ability to command troops and his tolerance for others, Liu Jingsheng is indeed much inferior to him..."

Pang Degong sighed with emotion, and his words clearly showed respect for Liu Bei.

"Let's put aside other things. After Liu Xuande captured Nanyang, he treated the people well and changed the tyranny of Yuan Shu and Zhang Ji. This kindness is admirable."

Huang Chengyan first praised it greatly, then changed the subject:
"It's just that I'm very surprised that Liu Xuande was defeated by Yuan Shu and Lu Bu in Xuzhou, and was so embarrassed that he was almost desperate."

"How come after coming to my Jingzhou, he seemed to be reborn. Not only did he kill Zhang Ji, but he also severely injured Liu Jingsheng in the battle of Rangyang and captured Zhang Yun alive."

"This change from before to after is like two completely different people. It's really hard for me to understand."

Pang Degong nodded slightly, with some confusion in his eyes.

At this time.

Sima Hui, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked:
"As far as I know, Liu Bei's transformation was entirely due to the assistance of a remarkable man."

"This man's name is Xiao Fang, with the courtesy name Jinglue, and he is also from Jingzhou."

"I wonder if you two brothers have ever heard of this person?"

(End of this chapter)